The Lambs: Part 2 (11/21) by Lamia (AKA so kiss me goodbye) Rating: PG-13 (violence, strong language) Category: S Spoilers: Seasons 1-9, Fight the Future Keywords: William; Colonization Summary: Liam van de Kamp's life changes the day two FBI agents kidnap him and his parents. Author's Note: The Lambs is a three-part story (with prologue). Chapter 21 January 1, 2012 New Mexico "Five, four, three, two, one! Happy New Year!" Sal yelped as a bottle top popped. Around them people started to hug, kiss and sing as they rang in the New Year. 2012. "Happy New Year, Liam." Ellie had to shout above the noise. She grabbed his hand and pulled him across the dance floor toward the exit, Sal padding behind them. "I've got an idea! Come on!" The party was underground, of course. There would be no big fireworks display or bonfire to stand around or warm their hands against. Not that it mattered. Since Christmas it was like the grownups had won the lottery. They were certainly celebrating New Year's as though they had. Even Liam's parents who had never before shown any interest in the holiday seemed - well - giddy as they danced about the room. Neither had remembered it was past his bedtime (and he had purposefully avoided them all evening not just because their behavior was embarrassing but in case they got any ideas). He laughed, allowing Ellie to drag him along. "Where are we going?" Ellie looked over her shoulder, her eyes shining. "To get our coats ... I haven't seen the stars in months." They weren't the only ones with the same idea; they passed others as they bounded up the stairs. No one called them back or warned them to stay inside. When they burst through the outside door they ran into friends. Alan, Toby, and Shu were among the semi-circle of faces staring at them under the building eaves. Alan gave Liam a goofy smile. He was rugged up against the cold in a scratchy-looking scarf and beanie. He had on fingerless gloves and a thin whisper of smoke curled above his fingers. "Hey, it's Liam." Liam stared. "I didn't know you smoked." Toby grinned. "Just on special occasions, Liam." Ellie had no intention of stopping to chat (or berate them). She dragged Liam on in the direction of the low ridge where he had first met her five months before. Liam felt his cheeks redden as they left the students; he couldn't hear their comments but he could hear their whistles and laughter. If Ellie heard, she ignored them. Sal loped ahead. Overhead a half-moon shed brilliant light over the earth, making everything blue or gray or silvery. Liam held back, casting furtive looks into the darkness and wondering what it could be hiding. "Come on, slow poke," Ellie called from the top of the hill. There, despite the cold, she sat and then flopped on her back to gaze skyward. When Liam caught up, he turned a full circle, scanning the area before dropping down next to her. Stars shone in a clear sky, flickering brilliance. "I've missed this," Ellie said. "Did I tell you about my telescope at home?" *One or two times,* he thought. They talked about home. Never for very long, but long enough to learn the things each other missed most. The way she talked Liam guessed Ellie's collection of gadgets, toys and games would take up his entire house in Wyoming. He wasn't jealous - not really - he had looked through a telescope at school once when an amateur astronomer visited. He was looking up when something nudged the crook of his arm. Sal sat on her haunches, her front left leg slightly raised. "What is it, girl? Your paw? Did you get a splinter?" Her expression was doleful. "Let me see." Liam tickled her behind the ears, then manipulated her foot to get a better look at the fleshy pad. It was easy to see what was troubling her; a thick, sharp thorn protruded from the pad, the end broken off. Liam touched it to see if it could be dislodged and Sal whimpered. "Sometimes you're just a big baby, Sal," he said, scratching her ears again. Swiftly his hands moved. He used his nails to pinch the tip of the thorn and then it was out. He rubbed her foot and held his other hand out under her nose. "All that fuss over a tiny little thing like that." Sal sniffed. She licked his face, then her paw, then she bounded off again. Ellie chuckled as she watched the dog race away. "Maybe Sal doesn't have special powers, but *you* always seem to know what she's thinking. Do you wanna be a vet when you grow up, Liam?" "Maybe." Lots of jobs interested him; he didn't know if he could be a farmer like his father, but he had always loved animals and he never liked to see them suffer. "What about you?" he asked, lying back again. "Do you know what you want to be?" "An astronaut would be pretty cool." "I used to want to be an astronaut." "But not anymore?" When they studied space in school, he loved the subject - but he loved most of the things they learned at school; his fridge at home had layers of his pictures - from ancient fish bones (Kemmerer was famous for them) and dinosaurs, to the planets and a cloud diagram from when they looked at weather science. "There's so much still to explore on earth. There's always something new to learn right here." His world was full of mysteries that needed solving, puzzle pieces needing to be placed, strange insects to name and classify. Still, traveling to other worlds and solving new mysteries was an attractive idea, too. "Liam, look!" Ellie pointed. Liam followed the line from the tip of her finger to the shower of sparkles. "A shooting star." Her elbow dug into his ribs. "And another one!" One by one tiny lights exploded and disintegrated into the blackness - a vastness they were no longer so alone in. Funny to think in all of limitless space, their planet had been discovered and aliens planned to invade it. He still didn't know if he really believed it. Not to worry. If what Gibson and Mulder said was true he'd know for sure by December. "Ellie?" He laced his hands under his head. "Do you ever wonder where we'll be this time next year?" She was quiet. She knew the December 22 date; everyone did. It was funny how no one wanted to talk about it. Colonization. Invasion. Extermination. No one really knew what any of it meant. Her reply, when she answered, hit Liam like icy water. "Dad thinks we might not have to stay here much longer." Liam started. "What?" That was news. He hadn't heard anything about leaving. He pulled himself up onto his elbows, suddenly uneasy. Ellie frowned at his jitters but continued. "If they make a vaccine, there won't be any reason to stay. And if the virus that infected the supersoldier is contagious, that's even better. Dad says if the aliens can't turn us into supersoldiers, and if they can't control the supersoldiers, then we've probably won the war without even fighting. He says we couldn't ask for a better outcome." It *sounded* feasible. Liam let himself settle back to think about it. According to Jeremiah, the Grays needed humans infected by the virus - some to be supersoldiers, some to be ... something else. If humans were immune to the alien virus, there would be no point for the Grays to stay on earth, and if they couldn't control the supersoldiers and the supersoldiers rebelled ... if it was true, it would change everything. Was it too good to be true? "Does your dad know if Doggett's virus is infectious yet?" "He's pretty sure. They're thinking about infecting the other supersoldier - the one that's still cut up - and setting it free." As he opened his mouth to point out the craziness of that plan, he remembered something peculiar about Doggett's behavior when he was ill. Since Christmas Day the supersoldier (who remained in the pit) would only talk to Dr. Scully - she recorded their conversations so the others knew exactly what he had said - but so far he had refused to talk to anyone else. His memory was slow in returning. He knew who he was - and who Dr. Scully and Skinner were - but the details of where he had been for the last five months were hazy. After her first serious conversation with him, Dr. Scully had reported to the camp that his most recent memory was of a strong compulsion to return home, and that as he recalled this feeling he had pointed south. The same direction in the pit he had repeatedly scratched and walked into during his illness. She also reported that he spent much of his time curled in a ball at the bottom of the pit. Grieving, she said. "They think the supersoldier will go back to wherever she came from?" "And she'll infect other supersoldiers." "That sounds dumb," Liam said. "They're not even sure Doggett really has been totally cured." Questions still hung over the supersoldier's condition. Gibson had read his mind and backed up Dr. Scully's opinion that the soldier was still recovering his memories - but those memories, sketchy as they were, came equal parts from his old life *and* from the months following his transformation. In body he was still a supersoldier. Ellie sat up. "They *know* he hasn't been totally cured. He's still got that thing on the back of his neck. And they still haven't worked out a way of moving him from the hole without him blowing up. But they're willing to take the risk of releasing the other one. They say she wouldn't be able to pinpoint where the camp is and they would keep an eye on her to make sure she didn't come back." Liam shivered despite Ellie's confidence. "You're doing it again," she said. "Doing what?" "Ever since we came up you've been acting all nervous." His laugh lacked conviction. "What do you mean?" "Don't pretend you don't know." She sounded grumpy. It amazed him sometimes how much she knew about him. "Okay - but it's weird." He took a deep, calming breath. "Do you ever feel like you're being watched?" "Like how?" "I've been getting this feeling. Like someone's following me. Like they're real curious about me." "Yeah, well, they're not." She huffed into her hands, rubbing them together. "You know what it is? You're probably just too used to living underground, and you're probably stressed because of the supersoldiers. That's what Mom told Aaron when he refused to come outside last month. But you don't have to worry about that anymore, Liam. We've practically got a cure and a way to kill 'em." Liam rolled his eyes, knowing she wouldn't see. Oblivious, she said, "You know what you need to do?" Liam was almost too scared to ask. "You need an adventure, and I know what!" He tried to refrain from grimacing. "What?" "The hole." Alarm bells rang in his head. Ellie answered almost as if she was reading his mind. "Tomorrow's the perfect time. I bet everyone sleeps in. The supersoldiers don't seem like so much of a threat now. I'll bet we can slip away and be back before anyone notices we're gone. We won't be away long." -o0o- Ellie was right, dammit. The corridor was silent when he stepped out from his family quarters in the morning. The few adults who were up walked around with bleary eyes and sheepish, squinting expressions. Liam moved quietly so as not to wake his parents. They had arrived back the previous evening long after he had taken himself to bed - their uncharacteristic noisiness startling him out of sleep. He left a note to wish them a good morning and said he had gone to meet up with his friends and would be back for lunch. He hoped the note would stop them from panicking if they went looking for him before he and Ellie returned. Ellie was pushing through the swinging doors to the kitchen, one arm cradling a plastic bag, when he reached the mess hall. She handed him a brown-speckled banana. "We can eat breakfast on the way." Although the day was bright and clear, the air was crisp. The tips of Liam's nose and ears burned in the cold. A frost crunched under his sneakers. He pulled his hat down more, appreciating its slightly too large size. They didn't head out immediately but made their way to the slope where they had watched the stars the night before. It was the best position to see who might be around at this hour. Ellie spied her opportunity straight away. "Scully and Mulder," she said, nodding northward. "With ... it looks like Gibson with Rudi and Skinner. All heading in Doggett's direction. There's no one else around. If we've ever gonna go it might as well be now." Liam took one last look across the compound. "Do you think anyone's on guard duty today?" Ellie waved her hand. "Probably. But I don't think they have to worry so much now. *They* still can't come here." "Not unless they've developed an army of midget supersoldiers," Liam said. "I hadn't thought of that. Anyway. They haven't." Liam looked over his shoulder more than once as they crested the slope and trotted down the other side. The uneasy feeling was still there. He had known Ellie wouldn't believe him when he told her about being watched. It had just been over the last few days; he had thought about not saying anything - it wasn't like he didn't already have a list of weirdness as long as his arm already. With one last glance he shrugged off the feeling. It wasn't as bad now. It came and went at all times of the day and night. They struck out across the desert in the direction they had traveled the day they found Rudi. It didn't take long for them to pass the misshapen bush that marked their old boundary. The walk didn't take as long as Liam remembered. They couldn't have been gone more than another ten minutes before they saw the hut they had sheltered in. The hut was as empty now as it was then. It was impossible to say if anyone had been there since their last visit. "It was that way, right?" Liam studied the rocky hill Ellie was pointing at. "More to the right," he said. The hole hadn't been far away - maybe fifty paces at most. Liam counted them out in his head. At seventy he stopped, scratching his head. "I don't get it." Ellie surveyed the spot. "Are you sure it was this way?" "We should have seen it by now," he said. He picked up a nearby stick. "We weren't that far from the hut." Using the stick to scrape lines in the dirt, he formed a triangle. "If the hut was here, the hole was here and Rudi was about there." They stared at the triangle. "It should be here!" Liam jammed the stick into the ground and swung his foot at a stone, which went flying. It dropped to the earth with a clatter. "Liam - " Ellie's grin said it all and they broke into a run. They didn't have far to go; they both tripped at the same time. "Awf." Liam rubbed his banged shin. Ellie sucked in her breath and pulled up the legs of her jeans. Angry red dots were blossoming on her knees. She ignored them. "This is it, isn't it?" Liam was already wiping away the layer of dirt used to conceal the cover over the hole. It was just like the sheet of metal placed over Doggett's pit. "Help me with this," he said, pulling a rope up out of the ground. Strain and heave as they might, the cover barely budged. It didn't appear to be anchored or locked in place; it was just very heavy. By the time Ellie groaned and fell to her already-sore knees, they had only pulled it about a foot. After another minute of futile tugging Liam gave up too. They had uncovered just enough space for him to peer down into the black. It was too dark to see very far. "Who do you think covered it?" Ellie asked. "Who knows? Someone from camp probably." She gasped and withdrew from the edge, whispering, "You don't think the other supersoldier is down there?" "No." Liam made a point of leaning down even more so that his head went right into the hole. "Mulder told me they haven't put the other back together yet. Besides, there'd be someone guarding it if this is where they put the second one." If the hole hadn't been covered, they would never have guessed anyone else had been here in months. Liam scouted around looking for any revealing tracks, but while the marks he and Ellie had left were fresh and obvious, there were no other signs the area had been disturbed by anything. "Why do you think they covered it?" He shrugged. "Maybe they thought it was dangerous? Or they didn't want anyone to stumble on it and start snooping around? Say, could you pass me that stone?" "This one?" Ellie handed over a rock a little smaller than her palm. "How deep do you think it is?" Liam let the stone drop. They froze, waiting to hear the small thump of the stone hitting the bottom. Liam could make out a soft hiss of breeze through thistles around them but the hole had nothing to say. Ellie dropped another stone. Did he hear just the barest hint of something that time? He looked at Ellie. "Was that an echo? Did you hear anything?" She shook her head. Liam remembered a question he had intended to ask her. "You said something to me ages ago. A name, I think. Leggie-something? Letchi?" "Lechuguilla," she said. "It's a massive cave somewhere sort of near here. Dad was going to take us one day. When we first found the hole I thought maybe it was the entrance to another cave like that one." "Well," Liam said, "we know it's deep. Maybe it is a cave. And if it's deep they wouldn't want anyone to fall in." The blackness was like a magnet. Liam found himself staring into it and thrilled with the prospect of uncovering its secrets. They would need ropes and flashlights and a way of sneaking off for a whole day with nobody knowing they were gone ... It was wishful thinking. There was no way they'd get away with it. The winter sun, much lower in the sky these days, wasn't quite at its midday point when they started back to the compound. Liam instructed Sal to keep close. When the buildings came in sight they became more cautious, shading their eyes as they squinted into the distance, on the lookout for any adults moving about. The camp seemed no more alive than it had that morning. Nothing was ever left outside longer than necessary; no work had been done to freshen the barracks or hangars, broken windows had not been touched. Derelict, forgotten - that was how the adults wanted the place to look and care was taken to ensure that was how it stayed. Ellie stopped so abruptly Liam walked into her. "What is it?" "More strangers." In the distance, on the same path Liam had followed when he first arrived, a line of people picked their way over the rough ground. Ellie craned her neck. "Is that Eric in the front? Maybe it's just more refugees." Newcomers were still arriving at the camp though numbers had dwindled to a trickle these days. If Jeremiah was still sending people their way they weren't mentioning it. Liam wondered if that meant his shapeshifting neighbor was long gone for good. It was annoying to think they'd never know what was so special about the artifact. They were so close to camp now Liam doubted anyone would suspect he and Ellie had spent the morning out in the desert. They walked faster, not caring who saw them. Not until they turned a corner and nearly ploughed into Gibson and Rudi. "Watch it!" Gibson barked. "Sorry," Liam said as he and Ellie stepped around the pair. When they had gone about ten steps, he turned. Gibson was staring at him. *Still* staring at him. He hadn't moved, his look sharp and suspicious. It wasn't the first time Liam had seen that look. He'd been getting it ever since he and Jeremiah put Doggett back together. Liam knew why. Gibson couldn't read his mind anymore. Liam told himself to relax. If Gibson had read his mind and knew what they had been up to, he'd be frogmarching them downstairs right now to face the consequences of their crimes. They had got away with their excursion. And yet Liam felt deflated. Sure, they'd found the hole again, but they were no closer to knowing what was at the bottom of it - and it was no longer their secret anymore. Liam spent the afternoon with his parents. When his mother asked him how he spent the morning, he said he had been with Ellie - which wasn't a lie. She didn't ask any further and Liam swallowed down some sneaky guilt. It seemed so easy to deceive his parents these days. Later he met up with Ellie in the hall for what had become their evening ritual since Christmas the week before. They cut all but a couple of lights, throwing the room into a muted golden glow, and Ellie spread a rug on the floor and dropped a couple of pillows. Liam already knew the end of Ender's Game - he finished the book in a day - but he'd had so much fun reading aloud with Ellie on Christmas Day, they decided to make it a nightly event. They had even gathered a dedicated audience - including Mulder and Dr. Scully (when she could make it). Liam and Ellie had started reading by the time Dr. Scully slipped in. She hadn't been around the camp that afternoon and Liam wondered if she had spent the whole day - cold as it was - out at Doggett's pit. Mulder helped her out of a thick jacket and when they sat down, he held her close against him. The low light accentuated dark shadows under the doctor's eyes. A tiny smile on her mouth never dropped, but whenever he stole glances at her, Liam could see her eyes were heavy-lidded. Her head had fallen onto Mulder's chest when Mr. Skinner entered the room and made straight for the couple. Liam took his grimace to be an apology as he crouched down and tapped Mulder's shoulder. Dr. Scully, still sleepy, righted herself to listen to Mr. Skinner. He had his extra serious face on. Liam rushed to the end of his paragraph and let Ellie take her turn. Mr. Skinner spoke low but with an emphasis which made it easy to catch his words. " - got to be important. They're asking after some pretty specific files, Mulder. Ones to do with viruses. You took some, didn't you?" Mulder's eyebrows drew together. "Scully and I managed to get some out before I ... before I left after Democrat Springs - " A worried expression grew on his face. "We couldn't take everything. What are they asking about?" "There's a few. One in particular keeps coming up. A virus called Kill Switch?" Mulder swore. By the time they reached the end of the chapter, Mulder and Mr. Skinner were gone. Dr. Scully didn't leave with them; a few quick words and Mulder was up. A squeeze of her hand and she let him go. She stayed, rising only when Liam placed his homemade bookmark between two leaves and closed his book. She yawned. "Thank you, Liam. Same time tomorrow night?" She passed Liam's mother on her way out. The two women spoke and then Marie signaled Liam to hurry up for bedtime. As they headed to the door, his mother touched his arm. "Dr. Scully has been pretty busy lately - she looks like she hasn't slept all week - I hope you don't pester her every night." He shook his head. "No!" "I know you wouldn't, honey," she said, smoothing his hair. "I'm sorry I implied it. She's had a hard week with this supersoldier. How they expect her to deal with the supersoldier and lab work I don't know." Preparing for bed, he thought about the supersoldier lying at the bottom of his pit. It would be cold - not that that would bother him. What would it be like to not feel the weather? Maybe he'd have a better idea if he took his shoes and socks off and ran outside in his pajamas. "Nah. That's a stupid idea, isn't it?" he said to Jerry the frog. The frog ignored him. These days Jerry spent his days on the bottom on his tank. Liam supposed he was hibernating. As he snuggled down to do his own hibernating, Liam was grateful for the warmth of his blankets. *Sweat dribbles down his temple, a train of tears sears a track over his cheeks. His lungs swell against his chest as he sucks in air heavy with ice.* *He feels none of these things.* *The last thing he seems to remember is lying cozy in a soft bed?* How on earth is that possible? *Above him, there's a circle, milky blue in the night light. He sees the walls of his prison funnel all the way up. Like he's at the bottom of a chimney. His eyesight is the best it's ever been. She is so far above him, yet he can make out the sadness and anger etched on her face. He doesn't want her to come closer, doesn't want her to see him. He would give anything not to be here. But at least when he's looking at her face, he's not seeing someone else's.* *He recoils at tell-tale black fingermark stains on a swan-white skin. He fights the vision.* *A weak voice is all he can summon, but he doesn't know he's spoken until he hears himself.* *"Are you alone?"* *"Yes."* *Another long tear breaks free. He'd stop them if he could; he has no right to them. His thoughts are chaos but he knows he holds secrets - if only he knew what they were. It is difficult to know what to hold onto and what to reveal when there's still so much that confuses him.* *But he knows who to give his secrets to - most of them; there is no confusion over that. Just like there's no confusion over the broken body of a twisted woman. He crushed her windpipe. He nearly chokes, feeling his own hands hover about his own neck. Something else. Think of something else.* *"You're not recording this?" He hears the fear in his voice.* *"Only Mulder knows I'm here."* *"I'm worried," he whispers. Thinks he whispers.* *"I know," she says, words like drops of mercy. He doesn't deserve it.* *"I don't want to be lost again."* *"You found us once. I won't let you go without a fight."* *If he felt temperature anymore, he'd feel a cold sweat. "What if I can't keep them out? What if I can't keep *him* out? God, Dana, what if I have no choice? There's things I remember, things I need to tell you ..."* *His hearing is so keen he can hear her stiffen, can hear her brace herself. She was friends with the broken woman. How can she stomach talking to him?* *"We are - I was - waiting. Someone was - is - coming. A leader. Someone powerful. Someone to guide and marshal our thoughts."* *"A commander." She doesn't sound surprised, just wary. Prickly. He doesn't blame her.* *"You know who."* *"No," she lies.* *"You know the day."* *"No." But there is no resistance in her voice. He wishes he could reach his hand - his old hand - out to her. Wishful thinking. She has always been untouchable and he is not who - what - he was.* *"It doesn't have to be him." Now* she *is begging, small. "Dear God, if these people knew. They're desperate enough to do anything ..."* *He can't see her face now; she's looking over her shoulder. Truth always comes with a price.* *"The Sly Ones say there is one and only one. And one day he will arise and know himself." He curses, desperate. "I'm sorry. They've - I've been so used to them in my head - I have to get used to it being* my *head again. I don't want to sound like them."* *"You sound more like yourself every day."* *She offers more hope than he deserves. She offers the impossible. He'll never be who he was. Because a good woman is dead, a good man is dead. He was a good man, tried to be. And then there are the other things he's been seeing. Walking round in another head. Can't tell her that.* *"The shape-changing ones - they're mystics. Prophecy mumbo jumbo - they like prophecy. They have one; they won't tell though. Not all of it. The other ones - sheeze, Scully they're cold; you don't see them but you know they're there, just behind the walls - it's not prophecy for them. It just is. They just believe. One-plus-one-equals-two, sun-will-rise-in-the-morning-night-follows-day belief. They touch your mind and you get a glimpse into theirs. They believe the commander will find them, that he will seek them out."* *"So that's it? There's nothing we can do? They flick a switch and he's one of them? I refuse to believe that!"* *He wishes he could tell her more but he just doesn't know. "I don't know what is supposed to happen when he finds them. I don't know what they have planned for him. Their science doesn't seem to be perfect. They still do experiments - "* *He fears he has made her mad. And if she isn't mad now, one day she will be. He marvels that it never happened sooner. She is not looking down on him, she is not speaking. He doesn't like doing it, but she has to know. "They think they can offer him something he needs. Something he won't be able to resist. Something only they can give him. They won't have to do anything. He'll seek them out."* *She unfreezes, all business and braced for battle. "We'll just have to make sure he doesn't get the chance, then. They will* not *get their hands on him."* *"That day, Scully. It won't just be William."* *He shivers.* *"You're talking about invasion, colonization?" Items on a shopping list: she doesn't bat an eyelid.* *"It's the day colonization* ends, *Scully. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers all over the world switched overnight, waking up in chains. Some'll be soldiers, some administrators, most will be - " He chokes on his disgust before he rallies. "They use human bodies infected with the virus to incubate their young. Most of them will be - "* *She knows exactly what he's talking about. He remembers she's seen it before. A long time ago on a frozen continent at the bottom of the world.* *"Hosts," she says. She has never let panic rule her; she has never let words threaten her. "Most of us will become hosts. They're looking to grow their army - that's why they need us ... but we can stop that happening, John."* *"I'm not John Doggett anymore, Scully."* *"Yes," she says, "you are."*