From: Ash XF <ashxf@aol.com>
Date: 02 Jun 2002 21:10:29 GMT
Source: atxc

Seek and Ye Shall Find pt. 7

The early morning sunlight drifted down between the cracks in the
closed curtains of the motel room, bathing everything in a soft glow
as William woke. The shower was running and John was nowhere to be
seen, he must be in it. Monica was looking up a number on her cell
phone when she looked in his direction. She smiled.

"Morning sleepyhead. How'd you sleep?"

William shrugged. He had slept the deep sleep of the dead actually,
and he didn't feel at all rested. He hurt everywhere, his head hurt
and he was still a little unsettled in the stomach. Then he remembered
why and his eyes closed in pain.

He had had another dream about the beach. In it, he had built a huge
UFO out of sand all by himself. Fox Mulder had come up and asked what
it was and William told him. For some reason he was angry at the man
and started tearing away at the sand structure.

"Hey, what are you doing? Why are you destroying your spaceship?"
Mulder asked in surprise.

William didn't know. "It's YOUR spaceship," he said, annoyed. "YOU'RE
destroying it. You were supposed to help me," said William throwing
sand at him.

'Where were you when we needed you?' he thought. 'I needed you then,
so did Mommy, but you weren't there. And they came after me, and she
was afraid. I need you now, they came again. Daddy, the spaceship...I
need your help with it.....if you don't help me, they'll win.'

He had no idea what he even meant by all of that. "They" who? And the
dream had faded into the darkness from whence it came.

 He opened his eyes. Monica was looking at him with concern.

"Who are you calling?" he asked.

'Your grandmother, actually," she replied. He opened his eyes wide in
surprise.

"I have a grandmother?"

"You sure do, and two uncles on your mother's side, and several
cousins. Most of your dad's family is dead though, except for a half
brother. Anyway, this is your mother's mother. She lives in D.C."
Monica searched her numbers programmed into her phone for Maggie
Scully.

Monica continued, "I told you I don't know where Dana is or how to get
a hold of her, and that's true, but I know she calls her mother at
least once a week. If I can tell Maggie Scully what's going on then
the next time she talks to Dana, she can tell her to call me. They
need to be here."

William looked up in surprise, "You're going to ...they're going to
come here?"

Monica dialed the number, "I don't know, but they need to know what's
happened here. They're the only ones who have any right to make
decisions about what to do now. Anyway, I want to know what they want
me to do."

William nodded as John came out of the shower. William groggily got
out of bed and went to brush his teeth. 

As he brushed, he listened to Monica on the phone.

"Hey Margaret? Hey, it's Monica Reyes....I'm doing good, how are
you?....Yeah, hey has your wayward daughter called recently?...No?...A
ny idea when she will?....Well, see it's like this, I really need her
to call me, we have an emergency, her or Fox...well, John and I, are
you sitting down?...Well you'll want to sit down for this one, Maggie.
Well, um, we found your grandson, William....no I'm not kidding. Well
I'm pretty sure it's him, he looks just like both of them...yeah
there's DNA of course, we're already on that actually..."

William listened as Monica repeated the story starting with how
William found out he was adopted, up until finding him the night
before.

"OK, well when she DOES call, tell her what I told you, and tell her
to please call me or John. Same goes for Fox. Yeah...thanks
Maggie....talk to him?"

Monica looked at William, pulling his shirt on. William looked up
surprised.

Monica spoke again, "Maybe later Maggie, he's still kinda in shock.
Yeah I'll be sure to tell him, OK, bye now..."

She hung up. William looked up.

"Tell me what?" he asked.

Monica grinned, "She says she wants to talk to you and can't wait to
hear you. After all, she hasn't seen you since you were a baby."

William didn't quite know what to think, in the space of 10 minutes he
had acquired a grandmother and a message was being sent to his birth
parents. 

John suggested they grab some breakfast. The McDonald's was right next
door, so they went to get some pancakes and egg and bacon and cheese
biscuits. William hoped it would stay down this time. While they ate,
Monica told them she had called Joshua's mother earlier that morning
and asked if William could stay at their house most of the day. One of
them could stay with him while the other assisted the Sheriff in the
investigation. But before anyone went anywhere, she wanted to airmail
a sample of William's DNA to Washington for comparison to
known samples of DNA of run on William by Dana Scully after her son
was born, just to confirm it was the same kid.

John thought it was a good idea to have William stay at a friend's
house as opposed to spending the whole day sitting in the police
station. If the Sheriff needed him he knew where to find them. John
would take the car and pick them up later. He didn't want to mention
anything in front of William, but he knew Monica knew. The chances of
actually catching the murderers was slim. They were long gone, but not
far away. They'd be back but not in the middle of town in
broad daylight 24 hours after a double murder. Even the monsters they
chased down weren't usually that stupid. And if they were dealing with
the supersoldiers, the situation could get worse if they had to
explain to the Sheriff WHY they won't be found.

Monica decided she would spend the day on the phone trying to find out
what would be done with William now. With no relatives left, he was
technically a ward of the state. She wanted to call Skinner and see if
they could pull some strings and get him released into their
protective custody.

William looked around the McDonald's. The last time he had been there
was for Becky Blake's birthday party. Had it only been 3 months? He
still wasn't too hungry and only ate half his breakfast.

On the way to Joshua's house, they stopped by the hospital so a doctor
could take a blood sample of William. John gave the sealed sample to
an FBI agent from the Des Moines office and asked him to get it to
D.C. as fast as possible. Agent Doggett dropped them off at William's
friend's house, then went on to join the other agents at the Van de
Kamp farm. Diane came out as John pulled out and pulled William into a
hug.  Monica shook her hand and they went inside. Diane had instructed
her children not to question William about everything, and
they were a little uncomfortable. William was still exhausted from his
ordeal the night before, so he asked if he could lie down. Joshua
grabbed some pillows and blankets and set William up on the couch in
the playroom, while he sat down to watch movies. Lacey joined them.

Convinced that William would be alright with the other two children in
the room with him, watching movies, Monica went on to make phones
calls arranging for William to come to Washington with them. Skinner,
in particular, was stunned by the news, and even more so when he
learned that William had called his office too. When Monica finally
got off the phone, she was confronted by a barrage of questions from
Joshua's mother. She wanted to know if it was safe for her kids
to be out of the house, did they know who killed Bob and Nancy, what
would happen to William now? Monica tried to answer as best she could,
but the hardest to say was that in all likelihood, William would be
leaving in a few days and not coming back any time soon. By afternoon,
funeral arrangements had been made and the local church was dealing
with everything needed. The farm would be sold and William would
inherit everything, but Monica decided to bring him by first to pack
anything he wanted to keep. It wouldn't be easy and she
hoped they were up to it. 

Around lunchtime, Diane made up some macaroni and cheese and Monica
went to call everyone in. William wasn't hungry. As Josh and Lacey
left for the kitchen, Monica sat down on the floor in front of the
couch where William was curled up with the pillows and blankets. He
looked so lost, so sad. She wanted to hug him, but she was a stranger
to him still. Instead she reached out and took his hand. He stared at
her with those blue eyes, so like his mother's.

"What will happen to me now?" he asked quietly.

"Well," said Monica. "I finished all my phone calls. Your parents"
she swallowed hard, "the funeral is tomorrow at noon."

William closed his eyes as she continued, "and after that, we'll go to
the farmhouse so you can pack what you want. Then you'll come with me
and John back to Washington. You'll stay with your grandma Maggie,
probably me and John will stay with you too. We're trying to find Fox
and Dana, your birth parents."

"Will I live with them? They won't want me, they gave me away, they
won't want me now" he buried his head in the pillows.

Monica took him by the shoulders and turned him to face her. "William
listen to me. They didn't want to give you away. Your mother cried for
three days straight. You were a baby and they couldn't protect you
from the ones who wanted you. They wanted you to be safe but you're
not safe here. Not anymore. They loved you, they still do. God
William, they love you. I know, I saw it. They love you as much as
they love each other, and let me tell you, I never saw two people more
in love than your parents. They weren't all gooshy about it,
but from the way they looked at each other, you knew they'd die for
each other, and nearly did a couple of times. Hell, your father went
to ANTARTICA looking for your mom! And they gave that same look to
you. They WILL want you."

She hoped she wasn't lying to the kid, he was actually paying close
attention. "And even if they don't, which won't happen, your
grandmother wants you. And you have two uncles and aunts, and cousins,
you have family you know. But Dana and Fox WILL want you."

William nodded slowly, not sure what to think. He missed Bob and
Nancy terribly, and it got worse with each hour that passed, when he
realized they weren't coming back and he wasn't going home. He was
about to lose his whole world, his best friend, the town he grew up
in, all to go and live with people who were his blood family, but were
strangers, in a hostile and dangerous world. This was probably the
last time he'd ever be in Josh's playroom again. He'd never come to
another Bible study with Nancy and watch movies with the
other kids. He had cried so much in the past few hours he couldn't
believe he had any tears left, but they came. Monica pulled him into a
hug and rocked him. He let her, it was all he had now.

When John came to pick them up around six, William hugged everyone
goodbye, not knowing if it would be the last time, although Monica
assured him he'd see them again. They stopped in Joe's Diner for
dinner, then went back to the motel, where William's night went much
the same as the last one did.

The next morning, he dressed in the Sunday clothes Diane had picked up
for him from his house the day before. According to John, the crime
scene was cleaned up, and they had moved the investigation into town.
Another farmer had taken the livestock and a police guard was posted
at the house to keep away looters or more criminals. William moved
almost in a daze as he rode to the church with John and Monica. His
grandmother, Maggie, had called twice to see how things
were going and each time wanted to talk to him, but he just couldn't
yet. He didn't know what to say, he was still reeling from his
emotions. He sat in the front pew in church with Monica and Diane,
John standing nearby. He couldn't bring himself to look in the
coffins, he didn't want his last memory of Bob and Nancy to be what he
would see. He shook hands with nearly everyone in town,
barely looking up through the curtain of tears sticking to his eyes.
He nodded mutely at the well wishes of the townsfolk, unable to
speak.

Finally the minister started the service, and it seemed to go on
forever. At the end, before the coffins were closed, William was
expected to go up for a final look. He never knew how he made it, he
only knew Ms. Diane was on one side, John and Monica on the other. He
went up to the coffins and forced himself to look in. They looked
terrible, like wax dummies, not like his parents he remembered. He
closed his eyes as the coffins were shut, and followed blindly as they
walked out to the cemetery. He never knew how he managed to hold his
tears as the coffins were lowered, and he dropped a handful
of dirt into each grave, whispering goodbye, and thank you to the man
and woman who had raised him, loved him even though he was another man
and woman's child.

As the crowd began to disperse, he followed John and Monica to the
car. They were going to go out to the farmhouse for the last time so
he could pack what he wanted to bring. John had told him not to worry
about how much to take, he could take anything he wanted. William had
asked if he could keep his minibike, so John had had it packed up
ready to be moved. As William went to get into the car, he heard
someone call his name. He turned around. Jimmy Henderson came
running up to him, then stopped looking uncomfortable.

Then Jimmy held out his hand and said, "Goodbye William. Good luck."

By now the whole town knew William was leaving with the agents.
William was surprised. Then he took Jimmy's hand and shook it.
"Goodbye Jimmy." He said. The boys nodded at each other, then William
got into the car.

The drive out to the farm was surreal. He had been this way thousands
of times, and yet he felt like he was dreaming. As they pulled up to
the farmhouse, he felt emptiness settle into him. It already felt
deserted and strange, not the home he knew. He was afraid, afraid he'd
see blood on the floor or something, afraid he'd break down once he
walked inside. He followed the agents in, and looked around. The house
was pristine, and that only added to the strangeness. No one was here.
He went upstairs to his room to pack.

He had decided he wanted everything, including his bed, so Robbie
Henderson and some of his friends dropped by with their pickup trucks
to drive the boxes and things to Des Moines to be shipped. John didn't
say where they were going, only that they were going someplace where
Fox and Dana would be able to get to them easily if need be. With
Monica's help, he picked out several photo albums of him and the Van
de Kamps to take with him, and several other items. It was well
after 10 PM before they finished for good. William walked through the
house and barn for the final time, knowing he would most likely never
see it again. The tears fell again as he burned the images into his
photographic memory of the last look of his home.

Then, with as much courage as he could, he pulled himself up, and
turned his back on the farm, ready to face whatever was coming at him
next. He was silent on the ride back to the motel and silent as he got
into bed. Monica was worried but John, who had once had a child of his
own, was more relaxed. The next day, they would take him home.


Seek and Ye Shall Find pt. 8



The next morning was gray and dreary, just like William felt as he
brushed his teeth and dressed. He felt some twinges of excitement
though, for today would be his first remembered trip on an airplane.
He knew he had flown before, but he couldn't remember it. He was a
little nervous about flying, but excited. He felt the same way knowing
that by tonight he would meet his grandmother, his mother's mother.
What was she like? Would the family like him? Would he like
them? They packed quickly and started to load the car. William had
said goodbye to everyone at the funeral the day before but Monica said
they would stop by Josh's house on the way out one last time, and also
at the cemetery one more time before leaving.

The final farewell to his friend was hard, but they promised to email
each other and call as often as possible. John gave them the address
to Maggie Scully's, which wasn't exactly a secret anyway. Ms. Diane
and Mr. Jake hugged William goodbye, and so did Lacey. Finally he
stood in front of Josh.

"Thanks for everything, for all your help and." He broke off. Josh
nodded, choked up himself.

"Be sure to call or email," he said as William pulled a binder out of
a bag and handed it to him.

"Here," said William, "take my baseball cards."

Josh shook his head, "No way, you love those. You've been working on
that for years."

William handed him the binder anyway. "Now it's yours. Just promise me
you'll keep up with the Pirates, OK?"

Josh nodded then handed William a bag. Inside was the entire boxed set
DVD's of all six Star Wars movies. Josh grinned and said, "I always
thought of us sometime in the future up in space kicking alien butt or
something."

William mock scoffed and said, "Yeah like that'll ever happen." He
grinned at Joshua, but didn't see the glance between John and Monica.
Then the boys hugged. With a final wave, and tears everywhere, waves
goodbye, William got in the car and watched as the family of friends
disappeared in the distance. Only one more stop, then he would leave
Midville for good. 

They pulled up to the cemetery and William walked up to the fresh
graves of his adoptive parents. As he stood there, placing a rose on
each one, he realized he didn't want this to go on, he wanted this
nightmare to end. He didn't want to know anything about his biological
parents, he didn't want to leave Midville or the farm or Josh. He
wanted to go home, he wanted Bob and Nancy, the only parents he ever
really knew. He wanted to go to Bible study on Saturday nights
and Bible school on Sunday mornings. He wanted to ride his minibke in
the fields and drive the tractor with Bob. He wanted to make cookies
with Nancy and look at the stars from the hood of the pickup truck. He
wanted his life back. 

But it was gone, gone with Bob and Nancy. He felt as if someone had
dropped him off in a strange country, alone and lost and he didn't
know the language or anyone. He didn't want to go to D.C., he didn't
want to meet his grandmother or uncles he never knew. He felt the pain
deeply and he breathed in slowly. Suddenly he felt a hand on his
shoulder. John stood next to him with Monica on the other side. He
felt a little better. He knew these were good people, they
would look after him, but they weren't parents. He turned and slowly
walked back to the car while John and Monica stood by the grave a few
moments longer. He had just reached the car when a hand grabbed him
from behind!

He froze in shock as rough hands grabbed him up quickly and started
towards a car parked not far away. With a frantic breath he found his
voice.

"JOHN!!! MONICA!! HELP!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

They whipped around and saw the man carrying William away and broke
into a dead run, pulling their guns. William felt a cold river creep
up his spine, up the back of his skull to the top of his head as he
recognized the feeling, the same one he had at the farm the day his
parents were murdered. He looked up at the man and recognized him, the
man from the black SUV. The man who had killed his parents.

"It's him! He killed Bob and Nancy!" William yelled as the man held
him with one arm and tried to open his car door. William pulled his
knees to his chest, planted his feet on the door and firmly kicked it
closed.

"Federal agents, freeze!" yelled John. The man turned around as Monica
yelled, "Drop that kid!"

The man only smiled evilly and said, "You won't fire, you might hit
the boy."

John's face set in stone as he said evenly, "I'm a good shot, I won't
hit him."

The man still smiled, "Then shoot."

William felt his breath coming quickly. He was frozen with fear,
unable to move or even try to twist away. John yelled at the man again
to drop him or he'd shoot. William closed his eyes. The man didn't let
him go. John counted to three and the man still didn't let him go, in
fact turned  again towards the car to shove him in the back. Then
there was a deafening roar.

The man jerked and William let out a small scream as John fired.
William felt warm wetness splatter on his hands. He looked down to see
speckles of red. 

EWWWW! He was going to be sick in a minute. That was blood, real
blood, not the fake stuff from the movies. He whimpered and then,
against his better judgement, turned to look up. The man's head was
thrown back from the impact of the bullet.

Why wasn't he dropping? William wondered. He had been shot alright, he
should be down. Then, as William watched in horror, then man lifted
his head and smiled. There was a quarter sized hole right between his
eyes. He then turned with William towards the car.

Damnit that's impossible! William's mind screamed. That's IMPOSSIBLE!
He started to yell frantically, what the hell was this man?? Whatever
he was, he had a good grip on him and was dragging him away.

"John! He's a supersoldier!" yelled Monica. Suddenly William heard a
whistling sound and THUNK!

The man jerked again, this time with a dart of some kind lodged in his
upper chest. Again, he only smiled, but then the smile turned to
confusion, then surprise, then horror. William felt him tense up, as
if every muscle were contracting. He heard John yell at him to get
away from there, as the man's grasp slackened.

William twisted free and ran to Monica who was holding another gun
than the one she had been pointing. It was unusual, more square and
bulky, but she dropped it in a pocket and grabbed him and ran. With
John right behind them, they made it to the car.

William looked back. He couldn't believe his eyes! The man was turning
to metal! Wracked with violent convulsions, he watched in disbelief as
the man flew to pieces of metal that disintegrated and oozed into the
ground. Was he dreaming? This HAD to be a dream!

Monica shoved him in the car and jumped in herself as John peeled out
of the parking lot.

"Hurry John!" yelled Monica, "There may be more, we need to get out of
here now!"

"Buckle up, Wil!" John called back.

In a daze, William buckled his seat belt and looked out the window as
the town of Midville went by in a rush. Then, it was gone and they
were on the highway. William felt himself shaking. He was like a small
rubber boat being tossed in a hurricane. All safety was gone,
everything familiar was gone, and some inhuman THING that had killed
his parents had tried to get him and had exploded into a
million pieces. He felt cold and was shaking in fear, to scared to
even cry.

Monica passed him John's handkerchief soaked with water from her water
bottle.

"Here baby," she said softly, "Better wipe that blood off. Are you
hurt anywhere?"

He shook his head slowly as he wiped the man's blood off of him. Most
of it had gone backwards, it was only a few drops. But he felt sick
doing it. She asked him again if he was ok and he did a check. Nothing
seemed t be broken or hurting. He looked up at her.

"OK, level with me," he said with as even a voice as he could. "What's
going on? Who was that? WHAT was that? You told the sheriff he wanted
me, why? This has all happened before hasn't it?"

Monica and John looked at each other. How much should they tell him?
How much could he handle at seven years old? They didn't want to scare
him needlessly, but it seemed to be too late for that. On the other
hand, maybe the more he knew the more he could appreciate the level of
danger he was in.

It was John who answered. "OK, son, but you're in for a hell of a
story, and if you're anything like your mom or me even, you won't
believe even half of it."

William nodded. He only wanted answers. John decided to tell him as
much of everything he knew. It would be for Fox and Dana to fill in
the holes. He started with his assignment to the X-Files to help Agent
Dana Scully locate her missing, abducted, partner Fox Mulder. Skinner
had seen an unidentified flying craft fly away as Mulder went missing.
John told William about Billy Miles who had been taken along with
Mulder. Billy was recovered and turned into something nobody could
explain, something that wasn't human anymore.

While John believed it was a military project to create a super
soldier, William's parents and Monica had believed these things were
alien, the result of alien experimentation meant to sneak into the
human population as terrorists infiltrate the country the same way,
and lie in wait until it was time to strike. William asked if aliens
were real to which John replied that he had never seen one, but that
both of his parents claim to have seen them lots of times. Monica said
she believed Mulder and Scully. John replied that at the end
of the day it didn't really matter WHAT the supersoldiers were, that
no bullet could stop them.

John had seen whole clips emptied into them, seen them crushed in
garbage trucks, shot with shotguns, they still got up and kept coming.
There was no way to defend against them and they were relentless. This
had been the reason he had been given up for adoption anonymously. His
mother had had no way of stopping them from coming after William. His
father had had to go into hiding because these things wanted him dead
and there was no way to stop them from that.

William asked why these things wanted him. That's where John stopped
and went silent, unable to answer. It was Monica who went on to
explain that there was a rumor that he, William, would be the one to
lead these things during the upcoming invasion.

William was floored. HIM? Lead an alien invasion of earth? This had to
be some kind of joke. That stuff only happened in movies. And why in
the hell WOULD he lead aliens in a takeover? That went against
everything he believed in, like aiding the devil during the Second
Coming or something. Monica explained that this was why they wanted
Fox Mulder dead. 

According to prophecy, if Mulder influenced his son's life, raised him
to his own ideals, then William would follow in his father's footsteps
and fight against the aliens and supersoldiers. And he would be a
formidable enemy, maybe even the only one capable of stopping the
invasion. But if Mulder were dead and William taken by the
supersoldiers, he would be raised to be their leader. That's why they
wanted him and wanted him alive. He was still young enough to
be influenced. But once it became clear he wasn't on the aliens' side,
then he would be marked just like his parents.

William tried wrapping his brain around it all. It was too hard to
believe. What was so damned important about HIM? Why HIM? He asked
Monica that same question, to which she sighed and looked at John.
Then she looked over her shoulder at him and told him about how, as a
baby, he could move things with his mind, seemed to understand what
people said, how his eyes had followed things before they should have
been working correctly, and the nagging suspicion that he was somehow
born because of some kind of intervention, because Dana Scully had not
been able to have children, she was barren.

William was stunned. Then suddenly it made sense. All those things he
could do, that's why. Was he an alien too? He asked and Monica shook
his head, saying Dana Scully had tested him five ways backwards and
forwards, he was human alright, and hers and Mulder's. But it didn't
matter now, Monica had told him, because his half uncle had injected
him with the same substance found to kill the supersoldiers,
magnetite. Somehow, it had eliminated his unusual abilities.
Monica went on to say that they had found that if a supersoldier
walked into an area of high magnetite concentration, he would be
pulled apart at the seams, it was the only known way of killing them.

Following this discovery, they realized they had their weapon they
needed. By modifying a tranquilizer dart gun and using a high
concentrated solution of magnetite, they now had a weapon, which could
destroy an indestructible enemy. Normally this would have allowed his
parents to come out of hiding, but the supersoldiers and aliens
weren't the only enemy.

Now it was John who told William about the sham of a "trial" his
father had been put through after supposedly killing a man who was
known to be a supersoldier. His mother had discovered the truth, that
the man was still alive, but the evidence from her autopsy had not
even been looked at and the trial closed without any chance for
Mulder. With John and Skinner's help they had broken him out of jail
and Mulder and Scully had fled to the New Mexico desert, followed by
the government men assisting the aliens. His parents were
presumed dead after a helicopter had blown away the ruins they were
in, but John and Monica knew they were alive because they had seen
them afterwards.

Now they stayed in touch from wherever they were hiding, and called
Margaret Scully every so often. It had been Skinner who had explained
everything to the Scully family and given them magnetite weapons in
case the supersoliders got ideas about holding Dana's relatives
hostage. For years, everyone had been safe, William hidden away
somewhere no one knew, his family staying low and guarded, his parents
in hiding. And there were no shortages of human threats
either as John told him about the UFO cult that had abducted him as a
baby, believing the supersoldiers were God's angles and he was their
leader.

As they finished up with some loose ends, William sat back. He
understood perfectly everything that had been told to him, despite his
age. This was one of those times when he realized being a genius could
be a curse. Joshua had often joked that he was like Harry Potter, a
long lost wizard, or something, but this was worse, far worse. An
alien messiah was unnerving. Then he felt anger. If it were true, it
mean these things had single handedly destroyed not only his natural
families' lives, but his adoptive ones too and how many more
others? They were just going to waltz down onto this planet with
their supersoldiers and viruses and just kick them out?

What right did they have to do that? And they expected HIM to lead
them? Hell no! No way! He wanted them dead, he wanted them all dead.
So much for the benevolent aliens of "Close Encounters" or "Star
Wars", this was more like "Independence Day." He had his doubts about
being the human race's savior too, but one thing was for sure, if this
was all true, he was sure as hell going to do what he could to fight.
His parents had sacrificed everything for him, he would not betray
them by fighting for the aliens.

Then, silently, right there in the backseat of the car speeding to Des
Moines, William made a promise to himself and God, one he wore he'd
never break. He would never join or lead the monsters who had killed
Bob and Nancy, who had tried to break and kill Dana and Fox. He would
not see the world he loved turned into some alien hellhole. He was
only a child, but it made no difference. Who knows, maybe Josh would
get his wish, maybe someday they WOULD be together again, kicking
alien butt. Did they even have butts? He wondered with a smile.

He was silent, lost in thought all the way to the airport. They had
looked a thousand times to make sure they weren't followed, but little
could be done now anyway. John and Monica were able t bring their guns
on board the airplane when they showed their badges and they boarded
the jet. Despite his grief at leaving home and the shock of the story
he had just heard, William was excited about the plane ride. He sat by
the window next to John with Monica sitting behind them. As the plane
took off, William watched in awe as the ground fell away. 

He listened to music, played tic tac toe with John, watched the in
flight movie, then finally fell asleep. He awoke to John shaking him
awake as the plane descended. They were in Washington D.C. It was late
in the afternoon, nearly sunset when they landed and the plane bounced
as it hit the runway. After what seemed like forever, they finally
taxied and pulled up to the gate. John and Monica gathered their bags
and William grabbed his backpack and they got off, but instead of
heading down the ramp, they turned and went out a side door.

A man was waiting for them at the base of the stairs with a silver
car. He was bald and wore glasses. He smiled when he saw William.

John pulled William in front of him and said "Wil, this is Assistant
Director of the FBI, Walter Skinner. He was your mom and dad's boss
for nearly eight years."

The man smiled and said, "Hello William, it's been a long time." he
held out his hand and William shook it, sensing an almost
grandfatherly glow from the man. William smiled. So this was the
"Skinner" that his mother had called on the Cops show, that he had
tried to call himself.

Skinner said softly, "My God, you look just like them." William smiled
and said quietly, "Umm, thanks, I guess."

John was all business as he asked, "Are we clear?"

Skinner nodded, "As a bell. Let's go."

John and Skinner got into the front and Monica and William climbed in
the back and they drove off. They had everything with them already,
there were no bags to claim. William's things had been sent ahead and
picked up by Skinner earlier that day who had brought them to Maggie
Scully's. 

It seemed to William that they drove around alot, seemingly in
circles. They drove by the monuments and the Pentagon. Monica pointed
out the new section of wall built after some terrorists had flown a
plane into the side. William remembered reading about that in school,
two planes had also destroyed the World Trade Center and a fourth had
crashed in Pennsylvania. He wondered if those crazy terrorists would
be so hell bent on attacking America if they knew the whole world was
about to be invaded by bloodthirsty aliens.

They drove by the FBI building and he saw where John, Monica, Mr.
Skinner, and his parents had worked. Finally, when Skinner and John
became convinced they weren't being followed, they headed to
Georgetown for Maggie Scully's house. As they drove by the
neighborhoods, William got a sense of deja vu, feeling for
sure he had been this way before. He knew he had.

And when they pulled up to a house, he knew without a doubt he had
been here before. It was nearly dark but the lights were all on. As
they got out of the car, the door opened and a woman came out to greet
them. She greeted John and Monica and Skinner warmly, then looked down
with wonder at William.

William stared back. He recognized her right away. It was the older
woman from his memories. It was his grandma Maggie. He remembered her!
She used to babysit him. He could sense the strong emotions in her as
she looked at him, and for a second he heard a whisper of her
thoughts...'he looks like Dana, a little like Fox too....'

For the first time since Bob and Nancy had been found dead, he felt a
sense of security, a family security. He went up to her slowly and
held out a hand. She reached down and picked him up and held him. He
felt her silently sobbing and sensed the relief and happiness from
her, and the love. He barely knew her, but this was his grandmother.
He felt his own tears starting to come and hugged back tightly.

John said something about going inside and Maggie carried her grandson
inside as Monica gathered up his bag. They would all stay here tonight
in case there was trouble. As Maggie set him down in the kitchen, John
told her what had happened in Midville. She glanced down at him, then
sighed and nodded. She knew the troubles were far from over, but no
one was going to starve in the meantime. She had cooked up some pasta
alfredo for everyone and William suddenly realized he was hungry for
the first time in a long time.

Maggie smiled as he downed two plates of alfredo and Monica and
Skinner chatted away about anything except the situation. Maggie said
she still hadn't heard from Dana but that wasn't unusual. Sometimes
they talked every week, sometimes a month went by, whenever her
daughter could get to an untraceable phone. So far it had been two and
a half weeks. Not time to panic yet. Her sons had not heard from their
sister either.

William slowly began to feel his eyes droop. He got up and put his
plate in the sink as Maggie got up and said "I'll do that, sweetie.
Time for bed for you."

Monica got up. "I'll do the dishes, Mrs. Scully, you go on and get him
to bed."

John stood up and said he'd help with the dishes while Mr. Skinner got
stuck with the trash. With a grin, he mumbled something about pulling
rank on John to take the trash out, to which John replied something
about being off duty. William smiled as he followed his grandmother up
the stairs.

She told him she was putting him in his mother's old room, but that it
wasn't exactly decorated for a kid. He said that was OK.

He pulled on him pajamas that were already there and crawled into bed.
Maggie tucked him in and kissed him goodnight. He settled in but sleep
came slowly. He looked around the room, his mother's room. Nothing
personal of hers remained, she had taken most of it with her. There
were some clothes and toys from his cousins left there, but the rest
was just furniture. Still, he felt somehow secure knowing this was his
mother's room in his grandmother's house and three FBI agents, all
armed with magnetite guns were downstairs. John had told him
not to worry, he would be as safe here as was possible.

But would he stay here? What would happen next? Finally he fell
asleep, dreaming dreams of supersoldiers invading the earth, calling
to him to join them. He yelled back NO! The he heard a voice call his
name and he turned and saw his father, Fox Mulder reaching out to him,
calling "come with me son..." he reached out for him but the dream
faded and he slipped into a deep slumber.



Seek and Ye Shall Find pt.9

William focused his gaze on John Doggett standing across from him and
suppressed a smile. He was supposed to be serious he knew, but John
looked so funny, like a deranged hockey goalie, padded up from head to
toe in protective gear. Suddenly John lunged at him, grabbing for him
but William dodged out of the way and brought his foot up and kicked
right where John's knee would have been behind all the padding.

John straightened up. "Good, Wil. That was good, but hit harder next
time, OK? It won't hurt me, I promise, and you have to practice the
same way you'd do it. Can't hesitate now, or you will later,
understand?"

William nodded and moved back to his spot. They were in the gym at the
FBI building, being watched and helped by Agent Jason Magus, a former
student of his mother's from when she had taught at the FBI Academy at
Quantico. The man had been thrilled to meet the son of his former
teacher, even though, like everyone else, he believed she was dead.
All Agent Doggett had told him was that William had been put up for
adoption following the death of his parents but some former criminals
with a grudge against agents Mulder and Scully had found him and
killed his adoptive parents. Now with criminals after him, and
the boy living with Scully's mother, John had felt he needed some self
defense training.

William had been in D.C. for ten days now, and still Dana Scully had
not called. Maggie was starting to get a little concerned, but not too
much just yet. She said it would be time to worry by next Friday. In
the meantime William was starting to feel caged up. He was not allowed
outside without adult supervision, and he and his grandmother rarely
went anywhere except twice to the mall and once to the movies with
Monica. He was fast getting bored.

Maggie had a video game system hooked up to her TV for her numerous
grandchildren that William had glued himself to for the first three
days, but he soon tired of it. She had dug out her son, Bill Jr.'s,
old leatherworking and wood-burning kits and William had stayed busy
making key chains for her, a wallet for John and Skinner, and a wooden
nameplate for Monica's desk. He had put together puzzles, helped with
the housework, watched movies, but by the 5th day he was running out
of stuff to do.

Finally it was John who suggested taking him to the federal building
to learn some self-defense. John had told William about his own son,
Luke, who had been kidnapped and killed when he was William's age.
John had always wondered what he could have done more to find Luke,
although Monica assured them they had both done the best they could.
But John had wondered if things would have gone differently if Luke
had known some self-defense basics? He didn't know, since
no one knew how Luke had been taken, only that they found his bike and
nothing else. It didn't seem to matter at the time, since Luke had
also known about not talking to strangers, hell his father was a cop.

Also there was the simple fact that, no matter how smart any seven
year old was, he still was developing physically, and coordination and
strength would be a major factor. However, something was better than
nothing, and so for the past five days, nearly all day, William had
been training with John and Agent Magus, sometimes Monica, in various
martial arts such as Aikido, karate, taekwondo and krav maga, a
martial art used by the Israeli Army against terrorists, which was
easy to learn and very effective. William loved it.

He was haunted by the memory of the man grabbing him at the cemetery
and how he had frozen in fear. Now he was training to react, to kick
and punch and scratch. And he learned fast, since it would be crucial
to his survival. It was fun to do, but far from play. He wondered how
effective it would be against the supersoldiers, but John reminded him
that several normal humans wanted him dead too.

As for the supersoldiers, John had a plan for that too. Several years
back, Dana had worried about her family's safety, especially her
brothers' children. Charlie's sons were both 19 and 18 now and had
been given the dart guns as well as some self-defense training and
myotron stun guns. They had been well informed and trained especially
since their father was in the military. The family had been told
nothing of the supersoldiers alien origin, only that they
were a government experiment gone bad and that they wanted Dana dead.
It was sort of like a warped Mafia situation and Dana was in the
witness protection program or something.

But Bill Jr.'s kids were another story. Matthew was ten years old and
his brother Greg was six, only a year younger than William. Their
father was also in the military and had been given a dart gun for the
supersoldiers, but the boys were too young to carry such things to
school. So, with the help of some special friends, a prototype device
had been created for them. The friends were all that were left of the
Lone Gunmen, Jimmy and Yves. Langly, Byers, and Frohike had died six
years before, leaving their jobs and technogeek stuff to
their two new members.

It had been Yves, with her seemingly vast contacts, who had come up
with the device John had given William the day before. At first glance
it looked like a small cell phone for a young teenager. It fit in the
palm of one's hand and was oval shaped with flat ends. It had the
display and keypad and worked like a regular cell phone, only the
signal was scrambled and theoretically untraceable, but no one wanted
to take a chance, so it was only to be used in an emergency.

But it was more than a cell phone. It had a homing beacon that could
only be activated by the owner using a secret code only he knew, which
could allow someone to use a satellite and find him should he be
kidnapped. In fact, this is exactly what the Lone Gunmen had done when
William was a baby and taken by the cult members. However, it was also
a self-defense device.

With the flip of a sliding switch on the side, two metallic prongs
came out of the bottom and with the push of a button, the phone became
a concealed myotron stun gun, capable of bringing down a 250 pound
person in a second and stun them for a half an hour. It could be
discharged 500 times without losing a charge. The hard part had been
to shield the phone part from the stun gun discharge, but it had been
done. Unfortunately stun guns only slowed supersoldiers for a
second, it didn't drop them. William's problem was with the
supersoldiers.

So, along with the stun gun and cell phone, there was also a small
magnetite dart that could be fired out of the top by pushing a button
on the other side. The problem was it only held one dart. And if you
missed the one shot.....

Matthew and Greg each had one, although Bill's wife Tara had not been
happy about it. The boys had been trained extensively how and when to
use them and although Greg was a little young, he seemed to understand
well enough. Then only comfort they could give Tara about the stun gun
part was that it wasn't lethal and left no permanent damage. The dart
could cause some damage although the magnetite wouldn't hurt a human.
Still, even John and Monica had been nervous about giving such young
children devices which would require a lot of responsibility. The boys
had been drilled repeatedly to know that these were not toys and just
one hint of problems and they were in serious trouble. But
the alternative was to have them defenseless. William had been given
one of the devices, a purple one with a small purple coil that
attached to his belt in case he dropped it. He had spent the morning
training with it and now was working on his martial arts skills.

John told him never to rely on a weapon; it could fail you or jam. He
also reminded William that this device was only meant to be used on
one person at a time. If there were more than one, just running would
be better.

As William practiced fending off both John and Agent Magus, Monica
came in to the gym holding her cell phone. They stopped.

"That was Maggie," she said slowly. "Dana just called."

*******************

Former FBI Special Agent Dana Scully had no idea her life would change
that day she woke up in Roswell, New Mexico. She didn't have to work
that day and Mulder didn't either, at least not until that afternoon,
so she lay in bed for a while, listening to his quiet breathing and
smiled. At least he didn't snore.

The sun was shining and the sky was a brilliant blue. It was a
gorgeous day outside, not too hot, even for the desert, with a cool
breeze blowing. She got up with the thought of making some peppermint
tea and sitting out on the porch enjoying the morning.

After their frantic flight from the powers that be nearly six years
ago, they had searched for somewhere to hide. The Cancer man had told
them the Roswell crash had been caused by magnetite deposits around
Roswell and other parts of New Mexico. They had obtained some
satellite images and saw that several spots in New Mexico and all over
the country did indeed have magnetite deposits. The town of Roswell
was built right on top of a huge one. Several Native American
reservations seemed to be built on them too, which explained why
several of the ancient tribes had not moved in thousands of years,
declaring certain spots to be holy ground.

They had settled in Roswell for the safety, no supersoldier could come
near the town without being pulled apart at the seams. No UFO could
fly over without crashing. That had been learned over fifty years ago.
But it didn't keep human predators away, nor would it keep
full-blooded aliens away. Mulder had contended that an alien had posed
as a black baseball player for the Roswell Grays several decades ago
after falling in love with the game of baseball. She had asked if he
was drunk. Full blooded aliens and humans could walk through
magnetite, but half aliens couldn't. However, humans and aliens they
could handle, guns worked on them. Even though Dana and Fox were
presumed dead by their enemies, they didn't want anyone to know they
were alive and well, so they kept contact with the outside to a
minimum. However, Roswell seemed to become the focal point for all
those seeking refuge. 

Over the next six years, they had re-established contacts with many
people of expertise, and several other who knew of the upcoming
invasion through their owns means of information. The underground
community they had crossed paths with several times, converged on
Roswell, hoping for safety from the unseen invaders when the time
came. The good news was this brought several experts in
various fields all close together. For the past six years, they had
all been working on a counter plan to the invasion, developing
magnetite weapons as well as ways to mass-produce the vaccine against
the virus that had been developed to wipe out the human race. Mulder
still had a small sample in a vial he had used on Scully in
Antarctica, and from it they had reverse engineered the
chemical composition.

Mulder and Scully had lived in a trailer on an Indian reservation with
some relatives of Albert Hosteen for two years before the pilgrims all
got together and built a new neighborhood right over a particularly
deep magnetite deposit. The neighborhood was called Haven, quite
appropriately and was a web of streets with brand new garden homes.
Mulder and Scully's new house reminded her a little of the one they
had stayed in while investigating the community of Arcadia. It was
new, modern and comfortable, just right for them. 

Mulder's half brother, Jeffery Spender had joined them in Roswell a
few years later, moving in to the house next door. The relationship
was a little strained, given their history, but amicable. They were
all on the same side now. Gibson Praise, needing somewhere to go, had
moved in to be roommates with Spender, also to look after the disabled
man. Gibson was now 19 and stuck in the limbo of half child, half man.
He had his own car and was able to go where he pleased, but he could
often be found shooting hoops with Mulder on the driveway. Mulder had
gotten him enrolled in the local university as well.

In order to stay busy, and stay in a position of some information,
they had both gotten jobs under assumed names. Mulder was a psychology
professor at the Eastern New Mexico University at Roswell, and Scully
was a teacher of the gross anatomy class, while working as a deputy
coroner at the hospital. But since there wasn't a lot of need for more
than one coroner in the town, she was seldom busy.

Money was not a problem, as Mulder had inherited quite alot from his
father and had aptly put it all in offshore accounts where they
couldn't be found as easily by government guys.  It had been a quiet
life so far, and not a bad one at that. She and Mulder loved each
other deeply, but had still not married. She still hoped someday she
could have a wedding where her entire family was present and the
danger gone. But it would be all of them; William wouldn't be
there.

She closed her eyes fighting back tears. William, her baby. Was he
safe? Was he even still alive? Suddenly her happy mood was gone. She
got up and slowly walked down the hall. On one side was the office
where they kept their computers. After they had run those years ago,
they had arranged for a moving van to bring all their belongings to
Denver, Colorado. Renting a truck in Roswell, they had driven up,
transferred everything to their truck, then driven back home, so no
one would be able to trace their movements. The truck they
rented was returned to the same place, the company never knowing it
had even been out of the town.

On the other side of the hall was a room that was almost empty, except
for the disassembled crib and boxes of toys and baby clothes. By
unspoken agreement, that was "William's room" and they seldom went in
there. Dana had not had the heart to throw away the items, even though
she knew she would never see William again and if she did, he would be
to big for any of that stuff. It was her own way of remembering she
even HAD a son. Some of her daughter Emily's things were
also in there, but she had only had Emily for three days before she
had died. It wasn't quite the same.

As she went into the kitchen and brewed the tea, she thought about her
mother. Maggie had always stood up for her and Fox against Bill Jr.'s
constant criticism, but when Dana had given William up Maggie had been
furious. She had accused Dana of never loving the baby at all, of
throwing in the towel when she realized how hard motherhood was and
that she could no longer just take off when she wanted to. Dana had
been hurt beyond belief, partly because she had wondered if her mother
was right. She had been afraid of William, afraid of what he might be,
so she had kept her heart closed a little, afraid of being
hurt the way she had been when she found out what Emily was and had
watched her die.

The thought that her beloved miracle baby, her son, would grow up to
be another Billy Miles, someone who would gladly kill her without so
much as any feeling or any look of recognition in his eyes, had
chilled her. But after watching the car drive away with him in it, off
to his new family, she had felt her heart shatter. She HAD loved her
son, still loved him, and missed him terribly. She knew she couldn't
keep him safe from the supersoldiers who wanted him, not back
then anyway. It would have been different is they had the mag guns
then. Skinner had explained to her mother as much as he could and she
had later relented and apologized, but it still hurt. She hadn't
called in a while since she was still afraid the calls would be
traced.

When possible, she called from out of state, but recently one of their
friends had equipped everyone's phones with special scramblers. He
assured them it was safe to call anywhere without being traced.
Sighing, she put down her cup and picked up the phone. She dialed her
mother's number.

It would be 1:30 in D.C. Maggie answered.

"Hi, Mom," said Dana.

"Dana? Oh my God! Dana! Thank God you called! I've been sitting by the
phone for two weeks!" Maggie exclaimed.

Dana felt her blood run cold. "What? Why? What's wrong?"

Maggie took a breath ad rushed on, "Dana it's William, it's your
son.."

Dana felt he knees start to go weak. "What about him?" she asked
fearfully.

'He's here!" Maggie all but yelled at her daughter. "Dana, he's here!
John and Monica brought him. You wouldn't believe what's going on!"

Dana felt herself sink to the floor as her mother quickly related the
story as best she could. Dana couldn't believe it. She was scared to
death that her son had been found and was now in danger, but at least
he was still alive. After assuring her mother that she and Mulder
would be on the next flight home, she hung up. She stared at the wall
in disbelief.

"Dana?"

She looked up. Mulder was standing over her looking sleepy. "What's
going on?" he asked.

"You're not going to believe this...." she answered.


*************

William paced the floor in the living room, with the vague thought of
trying to finish the video game that was on pause, but every time he
sat down to the TV, he just got back up again. It's was nearly 9 PM
and his parents would be there any minute. Nobody knew where they were
coming from, but his mother had told his grandmother they would be
there around 8 or 9. Maggie was in the kitchen cleaning it for the
third time, John and Skinner were watching a baseball game
in the den, and Monica was asleep on the couch in the room with him.

Everyone was keyed up, nobody had seen his parents in person for
nearly a year. William wandered over to the bookcase and took down one
of the photo albums his grandmother had shown him the day before. He
flipped through it, looking at the pictures of his mom, aunt and
uncles, as well as his cousins and one picture of the sister he had
never known about. Emily was a strange story, and apparently
even his mother knew very little about her. He wondered what she would
have been like if she had lived. He put the book back and resumed
pacing, his mind racing from topic to topic. What would he say to
them? What would they say to him?

Suddenly he felt his heart leap in anxiety as a car pulled up into
the driveway. He raced to the window and looked but it was a little
too dark to see, even with the lights. He reached out with his mind,
and felt no sign of the evil coldness, only excitement, worry and a
mixture of emotions. It was them, his parents.

He ran over and shook Monica awake and told her they were here. With a
huge smile she jumped up and called to everyone. John and Skinner came
from the den and Maggie came rushing from the kitchen. But William
slowly slunk to the back and around the doorway where he could watch
unobserved.

The door opened and they came in. The first one he saw was his mother,
her red hair was hard to miss. Her voice the same as from the Cops
episode, her hair a little longer and her skin a bit darker with a
slight tan. She happily hugged her mother who was as equally thrilled
to see her daughter alive and well. Everyone was talking at once, and
William couldn't make it all out. Then he saw his father. Fox Mulder
came in and shut the door behind him, and Maggie gave him a huge hug
as well. He looked equally happy to see her too, as Dana and
Monica hugged like sisters, talking about each other's hairstyle
differences and the flight in.

Mulder hugged John and Skinner, and Dana did as well as Monica hugged
Mulder. Then, all the introductions and hugs had gone around, they
slowly quieted down.

Dana looked around. "So," she said slowly. "Where is he?"

Maggie turned to the doorway and called, "William? Come on, they don't
bite." 

Slowly, forcing his feet to take each slow step forward, he came into
view and leaned shyly against the doorway, not able to go further.

Dana took several steps forward, Mulder right behind her, then she
stopped. 

All three stared.

Dana saw her own red hair and blue eyes on the face of the child in
front of her, while Mulder saw his own young face and nose. Nobody
knew what to say. Introductions seemed phony at this point, everyone
knew who the other was. Dana had gone over and over in her mind what
to say, but it all seemed so silly now. What could she say to this
child in front of her, who was hers and yet not hers?

Other people had raised him; she was the stranger to him, not his
mother. He had found them dead, murdered and in a space of three days
had seen his world collapse and now found himself hunted by inhuman
monsters. Yeah he was definitely theirs, she thought wryly. But that
was what she had hoped to spare him.

Did he blame them, her, for giving him away? Did he blame them for any
of what had happened? Did he blame himself?

God he was beautiful. She smiled. 'That's my son,' she thought.
"That's my baby boy, Mulder's baby boy. He's grown!'

Mulder was thinking much the same thing. 'Look at my son! Dana's son!
We did that, god we did that! He looks like her, but like me too. What
if he doesn't like us?"

William was picking up wisps of their thoughts, but nothing clear. He
knew they felt as unsure of what to do as he did.

Dana gave herself a mental kick. They couldn't stand there all night.
Slowly she walked forward a few steps, then dropped down to his level
and motioned to him to come to her. Slowly, he did. He was finally
within a foot of his birth mother. This was the same woman who chased
monsters on cop shows, who had battled aliens and cancer, who had
given birth to him, then given him to Bob and Nancy to protect him. He
could feel the desperate love she felt for him, but unsure how to show
it.

Suddenly she smiled and said, "Hey Willy Wonka, it's been a long time
hasn't it?"

William smiled at the name, suddenly remembering how she used to call
him that while tickling him or trying to make him laugh. Then, like
his grandmother had, he reached out to her and she grabbed him up in a
close hug. He felt jolts of warmth flow through him, and felt all the
tension and fear flow out of him. His mother had him now, and any
doubts he had about whether or not she loved him or wanted him melted
away. He hugged her back tightly and he heard her crying.

He didn't know how long she held him like that until he felt someone
beside him. Fox Mulder gently tugged on her sleeve and said with a
grin, "Hey, he's my son too." William looked up and for a minute, he
flashed back to his dreams of the beach, building a sand UFO, Mulder
watching him learn to walk with Bob and Nancy, and felt somehow, like
he already knew the man standing there. He reached out to him and, for
the first time since the day after he had been born, Fox Mulder
gathered up his son in his arms and held him. Mulder couldn't
believe he was actually holding his baby, his boy, for the first time
in over seven years. Any thoughts as to what or who the child might
really be was nonexistent. He would not lead the aliens, Mulder would
see to that.

And if God saw fit to deliver two miracles, one being the kid's birth,
the second giving him back to them, then maybe a third miracle was on
the way, maybe they would actually win. He was holding the son he
never thought to see again, anything could happen.

Finally, they broke apart. John and Monica were both hugging and
crying everyone seemed to be in tears, even Skinner. Maggie, being the
mother she was, decided to do what she did best, feed everyone. They
headed to the kitchen. William hadn't been too hungry before, but now
he was starving. As they ate, Dana and Fox asked their son about
everything they could think of except recent events, feeling he would
talk about them when he was ready. He told them about the farm, about
Midville, about Joshua and his family, about Jimmy Henderson,
Bible study and camp, about school and his science projects, about how
he named his pet frog Jeremiah, whom he had given to Josh.

He told them about building the minibike with Bob and baking cookies
with Nancy, hoping they wouldn't be sad hearing about his other
parents. But they didn't seem to be, they seemed very interested. Dana
for one was glad such seemingly caring people had raised her son. The
one awkward moment came when she told William that she was truly sorry
for what had happened to them, that it had been a terrible thing.
William only nodded, grateful for her words, still feeling the hurt.
But then they had moved on to what Dana and Fox could say of their
home and what had been going on.

Mulder took that time to tell Skinner that the "Plan" was going as
hoped, and that they should be ready to go in a year or so. Skinner
nodded, and William wondered what "Plan" they were talking about, but
no one volunteered any more.

After the kitchen had been cleaned up, Skinner went home and later so
did John and Monica. Mulder and Scully would sleep in Bill Jr.'s old
room. Mulder mentioned something about irony William didn't catch.
Both his mother and grandmother tucked him in and his father ducked in
to say good night and ask if he wanted anything. As he drifted in and
out of dreams, he saw the beach with the sand UFO again. It was
crumbling to pieces and he felt sad. He had worked hard to build it.
Suddenly he woke up.

Feeling thirsty, he got up and reached under his pillow for his
special weapon and clipped it to his waistband. He had gotten used to
feeling it's comforting presence, giving him some sense of security,
even though he didn't sense any danger. He crept downstairs to the
kitchen and heard the TV on. He ducked into the living room and saw
his father up on the couch watching the late show.

Mulder looked over at his son. "Hey kiddo, couldn't sleep?" he asked.

William nodded, "I was thirsty. I'm just getting some water."

"Need any help?" asked Mulder.

William shook his head and went to get a glass. He decided he didn't
want to go back to bed right away, so he went back to the living room
and sat on the other end of the couch. Mulder smiled at him and
sighed. He told William that insomnia had always been a problem for
him. William nodded and said it was getting to be a problem for him
too, always wondering if someone was coming to get him. He thought for
a second, then told Mulder everything starting from finding the
adoption papers to seeing him for the first time in the hallway
tonight.

Fox Mulder was truthfully stunned at how the boy had come so far on
his own, searching for answers the way no child would have. William's
revelations about still having some mental abilities were interesting,
and a little disturbing. They would have to look into that. But the
biggest problem was that the boy felt responsible for his parents'
deaths. Mulder tried to convince his son that it wasn't his fault,
there was no way he could have known what would happen and
he had no reason to think anyone was going to get hurt. But he knew it
would take some time. 

William decided to bring up something else that was bothering him.
"What do I call you?" he asked. "I never called Bob and Nancy 'Mom' or
'Dad', and I don't know why. Am I supposed to call you "dad'?"

Mulder only smiled and said "Call me whatever you want, your mother
too. It's up to you."

William looked down and nodded. Mulder then said slowly, "All we ever
wanted for you was for you to be safe and happy. Six years ago we
couldn't give that to you. But now we can, because we found a place
where the supersoldiers can't go. William, we've always wanted you.
There has always been and always will be a place for you with us.
We're your parents and we love you. We want you to come home with us
now. It'll be hard, I won't lie to you. We don't know each
other, and you miss your home, you always will I'd imagine. But where
we live can be home too. You can email your friends and grandmother if
you want, we have new scramblers on our computers just like our
phones. Maybe you could even call Josh. And there are lots of kids in
our new neighborhood, maybe you can make some new friends too. What do
you think?"

"Do I have a choice? If I said I want to go back home can I go?"
William asked.

Mulder shook his head, "No I don't think that can happen, son. I'm
sorry. Not even with the weapons we have. We have to sleep sometime
and it's not safe there."

William nodded. He hadn't really thought he could go back, but I was
worth asking. Well, he had to be somewhere, and he wanted to be with
his parents. But what of John, Monica, Mr. Skinner and Grandma Maggie?
Would he ever see them again? Mulder smiled and said of course,
probably at Christmas. And he'd probably meet his uncles, aunts and
cousins too.  William's eyes got heavy as he finished his water and
leaned back against the pillows, listening to his father talk. As he
drifted off, he felt his father's arms picking him up and
carrying him upstairs to bed. Then there was silence.


The next day would end up being a blur in William's memory. Early that
morning, after Maggie and Dana had cooked a huge breakfast, they had
loaded William's suitcases into the car right as John, Monica and
Skinner pulled up with Yves and Jimmy right behind them. William was
introduced to the two remaining Lone Gunmen who had made his
protection device he now wore clipped to his pants. He smiled as jimmy
greeted him and nodded at Yves who smiled quietly down at him.
Dana promised to tell him about the Lone Gunmen on the plane, which,
she promised, would be a long and wild story. He shook Skinner's hand
and thanked him for all his help. Saying goodbye to John and Monica,
his godparents and protectors, was harder. They had saved his life, to
be sure, and had been the first ones he had turned to when Bob and
Nancy died. They had stood by him during the funeral, taught him to
defend himself, and helped him find his family. 

He felt the tears coming as he hugged them both goodbye and promised
to call and email. John picked him up into a huge hug and told him to
look after his parents, they tend to get into trouble unsupervised.
William laughed. As the four agents hugged each other goodbye, William
said goodbye to his grandmother. She swallowed back tears and said
she'd see him at Christmas and they hugged goodbye. Finally it was
time to go, and William climbed into the car with his mom and dad. As
they drove back to the airport, William waved goodbye to his
family, knowing he would miss them. But the knowledge that they
weren't gone forever made it easier.

Once again, William found himself on an airplane, looking out over the
nation's capital as they flew west. He had only been there two weeks
and it felt like he was leaving yet another home. Dana said it was
probably because Washington actually had been his home at one point.
He agreed she was probably right. She told him that Doggett had had
his belongings shipped to Denver and that some friends of theirs had
driven there to get it and bring it all to their house.
Gibson had volunteered and had driven up from Roswell with his friend,
Albert Hosteen's grandson Derek Eagleman. They had called right before
the plane had taken off saying they had gotten everything and were on
the way home.

William slept most of the way, leaning up against his mother who
wrapped her comforting arms around him. He snuggled close, enjoying
the warmth. As the plane landed, Mulder picked him up and they walked
off the plane in Boise, Idaho. In case they were being followed, they
wouldn't fly home, they were taking the scenic route. They boarded a
bus and rode to Tuscon, Arizona where they met up with the Roswell
baseball team, the Grays, heading home from a game. The Grays had been
around since the 1940's and had once been an all black team with a
star player named Josh Exley. Mulder told his son that Exley had
actually been the one to beat babe Ruth's home run record, but it had
never been recorded or recognized. Then, in a whisper, Mulder told
William what Ex really had been. William grinned at his father and
winked. Scully simply rolled her eyes in mock exasperation, saying
something about having two baseball and alien chasing fiends in the
house. As they rode on through the deepening sunset, the players
struck up a song that reminded William of Nancy's favorite
song, "Michael Row your Boat to Shore." It was a similar gospel
sounding song, but one he had never heard. Mulder told him the Grays
had sung that song on the road since Exley had been on the team years
ago.

"Come and go with me to that land,
Come and go with me to that land,
Come and go with me to that land,
Where I'm bound"

William found himself and his parents singing along, even after that
song ended and someone started up "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall".
William had fallen asleep again by the time the bus pulled into
Roswell, New Mexico. Mulder and Scully breathed a sigh of relief. For
better or worse, William was theirs again and in Roswell, he was safe
from the supersoldiers. Maybe not from everything, but in this town,
where the magnetite kept them safe from the evil invaders,
anyone who WAS able to come into town could be fought fairly, on their
terms. They could protect him here. Scully carried her son off the bus
as Mulder carried their bags. Gibson and Jeffery Spender were waiting
for them. Jeff seemed happy to se his nephew again, even if the kid
was fast asleep.

The stars shone brightly in the sunset across the desert as they drove
home to Haven. The sight of their house was a welcome one. Gibson and
Derek had graciously unloaded and set up all the stuff in William's
room right before they had come home, so he had his bed to sleep in.
They could rearrange later. They brought him inside and changed him
into his pajamas, placing his defense device under his pillow. William
woke only briefly as his mom and dad tucked him into his familiar bed,
the one from the farm house.

"Mom, Dad," he said in a sleepy whisper.

Surprised, the looked down at him. Mulder leaned in closer, "What is
it, son?"

William fond that he liked calling them Mom and Dad, it felt right. He
had been dreaming again, of the beach. "Can we go to the beach
sometime?"

Mulder jumped. The beach? He remembered his dreams years ago of the
boy on the beach and looked down at the sleepy child, realizing now,
that the boy was right in front of him, the boy was his son, William.
Suddenly Mulder smiled. He would tell Dana later, but at that moment,
he knew everything was going to be fine, William would be OK and they
were going to win the war. Leaning down, he kissed his son good night.
"You bet, we'll got o the beach sometime."

Dana looked puzzled, but smiled and kissed William goodnight. "Sweet
dreams, Willy."

They turned off the light and went to their room, as William drifted
into another dream, again of the beach.

He and his father were building the sand UFO again. They had finished
and they laughed together. Suddenly William felt his mother kneel down
behind them and put her arms around both of them, kissing him on the
head, then his father. They all giggled together. Then his parents
looked up, smiled and waved. William looked up. To his surprise, there
were Bob and Nancy! They were standing on the edge of a fog bank that
seemed to be glowing with light. Bob was wearing a white suit and
smiling. Nancy looked beautiful, wearing a white lace dress. They
waved at him and blew a kiss to him. He smiled and waved back.
Then, they whispered "I love you" to him, then turned, holding hands,
and walked into the glowing fog and disappeared. 

As he and his parents stood up, a voice came from everywhere, a
booming yet kindly voice that said, "Now it begins. But never fear, I
am with you, always." William saw the fog glow in the shape of a
cross, then fade away. The dream slowly faded as William drifted to
deep slumber.

Meanwhile, down the hall, both Dana Scully and Fox Mulder also dreamed
of the same beach, the same encounter with the Van de Kamps, the same
voice, as the stars twinkled outside over the town of Roswell.


THE END.