"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant."
–Martin Luther King, Jr.
Somewhere in Virginia
57 days after
In that moment, nothing else mattered. She forgot the dark and the danger and Them. All she heard was the beating of his heart as she rested her head against his chest. All she felt was the strength and warmth of his arms around her. All she saw were visions of happiness and security and peace from times past. The sun would rise soon, but it didn't matter.
"Scully…" he whispered hoarsely.
She pulled away slightly, her arms still around his middle, and gazed up at him through her blurry vision. He cupped her cheeks in his hands, lightly tracing the path of her tears with his thumbs.
"Scully, where is—" Mulder began.
After glancing behind them, Dana jumped, startled, when she glimpsed two figures standing in the shadows. She'd forgotten there'd been others when she first saw him.
"It's okay," he said, "two friends escaped with me…Gibson."
A young man stepped closer to allow Dana to see him clearly, while the other individual inched further away. Gibson…same name as…
"You might remember him as the miniature chess champion we knew a few years back," Mulder said with a small smile.
"…Gibson Praise? The little boy, Gibson Praise?"
"Well, I grew up a little bit," Gibson said shyly, glancing down at his feet.
"I can't believe…How did you find each other?"
"This man saved my life," Mulder said.
"This is all so …My God, ten years. What have you been doing Gibson?"
"Oh, not much. Odd jobs in the desert mostly, hiding out."
Dana began to laugh out of giddiness and sheer joy; an outburst that sounded foreign to her own ears. Laughter was a lifetime away; she couldn't even remember the last time she had reason to smile. Warmly, she opened her arms to embrace Gibson. Is this real? Am I actually standing here? None of it feels real…like a dream.
"You're taller than me!" Dana said with a giggle as Gibson stepped back and broke their hug.
"That's not saying much," Mulder interjected seriously.
She playfully smacked his elbow while he feigned severe injury. This is real. He's here, and I can touch him. I can hold him. They can't hurt me now…at least They can't break my spirit.
After colliding with her husband on chance circumstance in the middle of nowhere, seeing Gibson again was not as great of a shock as it might have been otherwise. Because Dana had already been blessed with such an impossible miracle, anything else seemed feasible. So she thought, until Mulder's expression suddenly grew somber when he glanced over her shoulder. Dana quickly looked back at the other person, who stood some distance away from the group.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, "Who's this?"
Mulder simply gazed at her, deep in thought. A mixture of pain and joy passed over his face as tears gathered in his eyes.
"What?" she asked in frustration.
Instead of answering her, Mulder addressed whoever remained in the shadows. "It's okay. Come over here."
The figure moved slowly and seemed reluctant at first, so Mulder walked to meet the person halfway.
"She'll like you, I promise. That's a guarantee," he murmured gently.
Dana glanced at Gibson for some clue as to what was going on, but he looked away awkwardly and turned in the opposite direction as Mulder approached with a young boy. When they stopped in front of Dana, he wrapped his arm around the boy's shoulders.
"Dana, I'd like you to meet Will. Will, this is your mother."
The boy peeked up timidly, and Dana gasped when she saw his eyes. She choked as her vision instantly flooded with tears, and she clasped her hands over her mouth in shock. Her knees felt wobbly, and for a brief second, she thought she might faint. Mulder's arm flew out to steady her.
"Dana?" Mulder said nervously.
William William my William
"Oh God…" she whispered.
I gave him up. He'll never forgive me. I am his mother and I gave him up.
She needed desperately to hold him tightly, to kiss him and tell him she loved him. Thinking about you every day. How can I possibly explain…Waking up crying hating myself wondering who has my baby and what is he like and what did he get for his birthday this year. How do I explain, make him understand how much…just how much
Dana bent her knees slightly until she was even with his height; but when she lifted her fingers to touch his face, she flinched away at the last second.
I can't. I'll scare him. I'm just a stranger. My son and I'm only a stranger to him…I felt you inside of me and you kept me alive. When everything was lost, you kept me alive. You need to know that…before you were conceived I wanted you, before you were born I loved you, before you were a minute old I would've died for you.
"I know you wanted to protect me…My parents took good care of me. I had a happy life," William said softly, obviously struggling not to burst into tears.
Before Dana could react, he threw his arms around her and pressed his face against her shoulder. She shook with sobs, her cheek resting on the top of his head.
"I love you, William—Will. I always have."
"I know…I know, Mom."
Dana glanced up to see Mulder crying as he watched them. She held her arm out to him, and he stepped forward into their embrace, placing his hand on his son's back. After several moments of holding one another in silence, William spoke.
"Where's my sister?" he asked.
--
Location Unknown
51 days after
"But that's not my name. I'm not Carol."
"My beautiful little girl…It's been such a long time."
"No, I have to find my parents. The bad guys took them away."
"Don't be silly, Carol. You're home now, darling. You shouldn't have been wandering around the highway. I've told you repeatedly how dangerous that is. You remember what happened last time you did that? Remember how that truck hit you? Banged your head in, it did. We'll talk about punishment later. No T.V. No Muppet Show."
"There is no T.V. anymore. Please let me go! The man has to find me so I can see Mommy and Daddy."
"Mommy's here, Carol. Don't cry, darling."
--
Somewhere in Virginia
57 days after
"I told her to run. She got away from them, but I…I don't know what happened…where she could have gone. I don't even know how long I've been here."
Daylight was rising from the east when Dana began her story. For nearly an hour, they'd forgotten the urgency of escape, but they remembered quickly when they could clearly see one another in the light, realizing that their location left them visible to every possible direction. All Mulder knew was that the direction out of the wasteland had to be west, so while Dana continued speaking, they fled west.
His throat tightened as panic squeezed inside his chest. Baby Blue…how could she…how could she survive out there on her own? If those men kidnapped Scully…someone could have her. Someone could be hurting her. He realized that Dana was staring at him intently, searching for his response: Reassurance? Hope, maybe? She was crying again.
"Montana?" Mulder asked softly.
She nodded.
"Then we'll go to Montana, and we'll never stop searching until we find her. We're going to find her," he said firmly, trying to make himself believe it. He refused to think of the alternative.
"Where are we now?" Will asked.
"Somewhere in Virginia. A few miles outside of what used to be D.C., I think," Mulder replied.
"I can hotwire, but we're going to have to find several cars to get us that far. Gas is nonexistent," Gibson said. He'd been silent since his initial reunion with Dana.
"Yeah, I know. Thanks, Gibson," Mulder said.
"So, when exactly did the three of you get out of that place? Last night? We met just about halfway." Dana said.
"No, actually, it's been a few days. We started heading north from the dome but ended up turning back."
"Why?"
Mulder glanced at Gibson and nodded for him to respond.
"Because I told them we had to go back. I knew…I sensed that…there was something or someone here we were supposed to find. I had no idea it would be you. We hid during the days and traveled by night. They almost caught us yesterday. We decided that if we hadn't found anything by last night, we would move on. I thought I might've been wrong. And then you found us."
"I don't understand. How did you know to wait? And how did you manage to escape in the first place?"
"It's quite a story," Mulder said.
--
Near Moorefield, West Virginia
58 days after
Another ruined town. At the edge of the wasteland, evidence of civilization still lingered, though there was still no hint of life. The small, abandoned community had suffered damage from the explosions, but several hollowed-out buildings and homes remained standing. Locating a deserted vehicle with a fairly good amount of gas hadn't been difficult.
After checking the tank of the Ford Taurus, Gibson called out, "This one's almost full!" to Mulder and Dana, who searched the remnants on the other side of the parking lot.
Escape seemed incredibly easy, which frightened Gibson more for some reason. He and his companions had fled across a vast, open terrain, and had seen absolutely no indication of pursuit—of Them. Everything was completely silent, and soon they would be on the road heading west. We're fugitives of the highest priority. How could They let us slip through Their fingers? They're highly intelligent, and They have unimaginable technology at Their disposal. This isn't right. This feels wrong. But what do we do? What else do we do but keep going and hope we're not being tracked?
Gibson opened the driver's door and crouched on the ground to examine underneath the dash.
"Can you show me how to do that?" Will asked, hovering over him.
"Sure, you just pull these wires down and—"
As soon as Gibson placed his fingers on the vinyl plate, the engine instantly produced an even purr. He snapped his hand away, startled, and then stared at his fingers in bewilderment.
"How did that happen? You didn't even do anything!" Will exclaimed.
"I have no idea."
--
Near Springfield, Ohio
58 days after
Gibson volunteered to drive first, because he knew that he would never be able to calm his mind enough to rest now. Mulder and William sat in the back while Dana slept in the front, her seat reclined all the way so that her head was practically in Mulder's lap. Gibson glanced in the rearview mirror to see Mulder lightly running his fingers through her hair while he spoke softly with William. He tried not to listen to their conversation, or their thoughts for that matter; he felt like he was intruding on their family, but he knew they were grateful to him.
"Tell me something else, Will. Something about you I don't know," Mulder said.
"I got to pitch for my baseball team last year, and I'm good at basketball. And I can play the violin."
"I played baseball when I was your age. I wish we could've…I was on my high school basketball team, but I'm sure I wasn't as good as you. And violin, that's very impressive. Do you like it?"
"Yeah, it's okay. My parents made me take lessons…"
"My father made me play the piano; and I hated every minute of it, but now I'm glad I did it. I played for your mother once in an attempt to impress her. I'll ask her later if it worked."
"How did you first meet my mother?"
"Well, one day this beautiful redhead came into my office…"
Gibson heard no more as his thoughts began to drift. And suddenly, he was there. He was there again.
As he races down the hall to the open door leading to escape, the light grows brighter than ever. The searing radiance has a weight, a power, and it has thought, and it screams.
You can keep running, Gibson, but you'll never be free; not after what you've done. You think you've won, but you have not. You cannot destroy us. We were here before humans were, and we will be here after humans cease to be. Of the depth and power of this universe, you know nothing. You cannot wield a power you do not understand.
A shriek becomes overpowering and it pounds into his brain as…as…
"Gibson, are you all right?" Mulder's voice permeated his vision.
"Yes, yes I'm fine. I was just thinking…I'm fine."
"Would you like me to drive now?"
"No…Um, okay. I guess I need to rest my eyes for a little while. I'll pull over up here."
As Gibson slowed, the engine began to sputter and cough.
"Shit!"
"What happened?" Mulder asked.
"Piece of shit car! The engine's severely overheated. I can't believe I haven't been paying attention to the gages! Shit!"
"We'll just have to sit and wait then. I wish we had extra water for the radiator, but hopefully it'll cool down on its own."
"Why did we stop?" Dana asked groggily, rubbing her eyes as she sat up.
--
Gibson slept upright, his back leaning against the side of the parked car; and Dana felt guilty that he'd driven so long, since he was clearly exhausted. He'd gone out like a light just after she and Mulder had started the tiny fire, which now was reduced to only a few glowing orange embers and a small pile of ash. William had stayed awake, asking endless questions, mostly about his sister, but was now curled on his side between his parents, sleeping soundly.
Dana and Mulder sat awake in silence, gazing at their son.
"He's so beautiful," she murmured in awe, "…I hope he forgives me."
"He understands."
"…I hope Abby's okay. I hope we find her soon."
"Me too," he whispered thickly.
"If something happened to her, Mulder…I couldn't take it. I don't know how I could survive."
"Don't talk about that. Don't think it. She's okay. We'll find her."
"It's my fault. Everything is my fault. If she…if she dies out there, I may as well have killed her myself."
Anger sizzled within her, and she hated herself even more when the tears returned to sting her eyes.
"I hate that my baby is lost somewhere, hungry and frightened and alone and hurting and there's nothing I can do but sit and cry about it!" she sobbed, covering her face with her hands.
Mulder maneuvered around William to Dana's side and wrapped his arms around her tightly, rocking her softly.
"Shhhh. It's not your fault. It's not your fault. Things just happen," he murmured, placing kisses tenderly in her hair.
She pulled away to look at him and saw that he was struggling to hold back his own tears.
"But it is my fault! Those men—they wouldn't have taken me if I hadn't been so stupid! I thought they could give us food. I knew I shouldn't have approached them—I knew it, but I ignored my instincts."
"No, Scully. Don't blame yourself. If it has to be someone's fault, it's mine. I should've listened to you about Skinner."
"But I should never have brought her with me! I did it because I promised I wouldn't leave her, but more than that, I think I just didn't have the strength to do it again… I left William with strangers so that he would be safe, but I couldn't bring myself to do it again. It was incredibly selfish…She was starving. I let her starve."
"You did what you thought was right, Scully. We were living in a different world when you gave William up. If you'd left Abigail, there could have been a raid on that service station, or the group might've dispersed and abandoned her. We can't trust anybody but ourselves now."
"You don't know, Mulder. You don't know," she was fighting to keep her voice down when all she wanted to do was scream until her lungs bled. "You don't know what I did, Mulder. You'll never forgive me for what I did."
"No. You couldn't do anything so terrible that I wouldn't forgive you. What happened, Scully? What did you do?"
"I—I…They said they'd give us food, but only if I—if I…"
For a brief moment, Mulder's face contorted in pain, and he looked down and nodded.
"I touched them. I let them touch me—I let them inside me. It hurt—everything hurt so much. Mulder…oh my God Mulder…"
He reached out for her and pulled her close again.
"I'm so sorry, Dana…You had no choice. You did it for Abigail…I know you had no choice…It's okay. I'm here, Dana. Shhhh. I love you…I love you… I love you…"
--
Near Clinton, Iowa
59 days after
I want to kill them. I wish I could kill them.
Mulder gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. Her words kept echoing in his mind, haunting him, making his heart ache. He'd only heard that raw pain in her voice twice before: when she first told him she gave William up, and the day after she gave birth to Abigail, when he had to tell her that the doctor said the baby might not live. She was always the strong one. He'd leaned against her more times than he could count, and to hear her like that…it tore him apart.
We're together now. We'll all be together again soon.
After the engine had finally cooled down, they were at last making steady progress westward, and that gave him hope, it gave him something tangible—a goal to reach.
"Mulder!" Gibson yelled suddenly.
Everyone jumped and looked at Gibson in surprise.
"What?" Mulder asked anxiously.
"I'm sorry…I just realized…You need to turn back, Mulder. We need to get out of Iowa and head back into Indiana."
"You're sure?"
He was hesitant to trust this, but Gibson had been right about everything so far.
"Yes. Abigail is there."