Life Reclaimed (3/6)
by Donna Honeycutt and Vickie Moseley

Mulder and Scully residence
8:30 am

Scully was just finishing up her coffee when 
she heard the gate alarm.  She glanced over at 
Mulder, who went to the computer screen set 
up in his office.

"It's Drummy, I'll go open it."

"Are they installing the motion detectors around 
the house?" Scully asked from the doorway.

"Yeah.  They didn't have the right fixtures 
yesterday, apparently.  Something about our 
gutters not having soffetts -- "

"Just try to steer them away from my flower 
beds on the north side.  Took me forever to get 
anything to grow in the shade," she said with a 
sigh as she turned back to finish dressing.

"Yes ma'am," he vowed with a grin.  Who 
would have thought that Dana Scully was a 
closet horticulturalist back when her days 
consisted of slicing and dicing.

"What are you grinning about?" she growled.  
"You're still on probation."

He wiped the grin off his face and nodded 
seriously.  "Yes ma'am.  Sorry ma'am."  He 
pulled on a jacket and jogged toward the gate.

After opening it, he waited until the vehicles 
came through and left it open for Scully's 
departure, then jogged back.  He ignored the 
men and headed up onto the porch to tell 
Scully bye.

She leaned up and kissed him on the corner of 
his mouth.  "Be good today.  I have a light load; 
I might be able to get off early.  It's supposed to 
be in the low 70's this afternoon.  Maybe we 
can grill out tonight?"

"Sounds like a plan," he told her as he walked 
her to the door.  Agent Drummy and two other 
agents were getting out of a standard bureau 
issued car while another two men exited a 
white panel truck.  Scully waited for Drummy to 
come up the steps of the porch.

"Agent Drummy," she said, extending her hand 
in greeting.

"Dr. Scully.  Nice to see you," Drummy said, 
though he sounded like she was the last 
person he wanted to face that morning.  Or 
maybe the second to last.  "Mr. Mulder," he 
said dryly and nodded in Mulder's direction.

"Drummy, see you brought the troops.  I have 
coffee made, if you want some."

"No thanks.  These guys are contractors, 
they're paid hourly.  But then you know all 
about that," Drummy said with a thinly veiled 
sneer.  "I want those motion detectors up and 
running before lunch time."

Mulder just nodded and walked Scully the rest 
of the way down to her car, his hand on the 
small of her back.

"That's 'playing nice'?" she whispered as 
Mulder opened her door for her.

"Sure, Scully.  Don't you remember 'sandbox' 
class from the Academy?  Oh, wait, you always 
said I flunked that class," he answered with an 
innocent expression.

"You are just pushing your luck today, mister," 
she told him sternly, but then reached up and 
pulled him down into a smoldering kiss.

"You expect me to say goodbye after that," he 
moaned.

"I expect you to be good, so that you deserve 
another one when I get back," she replied, 
wiping her lipstick off his mouth with her thumb.  
"Play nice with the agents, Mulder."  With that 
she got in the car and headed out to the main 
road.

"Easy for you to say," Mulder sighed as he 
turned back toward the house.

Drummy and the agents were watching the 
contractors set up ladders on the south side of 
the house, near Eddie's window.

"Hey, are you guys going to be loud?  A child is 
sleeping in that room," he said, pointing to the 
window.

"Might want to wake 'em up," one of the 
contractors's called back.  "We'll have to drill to 
get this installed."

Mulder rolled his eyes and hurried back into 
the house.  Eddie was just opening his eyes 
when he saw Mulder.  At that moment, the 
sound of a loud electric drill reverberated 
through the small bedroom.  The boy's eyes 
grew wide, and he whimpered.  Mulder felt 
something like an electric shock run through 
his body.  

"Eddie?  Are you all right?" he asked, fighting 
against the sensation to get to the boy.  Eddie 
continued to whimper, his eyes bright with fear.  
He pushed past Mulder and started to head for 
the closet.

"Eddie, hey, buddy, it's all right.  Where are 
you going?"  He caught the boy's arm and 
pulled him into a hug.  "It's okay," Mulder 
crooned, and as he held the boy, the tingling 
sensation started to ebb.  "It's okay.  It's just 
the workmen, from yesterday.  Remember?  
Sorry, that noise is pretty loud, huh?  It's okay."  
Finally the boy settled a bit, but remained 
somewhat stiff.  "Hey, we still have half a box 
of Reese's downstairs.  Last one to the kitchen 
has to get out the spoons," he challenged.  
Eddie shot out of his arms and headed for the 
stairs to the first level.  "Guess I better hurry," 
Mulder said to himself as he followed the boy.

Breakfast was much easier now that Scully had 
purchased the right chocolate syrup, and Eddie 
had become a Reese's Peanut Butter Puffs 
fan.  They cleaned off the table and loaded the 
dishwasher together.  Mulder then looked 
down at his young companion and motioned to 
his pajamas and bare feet.  "I think it's time for 
a change of clothes," he said, wiggling his 
eyebrows. 

Eddie frowned and studied the tile floor.  

"Hey, it's OK.  I'll go up with you," Mulder 
offered.  Eddie didn't look any more convinced, 
but did agree to take Mulder's hand, and head 
toward the steps.  When they reached the top 
level, he veered off, tugging on Mulder's arm 
and guiding him toward the larger bedroom.

Mulder shook his head.  "No, Eddie, buddy, 
you have to get your clothes," he countered.  
The boy just stared at him and tugged harder 
on his hand.  

Mulder remembered their ill-fated attempt to do 
dot to dot the day before and quickly came up 
with an alternative.  "OK, how about this.  I go 
into your room and get your clothes, and you 
can change in the bathroom, how does that 
sound?"

Eddie said nothing, but dropped Mulder's hand.  
Mulder nodded and went in to the boy's room 
to gather jeans, shirt and underwear.  He 
returned and handed them to the child, who 
then ran off to the bathroom, closing the door 
behind him.  

Mulder sat down on the unmade bed -- he and 
Scully had both gotten up later than they'd 
planned after some early morning make up 
sex, so making the bed had gone by the 
wayside.  He knew her reaction to seeing the 
tape was just concern for his well-being, but it 
did show that she still wasn't comfortable with 
his new-found career.  

He chewed on his lip, wondering about what 
had happened.  He could barely remember the 
painful hum/electric shock he'd first felt when 
he touched Eddie.  The kid had been right, he 
had become used to it.  But this morning had 
been something altogether different.  When 
Eddie had been frightened -- by the drilling? -- 
the hum Mulder felt when he held the boy was 
like ants crawling under his skin.  It was an oily 
feeling and totally unpleasant.  Was that what 
Eddie felt, was that what he experienced when 
he was afraid?  God, no wonder the kid 
freaked out, Mulder reflected.

The problem remained, what did he tell Scully?  
She wouldn't see it as a tool but as a threat to 
him personally.  He believed Eddie wouldn't 
hurt him, but Scully might not see it that way.  

Before he could decide on whether or not to tell 
her about this latest incident, the boy opened 
the bathroom door.  Mulder had to bite his lip to 
keep from laughing.  Eddie's shirt was on 
backward and his pant pockets were hanging 
out, but he'd done a relatively good job.  "Let's 
just straighten this up a bit," he told the boy as 
he helped him slip his arms out and turn the 
shirt to the front, then tucked in the pockets of 
his jeans.  Mentally, he thanked the smart 
shoemaker for putting velcro straps on tennis 
shoes, and noted that each shoe was on the 
correct foot.  "There, you're stylin', buddy.  
C'mon, it's a nice day out.  I want to show you 
something."

Eddie trailed behind him down the stairs and 
through to the back door of the kitchen.  Mulder 
opened it and the little boy looked around, 
wide-eyed.  "C'mon.  It's okay, kiddo.  I 
promise," he assured the child.

Over six years time, the running path was 
clearly marked in the late winter grass.  Eddie 
looked back at the house as Mulder headed 
out into the yard.  "It'll be there when we get 
back," Mulder teased and took the boy's hand.  
The unpleasant hum was there, but just an 
echo, not really even noticeable, like the 
vibrations of a car's steering wheel when the 
road was rough.  "I'll protect you," he vowed.  
The hum dropped down to almost nothing at 
those words.

The day was bright and warming, the breeze 
gentle and in the woods, the whites and pinks 
of the dogwoods and magnolias were splashes 
among the tender green of the soon to be 
leaves.  As they entered the woods, Mulder 
veered off the well worn path on to another 
barely discernable lane.  It ended just a few 
yards in at the base of an ancient oak.  

Time had weathered the boards, but the little 
tree house stood testament to a time when 
children lived in the farmhouse and played in 
these woods.  Along the other side of the tree 
was a tire swing.  Mulder tugged on the rope, 
aged and gray colored, and found it still strong.  
"C'mere, Eddie.  I'll push you."

Eddie looked wary, but approached him, 
slowly.  Mulder picked the boy up and helped 
him put his feet through the center of the tire, 
then made sure the child's hands wrapped 
around the rope as it led up to the tree limb.  
"Hang on tight.  I'll just give you a little shove till 
you get the hang of it."  

Mulder pushed lightly on Eddie's shoulders and 
then stepped back to let the tire swing 
unhindered.  The boy's expression was total 
concentration, but at the second shove from 
Mulder's hand a wide grin lit up his face.

"Ya like that, sport?" Mulder called and for 
once Eddie actually responded with a nod of 
his head.  "Yeah.  I used to like that a lot, too, 
when I was your age."

As Mulder pushed, Eddie started to make 
noises, attempting to sound like a rocket ship.  
Mulder ducked his head to hide his chuckle.  
The higher the boy went in the swing, the 
louder the noises became.  Pretty soon, Mulder 
was wondering when it would stop.  "Eddie?  
Hey, want to check out the tree house?" he 
called over the boy's loud roarings.

Eddie was oblivious, he just kept making the 
rocket sounds and then started holding his 
arms out as if to take flight.  Mulder caught him 
before he toppled from the swing.  "Hey, 
buddy, be careful there!  We don't want you to 
fall," he warned, pulling the child from the tire 
and setting him on the ground.  Eddie didn't 
blink, just started running around the tree, arms 
out, making full throttle noises that were 
surprisingly realistic.  Mulder shook his head, 
wondering how in the world to connect with the 
boy.

"Hey, Ground Control to Major Tom," he called 
loudly, trying to get Eddie's attention.  The boy 
stopped but instead of answering, he started to 
climb the wooden ladder up to the tree house. 

Mulder hurried after him, thoughts of rotted 
planks and the resulting fall large in his mind.  
When he got to the tree house, only about 12 
feet off the ground and in the strong arms of 
the ancient oak, he discovered his worries 
were for naught.  The house was sturdy, built 
of the same wood as the tree surrounding it.  It 
had no roof, only three walls and the floor.  A 
rusted lunch box with Mr. Spock and Captain 
Kirk was forgotten in one corner and a few 
Imperial Storm Troopers stood as three inch 
sentinels near the ladder entrance.  Eddie 
latched onto two storm troopers and continued 
with his verbal barrage of rockets, now adding 
laser blasts to the mix.

It was undeniably the most noise Mulder had 
heard out of the kid in the four days he'd been 
in his presence.  It might not be 'language' to 
most people, but at least it was something.  
Spying an opportunity, Mulder sat down and 
picked up the third storm trooper, trying to 
engage Eddie in the game, but the child would 
have none of it.  He turned his body away from 
Mulder, ignoring his attempts completely.  
Apparently this was a one-man game of 
intergalactic battle.

Mulder watched the game for a while and then 
looked over at the lunch box.  He smiled as he 
picked it up, he had one exactly like it only with 
red trim.  The latch was rusted, but he was 
able to force it open.  Inside there was a 
collection of old Star Trek trading cards in 
surprisingly good condition.  

"Wow, bet these would be worth a year or two 
of college tuition on eBay," he muttered as he 
thumbed through the treasure.  "Hey, Eddie, 
look -- Mr. Spock giving the 'Vulcan Neck 
Pinch'," he said excitedly, holding the card out 
to the boy.  Eddie continued to be lost in his 
own world, still fighting the battle of Endor.  
Mulder went back to the cards, still smiling.  
"When I was a kid, these came with these little 
sticks of bubblegum.  I used to clean up all the 
clippings from our lawn mower just to make 
enough money to buy a pack," he said, mostly 
to himself since the other occupant of the 
treehouse was busy with his own game.  
"Wonder what happened to those cards," he 
pondered.  Eddie continued to make rocket 
noises and noises associated with a pitched 
battle while Mulder sat with his back against 
the plywood wall, a half smile on his face.

Would this have been his life -- watching 
William play?  His heart broke anew as it did 
every time he thought of his son.  So much 
time wasted and for what?  So what if Kersh 
had warned him about his impending death?  
Maybe it was just a ruse, as he now firmly 
believed, to get him out of town and away from 
Scully.  Divide and conquer, one of the oldest 
battle plans in the playbook and they'd fallen 
for the trap.  Would Scully have given the boy 
up for adoption if he'd stayed?  Maybe.  Maybe 
it was a decision they both would have made 
together.  But in the back of his mind, Mulder 
still ached that it hadn't been his decision.  
Ultimately it was as he'd feared -- 'Scully's 
baby', as he'd thought of William before his 
birth, had come between them.  Forever it 
would be a hurt that wouldn't heal and all he 
could do was try not to think about it, go on as 
best he could.

He really didn't blame her as much as he 
blamed himself.  But in the end, it didn't matter 
who was at fault -- they both lived with the 
pain.  

Eddie's battle was heating up even more and 
Mulder noticed that the sun was higher in the 
sky.  Drummy had wanted to get the 
installation finished by noon, which meant the 
contractors should be close to done.  It was 
time to head back.

"Hey, sport, time to get some lunch, huh?" 
Mulder offered.  The child ignored him 
completely, but Mulder was getting used to 
that.  He touched the boy's arm and the buzz 
he felt wasn't at all unexpected or unpleasant.  
Eddie finally slowed down but didn't look up.  
"Lunch time.  PB&J's," Mulder said enticingly.  
Eddie clutched the tiny Star Wars figures and 
chewed on his lip.  "You can take them back 
with you.  I figure they're yours now.  Finders, 
keepers, right?"  The smile was barely 
perceptible but it made Mulder's heart swell.  
"I'm betting there's some more stuff you'd like 
in the house.  There're a couple of old boxes 
up in the attic we can dig through later.  After 
lunch."
 
*****

After a bracing lunch of canned chicken noodle 
soup and the promised peanut butter and jelly 
sandwiches, Eddie followed the former agent 
up the stairs to the end of the hallway.  There, 
a pull down ladder allowed the two up into the 
attic.  Mulder had to stoop to avoid hitting his 
head on the rafters, but Eddie had no such 
difficulties. A few boxes and an old steamer 
trunk were scattered on the rough floor boards.  
In one of the boxes they found more Star Wars 
figurines, an Imperial AT-AT with moving parts, 
and a full-sized light saber with the battery end 
cap missing.  Eddie's eyes lit up at the haul 
and Mulder gathered it all in a discarded shoe 
box to take back down to the main floors.  
While Eddie battled the stormtroopers on the 
ice planet Hoth, Mulder sorted through the 
papers he'd printed off the day before.  When 
he had a select few, he turned to the boy.

"Hey, why don't we take all this out to the tree 
house?" he suggested.  Eddie didn't look up, 
but shyly nodded.  "Great!" Mulder answered 
and off they went.

As they were heading out the backyard toward 
the trees, Drummy called from the side of the 
house.  Mulder instructed Eddie to go on 
ahead and then trotted over to the stern agent.

"All done?" Mulder asked.

"Yeah.  There's camera surveillance on all 
corners of the house, just like you have at the 
front gate," Drummy replied.  

"Motion detectors?" Mulder prodded.

Drummy rolled his eyes.  "Yes, around the 
perimeter."

Mulder frowned.  "Perimeter?  We're on 12 
acres here," he objected.  "You put motion 
detectors -- "

At that moment a screeching siren was heard 
from just above their heads and Mulder glared 
at Drummy.  "Eddie just went into the woods.  
Do you mean to tell me he just set that off?"

Drummy glared back at Mulder and then 
nodded his head.  "They'll have to adjust it," he 
said gruffly.  "But they can't get to it until 
Monday."

Mulder rolled his eyes.  "Well then, turn the 
damned thing off!  I'll arm it again later after 
Scully gets home.  Are there going to be 
agents nearby?"

"You know, Mr. Mulder, times are tight -- 
budget cuts -- "

"Short answer, no," Mulder frowned again.  
"That's OK.  Both Scully and I are still range 
qualified."

"You realize, as private citizens, if you 
discharge a weapon you could be -- "

"Held on criminal charges.  Yeah, yeah, I know.  
But this time I plan on having more than a pipe 
wrench to defend myself.  You let us worry 
about finding a good defense attorney," Mulder 
shot back.

Drummy looked like he wanted to say 
something, but ended up shaking his head and 
turning to go.  All of a sudden, he turned back 
and pulled a business card from his pocket.  
With a swift motion, he scribbled something on 
the back and handed it to Mulder.  "That's my 
home number.  If anything happens after hours 
-- I'm just up the road."  At Mulder's surprised 
look, he stared off into the distance.  "Monica 
Bannon was a friend -- but Dakota Whitney 
was my partner.  I might not have expressed 
myself appropriately at the time, but I 
appreciate all you did on that case."

Mulder was taken aback, but graciously took 
the card.  "Thanks.  I . . . uh . . . thanks."  He 
watched the agent disappear around the side 
of the house before he glanced at the card, 
then tucked it in his front pocket.  He turned 
and went off in search of his little Jedi.

Eddie was deep in battle when Mulder climbed 
up into the tree house.   Mulder settled himself 
against the side of the structure and pulled the 
homework papers out of his back pocket.  
"Hmm," he read loudly, for Eddie's benefit.  
"Five Imperial tie-fighters meet the Millennium 
Falcon in subspace around Endor.  The Falcon 
fires, taking out two of the fighters, that leaves .  . . "

"Lemme see that," Eddie rasped and grabbed 
the paper from Mulder's hand.  He looked up at 
his older companion for a moment, then down 
at the paper.  Mulder smiled and brashly 
produced a mechanical pencil.  In a flash Eddie 
was sprawled out on the floor of the tree house 
doing math -- Star Wars style.  Mulder leaned 
against the plywood wall and smiled to himself.  

*****

Scully tried to settle in at work, but found her 
attention kept returning to Mulder and the boy.  
Had Mulder really heard the hum?  The artifact 
hum?  He'd tried to downplay it, as he had over 
the phone, before she'd seen the DVD, but had 
finally admitted that he still was aware of it 
around Eddie.  

She hadn't thought about that time in ages.  It 
had been a scary time; she had been so 
frightened -- knowing that Mulder's mind hung 
in the balance.  That 'hum' had nearly killed 
him.  She was back in that anteroom with 
Skinner and Diana.  Mulder had known she 
was there, had cried out for her to Diana's 
dismay though she had tried to hide it from 
Scully.

He had read her mind; he'd had no choice but 
to read her mind as well as everyone around 
him.  Was that going to happen again, and why 
did the hum happen around Eddie?

Oh hell, she reached into her pocket and pulled 
out a thumb drive she had slipped out of the 
house that morning.  She plugged it in and 
brought up her personal report on her findings 
during that time.  This was definitely not what 
she had turned in to the Bureau.  She needed 
to familiarize herself with the full information 
again.

An hour later she sat back.  She hadn't 
forgotten anything, how could she?  The whole 
case had shaken the foundations of her faith, 
and her fear of losing Mulder had tainted every 
moment.  He had come back to her, that's what 
was important and with his new knowledge, 
their relationship had . . . changed.  So much 
had changed then.  Their closeness had grown 
in the natural direction.  Even just remembering 
it now caused the color to rise in her cheeks.  
So much had changed.

Inevitably William came to her mind.  She 
usually pushed it away, but right now she was 
concentrating on the artifact.  She'd had 
another encounter with it, when William had . .  . felt it?  
When he'd called it to him.  She shuddered at that 
memory.  Mulder didn't know about that.  Even now 
they had such trouble talking about their son.  She 
should tell him.  Scully sighed, she was getting back 
into the mode, not being able to focus on anything but 
their quest once again.

Bringing up William under any circumstances 
was uncomfortable, but it needed to be done.  
She wondered how they were doing out there 
today.  Having strangers around Eddie 
probably put him on edge, but she hesitated to 
call.  Mulder didn't need to think she was 
checking up on him.  He was completely 
competent to look after one little boy with 
Aspergers.  He had the degree in psychology, 
but she wanted to be there as well.

*****

She had managed to stay and actually get 
some of her own paperwork done, but lost no 
time leaving when the day ended.  After a 
quick stop for more supplies that Mulder had 
requested, she was on her way.

A new gate greeted her.  The chain and lock 
were missing, but an electronic keypad, with 
speaker had replaced them.  She rolled the 
window down and pressed the red button at 
the bottom.

"Yes?" Mulder responded with a fake British 
butler accent.

"May I enter?" she asked.

"Depends?  You a hot redhead?"

"Oh God, is Eddie around?"

"Oh, you like younger men?"

"Mulder!"  At that the gate began swinging 
open.  Shaking her head she put the car back 
in gear and drove up to the house.  She saw 
the gate close behind her in the mirror.

Mulder was loping down the porch stairs as 
she pulled up and opened her door for her.  
She stepped out and kissed him.  "So how did 
it go today?"

"Great," Mulder took the grocery bag from her 
arms.  "Drummy and I tossed back a few 
brews, talked about old times, and - " He 
stopped when she cut her eyes at him.

"Right, how about you and Eddie?"

"Oh Eddie, yeah, the short, young one."  He 
grinned.  "It was actually a better day.  We 
stayed out of the house most of it.  They were 
working and it was pretty loud, drilling, 
hammering, etc.  We checked out the tree 
house in the back."

"Is it safe?" she asked immediately.

"Yeah, I went up first and tested it.  I weigh 
more than he does."

"No shit."

He blinked at that, then grinned.  "You know, 
he really seemed to like it.  It's small, closed in.  
Bigger than a closet, but he seemed to relax up 
there where he could feel enclosed or 
something.  I came back and got some of 
those papers I printed off, and he worked on 
them a little.  It wasn't a full day's curriculum 
but it went better than yesterday.  What's in the 
bag?"

"I thought we'd try tacos tonight.  I still don't 
know what Eddie likes to eat.  This way he can 
add what he wants."

"Good idea.  The only thing I'm sure of is the 
Reeses Peanut Butter Puffs cereal."

"Mulder . . ."

"Yeah?"

"Did you hear the hum today?"

He faced her then.  "Yeah, early.  The workers 
started before I could get up here to wake 
Eddie.  The drill woke him up and he was 
terrified.  I heard it then."

She nodded, but made no other comment, 
turning instead to the stove.  After putting the 
hamburger on to brown, she turned back.  
"Where is Eddie?"

"Upstairs.   He was going to wash his hands.  I 
guess I better go check."

"Let me," she said, wiping her hands.  She 
headed upstairs and glanced in the bathroom.  
It was empty, so she turned toward the 
bedroom.  It also looked empty, but the closet 
door drew her eye.  It was slightly open.  Eddie 
had always insisted it be closed before he went 
to bed.  She stepped inside and opened the 
door.  "Eddie?"

She squatted down to be eye to eye with the 
boy.  "Eddie, what's wrong?"

He said nothing, just rocking slightly.

"It's time to fix dinner.  I thought we'd have 
tacos tonight.  Do you think you could help 
me?  We can all hang out in the kitchen 
together.  Does that sound good to you?"

He glanced up and seemed to think about it, 
then stood up.  Scully rose as well but before 
she could say anything else, he was racing out 
of the room.  She stopped to pick up his bag, 
his security object, and placed it carefully on 
his pillow.  What had happened that would 
cause him to hide in the closet and need the 
bag.  She was sure Mulder had been unaware.  
He would have been up here, checking on 
things if he'd had any idea.

Shaking her head, she followed the boy down 
to the kitchen.  Since she wasn't able to talk to 
Mulder about what had happened, she asked 
the boys to get together the ingredients she 
had bought and place them in separate bowls 
and set the table.

Mulder demonstrated how he built the perfect 
taco and Eddie imitated him and was smiling 
as he ate.  Mulder talked about their day and 
their discoveries in the attic.  They had left 
some of them out in the tree house, for play 
tomorrow.

Following the family time, and Eddie's bath, 
Scully tried to lead him into the bedroom for his 
bedtime chapter of Treasure Island.  She was 
stunned when he adamantly refused to enter 
the room.  

Mulder, hearing the disturbance, hurried 
upstairs.  "What's up guys?"

"Eddie doesn't want to sleep in his room 
tonight."  Scully saw Mulder's brow furrow, as 
confused as she was.

"What's wrong, Big Guy?  You've liked your 
room the other nights."

Eddie shook his head, his hands in fists.  
Mulder realized this could turn into the same 
kind of classic standoff they had experienced 
the morning before.  They needed to divert 
this.  "What about reading the story in our room 
tonight."

Scully looked up, surprised.

"We can't do it every night, but maybe this 
once.  Okay?"

Eddie seemed to relax a little and nodded, but 
didn't look up.

"Eddie?  You understand this is not going to be 
every night, don't you?" Scully asked.

Eddie didn't respond, but he headed toward 
their bedroom.

"What are you doing?" Scully whispered to 
Mulder.

"He was woken up by that drill this morning.  
He might be remembering that fear.  Let's let 
him fall asleep in our bed and I'll move him 
once he's asleep."

"It's not a good precedent."

"When he wakes up in the morning, and the 
sound is gone, maybe he won't be afraid of the 
room again."

Scully flashed back to finding him in the closet.  
Maybe that would work.  After a moment, she 
followed Eddie into the room.  He was sitting 
on her side of the bed, stiffly, but waiting 
quietly.  She didn't mention it, just drawing the 
chair closer to the bed.  

"Get comfortable."  Mulder pulled the light 
blanket from the foot of the bed and sprawled 
on his side, to listen to the story with them 
tonight.

*****

Mulder had dozed off, curled around Eddie.  
When the child whimpered and move against 
him, Mulder came awake.  He stroked the little 
boy's back and immediately sensed the hum 
again, this time it crackled with fear.

"Shh, it's all right, just a bad dream," Mulder 
cooed sleepily.  He could see Scully, the book 
on her lap, asleep in the chair beside the bed.  
He was just about to wake her and convince 
her to crawl into bed with them when Eddie 
shot straight up to a sitting position, eyes wide 
with terror.  He clutched Mulder's hand tightly 
and the hum resounded to a crashing thunder 
of vibration.  

Mulder was blinded by the strength of the 
child's emotion.  Fight or flight became only 
flight and he felt himself being pulled by the 
hand, out of the bed and down the stairs.  He 
tried to pull away once, but Eddie grabbed his 
other hand and kept tugging, the connection so 
strong between them that only a force of God 
could render them apart.

The night air was cool on his face and he 
blinked rapidly to clear his vision.  They were 
outside, Eddie running as fast as Mulder would 
allow toward the back of the yard, to the forest.  
The moon was only half full but it gave some 
illumination.  Out of the corner of his eye 
Mulder could see three forms approaching 
them from around the corner of the house.  
Eddie's fear ratcheted up several notches and 
was joined by Mulder's own fear.  Mulder found 
enough strength to pull the child up into his 
arms so that only his feet carried them.  He 
didn't need to think of where he was going, 
Eddie was directing him with his thoughts.  
One image grew large in his mind -- the tree 
house.

Not much of a defensive position without a 
weapon, a small part of Mulder's brain 
lamented as Mulder tried to wrest control.  But 
the boy would have none of it.  He needed to 
get to the tree house and he needed to get 
there immediately.  Mulder's feet sensed the 
change in ground cover, from the soft grass of 
the yard to the wood chip of his running path.  
It would only be seconds to the tree house and 
safety.

The blow hit him in the back.  All breath left 
Mulder's lungs as something hard hit him 
square across the back and then again across 
his shoulder's.  He stumbled and felt Eddie 
thrown from his grasp.  Before he could turn on 
his attacker, another blow came -- this time to 
his head.  Darkness closed down on him.

Eddie hit the ground and rolled, a maneuver 
his now fallen companion would have found 
impressive.  Two of the men were securing the 
now unconscious Mulder, tying his hands 
behind his back and enclosing his ankles in a 
strap.  Eddie looked over at the man 
approaching him, arms out as if to comfort.  
Eddie scrambled to his feet and ran.  He didn't 
run straight to the tree house, knowing 
instinctively that a straight path would be easier 
for the man to follow.  He zig-zagged and 
twisted through the brush with the ease of 
someone who had lived near these woods for 
years, maybe even blazed trails through them.  
Finally, he rounded back to his destination.  As 
he soundlessly climbed the ladder up to the 
floor of the house, he glanced back, hoping to 
see Mulder.  His friend and the two attackers 
were already gone.  

A tear slipped down his face and Eddie looked 
around the tree house helplessly.  Then, 
inspiration struck.  He grabbed one of the 
discarded work papers and a crayon and 
hastily drew a message he hoped she would 
understand.  He was stuffing it in the rusted 
lunch box when he heard the man at the foot of 
the tree house.  

Wiping his nose on his pajama sleeve, he 
crawled over to the edge and looked down.  "I'll 
come down," he said clearly.  "Just don' hurt 
him."

The man smiled, but it was forced and not at all 
convincing.  He waved one hand, palm toward 
himself, to indicate the Eddie should come 
down.  The boy swallowed the tears and the 
terror that was threatening to overtake him.  
Slowly, he climbed down the wooden ladder 
and allowed the man to take him by the hand.

When the cloth with the sickening sweet smell 
was placed over his mouth and nose, he 
struggled, but in just a short while, he was 
asleep.

*****

Scully stirred, something waking her, not a 
sound more of a movement.  She glanced 
toward the bed and realized that both Mulder 
and Eddie were gone.  She hadn't meant to fall 
asleep.  She'd wanted to talk to Mulder after 
Eddie was in bed, finally tell him about 
William's interaction with the artifact.  Putting it 
off was easier, but it needed to be done.  
Eddie's fear of his own bedroom had delayed 
that once again.

She stretched, listening for Mulder to return, 
but heard nothing.  Puzzled, she rose from the 
chair and headed for Eddie's room.  She knew 
immediately it was empty.  The moonlight 
coming through the window confirmed that, 
and that the closet door was closed tight.  A 
movement caught her eye then and she 
realized that the new gate had just closed.  No, 
that wasn't possible.  Looking down she saw 
that the car was still parked in front of the 
house.  What was going on?

She did a quick search of the second floor, but 
she was alone.  Concerned now, she hurried 
downstairs.  No one was in the house, but the 
back door was standing open.  Cautiously she 
stepped toward the door, wishing she was 
armed.  There was no sign of anyone.

Following her instincts, she rushed upstairs 
and took the gun Mulder had purchased for her 
into her hand.  It was fully loaded, and she 
slipped an extra clip into her pocket.  She kept 
the gun in her hand and returned downstairs.

She stepped outside, looking right and left, but 
could see nothing.  The moon shadows could 
hide things, but Mulder wouldn't hide from her.  
What the hell had happened and where were 
they?  After a moment, keeping her gun down 
at her side, she proceeded out toward the 
woods.  Mulder had shown Eddie the tree 
house today.  It made no sense for Mulder to 
take him out here at this time of night.  Would 
Eddie have come out here on his own and 
Mulder follow?  Nothing was making sense, but 
where else could she look?  They didn't have a 
damn garage.

The tree house wasn't a place she visited 
often, but she found it with little trouble.  Scully 
stood at the bottom of the tree, looking for 
anything that could give her a clue.  They 
weren't here, why had she thought . . .  She 
turned to head back toward the house, but 
something stopped her.

Not knowing why, she climbed the ladder up to 
the small room.  She'd been right, no one was 
there, but she saw the scattered Star Wars 
toys on the other side of the room.  Closer to 
the stairs was a rusty box, an old lunch box?  
For some reason she snatched it up, and 
descended to the ground again.

*****

Mulder felt the sea spray on his face and 
opened his eyes.  He was on the beach again.  
It had been so long -- years, maybe -- since 
he'd last been on this shore.  The sun was 
behind clouds but the day was warm.  He was 
sitting on the sand, arms propped on his bent 
knee, and from this position he had a perfect 
view of the endless surf.  For many minutes he 
just watched and listened to the waves 
crashing against the sand.  It calmed him and 
he allowed himself to be lulled into a pleasant 
doze.

"Finally!" came a voice just behind him.  "I 
thought you'd never get here!"

Mulder looked around, but couldn't see anyone 
else on the beach.  "Excuse me?" he asked, 
straining to look down toward the shoreline, 
even though the voice came from just over his 
left shoulder.

"You're supposed to help me, remember," a 
young boy's voice said impatiently.

Ah, the boy.  He'd seen him so many times in 
his dreams.  But he hadn't had one of those 
dreams in years.  Not since . . . Mulder's 
thoughts skittered away from the realization 
that he hadn't had one of those dreams since 
the birth of his son, William.

"I can't see you," Mulder said loudly, hoping to 
wipe away the bitterness of his memories.  
"Where are you?  C'mon out and I'll help you."

"I'm right here!  I'm right in front of you.  Can't 
you see me?" the boy replied plaintively.

"There's no one here," Mulder objected.  "I 
can't see you.  Where are you hiding?"

"I'm not hiding," the boy insisted.  "I'm right in 
front of you.  You just don't want to see me," he 
accused angrily.

"No, that's not it," Mulder replied hastily.  "I 
can't see you.  I saw you before, I remember.  
We worked on a sand castle shaped like a 
spaceship.  But you aren't here now.  I can't 
find you."

Mulder kept searching, first looking all the way 
down the beach to his left and then all the way 
down the beach to his right.  When he stood up 
and turned around to see the sand dunes 
behind him.  There was absolutely no one on 
the beach.  "Boy!  Hey, boy?  Talk to me again.  
I can't see you but I can hear you.  Are you still 
here?  Don't leave, okay?  I want to see you, 
really."

"Then open your eyes," said the boy, right 
behind his back.  Mulder spun around and saw 
the boy.  He was wearing the same pajamas 
Eddie had worn to bed.

"There you are," Mulder exclaimed happily.  
"See, I can see you now.  But you aren't really 
dressed to build a sand castle.  Where are your 
clothes?"

The boy looked down at how he was dressed 
and shrugged.  

"No problem, I guess.  What do you want me to 
help you with?  Want to build another castle?"

"I want you to tell me my name," the boy 
replied, crossing his arms in front of him.

Mulder shook his head.  "I never knew your 
name," he answered sincerely.

The boy narrowed his eyes.  "Yes you do.  You 
know my name."

"No," Mulder replied patiently.  "I don't.  
Really."

"She named me after your father," the boy 
replied, his eyes flashing.

Mulder swallowed.  Was this why he'd never 
had the dream since William's birth?  Was the 
dream boy his own son?  His heart clenched 
and he closed his eyes against the sadness 
the washed over him.  "I'm sorry.  I didn't know 
who you were," he whispered.

A small hand touched his much larger one and 
Mulder looked down.  He drew in a breath 
when he saw that he was looking at Eddie.

"I told you once.  You do know my name," 
Eddie said and smiled.

A sharp pain in his shoulder jerked Mulder 
instantly awake.  His captor was tightening the 
bonds that held his arms behind his back.  
Slowly, not wanting to alert his companion that 
he was awake yet, Mulder took stock of his 
surroundings.  He was on a floor and it was 
vibrating.  The slightly weightless feeling he 
remembered from too many cross continental 
flights.  He was on an airplane.  His arms were 
bound, but he couldn't feel any blindfold.  His 
captors either expected him to remain 
unconscious for the full flight, or didn't care if 
he saw them.  If they didn't care, that meant 
they weren't planning on him being able to 
identify them later.  His heart sank.

"How's the kid?"  A voice over his right 
shoulder was farther away than the presence 
that had just adjusted his bindings.  

"Still out.  He's breathing."

Mulder almost groaned in distress.  They had 
Eddie.  Last he could remember, Eddie had 
shot out of his arms.  He'd hoped the boy could 
elude the men, but obviously that was a futile 
hope.

"We're an hour out.  Better tie the kid up.  We 
don't want him getting away now," directed the 
far voice.

"Have you been in contact with the site?" 
asked Mulder's jailor.

"Yeah.  They're prepared," came the reply.

Prepared for what, Mulder wondered.  
Whatever it was, he hoped it would take a 
while.  Scully's rescuing skills were still a bit 
rusty, and airplanes left very poor trails to 
follow.

*****

Okay, she was officially frightened.  Mulder and 
Eddie weren't here.  She rushed back to the 
house.  She looked down at the box in her left 
hand.  She laid the box on the table and 
opened it.  The page on top caught her eye 
and she pulled it from the box.  It had been 
shoved in and was wrinkled, but not long 
enough for the creases to be set in.  This 
hadn't been in the box but a few minutes.  She 
felt the hair stand up on her arms.  It was just 
one of the pages Mulder had printed off for 
Eddie, what . . . She turned the sheet over and 
sank into the chair at the table.  

Who had drawn this?  Could Eddie have . . . 
her hand was shaking now as she spread the 
sheet out flat on the table.

It couldn't be, but what else . . . She'd seen this 
twice, once in Africa while fighting for Mulder's 
sanity and, and a second time in Calgary when 
she had tracked William down.  Mulder had 
seen neither and couldn't have rendered this 
drawing in any case.  But Eddie . . . Oh God! It 
was crude, but easily recognizable as the . . . 
the spacecraft.  Could she call it that?  She 
shoved those last doubts aside, recalling 
against her will, the scene -- Comer in the 
hospital bed, struggling for custody of the 
artifact, then his words.  "One day god told 
Josepho to lead us a thousand miles north to 
find a ship buried in the ground. You have a 
piece of that ship in your hand.  Josepho 
believes that that ship is a temple which 
houses the physical manifestation of god."  
Comer had told her that.  "Josepho said god 
spoke to him of a miracle child. A future savior 
coveted by forces of good and evil. Josepho 
believes your son is this child.  Josepho 
believes your son will follow in his father's 
paths and try and stop the aliens' return. 
Unless his father was to be killed. That is the 
prophesy."

She was on her feet now, racing up the stairs 
once more.  Without knowing why, she 
grabbed Eddie's bag up from his pillow where 
she had laid it before following him downstairs 
to make tacos earlier this evening.  After a 
second, she pulled open the draw string and 
pulled out what was safely hidden inside.

The sight caused her knees to buckle and she 
sank onto his bed.  She didn't even feel the 
tears flowing down her face.  This -- the blue 
knit harlequin cap that William had been 
wearing when she had allowed the woman to 
carry him out of her apartment, out of her life.  
She brought it to her face, breathing it in, trying 
to get her brain to work.

Eddie was William.

Thinking it still didn't allow it to sink in.  "Eddie 
is William," she whispered.  Their son, Mulder's 
son, and he and Mulder were in danger.  That 
thought finally galvanized her into movement.  
She was on her feet, the cap held tightly in her 
hand.  Part of her wondered if she'd ever let it 
go.

She could see Josepho's face.  "You struggle 
to believe. It's so incredible, but your son will 
lead this alien race. He was put here to lead."  

She had seen it.  She and Reyes had watched 
the ship emerge from the tent and disappear 
into the distance. They had walked through the 
bodies burnt beyond recognition in the 
remnants of the tent that had hidden the 
excavation.  Just like the bodies at Ruskin 
Dam, El Rico.

She needed help.  There was no way she 
could find the people that had done this alone.  
Everyone in Calgary had died that night, but it 
had only been a cell in the conspiracy.  She 
had been right to try to protect their son, but oh 
God what had she done!

She moved past the bed and something caught 
her eye.  She turned and saw the business 
card lying half under the light blanket on 
Mulder's side of the bed.  Had it been there 
earlier?  She picked it up and her eyes 
widened.  Drummy? Drummy!  

The number of the back had to be his personal 
cell.  She dropped the gun on the bed beside 
her and grabbed up the phone.  The thoughts 
of releasing the cap never entering her mind.  
She dialed quickly, silently urging the man to 
answer the freaking phone!

The voice that answered was low, sleepy.  
"Yeah?"

"Agent Drummy?"

"Yeah.  Who is this?"

"Scully.  They're gone!"

"Gone?  Who's . . . the kid?"

"And Mulder.  Someone took them.  I need 
your help.  I have to find them, Eddie . . . " She 
stopped there, unwilling to say what came to 
her lips.  "They had the code to the gate."

"Fuck!  I'm on my way."  He sounded wide 
awake now.  Scully was holding onto a 
disconnected phone.

Again she dialed.  "Hello?"  This voice sounded 
wide awake, as though already up and 
showered and on his second cup of coffee.

"Walter - "

"Dana?  What's wrong?"

"They're gone.  They were taken."

"Mulder?  The boy?"

"The boy," her voice cracked then.  "Walter, the 
boy . . . it was William."

There was a very loud silence from the other 
end of the phone for a long moment.  "Dana, 
you know - "

"I have proof.  Eddie is William, and they've 
taken him again!"

"It'll take me a while to get there."

"Drummy's coming.  I found his card; he'd 
given it to Mulder . . ."

"Then I'll head to the office and coordinate from 
there.  It's going to be all right."

"They've wanted Mulder dead from the 
beginning."

"Who?"

"The cult, Josepho."

"What did you find?"  'Skinner' had emerged, 
demanding a report.

"A drawing.  Ed-William left a drawing of the 
spacecraft, the one from Africa, the one from 
Calgary."

"I'll call you back, Dana.  Let me start the 
investigation officially.  Then . . . "

"I know."

"I'll be in touch, try not to worry.  Be careful 
what you tell Drummy."

She changed quickly into jeans and a black t-
shirt, running shoes.  Now was no time for 
doctor attire, she was into funky poaching 
mode.  Were there any clues?  The people that 
had taken them were professional; she had no 
doubt of that.  Another group in the nameless 
hordes of people that lived that non-existence 
she knew as the conspiracy.  There would be 
no fingerprints on the gate keyboard and as far 
as she could tell, they hadn't come into the 
house.  She would have heard that.  Why the 
hell had she not heard Mulder and Eddie leave 
the room?  Had Ed-William . . . The hum, why 
couldn't she feel it like Mulder?  She would 
have known something was wrong.  She 
should have realized the connection . . . she 
should have recognized her son.

He'd witnessed . . . oh God!  The deaths of all 
those people, when he had been in the next 
room.  Could, could he read minds?  She 
closed her eyes, allowing despair to overwhelm 
her for a moment.  Safe - she wanted to laugh 
at the irony.  She had sent the boy away to 
protect him, but they have found him and she 
hadn't been there to protect him.

She had to find him, rescue him and Mulder.

Drummy was as good as his word, there in less 
than an hour.  Even he had foregone 'agent' 
attire at this hour.  He was wearing jeans and a 
t-shirt under a leather jacket.  He called from 
his cell phone when he reached the gate, to 
avoid touching the buttons himself.  Scully 
opened it and he sped to the house.

"You could have used the panel," she said 
bitterly.  "These people don't have fingerprints."

"You saw - "

"I saw the gate closing.  I didn't see a car; I 
barely saw the gate in the moonlight.  They 
weren't using headlights, even brake lights.  I 
don't even know which direction they took out 
of the driveway."

Drummy looked at her for moment.  "So 
basically, we don't have a fucking clue."

continued in part 4