Title: The Pick-up Game With Mr. Hale
Author: Crayz4xfiles
Spoilers: None... but you should probably be aware of the events
of "William" and "The Truth" (and know that Mulder's pseudonym
is George Hale, which is from the episode "Little Green Men".
Rating: Even the kids can read this one mom and dad- G.
Feedback: Received with open arms.
Disclaimer: Nope, I don't sign my paychecks "Chris Carter"(and
if I did I would probably be smiling much bigger than when I
sign my own)
Summary: William Van De Kamp plays a friendly game of basketball
with a stranger... or is he? "Dum dum dum" dramatic music 
ensues...
Thanks to Sam at Haven for being a bud and making me 
look like I know what I'm doing!!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Will spins past the defense, turns under the net, shoots, and...
Scores!!!" William Van De Kamp throws his arms up in self-praise
to his adoring, invisible crowd. The ball hits the court and
bounces once before Will deftly snatches it from the air with
ease. He dribbles back to the foul line and sets up for a shot.
Carefully, he judges the distance from the line to the net,
shrugs and takes a few steps back further making the shot longer
and more difficult. He glances around the fenced-in court at the
three other occupied baskets, making sure no one is watching him
play. Will knows he's a good basketball player but not yet good
enough at ten-years-old to trade his biased pretend crowd for an
unbiased real crowd.

Comfortable with everyone on the courts ignorance to his game,
Will prepares for the shot with a deep breath. He bounces the
ball once before sending the ball sailing towards the net. He
watches it sink just above the net and pass through the nylon
with a satisfying swish. Will smiles and wipes the sweat from his
brow with the bottom of his Knicks jersey. The ball settles and
rolls quickly down the side of the court opposite Will's.
Noticing this, Will dashes after it and stops suddenly when the
ball stops quickly under the foot of the court's occupant.

"Nice shot." The gravelly voiced man says, bending to pick up the
ball.

Will looks up from the ball to the man's face and smiles shyly.
"Thanks." Will says thoughtfully and flips his wet, golden-brown 
hair out of his eyes. Will takes a second to size the stranger up
as he looks back up from the man's feet to his face. The man has 
brown hair speckled with a distinguished gray. He has tanned skin
and is wearing a white undershirt and dark blue tear-away pants
that button up the sides. He has on a pair of basketball shoes,
and Will notices that though in good condition, they are an 
older model shoe. The man flips the ball the short distance
between he and Will and Will smiles appreciatively as he catches
it.

"You been practicing that shot long?" the man asks squinting his
eyes from the setting sun.

Will hesitates then looks towards the net as though it is a
dragon to be slain. "Since I was about four." Will says with a 
shy chuckle. The man nods admiring the boy's dedication. Will,
always an outgoing boy, lets the man in a little more. "You any 
good?" Will asks also squinting from the orange sunset.

The man chuckles at the boy's forwardness. "I was pretty good in
my day. But you mean for an old man right?" he asks playfully.

Will, stepping up to the challenge nods his head. "Yeah, for an
old man," he says easily spinning the ball on his fingertips.

The man nods again and glances around at the other courts. "Care
to find out?" he asks.

Will suddenly seems apprehensive. "You... you mean you wanna play 
me?" he asks.

The man chuckles. "Ooh, what's the matter? You're not afraid of
the old man are you?" he asks good-naturedly.

Will smiles. "No, just afraid of breaking the old man's hip." He
says smiling.

The man releases a full-fledged laugh. "All right, let's see what
you've got Sonny." He says moving to the back of Will's court.
Oh, by the way," the man says moving closer to Will and leaning
forward. "You see that woman over there on the bench?" he asks
and Will looks around the man to see the petite, attractive
redheaded woman sitting on the bench outside the court. She is
wearing sunglasses and sitting rigidly on the bench.

"Uh-huh." Will says returning his attention to the man.

"Well, that's my wife so try not to embarrass me." He says
quietly.

"Sure." Will says shrugging his shoulders as if he's giving the
man a break. He checks the ball roughly at the man and it bounces
quickly at his feet and almost hits the man in the face. The man
returns the check just as roughly and it bounces over Will's
head. Will lets out a chuckle realizing the man has just made a
point to Will about who is in fact the adult. Will trots after
the ball in the direction of the man's wife. It bounces out the
door and stops at the woman's feet. Will hurries after it and the
woman hesitantly picks up the ball. Will smiles at her and she
smiles sadly back. He still can't see her eyes behind the dark
shades but he is almost uncomfortably certain that she is
scrutinizing his face.

She slowly hands Will the ball. He shifts his gaze back to her
husband. "Thanks, and don't worry, I'll go easy on him." Will
says and smiles brightly at her. She chuckles and thanks him. Her
voice breaks but she tries to cover it by coughing. William goes
back onto the court and throws the ball to the man, who is
looking sympathetically at his wife. Will assumes it is none of
his business. "Your ball Mr..."

Will looks to the man for an answer. The man finally looks back
to Will. "Ummmm... Hale." The man says and Will passes him the
ball.

Remembering his manners, Will returns the introduction. "My name
is Will." He says casually and the man looks kindly at Will.

"It's nice to meet you Will." He says checking the ball to Will
who puts it into play. The two play a vigorous game for over an
hour and finally, it is too dark to play any longer.

Mr. Hale takes the ball to the net one final time and cheers
proudly when it gently sinks into the net. "Oh and the old man
wins!" He says raising his arms to his own imaginary crowd. Will
smiles as he stands with his hands on his knees.

"Not bad." Will says smiling.

Mr. Hale smiles as well. "And since you're such a good sport 
about LOSING, I'll buy you an ice cream. He says nodding towards
the small snack shack outside the fence where small lines of 
people stand in line. William smiles. The two head out the door
of the fence where Mr. Hale's wife joins up with them.

"Throw in a bag of sunflower seeds and we'll say no hard 
feelings." Will says smiling at Mr. Hale who shares a nostalgic
moment with his wife over the top of the boy's head.

"Sure." Mr Hale says taking out his wallet. They stand in line 
and Will takes an ice cream cone and a small bag of seeds from
the cashier. He thanks Mr. Hale who palms his own bag of seeds
and they all head to a picnic table and sit down.

They are sitting only a moment when Will turns to the honk of a
familiar sounding car horn. "Oh, that's my mom." Will says waving 
to the station wagon that has pulled up in the parking lot. "I
gotta go." He says disappointed.

Mr. Hale pats the boy on the head. "No, go ahead, you played a
good game tonight... son." He says looking proudly at Will.

His wife has since taken off her sunglasses and she smiles warmly
at Will. It was very nice to meet you Will." She says and her
eyes are glassy like she might cry.

"You too." He says standing from the table and slipping the seeds
into his pocket. "Bye." He says shaking Mr. Hale's hand. Mr. 
Hale shakes his hand gently before releasing it. Once again Will
trots off. He hops in the passenger seat and throws his
basketball in the back.

"Sorry mom." Will says noting his mother's worried attentiveness
to the couple at the table. "That was the Hale's. I played
basketball with Mr. Hale tonight. They were just saying
good-bye." Will says cautiously watching his mother's hands
tightly gripping the wheel and her face turning paler.

She watches the man who has her son's eyes and build as he
comforts the woman who covers her face when she cries the same
way her son does when he cries and finally she nods. "Yes, I
think they were." She says before putting the car in drive and 
heading home to her husband and their farm.

The End