I've kept this rewrite to myself for so long, I actually forgot I needed to update.

Thank you to everyone who left a review, and those of you who read the original and are sticking around for the rewrite. I really hope I can do this piece some better judgement. Your support is much appreciated.


…Part Two…

It was necessity that drove him to pullover.

The shopping complex Mulder managed to find just a short ways off the highway wasn't the most desirable place to stop. Had the soldiers noticed someone was missing he could bet they would travel as far, if not a little further than this very spot in search of their missing prisoners. He had no doubt in his mind if this were to happen that Danica would be taken and he would be shot.

Switching the engine off, Mulder steadied his thoughts. Nothing bad was going to happen, nothing bad could happen. They were going to be anonymous shoppers and that was that.

Unbuckling the girl from her place on the backseat Mulder swung Danica up and into his arms. She shivered against him as the cold air teased her skin and tensed as the breeze brought noises of shouting children to her ears. Mulder squeezed her softly, reassuring the girl that she was safe. She watched the car grow further and further away as Mulder strode across the car park, the open world absorbing her like she inhaled air. A cool breeze trickled across her face again, a simple hello, wilderness to sheltered girl.

A family of four passed him, offering the usual unattached friendly smiles as their shouting children raced ahead and entered Danica's line of sight. The girl watched the children intensely, her eyes devouring the scene that transpired before her.

Happy children were an uncommon thing in her life, children were happy, that was naturally so. But not like this. These children were free, their laughter was not a mask nor a distraction. They were genuinely happy. She watched as one ran, full bolt, towards a puddle in the asphalt and jumped without second thought right into the centre of it. Water flew as the child's shoes slid through the liquid to land on the solid ground, drenching both himself and his sister in the process. The woman, his mother, let out an angry shout causing the children – and Danica – to freeze in anticipation of trouble. Mulder squeezed the girl again as the children started laughing, their mother hiding a smirk.

Danica sighed, her chin propped up on his shoulder as she watched the children continue to carry on. Patrons of the parking lot ignored the loud children and the overly inquisitive little girl as they went about their business. The world kept moving, Danica observed. No one was scared.

The department store certainly wasn't a ghost town as Mulder would have liked but it also wasn't crazily busy either. Floor staff wandered around completing their individual tasks, avoiding customers as they went while two others stood waiting at the service desks wishing the hours away.

The relaxed posture Danica had assumed outside disappeared as soon as the doors slid open and the noises of several children filled her ears. Gripping onto his shoulder tightly Danica buried her face in Mulder's shirt, her little fingers pulling at the fabric, trying with all her might to make the noise stop. Mulder hushed her easily, trying to settle her anxiety as he stepped further into the store.

Problem arose with the little girl in his arms and the desired car seat at his feet. Mulder couldn't hold onto one while he held onto the other. Danica watched their predicament silently, her head on his shoulder, her hair tickling his neck. They stared at the heavy cardboard box on the ground neither of them verbally or physically addressing the problem they weren't yet ready to face. The girl huffed on his shoulder, accepting the inevitable fate.

Wiggling Danica slipped down his body, her dirty shoes landing soundly on the floor. She looked up at him expectantly, eyes darting between the tall man and the big box. Gingerly Danica reached forward, fingers brushing his hand before she wrapped her whole palm around two of his larger digits. Mulder stopped, his heart caught in his throat. She looked up at him with such weary but perfectly placed trust he felt like the whole world had stopped to revel in the moment. He didn't know what to do, a little girl at the end of his fingertips was trusting him and he suddenly doubted his ability to be what she needed.

Danica tugged on Mulder's hand, a faint smile nipping at the corner of her mouth as the man stared at her in disbelief. Encouraging the man out of his stupor Danica tugged again, a small grunt falling from her lips with the force. She pulled him for a few steps before he let go of her hand to carry the box properly. Danica walked a few paces ahead of him, her footfalls almost unheard on the tiled floor.

With their connection broken Danica wandered off without the slightest thought that the man behind her wouldn't follow. Between his height and hers, as well as the heavy box in his arms and the inexperience of having a child Mulder didn't think to keep a well trained eye on Danica. It wasn't until he reached the service desk and was in the process of paying for the car seat that Mulder noticed the little girl was not around.

His heart skipped a beat. Spinning in a circle Mulder hopped that he would spot her only a few steps away, but there was nowhere to be found. He called out her name, voice choked, worse-case scenario already chasing pleasant thoughts from his head. Had her captors found her? And like he had they silently removed her from him? He called out her name again, colour draining from his face as other shoppers looked at him with both sympathy and disgust. Ignoring them he continued to call out her name, hoping beyond reasonable doubt that she would quietly step out and respond.

She didn't mean to step away from him. The simple world she lived in was suddenly and rudely invaded by the sheer absurdity of the modern world. The little girl couldn't think straight, the busy store was overstimulating her quiet mind. Danica had not noticed she had strayed away from her saviour until she recognised the warm protection that covered her like a blanket in his presence was no longer there. A shiver cascaded down her spine as the aisles surrounding her loomed above her tiny form. In that moment Danica did the only thing she knew. Danica hid.

He could vaguely remember times as a child in which he had taken it upon himself to hide. Upset with his mother, or scared of his father little Fox always found someplace warm. He would curl under the bed, climb to the top of his closet, slip behind the rocking chair his mother's balls of yarn surrounding him comfortably. As he searched for the redheaded child, Mulder envisioned the places his little self would have chosen. He stepped carefully though the aisles of children's clothing, his steps soft as to not startle the hiding girl. The rushed panic had slipped from his body, leaving slight tremors of adrenaline in its wake.

He reached the small collection of children's toys located towards the back wall of the store and as with everywhere else, Danica was nowhere to be seen. It was when a deep shelf on the back wall caught his eye that hope sparked in his mind. An assortment of teddy bears sat in a pile, deep enough for a little girl to hide in. He moved slowly, creeping almost as he inched towards the studded animals. Reaching out he pulled stuffed animals off the top of the pile and stacked them elsewhere, his mind begging for the little girl to be concealed under the fluffy toys.

A child cried out, her voice terrified and muffled by the animals she was hiding under as Mulder's hand came into contact with her arm. Latching onto the limb Mulder lifted the girl out, her bright hair a relief to his panicked mind. He had his fingers wrapped around her arm, the rest of her body dangling as he pulled her out. Danica's eyes were screwed shut as she kicked her legs and shrieked louder, refusing to face her captor or to be captured. 'Danica,' Mulder whispered his voice soft. The vermillion haired girl was mid shriek when he whispered her name, ice blue eyes opened to meet that of controlled hazel. Instantly she stopped her body relaxing in his grip.

Immediately her body was flooded with the overwhelming sense of security, she sagged against his chest when Mulder pulled her closer, soft hiccoughs radiating from her little form. She wasn't crying anymore but she had worked herself into such a tizzy that the effect was practically the same. Mulder squeezed her tightly, affirmation that she was safe. He lowered them to the floor, allowing for his pounding heart to regulate as the little girl clung to him, cradled in Mulder's lap, her own heartbeat pounding erratically.

It was there, when she brought her little hands to his face that Mulder noticed the small girl was clutching onto a teddy bear, her knuckles white from her tight grip. He tapped at the bear in her hand, not wanting to take it from her. 'Do you like him?' He asked, spotting the other animals she had been hiding in. Danica tilted her head, her actions reminding him of a small inquisitive puppy. Danica flinched lightly when Mulder tapped her on the nose playfully. Stunned she stared at him, eyes blinking slowly before her face cracked laughter flowing from the depths of her belly. Mulder's smile widened at the happy sound. He would live the rest of his life trying to make her repeat it.

He stood when her face rested on a small, gentle smile. Mulder had them moving back towards the service counters, his grip on Danica tight when they passed the children's clothes. He stopped, feet firm against the smooth floors. Danica wiggled and he easily set her down, his eye never leaving her as she zig-zagged through the clothes. He watched as she walked across the floor, her black shoes were covered in mud, her white stockings speckled too. He could spot flecks of ash on her coat, damp blotches revealing the resting places of melting snow. She was dirty and he could bet she was cold. Spending a few extra Russian Rubles on clothes for the girl was not going out of Mulder's way, she needed new clothes.

Danica squawked at him, one hand holding onto the bear, the other clutching a pair of rainbow stripped stockings. He knew already that he could not deny the little girl anything and instantly he nodded his head in approval of her selected item. Mulder inspected the garment, checking the tags for sizing, he didn't know what size she was when he thought to check on the inside of her coat. He wished, with crossed toes that all of her clothes hadn't been hand made. He struck luck when he found a little silver tag, the number '2' faded on the fabric just above her hand stitched name. He moved about the racks and stands picking items while Danica picking things at her own height.

They made it to the service counter, where the cashier was still holding onto the car seat for Mulder. The cashier processed Mulder's items deftly, a gentle smile gracing her face as she asked Danica for her bear. The child was hesitant, she handed it over slowly only to receive it back a second later. She squished the bear like he had been gone a century not a second.

The store offered a service in free installation of car seats and baby capsules, Mulder took the offer, knowing that the assistant would be a lot quicker than he would be himself. Danica stood patiently beside the back passenger door, Mulder's leg next to her as he listened to the store clerk's instillation instructions. Thankfully the boy knew English. They were both waist deep in the car while Danica waited outside in the open air. Having spent her life in the captivity of closely knit spaces the little girl felt bare to the world, even next to her saviour. Danica still gripped tightly to the bear Mulder had gladly paid for and the rainbow stockings she was reluctant to give up. Both items swung at her sides as she waved her arms with the cool breeze. The air played with her hair, tangling it around her head as clean snowflakes nipped at her cheeks.

Growing impatient with her saviour and becoming somewhat overwhelmed by the open mountains and small shopping complex built around it, Danica reached up on her tip toes to tug at the hem of Mulder's shirt. Apologising to the clerk who was mostly done Mulder pulled out of the car to tend to the quiet girl. With his attention at her fingertips, a feeling she was quickly growing accustom to, Danica held up her stockings, a hopefully look burning in her eyes as her little teeth sunk nervously into her bottom lip.

'Do you want to change?' The little girl just stared at him. Their language barrier was something he was still getting used to. Danica looked down at her dirty shoes and then back up at the man, muttering something back to him in a language he didn't understand it was Mulder's turn to stare blankly. Rubbing a hand over his face, Mulder sighed. Perhaps this was going to be harder than he thought.

Picking Danica up, Mulder carried her back into the store. Using the bathrooms he stood the little girl on the bench, shopping bag beside her legs. He pulled out a black pinafore and white shirt, a pair of black boots to match. They were the only shoes he bought her, and although the pair she was wearing were still good, he wanted to erase that part of her life as soon as he possibly could. Mulder paused for a second nervous to undress the child that wasn't his. Shaking off his anxiety he helped her out of her coat and dress before he stopped again. Angry bruises stared back at him fighting for the man's shaky breath. Rage reared its head as he looked at the fragile girl in front of him. She was only a child and yet someone saw it as fit to damage her. Danica stood quietly, her hand still holding onto the bear, she was watching her saviour with big eyes, curious at his open frown. Hesitantly Mulder raised his hand to skirt over the bruises that covered her arms and stomach, he could see more on her back through the mirror.

He felt an urge to drive back to that place, to find a soldier and inflict the same damages. He just hopped that it was at the hands of a soldier that these wounds appeared not at the hands of her mother or father.

Quickly he covered her, white skivvy, black pinafore, her white stockings came off to reveal more bruises but were quickly followed by rainbow stockings and black boots. Mulder covered her up as quickly as he could, before he hoisted her on his hip, hugging her with both arms as tightly as he could. It was there; as he clothed her that he promised, under no circumstances would she be hurt in his protection. She only watched him with bright eyes, his English flowing straight past her, but the promise was there and he intended on keeping it.

[…]

Danica sat in a quaint Russian diner, her little legs kicked freely under the table as she giggled at her rainbow legs. The child hummed, fries pressed to her mouth as she ate them cautiously. It was only seconds ago that Mulder was stressfully trying to encourage the malnourished girl to eat them. Her bear sat on the empty seat beside her, while her giant saviour watched from across the table.

Mulder found that Danica seemed freer, calmer, less anxious as they moved towards the city. He was quick to find a diner, one where English would not be a problem and the girl could easily get her fill. The Gunmen had directed him to this address, promising that a man would meet him inside after they'd eaten, a man who could grant Danica a ticket out of Russia.

Mulder couldn't help but chuckle at the girl as he watched her eat. She was wild, he summarised, not so in an uncivilised sense but in the way that she watched the world with an open eyed wonder. She knew nothing of this open world and discovering it had the child slack jawed. There was a wonder in Mulder as well, while he watched the girl discover the world shyly, he himself was discovering a world as a father. He wasn't really what the title claimed, but he was going to try and make it so.

He had never seen the world through the eyes of a little girl who had experienced very little, and all of it in horror. Mulder noted that she jumped at loud noises, avoided touching people on the street and she watched the occupants of the quaint diner they were sitting in with an expectant paranoia. She was waiting, he could tell, for the other shoe to drop, for someone to scream, for gunfire. But it wasn't going to happen. Not here. She was safe, of that he was sure.

Her terrifying black and white world was starting to see colours, small flecks, but colours none the less.

Mulder reached his hand across the table, hoping to place it over Danica's small one in a form of reassuring comfort. Danica flinched at the movement of his hand, her own limbs moving to sit in her lap, complacent. She watched him with deep blue eyes, expecting a blow that would not come. Mulder smiled at the girl, his expression soft while he moved his eyes and hand down to the plate of fries that sat in the centre of the table. The girl watched him, her gaze unwavering, as the food moved from the plate, his fingers carrying the fry into her strawberry milkshake. Blue eyes grew wide as he dunked the fry into the thick drink before dropping it in his mouth. The foreign girl shrieked at him as she pulled her legs up onto the chair and leant across the table.

It was Mulder's turn to watch as she repeated his actions with the food and drink curiously, her hand trembling as she moved. In reality, the girl hadn't stopped trembling since the first time he picked her up, even longer than that, he assumed. If he had to take a guess Mulder would have assumed that the girl had been shaking since the gunfire started. He knew it would take time for the shakes to dissolve from her little body. Even then Mulder recognised her trauma, it was textbook abuse from his Oxford days. Danica's bones would always rattle with fear, with the right rearing, and possibly therapy, she would learn to be okay. There was a world beyond that burning village, Mulder just had to show her the way.

Danica sank back into her chair, her legs slipping out from underneath her little body as she turned her attention to the large window beside them. Although she was fearful of strangers, Danica was drawn to them. She watched as busy people rushed passed the window and as children loitered with growling stomachs. Her eyes caught on a man across the street. He was indistinguishable to her little eye, his tired stance blending in with the moving people around him and yet he watched her, his foreboding brown eyes staring right back into her inquisitive blue. Danica's head turned from the wide window as her saviour's voice caught her ears, his English words muffled in her head. She listened to him anyway.

The diner's doorbell chimed as the door was pushed open, the new patron bringing in the cold air with him. He only nodded at the waitress who greeted him before he moved for the table containing the large man and his quiet little girl. Danica watched the new comer's feet as he moved towards them, her body sinking deeper into the chair.

'Mr. Mulder?' A gruff voice spoke, the body that accompanied it standing by Mulder's side. He nodded, standing to shake the man's hand before sitting, as his companion took the spare seat next to Danica, dumping her bear on the table. The little girl shrieked, her eyes wide and watery as she slipped under the table and climbed into Mulder's lap, her greasy fingers digging into the back of his neck as she squeezed tight. She was shaking again. 'I'm James Peters,' nonchalant he ignored the child's antics as he introduced himself with an undistinguishable accent.

Fox Mulder had only heard a small muttering of things about James Peters. Not enough to trust the man entirely, but enough to know he was the best. It had been The Lone Gunmen who had set up this meeting, having worked with Peters before they knew he would be the closest man possible to Mulder that could help him out.

'This the girl?' He asked, back hunched as he stared at the child who had her face half buried against Mulder's chest. Mulder didn't think it was possible for a child to mesh themselves any closer to an adult, but as Dancia sat under Peters' scrutiny, the girl was practically trying to dig herself into his skin. 'You stepped into dangerous ground, Mr. Mulder. That girl is property.' The informant clicked his tongue, head shaking his dark hair as he continued to intimidate the little girl, and now the man.

'Do you know what was happening out there?'

'Vaguely.' Peters tilted his head, a small rise and fall of his shoulders accompanied the movement. He wasn't about to let Mulder in on the secrets of his country, yet, he was seemingly willing to help with Danica. 'She is not of here,' he continued, his hands clasped on the table.

Mulder could only stare, his mind rolling with the possibilities behind the other man's words. 'She's not human?' He asked slowly, his beloved alien theory not something he was ready to admit as a consideration towards Danica's existence.

Peters shook his head, laugh caught on his tongue. 'No, no, no.' His head continued to shake, mirth etched into the fine corners of his expression. 'German,' he stopped shaking to his head, his expression settling on serious. Mulder was puzzled, confused at how the man knew one set of peoples from the other.

'It's not 1940 anymore, why does it matter that she's German?' Mulder asked, arm instinctively holding her tighter. Peters turned to the messenger bag that hung over his chest. Pulling out a thick stack of dossiers he planted them on the table. His mouth moved, words frozen, as he flicked through the pile with his thumb.

Pulling out a dossier Peters tossed it at the empty space in front of Mulder. 'She will be accounted for. When they don't find her they will look for her.' He tapped the dossier, Mulder's eyes following the finger as he caught sight of Danica's picture pinned to the front. Mulder's attention was drawn as he stared at the file, Danica Elisif Wolff, printed neatly on the cover just under her paper clipped picture.

Shifting Danica on his lap, Mulder turned her away from the table and her file. She didn't need to see it, even if she could not communicate the going's on. He was protecting her now.

'Her transportation needs to be handled carefully.' Mulder paid close attention to Peters' words, he took in every detail, mind committing it to memory as a small part of his brain started to panic with worst-case scenarios.

Peters' explanation was taken in as though it were breathable air, the freshest to ever expose itself to mankind. His tone was quiet in the slow moving diner, his words hushed so they were not overheard. Peters conducted himself like a paranoid man, checking over his shoulder every few sentences. He would supply them with several false , enough to cover their travel tacks through numerous airports and a dozen flights. Peters' logic focused on making Danica invisible; make the girl disappear in thin air and the people she belongs to won't come looking.

Hopping about by oneself was a trick and a half, but doing so with a young child who could not speak English, made Mulder nervous.

Looking down at Danica in his lap, his spare hand brushing her hair off her face, Mulder could see his baby sister hiding behind her eyes. It was there that he realised what he was doing, the importance of it. He had to prove to himself that he could protect a young life. That it would not be taken from him. His driving force was that he could prove to his sister, wherever she was, that it was not his fault. He did not mean for her to be taken, it was beyond his control.