"Now do you believe?"
He tried to reply, but his mouth had gone completely dry, managing only a raspy "What...?"
Her smile was sympathetic. "There are a lot of ways to answer that question....all of them are true and none of them are accurate." She clipped back over to the cot; Mulder watched her hooves, incredulous, as she sat down again, arranging her haunches so they were under her. "Are you familiar with mythology, legendry...fairy tales?"
He nodded, still trying to find his voice.
"Well, if you kind of mash them all together, that *begins* to describe what we are....."
"The Devil," He blurted, and her sympathy turned to ice.
"No. I am NOT the Devil, Agent Mulder. It's that kind of thinking that forced us to hide the way we do." She looked away for a moment, her lip curled in disgust, horns gleaming as she turned her head. "We're not the devil, and we're not demons.....the closest you could understand is that we're fairies. Well, half-fairies."
Mulder's brain had stopped jibbering at him, and he finally found his voice. "Why didn't I see it...?"
She sighed. "Because the world doesn't believe in fairies anymore, or fairy tales, for that matter. They think that if their laundry is stolen off the line, it was some street kid, not a fairy prank." She gave a weak chuckle. "They think that the socks they lose out of the dryer are still in their house somewhere. But they believe in their next paycheck, or their next mouthful of food, or their next case." She nodded to him, a wry twist to her lips. "There's no room in that for fairies, or even Dreams.
"The weight of that disbelief would crush us if we revealed ourselves, but mortal souls can bear it easily. Heck, they deal with it every day of their lives." She shrugged, raising her hands palms up. "So, we trade...our souls take refuge within their bodies, and in return we awaken them, let them see through our eyes that Dreams still have power, as long as they believe in them." She "weighed" the options, one hand dipping lower than the other. "Not necessarily an even trade, but one we can live with."
He nodded, his composure and curiosity trickling back slowly. "So you share a body with Melissa...is that even your name?"
"Oh yeah. I was Melissa for sixteen years until all this. Some people are born with a Fae soul within them that lies dormant until just the right moment, when they're ready for the memories of what it was to be one of us. Then the Fae soul surfaces, floods them with power, and the memory of the soul that has now awakened. I'm still Melissa, and the soul within me has another name, but among the Fae my chosen name is Moonshadow." She smiled a bit. "I've always been a Cat Stevens fan."
He laughed, a genuine laugh this time. "Right...of course...Moonshadow." He stared another minute, waiting for his brain to slow down. "So you're what, a faun?"
Her smile widened, and she gave a chuckle of surprise. "Close, and a good guess." Her expression grew serious. "But that's more than enough show and tell for me. Your turn." She shifted, rolling up onto her hocks/knees. "Why are you after Aidan? Did he really rape someone, or were you using that to scare me?"
The question broke through his astonishment, and he brought himself back to the business at hand. "The girl claims that he met her at a party, got her drunk and had intercourse with her. She's seventeen, so, according to the law, it adds up to date rape." He paused. "This guy...he's one of you?"
She glared at him. "Of course! You think I'd be facing all this for a *mortal* scumbag?" She huffed a sigh crossing her arms over her chest. "He may be a scumbag, but he's *ours* to deal with." She got to her feet again, tugging her shirt back down over her hips. "You can fill me in on the details while we're driving."
"Driving?" Mulder blinked at her sudden change in demeanor. *What the hell?*
"Yes, driving. We have to get back to campus." She gave him a considering look. "Maybe you'd better let me drive. I'm probably more used to seeing the things we'll see on the road."
*Now* things were getting out of hand. "Whoa, wait a minute, we're not going anywhere. We have to get a statement from you about the two goons that attacked you, we have to--"
"No statement needed. I'm not pressing charges, and neither is Aidan."
"But--"
"And unless you're planning to charge me with everything you said before, I believe I'm free to go...?" She folded her arms once again, one cloven hoof pawing softly at the floor.
*If she had a foot* he thought crazily, *it would be tapping.* He opened his mouth, not knowing exactly what he was going to say, and she touched her fingers to his lips. Her voice was soft as she spoke, her gaze plaintive.
"Agent Mulder, we both want the same thing; to see Aidan face justice. We just can't let it be mortal justice, and if you keep trying to make it that way, it will never be over for you. If you truly want to see resolution to this, then you'll come with me now."
This was slipping out of his control, too fast....he said the one thing that he thought would bring things back towards his level. "Scully...."
She only smiled. "She'll be joining us on campus, if my one phonecall gets the results I'm hoping for. " She stepped back, slipping her hands into her pockets. "Now go make the arrangements. We've lost too much time already."
He hesitated only a second longer before turning for the stairs.
**********
Scully leaned back against the cool white wall, passing one hand over her eyes. The radio at the nurses' station played easy listening. Someone paged Dr. Stanton or Canton or someone; she was too tired to care.
At least her suspicions had been correct. The gun-toting thug, one Joseph Pellitta, had a concussion resulting from the head-on collision with a dumpster that she had heard rather than seen. They were keeping him overnight for observation, and the local P.D. was on guard for any attempted escape before questioning. The only thing to do was wait. Wait until Mulder was finished questioning Melissa, until they'd found their suspected rapist, until Mr. Pellitta regained consciousness enough to confess his involvement with Reverend Canfield.
Scully didn't want to wait. She wanted to wrap this case up and get the hell out of California, where she didn't have to worry about the Dana Scully she had been so many years ago. Once they were away from here, Mulder wouldn't press her for details, he never would. He understood why people were guarded when asked about their past.
*Maybe that's why you feel comfortable with him, hm? You never have to reveal anything about yourself and he'll still respect you, still care for you.*
*Shut up* she told herself. *I'm a different person now. He doesn't have to know about who I was back then. It's not me anymore.*
*He never had to tell you anything about himself, but he did. You know him inside out, Dana, and he doesn't know half of what he deserves.*
She gritted her teeth, banging her head softly back against the wall. *Enough! Right now I just need sleep, and in the morning it'll be better.*
A familiar refrain reached her ears from the nurses' station, and she squeezed her eyes shut further.
"I can see clearly now, the rain is gone..."
Oh, she thought she knew everything back then. Ready to take on the world single-handedly.
"I can see all obstacles in my way..."
Bill. Charlie. Dad. All the people who expected so much from her, but only on their terms. Even now she could still see it in Bill's eyes whenever she disagreed with him.
"Gone were the dark clouds that had me blind..."
What a fool she had been, letting idealism blind her to her goals, goals that she had since achieved, along with a resolve that wouldn't be shaken.
"Gonna be a bright, bright Sunshiny Day..."
Her eyes snapped open and she gave a little gasp as a husky, familiar voice sang the words into her ear. She looked to her right, feeling her heart pounding so hard she thought it might leap from her chest.
His blue eyes had telltale wrinkles around them, and his gaze held more wisdom than idealism, but the lopsided grin, the aura of restrained passion that surrounded him was the same as she remembered.
"Loren....."
He tried to reply, but his mouth had gone completely dry, managing only a raspy "What...?"
Her smile was sympathetic. "There are a lot of ways to answer that question....all of them are true and none of them are accurate." She clipped back over to the cot; Mulder watched her hooves, incredulous, as she sat down again, arranging her haunches so they were under her. "Are you familiar with mythology, legendry...fairy tales?"
He nodded, still trying to find his voice.
"Well, if you kind of mash them all together, that *begins* to describe what we are....."
"The Devil," He blurted, and her sympathy turned to ice.
"No. I am NOT the Devil, Agent Mulder. It's that kind of thinking that forced us to hide the way we do." She looked away for a moment, her lip curled in disgust, horns gleaming as she turned her head. "We're not the devil, and we're not demons.....the closest you could understand is that we're fairies. Well, half-fairies."
Mulder's brain had stopped jibbering at him, and he finally found his voice. "Why didn't I see it...?"
She sighed. "Because the world doesn't believe in fairies anymore, or fairy tales, for that matter. They think that if their laundry is stolen off the line, it was some street kid, not a fairy prank." She gave a weak chuckle. "They think that the socks they lose out of the dryer are still in their house somewhere. But they believe in their next paycheck, or their next mouthful of food, or their next case." She nodded to him, a wry twist to her lips. "There's no room in that for fairies, or even Dreams.
"The weight of that disbelief would crush us if we revealed ourselves, but mortal souls can bear it easily. Heck, they deal with it every day of their lives." She shrugged, raising her hands palms up. "So, we trade...our souls take refuge within their bodies, and in return we awaken them, let them see through our eyes that Dreams still have power, as long as they believe in them." She "weighed" the options, one hand dipping lower than the other. "Not necessarily an even trade, but one we can live with."
He nodded, his composure and curiosity trickling back slowly. "So you share a body with Melissa...is that even your name?"
"Oh yeah. I was Melissa for sixteen years until all this. Some people are born with a Fae soul within them that lies dormant until just the right moment, when they're ready for the memories of what it was to be one of us. Then the Fae soul surfaces, floods them with power, and the memory of the soul that has now awakened. I'm still Melissa, and the soul within me has another name, but among the Fae my chosen name is Moonshadow." She smiled a bit. "I've always been a Cat Stevens fan."
He laughed, a genuine laugh this time. "Right...of course...Moonshadow." He stared another minute, waiting for his brain to slow down. "So you're what, a faun?"
Her smile widened, and she gave a chuckle of surprise. "Close, and a good guess." Her expression grew serious. "But that's more than enough show and tell for me. Your turn." She shifted, rolling up onto her hocks/knees. "Why are you after Aidan? Did he really rape someone, or were you using that to scare me?"
The question broke through his astonishment, and he brought himself back to the business at hand. "The girl claims that he met her at a party, got her drunk and had intercourse with her. She's seventeen, so, according to the law, it adds up to date rape." He paused. "This guy...he's one of you?"
She glared at him. "Of course! You think I'd be facing all this for a *mortal* scumbag?" She huffed a sigh crossing her arms over her chest. "He may be a scumbag, but he's *ours* to deal with." She got to her feet again, tugging her shirt back down over her hips. "You can fill me in on the details while we're driving."
"Driving?" Mulder blinked at her sudden change in demeanor. *What the hell?*
"Yes, driving. We have to get back to campus." She gave him a considering look. "Maybe you'd better let me drive. I'm probably more used to seeing the things we'll see on the road."
*Now* things were getting out of hand. "Whoa, wait a minute, we're not going anywhere. We have to get a statement from you about the two goons that attacked you, we have to--"
"No statement needed. I'm not pressing charges, and neither is Aidan."
"But--"
"And unless you're planning to charge me with everything you said before, I believe I'm free to go...?" She folded her arms once again, one cloven hoof pawing softly at the floor.
*If she had a foot* he thought crazily, *it would be tapping.* He opened his mouth, not knowing exactly what he was going to say, and she touched her fingers to his lips. Her voice was soft as she spoke, her gaze plaintive.
"Agent Mulder, we both want the same thing; to see Aidan face justice. We just can't let it be mortal justice, and if you keep trying to make it that way, it will never be over for you. If you truly want to see resolution to this, then you'll come with me now."
This was slipping out of his control, too fast....he said the one thing that he thought would bring things back towards his level. "Scully...."
She only smiled. "She'll be joining us on campus, if my one phonecall gets the results I'm hoping for. " She stepped back, slipping her hands into her pockets. "Now go make the arrangements. We've lost too much time already."
He hesitated only a second longer before turning for the stairs.
**********
Scully leaned back against the cool white wall, passing one hand over her eyes. The radio at the nurses' station played easy listening. Someone paged Dr. Stanton or Canton or someone; she was too tired to care.
At least her suspicions had been correct. The gun-toting thug, one Joseph Pellitta, had a concussion resulting from the head-on collision with a dumpster that she had heard rather than seen. They were keeping him overnight for observation, and the local P.D. was on guard for any attempted escape before questioning. The only thing to do was wait. Wait until Mulder was finished questioning Melissa, until they'd found their suspected rapist, until Mr. Pellitta regained consciousness enough to confess his involvement with Reverend Canfield.
Scully didn't want to wait. She wanted to wrap this case up and get the hell out of California, where she didn't have to worry about the Dana Scully she had been so many years ago. Once they were away from here, Mulder wouldn't press her for details, he never would. He understood why people were guarded when asked about their past.
*Maybe that's why you feel comfortable with him, hm? You never have to reveal anything about yourself and he'll still respect you, still care for you.*
*Shut up* she told herself. *I'm a different person now. He doesn't have to know about who I was back then. It's not me anymore.*
*He never had to tell you anything about himself, but he did. You know him inside out, Dana, and he doesn't know half of what he deserves.*
She gritted her teeth, banging her head softly back against the wall. *Enough! Right now I just need sleep, and in the morning it'll be better.*
A familiar refrain reached her ears from the nurses' station, and she squeezed her eyes shut further.
"I can see clearly now, the rain is gone..."
Oh, she thought she knew everything back then. Ready to take on the world single-handedly.
"I can see all obstacles in my way..."
Bill. Charlie. Dad. All the people who expected so much from her, but only on their terms. Even now she could still see it in Bill's eyes whenever she disagreed with him.
"Gone were the dark clouds that had me blind..."
What a fool she had been, letting idealism blind her to her goals, goals that she had since achieved, along with a resolve that wouldn't be shaken.
"Gonna be a bright, bright Sunshiny Day..."
Her eyes snapped open and she gave a little gasp as a husky, familiar voice sang the words into her ear. She looked to her right, feeling her heart pounding so hard she thought it might leap from her chest.
His blue eyes had telltale wrinkles around them, and his gaze held more wisdom than idealism, but the lopsided grin, the aura of restrained passion that surrounded him was the same as she remembered.
"Loren....."