Title: Zoe II- The Twenty-fourth Chromosome

Author: Smurf

E-mail: [email protected]

Rating: R

Category: Romance/Angst

Spoilers: Zoe I, others are vague (I think)

Keywords: Mulder/Scully romance/angst

Summary: When Zoe returns, can things go back to *normal*?

Disclaimer: Yeah, right. Like I could possibly be clever enough to create the wonderful characters that are Mulder and Scully. If you’re a shipper, you know that Mulder belongs to Scully and Scully belongs to Mulder. Chris Carter wrote them as people, Gillian and David gave them soul. These two and any others they created that I borrowed also belong to the writers and staff at 1013. You know who you are. Please don’t sue me, as I can’t afford a lawyer. So, I wouldn’t suggest it. Any character you don’t recognize is mine, HA HA!

Warning note: Scully and Mulder have a potty mouth in this. There are also references to sex, but nothing explicit.

Author’s Notes: Yup, you guessed it. This is the long awaited sequel to my other fic, "Zoe". Before you read on, if you haven’t already, I strongly suggest reading "Zoe" first. Or else, you’ll just be confused ‘coz I’m not explaining anything. Yes, Briehan, I finally wrote it. I don’t know, this is probably the third or fourth version of this story. All the others sucked. I now consider Zoe a part of my mythology. Most of my stories from here on will have her at least mentioned in them. If you fall in love like I did, feel free to use her, just put some mention of my creating her somewhere.

Archive: Wherever. I don’t care. But, I will, if my name doesn’t stay tacked on. If you want to use one of my characters, feel free, just let me know and keep my name attached.

Last note: I promise. If you’re not a shipper, once again, I suggest finding another story to read. I don’t like being flamed and I don’t tolerate flaming. I crave FEEDBACK, but I prefer constructive criticism to flaming. ‘Kay? Ahh, life is great here on the Ship, ain’t it?

And now, the story. . . .

"I’ve heard the truth. Now what I want are the answers."

-Dana Scully

~~~~~~X~~~~~~~X~~~~~~~X~~~~~~X~~~~~~~X~~~~~~~~X~~~~~~~X~~~~~~~

The world seemed like heaven to her. It was spring. Everything was green and fresh. The scent of apple blossoms filled the air. She walked through a park she had never seen before, but it didn’t bother her. The pure aroma of flowers, sun, and purity was like a drug, thick and heavy, but also luxurious and pleasant. Before Dana’s eyes, the world burst in green. All around, birds chirped and bees lazily buzzed from flower to flower. Everything was peaceful.

All her inner thoughts and feelings seemed to revolve around this peace. It was all so serene and tranquil. Dana didn’t know where she was, or how she’d gotten here, but she didn’t care. She was living in the present. The future and the past didn’t matter here. She had no problems, with work, with her love life, or with her emotional baggage. Perhaps this was heaven. Perhaps she was dead. That thought never even crossed her mind. She had no worries. If she was in heaven, she loved it.

Dana focused on the beauty that was blossoming Earth, or the beauty that was heaven, or wherever it was she was at. She also noticed in a drowsy, half-drunken way

that her clothes were different. Certainly not something she would normally wear. For one thing, she had no shoes on. And it delighted her, in a childish, country girl sort of way. The way the cool, green grass tickled her soles and sprung up between her toes with each slow, graceful step. Next, she was wearing a pale yellow dress. It was a plain thing, simple and falling down to mid-calf. The color was like soft morning sunlight, with a smatter of light blue embroidered flowers on it. The waist was snug, but not tight. It flattered the figure of her hips, waist, and bosom. The spaghetti straps seemed to melt like butter into the golden ivory the sun made her skin. Her hair was tousled about her neck from the warm breeze. With every gentle gust, it played about her head like wildfire.

Another mild puff swept by Dana’s face, pinning the flowing dress to her body. She smiled lightly and tilted her head toward the sky. She closed her eyes, letting the sun warm her face. When she opened them, she saw the sky, a deep azure pool with not a cloud in sight. After just staring for a while, she looked down at the ground again, almost afraid that if she stared at the sky any longer, she would drown in its depth.

She meandered on in no particular direction, to no particular place, for a while. Dana didn’t look at anything, but saw everything. Eventually, her eyes wandered to the distance ahead of her. There, she saw the child. About one hundred or so meters away from her, was Zoe. She stood casually, leaning against a tree. Dana could of sworn she even saw her smiling and heard her humming happily to herself. She was dressed in an outfit not unlike Dana’s, except it was a very pale blue. Dana continued walking toward her, now with more meaning than her previous blissful strolling.

Almost as soon as Dana had spotted her, Zoe noticed Dana. She turned from the tree she was leaning against and faced Dana. Dana heard her call to her, "Dana!". Well, that’s what it sounded like at first, but as she listened more carefully, she heard, "Mommy!" Dana picked up the pace a little, reaching fifty meters, then forty. That was when Zoe laughed gleefully and sprinted around the tree, away from Dana. Thinking it a friendly game of tag, Dana bunched the length of her dress in her fists up to her knees, and jogged after her.

They continued in a merry chase for a distance. They weaved around trees, up and down hills, even through a small, cool brook. After awhile though, Dana had to slow down, she was nearly out of breath. Zoe continued to run, but after realizing she was no longer being chased, she too stopped and turned to Dana. As Dana caught her breath, she kept an eye on the girl.

Suddenly, Dana felt a cold, nipping breeze roll by her. She shivered and looked back to Zoe. Zoe, who had stopped about forty or so meters away, was staring at the sky. When the girl looked back toward Dana, her face was ashy pale, her smile replaced by a bitter frown. When Dana tried to call to her, her words were lost in a roaring rumble of thunder. At that moment, Zoe turned and bolted.

She ran away at the fastest speed she could. Dana watched for a minute, her muscles frozen in confusion. Then, she sprang into a run as well. A heavy feeling told her that this was no longer a cheerful game of tag.

As Dana ran, the atmosphere around her mutated. A sharp, biting wind began to blow against her, entangling her dress to her legs. The wind exposed the ghostly undersides of the tree leaves, and the trees howled. The branches seemed to reach out and try to grab her. The grass no longer felt pleasant beneath her feet. It felt cold and numbing. Sharp blades of grass whipped and smacked her ankles, leaving red lines in her skin. Dana tried her best to keep her eyes locked on the pale figure fleeing away from her, but she couldn’t help but look at the sky. Ominous gray clouds had covered the blue pool and choked out the sun. They loomed low on the horizon, pregnant with rain. Every time Dana tried to yell at Zoe, another clap of thunder drowned her words.

Zoe became increasingly farther and farther away, as if some demon force was carrying her. Dana ran, until her feet were sore and her legs ached. But, she just couldn’t let her be taken again.

All of a sudden, the menacing clouds broke. The heavens burst open and the rain came pouring down. This wasn’t any warm summer shower either. Huge icy drops sliced across Dana’s face as she ran. The rain matted the dress to her legs like paste, further inhibiting her chase. It made the grass slippery, in turn preventing Dana from getting a grip on the earth with her bare feet.

The blue speck that Dana saw of Zoe soon ran into the foreboding forest ahead of her. The huge, twisted tree trunks seemed to have the screaming face of once living things. Of course, Dana followed her at full speed into the woods. The forest was an even worse place to run, there was no path. Long tentacles of briar bushes reached out, scratching open Dana’s flesh. The stinging, red lines of blood were in stark contrast to the now drenched color of Dana’s skin and dress. From pain and heartache, Dana had begun to cry as she scrambled after Zoe. Hot, salty tears streamed down her face, mixing with the rainwater. The forest floor was rocky and jagged, cutting the soles of Dana’s feet. She paid no attention to the terrain in her haste. Which cost her. She stepped on a large rock jutting out of the ground. Her wet foot slipped off, causing Dana to lose all her balance. Her knee buckled out from under her, and her other foot trailed down with it. The rest of her body followed as she landed with a scream of surprise. She had landed flat on her face and skidded across the muddy ground, the rocks cutting and digging into her limbs.

Off in the distance, Dana heard a shriek of fear. There was no mistaking it as Zoe’s. She had already lost sight of the girl, now she was gone period.

Realizing her fate, Dana drew her bleeding knees up to her chest. The physical pain wasn’t felt by her at all. But her heart was heavy with grief. She sat, crying, letting the rain wash the tears and blood down her face. She looked up into the gray clouds, as if pleading to God for mercy. Above her, lightning flickered and thunder crashed again as if it were His response. This wasn’t heaven after all, just a mocking illusion. This was hell.

* * * * * X * * * * *

Dana Scully took a sharp breath and sat up. She was covered in a cold, nightmare sweat. Her skin felt clammy and numb. She sat in her bed for a moment, chest heaving with every deep breath she drew in. It took her a few minutes to realize that it had been a dream, a nightmare. She put her hand on her forehead and rubbed her temples. Zoe had been stolen from her once again. It had been so vivid and real. An omen? Not likely, she thought.

In the five months since Zoe had been kidnapped, Scully had all but given up hope that she would one day return. She could put Zoe out of her conscious thought, allowing her some peace (certainly not as much as she had experienced in the beginning of her dream). But with these dreams, Zoe kept coming back in to her mind. At this point, her grief might never cease.

How much she missed the girl suddenly flowed back to her. Every detail she could remember, she did. The despair became overwhelming. Scully buried her face in her hands and began to sob quietly. Trying in vain—as she always did—to cry away the memories and the anguish.

Within a few moments, there was a groan from beside her. It was followed by some motion and a deep yawn. Mulder, who had been sleeping beside her, mumbled a nearly unintelligible question, "What’s wrong?"

At this, Scully immediately stopped weeping and tried to disguise her despair. They had been in a relationship for over five months, and she still hid some of her emotions. But, Mulder was learning how to pick them up. Scully tried to cover for herself, too, "Nothing, I-I was just thirsty." She turned to the side of the bed, to slide off. "Just getting a drink of water."

She padded barefoot, all the way out to the kitchen—instead of the bathroom,—hoping Mulder wouldn’t follow. She wanted to be alone, to think, to grieve. But, like the good boyfriend he’d been molded into, he got up, and joined her in the kitchen.

She sat at the kitchen table, with her glass of water. Mulder wandered out into the kitchen, and crept up behind her. He bent over her, entwining his arms around her shoulder’s. He kissed her lovingly on the cheek and rested his head on her shoulder, showing that he was there for her. In the kitchen light, her eyes showed red and the pink tear streaks were visible on her cheeks.

"What happened?" He asked gently, chin still holding its spot on her shoulder.

She sighed tiredly and leaned her head against his. "I had another nightmare."

"Same one?"

"No. This one was different, worse."

Mulder finally left her shoulder and took a seat across from her at the table. "Tell me about it, you’ve got to let it out."

She sighed and looked down at the glass of water sitting in front of her. "It was really peaceful, at first. I remember, I kept thinking that it was like heaven. That I had no problems there."

"Where?"

"I don’t know. I guess some kind of park. There were flowers, trees, birds. It was really nice." Scully paused, trying to remember just how nice it really was. "I don’t think I’ve ever felt so much peace."

"Sounds like a nice dream, so far."

"It gets worse. I remember I was wearing this spring dress. It was a light yellow, with little blue flowers on it. And I wasn’t wearing any shoes."

"Yeah, that is bad." Mulder remarked, nodding.

Scully found herself smiling a little before continuing, "I saw Zoe, she was leaning against a tree. She even called to me, ‘Mommy! Mommy!’" She explained, raising her voice to a childish pitch as an imitation of Zoe’s voice. "She laughed, oh, she was so happy. You should’ve seen how happy she was. . ." Scully trailed off, eyes welling with tears again. Just remembering a mere dream hurt her so.

Mulder reached out and wiped an overflowing tear from her cheek. Then, he placed a comforting hand over hers.

Scully closed her eyes, trying to regain some control. "She ran away from me, laughing. Tag. I chased her for awhile. I had to stop though, I was out of breath." Now, as she remembered, she shook her head, trying to make sense of it. "I’m not sure what happened next, she looked up at the sky, and something scared her. She took off again, and I chased her again. This time, whenever I seemed to get a little closer, she would just be further away. It started to storm, but I kept running. In these woods, I tripped on a rock and fell. I heard Zoe scream, and I just knew she was gone." More tears streamed down Scully’s face. She gazed deeply into Mulder’s hazel eyes, looking for some comfort. When she spoke again, her voice was just above a whisper and cracked from held back sobs. "They took her away from me again, Fox."

Now Mulder was at a loss for words. He had no idea what to say to ease her pain. He blamed her grief and nightmares on lack of closure. Zoe had been taken so suddenly, it had caused an emotional shock on not only Scully, but him too. Scully, who had never really gotten over Emily’s death, was ultimately hit the hardest. Sometimes—especially when he saw Scully like this—he wished Zoe had died, that at least would bring closure to the mourning. At this point, both his and Scully’s lives would be poisoned by the guilt that it was their fault. When in reality, it wasn’t.

After a few awkward minutes of silence, Mulder stood up. He took Scully’s hand and pulled her up. For a couple of minutes, he just held her in his embrace. Then, he led her back into the bedroom.

"It’s three a.m. Let’s try to get some sleep, okay?"

Scully nodded her reply.

Within the next half hour, Mulder did manage to get Scully back to sleep. No matter how bad her dreams were, he could always get her to sleep. She was the same way to him. A shoulder to cry on. Now, he was the one who couldn’t sleep. He just lay, Scully sleeping in his arms, pondering over Scully’s dream. An omen? Maybe. Maybe the dream was a sign of things to come, Zoe’s return, only to have her snatched away again.

* * * * * X * * * * *

J. Edgar Hoover Building

Washington, DC

September 4, 1999

Two days later, Scully was just packing up and preparing to leave for the evening, when the phone rang. She dropped her briefcase by the door and hurried over to the phone on her desk. She let out a mildly exasperated sigh as she lifted the phone out of its cradle.

"Scully," She answered in her normal, nonchalant answering voice.

"Hey, Scully, it’s me." Replied that all too familiar monotone voice. "Glad I caught you before you left. You’re gonna want to come down here and see this."

"See what? Where are you?" She questioned, irritated.

"I’m at Bethesda, just come over here. Come to the Children’s Ward."

"Fine, Mulder. But, this better be important."

"Oh, trust me, you’ll want to see this." On that note, Mulder hung up, leaving Scully with the dial tone. Trust you, she thought, that’s what you always say.

* * * * * X * * * * * *

Bethesda Naval Hospital

Bethesda, Maryland

Same day

The Bethesda Children’s Ward, as with most children’s wards, was a pleasant contrast to the rest of the hospital. All along the walls were joyful pictures of animals and flowers. The rooms themselves were painted with bright, placid trim. At the center of the ward, which was a whole floor, was the playroom. This was where Scully headed first, for the nurse at the counter told her a tall, dark-haired man had gone in there.

The room was filled with bright colors, sunlight, and children. Children in bandages, in wheel chairs, with disabilities, or with other ailments. They all played together in peace and harmony. Scully found Mulder sitting at one of the dwarfed tables. He was observing the children sitting across from him. She approached him, keeping her exasperated demeanor, to thoroughly display that she did not want to be here.

"All right, Mulder, I’m here. What was so important that you couldn’t explain over the phone?"

Mulder merely nodded toward the child sitting across from him. She was blonde and very young, about five years old. Her dramatic blue eyes were totally focused on the coloring book she was working on. With the child’s head being bent down, Scully couldn’t see the girl’s face clearly.

Scully shrugged, looking back at Mulder. When her eyes fell back to the girl, the girl was looking up. Recognition swept through Scully, shaking her to the core. She looked back at Mulder, for reassurance. He nodded, confirming her identification.

Scully then, knelt down beside the girl. The child gave her a quick glance, before returning to her work. "Zoe?" Scully asked, voice shaking.

The girl looked once more at Scully, for longer this time, as if she knew the glance.

Scully caught, and held Zoe’s gaze. But, there was something terribly wrong and empty with her stare. Scully covered her mouth with one hand. With the other, she reached out and touched Zoe’s cheek, as if confirming that she was real.

"Zoe? Do you know who I am?" Scully asked softly.

Zoe just looked at her, with that empty, blank stare.

By this time, a few teardrops had rolled down Scully’s cheeks. Mulder had stood up behind Scully, waiting for her reaction. She finally stood up, tears of surprise streaming down her cheeks. Scully tried to wipe away her own tears, trying to be strong. Mulder knew better, he had learned when she needed comfort, and when to leave her be. Whenever it came to Zoe, Scully could use as much comfort as she could get. She leaned against his shoulder, not really sobbing, just trying to get some solace. Meanwhile, Mulder had glanced back down at Zoe. She had resumed coloring as if nothing had happened.

Mulder pulled away a bit, so he could see Scully’s face. "I don’t think she remembers us." He stated truthfully.

Scully turned and gazed back down at the girl. Mulder was right. "How did you know she was here?"

"I didn’t. I came to talk to the witness in our case. On my way, I saw a nurse leading Zoe up to the playroom. I followed them here."

"Where’s the nurse that was with her?"

"Over there." Mulder said, gesturing toward a nurse standing by the door, overseeing the peace in the playroom.

Both Mulder and Scully approached the nurse. She was a middle-aged, sweet-faced lady. Scully made no hesitation in getting to her point, "Excuse me? You’re the nurse that cares for that young girl over there, right?" She asked, pointing to Zoe.

"Yes," The nurse replied. She had a smooth, good-natured voice. The disposition of someone who spends their daily life with children, and loves it.

"Could you tell me who brought her here?"

"No. . . I mean, we don’t know. She was literally left on the hospital doorstep. She was a little bag of bones, then. Now, she’ll only be staying here out of the goodness of the hospital’s heart until Social Services comes to get her. Do you know her?"

"Yes, her name is Zoe."

"Oh, umm. . . would you like to accompany us to her room? I was just about to take her back."

Scully briefly looked at Mulder, then answered, "Sure, maybe you can answer some of my questions."

Once in room 304, Zoe’s room, Zoe was put into her bed, for ‘quiet time’. The nurse, Nurse Pacelli, then joined Mulder and Scully out in the hall.

"Are you Zoe’s parents?"

Resisting the urge to answer yes, Scully answered truthfully, "No. Actually, we’re FBI agents heading the investigation on her kidnapping." As usual, they both flashed their badges for proof.

Nurse Pacelli was stunned, "Kidnapped, I-I thought she’d just been abandoned."

Scully shrugged off the nurse’s amazement and moved on to her next question. "Why won’t she talk to us?"

"The doctors aren’t really certain. I really don’t know anything about it. She was so starved when she was found, she almost died. Whatever happened to her, most of the doctors agree that it’s something psychological."

"When will she be allowed to leave?"

"Like I said, she’s only here until Social Services comes to get her. They should be here tomorrow. Is that all? Because I’ve really got more patients to attend to."

"Oh, thank you for your help." Scully answered quickly, her mind obviously on something else.

Once the nurse was out of sight, she turned to Mulder. "They’re not going to let us take her home now. If they looked deep enough into her records, they know her parents are dead, and that she’d supposed to be dead."

"Which means you . . . we can’t just keep her anymore. You’ll have to adopt her legally."

Scully then turned back to the door window and peered in, watching Zoe. Zoe was watching the television, if you can call staring blankly at the screen watching. She watched the child for a minute or two before speaking again. "I always hoped that I could just keep her, like she really was my child. Since everyone who cared thought she was dead, I really thought I could pull it off. Then, when she got taken, it broke my heart. Another one of my dreams came crashing to my feet. I started to imagine that when she came back, we would be happy again. She would come back, and we could be a family. It was supposed to be a happy time."

When she turned once more to Mulder, he could once again see the tears filling her eyes. He opened his arms to her, and she accepted the gesture. She didn’t break, like he thought she would. "Now look at her, Mulder. She doesn’t even know who we are."

Mulder let Scully go, a nurse down the hall was indicating that visiting hours were over. He did keep an arm around Scully’s waist as he walked with her away from Zoe’s room. They didn’t say good-bye to the girl, it wouldn’t affect her.

* * * * * X * * * * *

Bethesda Naval Hospital

Bethesda, Maryland

September 5, 1999

So, they were, back the next day. Mulder and Scully arrived just in time, too. The social worker assigned to Zoe was about to take her to the Social Services building.

They found the social worker, sitting in Zoe’s room, attempting to talk to her. Like it had been the day before, it was a one-sided conversation. The social worker—a portly, middle aged woman—acted like she would be a social worker. She had a good-natured voice, and a maternal smile. She reminded Scully of a kindergarten teacher. When the lady heard Mulder and Scully enter the room, she stood up to greet them and introduce herself.

"Hello, I’m Leslie Menikheim, I’ve been assigned to this young lady’s case. I was told by the nurse that two FBI agents were investigating her kidnapping, I’m guessing that would be you two?"

"Yes," Scully replied, nodding.

"Well, it seems that the girl’s records are missing from my databases. Do you know anything about that?"

"No," Scully answered this with partial honesty. Zoe’s records had all been missing since her parents were killed. Mulder and Scully had a good idea of who took them, but that wasn’t something to involve this woman in.

"If it’s all right, could you please tell me some basic information about her, if you know it? I need to fill out a form to leave with the hospital before I can remove her."

"Sure." Scully then took a seat in one of the two chairs in the room. "Her name is Zoe Samantha Hawkins. She lived at K. Vogel Luxury Apartments on Dupont circle. Apartment number thirty-six."

Leslie jotted this down quickly. "Birth date, parents’ names?"

Scully bit her lip, thinking, remembering. She searched the corners of her mind for the information when Zoe’s words rang into her head:

"All the women in my family are Pisces. Some are early March’s, some are late February’s. I’m a late February."

Scully’s own words followed in her memory, "Late February. I’m a Pisces, too. February 23. When’s your birthday?"

Scully looked back up at Ms. Menikheim from her thoughts and replied, "The twenty-fifth of February, 19. . . 94." She waited for Leslie to write this and continued. "Her parents’ names were Matthew and Robin Hawkins."

"Date of kidnapping?"

Scully looked up at a still standing Mulder for help. She couldn’t remember either. That week had been so hectic, dates hadn’t mattered. "I can’t remember. It’s written in her file back at the headquarters. I’ll have to find out for you later."

"Okay, thank you. I should be able to get her out of here now." Leslie said, rising to leave.

"Who is she going to see about her. . . condition?" Scully asked, not quite sure how to word it.

"She’ll be taken daily to a child psychologist, as soon as a psychopathologist can get something that resembles a diagnosis."

"No one’s diagnosed her yet?" Mulder asked this question as a psychologist himself.

"Apparently not. I’m guessing since they didn’t know the genetic history of the girl, they didn’t want to get too far into it until someone told them something. With your help, a diagnosis should be coming around soon." Now Leslie stepped over to the door, ready to leave. "I need to go file this paperwork down at registration as well as at the office. I should be back in about a half an hour. I was told that the child psychopathologist should be here soon, for some examinations."

Mulder and Scully nodded as Leslie Menikheim left them with Zoe. Scully changed seats to Zoe’s bedside. Zoe was laying near the opposite edge, staring at the ceiling. She seemed to be in a trance, a universe all her own. She didn’t move a muscle and didn’t make a single noise. The only movement coming from her tiny body at all was the steady rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. Whenever Scully looked at her, she couldn’t help but behold the expression on the girl’s face. Her eyes seemed to be empty, emotionless, and cold. They stared at nothing, but she was seeing, in her mind’s eye. Her face actually showed no expression at all, which was what frightened Scully. Zoe wasn’t affected by anything. She never smiled, never cried, never frowned. Her lips just remained in a confused, bitter line.

It killed Scully to see her like this. One single question continuously surfaced in her mind, What if she never comes back? Scully, who had been attached since day one, was utterly confused about how to react to this. She’d thought of herself as Zoe’s surrogate mother, if not legally, then emotionally. Her ‘daughter’ wouldn’t communicate with her, wouldn’t even acknowledge she knew who Scully was. This is what her dream ultimately meant, Zoe would return, but not really be there.

Scully watched Zoe intently, and hopefully. She imagined Zoe would turn her head and say something, anything. The words actually seemed to ring in Scully’s head, "I missed you, Mommy." or "I want some Jell-O." Anything would do.

Mulder approached Scully and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. He knew about Scully’s connection with Zoe. Scully had been a mother who had lost her daughter, Zoe had been a daughter who had lost her mother. When they found each other, a mother-daughter bond had rapidly been built. Since Scully may be unable to bear her own children thus far, she fell in a jealous love with everyone’s children. But, this wasn’t the jealous child-envy. Zoe and Scully were like the stability in each other’s lives, the only one who could fill the hole in the other’s heart. Scully took it upon herself to protect Zoe. Mulder ached to tell her she didn’t have to protect Zoe alone, but whenever he did, she just shook her head and ended the conversation.

Scully’s voice broke Mulder’s train of thoughts, "Mulder, I wish I could read her mind right now. To find out what she’s thinking, what she’s been through."

Mulder didn’t reply.

"I miss her."

"Me, too."

Suddenly, Mulder and Scully were interrupted by a rapping on the door. They both turned heads as the door opened. A petite, young woman stepped through the door. She was wearing a doctor’s lab coat. She smiled politely at Mulder and Scully as she held out her hand which they shook professionally. "Good morning. I’m the pathologist, Dr. Natalie Vaughan. Are you Zoe’s parents?"

This time, Mulder explained the details about them being FBI assigned to Zoe’s case.

"I’m going to take . . . Zoe to my exam room now to see if I can get a diagnosis." Dr. Vaughan stated, checking Zoe’s charts. "Did either of you spend time with her? You could be a big help."

"We both did." Scully replied. "I’ll be joining you in a second."

Dr. Vaughan then got Zoe off the bed and led her out of the room. Mulder turned to Scully, ready to leave himself. "I’m going to go back to the office, to pull Zoe’s file. And to let Skinner know that we’re dropping his case for awhile."

Scully nodded and stood. It would be nice to have Mulder stay with her, but there was work to do. Besides, she was a big girl and could handle this. Right?

As if reading her mind, Mulder asked a single question before leaving, "Are you going to be okay?"

Scully looked him as if she was irritated by this question. "Of course."

Mulder gave her a quick good-bye kiss on the cheek before he left.

When Scully arrived in Dr. Natalie Vaughan’s office, Dr. Vaughan was sitting next to Zoe on a dark green leather couch. Zoe continued to be in her own little world, barely grazed by the doctor’s words. Scully only had a dim hope Zoe would be talking when she got there.

Scully silently sat in a plastic chair across from Zoe and the doctor. Dr. Vaughan was asking Zoe simple questions, trying to break through her shell.

"Zoe, can you hear me?"

No answer.

"Can you hear my voice?"

Still none.

After about ten minutes of varied, unanswered questions, Dr. Vaughan looked at Scully. "Nothing. What can you tell me about her before this?"

"She was a fairly normal child. She talked, did everything a normal child did. She’s certainly not autistic." Scully explained, partially lying. Psychic children—what Zoe was—were anything but normal. For a moment, Scully debated over telling the doctor about Zoe’s mind-reading abilities, but she soon decided against it. Telling anyone could put Zoe in danger.

"Before I can make a clear diagnosis, I’ll need some genetic testing done." Dr. Vaughan claimed, rising from her seat and walking to her desk. "Now, where can I contact a good forensic pathologist?" She then mumbled, but loud enough for Scully to hear.

"You’ve got one right here."

"Great." Dr. Vaughan answered, nodding.

Scully snapped on a pair of prophylactic gloves to draw some blood. She began by tying a large rubber strip around Zoe’s upper arm to expose her right subclavian vein, a direct route to the heart. Next, she swabbed it gently with some rubbing alcohol. As she held up the syringe, she spoke to Zoe, as if she would care. "Okay, Zoe, this is just going to be a little prick." As she pierced Zoe’s skin with the needle and drew a sufficient amount of blood, the girl didn’t even flinch.

* * * * * X * * * * * *

FBI Headquarters

Washington, DC

Same day

About thirty minutes after Scully had acquired the genetic material from Zoe, she was in the FBI forensics laboratory, beginning her research. It would be a long process, but she was willing to commit. The lab was where Scully did her best work. She felt like she belonged there. She loved working in the field with Mulder, but her mind was in the lab.

Actually, she had been meaning to conduct some research on Zoe’s DNA. Now, she finally got a chance. She was supposed to check and test it for psychological disorders, but it gave her a chance to analyze it. Supposedly, genes had been spliced and altered to create a super intelligent human being. Scully wanted to know exactly what they did to Zoe’s genes.

* * * * * * X * * * * *

About three hours later, Mulder walked into the lab to see how Scully was progressing. When he got there, she was wrapping up her tests.

"Hey, Scully." He greeted casually. He picked up one of the test sheets, because it was there. Really, he didn’t know what he was looking at. Scientific experiments weren’t his thing.

"Hey yourself." Scully replied smartly, tossing away her prophylactic gloves.

"What did you find? Is Zoe’s silence from her genes?"

"I don’t think so. But, I did find something very interesting." Scully grabbed the papers from Mulder’s hands and flipped through to two papers with small pictures. "These," She stated, showing him the first set of photos, "are the average human being’s chromosomes. You do know what chromosomes are, right?"

"Yes, they contain deoxyribonucleic acid—DNA—the deciding factors for a person’s traits."

"Good, you did pay attention during school." Scully teased.

"Hey, I was a good student." Mulder retorted, acting hurt.

"So you also know that the human species has twenty-three pairs of chromosomes, forty-six in all?"

"Correct."

"Well, Zoe’s genes are different. Do you remember how I told you that everyone has certain genes that are dormant?"

"Yes, that was where Gibson Praise got his abilities. Are you saying she’s like him?"

"No, she’s totally different. His psychic abilities were natural, Zoe’s are anything but."

"How?"

"I’m getting to that part." Scully continued. By now, both she and Mulder were walking out of the lab back to their office, a floor below. "Are you familiar with gene splicing?"

"Not really. The Lone Gunmen are always babbling on about that stuff. I just figured they’d watched too much Star Trek."

"No, it’s real. Gene splicing is the uniting of the genes of two different species."

"Like growing a human ear on a rat."

"Yeah." Mulder and Scully had now reached the elevator, but were oblivious to the people around them. They just continued their conversation. "Zoe’s genes aren’t completely human."

"What? Are you trying to say she’s part animal?"

"I don’t know. I found a very minute extra chromosome. It’s very, very tiny. But, it’s like nothing I’ve ever encountered. It doesn’t seem to be . . ." Scully trailed off, not quite knowing how to form her words.

"A twenty-fourth chromosome." Mulder mumbled to himself as he looked at her anxiously when they stepped off the elevator. They had encountered clones before, each with fifty-six chromosomes, for advanced intelligence and such, but he already knew this was totally different.

"Of this planet." She finally blurted.

"Scully!" Mulder exclaimed in mock surprise. "You’re actually saying that Zoe is part alien?"

"I didn’t say that! God, I knew I would be ridiculed by you for this."

Mulder now stopped Scully as they walked down the hall to the office. When he spoke to her again, his voice was honest and sincere. "Scully, tell me the truth, what makes you think it’s not of this planet?"

At this point, Scully could have retorted with a sarcastic comment herself like, "You’re asking me for scientific proof!" But, she saw and recognized the eager, hungry look in his eyes. This was his passion. Sometimes, she even felt a bit frightened by the over ambitious glint in his eyes. She decided to answer with the utmost honesty. She knew she would not be bantered for her answer. "Every living thing on this planet is carbon based. This single chromosome is not. It’s nitrogen based."

Mulder stepped back. He was stunned. Basically, Scully was telling him that Zoe, her ‘daughter’ (which is what he thought of the girl now) was an alien-human hybrid. Those men, in the Conspiracy, had made more alien-human hybrids than he had known about.

He pulled himself from his thoughts and looked back down at Scully. She was looking up into his eyes for some sort of reassurance. It was rare—well, never—that she would suggest something like this. She had her hard core proof now. Discovered by her own two hands. He realized that it scared her, too. Finally, he reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Of course," She began. "We won’t know the truth until Zoe comes around. I think now that she was traumatized by something. Wherever they took her, she saw something, that scared her. We need to find out what that was."

Mulder nodded his reply.

"I think we should go back and see her. I need to deliver this information to Dr. Vaughan."

* * * * * X * * * * *

Bethesda Naval Hospital

Bethesda, Maryland

Same day

"This is very interesting, indeed." Dr. Natalie Vaughan muttered as she flipped through the genetic information. It was interesting because she was almost certain Zoe’s condition was genetic, and it wasn’t.

Scully had decided to conveniently leave out the chromosome sheets. She didn’t think the doctor should know about Zoe’s abilities unless she found out on her own. It would draw way too much attention to the child. These days, you didn’t know who you could trust.

"Since it’s not genetic, what is your diagnosis?" Mulder questioned.

"Well, I’ve been observing Zoe’s actions over the past hours, mostly in the playroom. She appears to be a loner, not wanting or even attempting to communicate or interact with the other children. She also spends her entire playtime drawing pictures of one and only one thing. You may want to see these." Dr. Vaughan stood up and grabbed a pile of papers off her desk. She handed them to Scully.

Scully flipped through them quickly, an eyebrow raised in her familiar thoughtful expression. She gave them to Mulder who studied each one closer, they interested him more. All of the pictures depicted the same thing, in different ways. A dark background with an odd looking figure in the foreground. The creature had a large, bulbous head. The head had two large black eyes in the center with a small slit of a mouth. It seemed to be short in height, but there was no real way of telling. The skin was smooth and hairless, with a gray color. In some of the pictures, the background was dark. In others, it was dark with yellow spots everywhere, lights.

Mulder knew exactly what the picture was of, an alien. The ones he’d seen, in dreams and in the reality Scully refused to believe. However, he wasn’t quite sure of what Zoe’s repetitious pictures had to do with this. "Do these mean anything?" He finally asked, as if the psychopathologist would know.

"I was hoping you could tell me."

Scully looked over at Mulder. A second-long conversation passed between them, with out a single word being spoken. "Nope." Scully answered flatly.

"Whatever these pictures mean," The doctor started, "are probably in relationship to her silence."

The three adults sat in silence for a moment, pondering over this thought.

Then, Dr. Vaughan continued, "My diagnosis is one of three things. Either one of three amnesia’s, including Broca’s amnesia—or aphasia, lacunar amnesia, or retrograde amnesia. You know what those are, right?"

"Yes," Scully answered, nodding. "Aphasia is the loss of the ability to use spoken or written language. Retrograde is the loss of memory of the events before the traumatic event. Lacunar is the inability to remember isolated events."

Dr. Vaughan nodded. "My other two diagnosis are catatonic schizophrenia, and some form of a post-traumatic stress disorder."

"I thought PTSD was usually only a condition in adults who have survived a battle." Scully stated, more as a question than anything.

"Usually it is. Children can get a form of it if they survive through something very traumatic. Like a war, a massacre, if they witness something that scares them beyond belief, things like that. Being separated from parents at Disney World wouldn’t be something traumatic enough. I’m leaning more towards the possibility of an amnesia or PTSD rather than the catatonic schizophrenia."

By now, Mulder had been lost in his own thoughts. While Scully and the doctor discussed Zoe’s conditions, he thought about Zoe’s pictures. What if she was trying to communicate through these drawings? What if this is what she saw that traumatized her? What had she been through? Whatever she’d seen, it would be something he didn’t even think a psychologist could break through. It would take something a bit more. A way to speak with Zoe’s memories, so to say.

* * * * * X * * * * * *

Children’s Angels Orphanage

Washington, DC

Same day

By the time Mulder and Scully were finished with their conversation with Dr. Natalie Vaughan, Leslie Menikheim had returned to pick up Zoe. The few things Zoe had received from various people at the hospital were packed up and loaded into Leslie’s van. Zoe herself was buckled into the back seat. She didn’t know or care where she was going or who was taking her.

Scully had suggested tagging along, to see where Zoe would be staying, temporarily. In reality, she wanted to have as much time with Zoe as possible. Hopefully, if things went like she wanted, that time would become unlimited. But, there would be a lot of work to do before she could even consider vouching for Zoe’s custody.

Zoe had been driven to and showed the orphanage—or what the workers called a ‘children’s center’—over half an hour ago. Leslie was eager to get her in a meeting with the psychologist. At this meeting was when someone drew the line. Mulder and Scully were not permitted to be with Zoe during her one-on-one meeting. Nor would they be allowed to any. The psychologist claimed that they were a possible negative influence. Which enraged Scully.

"Mulder, this is ridiculous!" She argued. "We were the last people she talked to. How could we be a negative influence!" She steamed as the stood in the hallway to the psychologist’s office. The psychologist—Dr. Jerry Croyer—worked at a private practice across the street from the orphanage.

Mulder decided that now would be a good time to pull Scully away from this for awhile. "Scully, I have an idea."

"What?" She snapped, turning to glare at him.

He turned her away from him and began rubbing her shoulders. He whispered softly in her ear his plans, trying to butter her up, "We could go out to dinner. Somewhere nice. Maybe go to a movie, and later. . ."

It’s not that the invitation didn’t ring well with her, it’s just that her mind was preoccupied. Actually, she and Mulder rarely ‘went out’. In the past few months, she could recall three times when they had gone to dinner, and that had been because it was convenient. They never had gone on a real date. There was just no time in their lives. Their relationship was basically confined to the realms of being together at work. And at home. "Mulder. . ." She started to say, but she didn’t know how to let him down. "How can you think of sex at a time like this?" She finally finished, trying to sound still upset, but her voice hid a hint of amusement at the gesture.

He let her go and sighed. "Well, you can’t say I didn’t try."

Scully thought for a split second, seeing the disappointment on Mulder’s face. "I’m not finished yet. I’m really not up for going out, after running around all day. So, let’s say we skip the dinner and the movie, and move to the later."

Mulder smiled, "You read my mind."

"Always." She remarked, adding a small kiss on his mouth for her point. Then she took his hand and they walked away from Zoe and their problems, for tonight anyway.

* * * * * * X * * * * *

Pediatric Psychological Disorders Building

Washington, DC

September 12, 1999

It had been a week since Zoe had left the hospital and been put into the orphanage. She hadn’t made any progressions with the psychologist. Scully had been spending as much time as possible with Zoe, as had Mulder. Now, the psychologist had decided to have a meeting with the two people who knew Zoe best.

"As you know, Zoe has not progressed at all. She continues to be shut in from the world, due to what I’m stating as a traumatic experience. She doesn’t speak, doesn’t display emotions, or even seem to know about the world around her. Frankly, I’m at a loss as to what to do. Because she has no legal guardians, the government has been paying for her treatment. The law says, this is as far as I can go without money from someone else, they won’t pay for further treatment." Dr. Croyer explained slowly, and calmly.

"Basically what you’re saying is that she has to stay like this until she becomes adopted." Scully confirmed.

"Yes."

Mulder had been doing a lot of thinking in this past few days. Last night, as he lay in bed with Scully, her sleeping in his arms after they’d made love; he’d remembered what he’d done in the past to jog people’s memories. He had been thinking about past-regressive hypnosis. The process in which one is hypnotized and talked into remembering past experiences. At this point, Mulder thought it would be the best way to get Zoe speaking. He also happened to know of a very good professional in the area. Time to speak up: "I have an idea, a last resort." He finally blurted.

Both the doctor and Scully looked over at him now, waiting for an explanation.

"Dr. Croyer, are you familiar with past-regressive hypnosis?"

"Yes, a rather controversial new treatment. Why?"

"I think it would be the only way for Zoe to tell us what happened. It may not get her talking, but it certainly would give us an idea as to what happened to her."

"I’ve actually practiced that method before, I’d be more than willing to perform it on Zoe." Dr. Croyer claimed.

Scully offered him a faux smile as she stood up. "Excuse me. Mulder, a word with you."

Mulder too stood and joined her in the hallway. She had a worried look on her face. "Mulder, I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with this."

"It’s okay Scully. This has worked before."

"Yeah, but half the time, the memories were implanted, or the hypnosis was affected by an outside influence."

"We’ll both be in there with her. Dr. Croyer can’t pull anything."

"I still don't feel comfortable putting her through this."

"You want to find out what made her like this, right?"

"Yeah . . ."

"Okay. If it makes you feel better, we’ll bring her back if she gets too upset, okay?"

Scully nodded in her surrender as they proceeded back into Dr. Croyer’s office where he was preparing Zoe. He had already placed a small black tape recorder on the table and sat Zoe on the couch across from it. The set up was one Scully was all too familiar with. She herself had gone under the hypnosis once. She’d also witnessed it on several occasions.

She and Mulder took their seats beside the chair where Croyer was sitting. Croyer’s method was a bit different than that of most hypnotist’s. He set a small ball bearing knocker on the table in front of Zoe. Before he lifted the first bearing to start the gravitational knocking, he spoke once more to Mulder and Scully:

"I’m not exactly sure if this is going to work on her. She’s so spaced out, she may not pay attention to me."

"‘Spaced-out’, is that a technical term, Doctor?" Mulder cracked, hoping to ease the room’s tension.

He chose a bad time, his remark was met by a sharp elbow-jab from Scully.

Doctor Croyer lifted the end ball bearing to start the knocker. Zoe’s eyes followed it like he’d hoped. He spoke like he normally would to a patient, not expecting or receiving a response. "Okay, Zoe, watch these balls. Focus on them very closely. Don’t take your eyes off them." Dr. Croyer kept talking Zoe into her trance with his steady, smooth, convincing voice. He signaled for Mulder to turn on the tape recorder and Mulder did as he was told.

"Now, Zoe, when I touch your nose, you’ll be asleep, okay?" Croyer said this, out of habit, not expecting any type of response.

But, to everyone’s surprise, Zoe nodded a reply, clearly already in some form of a trance.

Dr. Croyer reached out and touch the tip of Zoe’s little nose with his fingertip. She closed her eyes and her breathing slowed and became steady.

"Zoe, can you hear me?"

No response.

"Can you hear me Zoe?"

Zoe opened her mouth as if to speak, but no sound came out.

"Zoe Hawkins, can you hear me speaking? It’s your friend Dr. Jerry. I’ve got Dana and Fox here, too. They’d love to hear you."

This time, when Zoe opened her mouth, she did speak. Her voice was slow and methodical, like a computer. "Yes, I can hear you."

Scully let out the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. Zoe was speaking, but was it real?

"Zoe, I need you to answer some questions for me. Is that okay with you?"

"Okay."

"Can you tell us why you haven’t been speaking to us?"

"Afraid, I was afraid."

"Of what? What were you afraid of?"

"Them."

"Zoe, who is them?"

"Just them."

At this point, Mulder leaned over and whispered into Dr. Croyer’s ear, "Move on."

Croyer nodded and continued, "Zoe, tell us what happened when you were away." This was not a question, more of a command.

"I saw a lot of things."

"What did you see?"

"Men, children, beings."

Mulder whispered something once more to Croyer, Croyer nodded. When the questions were resumed, it was Mulder doing the asking.

"Zoe, do you know who this is?"

"Fox."

"Yes. Who are the children?"

"The others, like me. There are eight."

"Tell me what happened when they took you."

Now, Zoe began rocking back and forth, remembering what had happened to her. "We rode in a helicopter. To a very far place. I don’t know where. The others and I, we were all scared. Krychek kept telling us to shut up or he’d kill us. ‘Shut-up or I’ll kill you!’ Then, we were taken into a huge building. They put us all in separate little rooms, like cells. They were afraid, afraid we would grow too powerful against them. It was dark in the cells, and cold. I was hungry. So very hungry. They didn’t feed us a lot."

A few unnoticed tears ran down Zoe’s cheeks. Her face remained twisted in remembrance and pain. Scully could hardly take it anymore. She grabbed Mulder’s arm firmly in her hand, "Bring her back," She demanded, "it’s enough."

Mulder shook his head, he wasn’t finished. "What happened next?"

"One night, I was laying on the floor. I thought I was going to die. I hurt so bad inside. A being came to me. He was very kind. He opened the cell and held out his hand. He even helped me stand. Then, he led me out of the building. He never spoke, but I could read his mind. His thoughts were clearer than any human’s."

"Who was this being?"

"He. . . was. . . an alien." Zoe tried to say. Her words were unraveling. She cried harshly now, for some unknown reason.

Scully couldn’t withstand seeing her like this anymore. "Mulder, stop!" She pleaded, tears now forming around her eyes. He was the man she loved, but sometimes he was so goddamn stubborn.

He looked over at her, pulled away from his own truth-seeking trance. He nodded to Croyer who spoke next.

"Zoe, when I touch your nose again, you’ll come back to us, okay?"

Zoe nodded as Croyer once again reached out and touched her nose. Zoe didn’t open her eyes, she merely leaned over and lay down on the couch, befallen into a deep sleep. Scully started toward her, but Mulder stopped her.

"Let her sleep." He told her softly.

She sat back down, a mildly confused look on her face. "I don’t understand. What made her so upset?"

"I guess she saw more than she could say. Simply remembering it shook her to the core." The doctor hypothesized. "Now, there’s something I don’t understand. Zoe said she could read the being’s mind, what did she mean by that?"

Mulder shot Scully a quick glance. They both shrugged in a lie.

Scully sat with Zoe as she slept, watching her. Much to Scully’s surprise, Zoe moved a little in her sleep, mumbling something. She was lost in a dream. . .or a nightmare. Scully let it take its course, Zoe hadn’t responded to anything, even dreams, since she had returned. When Zoe became more and more disturbed as she slept, Scully even lifted the child’s head into her lap, and stroked her hair. She tried to ease Zoe’s fear, as her mother had done for her.

Mulder and Doctor Croyer had left Scully alone with Zoe. Mulder said he had some things to do, and Dr. Croyer had just left. Scully watched Zoe sleep, hoping that she would wake up, and speak to her. She even talked to Zoe softly as she slept. Just assuring the girl that she was there for her.

About an hour after Mulder had left, Zoe finally opened her eyes. Scully had drifted off herself, mostly from boredom. Zoe had been using Scully’s lap as a pillow ever since Scully moved her there. Scully awoke, from the movement around her. She opened her eyes to reveal an awakened Zoe. Zoe was sitting beside her, watching her sleep as Scully had done for her.

"Zoe?" Scully questioned, almost as if making certain it was actually her.

Zoe didn’t reply, she just continued to stare at Scully. Her facial expression remained the innocent, lost look it had been before. But, there was a difference in her gaze. To Scully, it didn’t seem as clouded or blank as before. Zoe actually seemed to be there, not in her own little world.

"Zoe, do you remember who I am?" Scully asked, voice on the shaky side.

Once again, Zoe didn’t speak. But she did do something that surprised Scully. The girl reached out and touched Scully’s face with one young hand. She then planted a sweet, honest kiss on Scully’s forehead. This moved Scully to tears. She let those tears stream down her face unchained. Zoe climbed onto Scully’s lap and gave her an endearing hug. She sat there on Scully’s lap, and rested her head on Scully’s chest, not saying a word. Dana continued to sob relentlessly, and held onto Zoe tightly. She wasn’t going to let the child go for the world.

* * * * * * X * * * * *

Mulder returned to the psychologist’s office in a haste. It had been Doctor Croyer who phoned him and explained that Zoe had returned. He immediately stopped what he was doing, and returned to Dr. Jerry Croyer’s office. He approached the door to the office almost cautiously, as if he was afraid of what he might find. What was inside the room was anything but scary, however. When Mulder opened the door, he saw Scully sitting on the sofa, talking to Zoe. The different thing was that Zoe was talking back.

Mulder walked into the room slowly, as to not interrupt Zoe and Scully’s precious conversation. He sat quietly in the chair which had been previously occupied by Dr. Croyer, amazed at what he was beholding.

Zoe looked over and saw Fox sitting in the chair. She smiled at him and got up off the couch. She sauntered over to his chair and reached up to hug him. He bent down and scooped her off her feet. He spun her once in a tight embrace before sitting down beside Scully, Zoe in his lap.

"Zoe, you remember who we are?" Mulder asked, a bit bewildered.

"Yes. I never forgot."

"Why wouldn’t you talk to us before?" He inquired next.

"What do you mean?" Zoe’s tone was confused, she had a playful look on her face, like Mulder was pulling a prank.

Scully looked at Mulder uneasily. At first, she was going to recommend Zoe go play with some of the toys, but then she remembered that no secrets could be kept from the child’s prying mind. What she needed to say to Mulder would have to be said in front of Zoe. "Mulder, Zoe can’t remember her condition. She doesn’t remember the past few weeks."

"What are you talking about?" Zoe queried, slightly wary.

"Zoe, do you remember the past couple of weeks?"

Zoe thought for a second, but her mind only came up a blank. "No, actually I can’t. When I try, all I see is light; bright, white light."

"Well, Zoe," Scully began, "I’m afraid you have some form of anterograde amnesia."

Zoe didn’t know how to reply. She was familiar with anterograde amnesia, but she didn’t even know she had it.

"What is the last thing you remember?" Mulder asked, becoming the psychologist with Zoe as his patient.

"I remember the cells that they locked us up in."

"Can you tell us what happened after you were taken from the building?"

Zoe nodded. When she began telling her story, her voice was firm and unwavering. "They loaded us up into a monstrous helicopter."

Fear. The only emotion Zoe could discern from the rest was fear. Pure, animalistic terror. She cried and screamed as Alex Krychek’s henchmen carried her trashing out of the rear of the laboratory. The other four children were also loaded into the military fashion helicopter.

She learned about the twenty-fourth chromosome from the scientists. She also learned about the three others. The scientists referred to them as ‘The Magic Eight’. They were mostly a research experiment. This knowledge enraged Zoe, to know that you were born only as an experiment for future experiments, is the ultimate insult.

By now, Zoe had even begun to cry. It didn’t inhibit her story, but it made Mulder and Scully further understand her pain.

The cells were very small, probably four feet by four feet. They were dark and cold. Whenever they had to use the restroom, they would have to call for a guard. Once in awhile, Zoe would see one of the others walk by.

Zoe started sobbing harder now, distracted from her story. "He was so young. How. . . could. . . they. . . let. . . him die like that?" She cried. "I don’t. . . know for sure if he’s dead, I hope to God he’s not."

They were stronger as eight. After she’d seen Zane carried away, Zoe became enraged and saddened. She felt a pang at the bottom of her gut, as if a part of her died, too.

"I know I passed out. Before the world went dark, I thought, ‘This is the end, I’m finally going to die.’" Zoe now had stopped sobbing. Her voice had returned to its smooth, steady tone. "The last thing I remember was bright light. I remember a face, too. It was pale gray with two black eyes. Probably a starvation hallucination."

Mulder knew better. Zoe sounded amazingly like Scully, with her scientific explanation. Zoe had seen an alien.

"My memory goes from that to waking up here with Dana."

"You don’t remember the hospital?" Scully asked.

"No." Zoe answered, shaking her head.

Mulder reached out and picked up Zoe’s drawings which Doctor Croyer had kept in a file. He opened the file and showed them to her. "You don’t remember drawing these?"

Zoe’s eyes widened some, the pictures struck her memory. "I don’t remember drawing them, but I do slightly remember him."

"Him who?" Scully inquired, almost afraid of the answer.

"I don’t know what he was. He seemed nice. I remember he spoke to me with his mind. Telepathy. But, it was different than any human’s. I don’t know how, just, different."

"This is what he looked like?" Mulder asked, tapping one of the pictures with his index finger. Scully looked at him and saw that the truth-glint was back. She only hoped he didn’t push Zoe too far.

"I don’t remember. I think. After I passed out, I woke up only once, for like ten seconds. All I got was a glimpse."

Mulder sat back in the sofa and sighed. Zoe slid off his lap and sat on the coffee table by the couch. He furrowed his eyebrows, pondering for a minute. Scully remained silent as Zoe watched him. She knew Zoe was hearing every one of his thoughts as soon as they popped into his mind. But, since Scully couldn’t read minds, so she would have to wait and hear Mulder’s theory on this.

After he pondered for another minute, Mulder finally spoke, "Zoe do you think you may have been abducted?"

Zoe just looked at him quizzically. Scully’s look was harsher, more of an ‘Oh, God, not again’ sort of look.

Mulder glanced at the skeptic girls before continuing. "I’m serious. It all fits. I mean, bright, white light. Gray pigment, black eyes. When she was hypnotized, she even said he was an alien."

"Mulder. . ." Scully mumbled in her best ‘I can’t believe this’ voice.

Mulder reached out and took Zoe by the shoulders, standing her up. He turned her so her back was to him. Gently, he swept the hair off her back so he could see her neck. The identification tattoo was still there, that wasn’t what he was looking for. He placed his hand on the back of her neck and felt around the skin. He inspected it very closely. When he didn’t find what he’d been looking for, Mulder once again sat back with a sigh.

Scully knew what he’d been looking for, an implant. An implant probably similar to the very one she had in her own neck. As they sat while Mulder thought, she found her own hand reaching beneath her hair and touching the unnoticeable bump. The chip, which had saved her life. Most apparent abductees had a small chip in the back of their neck. Since Mulder didn’t see one, and when Scully checked and didn’t see one, Zoe may not have been abducted.

He still wasn’t satisfied. "Zoe, do you remember what you told us when you were hypnotized?"

"I was hypnotized?"

"Yes, not two hours ago."

"Nope. I don’t remember that, either."

Mulder nodded and grabbed the black tape recorder from the table. He pressed play and replaced it to its original spot. Zoe’s own voice along with Dr. Croyer’s and Mulder’s droned on in it. Re-telling Zoe’s story.

She sat, listening as her own voice spoke. Her voice didn’t sound like it was hers.

After it was over, Mulder turned off the tape and looked once more to Zoe. "Does any of that ring a bell?"

Zoe shook her head, "Sorry."

Mulder stood up, lost again in his own thoughts. He was certain Zoe had been abducted. Maybe not in the same fashion as the other abductees, but abducted nonetheless.

* * * * * * X * * * * *

Children’s Angels Orphanage

Washington, DC

September 15, 1999

Scully had returned to the Children’s Angels Orphanage with more of a purpose than before. Three days after Zoe had returned from her ‘trance’ she was more than ready to go home. Back to Scully’s apartment, that is. When she had been at the orphanage before, she had no conscious clue about her surroundings, now that she was more observant, she claimed the place ‘sucked’. Zoe absolutely hated being around the other children who had no idea about the simple logic she knew of. Even though Zoe was far more intelligent, she couldn’t comprehend what would possess children to pick their nose and eat their findings. The social workers too got own her nerves. They didn’t know of her abilities either. So naturally, they treated her like all the other children.

It was high time Scully made an appointment for a meeting with Zoe’s social worker, Leslie Menikheim. She was opting to adopt Zoe. Scully’s hopes were as high as could be, but falsely placed. She knew there was a low chance she could adopt Zoe right away. Scully had originally tried to adopt Emily, but they wouldn’t let her, even though Emily had been her own flesh and blood.

Scully now sat in Leslie’s office, anticipating the worst. Leslie was behind her desk looking through both the case file on Zoe (it was all that was available on her past) and Scully’s history file. Scully was probably more nervous than she’d ever been in her entire life. Not even flukemen, vampires, aliens, ghosts, high school SAT’s, or Quantico finals could rack her nerves worse than this. Leslie didn’t make it any easier either. She would skim a little information, then look up at Scully with an overly friendly smile. Besides that, Mulder wasn’t even there for her. He claimed to have ‘stuff to do’ and couldn’t make it. She’d sighed and told him ‘All right, I’m a big girl, I can do this.’

Leslie finally finished with the file and put it down. She took off her wireless reading glasses and looked over the desk at Scully. She smiled and spoke, "Your file claims that you tried to adopt another young girl out in California. They denied you because of your lifestyle and the girl’s condition. It also says that the girl was later found to be your real daughter, shortly before she passed away. Is this true so far?"

Scully nodded, dreading where this was going.

"Your lifestyle hasn’t changed since. What makes you think my decision will?"

Oh but how things have changed. Dana thought as she shrugged her response to Leslie’s question.

"Your career remains as dangerous and time-consuming as ever. You’ve recently been having fall-outs with your employer. And, you’re still single with no steady boy—"

"Ahh," Scully interrupted, "I do have a steady boyfriend, as of March." She corrected.

Leslie made a note of it on Scully’s file. "Could I get a name, so I can pull his file as a credential to yours?"

Scully leaned forward in her seat a little, she was almost willing to tell this woman anything to help her get Zoe. "Fox—as in small dog-like animal—Mulder."

Leslie jotted this down, too. "Isn’t that your partner?"

"Yes," Was all Scully replied, no details.

"Okay," Leslie began carefully, she had to deal with letting people down everyday, she could do this. Welcome to the hum-drum life of a social worker. "Dana— may I call you Dana?"

Scully nodded slowly, just to pass the moment with out explanation.

"Dana, I know you’ve heard this before, but I have to bring it back up. You just have no credentials that assure me you’re going to be the best guardian for Zoe. The lifestyle is just not fitting for a five-year-old child. At this point in your life, I wouldn’t even recommend having your own children. When will you have time to give them the attention they deserve? Truthfully, it will take a lot more to even convince me that you are a possible foster mother."

Scully was speechless. Rather than being saddened though, she was angry. Where does she get off telling me when to have my own children?! It was this remark that pushed her over the edge. She knew she had to choose her words carefully, and not blow her top, to better her chances.

"First of all, —as professional to professional— you’ll call me by my address, Agent Scully. My first name is reserved for friends and family, of which you are neither. Second of all, I can have children whenever I damn-well please. Last, have you even considered Zoe’s real welfare?"

"Agent Scully, the child’s welfare is the first thing we look at. That is what you can not provide." Leslie was surprised by Scully’s blow, but she’d dealt with worse.

"I’m not talking about food, or clothing, or shelter—which I can provide—I’m talking about love. Not learned love, or acquired love, but real love." Now, like any good lawyer, Scully calmed down. She softened her voice and her demeanor, to change the mood of her argument. "I love Zoe more than anything in the world. I just want you to know, that I would do anything to get her. If that means resigning from the FBI, so be it. I’d hate for it to come down to that, but . . . Well, let’s just say I’d go to the ends of the Earth for her." With that, Scully stood up and walked out, leaving Leslie with a few strong thoughts.

As she walked down the hallway Scully was still a little steamed about a few of Leslie’s remarks. She thought she handled that well though. If I smoked, I’d need a cigarette right about now. Just before entering the ‘community room’—where all the children played—Scully looked toward the front entrance. Where the hell is Mulder?

Scully easily found Zoe in the community room. Zoe was almost always by herself, drawing or whatever. Today, she had gotten the blocks all to herself and was building a tower.

"Hey, Zoe. Having fun?" Scully greeted.

"Hi, Dana. Oh yeah, woo-hoo." Zoe retorted, obviously bored. "How did it go?"

"I don’t know. Okay, I guess." Scully tried to sound a little more hopeful than she actually was, but it didn’t really work.

"It didn’t go so good, huh?"

"No. She says my lifestyle is too demanding, like they always say. I’m not fit to be your foster mother."

"We can change her mind, I know we can." Zoe replied genuinely, trying to cheer up Scully. When it didn’t work, she changed the subject. "I know a secret."

Scully, who had sat down on the floor beside her, chin in palm, looked up unenthusiastically. "Oh yeah. What is it?"

"If I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret, now would it?" Zoe teased.

Scully sat up, deciding to play along. Just to get her mind off the meeting. "Tell me." She said in mock demanding.

"No." Zoe replied, grinning.

"Well," Scully began through gritted teeth. "then I’ll just have to tickle it out of you." Scully grabbed Zoe and did just that.

Zoe burst into gleeful laughter, rolling on the ground, trying to escape. Scully laughed too. Finally, in between giggles, Zoe managed to say, "Okay. . . I’ll tell. . . I’ll

tell. . . ha ha-ha!"

Scully let her sit up and catch her breath. "Fox, has a surprise for you." Zoe whispered loudly.

"Oooh, what kind of surprise?"

Zoe raised her hands in a classic ‘I don’t know gesture’.

"Oh, I bet you do know." Scully said, reaching once more towards Zoe.

Zoe backed away. "No. This is where I draw the line. Let yourself be a little surprised."

"Fine." Scully answered. She then sat back, placing her hands behind her to support her. She glanced at her watch as Zoe resumed building her block tower. "As soon as Mulder gets back, we’ll see if we can’t get you out of here for a little while."

"Where are we gonna go?"

"I don’t know. It was Mulder’s idea."

Mulder returned from his mysterious errands about a half an hour later. He entered the community room in a whirl, like he was hurried to get somewhere. He greeted Scully and Zoe before ushering them along with a "Let’s go."

Scully stood still and looked at him questioningly. "Mulder, where’s the fire?"

"No where, I just want to get going."

"Don’t we need to discuss something first?" She asked.

"N—"

"Yes," Zoe cut in. "You want answers about the twenty-fourth chromosome, right? Okay, let’s talk." This time Zoe did the ushering, over to a small table in the corner.

Before she let Zoe begin, Scully had to make sure Zoe was all right with discussing this again. Each time she’d talked about it before, the stories had always ended in tears. "Zoe, are you ready to talk about this?"

"Sure. I’m just going to explain what I learned." Zoe took a deep breath, and let it out. Then she took another, and let it out. She shifted in her seat a little, and began, "Okay, you already found out about the twenty-fourth chromosome. The ALPHA-HUMAN Project was deeper than we first thought. All of the men who did the initial testing knew very little about what they were testing with. This project was a side project to the other alien-human hybrid project. I don’t know what the point of it was, but obviously, it was something big. The gene splicing was done with different human genes along with a minute portion of an extra-terrestrial DNA."

"Is the extra-terrestrial DNA what makes you . . . intelligent?"

"Partly. It’s partly the mixture of the human genes, and partly the alien trait. You know of Cassandra Spender . . . err . . . knew of, am I right?"

Mulder and Scully nodded.

"She was a part of the primary alien-human hybrid project. Let’s say humans—normal ones— are one-hundred percent human, okay? Cassandra Spender was like, ninety-eight percent human, two percent alien. The others and I, are like ninety-nine point nine percent human."

"What about telekinesis? Do any of you have telekinesis?"

"Yes, not me, but four of the others. You probably already noticed that we are all even. Four boys, four girls. Two girls and two boys have telekinesis. I’m not one of them."

Scully looked back and forth between Mulder and Zoe. She had no real further interest in Zoe’s genetic make-up. Her biggest concern right now was being able to adopt Zoe.

"Are we ready to go?" She asked finally.

"Don’t we need to talk to Leslie first?"

"Yeah, but I’m sure she’ll let us take Zoe for a few hours."

Mulder nodded as they stood. By a stroke of good fortune, Leslie just happened to have entered the community room. Behind her, were a young couple. They seemed very anxious about something, all smiles and holding hands. They were fresh, probably in their early thirties and newly weds. Most likely here to adopt a baby.

Leslie looked around the room briefly and spotted them. She approached the trio as if she’d been looking for them. She opened her mouth to speak, but Scully cut her off.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Vaughan," She addressed, still going for sir names after their bout in the meeting earlier. "We’d like to take Zoe out for a few hours, for dinner."

Leslie looked at Scully, a solemn expression on her face. Scully noticed the young woman’s smile falter a little. "Normally I would let you, you know I would. But, these are the D’Angelo’s. They’re here for an adoption meeting with Zoe." Leslie used a corny happiness tone as she mentioned the last phrase, to reassure the D’Angelo’s. She shifted her eyes from Scully to Zoe. "I thought I told you Zoe."

Zoe, lapsing into her ‘normal five-year-old routine,’ answered. "Sorry."

Leslie smiled at Zoe. "That’s all right sweetheart. Now, Mr. and Mrs. D’Angelo, why don’t you go find a table and get to know Zoe a little better while I chat with Ms. Scully."

The D’Angelo’s smiled once more in their unknowing way and led Zoe to the table Mulder and Scully had just been occupying. As soon as they were no longer paying attention, Leslie Vaughan’s corny smile faded to her more serious expression. "Ms.

Scully . . . excuse me Agent Scully, I’ve already informed you about your position in Zoe’s life. Now that she’s recovered, she’s actively up for adoption. Most people want babies, but she still young and has a chance to get a good home. Now, I’m going to have to ask you to leave as your assistance is no longer needed."

With that, Leslie stepped off in a huff, and rejoined the D’Angelo’s.

Scully was a brewing cauldron of emotions. At first, she was upset enough to cry, but her anger wouldn’t let her. Then, she was overcome by a powerful feeling utter hopelessness. She masked her hopelessness with another shield of rage. "Can you believe that woman!" She roared as Mulder led her out of the community room. "She acts like she’s trying to sell a refrigerator not give a human being a new life!"

Mulder merely nodded saying, "I know."

They walked together down the street to the car, which was about to buildings down. "I can’t believe she won’t even let me see Zoe anymore. Just because she has a problem with my career, I can’t have the girl I love like a daughter."

Mulder tentatively placed his hand on Scully’s shoulder, like a man trying to pet a viscous dog. That seemed to calm her down enough to get her in the car. But, he could tell it was going to be a long night.

* * * * * X * * * * *

Children’s Angels Orphanage

Washington, DC

September 24, 1999

Over a week later, Scully had found herself spending lees time than she desired with Zoe. Leslie Vaughan was being as uncooperative as ever, now not even considering Scully a player for Zoe’s custody. No matter what Leslie Vaughan tried to do, Scully always managed to get her time with Zoe. Leslie’s biggest excuse for Scully not seeing Zoe was she ‘had a meeting’.

Today, Scully caught Zoe in some much needed down time. She had no meetings for almost two hours today. Those two hours would be spent with Scully. Rather than being in the community room, today Zoe and Scully sat side by side in Zoe’s little bed. The bedrooms were shared among other girls around her age. There were about five other beds in the room. But, Zoe and Scully were the only people in the room.

"So, Zoe, how have your meetings been going?" Scully asked, just trying to make conversation.

"I don’t like ‘em. The people are really nice and all, but . . .it’ just . . . they’re not you."

"Are you starting to remember anything?"

"Actually, I am. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking—there’s not much else to do—and I think I remember things I didn’t before."

"What’s that?"

"The base, the others are still at the base. I can feel it. I think I know where the base is, too. I think it’s in Mexico."

"Mexico?" Scully asked, that sounded almost like something Mulder would say.

"Yes. It was really hot when we got off the chopper. And I remember one of the scientists in the lab. He was an outsider. He knew where we were." Zoe closed her eyes, letting herself be swept into her own memory. "It’s in Zacatecas. It looks like a small military base. There’s a sign that says ‘U.S. Military Base- Red Rover’. It’s not even U.S. military. Red Rover is code, but I’m not sure what it means. The locals call it ‘the quiet building’ because nothing ever happens there."

Zoe opened her eyes, obviously proud of her memory.

Scully just looked at her with a queer expression. Is she kidding?

"No." Zoe answered, right off the bat.

"Zoe, do you expect me to go to Zacatecas, Mexico?"

"If you want the truth . . .err should I say, the answers."

* * * * * * X * * * * *

J. Edgar Hoover Building - FBI Headquarters

Washington DC

Same day

Scully found Mulder in the exact spot she thought she would. Sitting in his desk chair, feet propped on the desk. He was reading a magazine with a disturbing amount of enthrallment. As Scully entered the office, she noticed the title, ‘Celebrity Skin’.

"Is that one of those magazines that go with the tapes that aren’t yours?" She inquired, jeering.

She had caught him by surprise, which made the comment all the more fun. He quickly stashed the magazine in his forbidden bottom desk drawer. Then, he faltered for a second before sitting up in his chair and resuming a more innocent demeanor. "What magazine?"

Scully gave him a ‘very funny look’ and leaned against his desk.

"I thought you were spending time with Zoe?" He queried, changing the subject.

"I was. But I found out a little information you might want to know."

Immediately, Mulder was interested. "What is it?"

"I would of told you over the phone, but for some reason, it’s not on. Maybe Eugene Victor Tooms squeezed in and turned it off while you had you nose buried in that girlie magazine."

"Ow. A case pun and a nose joke, all in the same sentence. I’m hurt, Scully."

She smiled jokingly at him, "Too bad."

"Okay, seriously, what’s the big information?"

Scully’s expression dropped from it’s previous playful light to a more serious tone. "Zoe says she knows where the other children are."

"Really? Where?"

"Zacatecas, Mexico. In a fake military base in the middle of nowhere."

"And you believe her?"

"I don’t know. I mean, she is Zoe, but she only remembered this. Her details may be a little. . . rough around the edges." Scully replied. She did believe Zoe actually. The truth of the matter was, well, the truth. She was afraid of what truth she might find in Zacatecas. Besides that, going across the United States to Zacatecas was not exactly something she really looked forward to doing.

Mulder, however, was delighted. Finally, some leads. Now, all he had to do was get some better details and talk to Zoe himself before booking two flights to Mexico. A fake army base possibly containing more evidence than ever about the alien-human hybrid program. Ahh, obsession.

Scully looked up at Mulder, who had now stood from his desk, an anxious grin on his lips. Her intuition told her the following: Mulder believed every bit Zoe was going to tell him. They were going to Zacatecas. Bon Voyage, don’t forget to write, she thought to herself.

Just to make sure, "Mulder, we’re going to Zacatecas, aren’t we?"

Mulder smiled at her, for some odd reason. "Like always, Scully, thinking on your toes."

She slightly flashed him a sarcastic ‘Oh, God’ smile and followed him out of the office.

* * * * * X * * * * *

Zacatecas, Mexico

September 26, 1999

Mexico sucked. Scully wasn’t enjoying her stay one bit. First off, they stayed in a tiny hotel in a no name town in the middle of nowhere, Mexico. The hotel smelled funny and so did the residents. She constantly wished she could have convinced Mulder to let them stay in the city of Zacatecas. Second off, none of these people could speak English. That were so far from anywhere, it was a language not needed. The only people Mulder and Scully encountered that could speak English, were a rowdy bunch of teenagers who knew nothing but English curse words. Scully didn’t get along very well with people she didn’t understand. That and the fact that she didn’t want to be in Mexico made her all the more intolerable.

She and Mulder had driven around all day, looking for the building Zoe had described using her directions. It had gotten them nowhere.

"Mulder what are we doing here?" Scully asked him as they drove down yet another dirt road, leaving furrows of dust in their tracks.

"Looking for answers." He replied coolly.

"We haven’t found any. We haven’t found this mysterious base either. Frankly, I don’t think we’re going to find it. And I don’t think you know where we’re going." She retorted, agitated. She had been wearing one of her work suits. Bad idea. Mexico was not unlike Texas, in fact, it was worse. Along the way to nowhere, she’d bought a tee-shirt and shorts. She was still hot with these on.

Mulder glanced over at her, mildly amused with her exasperation. Her tee-shirt stated ‘Been There, Done that, Bought this T-shirt’. That, her annoyed expression, and her bare feet (she’d kicked off her shoes long ago); gave her a comical appearance. He too had bought a new outfit, tee shirt and shorts. "Patience, my dear." He answered calmly.

"Patience my ass." She muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Mulder asked, leaning toward her like a deaf man trying to hear.

"You heard me." She shot back, smacking his arm.

He pulled back and rubbed his arm, pretending it hurt worse than it did. "Oww, what did you hit me for?"

"For being a smart-ass."

He looked at her again, this time a mischievous expression replacing the mildly amused smirk. "Oh yeah, I’ll show you a smart-ass."

He slammed the brakes, bringing their rental car to a dusty halt in the middle of the road. For miles, stretched nothing. There were no other cars in sight. Scully looked at him in a more irritated manner.

He slid over closer—the car was an old one with a front middle seat—and kissed her long and hard on the lips. This caught her off-guard, and her expression was surprised, but bemused. He moved back in for another kiss, but she stopped him. She grabbed his face and pinched it to a fish face. As she spoke, she moved his face from side to side, "Mulder, what do you think your doing?"

She let him go and he sat up. "Being a smart-ass."

She shot him an evil glare before speaking. "Drive. They don’t pay us to have sex in the middle of Mexico. They pay us to solve cases. If you find a case that involves having sex in Mexico, I’ll be glad to hear about it. Until then, just drive to the nearest town so we can find out directions."

"I’m not asking for directions." He mumbled as he shifted the car back into drive and started off.

This time, Scully sighed, all the playfulness out of her voice. "Mulder, I’m tired, I’m hot, and I’m hungry. My ass is sticking to this goddamn car seat and I’m tired of driving. Just ask some locals if they know where this base is, okay?"

Mulder nodded slowly, finally giving in. There were times to be stubborn, and times to give in to Scully or get punched in the face.

The nearest town was called ‘Enmedio de la Nada’ or ‘Middle of Nowhere’. The name fits, Scully thought as they drove into town.

Mulder stopped at a small general store near the edge of the town. He and Scully both got out.

The only worker at the Mexican equivalent to a Quick-E-Mart was an elderly man. He had an unlit cigar in his mouth and a tattered hat on his head. He was a string bean kind of guy, long and gangly. Even taller and more lanky than Mulder. "Mexican hick." Mulder had mumbled as they entered the shop. Scully had veered off toward the refrigerators, in hopes of a nice cold drink. Mulder had gone up to the string-bean-man, for some directions.

"Hola." Mulder began, hoping this man knew more English than he knew Spanish.

The man nodded his reply.

"Hablas ingles?" He asked of the man, ‘Do you speak English?’

"No," The man answered. "No ingles."

Mulder sighed, Oh this is going to be difficult. "Umm. . . Do you know where the military base is?" He tried.

The man shook his head saying, "No entiendo."

He doesn’t understand, great. "¿El edificio bastante? The quiet building?" Mulder asked.

"Sì." The man replied, nodding.

"How far is it?" Mulder attempted once more, knowing the man would not understand.

The man shook his head, "¡No entiendo!"

This time, Mulder used some hand gestures to accent his words. "HOW. . .FAR IS IT??" He also raised his voice, as if the man was deaf. As he spoke, he put his hands together, then pulled them apart, signifying length. "HOW FAR?"

The man looked at him quizzically and burst into some spouts of Spanish, "Ve dos millas al oeste . . . es facil de encontrar. No hay pierde."

"I didn’t understand a word of that." Mulder replied, mostly to himself. He chuckled a little, too. Also mostly at himself.

The man chuckled back, like Mulder had told a joke. Mulder did pick up a little though, two miles and west. But he asked, to be sure, "West?"

The man reached out with one bony hand and pointed in the direction they were heading, west. "Asì, Señor." He replied.

Mulder sighed gratefully and turned to leave, "Gracias, Señor."

"Tienes una dia buena." Was called from behind him.

Have a good, fucking day yourself, man. He thought. This was exactly why he hated asking for directions.

Scully approached the counter herself, armed with two sodas and a bag of chips. She placed them on the counter as string-bean man held up five fingers. "Cinco dollars." He stated.

"Five bucks! Are you kidding?" Scully exclaimed.

"Cinco dollars." He restated firmly.

Scully handed him five American dollars, that would have to do.

"Gracias." The man replied. "Tienes una dia buena."

"Yeah, whatever, man." She answered, not understanding a word he had said. "Adìos."

Scully left the store and rejoined Mulder in the car. He had pulled his sweat soaked shirt of and thrown it into the back off the car. She climbed in beside him and handed him one of the sodas.

"Hot stuff?" She asked as she ripped open her bag of chips.

"Yeah." He answered blandly. He looked hungrily at her chips and spoke again, "Where’s mine?"

She just looked at him, expression saying it all. But, she eventually let him have some of hers, as they started off again, heading west.

They arrived at the gates to the ‘U.S. Military Base - Red Rover’, about fifteen minutes after leaving the Mexican Quick-E-Mart and string-bean-man, at around 4:00 p.m. Scully slipped her tennis shoes back on and got out of the car after Mulder. He was already by the lock chain link gate. Once Scully got out, she could see that the ten-foot-high fence stretched on for miles. There was barbed wire entwined around the top of the fence, preventing climbing. She looked at Mulder. He stood, thinking, arms crossed over his chest.

"Well?" She said, "Now what?"

Mulder turned—without answering her—and went back to the car. She watched him rummage around in the back before pulling out both of their work jackets, guns, and flashlights. "You’ll need these." He replied, handing her her stuff. "It gets cold fast out here. You never know what you’ll find in there, too."

Scully obeyed and put on her jacket and gun holster. Before she could ask Mulder another question, she heard a single gunshot. It rang out into the relatively quiet evening like an explosion, causing her to jump. When she looked back at Mulder, he was re-holstering his gun. The shattered master padlock lay at his feet. His methods were questionable, but worked. She proceeded to help him open the gate.

The building was about fifty yards from the gate, so they walked it. It was a huge, looming building that did mildly resemble some kind of military operations base. There wasn’t a guard in sight, or a security camera, which was odd. There were also no locking mechanisms of any type on the main entrance, which was just plain weird. Mulder and Scully proceeded right through these doors, not trying to be discreet at all.

Scully’s senses were all jumpy. Something about the very low security bothered her. It was almost as if they were being invited in. Like someone was expecting them.

The interior of the building looked at first like some sort of office lobby. There was a security metal detector and receptionist’s desk. However, there were no workers manning these places. No personnel milled about the halls. It all made Scully even more wary.

Mulder led the way down a long hallway to the right of the entrance. There were doors on both sides of the hall, kind of like a hospital. These doors all contained what looked like small offices, as Mulder found when he opened one up. At the end of this hall way was a large laboratory. The lab tables were all void of equipment and the cabinets were bare. By now, Mulder had begun to realize that the place had been abandoned.

Scully had been hoping to look for more alien DNA evidence, but was disappointed at the empty lab. She still looked around a little, for anything, files in particular. Eventually, Mulder hurried her along, not wanting to linger there.

Further down another hall, Mulder came upon a living room-like room. There were two couches on adjacent walls. As well as lounge chairs and a box of toys. Upon closer inspection, Scully found a restroom and two bedrooms attached to this living room.

"Mulder, I think this was the original apartment where Zoe and the others stayed." She noted. Mulder nodded, agreeing and continued down the hall.

The end of this hall contained a stairwell. The stairs were not imposing looking at all. They wrapped around the well like your normal run-of-the-mill public staircases. Mulder shot Scully a quick ‘should I?’ glance before proceeding down. At the bottom of the stairs, the overall atmosphere of the building change. No longer did it have the hospital cleanliness, the almost homey feeling. Now it resembled an actual jail. The halls branched out from the adjacent one and the stairs. They were long and narrow. The floor and walls were dirty and dripping with God knows what. A few dim bare bulbs hung from chains in the ceiling. The cells looked exactly like Zoe had described, tiny and dark. The bars were rough and rusty. It was a regular hell hole.

Mulder could almost imagine the innocent children locked up and crying behind these bars. It was one of the most inhumane things he’d ever heard. Aside from the fact that the children were created in a lab using alien DNA in the first place. He wasn’t quite sure what he was here for, but he would know when he found it. He couldn’t let Scully know that he didn’t know what he was looking for, she would be so pissed. Somehow, it all led back to the brief conversation he’d had with Zoe before they left.

Scully followed Mulder as she always did, pretty much quietly and obediently. That was before she noticed that they weren’t really searching in any particular place. She had an irritating feeling that Mulder had come to Mexico on a quick whim. He had no idea what answers he was looking for. But there was something peculiar about it all. Mulder did drag her to some strange places, but never on such an impulse. He usually had something to look for in all those places. She decided to ask after some internal debating:

"Mulder, what exactly are we looking for?"

Mulder didn’t answer. He was afraid she was going to ask this. He didn’t know what to tell her. Oh, I don’t know. I thought we should come because it might be fun. That would be rich. She would probably shoot him then and there if he answered that.

"Mulder? Talk to me."

He still didn’t reply. Just keep walking, old boy. Maybe she’ll lose interest. Not the Scully he knew. His quietness only intrigued her more to get answers.

"There’s something your not telling me. What are we looking for?" Oh haven’t we been here before. She thought as she spoke the words.

Finally Mulder stopped in his tracks and turned to Scully. Her eyes were demanding answers. He sighed and dropped his hands to his sides. "When I talked to Zoe, she told me something she didn’t tell you."

"What?"

"She told me she remembered something someone told her. She doesn’t know who, but she thinks it may have been the alien. It was about Samantha."

Scully took a deep breath and stood up straight. "Why did this person tell her?"

"That Sam was still alive and they had her."

"They have her here?"

"No, but if they’re still here, I can get answers."

Scully nodded slowly, not quite believing what Mulder was. She didn’t think aliens had abducted Zoe at all. She thought maybe someone had brought her back to DC.

But, Mulder was glued to his theory, and she was way beyond arguing anymore.

For a minute, she just stood there looking at him skeptically. Then, over his shoulder, she thought she saw something in the hall behind him. At first, she thought it was her mind, but then she saw it again. It was just a faint flash of faded color. She looked harder at the spot, like that would make it appear.

"Scully—" Mulder began to say.

Scully cut him off from there. "Mulder I just saw something." She said as she ran in that direction. She’d seen it again more clearly. It had been a child, running down the hall. She started running after the child. Following it using faint flashes of color.

Mulder chased after her, but she’d gotten an enormous head start. Eventually, he lost sight of her in the winding, twisting corridors. He stood frozen at a four way intersection, trying to decide what way to go. Just then, he saw another figure approaching him.

Scully continued to chase the child down the long corridors. After awhile, she caught up with the boy. He was standing in the center of a huge storage room. She ran up and approached him. Before she said anything, she quickly scanned the room.

An enormous underground warehouse. Off to her left, was a huge double door. There were metal beams running along the entire ceiling. Other than that, the room was bare. It kind of resembled a airline hangar. Scully even wondered if they were still underground.

The boy still looked at her anxiously. "You have to get out of here!" He suddenly exclaimed, breaking her train of thought.

She looked down at him questioningly. "Why?"

He looked at the doors with a queer expression of edginess. His young face twisted into a worried look before he spoke again. "You have to leave!"

He began trying to push Scully backwards, out the ‘hangar’ door. She resisted him easily and even smiled as if it were just a child’s eccentricities. "Why do I have to leave?"

The boy stepped back, even more agitated than before. He looked once more toward the double doors. He grabbed Scully’s hand and tried to pull her out.

"Whoa, kid!" She cried, standing firmly on her ground.

The boy looked up at her, fright filling his sharp green eyes. "THEY’RE COMING!!" He finally yelled.

Suddenly, as if on cue, the huge doors flew open faster than they were made to. Bright, white light shot into the hangar. Scully shielded her eyes, letting them adjust. The boy grabbed her hand once more, and tried again to pull her away. This time, it was her curiosity that held her fast to her spot. She tugged at the boy’s grip, wrenching herself free. "I want to see this," She mumbled.

Her mind screamed at her to run. Her heart leapt into her throat. But, that curious seed Mulder had planted in her had begun to grow. This new discovery had locked it’s claws in her and begun to pull. She found her feet slowly stepping toward the door and the light.

Eventually, the light began dancing about in the entrance way. A figure was moving about in it, walking towards Dana and the boy. Scully swallowed her fear and kept approaching the light. The figure became clearer and clearer, silhouetted against the white.

The figure was about three feet tall. *He* sort of resembled a human, but his head was too big and his arms too long. The light reflected off his large, glassy black eyes. Scully couldn’t stop going towards him. A voice in her head began talking to her, beckoning her to come. She got very close to him and he reached out his hand. She took it like he was a long lost friend. He began to lead her back into the light. As she walked, she looked around. There were other ‘little men’ all around them. But, she wasn’t afraid. Her mind drifted in a pool of utter . . . peace.

Mulder stared at the young girl in front of him. She was a brunette, about Zoe’s age. She seemed agitated, liked something was bothering her. Mulder cocked his head and spoke:

"Are you one of the others?" He queried.

"No time for questions." She answered quickly, grabbing his hand. "You’ve got to get Dana, and get out of here."

Mulder didn’t let the child pull him along, but he followed her slowly. "Why?"

"Them." She simply answered. The girl picked up the pace to her previous running. She scurried in the same direction the boy had led Scully.

Mulder suddenly understood who the girl was talking about, the aliens. "The aliens are here?"

"Yes!" She yelled as they ran. As they ran, Mulder noticed that the floor was rising in a small grade. They were going up to the surface.

It didn’t take them as long to reach the hangar as it did the boy and Scully, both the girl and Mulder could run much faster. When they did reach the hangar, the boy was sitting on the floor, his face buried in his hands.

The girl ran up to him and touched his shoulder, saying, "Marcus!"

Marcus looked up at her and Mulder. "I tried to save her." He cried through a red face and subsiding sobs. "But she wouldn’t listen."

Mulder’s heart skipped a beat. "What?!" He blurted, becoming increasingly worried.

The girl looked back down to Marcus with a caring expression. "Tell us what happened." She said gently.

"I brought her up here because it’s the fastest way out. I thought I could get her out before they came down. Then when I felt them coming, I tried to get her out of here, but she wouldn’t go. They opened the doors and she started walking into the light. Her curiosity took over, with help from him." Marcus cried, looking at the girl for comfort.

Mulder was completely stunned. "Who took her where?" He practically yelled.

The girl looked at him once more. "You know who."

That was when Mulder burst into action. He ran out through the still open doors, into the cold desert night. He looked all around the star-filled sky, searching. He barely caught a glimpse of something flying off in the distance. Something with red and white lights. Something huge. He then realized what had happened and walked solemnly back into the warehouse/hangar.

The girl took his hand and squeezed it. He sat hardly onto the ground. He was winded from running and exasperation, and his chest heaved up and down ,showing it. He didn’t know how to react. All he could mumble was, "They got her again."

Marcus and his friend sat on the ground beside him, waiting for him to speak once more.

"Will they bring her back?" He finally asked.

"Yes," The girl answered quietly. "I don’t know when, but they will."

"Where? Here?" Mulder asked, more anxiously this time.

"Where was she returned to last time?"

"Bethesda."

"That’s where she’ll be returned to this time." Marcus answered intelligently. "They controlled her with their mind. They told her to come with them, and she did. She couldn’t fight it. Only we can."

Mulder nodded slowly before questioning, "How come Zoe was taken?"

Marcus seemed at first shaken by the mentioning of the name, but he answered all the same. "Zoe was taken because she was weakened. We have to be strong to resist them."

Mulder sighed before saying, "I have to get back home." He stood up quickly and began walking out of the room once more.

"Wait," The girl pleaded as she and Marcus caught up with him. "Take us with you. All the others were taken, we’re the last two left."

Mulder nodded and began walking in the direction he thought was where the car was. The children tagged along easily and even filled him in on what had happened. He didn’t even have to ask questions.

"All the men went fleeing after the first abduction, Zoe’s abduction. She was the first to go. We tried to stay together, but they just kept coming back for more. We don’t know why they’ve been taking us, or what they’ve been doing. We do know that they are not evil. These are not the aliens working with The Smoking Man." The girl explained first.

"Alex Krychek was as surprised by them as we were. He was the first to run." Marcus told.

Eventually, they had walked around the building to the main gates. Mulder had chosen the right direction. The children must have finished their tale, because they weren’t speaking anymore.

When Mulder reached the car, he heard Marcus say, "Go home." He turned to query the boy and get them in the car, but they weren’t there. The children weren’t anywhere to be seen. They had disappeared. For, they weren’t children at all.

* * * * * X * * * * *

The last thing Mulder remembered was Marcus’s words. Then, everything went blank. He woke up on the next day in his apartment. He didn’t know how he got home, or when he’d gotten there. But there were these odd thoughts in his mind. Something like inner peace. He had a feeling it had something to do with the children that had disappeared before his eyes.

One of his thoughts told him to go see Zoe. That was where he headed first. He’d found Zoe and she seemed to know exactly what had happened to him, but she wouldn’t tell.

"Some things are better left unsaid." She told him.

* * * * * X * * * * *

Bethesda Naval Hospital

Bethesda, Maryland

September 28, 1999

Scully awoke slowly with a pounding headache. Her vision was slightly blurred from a long, deep sleep. She let them focus as she sat up. When she did, she winced a bit in pain. Her abdomen hurt a little. Once her senses were fully awake, she looked at her surroundings. She was laying in a hospital bed. Her arm was laced with an IV and the plastic heart monitor was over her finger. She shook her head in disbelief.

How did I get here? She thought. The last thing she remembered was the light. All the bright, white light. And the figure, the being who had taken her hand and led her further into the light. The rest was white.

Scully guessed she was in Bethesda, she’d been there so often she knew the decor of the rooms. The blinds were wide open and soft sunlight shown in. She had no idea what time it was, there were no clocks in the hospital rooms.

After a minute of thought, Scully got up and grabbed her fluid stand. She wheeled it over to the bathroom and walked in. When she got there, she looked in the mirror. Her face and hair were both dirty and oily. She obviously hadn’t bathed since Mexico. Mexico, Mulder! She remembered. Where was Mulder? Was he in the hospital somewhere, too?

Scully left the bathroom and headed towards the door, pulling her fluid stand along behind her. She opened the door and looked out. Nurses and patients milled about like normal. She looked over at her door and pulled out her chart. Most of the information had been left blank, because no one had filled it out yet. The name seemed to have originally said ‘Jane Doe’, but now clearly stated ‘Scully, Dana Katherine’. Someone had identified her. Her condition was listed as ‘comatose’. She seemed to have no physical ailments other than her aching head and abdomen. Neither of which she could explain. She looked briefly up and down the hall, hoping she would see Mulder’s tall and lanky figure approaching her. When she didn’t see it, she stepped back into her room and sat on the bed. Normally, when she awoke at a hospital, her mother or Mulder would be at her side. Sometimes both. This time, neither were there. That was just plain weird in Scully’s mind.

She grabbed the remote and switched on the TV, hoping for some relief. She found a weekday soap opera, and settled to watch it. For some reason her mind was telling her to just chill, rather than seek help.

After awhile, her door creaked slowly open and the figure she’d been waiting for stepped in. She smiled at him as he approached the bed. He leaned over the side and kissed her warmly on the lips, in sweet greeting. Behind him, Zoe entered the room. Mulder lifted the girl up onto Scully’s bed where she lay down beside Scully.

"Where were you guys?" Scully inquired.

"Running errands." Zoe replied genuinely.

Scully looked to Mulder, a more concerned look crossing her face. "How did I get here?"

Mulder shifted a little before answering, "Umm. . . the aliens brought you back." He said almost cautiously.

"Excuse me!?" Scully’s face filled with disbelief at his remark.

"It’s true." Zoe replied. "They brought you back, just like they did for me and for Fox."

"The aliens brought you back, too?"

"I think," Mulder began as he sat in the chair beside Scully’s bed. "The last thing I remember was the boy, Marcus—the one you were chasing—saying, ‘Go home’. then everything went blank and I woke up in my apartment."

"That really doesn’t explain why I’m here."

"The aliens took you in the ship. They brought you back to where they originally left you. Here."

Immediately, Scully’s face filled with fear. "I was taken by MEN the first time! They took me again!!"

"No, it was really ALIENS that took you this time." Mulder explained gently.

Scully took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling. She refused to believe this. "So, how did you know I was here?"

Mulder shook his head and even chuckled lightly as he spoke, "I don’t know, really. It’s like magic. I just heard this voice say ‘Go to the hospital’. It’s really weird."

Scully just shook her head again, disbelieving. She couldn’t explain any of this rationally, but she would, eventually.

Zoe looked back and forth between Mulder and Scully, eyes filled with anticipation. She looked longer at Fox, expression saying, ‘Tell her.’

Mulder gazed at Zoe and smiled. He shifted his gaze to Scully and stood up, reaching into his pocket. "Scully, I have a little surprise for you." He said.

She watched him hold out the piece of paper he’d had in his pocket. He unfolded it and showed her the writing. It was an adoption paper. All of the information had been filled out and approved by Leslie Menikheim. Zoe grinned broadly as Scully gasped, taking the paper from Mulder. "Where did you get this?!" She asked excitedly.

Mulder’s face looked equally as excited as he explained everything. "Zoe and I had a good long talk with Leslie, we showed her your apartment, and convinced her to change her mind."

"It was that easy?" Scully queried, eyes filling with tears of joy.

"Not as easy as it sounds. We also talked to Skinner to get him to lighten up on your hours a little. We also talked to you mother, she said she can watch Zoe anytime you need her to."

Scully just broke right then and there. She let her tears fall. She covered her mouth a little with her hand. But she was smiling through those tears. Her eyes were filled with so much bliss. Mulder sat by her on the bed and hugged her tightly. When he released her, she reached out and hugged Zoe tightly. Her surrogate daughter was really hers now. Zoe even let a few happy tears roll down her cheeks as they embraced. They would never, ever, let this go again.

* * * * * X * * * * *

Scully’s Residence

Georgetown, DC

Same day

Scully had been able to check out of the hospital that same day. Even though it was a weekday; Mulder, Scully, and Zoe just spent some much needed time together. They spent the entire afternoon talking, watching movies, and even playing catch in the park. Mulder took Scully into the batting cages again and they hit a few. Zoe preferred to hit herself, she was really very good.

Mulder’s errands over the past week or so had been for Scully’s benefit. He and Zoe had been buying paints, curtains, another dresser, and other accessories for Zoe’s room. They’d painted and decorated it all when Scully was busy. That was what they showed Leslie. It looked wonderful and was very comforting to Zoe. Who now felt really at home. Zoe’s cats Pepper and DJ even made themselves at home in her bed.

That night, Mulder and Scully lay in each other’s arms, waiting for sleep to claim them. Scully had been seeing a memory all day which she waited until now to talk about.

"Mulder, you know how we went to Zacatecas for answers about Samantha?"

Mulder nodded.

"Well, I keep having this voice in my head. I don’t know who’s it is. But it says not to worry. That Sam is safe and fine."

Mulder looked down at Scully and smiled. Those were probably the most comforting words he’d ever heard. He didn’t know if she’d made it up, or not. But he was grateful to her all the same. His head dipped down and he kissed her deeply and as lovingly as he could.

"I love you." He said quietly, just before claiming defeat to his sleep.

Life was *good* again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FIN~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

C’mon, send me some feedback!! Like it? Hate it? Do tell!!!

Acknowledgments: I’d like to thank a whole bunch of people. First I have to thank everyone on the 1X79SHIPPER list for reading my first one and loving it. I especially have to thank Angie and Briehan for their help on my Spanish. I also have to thank Briehan for her extensive encyclopedia knowledge of everything XF. "Hips before hands, Briehan!"

Thanx you guys and anyone else I forgot. Lotsa love. Ciao, till next time.

Smurf

"I didn’t know reunions could be so. . ."

"Wet?"

--Mulder and Scully, ‘The Rain King’