***
"Once you e-mailed me about that woman you met, and her baby, I started to put the pieces together."
"Which pieces are those?"
"Lizzie Gill, Krycek, that McMannon woman you e-mailed me about, what you said you saw on that ship...they all pointed to the existence of a program to create the so called super soldiers, using genetics, not adult subjects like the human replacements we encountered last year. I needed to know if they were real."
"Why? To prove William was one of them?" She looked horror-stricken. Betrayed even. That hurt.
I shook my head. "To prove he wasn't. I know we talked about accepting him as a miracle that we shouldn't question, but I also knew you'd never stop worrying about it, so I decided to see if I could find proof for you. For both of us. We deserve piece of mind, just like everyone else."
"And did you find proof?"
"Didn't I? When I saw William in his crib last night I didn't notice anything different about his neck. I didn't miss something, did I?"
"No. His neck is as normal as yours or mine." She said. I remember her feeling the back of my neck while I was still in the hospital, before she thought I was awake. I'm still not sure how I feel about her need to check.
"So now we know." I always pictured this moment being filled with joy and relief. Damn over active imagination. "Even infant super soldiers have the same defect we've seen in the adult models."
She stood up abruptly, turning to look at the crib. For a moment I felt the urge to put myself between her and it, but she didn't move. "You didn't... take her for show and tell, did you? You could have brought me pictures, I'd have believed you."
I knew she wouldn't have, but I didn't feel like making an issue of it just then. "If I didn't take her, she'd be dead."
Scully tried to hide it, but the look in her eyes betrayed her thought; she didn't know that it wouldn't have been such a bad thing. "You said they think she's dead. But why? What happened?"
***
I opened my mouth to tell her, but Evie began to cry just then, announcing that she was awake and bored. I scooped her out of the crib, blanket and all.
"Does she need to be changed?" Scully asked hesitantly.
"I think she just wants to be held." Evie proved me right by quieting almost the instant she felt herself being lifted. After a week and a half, I was already an expert at figuring out what her different cries meant. I'd rather it been Will's cries I knew so well, but that never was the hand I'd been dealt.
Scully looked a little unnerved when I rejoined her, baby cradled in my arms. I wanted to tell her ' See? She's a real baby, she gets tired and hungry and lonely, just like William does. Like we did at this age, and billions of other people before and after us' but I didn't. The message wouldn't be well received.
"It took me a long time, but I was finally able to track down where they housed the experiment, and it didn't close down just because the ship's lab was destroyed. The problem was trying to break into that place, since it was as secure as Fort Knox. The first time I drove by, I only stayed a minute before I left, knowing there was no way in."
"But you went back."
"Of course, once I got a little help. Using a contact I made through the lone gunmen a few years back, I found someone who would break into any security system, and liked a challenge. I don't think Jake believed a word of what I was telling him, since some times the truth is stranger than fiction, but did agree to go with me. Eleven days ago, he and I were able to break into the compound."
"You said there were deaths... Did you... I mean, was it because of your breaking in that these people died?"
I'd agonized over that the first night, but it had been a coincidence, which was good, because I don't think I could have lived with the guilt otherwise. "No. By some twist of fate, the night we broke in was the night everything unraveled. Things were already in motion when we got there, we just didn't know that at first."
"So what did happen?"
I didn't want to remember, but if I wanted to get her to understand, I was going to have to revisit that horrific night...
"Once you e-mailed me about that woman you met, and her baby, I started to put the pieces together."
"Which pieces are those?"
"Lizzie Gill, Krycek, that McMannon woman you e-mailed me about, what you said you saw on that ship...they all pointed to the existence of a program to create the so called super soldiers, using genetics, not adult subjects like the human replacements we encountered last year. I needed to know if they were real."
"Why? To prove William was one of them?" She looked horror-stricken. Betrayed even. That hurt.
I shook my head. "To prove he wasn't. I know we talked about accepting him as a miracle that we shouldn't question, but I also knew you'd never stop worrying about it, so I decided to see if I could find proof for you. For both of us. We deserve piece of mind, just like everyone else."
"And did you find proof?"
"Didn't I? When I saw William in his crib last night I didn't notice anything different about his neck. I didn't miss something, did I?"
"No. His neck is as normal as yours or mine." She said. I remember her feeling the back of my neck while I was still in the hospital, before she thought I was awake. I'm still not sure how I feel about her need to check.
"So now we know." I always pictured this moment being filled with joy and relief. Damn over active imagination. "Even infant super soldiers have the same defect we've seen in the adult models."
She stood up abruptly, turning to look at the crib. For a moment I felt the urge to put myself between her and it, but she didn't move. "You didn't... take her for show and tell, did you? You could have brought me pictures, I'd have believed you."
I knew she wouldn't have, but I didn't feel like making an issue of it just then. "If I didn't take her, she'd be dead."
Scully tried to hide it, but the look in her eyes betrayed her thought; she didn't know that it wouldn't have been such a bad thing. "You said they think she's dead. But why? What happened?"
***
I opened my mouth to tell her, but Evie began to cry just then, announcing that she was awake and bored. I scooped her out of the crib, blanket and all.
"Does she need to be changed?" Scully asked hesitantly.
"I think she just wants to be held." Evie proved me right by quieting almost the instant she felt herself being lifted. After a week and a half, I was already an expert at figuring out what her different cries meant. I'd rather it been Will's cries I knew so well, but that never was the hand I'd been dealt.
Scully looked a little unnerved when I rejoined her, baby cradled in my arms. I wanted to tell her ' See? She's a real baby, she gets tired and hungry and lonely, just like William does. Like we did at this age, and billions of other people before and after us' but I didn't. The message wouldn't be well received.
"It took me a long time, but I was finally able to track down where they housed the experiment, and it didn't close down just because the ship's lab was destroyed. The problem was trying to break into that place, since it was as secure as Fort Knox. The first time I drove by, I only stayed a minute before I left, knowing there was no way in."
"But you went back."
"Of course, once I got a little help. Using a contact I made through the lone gunmen a few years back, I found someone who would break into any security system, and liked a challenge. I don't think Jake believed a word of what I was telling him, since some times the truth is stranger than fiction, but did agree to go with me. Eleven days ago, he and I were able to break into the compound."
"You said there were deaths... Did you... I mean, was it because of your breaking in that these people died?"
I'd agonized over that the first night, but it had been a coincidence, which was good, because I don't think I could have lived with the guilt otherwise. "No. By some twist of fate, the night we broke in was the night everything unraveled. Things were already in motion when we got there, we just didn't know that at first."
"So what did happen?"
I didn't want to remember, but if I wanted to get her to understand, I was going to have to revisit that horrific night...