1973
Bill Mulder hated this! Spender had made a deal with the Greys. Normally, that would be good news; it meant they were a step closer to stopping whatever they were planning. But not this time. No, because this deal was worse than one any man could make with the devil. Mulder and every other man had to choose a family member to give up to the despicable aliens, someone for them to repeatedly run test on.
He loved both of his children and despite the troubles he and Teena had faced two years, he couldn't abandon her to the Greys. He wouldn't. But even if he was willing, he wasn't able. Spender had said for all those being given to the Greys had to be under forty. So he could put his own wife, Cassandra, nor himself into the mix, but almost everyone else was forced to give up children. God, how was he supposed to choose? He knew he shouldn't involve Scully whenever he had a problem, especially one like this, but he needed advice badly. So, next time Scully stopped by his office, Mulder had Ms. Verity send him in.
"Scully, you remember those aliens you don't believe in?" Mulder asked as soon as Scully entered and closed the door.
"Yeah, why?"
"Spender made a deal with them."
"Is this where I ask what's wrong with that? I thought you wanted a deal."
"We did. Until we heard their only price. They'll give us one of their children for a member of each of our own families. And they have to be younger than forty. Teena and I are both too old."
Scully stared wide eyed at his friend. "You aren't actually considering giving up one of your kids, are you?"
"I don't have a choice," he answered miserably.
"Like hell you don't! You can tell Spender to go to hell! You seriously want to give one of them up on his word alone?"
"Of course not! But what if I don't give up Fox and Billy is a slave to those monsters or Charlie becomes a test subject? Or if I don't give up Samantha and Melissa is killed or Dana is abducted?"
"None of that will happen! Damn it, Mulder! You can't just give up on them!"
"I don't know what else to do!"
"You don't participate! Leave the group!"
"Men have already suggested that," Mulder admitted. "We do that and the world goes to hell."
"According to the bastard, Spender?"
"Yeah."
"I don't trust him."
"You don't know him," Mulder pointed out.
"Well he sounds like a self-center, manipulating bastard."
"Maybe you knew him in a past life."
A silence fell over them for a minute, both trying to figure out the next step. Mulder was the first to speak. "I think I have to choose Fox."
Scully's blue eyes brightened with rage. "You've already chosen? What the hell are you doing? Don't fall into this trap!"
"It's not a trap! It's the only way to save humanity!"
"By trusting a man without any!" Scully half yelled. "You give up your kid, and I'm not sure I'll be able to look at you."
"What?"
"I can't consider any man a friend if he's willing to give up his child at the word of any other… I was reassigned to San Diego again. I think it's best if when I move we lose contact."
Mulder wanted to say Scully was being unreasonable, but knew that wasn't true. In Scully's world, family and God came first, and Mulder was giving up family by what he considered choice. And if the roles were reversed, Mulder was almost certain he would do the exact same thing.
"Fine. But, Scully, as much of a bastard as you think I am right now, know that this is the hardest thing I've ever had to do."
"But you're still doing it," he said as he walked out of the office without giving Mulder another look.
1999
"My dad chose me?" Mulder asked. He had seen his name under Samantha's on the file, but he had never considered the fact it was supposed to be him. But if everything pointed to him being abducted, why the hell was Samantha taken? She wouldn't have gotten in the way of his kidnapping; no one would have made her relive what happened what felt like hundreds of time in the weeks after his disappearance. She would be safe and lived a reasonably normal life.
Mulder stood up and punch the wall behind him with all his power. "Damn it!"
Scully stood up and grabbed his other hand before he could hurt it too, then gently grabbed his hurt hand. When she was sure that he wasn't going to try and fight the wall, she released his good hand and looked at the one he had pounded against the wall.
"It's a little swollen, but it should be fine in a few days. As long as you stop hitting walls."
"It should have been me."
"No, it shouldn't have been anyone." Scully knew that this was going to be fighting an uphill war. Mulder had been living with the guilt of Samantha's disappearance for the almost twenty-five years. And that was before he knew that he was originally supposed to be the one taken.
"My dad chose me, so why am I still here and Samantha been missing for over twenty-five years?" he yelled.
"Mulder, listen to me." She waited for Mulder's eyes to meet hers before stating very clearly, "It. Is. Not. Your. Fault. No matter what happened; you didn't chose for anything to happen to Samantha. You tried to save her that night and you've been looking for her ever since. If you want to blame someone, blame the smoking man. He's the one who made the deal with the aliens. He's the one who made your father chose between you and Samantha. He's the one hiding the Truth. And we will expose him and everybody associated with him. And eventually he'll die, too."
"That's assuming pure evil will ever die."
"He's only a man; he'll die one way or another." Mulder nodded, but Scully wasn't sure if it was in agreement or not. She picked up the journal from Mulder's side of the desk. "Maybe we should stop reading this."
"No!" Mulder snapped as he grabbed it from her hands again. "We've been looking for the Truth for years and this is part of it. However much we dislike it." He took the journal and began to look through it again until he stopped on a date.
