I waited until Mulder got home and the kids were occupied by a video before I approached him. Apparently Scully wouldn't be home for a while, so I was only going to have the one parent to talk to. "I think we need to talk about Emily." I told him in as gentle a tone as I could manage.
"Sure, is there something wrong?" he asked, looking over at the kids.
"She...told me some strange stuff today, and I thought I ought to let you know about it." Shit, his face just went pale, so there must be something he thinks she said.
"Ok, what did she say, exactly?" He asked in a calm tone. Brownie points for him.
"Well...she told me that this was the first Christmas she'd be spending with you folks, that she had other parents who died, and that she herself died at one point." I said sounding embarrassed even to my own ears. To my surprise he just nodded as I laid out the list. That was not a good sign.
"Anita, why don't you sit down? There are some things Scully and I neglected to tell you since we didn't think they'd come up, but now they obviously have."
"Ok, "I said, as we took seats as far from the little ears in the room as possible.
"The first thing you should know is that Emily isn't exactly my daughter."
"She isn't?" I asked, feeling confused. There wasn't a strong family resemblance there, but there was definitely some.
"No, while she calls me Dad, she's my niece." Mulder said so quietly only I could hear him.
For a second I almost recoiled from my chair in horror, because I certainly hadn't signed up for a 'flowers in the attic' sort of family. Then, for once my brain raced past my mouth, and I realized that there was a more obvious possibility than the horrific one my mind pounced on first. In my defense, all I can say is that I've seen a lot of twisted things.
"Emily is the product of a genetic experiment that was done without the knowledge or consent of either of her natural parents, one of whom is Scully, and the other of whom is my younger half-brother Jeffrey. I won't go into the gory details, because it's suffices to say that after their genetic material was obtained by illegal means, someone created her in a lab and had her carried to term by a surrogate mother. "
"And Scully and your brother didn't even know?" I asked softly, horrified that such a thing could happen.
"No. Scully had been told that she'd been made barren by an experiment done on her by people who had kidnapped her and left her for dead, but she didn't know that anything had been done with her stolen eggs. Until she got involved in the murder investigation involving Emily's adoptive mother. Once she saw Emily she became convinced that the fact that Emily looked identical to Scully's dead sister must have been because she was Melissa's daughter. Eventually tests proved that Emily was in fact Scully's daughter."
I had to interrupt. "But Emily said she died too." I repeated, hoping to impress upon him the bizarreness of her claim.
He just nodded again, which was beginning to freak me out a little. "She did. Or so we were lead to believe. She was very sick as a small child, and became deathly ill, eventually slipping into a coma a few days after Scully found out who she was. We were told she died, but we discovered at her funeral that her casket only contained sand...and the cross Scully had given her. We thought that her body had been taken by the people who had experimented on her, and in a way, we were right."
"How did you find out she was still alive?"
Mulder looked away from me, so I instantly knew he was going to feed me a half-truth. "We were tipped off that there was a death threat on her former doctor, who was seen in the company of three children who had been the products of that experiment. We got there too late to save the doctor, but we were able to recover Emily and the two boys, both of whom are now back with their adoptive families."
"Wow." Was all I could say. "I can't imagine having missed so much of one of your children's lives." I said, thinking of how hard it must have been on Scully.
He looked very sad for a moment. "Both children." He told me softly.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"The people who arranged the hit on Emily's doctor also were threatening William's life, so Scully gave him up for adoption. He lived with other people for four months. I was away on a case that required that I stay out of contact with loved ones, so she had no idea if I was dead or alive, and she had to make a difficult decision about our son by herself. She concluded that he'd be safer in the care of strangers than with her. "
"But he wasn't." I suddenly realized.
"No. Not long after she and I were reunited, his adoptive parents were murdered by someone had been scared off before finding him. I went to court and asked for custody of him. Since he'd been put up for adoption without my consent, it was granted."
I looked at him, speechless. No wonder they'd been very concerned about finding someone who could handle themselves to care for their children. What sort of monsters try to harm babies and grade school children?
The pages of books flapped like wings as Doggett threw his arm over Reyes back and forced her to the floor with him. They'd ducked under the doubtful protection of their coats a moment earlier when the first book shattered one of the three windows looking into the lounge. Other books were now threatening to take out the remaining windows, so with the coats obstructing their vision, they didn't have a clear view of what was going on.
They could hear as the T.V. switched itself on. Elmer Fudd chanted maniacally at them, assuring them that he would indeed "kill the wabbit," which was a thought that gave them no comfort considering their leporine cowering. As if aware the still falling books were claiming more of their attention, and jealous of that, the volume edged itself upwards.
Doggett's eyes widened when he heard an inhuman groan emanate from the lounge.
"John, what's that?" Reyes hissed.
"I'm not sure but it sounded like- "He popped his head up and peered in through the jagged shards of window that still clung to the frame. "It's one of the loveseats." He whispered back as the lumbering piece of furniture strained away from the far wall. "Why are we whispering?"
Reyes grinned despite her worry about the situation." It just seemed like the proper thing to do," she told him in her normal tone of voice.
"I guess that-"Doggett's voice trailed off in mid-sentence. His eye had been caught by one of the books that had flung itself at them. Specifically he looked at the spine. "I guess that we've been had." He concludes in a stronger voice.
Reyes' wide brown eyes filled with confusion, and she cringed as the scraping sounds in the lounge became more energetic. "Wha-t-t-t? "She stammered, wondering how Doggett could remain so calm.
Doggett dipped his hand to the floor, and a book was suddenly dangling in mid-air. For a second Reyes was dumbfounded, then she realized the same thing her husband already had: each book has a clear string attached to it.
"Some ghost." Doggett grumpily surmised the situation.
"Why would anyone go to the trouble to set something like this up?"
"For the same reason anyone plays a prank. Attention."
Forty-five minutes later they were on their way out after having addressed all 93 of the dorm's residents. They'd admonished the students that if they the wrongdoer did not come forward on his or her own, they would be turning the case over to the local PD who would begin investigating criminal mischief charges; most likely beginning the investigation with looking for fingerprints on the objects used in the prank. A smile tugged at the corners of Reyes' mouth on the way out when she caught site of a pair of shame-faced kids hesitantly approaching the hall director.
"Sure, is there something wrong?" he asked, looking over at the kids.
"She...told me some strange stuff today, and I thought I ought to let you know about it." Shit, his face just went pale, so there must be something he thinks she said.
"Ok, what did she say, exactly?" He asked in a calm tone. Brownie points for him.
"Well...she told me that this was the first Christmas she'd be spending with you folks, that she had other parents who died, and that she herself died at one point." I said sounding embarrassed even to my own ears. To my surprise he just nodded as I laid out the list. That was not a good sign.
"Anita, why don't you sit down? There are some things Scully and I neglected to tell you since we didn't think they'd come up, but now they obviously have."
"Ok, "I said, as we took seats as far from the little ears in the room as possible.
"The first thing you should know is that Emily isn't exactly my daughter."
"She isn't?" I asked, feeling confused. There wasn't a strong family resemblance there, but there was definitely some.
"No, while she calls me Dad, she's my niece." Mulder said so quietly only I could hear him.
For a second I almost recoiled from my chair in horror, because I certainly hadn't signed up for a 'flowers in the attic' sort of family. Then, for once my brain raced past my mouth, and I realized that there was a more obvious possibility than the horrific one my mind pounced on first. In my defense, all I can say is that I've seen a lot of twisted things.
"Emily is the product of a genetic experiment that was done without the knowledge or consent of either of her natural parents, one of whom is Scully, and the other of whom is my younger half-brother Jeffrey. I won't go into the gory details, because it's suffices to say that after their genetic material was obtained by illegal means, someone created her in a lab and had her carried to term by a surrogate mother. "
"And Scully and your brother didn't even know?" I asked softly, horrified that such a thing could happen.
"No. Scully had been told that she'd been made barren by an experiment done on her by people who had kidnapped her and left her for dead, but she didn't know that anything had been done with her stolen eggs. Until she got involved in the murder investigation involving Emily's adoptive mother. Once she saw Emily she became convinced that the fact that Emily looked identical to Scully's dead sister must have been because she was Melissa's daughter. Eventually tests proved that Emily was in fact Scully's daughter."
I had to interrupt. "But Emily said she died too." I repeated, hoping to impress upon him the bizarreness of her claim.
He just nodded again, which was beginning to freak me out a little. "She did. Or so we were lead to believe. She was very sick as a small child, and became deathly ill, eventually slipping into a coma a few days after Scully found out who she was. We were told she died, but we discovered at her funeral that her casket only contained sand...and the cross Scully had given her. We thought that her body had been taken by the people who had experimented on her, and in a way, we were right."
"How did you find out she was still alive?"
Mulder looked away from me, so I instantly knew he was going to feed me a half-truth. "We were tipped off that there was a death threat on her former doctor, who was seen in the company of three children who had been the products of that experiment. We got there too late to save the doctor, but we were able to recover Emily and the two boys, both of whom are now back with their adoptive families."
"Wow." Was all I could say. "I can't imagine having missed so much of one of your children's lives." I said, thinking of how hard it must have been on Scully.
He looked very sad for a moment. "Both children." He told me softly.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"The people who arranged the hit on Emily's doctor also were threatening William's life, so Scully gave him up for adoption. He lived with other people for four months. I was away on a case that required that I stay out of contact with loved ones, so she had no idea if I was dead or alive, and she had to make a difficult decision about our son by herself. She concluded that he'd be safer in the care of strangers than with her. "
"But he wasn't." I suddenly realized.
"No. Not long after she and I were reunited, his adoptive parents were murdered by someone had been scared off before finding him. I went to court and asked for custody of him. Since he'd been put up for adoption without my consent, it was granted."
I looked at him, speechless. No wonder they'd been very concerned about finding someone who could handle themselves to care for their children. What sort of monsters try to harm babies and grade school children?
The pages of books flapped like wings as Doggett threw his arm over Reyes back and forced her to the floor with him. They'd ducked under the doubtful protection of their coats a moment earlier when the first book shattered one of the three windows looking into the lounge. Other books were now threatening to take out the remaining windows, so with the coats obstructing their vision, they didn't have a clear view of what was going on.
They could hear as the T.V. switched itself on. Elmer Fudd chanted maniacally at them, assuring them that he would indeed "kill the wabbit," which was a thought that gave them no comfort considering their leporine cowering. As if aware the still falling books were claiming more of their attention, and jealous of that, the volume edged itself upwards.
Doggett's eyes widened when he heard an inhuman groan emanate from the lounge.
"John, what's that?" Reyes hissed.
"I'm not sure but it sounded like- "He popped his head up and peered in through the jagged shards of window that still clung to the frame. "It's one of the loveseats." He whispered back as the lumbering piece of furniture strained away from the far wall. "Why are we whispering?"
Reyes grinned despite her worry about the situation." It just seemed like the proper thing to do," she told him in her normal tone of voice.
"I guess that-"Doggett's voice trailed off in mid-sentence. His eye had been caught by one of the books that had flung itself at them. Specifically he looked at the spine. "I guess that we've been had." He concludes in a stronger voice.
Reyes' wide brown eyes filled with confusion, and she cringed as the scraping sounds in the lounge became more energetic. "Wha-t-t-t? "She stammered, wondering how Doggett could remain so calm.
Doggett dipped his hand to the floor, and a book was suddenly dangling in mid-air. For a second Reyes was dumbfounded, then she realized the same thing her husband already had: each book has a clear string attached to it.
"Some ghost." Doggett grumpily surmised the situation.
"Why would anyone go to the trouble to set something like this up?"
"For the same reason anyone plays a prank. Attention."
Forty-five minutes later they were on their way out after having addressed all 93 of the dorm's residents. They'd admonished the students that if they the wrongdoer did not come forward on his or her own, they would be turning the case over to the local PD who would begin investigating criminal mischief charges; most likely beginning the investigation with looking for fingerprints on the objects used in the prank. A smile tugged at the corners of Reyes' mouth on the way out when she caught site of a pair of shame-faced kids hesitantly approaching the hall director.
