William followed Agent Scully up the staircase as he pondered the conversation with Rachel. She knew who his birth parents were, he wondered how many other residence of the arctic base also knew.
Scully's footsteps echoed against the concrete steps. William wondered about her story, where she'd come from and how she'd wound up in such a bizarre situation. An ex FBI agent turned geneticist now working for a covert project hidden in the Arctic. She seemed to have history with Agent Mulder, though Will could not decide upon the exact circumstances.
"You boys both okay, I know it's been a tough couple of days for you" She asked over her shoulder.
William cleared his throat, "We're okay, just ready for some answers now"
A twinge in his side caused Will shield his arm against himself. Ever since the security guard in the Hoover building had jumped him he'd felt the bruising coming out.
"Something bothering you?" Scully immediately reacted. There was no getting past this woman.
Will shook his head, "Just a bruise"
"I'll take a look at that after we've spoken to Doggett and Mulder"
"Really, it's not necessary" He dismissed.
He couldn't make her out. One minute the woman was cold and distant, and the next she was concerned, almost motheringly so. It was subtle, but he felt that she acted as though she already knew him. Then again, so did everyone in this joint.
Agent Scully scanned her wrist under a barcode reader, a light flashed blue and the door clicked unlocked revealing Mulder in mid conversation with another.
Alex lingered behind his brother, fiddling nervously with the corner of Will's shirt.
"Come on in" Scully herded them through the doorway as she held it open. "This is Doggett, who is the man in charge of this base. He's a good friend of ours from many years back. Doggett, this is William and his brother, Alex"
"Welcome boys, it's good to meet you" Doggett smiled offering a friendly handshake.
William accepted, the man's hand was a firm grip, and he held an edge of that of a military man, or perhaps he'd been in the FBI alongside the two agents. It made sense. His stance suggested he'd had much experience, the strong lines across his face of wrinkles before his time.
Alex recoiled at the man's introduction.
"Alex, be polite" William nudged his brother who reluctantly shook hands with the man.
Doggett offered them a seat, retrieving two Cokes from the refrigerator, "I'm sure you boys are tired and fed up of all this right now, but hopefully we can give you some answers"
'Finally', William thought, it was about time.
"Firstly, welcome to the base. As you've probably already discovered we have a lot of full time residence living on site. We also have people moving in and out regularly. Everyone does their part to keep this place functioning, and you too will have responsibilities in time and once you're settled. We keep quite a high standard of security in place, this is to protect are work and the people involved. Therefore you'll need these identification badges to enable you to move around the building"
Doggett revealed two wristbands from the worktop and handed them both across to Will.
"You'll have limited access for the time being. They'll get you into the residential areas of the base. You'll have access to all the facilities you'll need"
William examined the ID tags before pocketing them. He was eager for information and answers, of which he was still sure would be vague.
It was Scully's turn for some explaining, "Boys, you've been brought here because this is currently in the safest place for you to be right now"
Will took a swig of his drink and a deep breath. He'd been holding it back for a while now but it was getting harder to control, the frustration was building ever more.
"So you all work for the government, or at least used to. Why are we not being put into some witness protection program?" Will felt anger build within him, "Why are we out here in the middle of nowhere? Why were my parents targeted? They are good people, they've never done anything wrong, they didn't deserve this!"
The room fell silent and it was unclear as to who would be the one to answer.
"I'm tired of this bullshit, me and my brother deserve to know what happened to our parents..."
"Your parents weren't targeted, you were, they just got in the way" Mulder spoke with a complete deadpan expression, "These people are highly dangerous. We still don't know how you survived, why they gave up finding you when it would have been so easy for them to finish the job-"
"-Mulder, stop"
"Scully, he has a right to know the truth"
The two agents threw looks at one another.
"We owe him that much..." Mulder argued.
"Fine. Alex, why don't you come with me, we'll go get some snacks from the canteen" Agent Scully took his hand and Alex followed compliantly, leaving Will and the two men alone.
"...they were targeting...me..." The words escaped his mouth as realisation swept over him.
"Yes" Mulder confirmed.
"Why?"
"Because of what you are"
Will scrunched his face up in confusion, "What exactly am I?"
"Nothing, that's the point, it's just what they think you are, because of your background, because of the circumstances of your birth, because of where you've come from and how you came to be. We know you've no alien DNA because we tested you when you were just a baby-"
"Stop! This is too much. You expect me to believe all this?!"
"William, you asked for the truth and I'm giving it to you. Take it or leave it, but this is how it is, kid"
Out of the corner of his eye, Will could see Doggett shifting uncomfortably at the conversation he was no longer involved in.
"This is science fiction" William said a matter of factly.
Mulder smiled and shook his head.
"What?" William probed.
"You just, you reminded me of someone just then"
"Oh, you mean there are other people that don't believe this alien nonsense. Shocker there!"
Doggett stepped in, "Okay, let's all just have a cooling off period"
The air grew thicker in the small room with the heat of the moment.
"William, I know this is a lot to take in..."
"You just told me that my parents died for me, because of me. It's my fault..."
"Don't you ever think that."
"Did they know, when they adopted me, did they know I'd endanger them?"
"William, this wasn't supposed to happen. None of it. We still don't know how they found you. No one knew where you'd been placed, only Skinner"
"I want to talk to Walter, right now"
"Alright, you can do, soon as he gets out of surgery and the medics deem him fit to see visitors, okay?" Doggett attempted to keep the peace.
Will nodded, deciding it was as good as he could hope for.
The tension was begginIng to defuse.
"So, if what you're saying is true, that these people thought I had something special, something they wanted from my DNA, but that in actuality I don't have this at all, my parents died for nothing..."
"Not confirmatively. You were tested when you were a baby, not recently. We don't know if it's still the case now" Mulder explained.
"You mean I could have developed this DNA, this abnormality since childhood. How?"
"It's unlikely, but not impossible. There have been studies that have suggested the onset of puberty may trigger regressed genes to appear as the body moves out of adolescence"
"Is this something you could test?" Will asked apprehensively.
"Yes, it could be tested"
"Are you going to test me?"
"No. No, we wouldn't do anything without consent" Mulder assured.
Will ruffled his hair back out of his face, "I need to speak to Walter, before I go through with anything"
Mulder nodded in agreement, "Will, we wouldn't want you to rush into anything anyway. This is very early days for you and Alex. Please, just take some time to recover, begin to heal from all this trauma. You've been through a lot. Take it easy for the next few days. If you have questions, we'll answer them"
"Okay. Thank you, I think..."
Dogget interjected, "Look, dinner is served at six, why don't we go down and get a bite to eat. Skinner won't be able to see anyone until tomorrow earliest anyway"
William had put off thinking about it all day but his stomach was protesting with hunger. He wasn't about to argue with the suggestion.