~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wake up Suzy
Put your shoes on
Walk with me into this light
Finally this morning
I'm feeling whole again
It was a Hell of a night
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They floated aimlessly on the water in the tiny rowboat just a few yards from the shore. The tie line, still attached to the bow, floated atop the water, no longer mooring the boat to the dock.

"Wake up, sleepyhead."

Scully shook off the cobwebs and struggled to open her eyes. She turned toward the soft voice beside her. "Mulder?" she whispered.

"Did you miss me?"

"Mulder?" she asked again, not believing her eyes.

"Yeah, Scully. It's me."

"But, I thought…I mean, they said."

"They were right, I am."

"Then how?"

"Tell me the last thing you remember."

Scully opened her mouth to answer, then realized she had nothing to say. "I don't know."

"Close your eyes, Scully. Think hard. What is the last thing you remember, before waking up here, with me?"

She closed her eyes and tried to remember. At first she saw only gray, but as she let her mind drift, random bits of information began to appear in her head.

Mulder leaned forward. "What do you see?"

"A party. I'm at a party."

"Good. Who else is there?"

"Mom. So are the Gunmen and Skinner."

"Where is this party?"

"At mom's house." Scully opened her eyes. "Is this really important, Mulder?"

Mulder smiled. "Yes, you need to remember." He touched her hand. "Why are you having a party?"

Scully closed her eyes again. "It's someone's birthday, I think. There are presents on the table." Her eyes opened. "Oh my God, Mulder. It's William's birthday. Where is he? Why isn't he here?"

She tried to stand up, but Mulder grabbed her arm. "Sit still, Scully. I'm not much in the mood to go swimming."

"Swimming? What are you talking about?"

Mulder lifted his hand to her cheek and turned her face to the side. "Look around. Do you know where you are?"

Her eyes widened as she took in the lake, the boat, the woods surrounding them. "I know this place. Have I been here before?"

Mulder nodded and put his hands back in his lap. "Many years ago."

"How did I get here? Where's William? Mulder, where's our son?"

"He's safe. What else do you remember?"

Scully frowned, confused by Mulder's calm demeanor. "We were celebrating William's third birthday. Mom wanted to get everything ready before we woke him up from his nap. She put the cake on the table, but we were missing something."

"What were you missing?"

"I don't…no, wait, candles. There were no candles. Mom thought she had some in the drawer, but we couldn't find any."

"Then what?"

"Skinner offered to go to the store and get some, but I went instead. There were other things I needed and I thought I'd take care of everything at once, save a trip out later."

"Go on."

"I got into the car and drove to the store a few miles from Mom's place. It didn't take very long to get there, five, maybe ten minutes or so. I went in and found the things I'd come for, paid for them, then I left."

"That's good. We're almost there now, Scully. What happened after you left the store?"

"I don't know," Scully said, turning away from him. "I don't remember."

"I think you do."

"No, Mulder, I really don't remember. Can we drop this now, please? It's so beautiful here, so peaceful. Have I been here before?"

"You've already asked me that." He reached out and took her hands in his. "Finish the story, Scully. We can't go on until you remember."

"Go where, Mulder?"

"I think you already know." He squeezed her hands gently. "Finish the story."

Scully pulled her hands away from him. "No, I don't remember anything else. I want to get out of this boat and go home. Where are the oars?"

"There are no oars, Scully. Finish the story."

She shook her head. "I can't. I don't want to."

Mulder leaned back and closed his eyes. "When I first got here, I refused to remember, too; I didn't want to remember. I was miserable for a long time, Scully, until I told my story." He opened his eyes and stared into hers. "Once you remember, once you tell your story, everything will be all right."

"It's too much like giving up, Mulder," she whispered.

"Sometimes you have to give up." He touched her cheek. "Please, Scully. I can show you so much, once you let go."

Scully shivered and crossed her arms against her stomach.

"Trust me," he whispered.

Scully looked back at him and nodded. "I do."

"Then tell the story, from the beginning."

She sat quietly for a moment, allowing her breathing to level out, before beginning. "Mom invited Skinner and the Lone Gunmen over to help us celebrate William's third birthday. Skinner was cooking hamburgers on the grill for everyone, except for William; he only likes hot dogs these days. I was going to wake him up, but mom wanted to wait until we had the table ready with the cake. She went into the kitchen to get the candles, but there weren't any left in the drawer. You can't have a birthday cake without candles."

"No, of course not."

"I had to go get some. Skinner offered, but like I said, I needed a few things myself. I couldn't very well ask him to pick up feminine hygiene products, could I?"

"No, I guess not," Mulder chuckled. " Go on."

"I got into the car and drove to the store. It's a short drive, just a few minutes up the street," she explained.

"I remember."

"It wasn't crowded, so I was in and out of there in less than fifteen minutes. I was in a hurry; I didn't want William to wake up before I got back with the candles."

"What did you forget?"

"I forgot to check the back seat of the car. It was still early; the sun was still out. I didn't think."

"What happened?"

"He cut me."

"Who did?"

"I don't know. I didn't see his face. One minute I was fine, then suddenly I was bleeding all over myself." She reached up to touch her neck. "Here. It was deep. I couldn't stop the blood. So much blood coming out so fast, Mulder." She looked at the boat, then at the dock and remembered. "I had a choice last time."

"You don't this time."

"I know."

"You understand that you're, that we're…"

"Yes, Mulder. I understand."

"Good," Mulder said. "Do you want to see William before we go?"

Scully smiled. "We can do that?"

"We can do almost anything, now," he answered. "When do you want to see him?"

"Now. I want to see him now."

"No, that's not what I meant, Scully. At what point in his life do you want to see him?"

"I don't understand, Mulder. What do you mean, at what point in his life?"

"Time is meaningless here," he explained. "We can look at him at virtually any point in his life. We can see him with us right after he was born. We can see his first day of kindergarten. We can watch him get married and have children of his own. Whatever you want to see. Whatever you need to help you, to help us, move on."

"Can we see it all?"

"If that's what you want, but it's a one-shot deal. Once we've done this, we have to let him go."

Scully moved closer. "Have you seen it already?"

"No. I didn't tell my story until tonight, until I knew that you would be here by my side. They let me wait for you, to help you across. I didn't want to watch without you," he said.

"Two years? You've been sitting here for two years, Mulder?"

"Two years, ten minutes, a century, it's all the same. I told you, time is meaningless in this place. Besides, I need you to cover my back."

Scully grinned. "You'd manage to find some way to get into trouble, even here, wouldn't you, Mulder?"

"That's why I waited," he said. "Are you ready?"

Scully rested her head on his shoulder. "Yes."

Mulder put his arm around her waist and pointed straight ahead. "Watch."

William and Maggie appeared before them. Both were crying as they laid flowers in front of two headstones.

"I don't want to see this part," Scully said. "Can we move forward?"

The scene changed. Maggie was holding William's hand and walking with him up the steps into a school. He was tugging on her hand. "Come on, Grandma. We're going to be late!"

"We're right on time, William Mulder. You just slow down before you run someone over," Maggie scolded.

"Look at him, Mulder," Scully said. "He's beautiful."

"And stubborn," Mulder added.

"He comes by that naturally," Scully chuckled.

Suddenly they were watching Byers teaching William how to tie a tie.

"Damn it, Uncle John. Why do I have to wear one of these stupid things anyway?" William fussed.

"Because it's Homecoming and you're expected to dress like a gentleman," Byers answered. "Besides, your date is worth the added effort, isn't she?"

William smiled and let Byers straighten the tie. "Yeah, she is."

"He's dating," Scully whispered.

Mulder smiled. "Then he's already one up on his old man. I never had a date for Homecoming or any other dance, for that matter. No one wanted to go out with the kid whose sister was abducted by aliens."

"Are you all right?" Scully asked.

"I'm fine," he answered. "It was simple, happy, observation."

A door slammed. "Grandma? Walter?"

Maggie and Skinner walked into the room. "What is it?" Maggie asked.

William waved the papers in the air. "I got it! Look, a full scholarship to Oxford. I'm really going to go to school where my dad went and see all the things that he wrote about in his journals."

"He's trying to follow in my footsteps?" Mulder asked.

"He's trying to find you, Mulder," Scully answered. "He wants to get to know you in the only way left to him."

"He could do so much better," Mulder sighed.

"William needs to do this. He needs to explore your life, before he can make those final decisions about his own," Scully explained. "He'll choose his own path eventually, but right now, this is what he needs."

"I wish I'd known him."

"So do I, but he's been surrounded by people who knew you, who knew us, all of his life; our influence is there, Mulder, even though we weren't."

"Do you want to see any more?"

Scully shook her head. "I only wanted to know that he's happy. Look at him. Does he look happy to you?"

Mulder nodded. "Maggie did a good job raising him."

"Yes, she did."

"Ready?"

Scully smiled and nodded.

The boat drifted closer to the light at the far end of the lake. The two held hands, looking directly into the beam, until the lake faded away and the light closed in around them.