Chapter Fourteen

Daniel and Carolyn were sitting on a porch swing, enjoying the lovely morning when they saw Mulder and Scully walk up to their home hand in hand. The look of happiness on their face was unmistakable and Carolyn quietly squeezed her Captain's arm.

The younger couple walked up the stairs and seeing the owners went to stand before them, grinning like fools.

"Sorry we didn't make it home last night, but we were kind of busy," Mulder said.

"Yeah, Mulder finally asked me to marry him,' Scully smiled and flashed her ring at the two of them.

"Dana, Fox, congratulations!" Carolyn jumped off the bench and ran over to them throwing her arms first around Dana, then Fox.

"About time, I'd say," the Captain said getting to his feet in a more dignified manner. He walked over and offered his hand to Fox, and when he turned to Dana, he was surprised when she threw herself in his arms. "Congratulations, Dana," he said and placed a chaste kiss on her cheek.

Carolyn and Fox watched them with bemused expressions and then looked at each other and shrugged, but not wanting to be left out, Fox pulled Carolyn close for a happy embrace.

When everyone broke apart, and the Captain saw the two women talking together, he pulled Mulder aside for just a minute.

"What is it, Danny?"

"I need to talk to you later, in private, it shouldn't take long," the Captain said quietly.

"About the favor?" Mulder's eyes brightened.

"Yes, that."

"Excellent," Mulder clapped Daniel on the shoulder. "And by the way, since we are getting married I'm going to assume that my fiancé and I can sleep together now?"

The Captain looked as if he was about to object, but then allowed a slow smile to spread across his face. "I can no longer resist the course of true love. You have my blessing," he said in a somber tone but the happiness in his eyes was evident.

Mulder pulled Scully to him and gave her a long, deep kiss in front of them. When they pulled apart, Scully blushed, but he just laughed.

"It's okay, Scully, Dad and Mom just gave us their blessing," he chortled, and with his arm around her led her back into the house.

Daniel stared after them, rubbing his chin in thought before turning to look at Carolyn. "What just happened?"

Carolyn laughed at the bewilderment on his face. "Daniel, I think we've been adopted."

"Adopted? By who? By Fox?" A look of mock horror crossed his face. "He's not my son!"

"Well it seems he's starting to regard us as family," Carolyn smiled at her husband.

"Family? Me? Him?" The Captain put his hands on his hips in consternation. "I'll not have it. What would make him think such a ludicrous thing?"

"Maybe because you've treated him in much the same way you treat Jonathan. You've treated him as a son." She paused. "As have I.'

"No!"

"Yes, dear, in many ways you have."

"I didn't mean to," the Captain was still trying to take it all in.

"It's all right, it's a good thing to do," Carolyn said and pulled him down for a sweet kiss.

'It is? Are you sure?" He remained unconvinced.

"I'm sure. Come on. Let's go make lunch."

'Yes, dear," he said and gave her a mischievous smile, allowing her to take his hand and pull him into the house.

After lunch, with Carolyn and Dana chatting happily in the living room, the Captain gave a nod to Mulder and headed outside. Mulder quietly excused himself after a few minutes and met the Captain out on the road. The Captain walked along quietly and after a time led them to an isolated clearing with a bench with an overlook of the ocean.

"Don't go too close to the cliffs, Fox. I may not save you from yourself this time," the Captain said drily.

"If I fell I would die a happy man," he said, the perpetual grin still on his face.

"My Lord, man, you really are smitten, aren't you?" the Captain couldn't help but smile at his friend's happiness.

"Totally and completely in love," Mulder dramatically placed a hand over his heart. "Aren't you happy for us?"

"I am very pleased," the Captain said in a satisfied voice. "Congratulations, Fox, I know you two will be most happy." He offered Mulder his hand, but Mulder grinned and hugged him instead.

"Fox, please," the Captain tried to untangle himself from the other man's arms in a manly fashion. After a moment he did and then stepped away.

"Danny! You aren't afraid of a manly hug, are you?" Mulder grinned at him, and the Captain gave him his best 'don't ever do that again look'. "All right, fine," Mulder mumbled. "Oh, hey, one more question before business."

"And what would that be?" the Captain asked patiently.

"Can we stay with you at Gull Cottage? I mean only until we get a place of our own."

"Didn't you rent a house?"

"Well, yes, but it's not habitable yet and we need to make sure it's the house that we want to buy."

"Fair enough, for the short term."

"Of course," Fox agreed.

"Now let's get to business, shall we?"

Mulder's grin faded and was replaced with a somber expression. "Will you do it?"

The Captain gave him a very long look and after a few moments, a curt nod.

"Oh, Danny!" He threw himself at the Captain and hugged him again.

"Stop that!' Daniel extracted himself and pushed him away. "Can we please talk without hugging?"

"Ahh, but Danny, you're so attractive!" Mulder teased.

"Mr. Mulder!" Daniel was indignant, and Mulder realized that maybe he had pushed too far.

"Danny, I'm sorry. I was just trying to lighten the mood."

The Captain glared at him.

"Look, I apologize, okay? Please tell me. You really will look for William?"

"With some reluctance, but yes. But you need to know it will not be easy. There are many billions of people in the world, and finding one little boy will be difficult. You will need to tell me everything you can about him."

"I don't know much," Mulder said, his face sad. "I was only with him a few days."

"Let's start with basics. Is he in the United States?"

"Yes, it was a closed adoption somewhere in the United States. She was in the state of Virginia when she made the arrangements."

"Do you know which agency she used?"

"No, she doesn't want to talk about it much."

"Can you find out? It would make my search a lot easier."

"If I can't?"

"Well, the alternative is for you to give me something of his. It would allow me to focus on his aura. It would take longer, but it is possible." The Captain stroked his beard in thought.

"You can't find him without either of those?"

"Possible, but difficult. It would take a very long time."

"All right, I'll figure something out. Give me until tomorrow?"

"Take as long as you wish, but knowing any of those things would expedite the search, and I'm assuming that's something you would like to do?"

"Yes."

"Very well." Daniel nodded at him. "Then I shall look for him for you."

"Thank you," Mulder looked at Daniel and there were tears in the younger man's hazel eyes. "I will never be able to repay you for this, Daniel."

"Who said you have to?" the Captain smiled at Mulder and reached out and ruffled his hair.

Mulder gave him a curious look.

"It's how I treat Jonathan, my son, despite his age," he explained, and with a departing nod of acknowledgement, he disappeared.

Mulder stared at the empty space and after a few moments allowed a small smile to spread across his face. Whistling, he turned back to the path he had taken in order to return home.

Mulder went into the bedroom that he would now be sharing with Scully that night, knowing that she was still involved in a discussion with Carolyn downstairs. He wasn't at all sure that he could get Scully to tell him which adoption agency she used, as any discussion of William was an understandably painful subject for her, but he did know that she had a secret envelope tucked away in her wallet. In it were locks of William's hair. Mulder saw the small, plain envelope once and asked her about it, and she looked at him with a sad smile and told him what it was. He didn't ask more and she didn't offer, and that exchange had taken place years ago.

He was sure she had it tucked away and if it would help Danny find William he told himself that she wouldn't really mind. He found her wallet and opened it, going to the secret pocket where the small envelope was kept and he found it without any difficulty. He opened it and saw the locks of reddish brown hair, and closed his eyes, blinking away the tears that were suddenly there. He removed a slightly larger envelope from his pocket and removed about half of the hairs, placing them in the larger envelope. Then quickly and quietly he replaced Scully's envelope and put it in her wallet. She had a great eye for detail and hoped that she wouldn't notice his indiscretion. That if she did notice, well hopefully by that time, he would know where William was. In his heart that's what he wanted most, was to get William back for himself, but more importantly, for Scully. He wanted to replace the sadness he saw deep in her eyes with joy, and she knew having William back would do that. He didn't want to be missing for too long, so he left the room to return downstairs and join the women in their discussion. There would be time enough to talk to the Captain later.

"When are you leaving?" Carolyn asked her Captain, her green eyes filled with sadness.

"Tomorrow morning, I think. Fox has given me what I need to begin the search, but the search may take a while and I cannot bear to leave you before then."

"I'm glad," she said and pressed herself against his chest, hugging him tightly.

"Here now, no tears," he tilted her head so that she was looking into his eyes and gently wiped away her tears. "I'm not leaving you, I'm simply doing an errand for a friend."

"It's much more than that and you know it. Have you told Fox that?"

"No, I see no reason to, he and Miss Scully are burdened enough, don't you think?"

"I suppose so, but it would be nice for them to know that you are putting yourself in danger."

"I would hardly call looking for a child dangerous."

"You never tell me about the spirit realm but even I know that everything can't be happiness and light. There's a reason that most spirits are regarded with fear and dread."

"Yes, but like people, bad spirits seem to get all the press," he said with an amused expression and Carolyn couldn't help but laugh.

"You know what I mean, and you know it's true."

"Yes, my love, it's true that there are bad spirits, evil spirits, but they are generally kept in check."

"How? By whom?" she raised an eyebrow.

"By the powers that be and their officers."

"Officers? And who are their officers?' she watched him as he chafed uncomfortably.

"Other strong spirits not as powerful as they are, spirits vested in 'good'." He didn't meet her gaze anymore and looked about the room.

"Like you?" she asked pointedly.

"Well, yes, I suppose you could hold me up as an example," he raised his chin in pride.

"Daniel, are you one of their officers?"

"I'm sorry, what?" he was trying to ignore the question.

"The powers that be, are you working for them?" Her tone indicated that she was clearly worried.

"Well…not so directly," he said.

"What does that mean?" She pulled away from him, hands now on her hips and he saw the fire in her eyes.

"It means that I only assist them once in a while."

"And what do you do when you assist them?"

"Umm, what was that?" he was tugging on his ear and looking anywhere but at her.

"How do you assist the powers that be?"

"Ohh, nothing much, I do favors for them, run errands, do good deeds, and…." He turned his head to the side and tried to mumble the words, "…occasionally fight a bad spirit."

"You what?" Her voice was filled with anger now. "And just how long have you been doing this?"

"Since before I met you," he said.

"And you never told me?" She couldn't believe it.

"It didn't seem important."

"Not important?" She collected herself and shot another question at him. "How dangerous is this?"

"Umm, depends on how evil the spirit is," he gave her a weak smile.

"That's not comforting!" she shot him a killer look.

"Carolyn, I'm sorry you don't approve, but it is something I have to do."

"Why? Why do you feel it necessary to risk yourself? Don't you want to stay here with me?"

Her anger dissipated, and she felt the tears welling up in her eyes.

Captain Gregg turned back to her and took her in his arms, pulling him to her. "Carolyn, that is why I do the things I do, in order to stay here with you. And when the children were younger, in order to stay her with you and them." She looked up at him again. "For everything there is a price, my dear. I have committed many indiscretions within the spirit realm by interacting, and worse becoming involved with you and the children. And when I married you! My Lord, the ripples that sent through the spirit realm!" He chuckled at the thought before returning his gaze to the woman he held in his arms. "In order for them to forgive my indiscretions I needed to offer some sort of payment." He shrugged. "The lesser of all of my choices that I volunteer my services from time to time and work for them, so I do."

"You never told me," she said.

"I never saw a reason to, I never wanted to burden you with it."

"So all of those times you were away you were working for them?"

"Well, not all of the times. Sometimes I have personal things to attend to, and sometimes you offended me and I had to sulk." He smiled at her.

"You never had to sulk."

"Oh, but I did. I had finally met a woman that was my match, my equal, and I wasn't used to dealing with such a magnificent woman. Sulking was required." With the smile still on his lips he leaned forward and kissed her soft lips.

"Daniel, I love you so," she said.

"And I love you, but you've known that for years," he pulled her close and they swayed together in place for a few moments. "It hasn't really been so bad, has it?"

"No. I just don't want anything to take you from me."

"I will never let that happen."

"How can you promise that?"

"Trust me," he said.

"Do you have to ask a favor from your superiors to fulfill Fox's request?"

"I'm not sure yet. I think at the very least I will need to speak to them. I have generally behaved myself so I am inclined to believe that they will assist me."

"How can you be so generous?" she asked, gazing into the blue eyes that she loved so much.

"Generous, hardly. I just want that young pup out of our hair," he sputtered but his wife wasn't fooled.

"Softy," she said and kissed him.

"Much more of that and we won't be standing," he warned.

"That is my intent," she said and kissed him again, more deeply this time. "Care to carry me to our bed?" Her eyes twinkled with happiness.

"My pleasure, my darling," he said and scooped her up in his strong arms, walking across the room to place her gently on the bed they shared.