Title: Mulder's Creek: 21 When We Are Seven
Author: Neoxphile 
Author Email: neoxphile@aol.com 
Status: Series 
Rating: PG-13 
Archive at Gossamer: Yes 
Category: X-File, Friendship 
Keywords: Pre-XF, Alternate universe, Crossover 
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: Has Grams' friend bought a fountain of youth? Fowley 
and Mulder try to find out.

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

Opening scene

Mulder and Scully sit on the roof of the porch, and stare at the
crescent moon. Theres just enough room there for them to stretch out
their legs as they sit side by side. One cloud slowly passing the
moon, veiling parts of it, but other than that the sky is completely
clear. Hundreds of stars shine bright pinpoints in the night sky.

"The stars like this sort of remind me of the light-brite I used to
have when I was little." Mulder reminisces sounding wistful.

"Maybe Ill get you one for Christmas." Scully teases him. 

 "There are stranger gifts." Mulder trails off and looks at the stars
again." Do you know what the best part of summer is?"

"No, Mulder, what?" Scully asks, her fingers seeking his in the dark.

"I dont know." 

"You dont know?" 

"If I knew, I wouldnt have asked, would I?" 

"You probably would, just to irritate me." Scully complains.

"You sound irritated now, so I suppose I wouldnt have needed to,
were my goal to annoy you." Mulder says with a sage nod that Scully
can barely see.

"Mulder, promise me one thing." 

"Anything." He replies promptly.

"Promise me you wont go into law. That wouldnt be fair to anyone." 

"Thats a little insultinghey, I thought you thought I ought to be
in the FBI." He reminds her.

"God help us all." She laughs while Mulder gives her a puzzled look. 

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

Sunday 8:30am, Potter home

Alex wanders into Scullys room wearing Monsters Inc. PJs, which
Scully has always found ironically amusing, and scrambles onto her
bed. He bunches up her blanket while watching her get her shoes on
and do her hair.

"Whats up, Alexander?" Scully asks when shes gotten bored of
waiting for him to say something.

"Mommy went to the Ice House already. She said to bug you for
breakfast." He says, and Scully is impressed by how well spoken hes
become in such a short time. She supposes she shouldnt be surprised,
because one of her mothers favorite topics was how well she and
Bessie spoke as little children.

Scully is suddenly seized by a perverse desire to tease her nephew.
"Soyou want bugs for breakfast. Gotcha. Do want lady bugs or dragon
flies?"

"Aunt Scully!" 

"Well, maybe we could get a few ants or grasshoppers, but no bees or
anything else that stings. They could sting us while we eat them."

Alex stares at her, and the expression on his face seems to indicate
that he thinks shes lost her mind. "I want cereal and toast!"

Scully reaches down and pats his curly head. "Why didnt you tell me
that to begin with? I thought you wanted bugs."

Alex follows her to the kitchen, still giving her suspicious looks.
He relaxes once she pours his cereal into a bowl for him. Scully
pours some for herself, and thinks about how she and Bessie are still
barely speaking. Though she assured Mulder that she and her sister
would soon put things to rights between them, its taking longer than
she thought it would. Bessie seems to be waiting for her to admit
that she doesnt hate their father, and Scully feels she cant admit
something thats not true. At least she has to talk to me at work,
she thinks as she butters their toast.

**

Monday afternoon, Lindley home

Fowley mopes around the house, trying to fight off the urge to pick
up the phone and call either Spender or Reyes. She doesnt want to
call Spender, because shes half-afraid that if she speaks to him,
shell find herself taking him back without thinking things through.

And she doesnt want to call Reyes, because shes not ready to
forgive her. She knows that its unfair to blame the other girl for
the problems in her relationship since Spender is the one who caused
them, but she suffers from blame the messenger syndrome. She cant
help but think that if she didnt know that Spender was unbalanced,
he wouldnt be, and she could continue believing that there was
nothing wrong between them. Which is why she feels so resentful of
Reyes for forcing her to accept things she would have rather not
have.

She tells herself that it does no good to keep thinking about her
former boyfriend and her estranged friend, but she cant stop
wondering what theyre doing. Maybe there are other people in
Capeside she should think about instead

**

Tuesday morning, Leary home

"Mulder, you have a guest!" his mothers voice floats up the stairs.
He figures that its Scully, so he takes the time to save his game
before leaving his room. When he gets downstairs he surprised to see
Fowley standing in his kitchen.

"Sorry I took so long, I thought it was Scully." Mulder says
sheepishly.

"And she doesnt mind waiting?" Fowley asks innocently.

"Oh, she minds, shes just resigned to it." Mulder says with a grin.
"What brings you over here? I havent seen much of you came back."

"Yeah, and thats my fault. I need to spend more time with
friendsanyway, the reason that Im here is that I could use some
help."

"Sure, what do you need help with?" Mulder asks.

"Apparently Grams church had an auction last week, and now Ive been
roped into, I mean asked to, deliver some of the items people won.
However, some of the things are way too heavy for just one person"

"Id be glad to help. Im surprised that Reyes and Skinner didnt
volunteer to help, though, since their dad is big into the community
service thing. Which is how we all ended up volunteering with the
kids, right? "

"Theyre busy." Fowley says quickly. She doesnt actually know their
plans for the day, since she didnt ask them. She opts for a fib
instead of explaining everything to Mulder.

"Id suggest we ask Scully, butshed kill me if she heard me say it,
but I think shes too little to be much help. Just you and me then,
ready to go?"

"Sure. We have to go to the church first to pick things up." 

**

Fowley and Mulder have sweat on their brows by the time they are
struggling with the last piece from the auction. It is a large ornate
fountain made of black marble, and it is all they can do to carry the
heavy thing. Fowley tries to catch her breath enough to speak as they
near the porch. "Were supposed to leave it on the porch. Mrs. Smith
wont be home until tomorrow."

"The Mrs. Smith?" Mulder asks, thinking of the tale Reyes and Skinner
told him.

"Yes, the Mrs. Smith with the possessed turkey." 

"I thought it turned out to be mechanical." Mulder pants.

"It was. Hey, watch my foot!" she exclaims as the base of the
fountain comes perilously close to her toes when they set it down.

"I couldnt even see your foot." Mulder complains. "All done?" He
gives her a hopeful look.

"All done." 

"Lets go for ice cream, then. Its hot!" 

"I noticed." She says, giggling and pointing to the line of sweat
soaking into his shirt. Mulder just sticks his tongue out at her.

**

Tuesday Afternoon, the Ice House

Since shes on break, Scully has taken off her shoes and socks and is
soaking her feet in the water by the patio. Reyes is doing the same.

"Its not as good as wading"she starts.

"but it does cool you off." Scully finishes with a grin. "This is
one huge perk to having a restaurant so close to the docks, not to
mention that so many boaters stop by." Scully wiggles her toes in the
water." So, why are you here? Its not that I mind having company on
my break, but"

Reyes stares out at the sailboats. "WellIm sure you know that
Fowley is back in town. Ive hung out with her a few times since she
got back, but I think I might have dealt our friendship a mortal blow
a couple of days ago."

"What did you do that was so terrible?" Scully asks, immediately
thinking of Bessie and her father.

"I dont want to go into specifics, since its as much her private
business as mine, but Spender told me a bunch of terrible things
about her, none of which were at all true, and I had to tell her. I
mean, I had to, because she seemed to think that things were peachy
between them, and theyre not. So of course shes furious with me for
wreaking the illusion." Reyes says, sighing morosely.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, my sister is currently not
speaking to me, except to give me instructions at work, because I
hate my father and dont feel badly that we had to turn him into the
police last week." Scully says, putting her socks and shoes on.

"Of course it doesnt make me feel better." Reyes complains.

"What Im getting at is eventually theyll get over it. They have
to." Scully says with a conviction that belies the look of doubt in
her eyes.

**

mid-morning Wednesday, Grams' Church

Fowley doesnt attend services with Grams, not the weekday ones Grams
favors nor Sunday ones, much to her grandmothers disappointment, but
they do have a ritual: Fowley meets her at the church and they walk
home together. When Fowley arrives at the church she sees Grams
talking to another woman.

The woman looks to be in her mid-fifties, and for a moment Fowley
wonders who she could be. Finally it dawns on her why she looks
vaguely familiar. Grams smiles and waves her over. "Gladace, I think
youve met my grand-daughter Fowley before?"

"Oh, yes, I met her at Thanksgiving, didnt I, dear?" Fowley nods
silently, still finding it hard to believe its the same woman. "That
nice boy you brought over helped me figure out what was wrong with my
turkey."

"Skinners handy that way." Fowley says.

"Im sure hell make some girl a wonderful husband some day." Gladace
Smith says benignly. Fowley bites her lower lip to keep from blurting
out her opinion how unlikely that is.

Gladace leaves them a couple of minutes later, smiling as she goes.
As Fowley walks with Grams she finally asks, "Does she lookdifferent
to you?"

"Yes, dear, but I wouldnt feel right criticizing someones
appearance." Grams says.

"Oh, I dont mean she looks bad. She just looks a lot younger than
she did the last time I saw her is all."

"Maybe she discovered the fountain of youth." Grams quips, not
noticing the startled look on Fowleys face.

**

Mulder picked up the phone on the first ring. "Yellow." 

"Umblue. Hey Mulder, I need to talk to you about that fountain."
Fowley tells him.

"The fountain we delivered to Mrs. Smith?" 

"No, some other big-ass fountain." 

"What is with people lately? Everyone is so snippy." Mulder moans.

"Sorry. Anyway, that fountain. Do you.think its possible its the
fountain of youth?"

"Youre messing with me, arent you. I say its remotely possible,
then you laugh at me, right?" Mulder asks, his voice colored with
suspicion.

"No. Im actually serious." 

"You're really serious?" 

"As a heart attack." Fowley tells him.

"Freaky, Im the skeptic for a change. So what makes you think that
its the fountain of youth?"

"Well, I ran into Mrs. Smith today, and youd swear she was
fifty-five if you saw her."

"So?" 

"So shes in her late 60s!" 

"Oh. That is odd." 

"Yeah, especially since she looked every one of her years the last
time I saw her." Fowley replies.

"So how would we prove it?" Mulder asks, glad to for once be on the
asking end of that question.

"I have an idea"

**

Wednesday afternoon, Potter home

Bessie is at the stove, as usual, making dinner for herself, Scully
and Alexander before going over to the Ice House to supervise the
dinner rush. Scully is entertaining Alexander at the table by
teaching him "where is thumbkin," but she keeps glancing at her
sister with expectant looks.

Bessie puts down the pot-holder and turns to her, her hand on her
hip. "I sense that you have something to say." She comments dryly.
Then she turns to her son. "Alex, go wash your hands for dinner."

"Aww, Mom!" He groans, but jumps out of his chair and heads towards
the bathroom.

"Now that were alone, you may as well come out with it." Bessie
tells her.

"I...I just dont like that we havent been speaking lately." Scully
says, berating herself because she thought it sounded lame.

"We do talk." Bessie says, not suppressing her sigh. "Im talking to
you right now. And we talk at work, we talk about chores"

"But thats not what I mean, and you know it. I mean we dont talk
about real things lately."

"Why do suppose that is?" 

"Because youre mad at me, of course. Look, I know you feel guilty
about having had to turn Dad in, but I dont. You and I, we had
completely different childhoods." Scully says, a plaintive note
creeping into her voice. "You were grown up when everything went to
hell."

"You tell me again in a handful of years how grown up you feel."
Bessie says, eyes flashing dangerously.

Scully holds her hands out in placating gesture. "Ok, ok. I know you
were still young, but at least you were older than I am now. I think
Id be a different person if we hadnt lost our parents when I was so
young, but I dont know if itd be better or worse, but Id be
different. I do know that how things actually turned out have
everything to do with how I feel about Dad. It was bad enough that
Mom died, but then he abandoned our family too. Maybe when Im older
Ill be able to forgive him. Now, though, I know for sure that Im
not ready to let him back into my heart. Im sorry, and I wish this
hadnt come between us. "Scully doesnt realize that each of her
cheeks has a fat tear decorating it.

Bessie looks at her for a few seconds, then hugs her. "If thats the
way you feel, I guess thats the way you feel." Bessie says, wiping
away Scullys tears. "What do you say to me renting some silly movie
after work tonight and then staying up all night watching it?"

"That sounds really good." Scully tells her, nearly crying all over
again, this time from relief. "Ill have the popcorn waiting."

**

10 pm Gladace Smiths house

Mulder crouches in the dark beside Fowley. Her arms are cradling an
ancient cat, and Mulder has a small bowl in his hands. They creep up
to the porch, and look at the fountain which is now full of water.

"All you have to do is scoop some water into the bowl, then Ill get
Marigold to drink it." Fowley whispers.

"Where did you get that thing?" Mulder asks, looking at the cat.

"She belongs to one of the neighbors. Theyre out for the night, so
hopefully they wont even notice shes missing."

Mulder puts on a pair of gloves and scoops up some of the water and
then carries the bowl away from the house while Fowley follows with
the cat. Once theyre in the shadows he puts the bowl on the ground.
The cat begins to lap up the water. "Now what?"

"Now we bring her home and I keep an eye on her to see if the water
makes her younger. It shouldnt take long because Gladace has only
had the fountain for two days Mulder, whats with the gloves?"

"If it is the fountain of youth, Im not taking any chances. Its
taken me seventeen years to get this old, and I dont want to suffer
any backsliding in my age. "

"Youre being silly." Fowley chides.

"Im being silly? Im being silly?? Im not the one who abducted the
neighbors cat to get it to drink water from the fountain, am I?"
Mulder sputters.

"All right, weve both being silly. Thanks for helping me out with
this. Ill let you know how it works out with the cat." Fowley says
as she scoops the decrepit yellow cat up into her arms.

**

Thursday afternoon, McPhee home
 
Reyes is sitting in an armchair, but only technically. Instead of
sitting in a typical fashion, shes got her legs draped over one arm
of the chair, and shes waving one foot in the air as she reads a
novel from her personal summer reading list, since the school didnt
assign one.

She feels a tap on her shoulder, and looks up to see her brother
towering over her. "What are you reading?"

"The Poisonwood Bible by Kingsolver." She tells him.

 "Is it any good?" He asks as he throws himself on the couch.

"Sure. I feel bad for the kids and keep hoping their father will die,
though." She replies with a wry grin.

"You? Wishing someones death? Why I never!" Skinner says, adopting a
shocked expression.

"Well, its not as though hes a real person, now, is it? So...whats
up?"

"Actually, I wanted to ask you what happened with that friend of
yours that you told me about. Call it an insatiable curiosity about
whether or not you took my advice. Its been, what, a week? And you
havent said another peep about it." He answers in a slightly
disapproving tone.

"As a matter of fact, I did take your advice." 

"And?" Skinner persists.

"And shes not talking to me. And she broke up with the creep." 

"Ouch." He says, cringing. "Guess that was a win-lose result." 

"Definitely." Reyes says with a sigh. "Maybe shell talk to me again
before the end of the summer."

"Oh, Im sure she will." Skinner says, standing up to give her a
companionable pat on the shoulder. "Youre not the type of person
people can stay mad at for long."

"That was a really sweet thing to say, Skinner." She says. Then looks
worried. "You didnt find out Im dying or anything did you?"

"Why I oughta"He says, shaking his fist at her, but laughing.

**

Friday morning, Lindley home

Fowley crouches down by stone wall that separates Grams yard from
the next, and calls softly for Marigold. She puts down a bowl of
gourmet cat food down to tempt the animal. Eventually she sees the
cat coming slowly towards her from the direction of its owners
porch.

Shes disappointed, because the cat looks as old as it always has,
and moves as slowly as ever. Still, she reaches out to pet it while
it sniffs at the food. Her mind wanders while the cat eats its
breakfast. Spending time with Mulder has reminded her why she wasnt
interested in him in the fall. Scully may be attracted to tall, dark,
moody and strange, but shes sure now that she isnt. For a second
she feels a pang of longing for Spender, then shakes her head to
clear it. She pets the cat again and thinks, Im better off al-

"What are you doing?" A voice says behind her, and she looks back to
see her grandmother standing behind her.

"Making friends with Marigold." 

"Oh, thats nice. You might want to ask her owners if its ok to feed
her in the future, some old cats need special diets."

Fowley started to feel guilty, but the cat turns its nose at the
food, so she figures that there is no harm done. "You know Grams, I
got this silly idea that you were right about Mrs. Smith discovering
the fountain of youthso I got Mulder to help me give some of the
water from her fountain to Marigold." Fowley confesses.

She expects Grams to be cross with her for having done that to the
cat, but the woman laughs instead, which puzzles her. "Oh, Fowley,
she got a face lift while she was staying with her daughter. Thats
where she was when you and Mulder dropped off the fountain."

"Gee, now I feel really dumb." Fowley says, her cheeks becoming red.

"Dont. Everyone wants to believe that theres a way to keep us from
getting older, so you shouldnt feel ashamed in indulging in that
sort of belief yourself."

"I guess." Fowley says, thinking of how shes going to have to tell
Mulder that she was wrong.

"You know, though, Dear, I think theres a way you and Mulder could
sort of experience a fountain of youth yourselves." Grams says, then
begins to lay out a plan that makes Fowley smile.

To be continues

8:30 pm, Lindley home

Mulder and Doggett throw more logs onto the fire, which is already
burning high. Grams sweet-talked the fire marshal into allowing the
bonfire, which took some persuading since the summer has started off
so dry. Fortunately the man is Mr. Brooks best friend, so he was
finally convinced that if she supervised, there would be no problems
with it getting out of hand. She smiles to herself as the boys follow
her instructions about creating a safe fire. She turns to look at her
granddaughter who is across the yard.

"Im glad you came." Fowley tells Reyes while they open bags of
marshmallows.

Reyes gives her a tentative smile. "I was sort of surprised you asked
me, to tell you the truth."

"Friends some times fight and get angry at one another. Its not the
end of the world, right?"

"Right. So tell me more about the boy over there with your brother."
Fowley says, motioning to Reed with her thumb.

"Oh, hes a nice guywho has a serious crush on Skinner." 

Fowley rolls her eyes. "It really figures." 

"Hey, I think that Krycek broke up with his air-head girlfriend,
Sandy" Reyes says, then ducks when Fowley threatens to swat her.

**

Grams looks at them as they all sit around the fire, and nods to
herself. "We are gathered here tonight to search for the fountain of
youth. My granddaughter and Mr. Leary thought they found it a few
days ago, but were mistaken, because they looked in the wrong place.
Its actually here, in this bag." She says, holding up a black velvet
bag. "Who would like find out how much of our youth can be
recaptured?"

Everyone looks at each other, and finally Doggett stands up. "Id
love to have the honors, Mrs. Lindley."

"Reach into the bag and remove one item." She instructs him. He puts
his hand in and takes it out, something small grasped in his fingers.
He uncurls them revealing a polished stone with the number seven
carved into it. "Ah, so were seven," She tells them. "Each one of us
will explain what life is like when we are seven." Everyone smiles,
finally understanding the game. "Doggett, why dont you tell us about
something thats happening in your life?"

Doggett smiles and looks at everyone around the fire. "Im seven
years old, and Im excited because Im finally going to start the
first grade in a couple of months. I still sort of resent the fact
that Mom and Dad signed me up for an experimental school program
called readiness. Sure, Im hyper, but my brother and sisters all
went to first grade when they were six, so it makes me mad. But
Mulder and Scully were in my class- he day dreamed too much and she
was too shy- so it was better than I thought it was going to be.
Today I went to the beach with my brother, which is weird, since he
never does anything with me. Hes a teenager, so hes too cool to
play with my anymore. Today we had fun, even if I got tired on the
walk back. He gave me a piggyback ride, even."

"Doggett, how about you pick who goes next?" Grams suggests. "Well
keep it going that way."

"In that case, Id like Skinner to go next." Doggett says.

Skinner scowls at him. "Im seven years old, and tonight Tim and I
caught fireflies. Tim is nine, almost ten, so hes an experienced
firefly catcher. I havent done it before because theyre werent any
last summer, and before that I was too little to go with him. He
always did things first, because hes the oldest. Sometimes I think
its not fair, and other times Im glad theres someone who isnt
scared to do the things Im doing for the first time. I think Dad
calls it the benefit of voice of experience. Tonight, though, I was
out there, catching fireflies in a jar. Your turn, Reyes."

Reyes remembers the night he told them about. "Im seven years old,
and I feel left out. My brothers went out to catch fireflies, but
wouldnt let me come because Im a girl." She says, glancing at
Skinner, who has a guilty look on his face. "Mom noticed that I was
sad, so she told me that we should do something special together,
just her and me. So we made cookies. At first I wanted the cookies
only her and I, but I asked me if being left out felt bad, and I said
yes. So we shared." Reyes finished with a smile. "Reed?"

Reeds nervous blush can be seen even by firelight. "UmIm seven
years old, and my uncle Craig is taking me to a Phish concert. I
dont know the music, so Im not caring much about that, but its my
first concert ever, and its so exciting. I cant believe how many
people are crammed into the venue, but its outside, so its ok, like
a big party. Every time I see Uncle Craig after that he asks me if I
remember it, and looks so happy that it had a lasting impression on
me." Reed finishes with a smile. "Scullys turn."

"Ok, Im seven years old, and like Reyes, Im spending special time
with a parent. Its just me, Dad, and Fenway park. On the ride there
Dad tells me how excited he is that I want to see a game with him.
Bessie was never interested in sports at all, so hes thrilled that I
am. So I dont tell him that I dont like baseball either, I just
like spending time with him. It doesnt seem like a big fib to let
him believe, since hes happy. When we get there we root for the Red
Sox, buy Fenway franks, and sing Take me out to the ball game.
"Scully finishes, for a moment remembering what it was like to spend
time with her father. "Ok, Mulders next."

"Ok, Im seven years old, and Im buying a birthday card. I only get
a dollar a week, so its taken me two weeks to save up for the card -
I dont successfully lobby for an allowance increase until Christmas.
Anyway, I slipped away from Grandma in the mall and run to the card
shop. I didnt want her to come with me, because shed ask questions.
I buy a card that has a little girl on a rocking horse on it, and the
words So youre three! written in big enough letters that I can
read it without help. After I pay for it, I cram it into my back
pocket, with part of it sticking up under my t-shirt, and wander to
the toy store. Grandma finds me there and figures I was there the
whole time. When we finally get home I bring it to my room and write
Happy birthday Sam in my messy scrawl, then hide it under my
mattress." Mulder says, staring into the fire so he doesnt have to
see the pitying looks. "Grams turn."

"Oh, let me see its been a long time since I was seven." She says
with a chuckle. "Im seven years old, and were in the middle of a
war. Theyre calling it world war two, which scares me, because I
think that it means the whole world will literally be at world. One
afternoon the thought overwhelms me, so I crawl onto my Papas lap,
and ask him if I have to be a solider too. He laughs and tells me no,
most people dont have to be soldiers. Then he carefully explains to
me why they call it a world war, and why were fighting it. And for
some reason it made me feel better and worse, all at the same time."
Grams tells them. "Fowley, it looks like youre last."

Fowley shrugs a bit and nearly confesses that she hasnt thought of
anything that doesnt make her bitter. Then she has a sudden
inspiration. "Im seven years old, and theres a turtle in the garden
pond. I dont tell my mother, because I brought them up once and she
dismissed all reptiles as dirty animals, which I dont think is
fair since this turtle seems clean. He spends most of his day in the
clean clear water. I like to go out there and lie on my belly,
watching him as he swims back and forth, back and forth. It reminds
me of summer, and I wish it was summer always." Fowley smiles at her
grandmother. "Thanks Grams, this was a really fun idea."

"Im glad you think so." Grams says fondly. "I thought it was a lot
of fun too. And its nice to know that no one is going to be doing
any cat-napping on my watch." She adds pointedly, which confuses
everyone but Mulder and Fowley." Does anyone want to make Smores?"

"Yes!" they all cry, getting up to help her make them while she
laughs.


Credits
Produced by CC, KW and Neoxphile

<voice over>
This episode of Mulders Creek featured music from:

Greenwheel ("Breathe")
Nickleback ("Worthy to say")
And 
Saliva ("Always")

Stay tuned for scenes from the next episode of Mulders Creek


