Happy Ever After by FatCat Feedback: fatcat33047@yahoo.com Rating: G Category: V Spoilers: The entire series, various fan fiction story lines and the second X-Files Movie. That should cover everything. Archive: As you wish, but please keep my name attached. Summary: December 21, 2012? What happened? Disclaimer: These characters belong to the usual people claiming the residuals. No beta was used or abused. Conceived and written 5/26/13. "Mulder, wake up." "What?" "I said wake up; someone's downstairs." "Huh?" "Get up and get your gun," Scully hissed, "Maybe this is it." "I don't hear anything. Besides, I doubt the Apocalypse will start in our living room," he grumbled. "For a man who suffered through the entire first ten years of our relationship with insomnia, you sleep like a dead person," she said as she hurriedly pulled on her robe. "You do remember, I have some experience actually being dead, and I'm sure I don't sleep that soundly," he huffed. "Sorry Mulder," she whispered. "But, I'm sure I heard someone downstairs." "Okay, hold on." Mulder rolled to the edge of the bed and pulled on his jeans. "You're going to feel mighty silly if it's just Santa Claus down there." She glared at him as she tightened the belt of her robe and hissed, "It's three days until Christmas Eve, Mulder. I don't think Santa's trying to get ahead of his schedule this year of all years." They grabbed their guns and crept toward the stairs. "You wait here and I'll have a look around." "Nothing doing; I'm going with you, caveman." "Scully, I'm not trying to patronize or ditch you," he spoke quietly right next to her ear. "I want you to watch my back. If you cover me from the top of the stairs, you'll have a better view all the way to the back of the house." Placated, she nodded and checked her gun again. Mulder moved down the stairs, carefully side-stepping the creaky boards. 'Note to self: check out DIY for a way to quiet these steps,' he thought. He signaled Scully when he reached the bottom step that he was going into the living room. He heard her quietly move half way down for a better line-of-sight in case she had to shoot. After checking the living, dining and kitchen areas he moved towards his closed office door. Scully crept up behind him and they used hand signals just like the old days when they were FBI agents going in for a bust. She was to go in low after throwing open the door moving to the right; Mulder would go high, weapon at the ready, positioned to the left. She counted to three and they sprang into action. They both froze in astonishment then Mulder roared, "What the hell are you doing here?" In front of them stood the being Mulder had always called the Alien Bounty Hunter. In his arms was a sleeping child. "Agents Mulder and Scully," the giant said softly. "Please lower your voices or the boy will wake up." Scully lowered her gun realizing immediately who he was holding. "Mulder," she hissed as she pushed his arm down. "He has William." Mulder looked at Scully, an unbelieving expression on his face. "What? Impossible!" "Whether you believe it or not, I need to put your son down so we can talk privately," he said. He moved toward the couch and they quickly brought their weapons up at the ready. Both Mulder and Scully kept the Bounty Hunter in their gun sights as he laid the boy down and moved towards them and the door. They backed out mirroring every movement the alien made then following him to the great room. "You do realize that if you shoot me, you'll both die from the fumes created by my blood mixing with oxygen." Scully and Mulder exchanged looks and again lowered their weapons. "Okay, what are you doing here?" Scully demanded. "I brought the boy to you. Isn't that a good enough reason to be here?" "Why?" Mulder asked. "Why now?" The being studied them silently for a moment before saying, "Do you know what day it is?" Scully looked at Mulder as he replied "It's December 21, 2012. Obviously the world hasn't ended." "What does this all have to do with William?" Scully demanded. There was a sound from the hall then the boy appeared in the archway. All three individuals turned towards him. He gasped when he saw the Alien and sidled away from him towards Scully. She instinctually pulled him into her embrace as he began to cry. "Ask the Boy," the behemoth said and turned towards the front door. "Wait, I don't understand." Scully said. "The Boy can explain everything." "Maybe so, but you're not going anywhere until we're sure we know what's going on. You owe us the truth," Mulder insisted. The being stopped and turned to glare at Mulder. "I owe you nothing," he said in his normal monotone. "But I will stay until you understand what's happened." "William," he said. "These two are your biological parents. You need to tell them what happened." "You killed my Mom and Dad!" William screamed at the Alien. Terror and anger warring to control him until fear won out and he buried his face against Scully and began to sob, unable to go on. Scully wrapped the child in her embrace and kissed the top of his head. Even at eleven the boy was almost as tall as she and that fact made her heart ache for all the things she'd missed throughout the years. "William, I'm Dana Scully and this is Fox Mulder. Please try to tell us everything that's happened. We want to help, but we don't know how until we know what's going on." Mulder moved over to the boy's other side and rubbed the child's back. "What happened to your parents, William?" "They're dead," he repeated as fresh tears ran down his face. Mulder looked at Scully and she nodded. She moved the boy towards the kitchen table and pulled out a chair for him. She grabbed a box of tissues and sat next to him. Mulder got a bottle of cold water for him and was glad to see the boy nod his thanks through his tears. "William, I know it's hard, but try to tell us what happened." The boy snagged a couple tissues and blew his nose. He opened the water and took a long drink before starting to talk. "You're my first parents?" he asked quietly. When they both nodded, he sucked in a huge breath and began. "Everything was okay when we went to bed. The animals were acting up almost like a bad storm or a tornado was coming, you know?" They nodded in encouragement, waiting for the boy to resume when he was ready. "Well, after Dad checked them and didn't find anything wrong, we went to bed early. We were going to go into town today; we go every couple of weeks. We buy groceries and go to a movie or do something special. Mommy calls it her date night 'cuz she gets to go out with two good-looking men." The boy seemed to realize that he'd never hear his mother say that again and fresh tears coursed down his cheeks. He manfully tried to calm himself and took another drink of water. After a moment, he continued. "About an hour after midnight, there was this huge clap of thunder and then the sky lit up with the brightest light I ever saw. I knew it couldn't be lightening because it just stayed bright; it didn't flash on and off, you know?" He looked between Mulder and Scully, checking to see if they understood his story. At their nods, he continued. "My parents rushed downstairs and threw open the door. Mommy screamed and fell to her knees. Daddy stood there like he was frozen. I snuck down the stairs and looked outside." "What did you see, William?" Mulder asked. "I don't want to say," William mumbled. "Why don't you want to tell us what you saw, sweetie?" Scully asked gently. "Cuz you'll never believe me," he said. Mulder looked at Scully and she smiled back. She stroked William's hair and said, "Oh, honey, you'd be amazed at what your father and I will believe." The boy looked skeptically at the two adults then seemed to make up his mind to give it a try. "I saw a huge black spaceship but it had three sides instead of being round." "How did you know it was a spaceship," Mulder prodded. "It was just silently floating about thirty feet in the air over the barn," he replied. "I don't know anything else that could do that." "Okay," Scully said. "What happened next?" "These grey men appeared on our lawn out of nowhere. They just stood there staring at me for the longest time. My Mom grabbed me, pulling me over by Daddy." "After a bit, this voice sounded off in my head, telling me that they'd come for me - that it was time for me to take my rightful place with them. At first I thought I was just dreaming because their mouths didn't move or anything but I could still hear them, but Mom and Daddy must've heard them too 'cuz Daddy yelled at them that they couldn't have me and Mommy agreed. That's when I really knew it wasn't a dream." "I started walking towards them, even though I didn't want to go. Mommy screamed and Daddy pulled me back to her. He had his shotgun in his hands and brought it up to threaten them with it. He told them I couldn't go with them and that that was final. They were to get off our land, leave us alone." The boy stopped and glared at the Alien Bounty Hunter. "William, what happened next?" Scully inquired gently. "Their leader said that if I refused to go, I had to fight their Champion for the right to determine my ability to govern my own life. Daddy said he'd fight for me and they'd have to kill him and Mom to get to me." William swallowed loudly and sucked in a deep breath, trying to continue, but he couldn't control his tears and began crying so hard he couldn't speak. Mulder glared at the Bounty Hunter and said, "What did you do? What did you do to his parents?" "I accepted their word and eliminated them from the equation." "You killed them. You stood there and glared at them until they began to make choking noises and fell down dead," William accused. "William, are you sure they died?" Scully asked. "They were dead," William said indignantly. "I live on a farm and I know dead when I see it." Scully gaped at her son. He'd looked so much like a young Mulder when he'd replied she was stunned. She glanced over at her Mulder and he gave her a tiny shrug. "What did you do?" Mulder urged him to continue. "I was so mad at them for killing my parents, I wanted to kill them back. I've never shot a gun before but somehow I knew that it wouldn't work against them. I grabbed my slingshot off the edge of the porch and started picking up the sharp pointy rocks Mom had around her flower beds. I shot as quickly as I could at the grey aliens. I didn't think I stood a chance of winning against them, but I remembered the picture in my Bible of David and Goliath, how he slew the giant with the help of God. "I started praying and shooting as fast as I could." "And?" Mulder urged again. "And they started falling. The wind was blowing from behind the house and it seemed like every time I hit one of them, the wind would blow stronger and these green fumes they made were blown away from me. Two or three of them just melted away completely. "Finally, they seemed to realize that I was actually killing them and they all disappeared except that one and the leader. It seemed like they were arguing but I couldn't hear what they said. I guess the big guy won because the last grey disappeared. The last thing I remember was that thing walking towards me and then I woke up in the other room." Scully hugged the child to her again, waiting for the rest of the story from the Alien Bounty Hunter. Mulder turned to the large being and said, "That can't be all that happened." "Why not, Fox Mulder?" "An eleven year old boy just doesn't defeat a ship full of invading aliens without more of a fight," Mulder sputtered. "What happened to their plans for colonization? Why haven't they attacked?" "There will be no attack, no further action against your world." "But, why?" Scully demanded. Mulder and Scully both gaped at the large Alien as he gazed at William with what would be an expression of love and respect from another human before continuing. "Yours is not the only world that has organized religion, a long history of folk lore and prophecy," he said. "The grey's are a master race that has spread throughout multiple universes, seeding worlds similar to yours and then centuries later coming back to reclaim them for habitation when the planet reaches a certain level of civilization. "Your world is not the offspring of such a visitation. Your world is a singularity in the experience of the grays and all other sentient beings. We have been watching you for millennia. Your civilization has developed much more rapidly than expected. Throughout your history there have been many tales passed down by men to explain the creation of this world. Some were started by the grays to confuse the populace and slow down your lity to reach the stars." "Why?" Mulder asked. "We certainly pose no threat to a race as advanced as the Grays." "Yes, you do," he explained. "The Grays had a prophecy that comes from so far back in their history no one knows when or where it started. It stated that at the height of their power there will come a child who will stand against them and win the right to rule their entire civilization. One of the reasons they watched your planet so closely was that it fit into the description of the world where this child would be found. "When William picked up that slingshot and started killing them the only course of action the Grays had was to retreat or bow down and become slaves to this child. They knew the prophecy had been fulfilled. At that moment they gave up all rights to your world and have let it be known throughout all civilized universes that you are a sovereign world, not to be touched until you develop the power to reach the stars on your own." "I can't believe that a boy with a slingshot could kill you. We both know that so far it's been impossible to kill one of you unless you're stabbed in the back of the neck," Scully interjected. "That is true and would hold except for two factors." "What?" "The stones William used were shards of magnetite. That is a mineral found only on the Earth and is deadly to the Grays." "And the other reason?" Scully asked. "They believed the prophecy thus in their minds the child's ability to kill was never challenged." "You mean they thought they would die so they did?" Mulder asked, incredulously. "Yes." The Alien turned and walked towards the door. "Wait!" Mulder yelled. "Wait for what, Fox Mulder? I have given you back your son; all contact with your world is over." "But, how do we explain everything. How we got William back, his parents' deaths?" Mulder blanched then demanded, "What about the chip in Scully's neck?" The large Alien looked almost amused as he spoke one final time. "Check with your old contact Morris Fletcher from the CIA. I'm sure he can put you in touch with your trio of friends and they can produce all the documentation you need to smooth over this entire problem. "The individuals we've worked with in your government have been eliminated. All proof of our presence here on earth has been erased, including the technology used in Agent Scully's chip. Most importantly, we have given you the tools to allow William to remain with you. Your lives and your safety will be guaranteed from this point on by a peace-keeping force of citizens of the universe." Mulder and Scully looked at each other in disbelief. "You mean Scully's free? And Frohike, Byers and Langley are alive? We thought they died saving the world." "They were extremely sick but didn't die. The CIA had them in the witness protection program for their own safety. Now that the prophecy has played out, all the conspirators are dead and all contact has ceased, there's no reason for them to remain in hiding." The large alien bowed before the boy and said, "Goodbye, William." He turned and walked out the door, shutting it behind him. Mulder rushed outside wanting more answers. The Alien Bounty Hunter was nowhere in sight. When he returned to the kitchen Scully was holding onto William like she would never let him go again. The boy peeked up at Mulder and asked, "Are you going to keep me?" "Yes, William! Why would you ask that?" The boy drew away from Scully and stared down at the table. "Well, you gave me away once before," he said in a low voice. "Oh, William! That was to protect you. We, I gave you up for adoption because I couldn't keep you safe. Because of the chip we mentioned, the aliens always knew where I was. A group of really bad men who worked for them tried to take you away from me several times. "I finally realized the only way to keep you safe was to give you a new home with a new name and no connection to me or your father. It was the hardest thing I've ever done and I've regretted having to do it every day of my life since then. The only thing that made it all worthwhile was believing you were happy and safer away from me than with me. Now that all this is over, I hope you can forgive me." Scully began to sob, no longer able to speak. "You still love me? You want me?" William asked, sounding much younger than his eleven years. "Yes, son, we want you with all our hearts. I'm so sorry your other parents are dead. I'd give anything if they weren't because I know it hurts you. But, I can never be sorry that you'll be here with us," Mulder said sincerely. "Will you stay with us?" William spoke so quietly they almost couldn't hear him. "Okay," he murmured. Mulder and Scully held William until they realized the child was asleep again. Mulder carried him upstairs as Scully hurried ahead to turn down the bed in the guest room. They stood in the low light of a small lamp, gazing with amazement at their son. "We have William back," she said. "You're free from the chip." Scully nodded and looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "The guys are alive? Do you think he's right?" "I don't know, but I'll get in touch with Skinner tomorrow and have him check it out." "Do you think he'll believe us?" she asked. "If he believed some of our case reports, he'll believe this. After all, we have William as proof." Mulder pulled her into a tight hug, as he nudged her towards the open door and their bedroom. "We need to get some sleep, Scully. William will be up bright and early tomorrow and he's going to need us." Scully nodded and followed him down the hall. She yawned and said, "You're right. We have a lot to do tomorrow so I'm going to call the hospital and take a few days off work." Once in bed, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately. Scully smiled up at him as the kiss ended and said, "Well, the world didn't come to an end." "No, it didn't," Mulder grinned remembering their first kiss. "Unless the politicians manage to blow the world up somehow, I think we can scratch that off our 'to do' list." "You have a 'To do' List?" she asked incredulously. "Yeah," he said with an even bigger grin. "You know: Save the World - check. Get William back - check. Resurrect our best friends - check." She nodded said with a grin, "Living happily ever after - priceless." "I think you're confusing my check list with a bank card commercial, Scully," Mulder teased. "But I like the sound of that: 'Happy ever after'."