From: Leki Harris Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2001 20:26:03 -0700 Subject: "Ice Cream Man" Source: direct TITLE: "Ice Cream Man" RATING: PG CATEGORY: Mulder/Scully Friendship AUTHOR: Jessie Harris (aka Agent Leki) E-MAIL: TheDamnBee@juno.com AgentLeki_1013@yahoo.com ARCHIVE: Anywhere, just *please* tell me first and keep my name attached! :) SPOILERS: A slight one from "How the Gosts Stole Christmas" SUMMARY: Mulder and Scully chase the Ice Cream Man. NOTE: This story is Pre "Requiem" DISCLAIMER: Fox Mulder + Dana Scully = Chris Carter. I do NOT own them... our God Chris Carter does... but all unrecognized characters DO BELONG to me! :) Dana Scully's Apartment Tuesday, July 4th, 2000 11:21 a.m. After a late night out at the local pub with a few friends and having a few drinks the night before, Dana Scully continued to sleep the morning through. Scully is not normally one known to have much of a personal life. She hardly sees her family and friends, but when one of her college friends, Ashley, called her up and asked her to go out and have a few drinks with her she couldn't help but oblige. Besides, what could a little fun hurt? It's not like with her job she can actually do much anyway. Scully had decided it was time to go home when she could no longer see straight and when the guy next to her couldn't keep his hands to himself. When Scully finally woke it was with a loud groan as the telephone rung, the sound blaring her ears. She sat up a little too fast because now her temples were throbbing and she immediately regretted all the drinks she had last night. Hangovers were always the worst part of having a little fun at a bar. "Hello?" she said into the wrong end of the receiver. When she didn't hear anything she looked at the phone and turned it so the right side was to her ear and repeated her greeting. "Happy Fourth of July, Scully." It was Mulder. Inwardly Scully immediately thought, **Why now?** "What do you want, Mulder?" "Did I wake you?" he asked sounding sincere. A little *TOO* sincere for her liking at the moment. "Yes, you did." "Scully, were you having visions of sugar plums dancing in your dreams?" he asked with a smile Scully could feel through the phone. Scully sighed as she replied curtly, "Mulder, Christmas is almost six months away. You are thinking of the wrong holiday. Now, what do you want?" "I think someone is PMSing..." he smirked into the phone. "Whatever, Mulder. Would you please tell me what this is about?" "Can you meet me at the office in an hour?" he asked almost shyly, knowing Scully would be upset for having to come in the office on a holiday on account of him. "Mulder, its the fourth of July... you know... a holiday that were supposed to have *OFF* work and I'm not about to step foot into that office today." "Aww, come on, Scully... there's this little girl and she needs our help." "Little girl? Whose little girl?" Scully inquired. "She's an orphan. She's been living at St. Anne's Orphanage for the last five years. Six-year-old Clarissa Reeves has complained of having dreams every night involving ice cream." "Ice cream, Mulder? How is having dreams about ice cream of any importance?" Scully asked impatiently. "The woman in charge of St. Anne's says that the girl didn't even know what ice cream was until the girl started dreaming of it. Evidently the girl has been a deprived child in that area. She had never even heard of the words ice cream before, but evidently she went in and told Sister Margaret that she had dreams about ice cream every night for the past month. The girl has also told Sister Margaret that every time she sees the ice cream she always hears the same song." "What song, Mulder?" "I think its called 'Do Your Ears Hang Low.' That's the song that ice cream trucks play when they go around neighborhoods trying to suck in children to buy their overpriced goodies. Call me crazy, but I think there's something going on here." "Mulder, you're more than crazy! I cannot believe you want me to go with you to get some girl because she's having dreams of ice cream and a song about ears hanging low! Have you lost your mind?!" Scully rubbed her forehead vigorously as she finished her statement. "Scully, fine... you go enjoy your day off. If you need me... you know my cell number." "Mulder... wait..." but before she even got to finish what she was saying the line went dead and she heard the dial tone. Scully sighed and got up and quickly showered. Why did she always do this for him? She never got a holiday to relax anymore. Mulder always drug her out to solve some X-File. Secretly she kind of enjoyed it, but the fact still remained that she wanted one holiday to just sit back and relax. After getting ready, Scully glanced in the mirror above her fire place as she grabbed her keys from the mantle and saw how red her eyes were. **How the hell am I going to hide this from Mulder?** she thought wearily then shrugged. J. Edgar Hoover Building, Washington DC 12:30 p.m. Mulder jumped slightly when he heard the door to the office open. He turned and smiled when he saw Scully standing in the doorway. "What changed your mind?" "Thinking about how incredibly dull my life would be without you to drag me off to chase ice cream men and ghosts and everything else on the holidays," she says sarcastically. "You know life wouldn't be as fulfilling without it," he said through a wide grin. "So, about this girl... where is she right now?" "She's at the orphanage and we need to go get her. Sister Margaret called me ten minutes ago. Clarissa has had another dream and Sister Margaret thinks that if we don do something soon that something drastic is going to happen to the girl," Mulder explained as he stood up and slipped his suit jacket back on. "And where do we come in, Mulder?" "We are going to go get the girl and see how we can find out why she's having reoccurring dreams about ice cream and the song 'Do Your Ears Hang Low.' Another thing I never got the chance to tell you about was *how* Clarissa's parents died." "How did they die, Mulder?" Scully said while crossing her arms and walking with him out to the parking lot. "A man named Charles Potter, the local ice cream truck driver in their neighborhood, broke into their house one night when the Reeves were sleeping and killed them by shoving ice cream cones down their throats and drowning them in the ice cream. Clarissa would have been killed, too if she'd been home. Luckily she had stayed at her grandparents house for the weekend. Clarissa would be living with her grandparents but they died in a car accident on the way to the Reeves' funeral. Clarissa has no other living family." "That's awful, but I don get it, Mulder. What does that have to do with an X-File?" "That's the juicy part." He looked at her and grinned then continued, "He was shot in the head and found in a ditch about a week after killing the Reeves. But it doesn't stop there. In the last five years Charles Potter has been seen 167 times from Los Angeles to New York driving an ice cream truck." "Mulder..." Scully started, but was interrupted by her partner. "I know what you're going to say, dead men don't go around driving ice cream trucks, I know that, but I think that its worth investigating." "What if this Charles guy faked his own death Mulder? There is no X-File to that. He simply faked his death and is now roaming the countryside free." "It's not that easy, Scully. The man that shot him was *caught* dumping Charles body into the ditch," he explained. Mulder opened his car door and got in and motioned for Scully to get in the passenger side while saying, "Lets go." St. Anne's Orphanage 1:00 p.m. Mulder sat in the office talking with Sister Margaret while Scully went into the play room. Scully smiled as she saw seven children playing in the play room. Scully's eyes first rested upon a little girl about six years old. She had short brown hair cut into a cute stylish bob cut somewhat like Scully's own hair. She also wore a pair of pink framed glasses on her small nose full of freckles. The little girl was playing with another little girl who was about eight. Scully's eyes then rested on the other girl the brunette was playing with. The girl had light blonde hair that was pulled into two French braids that hit about halfway down her back. The girl was holding a doll. Scully's eyes then darted over to four little boys playing with cars and trucks. One boy was had dirty blonde hair and seemed to be the oldest. He also seemed kind of dominating and controlling over the other three boys. Suddenly Scully's eyes rested upon a little girl sitting in a corner all by herself playing with a teddy bear. The girl had brilliant red hair with the most darling curl to it. The girl's hair almost reminded Scully of Shirly Temple. The girl's hair was down to the bottom of her back, and her bright green eyes were shining brightly in contrast to her hair. A small amount of freckles on the bridge of her nose and cheeks was also visible. This little girl was among the most adorable Scully had ever seen. Scully jumped slightly when she heard a middle aged woman behind her, "Clarissa, come here." The girl Scully had been watching stood up and dropped the bear she had been playing with into a toy box on her way across the room. When she stood in front of Sister Margaret she spoke, "Yes, Sister Margaret?" "These are the kind people who are going to be taking you for the next few days. They're going to find out why you've been having these dreams, okay?" The little girl nodded. "Now go get your bag of clothes." Clarissa did as she was told and returned shortly with a small brown, leather bag, and a little old blanket that looked like something that would belong to a two or three year old. Sister Margaret looked at her in disapproval and said, "Must you take that ugly blanket with you, Clarissa? It belongs in the garbage." Clarissa replied in a tiny voice, "It's the only thing I have left of my mother and father." "Fine, take the awful thing with you." Scully smiled down at the girl and took her bag and handed it to Mulder, then took the girl's hand and kneeled down in front of her and smiled. "Hi, Clarissa. My name is Dana and this is Fox, but he'll make you call him Mulder," she motions to Mulder as she introduces him. "Hi," she said shyly. "Would you like to go see some fireworks tonight with us?" The little girl nodded and smiled with a smile that seemed to brighten her whole face. Scully stood back up, still holding Clarissa's hand and motioned for Mulder that it was time to leave. On their way out Mulder told Sister Margaret to call if she heard anything on their ice cream man. Scully's Apartment 6:00 p.m. After taking Clarissa to get some new clothes because most of the ones she already had were old and too small, and getting the three of them something to eat from McDonalds they headed back to Scully's apartment. Scully had told Mulder that she wanted to drive and Mulder, not wanting to argue with her in front of the little girl, obliged. After pulling Mulder's car into her parking spot behind her apartment complex they got out of the car and Scully helped Mulder take Clarissa's stuff to her apartment. "Scully, I have a little running around I need to do. Is it okay if I head out for a bit? I'll only be thirty minutes or so." Mulder asked. Scully simply nodded. "You're going to do whatever you want anyway." After giving Scully a look, Mulder grabbed his car keys and headed out to do his running. Scully sat next to Clarissa. "Sweetie, theres a playground out back, would you like to go outside and play?" The little girl seemed to beam with happiness. "Yes, please." "Okay, lets go!" Scully took the girls hand and took her outside. She sat on the bench and watched the girl play on the playground with a few other kids that lived in her complex. After about 15 minutes Scully heard her phone ring and she stood up. "Clarissa, my phone is ringing. I'll be back out in just a few minutes, okay?" "Okay!" the little girl called over to her as Scully headed inside. Just after Scully went inside Clarissa heard music. She was about to go down the slide, but stopped dead in her tracks. It was the music from her dreams. The girl she was playing with cried out with joy, "The Ice Cream Man! My mommy gave me money to get a popsicle. Do you want one?" she asked Clarissa. "Yeah!" Clarissa cried as the two of them ran towards the sound of the ice cream truck. When they got out to the main road the ice cream truck had just passed and the two girls called after it for it to stop. When it didn't stop they followed it, running as fast as their little legs would carry them. "Stop, Ice Cream Man!" the two of them cried. At the end of the street the ice cream truck turned right, but the girls followed while still calling out, "Ice Cream Man, please stop! We want to buy a popsicle!" The two girls chased the ice cream truck around for about an hour. --==Meanwhile==-- After Scully finished her phone call, which was from her mother, she went back outside to see neither Clarissa nor the girl she was playing with playing on the playground. "Clarissa! Jaclyn!" Scully knew the other little girl because she lived with her mother in the apartment next to Scully's. Scully ran back inside and knocked on her neighbor's door. A woman in her late twenties answered the door. "May I help you, Dana?" "Yes. I was just out back with a little girl my partner and I are taking care of for a day or so. She was playing with your daughter, but my telephone rang so I went inside to answer it. I was gone for about five minutes and when I went back outside neither of the girls were out there..." Instantly the woman ran out of her apartment towards the back of the complex and Scully followed closely behind. There were two boys playing on swings. Jaclyn's mother asked the boys if they knew where Clarissa and Jaclyn went and one of the boys replied, "The Ice Cream Man came by and Jaclyn heard him and said she wanted a popsicle." "Damn!" Scully cried out. "What?" Clarissa's mother asked. "Long story!" Scully called over her shoulder as she ran around to the front of the complex to see if the girls were by chance in the front eating their popsicles, but to no surprise of her own neither girl was in front of the complex when Scully reached the front lawn. "Clarissa! Jaclyn!" she called, but got no answer. Jaclyn's mother came up beside her and the two of the called out for the girls. Scully looked over at the woman and asked, "Joan, do you have a car available? Mine is at work and my partner's not back yet." "I do, let's go." The two women piled into Joan's car and drove off to look for the two girls. Scully pulled out her cell phone and hit the speed dial for Mulder's phone. "Mulder," the husky voice she recognized said on the other end of the line. "Mulder, she's gone." "Who's gone?" he asked. "Clarissa." Scully explained to Mulder what happened. "I'm headed towards your apartment. Ill keep my eyes open." After an hour of searching they still had no luck. Joan was beginning to panic. Scully, now in Mulder's car, strained to hear what she thought to be the ice cream trucks music. "Mulder, do you hear that?" Mulder looked at her and nodded. He instantly turned the car in the direction of the music. When Mulder turned at the next corner Scully practically leaped for joy when she saw the ice cream truck in front of them. It was parked on the side of the road. Jaclyn was sitting on the grass eating a popsicle. Scully leaped from the car as soon as Mulder pulled it over, and she ran over to the girl. "Jaclyn, your mom has been looking for you everywhere. Where's Clarissa?" Jaclyn looked up at Scully, then pointed to the ice cream truck. "He told her that he had a special surprise for her. He made her go in back of the truck." Mulder drew his gun as he yanked the door of the ice cream truck open to see a man, the ugliest Mulder had ever seen, kneeling over Clarissa trying to force her to eat a popsicle. "Freeze!" he yelled as he aimed his gun at the man. The man looked at Mulder as Scully took Jaclyn to their car and buckled her in the back seat. Mulder immediately recognized the guy. It was Charles Potter. "Let go of her," he said nodding towards Clarissa. "Not a chance. I came to finish what I started five years ago," he growled. "How did you do it?" Scully chimed in, she now stood next to Mulder. "Do what?" Charles looked at Scully. "The police found your body." "Oh, that. Well, if you really must know. I was brought back by the Great Spirit." "The great who?" Mulder asked. "The Great Spirit is the one who orders me to kill. He says if I don't do it then I will turn into vapor." He leaned over Clarissa and shoved the popsicle back in her mouth. Mulder pulled the trigger on his gun and a bullet hit him in the left bicep. Charles grabbed his arm in pain. Scully leaned forward and pulled the little girl out of the ice cream truck and took her away from the ice cream truck. "Are you okay, Clarissa?" Clarissa nodded and Scully took her to the car. "I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Charles growled as he lunged at Mulder. Mulder pulled the trigger again, this time the bullet going through his left eye and out the back of his head. Charles Potter fell to the ground outside the ice cream truck with a thud. Green ooze started coming out of the back of his head just as Charles started to stir. Mulder's eyes started to burn from his toxic blood. Mulder took aim again and shot him behind the neck and this time the body went rigid and then still. A few seconds later the body melted into a pile of green goo. Mulder backed away from the truck and went to his car, "Scully... I think our Smoking Friend was involved in this some way," he said pointing to the body while putting his gun in it's holster. "When is he not?" she asked. "Come on, Mulder." THE END