Pre-X-files: A series of small events in Dana Scully's childhood. Might get glimpses of familiar faces.

Disclaimer: The characters of the X-files don't belong to me.

October 17, 1972

Martha's Vineyard

Chilmark, Massachusetts

4:13 pm

The small girl leapt onto the vacated playground swing with a triumphant cry of glee.

''Beat you, Missy!'' she cried happily, adjusting her position so that she faced forwards and scanning the darkening landscape for her sister.

''Beat you big time!'' she called at the top of her voice, her eyes still flitting from side to side. Dark, greying clouds were beginning to gather in the sky, which was lucky for them really, Dana thought, as the small playground seemed completely devoid of any children, apart from herself, of course, and-

''Missy!'' Dana cried impatiently, having just spotted a small figure sauntering around by the trees in the distance, her eyes fixed firmly on the ground, which was strewn with brown leaves. As her sister watched, Missy bent and picked one up, examining it carefully with a broad smile on her face.

Dana groaned in exasperation. ''You weren't even trying to win the race, were you?''

Her sister didn't hear her, or, what was more likely, simply pretended not to. Melissa lived in her own little world, but that didn't mean she was deaf.

''C'mon Missy!'' Dana tried again, ''We've got the whole playground to ourselves!'' She put her full force into the swing, urging it to go as high as it could, but somehow it wasn't the same.

''It's no fun by myself!'' she complained from her position in the air.

All her sister did, was bend down to retrieve another brown leaf from the ground.

''Oh, come on!'' Dana shouted angrily, ''That one looks just like the other one! You're just doing this to annoy me!''

And it was working, she thought bitterly. Well, she was sure she could annoy Missy even more.

''I'll stop doing this when you come,'' she informed her sister calmly, then took a deep breath and began chanting: ''MIS-SY! MIS-SY! MIS-SY!'' at the top of her voice. She saw her sister cringe slightly, but as she made no sign of coming, and merely held up the leaf to the light, as if checking for holes, Dana redoubled her efforts.

So absorbed was she in this self-appointed task, that she barely noticed the swing next to her being mounted by a girl.

''MIS-SY! MIS-SY! MIS-SY!''

The girl giggled, then added her voice to the chant. Startled, Dana looked around, to meet the girl's smiling face. She was a young girl, younger than Dana by about a year, with her long dark hair divided into two plaits and wearing overalls. The girl rubbed her nose self consciously, and Dana grinned at her. She had someone to play with now, but that didn't mean she was going to let Missy off the hook so easily.

''Wanna help me?'' she asked the girl, whose face split into a grin as she nodded eagerly.

''Alright then,'' Dana said importantly, as befits the chief-in-command, ''One, two, three-GO''

They began to bellow Missy's name again, but this time it was far less distinguishable than before, as Dana's rhythm was too fast, the girl's too slow, not to mention the fact that they broke off every now and then to lapse into uncontrolled fits of laughter.

A sudden wind gust swept through the playground, causing a cascade of brightly colored leaves to be swept from the trees behind Missy.

''Ooh, look!'' the girl said, pointing excitedly at the different shades of browns and reds and yellows in the air, ''Like golden butterflies!''

Dana grinned, as she too watched the leaves fall in silence.

''SAM!''

Both of then turned, Dana startled, the girl with a happy laugh.

''Fox!'' she shouted and jumped off her swing to meet the irritated boy. Dana looked at him curiously. He was tall, his brown hair sticking up at different points, as if he had recently run his hand through it quite often. And he was old. Really, really old, practically an adult. Even older than Melissa, and she was ten!

He was shouting at the girl, Sam, who was was shouting back with spirit.

''I told you not to leave our property!''

''Did not!''

''Did too, you little liar!''

''Liar yourself. You told me last time we played, not this time!''

''Well, it's obvious, isn't it? That's just cheating, Sam! You can't play hide-and-seek with someone in their garden-''

'' 'S my garden too,'' she mumbled. The boy ignored her.

''And then, just run off to the stupid playground! It's not even the one closest to our house! I've been looking for you for ages!''

She shrugged dejectedly. ''How'd you find me?''

He snorted. ''I'm your brother, Sam. I'm always gonna find you.''

He seemed to notice Dana, who was still sitting on her, now stationary, swing, for the first time.

''Sorry,'' he said with a sheepish grin, ''My sister's a bit weird sometimes..''

Dana laughed. ''I don't think she's weird. Look at my sister-'' pointing to Missy who was walking behind an oak with her arms full of leaves, ''She's weird. But it's not really her fault,'' Dana said dismissively, ''Aliens abducted her and she's been a bit confused ever since.''

Sam laughed, but her brother only snorted.

Dana had recently seen a documentary on alien abduction on TV, and had bored her family stiff with what she had learned. Since that day, she had referred to Bill as an alien spy, Missy as an abductee and Charlie as a failed experiment, until Ahab had threatened to ground her for a month if she didn't stop. But now she had wanted to impress the boy and his sister with her superior knowledge.

''You don't really believe in that crap, do you?'' the boy asked her, fixing her with a sardonic eye. Dana felt her face flush. ''Well, maybe not that my sister is an abductee, but the rest is true. Aliens and stuff.''

He scoffed. ''Oh, come on.. it's just a story to frighten little kids.'' He looked at her with all the superiority of an eleven-year-old, ''But, I s'pose, that's what you are..''

''Shut up!'' Dana jumped from her swing angrily, clenching her little fists together as she faced the boy, who had stopped smirking now. It took all her willpower not to aim a punch at him. She probably would have, if he hadn't been quiet so tall and old, although that had never stopped her before. Maybe it was because his little sister was standing next to him...

''I've seen a documentary about it,'' she told him proudly, ''That means I'm an expert!''

''Where's your proof?'' he asked.

She hesitated, biting her lower lip. He had her there.

''Well, it's true,'' she said defensively, ''Just because you can't prove something, doesn't make it a lie!''

He simply shrugged. ''Fine, if you say so.. C'mon Sam, let's go home, before mom kills us..''

''Yeah, that's right,'' Dana jeered, ''Run away!''

The boy turned around, and she was surprised to find that he was grinning. ''Bye, little Miss weirdo!''

If anyone else had called her that, she would have launched herself at them, without any consideration for her opponent's height, age or the presence of a younger sibling. But this boy's smile didn't tease or mock. It felt genuine.

So all she did was shout: ''Bye, Mr Know-it-all!''

Sam turned too, and waved.

''Missy?'' Dana asked her sister tentatively on their way home. Missy had collected so many leaves, that both the girls were clutching small piles of browns and reds and yellows to their chests.

''Hmm?'' Melissa asked in her dreamy way.

''Are aliens real?''

Melissa laughed. ''Of course they are, Dana.. Why would you even have to ask such a thing?''

That did it. If Missy believed in them, Missy, who claimed she could sense people's energy, and who had bought a book on palmistry only two days ago, if Missy believed in them, they couldn't be real. Dana felt slightly disappointed, but more than slightly relieved that she had found out before she had been to her new school and had a chance to embarrass herself in front of her classmates.

She made a mental note never to believe anything without proof again.

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