This was where he liked to do it. It was a shady spot, in the middle of the park inside a circle of trees. It was hard to see the clearing from the outside, but from inside, he could see the sky as the moon started to sneak onto its throne. It was here a year ago when he had broken down under the weight, when he had decided to come clean about his family's deaths with Mulder and Scully to support him.
With the exception of that night one year ago, it was always quiet in this spot, never much of a sound except for the occasional bird chirping, or branch rustling beneath a squirrel's frame. It was like the whole world and everything wrong in it was shut out, and he could just be alone to deal with whatever troubles he had at the moment. No one knew about this place except for him. No one knew he came here.
"I thought I might find you here."
David looked to his side to see Scully, her black over coat gently waving in the breeze in sync with here flowing red hair. She remembered, and he had to smile at her. She returned a small, thin smile at him.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I came looking for you," she replied. She took a few steps, taking in her surroundings, perhaps remembering. "What are you doing here?"
"Just thinking. I like to come here to do it. It helps me remember the good ol' days."
She chuckled. "Like when you had Mulder suspended three feet in the air?"
David bit his tongue, and the sly smile she had missed earlier crossed his face. "I like to leave that part out."
Scully let out a small laugh as she looked down at the ground. David heard it as he felt his smile fade away and a shudder go down the back of his spine.
"David," she said slowly in her caring tone he had not realized he missed, "do you want to talk about anything?"
David shook his head slowly, almost weakly, and rested his chin on his arms folded across his knees. He was trying not to think about what had happened, it was better to pretend it had not, right?
David listened to the soft crackling of leaves and twigs and Scully removed the space between them, and he felt the arm brush up against him as she lowered herself to the ground. For a long while, they said nothing. Finally she broke the silence. "You know, David, ever since I met you, I've admired your strength."
He raised his head, his eye meeting hers out of the corner. "What do you mean?" he asked quietly.
"The way you carry on. Not many people have the courage you do, and not many have to use it to the extent you do at your age. The fact that you can put up with what you have, and still be the remarkable, charming young man you are amazes me every time." She looked down at her hands. "I don't know how you do it."
"I don't know how I'm going to do it anymore," David said, just above a whisper.
Scully put her arm around him. "David, what happened today…"
"No, it's not just that. It's…it's everything. Always before, I just wouldn't think about it; I'd pretend it was all a bad dream and think of something else. Now, every time I shut my eyes, I know I can't turn to or trust anyone anymore. My mom was always beating me, Dad was always yelling at her. Kris is dead. And now Mr. Nicolas turns out to be some kind of…" He trailed off shaking his head and looked at Scully, breaking her heart with his pitiful brown eyes. "Everyone I'm supposed to be able to trust has left me."
"David," she said, pulling him close to her. "You have me. And you have Mulder. The Watsons are there for you too." She paused between her statements, hoping that the words would sink in.
"I," he started, trying to force it through, "I wonder, sometimes, if this isn't all my fault."
Scully's tone returned from encouraging to serious. "David, what do you mean?"
"I mean," he said, looking away, "I mean, what if I had never been born? Maybe Mom and Dad never would have fought so much if I hadn't been around, or if I had been a better kid. Maybe then she wouldn't have taken it out so much on Kris. I almost killed Mulder. I don't know where my telekinesis comes from; don't you think that scares me? I mean, what if Mom was right? What if I am some kind of devil and all this bad stuff is happening to people because of me?" He broke down, burying his face in his arms. A long, steady stream of tears flowed after years of being ignored and kept in.
"Shh," Scully said, her arms perfectly fitting around him. "None of these things happened because of you. Your parents fought because they made mistakes; none of which were your fault. They were theirs. You are a very special person, David. You're caring; you're witty. I don't know where your gift comes from, but you have too many redeeming qualities to be any kind of embodiment of evil. "
"Thanks," David said, giving a small laugh. "Bet you never thought you would say that and mean it seriously." He looked away again and wiped his eyes. "I'm crying like a baby."
"It's okay, I won't tell anybody," Scully joked and watched him get to his feet. He offered her his hand to help her up, and she took it, noticing how cold it felt against her skin. "What do you say we go pick up Mulder, then go for some ice cream?"
"Yeah…that would be good." David replied.
The sun was almost gone as Scully stepped out from behind the trees. She watched as the young boy followed along beside her, him never really looking up from the ground. It was hard to believe she was looking at a child; he had been through so much in his short life. It was not fair that he had to endure it, and sometimes it made her angry-angry at his parents, angry at the world-just to think about it.
"I'm just going to call Mulder and let him know we're coming," Scully said, whipping out her cellular phone. Her head turned slowly as she looked at David. "Are you laughing at me?"
"No, no," he said, grinning broadly. "It' just that you pulled that sucker out of there like 'Action-Hero-Scully'."
"Very funny," she said, as they reached the car. The passenger side was closest to them, and Scully hit the speed dial for Mulder on her phone, giving a tap on the hood as she went around to her side.
"Mulder," his voice said.
"Mulder, it's me," she replied, opening her door. David's slammed at the same moment. "Are you up for a little ice cream?"
"You buying?"
"Sure, why not?" she said, sitting down in her seat. "Ow!" she exclaimed suddenly.
"What is it?" Mulder asked, concern already in his voice.
"It's nothing," Scully said, using the muscles in her legs to push herself above the seat. "Something pricked me, and…" Her voice stopped. Something was sticking out of the seat. Something small, shiny, and sharp. She reached between the crack of the seat, and felt her jaw drop as she realized she was looking at a syringe.
"Scully?" Mulder asked frantically. The noise in the police station made it hard enough for him to hear. "Scully?" Still, there was no answer, but over the rumbles around him he thought her heard a small groan. Then there was nothing but the steady sound of the car horn like somebody had laid down on it.
"Scully!" Mulder shouted, ready to turn off the phone. Before he could, a voice sounding like the serpent that tempted Eve came through it.
"Is this Fox Mulder?"
"Yes," Mulder said, fear creeping into his voice, him doing his best to keep it veiled. "Who is this?" he asked, as if pretending not to know would make the truth less likely.
"This is Logan Jackson. I'm here with some…friends…of yours."
"Listen here, you bastard, you do anything to either one of them and I swear I'll-"
"You swear you'll what? Take me to jail? You couldn't do it the first time, now could you? What makes you think you'll get lucky this time?"
Mulder started to respond, though the words had not come to him, but the dial tone of the phone cut him off. For a long, intense moment he just stood there, feeling the pounding in his chest as his heart jumped between his stomach and his throat. Then he shouted over the noise to the nearest police officer, "I want that APB changed. Now we're not only looking for the suspect, but we're looking for kidnapping victims as well."