The Lambs: Part 1 (5/10)
by Lamia (AKA so kiss me goodbye) 

Rating: PG-13 (violence, strong language)
Category: S 
Spoilers: Seasons 1-9, Fight the Future 
Keywords: William; Colonization 
Summary: Liam van de Kamp's life changes the day two 
FBI agents kidnap him and his parents.

Author's Note: The Lambs is a three-part story (with prologue).


Chapter 5 

August 10, 2011
Crooks Gap Rd
Wyoming 

Nothing happened for the longest time. 

The road before them sharpened as dawn broke and 
fingers of sunlight crept through the valleys on their 
right. 

Liam deduced Dr. Scully was taking them north but he 
didn't know how far away Jeffrey City was. He estimated 
it was about half an hour since his mother made her 
emergency call, although there was no sign yet anyone 
was responding. 

It could only be a matter of time. 

Liam was almost too tense to tear his gaze away from 
the road in front of them. Every few minutes his eyes 
fell on his plastic cup. Jerry was secured in a cup 
recess next to the tapes. *What does he make of the 
sensation of speed?* Dr. Scully wasn't taking this drive 
at a sedate rate. 

The road was empty of other traffic. But for the hills 
in the east and to the distant north, the world around 
them stretched flat and boundless in every direction, 
fueling the illusion they were not moving at all. 

The unchanging landscape was hypnotic. 

What if Mr. Mulder and Dr. Scully were right about the 
aliens? What if they really knew something the rest of 
the world didn't? What if, overnight, the aliens had 
visited every town in the world, burning and killing 
everything and everyone? He had only seen the lights of 
the other vehicles when they drove through Wamsutter; 
how could he even be sure real humans were driiving 
those cars? What if they were the last people left on 
the planet? It was ludicrous, but he still shivered. 
His mother took his hand and squeezed it. Her grasp was 
warm and reassuring, telling him not to worry because 
this adventure would soon be over. 

He wasn't sure how he felt about that. As far as 
kidnappings went, he knew this one had been interesting 
- and mostly not in a bad way. When school started 
again he would hands down have the best vacation story 
ever - not even Suzie Craddock's trip to Disney World 
would match it. 

Even though they hadn't gotten off to a good start, he 
was even coming to - kind of - like his captors. 

Not that they weren't infuriating. 

What would happen once the police stopped the SUV? It 
was just a matter of time. Prison didn't seem right. 
Yes, they had broken laws, but none of their actions 
had led to direct harm - unless he counted Dr. Scully 
gouging her neck. 

Perhaps his mom would let him visit them in the 
hospital? 

Mr. Mulder hadn't stirred since closing his eyes. 
Neither the music nor Liam's father's humming had woken 
him. His phone had buzzed a couple of times, but he was 
either ignoring it or too deep in sleep for it to 
register. 

Liam wondered how the police would stop them. Maybe a 
road block? Maybe wait until they got into Jeffrey 
City? What would happen to him and his parents then? 
Would they have to stay and talk to the police? Would 
they be escorted home in a patrol car? As he added up 
the travel time and miles they had done, he figured 
they were probably only about four or five hours away 
from Tessa, if that. 

Mr. Mulder's phone buzzed again. He woke with a jolt and 
pulled it from a pocket. 

It was the beginning of the end. 

"Sh-! Scully, where's your phone?" 

"Mulder?" 

"Your phone. There's a call being made on your phone 
right now." 

Her hand disappeared from the steering wheel. She 
gasped. "I don't have it." 

Liam shrank as the man blazed with intense emotion - 
fury or panic, perhaps both. 

"Mulder! Behind us!" 

Liam twisted to see out the window. A little black dot 
was just emerging on the horizon. The road started to 
sweep around a curve. 

One became two, became three, became four, became ... 
Liam's chest tightened. There had to be at least eight, 
all in a chain. 

Rescue had arrived. It had to be the rescue team, 
coming to free him and his parents. Why then was a cold 
sweat breaking out on his temple? 

As the vehicles got closer and closer, he was torn 
between a desire to cheer their pursuers on and an 
inexplicable need to yell at Dr. Scully to go faster. 

He didn't need to tell Dr. Scully anything. He was 
thrust against the seat as the stolen SUV hurtled 
forward. It was a small relief to see Jerry was still 
safe and hadn't been dislodged by the sudden burst of 
speed. 

Whatever feelings *he* had, his parents were less 
conflicted. His mother had gripped the handhold above 
the window but she was keeping her composure. 

"Dr. Scully, please slow down. It's no use. They know 
where you're going. I'm sorry ... I borrowed your 
cellphone." 

Dr. Scully ignored her. "How far, Mulder?" 

"They're not gaining as much. Can you get this thing to 
go any faster?" 

"Maybe ... but then we're going to have another 
problem." 

"Scully?" 

"They don't call these things gas-guzzlers for 
nothing," she said. "No wonder no one wants to buy SUVs 
anymore." 

Liam's dad tried reason. "Dr. Scully, Mr. Mulder, 
wouldn't it be safer to give up? Whatever your reasons 
for kidnapping us, I don't believe you intended any 
harm. We'll tell them exactly how kindly you treated us -" 

Dr. Scully wasn't in the mood for reason. "Any ideas, 
Mulder?" 

"Just keep driving, Scully. Keep driving!" Mr. Mulder 
had to roar over the scream of wind when he wound down 
his window. Liam's mom flinched and pulled Liam to her 
when Mr. Mulder whipped his gun from its holster. 

"Please don't," she said in a whisper. 

Mr. Mulder's wild expression softened. 

"Mrs. van de Kamp." He was gentle. "If you love your son 
and your husband, you'll turn that cellphone off." 

"But the police," she said. "You can't expect to outrun 
them." 

"Look at them, Marie." Mr. Mulder's use of her first 
name was unsettling. "They're not the police. Not the 
sort you know." 

"They could be ..." The hand gripping Liam went rigid. 

"Mom?" 

She squeezed her eyes and shook her head. She snatched 
up the phone and handed it to Mr. Mulder. He threw it 
out the window. 

The black vehicles were still only the size of peas. 

"Doing good, Scully." 

*But for how long?* 

There were no side roads they could shoot off. Their 
only chance would be to reach Jeffrey City and hope 
they weren't intercepted before then ... but with the 
gas on empty - or nearly - that might be impossible. 

As much as his brain said it was futile to run, his 
body didn't want to listen. 

*Don't stop! Don't stop!* 

After another minute the vehicles still looked no 
closer. Liam had exhausted his reserves of anxiety. He 
forced himself to exhale. Everything was going 
swimmingly from their end. The gas was holding out. Dr. 
Scully had proved she was a match for the other 
drivers. They just might make it, he told himself over 
and over, willing himself to believe it. 

Mr. Mulder uttered his second expletive for the day, but 
it lacked conviction and had the ring of defeat to it. 

When Liam twisted again to look out the back window he 
knew why. "A helicopter! Mom, there's a helicopter!" 

"Stay down, kid," Mr. Mulder said. "Both of you get 
down. You're not safe sticking up like that." 

"Mulder!" Dr. Scully was locked on the road in front of 
her. "We've got more trouble - there's a marked patrol 
car heading right at us." 

"I think we've got a bigger problem coming from behind, 
Scully." 

"Holy sh -" 

Even that got Mr. Mulder's attention. Liam's father 
wasn't usually one for swearing. When Liam looked 
forward, he understood his father's panic. 

The patrol car charged head-on at them. Just behind it 
was another car in the other lane. There was nowhere 
for Dr. Scully to go but the grassy shoulder of the road 
- except Dr. Scully appeared to have no intentions of 
taking that option. 

"Keep going, Scully," Mulder said. "Straight ahead." 
The patrol car, its lights flashing, bore at them. It 
would all be over before ... Mrs. van de Kamp grabbed 
Liam in a hug. 

He heard a shot ring out and felt the vehicle swerve, 
but the expected impact never came. "What the ...?" At 
his father's exclamation, Liam struggled to free 
himself from his mother. Both cars were nowhere to be 
seen. But in the distance a third, unmarked, car headed 
to them. Thankfully, it stayed in the other lane. 

"What happened?" his mother said. 

They were already half a mile away. Behind them thick 
smoke poured off wreckage on the road. "Harry, what 
happened?" 

"The second car, the one behind it ..." Mr. van de Kamp 
shook his head. "Someone in the second car shot out the 
wheel on the first car." 

"Picnic's not over, folks," Mr. Mulder said. The 
rhythmic thumping of the black helicopter was a war 
cry. When he looked up, Liam caught a glimpse of the 
machine's underbelly as it gained on them, angry and 
wasp-like. 

"I'm not seeing this." Mr. van de Kamp was still staring 
out the front windshield. 

The third car was almost on them. A man was braced 
against the back window - a figure aiming some kind of 
rifle toward them. Only it wasn't aimed at *them*; the 
marksman had his sights set higher. 

"If this thing's got anymore juice in her, Scully, now 
would be a good time to find out." 

Where Dr. Scully found that extra bit of speed, Liam 
never knew. The SUV shot forward just as the crack of a 
gunshot was swallowed in a dreadful explosion. Fiery 
chunks of metal rained down on the road like a 
meteorite shower, pelting their roof with metallic 
debris. 

"That's impossible. That's fu ..." Liam's dad took a 
gulp of air. "What the hell's happening?" 

"You're being rescued," Mr. Mulder said. Liam's dad 
opened his mouth to speak, but Dr. Scully cut in. 

"What's happening behind us?" 

Mr. Mulder surveyed the scene. 

"The last car's turned around; it made it out of there. 
The helicopter wreckage's blocking the - no ... one, 
two ... we've still got three on our tail - hello." 

"Mulder?" 

"Someone else is out there, Scully. Someone covering 
our asses." 

She lifted her head to glance in the rear view mirror. 
"Where?" 

Mr. Mulder whistled in admiration. "Whoever they are, 
they're a crack shot. They've taken out the tires on 
the three vehicles that made it through the helicopter 
mess." 

Mr. Mulder's phone buzzed again. 

"There should be a road on your left up ahead, Scully. 
There's an abandoned barn about three miles along. We 
need to get under some shelter before these guys start 
reassembling themselves." 

Liam stared at Mr. Mulder's cellphone. "How do you know 
where to go, Mr. Mulder?" 

"Trade secret, kid," he said, smiling for the first 
time since the pursuit started. 

They found the barn exactly where he said. Set in a dip 
in the land about half a mile further off the road, 
only its rooftop was visible when they turned into the 
gravel track leading up to it. It had no door, just a 
wide gaping hole. 

Dr. Scully didn't stop to check the building before 
driving inside. When the SUV rolled to a stop, she made 
no effort to get out. She slumped over the wheel, her 
shoulders rising and falling. Only the ticking of the 
engine punctured the stunned quiet. Liam's mother still 
held him close. Liam winced when someone spoke. His 
dad. 

Harry van de Kamp's voice was low, dangerous, 
controlled. His rage was unmistakable. 

"How dare you?" They knew who he was speaking to. "How 
dare you put my family through some kind of Satan's 
hell ride?" 

Before anyone had a chance to react, he was out of the 
car, slamming the door. He kicked a loose paling on the 
wall and picked up a rake, swinging it at a window. 

The glass seemed to shatter in slow motion; he flung 
the rake aside. It struck a sagging shelf, which 
toppled, taking down cans of paint with it. Mr. van de 
Kamp leaned over, hands on knees, gasping. 

Mr. Mulder got out of the SUV while Dr. Scully pushed 
herself up. He helped her out of the vehicle but when 
he started to move to Liam's dad, she put a hand on his 
arm. Liam felt his mother's arms drop away and she 
joined Mr. Mulder and Dr. Scully, her expression 
unreadable. 

Dr. Scully nodded at Mr. van de Kamp, her face softening. 
"I'm afraid to approach him." 

"Harry?" Mrs. van de Kamp stepped towards her husband. 
When he didn't stand up, she reached out, enfolding him 
in her arms. 

For the first time since he'd puzzled over the strange 
term "adoption," Liam felt a separation from his mother 
and father. 

They were in their own private world - one he was shut 
out of for a moment. 

That first time when his parents had explained he was 
adopted - not their blood son - for one afternoon his 
head had spun in a free fall and he grappled with the 
sensation of being cut loose. But by evening when his 
mother found him playing on the branch of a favorite 
tree, she'd taken his hands in hers and asked him if 
they were real. 

"Are these hands warm, Liam?" she'd said. "These hands 
cut your fruit for you, they wash behind your ears when 
you forget, they open your curtains in the morning, 
they draw the wheels on your box cars." 

They were the hands that turned the pages of his 
favorite books. That made paper hats for him. That 
rubbed his back at night when he was having trouble 
sleeping but was trying to pretend everything was 
alright ... 

She made everything alright with her hands. 

And while his mind might wander and speculate where his 
birth mother was or who his biological father had been, 
they were like book characters - people whose stories 
he could make up and change at whim. They weren't real. 
Not like his mother or his father who had always been 
there for him. 

Because those people were not real to him and because 
his parents had always been there for him, he had never 
needed the people who walked away from him. Not to feel 
complete. 

Today, though, his parents had stepped through their 
own invisible barrier, into the pages of their own 
story - and he wasn't in it. 

"Your father will be okay, Liam," Mr. Mulder said. 

"He's just scared for me, I know." Even his own voice 
sounded disconnected. 

Dr. Scully looked concerned. "Are you okay?" 

"Fine," he said, still watching his mother whisper to 
his dad. 

Dr. Scully touched him on the shoulder. "Why don't you 
go and tell him that? I think it would be good for him 
to hear it." 

*She's right. So why can't I make myself go over 
there?* 

It wasn't about intruding on a moment he didn't feel a 
part of, nor about not belonging. Neither was true, nor 
would ever be true. But somehow in the space of a 
heartbeat his own personal universe had shifted. Was it 
because, for once, they didn't need him - not really - 
and, just as equally, he didn't need them? 

Mr. Mulder and Dr. Scully were watching his parents, 
their looks curious. 

He turned away, determined to divert Mr. Mulder and Dr. 
Scully to other matters at hand. 

"Shouldn't we be deciding what to do?" he said. The 
rotting walls and roof overhead looked like they'd come 
down with a sneeze. He felt exposed. 

Mr. Mulder and Dr. Scully shared a look. He was unnerving 
them. He was supposed to be scared, hiding behind their 
backs. He couldn't tell them he didn't feel it. That 
seeing his father collapse had hardened him. 

They humored him. 

"We need to plan our next move, yes," Dr. Scully said. 
"Perhaps you could help me by checking those rooms over 
there? What we really need is some more fuel." 

Liam doubted they would find anything suitable for the 
SUV. Farms were always being raided for diesel. He 
doubted this place had had anything worth stealing 
since before he was born. 

A few sorry-looking garden tools and a pitchfork leaned 
against a wall, and the remains of a rusted-out tractor 
drooped in a corner. The workrooms were as stripped 
bare as Liam expected. 

When he came back, Mr. Mulder came through the large 
opening where the door once hung. 

"No sign of them yet, Scully," he said. 

Dr. Scully scanned the rafters. "I think we're going to 
have to walk, Mulder. This place has been ransacked. 
We've still got time to put a little distance between 
us -" 

Mr. van de Kamp had recovered enough to start paying 
attention. 

"It would be wise for you to leave now," he said. "But 
we are not coming." 

With a sinking heart, Liam realized his dad wasn't 
about to give up the idea rescue was on the way. 

"Mr. van de Kamp -" 

"You can wave that gun as much as you like, madam. 
We've tolerated your civil dictatorship long enough. 
There are people out there looking for us. They know 
roughly where we are and, as wide as this land may 
seem, there's not many places you're going to find to 
hide. You might get lucky ... if you leave now." 

Dr. Scully looked disgusted. 

"Tell me what it was you saw back on the road, Mr. van 
de Kamp. No unmarked helicopters? No black fleet 
sedans, no suicidal cops playing chicken on a routine 
vehicle stop?" 

He regarded her with crossed arms and a cold stare. 

"I saw an unmarked vehicle take out a police patrol 
car. I watched - unbelievably - a man with a rifle take 
out a rescue helicopter. Whatever game you're mixed up 
in, I want nothing to do with it. Maybe you're harmless 
but your accomplices certainly aren't." 

Mr. Mulder's cellphone chose that inopportune moment to 
buzz again. He flicked it open, his face giving away 
nothing as he read. 

"Help's on its way," he said, running back to the SUV. 
"Scully, give me the key. I've got to lead them away 
from this place." 

Dr. Scully made no effort to hand the key over. "What do 
you mean 'help's on its way?' Where are you going?" 

"A red Ford will be here in about ten minutes, but it 
looks like our indestructible friends are getting 
themselves together much more quickly these days. 
Someone needs to act as a decoy - no one's had more 
luck at getting away from them than me." 

Dr. Scully bit her lip. The key remained in her hand. "I 
don't want you to do this." 

He closed the distance between them with a giant step 
and cupped his hand around her neck where the Band Aid 
hid the evidence of her self-mutilation. 

"And I didn't want you to do this" - he shuddered - 
"but I know you had no choice." 

He prised her fingers from the key and placed in them 
another object. "It's funny, you know ... all those 
years we thought we were alone? We're not, Scully. And 
this time I'm happy about that." 

And then he was in the car and backing out. 

Dr. Scully straightened. Any shock from Mr. Mulder's 
departure was gone from her face. 

"I can't let you go, Mr. van de Kamp." She was in no 
mood to argue. She didn't need the gun but she pulled 
it out anyway. 

She directed them to a corner and planted herself 
opposite them where she also had a view of the track. 
They huddled together, Liam at least thankful for their 
sheltered position. Anyone approaching would see Dr. 
Scully first. His parents both sighed when he told them 
he was fine. His dad smiled ruefully when Liam turned 
the question back on them. 

"I took that one a bit hard, Liam. I'm sorry if I 
scared you, but don't you worry. I *am* going to get us 
out of this." 

Liam swallowed his protest. His father's mind was set. 
Liam didn't want to risk re-igniting his anger by 
confessing he thought Mr. Mulder and Dr. Scully might be 
telling the truth. 

Tires crunched on gravel as a vehicle rolled up. 

Liam put his eye to a gap in the weatherboards. His 
heart sped up. It was a large red farm vehicle - a Ford 
- just as Mr. Mulder had said. 

Dr. Scully trained her gun on the man who got out of it. 
She called out before he got nearer. "Back of the 
neck." 

"I'm turning ... I'm gonna show you my neck now." The 
man pulled down the collar of his shirt. Dr. Scully 
moved a little closer, then closer still, until she 
nodded and told the man to face her. 

"If I was one, at this distance you wouldn't have had a 
chance," the man said. 

Dr. Scully's mouth quirked. 

"You'd think by now we'd learn not to be so trusting." 
She shook his hand. 

"And yet, I'm glad we still can be," he replied. "Dana 
Scully, I presume? Garrett de Rosier. I've heard a lot 
about you, Dr. Scully. It's an honor, although I wish 
the circumstances could have been happier. That being 
said, we don't have time for chit chat." 

He poked his head around the door and addressed the van 
de Kamps. "Sorry not to introduce myself, folks, but 
we'd best be going." 

Liam scampered forward, but his father didn't move. 
Liam had reached the back door of the Ford - which Dr. 
Scully was pointing him to - when he saw his father 
still at the barn. Mr. van de Kamp eyed the newcomer 
with suspicion. 

"Do you know this woman?" His glare at Dr. Scully was 
defiant. Liam had a bad feeling. "Not personally." The 
man threw Dr. Scully a confused look. "But by 
reputation, Dr. Scully commands my absolute respect." 

"Well, *Dr.* Scully knows exactly what I think of her 
game, so she shouldn't be surprised that I've decided 
to stop playing." 

Mr. van de Kamp walked past Liam and his mother. He gave 
them a tight smile. "I have to end this, sweetheart," 
he said under his breath. 

He put his hands up but kept moving. 

"Dad!" 

The distance between them grew with every footstep. 
"I've got to get us help, son." 

Four dots jogged over the crest of a hill in the 
distance. 

"Dr. Scully!" 

The doctor swore. "Quick! Into the car!" 

Mr. de Rosier was already in the driver's seat. Liam's 
mother hesitated, looking after her husband, until Liam 
yelled and tugged at her. 

Turning to check on his father, he screamed. "Dr. 
Scully!" 

She was still standing at the door of the vehicle, 
watching Liam's dad retreat. At the pace the figures 
were gaining on him, his dad would be surrounded in a 
minute. 

*Why doesn't he stop?* 

"God, Liam," Dr. Scully said. Her face was white as she 
brought the gun up. "Please don't watch this." 

She fired. 

Liam's scream lasted long after the crack of the bullet 
rent the air.