Title: There Are Giants In The Sky
Author: Mully Sculder

Summary: An updated version of "Jack and the Beanstalk" set in an
alternative "X-Files" 2002 with Scully and Mulder investigating a
family with a very unusual history.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Dana Scully or Fox Mulder
they are creation and property of Chris Carter and 1013 Productions.
I also do not own the story of "Jack and the Beanstalk" or the
characters mentioned within. No copyright infringement intended.

**

Fairland ,Indiana February 2, 2002 3:30 a.m.-

William Perrault was sure that he was about to embark on a great
adventure. He looked out the window at the enormous beanstalk growing
next to his house and could hardly believe his eyes. It seemed to go
clear up to heaven and beyond. He quietly opened the door to his
bedroom, listening to see if anyone was awake in the house. He didn’t
hear anything so he proceeded to leave his bedroom, closing the door
behind him. He took one step and then another, it seemed to take
forever for him to walk down the hall and out the back door. He
quietly closed the door behind him, and looked at the beanstalk
growing in his yard next to his home. It did go clear up to heaven.
He looked around to make sure that no one was looking and then
proceeded to begin climbing. He began smiling as he climbed higher
and higher already imagining what adventures were waiting for him.

Fairland ,Indiana February 2, 2002 7:30 a.m.-

Cindy Perrault woke the next day, and began calling for her son
William. When he didn’t respond after a few minutes she went into his
bedroom to wake him up. She went into his room, but couldn’t find
him. She thought that maybe he had actually woken by himself and
began his chores without being told. She went into the kitchen and
noticed that there was something wrong with the lighting in there.
The daylight seemed dimmer somehow. Fearful that there was a tornado
or other storm coming, she went outside to find her son. As she
walked into the yard she could hardly believe her eyes, an enormous
beanstalk was growing next to her home! She began frantically calling
her son’s name, looking everywhere for him, but was unable to find
him anywhere. It was then that she went into the house and dialed
911.

Washington, DC February 8, 2002 8:30 a.m.- 

Dana Scully made her way down to what had become her home the past
ten years, the basement office of the FBI building partially
wondering if her partner would actually remember her birthday this
year. If he didn’t it wouldn’t really surprise her, but she wouldn’t
mind being pleasantly surprised for once. She was also very curious
as to why he had called her and asked her to come into the office a
little earlier than usual. She opened the door and saw him immersed
in some file, taking notes as he was reading she paused for a minute
before she made her way into the office. Stopping at the doorway,
knowing that this would probably be the last bit of peace she got for
a few days. She continued making her way into the office and as she
closed the door behind her, Mulder looked up from whatever it was he
was reading.

“Good morning, Scully, happy birthday.” Mulder said to a very
surprised Agent Scully.

“Good morning, Mulder and thank you.”

Mulder smiled at Scully as he made his way up from behind the desk,
walked over to her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Hold on,
I have something special for you.”  He then walked to the back of the
office and brought out something in a bakery box, along with two
Grande Lattes from The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, he put everything
down on his desk, then began opening the bakery box, placing two
candles on top, lit them then began singing “Happy Birthday” to
Scully as he walked over to her. Scully looked down at the UFO shaped
cake in the box and smiled before she blew out the candles.  “Here’s
a little something Scully. I think we may be able to have more of a
celebration in Indiana but I wanted to do something to acknowledge
your day just in case.”

“Thank you Mulder, but Indiana?” Scully asked.

Mulder disappeared once again into the back of the office to gather
plates, napkins, forks and a cake cutter. He said nothing at first,
just busied himself with cutting a piece of cake for himself and
Scully, handing her her coffee and then her cake. “Yeah, Indiana.
There’s this case that I think is right up our alley. The local PD is
mystified and have called in reinforcements, specifically
reinforcements that are used to dealing with strange and mysterious
phenomenon. William Perrault, age ten, disappeared from his home six
days ago, no trace of any foul play or nefarious acts. The only
“clue” was a huge beanstalk growing next to his home.”
	
Scully interrupts him, “wait, did you say beanstalk as in ‘Jack and
the Beanstalk’?”
	
Mulder gives Scully a slight smile before continuing, “Yes, a
beanstalk but his name is William not Jack.”
	
“Mulder, this sounds like someone’s idea of a joke. A missing child,
a beanstalk, next you’re going to tell me that there was a goose who
laid a golden egg.”
	
“I would have to agree with you Scully if I hadn’t checked out the
family’s history. Her great-great grandmother claims to have met her
husband at a ball, then while running back home lost a shoe and which
her husband found and searched all over Provence in hope of finding
her. Her great grandmother claims to have been on her way to said
great-great grandmother’s house and when she got there a wolf ate
her. A few days later a huntsman came along, cut open the wolf and
both great grandmother and great-great grandmother escaped unharmed.”
	
Scully raises her right eyebrow at the last sentence, “Mulder is the
family history also wrought with those suffering from some sort of
psychosis; schizophrenia, hallucinations, delusions of grandeur? All
of the above?”
	
“I know how it sounds Scully, like they just walked out of a Charles
Perrault story but I think that there’s something more to this story
and our best bet at finding out any sort of truth is in Indiana.”
	
“OK Mulder but if there is a talking, singing harp you’re on your
own.”
	
Fairland, Indiana February 8, 2002 1:30 p.m.
Cindy Perrault’s residence-

As Mulder and Scully made their way from the car to the front door
they both tried not to look at the huge beanstalk growing next to the
house. Scully was a bit more successful in her attempt than Mulder.
Mulder looked up at the beanstalk like in awe as he tried to gauge
exactly how high the beanstalk went up. Visions of castles in the
sky, a nice giant’s wife, and a scary giant filled his head as he
passed the beanstalk a few steps behind Scully. When Scully got to
the door and realized her partner was not right behind her she paused
and turned around watching him as an expression filled with a
childlike sense of wonder transformed his face as he made his way up
to the door. Scully smiled at her partner as she turned back and rang
the doorbell.
	
Cindy Perrault answered the door and both Scully and Mulder noticed
how haggard and drawn she appeared as she stood there between the
door and the doorframe. They gave each other a quick glance before
pulling out their IDs. “Mrs. Perrault, I’m agent Mulder and this is
my partner agent Scully from the FBI. We spoke on the phone.”
	
“Yes, agent Mulder, agent Scully won’t you come in?” Cindy Perrault
opened the door wider for them to pass through.
	
Scully made her way into the house, with Mulder slightly behind her
he placed his hand on the small of her back as they made their way
into the house. To reassure her as well as himself that they were
doing the right thing in coming here. They made their way into a
spartan, but clean and bright living room.
	
“Could I get you anything? Water, ice tea, pop?” Cindy Perrault asked
her guests as she indicated for them to sit down.
	
“No thank you, ma’am, we’re fine.” Mulder answered for both of them.
	
Cindy took a seat in the chair opposite the agents who were sitting
next to each other on the couch.
	
“Now, Mrs. Perrault, your son, William disappeared six days ago and
there’s been no trace of him since, is that correct?” Scully asked
her in a quiet, firm voice.
	
“Yes. I went to bed last Friday evening, the first and when I woke up
on the second I couldn’t find William anywhere. I checked the barn,
all the animal pens, everywhere I could think of but I couldn’t find
him. We’re sort of isolated out here, so I’m used to waking up when I
hear a car or strange noise but I didn’t hear anything of the sort
that evening.”
	
“What about your husband? Could he have taken your son?” Mulder
asked, knowing from the file that the Perrault’s were estranged and
in the middle of divorce proceedings.
	
“No, Charles didn’t have anything to do with this. I’m sure of it.
He’s at his family’s home in France and has been since the
twenty-third of December. There’s no way he would have flown back and
done something like this. We may have had our problems but he loves
William and would never do anything to hurt him. He was cleared by
your local field office, wasn’t he? It should have been in the
report.”
	
“Yes ma’am he was but sometimes it’s better to get a response from a
person, instead of just words on a piece of paper.” Mulder smiled at
her as he said the last part, earning a small smile from Cindy
Perrault in return. “Now, ma’am I couldn’t help but notice the
enormous beanstalk growing next to your house. Is it possible William
climbed the beanstalk and went somewhere else?” Mulder asked in all
possible sincerity.
	
Cindy Perrault looked at Mulder in surprise as well as relief.
“That’s what I’ve thought for days, Mr. Mulder but no one seems to
believe me. They all think I did something to him or that his father
is hiding him or someone,” she pauses catching her breathe before
continuing, “someone took him.” She finishes, her voice barely above
a whisper.
	
“Ma’am we’re here to help you in any way possible, with no
preconceived notions or judgment. We want to help you get your son
back, no matter which path that we have to take for that to happen.
So, if it means looking at extreme possibilities including the fact
that he might have climbed the beanstalk next to your house we’ll
look there. ” Scully smiled a reassuring smile at Cindy Perrault
before continuing, “Did the local PD even entertain the idea that he
might have climbed the beanstalk? Did they send any sort of search
team up the beanstalk to find your son?”
	
Cindy Perrault gave a bitter laugh before answering Scully, “no, they
did not, they’re convinced that the beanstalk had nothing to do with
my son’s disappearance, especially given my colorful family history.”
	
“Yes, I was reading a bit about it before we flew out here. Your
family has quite an interesting past.” Mulder said in a friendly
tone. “I have to ask you, is all of it true?”
	
“I never thought it was. I mean I just thought great-great grandpapa
was a bit of a shoe fetishist or something and great-great grandmama
just happened to lose her shoe at a most opportune moment for both of
them. As for great grandmama I never believed the wolf, hunter story
but then I happened upon some old photographs one day and I saw great
grandmama dressed in what looked like a coat made out of wolf skin,
standing next to a huge, huge man. I looked at the back of the
picture and the inscription on it said the man was  ‘Le Chasseur’
‘The Huntsman’. Then, of course there is the whole connection of my
family to the author Charles Perrault in Provence.”
	
Mulder and Scully look at her quizzically encouraging her to
continue.
	
“You didn’t read about that in your report?” Both Mulder and Scully
shake their heads in the negative. “Well, apparently Monsieur
Perrault visited our family home frequently in Provence where he
would listen to great-great and great grandmama’s stories in
amazement. It wasn’t until later that they found out that he was
secretly writing down those stories.”
	
“Isn’t your husband’s name Charles Perrault?” Scully asks.
	
“Yes, ironic isn’t it? I met my husband when I was doing some
research on our family’s genealogy in France. I didn’t know about his
ancestors’ connection to our family until he told me of it. It seemed
so fantastical at first, but the more research we did the more truth
we discovered. Granted great-great grandmama didn’t have a fairy
godmother or even an evil stepsister, but she did marry a prince and
he did search all over Provence to find her.  I don’t know if it was
my family’s move to America or what, but the past three generations
have been a bit less of a fairy tale. Not a single extreme or
fantastical occurrence at all until now.”
	
“Mrs. Perrault we’d like your permission to begin our search by
climbing the beanstalk, if that’s alright with you.” Mulder said as
Scully looked on in silence, the only thing betraying her
apprehension over the idea was a slight widening of her eyes, which
Mulder acknowledged with a slight nod of his head.
	
Cynthia Perrault didn’t hide her emotions as well as Scully; she
looked at Mulder with a look full of gratitude and hope. “Yes, that
would be fine. Thank you so much Agent Mulder, thanking you for
believing me.”
	
Mulder said nothing, just gave her a reassuring smile as he rose from
the couch, Scully stood up a second after him. “First though, Mrs.
Perrault we have to go back to the hotel to change into more
appropriate attire.” Scully said as they made they’re way to the
front door.
	
“Of course, thank you again.” 
	
Mulder and Scully exited the house, Scully walked slightly ahead of
Mulder and waited for him at the car. Mulder could see the tension
and anger in Scully and wasn’t quite sure how to diffuse it. The
minute they got into the car she began expressing her displeasure
over Mulder’s plan “Mulder, we can’t climb the beanstalk. It doesn’t
make any sense, chances are his father or a stranger took him, we
can’t be so irresponsible to William or to Mrs. Perrault.”
	
“Scully I don’t think we’re being irresponsible. He just might be up
there, open yourself up to extreme possibilities especially with this
family.” Mulder smiled at her as he started the car. Scully said
nothing, just looked out the window at the vast, barren landscape as
they made their way back to the hotel to change.
	
On the way back to the Perrault’s home Scully found herself checking
and rechecking the climbing ropes and harnesses Mulder had brought
with them. She wanted to make sure everything was safe and secure
before they began their assent. Mulder watched her out of the corner
of his eye, knowing that this was Scully’s way of controlling an
uncontrollable situation. She could always refuse to go with him, but
he knew she wouldn’t do that. They were partners, they had each
other’s backs no matter how strange or out there the situation was.
When they got to the Perrault home they went up to the door and told
Mrs. Perrault that they were about to embark on their journey. They
gave her ADA Skinner’s contact information and told her to call him
if for some reason they didn’t return within twenty-four hours. They
had both decided that a day was more than enough time to climb the
beanstalk and have a look at whatever awaited them.
	
As they went over to the beanstalk and looked up they discovered that
there was simply no place for them to throw the ropes up that would
be strong enough to hook onto. They were afraid that if they damaged
the beanstalk it would compromise its integrity, thus weakening it
and putting both of them in danger. They decided to climb only hooked
on to each other. Mulder began climbing first. Scully watched as he
made his way up the first three junctures, he smiled down at her in
what he hoped was an encouraging manner. Scully began climbing up
after him. Half way up the stalk she made the mistake of looking down
and realizing just how far off the ground they were. Now Scully had
no fear of heights, but being this far up off the ground on a
beanstalk did frighten her a bit more than she was willing to admit.
Then continued to climb and as they did so Scully was half convinced
that the beanstalk would simply end somewhere in the middle of the
atmosphere with no magical component to it, boy was she wrong!
	
Mulder finished their assent and took a moment to take in his
surroundings. He could hardly believe it, he was half sure he was
suffering from some sort of altitude sickness that was making him
hallucinate. He sat down on the floor as he waited for his partner to
finish her climb. As Scully approached her partner she could hardly
believe what she was looking at. It seemed to be some sort of
structure, for lack of a better word, some sort of castle at the top
of the beanstalk. “Mulder, it’s... it’s...” Scully was literally at a
loss for words.
	
“Thank goodness Scully, I thought I was the only one who saw it. I
know it’s incredible isn’t it?” Mulder was smiling the biggest grin
Scully had ever seen cross his face.  Scully continued taking in
their surroundings not quite trusting herself to speak. The structure
reminded her of a cross between Buckingham Palace and The Capitol
with its vast rotunda type foyer. Suddenly they found the ground
shaking, Mulder said nothing, just put his hand around Scully’s waist
as he escorted her to what he hoped to be a safe location behind an
enormous wardrobe. Suddenly they heard a deep resounding voice, whose
sound waves seem to bounce all around them “Fee, fi, fo, fum I smell
the blood of a foreign man. Be he alive or be he dead, I’ll grind his
bones to make my bread.”
	
They watched from behind the wardrobe as what can only accurately be
described as a giant passed through the foyer and into another room.
They held their breath as he passed and hoped he was out of earshot
as they began whispering to each other frantically.
	
“Mulder, what was that?” 
	
“What do you think it was Scully? The new starting forward for the
Knicks? It was a giant, we’re in his castle and he wants to turn us
into bread.”
	
“What’s this we business Mulder? Seems like he only mentioned
grinding your bones into bread. Now, if that was the giant shouldn’t
the giant’s wife be around someplace? Isn’t she suppose to be the
nicer one in the story?”
	
“Agent Scully do I detect slightly less skepticism as well as a bit
of sexism?”
	
“No, no sexism, just remembering what I read of the story. The
giant’s wife helped Jack, maybe she’s helping William and maybe
she’ll help us. C’mon I think he’s gone.”
	
Scully peaked out first, and not seeing any more giants or anyone
else for that matter motioned for Mulder to join her. They began
walking gingerly through the castle awed and amazed by the size of
the place as well as the size of all the furniture around them.
Suddenly they heard a voice behind a door and they both stopped
walking and began looking for someplace to hide. Scully pressed her
back against the wall near the hinge of a giant door and indicated
for Mulder to do the same, right after he did so the door opened and
they heard loud footsteps as they made their way down the hallway.
Mulder and Scully waited until they could no longer hear the
footsteps and made their way into the room that had just been
vacated. After entering the room they saw William Perrault standing
in the middle of the room as happy as could be.
	
“William?” Scully asked in a soothing voice.
	
William looked at Scully and then Mulder with a look of fear and
apprehension. Mulder read the look on William’s face and began
reassuring him “It’s ok William we were called by your mother, she’s
very worried about you.”
	
“You know my mom?” William asked. 
	
“Yes, this is Agent Mulder and I’m Agent Scully, we came to find
you.” Scully said, smiling at him.
	
“What if I don’t want to be found? What if I want to stay here?”
William asked.
	
“C’mon William, I know it seems fun here, even adventuresome maybe,
but your mother is very, very worried about you. You have to go
home.” Mulder said to the boy, looking at Scully for backup.
	
“Agent Mulder is right, William, your mother is worried about you,
you have to go home.” Scully said to him in what she hoped was a
firm, but non-threatening voice.
	
Suddenly the two felt someone walking behind them, they turned and
saw the tallest woman they had ever seen in their lives. Mulder’s
head barely cleared her knee and it looked as if Scully only came up
to somewhere mid calf. The giant’s wife smiled at William and William
smiled back, then she took in Mulder and Scully and her greeting of
them was a little less warm. “Who are you?” she asked in a menacing
voice.
	
Mulder paused before answering, “We mean no harm, ma’am we came only
for the boy, nothing else.” Mulder saw Scully reach for her weapon at
the small of her back as Mulder was speaking, lowering her weapon to
her right side, just in case.
	
“Only for the boy?! ONLY?!” the giant’s wife’s voice boomed around
them, causing both Mulder, Scully and William to cover their ears
with their hands.
	
As the giant’s wife began approaching Mulder and Scully with an angry
look on her face, William stepped between the three of them, “it’s
alright ma’am my mother sent them, she’s very worried about me. I
should go home.” Scully let out a breath she didn’t realize she was
holding and looked at Mulder in relief.
	
The giant’s wife smiled at William “are you sure that’s what you want
William?” she asked.
	
“No, ma’am it’s not what I want, but it’s what I should do.” William
said as he smiled back at her, his eyes filled with tears.    	
	
“OK, I’ll get you safe passage to the beanstalk but that’s all I can
do, William I’m sorry but I can’t help you beyond there.”
	
“It’s alright ma’am I understand.”
	
The giant’s wife left the room and made her way into the hallway,
looking around her before motioning to the three to join her. As
Mulder and Scully made their way to where she was, they placed
William between the two of them. The giant’s wife continued down the
hallway and suddenly froze as she made her way around a corner. 
	
“What are you doing, wife?” Mulder, William and Scully heard the
giant say from their place in the hallway.	
	
“Nothing, husband, just going to the pantry for some provisions for
supper.” The giant’s wife answered, easily.
	
The giant grunted at his wife and continued on his way. The three
waited until they heard his footsteps fade completely before they
continued on their way down the hallway. They began running in a slow
jog as they got closer and closer to the beanstalk.
	
William hugged the giant’s wife around her ankle in gratitude. She
picked him up and gave him a small kiss on the top of his head before
placing him back on the ground. “Take care William. Be safe.”
	
“Thank you ma’am.” William replied. 
	
“Thank you for your help, we really appreciate it, ma’am.” Mulder
said as he sent Scully then William scrambling down the beanstalk
ahead of him. Mulder looked behind him and saw the giant running down
the hall towards the beanstalk “Scully climb! Keep going Scully he’s
coming!” Scully began going as fast as she could safely with William
climbing right behind her. William shifted to the other side of the
beanstalk and began climbing faster than Scully could possibly
imagine. Scully sped up in order to allow Mulder to go faster and to
stay safe from the giant. William reached the ground before Mulder or
Scully into the waiting arms of his mother. She hugged him tightly to
her, “William! I missed you so much!” she said as she hugged him.
	
“I missed you too, mom, but right now the giant’s coming and we need
to get an ax and cut down the beanstalk!” William ran into the barn
as Scully and Mulder finished their decent. William came up to them
and handed Mulder the ax. “Please hurry, Mr.Mulder!” Mulder began
chopping at the base of the beanstalk as fast as he could as Scully pulled
out her weapon yet again and kept it trained on the beanstalk,
waiting for the inevitable sight of the giant. They waited, Mulder
chopped and then nothing happened, the giant didn’t follow them.
Mulder continued chopping and then he began feeling the beanstalk
shift underneath the ax, he pushed at it and it fell with a
resounding thud onto the field of the Perrault’s farm. Just the
beanstalk, no giant, no giant’s wife, no goose that laid the golden
egg, not even a talking, singing harp just the beanstalk. Mulder let
out a laugh as Scully looked at him in amazement, already wondering
how she was going to write up this field report. There was one thing
she didn’t wonder about, however, for  she knew that William and his
mother were going to live happily ever after.

The End