For the first time since getting back together Mulder and Scully slept in separate rooms.
After their fight, Scully felt hurt and betrayed, not only by Emily – even though she didn't have a choice, Scully understood that; it was either life or death as she had told them -, but also by Mulder. He was the one who believed in these things and she was the sceptical. He was the one who always dragged her into his crazy theories and cases, and she would smile and play along and, although she wanted to prove him wrong so many times, she would accept the outcome of whatever situation Mulder had gotten themselves into and move on.
Mulder, however, didn't agree with her in this scenario. He questioned that if they thought that Emily had died and that William had died, then what else was a lie?
One day, out of the blue, Emily shows up at their doorstep alive and well and drops bombshells after bombshells and then confesses that not only is she working for the Cigarette Smoking Man, but also that William, the son he had seen shot to death, was alive and well. She knew where to find him, but she didn't want to say. Or couldn't say, he didn't remember.
Was Emily dead all along? No. Was William dead all along? No. Were we abducted? Probably, although we can't trust her, Mulder had spat. Is everything that happened in the last 26 years a lie? Most likely. Will we stop being followed by the darkness? Well, no.
Scully grew frustrated and realised that she didn't hear Emily leave. She wished she had the chance to say goodbye, but Mulder was too harsh with her and their fight got the best of them.
Lily cried and cried and cried. Scully tried soothing her, but nothing worked. The air around the house was tense; Scully was upset, Mulder was furious, and the baby could sense this. Either her parents calmed down or she'd continue crying.
Dinner was uncomfortable. They didn't look or talk to each other and it was just awkward. Scully finished her bowl of soup and grabbed Mulder's and took it to the sink, not caring for a little bit if he had finished or not. She was that pissed.
They didn't say goodnight either. Mulder went to change to his pyjamas and when he went to get a glass of water, he saw that Scully had left a blanket and a pillow on the couch.
Scully cried and cried and cried until she fell asleep.
Xxxxx
The woods were no longer welcoming; they were now dark, cold and eerie. There was something sinister about the situation that made Emily's heart beat super-fast. At times she'd think that her heart would jump right out of her chest.
Oliver had sent the letter and not William. Emily wanted to kick herself so much after blaming her brother. He had given her the green light on living her life as she pleased, and when she stormed out of the warehouse that night, she felt that he was being honest and true to his word. She wanted to call him desperately, but her hands were tied at the moment. Metaphorically.
Which made her think… how did they find her? CSM was dead, according to William, Mulder and Scully. Therefore, the logical thing is that with CSM dead, his whole operation and whatever things he had going on were dead too, no? Apparently not, because she was standing in front of her terrifying chamber guard.
"I sure hope they didn't kick you out or anything. It would take the fun out of our plans." Oliver smiled and pouted at the same time.
Emily tucked her hands deep in her hoodie pockets and took deep breaths, concentrating on the cold air leaving her nostrils and mouth. A brief flashback of her and Sveta locked in a freezing room popped into her mind and she choked up, remembering how they tried to make it fun by pretending they were smoking.
"Aw. By your lack of response I'm thinking they did? Let me guess! It was Mulder, huh?" He asked excitedly, as if he were a child who had won a teddy bear at a claw machine. "Well, that's a shame. Like I said, it won't be as fun as I wished it would be. Oh, but it still will be fun."
Emily looked at everything except his face and spoke in a small voice, "What do you want, Oliver?"
Oliver straightened up and reached out for her hand as he did when she was a frightened locked up kid. Emily looked at his hand in disgust. "I want you to take a walk with me. You know, catch up on things."
"You and I very well know that we don't need to catch up. I think you're already caught up with everything I've been doing ever since you returned me."
"Hmm. You know what, Little Emily? You are right. But let's go for a walk in the woods anyway. It's a beautiful night, don't you think?"
She scanned the dark woods and scoffed. The woods were anything but beautiful tonight and it was freezing. She hugged herself tightly and shivered slightly. She didn't know if it was just her imagination or if the whole situation was getting to her, but she had never felt so cold before. Guess it's just these sombre people who radiate coldness, she thought.
Oliver made no attempt to move and kept his hand reached out for Emily's. She looked at it again and turned her head away from him and focused on a faraway tree as she spoke. "Fine. I'll walk with you. But I'm not holding your disgusting hand." Emily started walking, still hugging herself, and she heard Oliver chuckle.
"Well, as long as you're coming along, whatever you want, Little Emily."
She hated being called that. It was a nickname she was given by her captors because she was smaller than the other girls her age. They mocked her and it hurt her, but she learned how to turn her weakness into a strength: whenever they called her that she didn't feel small, nor weak, nor sad. No. She felt strong and hopeful that she would get out of there.
Except that when Oliver started calling her that now, her strength faded and she felt like that small, defenceless child. It was the tone in his voice that made her feel weak. She knew that he was up to no good and she had never felt more scared in her life than that moment.
Xxxxx
William paced back and forth in the warehouse, completely taken aback at Emily's messages. Something was wrong and he had to do something.
He stopped dead on his tracks as a piercing headache overcame him and he held onto his head for dear life, as if the pain would go away the harder he pressed onto it.
He started to panic as a recognisable wave of anxiety started to arise from his chest. This was very familiar to him, given that he had been having these kind of episodes ever since he was a child, and they had only grown more frequent within the last year.
He collapsed on the floor as he seized and a vision substituted the headache: Emily being dragged through the woods; Emily in a meadow looking at a spaceship; someone standing at the other end of the meadow.
William gained consciousness with a jolt and prayed that Scully had seen the same thing he did. He had to do something and knew that he needed help. If they came for Emily, then they would want him too.
As if he had sat on burning coal, William stood up quickly and grabbed his cell phone and called for help.
Xxxxx
Her cell phone rang furiously and buzzed at the same time on the nightstand. A light sleeper, Scully opened a red, puffy eye and looked around. She was about to curse Mulder, but just as she was opening her mouth, she remembered that her husband was sleeping downstairs.
Groaning, Scully grabbed her phone and answered sleepily. "Hello?"
"Dana?"
Scully sat up, fully awake with eyes wide open. "Oh, my God. William?"
"Dana. Emily. S-she needs your help. You have to help her." He said anxiously.
"William, what are you saying?" Of all the times Scully thought about talking to her son for the first time, she never imagined that she wouldn't get the chance to actually speak with him. He was clearly anxious, nervous and speaking in a rush. There was no time for chit-chat, no matter how desperately Scully wanted it.
"Please, Dana. Help her. She's in the woods. I saw a meadow. Please, help her."
"Will—" the line cut off and Scully jolted out of bed. She stomped down the stairs and moved next to the couch.
Mulder was sleeping on his side, facing the window. She lowered to his level and started to shake his crossed arms. "Mulder." She whispered frantically. He replied with a "hmph" and continued his snooze. "Mulder!"
"What, Scully?" He groaned, clearly annoyed, but kept his eyes closed.
Scully rolled her eyes in frustration and spoke. "William just called me."
That did it. Mulder opened his eyes and looked at her as if a couple of wires in her head had loosen. "What?"
"William called me. He says that Emily is in danger and that we have to help her." Scully was mimicking William's tone and spoke in a rush.
Mulder sat up and kept his fists on the couch on each side of his thighs as he looked down and sighed. "Scully, not Emily again."
"Mulder, shut up and listen to me! Our son just called. Our daughter is in danger. He called and begged me to help her. We have to help her." Scully's outburst made Mulder lean back a little and he suddenly had the need of looking at anything but Scully. "Look, either I'm going or you're going. You choose. But I'm not going to sit here pretending that I don't care – like you're trying to make me believe – with the feeling that something's happening to my daughter.
Scully started for the stairs to change and Mulder sighed. He ran a hand through his face and said, "All right. Where is she?"
Xxxxx
Emily had been walking with Oliver for a while now and ignored his attempts at small talk. She was in no mood for his bullshit and wanted to go back to her life as a wanderer.
"I genuinely want to know, Little Emily. How've you been?" He pat her head and she swatted it away and smoothed the part he had touched.
"Don't call me that." Emily said between gritted teeth.
"Aw, come on. For old time's sake?"
Okay. That's it. "Oliver, cut the crap, please. What the fuck do you want? How'd you find me?" She stopped and looked at him in frustration.
A sinister laughter bubbled from Oliver's chest and suddenly the woods echoed with his laughter. "You honestly don't know, huh?" Emily shook her head confused. "You have a little chip right there. We've been tracking you ever since you've started walking on Earth." He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye while smiling and pointed to a place below her ear.
She narrowed her eyes incredulously and touched where Oliver's long finger had lingered a few moments ago, now feeling the tiny, almost phantom scar. "What?"
"Honey, we wouldn't let anyone return empty handed. Come on. We're not that kind of assholes." He laughed again and Emily looked at him as if he were crazy. No, scratch that; he was crazy. "Oh, Little Emily. I've missed you."
Emily lost it. "Don't call me that!" She jumped at Oliver and pushed her arm back to punch him, only that he anticipated her movements and grabbed her fist before it could come anywhere near his face. He squeezed it hard and started twisting her arm. Emily cried out in pain.
"Listen, you little shit. You're coming with me and you're going to do what I say. Otherwise you're dead. Understand?" He threatened. The moonlight was enough to see that his eyes were now dark, the irises almost disappearing, and the look he had was dark. If Emily felt scared before, she was even more terrified now. She nodded and he let go of his grip.
They stood there panting and Emily's nightmare popped into her head. The dragging, the hair pulling, the meadow, the spaceship…
She looked at him wide eyed and started to run. Everything was too familiar and she wasn't surprised if she ran across the little cabin. Her screams filled the woods but she knew it was in vain; she was in the middle of nowhere, who would hear her pleas for help? Mulder and Scully were definitely not looking for her after ruining their lives. William was definitely not looking for her after basically telling him to go to where the sun doesn't shine. But she screamed anyway. She hoped it was loud enough for someone to hear. Anyone. There's always hope.
Every now and then she'd look back and see that Oliver was running after her, hot on her heels. Dammit, he was fast. She tried to outrun him but tripped on a tree root, just like in her nightmare.
She felt something pop and her screams of plea didn't compare to the ones that were coming out from her mouth. The force Oliver had applied on her fist and her arm were nothing compared to the shooting pain in her foot.
Within seconds, Oliver was next to her panting and laughing. "Oh, Little Emily. You honestly thought you were going to get away with it? Earth has made you stupid. Maybe going back to the spaceship will make you brighter." Emily grabbed her foot and threw her head back, scrunching her face in pain.
"Come on, get up." Oliver ordered and snapped his fingers in a hurry as he looked around. It appeared as if he was late for something and that put Emily on edge and made her more and more anxious.
"I can't. I think I broke my ankle or something." Tears were forming on the corner of her eyes and she looked down at it. She wanted to take her shoe off and examine the damage, to see just how much her foot started to swell, but the pain was so excruciating that the mere thought of moving a hair made her wince.
Oliver shrugged. "As you wish." He grabbed Emily by the hair and started dragging her through the woods. She started to scream again – pleading for him to stop, crying in pain -, but he wasn't giving in. He dragged her like a mop and couldn't care less if she hit a tree. The woods were bumpy with tree roots and Emily was hurting all over, particularly her ankle that shot constant waves of pain.
Everything was playing out just like in her nightmare. It was only a matter of time before they arrived at the meadow.
Xxxxx
Mulder walked into the woods with his flashlight in hand. "Emily!" He yelled, but got no response. "Emily!" Nothing. His flashlight was the only source of light and a small part of him hoped that it was enough for Emily to spot, but the chances of that happening were not favourable.
The noise of rustling leaves made Mulder stop and look around.
A shadow appeared from behind a tree and Mulder took out his gun and walked closer. "Come out of there!" He ordered. The shadow remained in place and Mulder continued walking. "Emily, is that you?"
William came into view with a hand in his pocket and the other scratching the back of his neck. He was looking down at the dirt – almost shyly -,and dragged his right foot from one side to another forming an arc on the floor.
"William?" Mulder lowered his gun and approached his son. They were standing face-to-face and what happened next caught Mulder off-guard.
William hugged him just like Mulder had done a year ago at the motel when he made Erica Price's and her lackey's heads explode. Mulder stepped back a little from the impact of the hug and had his hands up behind William's back, not quite knowing what to do. After a few moments though, he hugged his son back.
"It's good to see you again, Mulder." William said with his face pressed on Mulder's shoulder.
"You too, kid." Mulder simply replied and smiled as he patted his back. He was so overcome with joy – for finally seeing his son – and fear – for Emily -, that he was speechless. He didn't know what else to say.
William sniffed and pulled away. He looked around the woods and the father-son moment they had shared seconds ago was over. Panic took over his face and he turned to Mulder.
"Mulder, Emily's in trouble. Please, help her." William grabbed Mulder's shoulders and begged.
"I know, Scully told me. But what kind of trouble? You have to tell me, William."
"She sent me a text saying that she was homeless again cause she told you all about her, and said something about a letter you read and accused me of leaving it on your doorstep," William explained in a hurry. Mulder's heart dropped and his chest felt heavy. What was happening right now to Emily was because of him, and if something happened to her, Scully would never forgive him. Nor would he be able to forgive himself.
William took Mulder's silence as a sign to continue. "I told her I had no idea what she was talking about and she said I stabbed her in the back. I waited for her to get into contact with me again, but I had a vision of her in trouble. Please, help her."
Mulder nodded. "I will, but the woods are huge and I'm not sure where to go to. At least do you know where she is?"
Just as William was going to tell Mulder that he had an idea as to where Emily was going, a blood curdling scream was heard that echoed through the woods, sending chills up and down William and Mulder's back.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
AN: Sorry for the late update! Uni started and it's been hard going back to the old routine.
The chapter was supposed to be longer, but it was halfway done and I wasn't sure as to when I was going to be able to continue writing and upload the completed chapter. So here's part 1.
Because I didn't update with the complete chapter, the fic will be a chapter or two longer.
As always, no beta, so sorry for spelling/grammar mistakes.
Enjoy!
