Disclaimer: I do not own the X Files
The Lost Boy
His whole life had been solitary. From the beginning his dad had been absent and his mother lived her life in fear that someone would find out about him. He was never quite sure what happened to his mother, all he knew is that one day he suddenly found himself with a group of mysterious strangers who all seemed to know what he could do.
They pretended to raise him normal and left him mostly to his own devices. They wanted to test him though and the perfect way to do that would be through a game of chess.
The people in charge of his care and growth had decided that chess was a good way to see how far his abilities could go. They wanted to see if he, even as a child, could follow the complicated steps and moves in the other persons mind. They wanted to see how much he could understand.
He of course was a natural and they took advantage of this. The only problem was their pride. They let him go and compete and show off all of his skill in front of thousands. And it was all good until the day it wasn't.
The day they were killed was the day that Gibson Praise's life changed forever. It was the day that the bullet that was meant for him went into his opponent's head and the day that he met Agents Mulder and Scully.
His adventures with the pair were dangerous and led him down a path to connecting with his alien ancestors.
The black oil that everyone was so afraid of was comforting to Gibson. He was taken in by the alien creatures and understood them. They were much more simple than the humans who's concerns drove Gibson nearly mad.
Even his friends at the FBI could be so petty and childish. He found that it felt more like a high school dance than a government conspiracy sometimes; and while he liked the agents, he enjoyed the company of people who had less on their minds.
Gibson lived a transient life until he got to New Mexico and there he found a home. He lived alone in a trailer on the reservation. Eric Hosteen, Albert's grandson, would visit as well as some of the tribal elders when they were in need of advise but mostly, he was left alone which is how he liked it.
Things changed when Mulder contacted him. Mulder had escaped to the reservation, as it was the only place he could think of where he could find allies. Almost immediately upon his arrival he was told of Gibson's presence and Mulder went to find him.
Gibson along with Eric Hosteen and other members of the tribe hid Mulder and assisted him in his search for answers. Gibson had been happy to see his old friend. But Mulder was depressed. Life separated from Scully and their son took a toll on him and the sadness would drive Gibson nearly mad some days. Mulder was considerate of the fact that Gibson could hear his thoughts and he would often leave to go out into the desert on his own when things got especially hard.
Seeing Mulder go was bitter sweet. He had come to enjoy Mulder's presence and felt much less alone but he also knew how desperately Mulder wanted to get home.
The day that Gibson heard that Mulder would be punished for his supposed crimes came sooner than Gibson had supposed. Going to help Mulder was not even a question. Gibson and Eric knew that Mulder needed help and that Gibson was the only one who could provide it.
The trial was a sham of course. Gibson knew before he entered the building that it didn't matter what he said, the men judging Mulder had already made up their minds. So instead Gibson decided to mess with them a bit. He was not surprised to find an enemy amongst the panel and was eager to point him out.
Scully enjoyed visiting with Gibson while he was there. She stayed with him and talked with him when the rest would go out to try to find evidence to clear Mulder. Gibson could feel the sadness in her and heard it in her every thought but he admired her even more seeing how she handled it.
Agent Scully was even more remarkable than the last time he had seen her and his heart broke a little bit that she had lost so much since then.
She nurtured him in a way he had not been nurtured in a while. She would make him food and make sure he was comfortable every night and would worry over him the way a mother would.
Gibson knew where it stemmed from and he basked in it. Despite being older now and having lived on his own for so long, he still found himself wanting to be taken care of and Scully did that.
When they left him the change was so immediate. While the rest of the groups' promises to take care of him had been pure they found themselves so engulfed in chaos after the duo had left that Gibson could feel the wolves coming for him.
He left in the middle of the night and returned to his place in New Mexico where he remained.
There he was isolated again but it felt even worse after being with friends for a while. He found himself becoming bitter.
They should have taken me with them if they really cared about my safety. He thought to himself pitifully.
As time wore on he discovered new powers within himself and was able to expand and control his abilities. He could filter the voices and he found that he could also move things with his mind. It started small, a pencil here a sandwich there, but then grew into him being able to lift his trailer a foot off the ground. Mind control, however, was the power he was having a hard time understanding and it was also the one he was most afraid of.
When the colonists found and approached him he first asked them to leave him alone. But they refused. They were scared of the super soldiers and the threat of their own extermination.
More and more came to depend on Gibson until he finally decided to help them. He used his powers to build them shelters of magnetite. He was able to hide their presence from those who would look to harm them as they built their shelters.
Gibson had never considered himself an active participant in this war but he grew to like the colonists and also grew to understand them.
He had chosen a side.
The aliens listened to him. They were practical beings that listened much more to logic than emotion.
The alien's plans had been known for some time and they were honest with Gibson about them.
They wanted the Earth and they wanted human slaves. The syndicate had deceived them, which was something that the aliens did not fully understand. The fact that the syndicate had been somewhat successful in creating the human/alien slave race was helpful but the aliens had nearly given up on keeping the humans around.
There was a war that was distracting them and they realized that humans could not be trusted.
Gibson learned a lot from them and helped them in their fight against the faceless aliens and in return the greys listened to him.
He gave a case for humanity using himself as proof that humans were evolving. The aliens listened to him.
Being practical beings, however, they could not justify keeping all the humans alive. They were interested in studying a small portion. Gibson had considered getting them that far to be a victory.
The aliens knew the date that the virus would be released and knew that the humans planned to use this as a time to have the super soldiers take over.
On the day of the event they had come to a decision: They would let some die and then would let humanity cure itself.
Their idea was that if humans could figure out how to cure the virus they deserved to live. There was a fail safe though. The population of the Earth had been evaluated over thousands of years by the aliens and they had come to divide the humans into essentials and nonessentials. The nonessentials would die even with the cure to the original virus.
This had all been administered through vaccines and water supplies to ensure only those 'worthy' would survive.
All over the planet in every country they dropped hints as to how to cure the virus. Only some would be able to make it happen. Many of the developing countries had heavy losses before the U.N. was able to get any medicine out to them. Those in the country and other isolated places would have a lot more time to prepare for what was coming and many went underground.
Gibson watched sadly as the world was torn apart. He continued to remind himself that he did everything he could to save as many as possible. He didn't know what was going to happen to those who were left, as he could not read the aliens minds unless they allowed it.
Being with them was a nice break from the noise.
There were loose ends to tie up, of course, and Gibson was sent to deal with one of those loose ends.
The Smoking Man needed to die once and for all.
He had been saved by technology far too many times and the only way to fully eliminate him was to isolate him.
They got to his home and found no sign of him. Gibson wondered how he could have possibly moved so fast and gotten away. He was getting ready to leave when he heard a familiar voice ring out in his head.
Leah, Mulder, William, Bill, Matthew, Tara….
It was Scully. Gibson got suddenly very excited to see her and then realized she would probably not like his role in all of this.
As her, Skinner, and an agent he did not know entered the home Gibson made a snap decision to hold them in place so he could have time to explain what was happening.
The three were frozen in place and Gibson sent out a message to Scully as he made his way downstairs to see them.
He turned the corner.
"Gibson?" Scully said with a voice fully of all kinds of emotions.
"Hello Scully. I know what you are looking for and he is not here. He could not help you anyways. That old man is delusional to think he has any power over the current events. I am happy to see that you have recovered your son and that Agent Mulder is recovering." Gibson said as he scanned her mind, "You want a cure for Williams mother."
"Yes. Gibson please let us go we are not going to do anything you're a friend."
He decided to free them knowing he could stop any violence anyway.
"Do you know how to save Leah?" Scully asked hopefully.
"Yes I do." Gibson said looking down at the ground, "But I can't give it to you Scully. All of this is a part of a plan that started before I was born and I am just a small part of this."
Scully's face dropped, "But you know how to cure her? Just tell me how and I will do it!"
"I can't Scully."
"Why? Who's side are you on?!"
"I'm on humanity's side! If not for me so many more would be dead but I am not perfect! I did as much as I could!"
"And now you are refusing to do no more?"
"If I give you this cure you will not just use it on her you will use it on any of the dying and if you start that the colonists may change their mind about saving humanity."
"Saving humanity? Millions are dying!"
"But millions will survive! That is more than they originally planned. Originally they were going to kill everyone. They wanted to make humans extinct but because of me humanity will thrive! The world can start over!"
"Gibson… What happened to you?" Scully looked horrified at his words. Gibson could read her sadness. She thought he had lost his way.
"I am better than I have ever been."
"You have changed. All human life is valuable."
"Is it though? Think of all those wasted lives of people who just take up space and add to the destruction of the world. The colonists are cleaning house and starting fresh. They are saving the Earth and all of it's life from overpopulation, climate change, and poverty."
"What made you think this way?"
"The aliens have not abandoned me."
He could tell that she knew right away what he was talking about. He could feel the guilt that filled her and a part of him wanted to hurt her more but he held back.
"Dana, I am better than I would have been if you had taken me with you. I have grown and understand my power. Who do you think stopped time so that you could get the cure? You and Mulder would not have understood my gifts. This way I was able to learn."
Scully just shook her head he could hear that she wanted to talk more but that she was more desperate to get a cure for Mrs. Van De Kamp.
"All of this to say that I cannot help you." Gibson said with genuine sadness.
The click of a gun echoed through the room and Scully stood with the gun trained on him. He could read that she was not going to actually shoot and he knew that she was not in her right mind. Sleep deprivation, ranging emotions, and hunger made her desperate.
Skinner reached out to her and said, "Scully, no. There has to be another way. Let's go and look for Spender."
Scully ignored his hand on her shoulder, "If he can't find cancer man what makes you think we can?"
"Agent Scully I know you will not kill me. I suggest that you go back to the hospital and enjoy the time left with Leah."
"She is dying Gibson!"
"I cannot help you."
Scully was torn but she knew that he could see she was not going to pull the trigger. She holstered her gun and without a word turned and walked out the door.
She could hear Skinner and Miller trying to convince Gibson to help them but she knew it was hopeless. Gibson knew the whole situation and he was not going to change his mind. There was no use.
Leah was going to die.