The Lambs: Part 2 (20/21)     
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 30 

December 16, 2012 
New Mexico 

A single knock punctured the morning quiet. 

Liam didn't bother with shoes. He scrambled off his bed 
just as slippered feet pattered across the floor. After 
three aborted attempts, Ellie's family had planned to 
leave very early in the morning. Thoughts of his friend 
kept him awake all night. Was someone here to tell them 
it had gone wrong? Or to check the van de Kamps were 
still there? 

His mother beat him to the door. She leaned into the 
hall. "There's no one - what's this?" 

She stooped then rose with a brown folder in her hands. 

Liam's father appeared, knotting his bathrobe. He 
rubbed his eyes. "Marie?" 

"This was outside." 

"What is it?" 

Marie's brows came together as she smoothed a curling 
pink Post-it on it. "*Read everything. Classroom hangar 
ASAP*." 

She flipped the cover of the folder. "I don't 
understand - it's Liam's medical records." 

*My records?* 

Liam stiffened. His fluttering heart was preparing to 
take off. 

"The latest entries." His mother ran her finger down a 
page. "Notes from February about a placebo. Someone has 
recorded details - Liam's weight, his height, his blood 
pressure, his temperature. There's another note on the 
third of July for a placebo." 

"July 3? That's the day he had the shot, right?" 

"This must be Dana's writing. She must have made notes 
when she did the vaccines. Why mark the vaccine as a 
placebo? Twice?" 

Liam felt their eyes on him. 

When had the world become so spongy? His legs turned to 
straws of jello. Words stuck in his mouth. "Pretend 
medicine?" was all he could manage. 

His mother wasn't smiling. "Liam?" 

He had to put his arms out for balance. "She lied to 
me." 

*I never got the vaccine. I could still be a 
supersoldier.* 

A bell was ringing in the hollow space in his head. He 
jabbed fingers into ears to stop it. Chill rose from 
cold linoleum, seeping into his feet and freezing him 
to the floor. 

Marie handed the folder to Harry. She reached out to 
Liam but stopped short of touching him. "Do you know 
anything about this? Did Dr. Scully give you an 
injection in February, Liam?" 

Heat radiated from her, burning his cheeks. 

"Liam, are you okay?" 

He read the upset in her eyes. 

Once upon a time she would have bundled Liam into her 
arms. A hug and reassuring hands used to be the cure 
for all ailments. 

*Why won't she hug me now?* 

"I'm okay." He barely heard his own whisper. "I asked 
her. I wanted the vaccine so I wouldn't become a 
supersoldier. I was going to tell you ..." 

"And in July?" 

He forced himself to look at her - wishing she could 
read *his* eyes. 

"I asked her to give me something so you wouldn't get 
suspicious. I don't know why she didn't give me the 
real injection then." 

Marie straightened. "This is absurd. I want to know 
what Dana was playing at." 

*I should tell her not to be too angry with Dr. Scully - 
that she was only trying to reassure me.* 

But he couldn't make his mouth open; the doctor had 
betrayed him and it stung. 

*She wasn't trying to help me at all.* 

Bumps flared on his arms when his mother moved away. 
She disappeared into her room and returned seconds 
later pulling a sweater down over her hips. She put her 
hand out for the folder. 

Harry hadn't moved. "Where are you going?" 

"Where else?" Marie said. "At this time of the day 
she'll be in her lab. I want answers." 

The door gaped at her swift exit. 

Liam shuffled his feet, unsure what to do. 

"Are you okay, son?" 

Liam tested his balance with a step. The coldness was 
dissipating. "Yes, sir." 

His father sat and pulled the other chair out from the 
table, gently patting it. "Is there some special reason 
why you were worried about becoming a supersoldier?" 

Liam eased himself down and studied the speckles in the 
table top pattern. "Yes." 

He looked up in time to see pain on his father's face. 

"When you feel you can tell me, I'd love to hear it one 
day." 

Remorse shot through Liam's heart. He had hurt his 
parents. "Dr. Scully wanted me to discuss it with you. 
She was worried about me." 

*I* thought *she was worried about me.* 

Angry as he was, Liam knew the doctor deserved his 
defense. "Please don't be mad with her." 

"Dr. Scully was irresponsible - even if her heart was in 
the right place, Liam." 

"I'm sorry, Dad. I don't want her to get in any 
trouble." That was the truth. If his mother burst in on 
Dr. Scully without the full story, it wouldn't be fair. 
He knew what he had to do. 

"I have to tell Mom." 

-o0o- 

Liam was almost at Dr. Scully's office before he caught 
up with his mother. She was peeking around a corner. 

At the sound of his approach, she put a finger to her 
lips. 

Liam tiptoed to her. Her arms snaked around him, but 
she couldn't stop him sneaking his own look. 

Three men were receding into the dim corridor. They 
came to a halt and the man in front rapped on the wall. 
His guards followed him into Dr. Scully's office. 

"Dr. Scully?" Major Drummond's voice boomed. 

Liam felt his mother push him along. They crept down 
the hall on light feet. 

"How long have you known the commander's identity?" 

Liam heard his mother's sharp gasp. They froze just 
short of the office. 

"You've been keeping secrets. What else do you know? 
The location of Rudi's artefact? Your silence is 
nothing short of betrayal." 

The doctor's reply was cross. "This is nonsense." 

"We put our faith in you - you could have done 
anything. The vaccine!" The implications of Major 
Drummond's accusation grew more apparent. "You could 
have sabotaged the vaccine." 

"Why on earth would I sabotage the vaccine?" 

Liam shivered at the iciness in the doctor's voice. 

"This whole time I've never questioned you. No one 
would." 

Marie braced herself against the wall, furiously 
thumbing through the open folder. 

"Read everything," she muttered, scanning pages one by 
one. "This doesn't make sense." 

"What?" Liam whispered. 

"Everything's here" - she turned another sheet 
-"*everything* is here." 

She shut the folder, then squinted and scratched at the 
label on the file tab. 

Liam inched closer to the door, daring himself to look 
in the room. The men filled the space. It was 
impossible to see the doctor. 

"You're the traitor, Dr. Scully - you have to be. You've 
known for months who the commander is. You've been 
protecting him - putting everything at risk." 

The doctor dialed her anger to cold fury. "You don't 
know what you're talking about." 

"Don't think I don't know. William, Dana! Who is 
William?" 

The solid world in front of Liam disestablished itself 
as it slid out of focus. He heard voices in the 
distance. 

"I don't know what you're talking about." 

"Dana Scully, I am detaining you, pending inquiry into 
your actions." 

Fingers curled around his wrist, applying pressure and 
pulling him away. "We have to go," a voice whispered. 
Liam stumbled down the unfocused path in front of him. 

When they rounded the corner, his mother broke into a 
jog. "Quickly, Lee." 

"Mom" - he could hear his own voice but had no idea 
where the words came from -"shouldn't we go back and 
help her?" 

"We can't help her." 

His mother's pace didn't lessen until they'd climbed 
the stairs and burst through fire doors which went to 
the living quarters section. Even then they fast walked 
down the corridor. 

Marie bundled Liam inside and sagged against their 
door. 

"Honey?" Harry van de Kamp was fitting supplies into 
his patrol pack. 

"We can't stay here, Harry. Liam, put your walking 
shoes on." 

Liam's dad stopped in confusion. "We're leaving?" 

Marie called out from their bedroom. "They were right - 
we aren't safe here." 

"What's going on? What did Dana say?" 

"I didn't get the chance to speak to Dana. Drummond 
just arrested her. He says she knows who the commander 
is." 

A metal locker screeched and clothes flew across the 
door frame. 

"Holy - who?" 

"Does it matter? He's gone insane. If he thinks she 
knows who the commander is, he'll harry it out of her 
like a rabid terrier." 

"There's got to be more to it than that. Did she do 
something else to Liam?" 

"We're not going to let her have the chance. Can you go 
fill some water bottles?" 

"Can't Li-" 

"No!" Marie reappeared. "I don't want him out there. Do 
it now, please." 

Liam hung about not knowing what to do. She clapped her 
hands. "Quickly, Liam. Only what you need." 

Her urgency drove Liam into befuddled action. He 
grabbed his backpack from the foot of his bed and 
dumped it by his locker. The weather was cool, but true 
winter hadn't hit the desert yet. He tore a sweater off 
a peg and rolled it into a ball. 

What was he supposed to take? When would they be coming 
back? 

*Will we be coming back?* 

"Why are we leaving, Mom? What about Mulder and Mrs. 
Scully?" 

Her bag lay at her feet in the middle of the room. She 
gripped the side of her head as she stared at it. "I 
don't know what we're doing, Liam." 

He grabbed his flashlight. There was no way he could 
fit everything in - his catcher's mitt and ball, the 
book collection he'd started, stacks of school work 
which had built up over the year. He circled his room, 
working hard to memorise everything. He was about to 
lose all his things all over again. How could they be 
doing this for a second time? 

His gaze fell on the tabletop where the aquarium had 
once been. Did Ellie get out with Jerry at midnight? 

Liam's dad returned with the water bottles. Marie gave 
them just time enough to pack them before hurrying them 
out. 

Stepping into the hall was like landing in unknown 
territory. As though Liam no longer recognised the 
halls he had roamed for more than a year. Door frames 
swam in and out of focus as they proceeded. 

*Dr. Scully lied to me. Why?* 

It was impossible to avoid people, but the van de 
Kamps' packs weren't laden enough to draw suspicion and 
his parents gave everyone they passed friendly 
greetings. 

Climbing the stairs Liam's legs felt weighted. They 
were going the way he headed every week day for school. 
Once, he looked up and saw his parents with their heads 
close. They were talking but he couldn't hear what they 
were saying. 

His mother ushered him through to the classroom hangar. 
It looked empty at first until a voice made Liam jump. 

"I knew you'd see sense." Gibson jumped off the drum 
he'd been sitting on next to Jerry's tank. He reached 
down to scruff Sal who had been sitting at his feet. 

Liam's heart pounded for escape against his ribcage. 

Gibson tapped his head. "My special ability." 

Liam's gaze fell on the bag and hat at Gibson's side. 

Marie took a hesitant step into the room. "Did you 
leave the folder under our door?" 

Gibson gave nothing away. "They've decided Scully is a 
traitor. It won't be long before they point the finger 
at me - and I've got more important things to do than 
answer to Sergeant Santa." 

"Then you know what's happened?" 

"Of course I know what's happened." 

"So Dana is a traitor?" 

He sneered. "Do you believe that?" 

"I don't *want* to believe it!" 

Sal padded to Liam and nudged his legs. She was telling 
him to move. A quick glance at the tank filled Liam 
with hope. And sadness. The small container was gone. 

"They won't hurt Scully. They just need a day or two to 
cool and think things over. In the meantime I have a 
special delivery to make." 

He directed them to an exit. 

Marie fell in behind him. "Are they right about Dana, 
Gibson?" 

He scratched his chin. "They're looking at it wrong." 

"What do you -?" 

"You're a mother. You work it out." 

"Either Dana fudged Liam's records or she didn't give 
him the vaccine. Why? Did *any* children get the 
vaccine?" 

Harry put his hand on Marie's arm. "Shouldn't we be 
asking Dana that?" 

Gibson hoisted his pack. "You can stick around if you 
want. But what if you don't like the answers?" 

Marie reached for Harry's hand. "Please. Not here." 

The tang of winter air hit Liam's face. It was a bright 
clear desert day, yet Liam felt he was stepping into 
pea soup. 

*She lied to me.* 

His thoughts stumbled down endless dead ends, eternally 
returning him to a fogged crossroad and no clue to 
escape. His eyes were open but all he saw was his left 
foot advance on his right and his right foot overtake 
his left. Over and over. 

*Why would she lie to me?* How *could she lie to me?* 

His parents couldn't leave fast enough. It proved 
easier than expected. 

Weaving topside between buildings, Liam kept stealing 
looks over his shoulder. He was still awash with the 
shock of Dr. Scully's arrest. If they were caught 
leaving, would they be next? 

Liam readied himself to run, but a mad dash never 
eventuated. They just started walking. No one stopped 
them. They were at the second fence within half an 
hour. 

When he finally put his head up, the fence reared up. 
*I can't climb this.* It took a second to register 
Gibson holding up a lip of wire mesh and his parents 
crouching to go under it. 

Talk was at a minimum and his parents cast fearful 
glances back in the direction of the camp. The 
buildings had long since been swallowed up by the muted 
grays and browns of a dormant desert. 

When a crick developed in his neck, Liam told himself 
to stop it. The strong feelings of the morning were 
subsiding. Every step was taking them further into the 
desert until the last perimeter fence was a faint scar 
on the land. 

The earth began to rise as they walked off the plateau 
and up a sweeping pass between two craggy peaks. 

At the top of the ridge the vista stretched out, 
layered in washed out purples and blues. The decline on 
the other side was steeper. The rocky scree crumbled 
under their feet. 

"Keep walking that way and you'll reach Mexico in no 
time," Gibson said. "You'll also walk straight into a 
hive of supersoldiers." 

"Is it safe to come this way?" Liam's mother squinted 
to the south. 

"We can cut back onto another track which will take us 
west. It meets up with a popular hiking track." 

The walk wasn't strenuous but it was relentless, and 
sweat coated Liam's back. Sunshine beat down on them 
through a cloudless sky. As they descended the air 
warmed, and Liam stopped to hitch his sweater around 
his waist. A water bottle was thrust into his hand and 
he drank. His thoughts were bleak. 

*I could still be a supersoldier.* 

Gibson jammed a cap back on his bottle, jarring Liam 
back to the physical world. "I think you should have 
left months ago - why did you stay?" 

Liam's mother swept a loose strand of hair behind her 
ear. "Security, safety. An inexplicable sense this was 
where we were supposed to be." 

"Loyalty?" 

"I suppose." 

"I'm not saying that loyalty was misguided ..." 

"But?" 

"Scully and Mulder should have encouraged you to go 
when everyone else was clearing out. The supersoldiers 
may not know we're here but their numbers are still 
growing. And it looks like a staging has begun." 

"A staging?" 

"Carloads of people from all over are heading to a hill 
to the south. I doubt they even know why. That's where 
I'm going. Someone's got to give them the vaccine 
before they get taken." 

Harry gave the hills a cursory glance. "Dana didn't 
give Liam the vaccine when she had the opportunity - 
why?" 

Gibson countered with a question. "*You* were reluctant 
at first to let him have it, weren't you? Personally 
I'd hate to be a supersoldier. Especially if I was a 
kid." 

"What about the other kids? What about the kids 
receiving the shot now around the world. If she had any 
doubts about its safety, why didn't she stop it being 
given to the children?" 

His father's questions weighed on him - Gibson was 
suggesting Dr. Scully faked the shot because she was 
concerned for him. How could this be the same person 
who could give the vaccine to her own mother? 

*It doesn't make sense.* 

But that left him on unsettled ground. What other 
reasons might exist for her not wanting him to have it? 

A shiver ran down his body. 

*The Major is right.* 

Dr. Scully didn't want him to have the vaccine because 
she wanted him to be a supersoldier. And not just any 
supersoldier. 

"Scully administered the vaccine to children. I would 
know if she didn't." Gibson tapped his head again. 

"Then why not Liam?" 

Gibson nodded slowly. "That question again." 

Liam was filled with a urge to knock him down the 
shingle hill to wipe the smug expression off his face. 

*Why not me? She wants me to be a supersoldier.* 

Deep down a little voice scoffed at his conclusion. 

*Why abandon logic now?* 

What evidence was there to say he was becoming a 
supersoldier? None. But try as hard as it did, the 
voice was lost against the wild beating of his heart, 
the air eddying about his ankles, the feelings inside 
and out he couldn't ignore. 

*Why does she want me to be a supersoldier?* 

The walk down the hillside was somber. For about the 
fifth time, Liam noticed Gibson looking at his 
wristwatch. 

"Curfew in less than half an hour," Gibson said after 
his last glance. 

"I never came this way," Liam's mother said. "How far 
are we from cover?" "We're about half an hour away - 
there's a shelter on the other side of that ridge." 

Buoyed, they quickened their pace, slipping and sliding 
on the shingle slope in their haste. Gibson pointed out 
the roof of the shelter. Liam struck out behind his 
dad, happy to have their goal in sight. 

At first Liam thought the patch of red was a kind of 
desert flower he had never seen. It stood out against 
the dirt it lay in. It caught his attention and as they 
approached it Liam found himself eager to examine it. 

But his sense of trouble stirred - and then Sal started 
whimpering. 

Not a flower. Not a rock. 

A mauled backpack. 

Clothes lay scattered. 

Liam collided with Gibson's outstretched arm. 

"This isn't right." 

"What happened here?" Harry peered around him, shading 
his eyes. 

Liam broke away from Gibson. "Ellie!" 

He skidded to his knees, a whimper rising in his chest. 
Jerry's container lay tipped on the ground. Mindless of 
the sharp points and slicing edges, Liam thrust his 
hand into a tangle of undergrowth. "Jerry? Jerry?" 

"What is it, Liam?" His mother crouched beside him. 

"Jerry! He's got to be here! He can't be gone - I'd 
know!" 

"Sweetie - we don't know what's happened here yet." 

He ignored her, raking the ground for any sign of his 
frog. And there it was. His chest knotted. An arm's 
reach away, blending in. 

Horror tore out his heart and lungs, boiled the blood 
in his head and limbs. Ripped the scream from his body. 

Liam howled.