Title: Finding a Family, Part 5
Author: Gillian Leigh
Disclaimer: See and earlier installment...
Doggett Residence
April 24, 2026
6:54 p.m.
William stood on the steps in front of the Assistant Director's house. He was troubled by many things, that evening. Between Kalina being angry with him because he was so distant and vague the entire day, and finding out that not only did Doggett know his parents, but they were the infamous Mulder and Scully, whose names were synonymous with rule breaking and unorthodox investigative tactics. The two had been dismissed, suspended and rehired more than he could have ever imagined. He had learned all of this after spending the entire afternoon pouring over Mulder and Scully's files, and as many X-Files as he could find that the two had worked on together. Although he managed to gain an abundance of professional and medical history on the two, he hoped that the Assistant Director and his wife could fill in some of the personal things, and help him know who his parents truly were. He raised his hand to knock, but couldn't bring himself to do it.
As William was inches away from rapping on the door, it opened. He was startled when he found himself staring at a familiar face.
"Kalina?" he asked, surprised that she was there, but at the same time, angry that Doggett had told her when he had promised not to. The woman sighed,
"Nah, I just look like her." Confused, William simply said,
"Sorry?" She laughed, and said,
"I'm Kalina's twin sister, Ariana. You must be William. Please, come inside." William stepped inside the house. Ariana called,
"Mom, Dad, William's here!" William saw the Assistant Director come from the kitchen, followed closely by the woman who was, evidently, his wife. Monica brushed past her husband, drying her hands on a towel. William extended his hand to shake, but Monica forwent all formalities and hugged him. He was a little taken aback, but he didn't have time to question her before he began having a vision.
-The place they are in is unbearably hot, and hasn't been in use in a number of years, by the looks of it. There are so many people there, but only two are familiar, William notices as the scene flashes before his eyes. Agent Scully, and the Assistant Director's wife, Monica. Agent Scully is on a bed, wearing a gray tee-shirt, and covered in sweat. She's in labor and pushing. The people surrounding the two in the room are deathly silent, and their gazes are focused solely on Agent Scully.
"Harder! Push, Dana!" Monica shouts, but Agent Scully does not, she only whimpers, and is silent for a moment.
"Keep breathing, Dana. Keep breathing," Monica says.
"Please don't let them take it!" Scully pleads. Monica says,
"Push! Push. Push, Dana, push!" Scully complies, and cries out in pain. Her cry is joined by that of a newborn. The other people in the room are silent and still, and Scully watches them in fear.-
William opened his eyes and felt a searing pain in the front of his head. His hand instinctively moved to cover his eyes, and in an instant, he realized that he was lying on the floor, surrounded by the various members of the Doggett family.
"Are you alright?" Monica asked, looking panicked. William sat up, and said,
"Yeah. I'm fine."
"Apparently, you're not," Ariana interjected. "If you were fine, you wouldn't have just passed out as soon as my mom touched you." William shot her a glare. Like her sister, she had a tendency to butt in where she wasn't wanted.
"What happened, William?" Monica asked, as she guided him to the sofa.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Will said, practically scoffing.
"Try us," Doggett said as he sat down on the couch as well. For some reason, Will got the feeling that they would have heard stranger things than what was about to come out of his mouth. He took a deep breath and said,
"For years now, I've been having dreams, and I recently found out that they're about my real parents. My biological mother and father. Even more recently, places they've been and people that were important in their lives, have triggered flashbacks. I've been hearing their voices, and seeing their faces. When I shook your hand, Monica, I had a flash of my mom in labor, in an old building. It seemed deserted, and she was terrified, as were you. Assistant Director, when I shook your hand in the office, I saw my mom sitting in a chair next to you, and you said something that must have pissed her off, because she threw water in your face and walked away." Doggett smiled a little, and Monica laughed.
"Let's just say that your mother wasn't too overly fond of me when we first met," he said, offering a half-smile. Monica was in awe of the things Will had told her.
"William, the memory that you experienced, with your mother and me, that was when you were born. Your mother didn't have any other children...in fact, before you, she was told she couldn't have children at all."
"Why were all those people there? And why wasn't she in a hospital?"
"Your parents' history, concerning abductions and various forms of testing left many people to wonder about your conception. Those people, who were what your father called 'Human-Alien Hybrids' believed you were the Hybrid who would lead the world into the hands of the aliens. They believed you would be their leader. When you were born, they found out that you were not as they had expected. Your mother and father didn't know who to trust, and that was why you couldn't be born in a hospital. But once they found out that you were not the child they had expected, they simply left."
"But if everything was alright, then why did my parents give me up for adoption? Why didn't they keep me?" he questioned, having a hard time digesting what Monica was telling him.
"Your father's life was in danger, after you were born, and he had to leave. Your mother felt that your life was in danger as well, and she knew that she couldn't protect you anymore, so she gave you up for adoption. You have to understand how hard she worked to get you back once your father was home, Will. But they were both on the run then. Your dad was falsely accused in a murder and sentenced to death. We all helped him escape, but he and your mom had to disappear. They couldn't be known as Fox Mulder and Dana Scully to anyone anymore. It was a hard time. They cleaned out the X-Files office as punishment to John and myself for our loyalty, and to the former Assistant Director as well. It was almost six years before we received any confirmation that your mother and father were alive, and even then we couldn't mail anything back to them, because we didn't know where they were. We weren't allowed to know. Your mom and dad were on a mission to save the world, Will. I'll explain along the way, but John and I need to take you to see something," Monica said, and rose from the couch. John followed suit, motioning for William to do the same.
The trio got into Monica's car, and she piloted them a short distance, stopping in front of Green Gates Cemetery. Will's heart sunk into the pit of his stomach. Seeing his expression, Monica said,
"No, darling. It's not what you think. Just come with us." Will walked nervously behind Monica and John, who stopped in front of a single headstone. On the left, it read, "Dana Katherine Scully 1964-2012" on the right, it read, "Fox William Mulder 1961-2012".
"If this isn't what it looks like, then would someone please tell me what exactly it *is*?" John took over this time, putting a hand on Will's shoulder.
"The two caskets in these graves, are empty, William. For all intents and purposes, your mother and father have been dead since July 3, 2012. Before today, there were a total of four people who knew your mom and dad are still alive. Today, you're the fifth." Will swallowed hard, trying to hide his shock.
"Your parents did a wonderful thing on July 3, Will. They did it for all of mankind, and the only people who know who they have to thank for still being able to call Earth home, are the same people who know that they aren't lying in those graves," John continued, his hands in his pockets; his eyes remained fixed on the headstone. "They saved the world. 2012 was to be the Apocalypse; the end of all life on Earth; the Sixth Extinction. Somehow, to this *day* we aren't even sure, your mom and dad managed to stop the alien invasion which would have spelled the end of human life on Earth. They spent the ten years after they fled in some remote region of Ireland, figuring out how to save the world. And they did it." Will felt tears welling up in his eyes, and a sense of pride was blooming within his chest. His parents had saved the world. His mom and dad; no one else's.
"But if they saved the world, why couldn't they come back?" he asked, quietly.
"They may have saved the world, but they couldn't be sure who was still out there to get them," Monica said, quietly. "So they staged their deaths, and your mother's mother, being the only family they had left, per se, confirmed that the bodies were your mom and dad. She also refused to allow autopsies to be done on the two, which made things far less complicated. To the rest of the world, your mom and dad were dead. The John and Jane Doe whose bodies were called theirs were cremated and disposed of. Only your mother's mother, Maggie, the former Assistant Director Skinner, John and myself, knew that we were putting empty caskets into the ground.
"Another ten years passed before we heard from them again. Your grandma Maggie passed away just after Christmas, some five years before they contacted us again. It was the hardest thing I ever had to tell your mother, Will," Monica said, growing teary-eyed.
"Where are they now?"
"Living in Glasgow, Scotland."
"Would we be able to find them?" Will asked, pushing his hair out of his eyes. Messy just like his father's, Monica thought with a smile. She frowned slightly, and said,
"Are you sure you want to do that, Will?"
"They're my parents, Monica. And I need to thank them for saving the world....and tell them that I'm okay. I just want to see them. Just having dreams and flashbacks isn't enough. I need to meet them."
"We'll get you there, Will," John said quietly, taking one last look at the headstone before looking up to meet Will's gaze. Will nodded, and in that instant, a promise was made. One not meant to be broken.