AN: usual disclaimer applies, not mine (except for the nuns, Katie and Melinda).

St. Ann's Center for Children, Youth and Families

Washington D.C.

Friday 14th January

4:30 pm

Scully was waiting patiently in the reception area of the center. She was wearing a nice pair of jeans and a soft maroon woolen sweater. Contrary to public opinion within the bureau she did own clothing other than the stark suits, but she was thinking that she would have to go shopping now for more off them. Spending time with a 6 year old would need something different than pant suits and skirts.

She had been told that Melinda and Katie would be arriving shortly. They had to go to the center using public transportation and had been delayed a little bit.

At 4:30 the door to the reception area opened and a young woman entered the room, she looked in her early twenties and she looked worn out. Scully thought she would have been beautiful, if she hadn't looked so tired and worn out. A little girl with long brown curls and beautiful brown eyes emerged behind her back; she was wearing jeans that had seen better days and a long sleeved shirt. Despite the condition of the clothes they were clean and for that Scully felt somewhat relieved.

She was carrying a brown teddy bear which looked thoroughly used; there were bald patches on the claws and around the ears. It was very hard to read their expressions, but Scully thought she could see some apprehension in both of their faces. A nun followed the women in to the room and closed the door behind them.

'Katie, Melinda, I would like you to meet Dana. Dana has been assigned as your big sister Katie. She's come here today to meet you and your mother. And when you two like each other, than you can spend some time with Dana. Dana can help you with your schoolwork or take you out for the day.'

Scully stood up from where she was sitting and approached the little girl and her mother. First she hastily shook hands with Melinda and then she crouched down to Katie's height.

'Hello Katie, it's very nice to meet you. I know this must be a little bit scary for you, but I promise you there is nothing to be afraid of.'

Katie looked Scully in the eyes with a very serious look and nodded. She was scared a bit. There was this strange woman here who would take her away from her mother. What if this Dana didn't like her or what if she hurt her?

Scully saw the emotions going through Katie's head. The nun asked Melinda to come with her, so that Scully and Katie could spend some time together.

Scully stood up again and motioned towards the coach she had been sitting on before Katie had entered the room.

'Do you want to sit down for a little while?'

Katie nodded and went and sat on the coach. Scully sat next to her, making sure she wouldn't be sitting to close to the scared little girl.

'You know, I'm also a little bit scared. I've never done anything like this before. I'm not really used to spending my time with 6 year old girls. But I do know that I would like to get to know you better. I bet we can have lots of fun together. I noticed your teddy bear. He looks really cuddly and I bet he is your favorite teddy bear, is he?'

'His name is Teddy and mommy got it for me when I was born. He sleeps with me every night and doesn't mind having a tea party with my dolls. Do you have a teddy bear?'

'No I don't, not anymore, but I did have one when I was your age. He was called Pooh, from Winnie the Pooh. I don't think he liked my tea parties very much though, he preferred playing in the 100 acre forest with Tigger and Piglet, I think. So most of the time it was just me and my dolls and my sister for our tea parties.'

'I like Winnie the Pooh, it's my favorite book and mommy reads it to me all the time.'

'Than we have something in common already, because I still like Winnie the Pooh. Which character do you like best?'

They talked about Winnie the Pooh for a while, coming to the conclusion that Katie liked Tigger best and Dana settled on Eeyore as her favorite.

Dana had taken an instant shining to the little girl, sure she was apprehensive, but she didn't expect any less. She had tried to put herself in the 6 year olds mind. How would she have reacted, when at that age, some strange woman had come along and wanted to spend time with her, taking her away from her family.

Katie seemed to warm up a little bit after the conversation about Winnie the Pooh and his friends. She was starting to get curious about this Dana. Why would she want to spent time with her? What would they do together? So in a small voice, she asked Dana.

'Well, I think it would be nice to spend some time with a little girl like you. Be there for her when she needs her and do fun things with her, maybe go see a movie or go to the park. But also help her with her homework and always be there when she just wants to talk or read to her. So I came here and the nuns decided that you are the girl who needs all that. They told me that your mom has to work very hard, and doesn't always have time for you, at least not as much as she want too. I don't want you to think that I want to replace your mommy, because that's not the case. This way you get to do the things a 6 year old should be able to do, safely, and your mom will have some more time for herself and not have to worry about you. And when your mom has a little bit more time for herself and doesn't have to worry about where you are, maybe she can relax and rest a little bit and spent more time with you when she does have the time.'

Scully hoped that Katie would understand what she was saying and that she was explaining it age appropriately.

'So what do you think, do you think you would like to spend some more time with me? Maybe go to the park sometime, or do something else you enjoy?'

Scully felt nervous when she asked Katie this question. What if the little girl said no, she had already felt a strong connection to her and would love to be her Big Sister. And if she said no, would the program have another girl for her? But she needed have worried, because she saw Katie nod.

It was as if the nun who had taken away Melinda had been watching, because now she entered the room again, with Melinda. The nun had explained to Melinda about Scully's motives and her background, it was always important that the parents would agree with the choice of Big Sister for their child, and Melinda had approved of Scully wholeheartedly.

Melinda walked over to her daughter and asked her if she wanted to spend more time with Dana and again the little girl nodded. The arranged for a first meeting the next weekend on Saturday. Dana would pick up Katie from the center at 9 in the morning and bring her back at 5 that afternoon. It was normal procedure to pick the child up from the center the first time. After that it was up to the parents and the Big Sister to decide the pickups and the days and times for spending time together.

Dana Scully's apartment

Georgetown

Saturday 15th January

10:50 am

It had been after six when Scully had left the center after meeting with Katie. She decided to pick up some Italian take out on her way home and spend the evening going over her meeting with Katie and trying to think up things they could do together.

Now it was Saturday and she was on the phone to her mom. She told her all about Katie and her worries about what they could be doing next Saturday. Her mother reassured her that everything would be fine. Sure it would be strange to spend a day with a perfectly strange little girl, but she reminded her daughter that it would be stranger and scarier for Katie than it was for her.

Maggie had some nice suggestion for what they could be doing, but suggested that she would take it easy the first couple of meetings. Maybe just go play in the park and watch a movie at home. Going out for ice cream would have to wait until summer. She also reminded Dana to make sure she had 'child friendly' food in the house. When Dana complained that she wouldn't know what that was, Maggie commented dryly that she would just have to think about what Mulder would love to eat.

Scully spend the rest of the weekend doing grocery shopping and going to the mall, she needed some more jeans and comfortable clothes. She'd also decided to put her extra bedroom into good use and bought a single bed with all the necessities. She thought it would be nice if Katie would help with the decorating, so she refrained from buying all the lovely things she saw.

Next up: what will Katie and Dana do for their first 'play date' and when and how will Mulder find out about little Katie...