Five hours later, after they had given their statements to the police, Cat's opinion was seconded by the media. The five of them were greeted by the news that Cat's flight was delayed by two hours, and had just settled in chairs to wait when the media swooped in en mass. "Could we speak to you for a few minutes?"

Mulder and Scully shrugged. It wasn't the first time that something they had been involved in attracted media attention. The boys seemed excited by the prospect, which was good, because the reporters really wanted to speak to them.

A few minutes later, cameras began to roll.

" On December 18th, five people were kidnapped while Christmas tree shopping. A father, three of his young sons, and the oldest child's mother, who is visiting the family for the holidays." The reporters solemnly intoned while he just-shot picture of the victims flashed across the screen.

" The young man selling trees called the police, but since he didn't have plate numbers or description of the vehicles, the police assumed it was a prank call and didn't investigate."

Off-camera, Mulder mouthed "it figures." Scully nodded.

" The reality was there had indeed been a kidnapping. The question now in everybody's minds is' why?' What did cultists want with the family that was Christmas shopping? The answer to that lies in madness, connected to the carnage discovered in the desert earlier tonight."

" Earlier today, the bodies of 42 cult members were discovered in the place for the family had been held against their will. Most of the dead men committed suicide, but some appear to been murdered by other cult members."

" This cult believed that one of the three kidnapped children was going to summon aliens to Earth. Several volumes of so-called prophecy outlined a chilling plan for a young boy to be their envoy to beings from beyond the stars, and apparently they believed that boy to be eleven-year-old William Van DeKamp nee Mulder."

A picture of William, then one of Benji, flashed on the screen. " Today, William and his eight-year-old brother Benjamin acted heroically to save the their family from the same fate as the murdered cult members."

The camera panned to where the three boys were sitting together and their names scrolled across the screen.

The reporter adopted a friendly tone as the question them." Owen, can you tell us what happened to your arm?"

Owen wrinkled his nose. " One of the bad men broke it 'cause Will wouldn't make aliens come. Than I fainted 'cause it hurt a lot."

The reporter nodded. " After that your brother Benji did something really brave. Benji, do you want to tell us what you did?"

Benji gave him a shy look. " Will found a car with the keys in it and put Owen the back seat, then went to look for dad and Dana. So I drove to get away and find a doctor for Owen."

"You drove! Not too many eight-year-olds can say they did that. Wasn't that scary?"

"Oh yeah, really scary. But I drove real slow and Will was right, it was like go-carts. Just more dangerous."

"You did find help, didn't you?"

"Un huh, a nice lady named Michelle stopped when I was too scared to go on to the highway. She got us to a hospital and called the police."

" And while that was happening, William found your parents."

" Dana is William's Mommy." Owen whispered loud enough to be heard on camera. " My Mommy's name is Cat."

The reporter seemed unflustered despite having his error pointed out on live TV by six-year old. "Can you tell us about what happened after you are separated from your brothers, William? I think people would like to hear about how you save your parents."

" Sure. I don't think I save them, I just figured out where they had been taken and let them out." William demurred. " I didn't even drive or anything."

The reporter gave him an indulgent look. "You might not seem like a big deal to you, but as a huge deal to viewers."

" That's what Cat-my stepmom-said on the phone." William gave the reporter puzzled look.

"I know you boys are waiting for her and your younger siblings to arrive. I bet you're really looking forward to seeing them after so many days apart."

The three boys all eagerly agreed that this was true.

"William, Benji, Owen, like to thank you for talking to us tonight. This has been Jack's Slater, bring you an exclusive interview with these brave boys."

The cameras let them be after that, except the tape Owen and Benji rushing to greet Cat and their siblings a few minutes later. When William received a hug from Cat, the scene faded to black on television sets across the nation.