I Have Known A Boy Named Fox, and A Man Named Mulder 1/2 TITLE: I Have Known A Boy Named Fox, and A Man Named Mulder AUTHOR: Penny Daza EMAIL ADDRESS: xfile@skyinet.net DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT: Anywhere, knock yourself out. Just keep my name on it. :-) SPOILER WARNING: Various mentions from season 1 to 5. RATING: R for language and adult situations CLASSIFICATION: S, A SUMMARY: Mulder becomes Fox. It's a journey that he and Scully could not have ever prepared for. DISCLAIMER: All characters are property of his royal highness, Chris Carter and the Fox Network. And to David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson who gave Mulder and Scully their hearts and souls. AUTHOR'S NOTES: Thanks to Eric, otherwise known as Fetch for being the best dang EMT there is. Some of you may recognize the title as the sequel to my short piece entitled "Sleeptalking". This work is in no way related to that short two-parter, but a few days after I released it, got myself mulling over the title and this is what I ended up churning out. Week 1 3, 4, 5. ------------- Monday She watched as the little boy played with the toys she'd bought at Toys 'R Us. His little hands worked frantically, putting together the Lego blocks, and his brows were knitted together in rapt concentration. Scully had dressed him in little denim shorts, a red and orange striped tee shirt, and little Nike rubber shoes after a relatively uneventful bath coming from the store. He'd blown bubbles in the tub, but was surprisingly well behaved, choosing to pretend the bath sponge was a dinosaur and Scully's hands were cavemen deserving to be chased and eaten. She had thought he'd put up a fuss when she told him it was time to get out, but he had looked at his fingers and held them up and said, "Yup. I'm already wrinkly." For now, the little boy was much too engrossed with building a city with the blocks in front of him to notice Scully's silent observation. In a while, he would get hungry, and no doubt ask for pizza or burgers, to which she would of course relent. He had woken up bright and early at 6 AM, rolled over to her side of the bed and nudged her arm with his chin. When she had slowly opened her eyes and given him a warm smile and "Good morning," he grinned and said "Good morning, too, Dana," and asked for pancakes. Before she could even swing her legs to the side of the bed, he scampered over her and pinned her down and tried to tickle her and she had tickled him back, and playfully bit into his chubby arms to which he squealed in absolute delight. He surrendered and put his hands over his head and whispered, "I surrender" and when she relented, he puckered up his lips and made her kiss him soundly on the lips, trapping her face between his tiny hands to give him several more. "Come on then, you rascal!" she laughed, hauling him out of bed and into her arms. "Let's go see what we can do about those pancakes." He played with her hair while she walked them to the kitchen, then tucked his face into the crook of her neck and put up a token fight when she put him down. He drowned his pancakes in syrup, made a mess of his face, and stole her strawberries when she stood up to fetch him a tissue. Scully gave him a stern look as he shuffled his feet and twisted his hands behind him, not being able to quite meet her eyes. She shook her head, deciding he was contrite enough and squatted to his level, taking him in her arms. "What am I going to do with you, Fox Mulder?" ---------------------- 4 Days Earlier Mulder was having the quintessential bad day. He'd woken up with a pounding headache, which was in no way relieved after having swallowed half a bottle of aspirin. To make matters worse, his paranoia was acting up something fierce again, the feeling that someone was watching him in his own apartment growing stronger with every breath he took. He'd pulled his weapon out, checked the rooms, vents and closets and found no one and nothing out of the ordinary, but he still couldn't shake the feeling. Driving to the Bureau, he kept checking his rear-view mirror, and took several unnecessary turns to shake off any phantom tails. A feat, considering every turn seemed to make his stomach do flip-flops. Scully had given him a look when he walked in 20 minutes late, but turned from pissed to concerned after seeing the pallor of his face. "Mulder? You okay?" she asked, standing up and walking over to him. He sat down, buried his head in his hands and looked up at her. "Ever get the feeling you're being watched, Scully?" She sat on the edge of his desk and peered at him. "Only since I started working with you, Mulder," she quipped. Her humor faltered however, when his pupils caught her medical eye's attention. A skilled hand reached out to check them. "But paranoia wouldn't dilate your pupils that much, Mulder. What's wrong?" He groaned and let her continue examine him. "I don't know, but I woke up with a pounding headache today. And yes, I already took some aspirin - half a bottle - didn't do any good." Scully felt his forehead. "You're not running a fever. How did you sleep last night?" "Same old same old," he replied. Standing up, she walked over to one of their file cabinets and pulled out a small flashlight. "Any nausea, Mulder? Dizzy spells, black-outs?" "Yeah, dizzy on my .. way … " he stopped cold and swayed, and suddenly collapsed to the floor. Scully jumped, barely making it in time to catch him before his head hit the ground. Frantically, she reached for the phone and dialed 911. "This is Special Agent Dana Scully. I need an ambulance RIGHT NOW at the J. Edgar Hoover Building!" The ride to the hospital seemed to last an eternity. Mulder had been loaded into the ambulance, Scully running along side the stretcher, making sure the EMTs did everything they were supposed to and more. Once they got there, it took Skinner about 10 minutes to follow, but 45 minutes to find out what the hell was going on. He was finally led into a waiting room, and informed that Agent Scully was waiting for him, and would be called to alert her of his presence. Five minutes later, Scully walked in, and judging from the pained and worried expression on her face, Skinner knew the news would not be good. "What happened to Agent Mulder?" he asked her. Scully crossed her arms over her chest. "He keeled over and blacked out at the office, sir. After complaining about some dizziness and paranoia. The doctors haven't found any physical injuries, but the blood work is on the way." Skinner nodded. "Do you think it has anything to do with the case you're working on?" "I highly doubt it, sir. It's just some grunt work the VCS is asking Mulder and myself to help out with." Skinner was just about to offer her a cup of coffee when a nurse burst into the waiting room, her hands waving frantically in the air. "Dr. Scully!! You must come immediately!!" The sheer panic in her voice sent Skinner and Scully running down the corridor where the nurse lead the way, and into Mulder's room. He was writhing in bed, but still unconscious, his entire body wet with perspiration but he looked different, somehow. She and Skinner did a quick double take. Mulder looked younger. A LOT younger. Three doctors stood helplessly on the sidelines, watching instead the phenomenon unfolding before them. Scully yelled at them, "What the HELL is happening to him?!" A doctor moved forward to calm her, but she would have none of it. Forcefully, she pushed him aside and rushed to Mulder's bedside. Her hands cupped his face, and to her amazement, the wrinkles around his eyes vanished, his skin softened, and dear god.. she felt the bones beneath her fingers constrict and dwindle in size. "Oh god, Mulder!" With horrified eyes, Scully cast her gaze down and saw Mulder's torso following suit. His chest shrunk, his arms shortened, and body hair disappeared altogether. In 7 minutes and 34 seconds, a three-year-old little boy opened his eyes and sat up. "Mom?" The room went silent. "This," Skinner managed to choke out. "Must be the mother of all X-Files." Scully and Skinner were speaking in hushed tones. Mulder, and that's who he really was, said the blood tests, was asleep in bed after a crying fit full of wails and screams that exhausted him. Scully, after recovering from the intense shock, sat in bed beside him and gathered him close, rubbing his back gently till the fit subsided. Mulder had bucked and resisted forcefully, wailing for his mother, and it took every ounce of strength and endurance on Scully's part to quiet him down. The suit he'd been wearing was stripped off, his instantly shrinking anatomy practically swimming in it. One of the nurses had been kind enough to run off to a nearby mall to purchase briefs, shorts and a tee shirt for him on her coffee break. "I'm trying my best to come to terms with what I just saw," muttered Skinner. Scully could only manage a nod of agreement. Mulder's blood tests had come shortly after he fell asleep, and Scully had quickly reviewed them. "High levels of dehydroepiandrosterone, superoxide dismutase and aminoguanidine." "I won't even try to pronounce that again, Agent Scully. Do you know what they are?" "Controversial anti-aging chemicals, sir. But all three have more or less been declared by the medical field to be bogus and incapable of halting aging, much less reverse it altogether at such an amazing speed." "More or less? So there's room for doubt." asked Skinner. Scully perused the files again. "Another substance was found in his blood stream." She licked her lips and frowned. "Of course, it's unidentifiable." Skinner sighed in exasperation. "If whatever's in his bloodstream is responsible for… THIS," he said. "What prevented it from going any further?" "I have no idea, sir. " They heard a stir as Mulder woke up. He sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes, confused at the unfamiliar surroundings. "Where's my mom?" he asked, his voice shaking. Scully sat beside him and brushed away the tear that had just dropped down his cheek. "Fox? I want you to calm down and listen to me, okay? My name is Dana, and I'm here to take care of you." "Where's mom?" he asked again, this time with his lower lip quivering. "Shhh. It's okay, Fox. Your mom and dad, they went away for awhile and asked me to take care of you." "Where are they and how come I'm in the hospital?" Scully thought fast. "They're at Quonochontaug. They couldn't take you with them because you were too sick to travel. That's why you're here." "I'm sick again?" he asked. "No," Scully assured him. "You're fine now. No more fever. How are you feeling?" "Okay, I guess. You're my new babysitter?" The question startled Scully. What had she gotten herself into? "Yes, she is," gruffly replied Skinner. He walked over to Mulder and ruffled his hair. "My name's Walter Skinner, F-F-Fox," he stammered. "Dana will be taking care of you for awhile, just till your parents are back from their business at Quonochontaug, okay?" For a minute there, it looked like Fox would start crying all over again, and Scully and Skinner waited with bated breath for his reaction. He stuck a thumb into his mouth and lay back down, closing his eyes and yawning around the digit. Scully and Skinner sighed with relief. Scully made arrangements with a private medical facility that she forwarded Mulder's blood tests to. She would send them a blood sample every other day, and they would fax her back the results. The pattern was agreed on after a rather lengthy discussion with Fox who apparently, was not afraid of needles or blood, but appeared to detest sitting still for more than 1 minute. He was quiet in the car going to her apartment, clutching at a little teddy bear that Scully had brought over for him, and his nose was pressed against the window for most of the ride. She was certain he wanted to ask questions but was still a little shy, by the way his eyes darted from his window to hers to the back of the car. It seemed as though everything that surrounded him was awesome to his young eyes. Back to Present Day -------------- Tuesday For one reason or another, Margaret Scully treated Mulder like her own grandchild. When Scully had called her up and told her "Mom, I need your help. Mulder's become a child again," Margaret responded by saying "All men are childish, darling." Then Scully said, "No mom, Mulder's become a kid. He's three years old again." "Your father could become a two-year old at the drop of a pin, honey." "Mom! Something happened to Mulder physically and he's now a child of three years old. He's become an X-File!" So Margaret rushed right over to see it with her own two eyes. When she knocked on her daughter's door, the authenticity of what Dana had said began to sink in. She could hear a distinctive child's voice, and her daughter responding with a murmur followed by "Fox." When she entered the apartment, she saw a little boy dressed in blue jeans and a forest-green shirt scamper behind Dana's legs, clutching at her pants when Margaret walked in. "Fox, this is my mother, Margaret. Say hi," she encouraged. Fox peered from his hiding place to look up at Margaret. "'Ello." Margaret's eyes lit up when she saw him. She held her hand out and smiled at him warmly, gently pulling him from behind Dana's legs. "Hello, Fox. I'm glad to meet you." Margaret, the epitome of a good mother, came prepared. She remembered Dana mentioning that Fox was an avid sports fan, and after a short rummage through her purse, produced a brand-new baseball to the awestruck youngster. Fox looked at Dana a moment, then at Margaret, then back to Dana. She smiled and nudged him forward, letting him know he could take it. He took a few hesitant steps forward and held his hand out, and Margaret squatted to his level and asked for a kiss in return. He smacked her soundly on the lips, the art of humoring adults with his pecks already mastered because of Dana. For good measure, he threw his arms around her neck and hugged her tight too. "Oof!," Margaret said dramatically. "What a strong boy you are! Those arms are really for pitching this ball around, huh?" He nodded vigorously and took it, scampering off before Scully could even yell, "Not in the house, Fox!!" Coming to a full stop he turned, gave her a look that could melt stone and shuffled his feet. Scully sighed. She knew it was a losing battle. "Pitch it into the bed but be careful, deal?" He grinned and nodded then went off to her bedroom, where mother and daughter heard little 'whumps'. "He looks just like Fox," wondered Margaret. "He IS Mulder, mom." "I know, honey… but it's still so hard to take in all at once. Even if I see the remarkable resemblance - it's amazing, really. To see Fox like this." She glanced at her daughter and added, "You haven't been calling him Mulder, have you dear?" A small laugh escaped from her lips. "Of course not, mom. But I know what you mean. It was worse for me, imagine when I had to come to terms with Mulder sleeping beside me in my bed and Mulder needing me to help him with his bath." "He's adorable, isn't he?" Scully smiled. "Yes. Nothing like the holy terror I know from work." "How have both of you been holding up?" "We're doing fine, so far. He looked for his mother and father but didn't cry when I told him they were on vacation and left him to me." Margaret looked at her daughter. "I guess he was used to being left alone," Dana sadly observed. "Mom, I need to get him some new things, he outgrows his clothes in two days' time. Could you watch over him for about an hour, or would you rather come along and all three of us go together? " Fox came skipping out of the bedroom, clutching his prized new-toy in his tiny hands and jumped into Dana's lap. "It's cool!" he declared, holding the ball up to her face. Margaret looked at the boy. Already, she was madly in love with him. "I'm in the mood for spoiling someone," she grinned. She extended her hand to Fox, who took it unhesitatingly. "And when I say spoiling someone, I mean YOU, sweety!" she laughed. Scully, Margaret and Fox headed for the mall. While Dana busied herself buying him a few new clothes - shirts, pants, shorts, underwear, sneakers -, Margaret and Fox headed for the toy department. Keeping in mind that he was growing an average of 3 years per week, she was having a hard time deciding what to get him. A toy that he wouldn't lose interest in for at least 2 weeks, she was hoping. The baseball she'd given him was a good idea, but after that, nothing else came to mind. She thought of buying him a board game, but surmised he would grow tired of it after several days. Trivial Pursuit, perhaps? He wouldn't be able to play it for several more weeks. A baseball bat to go with the ball? Hmm.. and a glove. Margaret neared the aisle, with Fox obediently following her, his eyes darting all over the place. A loud noise from the corner of the store caught her attention. She took Fox's hand to go investigate, and saw a group of boys from ages 5 to 17, huddled around a large TV screen. Two of the boys had game pads in their hands, their shoulders wildly tossing in the air as they fought with each other via the computer images being generated on the monitor. Other little monitors were beside it, and on them games for the younger group were being displayed. Margaret walked over to the clerk. "Excuse me, what is that contraption those boys are playing with?" she asked. The clerk brought out a unit from the shelf beneath him. "It's a Sony Playstation, ma'am. It plays video games." Margaret looked at the thing, then at Fox. "Have you got any games for his age? Something he won't tire of in two weeks because he's agi - … something for his older brothers?" Batches of boxes were produced. "These are all the games available for this. You'll find a good variety for all age groups. Kids in pre-school to college boys and even working professionals come here all the time to buy games." She looked them over and passed a box to Fox. He stared at it inquisitively, then shook it. "What's inside?" he asked. The clerk answered. "It's a CD-ROM. That's what goes into the Playstation." "Okay," Margaret smiled. "We'll take a unit, and give me five of your most popular games." When Dana saw her mother 45 minutes later with a huge plastic bag, and Fox busily licking at a three-story high ice cream cone, the word 'spoiling' seemed to be a gross understatement. Margaret smiled sheepishly at her daughter. "We got a little carried away." Dana smirked and ruffled Fox's hair. "What'd you get?" "Sumpin' cawwed a Pwaystation," he murmured, his mouth too full of ice cream to answer understandably. "And gramma bought me lotsa games too." "Gramma?" asked Scully. "Well I couldn't let him call me Margaret, could I dear? And he has a hard time saying Scully," she answered defensively. Scully gave her mother a look. Margaret looked away. Fox looked up at the two of them and tugged on Scully's sleeve, excited about his new toy. "Can we go home?" Margaret was no help whatsoever setting up the Playstation. Scully just managed to understand the operating instructions, and in the nick of time too. Fox had finished his plate of spaghetti and was getting restless. He plopped himself in front of the TV and let Scully load a game in, then show him more or less how to use the controls. Like all children, he quickly adapted to the computer game and immersed himself in it, oblivious to the rest of the world momentarily. Margaret and Dana started on dinner, the perfect time for Margaret to give Dana a few do's and don'ts about child rearing. DO always say, "I love you". DON'T make him feel like a burden. DO be tactile. DON'T tell him to stop being a baby. DO give in to the occasional spoil. And DON'T call him Mulder. For dinner, they ate grilled pork chops and stuffed baked apples. Afterwards, Margaret and Dana shared Fox (half of him lay across Dana, the other half lay across Margaret) as they watched TV together, but he favored laying his cheek across Dana's tummy and playing with her fingers till his bedtime. Dana give him a piggy back ride to kiss gramma goodnight, and Margaret pinched his cheeks softly as she pecked him back. They walked Margaret to the door and said their goodnights, Fox yawning widely as he rubbed the side of his face on Dana's shoulder, enjoying the softness of her sweater's material. After closing the door behind her, Scully made her way into the bedroom and plopped him down on the bed. Fox clapped his hands. "Superman!!" "Superman?" Dana asked, wondering what he was up to. "It's superman time, Dana," he answered. "Okay, what's superman time?" Fox sat up and scrambled to his knees, patting the space beside him. "You lie down over here and raise your feet." Dana did as instructed, lifting her legs up and letting Fox adjust them to that her knees were bent. "Now what?" "Now I get on top of ya - " "And I put your feet under my tummy, and you push up and make me fly!" Dana did as instructed, raising her legs and lowering them as she reached for his outstretched arms to balance him as she watched his face light up in glee. She lowered and raised her legs several times till she was red in the face from the exertion, and Fox was breathless from laughing so hard. She rolled him to the bed and blew on his tummy, raising his shirt as he tried to push her away. His palms frantically searched for something to anchor onto to gain some leverage, with little success. When it seemed he was bound to lose, he managed to out-maneuver her, pushing his forehead against hers and tickled her back. Dana feigned having the tables turned in his favor and surrendered. Panting heavily, she and Fox made the sign for peace - index and middle finger up - at the same time, a code they had worked out when neither could catch their breaths anymore. "Weren't you," Dana panted. "Weren't you sleepy five minutes ago, young man?" Fox panted back. "Uhuh. But… but it was Superman time… and… and… and then you started tickling me!" She gave him a kiss on the forehead, on the left cheek, on the right cheek then on the chin. "So you aren't sleepy anymore?" "I'm more tired than sleepy," he answered, then helpfully suggested, "but I bet I'd get sleepy if you read to me. While I'm in the tub. And after."