Title: Storm Child
Author: Elizabeth L. Iacono
Rating: PG
Category: Story, Romance, Angst
Keywords: Mulder/Scully Romance, Alternate Universe
Spoilers: This is Not Happening, DeadAlive
Summary: An unwanted person from Mulder and Scully's
past brings news on something they've been
searching for for a long time.
This is going to be an odd one. I guess you could
call it another behind the scenes story, where what
we see on the show takes place almost exactly like we
saw it, but their past histories are different and a
few episodes would not have happened, hence the
Alternate Universe keyword. Just give it a chance,
please?
Disclaimer: Mulder, Scully, Skinner, Margaret Scully
are not mine. I own Olivia Davies, Sian and David
Cohen, Maria Devens, and Mr. and Mrs. Cohen.
Feedback: If you'd like to send some, send it to
RhiaRamsay@aol.com And if you want visit my website
http://www.geocities.com/rhiaramsay
Archive: Gossamer and Spookys, Touchstone and Legacy.
Anywhere else please just let me know where it's going.
Storm Child
Elizabeth L. Iacono
June 3, 1998
Washington D.C.
Fox Mulder sat in Assistant Director Skinner's
office reviewing the latest set of expense reports.
It was tedious work, and it had just been a few
discrepancies that had landed him in the office again.
"I don't see why you're putting these tests down
here," Skinner said, his eyes roving over the piece of
paper in question.
"Because those tests helped identify the substance
in the victims' systems," Mulder said. "If it wasn't
for the tests we wouldn't have solved the case as fast
as--"
Mulder was cut off by Skinner's assistant, Kim
Cook, opening the door. "Sir?" she asked hesitantly.
"What is it, Kim?" Skinner said.
Kim looked worriedly at the two men. "There's a
woman out here demanding to see Agent Mulder. I told
her that he was in a meeting and would be with her
when he was finished but she said it was urgent."
Mulder looked back and forth between Kim and
Skinner. "I can't think of who it might be," he
said. "Did she give a name?"
"No," Kim said.
Skinner shrugged. "Might as well send her in,"
he said, "see what she wants."
As Kim walked back into the waiting room Mulder
became aware of the uneasy feeling in his stomach.
Something about the situation did not bode well.
Kim came back and held the door open and a woman in
her early fifties dressed in a severe suit with short
brown hair and cold brown eyes walked in. Mulder
felt his face go white at the sight of her. He hadn't
seen her in eleven years and to be perfectly frank he
didn't want to see her again. Before he could begin
to speak the woman beat him to it. "Well, Agent
Mulder, this was one of the last places I thought
I'd find you," she said with an aloof tone in her
voice. "You never seemed liked the type to go into
law enforcement," she stated in a strong London
accent.
That simple statement was it for Mulder. The
woman's attitude combined with her actions in the
past only reinforced his desire not to speak with
her. He stood up and stared at her. "I don't want
to speak to you," he said icily. "You've caused more
than your share of trouble in the past and I want
nothing to do with you." With that he collected
his papers and walked out of the office.
Skinner turned to the woman. "Who are you?"
he asked, wondering what the hell was going on.
"Olivia Davies. I...knew Agent Mulder back in
England," she said.
"Why exactly do you want to see him?" he
questioned, curious about Olivia's presence there.
Olivia looked warily at him. "It's about a...
personal matter, and I think that it should be Agent
Mulder's decision, not mine, to tell you what it is.
I can tell you though that it is extremely important
that I speak to him."
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Mulder rushed out of Skinner's office. He
couldn't believe Olivia had the guts to show up here
at his place of work. The last time she was in his
life those eleven years ago was one of the worst
times in his existence. Having her here brought up
memories that were incredibly painful. He saw
Scully walking out of the elevator and hurried
his steps even more.
"I know I'm late," Scully said as he got close.
"Did--" her speech was cut off by Mulder grabbing her
arm and forcing her back into the elevator with him.
When the metal doors shut Scully shook Mulder's hand
off and turned to him, her eyes blazing. "What the
hell was that about?" she asked angrily.
"Meeting's over," Mulder said, breathing a
little heavier due to his rushing.
"Okay, but you didn't have to drag me out of
there like that," Scully said, giving him a look.
"You didn't let me finish," Mulder said. "It's
a matter of why the meeting ended."
"Why did it end?" Scully asked.
"Because someone interrupted the meeting wanting
to speak to me and I didn't want to speak to her,"
Mulder practically growled, staring down at his
shoes. The elevator came to a stop and the doors
opened onto the basement level.
As they walked out and headed to the office
Scully said, "Who was it?"
Mulder stopped in the middle of the hallway
and turned to face her, an indecipherable look in
his eyes. "Olivia Davies," he said in clipped
tones.
Scully's face immediately paled and the file
she was carrying slipped from her fingers. Mulder
swooped in to catch it before its contents spilled
put over the floor. Scully herself looked a little
shaky on her feet, her mind running through a series
of memories, and Mulder placed a hand on her back to
steady her. "What is she doing here?" she said,
her voice shaking slightly.
"I don't know," Mulder shrugged. "I told her
I didn't want to speak to her and left."
She glanced up at him. "You know she's going
to be more persistent than that."
"Yeah," he sighed. "Which is why I'm hoping
Skinner's curiosity is enough to stall her and buy
us some time."
"I'm not going to sit around here waiting
then," Scully said. "I'm getting out of here.
If she even comes near me I'd probably end up
beating the crap out of her."
Mulder nodded, looking down at his watch.
"I don't blame you one bit," he said. "You can
leave now, I doubt anyone'll miss you. I'll follow
you out in a little while."
"Okay," Scully nodded. "I'm going to go to my
mother's house, she's got to be told about this."
"I'll meet you there," Mulder said. Scully
moved to walk into the office to collect her things,
but once more Mulder stopped her with a hand on her
arm. She turned back to face him and his other hand
came up to gently stroke her face. "We're going to
get through this," he whispered. "We have before and
we can now." Scully hesitantly nodded, and Mulder
ducked his head down to kiss her softly. When he
pulled back he said, "I'll see you there."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
To be continued.......
End Part One
Storm Child
Elizabeth L. Iacono
Part Two
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Fifteen minutes later Mulder found himself
hurrying to his car in the lot. Scully had gotten
out of there as fast as she could and now it was
his turn to leave. It may have seemed immature to
avoid Olivia like that, but given the circumstances
it was the best thing they could to.
Hearing footsteps behind him, he turned around
to see Olivia and Skinner walking towards him.
'Persistent is right,' Mulder thought, and he rushed
to his car. He started it up and only looking back
to make sure he didn't hit anyone, backed out of the
spot, and sped away. After about ten minutes of
frantic driving he finally slowed down a little,
thinking that he was in the clear. A glance in
the rearview mirror killed that thought, because
two cars back was Skinner and Olivia tailing him.
"Oh, fuck," he muttered. Mulder knew that if Skinner
was tailing him he wouldn't be able to lose him. He
sighed in resignation and sped ahead, trying to put
some space between them and buy enough time to warn
Scully ahead of time that they were coming. He
would have had even more time if his cell hadn't
died earlier that day.
Luckily he managed to buy a few minutes, and
that served him well when he pulled his car up to
the curb in front of Margaret Scully's house. He
ran up the front porch and was met by Margaret
holding the door open. "What's going on, Fox?" she
asked as he approached her.
"Did Scully tell you what happened at work?"
Mulder asked as he pushed his way inside.
"Yeah, Olivia showed up, unfortunately," Margaret
said, shutting the front door and following him into
the living room. Scully was sitting on the couch in
there, but she stood up quickly at the look on
Mulder's face.
"What is it?" she asked worriedly.
"She followed us," Mulder said, coming to a
stop in the middle of the living room.
A startled "What?" came from two throats.
"Yeah," Mulder said. "I saw her and Skinner
in parking lot when I was leaving, and then I saw
them in Skinner's car following me. We've got less
than two minutes until they get here."
"Do you think she told Skinner?" Scully asked,
rubbing her forehead wearily.
"I couldn't say," Mulder sighed. "Something
like this I'd prefer it be one of us to be the one
telling him."
At that moment the doorbell rang, and the three
looked at each other. "They're here," Margaret said
somberly.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Olivia and Skinner stood outside Margaret
Scully's house waiting for someone to answer the
bell. Skinner was surprised when Mulder had ended
up here, but he was even more surprised at the look
on Olivia's face when he told her whose home it was.
To him, the look was surprised and yet not surprised
at the same time. Not for the first time since she
had interrupted the meeting Skinner wondered what
was going on. It was obviously something between
Mulder, Scully, and this woman that was intensely
private, nothing for office hours.
Margaret opened the door for them. Skinner
saw the recognition and disgust on her face as she
saw Olivia. 'Another person who knows what's going
on,' he thought.
"What do you want?" Margaret asked coldly, her
outstretched arm barring the way inside.
"I've got to speak to them," Olivia said
impatiently. She nervously fingered the handle of
the briefcase at her side. "It's incredibly
important."
"Why should I listen to you?" Margaret said.
"You haven't had some good ideas in the past."
"Forget past events," Olivia sighed. "I've
got some information here that they're going to
want."
Margaret looked over at Skinner, who shrugged
helplessly. He still couldn't figure out what was
going on. She warily held the door open more, and
they took that as their cue to step inside.
Margaret shot Olivia a look of warning. "You do
anything to upset them and I will throw you out of
this house," she whispered angrily. Olivia
nodded curtly as they stepped into the living room.
Mulder and Scully stood there, looking up as
the three walked. The looks on their faces would
be enough to kill anyone. Olivia decided to get
it over with before they could say anything. "Look,
before you start blasting me hear me out."
Scully placed her hands on her hips, the right
one discretely falling over the bulge of her gun.
Mulder could tell she was just itching to take the
gun out and shoot, and with good reason. "What do
you want?" she said with ice in her tongue, a common
emotion aimed toward Olivia that day.
Olivia placed her briefcase on an end table,
opened it, and pulled out a file. "It's about an
accident and hospital report I ran across a few days
ago. A seventeen year old girl, Sian Katherine Cohen,
was in a car accident on Long Island, New York. She
survived the accident fine, the only injuries being a
concussion and a broken leg which needed a pin put
in. What caught my eye, aside from the
name and age, is her history. She's been bounced
around various foster homes from the age of six in
1987, when she turned up at a San Francisco Police
Station with injuries that suggested she was severely
beaten. Also, there was a baby boy with her too.
She said his name was David Rhys, and that he was
her little brother. The two kids have been kept
together throughout the many foster homes,
luckily for them."
Skinner leaned back and watched as Olivia began
her speech. He couldn't figure out the relevance of
what she was telling them, but the looks on Mulder,
Scully, and Margaret's faces told another story, that
it meant something to them. Scully appeared to be
the most affected by it, her face paper-white even
thought the rest of her face stayed expressionless.
Olivia held out the file to Mulder and Scully.
"It's all in there," she said. Scully silently
walked over to her and took the file, still not
showing any emotion. Then she calmly walked
upstairs. Mulder looked around at the three left
there uneasily. He caught Margaret's nod and
followed Scully up the stairs. Olivia turned to
Margaret. "That was all," she said.
"Thank you," Margaret said shakily.
Olivia nodded. "Not a problem. Don't worry
about giving me a ride back Assistant Director, I'll
catch the bus from the corner." With that she let
herself out of the house and left.
"What the hell was that about?" Skinner asked
Margaret when it was just the two of them in there.
Margaret sighed heavily and sat down on the couch.
"And who is Sian Katherine Cohen?" he continues,
sitting down in an armchair across from her.
Margaret sighed again. "If Miss Cohen is
who we think she is, then she's their daughter."
It took Skinner a minute to realize what
exactly she was saying. When it finally kicked
in his eyes went wide. "Do you mean...?" he said,
looking back at the stairs Mulder and Scully had
just ascended.
"Uh-huh," Margaret said, then ran her hand
over her eyes. "It's a long story."
"I've got time," Skinner said dryly.
Margaret leaned back into the cushions of the
couch and began her tale. "The whole thing began
when they first met in 1975. We were living near
the Navy academy in Annapolis, where Dana's father
was stationed. Fox was living down here with his
aunt, his mother had sent him there after his
sister's abduction and parents' divorce. Dana was
a year behind Fox in school, which was how they met."
"I thought there was more space than that between
their ages though," Skinner said.
"There's about two and a half years between them,
but Dana was very smart, she had skipped two grades.
For instance, when she was supposed to be going into
6th grade in '75, she was heading into 8th grade. She
was always much more mature than a girl her age should
have been," Margaret clarified.
"They started dating a few years later, when
Dana was a junior in high school and Fox a senior."
Margaret laughed lightly. "Even back then it was
obvious how much they loved each other."
"I'm assuming that they started to express that
physically?" Skinner stammered, searching for
the right words to use.
Margaret nodded. "They weren't very open about
that part of their relationship, but I had suspected
it. Let's just say it was one of the more awkward
conversations I've had with her.
"It was in the July of 1980 that we found out Dana
was pregnant. She had just graduated from high school
and her and Fox were preparing to head over to Oxford
together that fall. She had been getting these
terrible dizzy spells then, so we took her to the
doctor and he was the one who diagnosed it. From
there we had a few decisions to make. Fox's mother
came down from Connecticut and Dana and Fox, and my
husband and I sat down and talked about what we were
going to do.
"Dana decided that she would put off her college
education until the next year after the baby was
born. They had no intention at all of giving the
baby up. The two of them had decided that Fox would
still go to Oxford, which presented another problem.
I was incredibly surprised when my husband Bill
suggested that we move to England, even though he
knew that he wouldn't be able to go himself. Dana
was his baby girl though, he would do anything to
make her happy. So Dana, her younger brother Charles
and I ended up moving to a rented a house near
Oxford. Fox moved in with us too, using the money
that would have gone to room and board to help with
the rent.
"Then there was the question of marriage. Bill,
Fox's mother, and I were all in favor of it, but I
think that was the one thing that actually fazed Fox
and Dana a little. We eventually settled on a
compromise though: we had a priest perform a small
marriage ceremony, but they didn't get an actual
marriage license. You know, they both accepted the
responsibilities that were going to be heading their
way. That was something that surprised all of us, the
level of maturity they were showing. But like I said
they weren't your average teenagers.
"On March 2nd, 1981, the baby was born and they
named her Sian Katherine Mulder. After that things were
surprisingly normal, I helped a lot with baby-sitting
Sian, and Bill helped support us with some of his
salary. That fall Dana started at Oxford, doing a
double major in physics and pre-med.
"It was about four years later that the
problems arose. Someone from Oxford had called
Social Services or whatever the equivalent is over
there to check in on them. We never found out who
it was, but their thought that Fox and Dana were
neglecting Sian were extremely off base."
"They don't seem like they would be like
that," Skinner mused.
"They weren't, and they still aren't. Since
they both worked aside from school, we needed the
money, a lot of times I was watching Sian. If
it wasn't one of us she was at a day care center.
Either way she was very well cared for.
"Olivia Davies was the person Social Services
sent to investigate the complaints. The only thing
she found that could be objectionable was that Fox and
Dana weren't legally married. It must not have gone
over well with her rather conservative self though
because she recommended that Sian be removed from
them and placed into State care.
"Naturally they didn't agree with that and so
they called up Olivia's supervisors who sent another
team down to check out everything. This next team
determined that they were good and capable parents
and that there was no need for them to remove her.
We thought that would have been it, but Olivia was
still trying to persuade them to give Sian up for
adoption, believing that they were too young to take
care of a child properly. Not listening to what they
had already ruled. She seemed to turn it into a
personal cause of hers. Eventually we had to call her
supervisors again and let them know about the
harassment.
"That touched off another investigation to see
what exactly she was doing and how we could get it
to stop. It was a long and unpleasant battle that
eventually ended, with many of her co-workers on
our side.
"The next couple of years were considerably
much calmer. Fox had gotten his doctorate in
psychology and got a well paying job. That was
definitely helpful when Dana got pregnant again.
This time though they were a little better prepared
for it. On April 13, 1987 they had a little boy
named David Rhys.
"A couple of months after that things all went to
hell. Sian and David were both kidnapped from
their day care center. A few of the other kids said
that they had seen two men dragging Sian into a car,
but other than that nothing. Nothing about how they
took David, or even who they were who kidnapped them.
Olivia had shown up again during the police
investigation, leading to Scotland Yard placing her
on the suspect list. They hadn't found any evidence
saying she was involved though. After a while most
people began to assume that Sian and David were
most likely killed by their kidnappers, but Fox and
Dana never gave up hope that they would find them."
'That sounds like Mulder,' Skinner thought.
"Later that year Fox was recruited by the FBI and
Dana went to Johns Hopkins, and then to the FBI
herself, and from there you pretty much know the
rest of the story," Margaret finished.
"What about them?" Skinner asked. "Did they
stay together? Or did they split?"
"Oh, they're still together. That's probably
the one thing that's helped them survive all these
years. I keep hoping for a marriage license one of
these days, but I'm just happy that Dana's found
someone she loves and who loves her back," Margaret
sighed.
Skinner leaned back into the cushions of the
chair, trying to digest all that he just heard.
It was honestly not what he had expected. It
seemed so unbelievable, that how something like
that could be kept hidden for so long. But was it
really hidden? If he checked through British birth
records he knew he would most likely find one for
Sian and David Mulder, actual proof that something
had happened in the past.
It also explained some things about Mulder and
Scully's relationship, one that had appeared close
right from the start. For years the gossips had
been speculating are they or aren't they. No one
had ever asked them outright though what the deal
with them was, probably because they thought either
one or the other would deny it or shoot the asker.
But there had to be some basis for the rumors,
something that started the first rumor and gave
them the idea that a relationship was possible.
And if they were asked, would they have denied it?
He could now understand Mulder and Scully's
hostility towards Olivia. If someone had threatened
to take his child away for reasons that everyone knew
were invalid he wouldn't want to talk to them
either. Skinner imagined what it must have been
like for then to go through that. First someone
doubting that they could take care of their daughter,
then having both their children kidnapped, it really
must have been hell for them. Especially for Mulder
in relation to his sister's own abduction.
Skinner still had a few questions though. "Is
that who they think she is? The girl in the file
that she dropped off, do they think that she's their
daughter?"
"I think so," Margaret nodded. "The name is the
same, so is the age. They're going to tear through
that file first though, they're not going to want to
hurt themselves or this girl, whoever she is."
Skinner glanced towards the stairs once more,
deep in thought. Finally he muttered an "Excuse me,"
stood up, and walked towards the stairs.
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More to come....
End Part Two
Storm Child
Elizabeth L. Iacono
Part Three
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Mulder walked up the stairs as fast as his legs
would carry him, trying to catch up to Scully. He
made it to the second floor in time to see Scully
disappearing into one of the bedrooms, their bedroom,
the one they used every time they stayed over here.
He walked into the room to see Scully stripping off
her suit jacket to reveal a tank top tucked into
her slacks. The file was tossed onto the bed and
Scully leaned against the window ledge to stare at
it, chewing on her fingernail thoughtfully. Mulder
stared back at her, eventually saying, "Do you want
to open it first?"
Scully exhaled sharply. "Would you believe
I'm scared to?" She sighed. "This is something
we've wanted for years and now that we're closer
to it than ever I'm standing here afraid to continue."
Mulder walked over to her and wrapped an arm
around her waist, pressing his face against her
hair. "I'm scared too," he whispered. "I mean,
what if it isn't them? What if it's just some
strange coincidence or Olivia's just jerking us
around? But it also could be true, we're not
going to know until we take a look."
"I know," Scully said. "That still doesn't
mean I'm not scared." She pulled away
from him and sat down on the bed, pushing herself
against the headboard and dragging the file onto
her lap. Trying hard to keep her hand from shaking
she worked a fingernail under the edge and flipped
it open. Inside the file was a small stack of papers
with the edges of a few pictures sticking out from
the side. Scully ran her eyes over the first page.
"It's a police report from '87, probably when they
first found them." As she began to read from the
paper in a detached voice Mulder sat down across
from her. "It says that they were picked up by a
couple right outside San Francisco, brought to
a police station and then to a hospital. They only
got parts of names from her but the partial memory
loss was concurrent with the head trauma that she
had apparently received. The police had contacted
Missing Persons but no match was found for the two
of them and they were turned over to county care."
Scully took a breath and muttered, "Didn't they even
bother to look overseas?"
Before she could say any more Mulder covered
her hand with his. "It's not policy to look outside
of the country in missing persons cases, you know
that. We follow the same policy in our own cases,"
he soothed her, even though he was feeling the same
frustration with those police.
Scully nodded. "I realize that, but....you
know," she sighed. She flipped to the next page
in the stack. "This one looks like it's from
Social Services, from '90. Transfer of care back
to the state. It says the couple they were living
with was getting divorced and wouldn't be able to
take care of them." Scully sighed again, her fingers
worrying the page. As her fingers moved around the
pads snagged on the edge of a staple at the
top of the page. Her brow wrinkled in puzzlement
and she flipped the page over. She let out a shaky
gasp as she saw that the staple was holding a small
picture to the page.
The picture was showing age, the eight years
of its existence crinkling the edges slightly and
giving them a yellowish tint. It was a simple
school picture, the ones that only captured you
from the shoulders up and always made you give a
fake smile. In this picture was a girl of about
nine years old, with straight cinnamon red hair
that brushed the shoulders of the patterned sweater
she was wearing and whose bangs dangled over her
forehead, nearly obscuring bright hazel colored eyes
that managed to dance even within the posed picture.
She had a small, straight nose that led down to a set
of full pink lips that curved upwards a little,
smiling for the camera and revealing a mouth full
of teeth with a few gaps to show where the baby teeth
had made way for the new teeth about to come in.
Mulder leaned over to get a better look at the
girl in the picture. She had features from both of
them, hair a shade of red close to Scully's, his
eyes, her nose, and his mouth. It took him a little
while to get his legs moving, but shortly he managed
to propel himself off the bed and walked over to a
bookshelf against one wall. His eyes scanned the
rows of books until he found the one he was looking
for, nestled on a high shelf. He pulled down the
old photo album and walked back over to the bed,
this time sitting down next to Scully. Her eyes
darted over to the photo album as he flipped towards
the end of the book, looking for just the right
pictures.
He finally found the pictures he was looking
for, one of the last ones in a long line of pictures
of a little girl taken by parents who loved her very
much. In this picture, a young Mulder was sitting
on the floor with his back resting against a couch
and a young Scully sitting in between his legs.
Nestled up against Scully's chest was a little girl
close to three years old with cinnamon colored hair
almost the same color as her mother's and the hazel
eyes of her father. Both of them looked back and
forth between the two pictures and the sameness of
the two girls. Scully sighed, releasing a shuddering
breath and reached out to take Mulder's hand in
hers. Mulder squeezed her hand in response and
laced his fingers through hers, giving her the
strength to continue reading.
"The next relocation was when she was eleven
and he was five, from California to Massachusetts,
then again at fourteen and eight, this time to Long
Island, New York. They're currently under the care
of Rob and Jean Cohen, and are enrolled at the West
Islip High School and the Pond View Elementary
School," Scully sighed again and slouched back
against the pillows, still clutching Mulder's hand.
Her other hand reached out to pick up the last picture
resting in the file.
This picture was of a girl in her mid-teens
leaning against a railing. In the back of her was
a large pond that was surrounded by trees. They
couldn't tell the girl's height from the picture,
but they were betting she was taller than Scully was.
Long hair, still the color of cinnamon cascaded over
her shoulders, blending into her skin color. Hazel eyes
smiled out at them from a slightly golden face, a
light tan bringing out freckles on her cheeks. She
was dressed in a casual tank top and a pair of cutoff
jean shorts, with strappy sandals. Her right arm was
draped around a younger boy who was smirking at the
camera. The boy was shorter than she was, and he
looked to be about ten years old. He had dark brown
hair that was unruly and spiked up on his head. His
eyes were a bright blue that stood out from his
tanned face. It was obvious this was the same girl
as in all the other pictures, from the one of the
little girl sitting against her parents, to the young
woman in high school. It was the first picture they
saw of the boy though, and it was obvious that he bore
a strong resemblance to Mulder. Scully flipped
the picture over and they saw the writing on the back
of it in the messy scrawl of what was probably another
teenager. It read 'Sian and David, July '97'.
Mulder ran his fingertips over the foreign photo
and flipped to another picture in the photo album.
In this one, there were four. Sian was older
now, smiling up at the camera proudly. In her
arms she was holding a tiny newborn baby who was half
asleep and had a head covered in wispy dark hair. She
was flanked by a still younger Mulder and Scully, both
keeping careful watch over them.
"Do you realize we've missed almost their whole
lives?" Scully mused sadly. "For Sian, her first
date, her first kiss, when she got her license. And
with David...God, everything! His first steps, first
word, the first tooth he lost, his first day of
school, we missed all of that," she said, rubbing a
hand across her eyes to try and keep the tears from
flowing.
Mulder tugged on the hand he was still grasping
and pulled her close, wrapping his other arm around
her shoulders. As he buried his face in her neck he
said, "I know that. God, do I know that. Every day
I think of something that we could have been doing,
that we should have done. And then I realize that
our chances were taken away by these sick, sadistic
bastards who took our kids from us." He pulled back
and brought both hands up to cup her face in his
hands, using his thumbs to brush the stray tears off
her cheekbones. "But now we have a chance to make
some new memories. No, we're not going to be able
to start over as much as we wish we could, but we
can get to know them again, we have that chance now."
Scully brought her hand up to cover the one that
was resting on her right cheek. "I know," she said.
"But that doesn't mean it's still overwhelming." She
sniffled once, holding back some more tears. Mulder
leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers,
both drawing strength from the other and losing track
of where one ended and the other began.
They were startled apart by the sharp rap on the
door, which they noticed they had left open in their
rush. They looked up to see Skinner standing in the
doorway and they leapt apart hastily, even though
they both knew by now that he probably knew everything.
Skinner was surprised at the way Mulder and
Scully looked. Even in most times of stress they
always appeared to be strong, but now the effect
was obvious. Now though they looked older than
they really were, lines that were never there before
suddenly pronounced on their faces. It was
understandable though. He moved hesitantly into
the room and sat down on the edge of the bed that
was the farthest away from the two.
Scully sighed heavily and rubbed her hand over
her eyes. "I'm sure you have some questions, Sir,"
she said wearily.
Skinner shrugged. "There's just a few things
I'm wondering about."
Mulder leaned back against the pillows, feeling
tired and overly stressed. "Shoot," he said.
"How did you manage to keep this a secret all
these years?" Skinner asked, the wonderment clear in
his voice.
Mulder and Scully looked at each other, trying
to figure out the exact words to say. "Well it
wasn't exactly a secret," Mulder said. "It wasn't
something we mentioned on a daily basis, but if
someone were to ask us about it we wouldn't have
denied it."
"But what about from the FBI? You've been a
couple for more years than me and my wife were, and
they haven't had a clue about it save for a few
rumors," Skinner persisted.
"Well nothing was ever official," Scully said.
"We're not legally married, so there's no records of
anything. And after Sian and David were kidnapped
we were able to have all their records sealed because
of their age. Aside from the fact that we were in the
same schools there's nothing to tie our pasts
together. The FBI didn't have a clue when they
recruited both of us. And if they did they certainly
didn't mention it to us."
Skinner digested the new information. If there
was nothing on the official records then they were
right, the FBI wouldn't have had a clue they were
connected, let alone had two children together. He
decided to switch to his next train of thought.
"What about the kids in the file, Sian and David
Cohen? Do you think it's them?"
"Yes," they said simultaneously, and with
conviction. Skinner followed their gazes down to
the bed where the pictures were laid out. His eyes
lingered the longest on the photo of Mulder and
Scully with two kids. It was a side of them that he
had never seen before, though, granted one wouldn't
see that side in the type of working relationship
that they had. In the picture though, there was a
sense of carefree innocence about them. That even
for all the responsibility they had to take on as
new parents they managed to revel in it.
"We're going to have to go up there and talk
to them, ask them a few questions," Mulder continued,
"but we're damned sure."
"Do you want me to go down there first and check
it out for you?" Skinner found himself asking before
he could stop himself.
Mulder and Scully shared a slightly shocked
look. It was a totally unexpected statement coming
from him. True, they had trusted him in the past,
but those were work related incidents. This was
something intensely personal to them, that only a
few small amount of people knew the true story.
Still...
"I think that's a smart idea," Scully finally
said. Mulder shot her a puzzled glance and she
reached over and took his hand in hers, regardless
of the fact that their superior was sitting only feet
from them. "Look at it from their point of view,"
she said, turning towards him. Looking at them
Skinner realized that at that moment they were the
only two people in the room. No one else existed
except for them. "I think that they would be
extremely shocked and overwhelmed if we just turned
up one day and told them that we were their parents.
This way, they have some time to get used to the idea,
it can be introduced to without being a total
overload of information at one time."
Mulder quirked one side of his mouth upwards in
a half smile. "You've got a point there," he said,
squeezing her hand comfortingly. Then he turned to
Skinner and said very seriously, "Thank you, Sir."
"It's not a problem," Skinner replied, and knew
that it was true.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Still more coming....
End Part Three
Storm Child
Elizabeth L. Iacono
Part Four
(Note to self: Harry Potter 4 comes out tomorrow,
must pick it up...)
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
June 6, 1998
West Islip, Long Island, New York
2:30 p.m.
Sian Katherine Cohen laid back on her bed, a pair
of headphones on her head and her plaster covered leg
propped up on a mound of pillows. Her bobbed, cinnamon
colored hair was brushed forward onto her face,
tickling her nose and creating a fuzzy red curtain
that obscured her vision. She didn't notice though; her
eyes were closed and she was drifting blissfully on a
haze of pain pills and good guitar music.
Her bliss was interrupted by her younger
brother David running full tilt into her room
and slamming the door behind him. Sian sat up
and pulled the headphones off. "What is it?"
David sat down on the end of the bed. "The
bill from the car repair place just came," he
deadpanned, knowing that Sian's brain could fill
in the meaning easily.
"Oh, crap," she moaned, leaning back against
the pile of pillows at the headboard. Not a moment
later did Rob Cohen enter the room, his face red
as Kool-Aid due to the stressful numbers.
"I don't fucking believe this!" Rob exploded,
moving over to the side of the bed and glaring down
at her. "So damn expensive! Why the hell did you
have to get into an accident anyway?"
Sian glared right back. She had been anticipating
this conversation from the moment she had woken up in
the hospital and found out that the car was wrecked.
"Oh, yeah, like I really wanted someone to rear end
me. You are so ridiculous!"
Rob's face turned to stone, and his teeth ground
against each other. "Don't you dare talk back to me!"
he yelled. He raised a hand to hit her, but was
stopped by a well aimed crutch pointed at a sensitive
area of his anatomy. Sian knew there was a good reason
to keep them close by the bed. "I've got to get out
of here. You're on your own for dinner tonight," he
muttered as he disappeared from her room.
"That went well," Sian muttered. At that moment
the doorbell rang from down the hall and to their
surprise they heard Rob's voice again.
"David, get the damn door!"
David rolled his eyes. "Yeees, master," he
hissed in a voice suitable only for a B horror
movie. Not even a minute later he returned with a
brown haired girl carrying a rather thick stack of books.
"I come bearing your daily allotment of homework,"
she said, dumping the stack down on the bed.
Sian groaned and made a disgusted face. "Gee,
thanks, Erin, that really made my day."
Erin smirked, crossed her arms over her chest,
and shrugged. "What can I say? I live to spread
love, happiness, and homework." She easily ducked
the box of tissues Sian hurled at her, and plopped
down on the bed next to the books. "So how have
you been spending your time away from school?"
"Trying to find something that doesn't make
me look like a hooker." She glanced down at the
only jean shorts she could find that would fit over
her cast, which were about an inch short of obscene.
"Oh, and the damage bill came. You just missed that
little outburst."
"Ouch," Erin winced sympathetically.
"Not as itchy as this damn thing is," Sian
grumbled, reaching for a bent wire hanger that was
on her night table. She shoved it down the cast
and sighed with relief when it hit a particularly
itchy spot. Erin and David muffled their laughter,
realizing that in her case, complaining about the
itchiness was a sign that she was recovering from
the accident quite nicely.
"So," Erin continued in her gossip like tone
once the hanger was back on the night table. "The
teachers are now wondering what your condition will
be like for finals."
Sian groaned, fell back and pulled a pillow over
her head. "Don't even talk to me about finals!"
For the second time that day, the door bell
rang. Both Erin and Sian looked over at David
pleadingly. "All right, all right!" he muttered,
and went to take care of the door. Once there he
looked through the peephole and saw a face he didn't
recognize. "Hey, any of you expecting a bald guy in
a suit?" he called back down the hallway.
"No," Sian's voice floated his way from her room,
which was shortly followed by footsteps and the
'swing-thump' sound of the crutches. Sian stretched
up awkwardly to look through the peephole. "Who the
hell is that?"
The three traded a look. "Tell you what, give
me one of the crutches," Erin said, waving her hand
at the objects in question. "It'll make a good
baseball bat just in case," she clarified for the
two puzzled faces. Sian nodded and handed it over.
The two girls positioned themselves on the other side
of the door, Erin in the forefront with the crutch
poised.
David pulled open the door.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Skinner stood outside the door of the Cohen
residence, feeling rather nervous. This was a
situation he had never expected to be in. He had
said he would help though, and he would. He pressed
down the doorbell and waited for someone to answer.
Shortly the door was pulled open, and Skinner had
to work hard not to gasp. Even from the part of the
face that was revealed by the half-opened door, the
similarity to Mulder in this boy, most likely David,
was evident. The hair was the same shade, even the
nose to a lesser degree. The eyes though, they were
purely Scully's, that wide blue gaze that she had
perfected. "Hi, I'm Walter Skinner with the FBI,"
he introduced himself, holding his badge up.
"Is Sian Cohen here?"
David shot him a wary look. "How do I know
you're really an FBI agent?" he asked.
Skinner bit the inside of his cheek. The
paranoia was inherited too, apparently. "I can
assure you that I am really and truly an FBI agent."
The boy still looked paranoid. He backed
away from the door slightly, and Skinner thought
he had been granted entrance, but David spoke
instead. "Can I see your badge?"
Fighting the urge to roll his eyes, he reminded
himself that this was Mulder's son and paranoia was
an inherited trait. Skinner handed it over. After
a few seconds of scrutiny David said, "Well...it
looks real."
From behind the door came a voice. "It's not
nice to piss off FBI agents, real or fake."
David looked a bit put out and held the door
open wider. "Come on in, Special Agent Skinner."
Skinner didn't feel the need to correct him on the
title. He walked into the foyer and noticed one
girl tossing a crutch back to the other. The one
who tossed was tall, with dark hair pulled back
into a ponytail. The one on the crutches was the
one he was looking for, because where David had
resembled Mulder, Sian had a lot of Scully in her.
Her short red hair dangled somewhere around her
ears in a choppy fashion, and there was something
about her face that just spoke of Scully.
She held her hand out to him rather awkwardly;
the crutches didn't really permit comfort.
"I'm Sian Cohen, Mr. Skinner."
"Pleased to meet you," he replied perfunctorily.
His eyes turned to Erin. "And you are?"
Erin placed her hands on her hips.
"Erin-Michelle Parris, a friend of the family."
"Now that we've answered that, you answer
this," Sian said, obviously having not much respect
for those in authoritative positions. "What the hell
are you doing here?"
"Would it be possible for us to move somewhere
more comfortable?" Skinner asked, not wanting to say
what he had to in the middle of the hallway.
"Let's go into the living room then." Sian led
the way, and they settle down into the seats. Sian,
Erin, and David were stuffed onto a large couch,
while Skinner was obviously separated from the
coalition by occupying a chair opposite them.
"I repeat," Sian said when they were all comfortable,
"What are you doing here?"
"Miss Cohen, you were in an accident recently,
were you not?" Skinner asked politely in an attempt
to get some background.
Sian arched a very Scully-ish eyebrow, and
motioned down at her cast-covered leg. "What does
it look like? Why, is the FBI investigating the
accident?"
"Was there an investigation with the accident?"
Skinner questioned.
"Yeah," Sian confirmed. "It was a hit and run
and it took them a few days to catch who did it."
She paused for a moment, a strange glint in her eye as
she appeared to think something over. "That's not why
you're here though, is it?" she finally said.
"No," Skinner said bluntly.
"So why are you really here?" Sian persisted.
Skinner then pulled the file Olivia had given them
a few days back from somewhere within his coat.
"You and your brother, you've been in and out of
foster homes since you were six and an infant, is
that correct?"
Sian traded a nervous look with David, who bit
the outside corner of his lip. "Yes," she said slowly
and carefully.
"Do you remember anything from before the
foster homes?" was Skinner's next question.
"Umm," Sian said, leaning back against the
couch and crossing her arms over her chest. "Not
really. Sometimes I'll get...I guess flashes is
the best word for it, of disconnected things that
make no sense in any real context. I actually write
them down in a notebook, just in case I ever actually
figure out what they are. Do you need to see it?"
she asked, clearly not liking the idea of sharing
her private thoughts with someone else.
"That won't be necessary," Skinner replied with
a shake of his head.
"Is that why you're here?" Sian asked, pulling
his eyes out of the file. "Because you found our
real parents?" she said, looking at him with wide
eyes, lined with black eyeliner even in her invalid
state. "Or are they looking for us?"
Skinner put the file down on his lap. He took
a breath, trying to figure out how he was going to
tell her. "They have been looking for you two, for
a very long time. There haven't been any leads
though, until you ended up in the hospital. The
subsequent reports, from the hospital and the police,
triggered a signal on someone's computer." He didn't
want to elaborate given Olivia's history with the
family, a history Sian probably didn't remember. "She
then did a little research and turned over what she
found to your parents, who in turn sent me down here.
That's why I'm here, as a favor to them, to see if you
two could be the one they're looking for."
Sian traded wide-eyed looks with David and Erin,
who was just as stunned as the siblings about this
development. This was something none of them had
guessed would be when Skinner had showed up. "Do you
think that we're who they're looking for?" David asked,
his voice sounding much more confident than he felt.
"Well, I can't be sure without a blood test. But
from the information I have already, your names and
ages, even the way you two look, I would say that it
is most likely who they are looking for."
David let out an incredulous breath, and looked
over at Sian, who pushed some hair out of her face
with a slightly shaking hand. "Is this a good thing,
or a bad thing?" Sian wondered out loud.
"I've known your parents for some time," Skinner
said, "and I can assure you that they are two of the
most noble people I have ever met."
"That sounds like something from a King Arthur
tale," Sian said, a soft smile appearing on her face.
As David muttered, "It's official, you've spent
too much time with your head in a book," Skinner bit
back a laugh at the sudden image in his head, knowing
that if Mulder were to ever get on a horse he would
most likely end up in the hospital again. He caught
a glimpse of his watch then, and sighed.
"Unfortunately, I have to go now. I'd like to get in
touch with you again, hopefully we'll be able to
arrange a meeting with your parents soon."
"Okay," Sian said. She whispered something to
Erin, who disappeared for a second and came back with
a scrap of paper and a pen. Sian scribbled something
down on the paper and handed it to Skinner. "This is
the number to my line. Do not call the house line,
because then you'll get Rob and he is a major league
asshole."
"Excuse me?" Skinner said, wondering where this
opinion of Mr. Cohen had some from.
"Let's just say that the only reason he's keeping
us around is for the monthly check," Sian said through
gritted teeth. The looks on the other two faces backed
up this opinion.
"Okay. Thank you," Skinner said. "I'll try to
get back to you as soon as possible." He began to
leave when Sian's voice stopped him.
"Wait a sec," she said.
"Yes?"
"Our parents' names...what are they?" she asked
in a hesitant voice.
Skinner let out a breath, knowing this was a
question he could answer. "Your father's name is
Fox Mulder. And your mother's name is Dana Scully."
Sian nodded. "Thank you."
"I'll show you out," Erin said, jumping up
from the couch. They walked down the hallway in
silence, each's mind full of thoughts. At the door
though Erin turned to Skinner. "You don't know how
long those two have wanted this," she said.
"I will do everything I can to have them back
with their parents as soon as possible," Skinner
said, and to his surprise he found he really meant
it, for the kids' sake and for Mulder and Scully's sake.
Erin nodded, satisfied with the answer, and
with that Skinner left the Cohen household. Once
he was in his car and driving back towards his
hotel he took out his cell phone. He was to check
in with Mulder and Scully when he found out anything.
This definitely qualified as finding out something.
He dialed in the number to Mulder's cell phone, not
wanting to go through official channels.
After two rings Mulder picked up. "Mulder,"
he said. Skinner could hear the tiredness in
his voice and wondered why they had gone into
the office that day.
"It's Skinner," he said.
"Have you been able to talk to them yet?"
Mulder asked, sounding more awake than he had a
second ago.
"Yeah," Skinner answered. He sighed and ran
a hand over his face. "You're going to need a
blood test to confirm it but I'd say from this
first meeting that they're the ones."
He heard Mulder's sharp exhale over the phone
lines. There was a brief pause and then Mulder
said, "How can you tell?"
Skinner leaned back against the wall next to
the phone. "Well for one thing just looking at
the two of them. God, they look like both of you.
That's the primary thing." He heard another voice
speaking on the other end, Scully.
"We have to meet them," Mulder finally said.
"I know," Skinner said. "I've got their phone
number, I told them that I would get in touch with
them soon and try to arrange a meeting."
"Good," Mulder said.
"I'm going to check in with New York Social
Services next," Skinner said. "There was a few
things that she mentioned that got me wondering.
I want to see what Social services has to say
about the Cohens."
"Okay," Mulder said. "Call back when you
find out anything else."
"Will do," Skinner said and hung up the phone.
His next step was to find a hotel room. He had a
feeling he was going to be spending a few days in town.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sian sat on her bed once more, her hands
playing around with her headphones. Her mind
was reeling. This was not what she had expected
when the FBI agent had showed up, and now, she
wasn't sure what to think. She looked over at
David, who was sitting on the end
of her bed.
She was sure that he wasn't thinking what she was
thinking. He was only a baby when they got shoved into
the adoption system from unknown whereabouts. He didn't
have to deal with the gap in his memory like she did.
Erin stood up from her seat at the desk and Sian
glanced up at her. The look that they traded was one
that only best friends could share, full of love and
understanding. "Hey, Dev," Erin said, "I've got to go
to the store for a couple of minutes. You want to come
with me?"
David looked over at Sian, who nodded at him, a
silent okay. David slid off the bed then and walked
out of the room to get ready. "Thanks," Sian sighed
and Erin nodded, knowing that Sian would need some time
with her thoughts in order to process everything.
When the two left Sian placed the headphones back
on her head. Sinking back into the pillows, she hit
the button that sent the strains of electric guitar
pounding into her brain and closed her eyes.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Stay tuned for part five....
Storm Child
Elizabeth L. Iacono
Part Five
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
June 7, 1998
New York Social Services, Long Island Branch
10:00 a.m.
It had taken some finagling, but Skinner
had managed to find out the name of the worker in
charge of Sian and David's case. Mulder had
offered the services of his friends, the Lone
Gunmen, although reluctantly. The Gunmen
didn't have a clue about the situation though,
and were still under the impression that Mulder
and Scully were only friends. Kids weren't even
a possibility in their brains.
He walked up to the receptionist's desk and
put on his most amicable face. The woman there
looked up at the sound of his approach. "How
can I help you?" she asked.
"I'm looking for Maria Devens," Skinner
said.
The receptionist motioned down a hallway.
"Down there, third door on the left."
"Thank you," Skinner said, and proceeded
down the hallway. It was a short trip to the
third door, and soon he was knocking on it,
asking for entrance.
"Come in," a voice called out, and he
pushed open the door. Sitting behind the
desk was a woman in her late thirties, with
curly blond hair that floated around her face
and a pair of thick black frame glasses perched
on her nose. "How can I help you?" she asked
him when she looked up.
"Yes, I'm Walter Skinner with the FBI.
I've got a few questions to ask you about one
of your cases," Skinner said, pulling out his
badge.
"Sure," she said, leaning back in her
chair. "Have a seat."
"Thank you," Skinner said, and sat down.
"Now what case did you want to ask me
about?" Maria said.
"It's about the Cohens," Skinner said, and
Maria nodded with recognition. "Have there
been any complaints against Rob and Jean
Cohen?"
"As a matter of fact, yes," Maria said,
turning to her computer. She clicked the keys,
pulling up the right file. "There's been
complaints of abuse, both verbal and physical.
Most of them have been lodged by the girl,
Sian, though. We haven't been as fast checking
it out as we usually are," she murmured regretfully.
"Why is that?" Skinner asked.
"It's because the complaints are from the
child," Maria explained with a rather sour look
on her face. "My supervisor believes that many
complaints from the kids are often made because
they just don't like the people they're living
with, so he's always a bit slower in handling
those types of cases. I can't say I agree with
him," Maria sighed, "but my job's on the line
here, so I don't exactly have a choice. I do
have an appointment with them next week though,
a surprise one for them, of course. Sian's
recent accident incurred some sympathy and
spurred things on a little here." She gave
him a puzzled look. "If you don't mind my
asking, why is the FBI so interested in
these two kids?"
"I'm actually here as a favor to their
biological parents," Skinner said, earning a very
surprised look from Maria.
"You mean they actually have parents?" she
asked, trying to figure things out.
"Yes," Skinner confirmed. "What exactly
were you told about them?"
"Just what the Massachusetts bureau gave
us when they were transferred here," Maria
said. "Two kids, a six year old and a newborn,
abandonded outside San Francisco. The names
the girl gave the San Fran police were
Sian Katherine and for the baby, David Rhys.
The missing persons reports from around the country
were checked, but no names or descriptions
matched. It was never proven if the names
were real or fake."
"Well what you weren't aware of, something
that only a select few people were up until a
few days ago," Skinner said in an attempt to
soothe her. "What happened was those two kids
were kidnapped from their daycare center in
Oxford, England nearly eleven years
ago. Their parents have been looking for them
ever since, although it has mostly been
overseas."
Maria nodded. "That's understandable,
it's fairly rare that kidnapping cases
travel outside of the country."
"Anyway," Skinner continued, "their parents
would like to arrange a meeting with them, and
eventually would like to have them returned."
"That shouldn't be too hard," Maria said.
"Even though a blood test will be required to
prove that they're really the parents, which
I'm sure they'll consent to," Skinner nodded
here, "seeing that they were taken from the
parents without consent, it shouldn't be too
hard to return them. It's a little different
than if it were a regular adoption case. The
only things we would have to worry about are
the foster parents, but given the amount of
complaints against them they won't have much
of a case against the biological parents.
And there's also the children we have to worry
about."
"Actually I talked to the two of them
yesterday," Skinner said. "They're quite
willing to meet their parents."
Maria arched an eyebrow at him, but
didn't say anything. "Well, I think we might
be able to speed up this meeting by getting
them out of the house. Seeing that they would
be removed from there anyway during the course
of the investigation into Mr. and Mrs. Cohen,
let's see if we can move that up a bit." She
reached for the phone. "Just let me dial my
supervisor and tell him about this. Given
the circumstances he shouldn't have any
problem okaying this one."
A few minutes later every thing was set.
Maria's supervisor had eagerly okayed it, not
wanting to get on the bad side of the FBI, and
Skinner and Maria were on their way over to
the Cohen house to retrieve the kids. Skinner
had offered to put them up at a hotel, saying
not to worry about the bills. They would be
infinitely more comfortable there than at the
group home.
On the ride over Skinner called Mulder
once more. -Mulder,- he answered, sounding
no less tired than the day before.
"It's Skinner. I spoke to the social
worker and we're on our way over to the house
right now to take the children to a hotel."
-What happened?- Mulder asked, perking up
a little bit.
"You know those comments I told you about
yesterday? Turns out that Sian and a few
others have been making complaints against
the Cohens for abuse. Now that the biological
parents are in the picture though, we were
able to get the investigation moved up a
little bit and them out of the house."
-When do you think we'll be able to see
them?- Mulder asked, his voice turning more
hopeful.
"Tomorrow," Skinner said with conviction.
"I'll call you later on with the name and
directions to the hotel."
-Okay, thanks,- Mulder said, and hung up.
Maria looked over at him as he hung up his
end. "Was that the parents?" she asked from the
passenger seat, and Skinner nodded. "How did
you get to know them?"
"Actually they're also FBI agents. I'm
their supervisor," Skinner said, keeping his
eyes on the road.
"You're kidding," Maria said skeptically,
and Skinner smirked.
"No, I am not."
"Man, my boss won't even give me half a
day off when my lame-ass ex-husband bails out
on picking the kids up from school. But
you....damn," she said appreciatively. "So
what can you tell me about the parents?"
"Well...they had Sian young, both were
barely out of high school. But they both
managed to go to college, Oxford even, with
the maternal grandmother watching the baby.
About a year after the father graduated
David was born, and two months after that
was the kidnapping."
"What about now?" Maria asked. "What
have they been up to in the years since the
kidnapping?" Skinner shot her a wary glance,
wondering how much he should say about their
work. Maria huffed impatiently and said,
"Look, the only reason I'm asking is because
if the Cohens decide to protest giving custody
of the children back to their natural parents
they're going to dig up every little thing
they can to prove they're unfit parents."
Skinner bit his lip. Both Mulder and
Scully's recent lifestyle was not at all
conducive to raising children in, but he
knew, from what he had seen so far, that
they would do anything in order to get
them back. "After the kidnapping the
father went into the FBI and the mother
continued medical school."
"What kinds of degrees do the parents
have?" Maria asked.
"I'm not quite sure, but the father has
his doctorate in psychology, and the mother
has a bachelors of science in physics, and
later on graduated from Johns Hopkins with
her medical degree."
"Highly educated, that's good," Maria
murmured. "Continue."
"Then she went into the FBI also. God,"
he muttered, "the FBI recruiters are going to
have a field day when they hear about this
one. For the past six years they've been
partners in a rather controversial division,
which, admittedly, has been very dangerous at
times. I can guarantee though that they would
change anything about their lifestyles in order
to get their children back."
"That's definitely good. It'll go a long
way if a custody battle does come up," Maria
said. "And anyway, in my opinion the Cohens
have no business taking care of any kids.
Jean, who claims to be a stay at home mom,
well let's just say that she makes Peggy Bundy
look like a good parent. And Rob? The guy's
been arrested for domestic abuse twice before
with his first wife, but the charges were
dropped."
"How the hell did they end up with two
kids?" Skinner asked, his brow wrinkling up
with puzzlement.
"Well, you've got to understand from a
placement point of view, Sian and David
are incredibly hard to place. They're two
kids, both past the age where they're so-called
'cute', who have been shafted back into the
system before. Let's just say we were
extremely lucky we found someone willing
to take both of them in together. When
that's the case sometimes it easier to look
the other way," Maria said, looking away with
the force of her own guilt.
"I think you have a chance to change that
now," Skinner said. He saw he was outside the
Cohen house and parked on the street in front
of it.
Maria glanced up at the Cohens' house.
"Here goes nothing then," she said, and stepped
out of the car. Skinner followed her out and
they walked up to the front door. Maria rang
the doorbell, and about a minute later it was
pulled open by Sian, leaning heavily on her
crutches.
"Hi Ms. Devens...Mr Skinner," she added
when she spotted him. "Is everything okay?"
"It depends on your definition of okay,"
Maria said. "With some new information from
Mr. Skinner here, we've decided to investigate
the complaints against the Cohens." She
looked over at Skinner. "We're also going
to try and get you reunited with your real
parents as soon as possible."
"Thank you!" Sian cried in just a
slightly sarcastic voice, but she was still
smiling. "Okay. Is there anything we have
to do?" she asked.
"Why don't you and David pack up some
clothes and any personal items you want to
take immediately with you. We're going to
take you to a hotel for the next few days,
and we can get the rest of your things later."
"Gotcha," Sian said, and hobbled off.
As she was making her way down the hallway Rob
Cohen entered the front hallway.
"Who's at the door?" he asked.
"It's Ms. Devens," Sian called back, and
continued on.
Rob turned to Maria and Skinner. "What
are you doing here?" he asked in a voice that
clearly said he had better things to do with
his time than deal with the peon of the Social
Services system.
"There have been some complaints against
the care you have provided for David and
Sian," Maria said coolly, not fazed by
him, "and now we are investigating those
complaints. Sian and David will we
removed from this household during the
course of the investigation, which
is why I'm here."
Rob's jaw visibly clenched, but he didn't
say anything. He probably didn't realize that
this wasn't standard behavior for the Social
Services System. "Fine," he eventually gritted
out. "It'll get them out of our hair for a
few days." With that she walked into the back
part of the house, leaving them be.
"That went well," Skinner muttered
sarcastically.
"Better than I expected," Maria muttered
back. "The guy's got a terrible temper."
A few short minutes later Sian and David
came back down the hallway. Each had a backpack
on, and David carried two duffle bags, while
Sian tried to juggle her purse and maneuver
on her crutches at the same time. "I think
we've got enough," she said, coming to rest
in the front hall.
"And most of it's her clothes," David added
through gritted teeth, although in good humour.
Once more Skinner could see the strong resemblance
to Mulder.
"Let's get going," Maria said, and they
trooped out to the car. They settled in, with
a bit of struggling from Sian to get
comfortable with the mass of plaster on her leg.
"It's going to be a bit of a ride," Maria said
once they started driving. "We're taking you
to a hotel that's out of the area."
"Less questions that way?" Sian said
wisely with an arched eyebrow.
"You got it. This is a small town,
there'll be plenty of questions if we check
you into a local place," Maria confirmed.
"Are we really going to be able to meet
our real parents?" David asked, voicing something
he'd wanted to for a long time.
Skinner glanced at him in the rearview
mirror, catching's David's blue gaze. "I talked
to them and they'll be up here tomorrow," he
told him. The boy nodded solemnly and sat back
in his seat.
Forty-five minutes later they pulled up
to the Marriott Hotel, situated right outside
of Queens. They were an odd looking group,
two adults who didn't even remotely resemble
the kids they were with, one of who was
awkwardly managing on crutches. Skinner got
the key to the kids' room and they headed up
there.
Sian fidgeted with her once again almost
too short shorts as Skinner fiddled with
the key card, one of those things that always
take a few attempts to work. Finally the door
was pushed open and they went in. Sian sat
down on one of the beds and shoved a few
pillows under her cast, sighing with relief.
David flopped down on the other and reached
for the remote. Skinner began to speak
again. "Now we have to go back to Social
Services for the day, but we'll be back
later. If you need anything at all during
the day, just charge it to the room."
"Does that include room service?" David
asked, not tearing his eyes away from the TV.
"After all, it's really hard for Sian to move
around such a big place on those stilts of hers."
"Yes, it does, unfortunately," Skinner
said, thinking of the stress his credit card
was going to be under after this little
adventure.
Sian and David snickered at the tone of
his voice. "Okay," Sian said. "We'll be
good...somewhat." she snickered, a devilish
glint in her hazel eyes.
"We'll check back in later," Skinner said,
and he and Maria left. Once outside the room
Skinner sighed heavily and ran a hand over his
eyes. "Their parents drive me crazy enough,
these two are going to cause what's left of
my hair to go grey," he muttered. "My credit
card's going to melt."
Maria laughed brightly at that. "Come on,"
she said. "I'll buy you some lunch before we
head back."
"Sounds good to me."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
End Part Five
More is coming, don't worry....
Storm Child
Elizabeth L. Iacono
Part Six
Disclaimer and the like in part one.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
June 8, 1998
Mulder looked over at Scully, fast asleep
in the window seat of the plane. Neither one
of them had slept well the night before, and
for all obvious reasons. The emotions were
flying everywhere, and to tell the truth Mulder
wasn't sure how to feel. There was the happiness
and the joy that they were getting their children
back. But there was also extreme nervousness
mixed in there too. Things were going to be
heading for a change. A big one.
While Mulder internalized his nervousness,
Scully's was a bit more obvious. It was in the
way she had tried on too many different outfits
that morning, and the way her fingers fidgeted
while waiting for their plane. The sleep would
definitely do her some good. Mulder wished he
could get back to sleep himself, his nervous
energy was going to crash eventually.
Sooner than he would have preferred the
pilot came over the loudspeaker announcing
their approach to LaGuardia airport. Mulder
reached a hand over and stroked the side of his
face from where it was resting on his shoulder.
Scully blinked her eyes sleepily. "We're almost
there," he said. Scully nodded and put her head
back down on his shoulder.
"Are you just as nervous as I am?" she
whispered.
Mulder wrapped an arm around her shoulders,
pulling her as close as he could. "Oh yeah," he
sighed. They sat there like that, not saying
any more until the plane landed. Inside the
airport they went through the routine movements,
getting their luggage, and picking up the rental
car. They operated as if nothing was up, until
they were driving towards the hotel and Scully
suddenly said, "Oh, God. Pull the car over."
Mulder quickly did, although not without a
puzzled look. As soon as they had come to a stop
on the shoulder Scully was out of the car and
losing the little food she had eaten in a nearby
bush. Mulder followed her out of the car and
supported her as she was sick. Eventually
Scully sat back on her haunches. "I'm sorry,"
she mumbled.
Mulder tightened the arm wrapped around her
waist. "Don't worry about it," he said. "Nerves?"
Scully nodded. "Exactly." Mulder stood up
and walked away. A second later he came back
with a bottle of water from the car, and handed
it to her. "Thanks," she murmured. She cracked
the bottle open and took a sip, swishing the
water around her mouth to get the bitter taste
out of it.
"Feeling better?" Mulder murmured. She
nodded and grabbed onto the hand he was offering
her, hoisting herself up.
"God, this is so fucking nerve wracking!" Scully
suddenly exploded, breaking away from Mulder's
hand. "How the hell am I supposed to feel about
this? I can't decide whether to be thrilled or
scared stiff!"
"I don't know how the hell you're supposed
to feel," Mulder called back. "All I know is
that this is a situation no one should have
to go through."
"But unfortunately we are!" Scully suddenly
seemed to deflate and sighed heavily. "The sooner
we do this..." she trailed off and walked back
into the car. Mulder just shook his head and
got back into the car, not willing to do battle
with Scully's mood swings.
Shortly after that they drove into the
parking lot of the hotel. Mulder killed the
engine and they sat there for a minute, staring
up at the tall building. A minute later Mulder
spoke. "You ready?" he said in a voice that
hardly seemed to denote the seriousness of the
of the event.
"Ready as I'll ever be." Together they got
out of the car and walked across the parking lot.
As soon as they stepped inside there they
saw Skinner, pacing across the lobby nervously.
When they got close enough he looked up, taking
a deep breath. "How was the trip up here?" he
asked conversationally.
"Pretty average," Scully said calmly, not
displaying any of the nervousness she had shown
in the car. "Nothing really happened which is
probably a good thing."
"Yeah," Skinner agreed. "Uh..." he trailed
off, unsure of what to say. Scully gave him an
expectant look. "Yeah," he said again.
"They're in room 953."
"Thanks," Scully said, and began to walk
off. A second later she looked back at Mulder,
who nodded, silently telling her to go ahead of
him, he understood why. Scully smiled gratefully
at him and started walking to the elevators once
more.
Mulder turned to Skinner. "How are things
up here?" he asked in a lower voice, hoping that
no one would overhear them.
"So far, so good," Skinner said.
"Really?" Mulder asked, his voice turning
puzzled. "No problems from the foster family?"
Skinner let a disgusted look pop up on his
face. "The foster father's words were, and I
quote: 'It'll get them out of my hair for a few
days.'"
"And this is what they had to put up with?"
Mulder sighed and ran a hand over his face.
"I don't like it any more than you do,"
Skinner muttered. He looked up a second later
to see Maria running toward them. "What is it?"
he asked when she got within hearing distance.
"You're not going to believe this one," she
said sardonically.
Mulder shot Skinner a look, and he caught
himself. "Maria Devens, this is Fox Mulder,
Sian and David's father."
They automatically reached out to shake hands
and Maria looked up at him. "I can see the
resemblance," she commented.
"So what's going on?" Skinner said.
Maria almost growled before she stopped
herself. "This day just sent to hell. You're
not going to believe who's outside at this
very moment--Rob Cohen."
"What the hell is he doing here?" Skinner
nearly shouted, and Mulder felt a sinking feeling
in his stomach.
"I don't know, he probably followed us
yesterday," she sighed. "Look, all I know is
that at this moment he's probably confronting
David as we speak. God, I shouldn't have left
him out there by himself," she muttered, close
to panicking.
"Where is he?" Mulder asked.
"Out on the basketball court, next to the
hotel." Mulder and Skinner traded a look, and
they rushed out of the hotel. Maria spun on
her heel and darted after them.
They ran across the parking lot as fast as
they could, heading behind the building. As they
walked onto the basketball court they could see
David's back toward them and Rob standing over
him, looking incredibly angry. He was so angry
that he didn't notice the three people walking
up to him, and he firmly grabbed onto David's
upper arm. Mulder saw red, but Skinner held
him back with an outstretched arm.
"I highly suggest you let go of him," Skinner
said in a low but threatening voice. Rob was
distracted and looked up to see Skinner standing
there, his suit jacket opened up enough to reveal
a glimpse of his service weapon. David took that
opportunity to jerk his arm out of Rob's grip and
backed up a few steps.
"This will not look good in the
investigation," Maria added.
"I just wanted to talk to the boy," Rob
said, backing away.
"And you know that you're not supposed to
associate with them during the course of the
investigation," Maria said, crossing her arms
over her chest.
"Okay," Rob said, turned around, and walked
away.
"Should we go after him?" Skinner asked,
to which Maria replied, "No, it's not necessary.
He's just screwed himself over."
David sighed with relief as Rob disappear
from sight. He turned around to talk to Skinner
and Maria, and then he saw Mulder. The
basketball he was holding fell to the ground
with a thud and he gasped, "Holy shit."
Mulder was equally dumbstruck.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
After the initial shock and staring the four
trooped back to the hotel. Once inside the lobby
Skinner and Maria disappeared, leaving Mulder
and David to talk. They sat down in an out of
the way corner of the lobby, in two chairs
facing each other. They looked everywhere
but at each other, the tension visible in
their postures.
"So what exactly are you supposed to say
in a situation like this?" David suddenly said,
staring out the window.
"If I find out I'll let you know," Mulder
said, and David smirked a little.
David finally looked over at Mulder, getting
a good look at the man who looked so much like
him. "So what happened?" he asked.
Mulder took a breath and leaned back in his
seat. "You and Sian were kidnapped, from
your daycare center." His eyes began to take
on a vacant look, getting lost in the memories.
"I was at work, your mother was at school, and
your grandmother was going out for the day, so
that was the only place we could take you. A
few hours later I got a call saying that some
men had broken in and taken you."
"Did you ever find out who it was?" David
asked.
"No. There were a couple of leads, but
nothing had panned out," Mulder said. Looking
back now he wondered if the kidnapping was
another thing perpetrated by 'them' to mess
with them, even all the way back then. He
hated the fact that someone else was dictating
the way their lives should be. "It made it a
hell of a lot harder trying to find you."
"It only took you eleven years," David
muttered, trying not to get angry.
"David, listen," Mulder said, leaning
forward and bracing his forearms on his knees,
interlocking his fingers. "No matter what
you believe I want you to know that your
mother and I tried our damndest to find you.
We never stopped looking."
"That's a relief, I guess," David sighed,
and slumped in his chair. "I used to have
these nightmares. Um...I would dream that me
and Sian would finally find our parents, but
right before were we about to see them someone
would appear and say that our parents didn't
want to see us, that there was a reason they
abandoned us." He nearly spat out the last
words. "But I guess it's sort of irrational
now."
"It's understandable," Mulder said. "Given
what happened to you nightmares are mild compared
to what could have been."
"You sound like a shrink," David smirked.
"I have a degree in psychology,"
Mulder shot back.
"You don't look like one."
"That's because I'm more of an FBI agent."
David arched a very Scully-like eyebrow.
"So that's why the bald one came to us that
first time."
"And if he heard you say that you'd be in
more trouble than I usually am." This time David
let out a louder snicker.
"That sounds like something the principal's
said to me a few times....more than a few times,"
he amended. "What about my mother? What does
she do?"
"She's also an FBI agent, actually," Mulder
said. "She's my partner."
David shot him a puzzled look. "I didn't
think that FBI agents who are partners were
allowed to be married, at least that's the
impression I got from television."
Mulder shifted in his seat uneasily.
"Well, technically, we're not officially
married. We've been together for--God,
twenty years, but no official marriage."
"But you're still together?"
"Yes."
David sighed with relief. "That's definitely
good. One couple already gave us up because
they were splitting up and couldn't take care
of us anymore."
"That couldn't have been fun."
"Nope. But I was pretty young when it
happened, I don't remember that much of it.
Sian would though. The school psychologists
have a field day with her," he said bitterly.
"She's had a hard time coping?" Mulder
asked, feeling his stomach twist.
"I don't think it's really that," David
said. "We've both become pretty adaptable.
What I think it is...see, I've never known
anything else from life than these foster
homes, but Sian, even though she doesn't remember
much at all from before the kidnapping, deep
down I think she knows that there's something
else out there, something better than what we
got stuck with. I think for her it's hard to
accept that we get stuck with these creeps
when she knows we could have something else.
She's always had this really strong desire to
go home, to have a real home compared to what
we've got."
Mulder sighed heavily and ran a hand over
his face. He hated seeing his kids in pain.
He supposed it was a father thing, and even
after eleven years of being out of practice
the feelings were just as strong as ever.
"Have the school psychologists helped any?"
"No. All she does is be a royal pain in
the ass, her words, not mine."
"That phrase has been used to describe both
me and your mom a few times too," Mulder sighed.
"Where is my mother anyway?"
"She went upstairs. I stayed behind for
a few seconds to talk to Skinner when we heard
about Rob," Mulder said. "You want to go see
her?" David shot him a look. "Stupid question,
of course you do."
They got out of their seats and began
walking towards the bank of elevators.
"Yeah," David said, "Sian would have been
out there playing basketball with me, but
I guess you've hear about the accident already."
"What basketball team do you root for?"
"Well, we're in New York, who else to
cheer for than the Knicks?"
"A man of taste..."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
End Part Six
The next half of the reunion scene in the
next part...
Storm Child
Elizabeth L. Iacono
Part Seven
Disclaimer and other info is in part one
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Scully's stomach was a mass of knots as she stood
outside the door to the kids' room. It was one
of those situations where you can finally get what
you've longed for and wished for for such a long
time, and yet when the time comes you're tempted
to turn tail and run in the other direction, scared
out of your mind and pretending the whole thing
never happened.
But Scully knew that running wasn't an option.
She wasn't the only person who was affected by
this situation, that was obvious. One of the
people who was affected the most was right
behind this door. Before she could stall
anymore her hand raised up, almost of its own
volition, and rapped on the door.
"Just a second!" a girl's voice called out from
behind the panel, and Scully knew instinctively
that it was Sian's. Somewhere in the back
of her brain she knew that it had to have been
Sian's voice, but her common sense wasn't operating
at full power at that moment.
She heard the 'swing-thump' of the approaching
crutches, and the creaking of the metal as
they stopped on the other side of the door.
The noises stopped, and the silence continued
for a while. Scully guessed that Sian was
trying to cope just as much as she was.
Finally, after a supposedly interminable amount
of time, the door was pulled open, and the two
women came face to face with each other.
They stared at each other, looking into faces
that were far too similar to be coincidental.
If they had passed each other on the street,
it would have been a head-turning event. As
it was, it was a life changing one. Sian
cleared her throat out uneasily. "Would you,
um, like to come in?"
Scully nodded, relieved that she had taken
the initiative to speak first. "That would
be great." As Sian backed up, fumbling
with the crutches, Scully followed her in to
the room, closing the door behind them.
Without warning, the tip of the crutch caught
on a fold of the rug and Sian almost went
sprawling. Only Scully's grip on the girl's
arms kept her upright.
"Thanks," Sian murmured, readjusting herself.
"Are you okay?" Scully asked.
"Yeah," she replied. "I'm not too coordinated
to begin with, these things are going to make me
break something else." She sat down on the nearby
bed and waved towards a chair. "Take a seat."
Scully pulled a chair from the table close to
the bed and perched herself on it.
And they sat. For a long time.
"So..." Sian broke the silence with the word.
"Yeah..." Scully responded, pursing her lips.
"I don't know what to say."
Sian smiled, a little sad smile. "Neither
do I. This is one of those situations people
shouldn't have to be in."
"I know," Scully nodded. "I dreamed..." She
took a breath. "I always dreamed that
this meeting would happen. But I never thought
of what I would say. I guess maybe I thought
words wouldn't be necessary."
"But I'm not a mind reader, and I'm guessing
neither are you. So we have to resort to
words," Sian sighed, clutching her good
leg close to her chest.
Scully looked at Sian with wistful eyes.
"It's so good to see you again," she said in
a near whisper. "You grew up but you still
look the same."
"I wish I could remember what you looked like,"
the girl spoke, resting her chin on her knee.
"I bet you were a lot younger back then."
"Eleven years," Scully murmured. "How much did
you remember when they first found you?" she
asked suddenly, out of the blue.
Sian shook her head, remembering. "Not much.
I could barely speak; I think I must have been
shell-shocked or something. I couldn't even
remember our names." She let out a little
chuckle. "I had found a...a little slip of paper
with our first names on it and it just seemed to
fit. I can't imagine why they must have had it
there. I've done some research on it, and there
is no medical cause for the amnesia. Even with
the concussion, it should not have caused that
level of forgetfulness. God...what the hell
did I see that made my mind block out almost
everything in my head up until that point?"
Scully shook her head. "I couldn't say. I'm
not sure I want to even think about it."
Sian shot her a wry grin. "I really don't
want to think about it either." The grin faded.
"Can I...can I ask you a question."
"Go ahead."
"Did you guys look for us after we disappeared?"
Scully leaned back in the chair and sighed
heavily. "I think the word look is an
understatement. We searched everywhere for
you, with whatever resources we could get our
hands on. Even after we moved back here, we
had the FBI resources and used them as much as
we could." Her eyes watered and a hand stole
up to rub at them.
"I don't want you to start crying because of
this," Sian murmured, and Scully laughed.
"It's just very emotional, that's all. I've
been trying to keep my emotions in check, but..."
"It's hard, isn't it?" Sian cut her off, and
Scully nodded.
"Exactly. Any other questions?" Scully said
with a little laugh.
Sian smiled, feeling the tension lighten up
a little. Things were getting easier. "Well,
what about you and Dad?"
At that moment there was a knock on the door.
Scully could barely make out the voices outside,
but she would know them anywhere. "Why don't
you ask him yourself," she smiled, and got up
to open the door.
Sian's eyes followed Scully as she went to let Mulder
and David in the room. Somewhere inside she was still
having trouble grasping the depth of the situation,
that it was really happening.
When Mulder walked in, Sian noticed with a
casual look that he had the same hazel eyes
as she did, and she grinned. For the first
time in a long while, reality was better than
the dreams.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
End part seven
The epilogue is next...
Storm Child
Epilogue
Disclaimer and other info in part one
We're almost at the end folks...
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
April, 2001
Residence of Walter Skinner
Crystal City, VA
10:15 p.m.
Sian wrapped her hands around the steaming
mug of coffee placed in front of her. "Thanks,"
she murmured, and looked over at where Skinner was
seated on a couch opposite her.
"So what brings you over here?" Skinner asked
her, settling in. In the nearly three years since
Sian and David were reunited with Mulder and Scully,
he had become rather close to the family, almost
like a surrogate uncle. And since they'd found
Mulder cold in that field three months back they
had all started to lean on each other for comfort.
Sian held up a bag placed by her feet. "Mom
wanted me to bring this over to Maria. She'd have
brought it over herself, but her doctor isn't too
keen on a seven months pregnant woman getting behind
the wheel of a car at this stage."
"It's a nice gesture, but Maria isn't here
tonight. Her daughter's got a school concert tonight
so they're all staying at her mother's tonight."
That was another surprisingly good side effect of
what had happened in Long Island: his continuing
relationship with Maria Devens.
The girl shrugged. "Oh well. It can wait
until when she gets back." Sian picked up her
coffee and took a long draught from it. Now a
twenty-year-old woman, Sian resembled Scully a
great deal, from the cinnamon colored haircut
around her face in a similar short cut, down to
the little unconscious movements she made that
had to have been inherited. At five foot six,
however, she managed to slightly tower over her,
inheriting some of Mulder's height.
"How's Powell?" Skinner asked conversationally,
and to his surprise, Sian actually blushed and
tugged uneasily at the hem of her shirt.
Evan Powell was her new boyfriend who was, of
all things, a fellow rookie FBI agent. From what
he had gleaned from Scully, she had known him before
he was an agent and just a tutor; a part of his
graduate work was tutoring high school kids who
needed help (which applied to Sian). They had only
started dating a couple of months ago, though.
"He's good," she murmured, looking down into
her coffee.
"What about David? Is he good also?"
"Yeah. He's been getting more and more
excited about the baby lately, too." When Scully
first found out she was pregnant David wasn't as
thrilled as everyone else was. Sian had later on
drilled out of him the reason why--he was afraid
that with the arrival of this new baby, that he
would get pushed to the background, like they had
more than once in the foster homes. They quickly
reassured him that nothing like that would happen,
and even though events in their lives had taken a
severe downturn, at least that thing got better.
Her gaze moved to the window, and she stared
out at the rain. A flash of lightning lit up the
stormy night and Sian sighed, chewing at her lip
thoughtfully. "You know, they told me I was born
on a night like this, all rainy and thundery.
A child of the storm, brought kicking and screaming
into this world." She shook her head, lost in
thought. "I can't help but wonder if everything
in my life was somehow set into motion that night,
that maybe if it wasn't storming that night my life
would have all bright and cheery."
"I don't think that bright and cheery would suit
you," Skinner commented.
Sian smirked and snorted indelicately. "Oh,
yeah, I'm all sunshine and daisies. Although bright
and cheery would have been a nice change these past
few months, you know?"
Skinner just nodded; he couldn't think of
anything to say in response to that.
She continued, still gazing out the window.
"I can't help but think that this was our destiny
to end up like this, that all of this was planned
out somehow in advance by some higher force."
He shook his head. "I don't buy that everything
in our lives is planned out ahead of time, and we
don't have any say in what happens."
"Neither do I, really," Sian agreed. "I kind
of think that destiny is equal parts chance, free
will, and necessity."
"That's an interesting observation. Where'd
you come up with that?" Skinner asked, taking a sip
from his mug.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." She
turned back to him and raised her mug of coffee in
a toast, however there was an ironic smirk on her
face that added a sense of absurdity to the whole
situation. "Here's to the next chance occurrence
destiny throws us." She waved the mug in the air
for a moment and then gulped some more down.
As if had decided to display impeccable timing,
the phone rang. Skinner moved to pick it up, and
Sian settled back into the couch. The storm outside
tickled her senses, but she still felt dull and
sluggish. It was a familiar feeling the past few
months, ever since they'd found her father's body
in those woods. She had just gotten to know him
again and he was taken from her. Destiny sure had
a twisted sense of humor sometimes.
The click of the phone back on the hook pulled
her gaze to Skinner's face, which had taken on a
strange color. "Is everything all right, Walter?"
Skinner shifted on his feet for a moment, and
met her eyes. "That was the Wilmington, North
Carolina police. A pathologist down there ID'd a
dead body that some fishermen pulled in as Billy
Miles, found him fifty miles offshore."
Sian scooted to the edge of the couch. "As in
the kid from Oregon who disappeared the same time
Dad did?"
"Yeah. Except there's one complication--he's
still alive."
"But they said he was dead," Sian repeated and
turned her gaze to the floor, her mind working faster
than she could catch up to it.
"Apparently, he looked long dead, about three
months dead to be exact, but he is clinically alive."
"Oh my God," Sian murmured, lifting her eyes up
once more. They were sparking with the sudden
knowledge that had fallen into place. "If he just
looks dead when he's not really dead that means
that other abductees who appeared dead could also
still be..." Her voice trailed off, but Skinner
nodded, knowing exactly where she was going with
it. He walked to the closet and grabbed his coat.
"Where are you going?" Sian asked, practically
leaping to her feet.
"Down to the Bureau, then down to Raleigh,"
Skinner said as he pulled the coat over his shoulders.
"I'm coming with you." She rushed over to him
even as he tried to shake his head 'no'. "Don't give
me that, this is my father here, who just may still
be alive. I-am-coming-with-you," she gritted through
clenched teeth.
Skinner nodded with resignation, knowing full
well that she would follow him anyway if he said no.
At least this way he could keep her out of trouble.
"Let's go," he conceded, holding the front door open
for her.
Sian reached over and pulled her jacket out of
the closet, then preceded Skinner out of the
apartment. That twisted sense of humor strikes
again, she thought as they practically ran towards
the elevator. Her feet tapped impatiently as the
elevator descended towards the ground floor, and
for the first time in months she felt energized.
A wry smirk crossed her face as she realized that
it could possibly be hope that was making her feel
like that.
As she ran out into the raging storm she couldn't
help but feel that things were going to change in a
very big way. And possibly, just possibly, in a
good way.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The End! (At least until the sequel, which
I'm betting will happen ;-).
Notes: This story was a real labor of love for
me, one that had started out as just a 'simple'
diversion from some other fics I was working on.
Now, over a year later, it's finally done.
Wow. Never though I would say that about
this story. ;-)
I'd like to thank Cathey, Maeve, and Rotem, for
their help, comments, and nagging about this
story. And also the MSRFicSupportGroup, for
being there when I posted this as a WIP and
being patient enough with me. Thanks so
much, guys. :-)
If you liked it, please send feedback to
RhiaRamsay@aol.com. If you didn't like it,
then just ignore me. But if you've made it
this far, thanks for reading. :-)
Liz Iacono