Probing the beacon tired him and his fatigue must have been apparent, because Emanuel looked at him and said, " You don't look as though you slept very well. I'll have Andrew bringing to your new room you can rest before lunch-time."

" I'll be able to see with my family though, right?" William asked anxiously. "When we eat?"

"Of course." Emanuel said with a nod. Andrew appeared suddenly, startling William, who had not even realized the man was in the room.

"Come long, William." Andrew told him, taking his things from him. William handed them over in a daze, surprised he was even holding anything.

The room that Andrew led him to was smaller, of course, it had nicer furniture. Andrew didn't even say goodbye before abruptly leaving William to his own devices.

It wasn't hard to move things. The first thing he started with was a pencil, much like the one that Emanuel had tried to get him to move. With just a little effort, he knocked it off the desk, onto the floor. It didn't take much more effort to get the thing to jump up onto his desk. Grinning, he looked around for something else to play with, something bigger.

The handle of the mag light his father had given him was poking out of his backpack, so he decided that it was a good choice. The heavy blue flashlight joined the pencil on the desk. Suddenly inspired, he used his hand to lay it down on its side, and took a couple of steps back. While moving the objects had been fairly easy, he found that it required a lot more concentration to get just part of an object to move. He gasped in astonishment when the light flared to life. Turning it off was easier.

He was getting really tired, so he decided that he would only play with one more object before taking a nap. His thoughts turned to the old-fashioned windup clock that sat on the dresser.

Lunch had been a fairly subdued affair since William was sent away again as soon as the plates were cleared, and, to Mulder's surprise, both Benji and Owen fell asleep on the bunk bed mattresses in the afternoon. He thought perhaps that the stress and boredom tired them out. Left to his own devices, he sat on the other bed and brooded. At first Scully had left him to his thoughts, but eventually she came and sat in the desk chair near him.

"William's a strong kid, Mulder. You don't have to worry this much about him." Her quiet voice broke through his misery, and he sighed.

"At the moment, I wasn't worrying about him or us, actually." Mulder gave her a wan smile. "I was thinking about my wife."

"She's strong too."

Mulder shifted on the bed, turning towards her more. "I know that. I just...miss her. I know that sounds ridiculous, to be thinking about something as stupid as missing a spouse when we're in so much danger, but I can't help it."

"I don't think it's ridiculous at all. We don't stop feeling emotion just because we're put in dangerous situations." Scully told him. Her thoughts briefly wandered back in time, to the times she'd missed him even when she'd been in danger herself. "If you didn't miss her, there'd probably be something wrong with you."

"I thought there was something wrong with me." He joked mildly.

"Something like shock, Mulder. Not personality-wise."

"I'm glad things didn't work out between you and I." He blurted out, then blushed when she raised her eyebrow. "That sounds terrible, I'm sorry. I just mean..."

"That you're happy how your life has turned out instead." She guessed.

"Exactly." Mulder agreed. "In a way I have you to thank for my family. If things hadn't gone the way they had, I'd never have my children. They mean so much to Cat and I..." He trailed off and gave her a searching look. "What about you, Scully, are you really happy now?" All he could think of was her coming home to an empty apartment, and the thought depressed him.

"I'm happy."

"You're not just saying that, are you? So I don't feel guilty."

"No, I'm not just saying that. I like my life, more lately than before. Do you remember me telling you about Ethan? Like I told you, he's come back into my life again. That makes me happy."

"Good." Mulder said. He might have said more, but just then Owen woke up and crawled up onto the bed, effectively ending the conversation. As Mulder tried to distract his son with the offer of telling him a story about their monster slaying days, he decided that Scully knew what he'd meant, so he didn't have to say more. She knew he was happy that they were both content with their new lives.