Title-Lightening Shadows VII-Destiny=Chance, Free Will,
And Necessity
Author-Elizabeth L. Iacono
Rating-PG
Category-Story, Romance (and an X-File in
there too for once-I stink at writing them.)
Keywords-Mulder/Scully Romance
Spoilers-Detour, Squeeze, Eve, Redux II
Summary-A seemingly routine X-File introduces Mulder
and Scully to two kids that can lead them to Mulder's past.
Archive-Please do, Gossamer especially, just tell me
where it goes.
Well, I'm finally at part seven. This part may not
be as good as the others, I've got the worst case
of writer's block, but I've finally got an idea for
this. They always say you should write about what
you know, so I'm sending our favorite agents to Staten
Island. If anyone from there is reading this, there may
be some...who am I kidding...quite a few inconsistent
things with the island, but I don't have a map and haven't
been back in a few years so please don't flame me. And
my apologies to Notre Dame Academy and High School. In
reality, they're all girls schools, but for literary sake
I'm making them co-ed. Although I think my friends and
I would have enjoyed co-ed while we were there.
Some notes about the story:
It's an alternate universe where "The End" and the Movie
never happened. I started this before the season
premiere, and I couldn't make them fit in this world.
So after Folie a Deux this splits off into a whole
'nother universe.
Mulder is not colorblind. Why? Because I don't
want him to be.
If anyone has trouble picturing Scully as what she
finds out she is in this story, I have just two words
for you: 'The Magician'. If you're puzzled, just
keep reading. You'll see what I'm talking about.
For those of you who read or remember their children's
books, the character of Alec Ramsay is supposed to have
the same name as the character in the books The Black
Stallion Series. The title Lightening Shadows is from
there too: Book 9, The Black Stallion Revolts, Chapter
17, Lightening Shadows, which is about finding the true
identity of a person.
Mulder and Scully are already involved as of Lightening
Shadows V-Starting Out On A Journey. I'll list 'em all below.
Lightening Shadows Series:
Lightening Shadows I-Far Away, Long Ago
Lightening Shadows II-Glowing Dim As An Ember
Lightening Shadows III-What Child Is This?
Lightening Shadows IV-Raindrops On Roses
Lightening Shadows V-Starting Out On A Journey
Lightening Shadows VI-Two Viewpoints
Lightening Shadows VII-Destiny=Chance, Free Will,
And Necessity
Feedback will be eagerly received and responded to.
I don't get alot, and any help you have to offer with
my stories is always good. The addy is RhiaRamsay@aol.com.
And thanks to all the people who sent me such encouraging
feedback on the first six parts.
Oh, yeah, I forgot. The X-Files, Fox Mulder,
Dana Scully, and Walter Skinner are property of CC,
1013, and Fox. However... I do own Jerome and Catriona
Ramsay, Colin and Juniper Ramsay, and their kids, Alec
and Robynne, Johnathan Parker and Shannon Ramsay-Parker,
their kids Sage, Connor, Brian, and Juliette,
and Molly Addison and her family. The rest are minor
characters I don't feel like giving names to right now.
If you want to borrow the characters, just e-mail me.
Lightening Shadows VI-Destiny=Chance, Free Will,
And Necessity
By Elizabeth L. Iacono
Part One-Sleeping Beauties and Witches
Thursday, September 24, 1998
5:50 a.m.
"Mulder," Dana Scully sighed, trying to rouse the
sleeping man. It wasn't her fault Skinner had called
up at 5:30 in the morning for a new case for them.
She'd already gotten ready (by the grace of God in
twenty minutes no less), and now set herself to the
hard task of rousing Mulder from his sound sleep.
"Mulder, get up!" she said louder, but to no avail.
As a last ditch resort, in order to get him up quickly,
she reached out and yanked hard on his right ear.
That finally worked. Fox Mulder's eyes shot open,
and searched her out. "What time is it?" he asked
groggily, rubbing his ear.
"Almost six a.m. We've got to be at work in
half an hour. Skinner's got a new case for us."
Mulder groaned and pushed himself up off the
mattress. "All right, I'm awake."
Scully smiled. "Go take a shower. I'll make
some coffee."
As she walked out of the bedroom, Mulder called
out to her. "Hey, Scully, why'd you pull my ear to
wake me up?"
She looked thoughtful for a second. "I don't
know. I guess I just felt like it. Why?"
He shrugged. "It...it just felt familiar somehow."
"Another dream?" Scully asked. Mulder had been
open with her about his dreams, and what he remembered
about the almost four years of his life before he was
living with the Mulders. Unfortunately, it wasn't
much; there were no names, dates, or anything else
they could investigate.
He shook his head. "No, just a really strong
sense of deja vu."
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6:35 a.m.
Skinner's office
"Come in, Agents," Skinner said, and they walked
past him to the familiar chairs in front of his desks.
Skinner followed them and also sat. He reached into a
large envelope and pulled out a file folder with the
traditional markings of an X-File.
"You started an X-File on this, sir?" Mulder
questioned, puzzled.
Skinner looked up at him. "I think you'll see
it fits in the X-Files." He opened the file. "Since
September 4th, four kids, from the same class at the
same school, have been found in the woods surrounding
the school in what appears to be a catatonic state."
"Have any of the victims died?" Scully asked.
"No," Skinner said. "The police officer who
called the FBI, a Captain Paul Avery, had said there
was no change in their states since they were found."
"So where are we going?" Mulder asked. Scully
could see that tell tale gleam in his eyes that spoke
of eagerness to get started on the case.
"Staten Island, New York. You have a flight into
Kennedy airport that leaves at 8:30 this morning, and
you're to meet up with Captain Avery at Precinct 121,
on New Dorp Road. The directions are in here."
Skinner handed over the file.
"Is that all, sir?" Mulder said.
"Yes, you're excused, Agents." Mulder and
Scully got up and walked to the door. "Oh, and
Agents," Skinner said, making them turn. "Please
behave, not like how you were in the video store."
Both agents blushed furiously and rushed out the door.
"He's not going to let us forget that, is he?"
Scully muttered to Mulder.
Mulder grinned back. "I sure won't."
What had happened was one night, a few weeks
ago, Mulder and Scully had decided to go rent a
video at the small place near Mulder's apartment.
While they thought they were alone, they shared a
rather hot kiss. Neither one noticed when Skinner,
of all people, walked down the row and began to smirk
when he saw them in a lip lock. They finally
separated when they heard someone clear their
throat-and then they saw Skinner.
You can only guess what happened next.
But through all the excuses Skinner just
raised a hand to stop them. "I won't say anything
if you don't. And frankly, it's about time," he
said, smiling and walked off in the other direction.
Mulder and Scully looked at each other, and smiled.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
10:25 a.m.
Precinct 121, New Dorp, Staten Island
Scully stepped out of the car and looked up
at the police station. It looked like one out of
an old movie, with wide stairs leading up to wooden
doors set in an all brick building. Mulder walked
up beside her, placed the customary hand on her back
(usually the only physical contact they allowed while
on duty), and guided her up the stairs into the
bustling precinct.
They stopped at the front desk, where a
uniformed cop, who actually looked at little young
to be a cop, was sitting with his feet propped up on
the desk, reading a newspaper. Mulder put his hand
down rather heavily on the desk, and the cop looked
up at him. "How can I help you?" he asked.
"We're Agents Mulder and Scully with the FBI.
We're here to see Captain Avery," Mulder said in his
most amiable tone.
"Oh, yeah," the young cop said and reached for
the intercom. "Captain, the FBI's here to see you."
The intercom crackled to life. -Okay, send them in.-
The young cop pointed to a closed door with a
brass nameplate behind him. "Right through there."
"Thank you," Scully said, and they set off
between the many desks of the bullpen of the precinct.
When they reached the door, Mulder knocked, and quickly
it was answered by an older man of average height
with greying hair in a well made suit. "I'm Agent
Scully and this is Agent Mulder," she introduced.
Avery stuck his hand out to both of them.
"Captain Paul Avery," he said with a pronounced
Brooklyn accent. "Good to have you here," he said,
and ushered them to the seats in front of his desks.
As he sat down, Mulder idly wondered how many
other officers had sat in those seats getting a
chewing out from their captain for something they
did wrong. He laughed a little to himself. It was
a situation he was very familiar with.
Before Mulder's thoughts could linger any further,
Avery began to speak again. "I've got to tell you,
this case has us all stumped."
"What exactly are the details?" Mulder asked.
We looked at the file you sent us, but it doesn't
hold too much. No suspects, no possible motive..."
"There aren't any. We're not even sure it's
a person doing this." Scully saw Mulder's eyes
light up but before he could follow that train
of thought Avery continued. "It's possible it's
some kind of virus or disease."
"Do you think it will be possible for us to
see the kids?" Scully asked. She wanted to verify
if in fact this was a virus.
Avery nodded. "That can be your first stop.
I've already informed the parents of the kids that
there will be FBI agents dropping in soon."
"What about the kids?" Mulder asked. "Is
there anything special about them that would
make them targets?"
Avery flipped open his own version of the
file Mulder and Scully had. He began reading off
the kids' names and the dates when they were found.
"Jenna Dreiser, found September 21st, Adam Douglas,
September 16th, Michelle Sellers, September 4th, and
Peter Lanson, September 10th. They're all in the
same Junior class at Notre Dame High School.
There's nothing here that indicates they were
major figures in anything. Average students,
all involved in extra-curricular activities, but
none in any position of note."
"What about the woods where they were found?"
Scully questioned.
"It's hardly a woods. Just a small part of a
forest that's privately owned by the people who live
there on the side of Grimes Hill. The school kids
usually use it as a short cut to get down to the
bus stops on Victory Boulevard and Silver Lake
Park. We've already went through the place with
a fine tooth comb-nothing."
Mulder looked up from where he was paging
through the file. "Is that how all the victims
were found, by other kids passing through?"
"No, the first one was found in there by
police; she'd been missing for a few days and
believed to be a runaway. The next two were
also found in there by us; we'd made a lucky
guess. At that point though, we hadn't told
anyone save the parents of the kids and the
force where exactly the kids
were found. The fourth one was found by a
Molly Addison this past Monday afternoon. If
you'd like, we have her address here and you
can interview her tonight. She works during
the afternoon."
"Okay, thank you, Captain. We'll keep you
posted on our progress," Scully said as she and
Mulder got up.
"Hey, it's no problem. I'm just glad someone's
going to find out what's wrong with the kids. They
don't deserve to have this happen to them," Avery
said as they departed.
"No, they don't," Mulder said, and shut the
door behind them.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
11:00 a.m.
Staten Island University Hospital
Mulder groaned as he navigated the gravelly
parking lot, looking for a space. Luckily, they
found a spot close to the hospital.
Scully winced as she stepped out of the car,
her ankle twisting on the loose gravel. For not
the first time, she wondered why the hell she felt
it was necessary to make up for her lack of height
wearing 3-inch heels. Especially when it prevented
her from walking through gravel parking lots without
breaking her ankles. She looked over at Mulder in his
classic business shoes, and sighed.
He looked over at her with a strange look on his
face, but then shrugged it off. "So which one do we
start with?" he asked.
"I figure we start with Jenna Dreiser. I'm
planning to do another tox screen on her, there
might be a better chance of finding anything
inordinate in the system. The parents gave us
permission for tests."
"I'm sure they want their children back,"
Mulder said, a little absently, his thoughts
wandering back into the past.
Scully looked over at him and noticed the
faraway look in his eyes. She reached over and
took his hand. "Fox, stay with me here." He
glanced at her, still a little spaced out. "We've
got a case to solve, which we can do." He smiled
slightly. "I need my partner here with me, not
twenty-four years in the past." She rubbed the
back of his hand, wishing she could offer him more,
but they were in a public parking lot.
Mulder shook himself out of his stupor and
straightened up. He squeezed Scully's hand back
then reluctantly released it. "Let's go find out
what's wrong with these kids," he said with a
determined edge to his voice.
At the front desk they asked for directions to
the ward where the kids were, and then swiftly
followed the nurse's directions.
They reached Jenna Dreiser's room and knocked
on the door gently. A short woman with curly blond
hair and a tired face opened it. "Yes?" she asked wearily.
Scully took the lead first. She had a better
talent for dealing with the families of the victims.
"Mrs. Dreiser, I'm Agent Scully and this is Agent
Mulder. We're here about your daughter."
The woman nodded. "Please come in." She shut
the door behind them and offered them the two
chairs in the room.
Scully took a look around the room. In the bed
near the window lay Jenna, her blond hair gleaming in
the sunlight. Her chest moved up and down every few
seconds, breathing regularly. Jenna's parents had all
but moved in. The other bed in the room had been slept
in, and various clothes, books, and other household
items dispersed between the get well cards and
bouquets of flowers. "How has she been the past
few days?" Scully began.
"Fine," Mrs. Dreiser said tiredly. "It's just
like she's been in a really long sleep."
"What was she doing right before this happened?"
Mulder took up the line of questioning.
"She was on her way to field hockey practice.
The shortest way to get to the park is straight down
the side of the hill, so the girls say," Mrs. Dreiser
commented, running a hand through her hair.
"The girls?" Mulder asked.
"The rest of the field hockey team. They all
regularly use that way."
Scully looked down at Jenna's medical chart,
then back up at Mrs. Dreiser. "Mrs. Dreiser, you
gave us permission to do some bloodwork on Jenna.
Is it okay if we do that now?"
"Sure, whatever you need to. Just try and get
her better," she said with tired eyes.
Scully and Mulder stood up. "We'll be right
back to take the blood," Scully said, and they
walked out the door.
"So what do you think, Scully?" Mulder asked
as soon as they got out of the room.
"I don't know. From the charts it appears
they're in a state of deep sleep."
"They are," came from a voice behind them.
Mulder and Scully turned around to see a young
doctor in lab coat and jeans. He walked up to
them and stuck his hand out. "I'm Doctor DeLuca.
I'm the doctor for the four kids."
Mulder and Scully both shook the doctor's hand.
"You were saying something about the kids being in
a state of deep sleep?" Scully said, echoing DeLuca's
statement from before.
DeLuca nodded. "According to the tests we ran,
there is nothing physically wrong with them. Their
brains, though, appear to be in a state of deep sleep."
Mulder recalled a bit of information from the
file. "So the first one, Michelle Sellers, she's
been asleep, so to say, since at least September 4th?"
"Yes, and with no change," DeLuca said with a
straight face. "We've tried waking them up using
various methods, chemical and physical stimulants,
but none have worked."
"Doctor, the parents of the kids have given us
permission to run some blood tests. Is there a lab
here where I could possibly get the results?" Scully
asked using her nicest voice.
"Yeah, just check in with the nurses desk at the
end of this hallway and one should be in shortly to
take the blood."
"Actually, I'm a doctor so I'll take the blood
and perform the tests myself," Scully said, not
trusting anyone's results but her own.
"No problem. The nurses'll give you the
equipment then."
"Okay, then, thank you for your time," Scully
said. DeLuca nodded and walked into the room of
another patient. Mulder looked over at Scully.
"I'm going to go talk to the other parents,
see what they say about this, and how they're
coping," Mulder whispered to Scully.
"All right, I'll take care of these tests.
I'll check in with you in a little bit." They
walked off in separate directions, each to take
care of their jobs.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
5:45 p.m.
Dragon's Den Bookstore, Manor Road
The Dragon's Den Bookstore was the ground floor
of an old Victorian style building. On the top of
the building, carved into the brickwork was the date
1887, signifying when it was built. Inside the
Dragon's Den, the store was well furnished, from
its dark wood-paneled walls with matching shelves
lining the walls and taking up place in the center
of the store. In the front of the store, in front
of the big bay windows, was a few tables and comfortable
chairs where people could relax and read if they so
wished. The store was simply decorated, the only
outstanding thing was on the back wall. It was a
large carving of a very regal looking dragon, painted
in with vibrant colors, so vibrant, it seemed the
dragon was a real, living, breathing, creature.
Molly Addison sat at the lone cashier in the
in the store, her feet propped up on the counter
the cashier rested on. Her flaming red hair was
pulled back sleekly into a ponytail. In her lap
a history book rested, now ignored at the prospect
of delving into a new novel that had just arrived.
Suddenly a voice cried out from the storage
room in the back. "Molly, get in here now!" the
voice of a woman called to her. Molly dropped
both books on the counter and ran for the back,
her long legs covering the distance quickly.
She skidded into the storage room to see a
stack of boxes close to tipping over. The only
thing keeping them from falling to the ground was
a tall, brown-haired woman bracing them from one
side. "Molly, make sure they don't fall!" Shannon
Ramsay-Parker spoke through gritted teeth.
"Okay," Molly said, and stared hard at the
wobbling stack. For a second, nothing happened,
but then, the irises of Molly's grey-blue eyes
began to move like the sky before a storm. The
boxes that were teetering now steadied out and
slowly glided to the floor, landing neatly in a
row. Her eyes cleared up and she grinned at
Shannon. Sometimes it was good to be a Witch.
Shannon straightened up and dusted off her
hands. "Yet another example of why being a Witch
is at sometimes better than being a Dragon," she
muttered Molly's way.
"We can't help how we're born," Molly tossed
over her shoulder as she walked back into the store.
"Hey, Shannon, d'you think I could leave now?" she
asked as Shannon followed her back into the store.
"I've got that history test tomorrow."
"Oh, yeah, the one Alec's been whining about
all week." Shannon paused for a second. Alec was
her nephew, and Molly's best friend, both of whom
worked in the bookstore. "Do you know why he took
off today? He didn't give me a reason yesterday."
"There's a track meet today. For some reason,
the school tries to ignore the fact that the track
team is doing stellar compared to how our usually
all-star varsity football team is doing. No one
really brings it up when there's a meet," Molly
said with an ironic grin on her face.
"You got to wonder about these people," Shannon
said thoughtfully. "Go on home. I'll close up here,
and be out by 6:30."
"Thank you," Molly said gratefully, and ran behind
the counter to get her backpack. She tossed the history
book in there, zipped it up, then reached for her beat-up
denim jacket, and then slipped it on over her plain blue
tank top. "I'll be here tomorrow, right after practice."
"Gotcha. See you then," Shannon called as Molly
ran out the door and down the street to get home as
quick as possible.
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END PART ONE-Sleeping Beauties and Witches
(
geocities.com/rhiaramsay)