Mulder couldn't decide. Was the news more like scenes in Independence Day
or Signs? Either way, the rest of the day had a surreal movie-like quality
to it. They tried to remain as calm as possible for the kids, but the older
ones sensed that there was something going on, thought they wisely didn't
ask questions and tried to keep the little ones entertained so that the
adults could continue their TV side vigil.
So many pictures. Mulder half wished they were grainy, like the bulk of the ones that people had shown him during his time on the X-Files, but they weren't. In the day of digital, the photos splashed upon the screen were rich with vivid color, full of clarity. One day he would have been thrilled with such photos, but that was before. Now he just longed for the murder, disaster, war of normal news days.
Reporters talked to people on the street, and they seem polarized. Half the people were thrilled by the idea of aliens, many of them insistent that the contact would be a good one. The rest of the people scoffed and said that pictures didn't mean anything. You could fake photos of anything now, and it was all just computer special effects anyway.
After sitting for two hours in front of the TV, Cat broke the spell. "What do we do?"
His eyes were hollow when he looked at her. "I don't know."
"Should we contact the people you used to work with?"
"What could they do?" Mulder asked, unable to think of anything that Doggett or Reyes could think of that he couldn't. Surely their brains must be covered in so much ice as well.
Cat frown. It wasn't like him to be so bleak and defeatist, at least in her experience. "If not the people on the project still, then your ex- partner."
"Scully?" He gave a short bark of laughter. "What makes you think that she'd even talk to me?"
"Because of William."
"Oh yes, she's shown a great deal of concern about him."
"This is different."
"I don't want you to call her!" William's shout startled them both, and they turned to see him standing in the doorway. "You promised that you wouldn't call her." He accused Mulder before fleeing back to where the other boys were playing.
Mulder turned to Cat. "You see? I promised."
"You can't let a promise like that decide something this important." Cat hissed.
"I promised." Mulder repeated.
***
When Scully picked up the phone, she didn't recognize the voice. "Dana Scully?"
"Speaking."
"This is Cat Mulder."
For a second she almost dropped the phone. She'd never heard Cat's voice before, not once in all the years that she'd been married to Mulder. But to be fair she'd only spoken to Mulder once in all that time too.
She couldn't imagine why the woman was calling now, though, and fear made her rude. "Why are you calling me?"
"I'm sure you've seen the news. About the aliens."
"Yes..."
"I think that William is in danger. Fox won't talk to me about it, but I'm afraid that the people who tried to kidnap him are going to redouble their efforts now that 'they are among us.'"
Scully was confused. "The people to tried to kill him died when William was a baby."
"There have been other attempts." Cat explained, shocked that this was news to Will's mother. "That's why he's with us. I thought Fox told you that."
Fox. "No, he didn't mention it."
"I know that he thinks we can take care of the problem ourselves, but I'm not so sure. Two people, a house full of kids, and only one person who even knows how to use a gun? It's wishful thinking."
"If you want me to take William, I might be able to on a short-term basis, but-"
"Actually, I was thinking that maybe you could come here." Cat said in a rush. "At least until the crisis is passed. It's only ten days -"Scully realized that Cat knew about The Date. "And we have a room that you could stay in..."
She surprised herself. "Okay. I'll get the earliest flight that I can."
"Thank you. There's just one thing that you should know... William isn't going to be happy that you're coming. Hopefully he'll warm up to you." Cat added, as a balm.
"I appreciate you being candid. I'll be there as soon as I can."
As she hung up, Scully wondered if she always knew it would be that way. Why was it that the person you made scarifies for was the least likely to understand or appreciate it?
**
"He can be angry at me instead of you." Cat told Mulder as she returned the phone to its cradle. He'd come into the room halfway through her conversation, and hadn't made any move to stop her from asking Scully to come.
"Most wives wouldn't have wanted her to come here." He said quietly.
"I'm not most wives."
"That you're not." He agreed, resting his chin on her head.
She looked up at him."Which do you think would be worse, telling William now, or springing it on him when she gets here?"
"Let's not tell him." Mulder decided. "The anticipation of something unpleasant is often worse than the surprise of it."
"Is that what it is to you, too, an unpleasantness? I know you didn't part on good terms..."
"That, my love, is an understatement. I'm not looking forward to her being here any more than William would, but I'll tell you, even at our worse, she and I got the job done. Even when we were barely speaking. "His brain scrolled through the various arguments he and Scully had had over the years, from planetary misalignment to impromptu tattoos. "We'll be able to manage things, bad blood or no."
He sounded confident when he said it, but he wasn't so sure. They'd had ten years to forget how to work together.
So many pictures. Mulder half wished they were grainy, like the bulk of the ones that people had shown him during his time on the X-Files, but they weren't. In the day of digital, the photos splashed upon the screen were rich with vivid color, full of clarity. One day he would have been thrilled with such photos, but that was before. Now he just longed for the murder, disaster, war of normal news days.
Reporters talked to people on the street, and they seem polarized. Half the people were thrilled by the idea of aliens, many of them insistent that the contact would be a good one. The rest of the people scoffed and said that pictures didn't mean anything. You could fake photos of anything now, and it was all just computer special effects anyway.
After sitting for two hours in front of the TV, Cat broke the spell. "What do we do?"
His eyes were hollow when he looked at her. "I don't know."
"Should we contact the people you used to work with?"
"What could they do?" Mulder asked, unable to think of anything that Doggett or Reyes could think of that he couldn't. Surely their brains must be covered in so much ice as well.
Cat frown. It wasn't like him to be so bleak and defeatist, at least in her experience. "If not the people on the project still, then your ex- partner."
"Scully?" He gave a short bark of laughter. "What makes you think that she'd even talk to me?"
"Because of William."
"Oh yes, she's shown a great deal of concern about him."
"This is different."
"I don't want you to call her!" William's shout startled them both, and they turned to see him standing in the doorway. "You promised that you wouldn't call her." He accused Mulder before fleeing back to where the other boys were playing.
Mulder turned to Cat. "You see? I promised."
"You can't let a promise like that decide something this important." Cat hissed.
"I promised." Mulder repeated.
***
When Scully picked up the phone, she didn't recognize the voice. "Dana Scully?"
"Speaking."
"This is Cat Mulder."
For a second she almost dropped the phone. She'd never heard Cat's voice before, not once in all the years that she'd been married to Mulder. But to be fair she'd only spoken to Mulder once in all that time too.
She couldn't imagine why the woman was calling now, though, and fear made her rude. "Why are you calling me?"
"I'm sure you've seen the news. About the aliens."
"Yes..."
"I think that William is in danger. Fox won't talk to me about it, but I'm afraid that the people who tried to kidnap him are going to redouble their efforts now that 'they are among us.'"
Scully was confused. "The people to tried to kill him died when William was a baby."
"There have been other attempts." Cat explained, shocked that this was news to Will's mother. "That's why he's with us. I thought Fox told you that."
Fox. "No, he didn't mention it."
"I know that he thinks we can take care of the problem ourselves, but I'm not so sure. Two people, a house full of kids, and only one person who even knows how to use a gun? It's wishful thinking."
"If you want me to take William, I might be able to on a short-term basis, but-"
"Actually, I was thinking that maybe you could come here." Cat said in a rush. "At least until the crisis is passed. It's only ten days -"Scully realized that Cat knew about The Date. "And we have a room that you could stay in..."
She surprised herself. "Okay. I'll get the earliest flight that I can."
"Thank you. There's just one thing that you should know... William isn't going to be happy that you're coming. Hopefully he'll warm up to you." Cat added, as a balm.
"I appreciate you being candid. I'll be there as soon as I can."
As she hung up, Scully wondered if she always knew it would be that way. Why was it that the person you made scarifies for was the least likely to understand or appreciate it?
**
"He can be angry at me instead of you." Cat told Mulder as she returned the phone to its cradle. He'd come into the room halfway through her conversation, and hadn't made any move to stop her from asking Scully to come.
"Most wives wouldn't have wanted her to come here." He said quietly.
"I'm not most wives."
"That you're not." He agreed, resting his chin on her head.
She looked up at him."Which do you think would be worse, telling William now, or springing it on him when she gets here?"
"Let's not tell him." Mulder decided. "The anticipation of something unpleasant is often worse than the surprise of it."
"Is that what it is to you, too, an unpleasantness? I know you didn't part on good terms..."
"That, my love, is an understatement. I'm not looking forward to her being here any more than William would, but I'll tell you, even at our worse, she and I got the job done. Even when we were barely speaking. "His brain scrolled through the various arguments he and Scully had had over the years, from planetary misalignment to impromptu tattoos. "We'll be able to manage things, bad blood or no."
He sounded confident when he said it, but he wasn't so sure. They'd had ten years to forget how to work together.