TITLE: First Born 
AUTHOR: Tanya Chang
DISCLAIMER: The X-Files and associated characters included within this 
work of fiction belong to Chris Carter, Ten-Thirteen Productions, and 
the Fox Network. No infringement is intended.
RATING: R
CLASSIFICATION: X/A
SPOILERS: Emily

SUMMARY: Scully and Mulder investigate a string of murders and baby 
snatchings.

************************

Cape Vincent, New York
Friday, February 13, 1998 - 4:33 p.m.

Gary Wendall worried about his daughter. Living out in the country, 
with their nearest neighbour over two miles away, wasn't what Gary had 
wanted for his child. Sara never complained though. At six years of 
age, she had a vivid imagination and she always seemed to find ways to 
keep herself occupied. She was the apple of her father's eye, and so 
much like her mother: quiet and responsible, but with so much feeling 
inside of her.

Caroline had passed away just over a year ago from complications during 
childbirth. It had been difficult facing that first year without her, 
and Gary had been frightened for Sara. How would she cope? Would he be 
able to give her all the affection and attention she needed? How could 
he be both mother and father to her now? But they had hurdled the 
obstacles of that first year without Caroline. All the milestones of 
each passing year: the first day of school, birthdays, holidays... 
Christmas, and the anniversary of Caroline's death. Christmas had been 
the worst. There were still so many times when Gary didn't think he 
could go another day knowing that he would never again hear the soft 
sound of Caroline's voice saying his name, never again feel the gentle 
touch of her hand on his, never again see the sparkle in her eyes as she 
gazed up at him with so much love in her heart.

But Gary still had Sara, and she needed him now more than ever.

Gary looked out the kitchen window at the snow laden yard. Sara danced 
in circles, singing to the trees and to the sparrows perched high above 
in the naked branches. For a February day, it was surprisingly warm 
out, and Sara needed no prompting to go out and enjoy the fresh air. It 
was getting late, though, and Gary would have to call her in soon for 
dinner. The smell of spaghetti sauce and freshly baked bread rolls 
filled the house, and there was fresh batch of cookies cooling on the 
counter. A year ago, Gary had never dreamed he'd be making dinner for 
two. Caroline had been the family chef, and he missed her cooking. He 
missed watching her as she glided elegantly around the kitchen, making 
her magic of the ingredients that were shelved so carefully just within 
her reach.

Caroline... He had been so lucky to have her by his side. He was 
forever grateful that he still had a reminder of their love in Sara, but it 
wasn't always so easy to be without his better half.

Gary set Sara's spot at the table with her favourite dishes. Unlike 
other children her age, Sara wasn't particularly taken by Disney 
characters or Muppets. Her tastes were more towards the finer arts. 
She had started taking ballet classes just before her mother's death, 
and she now pursued them with a passion. Gary smiled as he straightened 
the fork and knife on either side of the Nutcracker plate. Sara's pink 
plastic cup was covered in swans which, she said, reminded her of Swan 
Lake and the beautiful prima ballerina who had danced the part at the 
O'Keefe Centre in Toronto. Gary had taken Sara to see her first ballet 
as an early Christmas present. It had been a long drive for Sara, but 
well worth the trip just to see her face light up as the curtains 
unveiled the opening scene. It was Sara's first trip across the border 
to Canada, and her first time in a big city. She loved Toronto 
instantly for all its lights and holiday bustle.

Maybe it was time to move on, Gary thought briefly. Sara needed to be 
closer to children, closer to school. And if she wanted to continue 
with her dance lessons, she'd be better off in the city.

Gary looked outside and noticed that the sun had just disappeared behind 
the trees. The sky was pink and warm in spite of the brusque coldness 
which accompanied the impending night. Sara should have come in by now, 
but her coat and boots were still missing from their usual spots in the 
mud room. Gary opened the back door and called out for his daughter.

"Sara, dinner's ready!"

The forest seemed eerily quiet in response, and Gary's stomach twisted 
nervously as he called again. "Sara!"

Suddenly, from deep within the darkened shadows of the trees, he heard 
Sara scream and he felt as if his heart had been torn from his chest. 
God, this can't be happening...

*****

Washington, D.C.
Monday, February 16th - 8:56 p.m.

*I'd really like to have a life.*

How many times had Dana Scully repeated that same line over the last few 
years? Being a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigations 
certainly didn't help, and being partnered with someone as dedicated to 
and absorbed by his work as Fox Mulder didn't help to improve her 
situation either. Truth be told, though, Dana Scully didn't mind the 
long hours she was required to spend with Mulder, whether they were 
holed up in their basement office or away on some last minute business 
trip. The two agents worked well together, fed off each other's 
passions and strengths. They worked better, in fact, than any other 
team in the Bureau. Their record for solving cases was unprecedented, 
even if their explanations were sometimes a bit off-the-wall. But, 
then, that was the nature of the X-Files, a special project designed by 
the F.B.I. for investigating and explaining the bizarre and 
inexplicable.

Scully, as she was always referred to by her partner, loved her work. 
It challenged her mind and left her exhilarated. With Mulder constantly 
looking for paranormal and extraterrestrial explanations to their 
assignments, it was up to her to find some plausible scientific reason 
behind all the strange, and sometimes wonderful, things across which 
they seemed to inevitably stumble. She had to admit that sometimes it 
wasn't as easy as she thought it should be. Science was the driving 
force behind everything that existed. She had more faith in science 
than she had in religion, but, ironically, witnessing as many abnormal 
cases as she had only solidified her belief that some all powerful force 
was somehow manipulating science to throw mankind off the scent of the 
ultimate in knowledge and wisdom.

Sometimes it seemed that it would be so much easier to believe in the 
things Mulder believed in, but that would be something far too fearful 
than she would ever want to imagine.

"Dana?"

Scully snapped out of her reverie and noticed the time on her watch. 
God, Steve must have been talking to her.

"Hmm?"

Steve shook his head. "You're not really into this tonight, are you?"

Scully looked down at her half eaten dessert and couldn't help but smile 
at the irony of the situation. Here she was, having dinner in a fancy 
and expensive restaurant with a gorgeous, hunk of a man, and all she 
could think about was work. Since she had started working on the X-
Files, she had always thought that she was missing out on "a life" 
because of her busy schedule, but it really hadn't turned out that way. 
Steve wasn't unattractive or uninteresting, but dating just wasn't what 
she cared about anymore. She had her work, she had her family, and she 
had Mulder. He was her best friend, her partner and her confidant.

"I'm sorry, Steve," she apologized. "I'm afraid I'm not exactly the 
greatest date."

Steve reached across the dinner table and covered Scully's hand with his 
own. "Don't worry about it, Dana. I can tell there's something on your 
mind, and I certainly can't expect you to tell me your life story after 
only one date."

Scully opened her mouth to protest, but Steve shook his head again, 
closing those beautiful brown eyes of his. "Don't apologize. I've been 
dumped before."

Scully felt like crawling into a hole. She really hadn't been fair to 
Steve by accepting this blind date, but her mother had been worried 
about her social life and she thought that at least she could humour 
everyone. Who could know, though, where the date might have gone? 
Maybe she would have gotten lucky. Evidently not tonight though.

Before she could begin to explain anything, a waiter wandered up to 
their table, obviously nervous about interrupting a possibly intimate 
moment. Scully gave the young man a reassuring look.

"Miss Scully? There's a call for you."

Scully looked apologetically at Steve, and he took his hand away from 
hers, allowing her to leave. Who would be calling her here? She hadn't 
told anyone but her mother where she was going, and she was certain her 
mother could have waited until later for an update as to how the evening 
had progressed. She picked up the receiver.

"Hello?"

"Scully, it's me."

She raised an eyebrow. "Mulder? How did you know where to reach me?"

"I called your mother."

"Mulder, I have my cell phone with me..."

"I didn't want to interrupt, and I figured calling you on your cell 
would definitely shatter any mood you might have set."

"And this is better?"

She could tell that Mulder shrugged. "It seemed less intrusive." He 
was probably grinning that "little boy" grin he sometimes used as his 
way to express an apology. Scully gave in.

"It's okay. The date wasn't going that well."

"Your fault or his?"

"Mine, I'm afraid. So, what's up?"

"We've got a 5 a.m. flight up to northern New York state. It's a new 
twist on an old case."

Scully's eyebrow lifted as her curiosity was piqued. "Oh?"

"I'll pick you up at four. Try not to stay up too late, and pack some 
good boots and lots of warm clothing."

As she hung up the phone, Scully could just imagine the smile on 
Mulder's face. She knew he enjoyed keeping her in suspense when a new 
case required them to go out of town. When necessary, he shared what he 
knew over the phone, but if they had flight time, he much preferred the 
personal touch of filling her in on the details in person.

Steve had finished his dessert and looked up as Scully sat back down 
across from him.

"Your mother?" he asked.

"Work." She shrugged. "Nothing important really, but I'm afraid my 
carriage will have to turn back into a pumpkin a little earlier than 
expected." Steve looked at her quizzically. "I've got a flight at 
five," she explained. "My partner's picking me up at four, and I'm 
going to have to pack some things before we leave."

"Will you call me when you get back?"

Scully really wasn't sure.

"Maybe once you're finished this case, we can try our 'first date' 
again." Steve looked hopefully at Scully and then smiled. "No 
pressure, okay. I just want to let you know that I don't give up quite 
so easily."

*****

Mulder arrived at Scully's apartment at precisely 3:59 a.m. the next 
morning. It was still black as pitch outside, and the night air was 
cold, but not nearly as cold as it was going to be on this trip. Mulder 
rang the doorbell and listened as Scully's footfalls echoed through her 
living room. He heard her release the chains on her door and was 
greeted by a very drowsy looking redhead.

"Morning!" he said with a disgusting amount of perkiness and energy.

Scully opened the door to admit her partner and headed back towards her 
bedroom. "I'll just be a minute," she said by way of apology.

"Rough night?" Mulder called from the living room.

"Scully didn't meet her self-imposed curfew," she explained as she 
emerged with a suitcase and winter parka in hand. "After I got off the 
phone with you, I had every intention of coming home right away, but I 
got side-tracked."

Mulder raised an eyebrow, but didn't dare delve further into the 
subject. He wasn't so sure he wanted to know what she meant by "side-
tracked".

"Ready to go?" he asked, taking the heavy suitcase from his partner and 
handing her the laptop, a necessity for all their cases.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

*****

Cape Vincent, New York
The previous day

Sara wouldn't talk, and Gary couldn't blame her. Why hadn't he taken 
Sara to the city with him after Caroline's death? Too many strange 
things happened out here in the forest, and it wasn't any place for a 
child to be playing. He should have known better.

It had been more than three days since he had found Sara in the forest, 
standing all by herself among the darkened trees. She had screamed at 
first, and Gary had felt as if his heart would stop if anything had 
happened to her. He called out her name, but only the cold, dark 
silence of the night responded.

 "Sara, where are you?"

 Gary grabbed his jacket, stuffed his feet into his winter boots, and 
 ran out into the snow, oblivious of the cold wind which quickly 
 reddened his face and hands. The crunching beneath his feet at every 
 step he took was deafening. He was sure he'd never be able to hear 
 Sara's cries if she were to call for him, but he had to find her. He 
 had already lost Caroline and the baby; he wasn't going to lose Sara, 
 too.

 Overhead, the sky became darker still. The moon was bright, but 
 clouds rolled by, hampering Gary's search. An hour passed, and he 
 emerged from the trees knowing that he needed to get help. His breath 
 was forced, coming out in partial sobs as tears filled his eyes and 
 rolled down his cheeks. He knew he had to pull himself together and 
 he stopped to catch his breath, listening to the brittle noiselessness 
 of his surroundings. Suddenly, he saw something moving near the edge 
 of the forest, just beyond the extent of the backyard. Sara? He 
 couldn't bring her name to his lips although his mind screamed it as 
 he dared hope he wasn't imagining things.

 As he approached the shadows in the pitch blackness, Gary watched 
 helplessly as two figures moved away from a third, smaller one. 
 Animals? He couldn't tell and didn't care because he knew the third 
 figure was his daughter.

 Sara stood absolutely still, and Gary found the scene eerily unreal. 
 He approached her slowly as she remained oblivious to his presence.. 
 Her long, blond hair blew in the wind, but her expression was distant, 
 neutral. Even as Gary touched her shoulder, she stared past him. He 
 turned to see what she was looking at, and caught his breath. It was 
 happening all over again, and he knew that Caroline had been a part of 
 it.

END OF PART 1



************************
FIRST BORN (2/6)
by Tanya Larissa Chang
************************

Flight D506, Washington, D.C. to Syracuse, New York
Tuesday February 17th - 5:16 a.m.

"Mulder?"

Scully's partner looked up from the papers and photos that he had been 
studying since they had boarded the plane. It wasn't the easiest place 
to do a debriefing since they had to be careful not to be overheard 
sharing certain information. He certainly didn't want the stewardesses 
to pass by and see the photos from the crime scene, so Mulder closed the 
file. "Hmm?"

"Promise me we'll go hiking in a forest one day and not have to 
investigate bogey monsters and murderers there."

Scully sounded exasperated, and her tone of voice wasn't lost on the man 
who sat beside her. "Where's this coming from?" Mulder didn't often 
see Scully so disheartened.

"I guess I just can't remember the last time I took a nice leisurely 
walk through a forest. We always seem to stumble across dead bodies." 
Mulder knew exactly what she meant. "My dad used to take me and my 
brothers on camping trips when he'd come home during the summer," Scully 
explained. "I've always loved the outdoors..."

"But?"

"But some of our cases lately make me wonder where the appeal used to 
be. It would be nice to enjoy another quiet campfire under the stars, 
toasting marshmallows and singing camp songs."

"Singing?"

Scully grinned. "Well, maybe not singing."

"Oh, I don't know," Mulder said with a twinkle in his eye. "I wouldn't 
mind hearing about good old Jeremiah again."

"Don't remind me," Scully moaned as she rolled her eyes.

"And maybe it may just rain sleeping bags this time," Mulder teased.

Scully let herself smile at the reminder of that fearful night in the 
forest when they had chased down two mysterious "mossmen" and nearly 
both died in the process. Despite the teasing, or maybe because of it, 
Scully knew that Mulder understood her feelings even if he wasn't 
affected by their work in the same way. She didn't really mean to 
complain because she loved working at her partner's side even if he was 
so stubborn about his beliefs in the paranormal. But a bit of a break 
wouldn't be so bad, would it?

Scully closed her eyes, knowing that she should finish reading the 
police reports in front of her, but the little amount of sleep she had 
had the previous night was taking its toll, particularly with the 
lulling effect of the plane's engines.

Mulder sensed that his partner was exhausted and let her nod off. He 
gently pulled her toward him to the extent that the armrest between them 
would allow and rested her head on his shoulder. The plane ride wasn't 
long, but Scully could use the forty minutes' rest before they landed. 
There wasn't much information to go on at this point, and he could still 
fill her in on what he knew during the car ride from the airport to Cape 
Vincent. Mulder glanced down at Scully and wondered briefly what she 
had done all night. No, maybe he didn't want to know. All that 
mattered was that she had had a good time. Mulder knew full well that 
she didn't have much time to do things that most people took for 
granted, particularly socializing. He didn't mind his own lack of a 
social life, but Scully really deserved more. He was glad, though, that 
she chose time and again to join him on even the most mundane and 
bizarre cases. He really didn't know how he had ever managed without 
her expertise, her help and her company. Goodness knew that trustworthy 
and hard working partners like Scully were hard to come by. And to come 
across a partner with such an interesting personality was icing on the 
cake.

Scully stirred as the warning light turned on and a bell sounded to 
prepare passengers for the landing. Mulder reached across her and tried 
to buckle her seat belt for her as she straightened up.

"Why didn't you wake me?"

Mulder looked at her with a mischievous grin. "You've had opportunity 
enough to watch me with my jaw hanging open. I figured it was only 
fair."

Scully reddened in embarrassment. "I didn't..." Mulder's responding 
look 
gave away nothing and Scully blushed even more in horror. "Did I?"

Her partner chuckled. "Don't worry. You slept like a princess."

"You're not lying?"

"To you? Never."

Scully shook her head, knowing that in such trivial matters she couldn't 
trust Mulder. If her life were in danger, that was quite another story. 
There was no one else she trusted more. At times she wondered if there 
was anyone else she *could* trust.

*****

Cape Vincent - 9:06 a.m.

Gary knew that his daughter wouldn't want to go to school today, and he 
had decided to spend the week with her instead. The sheriff's office 
had called the night before anyway, asking if he could meet with some 
agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigations. Gary wondered how 
this entire incident had escalated to such a point as to require the 
intervention of the F.B.I., but he was relieved too. There had been a 
time when Cape Vincent had been a nice place to live, but that no longer 
seemed to be the case.

Sara was sleeping in the hallway just outside Gary's bedroom door again. 
Sometime after he had tucked her in, Sara had tugged all the blankets 
off her bed and dragged them into the hall. Except for that first night 
when Gary had slept at her bedside, Sara had preferred the hard floor. 
Last night, he had left both their doors open, but Sara had shut them 
both and settled into her usual spot. It worried him, but he had been 
told by the police psychologist to just be there for her, and not force 
anything too soon.

"Sara?"

The little girl shifted and then opened her sleepy eyes. She didn't 
smile. She hadn't smiled in days, but she gave her dad a hug and 
allowed him to lift her into his arms.

"Come on, honey. It's time to get up. We've got a big day ahead of 
us."

Sara let her dad guide her back into her room, but she wouldn't go any 
further than the doorway. Gary noticed that she looked tentatively at 
the window, fear plainly written on her face. Why did this have to 
happen to her? She was only a little girl! Children weren't supposed 
to experience such intense loss or horror. He should have been able to 
protect her, but he had been careless and he'd let her stumble across 
death one too many times. Once the F.B.I. agents finished their 
interview, he and Sara would find another place to live, somewhere away 
from the forest.

*****

"So, what we have are two mysterious deaths, two years apart. Both 
victims were women, and both were found in the forest. Autopsies show 
that both women had been pregnant and had probably delivered within 
hours before their deaths."

Mulder nodded as he kept his eye on the icy road ahead. God, he hated 
this type of weather. Outside, it was seven degrees Fahrenheit... on 
the 
negative side of zero, and the car hadn't warmed up fast enough for his 
liking. Not to mention that he had forgotten his gloves on they table 
by his front door. Scully, on the other hand, seemed perfectly at ease. 
"Long johns," she had explained.

Scully riffled the pages of the police report. "What happened to the 
babies?"

"The first one was never found. There's a missing person's report, but 
they don't even know whether it was a boy or a girl," Mulder replied as 
he reached for his by now lukewarm coffee. "Police are still trying to 
find the baby from the most recent murder."

"Who would kill just to take someone's baby from them?"

Mulder didn't answer immediately, but the thought was loud and clear: 
Some people were just sick. "I found indications of similar 
circumstances in a case from Arizona. Twenty years ago, over the course 
of three years, there were several murders of pregnant women in the 
Flagstaff area. Those children were found, though, and a man was 
apprehended soon afterwards."

"It could be a copycat killing," Scully speculated.

Mulder shrugged. "Possibly, but I have a feeling it's more than that."

When they arrived at the sheriff's office, it was just after nine 
o'clock. Scully had already crammed the files back into her briefcase, 
and she finished the last bite of her chocolate muffin. Calories be 
damned, she needed a caffeine and sugar fix on days like these.

Sheriff O'Neill was waiting for them and stood, hand outstretched, as 
the F.B.I. agents entered her office. Mulder was impressed by the 
cleanliness of the sheriff's office until he noticed the boxes piled up 
by the tiny washroom at the back.

"Agent Scully, Agent Mulder," the woman said by way of greeting, shaking 
each of their hands in turn. "Have a seat."

The sheriff was a large, matronly woman with a no-nonsense air about 
her. Mulder wasn't sure he'd like working with her, but already he got 
the feeling that she wouldn't let this case slip easily through her 
fingers. Whoever was responsible for these murders and apparent baby-
snatchings would have to deal with one mean sheriff once they were 
apprehended.

"Before we get started, I just want to set a few things straight. 
First, call me Marj. I don't like none of this 'ma'am' or 'Sheriff' 
crap. You come from a small town, you gotta get to know your people, 
and they gotta feel they can get to know you, too. Second, I don't mind 
your bein' here 'cause Lord knows we sure could use your help. Ain't 
never been no murders here for near on sixty years 'til the Bradford 
child was killed. Only fifteen years old and pregnant. What's this 
world comin' to?"

Scully opened her mouth to speak, but was prevented from doing so as 
Marj continued her list. "These people are good folk, so I don't want 
no Feds sticking their noses in places they don't belong. You do what 
you have to to get your job done, but don't mess with me. You look like 
sensible folk, but we all know you can't judge a book by its cover." 
Marj sat down behind her desk and put her hands down in front of her. 
"Now, I'm sure you've got some questions, so fire away and I'll tell you 
what I know. I've arranged for Gary Wendall to bring his little girl to 
come see you, but he's havin' some trouble and is going to be a bit 
late."

Well, Mulder thought, pleased to meet you. He and Scully hadn't been 
able to get a word in edgewise until now, but at least they knew what to 
expect from the woman who had requested their presence. But what did 
she expect from them?

"Aside from the fact that these murders are unsolved, one still being 
investigated," Scully began, "there doesn't seem to be anything to 
indicate a need for F.B.I. involvement. Why did you call us here?"

Good for you, Scully. Straight to the point.

"I knew you'd ask, so I had my deputy draw up some files for you. Be 
forewarned, Miss Scully, if you want Jim to do anything for you, you 
might want to get your partner here to do the askin'. It's taken me 
three years to knock some sense into Jimbo's head so as he'd listen to 
me. He don't take too kindly to bein' told what to do by women."

"Thanks for the warning." Scully raised an eyebrow as she exchanged a 
quick glance with Mulder and then accepted the small stack of manila 
folders from the sheriff. The phone rang and Marj picked up the 
receiver before it could ring again. "Sheriff O'Neill speakin'." There 
was a long pause, and then, "Okay, I'll be down there in ten."

"Anything we can help with?" Mulder asked as Marj got up and put down 
the phone. He was already halfway out of his seat before Marj put a 
hand on his shoulder to indicate that he could just stay right where he 
was.

"Just some kids gettin' into trouble. I won't be gone thirty minutes. 
Now, you two just make yourselves comfortable. Gary should be by with 
Sara any time, and I wouldn't want them to think we'd forgotten."

"We'll wait," Scully assured her. That would at least give them some 
time to look over the other files.

"There's coffee in the back room, if you like," Marj offered, and then 
she disappeared out the front door.

Mulder got up and retreated to the back of the office for a minute, 
emerging again with two cups of hot coffee.

"What do we have?" he asked as he sipped his drink and handed the other 
cup to his partner.

"Veterinary autopsy reports."

"I thought we were looking into a murder case."

"Ever the skeptic," Scully teased. That was normally Mulder's line. 
"Who knows what kind of strange, mutated connection we might be able to 
uncover here."

Just then, the two agents heard a car pull up outside the sheriff's 
office, and a minute later, a handsome man about their age entered with 
a little girl clinging fearfully to him.

"Sorry, I'm late," the man apologized. "I'm Gary Wendall." Gary 
extended his right hand to the extent that he could, but Sara only 
whimpered at the movement.

"Agent Fox Mulder. This is my partner, Agent Dana Scully."

"Pleased to meet you. I have to apologize for my daughter. Sara hasn't 
spoken since..." Gary swallowed hard, not able to complete his 
sentence. 
"I can't even get her to go outside. I had to pry her fingers off the 
door frame to get her to come here."

"Has Sara given any indication as to what she saw?" Scully asked 
quietly. The poor child was obviously traumatized, but they needed to 
know what she had seen.

"She hasn't done much over the past few days. I've been keeping her out 
of school this week. She doesn't like going outside anymore."

"What did *you* see out there?"

"It's all pretty much a blur. I was so worried and was heading back to 
the house to call the police when I heard a noise. I was halfway across 
the yard, but I thought it might be Sara, so I turned back. There were 
two other people in the shadows with her, but they must have seen me 
because they took off real quick. I never saw who they were." The 
scene replayed like a nightmare before him, and Gary shivered despite 
the warmth of the office and the morning sun shining through the front 
window. "Sara didn't move. She just stood there... staring at the 
body."

Scully and Mulder had both gone over the photographs of the crime scene. 
A woman's body lying face up in the snow, clothed only in a sweater and 
socks. Her hair was matted to her face, and her eyes open in fear. 
There was blood on her legs and staining the pure whiteness around her. 
There were footprints nearby, but they had by now been covered with a 
fresh layer of snow. Still, they would want to check out the scene once 
the interview was over.

Scully recalled the details from the cover pages of the files that had 
been faxed to Mulder.

 File: H00115
 Name: Nicolette Bradford
 D.O.B.: May 3, 1980 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
 D.O.D.: January 28, 1996 - Cape Vincent, New York

 Height: 5'5" Weight: 127 lbs
 Hair: black Eyes: brown
 Race: African-American / Caucasian mix

 Last known address: 68 Main Street, Cape Vincent, N.Y.
 Parents: Monique and Darryl Bradford


 At time of discovery, victim was wearing a flannel night-
 gown, no undergarments. A "t" or crucifix traced in snow 
 above victim's head.

 Time of death estimated between 10:30 p.m. and midnight.

 Location of crime scene fixed at 51 yards north of lot 58 
 (rural route 3)

 Medical reports indicate Nicolette was 8 1/2 months pregnant. 
 Autopsy reveals victim had died of asphyxiation due to a 
 crushed windpipe. This occurred after the estimated time of 
 childbirth. The child has not been found. Updated with 
 Missing Persons case MP651298NY, February 14, 1998.

=====

 File: H00136
 Name: Angela Settles (nee Smithson)
 D.O.B.: April 25, 1965	Messina, New York
 D.O.D.: February 13, 1998	Cape Vincent, New York

 Height: 5'2" Weight: 110 lbs
 Hair: brown Eyes: green
 Race: Caucasian

 Last known address: 1529 Beechwood Street, Cape Vincent, N.Y.
 Husband: Mickey Settles

 At time of discovery, victim was clothed in a long wool 
 sweater and gym socks. A gold chain was found around her 
 neck. A cross was traced in the snow above victim's head.

 E.T.D.: 2:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.

 Location: 165 yards north of lot 61 (rural route 3)

 Medical: 33 weeks into pregnancy
 Autopsy: asphyxiation, crushed windpipe, concussion
 Comments: Child has not been located yet. See file H00115 
 on Nicolette Bradford.


Scully felt a shiver run down her spine. Angela had been just about her 
own age. Certainly, she had had enough brushes with death herself, her 
abduction and cancer being the closest, but at least she was still 
alive. No one had the right to end someone else's life, to steal the 
life from them that God had blessed them with. These women's rights had 
been violated in the most extreme way possible. Not only were they 
dead, but their children had been taken from them in a savage attack. 
If their babies were still alive, they would be children denied the 
truth... unless they could be found.

Mulder had taken over the questioning, and was filling in details of 
Gary and Sara's background. Nothing pointed to anything unusual where 
they were concerned, save for the misfortune they had experienced with 
Caroline's passing.

"I'd like to talk to Sara sometime," Mulder concluded. "But I think 
more familiar surroundings might be more suitable."

"How long will you be in town?"

"For a few days. Do you know of a motel where we might be able to 
stay?"

"Annie Christiansen has a bed and breakfast on the Main. She's not too 
busy this time of year, so I'm sure she can accommodate you." Sara 
relaxed her grip on her father just then. Instead of clinging to him, 
face against his chest, she finally took that moment to see who it was 
her father had been talking to. She glanced at Mulder, and then turned 
to Scully and watched her with a deep sadness apparent in her eyes. 
Scully smiled tentatively, not wanting to scare the little girl.

"Maybe you could come over for dinner tonight. Say, seven?"

Scully tore her gaze from the child's and accepted the invitation on 
behalf of both her and Mulder.

As Gary reached the office door to leave, he turned back, reaching for a 
paper he had tucked in his back pocket. "The psychologist said I should 
get Sara to draw pictures so she can tell us what she saw. I don't 
think it says much, but you can have this." The man handed the drawing 
to Mulder and then walked out the door.

Mulder unfolded the paper and looked down at it. It was a drawing of 
Sara, standing among the darkened trees, a bloody body on the whiteness 
of the snow. And in the sky, there were two black angels carrying away 
a little baby.

END OF PART 2


************************
FIRST BORN (3/6)
by Tanya Larissa Chang
************************

By the time Sheriff O'Neill's jeep pulled up almost an hour later, 
Scully and Mulder had had more than enough time to skim the veterinary 
reports and get a better idea what they were up against. Just reading 
the first two files had indicated some sort of twisted connection to the 
murders, but there were three more similar cases, all compiled within 
the past eighteen months.

"There were probably more cases prior to these," Scully concluded, 
placing the file she had been reading back on the pile. "No one would 
have realized the connection at first."

"It sounds almost like a cult at work, stealing newborns for sacrificial 
purposes. Each of the animals autopsied was female, and each had given 
birth just hours before they died. Each time, there was no trace of the 
babies."

Scully shook her head in amazement. "Why would these cult members 
bother to kill the animals after the birth, unless they had something 
against keeping the mothers alive? In a demented way, I can understand 
the motivation behind murdering these women..."

"Kill all the witnesses," Mulder said, completing his partner's thought. 
"But then the animals didn't have to die."

"Unless that's part of the ritual."

Marj came through the front door, shaking her head.

"Problems?" Mulder asked.

"Kids these days. I'll never understand them." Marj remained standing, 
making no indication that she was intending to stay. "A bunch o' young 
punks were torturing a couple of puppies behind the schoolhouse."

"What kind of torture?"

"You don't wanna know. Puppies aren't violent at that age, but these 
kids got them barkin' somethin' fierce."

Scully could only imagine what had been going on, but, inwardly, she 
cringed. People could be so cruel, and when the people in question were 
only children, it made you even more sick to your stomach. "How are the 
dogs?"

"They're over at Doc Adams' clinic."

Mulder knew now that Doctor Zachary Adams was the local veterinarian. 
It seemed he'd been kept quite busy in such a small town as this. "What 
about the kids?" he asked.

"They're going to be busy for a few weeks, tidying up some of the local 
stables and helping out at the vet's after school."

"How old were they?"

"Barely into their teens, but they should know better. Who on earth 
puts ideas like these into their heads? By the way," Marj continued, "I 
spoke to Mickey Settles and he's agreed to meet with the two of you 
tomorrow. He's being detained at the county jail in Watertown."

"Is he a suspect?"

"Possibly, but he's being held for assault after a bar brawl. One week 
in the slammer. Anyway, while you two have some time, why don't you get 
settled someplace. I take it you'll be here for a couple of days. 
Annie's Bed and Breakfast ain't so bad, just down Main Street. You'll 
be right in town. Here's the number for the county jail office, and I 
tracked down the Bradfords for you. They don't live here anymore, but 
they're not too far from the border. You may need your passports."

*****

Saturday, April 29, 1995

Nicolette knew what she wanted to do with her life. Even though she 
wasn't quite fifteen yet, she had determined long ago that she was going 
to get out of Cape Vincent. She was going to go to college and become a 
doctor, just like her father... Her real father, not Darryl. Darryl was 
just some stranger who loved only her mother and who couldn't care less 
about the little girl who was part of the deal in marrying Monique 
Leblanc. After she finished high school, Nicolette planned on joining 
her father in Montreal. She could live with him and attend McGill or 
Concordia. Just a few more years and she'd be home free.

But she was still only a sophomore and could still bring her grades up 
in her junior and senior years. There was plenty of time. Besides, 
school was boring. She was young and should be allowed to have fun 
while she could. God knew her mom and step-dad weren't any fun. 
Nicolette hated being anywhere near them. Her family was the group of 
friends she hung out with, and she liked being part of a gang. If you 
weren't part of the gang, you might as well have been dead for all 
anyone cared, because dead was better than living in hell.

Her best friend was Josh, a senior. He wasn't the smartest guy, but 
when every other girl in the school wanted his body, brains didn't 
matter. All that mattered was that Josh wanted her.

Tonight there was going to be a party at Josh's place to celebrate her 
fifteenth birthday. Josh's dad wouldn't care since he'd most likely be 
out getting pissed at Lucky's Tavern anyway. He'd probably end up lying 
under a tree by the cemetery like he did at least three or four times a 
week until it got too cold outside. Josh's dad was a loser.

The party started off wildly with half a dozen gang members showing up 
all at the same time, two-fours and six packs under their arms. Man, 
this was going to be the best birthday ever: friends, booze, loud music, 
and who knew what else afterwards.

"Can you believe Josh is going to college next year?" Tara asked over 
the din of the stereo. "Like, it's not sickening enough that you're 
dating a senior already."

Niki, as her friends called her, took a quick drag and snuffed her 
cigarette butt in an empty beer bottle. "I don't want to think of that 
tonight." Niki had other things on her mind to celebrate her birthday. 
She and Josh had been going out since just before Christmas. She had 
been noticing him in school since her freshman year when he had moved to 
Cape Vincent two months into the school year. He hadn't even noticed 
she was alive, so she determined to change her look. She wasn't an 
eighth grader anymore, and she certainly didn't want to look it. 
Without consulting her parents, Niki got a part time job cleaning the 
local ice cream parlour, and, with the money she earned, she bought 
make-up and clothes and changed her image. She was surprised that more 
people didn't know about her wild side, but it was her opinion that 
adults weren't particularly perceptive anyway..

Tonight, Niki wore her shortest skirt and tightest crop top. It was a 
bit cold out to be wearing so little, but all the girls did it, and the 
guys liked it. Her hair was pulled back from her face, a purple streak 
running through her long brown hair. When she was at home, the purple 
streak was the only indication that she wasn't "sweet little Nicolette", 
maman's "petit minou" anymore. It wasn't until she left the house that 
Niki changed out of her jeans and sweatshirt, and added the black 
lipstick and red eyeshadow.

"Hey, Niki!" It was Josh.

A thrill of excitement travelled up her spine as Josh's arms circled her 
from behind, brushing against her breasts. She turned her head and he 
caught her lips in his own. There was a definite taste of beer and 
cigarette in the kiss, but Niki didn't care. She wanted more.

Josh pulled Niki to her feet, and broke the embrace, taking her hand in 
his. Niki noticed peripherally that Tara had started flirting with one 
of Josh's friends, but she didn't really care. She was flying high, and 
she could tell that Josh wanted her.

"I've got something I want to give you," he said as he pulled her out 
the back door, into the yard. They were both drunk and hardly felt the 
chill in the spring air as they walked towards the forest behind the 
house. God, this was so exciting... She could hardly wait until they 
were in the darkness of the trees, out of sight of prying eyes. Tonight 
there were no limits. She was ready to give herself completely to Josh.

As soon as they were far enough away that they could no longer see the 
house, Niki and Josh stopped by a huge tree stump. The tree had been 
cut down long ago, and what was left provided a perfect spot to stop and 
read during the day, or just listen to the sounds of the forest and 
watch the stars at night.

The young couple sat down side by side, their legs touching. Niki had 
sensed that something magical was about to happen.

"So?" she asked mischievously. "What is it you wanted to show me?"

Josh took both of Niki's hands in his own, rubbing them a bit when he 
felt how cold they were. "Niki," he seemed to struggle for words. "I 
know it's still a little while before I'll be heading for college..."

"We still have a few months," Niki said softly, trying to reassure him 
that she was okay with the idea.

"Niki, we have to be realistic about this. Once this summer is over, 
I'll be gone for two years before you could possibly join me."

"We could always visit each other," Niki interrupted. Why was everyone 
trying to ruin her party by bringing this up? She only cared about 
today, and she just wanted to have fun. She'd deal with tomorrow when 
it came.

"Just let me finish," Josh said, giving Niki's hand a little squeeze. 
"I really like you, and I want to try to stay friends no matter what, 
but I really don't see how that can work. You've been dreaming of going 
to school in Canada, and I'll be somewhere else completely. We'll meet 
different people... You'll probably fall for some other guy before I 
even 
get to my first set of exams."

There were tears in Niki's eyes. She didn't want to hear anymore. "Why 
do you all want to ruin this day?!" Niki screamed at Josh. "You're all 
the same," she cried. Josh tried to hold on to her, but she pulled away 
too quickly, too angrily. Blindly, she ran further into the woods. It 
started to rain, and she hoped Josh would just let her lose herself out 
here.

"Niki, wait!" Josh called back angrily. God, she could be so 
unreasonable sometimes. He was only trying to save her the heartache 
that she'd have to go through anyway. He ran after her, knowing he 
could catch her if he could just see through the shadows. He thought he 
saw her stumble and called after her again, but as he approached, all he 
could see was darkness. It engulfed him until every bit of awareness 
was gone.

*****

Bradford residence
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Tuesday, February 17th, 1998 - 2:34 p.m.

The Bradfords had moved to Ottawa just a month after their daughter 
Nicolette's death. They had been completely co-operative with the 
American authorities and had been cleared of suspicion in the young 
woman's death, but there hadn't been any other suspects or leads to 
follow because alibis and evidence pointed away from anyone who might 
have had a motive. Nicolette's murder remained unsolved after two 
years.

"Nicolette was a wonderful child," Monique Bradford told the F.B.I. 
agents. "I didn't approve of her choice of friends, but when you live 
in such a small town, you can't always pick them."

Darryl Bradford held his wife's hand tightly, comforting her with the 
gesture. "Nicolette was never happy to be living in Cape Vincent. She 
also didn't make it a secret that she didn't like the relationship that 
I had with her mother. She always spoke of going back to Montreal to be 
with her father."

Monique wiped a tear from her eye. "She wanted to be a doctor, just 
like Michel. I knew she'd pull her grades up after her sophomore year 
because she wanted it so badly. Josh would be gone and she'd have time 
to concentrate on her studies."

"Josh was the boy she was seeing when she got pregnant?" Scully asked. 
She knew the facts from the police records and interviews, but it never 
hurt to ask the question again when you could see how people reacted.

"I know my daughter wasn't the perfect child, Miss Scully, but she was 
responsible. When she died, she was carrying Josh's child. I'm sure of 
it. She always said she was going to wait, but that boy took advantage 
of my little girl. Now he's off at school, and my baby is dead."

"Do you blame Josh for Nicolette's death?"

There was a brief silence as Darryl squeezed Monique's hand, prompting 
her to continue. "I can't help but think that Nicolette would still be 
alive if not for that boy. I know he didn't kill Nicolette because he 
was at college when it happened, but he's the one who got Nicolette 
mixed up in the wrong crowd. He took everything from her. She couldn't 
concentrate on school because of the pregnancy, and her marks fell even 
further."

"Mrs. Bradford, I realize that Nicolette's killer was never 
apprehended," Mulder said gently. He knew what it was like to lose 
someone and not have any proof to blame anyone, and his heart went out 
to this woman. "But, off the record, was there ever anyone you 
suspected might have done this?"

There was no hesitation when Monique Bradford replied. "I've thought 
about this for two years, and as much as I want to find my baby's 
killer, and find her baby, I can't think of anyone who'd do this. This 
is the devil's work."

*****

Annie's Bed and Breakfast, Cape Vincent
8:45 p.m.

Scully and Mulder had spent the greater part of their afternoon in 
Ottawa with the Bradfords, followed by a two-hour drive over icy roads 
back to Cape Vincent. While they had a better understanding of who 
Nicolette Bradford was, they were still no closer to finding the people 
responsible for the deaths in Cape Vincent, or the strange similarities 
between the murders and the animal slayings.

Before they left the Bradfords, Mulder contacted Gary Wendall, 
apologizing for the inconvenience of their not being able to make it 
back to Cape Vincent in time for dinner. Gary was more that 
understanding and rescheduled until the next evening.

"I'm going to grab some food somewhere," Mulder said as they pulled up 
in front of Annie's.

"I'll get started on my report," Scully replied. She watched for a 
moment as her partner crossed the street, making his way to a nearby 
pizzeria. Then she walked into Annie's and headed up the stairs to her 
room.

Mulder was glad to feel the warmth of the pizzeria after the quick jog 
across the street. His ears and nose were frozen already, even though 
he had been outside for barely thirty seconds. On the way to Ottawa 
earlier that day, he and Scully had stopped at a corner store and she 
had bought him a pair of nifty mittens for which he was extremely 
grateful. He'd never seen anything like these mittens before: 
fingerless gloves with an extra fleece-lined cover which stayed in place 
with velcro to warm your fingertips. No matter what they looked like, 
at least his fingers were warm. Now, if only he had a scarf.

"Does it ever warm up here?" Mulder asked the man at the counter as he 
rubbed his hands together.

"Sure," the man replied. "But then we get lots of snow. So, what can I 
do you for?"

"One medium combo and two iced teas," Mulder answered, shoving his 
gloves in his pockets.

"Coming right up," the man barked over the sound of the oven fans as he 
retreated to the kitchen counter. Mulder was about to take a seat, when 
he heard the other man holler from the back. "Hey! You're one of the 
F.B.I. agents, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"I've never met an F.B.I. agent before. My name's Gus."

"Pleased to meet you," Mulder said loud enough to be heard.

"That your partner? The pretty lady with the red hair?" Gus continued 
his interrogation.

"Yup. But don't start getting any ideas. She's spoken for." Mulder 
knew it was a lie, but he didn't care for strangers hitting on his 
partner. It was enough trying to keep the both of them alive sometimes 
without having to worry about some love struck puppy nipping at their 
heels.

"I heard you were invited up to the Wendall place tonight. I'd be 
careful up there if I were you."

"Why's that?"

"Strange things happen in the forest behind that house. That little 
girl of Wendall's has a knack of finding dead things. It wouldn't 
surprise me a bit if her father had something to do with it."

Mulder mulled over what the pizza man had said and decided he'd have to 
take a closer look into Gary Wendall's background and the veterinary 
autopsy reports that he and Scully had received. He paid for the pizza 
and drinks and rushed back to the Bed and Breakfast, eager to share his 
findings with Scully. When he got to his room, Mulder noticed that 
Scully had left the adjoining door to her room ajar. He gently pushed 
it open and caught himself before saying anything. Scully had changed 
into sweats and had started typing her report, but must have decided to 
rest a bit before he returned because she had fallen asleep at her desk. 
She hadn't really slept in over thirty six hours, and he didn't want to 
disturb her...

Mulder put a hand on her shoulder, waking her with his touch.

"Mulder?" Scully asked sleepily.

"I think you'd be more comfortable if you slept on the bed," Mulder said 
quietly.

"But my report...," she said with a moan.

Scully got up at her partner's gentle prompting and let him lead her to 
her bed. "Don't worry about it. I'll fill in the details and you can 
polish it up in the morning."

Mulder was glad his partner didn't argue. He needed her to be alert for 
the interview with Mickey Settles the next day. He tucked her into bed, 
amazed at how quickly she fell back asleep. Mulder reached over and 
turned off the bedside lamp and then quietly retreated to his own room, 
taking the laptop with him. He hadn't particularly wanted to eat alone, 
but he was starving, so he settled in front of the computer and got to 
work.

END OF PART 3



************************
FIRST BORN (4/6)
by Tanya Larissa Chang
************************

Jefferson County Jail
Watertown, New York
Wednesday, February 18th - 1:45 p.m.

Scully had never liked judging people by first impressions, but in her 
line of work she had to sum people up as quickly as possible to decide 
whether or not they were the genuine article. She hated to admit it, 
but she didn't trust anyone until they had proven beyond any doubt that 
they were worthy of that confidence. Only her mother and Mulder had 
that trust, and this man before her was unlikely to earn it anytime 
soon.

Mickey Settles was a big, burly man. There was an overdone machismo 
about him that Scully disliked from the start. During his marriage to 
Angela Smithson, there had been a long list of injuries suffered by her 
at his hand. Not only speculation, but medical record as well, led to 
the conclusion that she was being abused, but, again and again, she 
would defend Mickey and go back to him. The sheriff had also been quite 
sure that Mickey was far from faithful, but his infidelities took him, 
and the trouble he caused, out of town. The people of Cape Vincent 
didn't approve of Mickey being among them, but he lived far enough off 
the main road that they tolerated him. Things were easier now that 
Angela had passed on, regardless of the brutality of her death. At 
least she was at peace.

"Mr. Settles, we know you've already spoken to the police regarding your 
wife's death," Mulder began.

"I don't have anything to hide," Mickey interjected. "I know I wasn't a 
good husband, but I didn't kill my wife."

Scully leaned into the table that separated her from the man who could 
have been a murderer and who most likely was a wife beater. "Mr. 
Settles, we are here under the assumption that you are innocent, unless 
evidence should prove otherwise, but you have to admit that the records 
of your domestic situation do not place you in good stead."

Mickey snorted, looking at Scully through darkened eyes. A shiver ran 
down her spine, and she felt suddenly violated and dirty as Mickey's 
eyes took her in. It was not hard to imagine that this man might be 
capable of murder.

"Tell us about your wife," Scully said, backing away and leaning against 
the wall. It wouldn't help to look defensive; she and Mulder were in 
control here, and her posture showed none of her misgivings. Stronger 
men than this one had tried to intimidate her, and had failed.

"What do you want to know?" Mickey asked with an air of defiance.

"Did you love your wife?"

"What kind of dumb ass question is that?"

"Just answer the question," Mulder said calmly.

"If I didn't love her, I wouldn't have married her," Mickey shot back 
angrily.

Mulder opened a folder in front of him, revealing photos of a woman 
badly bruised. There were dark circles around her eyes, a noticeable 
bump on her forehead, and a gash at the corner of her mouth. He shoved 
the folder in front of the prisoner. "Is this how you showed her your 
love? By beating her senseless? What happened on the day your wife was 
murdered, Mr. Settles?"

"I don't know."

"That answer doesn't provide for much of an alibi," Scully told him.

"I was at work, okay? Angela was supposed to stay home, but she had it 
in her head to get out of the house. She was restless because of her 
damned pregnancy. She said she was going to visit her friend."

"Mary Trent?"

"Yeah... Except she never got there."

"Mary claims she never received a call from your wife indicating that 
she'd be visiting."

Mickey stood angrily from his chair, knocking it over in the process. 
His hands were handcuffed so neither Mulder nor Scully made a move in 
defence or otherwise. "Damn it! I wasn't Angela's keeper."

"Your abusive behaviour indicates that you thought otherwise while she 
was alive."

"Listen, if she wanted to see her friends, it was up to her to tell 
them. I don't know why she didn't call Mary." He turned his back on 
them and stared down at the floor. His energy sapped.

There was a silence that hung in the room like a darkened veil. Scully 
waited for Mickey's breathing to slow, and when he finally turned back 
to them, Mulder gave Scully a nod for her to continue. "Mr. Settles, 
we've had time to interview some of the people in town. They don't 
believe that this crime is beneath your capabilities."

"What do they know?"

"They know you didn't want the child. Why?"

Mickey's eyes met Scully's and she felt the cold anger within him, the 
revulsion and the hate. "At the time when Angela got pregnant, I was 
out of town for three months. She claimed I had to be the father 
because she wouldn't cheat on me, but how could I be the father if I was 
never there?"

*****

New York City, New York
Wednesday, January 8, 1997 - 10:58 p.m.

Caroline hated travelling in her line of work, but it was something that 
she couldn't very well avoid or decline, especially considering she'd be 
going on maternity leave for six months. This trip promised to be the 
most awkward since she was nearly seven months into her pregnancy, but 
she had always wanted to see New York City. She only wished she could 
have taken Sara with her.

Sara had been enrolled in ballet classes since September, and it was 
easy to tell that she loved the dance. Caroline would have liked to 
take her daughter to a ballet or musical, but business trips didn't 
allow for that type of leisure time. And there would have been no one 
to take care of the child during the hours when her mother was teaching.

Caroline sat on the edge of the bed in the tiny hotel room that her 
company had provided her with. She could feel the baby kicking, and 
smiled as she ran her hand over her stomach. This child was truly a 
blessing. Her pregnancy was advancing well, and it seemed a wonder that 
not too many years ago she had been told that she would never carry a 
child to term. Even Sara, her beautiful Sara, had been conceived 
through artificial insemination and carried by another woman. Sara was 
special in her own way, but Caroline always regretted not having had the 
chance to share one heartbeat with her child.

It was nearly eleven o'clock, too late to call home, and it had been 
dark for hours already. The hotel was quiet, but she could still hear 
the steady traffic on Broadway and smell the exhaust coming up from the 
subway trains below the street. If she could find some time to play 
tourist, she was sure she'd find New York City a great place to visit. 
One day she'd have to come back here with Gary, Sara and the newest 
addition to the family.

As she lay down on the bed, Caroline's first thought was of returning 
home. She closed her eyes and dreamed of the house she called home, and 
the quiet surroundings of the winter forest. God, she wished she could 
go back there now.

It seemed as if she dreamed of those trees all night, and when she woke 
only a few hours later, Caroline was frantic. She had to get home... to 
the forest. Nothing else mattered. She tried to move, but the pain in 
her gut was too great.

No, it's too soon! she cried out in her mind. She had to call for help, 
but her body wouldn't listen to her silent pleas. Her head pounded and 
she felt as though her body was burning up. The last think Caroline saw 
was a flash of light, and then nothing but eternal darkness.

*****

Wendall residence, Cape Vincent
Wednesday, February 18th, 1998 - 6:55 p.m.

Sara had just started setting the dishes on the dinner table when Mulder 
and Scully arrived. She seemed to be perfectly comfortable in her own 
home now, and Gary was glad to report that the little girl had crawled 
into his bed last night rather than sleep on the hallway floor. It 
seemed a progressive step, but she still refused to go outside without a 
big fuss. Maybe by next week she'd finally be okay to go back to 
school.

Her teacher had been kind enough to drop by with some assignments that 
Sara could work on, and the woman had even stayed for an hour to help 
out, but her generosity probably wouldn't last indefinitely.

"Thanks for having us over," Mulder said as he let Gary hang his coat up 
for him. Scully had already taken off her winterwear and was helping 
Sara in the kitchen. Scully had always had a knack with children, but 
since her short experience as a mother to a child known as Emily not two 
months ago, Mulder had noticed that his partner seemed much more 
maternal in her approach towards children. There was a also a certain 
melancholy about her that tore at Mulder's heart. He knew it was 
difficult to face children so soon when her own had been taken away so 
quickly, and the tiny body stolen from her casket.

Dinner was fairly quiet since none of the adults at the table wanted to 
ruin Sara's appetite. They learned a bit about the history of Cape 
Vincent, letting Gary take the lead in the conversation for now. Even 
Sara seemed to be genuinely interested in the evening's guests, if not 
some of the conversation as well.

"This town dates back to the early seventeenth century as far as 
European settlers are concerned, but its history goes back much further 
than that. When you're right on the St. Lawrence River, there's bound 
to have been a bit more history than most inland towns."

"How long have you lived here?" Mulder asked as he dug into the last few 
bites of steak on his plate. It wasn't often the he had a home cooked 
meal, especially one that tasted quite so good. It was certainly a far 
cry better than greasy pizza.

"Caroline and I moved here when Sara was two years old. Caroline worked 
as a computer consultant from home, but she travelled a lot doing 
seminars and training sessions."

"Why did you choose to live in Cape Vincent?"

"It was a chance to get away from the city. We didn't want our daughter 
being exposed to the corruption of city life. Caroline wanted Sara to 
learn to appreciate the simpler things in life, to learn to respect and 
appreciate what we have. Now I'm starting to think the city isn't such 
a bad place."

"Other than last Friday evening, have you ever noticed anything unusual 
out here in the woods?"

Scully took advantage of the brief pause after Mulder's question to 
interrupt gently. "Maybe Sara could show me her room while you two are 
talking." Mulder realized that perhaps it wouldn't be the wisest thing 
to talk about death around the little girl, and he was grateful that 
Scully had caught him before his line of questioning went too far.

Sara looked to her father for permission, and then took Scully by the 
hand and led her up the stairs to her room. Mulder watched as the two 
disappeared down the hallway, thinking how natural it seemed for Scully 
to be with children now. Aside from having spent time loving Emily and 
trying to adopt the orphaned child of her own flesh and blood, he 
wondered how often, or how seriously, Scully thought of having a family. 
It would never be an easy decision to make in their line of work. Now 
that he had discovered his own sister alive - if it had indeed been her 
and not a clone at their most recent meeting -, Mulder sometimes thought 
about it himself where he would never have even dreamed of it before. 
As dysfunctional and distanced as his own family was, every member was 
now accounted for, dead and alive. It was probably time he started 
looking at his own future. Did he want a family? If so, he'd have to 
start looking at the possibilities soon if he intended to ever take the 
plunge at all. Of course, first he'd have to work on developing a 
committed relationship though, and work didn't allow for that sort of 
thing. His relationship with Scully was the closest he'd ever been to a 
lifelong commitment, and she was only his partner. No, more than that. 
She was his best friend and confidante. They had been on the brink of 
death together; they had saved each other's lives on countless 
occasions. They had both nearly killed each other at different times, 
but they always found each other again. If they were ever separated, it 
would be like losing all his limbs.

Mulder turned his attention back to Gary who handed him a cup of coffee 
as the two of them retreated to the living room.

"There used to be stories about the forest around here," Gary began. 
"You'd almost think you'd moved to Salem for all the talk about secret 
witch covens and such nonsense. I never saw any evidence of it, to tell 
you the truth. The gangs of teenagers that hang around are about the 
most sinister thing I'd ever seen."

"Did you or your wife ever have any misgivings about living around 
here?"

Gary shook his head. "We both loved it here. I still do, but..."

Mulder waited as Gary's face betrayed the hurt he was feeling. "But?"

"One night when Caroline's mother was visiting, we decided to take a 
stroll out in the forest. Sara liked hearing stories that her 
grandmother told, so we snuck away for what we hoped would be a nice 
hour-long walk. I still remember that day: It was sunny out, not a 
cloud in the sky. It was June, so all the flowers had started 
blossoming, and there were so many birds in places that you felt like 
you were walking in a bird sanctuary for all the chatter. It was 
amazing.

"We had walked about half an hour when we noticed that it was getting 
dark already, but it was only about five o'clock, so the sun shouldn't 
have set for another few hours. It seemed so unusual to have cloud 
cover when the sky had been clear just a few minutes before."

"Then what happened?"

There was a look of confusion on Gary's face as he tried hard to 
remember, but the details were foggy... They had never been clear.

 "Gary, maybe we should head back. It looks like a storm's coming."

 "Odd," Gary mused. "The forecast doesn't call for rain for another
 three or four days. It must be some sort of freak storm."

 Caroline gave her husband a light shove in the direction from where
 they had come. "You believe the weatherman?" she teased. "You are so
 gullible sometimes, Mr. Wendall."

 They walked hand in hand, enjoying each other's company and the time 
 alone. Sara could sometimes be a handful, and it was nice to have a 
 bit of a break from parenting, even if only for an hour or so.

 "Great, it's starting to rain," Gary complained as a big drop of water 
 hit him right on the nose. The rain started to come down faster, and
 Caroline screamed with laughter as she led Gary on a lovers' chase 
 among the trees. They hadn't behaved like this since... Well, never.

 "Caroline, we're getting soaked!" he called after her.

 "It's only water!" she cried back as she teasingly hid behind a tree. 
 It was getting too dark out now, and Gary was afraid they might get 
 lost if they didn't return home soon.

 "Caroline, stop a minute," he called out. There was no reply, and 
 Gary started to worry. Maybe she had fallen and hurt herself. 
 "Caroline!"

 Suddenly, from nowhere and everywhere, there was a flash of light and 
 Gary's world went black as the shadows moved in on him.

"I always thought that maybe we were hit by lightning or something," 
Gary concluded. "I woke up over an hour later, covered in mud and 
chilled to the bone. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and my mother-in-
law told me she hadn't noticed any rain from the house. She was 
surprised when we turned up at the door, all drenched."

"What happened to Caroline?" Mulder asked, picturing everything that had 
happened on that June night over eighteen months ago.

"Caroline was lying just a few feet from me. I was afraid she might be 
dead, but then she started retching. She was sick for three days with a 
high fever. She must have caught a bad cold from the rain... At least 
that's what we thought."

Mulder was starting to get confused by Gary's own doubts. "What do you 
mean?"

"Less than a month later, we found out Caroline was pregnant."

"Was that so unusual?"

Gary was doing everything he could to maintain his composure, but Mulder 
could tell he had touched upon a sensitive topic. 

"I'm sorry, Mr. Wendall, it's just that any information about what 
happened in that forest could help our investigation, even if it does 
seem unrelated right now."

Gary put down his coffee. "Mr. Mulder, Caroline and I couldn't have 
children. My wife believed the pregnancy was a miracle sent by God, but 
according to our doctor, it was a physical impossibility."

"What about Sara?"

"She was a medical miracle, a miracle of artificial insemination and 
surrogate motherhood. She's our flesh and blood, but she wasn't 
conceived through, shall we say, traditional means. And since Caroline 
had been told she couldn't carry a child to term, we hired a surrogate 
mother. I never knew what to think after that night in the forest."

*****

Sara's room was the kind of room that Scully might have imagined for her 
own little girl, for Emily. The walls were covered in pink flowered 
wallpaper, and the small twin-sized bed was covered with a warm, fluffy 
white duvet and a couple of stuffed animals. The furniture in the room 
was all part of a set: a desk and chair, a dresser, the bed and a 
nightstand all painted white with brass trim. There were framed ballet 
posters on two of the walls, and Scully noticed a ballet leotard and 
slippers on the little chair in front of the desk.

"Do you dance, Sara?"

"Mm, hmm." It was a quiet reply, but it took Scully by surprise since 
she hadn't heard a peep out of the child besides sobs since she had 
first met her the day before.

"I used to take ballet lessons when I was your age," Scully said, trying 
to hold some semblance of a conversation to ease the awkward silence 
that hung over them. "I wasn't very good though... Maybe you could show 
me a few steps."

Scully caught Sara's gaze and gave her a questioning look and then a 
wink. Sara returned a shy smile and then finally let go of Scully's 
hand to put on her ballet slippers. She sat down on her chair, and 
removed the black patent leather shoes that her father had made her wear 
as part of the fancy dinner outfit that she had on to greet their dinner 
guests. The slippers fit easily onto her feet, worn in from months of 
dancing and growing. She looked down at Scully's feet, indicating that 
bare feet would be preferable to high heels if they were going to dance.

Scully soon realized that her memory of dance steps served her better 
than her co-ordination, and before long she and Sara soon ended up lying 
on the bed, laughing themselves to tears.

"Hey, what's going on up here?" It was Mulder.

Scully sat up, her face flushed as she saw Mulder and Mr. Wendall enter 
Sara's room. She and her dance instructor stifled another giggle. "You 
don't want to know," Scully said, a twinkle in her eye. Mulder hadn't 
seen her having any fun since that day when he had first seen her 
together with Emily. Even then, there was a grim solemnity to 
everything that had taken place.

Gary stepped forward, opening his arms to his daughter and she ran to 
him, smiling. "My God, Miss Scully, Sara hasn't laughed in days. I'm 
so grateful to you."

"We seem to have found something in common. We were just having some 
fun," Scully replied with a shrug. She looked down at Sara, and Mulder 
saw them exchange an almost conspiratorial look between them, blue eyes 
to blue eyes. He wasn't quite sure if this connection was a good thing 
or a bad thing, but it would certainly help in their investigation if 
Sara would break her silence and talk to them.

"Maybe we could come back tomorrow," Scully suggested to Gary, keeping 
her eye on Sara.

"Would you like that?" Gary asked the little girl in his arms. Sara 
nodded delightedly and gave a big grin. "I guess that's a yes," he said 
to the F.B.I. agents. "Now," he said, turning his attention to Sara, 
"it's time for you to go to bed, young lady."

Sara's smile turned to a frown and she reached out for Scully's hand. 
"Maybe I could tuck her in," Scully offered. "I'll stay until she falls 
asleep."

"That's very kind of you, Agent Scully, but if it's any trouble..."

"No trouble at all."

Gary left the room to clean up a bit downstairs. Mulder dawdled behind 
and stood in the doorway to Sara's room. He turned away as Scully 
helped Sara change into her night-gown, and when he turned back, the 
little girl was in her bed. Scully handed Sara a teddy bear, and then 
carefully tucked the child in. Sara seemed scared and Scully asked if 
she would be okay. The little girl shook her head. "I'll be here until 
you fall asleep, okay?" Scully said softly as she brushed the bangs out 
of Sara's face. "You just close your eyes and try to sleep, and I'll 
see you tomorrow."

The comment reminded Mulder of the reassurances that he'd heard her make 
to another child not long ago. He was glad to see that she seemed to be 
handling this whole situation so well.

When it seemed that Sara had fallen asleep, her breathing deep and 
steady, Scully joined her partner.

"You okay?" Mulder asked, noticing a certain sadness in Scully's eyes.

"I'll be all right," she replied. "I can't help but think of Emily 
whenever I see a little girl, especially when she seems so troubled."

Mulder gave Scully a brief hug. "I know exactly what you mean," he said 
softly. She was starting to sound like him. For years - decades - he 
had seen Samantha in every little girl he ever encountered. He and his 
partner now shared similar feelings of being robbed of someone they held 
close to their hearts. There was a lot that seemed to run parallel in 
their lives.

"I've got some interesting information to follow up on," Mulder told 
her.

"Good. I think Sara might be willing to talk soon. Hopefully we'll be 
able to find our answers before then, though because it could still be 
several days or weeks."

END OF PART 4


************************
FIRST BORN (5/6)
by Tanya Larissa Chang
************************

 Children of the Realm,
 Embrace the spirit bestowed upon you,
 And welcome a new day.

Adam hadn't had to die. It was a streak of bad luck that his successor 
should die even before he was born, but such was the way of their 
people. Sometimes the spirit passed on successfully to the First Born, 
and then there were times when the spirit died in childbirth. Those who 
were specially blessed could have the power of their spirit doubled if 
the First Born's fate was to lie in the womb as twins of identical 
nature.

The youth of the Realm practised the rites of the ancient art of 
succession with the animals given to them as gifts when they were young. 
Their pets lived on in spirit even when the shell they occupied passed 
on. The soul moved to the next one, and loyalty was fierce.

The children of the Realm were conceived and born of the wind and of the 
rain. They were motherless by choice, and they welcomed the family 
which opened its arms to them, regardless of physical appearance or 
capabilities.

This child was no different. Only days old, this child already had a 
great wisdom, and his eyes sparkled with the knowledge that he had 
received a great gift. *Spirit reincarnate, welcome back to the Realm. 
Open your heart and feel the warmth which surrounds you.*

The child, a boy, was laid gently upon a bed of soft cotton sheets 
surrounded by white candles, shining all around him. The dark figure 
which laid him down was clothed in black flowing robes which concealed 
every part of the wearer except the hands which massaged the child's 
arms and legs, caressed its downy head, offering comfort through touch. 
The hands beckoned a young woman forth and took the chalice of clear, 
blessed water from her hands. The child was anointed on the forehead 
with water which had fallen from the sky on the day he had been 
conceived. His adoptive parents drank what remained in the bottom of 
the cup, and then they placed their hands upon the body of the child.

The Overseer turned each parent's hands over so that they were palm up 
and then drew the sign of a cross on the inside of each using a 
ceremonial dagger which broke the skin with its sharpness and drew 
blood. Then, gently, a similar cross was made on each of the baby's 
heels. He cried softly, his lungs not having developed completely 
enough for a wholehearted scream.

With the mingling of blood complete, the Overseer picked up the child 
and placed him in the hands of the couple who would lead him through his 
formative years and teach him the ways of the Realm.

*****

Thursday, February 19th - 9:57 a.m.

Tara had fallen asleep in the middle of her English class again. It 
didn't really matter much since she had the highest mark in the school, 
but here she was back in the principal's office without any explanation 
for her fatigue. She wished her sister would plan things better so that 
she wouldn't have to stay up late on a school night. She knew it was 
for her own good, but it was a bit of an inconvenience, and Tara was 
beginning to think that it might even be wrong.

"Tara, the principal will see you now," the secretary told her.

Principal Miller greeted her grimly at the door to his office. He 
didn't often bother to call her into his office anymore since the 
reprimands didn't accomplish anything. An occasional reprimand was made 
only for appearances. "Tara, there are a couple of people here who 
would like to ask you some questions," he said, stepping aside to reveal 
the man and the woman standing by his desk. Deputy Waldon was with 
them, standing at ease off to one side, apparently only there to 
supervise the situation while the Sheriff was taking care of more 
important business elsewhere.

"These are Agents Scully and Mulder with the F.B.I. They just want to 
ask you a few questions about Nicolette Bradford."

Alarms went off in Tara's head and she tried to silence them. What if 
she said something wrong? She didn't want to get anyone in trouble... 
but 
then she was tired of all the lies too. She wanted to live her life the 
way she felt was best, and if that meant telling someone what was 
happening, maybe it was worth the risk. But could she trust these 
people? She certainly didn't trust Jim Waldon, the male chauvinist 
asshole.

Just answer the questions, she told herself. If you don't give them any 
extra information, then maybe everything will be okay. Take control of 
the situation and then you can tell them more at your own pace.

Principal Miller pulled up a chair for Tara and then left the room, 
leaving her with the special agents and the deputy. She slouched down 
into the chair, not wanting to show that she really cared that she was 
being questioned by Feds.

Not quite what I expected, Scully thought as she tried to sum up the 
rebellious teen in front of her. Principal Miller had described Tara as 
an oddity: a typical rebellious teenaged genius. She had never failed 
to impress her teachers with her knowledge, and she had maintained the 
top grade point average in the school for four years. If not for her 
behaviour, she would have finished her schooling long before her peers. 
Yet, you would never have believed such achievements from this young 
woman if there had been no written proof. 

She skipped classes, or slept through them when she presented 
herself so as to avoid being expelled for lack of attendance. Her 
choice of daily attire was frowned upon by the school's staff as 
completely inappropriate: black leather mini-skirts and tanktops, ripped 
fishnet stockings and combat boots, and a streak of fire engine red hair 
running through her long raven black locks. She spoke down to her 
teachers, seldom showing any respect for authority, and she was known to 
spend hours partying on weeknights and weekends. Her parents, if she 
had any, seemed to allow all of this with full awareness of the girl's 
behaviour, and all anyone could do was stand back and shake their heads.

"Thanks for getting me out of class," Tara said flatly, eyeing the 
deputy suspiciously and then turning her attention to the couple sitting 
by the principal's desk. If nothing else, at least being interviewed by 
F.B.I. agents in the middle of school was a novelty that she could tell 
the gang later on.

"No problem," said the man. Mulder. "We just wanted to ask you a 
few questions."

"... about Niki." Tara cracked her chewing gum and took in the 
appearance of the male agent, imagining what he'd look like without that 
silly suit on. The female agent, Scully, noticed the look and shifted 
uncomfortably. Tara smiled. She wondered if Mulder knew that his 
partner had the hots for him. Probably not. Men of the Outside Realm 
didn't tend to be that perceptive. They had their purposes though, and 
what she had just seen was something she might be able to work with 
later.

"How long did you know Nicolette Bradford?" Scully asked.

"She came here when she was about ten years old. We first met up 
at middle school. She was a mousy little brat, nothing special."
"The principal has told us that you and Niki were best friends..."
"Yeah, so?" Tara wasn't going to let these suits lead her into 
unguarded conversation.

"How long were you best friends?" Mulder asked, apparently 
realizing that Tara was not going to co-operate if she didn't feel like 
it."

"About two years."
"Other students say that Niki changed a lot after you all entered 
high school. She changed her entire look and attitude from the previous 
year."

Tara ground her teeth together in annoyance. "What are you 
getting at? I assume you're trying to figure out who might have killed 
her, so what does her attitude have to do with anything."

"We just want to know if the lifestyle she lived might have had 
any bearing on her being targeted for murder."

"Yeah, well, I'm still alive."

"Why did she change?" Mulder asked again.

"It was time," Tara said with fire in her eyes. "That goody two 
shoes who came here in grade six was a fabrication of her parents' 
dreams. That wasn't Niki. It was her true self that finally emerged 
after Josh arrived."

"Why do you say that?" It was Scully's turn to continue.

Tara gave Scully a look that had 'are you dumb or something?' 
written all over it. "God, woman," she said suddenly, pushing herself 
out of her chair, "have you never changed what you wore, or the way you 
walked or talked, to get some action? You must have been born in that 
suit of yours."

Scully didn't let her composure fail her, as shocked as she was by 
this girl's disrespect. She noticed that despite Tara's attitude she 
had begun to pace, an unconscious show of nervousness.

"Do you remember what happened on the day Niki was murdered?"

"No." The answer was too abrupt. It was a lie, and Scully 
detected it immediately, as did Mulder. Considering the insult that had 
just been thrown at his partner, Mulder let her continue.

"Let me refresh your memory, Tara. It was a Sunday night, January 
twenty-eighth, just over a year ago."

"Lady, I'm not senile."

Scully matched Tara's defiant glare, daring the girl to cross her 
one more time. Mulder wouldn't have been surprised just then if Scully 
asked to take this strange clash of personalities outside to fight it 
out, fist to fist.

"Does she always do all the work?" Tara asked him, not taking her 
eyes from Scully.

"We're partners," Mulder said, keeping a poker-face in spite of 
wanted to crack a huge grin at Scully's success in unsettling their 
witness. "We take turns roughing people up."

"I'm sure you *do* take turns," Tara added slyly, certain that the 
double entendre and insult were not lost on either of these pitiful 
adults.

"Just answer the question."

Tara threw herself back into her chair. "January 28th, 1996. I 
probably woke up at about 10 a.m. and had a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios 
for breakfast. I was still dressed in my pyjamas because that's what I 
do every Sunday." Tara waited for one of the agents to stop her, but 
their silence outlasted her own patience. "My sister came in from the 
backyard. Before I could even say good morning, she yanked me out of my 
chair by my hair because I had forgotten to get ready for..." She 
paused, 
wanting to choose the right word. "Church..." She let the word hang.

"She beat me every time I forgot because she's such a religious 
person. She's so stuck in the old ways, and we always have to do as she 
says."

Scully saw a bitter far-off look in Tara's eyes. There was 
something more to her words that needed to be told. "Why?" was all she 
asked.

Tara fought back the tears that rolled down her cheeks now. She 
was so confused. No one could understand what horrible secrets she had 
to keep. Who could understand all the late nights, and the lies? She 
didn't want to lie about it anymore, but her fear of the Overseer was 
even greater.

"I can't talk," she said, and before anyone could stop her, she 
ran from the room. Scully and Mulder exchanged a glance. They looked 
to the deputy, but he merely shrugged ignorance. Something was going on 
here and they were getting closer to the truth.

Tara realized too late what she had done. Her sister would find 
out about the interview and then she'd eliminate the problem, which 
meant there wasn't much time. No one betrayed the secrecy of the Realm, 
and those agents weren't stupid. They'd figure out what was going on 
sooner or later, if they hadn't already concluded that she was hiding 
something that they needed to know. It was just a matter of time before 
they came out to the house to ask her sister to clarify the cryptic 
answers she had given.

Principal Miller and his secretary were caught by surprise at 
Tara's hasty exit, but they were prevented from stopping her by a signal 
from Mulder and Scully. "We'll catch up with her later," Mulder told 
them. "Deputy, do you know anything about Tara's family?"

"Can't say that I do." Scully was beginning to wonder how Sheriff 
O'Neill managed to work with someone who seemed to know and contribute 
so little. "They're quiet folk," he continued, "except for Tara. They 
stay out of trouble. Her sister, Mary, is the town's ballet teacher."

Mulder caught the first name. "Mary?"

"Yes, sir. Mary Trent."

*****

As they were about to head out of the school, a call came in from Gary 
Wendall. The secretary handed Mulder the phone.

"Mulder here."

"Mr. Mulder, you've got to come out here quickly. It's happened again."

Scully, Mulder and the deputy headed straight away to the Wendall 
Residence. "The Trent family name seems to be a common link in all the 
murders," Mulder said as Scully drove, following the deputy's car.

"And not just in the murders," Scully added. "You said there were 
unusual circumstances surrounding Caroline Wendall's pregnancy."

"And?"

"Mary Trent is Sara's ballet teacher."

"It seems my cult theory wasn't so far off, after all," Mulder 
concluded. "We'll get on the 'net once we get back to Annie's and see 
what we can find."

Gary Wendall was waiting at the front door when the cars pulled up into 
the driveway. "What happened?" Mulder asked, as they were led to the 
back of the house. "Where's Sara?"

"She's in the living room."

Scully gave Mulder a quick glance which conveyed her very thoughts to 
him, and then she turned back. The deputy followed her to the living 
room where she quietly approached the little girl who sat in the corner 
of the couch, wrapped in a blanket and gripping her teddy bear. There 
was a woman in the room, sitting arm's length from Sara.

"Bea Morgan. I deliver the mail," the woman explained to Scully. "Mr. 
Wendall said something happened out back, behind the house and he needed 
me to watch his little girl. She won't let me get near her though."

Scully kneeled before the little girl. Sara was shivering, tears 
rolling down her cheeks. When she put up her hand to brush the hair 
from Sara's face, the child took advantage of the movement and fell into 
Scully's arms. "Shh... Everything's going to be okay," Scully said 
softly.

"I want my daddy," Sara whimpered.

Scully nearly jumped at the sound of the child's voice, and then she 
looked up at the deputy. "I'll get him," he said, and then he retreated 
to the back of the house.

Scully lifted herself onto the couch, keeping Sara on her lap, not 
wanting to let her go. "Sara, can you tell me what you saw out there?"

The little girl spoke through hiccuping sobs filled with fear. "I don't 
want to stay here anymore," Sara said.

"Why?"

"Everything dies."

Oh, my God, Scully thought. Was it Sara who had discovered all those 
dead animals as well as the body of the latest murder victim.

"The angels are bad and the rain hurts people," Sara continued. "I want 
to go away from here."

Gary Wendall walked in just then and took Sara from Scully's arms. 
"Everything's going to be okay," he assured his daughter. "We don't 
have to stay here anymore, okay? We'll go stay with grandma, and then 
we'll move to the city."

Reassured that Sara would be all right, Scully headed out to the 
backyard. She passed the deputy on the way. "I've got a call from the 
Sheriff," he explained. She only watched him briefly as he headed back 
to his car, and then she followed the tracks to the forest. It took a 
few minutes before she found her destination, but the tracks were fresh. 
The trees were thicker here than closer to the house which was no longer 
anywhere in sight.

"Scully, look at this," Mulder said as his partner approached.

"Oh, my God," she gasped as she came upon the scene. A dead doe lay on 
her side in the snow, evidence indicating that she had just given birth.

"Broken neck," Mulder said as he ran his hand along the doe's spine.

"There's a cross drawn in the snow, just like in the murders," Scully 
observed. Strangely enough, there were no tracks leading up to or away 
from the animal carcass except for a few animal prints and the tracks 
left by Gary Wendall, Sara, the deputy and themselves. What had led 
Sara so far into the woods that she would have discovered this?

"Mulder, I think we had better find out more about Tara and Mary Trent," 
Scully said. "If we're going to find any evidence tying them to the 
murders, we're going to have to talk to them."

Mulder stood up from where he had been kneeling and began to wander 
around, inspecting the trees that surrounded the area.

"What are you looking for?"

"I'm not sure," Mulder replied. He walked around a large tree, and then 
noticed something above them.

"What is it?"

"Look at the sky, Scully. It's already getting dark."

"Maybe there's a storm coming." Scully wasn't totally convinced of her 
own speculation, but who knew how unpredictable winter weather was up 
here so close to the Great Lakes.

Mulder headed back to his partner's side when the sky suddenly ripped 
open. "What the hell!" It was freezing cold outside, but the 
precipitation that whipped past them wasn't snow or ice, but rain. 
Before either one of them could register another thought, there was a 
flash of light, and their worlds faded into blackness.

Back at the house, Sara let out a deafening scream.

*****

Annie's Bed and Breakfast
8:59 p.m.

Scully felt as if she would never feel warm again. She was chilled 
right to the bone. Briefly, she remembered the rain and the cold, and 
then she remembered where she had been.

"Mulder?" She sat up in her bed, and her head swam from the sudden 
movement. She felt hands pushing her back down against her pillows.

"I'm right here, Scully."

Scully blinked and then opened her eyes again, focusing on the figure 
that hovered above her. There was another person in the room, too, but 
the one she wanted to see was right in front of her. "Mulder, where am 
I?"

"We're back at Annie's. Deputy Waldon and Sheriff O'Neill found us 
behind Gary Wendall's house. If they hadn't come back when they did, we 
would have been turned into somebody's frozen dinner."

"I don't understand..."

"Neither do I, but I'm going to get to the bottom of this."

Another man stepped forward, a stethoscope hanging from his neck. 
"Doctor Cal Norton," he introduced himself. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm freezing," Scully answered, trying to stop her teeth from 
chattering. She was grateful for the warmth of Mulder's hand around her 
own, but she really wasn't feeling well.

"I don't know how you and Mr. Mulder ended up getting so wet out there 
in the middle of the forest, but you're lucky Jim and Marj found you 
before too long. Your body temperatures had already dipped 
significantly from the cold."

"Is there anything I can do?" Mulder asked as the doctor began repacking 
his medical bag.

"Don't let her leave her bed, and keep her warm. I'll be back to check 
on her in the morning."

Mulder watched as the doctor left, shutting the door behind him, and 
then turned his attention back to his partner. She saw the concern in 
his eyes and tried to reassure him. "Mulder, I'll be fine. We have an 
investigation..."

"You heard what the doctor said, Scully. You're not going anywhere."

She was about to protest when another chill ripped through her body. 
"What a time to get sick," was all she said.

"I'm going to go out to the Trent house," Mulder told her. "I think 
we're close, Scully. Annie said she'd come and check on you every 
couple of hours so I want you to rest, because I may need you to run 
another autopsy tomorrow."

Scully looked at her partner questioningly. "Mulder, I don't do 
animals," she started.

"Not the deer," he said. "Tara Trent. Her car was found at the bottom 
of a ravine, just a few miles from her house. She's dead."

Scully was speechless. Would Tara have killed herself? Had she been 
suicidal, or had it been a side effect of her rebellious lifestyle? 
"When?"

"That call that the deputy took while we were over at the Wendall place 
was from the sheriff. Tara was still alive when he got there, but she 
passed away minutes later."

"Was she conscious?"

"Sheriff O'Neill was only able to understand a few words before she lost 
consciousness. It seems her sister Mary is also one known as the 
Overseer."

*****

Jefferson County Jail, Watertown
9:45 p.m.

Mulder wanted to know the truth and not just bits and pieces of 
it. It seemed apparent now that Mary Trent was the leader of some 
strange cult which murdered women and took their children from them. He 
hadn't had time to obtain any information off the Internet, but there 
would be time for that later.

Surprisingly, Mary Trent did not look anything like her sister 
Tara. There wasn't an ounce of family resemblance except, perhaps, in 
the defiant attitude which presented itself in every gesture and look. 
Mary was a slight woman who probably could have passed more as Tara's 
mother or grandmother than her sister. She held herself with great 
poise, evidence of her ballet training.

"Ms. Trent, do you know why you're here?"

"I've been told, and I've been read my rights. I have nothing to 
hide," the woman replied, her neutral expression revealing nothing to 
Mulder. He would have expected her to be distraught at the death of her 
sister if she truly had nothing to hide.

"There have been several unresolved murders in Cape Vincent over 
the past few years," Mulder stated. "I need to ask you a few questions 
regarding your knowledge of the victims."

"Are you accusing me of anything, Agent Mulder?"

"Right now, I'm just looking for answers. Nicolette Bradford. 
How did you know her?"

"She was Tara's friend."

Mulder waited, but the woman did not elaborate. "Did you ever 
associate with Tara yourself?"

"She confided in me at times. She wasn't happy with her parents, 
and I offered the voice of adult reasoning."

"It seems she was led quite far off the path that her parents set 
for her."

"Niki was a teenager. Many teenagers rebel against their 
parents."

"Caroline Wendall."

"I am her daughter's ballet teacher."

"Did you ever socialize with Mrs. Wendall."

"At times."

Like pulling teeth, Mulder thought. It was obvious this woman was 
hiding something, but she wasn't going to co-operate by giving him 
anything he could work with. "Did you consider her a friend?"

"She was an acquaintance. When you live this far out in the 
country, you make friends with whomever you can."

"Did she every express any feelings of unhappiness to you."

Mary paused a moment as she thought about whether or not to answer 
the question. "She regretted never being able to have children. Sara 
was not of her womb."

Strange way to put it... One more name. "Angela Settles."

"She was a friend."

"How close?"

"She needed someone to talk to. Her husband was extremely 
abusive. She didn't know how to get away from him."

Nothing new there. Mulder was still curious about Mary's 
relationship with her sister though. "You appear to be quite a bit 
older than Tara," he said.

"She was adopted," Mary replied abruptly. "None of us has any 
real parents."

"Why did you kill her?"

Mary finally focused her gaze on Mulder. "You wouldn't 
understand, Mr. Mulder."

"Try me."

"I think not."

*****

Annie's Bed and Breakfast
Friday, February 20th - 7:12 a.m.

Mulder heard footfalls in Scully's room and knocked softly at the 
adjoining door. The door was unlocked, so when he didn't hear any 
answer, he opened it quietly and stuck his head in.

"Scully, what are you doing awake?" he asked as he opened the door all 
the way.

Scully was still dressed in her pyjamas, socks on her little feet and 
blanket wrapped all around her as she sat in front of her laptop. Her 
hair was a mess, and she was sweating with fever, but here she was, 
working as hard as ever.

"I wanted to see if I could track down more information on what we're 
dealing with," Scully said a bit sheepishly. She knew full well that 
she should have still been in bed, and she felt like crap, but she felt 
even worse when Mulder was doing all the work that she should have been 
helping with.

"Scully, get back in that bed. You're running a fever. I don't need 
you keeling over on me, okay?"

"Mulder..."

"I'm going downstairs to get you some soup, and I'd better find you in 
your bed by the time I get back." Mulder marched out of the room and 
she heard him go down the stairs towards the kitchen. Scully sighed. 
With one last click of the mouse, she resigned herself to her fate of 
lying uselessly in her bed when a beep alerted her to an email. It was 
from Frohike.

Frohike, you're an angel, she thought with a smile. He'd do anything 
for her, and she adored him for it, but he was most definitely not her 
type, and she wished sometimes that he'd stop his fawning. There were 
times when he proved himself invaluable now.

 Dana,

 Found what you're looking for. Check out the chat room at 
 www.Realm.com/oneblood. Some strange discussions there about the 
 Overseer and the First Born. It's password protected, but cracking
 the codes was a breeze: nvra10ne (nvra one zero ne), and then 
 msmDTsa4.

 Sorry to hear you're feeling under the weather. Wish I could be
 there to take care of you. Tell Mulder the guys and I said hi.

 Devotedly yours,
 Frohike


"Scully..." It was Mulder. He entered the room with a tray laden with 
a bowl of soup, orange juice, a sliced grapefruit and toast.

"Mulder, I'm never going to be able to eat all that."

"Get in bed," he ordered her.

"Okay, I'm going," she said as he propped her pillows up against the 
headboard so she could sit up and eat her breakfast. "Frohike and the 
guys wanted me to say hello for them."

Mulder laid the breakfast tray across Scully's lap and handed her the 
juice. "What did they have to say?"

"He mentioned a website that might help us out."

"Eat your breakfast," Mulder said with a smile as he turned to the lap 
top. "Since when did my sources become yours?" he asked over his 
shoulder.

"I think I've had Frohike wrapped around my little finger ever since you 
first introduced us," Scully said as she forced herself to eat some of 
her soup. She wasn't hungry, but she wanted to be able to finish this 
investigation with Mulder. At times she felt like she was burning up, 
and at times she was chilled to the bone, but she kept hoping the fever 
would pass. If she was lucky, she'd be fine before the end of the day.

"Anything interesting?" Scully asked after a while. She moved the tray 
aside, the food not even half eaten, and curled up under the sheets, 
keeping an eye on her partner's back.

"The Internet is a wondrous thing," Mulder replied. "It's amazing what 
kind of information is on here. I think we've got all the answers we 
need."

"Will it help us get a conviction?"

"Possibly. I searched the messages for any reference to newborns and 
babies, and it seems there was a meeting a couple of nights ago at 
Pocono Lake in Pennsylvania to initiate one of the First Born."

"What do they mean by 'First Born'?"

Mulder seemed deep in thought as he clicked through some of the menu 
options on the screen, and then he chuckled. "You're never going to 
believe this."

"What?"

"They have an FAQ about this whole cult! Amazing! It says here that 
every member of the Realm is one of the First Born. They are all 
children without mothers, and they are all the first child of these 
non-existent mothers."

"How does Caroline Wendall tie into all of this?"

Mulder turned around, his eyes sparkling at the discoveries he was 
making. "Caroline Wendall was unable to have children, so Sara was 
artificially conceived and born to a surrogate mother."

Scully wanted to sit up, to share in her partner's excitement, but she 
was quickly losing energy. "How did she get pregnant then?"

"I don't know. A fluke of nature? She must have been another victim of 
this cult's activities."

"Why haven't we ever heard of this cult before? Did the Arizona cases 
point to cult activity?"

"I'll have to get Frohike to infiltrate the group with a false i.d. and 
a floating i.p. address. I wouldn't want anyone to know that we're on 
to them."

"Find the missing children," Scully said.

Mulder opened his email and began to type a quick message to his friends 
at the Lone Gunman. "We'll find them, Scully."

When he failed to hear his partner's voice, Mulder turned to look back 
at her. Oh, God, she was burning up. "Scully?" Even a shake to the 
shoulder didn't wake her and Mulder knew something was wrong. He ran 
out the door and called to Annie, who was always doing things down in 
her kitchen.

"Annie!"

The woman came running up the stairs as quickly as her legs would carry 
her. "What's wrong?"

"It's my partner. We have to get her to a hospital."

END OF PART 5b


************************
FIRST BORN (6/6)
by Tanya Larissa Chang
************************

Mercy Hospital, Watertown
8:05 a.m.

Mulder hated leaving Scully's side when she was so ill, but he had been 
assured by Doctor Norton that she was going to be just fine. Taking her 
to the hospital for observation was just a precaution since the medical 
clinic in Cape Vincent would not have had the required equipment should 
anything go wrong. Scully had woken up briefly before Mulder had left 
the hospital and told him in true Scully style to get back to work and 
not to worry about her. She'd be just fine.

On the way out of the hospital, Mulder stopped by a pay phone and called 
Frohike. "How's that hotcake of a partner of yours?" was the first 
question on the other man's mind. Something to the same effect was 
always the first question he seemed to ask.

"Scully's in the hospital for observation, but she seems to be doing 
okay. What have you got for me?"

"A few names: Jake and Anabella Trent. I think you'll find that they've 
got a new-born baby in their possession, but I can't find any hospital 
records or legal adoption papers. These people of the Realm, as they 
call it, keep pretty much to themselves, and the lack of paperwork 
doesn't seem to have been a problem in the past. I'll do some more 
digging, but I think the illegitimacy of what's going on now may be a 
new thing to them."

"Any other names?"

"Priscilla and Parker Trent."

Mulder raised an eyebrow as the names were read to him. "Seems a 
popular last name," Mulder observed. "Where can I find them?"

"They're in Elmira, New York. Apparently they have a little girl named 
Krista who just turned two at the end of January. Coincidence? I don't 
think so."

"Thanks, Frohike."

"No problem. Give Dana a kiss for me."

Mulder rolled his eyes. "Right..."

*****

Pocono Lake, Pennsylvania
2:51 p.m.

Mulder checked the directions to the first Trent household and pulled 
into their driveway. He had made a few phone calls before completing 
his journey to the small lakeside village, and he only hoped he would 
find the Trents at home. He supposed he needn't had to have driven all 
this way, but he wanted to be sure that his instincts weren't playing 
him wrong.

There was no car in the driveway, but Mulder parked to one side of the 
snowy lane and walked up to the door. He removed his glove and pounded 
his fist on the door for lack of any apparent doorbell. When there was 
no reply, he pounded again. He began to think no one was home and 
scolded himself for driving four hours on the icy roads for nothing. 
*Think before you drive, Mulder.* He tried to peer into the windows, 
but was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. A young 
woman looked out at him, a baby in her arms. "May I help you?"

"Mrs. Trent?"

"Yes." She looked apprehensively at the well-dressed, if cold, man in 
front of her.

"I'm Special Agent Fox Mulder with the F.B.I. I'd like to ask you a few 
questions. May I come in?"

Anabella Trent hesitated and then stepped back from the door.

Mulder removed his boots in the front hallway and then followed Mrs. 
Trent into the living room. "Mrs. Trent, do you know a Mary Trent who 
lives in Cape Vincent?"

Another unusual pause before she replied. "Why, yes... She's my 
sister."

"Do you have a lot of sisters?"

"A few. Why?"

Mulder was more curious about other things, so he changed the subject, 
ignoring her question. "That's a beautiful baby. What's his name?"

"Isaac."

"He looks very young."

A pause. Interesting. "We just came home from the hospital a few days 
ago."

"Funny," Mulder said, circling the room. It seemed a nice enough house: 
a large fireplace, and large French doors out to the back porch. The 
Trents even had a grand piano in their abnormally large living room. It 
was a curious thing to own out here in the country. "There are no 
records indicating that you were ever at a hospital recently, Mrs. 
Trent, particularly for the birth of a child."

Mrs. Trent remained silent.

"Where did your child come from, Mrs. Trent?"

"He was adopted, but because he's so young, we had to go to see a 
doctor."

"Where are the adoption papers?"

She didn't answer.

"Mrs. Trent, did you know that a woman died so you could have this 
child?"

The woman stood and walked past him, careful not to make eye contact. 
"Mr. Mulder, I think you should be leaving."

Mulder was unrelenting. He knew this woman knew something she did not 
care to admit. "Did you know that your sister Mary killed another 
sister of yours?" Nothing had been proven yet, but Mulder was playing 
his hunches, hoping he wouldn't have to eat his words later on. Scully 
would have given him the dirtiest look for all his wild guesses, but she 
wasn't here to set him straight so he'd just have to resort to old 
methods.

Mrs. Trent stopped and looked up at the F.B.I. agent. "Which sister?"

"Tara."

"Oh, my God..."

Just then, the front door flew open and a man walked in. "Anabella?" 
It was Jake. He walked into the living room and stopped abruptly when he 
saw Mulder. His eyes quickly assessed the situation - Anabella's tears 
and her ghostly complexion - and he was immediately on the defensive. 
"What's happened here? Are you okay, sweetheart?"

His wife nodded. "This is Agent Mulder. He's with the F.B.I. He knows 
everything. I knew this would happen sooner or later." Mrs. Trent 
tried to fight back her tears as her eyes met her husbands. "It's all 
wrong. This isn't the way it's supposed to happen."

The three of them heard more cars pull into the driveway. Even if the 
Trents had wanted to run, there was nowhere to go.

"No one was supposed to die," Anabella Trent told Mulder. "That was 
never the way of our religion. At least not until Mary became the 
Overseer. No one ever questions the Overseer."

There was a brief knock at the open front door and then two police 
officers and another plain clothed woman entered the house. "Jake and 
Anabella Trent, you are both under arrest for kidnapping and for being 
accessories to murder." The couple was speechless, and tears rolled 
down Anabella's cheeks as the social worker took the baby from her arms.

In a way, Mulder regretted that this little boy had to be taken from 
these people. His impression of them was that they seemed to be good, 
caring people who had become involved in something they had no control 
over. Murder and kidnapping had not entered their minds when they took 
this baby into their home. They had probably been given the impression 
that the adoption of their child was perfectly legal. Now the boy would 
have to be returned to his father, an unruly drunk who didn't believe 
his dead wife's child was his own.

But it wasn't for Mulder to decide these things.

*****

Mercy Hospital, Watertown
9:12 p.m.

"Hey, thanks for remembering me," Scully said when she finally saw 
Mulder. "I've been climbing the walls here."

"How are you feeling?"

"Better."

Mulder put his hand under Scully's chin and made her look him in the 
eye. He knew when she wasn't being completely honest. One of her 
favourite lies was to say she was okay when she was really on the verge 
of tears. Of course, this wasn't quite as bad.

"I'm still not feeling a hundred percent," she admitted as her eyes met 
his. "But I'm not about to collapse on you again, okay?"

"Are you sure?"

Scully put her hand over her partner's, forcing him to let go of her 
chin. "I love it when you worry about me, Mulder, but I'm fine. 
Really. Let's wrap up this case together, okay?"

Mulder admitted to himself that he sometimes treated his partner as 
though she were something fragile. She was probably the strongest 
person he had ever met, though, but he knew he would never have treated 
any other partner in quite such a personal way. He wasn't sure if it 
was because she was a woman, although that was quite probably since he'd 
never dare be so physical with a male partner, offering hugs when Scully 
needed them, and staying by her bedside, holding her hand when she had 
no one else to be with her. It could also be that Scully was so close 
to his sister's age, and he felt a certainly brotherly need to protect 
her like he would have protected Samantha if he had been able to.

"Are we going, Mulder?"

Mulder took Scully's overnight bag from her. "I'm glad you're feeling 
better, Scully."

"I'm afraid of the damage you might do if I let you out on your own for 
too long," she teased.

"I'll have you know, Miss Scully, that I found Angela Settles' baby boy 
today."

Scully looked up at her partner in amazement. Just the day before, they 
really hadn't had much to go on as far as the missing children were 
concerned. "Mulder, how?"

"Your admirer at the Lone Gunman has been a busy puppy, tracking down 
members of the Trent clan for you. By the way, he wanted me to give you 
something."

"Oh?"

Mulder stopped in front of the passenger door of the rental car and bent 
down slightly, planting a gentle kiss on his partner's cheek. Scully 
blushed and Mulder shrugged a little.

"Let's get back to Annie's. We can finish this all up tomorrow and then 
head back home."

*****

Annie's Bed and Breakfast
Saturday, February 21st - 8:06 a.m.

Neither Scully nor Mulder ate breakfast on a regular basis, their lives 
being so rushed most of the time that coffee was all they could manage. 
This morning, though, they decided to make an exception, knowing that 
the New York State Police would be taking care of the Trents in Elmira, 
recovering Monique and Darryl Bradford's grandchild.

Mulder had already worked his way through half a dozen pancakes when 
Sheriff O'Neill walked into the dining room.

"Marj, good morning!" Scully said as she started on her second waffle. 
She wasn't very hungry, but she didn't want Mulder to feel he was eating 
alone. Not that she thought it would have really made any difference to 
him anyway. "Won't you join us?"

"Thanks, but no. I just dropped by to give y'all the good news: They 
found the Bradford baby, and these cult members are talkin' like there's 
no tomorrow."

"That seems a bit strange," Scully said as she put down her fork. 
Consideration or not, she couldn't eat another bite.

"It seems no one had ever been murdered for this Realm cult of theirs 
until Mary Trent came along to lead them. She has a history of 
psychological problems dating back to early childhood. Her real name is 
Mary Dickson. She was diagnosed as a psychopathic genius when she was 
thirteen, and then she went missing."

"How did she ever end up here?"

Marj shrugged. "Everyone has to end up somewhere. Anyway, I'll fax the 
complete reports when I have them."

"Thank you," Mulder said as he shook the sheriff's hand. He regretted 
that there would be no justice served in the deaths of the women of Cape 
Vincent, but at least the murders would stop.

When the sheriff had gone, Scully turned to her partner. "There are 
still so many unanswered question, Mulder."

"I know, Scully, but we came to solve a series of murders and we did 
that. We can speculate about all the impossibilities of the case until 
we're blue in the face, but I don't think we'll ever be able to explain 
it all."

"You're probably right." Scully reached across the table and gave her 
partner's hand a squeeze. "Let's go home, Mulder."

*****

As they loaded their bags into the rental car, Scully and Mulder were 
surprised to see Gary Wendall's truck pull up in front of the Bed and 
Breakfast.

"Sara wanted to say goodbye," Gary explained as he stepped out of the 
truck. Sara scooted over from the passenger seat and into her father's 
arms.

Scully approached the truck and opened her arms to give Sara a big hug. 
"Feeling better?" she asked.

The little girl nodded enthusiastically.

"Where will you be going now?" Mulder asked the girl's father. The back 
of the truck was packed to the hilt, and there was no question that Gary 
and Sara had decided to move on. "My mother lives in Cuyahoga Falls in 
Ohio. We'll be going there. I can find work there, and Sara will be 
able to attend a real ballet school and make friends."

"We may still need to ask you some questions."

Gary nodded. "The sheriff has a forwarding address. Sara and I will be 
around if you need us."

"Well, good luck, Mr. Wendall."

"Thank you."

Scully stood up and gave Sara's hand one last gentle squeeze. "Thanks 
for the dance lesson, Sara. I hope you keep up the ballet."

"I will."

The little girl climbed back into the truck and gave Scully a little 
wave goodbye.

"Mr. Wendall, I just need to know one more thing," Scully said as the 
man prepared to drive off.

"What's that?"

"Do you remember the name of the surrogate mother who carried Sara?"

It was probably something that Gary hadn't thought about in a long time, 
because the realization seemed to come by complete surprise. "Trent. 
It was Jessica Trent."

*****

Dana Scully's apartment
Washington, D.C.
Sunday, February 22nd - 6:35 p.m.

Scully had been mulling over whether or not to call Steve for at least 
the past two hours. He had been so considerate and patient with her 
when they had gone for dinner not quite a week ago, but was she really 
ready to put in the effort it would take to try and form some sort of 
relationship, even if it was only a friendship? It wouldn't be fair to 
Steve to lead him on and leave everything up to him. Should she call 
him anyway? Maybe she should call her mother and find out what she 
thought. She owed her mother a phone call anyway since she had been 
side tracked by her latest case.

She was halfway to the phone when the doorbell rang. Who could that be?

She stopped a moment to check her appearance in the mirror and then 
opened the door.

"Mulder? what are you doing here?"

Her partner smiled sheepishly and then revealed a bouquet of yellow 
roses from behind his back. "I know it's a day early, but I wanted to 
be the first one to wish you a happy birthday." Before she could 
register what was happening, Mulder bent down and kissed her on the 
cheek as he had the other night outside the hospital. This time the 
kiss was from him, though, and Scully felt her entire body warm at the 
thought. Mulder wasn't normally the sentimental kind to do things like 
that.

"Come on in," she said, slightly embarrassed, but maintaining her 
composure.

"I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time..."

"No. Unfortunately, I'm not very good at developing my social life."

"Well," Mulder said, a twinkle in his eye, "I think we'll have to do 
something about that, Scully. Do you have any nice evening wear?"

Scully looked at her partner suspiciously. "Yes... why?"

"Trust me, Scully. We don't have a lot of time. Just get dressed and 
I'll explain later."

Scully decided she'd humour Mulder. She chose an elegant yet simple 
floor-length velvet gown with a slit up the side, and she pulled her 
hair back into a French twist. Not too much makeup, some long gold 
earrings, and her gold cross were all the accessories she needed. She 
was curious to know what Mulder had in mind, and she didn't want to keep 
him waiting.

When she emerged from her room, Mulder let out a soft whistle.

"What?" she laughed, gauging her partner's reaction.

"I don't think I've ever seen you in formal wear before," he answered.

Scully let Mulder's eyes wander over her as she retrieved her best coat 
from the closet. "So... Fox," she teased, "where are you taking me?"

As she stepped out into the hall, Mulder slipped his arm around her 
waist, guiding her to the exit before she could change her mind. "My 
dearest Dana, tonight I am treating you to a night at the ballet."

Scully raised an eyebrow and looked up at Mulder in complete shock. Her 
gaze fell to the bow tie around his neck and she smiled. *My God*, she 
thought. *He's wearing a tuxedo*. "The ballet?" she asked. "I would 
have thought you'd prefer a ballgame."

"Not this year," he smiled back.

"Well then, Fox," she said, emphasizing his name, "it seems the 
surprises never end."

"Just one thing," Mulder said as they reached the car.

"Anything," Scully replied.

The look in Mulder's eyes was pitiful, and she knew exactly what his 
request would be but she wanted to hear it from his lips. "Could you 
please stop calling me Fox?"

Scully laughed. This was going to be the best evening she'd had in a 
long time.

THE END