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 12 ~
 
Tuesday
12:30 pm
Kayenta, AZ

After some investigation, they found it wouldn't be a very 
long haul to get to where they were going. The semi-surly, 
but ultimately helpful man behind the front desk at the 
hotel guided them to a Jeep rental agency just across the 
highway. 

"People usually find it easier to rent a guide with a Jeep 
at the visitor's center. It also helps support the native 
community."

"We realize that," Scully said, "but we're going to need 
the Jeep beyond our tour of Monument Valley." She smiled 
and hoped she wasn't offending him further. Unfortunately, 
the damage had already been done. She silently vowed to 
donate generously to the Navajo Nation when they were 
through here.

"Don't worry about it," Mulder said as they exited the 
office. "Let's deal with our own problems right now, 
Scully. You can take on the plight of the Native American 
when we get home."

"You don't have to be flippant."

"That's what I'm good at. Did you check us out, too?"

"Yes. If we're all packed, we can go ahead and go."

"Good," Mulder said, touching her shoulder briefly to guide 
her back toward the room. "It's only about a half hour 
drive up there. A total of about thirty miles from here to 
Lookout point and from there, we'll Jeep it into the 
valley. I think we're going to wind up hiking into the 
crevice of that mesa though. You up to that?"

"Yes," she said without thinking. 

"And," Mulder said as they reached the door to their room, 
"you enjoy hiking in those stacked things, do you?"

"Oh," she said looking at the heels on her feet. "I mean, 
after I change my shoes."

"And into some jeans. Okay. Let's just make sure we plan 
ahead." They walked into the room to find William at the 
laptop. "You ready to go, Will?"

"Yep."

"We'll want to hit that store, too, Mulder, and get some 
water, some food to take along... Do you think we'll need 
to think about camping?"

"No, it shouldn't take us more than, what, three hours at 
the maximum to get to the entrance to the mine. More than 
likely, less than that. I mean, I have an idea what the 
terrain is like and we mapped the distance on the trail in 
Google Earth. Didn't we, William?"

"Yep. Four point five miles to the end of Indian Route 42. 
Aaaaaaand - a one mile hike to the mine door."

Scully put her hand on the back of William's neck. "How are 
those sneakers for walking, William?"

"They're good."

"Okay," Mulder said, "let's get this show on the road."

They gathered the rest of their belongings from the room 
and piled into the rental they got at the airport in New 
Mexico. They drove across the highway and pulled into the 
little rental agency next to the McDonalds. 

While Scully rented the Jeep and made arrangements to leave 
the New Mexico rental in the parking lot, Mulder and 
William shopped. 

It had been happening to Mulder off and on since they had 
met William - sudden flashes playing out of what their life 
might have been like had he been the father to William he 
wanted to be. That normal life, out-of-the-car feeling 
Scully used to talk about, it breezed in and around and 
through him during these flashes, and now it was happening 
again as William pushed the shopping cart and Mulder walked 
beside him, one hand on the cart for guidance. Such 
normalcy in yet another historic burst of insanity that was 
their life.

"So, just to be safe, we'll get a case of water, right?"

"Right," agreed William. "And people always eat granola 
bars and trail mix and stuff when they're hiking."

"Well. Scully will enjoy that. How 'bout we pick up some 
beef jerky and Slim Jims, too?"

"Yeah!" William exclaimed.

"Fat and beef byproducts, William. That's what it's all 
about."

"Huh?"

"No, never mind." 

They walked silently from item to item, up and down the 
aisles, both seemingly lost in thought. At the checkout 
counter, Mulder noticed as William eyed the candy bars next 
to the counter in front of them. If he was William's father 
- his real father... But they were still on a polite 
acquaintance-like association. Mulder knew Scully felt it 
too and that it was killing her, not being able or, 
somehow, allowed to be as easy with him as any mother 
should be with her own son. 

Mulder could hear it in his head: *Dad, please? Just one 
candy bar? I won't ask for anything else ever again...* 
Mulder smiled to himself. He dropped a hand on top of his 
head and William looked up at him, wide-eyed and hopeful. 

"Snickers?" Mulder asked.

William's eyes widened further, and his teeth flashed in a 
wide grin. "Milky Way?"

Mulder nodded at the candy. "Go ahead. And grab a Snickers 
for me and let's get something for your - for Scully."

"Hershey bar?" William wondered. "I think she wants just 
chocolate," he said as he picked up the candy.

"Good choice, but why don't you just get the regular sized 
bar. If we give her a pound of Hershey bar, she'll kill 
me," Mulder said with a smile.

William chuckled. "Okay," he said and put the candy on the 
counter.

They exited into the cool, spring air and squinted into the 
sun. Mulder spied Scully perusing a map and leaning against 
the fender of the deep red Jeep Wrangler. Sunglasses on, 
jeans snug, and her hair up in a messy pony tail, she 
looked good enough to eat. What was it about a beautiful 
woman next to a cool car that made them both irresistible?

She looked up from the map and saw them walking toward her. 
Even William was carrying a bag.

"Need some help?" she called.

"Nope! Neat car," William said.

"Very much neat," echoed Mulder as they approached and 
Mulder began loading their haul into the storage area.

Scully folded up the map and helped Mulder. "Get 
everything?"

"Everything we could think of," he said. "And, oh -"

"Wait! Me!"

Mulder smiled and beckoned William to the grocery bag in 
the back of the Jeep. William found what he was looking for 
and surreptitiously hid it behind his back. He turned to 
Scully. "We got you something," he said, proudly and 
produced a Hershey bar with a flourish.

Scully beamed. "Thank you, William. My favorite." 

William was tickled as he glanced up to Mulder and back to 
Scully. "I knew you'd like that one," he said. "Dana." He 
said it softly and quite out of the blue.

They all paused for a nano beat before time, that universal 
invariant, started again. It was the first time he'd 
addressed either of them by name with the exception of 
establishing their identity when they first spoke over the 
phone. William was, obviously, just as confused as to the 
nature of their relationship as they were, and probably 
just as eager to resolve it, somehow. 

It was apparent; they needed to have a conversation.