Title: Family III- Changes Author: Kelly Mullins e-mail: Musicgrl72@excelonline.com Spoilers: Any thing about the conspiracy Rating: PG-13 Classification:XRA - X-File/Romance/Angst Keywords: AU, S, Mulder/Scully Romance, Skinner/Maggie Scully Romance, Krycek/ Scully/Skinner friends, and M/S/S friendship. Summary:Almost a year after Mulder's death Scully and Kat celebrate Halloween with Skinner, Maggie, Krycek and Dr. Kelli Rosen... There's a shady figure lurking around Mulder and Scully's old house and The Lone Gunmen come to the rescue, plus one more character death and an over all happy ending... or is it, there's a whole lot of Changes. Disclaimer: If you've read the other stories in this series you know that I've disclaimed that I don't own them, know them, or have even been in the same room as them(They would KILL me!!) I'm just a poor student trying to get an education (and maybe have a little fun while I'm at it). Authors Note: Hey read this story please, I know the beginning of it is a little boring, but no they will NOT be sitting around on the porch the entire story, the plot will thicken... so to speak. I know it takes more than 12 hours for a person to be declared missing, but hey there's special circumstances here...okay? I am not the KELLI in this story I am KELLY, the Kelli here is an completely different person whose character is actually based on someone I know who is named Kelli. Also... This is it!! It will all be over after this, I've spent so much time here in this little universe I've created. This is my last Mulder/Scully Romance, I am going to devote my self wholly to the world of Skinner/Scully Romance:-) Dedication: To Danielle, Katie, Chris R., Lindsey, Whitney, Ben, and every one else who out up with me while I've been off on my own little tangent(It's my own little line of thought.). In addition if any reader has stuck around and you don't know me, I love you forever! Now On With The Story...Autocracy- n. /Government in which one person has unlimited power. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Family III- Changes One Year Later October 31,2001 The Coast of Delaware 5:30pm "All right, now lets say the magic words." The witch smiled and her companion joined her in her reciting of the 'magic words'. "Hokas-ala-Pokus, Frizzle-Frazzle-Froom, Bogie-Bada-Bogie, Frizzle-Bubble-Fume." With that the witch tossed in the white 'magic' powder and giggled as green foam flowed out of their make-shift kettle. A car horn honked causing both the witch and her companion to turn their collective attention toward the long drive-way and the light blue Crown Victoria driving toward them. The car stopped and a balding man steeped out smiling. "Grandpa!" The little witch took off running, having only minor difficulties with her outfit, she bounded into his arms receiving a dear hug. "Hi Kitty Kat, how have you been?" He asked setting her down. "Really good! Uncle Krycek came here to come Trick-Or-Treating with me." She said motioning toward the approaching figure of her companion. "Hello Walter, how are you?" Krycek questioned in the fashion they'd become accustomed to in the last year. "I'm fine." He saw Dana sitting on the porch where she'd obviously been reading a book. "Hi Dana!" He yelled to her, gaining the attention of her neighbours who were setting out their last minute Halloween decorations. He continued walking toward Dana noticing that she had lost some weight in the four months since the last time he'd seen her. "Hi Dad." She took him in her arms when he reached the porch, he wrapped his arms heartily around her slight form. "Where's Mom?" She lead him on to the massive wrap-around porch and waved him into one of the nicely padded chairs. "She said she would be a little late, dinner wasn't quite ready yet, and she wanted to buy some candy for the neighbourhood children. So I left work and drove straight here." "I'm really glad you came, it's been so long since I've seen you, it was right after you and Mom got back from your Honeymoon right?" "Yeah, with my impending retirement the Director and the Deputy Director have been running me ragged. I can't wait to spend more time with you, Kat, and Maggie. It really is still awkward not seeing you everyday." "We really miss you and Mom." She said speaking of Kat and herself. "But no body here knows us, we're a semi-normal family, and Kat's been accepted here as a normal second grader, none of the kids seem to realise she's a year younger than them." "She's moved up to second grade?" "Yes, when she was taking the placement test for St. Peter's she got the scores of an average fourth grader, so I decided to put her in second grade." "Mommy!" Kat called from the front yard. "Can we go walk by the ocean?" She pointed toward the back of the house. "Yes, but make sure Uncle Alex stays with you." The young child smiled at her, took Krycek's hand and pulled him to the back of the house where the water was peacefully lapping against the shore. "He plays well with her." Skinner spoke of Krycek. "He's come very far in the last year, since Teena died. I think he's still moving through the grief, but then so am I." She looked as if she was a million miles away. "Grief is a very mysterious thing, but as you know it really does help to have family and friends, a strong support system around you who are going through the same things, just differently." He smiled, and leaned back in the lounger. "You've got both, and so does Krycek." "Well I think Kat's managed to help everyone, including herself through this last year. She's' really happy here, she has a couple of friends, as do I and nobody here knows about our government and 'other' ties. Here I'm a single mother who's a pathologist, that I have a wonderful second-grade daughter, and a very large house. The only thing that's weird there is the house, which I bought with the money Mulder got when he sold his father's house." "Yeah, well let's just hope that nobody gets suspicious because Frohike set this place up, so it will look pretty strange if any one looks into your property records because he purchased every thing you own under various alias'." "Hey Dana!" A blonde woman in running clothes called running up to her porch. "You in the mood for a run?" She looked at Skinner then, noticing his presence for the first time. " Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realise you had company." "Kelli, wait I'm coming." She pulled on the shoes that were at her side. "Skinner, you wanna come?" "No, I'll just stay here and relax, work's left me drained lately." "Okay." She ran in the direction where Kelli was waiting for her at the end of the driveway. "Dana, who's tall, dark, and gorgeous back there?" Kelli questioned as the two got into step together. "That was Walter, he's my stepdad." "Oh, I was hoping you'd finally gotten a love interest." "Nope, you wish, but he came to be with Kat and me, my mother will be here later." "Where's your real father?" "He died about eight years ago, my mother married Walter last June." "Oh so do I get to meet your mom?" "I guess if you want to, you can come eat dinner with us tonight." "I'd love to." She smiled. " Dana why don't you ever talk about yourself?" "I'm not that interesting of a person." "Oh come on Dana! All I know about you is that you're a single mother and a superb pathologist- who seems to be a little bored with the work. You act as if nothing is too weird or out of the ordinary, I mean that guy you autopsied last week with the frogs in his chest, you didn't even seem phased." "Kelli, I've just done a lot of autopsies, I've seen many things, that doesn't mean I'm keeping secrets from you." She tried a weak smile, Kelli smiled back and they continued on their way. Dana and Kelli arrived back at Dana's at 7. Maggie's car was out front along with Walter's and Krycek's'. "There's a lot of people here! When are we eating?" "Probably about half an hour from now." "I'll see you in a few then." "Okay, bye." Dana turned toward her house and started walking toward it. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* SCULLY'S KITCHEN 7:15pm "Mom!" Dana said happily as she hugged her mother. "I've missed you so much." Dana had gone straight to her room to change into clean, fresh clothes when she'd come in. "Did Krycek and Kat come back?" "Yes honey, they're on the back porch, getting out a bowl for the candy I brought." "I invited a friend to dinner, she's getting suspicious about my past and my family, so I figured she could at least meet the family. You made enough food, right?" "Of course honey, you know I always make enough for an entire army." The door-bell rang signalling the arrival of her guest and Dana ran to answer it. "Hi Kelly, welcome to my humble abode." She opened the door wider and allowed Kelli entrance. "Wow! Dana I've never seen the inside of your house before." Kelli commented. Kat opened the front door that had been closed by Dana a minute earlier. "Hey Scully, what time are we eating?" Krycek questioned. "In about five minutes, why don't you two go up stairs and wash up." Kat started up the stairs and tripped on her witch costume, Krycek lovingly helped her up and they continued up the stairs to the bathroom. "Dana, who was he?" Kelli questioned disappointed that Krycek's back-side had disappeared from her view. "He's um..." Dana didn't know what answer to supply, he used to be a murderer, an assassin, a government operative, the second in command of the syndicate. But what was he now? "Is he Kat's father?" Kelli supplied. "No, Alex Krycek, is by the best title I can come up with, her Uncle." "Oh." She was interrupted by Maggie. "Dana, dinner's ready." "Okay, we'll be right there." Kat and Krycek came bounding down the stairs. "Mommy, when can we go trick-or-treating?" "As soon as we finish dinner." Her ever growing daughter leaned over and hugged her waist. She walked into the kitchen, but Kelli stopped when she noticed some of the professionally framed photographs hanging on the wall as part of the Victorian decor. The picture that had caught her interest was of Dana and a tall, lanky man with two children, one she obviously recognised as Kat, the other, a little boy with brown hair and boasting Dana's eyes and smile, and of course the man she could obviously tell was their father because the children really looked as if someone had joined their parents characteristics and the product had been these two perfect children. "Kelli, are you coming?" Dana beckoned from the kitchen. "Yes, sorry." She walked through the kitchen and into the dining room. Everyone sat down and enjoyed the chicken dish Maggie had pre-prepared for them. "So Alex, what have you been doing lately?" Maggie questioned. "Well I've done some free-lance jobs, nothing like I used to do, and I spend every weekend here." He forked another bite of Chicken and swallowed it. "Oh that's nice, Dana needs all of the family and friends she can around her." "Mother, I have Kat with me everyday and you can be here in just over two hours when ever I might need you. You make it sound like I've moved to the ends of the Earth, and if we had may aliens come and abduct us all." Everyone at the table smiled sad smiles of remembrance. Kelli knew she was witnessing a deeply personal moment as hidden memories surged sharply through the room. "That sounded familiar." Skinner commented. Kat finished her food quickly. "Can we go now?" She smiled sweetly at her mother. "If Uncle Alex is ready." Krycek looked up and pushed his chair back. "Yeah, let's go." The left the room and everyone finished their meal in silence. Later Walter and Maggie went outside and sat on the veranda distributing candy to all of the costumed children, while Dana and Kelli sat on the couch inside. "Hey Dane, whose that guy in the picture? The one with you, Kat and another child." "That's Mulder, he was Kat's father." "I figured that much," After a moment of thought she leaned forward. "why do you say 'was'?" "He died almost a year ago." "Oh, I'm sorry." "It's all right, our son, Will died too. Walter, Alex, and Kat were there when it happened." She said mournfully. "Why didn't you tell me before?" "Because it never came up. Mulder and I were only married for a month before his death." She bowed her head to disguise the few tears that clouded her eyes and began to fall. "I'm going home, thank you for dinner, and for opening up to me." Kelli stood up and walked to the door sensing that Dana needed t to be alone right then. Ten minutes later Dana joined her mother and Skinner outside. "Hello," Dana sat down. "Are you guys getting tired?" "No, we're doing all right. Why don't you go on to bed?" Maggie asked. "I want a picture of Kat in her Halloween costume." Dana smiled. "You two have been busy all day, I was off work today, so why don't you two go on to bed." She urged. The two hugged her and disappeared up the stairs. After twenty minutes of passing out candy and swooning over children in costumes Kat and Krycek finally arrived, toting a bucket full of candy. Dana looked at her watch and it informed her it was 9:30pm, she ran inside and retrieved her camera. She took picture of Kat alone, Kat with Krycek and Krycek took pictures of Scully with Kat. "Okay guys, it's time for us to go to bed." Krycek gave a groan, Kat smiled at him. The all mounted the stairs and separated to their various rooms. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* DANA SCULLY'S HOUSE 4:10am The obnoxious ringing of the telephone on her bed-side-table awoke Dana Scully. She looked at her bedside clock and rolled toward the phone's cradle, and ran into a sleeping form. "Mommy." Kat whined. "Sorry baby, why aren't you in your bed?" With one more insistent ring she picked up the phone. "Hello?" "Sorry to wake you Scully." The voice on the other end apologised. "Byers, do you know what time it is?" "Yes and I'm terribly sorry." He paused, meditating on his next words. "I need you to come back to DC, today." "Why?" She questioned alarmed. "I can't say over the phone, but it's imperative you come." "I'll be there in a few hours." She hung up the phone, her mind reeling with questions of what Byers could possibly need. "Mommy, who was that?" Kat asked groggily. "Uncle Byers." "Why did he call so late at night?" She rolled over to look at her mother. "He needs me to go back to DC." "When are you leaving?" "In a couple of hours, I have to go wake Gran." She sighed looking at the clock disappointed that time was still ticking by. "Can I come?" "No honey, I'll be back soon though," Kat gave a slight whine. "you can eat all of the Halloween candy you want while I'm gone." She said against all of her medical training and her health knowledge. "Really?" "Yes." She promised reluctantly. "Cool." Kat leaned back in bed. "You do have to brush your teeth." She commented and they both lay back for a few minutes. "Mommy?" Kat interrupted the silence. "Yes." "I still miss Daddy and will. Is that okay?" "Oh yes honey, I miss them too." She smiled at her daughter in the dark and pulled her into her arms. "I love you Mommy." She sleepily said. "I love you too." Dana decided to stay in bed for a little while longer. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 7:00am "Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Skinner asked as Dana walked out her front door. "Yes Walter, I'm sure." She smiled when he hugged her and kissed the top of her head endearingly. "Be sure and call us when ever you find out what's going on, or if you need our help." Skinner, Maggie, and Krycek stood at the door while Kat stood by the car door. "By Mom, be safe." Kat ordered very much like her father. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." She kissed her daughter and got into the car. Scully drove her new silver Ford Explorer, that Frohike had given her to replace the one that had been crushed by flying debris when the building on Oronoco street exploded. She stopped four houses down the street at Kelli's house, got out, and rang the doorbell. "Dana, what are you doing here?" She asked. "I'm leaving town for a while, I was wondering if you could check on my intern, Taylor, while I'm gone?" "Where are you going?" "Washington, DC, I've got some friends there." "Can I join you? I'll go get my stuff." She said not waiting for Dana's response. She patiently stood and waited while her friend gathered her belongings, soon Kelli returned and drug Dana to her vehicle. "Kelli, I must warn you- there's going to be some strange things and some strange people in DC." Dana warned. "Don't worry Dana, nobody can be any more strange than the people we work with." "Oh trust me, those people are normal compared to the people we're going to see. They're a few fries short of a Happy Meal." Kelli laughed. "Oh come on Dana, they can't be that bad." "Wait until you meet them." She drove off as the sun started to slowly rise over the horizon. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Lone Gunmen's Lair Thursday, November 1, 2001 10:00am "Who's the lovely lady with Scully?" Frohike questioned looking at the video monitor. "I don't know, why don't you let them in and find out?" Langly asked. Frohike to his obvious advice undoing the many locks and allowing Dana and her friend to enter. "Scully, I'm glad you could make it." Byers smiled at her. "And who's this?" He turned to Kelli. "Kelli Rawls, she's a colleague of mine." Scully introduced the blonde doctor. "Hi." The three men answered in unison. "So guys, why did you call me at four in the morning?" She interrupted their swooning. "You'll have to come with us." "Can't you at least tell me what's going on?" She asked aghast. "Someone's living in your house, we've been driving by every few hours, who ever it is hasn't moved out." "Guys, you're too paranoid! Why didn't you just go knock on the door and find out who it was?" "Because, whoever it is has all of the blinds closed and keeps the lights off. They're being too obviously anti-social." Langly answered. "How did you even know somebody's there?" "Because I went over there to get that table you promised us and somebody was making a lot of noise in there." "Okay guys, lets go." She resigned to her fate of hearing the guys defend their reasons and nodded for Kelli to follow her out. "Dana, who were those guys?" Kelli asked once in the safety of the car. "Those were the friends I was telling you about. I never sold my house here in DC and I guess someone decided to take up residence." "And we're going over there to do what? You should call the police!" "We're just going to check it out." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* FORMER RESIDENCE OF FOX AND DANA MULDER 12:00 NOON Dana and Kelli arrived first. "You used to live here?" Kelli questioned. "Yes, why do you sound surprised?" "Because it's so small, the house you live in now is about three times the size of this one, and it's only you and Kat, wasn't it four people before?" "Yes, but we didn't need much room, everyone lived in DC...never any house guests, now Me and Kat are a normal family living by the ocean and we usually have a full house." She smiled as Byers pulled up the street next to them. "Well the good thing is it's daylight." He commented. "The light of day doesn't hide the darkness of evil." She took the proffered gun from Byers. "Dana, what's going on?" Kelli was stunned as her friend expertly checked the clip and safety and then tucked the weapon into her jeans. "Kelli you can either come with us, or stay in the car. Either way this shouldn't take long." "I'm coming." She said, wondering if this was the Dana from before she had met her. They proceeded to the front door, Dana used her keys on the secured door and slowly pushed it open; she took out her gun and slowly walked in. She walked slowly to the back hall, followed closely by Byers and Kelli, she stepped into the sparsely furnished room she had once shared with her husband, the bed still in it's place, with some haphazardly discarded men's clothing on it. "Well somebody's' definantly been here." Kelli commented as Dana walked over to the bed and picked up a shirt, looked it over, and set it back down. She walked back out of her room and into the kitchen, standing there was a figure standing silently in the shadowed, windowless kitchen. "Who are you?" She demanded pointing her gun at the shadow shrouded figure. The figure, a now visible male stepped out of the shadows and into the light. "Give me one reason not to pull this trigger right now!" She yelled. "Agent Scully please, I came here to find you." "You're supposed to be dead!" She could feel her rage for the person standing before her rising like bile. "How do I know you're not some clone? How am I supposed to know what 'they've' been doing for the past year?" Dana raised her gun and levelled it with his head, and then re-aimed for his arm. "Dana!" Kelli yelped. "What are you doing?" Scully fired, hitting the subject of her interest in the arm, as intended, and red sticky blood soon stained his sleeve. "Well Spender, at least we know you're not a clone. So why are you really here?" "I'll tell you, but could you please do some thing about this?" He questioned gripping his arm. Byers nodded and pulled Spender toward the bathroom. "Dana! You just shot someone!" Kelli was aghast. "I just had to be sure." She said and plopped down at the kitchen table. "Be sure of what?" "That he wasn't an alien clone." "A what? You've gotta be kidding me." "Listen, there's a lot here you won't understand, and you probably don't really want to." "So...he called you Agent Scully." "I used to work for the FBI." "Why did you quit?" "My husband died, my son died, and I was about to be reassigned. I turned in my resignation and walked away." She pulled out her call phone and started dialling. "Walter, I need you, we're at the house. There's somebody here you need to speak with." They traded salutations and she put the phone on the table as Byers and Spender entered the room. "The bullet went straight through, I cleaned it out and wrapped it, but you might want to look it over later." "So Spender, what's so important that you've come back from the dead to find me?" "None of us ever died." He stated dryly. "What do you mean? Five people witnessed the blast! That bomb went off with the four of you inside." "The bomb to did go off, but none of us were inside. You know my father he will never die, and he could never allow his two sons and his only grandson to perish." "Well if they're still alive, where are they?" Scully asked, always the skeptic. "I'm not sure, but I do know that they're here, in DC." "How do you know that?" "Because Mulder escaped, of course taking Will with him. And where else would he go to find Assistant Director Skinner or yourself?" "So how do you expect us to find them?" Byers broke in. "I was hoping he would come here, but he may go to the FBI, he doesn't know you left. And you did such a good job hiding your location that I doubt he'd be able to find you. So," He turned to Byers. "He would go to his best friends, and they too would be gone- they've moved on to a new hideout. That leaves one person, Assistant Director Skinner- who along with his beautiful wife Margaret, seems to have disappeared for the weekend." "So what do you suggest we do? Take out a newspaper ad? Go crawling back to the FBI to get reinstated? maybe even have the Gunmen go public as to their hideout?" She questioned incredulously. "No, nothing so rash, just get Skinner back behind his desk and have all of your little conspiracy theorist friends out looking for him." "Jeffery," Scully walked toward the table where her phone was located. "What do you get out of all of this?" "I just get to make sure nobody thinks I'm my father." Jeffy answered. Dana dialled the phone and allowed it to ring for a while. "He's not answering." She said to herself. "Who's not answering?" Spender inquired. "Skinner, he's not answering his cell phone." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 24 HOURS LATER Assistant Director Walter Skinner had been officially missing for 6 hours. He had been taken by someone, Scully suspected, who worked for the government, his car had been found hours earlier with the windows smashed and blood drying on the front seat. Maggie had decided to bring Kat back to DC with her and Scully had been placed as head of the team to find the missing Skinner. Scully stood up noticing the slight weight of the gun in its holster, the feeling that had been missing for almost a year. Her reinstatement had taken only 10 minutes, the Deputy Director had come up with the idea- so she was cautious, as always, she trusted no one. "Scully." She answered the cell phone that had brought her out of her reverie. "No Mom, I'm sorry but there's just not much to go on here." "Dana honey, have you found anything more about Walter?" Maggie begged for information on her missing husband. "The news is saying it has something to do with his retirement." "No Mom, everyone that would want to hurt Walter is happy about his retirement." "I just miss him so much, and I hope where ever he is he's all right." Dana could almost hear her tears over the phone. "How's Kat?" "She's doing good, Alex came back with us, they're playing and Jeffery is sitting on the couch just as you ordered him to." "Okay Mom, thanks for doing all of my 'baby-sitting'." She said as the entire unit came in. "Well honey, it's starting to get pretty noisy, I'm gonna let you go. make sure you call me the second you get any more information." "I will Mom." She hung up and turned to the four agents nearest to her; everyone knew her mother was married to Skinner, and that implied that she too had some kind of emotional attachment to the loveable bald-headed guy. Dana had survived the rumours about her and 'Spooky' Mulder before they were married and for the two months afterward nobody really caught on until he died. But now she was hearing comments right and left about the AD's daughter and random comments on her and Mulder's death. "So guys, anything new?" "not really, the lad analysis did come back on that blood in the AD's car, it's his and there were some traces of mild sedatives- they would have made him pretty groggy." He read off the lab report, adding his own comments. 'And they found some unidentified hair in the back seat of his car." "Any idea when it will become identified?" "According to this they're running it through all known databases now." His cell phone started to ring and Scully dismissed him to allow him to answer it in a less noisy environment. "SAC Scully?" A secretary Dana recognise inquired. "Yes," She turned and smiled at the woman who barely matched her height. "I have a phone message for you." She handed over the small piece of paper and walked away. Scully read it and was intrigued that someone would be so conspicuous in sending her a 'note'. It read: Meet- Mt. Vernon, in the death exhibit, 4pm. She put the paper in her pocket and glanced at her watch, 2:30, she had just enough time to eat and drive out to Mt. Vernon. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* MT. VERNON WASHINGTON'S DEATH- EXHIBIT 4:10pm She had sat through the same boring presentation twice already and still no one had contacted her, she sighed and someone slid onto the bench next to her. She looked over, but because the show had just recommenced it was pitch black, and she realised they were alone. "Are you the one who contacted me?" She questioned outright, bothered that she could not see the person's face. "Yes." The voice she heard caught her breath in her throat. "Scully, I know where Skinner is." "Mulder!" As if on cue the show's visual part started, casting light on their faces. "Who are you?" "Scully... Dana, it's me, Spooky Mulder, your husband, the father of your children, the one on the endless search for the truth." "You can't be!" She was close to tears, he couldn't be her husband, could he? "Believe me Scully." Mulder said, in a very consoling manner. "Will and I escaped two days ago after a year of tests for Will and interrogation for me." "How do I know you're not a clone?" "Um..." He pulled a knife out of his back pocket and drug the blade across his palm, red blood spirited out. "See, it's me, really." She pulled his bloody had into the allotted light and inspected it. "Mulder, I've missed you so much!" She collapsed into his arms and then pulled back slightly. "Where's Will?" "He's outside." He kissed her and pulled her outside into the assaulting sunlight. "Mommy!" She was seiged by the young boy who wrapped his arms around her waist. "Will, you've gotten so big!" She exclaimed. "Dana, we need to get going." Mulder reminded, Scully took her son and husband's hands as they walked out and toward her car. TWO HOURS LATER They spoke of every thing while Dana drove around going nowhere. The main topic of discussion had been her and Kat's move to Delaware, and then of course the main question- who had Skinner and how did they get him back? Dana looked over at her husband and he smiled at her, smiling back she noticed how rough he looked, there were bruises on his arms and face, and both his and Will's clothes were dirty. "Is he asleep?" She asked of Will who was in the back seat. "Yeah," He sighed, his fatigue evident. "So where are we going?" "The Lone gunmen's place." "I'd thought they'd moved. I couldn't find them, or you, or anyone." "We did that on purpose." She said. "I mean being hard to find, I'm sure if someone worked hard enough, long enough they could, Kat does go to school, it is a private school so it's a little harder to trace." They arrived and Mulder was greeted with suspicion until Scully showed them his hand, which she proceeded to clean and bandage despite Mulder's childish protests. Will continued to sleep, finally aware that he was safe to do so. As he slept Mulder, Scully, Frohike, and Langly planned how to retrieve Skinner. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* FBI HOOVER BUILDING 7:00pm Alex Krycek stood in the silence of the X-Files office, he knew that since the supposed death of Fox Mulder the syndicate had given up on trying to destroy the files, so there he was sitting in the dimly lit room while Mulder slept silently on the army cot Scully had managed to pull out of one of the storage holds in the dark dreary basement. Being there made him reflect on his past, he knew that 5 years ago he never would have been allowed in this office, or with Scully or Mulder for that matter without one of them shooting off his head; he liked the 'new' Mulder and Scully, the parents not the agents who were reckless in their quest for the truth, and he enjoyed spending time with Kat, but he supposed that would change now that Will was back, he might even end up with a social life. The door opened and he was immediately ready to jump under the desk but he saw the red hair in the narrow slice of light afforded by the outside hall. "He's asleep." She stated seeing her long-lost-husband's still form. "How did every thing go?" "Good, I briefed everyone on Skinner's possible location. I've gotta get back up there now." She turned. "We move in tonight at 9, so you and Mulder should probably be there." She walked down the hall and boarded the elevator. UPSTAIRS "Agent Scully, the lab analysis is back on that hair sample." One of the agents informed her. "Did they get an ID?" "Yes, it was Fox Mulder's." He said, expecting some thing along the line of hysteria from her, she just stood there staring at him, he was flummoxed; How could someone find out that her dead husband's hair was just found in the Assistant Director's car, and not have any reaction. "Did they do any ageing tests?" "You're not going to believe this, but it's less than a week old." "Okay, thanks." She had suspected this from the time Mulder had told her his story. He had been laying on the floor in the back of his car when he stopped by the FBI, presumably on his way to meet Scully at the house when he heard scuffing and then an "Ugh" as Skinner was shoved into the driver's side of the car and two other men climbed into the already crowded front seat. He winced when he heard the slam of Skinner's face as it hit the dashboard above the wheel when he protested. Once they had arrived at the building Mulder had given Scully the address to, one man took the bloody Skinner inside while the other drove the car to where the police had found it, without Mulder inside. Mulder had gotten out as soon as the other man walked away from the abandoned vehicle, Mulder cautiously made his way back to the FBI parking garage to collect Will. Dana left the building to call her mother on a pay phone, Mulder and Krycek having her phone. "Mom, it's me, I hope every thing's all right, we're going to try and get Walter now. I love you, bye." She had been disappointed to get the machine, but she decided Maggie had her reasons for not answering her phone, with 7 extra people to take care of. She walked away from the phone booth never noticing the red glow of a cigarette in the shadows. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ONE HOUR LATER "Team 1, you're a go." Scully announced and there was immediate gunfire. "Come on guys, tell me what you've got." "There's 3 gunmen, maybe 4," pause. "Okay, now there's one, but he's running, we're on his tail." More gunfire. "We need team 2, now we've got a hostage stand-off." "Well then, Team 2 you're up, go in quietly, I'll be there momentarily." Scully checked her weapons and took the one being handed to her, and ran off into the darkness with her radio. "Does anybody have a clear view of the hostage?" "Yeah, I see him, it's AD Skinner." A Team 1 member answered. Scully muttered a curse and entered the building. TEN MINUTES LATER The last shot rang out longer than anyone wanted it to. Skinner stood up awkwardly and kicked the gun out of reach of his captor, he was immediately seiged by people. He was thrilled to be alive, the bullet had gone through his arm, but it had gone through the chest of the man who was holding him, using him as a shield; with a gun to his neck, he knew he had been lucky to remember to vault himself out of the man's arms before his reflexes pulled the trigger for him. He heard gasps as the crowd parted and Scully came towards him, followed by Mulder and Krycek. He thought of one of the many head- wounds he had been suffering from over the past couple of days, he looked around and everyone else could obviously see him too. "Scully, what the hell is going on here?" He questioned gripping his arm as the pain of the gunshot wound surged through his nervous system. "we'll explain later." Mulder answered his inquiry. The three of them led him out, assisting him as he stumbled because his head was covered in blood, and he kept stumbling as they made their way out through the flood of agents. The door to the ambulance was a welcome sign and Skinner readily collapsed onto a stretcher. Mulder and Scully stood over him, Krycek off to the side trying to keep out of sight of most of the other agents, although they'd all already seen him. "I need a cell phone, I've gotta call Margaret." He sat up and was pushed back down by both Mulder and the EMT. "No Dad, I'll do that." Dana pulled out the phone she had acquired only minutes ago from Mulder, and dialled her mother's number. "Mom, we've got him," pause. "yeah, he's okay. He was shot and he's got a nasty wound on his head, but he's his same surly self." She received a glare from her stepfather. "Yup, definantly his surly self." Mulder commented. At her mother's command and Skinner's glare she released the phone so Walter would couperate with the medic. he lay back and slowly tried to comfort his wife as everyone busied themselves with his wounds. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* TWO WEEKS LATER Dr. Kelli Rosen stepped out into the sunlight, she had spent three days with Maggie Skinner, and then two more days with Dana, her husband and their two kids before they packed up and went back to Delaware. She hadn't been happy to leave Jeffery Spender because they'd become good friends, but Frohike had sent him into hiding where his father would probably never care enough to look for him. Kelli felt awful that he had to abscond, but the risk of loosing his life was too great. There was also the matter of Krycek, he had been seen by every agent out there that night, but life went on and after a very long day of questioning they were all released. "Kelli." Dana startled her out of her musing. "Did you get lost some where?" "No, I was just thinking of that one wild time we had together." "You get used to it." Dana swallowed the last bit of her sandwich. "Well I really hope to never do it again." "Oh, well trust me, we don't have any control over what happens, how dies, or who's going to betray you next. You just have to trust no one, and get on with your life." "Trust no one, that's a good idea." Kelli and Dana finished their food and made their way back into the hospital DANA SCULLY'S HOUSE 10:13pm "Well Scully, this has been an interesting year, hasn't it? We got married, I was with my father- against my own will for almost an entire year, and now we're here together and every thing's good." Mulder pulled his wife closer to his side of the bed. "Have you been watching the kids together? It's like they were never apart." "Yeah, I noticed that too, they're siblings, and twins." "And, did I mention I love this house? It's so big! And it's decorated just like you." "Well I was trying to make a completely different environment for Kat, and well the Lone Gunmen's decorating service kinda went a little overboard; so this house is worth nearly three times what it was worth when I bought it." "When's Skinner and you Mum coming back?" "I don't know, she said his head is hurting him a lot lately." She could feel herself drifting off to sleep. "How about Krycek?" "He'll be back this weekend, as usual." "Do you think we have the strangest family ever?" "Yeah, but we're the closest, best family ever too." They turned off the lights and fell fast asleep. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* UNDISCLOSED LOCATION 11:21pm The cigarette smoking man stepped out of his car. The blonde doctor called him and he had to answer, she reminded him so much of Marita Covarrubias, and he couldn't resist that. "You wanted to see me?" He questioned darkly. "I couldn't find out where your son is, but I do know that Mulder and Scully have the X-Files back, and along with Walter Skinner and Alex Krycek they're still going to investigate, they're stronger now than ever." "Thank you for your time, Dr. Rosin." He stepped back into his car. "No thank you...sir." Kelli smiled as the engine turned and the car exploded in vermilion flames leaving no remains of CGB Spender. The End Family I-The Beginning Family II-Trials Family III-Changes AFTERWARD: Well, what'd you think? I really wanted the story to go out with a bang, and because Kelli's character really needed a little more explanation I let her take the lead in the end. If no one noticed Kelli's character is Krycek's use to be, She doesn't know where her loyalties lay. But the real reason behind 'Dr. Kelli Rosin' was to take over the final role of 'Miss James', she was supposed to be the real 'villain', but considering I had no way to bring in a teacher and the fact that I had Miss James abducted (Hey that fits in!), She really wasn't a good person to go with. Other than that I am fully aware of how out of character Mulder, Scully, Skinner, KRYCEK, and everyone else were, but don't you think people might change over 3 years? Well if you have any questions or anything else, I'm always around. (K.M.)