Disclaimer: I only own Kathryn Mulder
Fox was panting hard. Running full speed in the pitch black of the night, clutching in his arms the last thing he held dear. It was nearly impossible for him to believe that this last thing, the one being whom he would give anything for, his life for, and he was about to give it away into the hands of another.
The rain pummeled down on him like God's wrath. But this storm was as far from natural as it could get. Mulder could feel the light of the UFO behind him and the strange, warm wind it made. He had to hurry. It was right on his heels now as he stumbled onto the steps of John Byers small house. His speed allowed him the momentum to bust open the door to see a shocked Byers standing in front of him in his underwear. Fox looked down at the bundle he was carrying and spent what he knew were the last few moments of his life smiling down at his newborn daughters bright green eyes.
15 years later.
"I'm all for believing, I'm all for believing…
Just believe, just believe, and trust in me."
The piano accompanied the haunting violin as Kathryn Samantha Mulder finished her singing solo in front of a crowd of three hundred. She was stunning. The midnight blue dress complemented her slender figure as she nodded her thanks the never-ending applause of the audience. Among them were her two uncles, Ringo Langley and Marvin Frohicky, along with her father, Jonathan Fitzgerald Byers. They were all smiling but John was the only one crying. He was so proud and as tears of joy squeezed through his crows feet he wondered if it was possible to be any happier.
Kathryn stumbled down the steps of the stage in her Stilettos and into her father's arms.
"Daddy!" she said as he held her protectively. She had never stopped calling him that, daddy. She always had, sense before she could remember. But there were a lot of things she couldn't remember; the day her mother passed away, the fire that burned her house down along with all the belongings of her mother, and the strange way all her mothers things and so many of the memories seemed to have faded away. But Kathryn new better than to question her uncles or her father about her mother. She had tried once when she was a very young girl and her father had started to cry. She hated herself for that and swore she would never do anything to her anyone she loved, especially her dad. She also knew better that to try to hack into police records or government files for fear of Ringo catching her. All she knew was that her name was Susan; she had green eyes and was type O+ blood type. Long ago Kathryn had accepted the fact that she would probably never know anything about her mother, but she would soon know more that even she wanted.
"I'll be right back," Kathryn said to her family as she wobbled awkwardly down the hall to the ladies room. As she pushed open the door, she noticed another unlabeled one open a jar. Her hart began to race. She knew she shouldn't go poking around and Ringo had made her nice and paranoid about cameras and getting caught but her curiosity took over and she checked to make sure no one was looking. She was alone in the hall and so she took a step into what she thought was another room. Next thing she knew she was falling through the door over steps leading into a dark ally. She hit the ground hard, blooding up her elbows and one palm. But if Melvin had taught her only one thing in life, it was to be tough and never show weakness.
"Bloody shoes!" she cursed ripping off her high heels.
"Are you ok young lady?" came a voice from the shadows. Kathryn gasped, thinking she was alone in the dark ally. Embarrassed and startled she froze in place as she saw a bald man with large, round glasses come toward her. He towered over her making his 6'2 figure look even larger. He knelt down and held out his hand to help Kathryn up.
"Uh, thank you." Kathryn said nervously and for the first time his blue eyes met her brilliant green ones. As their eyes met the man, who must have been over 50 years of age, suddenly got a shocked, pale look on his face. It was as though he was seeing a ghost and, in a way, he kind of was. Even after Kathryn was on her feet he refused to let go of her arm. She was scared now, wanting to scream. But something stopped her.
"Umm, do I know you?" she asked.
The man just stared at her for a long moment that seemed to take ages to pass.
"What's your name, young lady?" his voice was surprisingly soft. Kathryn gave him a look of confusion but something in his voice was calming and, somehow, almost friendly. Like an old relative one only meets once or twice a year.
"Kathryn, Kathryn Mulder" she was ever so slightly leaning away from him now. When the man heard the name "Mulder" he looked even more shocked. Then a crazy smile took over his face. It started small, just a peak on one end of his lips before a sort of choking sound developed in his throat. His eyes grew large and the noise turned into an insane kind of grin.
"You're her aren't you?" he lifted his hand to Kathryn's face now. His thumb grazing the side of her soft cheek and as he did this Kathryn's voice turned cold and unnatural and with gritted teeth she hissed "You touch me again and you'll be peeing through a catheter for a month" she had learned from Marvin how to defend herself in such situations. This threat, however, only made the man laugh.
"My God, it really is you! You do take after your mother don't you!" she let him laugh wildly before twisting her arm free and kicking his kneecap hard with her bare heel. Spinning wildly she clambered up the steps trying to get inside but the dark man stopped her again, this time with his words.
"I knew your parents, Fox and Dana"
Perhaps it was pure astonishment that kept her from throwing open the door and screaming for help but in any case she turned to give the man a quizzical look.
"My fathers name is John Byers and my mother is dead. You have the wrong chick mister."
"But I don't!" he said as the man limped over to her. "My God, is that what they told you? The Byers is your father?"
All curiosity and interest was lost to Kathryn now. She spun on her heel and rushed through the door, but only after grabbing her other shoe.
The man called after her as she ran down the hall "I'm Walter Skinner. Tell the Gunmen I'm back!"
"What took you so long?" asked an impatient Melvin.
"Sorry" was all the answer she would give him.
"And why is your arm bleeding?"
"I fell"
This was, in all entirety, true.
That was all that she would say about it but something about the incident wouldn't leave John alone even though the others just thought it was a product of Kathryn's clumsiness.
Ringo gave Kathryn her birthday present as soon as they got home that night. It was a new computer game that wasn't supposed to come out until that July but he had hacked the website and managed to sneak her a copy. Marvin brought her a bouquet of a dozen red roses, her favorite flower, and John gave her a pair of Dave Mathews tickets.
"Well, thanks guys! I love everything!" Kathryn said in her sweetest voice. But John could tell the sweetness was only to cover up something. The whole night he watched her emotions build up like a dam about to burst.
Kathryn's smile faded and a very blank look crossed her face as she stared aimlessly down at the old, scared tabletop.
"You okay?" John finally said breaking the silence.
"Yea… uh, yep. Just tired is all." But her eyes were lying and she knew all three men could see it. She could walk away right now and then maybe they would let it go. Sure, John would remain conserved but he trusted her to tell her things that were really important. Kathryn had no idea just how important her ally incident was. It was so important, it would shatter the world she knew forever.
"I made a wrong turn when I went into the bathroom and accidentally went out back to an ally. I kind of tripped and fell out of the door and that's how I go the scratch on my arm. There was this guy there who though he knew me or something. I got out of there but he said he knew my parents but he didn't say you, dad. He called my mom Dana and this other guy "fox". I mean, what kind of a name is that? Fox?" Kathryn tried to joke but all three men suddenly became very quiet and a defending silence surrounded them. Kathryn was afraid of this silence so she kept talking.
"Well, he was like 'tell the gunmen Walter Skinner is back' but I didn't know who that was so… ya, I guess he must have had the wrong girl."
No one moved, they all just stared at Kathryn, white as the man in the ally was when Kathryn told him her name. Ringo's mouth was lolling open, Marvin covered his face with one hand and swore softly. John silently let tears roll down his face. It was all over for him. He would have to tell her everything and his sacred world was lost forever all because of a wrong turn in a hallway.
"What?" Kathryn was scared now. Thoughts of horrid extremes raced through her head. "What? What is it? WHAT!"
"Kathryn, we need to talk," said John in a flat tone.
And so for the next three hours Byers, Langley and Frohicky told Kathryn the store of how she was born not to John and Susan, but to Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. How Mulder had spent his dieing breath making Byers promos to take care of his baby daughter. How her mother had been abducted just after she was born and Mulder shortly after. How Byers had taken her in as his own and lied to her for all these years about her past. How they had moved far from the place she was born and faked their own deaths to flee the state and start a new life, pretending to come from Canada and having Langley and Frohicky be Byers "brothers" from different mothers. Having Susan, Byers ex-lover from his old campaigning days, become Kathryn's "mother". He told her about the X-Files and how Mulder and Scully had met. About the smoking man and Skinner, Doggett and Reyes, about every case they could remember and every fact about everything that had happened throughout Kathryn's parent's lives. But John had the respect of Mulder and Scully in the highest of interests and, for them, he had named his adopted daughter Kathryn, after Scully's middle name, and Samantha after Mulder's sister. He also gave Kathryn Mulder's last name, telling her all the while it was Susan's and she would have liked it if her family name was carried on. In actuality, I was a way for Kathryn to represent some sort of truth. The truth Mulder had been looking for for so long. But that truth was deadly to his daughter. So Byers did the only thing he could do. Protect her, even if it meant hiding that truth from her and wrapping her in a lie.
"So, so you're not even my real dad?" Kathryn managed after the story was told. She begged him to say yes, that this was all a strange dream that she could wake up from. But he didn't.
"No, sweetheart, I'm not your real dad."
Kathryn picked at the edge of the table not wanting to look at any of the men. After several long moments she lifted her head, eyes seeing in new light.
"Well, what does it matter, right? I mean, if their both gone, abducted or whatever, it's just, like, like I was adopted and you guys never told me. It's not like any of this is going to change anything. It's just a matter of blood right?" the men looked at her another long moment. "Look, I love all you guys and no mater who my birth father is, it's not like any of that is going to change anything. Right?"
John leaned back in his chair. "No, I guess it really doesn't… I wonder what Skinner meant by he's back though."
"Ya, I thought the government popped him, but I suppose he went under cover like us." Marvin replied. Just then, a knock came at the door.
"Oh no!" Langley said in his usual paranoid way. "You think they've been listening?"
Byers gave him an "oh please" look but Langley checked the peephole anyway.
"Who the hell would be knocking at this hour?" Marvin said, checking the clock. It was 2:57am.
"Oh my God!" Langley said tearing off the eight locks on their front door. "It's Skinner!"
Skinner stumbled through the door, ducking under the chandelier in the entry. His eyes darted quickly about even though Langley had made sure this was the safest house in the state of Virginia. Years of looking over his shoulder and paranoia had taken its toll on his mind and body. He was now completely bald and a bit hunched over with a nerves habit of tapping his right foot. He also couldn't sit still.
"Congrats on not being dead" Melvin said, managing to find humor in the situation.
"Ya, thanks" Skinner said, forcing a smile. "Sorry I scared you Kathryn. You have to understand the severity of the present situation."
"Yes, I understand. They told me everything, but what does this have to do with me now?" Kathryn asked.
"They're coming back. For you I think." Skinner said to Kathryn.
"How do you know this?" John asked.
"After Mulder and Scully were abducted, the counsel gave me two options, disappear or die. Naturally I left. I still had some friends in the counsel though, they've been keeping me updated on things and they say in this past month there has been some unusual activity. We think it involves you Kathryn."
"What?" she said in disbelief. Skinner turned to the Lone Gunmen and said, "You remember the forest back in 96? It was the first case I sent Scully to accompany Mulder on, remember?"
"The one with the sleepwalking girl and the bumps on her back?" Melvin asked.
"The same."
"Ya, what about it."
"The forest that case took place in is thought to be a sort of 'drop off point' for the aliens. There's been a lot of activity around there, the past few days especially. And…" Skinner checked the clock, "in ten minutes from now it will be exactly fifteen years to the minute that Mulder and Scully were taken. We think, just maybe, Mulder and Scully might still be alive and the feds think there done with your parents, Kathryn. They think the aliens might be putting them back, and what better place than the drop off point, right? And the drop off point…"
"Right in our backyard" John finished for him.
A/N: Please, please, please review! I love feedback and constructive criticism! I have started chapter two and hope to get it done soon. Thank you for reading and reviewing!