Chapter 10

Wednesday, May 27th, 4:13 pm

Dana Scully sighed heavily as she scrubbed herself down while showering in the woman's locker room of Our Lady of Sorrows. The operation she assisted with yesterday, performed on a thirteen year old girl suffering from Crohn's disease, went perfectly, and the young lady was expected to make a full recovery. But today's challenge-an emergency involving a seven year old boy with a ruptured brain aneurysm-had proved to be exceptionally taxing. She had worked with a team of doctors and nurses placing delicate clips at the foot of the aneurysm where it ascends from the artery. Now, time would tell if their efforts were successful, and also as to how much neurological damage had already been caused by the rupture. If this method failed, they had one more option. Scully prayed that they wouldn't need to resort to it; she wasn't sure if the boy, who was extremely weak to begin with, would survive another operation. Although without it, he wouldn't make it either.

The surgery she had originally been scheduled for today had been taken on by another group of doctor's when she was reassigned to help with the aneurysm. Now, her head was pounding. A glass of wine and Mulder's arms sound really good right now. She got out of the shower, toweled off, and dressed. She was heartily glad this work day was finished.

5:10 pm

She arrived at Mulder's, well, their home really, to find delicious smells coming from something simmering on the stove, and Mulder himself at his desk busily pounding away on his lap tap. She leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"What are you working on?"

He swiveled his chair around to face her and reached for her hands. "I'm making a list, two lists actually. One, questions I have for Christine Van de Kamp, and two…those I have for William."

"What," Scully chuckled, "you're going to treat this like an interrogation? I hope not, Mulder."

"No, no, nothing that extreme. I just don't want to go in there blind. I mean, I don't want to go in there blurting out the wrong things. I thought if I make a list of sound, intelligent, and well thought-out questions, and study them, I wouldn't be so likely to make an ass of myself and jeopardize our chances. Fate is giving me…us….another chance here, Scully and I don't want to blow it. I couldn't….deal with that."

Scully pulled him out of the chair and placed her arms around his neck. "I'm glad that you are taking this seriously, but, Mulder don't drive yourself crazy with it. I'm, well nervous, but then…I have had the advantage of already talking with Christine and you haven't, so I guess I can understand. Besides, we're the ones who are being scrutinized."

"Yeah, but it doesn't hurt to have some questions of our own, does it? Scully, you said that you kept in touch with William's life through Christine's Facebook page, do you think she knew? Could she have done the same to you? I mean, she found out who we were, so maybe she has already looked into our lives more that we know."

Scully raised her eyebrows, looked up at Mulder, and shrugged. "Does that bother you? I never gave her any reason to know, or even suspect, that I was looking at her Facebook page. I mean, I never liked anything or commented, if that's what you're referring to. If she checked mine out I don't know it. Obviously she did some checking somewhere, and I mean besides the adoption agency. I can't believe she would just call me without knowing anything about…me… us. I really don't believe that the adoption agency would have had much to say about me. And like I said before, I didn't get too detailed with her about our personal lives. I expect we will get into more of that when we meet with her. Are you going to let me see your list?"

Mulder ran his hands up and down her back. It felt so good to have her in his arms…so very good. "Yeah, in fact I want you to look at it. Maybe you should add some questions of your own."

She smiled. "Of course…and now…to more urgently pressing matters. What are we having for dinner?"

Scully laid down her fork and wiped her mouth on a crisp linen napkin. "That was delicious, Mulder… and there's enough left for lunch tomorrow. You say that's your mother's recipe….I say she would be proud."

"Well, it wasn't as good as hers, but the mango and pineapple chutney is what really sets the whole thing off, I think."

"Agreed," Scully said as she stood and started gathering their dirty plates. "Let's get this cleaned up and take a walk down to the river before it gets dark."

As if on cue, a hungry Persephone appeared out of nowhere, started meowing, and winding herself in-and-out between Scully's legs. "Well, who wasn't here before we sat down to eat, missy? If you want to accompany us on that walk, you'd better be done eating by the time we're finished cleaning up. Look, dad's filling your bowls."

The cat made a beeline for her feeding area where Mulder was busy supplying her with fat-free milk and "grilled liver and chicken feast". "Damn," he remarked. "I don't know how you can eat that stuff, Seph. It smells like someone barfed it up."

Scully wrinkled her nose. "How elegant! Now, get over here and help me load this dishwasher."

The couple was almost back from their walk, when they noticed a car pulled up to the house. Dusk was rapidly falling making it difficult to see the vehicle in any detail. The cat, which had been trotting along beside them, took off at a full gallop, stopped at the vehicle, and sniffed the tires. Mulder and Scully quickened their pace, and as they neared the car, a familiar figure exited it.

"Skinner," Mulder questioned.

The assistant director gave a small wave. "I'm sorry to drop in on you like this. I tried calling, but I see you were out."

"Just taking a walk by the river, sir," Scully explained. "Is something wrong?"

"I…I hope not. Would you mind if I came in?"

"Um, sure…," Mulder replied, already bounding up the porch steps. "Come on in, Walter."

Scully gave Skinner a smile and motioned for him to go first.

"Really, I hope I'm not disrupting your evening, but….well I felt it was important I tell you this right away...and personally."

"Well," Mulder started, "follow me into the den. Would you like something to drink, wine, coffee, tea…a beer?"

"A beer would be great."

"I'll go get some for all of us," Scully offered.

"Please, sir, have a seat." Mulder said pointing at a recliner as he took one opposite it. "Now, what's so urgent that you drove all the way out here this evening? I'm almost afraid to ask."

Scully returned with the beer and handed one to each of the men before settling herself on the sofa.

"Someone has been asking about you, Dana. I received a call this morning from a man who at first seemed reluctant to even identify himself. In fact, I hung up on him the first time. He called back about five minutes later and identified as a Pastor Jonathan Rivers. Does that ring any bells?"

Mulder and Scully looked at each other. "Ah, yes sir…yes it does. Just what did he want…specifically?"

"He claimed he was calling on behalf of a parishioner of his, although he wouldn't give a name. He said it had something to do with an adoption. I gathered he was trying to establish whether or not you really were employed by the bureau. He also asked about your medical credentials."

Mulder took a few swigs of his beer and got up and went over to sit beside Scully on the sofa.

"What did you tell him," Scully asked.

"Not much. I confirmed only that, yes you were employed by the bureau, was an agent in good standing, and that that was all I could tell him. I cited confidentiality as the reason I couldn't be more forthcoming, which is true, but I certainly wasn't going to give some unknown voice, pastor or no, any personal information anyway. And as far as your medical employment, I told him that I wasn't privy to any of that, nor was it any of my business. I really don't know what he expected to get out of me, or even how he knew to question me. But I take it this isn't all that surprising to you…either of you. I know it's not really any of my business, but… what was all the talk about adoption?"

Scully gave Mulder a look that said, go ahead.

"Sir," Mulder started, "what I'm about to tell you… I need you to keep it to yourself….for now anyway."

Skinner nodded in the affirmative, and Mulder continued.

"Well, to put it plain and simple…we may have a chance to get William back."

The look on Skinner's face said you could have knocked him over with a feather.

"William? My god…that's …that's unbelievable! I never would have guessed that. How…and why?"

"His adoptive mother got ahold of me last year," Scully began. "I had noted on the adoption papers that I was agreeable to contact from William in the future if he so desired."

Skinner looked thoughtful. "So, William initiated this…search?"

Scully continued. "Um, no…no, William doesn't know anything about this. His…mother contacted me to let me know that she was very ill, dying in fact. Her name is Christine Van de Kamp. Her husband, Steve, was killed some years back. There's ah, no other family. That's why she contacted me, to see if we would be interested in William."

Scully looked at Mulder on the verge of tears. He rubbed her back and kissed her cheek.

Skinner sat back, blew out a long breath, and downed the rest of his beer. "And I take it then you are…receptive to all of this? What about the threat to his life...all your lives? You're not concerned with exposing him again to…whoever, whatever was after him before?"

"Would you like another beer, sir," Mulder inquired.

Skinner shook his head in the negative. "I'm good. Actually, I'd love one, but it's a long drive back."

Mulder nodded his assent. "Yes, we have considered that possibility. But, we also feel like we're being given a second chance here. We accept the fact that there could still be some…danger, but William is a young man now, not an infant. We don't pretend to believe for a minute that this will be an easy thing. Sir, I had only days with my son, as you well know. The fact that I…we have any chance for this opportunity is…." Mulder's voice cracked and he couldn't go on.

Scully reached for his hand and continued for him. "We don't know that this is a sure thing yet. The man who contacted you, Pastor Rivers, is helping Mrs. Van de Kamp with her… arrangements and that includes finding the best placement for William. We have a meeting with her in a few days. Sir, if you're at all a praying man, we sure could use some prayers. It seems…it seems so strange to have to take part in an interview to see if you qualify to raise your own child. I've been through a lot of strange things in my lifetime, but this… I don't even know how to categorize it."

Skinner hung his head. He wished he could think of something comforting to say. "I can't imagine what the two of you are going through. If I can help in anyway." He looked up at the couple. "What if this Pastor Rivers calls back, is there anything you would want me to convey to him?"

"Just the truth sir," Mulder stated.

Skinner stood. "Well, I guess that clears that up. While I can't guarantee that anyone else at the bureau won't talk, I can tell those under my charge to keep mum if they're questioned. And, Fox…Dana…you know you have my total support…whatever you choose to do. Please keep me up to date on this. I guess I, ah…had better be heading back. Thanks for the beer. Goodnight."

"Anytime sir," Mulder answered. "And Skinner…thanks for understanding; for being our friend."

He nodded at the couple and left.