TITLE: Semper Fi AUTHOR: AL DATE: 8/11-12/05 RATING: G CHEESE FACTOR: 5 AWWW! FACTOR: 5 SPOILERS: General CATEGORY: Drama KEYWORDS: DRR, angst, fluff SUMMARY: The day is coming when all their lives will change, but John finds hope in his family and wants to offer that hope to them. A hope to a future they know they must fight to preserve. DISCLAIMERS: The X-Files and all it's recognizable characters belong to CC, 1013 and Fox. Marine Corp Hymn, not mine either. This is for pure entertainment. No profit being made. DEDICATION: To Tracy who wanted a John/Mon centered fic from me. Hopefully I can give you something a little less doomsday-ish in the future. We'll see. :D In the mean time, this should help supplement the smaller roles I've given the pair in my other stories. (By the by, you can find their appearances in the fics found in my crossovers section of my archive if you haven't read those yet. :D) Sorry if this fic doesn't make much sense. It was a bit of odd rambling that came to mind after I'd practiced my piano for a bit and started on Season 8 of my X-Files DVDs. I can't believe I'm almost to the end. It's been as fun as the first time around. AUTHOR NOTES:Any veering from canon is intentional. Reality is that at some point all fanfiction will become AU as soon as the real author continues the story, right? FEEDBACK: I personally don’t know ANY writers that don’t like it. ;) Good, bad (be nice), or indifferent, let me know. XFd+rXFd+rXFd+rXFd+rXFd+rXF It was late. The house long past dark. Things were quiet. He sighed in relief as he realized it was quiet in a peaceful way. Just the way he'd left it. He couldn't help it. The way things were now. The things he'd seen and experienced. He woke up every day wondering if this was it. If this were the day the world ended. And every night he said a silent prayer that he'd had one. One more day to be with her. To love her. To love them. One more day of memories. He rarely left her side if he didn't have to. But tonight he felt compelled in a way he'd only felt a few times before in his life. He'd seen it in the window weeks before. He almost bought it right then but he'd suddenly felt foolish for reasons he couldn't explain then, reasons he still couldn't explain now but which didn't make him feel so foolish anymore. He'd witnessed a lot of horrible things in that time in his life and in the years since - a man goes to war, he doesn't come back the same - but it was a time he looks back on with pride. His service epitomized everything he stood for, everything that was important to him. Now, with all that they were soon to face, he wanted to pass that on. He wanted to pass on the hope and purpose his service gave him. He needed to pass it on. He needed that little boy to know that you never give up, no matter how dire it all seems, you keep going, you keep fighting. You never sell out even if you die in the process. Because life isn't worth living if you don't have people to share it with, so you protect that with all you've got. "Hey." He turned to the living room where the soft voice came from and a light flicked on. "Hey. You're suppose to be in bed," he said, entering the room and moving around to sit beside where she lay. He smiled at the drowsy look in her eyes. Even half asleep with her hair mussed up she was the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen. The worn blanket covered the bottom half of her but he could see the top of her already rounding belly peaking out, adding a noticeable curve to her satin pajamas. "You know I don't sleep well when you're not there." He caressed her cheek as he smiled at her. His heart warmed as she returned that smile. "Where'd you go?" she asked, taking the hand at her cheek in her own grasp. "I had an errand to run." "Yeah. I got that." His smile widened at her teasing one. "So really," she said, seriously. "Where'd you go?" He nodded slightly, figuring she'd find out soon enough. He reached down into the bag he'd set on the floor and pulled out something wrapped in tissue paper. He hesitated only a moment before handing it to her. She offered a curious look but said nothing as she revealed the object inside. It was a teddy bear figurine, attired in Marine dress blues, a silver sword held smartly up by it's side. It stood on top of a decorative square base. Further inspection revealed a small knob on the bottom. She turned the knob several times and then the music box began to play. She smiled as the faint tinkle played a familiar sound. The hymn to match the uniform of the bear. When the song completed, she looked up at her husband. "It's beautiful." "Think he'll like it?" he asked, surprisingly self-conscious in his inquiry as he rubbed her hip gently with his hand. She smiled and looked at the little music box again. "I think he'll love it." He nodded and took the hand she held out to help her up. They made their way up the stairs and into the bedroom where all the joys of a little boy lined the walls and cluttered the floor. They stepped over action figures and muddy sneakers and discarded clothes toward the toddler bed on the far wall. She set the music box on the shelf above the bed then leaned down to pull the blanket back up over the sleeping form of her son. She placed a gentle kiss to his head then stepped back to let her husband do the same. She waited by the door until he was finished then together they took a moment to watch the little boy sleep. "I want him to have faith, Monica. I want him to know that even though things are gonna get bad for everyone, we can't ever give up. I want him to be a good big brother to his new little sister," he finished with a hand on her slowly growing stomach. She reached a hand up and turned his face towards her, her eyes expressing all the love she felt for this man, their son, and the daughter they would soon bring into the world. "He will, John. Because he's got you as his father. No little boy could ask for a better man to look up to." She leaned up and he accepted the kiss she offered. In that kiss he felt everything she did, her hopes, her fears, her joys, her sorrows. He knew she could feel the same from him. They'd make it through this. They'd find Mulder and Scully and together the four of them would make the world safe for the generations to come. THE END!