My perspective on what would have happened if Scully had a
girl.
Agent Reyes watched until the flashing lights of the
ambulance slowed at Peking Memorial Hospital.
Agent Scully was safe for now.
The baby was safe.
She turned
to Mulder, who was beside her. "Well, it's over."
He shook
his dark head in the negative. "No, Agent Reyes. It is just beginning."
Ten
years later….
She sat at
the small child's desk, watching her daughter's teacher, Mrs. Weiss. Mrs. Weiss was a woman in her late fifties
with graying hair and a sharp, piercing nose.
Her horn-rimmed glasses sat atop the large nose, and her eyes looked out
at Scully with an intense gaze. "I don't understand it myself, Miss Scully. When Aki came into the program, we had hoped
for the best. But now, she has become
totally shut off from the world. Look
at her now."
Scully
followed Mrs. Weiss's gaze over to the book corner of the room. Aki, Scully's daughter, sat in one of the
chairs. Her talking box strap was
around her neck, but the girl sat motionless and unresponsive to anything. "I
don't know what happened," Scully said, at a loss to say anything more.
Mrs. Weiss
shook her head. "This kind of thing happens, Miss Scully. You can't blame yourself. We want to put Aki in the Richard Mosley Special
Education Center."
Scully
responded promptly, "No. Aki has to
stay here."
"We can't
do anything for her, Miss Scully. There
is no need for her to stay here; there is no purpose in her staying here." Mrs.
Weiss took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. "I'm sorry. The transfer papers will be in next week."
She smiled and gave one last comment. "It's not like Aki cares."
"Maybe Aki
doesn't, but I do," Scully said forcefully. "Isn't there anything you
can do?"
"Sorry,"
Mrs. Weiss repeated. She called across
the room, "Aki! It's time for you to go
home."
The girl
turned her head slowly, slowly, and looked at Mrs. Weiss. Her gaze seemed to bore into her mother and
her teacher. Mrs. Weiss shuddered
instinctively beside Scully. "I just – every time I look at those eyes, they
scare me."
Scully went
over to her daughter, Mrs. Weiss following her. "We're going, Aki."
The girl
stood, still staring at Mrs. Weiss. But
she said nothing.
Scully
recognized the eyes. They were Billy
Miles' eyes, the dark, silent, quiet eyes that always seemed to be looking
right through you. Aki's eyes
reminded people of an Oreo cookie or a smooth, deep pond in the middle of the
night. But talking to her was like
talking to a wall. Aki could speak a
little, but rarely ever spoke. She had
a talking box – a Dynavox – which was the best on the market. Sometimes, but not always, Aki could use the
box to communicate. The rest of the
time, she was totally shut off from the world.
That seemed to be the way she liked it.
The
doorbell rang and broke the spell of silence.
Often, Scully felt that she would scream to let all of her anger
out. Aki certainly didn't care what
went on in the world around her. "Someone's at the door, Aki," Scully said.
Aki turned
her head slowly to look at her mother, then continued to stare out the window,
lost from the world.
The person
was Agent Reyes. Of all the people who
came throughout the week to visit Scully, Agent Reyes was her favorite. "Hello
there, Agent Scully!" Agent Reyes greeted her brightly. "Would you like to
accompany us to a baseball game?"
"We'd love
to," Scully answered. "Who's playing?"
"Well, it's
a minor league game: the Doubloon Street Pirates against the Mercer Avenue Blue
Jays. Mulder, Doggett, Agent Kim, and our
newest client are also going along."
"Sounds
great. Who's Agent Kim?"
"A very
highly regarded undercover agent," Reyes replied. "She's helping to guard our
client, Lena Fisher."
"Ah. Aki, do you want to go?" Scully questioned,
turning to her daughter.
The girl
sat there, staring at her mother.
Finally she pressed a button on the Dynavox. "Yes," the box said in a computerized tone.
"Good job,"
Scully praised Aki, then turned back to Reyes. "We'd love to."
Twenty
minutes later, the van containing four FBI agents, one former FBI agent, and
one very pregnant woman was barreling down the highway. Oh, and Aki, too. Can't forget her.
"I want
some Cracker Jack," Mulder said.
Doggett
nodded. "I like Cracker Jack," he agreed.
Reyes
raised her eyebrows. "That may be the first thing they've agreed on
yet."
"This is so
interesting," Lena Fisher said. "I've never been to a minor league game. Have you, Aki?"
Aki tilted
her head slightly and looked up at Lena, but said nothing. Scully hurried to interject, "Aki's
autistic, Ms. Fisher. She understands
somewhat, but doesn't really communicate."
"Ah," Lena
said, but said nothing more. She
hurriedly looked out the window.
Reyes and
Doggett bought the tickets. Then
Mulder, Scully, Reyes, Doggett, Agent Kim, Lena, and Aki took their seats in
the stands. Various vendors walked by,
selling everything from giant foam fingers to cotton candy.
"Aki, do
you want some candy?" Reyes asked.
"Don't
spoil her," Scully cautioned.
Aki just
stared at Reyes. Then she nodded
slowly. Reyes grinned. "That's my
girl." She bought a bag of cotton candy from the nearest vendor, then turned to
Aki. "It's fairy floss."
Mulder
chuckled. "When was the last time I heard that term?"
Doggett was
automatically defensive. "I like the term fairy floss."
"Who asked
you?" Mulder questioned in return.
"Boys!"
Agent Kim snapped.
Mulder and
Doggett were instantly quiet.
Reyes
smiled at Agent Kim and pulled a piece of cotton candy off for Aki. The girl held it in her hand for a moment,
then handed it back to Reyes, like a gift. "You have to show her what to do
with it," Scully said. She pulled off
another piece and held it up to Aki's mouth. "Eat it."
Aki smeared
the cotton candy across her teeth.
Apparently enjoyed the taste, she swallowed obediently and held out her
hand for more. Scully grinned. "You've
got her hooked, Agent Reyes." Then, in a more serious tone, she said, "What's
the file on this Lena Fisher?"
"She's got
quite an interesting file, actually.
She's pregnant, as you can obviously see, but her husband was killed two
weeks ago in a mysterious 'accident.'
She thinks the killers are out for her baby."
Scully
raised her eyebrows. "Ah, I see." Too
familiar all together.
"And now
Michael Richardson from the Blue Jays is up!" the announcer announced
perkily. "Michael has a record of five RBIs in the last season. And the pitch!"
"He's my
favorite player," Scully heard Mulder say to Doggett.
"Hey, mine,
too!" Doggett exclaimed.
Scully
rolled her eyes. Reyes, however, got
vocal, proclaiming, "Whoopee!" to the men in a sarcastic tone.
Lena
clapped her hands. "Go, Michael!" she cheered as the tall player hit a double.
Agent Kim
merely nodded her head at the baseball game and settled to reading her souvenir
program.
Aki kept
smearing the floss in her mouth.
"Look,
that's him!" Lena exclaimed suddenly in a partial gasp.
"It's who?" Agent Reyes questioned.
"That's
him! That's who killed Brian!"
"Where?"
Mulder
and Doggett stood momentarily, so they could see where Lena was pointing. She pointed out a tall man standing near the
back of the stadium, wearing a black leather jacket and sunglasses. "Do you
know what his name is?" Doggett questioned.
Lena
shook her head. "No, I don't know."
Mulder
nodded to Doggett. "We'll secure the perimeter. Agent Kim, you take Agents Scully and Reyes out of here, along
with Lena and Aki. We'll meet back at
the van in twenty-seven minutes."
Agent
Kim nodded in return. "Agent Reyes, you take the head with Lena. Agent Scully, bring up the rear with
Aki. I will follow Agent Reyes."
"Okay,
good plan," Agent Reyes said. "Lena, we'll take the side entrance. Scully…
what's wrong, Agent Scully?"
"Aki!" Scully called in a
panic. "Where did Aki go?"
"You
mean she's not here?" Reyes questioned.
"No,
no, she's not here! Where could she
have gone? Aki!"
"Calm
down, Agent Scully," Agent Kim said. "Reyes, you take Lena and get out of
here. I'll assist Agent Scully."
Scully
was near tears. "We have to find her.
She doesn't talk at all. Someone
could have…"
"I'm
sure no one has hurt her, Agent Scully," Agent Kim said. "Everything will be
fine." There was a pause, then Agent
Kim said, "Oh, my dear and sweet lord."
She
was staring up at the overhead balcony, where Lena had seen the man in
sunglasses. A woman stood there now,
wearing a loudly flower printed dress.
Standing next to her was…
"Aki!"
Scully let out a cry.
The
girl was fighting to get away, screaming and making strange sounds. The woman just kept standing there, holding
onto her hand. Aki twisted and fought,
but it was no use. A moment later, the
man in sunglasses appeared, and he picked Aki up. A few seconds later, they were gone.
Agent
Kim and Scully kept running towards the balcony where they had last seen Aki, the
woman, and the man. When they arrived,
no one was there. "Oh no," Scully said, slumping against the railing.
"Oh,
buck up, Agent Scully," Agent Kim said. "They couldn't have gone far."
It
was the first time Scully had ever heard anyone use the words "buck up," and
she wasn't quite sure what to think.
Agent Kim was about to repeat herself, but Scully said quickly, "Let's
go!"
They
ran together, around the balconies, looking for the man and the woman. But no one had seen either the man or the
woman.
Agent
Scully was about to start crying. Aki
was autistic, she couldn't take care of herself…
