Previously on X-Files…

Episode 1: The Meadow: While investigating a massive cave system in Kentucky, Mulder falls victim to a poltergeist that once haunted a French exploration team.

Episode 2: The Sight: Mulder and Scully face off against an alien parasite who feeds on the psychic abilities of others, namely the local children.

Episode 3: The Reaper: While visiting the Scully family on Christmas, Mulder and Iden stumble upon a weathered treehouse with a mind of its own.

XxX

EPISODE 3: THE REAPER

Chapter 1.

December 23, 2010.

San Diego, California.

Fox Mulder played the drums on the notebook in his lap, occasionally twisting to point his pencil at the toddler in the row next to his. She was thrilled. Waiting for him to point at her put a cork in her constant crying. Occasionally her older sister peaked around their sleeping mother to smile at him, pulling her pink headphones off to listen to his unusual beat.

He had developed a healthy loathing for flying. He had only been on this plane for a few hours, but the bumps and shakes reminded him too much of being on a boat. He was airsick. It didn't help that their destination was less than desirable. He was not on good terms with Scully's older brother, Bill. He was a traditional thinker and he thought Mulder had corrupted his sister – his sister that he pretended was so precious to him, but who he rarely called or visited. Mulder disliked him on principle. Knowing that he had to get off of this plane and play nice gave him another reason to hate flying. It gave him a reason to fantasize about grabbing the emergency door and twisting that bright red handle.

"Did you know that otters link arms when they sleep?" Iden nudged his shoulder, showing him a picture of two otters holding hands while they floated at the surface of a lake. "It keeps them from drifting apart, kind of like when you tie my tube to your tube."

Mulder smiled, pointing out another fact on that page. "Gross. Giraffes clean their noses with their tongues, and they drool a lot."

She made a face. "You would point that one out."

Mulder made sure his little charge had an endless library of information, from animal facts to evolutionary theory. She never stopped searching for things to learn. Ever since her adoption had become official in October, she made it a point to be smarter. She insisted she was going to be just like him – a fountain of random knowledge. She was only nine, but she was on the road to success.

"I have one for you." Mulder sat up a little, shutting her book. "The Ichneumon looked a lot like a mongoose. Do you wanna know what made it special?"

Her eyes sparkled. "What?"

"It was a dragon slayer. Legend says the ichneumon would cover itself in mud and crawl into the nostrils of a dragon, and then burrow out, killing the dragon."

Scully sat up and popped him on the arm. "Mulder!"

"One more! Before we land!" Iden looked between them, turning her sad eyes on Scully. "Please. You said we couldn't talk about this stuff when we were there and we're not there yet!"

Scully sighed. "One more. Just keep it on the plane. I told you how your uncle Bill is."

"Sceptic," Iden said, popping her lips.

Mulder winked at Scully, making sure she knew he was the one who had fed that word to the little girl, and then he started in on another story. "Romania was where the Dracula legend came from, but it's also the origin of another vampire-like creature called the Strigoi."

Scully cocked an eyebrow. "The Strigoi?"

"Legend says the Strigoi is a single demonic creature, a troubled soul trapped and searching for blood to bring itself back to life." He took the book from Iden and flipped through it, stopping on the image of a gray wolf. "Perhaps the most disturbing thing about the Strigoi – it could become invisible, or change into an animal at will. Romanians once believed that the wolves roaming the countryside had a Strigoi among them, and when the creatures raided the villages, the Strigoi took people out of their beds, becoming a little more powerful every time he fed."

Iden gazed at the wolf, running her finger down its flank. "Wow. Did it really exist?"

He shrugged. "Could have. It faded into legend. But that doesn't mean it wasn't real."

"I should have left you in Virginia," Scully muttered, returning to her novel.

Mulder nudged her arm. "Come on. You love telling me I'm wrong."

"You're wrong."

He smiled at her, fiddling with her sleeve. "I already told you I wouldn't bring it up around Bill. What more do you want from me?"

She looked up sharply, about to say something, but she let it go. She smiled again and took his hand, leaning down to kiss his knuckle. "Just try to be nice to him. I know you two don't get along, but it's almost Christmas. And Charlie is going to be there. I haven't seen him in over a decade."

"Why is that, anyway?"

"He moved away. He just stopped calling after a while. I think his wife and my mom got into it."

"And now he feels like reconnecting?"

"He wants to meet Iden." Scully smiled proudly at the little girl, fluffing up her hair. "I told him how special she was, and he just had to come out to meet her."

Iden grinned, flipping through her book to find the page she had stopped on. Scully meant it when she said Iden was a special little girl. She had come into their lives when they moved to Wayfield, watched over by her eccentric older sister, Deloris, who turned out to be an alien. She was one of the first he had really gotten to meet, and the first he had befriended. She had been drawn to Iden for her psychic abilities – the thing that made her really special. Mulder could tell Scully was nervous about her abilities. Her brother would never understand something like that.

Mulder kept his thoughts to himself, smiling whenever Scully brought up something else about Bill and the kids. She tried to impress their names on him, but he got them all mixed up. She gave up when the plane began to descend, assuring Iden that she would love her new cousins.

He was not so sure.