Title: End of the Road
Author: KS
Rating: PG-13
Summary: 2nd Installment to "February 23rd, 2018". Scully and Mulder are reunited with their son in the most unfortunate of circumstances. Takes place about 2 months after Ghouli.
Notes: Many thanks to WildWingSuz for BETA-ing! You don't really need to read Feb 23rd to understand this one, but I promise you it's worth a read also. :)
Jackson van de Kamp had finally made it to California, his final destination after days of using his powers to mask his identity in order to buy food and rent motels. He spent several weeks there and decided it was time to move on to keep a low profile. The end was near and he knew that he would soon be reunited with his biological mother and father.
From his extensive web searching and hacking abilities, he learned quite a bit simply from knowing she went by "Scully" and was an FBI agent. Dana Katherine Scully. The one who played a big part in his visions of the end of the world, and who discovered the cure to the plague that would be unleashed on Earth. Her partner was Fox William Mulder. He hadn't seen much of the man in his visions, but he had recognized Mulder when he saw her. When she cried over his body, at the hospital when the DoD tried to kill him he was there, and when he met his biological mother again under his masked identity, he was there.
They were close and he felt comforted to know that she had someone to catch her when she fell. It was something he often wrote about in his blogs. Only he didn't know who she was at the time, so he called her 'Ginger'. In his brief glimpses of Mulder, he could see some of himself; his height and coloring for sure. His mother was petite and had recessive traits. The one thing that stood out the most, though, was her warm smile and gentle tone when he purposely ran into her under his guise in front of the hospital. She was carrying his snow globe and was devastated when she dropped it. Why did she have his snow globe?
He told her she seemed like a nice person and meant it. It couldn't have been easy for her to say the things she did while he made everyone think he was dead. Jackson was afraid though. Before her confession, he didn't know who she was and that she worked for the government. He couldn't bring himself to come out of hiding when she and Mulder said they wanted to make sure he was okay. She had the gentle and loving tone of voice that reminded him of his adoptive mother, only his parents were dead.
He wanted to allow Scully to comfort him, but he couldn't. Doing so would put them in danger as well. He had lost enough and hadn't properly grieved losing his parents since he had been in shock. Now he was across the country and was alone. He reached out to her in dreams, or tried to anyways.
Lately, he had been having a dream about his biological mother and a baby. She was pregnant, he had gathered, but she didn't seem to know. Several weeks had gone by since that visitation. He hoped she was okay. He was going to have a sister. Would she be like him? He doubted it since the Crossroads project stopped just 2 years after he was born. He had gathered that much since hacking into the classified DoD files. The evidence was probably long gone now. Still, maybe a sibling would be nice since he grew up as a single child in his family. Most of his friends at school had siblings.
He sighed as he wove along the hill that lead him past the Nevada line. What he didn't see though was the truck that sped up along the side of his car and smashed into the side so hard that he lost control as he was caught by surprise and shoved off the side of the road and down the hill.
Scully was tossing and turning in her sleep. Mulder was jostled awake by the abrupt movement. Her face was clammy and her satin PJs clung to her skin. "Scully," he shook her gently and she jumped, suddenly gasping for air. She sat up as Mulder turned the lights on and her hands found their place on her midsection, curling around the small bump underneath. Mulder placed his hands on her shoulders and rubbed her back gently with his left hand until she caught her breath. He reached over with his other hand and brushed a piece of wet hair from her eyes.
"Mulder, I just had a bad dream...about William. He was in an accident. I don't know, if it was a dream or a vision, but he was badly hurt."
Mulder stroked her back in slow circles. "It's okay, Scully," he whispered, trying to keep her calm. She was three months along now in her pregnancy, but the doctor had made it clear that miscarriage and other complications still were not out of the realm of possibility since it was a high risk pregnancy. She had an appointment for an amniocentesis coming up soon, which she was highly anxious about and also since there posed a risk of miscarriage after the procedure. Scully looked over at the digital clock whose numbers read 4 am.
Just then, in the distance, Mulder could hear the distinguishable sound of tires hitting their graveled driveway. He made a mental note to get that driveway remodel done asap. Scully must have heard it too as she looked up at him in alarm. "Stay here, I'll check it out." Scully opened her mouth to protest, but nothing came out. "Please, Scully, I'll let you know when it's safe."
Scully pulled her gun from the drawer of her nightstand. She slipped over the side of the bed and kept the gun in one hand while she cradled her abdomen in the other, trying to stay calm.
As Mulder went downstairs and towards front door, he took a peek out the window. He sighed as he recognized the familiar SUV and the tall, bald man that exited the vehicle. He opened the door and folded his arms to ward off the chill. It was barely spring, so it was still chilly out.
"Skinner," he said as he stepped out onto his porch, completely barefoot.
Skinner walked towards the stairs. "Mulder," he started.
"You could have called," Mulder said matter of fact. "What brings you out here?"
Skinner stepped up onto the porch and Mulder turned towards the sound of his screen door opening behind them. A fearful looking Scully had wrapped herself in one of her long black trench coats and stepped out behind Mulder.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you both," he said. "But I couldn't tell you this over the phone."
Mulder instinctively reached out and put his arm around Scully who had went to stand next to him, pulling her towards him protectively.
"What is it, Walter?" Scully asked, now completely alert. She had a horrible feeling.
Skinner looked down to his feet. "Jackson Van De Kamp was found, his car was ran off the road near Sparks, Nevada."
Scully gasped and Mulder tightened his grip around her.
"He's in critical condition," he continued.
It hurt to see Scully let out a choked sob.
"The DoD wants to get to him first."
Mulder opened his mouth to speak before Scully cut between them. "We need to go to him, now!"
Skinner could tell something was different about Scully. Not necessarily the urgency, but something in her face and mannerisms he couldn't quite place. It reminded him of when he had found Mulder's body in the woods all those years ago.
Skinner nodded. "I figured you would, which is why I got you a flight out in two hours, you might want to hurry and pack up. I'll take you there."
Mulder looked back to Scully who was already rushing back into the house before he could say anything.
"And one more thing," Skinner continued. "No one else knows he's your son...even me and it's best you keep it that way, understood?"
Mulder nodded. He turned back towards the door and held it open behind him. Skinner reluctantly followed him inside and sank down into a chair in the living room. He was not fazed by Mulder's decor. At least it had a homey feeling to it, unlike his apartment.
Mulder had gone upstairs and found Scully frantically throwing stuff into a suitcase. "Scully," he said. "What if he's just using his powers again?"
Scully stopped and turned back towards him. "Something really is wrong this time, Mulder. I saw it in my dream. He's in trouble. He needs us."
Mulder couldn't doubt her this time. She continued to pack her things. He knew she wouldn't have it if he tried to stop her, but he didn't want her getting too worked up.
He knew anything he said would earn him an "I'll be fine", so he got to work on packing his suitcase as well.
To be continued...