Last Wish

by

Trycee

Time-Line: Alternative Universe. Season 10 After Home Again and before My Struggle II.

Disclaimer: This is written for fun not for profit.

Casper, Wyoming:

"This can't be," the aging woman said, wiping away her tears. "There has to be something that you can do," she said, staring back at the younger black haired woman behind a desk. Her husband squeezed her hand as he silently stared off, detaching himself as he took in the bad news.

The black haired woman sighed and pushed back away from her desk. "This isn't easy for me to tell you," she offered. "But your local office was correct. The Make-A-Wish foundation can't get involved in adoption laws. That's not the mission of our organization. We unfortunately can't bypass the law to make this wish. Adoption laws are not on our side. Wyoming is a Closed Adoption state. We cannot access his records even if we want too. We could grant most wishes but this, unfortunately, isn't one of them," she said, watching as the older gray haired woman, wiped her tears and reached out her hand for her husband who clasped it in his.

The woman continued. "Now, if your son wants to go to Disney World or something like that, we can work on that."

"He's dying," the man finally snapped, his tone slightly bitter. "His last wish is to simply meet his birth parents before he dies," he growled. "He doesn't want anything else but this!"

Deborah Harrison, the Executive Assistant at the Casper, Wyoming Chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation clasped her hands in front of her. The Van DeKamps had driven five hours to meet with her, hoping that she would grant William's dying wish.

Deborah could see the anguish in their faces. She handed them an envelope. "Since you came so far, this will take care of the hotel, your dinner and gas money back to Jackson. Please, let me know if William changes his mind and wants a different wish."

Mrs. Van DeKamp stood up and grabbed the envelope. The older woman, his wife, turned without a word and headed for the door. Mr. Van DeKamp stood up and followed behind his wife out the door. They walked down the hallway in silence until they reached the waiting room where William was waiting. He looked bored as he dodged the antics of the sickly much younger kids who were running around him. He had on noise cancelling headphones, blocking out all the sounds as the fragile children with their worried parents who were trying not to huddle over them but instead let them play freely. He already knew the outcome of his parents meeting with Deborah Harrison. He could read his adoptive parents minds before they reached him.

William looked up at them and saw the sadness in his Mom's eyes. "We'll find another way," he urged, reassuringly. "It'll happen. I can feel it. We'll find another way."

She smiled and touched the top of his red head. "How you always know what I'm about to say, I'll never know."

Fifteen yr old William stood up and slid his head phones down to his neck. "I'm fine, mom. Don't worry about me" he went on, answering their unasked question. "I'm just starving that's all. I'm not dying YET," he said, heading towards the exit door.

The Van DeKamps glanced at eachother and then followed behind their adoptive son they had raised since he was a few months old. William pushed open the front door and stepped out into the warm Casper, Wyoming air. He glanced up towards the sky. He could feel the shimmering craft that was cloaked mimicking the clouds. They had been following and observing him for several years. He was not afraid of them, he felt a connection to them. He was fascinated by them but didn't spend that much time thinking about them, the aliens, who spoke to him assuring him that they weren't going to harm him. They were fascinated by him, with his special abilities. He could read minds when he chose too, he could remote view and see places far beyond where he was. He could lift objects with his mind and teleport, all abilities he had always known he had to hide from everyone else but would play around with as a child in secret. As a teenager, he had developed his current mystery illness which weakened him, and he had stopped dabbling with his abilities as much. But as William stood outside of the Make-A-Wish office, staring up in the sky, he was angry. He wasn't sure if they had caused his illness, all he knew was that the doctors had determined that his mystery illness was killing him.

William's blood had been studied for over a year by doctors, labs, universities who were all at a lost of this unknown blood disorder that was now killing him. He had started growing ill nearly two years before. It had started with him feeling sick, and bruising fairly easily. But, the bruises never healed and he continued to feel sick, growing weaker as time went on. William was tested for cancer, Lupus, and every other type of disease. They could determine that he had a blood disorder but that was all they could determine. Unlike Platelet Blood disorders, he did not bleed easy but he was in fact sick because of his own blood. Doctors far and wide struggled to understand what was killing him. They soon discovered that William's blood was changing. To the shock of all the researchers as they were drawing Williams blood, it had a green appearance before slowing changing back to red much to the horror of the medical community. William and the Van DeKamp were paraded all over the country looking for a cure. William was sure that THEY, the Aliens, were aware of him, including the government but they were leaving him alone for now, perhaps because he was slowly dying anyway.

William was being studied, poked and prodded nearly daily, despite the fact that his blood disorder created more wounds. Doctors were at a loss about his conditon. He was an anomoly and the only thing they could determine was that they could not save his life. Doctors had given him less than four months to live. Williams blood was attacking him, slowly killing him and he was sure the answer to his problems was in the hidden craft in the sky. He could easily heal his sores with a swipe of his hand. But he wasn't unable to stop them from reappearing. It was frustrating for him.

His parents watched him as he stared up at the sky. He had been staring up at the sky a lot lately and they were convinced that he was in the bargaining stage of Death, trying to bargain with God. That was at least, what their Christian support group had told them during weekly meetings. They had been worried as they watched their outwardly healthy looking son start to realize that he was in fact dying. His hair had started to fall out and so they shaved his red hair in a crew cut and his skin was covered in sores, purplish bruises and healing wounds. He wore a hat and covered his arms with long sleeves even in the blistering summer heat. His parents watched him as he made his way to the old beat-up pickup truck. He glanced back at his adoptive parents. "You think she can feel me? That whole maternal instinct thing?"

They knew just who 'She' was. Mrs. Van DeKamp smiled despite the grating on her heart every time he mentioned his real mother. "I can feel you and even though I didn't give birth to you, I can still feel you because I'm your mother. So, I'm sure 'She' can as well."

A smile appeared at the corner of Williams mouth and he nodded his head. His dad glanced at his wife and then opened the door of the pickup truck and they all slid in. "I want a milkshake. You think there's good milkshakes around here?"

His parents were surprised. He'd been struggling with his appetite lately. Mrs. Van DeKamp opened the envelope she'd been handed. She glanced at a coupon provided by the Make-A-Wish foundation for their free meals at Johnny J's Diner with they're famous Milkshakes. She glanced over to her husband who shook his head. He'd swear that William was psychic but being devout Evangelical Christians, psychics and witchcraft were from the devil and so he tried to dismiss the lingering thoughts about it. According to his bible, the only one that knew the future was Jesus.

Mr. Van DeKamp pointed his truck towards the direction of Johnny J's. It was getting late and he was sure they'd make use of the free hotel stay as well, heading out in the morning for the five hour journey back home. They had sat down for their meal at Johnny J's, decked out like an authentic 50's diner. William had filled up on a large Strawberry Milkshake having eaten all of his large cheeseburger and fries smothered in dark gravy. They hadn't seen him eat so much since he'd gotten sick. He smiled back at his parents. "I'm okay right now."

His parents nodded, grateful to God that at this moment, they could witness the son that they loved so much acting the way he used to be before he grew sickly. They watched as the handsome, tall, redheaded William flirted with a few girls who giggled in his direction. He could read his parents thoughts when he wanted too but he was doing his best to block out his parents fears and just enjoy the attention from the girls. Occasionally though, he would drift back to his impending death and his wish that would not be granted, to meet his birth parents, especially his birth mother. He felt a connection to her that could not be explained and he wanted to at least see them before he subcumbed to his mysterious illness.

Hoover Building, Washington, D. C.

Scully sat in the X-Files office, her mind drifting off into one of her daymares again and it was disturbing her. She could see the fantasies she often had of William as he was growing up. It helped her cope with her daily lost but often her visions always ended in something tragic and horrific. She wiped at her eyes and looked up to Mulder standing beside her. "Whats going on?"

She shook her head. "It's a mother's curse," she replied, her eyes searching Mulder's. "Feeling him. Knowing he's out there. Having anxiety about him, even though I don't know where he is."

Mulder reached out his hand to touch her shoulder but pulled back. It wasn't what they did anymore. He shook his head. "It's gonna be alright, Scully," he reassured.

He could tell that his words weren't exactly comforting to her.

"Somethings wrong," she said, standing up. "I feel that something is wrong, Mulder."

"With William?", Mulder was helpless as he stared back at his partner, the mother of his child.

Scully could tell that he wanted to comfort her, that was his way, but they lived separate lives now and touching even for comfort was now awkward and an unspoken boundary, one that had never existed between them before.

"It's okay, Mulder," she said, wiping her eyes. "I'm okay. It's just these daymares and even my nightmares have been coming more frequently lately."

He stepped closer to Scully and placed his hand lightly on her shoulder, afraid to touch her any more than he was. "I'm here for you, okay. No matter what."

Scully searched his eyes and then stepped back away from him, immediately building up the wall she had rebuilt between them.

Mulder sighed. "Just because we're separated Scully, doesn't mean we don't care about each other. William is my son too."

"You're right. I'm sorry," she said, rebuking herself. "It was easier, before between you and me. For years we danced around being together in this very office. We've gone through so much together now, Mulder. And stepping back into the X-Files office after all we've been through. Our son...our separation, it confuses things a little."

"Not to me," he spoke, with saddened eyes, his voice huskier the older he was getting.

Scully nodded her head. "I know it."

"Nothing will ever changed that for me, Scully. You are still my partner, the mother of my child, my best friend and so much more."

Scully reached out her hand and slipped it in his. They said nothing as Scully slowly pulled away and straightened her shoulders, sitting back down. She had a report she had to finalized. Mulder retreated back to his desk but he was troubled. He was worried that her fear about William might actually be right.

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