Date: 28 Jul 1999 00:46:00 GMT Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: NEW: Lightning Shadows VII (06/10) Please send feedback to RhiaRamsay@aol.com. -------------------------------------------------------------- PART SIX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Part Six-Battle Plans "Thanks again, Helen," Catriona Ramsay said as Helen Calvert left the bakery. Cat sighed and turned back to where she was working on decorating a cake for a special occasion. Helen had come to her that day tell her about one of the F.B.I. agents that was roaming around school because of that poor little boy that was found behind it. Helen said that this man reminded her of Fox. He'd had the same eyes, Helen remarked. That was all Helen could say though. A guess based on a few second glimpse. But it gave Cat hope. If she combined this idea of Helen's with Shannon's dream of a grown up Fox with a red haired woman named Dana from a few weeks ago, she just knew that something was about to happen. Her witch's senses knew that soon she would see her little boy again. At that moment five kids came into the bakery, led by a tall, oak brown haired, green-eyed boy. "Hey, Gramma," Alec Ramsay called out to the bakery, devoid of customers but inhabited by Cat and one of her helpers, Bryn Harrison. The five walked behind the bakery counter and dropped their backpacks in a corner, their bodies following the bags down to rest on the floor. "What are you doing here?" Cat asked, even though she already knew from what Helen said. She'd decided not to tell anyone of this development from Helen, she felt things would come out in the open in their own time. "Remember all those kids they found in the woods?" Alec said, coming over to Cat's side to take a swipe at the frosting on the cake. She gently slapped his hand away and Alec pouted. "They found another kid, so they sent us home so the cops and the feds could investigate." Cat looked up into her grandson's eyes, and then over to where Brian, Juliette, Robynne, and Molly were slumped on the floor. "Bryn," Cat said. Bryn looked up, her curly hair bobbing around her face. "Yeah?" "Why don't you take Brian and Juliette in the back and show them where the fresh cookies are," Cat said smoothly. Bryn walked over from her side of the counter to the door leading to the back room. "C'mon guys," she said. Juliette looked over at Brian. They knew Gramma, Alec, Molly, and Robbie were going to talk Dragon business, and until her and Brian became full Dragons they wouldn't be included in these talks. They resignedly got up and followed Bryn into the back room. When they were out of sight Cat quickly wrapped up the cake and stuck it in the fridge. She motioned the other three over to a table by the display window. They sat down and began their war conference. "Okay, do you have any idea who's doing this?" Cat asked them, more specifically directed at Molly who was pulling the leather bound book out of her backpack. Molly flipped open to a bookmarked page. "Well, from what we can guess from what happened to Jenna it's a Cader-Ieran, one of the soul stealers." Alec looked over at his grandmother. Her blue eyes glinted in the bakery light. She looked much younger than her sixty-two years. Her oak-brown hair, liberally streaked with grey, although still predominantly brown, was plaited and piled up on her head. Her voice still held the Irish accent, and it didn't lose any of its intensity ever since her and her husband Jerome came over from Ireland in 1957. Cat's face bore wrinkles from age and hardship, but ever since he was a little kid he could always remember her having a great beauty about her. Now, Cat was in her element as protector of the innocent. "That's impossible," Cat said. "Cader's don't run loose any more because they're a danger to humans. The ones that are in existence are isolated on an island off of Norway and kept under strict watch." "Like a prison?" Robynne asked. "More like a preserve," Cat said. "It's not right to exterminate an entire species, so we isolated them, but permit them to breed, and feed them when they need to eat." "But they eat..." Alec began with a disgusted look on his face. Cat had to bite back a smile as to how much Alec looked like Fox did when he was a little boy. It was the very reason Alec had earned the middle name Fox. "Do they volunteer?" Molly asked, looking sick for the second time that day. "Actually they get fed criminals who've committed serious crimes. They're not to discriminating about the souls they take. I know it's rather unorthodox and unethical," Cat shrugged, "but these are criminals who can't be punished by any court of the ordinary world. This way, we know they won't harm the world again." "Then how did it get here?" Alec said. "I wonder," Cat said, and leaned back in her chair. "If a Cader escaped there'd be an alert and we'd have all heard about it." Unless...she began to think. Alec's brow ruffled and it was clear he had an idea. He looked over at Molly, but she didn't see him as she was staring down at the table looking slightly green and taking deep breaths. The conversation from before had made her slightly sick once more. "Hey, you okay?" he asked, putting an arm around her shoulder. "I'll be okay," she said, breathing heavily. Still keeping an arm around her Alec opened the book and paged through to another section. "Here," he said, pointing to the parchment. "I was looking through this on the bus, and I noticed this-a time slip." "What's that?" Robynne said. Cat broke in. Alec was thinking along the same lines she was. "It's where there's a rip in time. Normally, time is linear, moving from one second to the next. In a time slip, though, you can jump from one point in time, like five a.m., to another, say twelve p.m., in the space of a second." "Like the book 'A Wrinkle In Time'?" Molly asked. Alec nodded. "So you think the Cader jumped from some time in the past when they weren't penned up, and is now feeding over here, in this time?" "That's probably our best bet," Cat said. "Though I wonder, Cader's hardly feed, and there have been five kids in less than a month. So there's either more than one Cader, or this slip moves to different time periods." "Maybe," Robynne began, "maybe the Cader's creating the time slip. Like, when it's time to feed the Cader makes the slip and gets its food from here. And maybe it developed a preference for sixteen-year-olds, so every time they pick one of those," she shrugged, capping off her idea. "I suppose it's possible," Cat commented. "Cader's are reasonably intelligent. If one of them managed to get their hands on a spell book I'm sure they'd be capable of opening a time slip." "There's just one problem with that," Alec said. "Brian told me that the last boy the found, the one from today was from his class." "So either the Cader's getting hungrier or..." Robynne trailed off, leaving someone else to finish what her brain couldn't. Molly suddenly sat up straight. "Or there's another Cader." Three pairs of eyes looked her way. "Okay, look. Try this scenario. What if when the original Cader who opened the slip was being watched by another Cader, and the next time the slip opened this other Cader jumped in along for the ride and that was the one that took the soul of this last boy." Cat looked thoughtful for a second. "That's a good guess, but I'm pretty sure that the same Cader's causing the trouble. Either way you've still got to stop it before it eats anymore souls from this time." Alec leaned forward, removing his arm from around Molly's shoulders. "Hold it. We have to do this as in," his eyes glided around to look at Robynne and Molly. "As in the three of you," Cat confirmed. She smiled reassuringly at them. "Look, the three of you will be powerful enough to defeat it," she said, voicing a reassurance for one of their biggest fears. "Your best bet would be to disable the Cader, find the spell book which should be carried on its body, get the souls back. There is a way to do that, but we've got to do some searching for it. That'll be Molly's department." Molly nodded, knowing the actual physical defeat of the Cader would be up to the Dragons, Alec and Robynne, and it would be her job, the Witch's job, to cast the spell that would retrieve the kids' souls. "Then you send it back through the time slip and that should be it." "Gee, it sounds so simple when you put it that way," Robynne said sardonically. "So when do we pull this off?" she asked. "Tomorrow," Alec suddenly said. The heads swirled to look at him. "We have to be out there early tomorrow morning. That's when the next slip will be." "Are you sure?" Cat asked. She knew each Dragon had abilities that were exclusive to them. Alec's ability was that he had abnormally strong instincts that sometimes turned into predictions for peoples' actions and when some things would occur. He nodded. "Yeah, tomorrow morning." Molly slammed the book shut with finality. "Well that settles it then. Tomorrow we go hunting." At that moment Bryn returned with Brian and Juliette in tow. The war conference was over. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX END PART SIX-Battle Plans Date: 28 Jul 1999 00:47:40 GMT Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: NEW: Lightning Shadows VII (07/10) Please send feedback to RhiaRamsay@aol.com. -------------------------------------------------------------- PART SEVEN XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Part Seven-Preparations for the battle between good and evil Saturday, September 26, 1998 5:00 a.m. In the darkened hotel room Mulder twisted and turned on the bed. He didn't notice it though, being in a state of deep sleep. He was dreaming again. He was on the hill again where the first dream started. He wasn't three years old this time, he was his regular age and dressed in a grey t-shirt and jeans. He found himself walking up the hill slowly, not dodging any wayward sheep. When he crested the hill, the view was the same. Ahead and to the right of him was the large stone house, to the left, the towering cliffs. He stopped halfway in between each, unsure of where to go next. He heard a small sound behind him. He whipped around, the wind tugging his hair in many directions. His eyes lit on the stone wall bordering the land between hill and cliff. They glided up the grassy hill, to come to a stop right in front of him, looking down into the hazel eyes of his younger self. The boy and the man just stared at each other, neither one daring to do anything more than breathe. Suddenly the silence of sound and motion was broken by another child seeming to come out of nowhere and stop behind the boy. Mulder recognized her as Shannon, dressed in a dark blue dress with bare feet. She looked up at him, placing her hands on the little boy's shoulders. "Tomorrow," she said with confidence. Her wavy oak brown hair swirled around her face. Mulder cocked his head in a questioning manner. Shannon nodded and smiled brightly. "Tomorrow. Everything will be right tomorrow." Without warning the wind picked up. Mulder lifted his hand to his eyes to shield them as the wind blew faster and faster. It reached a frightening speed, when suddenly he felt himself falling back. Back, back, back, until... Mulder's eyes popped open. He was still in the hotel room, tangled up in the sheets. He looked over at the clock. It was only 5:10. He still had fifty minutes until it was time to get up. But he knew there was no chance in hell he'd be going back to sleep now. He pulled himself out of bed, and regardless of the fact he was only in boxers, opened the door connecting his and Scully's room. To his surprise she was already up. The light next to her bed was on and she was reading a book. She put it down when she saw him coming through the door. "What's up, Mulder?" she asked. He walked over and sat himself down on the bed next to her. "Couldn't sleep either?" She looked over at him. "I just got up about ten minutes ago. I didn't think it was worth it to go back to sleep. Your excuse?" Mulder sighed. "Another dream. This time I was in the same place as the first dream, the one with the big hill and the cliff. I walked up the hill, and stopped halfway between the house and the cliff. Then I heard something behind me, so I turn around and I see myself as three years old standing there. We're just staring at each other. Then Shannon-" "Your older sister from the dreams?" Scully broke in with a question. "Yeah. She suddenly appears behind the younger me and says that tomorrow everything will be right. Then there's a gust of wind and I woke up." He looked over at her with puppy dog eyes. "What do you think it means?" Scully bit her lip, deep in thought, and Mulder had to exercise extreme will power not to kiss her at that moment. "Well," she said, "maybe it means you'll find your real family soon." She looked over at Mulder who was staring down at the comforter. She inaudibly sighed, trying to figure out how she was going to tell him her latest thoughts. "Hey, Mulder, did you notice the other day that boy Alec?" "The one that looks incredibly like me, you mean?" his head turned back to look her in the eyes. She shrugged. "Maybe he's a relative of yours. I mean, aside from some slight differences and the difference in height the two of you could be identical." "Yeah, but what's the likelihood of that? Even if we are related what's the chance of looking as alike as that?" Scully laughed. "I keep forgetting you haven't met my family. Let me just say it is very possible for family members to look that alike. One day, after Christmas a few years back, my brother Charlie's sister in law called him up and told him there was a picture of him in the local paper returning gifts. That was impossible because Charlie avoids malls like the plague during return season. He went to check the paper, and it turns out that it was another cousin of ours, one of at least five who look incredibly alike. So yes, Mulder it is possible for family members to look that alike." "I guess it's worth checking out after the case is over," Mulder said hesitantly. Scully smiled and interlaced his fingers with hers. "Good. Now, we have to get up and get moving. If we're going to get out this early you're treating me to breakfast." She tossed back the covers and moved to get out of bed. As she got out of the bed she was jerked back upon it by her waist and fell on top of Mulder, who was grinning at her. "Breakfast? This early?" he mumbled while kissing her neck. She gently pushed his head away and turned around in his arms. She laid her forehead against his and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I promise as soon as this case is over we take a vacation. No FBI, no annoying older brothers, just you and me," she whispered close against his lips. "Okay," Mulder muttered. "I'll go get in the shower, and then treat you to breakfast." "Good," she smiled, and they both went to prepare for the long day ahead. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX At the same time somewhere across town Shannon Ramsay-Parker sat bolt upright in bed, startled awake from a dream. In her dream she saw her brother Fox, actually two versions of him. She herself was only about ten years old, and she was standing behind the little Fox. They were both staring at a man she just knew was what Fox looked like now. From what she could tell he'd grown up to be a good-looking man, even more handsome than Colin, and she remembered he was such a heartbreaker in school. She also remembered herself telling him that tomorrow everything would be right. Did that mean that she would see him tomorrow? Shannon could only hope that's what the dream meant. Shannon felt a stirring in the bed next to her. Her husband Johnathan sleepily opened his eyes and stared at her. "What are you doing up at this hour?" he asked in a barely awake voice. She looked over at the clock. 5:15. Might as well get up. "I've got to meet Alec, Robbie, and Molly at the store. Remember? They're fighting the Cader today." "Oh, yeah," Johnathan muttered, propping himself up on his elbows. "D'you need my help with anything?" Shannon leaned down to brush a kiss on his lips. "Nah, Molly's got the spells covered. Just watch Brian and Juli today. And..." Shannon faltered, not sure of what she should be saying, "just...just be prepared for anything, okay?" Johnathan wrinkled his forehead. "Why?" "I've got a feeling, okay. Just be prepared," she smiled at him. He let his elbows go out under him and flopped back on the bed. "Sure. I was a Boy Scout. I can do prepared..." He trailed off, quickly falling back to sleep. Shannon smiled and got out of bed. She pulled on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. She'd taken a shower the night before so she could sleep later in the morning. She did a quick once-over in the mirror, applied some lipstick, quickly brushed out her hair, once again mentally thanking the people at Manor Rd. Salon for removing all traces of grey from her hair. She pulled on a pair of boots and rushed down the stairs as quick as possible without waking any of the sleeping inhabitants. She opened the garage door and gasped at the temperature. The warmth of the early fall day that was yesterday had changed overnight into a biting cold day. She pulled a heavy sweater out of the coat closet. She opened the garage door and pulled her car out into the early morning. The car screeched to a halt in front of the bookstore. Shannon unlocked the door and raced through the bookstore to the stairwell in the back room. She climbed the stairs past the second floor meeting hall and up to the third floor library where the Dragon and Witch's books were. The library walls lined with shelves that held all sorts of books of different colors and sizes. On one wall, between the shelves was a fireplace and on another a window. The three kids were already in the room. Robynne sat at the table in there, tugging at one of the two braids her hair was plaited into. Molly was looking at the books, her still wet hair pulled back into a ponytail and dripping down the back of her sweater. Alec was pacing in front of the window. All three had dressed for the colder weather and the storm they could just tell was brewing. At least according to the weather report the night before. Alec stopped pacing when he heard the door open and saw Shannon enter. "Okay, what can we do?" he asked. Shannon began walking over to the bookcase near Molly. "Your job is going to be easy. Knock the thing out. Disable it. Molly's going to have the hard job." She pulled a selection off the shelves and dropped them onto the table with a bang and a puff of dust. Robynne jumped back slightly, waved a hand in front of her face and coughed. Molly dropped down into a chair along with Shannon. Alec looked over Molly's shoulder. "So what am I going to have to do?" Shannon flipped open to a page in the first book and turned it to Molly. "Here's the spell to retrieve the souls of the others. It's a bit complicated, so it would be best to have the thing unconscious. Any disruptions would not help." Molly's eyes scanned the page and sighed heavily. "Oh, this is gonna be real fun," she muttered. She looked up at Shannon. "What else is there?" "If the time slip the Cader made is there, just send him back through, and close it up." She picked up another book and picked another page. Shannon's photographic memory enhanced by supernatural talents let her remember the content of every book stored in the library. "This is the spell that'll close the slip." She handed the book over, and Molly groaned when she saw it. "I'm going to need a three day nap to recover from this," she whined. She looked up at Alec behind her, then at Robynne, and then at Shannon, who sat looking innocent. Too innocent. "There's more?!?" she yelped. "Only if the Cader closed the slip behind him. Then you have to open it as well." She turned the book in front of Molly one page back. She looked at the page and slumped back in the chair. Alec placed both hands on her shoulders and rubbed. Molly's hands went up to cover his. Robynne shot a knowing glance at Shannon, who rubbed a hand over her face to hide a smile. Molly leaned over and pulled a red, spiral bound notebook out of her backpack. "Let me just copy the spells down. I'm not lugging all those books with me." She took out a special fountain pen she used only for writing spells and began to copy them down in the notebook in bright green ink. When she was finished she slipped the book back in her backpack, stood up, and shouldered it. "Well, we better get going then, before too many people wake up." Robynne stood up next and the three moved to the door. "Good luck," Shannon called after them. When they were gone she turned to the phone sitting on the table. She punched in the familiar number and waited for someone to pick up. "Hi," she said after two rings. "Yeah, I know it's not even six yet, Mama, but I have to tell you about this dream I had last night..." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 6:45 a.m. Mulder parked the rental car in the parking lot for Sliver Lake park and the crossed the street to the entrance on the base of the hill. As Mulder unlocked the padlock on the small gate in the stone wall Scully looked up through the forest. The sky which should have been growing lighter was beginning to brew with storm clouds. She could see the faint outline of the back of the school through the leaves still not changed from their summer green. Suddenly the sound of the padlock shattered the early morning stillness. Mulder pulled it open and dusted his hands off on his jeans. "After you," he said with a smile. Scully walked through and Mulder followed, shutting the gate behind them. They began to hike up the small paved path leading up the hill. Scully pulled her jacket tighter around her in the cold, early morning air. "Did we really have to come out here this early?" she asked, trying to keep the whine out of her voice. She felt Mulder's comforting hand on her back. "Yeah, I think we have to be out here." He looked down at her, "I know it's early and it's cold, but it'll be over soon, and then we can go home," he said, his voice distant. She looked up at the sudden hollowness of his voice. She turned around and stopped in front of him. "Are you okay?" she asked. He pulled his steps up short. "Yeah, I'm okay," He wrinkled his brow in puzzlement. "Why?" She shook her head. "You just seemed really distant again." She rubbed a hand over her forehead. "I'm sorry. I'm...I'm just tired. I need a good night's sleep," she sighed, dismissing her actions. She wasn't really tired, but that was the only was she could explain the growing sense of apprehension in her stomach. Mulder wrapped a sweater-clad arm around her and they began walking up the path once more. "You were right before. I think we both really need a vacation." She let out a low laugh and he smiled at her. "So where's the first site?" he asked. Scully pulled a hand drawn map made by one of the officers. "I think--" she broke off abruptly. "Look at that," she said, pointing a hand into the trees. Mulder looked over her head and looked into the forest. He didn't see anything out of place, but then his eyes lit on a bright flash of red that wasn't supposed to be there. Then he saw the shape of three people. Two of them being Molly Addison and Alec Ramsay. "Well, well, well, what have we here? Think we ought to go find out what they're doing here?" he asked, removing his arm from her shoulders, becoming consummate professionals once more. They began to move off the path and into the trees. The three kids hadn't heard them coming, they were still talking amongst themselves when Mulder and Scully were only about five feet away from them. "Fancy seeing you here," Mulder said calmly. The three jumped around, Molly yelping in surprise. "Wha-what are you doing here?" Robynne managed to stutter out. "The same could be asked of you," Scully said, crossing her arms over her chest. Molly looked at Alec. They hadn't expected any intrusions or unexpected visitors so they didn't have any prepared cover story. Alec's look told her that she should take the lead. "Uh...I had lost a book out here when I found Jenna so we were just out here looking for it." She smiled her most winsome smile. Mulder glanced down at his watch. "At five to seven on a Saturday morning?" Robynne broke in with the next lie. They couldn't tell the agents why they were out there, they'd be tossed in the loony bin for sure. "There's a field hockey game later. We thought we'd get an early start." Scully and Mulder looked at each other. Captain Avery had told them that all school activities were canceled over the weekend because of the stakeout. "Nice try," he said and Robynne shrugged. "So what exactly are you doing out here?" The three didn't say a word but looked at the trees, ground, anywhere but at them. Mulder sighed. He looked at Scully and caught the meaning of her glance. "All right you three, let's go." "Go where?" Alec asked, a stubborn look on his face. Scully thought that at that moment he looked too much like Mulder. "Up to the school," Mulder said. "We've got to have a little chat." The boy and the man stood there, both refusing to budge. Molly looked at Robynne, then at Agent Scully, who she found had a look of amusement of her face similar to the one that was on her own. Molly rolled her eyes and Robynne looked skyward and muttered something unintelligible. Something shiny caught Robynne's eyes. Her head turned towards it, but all she saw was more trees. But there was something there. She was positive of it... "Fine," Alec eventually said, clenching his teeth. He turned around and began walking up the hill, Mulder following closely. The three women hurried to catch up with them. Suddenly Robynne's eyes saw the shiny thing again, a few feet ahead of Alec and Mulder. Before she could shout out a warning the shiny thing flashed and they all found themselves being pulled at, as if they were in a giant wind tunnel. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX END PART SEVEN-Preparations for the battle between good and evil Date: 28 Jul 1999 00:49:16 GMT Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: NEW: Lightning Shadows VII (08/10) Please send feedback to RhiaRamsay@aol.com. -------------------------------------------------------------- PART EIGHT XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Part Eight-Battle of Revelations The group felt themselves being pulled in all directions. Scully forced her eyes opened to find she couldn't see anything, it was all darkness. She reached out to Mulder blindly, and felt his hand take hers. She couldn't see him, but she just knew it was his hand. Suddenly something gave and they felt themselves falling. Within seconds they made impact, the breath rushing out of them. Alec rolled onto his back and gasped for air. Without even opening his eyes he knew something was not right. Next to him Molly was struggling to get her arms to prop her up, all the while spitting out grass. Robynne was holding her aching head in her hands. Scully pushed herself off of where she landed on Mulder and stood up. She reached down and pulled Mulder to his feet. He was rubbing the back of his head where it hit the ground. She checked him over briefly to make sure he didn't have a concussion. Then she turned to the three kids, who were standing on shaky legs. But then, they all got a good look at where they were. They were still on a hill, but this time it was covered in green grass. The formerly near stormy sky was now a bright, clear blue. At the bottom of the hill was a large, nearly still lake that had an almost silver gleam to it. In the distance they could see the ocean, and to another side mountainous hills. "Oh, man," Mulder breathed. "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore," Alec quipped. Molly looked over at him with an unbelieving look on her face. How could he joke at a time like this, she thought. But Molly's thoughts turned back to more important things. She was almost positive what they encountered was the time slip. They were in the exact same spot as they were in the forest, but this was before the forest grew in. And that was Silver Lake down that way. Her train of thoughts was interrupted by Scully's voice. "What's that?" she pointed to a thing near the lake. A thing that was beginning to move in their direction. The three kids gasped. This proved that their guesses on what was causing the kids to lapse into comas was right. What was approaching them was a Cader-Ieran, and even from their distance away they could see its teeth bared in anticipation. The three turned around to look at Mulder and Scully, who stared back. "We really should move," Robynne said. "Why?" Mulder began to ask, but he was stopped by Scully's hand on his arm. She saw the creature that she couldn't identify for the life of her approaching at a faster and faster speed. He saw it and him and Scully began edging backwards. Molly looked over her shoulder and saw the large body of the Cader gaining speed. "Run!" she screamed, and they all turned and ran up the hill as fast as they could. Before they could get anywhere though the light flashed again, and once more they found themselves in darkness, being pulled in all directions by unknown forces. This time when they landed they fell into piles of dirt and fallen leaves. The impact wasn't as bad as the first time, so they managed to pick themselves up quickly. Now, they realized they were back where they first started, in the forest behind the school. Molly saw that the backpack she dropped when she first felt the slip pulling them in was still lying on the ground. When Mulder got his breath back, and after checking to see if Scully was all right, he turned to the three kids, leaning against a tree while they caught their breath. "What the hell was that?" Mulder demanded. The three looked at each other. They were trapped. They didn't know what to do. If they told him the truth, he'd think that they were crazy. They didn't know that he'd been known to have some crazy ideas of his own but that wasn't the point. Alec noticed that the two girls were glaring more and more pointedly at him. "Uh..." he stuttered. From out of nowhere a large mass struck Mulder from the side and they both went flying, landing in between two large trees. "Fox!" Scully yelled, to her immense surprise. Molly heard the word and shot another pointed glance at Alec, who let his head hang for a second in concedence. Suddenly Molly grabbed her head in pain. Somehow the Cader's thoughts were making their way into her head. Through the jumbled mess in her head Molly was able to distinguish why the Cader was attacking Agent Mulder-the untapped Dragon energy would fuel it for a long time. Pieces to a thirty-five year puzzle were beginning to fall into place. Next to Molly Scully began to run where Mulder was to try to pull whatever it was attacking Mulder off of him. She was stopped, though, by Molly's outstretched arm. Scully glared angrily up at her, but Molly shook her head no. Then, Molly turned her head to look at Alec, and they nodded in sync. Scully stared at Alec, her mouth dropping open. The boy's skin began to change into a deep, glowing, green color, and took on a strange texture. Alec crouched down, placing his palms down flat on the ground. Suddenly his body began to change. With a flash of green light a Dragon stood next to Molly. Scully saw that the Dragon's scales were the same color as Alec's bright green eyes. But then, she figured, the Dragon was Alec. Even crouched down, the Dragon was as tall as Molly. Scully could only imagine how big he was standing up. The dragon let out a loud roar. And at that moment, all hell broke loose. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Meanwhile, Mulder saw the creature over him, clawing at his clothes. Deep inside, he knew this was why they had to be out there. That it was up to them to defeat this thing which was somehow harming the kids. He pushed his hands against the body of the creature, trying to prevent the sharp teeth from coming anywhere near him. Suddenly he felt a energy course through his veins from sources unknown. His hands began to clench and unclench against the creature's furry body. He felt his eyes begin to burn. If he was looking in a mirror, he would have seen his eyes glowing a bright hazel color. He felt the energy center in his arms. From somewhere he heard a loud yell, almost a roar. Hazel eyes flashed, and Mulder gave the creature a mighty push and sent the Cader flying off of him. The Cader landed in a heap a few yards away from him. Mulder's eyes widened when he saw the creature be attacked by what appeared to be a Dragon. A living, breathing Dragon, like something out of a fairy tale. He was too achy to move at the moment so he just stared at the fight. Scully saw the creature go flying off Mulder. She thought she was seeing things, but she could have sworn Mulder pushed it off of him. Without a second thought she ran over to where he lay on the ground gasping for breath and staring at the fight. "Are you okay?" she asked breathlessly. Mulder reached a hand up to caress her face. "I'm okay. A little achy, but okay." His eyes looked past her to the two creatures. "But what the hell is that?" "I've got no clue," Scully said. Molly looked at Alec and the Cader embroiled in a fight. Luckily it looked like Alec was winning. She glanced at Robynne standing next to her. It didn't seem as if they would need her Dragon abilities right now, so Molly bent down and whispered to her. "Why don't you go over there and help Agent Scully with Agent Mulder. And while you're at it, drop a few subtle hints." Robynne looked up at her and nodded, picking up on what she was saying. She skirted the fight and rushed over to where Scully was trying to prop Mulder up against a tree. She knelt down next to the partners and took one of Mulder's shoulder's and helped Scully get him upright. She caught Scully's look of thanks, but then it changed to a questioning one. "What is that?" Scully asked of the two creatures fighting. Robynne shrugged. "A problem." When Mulder was leaning against the tree trunk she turned her eyes back to the fight and began the 'subtle questioning'. "So, I'm guessing your first name is Fox judging by what she called out." "Yeah," Mulder said, the question evident in his voice. Robynne shrugged. "I had an uncle with that name once. Disappeared, though, about thirty five years ago, when he was three." Mulder and Scully shared and incredulous glance. Could this girl be saying what they thought she was saying. Scully grabbed hold of the arm of her windbreaker, and Robynne looked up at her. "What did you just say?" Scully asked. Robynne just smiled a knowing smile and brushed her braids off of her shoulders. At that moment there was a crash. Three heads turned to see the creature sliding down the now slightly bent trunk of a tree, falling in an unconscious heap on the ground. The Dragon stood back, and to Mulder's immense surprise turned into Alec, who collapsed on the ground, breathing hard. Robynne got up from Mulder's side and ran over to Alec, muttering "I should be a nurse." Mulder looked up at Scully. "What the hell is going on?" he asked. Scully just shook her head, and they turned their eyes once more to the scene enfolding. Molly ran over to the fallen creature, dropping to her knees as she pulled a notebook out of her backpack. After that she pulled out a small glass bottle with a cork stopper. She quickly flipped open to a page and began reciting words under her breath that neither Mulder nor Scully could understand. As her words went on, the creature's body began to glow with a sickly color. Suddenly the sickly color shifted and it began to pour itself into the little glass bottle. When it was finished, Molly quickly grabbed the cork, stopped it up, and slid it into her backpack. She turned her attention back to the creature. Mulder and Scully saw the irises of Molly's eyes begin to cloud over as she whispered more unintelligible words. They stared wide-eyed as the creature began to lift up in the air without any help. The creature floated over to where they could now see a patch of something shimmering in the air. It went through the shimmery patch, and disappeared. Molly suddenly stood up, holding her notebook in her hands and backing away from the shimmery patch. She recited more words, ending the sequence on a shout. The patch flashed brightly, blinding them all for a few seconds. When their vision cleared, the shimmery patch was gone, and Molly had rushed over to where Alec was still trying to catch his breath. Mulder scrambled to his feet and walked over to the three kids, Scully following quickly behind him. The kids had managed to get Alec to his feet, but he was still being helped to stay upright by Molly's arm around his waist. "Why did you tell me that story?" Mulder demanded. "What story?" Alec asked, puzzled and still tired. "The name thing," Molly said, not looking at him. Alec rolled his eyes and rubbed a hand over his face. "Yeah," Mulder said. "Why did you tell me a story about some long lost uncle of yours who coincidentally has the same name as me?" Mulder was purposely acting a little ignorant to find out what they knew. Mulder knew that the reason they told him the story was because of the name Scully had called out, which was the same one as a lost family member of theirs. The pieces just seemed to fit together. Molly looked at him incredulously, then to Alec, and back to him. "Look at the two of you! You guys look too damn alike! Try and tell me there's not some connection here," Molly almost yelled. Scully looked at Mulder and shrugged her shoulders. Her look was telling him that what Molly just said mirrored what she herself had said that morning. "Look," Robynne said. "Why don't you come with us to see our aunt. She'll be able to tell if...you know...if it's true." Mulder looked at Scully this time. Both were unsure as to what to do with the offer. "It can't hurt," Alec broke in with a smart-ass smile on his face. "We're not going to turn into serial killers on the way there so what can it hurt?" "Okay," Mulder said, making the final decision. "We'll go. Just tell us how to get there." "Uhhh..." Molly stuttered. "D'you think you could give us a ride maybe? We took the bus here." Mulder rubbed a hand over his eyes. "Whatever. Let's just get going." The group made its way down the hill, out the gate, across the street, and to the car. As he was nearing the car Mulder suddenly gasped and grabbed his head. Scully rushed over to his side. "Are you okay?" she asked, grabbing onto his arm. Mulder carefully nodded. "Yeah. Just a sudden headache. I'll be okay." Scully looked doubtful, but she said "Okay. But I'm driving. We don't need you passing out over the wheel." She held out her palm for the keys and Mulder, almost a little reluctantly, handed them over. They all got into the car and it began to make its way through the streets of Staten Island. Soon, they pulled up in front of the bookstore. 'Dragon's Den', Mulder noted the sign, 'There's got to be some significance to that.' They left the car and headed towards the building. Alec, Molly, and Robynne went in first, only to find Shannon pacing in circles in front of the cashier. "Where are they?" she asked when they got through the door. "Who?" Alec asked, knowing full well who she was talking about. "Don't give me that crap. You know--." Her words were cut off at the sight of Mulder and Scully coming through the door. At her first glance at Mulder she knew he was the same person as from her dream, and that things were going to happen. NOW. Mulder stared at the tall woman with oak brown hair and hazel eyes and felt his head begin to buzz. There was something so familiar about her. He found his mouth forming a word before he realized it. "Shannon?" he said, and then his head went blank and he fell to the floor, out cold. Scully saw the resemblance between Mulder and the woman and began to make the connections. When Mulder had asked her name her ideas were confirmed, but then he fell to the floor. "Mulder" she gasped out, and fell to her knees beside him. Shannon bent over next to her and peered down at Mulder. "Should I call for an ambulance?" she asked. Scully shook her head. Something strange had happened when she began examining Mulder for a head trauma. She could feel something in her fingers that came from Mulder that told her he was fine. "N..no," she said. "I think that his memories are coming back. That's why he collapsed. Maybe the sudden shock of it caused it. An ambulance wouldn't help at all." she said shakily. Shannon looked over at Scully. She could tell this woman knew Fox much better than she did, and that she should trust her. But she knew she could help. "We should get him out of here." Scully looked up at her, puzzled. "Where should we take him?" she asked before she could question Shannon's motives. "My mother's house. It's not five minutes from here. When he wakes up, if he's got any questions, Mama's the one to ask." Scully caught the same term Mulder used to refer to his mother from the dreams, and that made something inside her become sure that this was the thing to do. Dimly she noted that her faculties for logic were scampering off into the sunset. "Okay," Scully nodded. She looked up at the three kids standing off to the side, looking intensely curious and frightened at the same time. "Help get him into the car," she asked them, and the kids came over and between the five of them managed to lift Mulder's prone form up enough to make it through the door and into the backseat of their rental car. "I'm going to go with them," Molly suddenly said. "I'll show them the way to get there." Scully was a little surprised by this, but right now she was still a little in shock from all the developments. "Okay," Shannon said. "We'll meet you there." Shannon, Alec, and Robynne piled into her car and drove off. Scully and Molly got into her own car, and Scully started it, soon following the same path Shannon took. "I guess this is a bit of a shock," Molly suddenly said. Scully sighed. "You could say that." "Do you think it's true?" Molly asked. "Think what's true?" Scully said, puzzled. "That he's-" she jerked a thumb into the back seat to where Mulder was still out "Shannon's brother. The 'long lost' one." Scully bit her lip. She wasn't sure Mulder would like her telling this strange girl things that he remembered that they both considered personal. But from all outward signs this girl knew more about the story than Mulder did. "I suppose it could be true. He'd had some dreams with a girl named Shannon in it. I'm guessing from his reaction that she more than resembles this Shannon here. He also mentioned a woman named Mama, and that's what Shannon called her mother. Does Shannon have a brother named Colin?" Scully asked hesitantly. Molly grinned and nodded her head. "That's Alec and Robynne's father. He's out of town right now though. Any other questions you have can probably be answered by Cat, uh, Mama." Scully ran a hand over her face. "I guess that I'll get to meet her too, right?" "Yeah. We'll be there soon. I personally want to get there and get to sleep," Molly sighed, leaning against the car door. "Tired?" Scully looked over at her with a confused look on her face. "It's not even eight yet." "Yeah, but those spells really took it out of me," Molly said. Scully's brow wrinkled. "Spells? As in magic spells?" she asked with an incredulous tone to her voice. Molly suddenly smiled brightly. "You'll find everything out as soon as we get there. You two have a lot to learn." Almost imperceptibly, Scully's foot pressed the gas pedal harder. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX END PART EIGHT-Battle of Revelations Date: 28 Jul 1999 00:51:32 GMT Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: NEW: Lightning Shadows VII (09/10) Please send feedback to RhiaRamsay@aol.com. -------------------------------------------------------------- PART NINE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Part Nine-'There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy' Catriona paced back and forth in front of the side door to her home. Any minute now she would see the two cars pulling up the long, sloped driveway. She knew exactly what those two cars contained: six people, one of which was currently unconscious and had a bed made up for him on the couch in the family room. Her brown plaited hair had come loose from its knot and the long braid now dangled well past her hips. Thirty-five years. It had been thirty-five years since Fox disappeared. And now, those thirty-five years seemed like they only spanned a minute. Finally the two cars pulled up. One was Shannon's that she recognized immediately. The other car was a non-descript dark blue Taurus. From Shannon's car she, Alec, and Robynne got out. From the other car came Molly and a smaller redhead she didn't recognize. In the back of the car Cat knew was the man her little boy had become. Suddenly she noticed the cold wind whipping around and burrowing its way into her bones. "Come on in!" Cat suddenly cried. She saw the smaller redhead start, ('That's probably Dana,' Cat guessed) probably at her accent. Most people didn't expect to hear it coming from her mouth. Although she figured a name like 'Catriona' would give them a hint. "It's frigid out here!" With that she turned and walked in through the wooden door, leaving it open in invitation for the others to come in. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Scully stared after the older woman walking into the house, her skirt flaring out behind her. 'Was that Mulder's real mother?' she wondered. Suddenly Scully sucked in a deep breath and pressed her palms flat against the car door. 'What the hell am I doing?' she thought frantically. 'I'm following people I don't know at all with a partner who could be seriously injured--' 'But what about what your gut is telling you? That all that's wrong with Mulder is that he's getting his memories back. That you know deep down that this really is his family,' that little nagging voice popped up in her head. Scully pushed the voice back down and went on with her mental tirade. 'And I'm willingly, willingly following people I don't know, don't trust because of a hunch. A pretty damn extreme hunch.' That little voice popped up once more. 'You do trust them though, on an instinctual level. They're Mulder's family, they would never do anything to hurt you.' She mentally kicked the voice for jumping ahead and assuming that this was Mulder's real family, although she wouldn't admit to herself that the voice was probably right. A hand came down on her shoulder. Scully turned to see Shannon's hazel eyes ('Mulder's eyes,' it occurred to her) staring down at her. "We really should get him inside. It is getting cold out here." Scully looked at Mulder, stretched out across the back of the Taurus, and then up to Shannon once more. "Yeah. That's a good idea," she said, placing a trust in unknown sources that this situation would not turn out badly. "Should we carry him inside?" Shannon looked over at Molly, who rapidly shook her head. "Nah-uh. No way." She backed up a step and tripped on a loose piece of gravel and stumbled, the only thing preventing her from meeting the ground was Alec's arm suddenly going around her waist. "I guess we carry him then," Shannon said. She moved over to the door by Mulder's feet and pulled it open. Scully moved over to Mulder's head. She saw his eyes moving rapidly under closed eyelids. She gently ran a hand through his hair, and he seemed to relax at her touch. "So how do you want to do this?" Scully asked, at a loss as to how to get Mulder out of the car without hurting him. "Uh..." Shannon stuttered, at a loss for an idea. Finally, after a few minutes of gentle pushing and pulling, Mulder's body was out of the car and being carried by the five people to the house. They got him through the door, and Scully found herself in a short hallway. The hallway almost immediately opened up to a large room with a dark, wood-beamed ceiling and white walls. To the right and left of her the walls were embedded with windows. The ones on the right, the front side of the house, looked out over Staten Island, and the one on the left facing the back of the house looked out on a garden, grass, and trees. Her eyes then flew to the couch facing the back window, made up with pillows and sheets and had the woman standing at the head of it. "You can put him right here," the woman said. The five moved over to it and gently laid him down. The group began to disperse. Robynne began to walk into another hallway opposite the one they entered by, saying "I'm going to get some breakfast, Gramma." Alec went over and turned on the TV and sat himself down on the loveseat facing it, slouching down with an exhausted sigh. Molly bent down and unzipped her backpack. She pulled out the little bottle that had the sickly looking color contained in it, shifting and swirling within its glass confinement, and handed it to the woman Scully had determined was Shannon's, and possibly Mulder's, Mama. "Got it," Molly grinned at her, handing her the bottle. Cat smiled and took the bottle from her. "Perfect," she whispered. She walked over to one of the front windows and pushed it open. She placed the bottle on the windowsill and uncorked it. The sickly color flowed out of the bottle and dissolved into the air. "What the hell is going on?" Scully suddenly broke in. Shannon and Cat turned to her, with puzzled looks on their faces. Scully continued. "I mean from their unexplainable stunt in the woods," she waved a hand back at Alec and Molly who were both slumped on the loveseat, oblivious to the conversation that was taking place because they were both on their way to falling asleep, "to why I'm here following people I don't know just because of Mulder and his uncanny resemblance!" Cat walked over to the couch and sat down on the floor next to it, near Mulder's feet, showing surprising agility for her older age. She patted the floor and looked at Scully. "Come on and sit down." Scully looked wary, the conflicting feelings being reflected in her eyes. She wasn't sure she should, but something inside her knew that this older woman was to be trusted. Cat suddenly grinned at her. "You feel it, don't you," she said. "That feeling inside of you that says I'm not going to hurt you." Scully's mouth slowly opened, wondering how this woman knew what she felt. Cat nodded. "I know. I've felt that feeling many times myself." She patted the floor in front of her once more. "Come sit down and I'll tell you my story." Scully slowly sat down, crossing her legs. Cat's accented voice began to take on a singsong quality as she began to speak. "Alec called here before while you were in the car and told me how you had called your partner by his first name, Fox. I had a son named Fox, who disappeared when he was almost four years old. I remember the date, August 24, 1965." 'That was the date that Mulder first appeared on Martha's Vineyard according to the police report,' Scully thought. Cat looked at Shannon. "Get the picture from the mantle, please," she asked. Shannon nodded and retrieved the picture, handing it to Cat. Then she sat down a distance away from them in an easy chair. "This is him," Cat said handing the picture over to Scully. Scully took it gingerly. The picture was a black and white picture of a little boy, no more than three years old, sitting on a big reclining chair, still dressed in his pajamas. The little boy had dark hair that stuck up all different angles, with a wide smile that had an mischievous look to it, and there was a noticeable birthmark on his right cheek. Scully reached into her jacket pocket and brought her wallet out. She pulled a picture out of it that Mulder had given to her one day. It was taken when Mulder was about eight years old, and was of him and a four year old Samantha at the beach. Aside from the wet, slicked back hair of the young Mulder, and the slight difference in age between the boys in the picture, they could have been identical. She handed both pictures over to Cat. "That picture is of Mulder, Fox, when he was eight years old," and let her fill in the rest of the blanks. Cat nodded. "The resemblance is incredible." Scully shook her head and rubbed a hand across her forehead. "This is..." she couldn't finish her sentence. Cat smiled sympathetically. "It's a lot to take in." Suddenly both women were distracted by movement on the couch next to them. Scully's head whipped around to see Mulder's body moving restlessly on the couch. And shortly after that, his eyes opened. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Mulder's mind whirled. His head was filled with images both unknown and yet familiar at the same time. A birthday cake with a three on it. Walking down a rocky beach holding onto the hand of his father. Playing a game of catch with an older boy who looked like him, his older brother. A tall, dark haired woman with sparkling blue eyes, Mama, singing him to sleep. The memories all of a sudden broke through the haziness of his memory, and he felt his body twist on the couch. He now knew exactly who he was before he forgot, who he grew up to be, and who he was now. His eyelids suddenly burst apart and he found himself looking up at a dark, wood-beamed ceiling. Scully's face appeared above him. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly, her hand stroking the side of his face. "I...I remember everything," he said in a breathy, whispery way. He sat up abruptly, staring wildly around him. His eyes fixated on Cat, staring into hers. "Mama," he whispered, and Cat smiled a wry grin. Mulder let out a deep breath and slouched against the back of the couch. Scully sat up on her knees and touched his face with her fingertips. "What's going on, Mulder?" she asked. "I remember everything," he said, staring her in the eyes. "Who I was before I was with the Mulders. It's all back in my head." His eyes wandered around the room once more. "I've been in this room before." Cat's voice spoke up from behind Scully. "Well if you are who I think you are you've spent quite a lot of time here. You grew up in this house." Mulder and Scully looked at her, and then back at each other. "I think she's right," Mulder said. "I think she's..." he couldn't finish the line, out of fear or hope or maybe a combination of both. Scully nodded. "I think you're right." Mulder smiled slightly with surprise at her quick acceptance, but he had figured something had happened while he was taking a little trip into his memories. "But I think we should do a blood test, just for confirmation." She looked over at Cat. "I've no objections to that. It's best to be positive. Although I'm sure that Mulder here is my dear, sweet long lost son," Cat smiled serenely. "Sweet?" Scully said disbelievingly, and Mulder pouted. "I can think of plenty of words to call you, but sometimes sweet isn't one of them," Scully grinned in a playful way. "Oh believe me, he was no angel as a kid either," Cat spoke up, and Mulder and Scully sat back to listen to her. "The amount of trouble this one got into had me running around frantic a good part of the day." Scully looked pointedly at Mulder, and he hung his head, trying not to laugh at her expression. Cat's description sounded decidedly Mulder-like. By this time Mulder and Scully were sure that he was Catriona Ramsay's son, even without the proof of a blood test. And Cat knew it because of the bond that is shared between all families. Cat spoke up, voicing an observation she had come to from watching the short interaction between the two F.B.I. agents. "So you two are just partners, huh?" she asked, her crooked grin signifying she thought otherwise. Mulder and Scully both blushed and looked at the floor. "Is it that obvious?" Mulder asked. "The way you were acting in here it is. Outside, though, is probably a whole different story." Cat winked at them. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone who's not supposed to know." Mulder straightened up, swinging his feet onto the floor next to Scully. "I've got a question though. What the hell was going on in that forest? I've seen some-" here he glanced at Scully, "-pretty strange things in my time and I've got to say that this was one of the strangest." Cat primly folded her hands in her lap. "In short, a Cader-Ieran, a soul stealer, was coming into the woods through a time slip, a sort of bridge between times, and attacking those five kids because he needed their souls for food," she said bluntly. Scully gaped at her. "You expect us--" she began to say out of habit, but then she realized exactly what she saw in the forest that morning and revised her question. "What about the Dragon? I know I wasn't hallucinating this morning and I saw Alec physically transform into a Dragon, a creature of myth and legend." Mulder's mind thought back to some of the dreams he had, and some of the story began to come together. "I had some dreams about this," he said. "About you showing me, Shannon, and Colin a diagram of the family tree in a cave and you telling us a story about there being Dragon blood in the family. Seeing Shannon make her hand get covered in scales, Dragon scales. And you telling me that you were a Witch." Scully sat in silent agreement, having heard what happened in his dreams before. Cat nodded. "Those things all happened, and it's all true. The Ramsay family is one of the few families in this world that are descended from Dragons. No one knows the logistics of this, but somehow, the blood running through the veins is part Dragon. That includes you." "But Dragons have never been proved to exist," Mulder said. "Most medieval accounts of Dragon sightings have never been considered accurate." "Some are. Some are of people using the Dragon side of their heritage, whether it be for transportation or like Alec was doing this morning, to defeat some evil that needed to be defeated. Some are actual Dragons, not people with Dragon blood. The appearance of an actual Dragon is rare, they don't come out often because they don't have the human blood in them, and can't blend in with ordinary people. And some...some are just the delusions of people looking for explanations of ordinary things." Scully looked up at Mulder, the fantastic tale astounding her and making sense at the same time. He sat, the wonderment obvious on his face. "What about you being a Witch?" was Mulder's next question. Cat shrugged. "I am. Not a Witch in the Disney sense of the word, the evil witches whose sole purpose is to be bad. And we're not like Wiccans either. This kind of Witch is someone who is more in touch with the world around them. Basically we can communicate with nature. We can talk with everything from trees to the ocean. When we cast spells we're asking nature to help us. Sometimes nature will help us without our even asking, a Witch just realizes exactly what's going on where an ordinary person wouldn't. Our powers are there from birth. You can't predict which family a Witch is going to come from. It's not like Dragons, where the blood is passed down from generation to generation, they just appear. There have been some theories saying that Witches evolved as a balance for Dragons. Dragons are notoriously hot-tempered, whereas a Witch is more prone to think things through. When a mission is undertaken, like this morning, a Dragon and a Witch always work in a pair to form a balance." "So how do I recognize a Witch?" Mulder asked. Scully sat back, knowing that the questions more applied to Mulder than herself. She was content for the moment to sit back and soak this newfound knowledge in. Cat let out an exasperated breath. She was surprised he didn't figure out who the other Witch was yet. "It's instinctual," she shrugged. "Neither a Dragon nor a Witch is ordinary, and they can each sense that quality in the other. That and the fact that Witches and Dragons are naturally drawn to each other." Cat began to stare pointedly at Scully. Scully caught the stare and shrunk back a little uncharacteristically. "What are you looking at me for?" she asked shakily. Mulder looked down at her too, worrying about her sudden discomfort. "Have you had any experiences recently that would be considered out of the ordinary?" Cat asked calmly. "You think I'm a Witch?" Scully gaped incredulously. "I think it's highly possible," Cat said softly, trying to calm the agitated Scully down. She knew, though, just from looking at Scully that she was indeed a Witch who had a connection with her son. "Still, has anything that's out of the ordinary happened to you very recently?" Scully bit her lip, deep in thought. One incident in a school bathroom came to mind. She felt Mulder's hand stroke her shoulder. "What is it?" he asked, close to her ear. She closed her eyes and then slowly re-opened them. "Yesterday, up at the school, I had confronted Molly in the bathroom, and in her backpack, I saw one of her books turn into another book. It was different from the school textbook; it was leather bound, with gilded pages." Cat nodded. "Molly cast a glamour on the book, an illusion to disguise the true nature of some things from ordinary people. It's not so easy to hide things from a fellow Witch." Scully sat back against the front of the couch and crossed her arms in front of her. Mulder slid off the couch to sit next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Cat reached over and rubbed Scully's arm comfortingly. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it. Most Witches realize their abilities when they're very young. And the young accept these things much more easily than adults do." "I think I've got to get used to some things myself," Mulder whispered in her ear, and Scully let out a small smile and leaned her head against his. "I've got a question," Scully said, still leaning against Mulder. "What was that thing that Molly pulled out of that creature? What she had in that bottle?" "Those were the souls the Cader-Ieran had taken. You can't destroy a soul, so they're imprisoned inside the Cader until the Cader dies. At that time the souls go back to their original bodies, if they're still alive. If they're not, well, it's believed they have a choice to go on either to the afterlife, or to be reincarnated into another body. What Molly did was move up that process a little bit. It sounds a little brutal, but when she pulled the souls out of the Cader, she effectively killed it. What I did was release the souls so they could find their way back to their respective bodies." Cat smiled at them. "Any more questions?" Mulder smiled an identical grin back at her. "You know it." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX At that moment, the five kids who were comatose, Jenna Dreiser, Adam Douglas, Michelle Sellers, Peter Lanson, and Jason Ericson, came back to life, their souls restored to their bodies. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX END PART NINE-'There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy' Date: 28 Jul 1999 00:53:58 GMT Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: NEW: Lightning Shadows VII (10/10) Please send feedback to RhiaRamsay@aol.com. -------------------------------------------------------------- PART TEN XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Part Ten-Epilogue Friday, October 9, 1998 10:30 p.m. Staten Island Mulder guided the car along the highway easily, the late hour saw not too many people driving. He glanced over at Scully peacefully sleeping in the passenger seat, and he smiled. The past two weeks had been pretty hectic, and this was the earliest they could get away for vacation. After that fateful Saturday they had spent a few more days in Staten Island, running tests on the newly awakened kids. Of course, nothing abnormal could be found in their systems, and all traces of digitalis and the strange compound were gone. Mulder had figured that it was a residual effect of having their souls returned to their bodies. Back in D.C. they had to deal with the usual paperwork that's left when a case is finished. They did put in for vacation though, and managed to get a Monday off for a three day weekend. They decided to head back up to Staten Island. Cat had invited them to come over any time, so they decided to take her up on the offer. In the past two weeks though Mulder had spent a good hour of every night on the phone playing catch-up with Cat and his father, Jerome, and Shannon. It would also give Mulder a chance to meet the relatives that weren't there two weeks ago, Shannon's two older kids, Sage and Connor, who were away at college. He'd also see his older brother Colin and his wife, who didn't come back from their trip until after they left for D.C. Mulder sighed quietly as he found the right exit. Things were so different now. In the space of about two months he found out things about his past that he never remembered happening, found his original family, and found out about abilities he has that he didn't even realize existed. One of the best things that happened was that he and Scully had finally admitted their feelings for each other. Mulder reached over and caressed Scully's cheek with his hand. Scully sighed softly in her sleep and nuzzled into his hand. It was the first time Mulder felt himself truly in love, not like the love he thought he had in past relationships. His and Scully's was a love that had evolved from a basis of respect and friendship that eventually became a love deeper than either had ever experienced before. A major concern of his was his relationship with Tina, the woman who had raised him and was his mother for many years. He had no intention of severing all ties with her, he still loved her. In essence she had helped make him into the man he was today. But, ever since she had told him about when he was found on Martha's Vineyard, whenever he tried to call her she always seemed distant. Mulder knew he was going to have to find a way to balance both his families, even though the Mulder family was pretty small. Samantha was another sore point. Since that contact during that hellish time right before Scully's cancer went into remission, he hadn't had anymore contacts with her. He kept thinking about how she wasn't his real sister, and wondering what Cancer Man had told her about him. Mulder assumed that Cancer Man knew he was adopted, since he knew Bill Mulder since, well, before he was living with them. The thing with Samantha was that he surely considered her his sister. He was afraid that finding this lost part of him would make him forget about one of the major things that had guided his life. Then, there was the Dragon thing. He'd had trouble believing it at first, this was something truly fantastic, even for him to believe. But the next day, that Sunday, Alec had took him out flying. It was an incredible sensation. Even though the Dragon body he was in was no bigger than six inches, the feel of being in the shape was strange but intensely familiar, like the knowledge of it had been in his bones since before time. Scully was also learning about being a Witch. Cat, Shannon's husband Johnathan, a fellow Witch, and especially Molly were helping her cope and learn about her newfound powers. He had the feeling she'd been practicing, ever since she fell in the toilet one morning because he left the seat up (it was his apartment, he was still getting used to being a couple and having someone else share his living space) and he found his pajamas suddenly doused with water--without any sink or faucet or incriminating cups nearby. That and the wicked grin Scully had on for the rest of the day gave him a hint. There was a stirring in the seat next to him, and Mulder's eyes moved slightly to see Scully stretching out the kinks in her neck. "Are we almost there?" she asked. Mulder looked out the window at the street signs. "Almost. I think another five minutes." He shot a sly grin at her. "Hey, at least we'll get to share a bedroom here," he quipped. Scully mock glared at him, but then rubbed a hand over her face. "I can't believe I haven't told my mom about this yet." Mulder shrugged and took her left hand in his right. "Maybe it's better that they don't know about this just yet. They're closer to all our enemies down there, as bad as it sounds maybe they've got a close watch on them because they're your relatives. But I wouldn't worry about it. When the time is right, we'll tell her together, and then you can protect me from your older brother who I'm sure would want to see me six feet under after that announcement," he smiled at her. She laughed softly and pulled his hand to her mouth and pressed a kiss to his knuckles. "You know, I don't think I'm really ready to tell them yet either. I like having this special secret." Mulder smiled at her and rubbed her face once more with his hand. Mulder peered out the front window. "I think that's the driveway." He turned the car onto the long, sloping driveway. When he pulled up he saw Cat, Mama, standing at the side door wrapped in a long shawl, with her eyes sparkling in the light coming from the doorway, and her bright smile on her face. He stopped the car, and him and Scully got out. The hands that weren't carrying their overnight bags interlaced and interlocked fingers as they walked up to where Cat was. Mulder saw his mother standing in front of him and Scully standing by his side, and he finally realized where he was. Fox Mulder was finally home. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX END OF WHOLE STORY-Lightening Shadows VII-Destiny=Chance, Free Will, and Necessity Wow! I finally finished this thing after six months of hard work, and I think it was worth it. It came out much, MUCH longer than I had planned, but if I had made it any shorter, I think the story would have lost something. Don't worry, there will be more stories in this series, I don't think I could leave it off here when there are still so many more things that could be done with it. Please send feedback and tell me what you think of it. My addy is RhiaRamsay@aol.com Thanks go to my sister, Melissa, for helping me out and for her love of Dragons. To Julie, for reassuring me that the story was good. To Rosie, for bugging me as to when I would finish the story, and to all the other people whose comments made me get the story out faster. Thank you so much!