The Lambs: Part 3 (9/11)     
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.
 

Chapter 40 

December 22, 2012 
New Mexico 

Darkness held him down. Distant voices sailed far 
overhead - "*fan out*" ... "*scour the site*" ... 
"*over here*." The lines floated above him. He tried 
snatching at one, but it floated off into a pool of 
murmurs. 

His body ached all over. A bulky layer with hard lumps 
held him down; it also cushioned him and wrapped him in 
warmth. He guessed it was a coat and he snuggled 
deeper, ignoring a tickle around his collar. 

"There's nothing on the back of his neck -" 

"Marie - your hand! Let me see." 

"It's nothing, Dana. Stop fussing." 

"At least let me -" 

"No, I said. It's not important right now." 

"Liam's going to be okay -" 

"He was barely breathing!" 

"His breathing is back to normal - he just needed -" 

"What if they did something to him on the ship?" 

"Nothing hap -" 

"I know who he is." 

The truth sank like a pebble dropped in a still pond. 
Only the crackle of the fire dared sound. That and the 
faraway susurration of low voices. 

*Susurration ... Is that a word? Do I know it? Ellie 
will know ...* 

"I know about him, about you," Marie said. "For 
goodness sake! We're surrounded by supersoldiers. I 
*know* why." 

His Wyoming mother was a farmer. A teacher. An 
excellent cake baker. 

She was no fool. 

Liam filled with pride. 

And fear. 

*She knows what I am.* 

He squeezed his eyelids tighter. She was his mother. 
She would love him in spite of everything, wouldn't 
she? But Dr Scully had been his mother once, too. 

The doctor drew in a breath. "Marie -" 

His mother made a noise of disgust. "What does it 
matter? It's over. We have him back." 

"There may still -" 

"Don't, Dana. I don't want to hear it. Not from you. 
Not now." 

"You know you have questions - and I know you're angry 
-" 

"Oh, I'm angry" - Marie wasn't softening any emotion - 
"I'm wild as hell. But right now, I'm so angry I don't 
want to talk about it." 

As good as her word, she fell silent and Dr Scully 
didn't push. It was like the day they met, after Dr 
Scully pulled the gun out. Liam remembered the 
discomfort of the hours they spent together in the car. 

Maybe his mother was remembering too. She sighed as if 
she was giving in. "*Why* was he on that ship?" 

A beat passed. 

"You know why." 

"I need to hear you say it." 

A branch snapped and Dr Scully's tone became brisk. 
"There you are. Sit down, Mulder. I can't look at your 
ankle while you keep hobbling around." 

Clothes rustled as someone (presumably Mulder) sat. 

"Where is Harry, Marie? We have to be ready -" 

"The swelling's not too bad -" 

"Jeez, Scully, was that necessary? It was fine until 
you poked it -" 

"Harry went with Rudi to join the search," Marie said, 
answering his question. 

"That flash in the sky won't have been missed. It's 
best if" - Mulder paused - "*certain* people aren't 
found here." 

"But the ship is gone. Everyone made it off, even the 
supersoldiers are free - Doggett said. It's over. Isn't 
it?" 

"We don't know for sure. Not yet," Mulder said. 
"There's a vehicle waiting about half a mile west, but 
we'll have to walk to reach it -" 

"What? Everyone?" 

"That's not possible, unfortunately. But with just a 
few of us, we ought to be able to get Liam out before 
the military turns up." 

"Just - just stop." Marie's voice grew steady as she 
collected herself. "We can't keep going on like this. 
It's no way to raise a child. Nobody needs to know 
about Liam. Gibson used him to get the nanobots on the 
ship is all. They don't have to find out about - about 
the rest of it -" 

Mulder cut her off. "Please be careful saying that 
aloud. There are still people who -" Hesitation carried 
the weight of his warning. "It's safest if no one links 
Liam to the nanobots ... I don't know if we can keep 
his connection to the supersoldiers secret." 

"What connection? There is no connection. It's over. 
He's free. Doggett told me." 

"Do you want to take the chance?" 

"This again," Marie said in frustration. "How can we 
protect him if you won't tell us everything?" 

Relief poured into Liam's heart. It was the best 
feeling in the world. She knew who he was and she still 
loved him. 

Marie waited for Mulder's answer. When she got nothing, 
she drew a metaphorical line in the sand. "It stops 
here. No more running." 

There was no mention of Esther; his mother couldn't 
know the name. 

Liam had always wondered who Mulder's mysterious 
contact was. Now it seemed the real question should be 
*what* was she? She wasn't a nanobot - but she could 
live in nanobots. What could live in nanobots? 

Mulder didn't mention her, but she was somehow key to 
Gibson's plan. If she had been in the nanobots, where 
was she now? 

"Gibson put a virus in my son," Marie said. "How could 
he do something so reckless? How can you not be wild 
about this?" 

Her emphasis was impossible to miss. 

Mulder said quietly, "Gibson knew it wouldn't hurt 
Liam." 

"That's it? That's your defence? And you, Dana! We've 
spent months together - you never said a word. You 
treated my son without permission. How dare you?" After 
a moment, Marie regained some of her calm. "What was 
the virus for? To destroy the ship? Destroy them?" 

"We discussed that possibility," Mulder said. "Even 
after all they've done, it didn't seem right." 

"One genocide is no better than another?" 

"Gibson believed we could take control of the ship. 
From there we hoped they could be reasoned with." 

"But the ship is gone. Where did it go? And what 
happened to Gibson?" 

There was little point staying quiet anymore - although 
Liam didn't like what he had to say. He struggled to 
sit up. "He's gone too." 

He resurfaced to dancing flames and, beyond them, the 
worried faces his mother and Dr Scully and Mulder. High 
in the sky a silvery half moon shone. It lit up 
shimmering smoke rising off the gray scape of the 
desert. The air tasted of hot metal. 

Dr Scully went back to binding a white bandage around 
Mulder's ankle. "You don't have to tell us everything, 
Liam." 

He knew why she said it, yet she was wrong. As awful as 
it was, he *did* have to say it. He had one way to 
honor Gibson: the truth. 

He pushed himself up, straining with the effort and 
shivering when his coat shifted and cold air rushed in. 
His body had never felt so beaten. 

Yet the pain was satisfying. It took only a glance to 
see how rejuvenated Dr Scully looked to know he had no 
regrets. The sickness in her was gone - and it would 
never return. 

Light from the fire reflected on both of them - Mulder 
and Dr Scully, their faces tinged orange by the flames. 
There was almost something peaceful about Dr Scully's 
smile. 

Liam didn't have her red hair or his dark brown, there 
was something in the shape of his eyes and jaw and her 
ears. 

Shock derailed his thoughts and he had to blink and 
pull himself back. 

"Gibson was trying to transfer the nanobots into the 
ship. He was trying to communicate with them. He 
reached out to them. One second he was there, then it 
got too hot. I think he was incinerated -" 

Marie gasped. "Did you see this, Liam?' 

Dr Scully *did* jump in this time. "No one could have 
seen anything - it was too bright. That's when the ship 
started coming apart. We grabbed Liam and escaped." 

Liam shot her a look. She was cutting out a chunk of 
the story. 

His mother knelt beside him. "How are you feeling, Lee? 
You gave us a scare. Can you tell us what else 
happened?" 

It wasn't his abduction or the escape which had tired 
him. Curing Dr Scully had left him exhausted, but he 
wasn't sure how to explain what he had done - and he 
wasn't the one they needed to talk about. 

"They burnt Gibson's face, Mom. He couldn't see. We 
used the nanobots to heal his arms, but then he needed 
to get somewhere in the ship. I had to help him." 

Dr Scully looked around. "Maybe it would be best if we 
talked about this when we get away from this place?" 

Liam twisted in surprise. A long chain of people had 
washed up on a low slope. He couldn't count them all. 
They huddled along a broken line of flames, on the edge 
of a giant scorched circle. They were keeping 
themselves warm with fire dragged from the desert. 

Within the circle, where haphazard dots burned like 
coals in a fire pit, figures combed between glowing 
pockets. 

The air stank and the ground was scarred ... but 
something was missing and it tugged at Liam's 
subconscious, drawing his gaze to a group of people he 
hadn't immediately noticed, just down slope from him. 

In two crisply formed blocks, men and women sat with 
hands laced at the backs of their heads. There was no 
fire for them. The light of the moon betrayed the 
camouflage patterns on their uniforms. 

The sound of static made Liam's head spin. A detuned TV 
buzzing in his ears. 

He blinked several times, calling on the inner silence 
he had learned on the ship. It seemed to work, and the 
white noise faded into the background. It wasn't 
completely gone - if he pushed himself to his limits 
the buzzing was just on the other side. Just waiting 
for him to let them in again. 

Several guides Liam recognized from the camp were 
posted around the edges of the supersoldier group. They 
stood, shotguns at the ready. 

Only two broke the line. A woman and a man. The woman's 
hair was pulled back in a braid and the legs of the 
man's fatigues were shredded. The man circled the two 
blocks and spoke to the guards. Then he moved towards 
Liam, stopping just yards in front of him. 

Doggett dipped his head in a formal nod, the intensity 
of his hawkish stare forcing Liam to look away. 

Liam found himself studying the other people. Had they 
all been on the ship? Who had rescued them? 

Under the strong moonlight he could see rumples in 
suits, women in t-shirts and skirts clutching at their 
arms for warmth. Even some in nightwear. Few were 
dressed for a night outdoors. 

There was no snow on the ground, but it was chilly. 
Liam was pressed into his coat, which had a fluffy 
lining. Not everyone was so lucky. 

He watched Mrs Scully, Mrs Fawbert and Shu weave their 
way through the groups handing out items: blankets, 
sweaters, towels - whatever might work for an extra 
layer. 

A woman he didn't recognise with a phone, a notepad and 
a pen bobbed through the crowd, pausing briefly to 
speak to people. 

As he watched he became aware of an uncomfortable 
sensation. He stood up, feeling the cold through his 
sneakers. 

"Liam -" 

"Nature calls, Mom." 

Two old friends emerged from the field. 

"We'll keep him out of trouble, Marie," Toby said. 

"Don't let him out of your sight." 

Alan grinned at him and as they led him over the hill, 
he nudged Liam. "Rumor says you've been off playing 
space invaders." 

Toby laughed. "You always did have the best 
adventures." 

They stopped on the other side of a clump of bushes. 

"Sorry about the facilities," Alan said. 

Liam turned his back. "Compared to the ship this is 
pretty good." 

"You say that now. Try it again in a couple of hours 
... this may make me a traitor, but I can't wait for 
the army to get here." 

Toby blew on his fingers to ward off the cold. "We 
didn't exactly plan on hosting a rescue party." 

His business finished, it took Liam several moments to 
get what they were saying. "Who are all these people?" 

"They came off the ship," Alan said. "Supersoldiers 
started leading them out a few hours ago. Most of them 
don't remember how they got there." 

They stopped at the top to study the crowds. 

"How *did* everyone get here?" Liam asked. 

"You don't know?" 

"No one's told me anything - I just woke up." 

Toby took over. "Six days ago your dad came rushing 
back into camp warning us that shapeshifters were on 
the way. Somehow Doggett already knew what was 
happening. He freed himself from the pit." 

Liam flashed back to one of the more disturbing images 
he had had. "I think I know how." 

"He calls it, euphemistically, reducing his body mass 
..." Alan shuddered. "I guess it's a neat party trick - 
but I'm still not one hundred percent on how he hauled 
himself out with just one arm." 

"He saved us," Toby said. "Four shapeshifters nearly 
made it in. Doggett reached the outskirts of camp, 
reassembled and took them all out. Then he had Mulder 
and Scully drive him here." 

Toby sized Liam up with a knowing glance. "They didn't 
find you, but your dog led them to your mom." 

"Wow." Liam felt another seismic shift in his world. 
"So the supersoldiers are helping us now? Why are they 
being guarded?" 

"We trust Doggett. Don't know what to make of the 
others. Doggett seems to think they're all free of the 
hive mind now. That only means they can think for 
themselves. Who knows what they're all thinking." 

As if she had heard them, a supersoldier turned and 
locked eyes with Liam. Like the others, her expression 
was impassive. Yet there was something in her glance, a 
familiarity. 

*I know you.* 

Liam had to bring himself back to the hillside. Toby 
was still talking. 

"Doggett didn't find you at the ship, but he did meet 
another soldier. That's how he found out about the 
rebellion. The supersoldier they set free took the 
virus back to the ship, but it could only be spread by 
direct contact and because of the effect it had she had 
to work slowly to avoid being discovered -" 

Alan broke in. "When Doggett told us what they were 
planning ... you know, camp's been fun, but like all 
good things ..." 

"We decided it was time to disband. Any families left 
got sent off two days ago. The rest of us offered to 
stick around." 

"Why?" 

"Just a feeling. Some of us camped out in the hills. We 
knew the ship would uncloak at some point. It did - 
briefly. Made the Major go nuts. Grabbed a shotgun and 
fired at it. I've never seen a man so happy. Or so sad. 
He sat down and bawled his eyes out." 

"The ship made Major Drummond cry?" Liam asked, 
screwing his face up. "Where is he now?" 

The young scientists pointed to a lone figure on the 
edge of a group. It sat with its head in its hands. 

"The rebellion started at sundown last night. At first 
we couldn't see anything. We stayed hidden in the 
hills. The noise told us it was starting. Not long 
after that, strange lights flared in the desert and 
supersoldiers started leading the first abductees out. 

"Are they okay?" 

"Some of them have very little memory of their 
experience. Others say they remember parking their cars 
months ago. We've managed to get some of them away - 
but there's far more than we could accommodate." 

"What are they looking for?" Liam had turned his 
attention to the searchers in the field. 

"Survivors - in case there are any more. I don't 
believe they've found anyone ..." 

"Where is the ship?" Liam asked, suddenly realizing 
what seemed odd about the scene. 

"Gone. One moment it was there, the next ..." 

"It flew away?" 

"I don't think so. Eric has people looking for debris. 
But there doesn't appear to be any. It's like the ship 
just ceased to exist." 

Liam's father and Sal were out there, looking for 
wreckage and survivors. 

"What happens now -" The question disappeared from his 
thoughts as he spied a familiar face. "It's Aaron!" 

"Hey. Slow down." 

Liam twisted to see why Alan had grabbed his coat. 
"What's wrong?" 

Alan's brow creased. "Be careful. His sister is 
missing." 

"What? No! Gibson said it was just a trick." Liam broke 
free. "Jeremiah made it look like Ellie was taken just 
to get me ..." 

The puzzled expression on Alan's face became concern. 
"I don't know what to tell you, Liam. She disappeared 
on the walk out. She hasn't been seen for nearly a 
week. Her parents have been searching ... they were 
hoping she was on board - like you. If she was, there's 
no sign of her -" 

Liam couldn't stay to hear anymore. He tore down the 
slope towards the nearest group. She had to be here. 

But as he looked, the truth started to sink in. There 
were no children among the abductees. 

He cringed when he ran into Ellie and Aaron's mother. 
Her face lit up with hope - then fell almost 
immediately. 

He backed away. He didn't know what to say to her. 

He passed the woman he had seen earlier. She was 
holding her phone out on a stick and talking to it. 

"Witnesses are describing it as the proverbial flying 
saucer. Call it what you will, a large, bright object 
lit up the sky and rained fire down in the Chihuahuan 
Desert in the early hours of this morning. More than 
two hundred people claim to have seen it for about ten 
seconds before it was gone." 

"Liam?" A tap on his shoulder startled him. "Your 
mother is looking for you." 

He reeled about and stared at Mrs Scully. "You're my 
grandmother." 

She nodded with a half smile. He placed his hand in 
hers and they slipped back into the circle around their 
campfire. His mother must have been looking for him. 
She pushed her way back into the group. "Please don't 
wander off like that, Lee. My heart can't take any 
more." 

Doggett approached Mulder, who was on his feet testing 
out his bandaged ankle. 

"All those who wish to be here are," Doggett said. 

"That means -" 

"Those that don't wish to be have gone. None of them 
are bound to the hive mind anymore. They're essentially 
free ... unless -" 

Tight-lipped, both men glanced at Liam. 

"Will they cause any trouble?" 

"For the time being? No. But who knows -" 

Whatever else he said was drowned out by a deep and 
sudden roar of jet thunder. 

At the sound everyone sat a little straighter. Danger 
always came from above - that had been Major Drummond's 
first lesson. 

"They won't be long now," Doggett said. "If you don't 
leave soon, they'll find you here." A shout and barking 
rose from the crash site. Seconds later Liam's dad and 
Rudi emerged with Eric and Mr Skinner. They walked at a 
quick pace up the hillside, passing between the 
corralled supersoldiers. Rudi made a beeline to Mulder, 
holding an object in his hand. "I knew I'd find some." 

Catching sight of it, Liam felt his head spin again and 
he had to work extra hard to maintain the calm space in 
his head. 

"It's like the other one," Rudi said. 

It was a piece of carved pottery, fitting perfectly in 
Rudi's palm - only this time Liam knew where it was 
from. He had been standing on it when the ship began to 
tear itself to pieces. 

"It wanted to be found by me. I can't tell you how I 
know." 

"What does it want?" Mr Skinner asked. "If it *is* 
alive, as you believe, there's no guarantee its 
intentions are benign." 

Rudi held the artifact in front of him like it was a 
divining rod. "It still wants to go this way." 

Harry rubbed his chin. "West, do you reckon?" 

"Yes." 

"Wouldn't that be where we found you in the desert? Why 
there?" 

Mulder studied the object. "On our side or not, they'll 
take it off you if they find it. We're about to leave. 
Are you coming with us?" 

"All I know is that it's telling me to go that way." 
Rudi pointed to the hill behind them. Liam couldn't be 
sure, but it looked like the way back to the base. 

"If you leave now, I can prevent them finding you," 
Doggett said. 

"You're staying?" Mulder said in surprise to Doggett. 
"You're taking a risk." 

"Someone needs to keep the troops in line. You know the 
pisser in all this?" Doggett gave a half smile. "They 
made me sign up for this. Technically I'm legal 
property of the US Army." 

Toby's jaw dropped. "Man, that's fu -" 

Marie put her hands over Liam's ears. "I told you 
before, Mulder. It's finished." 

Harry turned to her. "Honey, I'm not so sure that -" 

"Where does it end, Harry? If we keep giving into fears 
of something that *might* happen, someone who *might* 
be bad -" 

"We'll never have any choice, Marie. They know it. The 
only way we can protect -" 

"What if that protection is as dangerous as -" 

Liam had never heard his parents so at odds. He didn't 
need his mother to cover his ears. He'd do it himself. 
He turned his back on the group, wishing he could block 
out the sound of their voices. 

He dove into his inner peace to escape. 

The argument attracted a few curious looks, but most 
people were polite enough to avoid looking their way. 

He found himself on the edge of the group, looking out. 
Rudi stepped up beside him, the artifact in his clasp. 

"Mulder said Gibson is gone." 

Liam looked up in surprise and Rudi went on. "I don't 
want to believe it." 

It was funny thinking of Gibson having friends. Mulder 
had been Gibson's friend, although Liam always had the 
impression it was not the easiest relationship in the 
world. By his own admission, that friendship hadn't 
stopped Gibson using Mulder - and all of them - as 
pawns in his own plan. Rudi had spent a lot of time 
with Gibson when they were studying the extractor. 
Perhaps he had mistaken Gibson's usery for friendship. 
Perhaps he didn't care. 

"He said my thoughts were hard to understand - maybe 
because in my head I'm speaking my own language. 

"We worked together. He didn't understand my thoughts 
very well - but I think he knew exactly what I was 
feeling because that's the way he felt. He wanted what 
I wanted." 

"Revenge?" 

Rudi tucked the artifact into a large pocket in his 
coat. "An end." 

Liam was at a loss to known what to tell him. Looking 
at all these people freed from the ship, it seemed 
Gibson may have achieved something. 

The woman with the notepad was nibbling on the end of a 
pencil as she talked with a guard over by the 
supersoldiers. A few survivors made aimless tracks 
between bonfires. A shoe-less man squatted next to some 
flames. The fire was low but none of the man's 
companions seemed to have the energy to rise and stoke 
it. In bare arms and a thin shirt, he must have been 
freezing. 

Liam looked down at his own over-sized coat as if he 
was noticing it for the first time. Only Rudi was 
watching when he walked toward the man. 

"Here," he said, sliding the coat off. "You look like 
you could use this." 

The man stumbled to his feet. As he rose, a fleeting 
figure up the hill on the very edge of the survivors 
caught Liam's eye. 

All the unpleasantness of the fighting disappeared. He 
knew that figure. Liam felt a surge of exultation. They 
were wrong. They were all wrong. 

*Ellie.* 

She put a finger to her lips and beckoned him. She 
turned and made her way to the top of the hill. 

"Ellie, wait!" 

"Over here, Liam," he heard her call. "Come quick. You 
have to see this!" 

When he reached the crest, he stopped to work out where 
she had gone. She wasn't behind the bushes (which he 
was somewhat grateful for). The only place she might be 
was behind a boulder a short walk away. 

Behind him, back with his parents, Sal started howling. 

"Come on," Ellie called again. 

In his excitement, Liam ran, but when he skidded around 
the boulder, his legs locked up and he toppled on his 
face. 

"We don't have much time." 

Liam felt himself be rolled over. A man he had known 
his whole life stared down. 

Jeremiah.