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Title: When You Wish Upon a Star A clear night. A sky full of stars. On any other occasion, this would have been beautiful. Or perfect. But, Scully reflected, this *wasn't* any other occasion. This was the here and now. They'd driven too far into the middle of nowhere (and probably in the wrong direction too, but what the hell) and had seen no accommodation for miles. Frustration and apathy won out and they'd decided to sleep in the car. Mulder was reading and Scully was studying the sky through the windshield. They'd been on the road a fortnight, and had already changed their car five times to avoid detection. Glancing with distaste at the brown upholstery, Scully sighed and murmured to herself. Come back FBI carpool. All is forgiven. "Did you say something?" Mulder looked up from his book. "No," she shook her head, and continued squinting out of the windshield. "Scully?" "Mm?" "What, em, are you looking for?" To Mulder, Scully had never seemed to be one for 'looking for lights in the sky'. Slowly, she brought her eyes round to meet his. "Er... no. You'll think it's silly." "I doubt it." "Silly for *me* I mean." She drew in breath, and let it out slowly. Still he stared, and she knew he wasn't going to let it go. "Okay. I'm looking for a star." For what he was about to say next, Mulder was extremely careful to keep any sarcasm out of his voice. "Just any star, or one in particular?" "One in particular," she answered, and paused before going on. "I'm looking for Emily's Star." A second or two later, she broke eye contact, and returned her gaze to the heavens. "Emily's Star?" "That's right." She sounded almost defiant. He made no comment, so she carried on. "The night that Emily died, I stood outside the hospital in San Diego, and looked up at the sky. One star was shining more brightly than the others. On several occasions since when I've needed her, I've looked up and her star's been there..." She tailed off, and then he saw her smile. "Look," she whispered, pointing. Turning his head in the direction of her finger, he did just that. Sure enough, one star seemed to shine more brightly than all the others. "She knows it's tough right now," explained Scully. "That's her way of telling me that's she's with me through all this." Mulder nodded, silently. Even though he wasn't sure he agreed, he wanted to. And anyway. For someone who'd been having visions of his dead friends and enemies for weeks now, he didn't feel that it was right for him to pass comment. A moment or two later, Scully heard him begin to hum a tune. One she knew well. Hearing it again, now, assaulted her very being. "Mulder." "Mm?" "Please don't hum that song." "Why?" "Just don't!" she snapped, then looked at him. He saw the tears form in her eyes. "I'm sorry. Erm.. it was on a cd that I used to play for William. I used to sing it, he used to babble and clap his hands..." A tear finally broke away and rolled down her cheek. "Mulder....." "I know, Scully. I know." He took her hand and they gazed out through the windshield together. Scully heard the song echo in her brain now. She couldn't make it stop. When you wish upon a star Taking a chance, Scully did just that... and made a wish on Emily's Star. Sweetie, bring him back to us. Or help us find him. He's your little brother and he's beautiful. Help us have William back with us... Shortly afterwards, they adjusted their seats and lay back in one another's arms. Sex wasn't wanted tonight; just holding and touching each other like this was enough. After making an early start the next day, they pulled into a roadside diner around 11am. "We'll take a couple of hours," Mulder said. "Clean up and get something to eat." "Yeah, so long as this place is cleaner than the last one," offered Scully. "I told you, I could swear I saw a cockroach hiding under the table." "I promise," he began, "if it doesn't come highly recommended by the local health department, we won't stay." He hadn't intended his tone to be sarcastic and she knew it, so she just rolled her eyes and they got out of the car. Squinting in the sunlight, Scully thought she knew the figure standing beside the car at the far side of the parking lot. "Mulder.....?" He turned at her bidding, and looked in the direction she was pointing. The person was just standing there. He seemed to be waiting. Briskly, they walked over to him. The man they thought they'd never see again... Assistant Director Walter Skinner. "You're looking pretty good for a dead man," Mulder quipped, when they were within hearing distance. "I could say the same about you," countered Skinner. "Dana, how are you holding up?" "Not bad... Sir, the papers had you down as dead..." she replied, confused. Skinner grinned. "Yeah, so did the Bureau. Don't worry about all that. I'm fine. But, I've got very little time, so you've got to listen to me. Something happened... William-" "Oh my God.." Scully's hand flew to her mouth, Mulder flung his arm around her shoulder. They braced themselves for the worst. "No, *listen* to me!" exclaimed Skinner. "He wasn't settling with his new family. The authorities seemed to think that he'd made too firm a bond with you, Dana, for that to happen. So, I took a chance..." With that, he opened the car door, and they all heard a wail. "Oh my God!" exclaimed Scully once more. "William?!" At the car door in an instant, she poked her head inside to be met with the face of her adorable son. Her hand shot out and cradled his head. "Oh William, Oh Sweetie.." she breathed, through her sobs. On seeing her, he stopped crying and started yabbling, reaching for her. Quickly, she undid the restraints of the car seat and had him in her arms milliseconds later. "It's okay sweet baby, I've got you, I've got you..." Skinner had just finished explaining to Mulder how William was theirs again and forever now. How the adoption orders had been quashed. Mulder didn't question one iota of it, and wouldn't have done anyway. Their son was back in Scully's arms, and woe betide anyone who tried to change that now. He just enfolded Scully and their son in *his* arms when she appeared from within the car. "H-hello William," he stammered, when at last he could see his boy's face. "I've missed you so much, son..." Then, he kissed his baby and the woman who made the circle complete. His wife in his heart and soul, if not in law. Looking over to Skinner, when he could think again, he asked: "How on earth did you know where to find us?" "Believe me, Mulder. You don't want to know. And I'm not gonna tell ya. Just know that I haven't put you all in any more danger. Now- we're wasting time. I've got things here you're gonna need - the car seat, diapers, clothes, food, etc. Help me load them into your car. Then, I'm gone." Reluctant to leave his family group, but knowing he had to comply, Mulder broke away and started unloading stuff from the trunk of Skinner's car. Scully was still sobbing. Breathing in, she couldn't get enough of how wonderful her baby smelled - all baby milk and baby soap. Just as she remembered. "I'm so sorry you had to go away, Sweetie," she was telling him. "I'll explain it to you one day, I promise. But you're *ours* now. Ours for keeps... no-one's ever gonna take you away now.. you'll never be away from us again, I promise.." All this with kisses in between each sentence. Before they knew what was happening, all the stuff had been transferred, and Skinner was ready to go. "What now, Sir?" asked Scully. "For you, I mean." "I'm not sure, but I'll be fine," he assured her. "Don't worry about me." "I've got a feeling we won't see you again," commented Mulder. "Yeah," agreed Skinner. "I get that feeling too. This just seemed to be the last good thing I could do. Had to do it. Hell, I *wanted* to do it. You just make sure that the three of you are safe." "I could never thank you enough," began Scully. "That you've done this. We could never-" "No need," he told her. "Look, I'll never forget you two. Sure, there were times I could have cheerfully throttled either one of you -" Mulder grinned at this. "but that doesn't matter. Never mind how all this started - you're about the best friends I have ever had and two of the most wonderful people I have ever known. Thank *you*." Mulder nodded, then the three of them engaged in a group hug. Skinner leaned over and kissed William's head, then half-smiled at Mulder and Scully. Within the next thirty seconds, he and his car were gone. Mulder looked from William in Scully's arms to the stuff which now took up most of their back seat in stunned amazement. "Scully, let's go. We have to change this car. It's too small." "I know, Mulder. I know," she smiled. It was going to be tough before, she knew that. Even more so now with a baby in tow... but they'd make it. They wouldn't have it any other way now. She gasped then as William suddenly bobbed his head forward and gave her a wet, sloppy, warm and wonderful kiss, right in the middle of her cheek. Eyes sparkling, and still wet, she turned to look at him. "I know, William. I've missed you too, baby boy. Welcome home." Because home was wherever his Mommy and Daddy were. Later on that evening, they had booked into a motel. Mulder was sitting on the bed with William, who was trying to teach his father how to handclap in time to the cd copy of 'When You Wish Upon a Star'. Scully had brought it in the small box she'd packed with some of William's things. How her heart had somersaulted when she'd given him back his blue lamb. He'd hugged it tightly, as if to say 'hello lamb. Missed you too.' Beaming, Scully turned from watching her family play (her new favorite pastime) to look out of the window. At the sky. At Emily's Star. Thank you, Sweetie. Thank you so much for making us complete again.. And again, the song drifted through her ears and echoed around her brain. This time, though, she never wanted it to stop... 'When you wish upon a star Turning away from the window finally, Scully decided that, at that moment, the star filled night was beautiful. *And* perfect. The end Author's Note: I can't help it. After watching 'William' again, then 'The Truth' *again*, I just wanted to give them a bit of a happier ending. This was an idea that came to me, based on inspiration gained after reading the wonderful 'Baby's Tears' by Starrlyte. Hell, it made *me* cry, and after re-reading a poem about Emily that I wrote after the Christmas Carol/Emily Arc aired, I was determined to redress the balance. The poem, 'Emily (Star In Heaven)' is included after the main story. Author's Note2: I highly recommend you go read 'Baby's Tears' at Gossamer. It's so wonderfully sad, it'll yank at your heartstrings. As stated at the beginning, this is the poem I wrote after the Christmas Carol/Emily Arc aired. It's from Scully's pov. Emily (Star In Heaven)
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