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Western Blaze Trilogy
Title: Western Blaze
Author: Jade (CmdrJade@aol.com)
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Takes place after "The Truth"
Archive: You can take this anywhere, just let me know first :)
Disclaimer: Since CC and the gang can't take proper care of them, I officially give the responsibility of ownership to the fans.
Summary: A large break in the monotonous life of Mulder and Scully, now continuously on the go.
Feedback: All kinds are appreciated!
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By all accounts and according to every record, they were dead. In actuality, they roamed the western United States, changing hotels and using cash for everything. Skinner had emptied their bank account during Mulder's trial and they now carried it in the duffel bags that also held their clothes, toothbrushes, deodorants, and other various things.
Sometimes they walked. Sometimes they drove, careful to switch cars occasionally.
Everything was so hard now, Scully thought to herself as she waited for Mulder to come out of the grocery store. Without being able to contact their few friends or family, without the Lone Gunmen's help to fake documents, without William.
She just wanted to stop this damn car and live a normal life. That's all she ever really wanted since the moment it became apparent she would spend the rest of her life with Mulder.
Yet the thrill of adventure kept calling.
“ Here ya go,” Mulder said, hopping into the car and breaking into her thoughts. He dumped the toothpaste and new deodorant stick in her lap. “ And something special,” he added, grinning at her. He brought an ice cream cone from behind his back and handed it to her. She smiled and took it.
“ Thanks, Mulder,” she answered.
“ I figured we'd just keep going northeast from here. We'll stop somewhere around midnight,” he said, starting the car up and backing out. Scully nodded.
Hours passed and the sun sank into the horizon, casting a glow over the snow capped mountains. Soon the scenery plunged into darkness and the car into silence, leaving its occupants to their own thoughts.
Scully's turned toward William. Almost a year had passed since she had given him up. He was almost two years old. She had missed so much of her son. She was going to miss so much more.
As tears threatened to fall from her eyes, Mulder slowed the car and leaned forward slightly.
“ What is it?” she asked, trying to regain composure and keep the panic from her voice.
“ I'm not sure...” he said, stepping on the gas and going faster than he had been. “ I think there's a fire up the road.”
He flew down the dirt road until he came to a mailbox and a long, winding gravel driveway that disappeared into thick woods. The sky was orange and this seemed to be the location of the fire. Mulder turned down the driveway and pushed the car to its maximum speed.
“ Damn, they live way out here,” Mulder commented. Suddenly they burst into a clearing and saw a great fire that had nearly consumed a house and was trying to spread to the woods. Mulder slammed on the brakes and leapt out of the car, Scully close behind him. They ran towards the house, but the heat from the blazing inferno stopped them from getting too close.
“ Hello?” Scully shouted, all the time wondering if this stop was a good idea.
“ It's too late,” Mulder answered, pointing. Two bodies lay in the doorway, charred almost beyond recognition. “ Let's get out of here.”
They were walking back to their car when a cry pierced the air. It was coming from an old pickup truck a few yards in front of their car. They glanced at each other.
“ You go back to the car. I'll check it out,” Mulder said, jogging in the direction of the pickup. Scully nodded.
Mulder reached the truck and glanced in the driver's window. A child, strapped in a car seat, sat inside crying.
Mulder opened the car door and climbed inside. He unstrapped the child from its seat and picked it up. Bringing it out of the car, he turned it towards the light of the fire. A little boy, with his pacifier around his neck. Mulder put it back in his mouth and the child quieted. He turned the boy back towards him.
And almost dropped him in realization.
Stunned, he turned and grabbed the carseat, jogging back to Scully. He opened the back door first, throwing the seat in recklessly. He then got into the driver's seat and handed the boy to Scully, trying to be as casual as when he handed her a new toothbrush.
“ Mulder, we can't...” she began as the boy turned to her and grabbed her hair. Her mouth dropped open.
Eyes filling with tears, she hugged him to her tightly. She began to sob and Mulder pulled the car around and left the fire behind. Scully murmured William's name, stroking his dark brown hair that Mulder thought was a little too long.
“ Mulder, how?” Scully asked, finally turning to him.
He turned and smiled at her, tears shining in his own eyes.
“ Never give up on a miracle.” **********************************************
The End
Title: Western Blaze II: Aftermath
Author: Jade (CmdrJade@aol.com)
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Takes place after The Truth, and is, obviously, a sequel. You will need to read the first part to understand.
Archive: You can take this anywhere, just let me know first :)
Disclaimer: Not mine. Not making any money off of it.
Summary: Mulder and Scully discuss the events of the night.
Feedback: All kinds are appreciated!
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The car was silent for the two hours Mulder looked for a hotel. His mind was racing, but nothing that came into it was coherent. He couldn't string two thoughts together.
Finally, he saw an exit with a hotel. As he pulled into the parking lot, he glanced over at Scully. William was asleep in her lap, but she was wide awake.
“ I'll go check in,” Mulder said, reaching behind him for a duffel bag. He pulled it out and slung it over his shoulder. “ I'll be right back.”
Minutes later, Mulder appeared with the key. Grabbing the other bag, he opened Scully's door and helped her unbuckle. She climbed out, careful not to jostle William too much.
Mulder unlocked their door and threw the bags on the floor. Scully gently put William on the bed and sat down next to him. Mulder grabbed a chair and sat down, resting his head in his hands and running his fingers through his hair.
“ Scully--” he began.
“ I know what you're going to say, Mulder,” she cut him off.
Mulder raised his head and looked at her. She avoided his stare and watched William sleep.
“ Oh, really? Scully, *I* don't even know what to say,” he said.
“ Mulder,” she hesitated. “ Do you think that fire was an accident? Just an unfortunate accident?” She looked up at him now, waiting fearfully for his answer.
He sighed deeply and bowed his head. He wanted more than anything to say yes, to chalk it up to a tragic accident. But she deserved more than that.
“ No,” he answered simply, coming up to meet her gaze again. “ The people looking for William would stop at nothing to get to him. Even something as cruel, heartless, and--and *inhumane* as this. They killed two completely innocent people for him.” He felt his throat constrict as the devastation of the situation hit him. Completely innocent.
“ And I thought I was protecting him,” Scully muttered to herself, stroking William's arm. “ Mulder,” she began again. “ Why were we there tonight? Just coincidence?”
Mulder sat back in his chair. “ Maybe...maybe it was a bizarre act, or will, or whatever, of God. Maybe...he knew those people were going to die, so we were there to save Will.” Scully didn't answer and looked back at the sleeping boy. “ Or maybe it was just fate.”
“ We're all fated to be together?”
“ Something like that.”
Neither spoke for a long time. Mulder had begun to doze off, when Scully broke the silence.
“ I was overjoyed to find him. But is it wrong to feel happy when the only reason we have him back is because others died?”
Mulder opened his eyes. Scully was watching him intently, waiting for his answer. She had complete trust in his answer.
“ That's a loaded question to ask a guy when he's falling asleep,” he said, giving her a half-smile. She gave him a small smile back, but said nothing. Mulder sighed.
“ Scully, I can't answer that. I feel the same way.” She nodded and stretched out on the bed. Mulder leaned back farther in his chair.
“ We'll figure everything out in the morning.”
*******
Early the next morning, they packed everything back up and checked out of the hotel. Mulder situated the carseat in the back and strapped in a quiet William.
“ Sorry, buddy, I don't have anything for you to play with. Or do. Or anything,” Mulder said. He placed a kiss on top of William's head. “ We'll stop later and get you something.”
Mulder ducked out of the back, shut the door, and took his place as driver. He backed out of the parking lot, glancing over at Scully, who sat quietly staring out the window. As he began driving, he placed his hand over hers, intertwining their fingers. She looked over and smiled at him and he smiled back.
“ Mulder, this is no life for a child,” she said.
“ I know,” he answered. “ But we'll manage.”
***************************** The End!
Title: Western Blaze III: William
Author: Jade (CmdrJade@aol.com)
Rating: PG
Spoilers: This is the third installment of a series. You'll need to have read the first two.
Archive: You can take this anywhere, just let me know first :)
Disclaimer: Not mine. Not making any money off of it.
Summary: William looks back at his life.
Feedback: All kinds are appreciated!
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Careful to close the back door quietly, I set out across my backyard. I stop halfway and pick a few roses out of my mother's garden.
Soon I reach the two white stones that indicate the graves of people I never knew. Kneeling down, I put the roses against the stones and begin to pray for them. It's my fault they're dead. They're my parents.
Sort of.
I never met them. They're my other set of parents.
I was always told I was a special child by my parents, my “ other” other set of parents. My birth parents. A miracle baby. I just thought my parents were trying to make me feel loved.
But then I was told the story of how I was born from a mother who was never supposed to give birth. They meant a *real* miracle.
Then my dad started getting into alien abductions and super soldiers and about how that year was the worst year they'd ever had. I was their only hope that year.
But somehow, things got more complicated. My dad had been gone for almost the entire year after my birth and my mom felt she couldn't protect me from those who were out to get me. Apparently, for a while, I wasn't a normal boy.
I never pretended to understand it, the whole conspiracy. Frankly, I don't know if my parents completely understood it themselves.
But, my mother felt she had no choice. She put me up for adoption. For my own safety. I don't resent it. I know it was hard for her.
As fate would have it, my parents were put back together, but not without sacrifices.
The people they had been fighting against thought they were dead. So they upheld that belief and went into hiding, giving up everything they had, except each other. Soon afterwards, they found me, outside of a burning house. My adoptive parents were dead. My birth parents took me and raised me.
We remained on the run for a long time. For most of my childhood I lived out of cars and hotels. My parents schooled me during the day and worked during the night, when they thought I was asleep.
It was something top secret. My dad knew a date. A date on which the fate of the world depended. Aliens were a frequent topic. He thought they could save the world.
Personally, I always thought my dad was kinda off.
But the day came when my parent's work paid off. They saved the world, saved human kind from extinction. And didn't get any credit. But that never bothered them.
Early the next year, we all settled down into a house in Denver. That school year I entered into the sixth grade and was finally allowed to call myself William Mulder. My parents finally started using their real names with everyone.
Friends from their FBI days started to visit and suddenly I had a grandmother and uncles and cousins. We took vacations and looked through old photo albums. My parents told stories from their childhood and I had a family history. We played games and had Christmas parties. I became a Cleveland Indians fan, from Uncle Charlie's influence, and argued with Dad all the time about baseball.
I played in the high school marching band and was captain of the basketball team. I picked a college and a tentative major with help from my parents, which resulted in a discussion of the X-Files and how they first met and how it all led up to that moment.
I had a normal life with a happy family.
I sit here now, my last weeks here before I move, and cry for my other parents. The parents I never knew, never saw, and never had any pictures of. The other set that loved me just as much, but for a shorter amount of time. The set that died because they adopted me.
I don't know how long I sit here, crying for them, feeling guilty. I feel a hand on my back and I look up. Dad kneels down next to me and squeezes my shoulder.
“ C'mon, Will. Let's go have breakfast.”
We stand up together and Dad puts an arm around my shoulder. “ No use in feeling guilty, Will. You'll see them one day. We all will.”
I smile up at him. It's strange how he always knows what goes on in my head. “ Y'know, Dad...that's kinda spooky.”
He grins at that and seems at a loss for words. “ Well...yeah.”
As he trails off into a story of the FBI and his alleged spookiness, I send up another prayer for my other parents. They're in good hands.
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The End
Thanks for everyone who's supported these stories! This is the last of them, though. It was fun :) Kid William
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