William was rolled tight in a ball on the hard, cold floor of the medical bay. His hands clasped tight over his ears as the splitting ringing resonated through every bone in his body. Through streaming eyes he could sense the others around him, also on their knees and crying out in pain at the blistering sound.

Unfamiliar voices echoed around him, immersed in the high-pitched blare. They were far beyond understanding, a language like no other he'd ever experienced. They spoke only for a moment, before fading along with the harsh resonating. As the sound dissipated, the people noticeably relaxed, lying still on the ground of which they'd fallen, catching their breath and recovering.

William turned onto his front, lifting his weight up with his hands. There were droplets of blood on the surface beneath him and he quickly realised it had trickled from both ears. Everyone else appeared to be in a similar state as they considered one another in confusion, mopping their faces of crimson.

The ground beneath them shifted a final time and the power blew plunging everyone and everything into total darkness. William held his breath as terrified screams filled the corridor. He stood still on his hands and knees wondering what on earth was happening.

There was a rumble as the emergency back up generator kicked into action. The lighting above them flickered awake as people began to guardedly rise to their feet.

"Is everyone okay?" Doggett's strong voice resonated down the hall.

There were minimal grunts of responses as everyone picked themselves up, and he immediately started barking orders, ushering staff to the main deck.

William stumbled down the corridor to his father's room. Inside, the doctors and medical staff had taken a step away from the table looking hopelessly at the dead man before them on the gurney. All bar Scully who was feverishly doing chest compressions.

"Agent Scully…" One doctor began sympathetically.

Scully ignored him; she wasn't about to give up on her partner, she hadn't done in the twenty plus years they'd worked together and she wasn't going to start now.

"Help me, damn it!" She ordered, pounding harder onto her partner's blooded chest.

"Dana, stop." It was Walter who'd gently taken a hold of her shoulders, "He's gone, Dana…"

"I've seen him die and come back to life. You have too; you were there. You of all people shouldn't be giving up on him!" Scully turned.

William watched as his mother broke down over his father. Her head buried into his chest as she sobbed deeply.

"Mulder, don't you dare leave me! Not here, not now…" She spoke through tears.

The doctors and nurses left the room quietly, allowing the family to mourn. Skinner looked himself like he was about to break as he tried desperately to comfort the overwhelmed woman before him. At that moment William realised the friendships that had been built in the years of his parents working together. They'd affected one another profoundly, but also influenced those they'd worked alongside. Losing Mulder would mean losing a lover, a father, and a best friend to the people stood surrounding him.

As each doctor past him, William saw the intentional lack of eye contact. No one would look at him. They either didn't know what to say or blamed him for what had happened. William felt sick to his stomach.

The final doctor paused before passing, "I'm sorry about your Dad" He said with an awkward pat on the back.

William refused to believe it. This wasn't happening. 'I'm sorry about your Dad'? It couldn't be true. He marched into the room.

"Dana, fix him" The words were out of his mouth before he'd even processed them.

She shook her head, "…I can't…"

"Mom, there has to be something you can do…"

She rubbed Mulder's arm with her thumb, as though merely willing him back to life had some merit to working.

"He's gone, William" Walter said inaudibly.

William stood bolted to the ground waiting for one of the adults before him to take control of the situation. On realising they had nothing to more to contribute to the matter, he shakily laid a hand onto his father's chest, "Dad…" He stuttered, "I need you…"

As his hand made contact he felt an incredible force like no other. A spirit swirling deep within him lying dormant had risen to the surface of his skin. It gave him butterflies in his stomach as it rushed through his veins, continuing down his arm and concentrating through the touch of his fingertips. For the first time in his life, William felt power inside of him. A power that defied all natural sciences, physics and reality, as he knew it. It was unpredictable, unruly, but instinct told him it was meant for good.

Scully and Walter watched him, stunned as wisps of light danced along his arm. William knew what he had to do. He placed both his palms flat on Mulder's bare skin and let the energy run through him and into his lifeless father. It made no sense. It was closer to a dream sequence than reality, but nevertheless it was working.

Mulder lay still, comatose and unresponsive. William pleaded his touch would wake him, give him that one breath of air or one beat of his heart he desperately needed to come back to the land of the living. His father was stuck in purgatory. Not alive, nor dead, but rather touching the void in between the two worlds. He could feel it.

William became aware of the questioning eyes of Walter and his mother on him. He wasn't sure what he was doing or if it would even work but William knew something they did not; he knew Mulder was reachable still.

The heart monitor blipped, so slight that no one was sure if it wasn't just an error reading. Again, it sounded and this time there was more certainty. Mulder inhaled a laboured breath as his head rolled to the side. He was alive, barely. It was enough to trigger Scully to holler back her medical team, whom immediately returned to the scene.

William broke the contact. His palms burning with a sensation somewhere in between pulsing heat and ice burn, totally unfamiliar to anything he'd sensed before. As he lowered his arms a rush of nausea passed over him and he felt for a moment totally drained of energy. Skinner caught him, easing him into a nearby chair. Through blurred vision, William watched his mother feverishly work to suture and repair Mulder. She glanced only momentarily at him before returning her focus to Mulder, but it was a look riddled with astonishment and concern. She was scared of her son and what he was capable of. William was scared himself.