Title: Mulder's Creek: 20 Many Unhappy Returns
Author: Neoxphile 
Author Email: neoxphile@aol.com 
Rating: PG-13 
Category: X-File , Friendship 
Keywords: Pre-XF, Alternate universe 
Pairings: Mulder/Scully Romance, Doggett/Reyes romance 
Crossover Info: Dawson's Creek 
Spoilers: X-Files seasons 1-8, Dawson's creek seasons 1-4 
Summary: Fowley returns from Europe and Scully's dad escapes 
from jail; each girl is on one side of separate betrayals.

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

Opening scene

"...and thats when Billy noticed that his new friend had green
skin. Well, it should say gray, but well forgive the writer, wont
we boys?" Mulder asks.

Price, who is lying in Mulders lap doesnt seem to have an opinion
either way, but Alex, who is cuddled up next to Mulder nods
wide-eyed. The just turned three-year-old has idolized Mulder since
he and Scully rid the boys room of whatever it was that had been in
his closet. " Youre an alien!  Billy squeaks. Smart kid, that
Billy. I suppose we should give him a break since he only looks to be
six or seven.  What planet are you from?"

Mulder decides that its sort of fun to baby-sit again, although hes
not actually being held responsible for anything. Bessie and his
mother are downstairs in the kitchen discussing recipes for summer
food so he decided to offer to keep the little ones occupied out of
the way. If any troubles arise he fully intends to hand the boys off
to their mothers, but so far everyone seems to be having a good time.

After another fifteen minutes Billy and his little green friend
finish their adventure and promise to keep in touch, which leads
Mulder to wonder if you can spend a postcard via the space shuttle.
As soon as Mulder shuts the book, Alexander looks up at him and says,
"I like that book a lot. And I like you, too." Mulder smiles and is
almost knocked over when Alex throws his arms around him, which,
fortunately, doesnt seem to phase Price at all. "I wanna be like you
when I grow up." The boy tells him solemnly.

Mulder swallows his laugh before it has the chance to leave his
throat. "You know, I think you should tell your Auntie that." He
replies instead in an equally solemn voice, though his eyes dance
with merriment at the thought of Scullys reaction to that.


**
Theme song- "Stranded" By Plumb
**

Saturday 11:30am, Logan Airport

The bags go around and around on the baggage coral before Fowley
finally spots her luggage and grabs it. For a moment she wonders if
most "lost" luggage is merely snagged by a person who can easily
pretend that it's theirs. She shrugs and begins scanning the crowds.

Before shes finished looking, her grandmother hurries towards her
and throws her arms around her. "Oh, Fowley, Ive missed you!"

Feeling slightly strangled by her grandmothers embrace, she gasps
out, "Ive missed you too Grams, but I cant breath."

Grams blushes and lets go of her. "Oops, sorry. How was your trip?" 

Fowley wonders for a moment what the most tactful way to answer that
question would be. "It was better than I thought it was going to be."

"Well, Im glad to hear that." Grams says warmly. "I cant wait to
hear what you did in Europe. I heard about some of it from your mom
and dad, but Id like to hear your version of it too, but that can
wait until tomorrow if youre feeling jet lag or anything."

"I see you found her first, Mrs. Lindley." A voice says from behind
Fowley. She turns around and finds Spender standing behind her.

"Mr. Morgan here was kind enough to keep me company on the ride up."
Grams explains.

"That was nice of you, Spender." Fowley tells him, with a smile.
"Its good to see you."

"Ive missed you." He whispers to her as they walk behind Grams on
their way to the car. Fowley blushes.

**

2pm, the Atlantic ocean

The sand castle grew to gigantic proportions as Skinner helped Sam
work on it. Mulder and Scully had helped her work on it as well, but
gave up on it when Doggett and Reyes insisted that they play
volleyball. Sam works on making turrets while Skinner methodically
digs a moat around the castles base.

Reed, who is oblivious to both the volleyball game and the sand
castle building, lies on a towel and reads Jacob I Have Loved by
Katherine Patterson. Scully glances at the cover and smiles, figuring
that she should have known that someone who cringed away from any and
everything that hinted of fantasy and the unknown would have instead
chose a book that explores the perils of the human condition.

The ball gets away from Scully and Reyes when Doggett spikes the ball
over the net. "Point our side!" Doggett crows after the girls who run
for the ball. They finally catch up to it right before it enters the
water.

Scully tackles it, and Reyes nods her head in Reeds direction. "I
cant believe Skinner isnt interested in him. Hes a nice guy,
really sweet-"

"And extraordinarily attractive." Scully adds.

"Scully!" 

"Reyes, you have no idea how many girls just happened to start
coming to the Ice House regularly during his shifts. I havent the
heart to tell them that they dont have a shot in hellbesides, its
good for business."

"Your sister isusing him." Reyes says with a note of disgust in her
voice.

"No shes not. He knows that the girls come there to stare at him.
Besides, he gets more tips than Skinner and I do put together."
Scully laughs.

"Well, I guess thats ok then." Reyes agrees.

Doggett watches as Scully and Reyes slowly walk back towards their
side of the volleyball net. "What do you think theyve been giggling
about?"

"I bet theyve been talking about how good we look in our swim
trunks." Mulder tells him, while taking a moment to admire theirs.

"I bet youre right." Doggett says, preening a little. Fortunately
for them, neither girl hears their narcissistic exchange.

**

7pm, Potter home
 
Scully bounds up the steps and cheerfully picks up Alex from where
hes sitting in front of the TV watching Bob the Builder and dances
with him around the room. Since the little boy is used to the
teenagers in his life acting strangely, he takes it all in stride and
squeals in delight. After a few moments he demands to be put down.

"Bobs on, Auntie Scully! I wanna watch Bob and Rolly fix the road.
Im missing Wendy and Scoop. Put me down!" His small face looks very
indignant, so Scully has to try very hard not to laugh at him as she
sets him on his feet.

Bessie walks in the room, her expression unreadable. "Did you have a
good time at the beach?" She asks Scully in an oddly flat voice.

Scully doesnt notice at first so she starts off animatedly, "Yes, I
had a great time. We played volleyball and helped Sam make a huge,
intricate, castle. Mulder took some pictures and promised to get
copies for everyone." Scully trails off when she notices how grim
Bessie suddenly looks. "So um, we had funBessie, whats wrong?"

"Sit down, Sweetie, I got some incredible news this afternoon."
Scully sits down on the couch, wringing her hands and wonders what
new disaster has come into their lives now.

Bessie sighs and starts to explain. "After lunch I got a phone call
from the prison where dad is-"

"Did something bad happen to Dad?" Scully asks, her voice rising in
fear.

"They went to his cell to get him for lunch, and he wasnt there." 

"What do you mean he wasnt there?" 

"The best they can tell, he and his cell-mate bribed a weak willed
guard into letting them out. Theyre looking all over the city for
them, but they havent found any signs of them anywhere. The only
good thing I can say about it is neither of them is considered to be
armed and dangerous so there arent orders to shoot them on sight."
Bessie says, sounding very depressed.

"Why would he do it? He could have gotten out on good behavior, and
he threw it all away!" Scully shouts, though not really at Bessie.
Alex flinches, and looks away from the TV for a moment, unsure whats
going on.

"Come on Scully, hes been in jail for four years, and wasnt going
to eligible for parole for another four. Maybe he just got tired of
waiting." Bessie says, defeated.

"So now what do we do, wait for him to show up here, then call
Doggetts dad to take him away when he does?" Scully asks bitterly.

"Unfortunately, thats exactly what they expect us to do." Bessie
tells her.

**

Sunday 2pm, Shaws Supermarket

Doggett is pushing his cart through the isles, getting the items on
the list and anything else that strikes his fancy. Since his mother
trusted him with her debit card, he takes cart blanche when it comes
to picking up other stuff. Hes about to grab a bag of potato chips
when he sees something that makes him do a double take.

"Hey Fowley, how are you?" He crows, walking over to her. "Does Reyes
know youre back yet?"

"Hi Doggett. No, I just got in yesterday, so I havent had time to
call her or anyone else yet. I will tonight, though, I think."

"I guess I ought to tell my Dad youre back too, cause he wanted to
set up another lesson for target practice when you got back."

"What? Target practice?" Fowley asks, having no idea what hes
talking about.

"Oh, you werent here, but after Chad started sending my sister death
threats he had us all learn how to properly handle firearms. The
funny thing is that Scully was the best shot, even though shed only
gotten out of the hospital a few days earlier. We wouldnt admit it
to her, but us guys were all jealous." Doggett says with a smirk.

"Scully was in the hospital? Just how much have I missed since I was
gone?" Fowley asks him.

"If youve got a few minutes I can try to give you the condensed
version." Doggett says with a grin.

"Sure, why not. A few more minutes here in the store are a few
minutes less I have my grandmother fussing over me." Fowley replies,
only half kidding.

"Okyou left right after Christmas, but if I remember what Reyes told
me, you havent seen anyone since Christmas Eve, right?" He pauses
long enough for Fowley to nod her head. "Ill start from there then.
That night Scully finally got the nerve to kiss Mulder, right under
the mistletoe, though she claimed that she was just following the
rule. Reyes and Skinner saw their mother with disastrous results.
Their mother was snippy to Reyes and mistook Skinner for his dead
brother, Tim. Then you left, which caused a stir, and Mulder became
convinced that his drivers ed instructor was a murderer, but he was
just being an idiot, because the so-called body turned out to be a
CPR dummy. Scully and Reyes started to hang out together right around
then, which surprised everyone since Scully had never shown an
interest in female friends before then. Then, on MLK weekend, Mr.
McPhee and Mr. Leary decided to take me, Mulder, Scully, Reyes,
Skinner, and Skinners then-boyfriend, Ethan, on a ski trip, but we
headed towards the slops before the grown ups and ran into an
unexpected blizzard, which threw us off course. We waited out the
storm in an abandoned lodge, which Reyes and Mulder are convinced is
haunted. Scully and I still maintain that even though there was weird
stuff going on in there, it was probably done by a squatter, not a
spirit. Right after we got back Scully took up some baby-sitting, and
came down with vacillic pneumonia, which is the type that comes from
chickenpox complications and is fatal in more than 1 in 4 people, and
ended up in the hospital for just about forever, more than a week. It
scared everyone, especially Mulder and Bessie to death. It was just a
few days before Valentine s Day that Skinner and Ethan officially
broke up, and my sisters stalker tracked her to Capeside, and my dad
made us all learn how to properly handle fire arms like I said. A new
boy named Reed moved into town, started working at the Ice house, and
seemed to be treating Skinner like a jerk, but it turned out that he
was just shy around him because he found him interesting. Valentines
night Mulder schemed with Bessie to bring the Valentine s Day dance
to Scully, who was still home from school because of doctors orders.
He asked her out that night, and theyve been dating ever since, not
that they told me right away." Doggett pauses for breath, and Fowley
tells herself, I am not jealous. I didnt want Mulder, and I have
Spender anyway. Im happy for them, or I will be, and maybe this
means that Scully and I can finally get along.

Doggett finishes panting, and starts his tale again. "So a few days
before my birthday, Mulder and I start to find evidence of what he
claims was bigfoot. We saw something on my birthday, but I still
think it was a hoax, though I havent been able to prove it. Yet.
After that nothing of interest happened for a while, except for a
grade-wide poetry assignment that you were lucky to avoid, though
Scully did manage to write a nice poem for it. After that the lone
gunmen, which is what Byers, Langly and Frohike are calling
themselves these days, published a weird interview with Mulder and
Scully about the two of them having seen an alien posing as Santa
Claus back on Christmas Eve. You can make of that what you will, it
just makes me more sure that those boys are nuts. Not long after that
a pair of FBI agents came to talk to Scully and Mulder about that
kidnapping case from November that you and Reyes helped my brother
crack. Scully told me that she doesnt think that they were actually
agents, though, because they saw a movie preview about some sort of
agents who look just like the people they talked to. Right after that
we all went on a field trip to the zoo and I was forced to spend the
day with Scully, which to tell the truth, wasnt as bad as I thought
it would be, and I convinced Krycek to climb into the monkey exhibit
after he asked me for advice for impressing girls, and that turned
out to be very funny, mostly because he didnt get hurt but got into
a boatload of trouble." Doggett smiles at the memory. "Reed followed
poor Skinner around all day, and Skinner finally had to tell him that
he just wanted to be friends, which has turned ok between them. After
that I actually started to get along better with Kersh, and Scully
and Mulder discovered that her nephew Alexs fears about something
being in the closet were not entirely unfounded because they really
was something living in there. And Krycek thanked me for my good
advice, since the garbage I told him actually convinced that idiot
girl he was trying to impress invite him to the prom. Then Skinner
made us all hike to the summit of a mountain, and Krycek and idiot
girl invited themselves along. Before they got too much on our nerves
they took off, and Krycek fell in the river, which was also funny. A
few days later Mulders brother Price was born, and, most shocking of
all, his sister Sam who had been kidnapped as an infant, showed up
from locations unknown. So now he has two siblings after having spent
most of his life with none."

"Wow." Is all Fowley can think to say.

"Thats an understatement," Doggett grins. "Anyway, that brings us up
through mid-May. In the last month Mulders sister has been as
mysterious as ever, because she doesnt talk, and if anyone knows
where shes been for more than twelve years, its her. Mulder is
determined to figure it out, but no one seems to have a clue. Oh, and
just recently there was a string of weird animal attacks. Even Krycek
got hurt, which for once wasnt funny. Mulder, Scully and I thought
it had to do with the place his dad works at, and inadvertently
figured out what was going on. It was all being caused by a former
behavioral scientist who had snapped and was doing illicit
experiments on all sorts of animals, including ones that he imported
just to mess with. They arrested him and took care of the animals. I
think thats about it." Doggett finishes.

"I never thought it was possible to miss so much in just six months."
Fowley says, feeling overwhelmed.

"Ha. Ill bet. "Doggett says. "Well, now that youre back youll be
in the thick of it all again, instead of hearing things second hand
all at once. Ill talk to you later, my mom will pitch a fit if I
dont get home with this stuff soon. Bye."

"Bye." Fowley calls after him faintly.

** 

5pm, Leary home

Mulder holds Price up over his lap and the baby gives him a dubious
look. It might have something to do with what Mulder is saying to
him.

"Mul-der. Come on. Mul-der. You can do it." Mulder encourages him.

Mrs. Leary starts to walk by with a basket of laundry, the stops and
laughs. "Mulder!" she says, reaching down to gently ruffle Prices
dark shock of hair. "Hes only five weeks old, dont you think youre
jumping the gun a little?" Sam shoots her a look, as if to say
"thats what Ive been trying to tell him."

"Maybe a little." He replies sheepishly. "How old are babies when
they start to talk, anyway? Three or four months old?"

"Oh dear. Maybe you should read some books on child development, Son.
They usually dont start talking until theyre at least eight or ten
months old."

"That old?? Itll be practically forever before hes talking!" 

"Mulder, trust me, eight months goes by in a blink of an eye. Hell
be mangling your name before you know it." Mrs. Leary says with a
fond smile.

Mulder counts out the months to himself in his head. "So theres no
chance hell be talking by Christmas then?"

"Well" She says, taking Price from him. "Maybe your brother will be
especially brilliant and talking at seven months old." As she walked
out of the room she called to him, "Hopefully he wont be the only
one with something to say by then."

Mulder quickly looks at Sam, and is not surprised that she has a
scowl on her face. He walks over to her and gives her a quick hug.
"Its ok, Sam, dont talk until youre good and ready."

It hurts him a little that she seems to shrug off what he says and
stalks out of the room as well. Mulder shrugs his shoulders and
reaches for the abandoned laundry basket, and carries it to the
laundry room. Its only as hes dumping the clothes into the washing
machine that it hits him. When his sister was five weeks old, shed
been missing three weeks, and they had already stopped looking for
her, at least according to Thaddeus Quinns article. For a moment, as
hes dropping tiny garments into the machine, he wonders why he
didnt think of it three weeks earlier, and is sort of thankful he
didnt.

**

Mulder picks up the phone in his room and dials. "Hey Scully. Can we
talk?"

"Of course. What about?" She asks, teasing Fox with the phone cord as
she talks. The puppy leaps at it, seeming to think that its moving
of its own volition.

"Sam. I inadvertently did something that lead to my mother saying
something to upset her."

"What did you inadvertently do?" 

"I umtried to get Price to say my name." Mulder confesses
sheepishly. "Which was fine, then Mom and I started to speculate when
Price would start to talk"

"Then your mom said something snide about Sam not talking?" Scully
guesses.

"More or less. She actually said maybe he wouldnt be the only one
talking by Christmas. Suppose she does, though, do you think it will
take her long to catch up?"

"Probably not. I mean, look at Alex, all of the sudden hes gone from
2-4 words strung together to intelligible sentences, all in the
matter of a month or two. Shes older, and very bright, so once she
starts talking, I bet shell sound like any other kid her age.
Although that assumes on thing, Mulder."

"And what would that thing be?" He cant help but sound slightly
nervous.

"It assumes that she cant already talk. I dont know about you, but
I sort of have this feeling that I cant explain, but I seriously
doubt that she doesnt already know how to talk and just doesnt want
to. "Scully explains.

"Ive thought of that too, but what reason would she have for not
wanting to talk?"

"What are your parents going to want from her the second she opens
her mouth?"

"An explanation of where shes been, whats been done to her, and by
whom." Mulder replies automatically.

"Exactly. What way to keep your secrets than to make everyone around
you believe you cant reveal them? Like I said, shes very bright.
And Ill tell you something else, Mulder, I bet she talks to you
before she talks to your parents."

"I hope youre right, Scully. I hope youre right." Mulder says, then
thanks her before hanging up.

**

Monday morning, Lindley home

Spender carries a box of donut holes and containers of chocolate milk
in with him from his car. Grams waves to him as he comes up the walk,
but doesnt say anything to him because shes running late.

"Where is she off to in such a hurry?" He asks Fowley as he gets to
the house.

"Oh, shes doing another volunteer project with her church." Fowley
says, taking the food from him. "You brought breakfast?"

"Yup. It seemed like a good idea at the time." He grins.

"I love donut holes." 

"And I love you." Spender says in a teasing tone.

"Oh, do you?" 

"Sure, let me show you." He says, throwing his arms around her.

Finally, Fowley thinks as she snuggles against his chest, everything
is all right.

**

That afternoon, Ice House

Reed is whistling to himself as he wipes down tables when he hears
Skinner try to smother a burst of laughter. He straightens up, and
looks over towards Skinner, the cloth still dangling from his fist.
"What?"

Skinner grins broadly and points out the picture window. "Yon fan
club approaches."

"Oh no." Reed groans.

"Hey, go back to wiping down the tables. If they get a nice look at
your butt, I bet theyll tip more." Skinner suggests.

Reed is tempted to give him the bird, but the girls are already
coming in, so he just directs a dark look in Skinners direction.
Reed really does need to finish wiping down the tables, but now feels
subconscious because he knows there are eyes on him.

Out of the corner of his eye he sees Skinner approach the table where
the four girls are sitting, and hears faint murmurs of disappointment
coming from that direction. He gives a small smile as he escapes to
the back room to help Bessie get lunch ready.

"Theyre back." He informed her as he started making the salads he
had heard the girls order right before hed left the dining room.

"So I take it youre hiding?" She asks him lightly.

"Well" He hedges.

"Its ok." Bessie says, patting him on the shoulder. "Theyre here
nearly every day, so I dont blame you for wanting a break once in a
while."

"Thanks for being understanding." 

"No problem. Scully said she thought it bothered you, and I think
thats a bit ironic." Bessie replies.

"Whats ironic about that?" 

"Its ironic, because she has never in her life noticed that anyone
is staring at her, and it happens every single day. Mulder should be
thankful for that." Bessie laughs.

"I bet he is." Reed says with a broad grin, partly because of what
Bessie said, and partly because Skinner is calling back that the
girls have decided to have their meals to go.

**

Tuesday morning, Lindley home

Fowley lets Reyes in, and hugs her. "Im sorry that I wasnt able to
talk to you much until today. Things have been so busy since I got
home."

"Hey, thats ok. Youve only been home for 72 hours, right?" Reyes
says as they curl themselves up at either end of the couch. "Soare
you sick of the questions about what youve been doing up until now?"

Fowley laughs. "A little, but go ahead. Id rather get the questions
from a good friend, and saving randomly shouting  I dont want to
talk about it! at strangers."

Reyes hopes she doesnt look as nervous as she feels. "So, um, your
grandmother said that you were in Europe with your parents?"

"Yup. As you saw when they took me, I was very un-thrilled to be
going with them. But I agreed to, if I wanted to continue to living
with Grams" Fowley made a helpless gesture with her hands.

"I remember." Reyes says, thinking of that terrible late December
morning.

"Anyway, I sulked for about a week, and wouldnt even talk to them on
the plane, which I still think they deserved." Fowley says with a
grim smile.

"But after that?" 

"After that I slowly warmed up to the fact that theyd brought me to
Id have been thrilled to be in, had I been in anyone elses
company."

"So eventually you forgave them and spent the next several months in
a lovely paradise over the seas?" Reyes asked.

"Ha. You know, the view we get of Europe from books and so on is
fairly romanticized. I dont know if it shows, but I lost about ten
pounds due to not liking the food." Fowley answers with a laugh. "I
liked Paris, though, it was nicer there in February than it is here."

"What about England?" 

"Wellthe accents on those boys there is to die for, but the foodat
least meat, potatoes and Yorkshire pudding is safe. It rains a lot
there, which, gauging from the state of the grass, is something we
could use here, huh?"

"Yeah, early warnings about droughts have been coming in already. You
dont regret being back here, in that case, do you?"

"Nope, no regrets at all. Here I have Grams, you, and Spender, so Im
happier. I mean, I guess I love my parents, not that theyve ever
made a lot of effort to know me, but you three" Fowley trails off,
wondering what she said to make such a strange look appear on Reyes
face. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, no. I justthought of something else. Im glad youre happy to
be back." Even as she says that, she worries about what is going to
happen when she tells Fowley the truth about Spender. "Hey, we should
go shopping for sandals this week. This is no weather for hot feet."
Fowley nods at her, and Reyes hopes that shes already forgotten her
reaction to what she said about Spender.

**

Wednesday 1am, Potter home

Scully was walking down a wooded path that seemed somewhat familiar.
It was only as she approached the cottage at the paths end that she
remembered where she has seen it before. Instead of tar paper or
wooden shingles on the roof, there were large peppermint hard candies
nailed down. The siding on the cottage was made of chocolate wafer
cookies, and the flag stone walkway were necco wafers, which Scully
hated. As she got closer she saw that the shutters on the window were
made of gram crackers, and knew, without even tasting it, that the
windowpanes were made of a sugary substance that had hardened.

She put her hands on her hips and looked hard at the cottage. She
knew it was that cottage. The one she and Bessie helped their mother
make, as they tried to celebrate that last grim Christmas before
their mothers death. It had been mere weeks before her death, and
she had been so weak that the cottage was her only contribution
towards decorating their home. Most of the decorating fell to Scully,
who would have, under any other circumstances, been thrilled to be
included and allowed to make decisions on the decorations for the
first time in her life. Instead it hurt more with every box she
opened.

Scully was baffled as to how the cottage had gotten out in the
middle of the woods, and even more so by the fact that it was now the
size of a real dwelling. She walked around the house, pondering its
impossibilities, when she thought she saw movement from within the
structure. She rushed to one of the windows and peered in, not
surprised that there was no furniture, since they hadnt put any in
it when it had been a mere gingerbread house. For a second she
thought that she saw a figure rushing through a doorway that
shouldnt have existed, and she thought that from behind, even in
that dim lighting, it looked a lot like her mother-

"Come on Scully, wake up." A hand gently shakes her shoulder, so she
finally opens her eyes to see Bessie looking down at her. For a
moment she wonders if she was supposed to get up early for something
and then realizes its still dark out.

She sits up in bed. "Whats going on, Bessie?" 

Bessie snaps on the light on Scullys night-stand, and the light
causes them both to wince a bit. "I thought you should hear this from
me, before anyone else, like Doggett maybe, tells you. A couple of
hours ago, they caught the other prisoner, the one who broke out with
dad. Apparently he wouldnt say anything for a long while, but they
finally got him to say where he thought Dad was headed. Here."

"I thought we already knew that." Scully says, annoyed.

"We suspected it, but now its more or less confirmed. I know its a
hard thing to do, but if we see dad around here, we need to call the
police and turn him in." Bessie says gently.

Scully only nods and lies back down as Bessie leaves the room. Hard
for you, maybe, she thinks. You grew up believing he was a good man,
but me? I only got to think so for twelve years of my life. Then I
found out he was having an affair while Mom was on her deathbed, and
that he was selling drugs. No, it wouldnt be that hard at all.

**

Wednesday morning, McPhee home

Reyes waits until she hears Skinner stirring in his room before she
works up the courage to knock on his door. She spent most of the day
before trying to figure out what to do about Fowley and Spender and
came to no solid conclusions.

"Come in." Skinner calls through the closed door. "Hey, whats up? I
thought it was dad."

"Nope, its just me." Reyes says with a fleeting smile. "Do you think
I could ask you some advice?"

"Shoot." 

Reyes settles herself into his desk chair. "Im not exactly sure
where to startOk, so I have this friend, and I found out some really
terrible things about her boyfriend, and Im not sure if I should
tell her or not."

"This a girl from school?" He asks, and she nods." I guess it depends
on what sort of things you found out about him. Has he been cheating
on her or something?"

"No, nothing like that. Hes been, um, spreading all sorts of rumors
about her that arent true. And she thinks that things are still
great between them."

"I think you owe to her to tell her, then. She might get mad at you,
but shed be even madder if she found out later that you knew and
didnt tell her, right?"

"I guess so. Thanks, Skinner." 

"No problem. Soare you up to watching a movie?" 

"Can it be Labyrinth?" 

"Sure." 

"Its not fair." Reyes quotes.

"You say that so often. I wonder what your basis for comparison
is." Skinner replies as they go to find the movie.

**

3am Thursday, Potter home

Scullys eyes snap open, and shes not sure why shes awake. After a
few moments she decides its a good time to go to the bathroom,
anyway. While shes washing her hands she notices that shes really
pale, and has dark circles under her eyes. At least its summer, so I
can sleep late, she thinks, switching off the light.

She peeks in Alexs room on her way down the hallway, and notices
that hes curled up in a ball on his bed, and his thumb is half in
his slack mouth. Bessie has been trying to get him to stop sucking
his thumb, but he still does it at night some times. Scully wonders
if hes feeling their stress too, even though hes too little to have
any idea whats going on.

She sighs as she crawls back into bed and pulls a thin blanket back
up over her. Even though its technically summer, she cant sleep
without a blanket and never has been able to. She lets her thoughts
drift to the weekend just past, and how much she liked Mulders swim
trunks.

It's as shes just about to give herself to sleep that she hears it.
A sharp rap at her window. For a second she remembers her childhood
fears of monsters, and is afraid to look at the window. Then she
wakes all the way up and realizes what it must be. Her fathers
unshaven face is pressed up against the glass.

"Scully! I thought youd never wake up. Could you let me in, Sweetie?
I dont have a key any more." His muffled voice filters through the
glass.

"Bessie changed the locks anyway." 

"Thats ok, but let me in all right?" 

"Yeah, sure, just a minute." Scully says.

Instead of heading to the door like her father expects, Scully runs
down the hall into Bessies room. "Bessie, Bessie, hes here!"

"What? Who? Oh. Dads here?" Bessie sits up with a yawn.

"Yeah, he just asked me to let him in." 

"You didnt, did you?" Bessie asks, her voice is raised in alarm.

"What are you, crazy? Of course not." 

"Ive got to call Sheriff Witter. Im sorry, Scully." 

"Why are you sorry? Im not sorry. II hate him, Bessie." Scully says
slowly.

"You dont mean that, Scully." Bessie says, even as she fumbles for
the phone.

"Yes I do." She replies, but Bessie doesnt hear her because shes
already talking to the police.

There is a cruiser on patrol only a mile or so away, so it only takes
them two or three minutes to get to the Potter house after Sheriff
Witter directs them to go there. Scully listens as the officers
tackle her father, and put him in cuffs. Theres a lot of swearing as
hes read his rights. She can hear Bessie crying in her room, but
Scullys own eyes are so dry that they burn. She drifts to the front
door and watches from the doorway as they stuff him into the back of
cruiser.

Just before the car door swings shut, Mr. Potter notices her watching
and screams out
"How could you turn in your own father?!" 

How could we not? She thinks as the officers back out of the yard.
How could we not turn in a father like you? The air seeping into the
house is cool for June, but her heated emotions keep her warm.

**

1pm McPhee home

"Hello?" Fowleys voice calls.

"Im in my room." Reyes calls back. She gives her computer a woeful
look, then takes a deep breath.

"Hey, you said you had something to show me on your computer?" Fowley
asks as she enters the room.

"Yup, its all set up." Reyes says, moving out of the way so Fowley
can read the screen. She watches, and immediately sees a puzzled look
cross Fowleys face.

"I dont understand." Fowley tells her.

"Read them all." Reyes urges her.

It takes Fowley fifteen minutes to read through all of the e-mails to
and from Flindley. When shes done she stares at Reyes. "I didnt
send these to you."

"I know. I mean, now I know, but I didnt until about a month ago." 

"Do you know who sent them to you? Who was pretending to be me, and
telling you such a sick story about me?"

Reyes looks at her feet. "Yes." She says, finally looking up.

"Who??" 

"Someone who claims to be an early product of such an experiment.
Although I know now that that isnt true either. "

"Dont screw around, Reyes. Tell me who it was." Fowley says,
beginning to get angry.

"It was Spender, ok? When he got to your house right after your
parents took you away he told me everything you supposedly told him
about being targeted for some sort of genetics experiment. I guess
that was a set up for sending me messages from you. I finally began
to wonder if it was true or not, so I got some of Mulders friends
who are good with computers to look into it, and found out that the
e-mails were being sent from his computer." Reyes says in a rush,
refusing to look her in the eye, so she doesnt have to see the pain
there.

"I dont believe you." 

"Theres more, as well. Mulder found out that the same people who
kidnapped his sister took four other kids, and all but one of the
kids besides her was returned to their homes." Reyes pulls up the
article on the computer screen, and takes Spenders kindergarten
class picture out of her desk drawer. "This is the boy who was never
returned. Four-year-old Scott Martin. And this," She holds the other
picture up next to the screen, "Is five-year-old Spender Morgan."

Fowley looks at the pictures and shakes her head in disbelief. Though
her eyes are telling her that the boys in the picture are without a
doubt the same child, her mind is frantically denying the evidence.
"Im not listening to any more of this. Goodbye."

Reyes watches sadly as Fowley storms off, and wonders if shes just
given their friendship a fatal blow.

**
Fowleys feet bring her to the dock. The same dock Spender once fell
from and drown. Although that turned out not to be the case. For a
moment shes grabbed by the urge jump off it herself, but then tells
herself not to be so melodramatic. Even if what Reyes told her is
true, which is something her mind is working its way closer to
accepting, its not the end of the world.

The more she thinks about it, even though it hurts to do so, the less
she can concretely say she knows about Spender. Or at least the
Spender that turned up alive and well in November. All she has to go
on about what he was doing those months after his "death" are
plausible denials that he was dead and a handful of conflicting
reports he presented as the truth about happened to him. For all I
know, she tells herself darkly, he could have spent that time as one
of Mrs. McPhees floor-mates at the mental hospital.

Even if nothing Reyes says is true, it doesnt change the fact that I
dont really know him. So how can I love him? She asks herself. She
feels her heart start to break as she decides what she has to do.

**

4pm Swan Pond

Mulder has his arm around Scullys shoulder as the watch the stately
swans and, in his opinion, detestable ducks swim through the water.
Scully turns her head, and hes tempted to kiss her, but he senses he
shouldnt because she has something she needs to say. "She just
doesnt get it Mulder."

"You have to look at it from her point of view. Its hard for most
people to accept that one person hates another of their relatives.
Most people like to believe, that deep down we all love our family
members because there is some sort of biological imperative that says
we must. They tend to gloss over the fact that there are breaches of
trust that are so significant that that sort of instinct to love can
be ignored."

"She feels guilty about this whole thing, even though she did what
was right. And shes mad at me for not feeling guilty. "

"You cant win." Mulder sums it up.

"Nope." She says, sighing, and letting her head sink to his shoulder.

"Im sorry." Mulder says, wishing he could give her better advice.

"I know. She and I will get through this, Mulder. Thanks for being
here for me." Scully tells him, and tightens her embrace.

"Ill always be here for you." Mulder tells her, and finally kisses
her.

**

Friday night, Lindley home

"Im sorry that you and that Morgan boy arent seeing each other any
more." Grams tells her. "I know how upset you must be."

"Im fine, Grams. You worry too much." Fowley tells her, then kisses
her cheek.

"Well, all right, dear. If you want to talk about it later"

"Ill keep that in mind." Fowley says lightly as she walks out of the
living room. She broke up with Spender three hours before, and for
some reason it hurt her even more that he almost seemed prepared for
that to happen. It makes her angry as well as heartsick.

Once shes in her own room, she quickly gets undressed and puts on a
well-loved pair of summer pjs and sits down on her bed. She carefully
brushes out her hair, not so much because it needs it, as to calm
herself. That doesnt have any effect on her mood, so she sighs and
puts the brush away.

She glances once at the door to make sure that Grams isnt planning
to come in for any last minute platitudes, then begins to rummage
through her dresser. In the bottom drawer she finds what she is
looking for: a package of Morley 100s that only has one cigarette
missing. Shed tried them once, and hadnt liked it, so shed just
put them away and forgot about them. Now, however, she was willing to
give them another shot.

She skips tracks on a cd until she finds the Fastball song that had
been on her mind ever since finding out about the whole mess with
Spender. Then she lights the cigarette, settles herself on the bed,
and fumes about the way life turns out some times.

**
Credits
Produced by CC, KW and Neoxphile
**

< Voice Over>
This episode of Mulders Creek featured music from:

Cool for August ("Hey You") 
Dishwalla ("Policy of Truth")
And
Fastball ("slow Drag")

Stay tuned for scenes from the next Mulders Creek

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

Note: season two was written between 2002-2005, but
I didn't finish archiving it at gossamer until now.
Better late than never?


