Airport

Scully took William by the hand and rushed up to the counter. "Hello, my name is Special Agent Dana Scully. I need to change the flight that my husband and I are supposed to be on shortly to one this evening."

She had expected her clout as an FBI agent to open doors for her. Unfortunately, no one had told the person behind the counter. The clerk gave her a vapid, if slightly apologetic, smile. "Gosh, I don't think we can do that."

"Why not?" Scully asked patiently.

"Well, the flights that are leaving in the next hour are the last ones for the week, I think. You might be able to get another flight Monday."

"You think?"

The clerk did not notice the new coldness that crept into Scully's voice. "Yeah... based on what happened last month, I think it's just a matter of them fixing things to the FAA's liking. But that took, like, several days last time."

"So you're saying that if I don't take this flight right now, I'm not going to be able get another flight until Monday?"

"Or Tuesday. It could be fixed by Monday." The girl made no attempt to hide her doubt.

The nails of her fingers dug deep into the palm of the hand not holding William's as Scully reminded herself not to take out her frustrations on someone who clearly had no responsibility for the problem; there was no way on earth that the girl was smart enough to even badly design a jet plane. "Right."

"You look upset, Mommy," William whispered.

She was, but she wanted him to think otherwise. After mulling things over for a moment, she unclenched her hand and turned back to the clerk. "Look, I have the tickets for both my husband and I with me. Can I use the second ticket for my son instead of my husband?"

"Yes, but no child discount, can be applied to an already purchased ticket. Sorry."

"That is the least of my problems," Scully muttered before turning to William. "So, how does going with Mom on a case sound?"

To her surprise, his eyes lit up. "Cool!"

Meanwhile...

"Sign this." Mulder was taking the clipboard from the tow truck driver when his cell phone began to ring. "My wife, sorry," he muttered as he scrawled his signature across the form and handed it back while clumsily opening his phone with the other hand.

"Any luck?" he asked.

"No."

"Then-"

"This is such a mess, Mulder. I'm going to take William with me. You'll have to catch up when you can get another fight."

This flew over his head. "Wait, what?"

"If I try to bring him home or to Mom's I'll miss the flight too, and there isn't another one until Monday. At the earliest. Skinner will have our heads if we don't get a move on this case."

"Um...okay, then. I'll get a flight as soon as I can to meet you."

"Love you, bye."

"Love you too."

The tow truck driver has patiently waited for the conversation to conclude. "Sorry, our plans for a work trip have just been fubar'd."

"That sucks," the driver offered.

"Yup."

"Do you need a number for a cab? Normally I offer to drop the driver off at the garage, but I can't fit an adult and four kids into my truck."

Mulder thought he saw something on the man's face that suggested that he was scared of having those particular kids in his truck anyway. Considering one of them had managed to pull out a fuse box in less than ten minutes... "If you have a number, that would be great."

When she noticed that William was sticking very close to her in the airport, it occurred to Scully that William had never flown before, at least not at an age when he was old enough to remember doing so. They had meant to bring the kids on a trip, but things had a way of seeming like a good idea at first, but not so good under actual consideration.

"Almost there," she whispered as they made their way to the plane. He just nodded.

Scully found their seats, and let William sit by the window. They both turned their attention to the flight personnel who was explaining where the exits were. When the fasten seatbelts sign turned on, Scully was not surprised to see that William looked nervous.

"What's the matter?" she asked, already predicting that he was afraid of the danger suggested by the need to wear seat belts.

"I don't have any clothes," William said anxiously. "No pajamas. No clothes for tomorrow. I don't have my toothbrush either!"

She smiled and patted him on the head. "My boss won't expect me to do anything until tomorrow, so as soon as we land, we'll go shopping."

"Really?" He looked surprised.

"Sure. I'm not going to make you wear the same clothes everyday and to bed."

"But no one else is getting new clothes," William said guiltily.

It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that his brothers and sisters couldn't give a flying fig about new clothes, but she didn't. "None of them are having a birthday in a few days either."

"Oh, but-"

"No buts. Surely you've heard the expression 'desperate times call for desperate measures'? Just tell yourself that this counts as one of those times and stop worrying about fairness. Okay?"

"Okay," he agreed, turning to look out the window for the first time since boarding the plane. "Mom, know how on the news a few months ago people got stuck at the airport and had to sleep there?"

"Sure, I remember that."

"That's not going to happen to us, right?"

"No, it won't."

"How do you know?"

"Will, do you know why they got stuck there?" Scully asked, amused.

"No."

"There was a snow storm."

"Oh. I guess that won't happen then."

He still looked contemplative, and she hoped he wouldn't ask about plane crashes next. It was one thing to promise that there wouldn't be a snow storm in May, but no one could predict a plane crash. Looking at her son, who was now examining the contents of the pouch on the seat in front of him, she found that she was suddenly nervous too.

"I don't know why they insist we fly," Scully told William later into the flight. "It's not as though it's too far to drive."

Actually, she did know why: the bean counter Mulder had threatened to punch just before he'd been taken by aliens had quit a couple of years later, and the man's replacement had loudly suggested to Kersh that travel expenses ought to be strictly regulated. It was far easier to keep an eye on the costs incurred by flying than driving, so they'd been stuck flying everywhere since.

"The FBI sounds kind of weird," William told her. "Dad said there's a lot of rules."

"In your dad's mind, there are."

"Mom, what is this case about?" William asked.

"Someone saw something," Scully said vaguely.

"Obviously. I'm not a baby, you can tell me."

She sighed. "A few people reported seeing a very small demon."

"A demon!"

"A small one," she said defensively. "There won't be any danger. I wouldn't take you on a case if there was going to be anything dangerous about it."

"So... demons aren't dangerous if they're small?"

"It stands to reason," she said, hoping that he wouldn't think about it too hard.

"You know, Jeremy and Allison are-"

"Don't say it," Scully warned him.

"Don't say what?"

"Whatever you were going to say about your brother and sister, just don't," Scully snapped.

William slumped in his seat. "Okay," he said, looking both guilty and sulky.

Scully wanted to say something, but she didn't know what. Hearing about how badly behaved the quads were got very old. Nothing she and Mulder did seemed to be able to corral the most spirited of their offspring. Their kindergarten teacher had already suggested ADHD medication, but their doctor said that they didn't need it. Scully interpreted that to mean that it wouldn't help in the doctor's opinion.

"Does it have wings?" William asked after a while.

"The demon?"

"Yeah," he said, giving her a strange look.

"According to some people, it does."

"That's cool. Did it bite anybody?"

"No. Nobody has gotten into a physical confrontation with it."

"Did they get any pictures?" William asked.

"Surprisingly no. Your dad thought they might, because everyone seems to have a cell phone that takes pictures, but no one thought of it. I guess they were too surprised to react quickly enough."

"You don't think it's a demon," William guessed.

"No. I think it's probably not a demon," she admitted.

"Then an animal?" William asked. "We saw a blue heron when we were out at gym, and Timmy thought it was a pterodactyl."

"He did?" The corners of her mouth twitched as she imagined Timmy's reaction. She knew from a class trip she'd chaperoned the year before that he was a very excitable child in the best of circumstances. Her mind summoned up a picture of him shrieking and running for safety as the "pterodactyl" flew by.

"It did hold its legs way behind it when it flew. You could kind of think it was a flying dinosaur," William said generously.

"I don't know if this case is about an animal. It could just be people's imagination."

He looked surprised. "What would make people's imagination think they saw a flying demon?"

Scully didn't want to tell him that drugs or alcohol could induce such a vision, so she didn't. "People imagine that they see things pretty often. Most of the time, things aren't what they thought."

"Like ghosts," William suggested. "I don't think there are such a thing. Do you?"

Before she answered, Scully thought about the Christmas night she and Mulder had spent in a haunted house. "There might be ghosts. People have said they've seen them for thousands of years, so it is hard to dismiss all of that."

"I didn't think about that," William admitted.

"If your dad was here, he would remind you that it's good to keep an open mind." Scully looked at her oldest son. "But the way I look at it, you don't want to be too open-minded."

William grinned. "Or else your brain might fall out."

She grinned back.

Meanwhile Back at the Ranch...

Mulder spoke to his wayward children as he herded them in through the door. "I want you all to go to your rooms right now, and I don't want to hear anything from you for the next hour."

"Why?" Eric asked.

His father glared at him. "Do you think I really need to explain why?"

The little boy shrugged. "I guess we were bad today," he suggested.

"You guess?" Mulder wasn't able to resist asking.

Fortunately, not one of them thought it was an actual question, because they slowly made their way up the stairs, into the bedrooms. "Doors open," he called up after them. God forbid he left them in their rooms with the doors closed. Who knew what they'd think to do then.

Sighing, Mulder picked up the phone, intending to leave his mother-in-law a voice mail, but was startled when he got her instead. "Fox?" she asked, sounding concerned. "Aren't you supposed to be on a plane right now?"

"I am, but I missed my flight-"

"What did they do?"

"Uh...long story, involves the tragic demise of a few small stuffed animals. They also took my car out too, but the garage thinks it can be fixed by tomorrow afternoon. Anyway, it looks like I've missed the only flight before Monday, so if you want to bring Promise and Hope by, I'll take them off your hands. I'd come get them, but the car..."

"Dana's gone on alone, then?"

"Well, she has William with her."

"I think I'll keep the girls, Fox."

"For the whole weekend?" Mulder asked, surprised.

"Yes. I don't get to spend much time with them alone." Without having to deal with their rambunctious older siblings, she meant. "And I'm sure you'll have your hands full anyway."

"I'm capable of looking after all six of them-" he started to protest, but she cut him off.

"Dear, I know you are. But you have to admit it's easier this way."

"Yeah. Well, if you're sure-"

"I'm sure. Can they go back to school Monday?"

"They were only sent home for the day."

"Okay. You drop them off before you go to your flight, and I'll pick them up in the afternoon."

"Thank you, Maggie."

"You're welcome, Fox. Kiss them for me."

"If I can hold them down long enough, I will." Mulder was rewarded with the sound of his mother-in-law's laughter as he hung up.

It would be easier without the babies there too, but he felt guilty every time he and Scully imposed on her mother. Maggie claimed to enjoy being an involved grandmother, but he couldn't help but imagine how his own mother would have felt and projecting some of that onto Maggie. There was just no two ways about it, they were going to have to get a live-in nanny sooner or later. Maybe a really strict German one, who wouldn't pull any punches.

New Jersey

"I don't understand how come they're called Pine Barrens," William was saying as a taxi brought them to their hotel. "Doesn't barren mean empty?"

Barren was a word that still echoed with an old grief, Scully found, even though her body had rejected the label nearly eight years earlier. "It means that nothing can grow there."

"Then how can it be full of pine trees, then?"

"I don't know. We'll have to look that up, because you're right, it does sound oxymoronic."

"Oxymoronic?" William's blue eyes flashed with puzzlement. "An air moron?"

"No," Scully said, stifling a giggle. "It means things that shouldn't be logically paired together, like Jumbo Shrimp, or Government Progress, but are." As soon as she gave the second example, she thought better of it. An adult would find it funny, but not a second-grader.

"'cause shrimp are little?"

"That's right."

"Huh." He drifted into silence as Scully brought him inside to check in...at least until they saw their room. "Oh wow, two beds," he exclaimed before sitting on one and trying to bounce. "If Dad was here, would you use them both?"

"Probably not," Scully said, starting to smile. It had been a long time since propriety would have dictated using two beds in the rather unlikely circumstance of them needing to share a room early in their partnership.

"Oh. Can I have this one?"

"Sure."

"Can we eat in the dining room?" William asked, finally succeeding in bouncing.

"I don't see why not."

"Are we gonna find your demon tomorrow?"

"That's the plan."

"No wonder you and Dad like to go on cases. This is fun!"

Scully could only shake her head and laugh to herself.

xXx

Bright and early the next morning, Mulder called the airlines to ask if there were any flights out. It didn't come as a surprise when the person he spoke to told him that they didn't anticipate any flights going out in the next forty-eight hours.

"Daddy, why do you look mad?" Alison asked as she looked around the kitchen. Her brothers hadn't managed to make their way downstairs yet, so it was clear that the little girl was baffled by his unhappy mood.

"I just called to find out if I could fly out to meet your mom today, and they said that no flights are going to happen until Sunday at the earliest," Mulder explained as he put slices of bread in the toasters and grabbed a stack of bowls from the cabinet above it.

"Are you gonna get in trouble for not being there?" Alison snagged the first bowl of fruity cheerios he set on the table, and waited patiently for him to pour the milk; William was the only kid in the family who was allowed to pour beverages.

"No."

"Then how come-"

"I feel bad that Mom is doing all the work, and that William got dragged along with her." He thought about trying to explain the concept of the protestant work ethic, but that seemed like it'd go over a five old's head.

To Mulder's surprise, she looked alarmed and he hadn't even given her the lecture. "Is it dangerous? For Will?"

"No no, your mom wouldn't bring him anywhere dangerous. He'll be fine. Probably very bored, though."

"Oh. Yeah, his DS is still in his room, even." It must have been put somewhere above his younger siblings' heads if they'd failed to "borrow" it by then.

Seized by a sudden impulse, Mulder gave his daughter a serious look. "Alison, I need you to promise to be good today."

From the expression on her face, it was clear that she'd connected the dots and realized that it had been partly her fault that he was feeling guilty about William and her mother. "Uh, okay."

"Good. Remind your brothers to behave too. They listen to you."

"Right..."

Just then the boys tumbled into the room, and Mulder had to make sure they were presentable before they all sat down to eat. While they were all relatively quiet, he looked them over before announcing, "Since my car isn't going to be back from the mechanic's until this afternoon, we're going to walk to the bus stop in just a few minutes so you can get to school. When we're on the bus, you're all going to sit together, be quiet, and not bother the other passengers. Understand?"

"We understand," Alison said quickly, and the other kids followed her lead.

The ride on the city bus was about as event-free as Mulder could hope for, so he began to feel a cautious optimism about the rest of the weekend.

New Jersey

"So, now what?" William asked as he pulled a comb through his hair. He'd gotten dressed without prompting, just asking her to cut the tags on the clothes they'd bought the night before.

"Now we're going to go and talk to people who saw the so-called demon."

"That's all?" He looked disappointed. "We're not going to go and look for the demon?"

"Not right now." And not before William was sent back to her mother's, she hoped. Bringing William with her as she talked to people was not a big deal, but she didn't want him with her if there really was an animal involved. "Your dad only tells you about the exciting parts of our job. We spend a lot of time doing things that are pretty boring too, like talking to people."

"Why?"

"You know how in movies the good guys rush in, guns a' blazing, and immediately get attacked by the bad guys or monsters?"

"Yup."

"That's why. In real life, you try to get as much information about what you're up against before you go off half-cocked and get someone killed."

"Well, that would be bad," her son mumbled.

Scully frowned to herself, thinking about how many cases they'd had that had ended with bodies, no matter how cautious she and Mulder were themselves. "It's always bad when people die needlessly."

"So we talk to people now, and then there's no surprises?" William asked. "No wonder you said I'd be safe."

"That's the plan," Scully agreed. She found herself hoping harder than usual that there'd be no surprises.