Hole in the Black
by PD

ARCHIVAL:  Gossamer, no thanks. Stories will be housed at 
my site only. If you'd like to link, I'd love it, but 
please drop me note with a heads up.

DISCLAIMER:  Can I borrow the keys to the franchise, Chris? 
I won't go to any FBI balls, I promise to make a full stop 
at most clichés, and I will try not to dangle my 
participles at the nice couple in the unremarkable house.

CLASSIFICATION: SRA, MSR, IWTB, TMI, ASAP

RATING:  R

SPOILERS:  Through The X Files: I Want To Believe

SUMMARY:  "I wasn't in the group, Mr. Mulder. I was a 
tangential part of the project - in league with those few 
who were adamant on the subject of developing an antidote 
and a vaccine. He was our man on the inside, but we were 
not on the side of complicity with the colonists and that 
meant we were on the outside. Fringe element. We were not 
highly regarded. We weren't even invited to the group 
barbecues." He caught himself and smiled. "Ah. No pun 
intended."


~ Chapter 10 ~
 
Tuesday, April 15th 
8:15 am
Holiday Inn, Kayenta, AZ

Mulder's eyes peeled open to find William, chin in hand, 
staring at him from the other bed.

"Hi," Mulder croaked. "Time izzit?"

William glanced at the digital clock between the two beds. 
"8:15," he said. "Morning."

Scully was on her belly next to Mulder, one arm thrown 
across his torso, her face oddly smooshed against his 
bicep. William indicated Scully with his eyes and grinned. 
Mulder glanced over at her and chuckled. 

"She's funny," William said. 

"Hey, sleepyhead," Mulder said, jostling the arm she was 
resting on.

"M," was about all she could manage and Mulder looked at 
William. "It takes her a minute."

William nodded and smiled, seemingly fascinated at watching 
Scully surface from her deep sleep.

"Hungry?" Mulder asked.

William nodded, still watching Scully. She rolled over and 
his eyes lit up when she finally lifted her lids half mast 
and found her son staring at her.

"Oh," she said and located a sleepy smile in her inventory 
of expressions. "Good morning."

"Morning. Are you hungry, too?"

"Mm hm. Starved."

"Can I get pancakes?" William asked as he jumped out of 
bed.

"Only if I can get pancakes," Mulder said and poked Scully 
in her ribs. 

Scully closed her eyes, content. "Everybody gets pancakes," 
she said. 

~:~:~

There were three plates of pancakes on the table 
surrounding three more enormous plates full of breakfast 
food. It was a feast of caloric riches and carbohydrate 
dreams. Scully couldn't have cared less.

"So, what's the plan, William?" Mulder asked around a 
mouthful of potatoes.

William picked up his orange juice and washed down his own 
mouthful. "What?"

"This is your show. You have some things to show us, tell 
us..." Mulder stuffed a forkful of pancakes in his mouth. 
"Right?"

William nodded and a breath of disappointment wafted over 
his face. "Yeah."

Mulder was stricken. "But, I mean, we don't have to do it 
now. I just - William, I'm not trying to hurry through 
this. Believe me."

"I do. And I know."

"I'd - " Mulder started, thought better of it and then said 
it anyway. "I'd hang out with you forever like this if I 
thought I could. We both would."

Scully watched their exchange with her own sense of what 
was to come. "Mulder."

"No," William said. "I know. I really do. I mean, I know 
I'm only six - I'm almost seven. But I know."

Mulder marveled at him. His son. He wasn't just unusually 
smart for his age. He was wise. Like he'd experienced the 
events of years beyond his own. 

"Anyway," William said. "We have a lot to do. And a lot to 
talk about." He smiled and looked at Scully. "I guess I'll 
be around for a while."

"As long as you can," Scully said.

William nodded, and the way he put down his fork and cocked 
his head - he did it with the gravitas of a leader about to 
address his people. 

"In four years," William started, "aliens will come. That's 
the -" he stopped, searching for the phrase in his head, 
somewhere. "- the bottom line," he finished. "We've got a 
lot of things to do before then if we're gonna stop it. And 
save the world."

William picked up his fork, shoveled potatoes and sausage 
in his mouth and washed it down with his orange juice. He 
was still chewing while his father and mother processed 
this, their mouths open in shock. William took a bite of 
pancakes and smiled. "You guys really need to stop being 
surprised at stuff I say. I told you. I just know things."

Mulder and Scully closed their mouths and nodded. Scully 
took Mulder's hand under the table.

"Roy thinks he's done, but he's not, really. I know he said 
he didn't know where they are, and maybe he doesn't, but 
the vaccine project is still going and he can get us in. 
They won't think they can trust you, I think, but if Roy is 
there, they trust him. And I know where they are. The 
scientists and stuff."

"You know?" Scully's throat was dry and it came out hoarse 
and rusty.

"Uh huh. They're underground. Under those big rock things 
growing up out of the ground. I don't know what they're 
called."

"Mountains?" Scully wondered. "Buttes." William shrugged.

"Where, William?" Mulder asked.

William picked up his fork and started eating again. "I 
don't know what it's called, but I can show you on Google 
Earth." He smiled. "I love that program. You can fly in and 
around all these neat places. Anyway, we can talk about the 
other stuff on the way there. Like the computer in your 
neck. They have a better one. In the underground place." 

"Okay," Scully breathed. She gathered the exploded shards 
of her head and herded them back into one piece. "Let's 
finish breakfast and you can show us where we're going when 
we get back to the room."

Scully turned to Mulder. He shook his head in amazement. He 
gave her hand a squeeze and dug back into his breakfast. 

~:~:~

While William played solitaire on Scully's laptop, Mulder 
had gone back to the front desk to ask if the internet 
service was ever going to come back on. 

Scully was showering, searing her skin under the hot water 
and trying to assimilate everything that was happening. It 
was not easy. She was still getting used to waking up next 
to Mulder every morning and that had been going on for six 
years, give or take. Reacquiring a son and a planet-saving 
mission in life was going to take more than a minute.

She turned off the water and wrapped the barely adequate 
towel around her. As she combed out her long hair, she 
heard Mulder come in, his low voice rumbling through the 
wall. Something he said made William laugh and she smiled. 

How could they possibly let him go when this was over?