Title: Mulder's Creek: 26 Roswell
Author: Neoxphile 
Author Email: neoxphile@aol.com 
Rating: PG-13 
Category: X-File , Friendship 
Keywords: Pre-XF, Alternate universe, Crossover 
Pairings: Mulder/Scully Romance, Doggett/Reyes romance 
Crossover Info: Dawson's Creek; Roswell 
Spoilers: X-Files seasons 1-8, Dawson's creek seasons 1-4, Roswell
Season 1 
Summary: Mulder plans to break into the Candling school to get information 
about his siblings, but it takes some help from Roswell residents Max, Isabelle, 
Michael, Maria and Liz to carry out his plans.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
 
Opening scene

Sam stops in her tracks, still several yards from the restaurant. 

"What is it, Sam?" Mulder asks her as he walks back towards her.

"I was just thinking. Whats going to happen when Mom and Dad call
the house and get no answer?"

"That wont happen." Mulder assures her.

"What do you mean? Theyre bound to call. Theyve already called
twice this week."

"Ah, but they wont get no answer. Well answer the phone." 

"Mulder, the phone is across the country, how could we answer it?"
Sam asks, looking puzzled.

Mulder pats his pocket. "Through the magic of call forwarding. Mom
and Dad will call the house, but my cell phone will ring instead of
the home phone."

"The level of planning you put into this is scary." Sam unconsciously
echoes Doggetts conversation with his siblings while shaking her
head. Mulder just smiles and walks towards the Crash Down.

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

Friday 7:20pm, Crash Down Caf

Liz gives the table a half-hearted swipe with a wet rag and turns to
her best friend, Maria. "Another fine Roswell afternoon spent waiting
on all the customers." Maria smirks. "Oh wait, there are no
customers." Liz says in mock surprise.

"I cant believe that your dad thinks he needs both of us here every
day." Maria comments.

"The thing of it is, Im sure he doesnt think he needs both of us
here. I think that this his way of keeping me away from bad
influences. Me jailed, you unwitting warden." Liz gripes.

"Bad influences being Max Evans?" Maria asks with a knowing look.

"Of course. Dad just doesnt like him. He doesnt even know that Max
is-"

"Czechoslovakian." Maria interrupts with a pointed look towards the
door.

For the first second Liz is puzzled, but then hears the bell jingle,
so customers must be coming in. The customers turn out to be two
kids, obviously siblings. The older, a boy about their age, looks a
lot more eager to be there than the younger girl.

Mulder looks around the caf with barely disguised mirth, inside it
looks exactly how you'd picture a caf that has an spaceship sticking
out of it to look. As he takes in the space/alien motif he wishes
that he had a camera so he could take pictures to show Scully.

A young woman wearing a slightly futuristic blue waitress uniform,
complete with apron, approaches with menus. "Hi, I'm Liz, let me show
you to a table." She tells him.

Mulder notices that she has a slight lisp, but it's sort of cute.
"Thanks."

A couple of minutes later Liz takes their order and goes back to
stand with Maria while they wait for the food to cook. Maria nudges
her and whispers in her ear. "Kinda cute, huh?"

"What about Michael?" Liz whispers back, gratefully noticing that the
boy is talking to his sister, and not listening.

Maria makes a face. "Yeah, what about Michael? I've been asking
myself that for months. I'm not saying I'm looking for someone else,
but even if here weren't"

 "Czechoslovakian." Liz supplies.

"Yeah. I still don't know if it will ever work out between us." She
notices the frown on her best friend's face. "You can't blame a girl
for looking."

Mulder, who has actually been listening, tries not to grin. The other
waitress is pretty enough, but it bothers him slightly that she seems
to be a racist. "So, have you ever been here before?" He asks Sam in
a low voice.

She gives him a helpless shrug. "They never let us leave the campus."


Mulder gives her a fierce smile. "Then no one will recognize you.
Good. But if anyone does, I'll pretend to have no idea that this is
where you were, so us being here is merely a coincidence."

"I don't doubt you'd come up with a compelling lie." Sam says,
sticking her tongue out at him.

"Compelling, huh? Thats an awfully big word for a little girl."
Mulder says with a smirk.

Sam checks to see if the waitresses are looking, then flips him the
bird.

**

8:58pm, Petes Pockets

The crowd begins to break up as the house lights come on. The first
performance at Petes Pockets ends to hearty applause. Several girls
offer the members of Beer Is Not a Sex Crime their phone numbers as
they walk by the stage on their way out of the room. Reed just
blushes and politely turns them down, but Krycek, Nick, and Craig
welcome the attention with happy grins.

Even happier with the band than their new groupies is Pete himself.
Though overweight and balding, his smile still manages to be
beautiful as he talks to the band. "I want to congratulate you guys
on your first show. You were great. The kids loved you." Pete pauses
and looks into the other room. All the tables have games in progress,
and there are several show-goers who are waiting for tables to be
freed up. "If you want to play again in a couple of weeks or a month,
just let me know." The boys nod and smile.

Reyes grabbed Scullys hand as soon as the band said good-night.
Because shes smaller than her friend, and didnt want to put up a
huge fight, Scully found herself dragged outside before she knew it.
"We cant leave without her. Even I think thats too mean."

"Were not going to. Well just wait for her out here. We, um, needed
some air." Scully doubts the wisdom of this, but its a nice warm
night, and its only been a few minutes.

As the crowd thins out, Fowley looks for her friends, a word that she
mentally surrounds with quote marks because shes annoyed, and fails
to see them. Zane gives her a look that manages to be equal parts
sympathetic and flirtatious at the same time. "Your friends ditch
you?" He asks, not mentioning that he saw them run out the door.

Fowley shakes her head. "They wouldnt." Or Ill kill them, she
silently adds.

"Im sure youre right." Zane agrees as they make their way towards
the door. "But if they did leave for some reason, I wouldnt mind
giving you a ride home."

Fowley feels a tortured anxiety as she thinks of all the warnings
shes been given by adults over the years. She doesnt want to offend
this nice guy, but "I really appreciate the offer, but Im afraid I
dont know you well enough to accept a ride from you."

Shes afraid to look at him, since shes sure shes blown it. To her
surprise, he smiles.  "Hey, no problem. A girl has to look out for
herself, I totally understand that. It can be a dangerous world." She
gives him a grateful smile, and finally catches sight of Reyes and
Scully.

"There you are!" They call, almost sounding like they sincerely
thought their separation had been her fault.

Before she goes over to them, Zane lightly touches her arm to get her
attention. "But maybe someday youll know me well enough to accept
that ride." All she has time to do is blush before he gives her a
brilliant smile and disappears into the night.

The color must have left her cheeks by the time she rejoins the now
giggling duo, since neither of them tease her about it.

**

9:05 pm Crash Down Caf

Mulder puts his fork down. "That was great pie." He tells the
waitress. It was pecan, his favorite.

Liz grins at him. "Im glad that it didnt go to waste. There havent
been many people ordering it today."

"Yeah it does seem a little slow. I like that." Mulder says and she
nods. "Can you recommend a good place in town to spend a few nights?"

"Is it just you and your sister?" Maria asks, ignoring Lizs look.
Liz always thinks she asks to many questions.

"Visiting here? Yeah. Our parents couldnt come." 

"But youre from the east coast, though, right?" 

Mulder blinks. "Yeah, we are." He hadnt realized that his accent is
so noticeable. All he can do is hope that the girl doesnt ask him to
say drawer to amuse herself.

Maria, however, has something other than his voice on her mind. "What
are a couple of kids from across the country doing all the way out
here?" She winces when Liz pokes her in the ribs.

Mulder stares at her for a minute than shrugs. Hell never see these
girls again "My sister here was kidnapped as a baby, then held in a
compound on the outskirts of Roswell, where they've been keeping
other kids with odd mental powers, for twelve years. Im hoping to
break in and find any records they have on her so well finally know
why."

"Mulder!" Sam exclaims. Mulder gives her a look as if to ask what
shes worried about.

Maria opens her mouth again to ask more questions, but Lizs hand
shoots out and covers it. "Theres a nice B&B ran by one of my moms
friends about a half a mile from here. Her rates are pretty
reasonable."

Mulder thanks her and pays their bill. As soon as he leaves Maria
turns to Liz. "Dont cover my mouth when Im talking, thats rude."

"And grilling the customers isnt?" 

"I wasnt grilling him, I was getting to know him." Maria corrects.
"Its not like he was telling the truth anyway. They probably ran
away from home or something."

"Whatever." Liz replies, shaking her head. The boy was probably
having them on, more than likely he was, but there was something in
the girls reaction that made her wonder. It bothers her for the rest
of the night.

**

9:30pm Winkin, Blinkin and Nodd Inn

When Mulder had seen the sign, hed wrinkled his nose in distaste.
There was something cloying about the name that turned him off to the
nth degree. Sam, of course, claimed that it was "cute." Now that they
were standing in the lobby, though, Mulder finds that its not nearly
as scary as he feared. There are no dolls all over, not cutsey framed
photos of babies and kittens, and the walls are white, not pastel.

"Youve come at the right time of the year," The proprietor tells
them as she leads them down a long corridor. "Theres not much in the
way of tourism during the summer. The heat, you know."

"Its not so bad." Mulder replies, lying though his teeth. Sweat is
causing his shirt to cling to the back of his neck.

The woman nods absently. "Here were are." She swings the door open
onto a large room. The room was bright lit and airy, comfortably
furnished. Sam immediately claimed the bed nearest the window.

Mulder smiles with a small shake of his head. "Are you sure this is
the right room? This doesnt seem like a thirty-five dollar a night
room."

"As I said, this is the off season. I lower the rates so I get at
least some business to keep me company in this place." The woman
explains.

"Oh, ok." Mulder says, hardly believing their good luck.

**

10:15pm, outside The Crash Down

Liz is locking the door to the caf when an arm slips around her
waist. She doesnt scream only because she knows who the arm belongs
to. "Max." She says, snuggling closer to him.

Max grins at her, and she smiles back, thinking for the hundredth
time that her fair, dark-haired, hazel-eyed boyfriend would look at
home as an elf on the set of the next Lord Of the Rings movie. But,
she thought as the arm tightened around her waist, he was a lot
stronger than youd imagine looking at him.

"Slow boring night as usual?" He asks, giving her a sympathetic look.
Hed spent much of the summer listening patiently as she blew off
steam about her unjust "imprisonment" in the caf.

"Slow, but not without its interesting moments." She says, thinking
about the two kids whod come in.

"Oh? What was so interesting?" He asks, looking down at her.

She gives him an appealing look. "Id tell you, but then youd say
no..."

"Say no to what?" A feminine voice asks. Liz peers over Maxs
shoulder, and sees Maxs sister Isabel, and their friend Michael.

"Wheres Maria?" Michael asks.

Liz frowns. "You missed her by about three minutes. She went home."
Michael looks disappointed.

"Say no to what?" Isabel repeats.

Liz squirms as the other girls piercing look locks onto her. Theyre
not friends, and Liz has the feeling that Isabel only tolerates her
for Maxs sake. "Oh. I met two people tonight, kids, and if I didnt
already know youd say no, Id ask if you could help them."

"Help them do what?" Max asks.

"The other one, a guy our age, said that they were here looking for
answers. His sister was kidnapped and held somewhere here in Roswell.
He wants to know why, and is going to break in to find out." Lizs
face burns; she knows it sounds dumb as she say it.

"Oh, if thats all." Michael says, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Liz, even if that story is true, you already know that we cant just
use our powers to help whoever-" Max says, thinking about Lizs
grandmother.

To everyones surprise, Isabel has something to say in the matter
that isnt as mean as Michaels comment. "Before we completely
dismiss the idea, dont you think that we should find out if its
true?"

"How would we do that?" Liz asks, her thoughts anxiously conjuring up
the idea of the four of them barging into the Inn to interrogate the
boy and his sister.

"Actually, how would I do that. I think its a good night to do some
dream walking."

Everyone gives their shrugged consent, it couldnt hurt.

**

Midnight, Evans house

One of Isabel Evans powers is the ability to enter other peoples
dreams. She can passively observe their dream, or force herself into
it, becoming a character within it. Since Mulder is a complete
stranger her plan is just to observe. Though shes never met Mulder,
she doesnt think that it will be hard to find his dream, since hes
probably the only teenage boy staying at Winkin and Blinkin.

When Isabel enters Mulders dream, shes confused. The typical dream
for a teenage boy, or at least in her estimation, usually involves
the boy winning a girl or doing something to make himself look good.
Which is why shes surprised that the dreamers character is wearing
footed pjs and standing next to a crib.

"Daddy said big brothers look after little sisters." The small boy
says, looking into the crib. The baby is tiny and asleep. The boy
reaches out to touch the baby, and it disappears. Isabels brow
creases, since she has no idea what shes seeing. The little boy lets
out a shriek and two people come into the room and led him away. He
balks, and cries "my sister, my sister!" and looks back at the crib.
The adults just shake their heads and lead him away.

Time passes as it does in dreams, skipping from scene to scene, and
the little boy tries to show his parents the empty crib. They turn
their back on him. He tries to show two other people, a towhead
little boy and a small red-haired girl, and they do look. "My sister
is gone." He tells them. They shrug and point to their ears. After he
repeats himself a couple of times, the blond boy turns his back as
well. So the little boy keeps trying to tell the girl, but no matter
how many times he says "my sister" she cant hear him. Tears roll
down the little boys cheeks.

The boy gets older quickly, and spends what seems like years running
up and down hallways looking in cribs everywhere for the missing
baby. All the cribs he finds are empty. Eventually he looks in a crib
and the baby is there. He gives a happy laugh and pulls the baby out
of the crib. The baby morphs into the girl Liz told Isabel about.
Isabel thinks that the dream will have a happy ending, but she
notices that the boy is frowning. The girl has her hands held over
her mouth.

He approaches the older couple again and tells them, "Im still
worried about my sister." They smile and turn their back on him
again. He tells the other boy, whose hair has darkened nearly to
brown. The other boy points to his ears and shakes his head. Mulder
runs and grabs the hands of the red-haired girl. He tries to tell her
too, but she cant hear him either. She just gives him a kiss as if
that will make him feel better.

He screams in frustration, then calms down. His sister gives him a
curious look. "Its just you and me." He tells her, and they begin to
walk away.

Isabel opens her eyes in her own room. Shes not sure what the dream
means, but theres one thing shes sure of: Mulder isnt there
because of them. The memory of the dreaming boys pain echoes in her
head she contemplates doing the unthinkable - telling Max and Michael
that they should help.

**

Saturday, 10:10am, Capeside Mall

Reyes and Scully quietly sip their frozen lemonades, which annoys
Fowley. Or, to be more accurate, it annoys her that they're staring
at her while the do it. They met at the mall twenty minutes earlier,
and she's been waiting ever since for the other shoe to drop. Instead
of bringing up what's on their minds they're looking at her much the
way they'd look at Scully's puppy if he suddenly began speaking
English and were hoping to interview it as to how that happened.

Finally, she can't take it any more. "Stop it!" 

They give her innocent looks. "What?" 

"Stop staring at me the way cats look at mice, right before pouncing
on them and snuffing the life out of them." Fowley complains.

"I believe she's calling us catty." Reyes grins at Scully.

Fowley makes a low sound deep in her throat in way of response.

Scully hold up her hands in mock surrender. "Ok, we'll stop playing
with you and get to the point. How did you and Zane hit it off?"

Fowley looks down at her lemonade and mumbles. "Ok." 

The other girls giggle. "Ok, huh? Details!" Reyes demands.

"There's not a lot to say." Fowley demurs.

"She's right, Reyes, there can't be much to tell. I mean, they only
hung out for most of the concert, and that wasn't very long." Fowley
sticks her tongue out. Though her words are nice enough, Scully's
tone is teasing.

"Come on, you have to tell us. Match making is no fun if the victim
won't dish afterwards." Reyes says with a pout.

Fowley smirks. "Pouting may work on your boyfriend and your dad, but
it doesn't do a damn thing for me."

Scully senses that things might be taking a turn for the worse. "Tell
us to butt out." She urges Fowley.

"Why?" Fowley asks suspiciously.

"Just do it." Scully says, parroting Nike commercials everywhere.

Fowley shrugs. "Butt out." 

"You don't play fair." Reyes gripes at Scully, making Fowley wonder
what that was all about. Reyes' face suddenly brightens. "Reed's band
was wicked good, don't you think?"

"Yeah, he's got a great voice." Scully agrees. "Bet he's going to be
disappointing more girls."

While Fowley is glad that they've dropped her evening from the
conversation, she feels suddenly left out. There's something in the
look that passes between the others that tells her that they're
laughing at something other than the mere fact that the girls in
question would be disappointed by Reed not being straight. As much as
people have been trying to include her this summer, nothing can
change the fact that she's missed six months worth of in-jokes.

**

Noon, Crash Down Caf

As soon as they come to a stop Max and Michael climb out of the Jeep,
intending to go inside for lunch. Although the Parkers have subtly
tried to keep Liz away from Max, they havent been so bold as to ban
the boy from their business.

Isabel, on the other hand, is none so subtle. "Wait. I want to talk
to you first." She says, still sitting in the back seat of the jeep.

Both boys stop and walk back to the jeep. "What about?" Max asks her,
not liking the tone he heard in her voice.

"I went into that boys dream last night, like I said I would." 

"-What did you find?" 
"-Is he dangerous?" 

They speak at the same time, so their words overlap, but Isabel
already knew what theyd ask, so it didnt really matter that she
hadnt heard them clearly. She gestures to them to be quiet. "Hes
not dangerous." She tells Michael. "At least not to us. Hes not here
because of anything involving aliens."

"So why are they here?" Max asks.

"As strange as it sounds, what he told Liz last night is true. His
dream was the most painful Ive ever visited. This kid, a boy our
age, spent most of his life trying to figure out what happened to his
sister when he was just a little boy himself. Littler than we ever
were, even. He got her back, apparently, but hes still looking for
answers. I feel bad for him." Pity fills Isabels eyes.

"What are you saying, you want to help them?" Max asks.

"Max, you know what its like to look for answers." Michael argues.
At first this surprises Isabel, but then she realizes what it is
about this person he empathizes with. Michael, more than any of them,
wanted to discover the truth about their origins. So being tortured
over missing pieces is something he can relate to. She flashes him a
grateful smile.

"Of course I do." Max is torn. He does feel for the kid and his
quest, but "We have to be more careful with humans than ever now, if
were going to stay here and not be detected by others who might
cause us harm. If we slip up and someone else does figure us out,
they could be like Liz, but they could also be like agent Pierce." He
reminds them of the FBI agent who had just recently captured and
tortured Max. "I would love to be able to help everyone who could
benefit from out powers, but we cant risk exposing ourselves, and if
Liz things they need our help theyd need the type of help that would
expose us." He finishes with an air of regret.

Theres silence for a moment, then something gleams in Michaels
eyes. "We can help them without exposing ourselves." He says
confidently.

"How?" Isabel asks. Shed like to be hopeful, but Michaels ideas are
often fool-hardy.

Michael grins. "Remember what Liz said after Isabel volunteered to
dream walk? His sister was kidnapped, and held with kids who had odd
mental powers."

"Yeah, so?" Max asks.

"Put yourself in this kids shoes for a minute. Some people offer to
help you break into a place where they keep kids that are different
and the people display powers like ours. Which would your first
thought be, oooh, aliens or oooh kids with strange mental
powers?"

"If I already was thinking about kids who had mental powers Id
probably never give aliens a thought." Max admits.

"So if we get Liz to convince them that we are like those kids, we
can help them and without exposing ourselves. Hed probably be so
grateful for the help that hed never say a word about us to anyone,
and even if he did, no one would know it was us he was talking
about." Michael says brightly. Max gives him a doubtful look.

**

"I was thinking that we ought to do something fun tomorrow, since you
girls finally have a day off." Alex is saying as he toys with his
coke. Their tall gangly best friend has been campaigning on more
togetherness all summer.

Liz is listening, but when she sees the aliens troop in, she smiles
to herself. Her father isnt working, so he wont be there to frown
at her. He was still tied up with bringing the receipts to the bank,
so only she, Alex and Maria were there. Literally only them, the
lunch rush had already passed by since it was a nice day and no one
was in the mood to linger over lunch. Stragglers would come in
eventually, but for the moment they had the caf to themselves.

Isabel looks around at the empty tables and says "Good." She pretends
not to notice the worshipful glance that Alex is directing her way.
Its not that she minds she just has other things on her mind.

"Whats good?" Maria asks. "Not business." She adds melodramatically,
since business is just fine and only seems slow when you work entire
days instead of a few hours after school.

"She means its good that theres no one around because we need to
talk to you." Max elaborates.

"About what?" Liz asks cautiously. They normally didnt all end up
talking about something all together unless there was a problem. A
couple of months back that happened more than any of them would have
liked.

Maxs cheeks turn a dull red. "Maybe Michael and Isabel should
explain, its their idea."

"You know those kids you told us about? We want to help them."
Michael says in his usual abrupt manner.

"The two kids who were here last night? They were kidding! They had
to be." Maria exclaims while giving them incredulous looks.

Isabel shakes her head. "I promised Liz Id dream walk the older kid,
and the stuff that he told you was the truth."

"How could there be a secret place holding kids hostage in Roswell
without us hearing about it?" Maria asks.

"How could there be an abandoned hospital in Roswell that was used to
study aliens without us hearing about it?" Max retorts.

"Touch." 

"This is a joke, right? Youre only pretending you want to help so
you can laugh at me for being dumb, right?" Liz asks Michael.

"Nope. This isnt like the thing with your diary, I really want to
help them. But we need the three of you to do it."

"As usual, Im the only one in the dark." Alex complains.

"Last night Maria and I meet a kid and his sister. He claimed that he
was here because someone had kidnapped the little girl as a baby,
then kept her here for most of her life. Then he said he was going to
break into the place to find out what theyd held her for." Liz
explains.

"Ok, I can see how aliens would be useful in that sort of situation,
but what help would us mere human be?" Alex asks, raising an eyebrow.

Michael points at Liz and Maria. "You two, since youve at least met
them, will go and visit them at their room tomorrow night and tell
them that you know some people that can help them. Your story is
going to be that these people were kids who were born in the place
but not raised there. That will explain the strange powers we have
without screaming alien."

"How are we supposed to explain your not being raised there?" Maria
asks.

"I dont know, but Im sure youll come up with something. Youre
good at making up stories." He says with a smile, which makes her
stick her tongue out at him.

"And what is my role in all this supposed to be?" Alex asks.

"We dont know yet, but Im sure there will be something for you to
do." Isabel says with a smile.

"Yeah, ok." Alex answers, and she wonders if he even heard what she
said.

"Remember, you girls go see them tomorrow night. We want to do this
thing late Monday night." Max says, not looking very happy about the
prospect.

**

Sunday 6pm, Winkin, Blinkin and Nodd Inn

Mulder is about to eat his last piece of pizza when there is a knock
on the door. Sam looks at the door and shrugs, so Mulder gets up and
goes to open it. The only person he can think of that would be
bothering them is the Inns owner, which would indicate that there
was a problem, so hes slightly apprehensive.

When he opens the door he sees that its not the Innkeeper, its the
two waitresses from Friday. "Uh, hi." He says, giving them a confused
look.

"Do you mind if we come in? Ok great." Maria says as they walk in.
Mulder shuts the door behind them. Sam looks up from the cartoons
shes watching and gives Mulder another shrug. Clearly she, at least,
doesnt find their visit all that unusual.

"So" Mulder says, hoping to get them to spit out whatever it is that
theyre there to say.

"Soyou know how you told us Friday about your sister?" Maria asks.
Sam finally looks interested in their presence. "Well, we have some
friends who could help you do that thing."

"Break into the place where she was held hostage?" Mulder asks, to
make sure theyre on the same page.

"Yeah that." Liz agrees. "The thing of it is, though, that they lived
there too. Back when they were really little. So they have some ways
of helping you that normal people dont."

"Really?" Mulder asks. Theres a happy gleam in his eye.

"Really. But they dont like to talk about it." Maria says. "And,
unfortunately, they were really young when they were adopted, so they
dont remember the place. They just know thats where they were
from." Maria says, hoping that hell buy it.

Mulder nods like the story is plausible. "Look, Im glad for the
help, so Im not going to ask questions that would make these friends
of your uncomfortable. I dont need to know anything about them if
they dont want me to. "

Maria feels better. "Great. They said that they want to meet us back
at the caf tomorrow night at 10pm, which is when Liz and I get off
work."

"Ok, see you then. Thanks a lot." Mulder smiles as they leave and
picks up his slice of pizza. Its a little cold, but he doesnt mind.

Once theyre gone Sam gives Mulder a reproachful look. "Do you really
think its a good idea to trust some people who dont want to talk
about who they are?"

"Well, I trust you, dont I?" Mulder laughs as Sam gives him a dirty
look. "At this point I dont care who we have to go to as long as
theyre willing to help find the truth. They could be six foot tall
chickens or little gray men for all I care." He says, having no idea
how close to the mark his statement is.

**

Monday 10:30 pm, Candling School


When they arrive at the school they pile out of Marias car and Maxs
jeep. To their astonishment finding the place had been as simple as
checking the local phone book for the address. The only reason that
it took them 30 minutes after the crash down closed was that Michael
insisted that he and Sam would need to alter their appearances first.
It made sense to Maria that hed wanted to stick thick glasses on
Sam, and put her hair into a different style, since she was the only
one who was likely to be recognized, but he told her that there
wasnt time to explain why he wanted Isabel to darken his hair.

Max had worried that the place where the girl had grown up would be
like the abandoned hospital that Agent Pierce had brought him to, and
tortured him in. But the place is, from all outward appearances, a
school as it claims to be; hiding in the light. Its a large modern
two story building, a lot of white stucco and glass. The building,
far from wanting to appear empty and foreboding, seems welcoming.

Mulder notices a metallic sign hangs above the front door and
declares the building to be "Candling School for Exceptional
Children." Hes stuck by the fact that the word exceptional is used
to identify children from both ends of the intelligence spectrum, but
Liz interrupts with an observation of her own. "Mulder, is your Dads
company called Candling, too?"

"Yeah, why?" 

"Do you know what candling means?" She asks, thinking about her
biology classes.

"I thought it was just a last name." Mulder whispers, giving her a
questioning look.

Liz shakes her head. "No, its a farming term. A long time ago
farmers discovered that they could find out if an egg was fertilized
or not by holding it up to a candle. They used candling to separate
the eggs that would become chicks from those that would be food."

"Wow. I guess my time at farms would have been better spent listening
to lectures than hiding from ducks." Mulder mumbles.

"What?" Liz asks, not sure she heard him correctly.

Mulder just blushes and refuses to repeat himself.

Max hisses at them to be quite, and they follow him to a locked side
entrance. The lights are all off, so they dont think that theyre
likely to be spotted immediately if they use that door. Mulder is
about to ask how theyre going to unlock the door when Max places his
hand over the locking mechanism. For a second Mulder thinks that he
sees a faint glowing coming from under the other boys hand, but its
gone so quickly hes not sure if he saw that, or perhaps a firefly
was sitting by the lock. Max grabs the doorknob and opens the door.
They all fill in after him.

"You said the records room is on the second floor, but wheres the
front desk?" Michael whispers to Sam. She points down a darkened
hallway. He nods. "Ok, Liz, Alex, Maria, you come with me. Were
going to provide a diversion."

The four of them make their way quickly down the hall, then group
themselves in front of the desk when the receptionist isnt looking.

"Excuse me." Michael interrupts her politely. 

The woman is startled and blinks. "Oh, Im sorry I didnt see you
there. What can I do for you?"

"Were here to see out friend Jason. His mom says his room is on the
second floor." Michael lies smoothly. Jason is a common name, so hes
sure that theres at least one boy there with that name.

"Oh" She glances at the clock. "Its awfully late. We dont usually
allow visitors after 7pm."

Alex and the girls make distressed noises. "His mother didnt tell us
that, and its taken us all day to get here" Michael gives her a
hang-dog look.

The woman looks at the four unhappy teenagers, and feels bad. "Well,
I can see what I can do" She picks up a walkie-talkie and calls
security. "I know its late, but Jason has some visitors who have
traveled all day to see him" She listens to the garbled response.
"Two boys and two girls the boys and one of the girls have dark
hair, and one of the girls is a blond." She says, studying them. She
doesnt notice that Marias eyes widened when she realized why
Michael had been concerned about his hair. "All right." She smiles
and looks at them. "Hes doing rounds on another floor right now, but
if you go to the top of those stairs "she points. "And wait in the
waiting room on the far right, hell meet you in about 15 minutes so
you can have a short visit with your friend."

"Thank you so much." Michael says, giving her a charming smile, which
the receptionist returns. The four of them promptly go up the stairs,
run down a hallway, find more stairs, and exit the door they came in
through.

Once theyre back outside Michael plucks a walkie-talkie of his own
out of his pocket. "Youve got 15 minutes before youre going to meet
a guard in the second-floor lounge to visit your friend Jason." He
tells Max, who thanks him.

"Well, all we can do now is wait and hope for the best." Michael
tells the others as they walk towards the vehicles.

**

"You heard that." Max says quietly, as he, Isabel and Mulder follow
Sam.

"Its right around here"S am says nervously, as they pass closed
doors. "Here it is."

Mulder looks away while Max deal with the lock, not wanting to be
tempted to ask questions. After a few seconds they find themselves in
room filled with file cabinets. Fortunately theyre labeled so they
find the one containing files on children very quickly.

Mulder rifles through the file cabinet and grabs the files that say
"Mulder" on the corner, going back a bit he grabs another as well,
this one with "Morgan" on it. Hes about to shut it when Sam grabs
his hand. "Wait a second." She whispers. Mulder shrugs and steps
back. Sam pulls our another folder and lays it on the pile hes
holding.

He glances down at it. "Archer?" 

"Zane." Sam whispers, as if that explains everything.

"Were going to talk about that later." Mulder whispers harshly. He
glances around the room with a distressed expression. "I have to find
a way to copy these before we get caught."

Isabel rolls her eyes and grabs the folders out of his hands. "Ill
do it." She sets them on a desk and waves her hand above the pile. An
identical pile of folders forms next to them.

Mulder gaps at her, then thumbs through the first folder in each
pile. "Theyre exactly the same." He says in wonder, as he stuff them
into a backpack that is identical to the one Alex brought in the
building with him.

"Of course they are." Isabel says, picking up the duplicates and
stuffing them in the file cabinet. "Lets get out of here and find
that lounge."

**

The guard looks at the four people sitting quietly in the lounge. Two
boys, both with dark hair, a girl with dark hair, and a blond girl,
just like the receptionist said. "Sorry about the wait." He
apologizes.

"Were just grateful that we can see Jason despite the late hour."
Max grins.

"Ok, you can say hi to your friend, and Ill wait to escort you out."
The guard tells them.

"Thanks!" They exclaim, wondering how poor Jason is going to take
their arrival. They pass by several rooms with children in them. Most
of the windows show sleeping children, but Mulders pace slows as he
passes one room. A small boy is sitting on a bed, playing with toy
airplanes. The planes, which look like typical models, probably put
together by some well-meaning adult, zip through the air as the child
laughs. Mulder is stuck by the fact that the child is no older than
Scullys nephew is.

Eventually they reach the room that belongs to unsuspecting Jason.
"Five minutes." The guard tells them. They nod and go in. Jason is
about 15 years old, and sound asleep, which comes to a relief to them
since nothing theyd thought of to tell the boy sounded even half-way
intelligent. After five minutes they leave the boys room, and thank
the guard and the receptionist for letting them visit with their
"friend."

**

11:30pm Crashdown caf

Mulder clutches the bag full of folders and doesnt know what to say.
"II cant believe you would Thank you." He says with his eyes full
of gratitude.

The three humans and three aliens smile at him. "Hey, its not as
though we had anything better planned for tonight." Alex quips.

"Yeah, we dont get to do enough breaking and entering." Michael
adds.

"How long are you going to be here?" Isabel asks once the boys stop
cracking wise.

"UmI think well be leaving Thursday, so well be home before our
parents." Mulder replies.

Isabel studies him for a moment. "I cant read minds or predict the
future, but I have a feeling that this wont be the last time we see
you. If you find after you read those files that you need to go back
there for more information, Im game."

"Me too." Michael says. Max pauses, and also agrees.

"Thank you, but why?" Mulder asks, bewildered.

Isabel looks at Sam. "Its important to know where you come from so
you can figure out where youre going." Mulder wants to know what she
means by that, but he promised to ask no questions.

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

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

Tricky & PJ Harvey ("Broken Homes")
Seafood ("Cloaking")
and
Taproot ( "Poem")

