The Lambs: Part 2 (14/21) 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 24 February, 2012 New Mexico Dreamless sleep did nothing to soothe Liam; he woke angry. He snapped at his mother as he prepared for school, and was too agitated to want breakfast. No bets where his father was. *Sleeping off last night's adventure*. He had to be. On his way out Liam hesitated, stopping himself from slamming the door. He paused again on the other side. None of this was his parents' fault and it was wrong to take it out on them. Whatever was going on they had never asked for any of it. Instead of heading in the direction of the mess hall and classroom, he took the corridor leading to Dr. Scully's office. He didn't worry about interrupting her morning; he knew she'd be alone. He flung her door wide, giving her just enough time to look up from her paperwork. "You let the second supersoldier go last night." She sprang up from her chair. As she ushered him in, she looked into the hallway in both directions before rounding on him. "What do you know?" He could have laughed. Trust her. No denials this time - and no asking how he knew. There was no point. "Not much." "Another dream?" He nodded, allowing his breathing to calm. Somehow telling her had been like letting gas escape from a bottle of soda. Dr. Scully made her way back to her desk. "Is she - could you tell if she ... is she infected?" Liam shrugged. "Maybe. She seemed ... confused. Like she was just discovering something for the first time." The anger bubbled back and he glared at her. "She was in my head, Dr. Scully. She was in my head poking around. I was in her body - but she was in my head. I told her to get out, then I forced myself back home. I don't know how I did that. I don't know how I do any of it." "Any of what?" "It's probably nothing." He tried to be cool, like he wasn't bothered. He backed away from her, deliberately looking at the walls to avoid eye contact. He was beyond caring how this would sound. He was filled with a need to shock her. Nothing hit harder than a sudden, sharp fist to the gut. Or a terrible truth delivered casually. "Just" - he searched for the right word - "things. Stuff. Like how I know what Sal and Jerry are thinking - kind of. Like how I see people in my dreams. Like how I know you're really tired all the time and I keep wanting to tell you to get more sleep but there's more to it than you want me to know." "Liam, I don't - " "Maybe it's nothing. Probably just my imagination. Most of the time it's just frustrating, like there's something you all expect me to be doing which I'm not." Once - a very long time ago now - he had knelt over a dead dog, trying to make Sparky live again with the touch of his hands. Stan had been at his side, telling him to let Sparky go. The memory was unexpected. In shock, Liam remembered exactly when he'd last *really* thought about the incident - the day Mulder and Dr. Scully had turned up at his house. He'd been angry when Sparky died. Just like he was angry today. Angry because, that day, he *knew* there was something he should have been doing. Stan had been beside him. Stan healed animals. *Jeremiah Smith* healed people - an ability bred into him. He was a creation the same way Gibson seemed to think *he* was someone's creation. A coldness clenched Liam's chest. "Am I like Gibson? Was I made in a lab somewhere?" Dr. Scully paled. "You know I'm adopted - I heard you and Mom talk about it once - what if I wasn't a real baby? What if I was some kind of experiment - that's what we used to say about Gibson. Only, it was true. He told me. "What if I was born in some green, gooey vat somewhere like those clones you and Mulder used to find?" Tears began to well in her eyes. They began to glimmer like mirage heat. She felt sorry for him. He didn't want her to feel sorry for him. "Liam, sweetie, Gibson *was* a real baby - just like you were - " "How do you know that? You don't know who I am - where I came from." She looked like she wanted to speak, like she was desperate to say something. He waited but she had nothing. He didn't really expect anything. She wouldn't lie to him, she wouldn't pander to his age and make up stories to make him feel better. For a fleeting second he wished - just this once - she would. The last of his energy dissipated, leaving him spent and vague. "Does the vaccine work?" he said dully. " Maybe you should test it on me, Dr. Scully. I'll be anything - I just don't want to turn into a supersoldier." Her silence told him more than words would have. There was no argument, no hasty rush to laugh off his suggestion. No "is that what you think, silly? That you're becoming a supersoldier?" He felt his knees go rubbery and he put out his hands to the door behind him. Dr. Scully misinterpreted his move. "Wait - Liam! Don't go." She put an arm out, stopping short of touching him. She seemed surprised by her movement. "Would the vaccine help - *really* help?" He nodded. As fantastic as they were, Liam knew his fears were not simple paranoia. Other than Mulder there was no one else in the camp who would listen to him. Watching the struggle on Dr. Scully's face, he felt hope rise in his heart. "We don't even know the vaccine works - or how safe it is." There was a catch in her voice but it didn't seem like worry. She was regarding him curiously. He was adamant. "I don't want to be a supersoldier." "What if it doesn't work?" "It's better than nothing - and it will work. I know it will. Mom says knowing the medicine is going to work is half the job done." "So you're a pop-psychologist psychic now?" Her mouth curled in a half-smile. "No - but you're making it, so I know it will work." It was funny how saying something aloud made it concrete truth. He had been dreading the day Mrs. Scully would tell him she was about to test the vaccine. For her sake he'd be worried, nervous, tense - the unknown was scary. But against that was Liam's unshakeable belief in Dr. Scully - her dedication and thoroughness, the way she did her best to protect people. The vaccine would work because she wouldn't let it fail. She couldn't read his mind and she was no longer smiling. "Your parents would never approve." "We wouldn't have to tell them. Besides - won't Dad have to take the vaccine too? And Mom, too, eventually, I guess. Everyone will. What does it matter if I get it early?" Dr. Scully stared the ceiling. "If the vaccine isn't harmful, those who *need* it will automatically receive it. It would only be a matter of months. Weeks even before we'll know with any certainty ..." She looked back at Liam. "You couldn't wait for a few weeks?" Liam swallowed. "What if that's too late? What if the dreams are a sign?" Her hands, at her sides, twisted in the folds of her skirt, crushing the fabric. "You parents, Liam ... it wouldn't be right." "If I tell them, I'll have to explain why. I don't want them to worry." Anguish filled him. "It's okay to keep some things secret, isn't it? If it's to protect someone?" The room was silent. All he had to do was hold out. Dr. Scully would never have mentioned the vaccine if she hadn't been prepared to consider it. Even so, he could see she was warring with herself. Dr. Scully broke the spell of silence, her voice barely raised above a whisper. "That doesn't make you feel any better, though, does it?" "I promise I'll tell them one day, Dr. Scully, when we win against the supersoldiers, and Mom and Dad and I go home. I won't tell them who gave it to me." "Your parents aren't foolish, Liam. I think they'll be able to guess." She screwed her face up and pinched the bridge of her nose. Reaching down to her desk, she opened a drawer and pulled out a checkered handkerchief. She held it to her nose. Then she studied the handkerchief with a perplexed frown before flicking a glance at Liam, who had been studying her movements surreptitiously. He wasn't sure which of them was more embarrassed. "Green boogers are the best," he said, straight-faced. "Feel free to keep *some* things secret," she said. "Sometimes I get bleeds - maybe the elevation ..." "Is that normal? Are you okay?" She waved off his concern. "I'm fine, Liam. If you really mean it about the vaccine - if you still want to go through with it - come see me in four days." -o0o- Four days. It didn't hit him - what he had asked for - until lunch. "Knock, knock, Liam. Hellooooooo - anyone in there? You're holding the line up." Liam looked up from the sandwiches on the plate in front of him. Ellie had poked him in the shoulder. Her finger was pointy and his arm smarted. He was at the canteen servery. A kitchen staff member was waiting for him to move so he could serve the rest of Liam's classmates. "Sorry." He whisked the plate away as fast as he could. Ellie set her tray next to his at their table. "Wakey, wakey, Liam." "Sandwiches," he said with a weak grin. "I'm sick of them." It wasn't a lie. It was hard to summon any enthusiasm for the squishy slices of bread on his plate. He lifted the corner of one and eyed the filling with suspicion. It was hard to recall the last time lunch had been something different. "Well, in that case" - Ellie's hand stretched out - "if you don't want yours - " "Hey, that wasn't an invitation!" Ellie laughed as she tucked into her own lunch. "Just making sure you're awake. You've looked pretty sleepy all day. Did you stay up late memorizing lines?" Liam looked up in horror. He'd forgotten about the play. Ellie bit into her sandwich and carried on, chewing at the same time. "I've just about learned all of mine and Mom's helping me with the songs. I can't wait!" "Do you reckon there's any way I can get out of - " "Damn!" Liam and Ellie twisted in their seats to see where the interruption came from. Toby, alone at a table with books strewn in front of him, was staring hard at a piece of paper in his hand. "Damn, damn, damn!" A man Liam didn't know very well - one of the newer refugees, an accountant Liam recalled - approached the student. Liam heard him say, "It can't be all that bad." Toby scowled, lines furrowing his forehead. "No. It's worse." The man shook his head. "What's the prob - " Toby stood, sweeping up his books and papers. He started to move away, nearly tripping over the bench in his haste. When he straightened, the man hadn't moved and was standing open-mouthed. "The numbers don't work. We've made a mistake. There's a great f - " He caught Liam's eye and resettled the load in his arms. "There's a problem with one of our calculations." The door still swinging from Toby's exit, Liam's classmates broke into excited conversation. "What do you think that was about?" Ellie said. Liam shrugged, shaking his head. "Dunno. Nothing bad, I hope." -o0o- If Toby's outburst was related to the vaccine, it couldn't have been related to the plan to start vaccine trials. Or it wasn't serious enough to stop them. They were exactly three days away from the first test. Mrs. Scully confirmed it at dinner. True to her word, she was giving him fair warning, choosing a quiet moment to tell him while his parents chatted with other grownups. "You're not to worry, Liam. Dana has explained the whole thing to me. Everything from how they made it, down to its molecular structure. The worst thing about it will be the needle prick." Her little joke couldn't disguise her nervousness. Despite Mrs. Scully's brave front, he could see tension in her face. He wanted to reach his hand out to her, to tell *her* not too worry, they'd be going through the experience together and everything was going to be okay. But he dared not do anything which might jeopardize his access to the vaccine. Dr. Scully would be taking a massive risk giving it to him. Even her own mother might be angry if she found out. Any thoughts Liam had about *not* taking the vaccine were quashed by his dreams. No one had mentioned the release of the second supersoldier, and Liam didn't raise it with his parents. Explaining how he knew was too risky. But while nobody was talking about the supersoldier, Liam found himself one step ahead of everyone on that front anyway. She showed up in two more dreams. The first time she reappeared, she was lying (still naked), shivering on the cold open ground. Even in the darkness Liam could make out the heap of the canvas bag that had been dumped with her. He guessed she hadn't moved far in twenty-four hours. She seemed to be aware of him. A little tickle stirred in the static of his mind. He had the feeling she still hadn't worked out who or what he was. She was fascinated by him, but it disturbed Liam and he always tried to get away as soon as he could. The following night she was walking - well, lurching was probably a better way to describe it. He had a sense of her thoughts - muddled as they were. She was still confused but she was being driven by a deep instinctual need for home. When Liam "appeared," she stumbled. Somehow he was confusing her sense of home - like maybe if he called she would change direction. Seek him out. The thought was enough to freak him out. He was better at fighting the alien thoughts now, and better at wishing himself out of the dream. He stuck around long enough only to know she was on the move. Even as he willed himself back to his own bed, he was telling her to head to hers. He hoped wherever it was, it was far, far away. The night before he was to see Dr. Scully about the vaccine, he didn't dream. But the damage had already been done. Nothing would stop him taking the vaccine. The threat that he could be turning into a supersoldier was still too great in his mind. -o0o- "You're sure about this?" They were sitting, facing each other. The needle and vial were the only things on Dr. Scully's desk. The needle didn't look too big and the small vial was full of clear liquid. "Yes," he said. There was a handwritten sticker on the side. Dr. Scully didn't stop him when he picked up the vial to read it. The string of chemical prefixes meant nothing to him, nor did the numbers which he assumed were for dosage. "We'll have to think of a name for it," she said. "Maybe we should have a contest?" He put the vial back, his hand steady. "Your mom's doing fine, isn't she?" His question was deliberate. Dr. Scully looked unhappy and Liam knew she was regretting her offer. But Mrs. Scully had received her dose of the vaccine a day ago and was showing no signs of any adverse reaction. He hoped his gentle reminder would be enough. He didn't want to give her any chance to back out. He rolled up his left sleeve and waited. Dr. Scully took in a large breath, picked up the needle and vaccine, and drew off a small amount from the vial. "Little scratch," she murmured and Liam felt the needle sink into his flesh. His arm tickled for a second but he looked down to watch her press the plunger. The clear liquid drained away and his arm tingled icily. He didn't feel the needle slide out. When it was over, Dr. Scully swabbed the needle prick. A tiny drop of blood beaded on his skin. It was a very small price to pay for peace of mind. He imagined the liquid coursing through his body, attaching itself to cells, ready to fight any kind of hidden virus that might one day try to turn him into the enemy. "Stick close by me today, Liam. Where I can keep an eye on you." He readjusted his sleeve and reached into a bag at his feet, pulling out the detested script for Major Drummond's Easter play. He would stay here until she told him he could leave. Might as well put the time to productive use. He thumbed through the pages. "Thank you." Nothing he could say would take the worried look off her face. "I don't know if you should be thanking me or cursing me, Liam."