The ringing phone shook Fox out of his half-dream. He fumbled for the receiver. "Hello."
"Hello yourself partner," Dana's familiar voice came from the other end. "I guess you know what day it is."
"Don't remind me," he said slowing sitting up in bed.
"Did I wake you?"
"No, yes, actually."
Dana laughed. "Getting slow in your old age."
"Don't laugh, you'll be fifty some day." He turned the clock radio toward him. Ten thirty. Fox usually slept until noon.
"Happy birthday Mulder."
"Thank you. Happy birthday to little Fox."
"I'll tell him you said that."
"Got any big plans with the fam today?" Fox sank back down into his pillow.
"Nope, just a nice dinner somewhere later. You're welcome to join us."
"Maybe next year." He wanted to be alone today.
"Sure?"
"Sure."
"If you change your mind let me know."
"I will."
She could hear it in his voice. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I just woke up, remember?" He wanted to tell her what was wrong, but what could she do about it?
"Bye bye Mulder."
"Bye bye." He hung up.
Dana was happy. She had gotten married just after the X files were closed for the last time and soon adopted an infant boy. Fox's and the baby's birthday coincided, and since the infant had yet to be named, he was christened Fox Scully Jennings. He was twelve today. And Fox was fifty. He got out of bed and went to the bathroom. He caught sight of himself in the mirror. "Am I still a damn good looking man?" He wasn't that bad for fifty. Still in decent shape, still had most of his hair. Still - still Spooky. Dana was happy, and he was still Spooky. He lifted the toilet seat. He looked down at his penis while he urinated. "If we were going by actual miles, you'd be sixteen," he said as the last drops left his body. "Great, I'm talking to my dick. It used to be the other way around." He washed his hands and left the bathroom.
He watched television for a while then made the daily trek to his new hangout, Beachfront Diner. The moderate walking was good exercise, and he would usually walk along the Jersey shore on top of it. The little bell on the door tinkled as he entered. He looked around, but didn't see her anywhere. Maybe she had forgotten. He took his regular booth.
Several minutes passed before she backed out of the small kitchen holding a plate with a white Snowball on it, a sparkler blazing madly out of the center. She sang, badly, "Happy Birthday to You" as she sat it in front of him. She beamed down on him.
"No coffee?"
"Don't push it." Eden, who looked as wild as her name, went back into the kitchen and brought him out a whole steaming pot of coffee and a large mug. She then sat down across from him.
Mulder blew out the sparkler and cut into the Snowball with a fork.
Eden crossed her arms and put her head on them. "What are we doing today?"
Mulder looked at her. "We?" he said with his mouth full.
"It's no fun to be alone on your birthday," her eyes glittered invitingly, but Mulder knew better. She was half his age.
"Don't you have to work?" He took a finger and dipped it into the creamy middle of the snowball. Eden grabbed his hand, and guided it toward her own mouth. She put his finger into her mouth and sucked the cream off. Still Fox was unmoved. "Don't rattle the cage..."
"...if you don't want to wake the beast," she said returning his finger to him. "Who first told you that?"
"You did, over a year ago." Fox hoped no one was watching.
She smiled, "I took the day off."
They walked along the Jersey shore. The beach was now populated mainly by locals, although a few tourists were spottable. A cool October breeze was canceled out by the warm sun beaming down unobstructed by clouds. Eden ran ahead of him a few paces, dancing and spinning to unheard music. She was not pretty; she was plain at best. She was overweight, but her height camouflaged it. She was making shapes in the sand with one foot. Fox zipped up his worn leather jacket. Eden's apartment was at the end of the shore, where the woods started. He had spent a night there last winter during a cold snap when the electricity went out. Eden had kerosene heaters and battery operated hot plates. Thanks to her he stayed warm and well-fed. She seemed to enjoy serving him and making him comfortable. And she let him sleep with her. It was too cold to even think about sex, they both knew that. Besides, she was a flirt, not a tramp. He lay awake on his side for a while after she had dozed off. She flung her arm over him, tucking her hand between his pecs, and curled up behind him, placing an ankle over his. He could feel her heart beat and hear her breath. Being cold was never a problem around Eden.
"Fox!"
Fox was shaken out of his memory by her voice. They had almost reached her apartment.
"Fox! Run with me!" She took off like a shot.
The words registered on his subconscious, but his conscious mind was busy following Eden. They ran to the back of her apartment building and Eden suddenly stopped cold.
Fox came up beside her. He could see a flash of panic in her eyes. "What's wrong?"
She was staring out over a small valley. "Nothing," she smiled. "Nothing. Let's go inside," she said turning away and getting her jangling keys out of her jacket pocket.
Fox continued to stare at the valley. She had seen something, but he didn't know what. He turned and followed her.
He made himself comfortable in her oversized black leather rocker. In her living room she had that, a matching sofa and the tv and vcr propped up on a bookshelf. That was it. As he settled into the recliner he had to stop himself from slipping a hand into his pants. Eden had once found an adult magazine lying around his apartment. She opened up the centerfold and asked Fox if that was what he liked. He changed the subject, but she seemed disturbed. Now she was banging around in her kitchen while he was channel surfing. She turned on her CD player. He knew it was her CD player because that was the only place he ever heard "Moondance" anymore. She sang along, badly. Then, as he knew she would, she danced into the living room and pulled him out of the chair. They danced a bad ballroom imitation, although Eden was an excellent dancer. It was her partner that was holding her back. Fox dipped her, held her there as the last fluttering flute notes played, and smiled.
"How about some leftover pizza?"
"You know what I like," he smiled.
She winked and went into the kitchen. She reheated the pizza and they watched a basketball game. Both yelled at the television. Eden loved sports, especially basketball. Once, on a foolish whim, Mulder had played against her. He won, but it was more physical activity than he had done in a while. She gave him a massage afterwards to ease the hurts.
"That was a foul sure as I'm sittin' here!" she muttered. They were sitting on the floor in front of the television. "Another drink?"
Mulder nodded and she popped open a beer for him. She herself hated beer. She drank daquiris when she consumed alcohol. She had already had two. The game reached halftime. She got up as Mulder sat his beer down.
"Where ya goin?" He was slightly buzzed.
"I gotchya a present," she said from another room.
"You didn't have to do that."
"I wanted to." She came back with several small wrapped packages.
"Jeez, Edie."
She sat them in front of him. "Openopenopen."
He tore into the presents and she clapped her hands. The first package was long and narrow, with a smaller, short and square package on top of it. He opened the longer package first. It was one cigar. He held it under his nose and inhaled. "Not like you to support tobacco."
"Just one maybe won't hurt you."
He recalled his father sometimes smoked cigars when Fox was younger. He clearly remembered Smoking Man bringing them and that they were Cuban. He turned his attention to the smaller square package. It was a gold lighter with his initials on it in a scrolled print. He could tell it was not cheap. "God, Edie."
"Do you like it?"
"Yeah, it's beautiful."
"Then that's all that matters to me."
He turned the lighter over in his hands a few times and looked at her. She simply looked back at him, waiting for him to open the next present. He took another package, this one longer and larger. It was a tie. He knew it was a tie. He didn't know what kind of tie. He opened it while Eden watched and smiled. He held the tie up.
"Silk. Tiger print."
"Keep going," she nodded at the box.
He reached in again. A matching pair of boxers unfurled in his hands.
She giggled and looked at him wildly.
"You expect too much," Mulder informed her.
She let it slide. "The last one," she said.
He picked up the last box. It was small and extremely light. He opened it. Inside was a piece of paper with a phone number and address on it. He looked at her, confused.
"Try the number," she said, handing him a cordless phone.
"Who am I calling?"
"If the right person answers, you'll know."
"It's long distance."
"That's all right."
Mulder dialed the number. It rang once and a woman answered.
"Hello," she said.
"Hello." He knew the voice.
"Fox? Is it really you?"
Tears filled his eyes as he looked at Eden. "How did you...?" he whispered away from the phone.
"Fox, is it you?" the woman said again.
"Yes," he gasped into the phone. "Samantha."
"Yes, it's me."
"Where are you?" Tears streamed down his cheeks and he bent forward.
The doorbell rang. He was too overwhelmed to notice she had gotten up just a second before it actually rang. Eden opened the door.
Samantha hung up the cell phone and just looked at Fox for a minute. "I never thought I'd see you again." She dropped to the floor and threw her arms around her brother. Eden discreetly cleaned the mess up around them. Samantha pulled away and showed Mulder the scar on her right forearm. "See, it's really me again."
He laughed through his tears. "It's really you again." He pulled her to him again. They held on to each other for another minute, then Samantha pulled away.
"I'm sorry about last time."
Fox wiped his tears away. "I'm the one who almost got you killed."
She put her hand on his shoulder. "You didn't know what you were getting into. I don't blame you for it. It was easier to make everyone think I had died in that accident."
He nodded. "I understand. How did Edie find you?"
Samantha looked at Eden and smiled. "A lot of investigating." She turned back to Fox. "Happy birthday."
"Thank you. It is." He embraced her again.
Fox and Samantha spent the rest of the day together taking in the sights. They did not notice a man discreetly following them.
While they were gone, Eden had quietly made preparations for a dinner for herself and Fox. At the end of their day, Samanatha gave Fox her phone number and address and Fox was to visit her as much as possible. Her two daughters missed their uncle. Difficult though it was, Samantha had to leave Fox that evening. Fox kissed her goodbye, then called her ten times before she got home just to make absolutely sure the number worked.
He was sitting in the giant rocker, still shocked, when Eden quietly called to him. "Dinner's almost ready."
He had seen no one but Samantha since he had opened his presents. He couldn't see Eden now in the kitchen, wearing a black evening dress. "Dinner? Oh, ok." A perverse thought struck him. He dashed into the bathroom, washed up, and put on his new tie and boxers, only.
In the kitchen, Eden put on some Bach and opened a bottle of wine.
"Let me know when it's ready."
"I shall," she drawled, pouring two glasses of wine.
Mulder inspected himself in the bathroom mirror. Some of his sparse chest hairs had turned grey and there was a little grey streaking through his brown hair. Just a few wrinkles dotted his face. Amazingly well preserved. Or, not so amazingly.
"It's ready," Eden announced.
Mulder left the bathroom and stepped into the doorway leading to the kitchen to see Eden lighting two long candles. She looked up at him and laughed, smiling. "I feel so overdressed."
Mulder took the seat nearest him. "I wouldn't worry." He sipped his wine. She served him his dinner first, putting portions of chicken, potatoes, rolls, baby carrots and broccoli onto his plate. "You wanna chew it for me too?" he asked playfully.
She ignored him, knowing he was joking. Then she served herself. He refused to eat until she had her plateful. Then they both ate. "Do you like it?" she asked when he had tried everything.
"Excellent as always." He ate until he was full, then finished his second glass of wine.
She removed the dirty dishes and put the leftovers away. As she was scraping chicken bones into the garbage, she looked up and out the small window over the garbage can. Someone was out there. Someone had been watching them all day.
Fox saw her staring out the window. "What?"
"I thought I heard something." She put the rest of the leftovers away. She had briefly seen a man darting behind a bush.
Fox was still sitting at the table, not quite sure what to do next.
Eden stood in front of him and held out her hand to him. "Had a good day?"
"Best ever," he said taking it and standing up.
"It is your birthday," she said looking him right in the eyes. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to."
"It's my party," he said, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her full red lips.
Krychek watched them making love. There was window in her bedroom and she had left the blinds open and the window cracked a bit. He was impressed with the girl. She was merciless yet giving. His own manhood responded to the sights and sounds, so he gave himself a few rubs with his artificial hand. His fake fingers were dexetrous enough to stroke only the bulge in his jeans. The wonders of medical science. He realized this could very well take a while. Mulder showed no signs of letting up and the girl was meeting him stroke for stroke. He watched the girl. She seemed to become animalistic. She snarled and bit Mulder's shoulders and grunted. And she certainly liked it rough. But earlier she had given Mulder oral sex and was as tender with his penis as if she had an egg in her mouth. "God, they are really fucking," he muttered. Alex decided to go back to his hotel room for a while and ride out the storm, as it were.
He returned at two a.m.. Eden had heard him approaching and had slipped out of the bed. Mulder was still asleep. He woke up to Alex's banging on the door. Half-awake, he remembered he was naked and grabbed a robe to tie on. Mulder looked for Eden, who was gone, and then answered the door. His jaw dropped when he saw who it was.
"I'd say happy birthday," Krychek said barging in to the apartment, "but I know for a fact it was better than happy."
"What do you want?"
"To settle an old score," he pulled out a gun and aimed it at Mulder. "But first, where's your girlfriend?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You were never a good liar. That's all right," he said, cocking the gun, "I'll find her."
Mulder started to dive for him, but Eden got to Alex first. She leapt growling out of the shadows onto him, knocking the gun away. Mulder picked up the gun as Eden, still naked, rammed Krychek's head into a wall. She stood over him, breathing heavily. Mulder could see her face, her eyes. Now he knew her.
"Oh my God." He looked at her long dark hair falling over her shoulders and breasts. "You're...but how..."
Eden kicked Krychek to make sure he was unconsious, then answered Mulder.
"I saw you try to save her, try to save my mother, in those woods. From that moment on, my only purpose in life was to live for you. To try to thank you. When you came here two years ago I had to make sure it was really you, really Special Agent Fox Mulder. And it was. I have lived among people since I was ten, but I have always been my mother's daughter."
He sank into her rocker. Fifteen years ago he had seen the Jersey Devil, tried to save her. Scully said she had given birth. Since that day, every night he heard her calling to him. Run with me. Or was it her daughter calling to him? Was it Eden, beckoning him to... "To carry on the line. You're pregnant."
"Yes," she whispered. Alex moaned. "What shall I do with him?"
Mulder got up and stood over Krychek, observing him. "Chew his left arm off."
Eden drug Krychek out of the apartment and into the woods. A few minutes later Fox heard a man's muffled screams. He went back to bed.
When he woke up the next morning, he got dressed and looked for Eden in the woods, but couldn't find her. He didn't find Alex's body either. He continued looking in the rocks that seperated the beach from the woods. He found a cave and went in.
"Eden?" he called out. He saw a light ahead and walked to it. It was a fire and Eden was sitting beside it, still naked and stained with blood.
"I dumped him in the ocean."
Mulder nodded and sat beside her.
"Come live with me."
He chuckled. "And be your love? Edie, I can't." She put her head on his chest. "Why can't you live with me?"
"Because this is what I am."
"All these years of domesticity doesn't just vanish." He kissed her hair. "The X files are closed now. Time to get on with your life, your real life. The time of wonder and mystery is over."
"You don't believe that."
"No, I don't. But, in the end, it doesn't matter what I believe. Things just are the way they are. Some futures you can't fight."
She looked at him, her eyes pleading. "But you have to fight some things. Somehow."
"I love you, but I don't live in your world anymore. And you never really lived in what's now my world. Just stay with me long enough to have the baby. You can't give birth alone."
"It will be summer when I deliver, we'll be all right." She wanted to go with him, but she felt the spirit of her mother holding her. But the Jersey Devil has always had a mate to run with. She fought within herself and he saw it. He held her and let her thoughts wage war against each other.
"We don't have to stay here. We can go anywhere you want."
"I like it here."
"Actually I do too. How did you find Samantha?"
She sighed, "I took what little bits you told me and put them together, then set about to fill in the holes. The Lone Gunmen would have been proud."
Mulder smiled. He could see the rest of his life filled with times like these. But it was all up to her now. Every woman he ever knew had betrayed him in some way. He had given up. Now, a tiny flame of hope flickered here in the darkness, and he wasn't afraid of fire anymore.
"Take me home," she whispered.
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