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 11 ~

11:00 am
Holiday Inn, Kayenta, AZ

When Scully stepped out of the bathroom, she found William 
pawing through a pile of clothes and other less 
identifiable items on the bed. He turned and saw Scully.

"Look what he got me! Brand new jeans! And look at this 
cool T-shirt!" He held it up so Scully could see the 
beautiful Navajo design on the front.

"Wow," Scully said. She grinned and looked at Mulder. He 
shrugged and went back to enjoying William. 

"And look - a baseball glove! Wow! This is way better than 
mine!" He looked up at Mulder, truly happy. "Thank you, 
wow."

"You're welcome, William."

"Did you get him underwear, Mulder? And socks?"

William silently held up a 3-pack of jockey shorts over his 
head as he continued rummaging through his newly acquired 
spoils. 

Mulder smiled. "Underwear takes a back seat."

William punched the little glove in his hand and looked at 
Mulder. His look of genuine joy was hampered somewhat by a 
new regret. "I don't think we're gonna have time to play 
catch." He smiled dejectedly, a boy who was feeling too 
much responsibility much too early.

"I forgot to get a ball anyway," Mulder said. "Oh," he 
said, turning to Scully, "we should have an internet 
connection." 

"Good. You have a toothbrush in there, too, William?"

"Uh huh."

"Why don't you brush breakfast out of your teeth and then 
come and show us this place, okay?"

"Okay. Can I wear my new T-shirt?"

"'Course you can," she said. 

William grabbed his toothbrush and his new T-shirt and, 
still wearing the baseball glove, headed for the bathroom.

Scully put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him, snagged 
the underwear and socks from the bed and handed them to 
him. William grinned and disappeared behind the bathroom 
door.

Scully automatically moved to the bed and started refolding 
all of William's new clothes. Mulder sat down next to where 
she stood. 

"I'm not trying to buy his affection," he said softly.

"I didn't say you were," she said. "In fact, I didn't say 
anything against what you did at all."

"Okay," he said warily. "I thought there was a tone."

"I said 'wow,' Mulder."

"Yeah - that's a tone."

She playfully slapped his arm as he moved to the laptop and 
sat down. He booted up and began nosing around her 
software. 

"Oh, you already have Google Earth installed."

"Mm hm. I like all things Google."

"Great. Hey, want to see the pyramids in Egypt?"

"We're not going to the pyramids," William said as he came 
out of the bathroom.

"That's a plus." Mulder got up and motioned for William to 
sit down. With a jerk of his head, he beckoned to Scully 
and they both hovered behind William as he maneuvered the 
location in Google Earth.

"Okay... Wow, this is a fast computer. Mine's really slow 
at home." 

Mulder and Scully watched the United States zoom in. 
William tapped and Arizona got bigger and bigger. He looked 
up at Scully. "How do you spell this place? Where we are?"

"Oh, uh, K - A - Y - E - N - T - A."

William poked at the keyboard and typed in Kayenta as she 
recited it again, letter by letter. The program zoomed in 
to a little spot at the junction of Highway 160 and 163 in 
Northern Arizona. "We're here. And we go up," William said 
as he maneuvered the view, "and up and up to here. There. 
Mmm. Wait. There," he said, pinpointing a location in 
Monument Valley. The view in Google Earth was enhanced in 
this section so they could see it in great detail.

Mulder and Scully kneeled down and peered closer at the 
screen. "Right there," William said, pointing at the screen 
just south of Lookout Point. 

"Mitchell Mesa?" Scully asked.

"No, down here," he said. "On the other side of it."

"Mulder..."

Mulder clicked where William indicated. Mulder and Scully 
each lifted an eyebrow. "It's a uranium mine," Scully said.

"Only it's not uranium - it's magatite. Mag-netite," 
William said, "and it's not a mine anymore and there's a 
whole place inside there. In the mountain place. The mesa?" 
he said looking to Scully for confirmation. She nodded. 
"Mesa. Cool, isn't it?"

"Very cool," Mulder said. "How do we get down in there? Oh, 
I see," he said manipulating the view. "Take 163 up to 
Monument Valley Road, hang a right to Lookout Point - "

"Those look like dirt roads, Mulder. We'll probably need a 
4 x 4 to go past the lookout."

"Neat!" William exclaimed like the little boy he was.

Mulder grinned and looked over at Scully. "Neat. Monument 
Valley, Scully. Guess you're going back there, after all."

Scully smiled and dropped a hand on top of William's head 
as he zoomed in and out and around the mesas and buttes and 
the red earth of Monument Valley.