Nova sat on a river bank, cleaning the dried mud from her boots. It had rained more in the last three days than the whole four months she had been traveling. Supposedly it didn't rain much in Maryland, but there had already been 12 inches of rain within the last 72 hours and there was promise of more.
Nova sighed as she laced back up her boots and stood back up. She was wet and dirty and tired. She wanted to go home to Nan and to Will and pretend like she had never left. She knew she couldn't, but that's what she often found herself crying about at night.
She made it into Maryland about a week ago and was about two days out from the FBI office where Scully and Mulder worked and had made their names known. As the time grew closer that Nova would lay her eyes on the agents in person, the more she wanted to turn back. She didn't feel she could do it without Will by her side.
All she was suppose to do was locate and investigate the agents from afar, but even that seemed like a bad idea. After three days of tracking them, Nova was to notify William that she had found them and that night he would hop on a bus to Maryland to join her.
She was still frustrated that she was the one who had to locate them. Yes, it was more dangerous for Nova to be spotted and that meant she would have to stay off of public transport as much as possible. Nova and William were both very different from most around them, but Nova held a bit more.. risk.
So it was she who had to take the journey on foot and back roads, traveling small distances at a time. She had to celebrate her 15th birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Eve alone, but she knew it was for the better of the near future.
She was just starting to get a good jogging pace going when she heard the breaking of a twig behind her. She stopped in her place, placing her hand into her overalls pocket. For most people, someone wouldn't be able to see in the dying light of the January day, the stars already shinning above. She didn't see the glow of a flashlight, so someone would have to have very good eyes like herself to see.
She had had close calls with strangers on her journey, but they were all avoided. Nova could hear this person breathing, panting. She felt her eyes dilate and she shut them tight.
"No Nova, not now", she told herself. She couldn't let it take a nasty turn. She was almost there and she wouldn't ruin this for William. She had to calm down.
She remembered what William had taught her, and let time freeze for a moment...
Her red curled pigtails bounced as she ran, giggling loudly and flailing her arms. She kept tripping on the edge of the dress that was too long for her, causing the redheaded boy to catch up and grab her shoulder, causing them to both tumble to the ground, one on top of the other.
The girl began to cry as she felt the sting of her bleeding knee, cut by a rock on the ground. The boy convinced her to let him pull the dress over her knees to take a look. It took a moment for him to run to his house and back, a band aid and wet wipe in hand. He cleaned her knee and bandaged it, even planting a small kiss on top of the band aid for 'extra healing powers'. He hugged her and told her it would stop hurting soon. He was right, like every other time.
Nova opened her eyes again, breathing in deeply, letting her thoughts ground her. She knew she could be out numbered or in danger that she couldn't defend herself from. She needed to get out into the open, even if that was a huge risk all in its self. But of course being captured or dying is much more dangerous.
A round of thunder grumbled through the trees as rain began to fall. Nova slowly stepped backward, not sure who was there or where they were. Another twig snapped to her left and she saw a huge figure in a black cloak appear from behind a tree about 120 ft from where she stood. She narrowed her eyes, focusing on the person.
It was only a glimpse, but Nova was looking at a man with purple eyes who's teeth seemed to be filed down to points. He reminded her of the demon from The Exorcist.
"What the hell are you?!" Nova breathed.
He seemed to snarl and Nova knew she had just became prey. She wasted no time as she turned and began to ran, the cloaked monster man not far behind her.
"Mulder! I'm cold and I don't have time to be sick. There is nothing out there, especially not in this rain! Lets go. We will come back tomorrow when it is light and dry!" Scully yelled over the pounding hiss of the rain.
Mulder turned around, squinting to prevent water from streaming into his eyes.
"Scully, its here! I know it is! This is where the woman reported she saw the fire. What about this morning when we saw the black hood?!" Mulder yelled back.
"WE didn't see anything. It was you who supposedly saw this man!"
Scully groaned. She knew that he wasn't going to quit, but she wanted to leave. It was pointless to look for anything in a downpour in the middle of the night.
Scully was just turning around when she saw the leaves of a bush move a little off the trail they were on. She pointed her flashlight towards the spot and for a brief moment, she saw a face before it ducked back into the grass.
Scully pulled out her gun, aiming in that direction.
"Come out. Federal Agents. Come out with your hands up!"
Mulder heard her and rushed to her side to join her, gun pointed to the bush. It was still and quiet, neither agent even hearing the rain.
Then out of no where, the figure bolted back into the trees. The agents ran after them, shouting orders to get the person to stop.
Whoever it was ran fast. It was a dark silhouette, but the bobbing of a back pack was visible. The figure looked back at the pursers, guns drawn, struggling to run in the wet grass.
The agents were loosing speed and falling behind, when suddenly the figure fell to the ground. They raced to the person as the figure struggled to get back on their feet, but the agents were there in a flash of a moment.
Scully and Mulder surrounded the person who now appeared small.
"Federal Agents, let me see your hands," Scully growled.
Flashlights pointed at the soaking wet, mud covered figure, a young girls face appeared. No older than sixteen, frail, and bruised. She looked ill and was shaking as she raised her hands. Both of the agents holstered their guns.
She wouldn't look them in the eyes, almost afraid they'd recognize her.
"Who are you? Why are you out here?" Mulder asked, kneeling down to the girl's level.
All she did was shake her head. Scully squatted down as well.
"You can trust us. We are FBI and we can help you," she said.
The girl looked at them, letting them know she knew that wasn't true.
Mulder sighed and stood up.
"Where do you live?" he asked. She looked around for a moment.
"I'm homeless," she squeaked. Rain stuck to her delicate, long eyelashes.
Scully's heart sank. She had no where. Scully looked at Mulder and he nodded. He took out his phone and walked away for a moment to make a call. Scully smiled warmly to the girl.
"Whats your name?" she asked as she helped her to her feet.
The teenager thought for a moment before sharing.
"My name is Nova. I'm 15," she whispered, brushing back her red curly hair behind her ear.
Scully looked at the girl more closely. It was hard to see everything in the dark, but she had big blue eyes and curly red hair that reached the middle of her back. She looked familiar in a strange way and something in Scully's chest seemed to twitch.
Before Scully could start to ask any questions, Mulder came back over.
"Would you like to come with us?" Mulder said.
She opened her mouth, but really wasn't sure what to do. She sighed, frustrated.
"We can get you all the stuff you need. Put you someplace dry and safe," Scully offered.
It took a moment, but the girl nodded. She smiled before looking down at the puddle she was standing in.
It was a wet and long walk to the car, but Mulder had put his coat of the girl, trying to prevent any more water soaking her clothes. She was walking in front of them due to the fact they needed to keep an eye on her in case she ran.
"She is going to be staying with you until we can figure out whats going on with her," Mulder whispered to Scully.
Scully surprisingly wasn't bothered by it. She had a good feeling about Nova, but wondered what he meant by 'whats going on'.
"What do they think is up with her?" she asked.
"They think she may have seen something in the woods. From where she was. Plus, her boots have that strange colored purplish clay that the victims all had painted onto their body."
Scully at the shoes walking ahead of her and saw the purple mud on them. Scully nodded. There was silence for a moment before they reached the car. Mulder let Nova in and was about to get into the drivers seat when he turned to Scully.
"Oh. She is in the care of the FBI and has to be watched by an agent. She is going to be staying with you until otherwise," he said before quickly hoping into the car.
Scully wanted to be mad for not being asked, but she did want to get to know Nova.
Nova sat in the back seat of Mulder's car, staring at the rain that was lapping at the windshield. They had asked her questions, but she had refused to answer them. This wasn't the plan. She wasn't suppose to make contact without William. She had to do one thing. She would need to find a way to call William without them noticing. He always adapted so well to things like this.
Nova let out a yawn. It had been such a long day. A long four months. A long fifteen years. It hadn't sunken in that she was sitting in a car with the people she had dreamed of since she was a baby, the people that were so often a topic of conversation.
She stared at them as they held hands and quietly chatted, a smile on their faces. She waited for the anxiety and reality of what had just happened to hit, but for now she sat, her head falling to the side as she closed her eyes and slept in the comfort of knowing this was real.