From: BeIieveagain@aol.com
Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:41:31 EDT
Subject: Enlightenment in the Words of Father Joe by M. J. Adamson
Source: direct

TITLE: Enlightenment in the Words of Father Joe
AUTHOR: M. J. Adamson
EMAIL: nomasterpiece@aol.com	
URL: http://www.myspace.com/theamazingmandy
DISTRIBUTION: This story is meant to be posted on Gossamer.org and 
Fanfiction.net. Any other sites that may want to post this story must 
contact me at my e-mail for authorization. 
SPOILERS: A Christmas Carol, Emily, William, The Truth, The X-Files: I Want
To Believe 
CLASSIFICATION: V, Post-Series, Missing Scene
RATING: G
SUMMARY: Scully reflects upon the words of Father Joe and how they relate to 
her current standing. 
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I obviously do not own The X-Files, but I would like to know 
where my own creative thought process is being archived at. In other words, 
please politely inform me if you must archive my story on another website.

Enlightenment in the Words of Father Joe
by M. J. Adamson

In a rare moment of inner peace, Scully entered the car and left 
behind a happy Mulder, one which she faintly remembered from their 
years together in the X-Files division outside of the Bureau's 
mainstream. For once, she wasn't thinking about the sickly little boy, 
Christian, at the hospital but rather the words of the ironically 
immoral and vile priest, Father Joe.

At the crime scene, she'd been too wrapped up in their surroundings 
and her argument with Mulder to even think about the significance of 
his words, but once she'd been given the time to let those words sink 
into her, she hadn't liked the way they felt. It was as if he knew all 
about her, as if by some means, he had managed to get a hold of her 
personal file which she had kept, but how could this be possible? How 
could Father Joe know where she was living? Sure, it was as simple as 
Internet research, but if the FBI themselves hadn't found their secret 
hideaway, how could this Godforsaken priest know where she came home 
to every night - a psychic connection? No, she didn't believe that.

On the contrary, she considered him a fraud, trying to find some way 
to repent his sins and achieve, at the very least, an understanding 
with the ultima te authority, but even with her own drift back to 
faith, there were still things she didn't understand. For example, how 
could such a loving yet powerful man let a boy like Christian, whose 
life was filled with nothing but pain and sorrow, be brought into this 
world? As a mother, she could understand the feeling of loss, of 
having her child be ripped away from her by a force she couldn't 
control. It had happened twice already, and the second and final time 
it had happened, it had taken nearly every ounce of her strength to 
get relationship with Mulder, but not in the way she'd thought at 
first.

However, thoughts like these were far from the former-FBI agent's 
mind. Surprisingly, she saw Father Joe in a different light, if only 
for a moment.

Those words didn't mean anything to the case but to her relationship 
with Mulder. She hadn't meant for Mulder to be consumed by this case 
and be pulled into his life's work once again. What she had truly 
wanted was for Mulder to get out, to see the world around him and 
realize that it hadn't changed. That they hadn't changed, but at the 
time, she'd been wrong. Something had changed; it wasn't their 
character. Over the past six years, both of them had seemingly grown 
and evolved, reaching a higher state. Mulder, without knowing it, had 
finally given her what she'd wanted all these years - even if it was 
in his own round-about way. She had a life: a job to wake up for every 
morning, a warm bed to come home to every night, and a love in which 
she could seek comfort when needed.

It was these thoughts that powered her batteries, that gave her the 
strength to do what she must do now - to try and save that little boy. 
She knew that the situation regarding his health was dangerous, 
especially the stem cell treatment that she was attempting. It was 
amazing that the Catholic church was even going to allow it, 
considering how much they abhor the subject, but she also knew that 
her own personal involvement was dangerous too. There was a chance 
that her judgement was clouded, that her bond to this little boy she'd 
attached herself to could result in major emotional damage if the boy 
were to lose this battle. She knew - and Mulder too - that she saw her 
son in this boy, a boy whose life was already pre-determined from the 
start.

"Don't give up," she repeated the words of Father Joe to herself in a 
whisper, her determined blue eyes fixed upon the road in front of her.

She knew it would be a while before she reached she city, before she 
would see the worried eyes of Christian's parents and the stern gaze 
of Father Ybarra, but with her hands set firmly upon the wheel, she 
prepared herself for the hours of surgery ahead of her and the hours 
of personal inner-conflict in which she would retreat to the lowest 
level of the locker rooms in order to scribble down her every thought 
on the subject.

Perhaps in this way she was just like Mulder.