Date: Thu, 1 Jan 1998 18:15:45 -0800 (PST) From: Emily Miller Subject: A Time To Remember Always 1/2 E.MILLER ARCHIVE: Anywhere DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fox and Samantha Mulder or Dana and Charles Scully and I'm getting nothing for using them. Maggie, Robert, Kate, Jess, and Will are mine. RATING: PG CLASSIFICATION: SH SPOILERS: none really. SUMMARY: Set one year after Redux II- The 5 nieces and nephews of Mulder and Scully and the FBI agents, snowed in in Scully's apartment... A Time to Remember Always 1/2 E.MILLER ______________________________________________ "Aunt Dana!" 5 year old Kate Scully came running out of the house, her reddish-brown braids flying behind her and her shoelaces, untied, hitting the ground. "Hi, Kate!" Dana Scully was as glad to see her niece as Kate was to see her aunt. She leaned over enough to hug the small girl. "Dad says we get to stay with you the whole week!" Kate said excitedly as Dana, without even realizing it, straightened one of the ribbon's in Kate's hair before looking up to see her older niece and nephew running out to greet her. "Hi, Aunt Dana," 11 year old Maggie said. She wasn't as excitable as her younger sister, and tried not to let it show how happy she was to finally see her aunt again- but she couldn't hide it completely. 7 year old Robert, on the other hand, didn't say a word and didn't look at all happy that she was there. "Hi, Maggie, hi, Robert," Dana said. She was glad that for once she could go back to being Dana, since Mulder was with his mother for the weekend- which ended tomorrow. "Rob's in a bad mood 'cause Mommy and Daddy got mad at him this morning 'cause he was gonna put water balloons so they'd fall when I went in my room," Kate explained. Robert didn't have a chance to speak, because a voice that Dana hadn't heard in what seemed like forever entered the conversation. "Doing okay, Dana?" Her only younger sibling, Charles, asked. She looked up at him- that STILL seemed strange!- and gave him a grin the rivaled even the ones they'd exchanged after doing things to Missy like Robert apparently did to Kate. "Great. You?" She replied, wondering when they'd started talking like adults. That was one thing they'd always hated- the way grown-ups always wanted to know how you were, what you'd been doing, how school was. "About like always. You sure you're ready for them?" He asked now, looking at his children- Robert and Kate were now arguing over whose fault it was that he had gotten in trouble and Maggie was on the ground looking...something. "Of course she is," The oldest girl said, standing up. "She works with Mulder. And you said she said he was crazy." "Maggie..." Charles said, his voice warning her that she was going to be the one in trouble if she didn't watch it. But Dana laughed. "He's not crazy, Maggie, he just has ideas." "Ideas?" Maggie asked. "What he thinks about things is automatically right... but don't worry about him, you shouldn't see him the whole week. He's working." "Awwwww, I wanted to meet him..." She complained. "She wants to be a parasychologist and thinks this Fox Mulder's the coolest person alive," Charles explained. "A what?" Dana asked. "A scientist of the paranormal," Maggie put in. "SHE'S the crazy one," Kate said. "She disgraces the Scully name," Charles said. "Shut up, Dad," Maggie replied, shoving him to the side. He shoved back and Dana saw the kid she'd thrown around- after being thrown around herself by two others- resurfacing. And she knew she'd better get the kids and leave before it got completely loose. "We better get going. It's a 4 hour drive back," She said. "Okay..." Charles pretended to be hurt, and it was Dana's turn to shove him. She loved this- getting to act natural, happy. Like she probably would have been if she'd decided to be a doctor. But then she wouldn't know Mulder. "Dad, where's my bag?" Kate asked, just as Robert said, "Do I HAVE to go?" Charles was used to this, obviously. "By the front door, Kate. Hurry and get it... yes, you have to go." "I don't wanna go stay in some dumb apartment for a week." "You weren't asked. Put your bag in the car." This time, he didn't argue, just did as told. Dana was a little worried: would she be able to tell him 'no' like his parents could? She hadn't seen him in 5 years, and she wanted him to like her. Or maybe he was just in a bad mood because he'd gotten in trouble earlier. She didn't need to worry. As soon as they'd said goodbye and gotten in her car, he seemed better. She guessed he just needed some time away from home. "I brought my stuffed cat 'cause Daddy said that no real cats can stay in apartments so Rover couldn't come." Kate was talking faster than the car was moving before they'd gotten to the end of the street. "Your cat's name is Rover?" Dana couldn't stop herself from asking. "Uh-huh. Rob named him. He wanted a dog and Mommy's scared of them." "Maggie, where's my comic books?" Robert asked from the backseat. He and his older sister were sitting back there, and Kate was in the front next to Dana. That was decided without anyone every saying a word, and Dana already guessed that it was Robert and Kate that fought more than anyone else in the family. In her family growing up, that had been her and Missy. "Why would I know where your dumb comic books are?" Maggie replied to her brother's question. She was already deep into a book. Dana glanced back and managed to read the title- Vampyres in the Twentieth Century. Mulder would love this kid! "You had them in your bag!" Robert said, clearly angry that there was even a possibility that she had forgotten them. "Oh, yeah." Maggie put the book down long enough to open the small bag she'd insisted on keeping with her and dug out a couple of ancient comic books. "You brought all that JUNK?" Robert asked as he jerked his comic books from her. "Not all of it. Just my flashlight and my compass and my Book of the Unknown." "You think you're gonna get lost in the woods or something?" "Could happen." She disappeared back into her book, which seemed to be a cue for Kate to continue with her one-sided cat conversation. "Rover's a bengal cat- that means he's part somethin' else, like a tiger, I think. He costed a lot of money, and Daddy said we shouldn't 'have spent that much on some dumb animal. He's kind of a brownish color and he has yellowy spots and stuff." While she talked, Dana thought about something- was this what HER kids would be like? IF she ever got around to having kids? Getting married wouldn't be that bad. But she knew almost NOBODY outside of the FBI, and most of them seemed to dislike her. Because of where she worked- and who she worked with. Would it ever be possible that she could marry Mulder? She could remember a few times that the words they had said to each other could have meant anything. "Aunt DANA!" Kate yelled suddenly, and she jumped. "What?" She managed to ask calmly. "I'm hungry," Kate replied. They had been away from her house all of 10 minutes... it was going to be a LONG drive. ______________________________________________ Fox Mulder was happy for the first time in a long time. "Are you sure it's okay if I stay here?" Samantha asked as she looked around his apartment. Her two sons held Mulder's hands as they too looked around. They had been terrified of Mulder at first, who they'd been told for years was dead, but now seemed to love him. "Completely. We can stay at my partner's apartment- she has an extra bedroom." By 'we' he meant his nephews and himself. Their parents were divorcing, and Samantha said she needed to be alone to 'think about things.' "How come Mom's staying here alone?" The younger boy, Will, asked. He had been named for his grandfather on his mother's side; his brother, Jess, for his grandfather and father. "She wants to be by herself. That's how women are," Mulder explained. He made sure that he'd gotten all of Samantha's stuff out of his car before they left. "Yeah, stupid, 'cause she and Dad are gettin' a divorce," Jess was only a year older, at 8, but Mulder could already tell he liked nothing more than to make his brother feel like a baby. "Fox, what's a divorce?" Will asked now. Mulder had refused to let them call him 'Uncle Fox', but Samantha had insisted that he at least use his first name. So they'd compromised. "It means they'll live in different houses." "How come dumb stuff always happens to us? I bet you and Mom NEVER had to go stay with your uncle while your parents got a divorce," Will complained. "Your mother didn't," Mulder muttered. Jess and Will had enough sense to stay quiet. They didn't say another word until Mulder parked the car outside Scully's apartment. "Is this where your girlfriend lives?" Will asked. He grinned up at Mulder knowingly, not that there was much chance that the look was real. "My partner," Mulder replied quickly. If these two got the wrong idea, he would never hear the end of it. "Are you lawyers?" Jess wanted to know, again showing off his superiority- HE knew that lawyers sometimes had partners and Will didn't. "No. FBI agents." "Wow, you're an FBI agent?" Both boys looked up at him, mouths open and eyes wide. "Women aren't in the FBI," Jess finally said. Again, he knew more than anyone else. He brushed his hair out of his eyes as he said it, completely confident that what he said was right. "They can... I think I would know, since we've been working together for almost six years," Mulder informed him. He rolled his eyes but didn't bother arguing. He knew he was right- and Mulder was beginning to wonder if he'd acted like this as a kid. He could remember the feeling of being completely sure he was better than everyone. It had gotten him punished many times. As Will tried to get the trunk of the car open to get to the things he and Jess had brought, a very familiar car- to Mulder, at least- drove up and stopped beside theirs. A few seconds passed, then Mulder watched as the first person emerged- a little girl, about 5 years old, practically hopped out. Then Scully got out, but didn't look in his direction. She watched as an older boy, about the same age as Will, and an older girl, maybe 10, got out. Then she looked in his direction for the first time- and glared. "Mulder, what are you doing here?" She asked. "Boy, Scully, you've been busy over the weekend," He replied, glancing at the kids, the younger two who were already fighting over something. "Mulder, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" She repeated. "Um, we need to stay here for a couple of days..." "We?" Obviously she hadn't yet noticed that he, too, had someone with him. "Will and Jess, this is my FBI AGENT partner, Dana Scully." He jerked them over next to him and forced a smile. For some reason, he had the feeling he was in trouble. "Women aren't supposed to be in the FBI," was the first thing Jess said. "Hi," Will said. Scully looked at them for half a second, then was again glaring at Mulder. She was about to say something when the older girl she had with her joined her. "Hey, wow! You're Fox Mulder, aren't you?" The girl asked. Now he was not only feeling guilty, but confused. "Yes," was all he could think to say. She marched up to him. "You're the coolest person alive! I'm Margaret Scully." She grinned at him and he couldn't help smiling back. He'd never been called 'coolest person alive' before- it was kind of nice. Scully didn't think so. "Mulder, you said you were going to stay at home while they were here!" Maggie quickly went back to her brother and sister, having heard stories from her father about Aunt Dana's temper, when she wanted to get mad. "I didn't know Samantha was getting a divorce! She says she needs a place to be alone, that's NOT her home," He said, a little lamely. It was the truth, but it sounded like something he'd made up standing there. Scully defrosted slightly. "Is Samantha okay with everything that's happened in just the last year?" "I think so. But she does need to think about everything. I completely forgot what you'd told me..." "Well, if you're willing to sleep on the floor, I guess it'll work," she said. "Thanks, Scully," he replied, relieved. She smiled, just slightly, and went to help her nephew and nieces get their stuff out of her car as Mulder did that same with Will and Jess. He managed to get them ready to go up before Scully worked out everything with the two younger children with her. But Maggie appeared beside him. "Have you ever seen an alien?" she asked. "I think I have." He LIKED this kid. "I've seen plenty of things that are unexplainable." "Have you ever known anyone who says they were abducted?" "Lots of them. Your aunt disappeared for 3 months." "She was ABDUCTED when that happened?" "I think so. She doesn't." And he knew he was in trouble again, because Maggie went running to her aunt saying, "Aunt Dana, you never told me you were ABDUCTED!" "Fox?" He had to stop trying to hear what Scully replied when Will tugged on the sleeve of his shirt. "I'm cold." Mulder noticed how cold it had gotten- it WAS November- since that morning. The sky had clouded up and the wind was blowing. Scully had by now gotten everybody ready. She had the youngest's bag in one hand and the girl's arm in the other. The boy was running in circle's around them. Maggie had again joined him and Will and Jess were waiting for him to let them go in. He looked around. THIS was what he was meant to do. And he was pretty sure it was with Scully- if only he knew how to say it to her. ______________________________________________ Dana Scully was sure, that very night, that she was meant to be a mother. She was pretty good at getting the kids to do what she wanted- much better than Mulder was. Or seemed to be. "What do you guys want to eat?" He asked when Will, Robert, and Kate began to complain about hunger. "I want hot dogs!" Jess called from where he and Maggie were looking at the pictures of animals that had supposedly been 'abducted' and cut up by aliens. Maggie, who seemed to be the only one who could get him to leave the younger kids alone, had told him more about cattle and horse mutilations than even Mulder knew. "I hate hot dogs! I want hamburgers!" Kate said. She had been following her aunt around, trying to talk her into taking them outside to play in the snow that had started falling an hour earlier. Scully had told her it was too dark, but Kate wouldn't give up. "You do too like hot dogs, Kate. Dad makes them all the time," Robert said. "I like DADDY'S hot dogs. He cooks them special." "He makes them just like anybody else." "His are DIFFERENT, Stupid." Scully rolled her eyes, then said loudly, "We're are getting pizza!" Maybe she'd said it a little TOO loudly. There was immediate silence from all 5 kids, not that Will and Maggie had been saying much anyway. "Okay," Robert finally said softly. Kate glanced at him with wide eyes, amazed that he could still speak. "Um... thank you, Scully..." Mulder said. "You wouldn't have gotten anywhere just asking them what they wanted. Don't ask, tell them what they're going to do and what they're going to get." "I've figured that out." "Remember it." "I'd better. Never know what you'll do if I don't." "I might send you to bed early." "You guys should get married or somethin'," Kate intterupted, then giggled. "Go play, Kate," Scully replied, grabbing her niece's shoulder and turning her around. Kate left, still laughing softly. "Maybe we should listen to her, Scully," Mulder said, familiar suggestive grin on his face. "First you get to quit calling me Scully," she said. "Now, you go play, too, I've got to order the pizza. See if you can get them to watch a movie." ______________________________________________ Half and hour later, when the pizza arrived, all except Scully and Maggie were engrossed in Star Wars. Maggie was still reading her books, taking notes in what looked like a journal. Scully was trying to figure out where everybody was going to sleep and wrestling with a cot she'd gotten for reasons she never knew, making a place for one of the boys to sleep in her extra bedroom. She thought she had everything figured out- she and Mulder could sleep in her living room, Maggie and Kate could share the bed in her bedroom, since she didn't trust the boys in there even if that bedroom WAS bigger. They would sleep in the extra room, probably Jess alone on the cot and Robert and Will together. From what she'd seen of Jess so far, she didn't think he'd really want to sleep with somebody younger. There was a knock on the door, and she almost tripped over the cot she'd just gotten up trying to get out of the now-cramped room. Mulder, typical of him, hadn't even looked up from the movie. He was leaning against the couch, one arm around Robert, who was on his left, and Kate was lying down with her head on his legs. Maybe he would be a good parent. She opened the door and grabbed three pizza boxes from the teenage boy seconds before he dropped them all. He was covered in snow- she hadn't realized it was snowing that hard- and looked ready to quit and go home. "Come in while I get the money," she found herself saying. He looked a little reluctant to go in, but he did, looking around like he'd never seen the inside of a home before. "Big family," was all he said when he'd finished gawking. Scully didn't bother to correct him. She didn't really care. She just grabbed the money from where she'd put it so she wouldn't forget where it was, paid him, then sent him back out. She took the pizzas over to her kitchen, opened a cabinet and got out 7 paper plates, since she didn't trust ANY of them- Mulder included- with real dishes, put a couple of slices of pizza on each, then set them on the floor. She didn't have 7 chairs in the whole apartment. Mulder and the kids never looked up from what they were doing. They didn't look up even when she first called them to come eat. So she walked quickly back into the living room, over to the TV where Luke Skywalker and Han Solo were arguing in the Death Star, and pressed the 'stop' button on the VCR, then the power button on the TV. Only then did anybody look up. "What?" Mulder asked. Kate got up, stretched, and turned to glance worriedly at Scully, as though thinking her aunt might decide to yell again. "Time to eat," Scully said, forcing herself NOT to yell. Mulder stretched as Kate had done, then got up. Kate, Robert, and Will followed him into the kitchen. Maggie glanced at them over her book, having heard something, then got up and went with them. Only Jess stayed- he crawled over to the TV and turned it back on. "Jess, time to eat," Scully repeated. "I'm not hungry. I wanna watch TV." "You can watch after dinner. Turn it off and go eat." "I said I'm not hungry." "I say you are." "You don't know if I am or not." "Well, you're going to eat something." "You can try and make me." "Jess, get up right now and come eat!" "I don't want to!" She wasn't going to let him do this. Shaking her head and wondering why Mulder wasn't there to help her, she walked around the couch to Jess, grabbed his arm, jerked him to his feet, and dragged him with her to the kitchen. He was bawling by the time they got there, struggling to get away. Apparently he still didn't believe she was an FBI agent, and could easily get an 8-year-old boy across a room. "Problem?" Mulder asked. He was looking for drinks to please everyone, forgetting her earlier lecture about not asking, just telling. "Sit," she said to Jess before answering him. "No. And give them orange juice, it's really all I have." "Helps prevent cancer, Scully," he said, but she almost didn't hear him over the immediate complaints. "I don't like orange juice, Aunt Dana!" Kate wailed. "I'm allergic to oranges!" Will said. "This is gross pizza," Jess said- and stepped on his paper plate and the pizza on it. Then kicked it across the room, where it hit Maggie, who was trying to eat and read at the same time. "Hey!" she cried, raising her voice for the first time that night. The first time all day, actually. "You got pizza all over my book!" Before either Mulder or Scully could even make a move to stop her, she'd grabbed her own pizza and thrown it at Jess. "Fox! They're throwing things!" Will yelled, running to his uncle and pulling on his leg. "I see that," Mulder said, leaping to the side and managing to grab Jess and pull him out of the way before Maggie's other slice could hit him. Scully grabbed Maggie, pulled the stained book out of her hand, and glared at first her, then Jess. "What are you two doing? We have to get along at least 24 hours... hopefully no more... and you guys CANNOT start fighting! Now, clean up the pizza, and the rest of you be quiet and eat." "Aunt Dana?" Kate whispered. "Can I just have water?" Scully sighed. ______________________________________________ Mulder lay as still as possible, trying not to wake Scully up every time he moved. She had fallen asleep on the floor with him, instead of on the couch that she'd originally claimed, and had rolled over so she was curled against him, so HE couldn't get to the couch, either. Actually, he was glad she was there- she was warm. And it was almost nice having her sleeping so close to him. But more like an I-can-keep-you-safe thing than anything sexual. "AUNT DANA!" The scream from the girls' room caused Scully to practically leap to her feet as she woke. She sat up, looked at him to make sure he'd heard it to, then jumped to her feet and was gone. He got up to go with her, in case there was something she would need him, not that he thought she would admit it if she did. It would be more like, Mulder, I need you to help me, not Mulder, I can't do this myself. "Fox?" Will's tired voice asked from behind him, and he felt a small hand pulling on his arm. He turned and saw Will and Robert standing behind him. "What happened?" "I don't know... you guys want to come with me to find out." "Uh-huh," Will said, and grabbed Mulder's hand as they went slowly back to the bedroom that until that day had been Scully's. The room was so dark that it took Mulder a few seconds to be able to see anything. There was something wrong with that- and then he knew what. Kate had insisted on leaving the light on in the bathroom, because she could see everything that way, she said. But Mulder knew what was really going on- she was scared of the dark, but was a Scully, and so, of course, refused to admit it. When his eyes adjusted enough that he could make out the bed, Maggie sitting on it and looking bored, and Scully on the other side holding Kate and trying to assure her that it was okay, he entered the room. "What happened?" he asked, sitting beside Scully on the bed. Will and Robert waited in the doorway, Robert muttering something about going in a GIRL room. "The light went out before she could fall asleep. Either the bulb's gone or the electricity is." "Bring the light back, Aunt Dana. There's monsters in the dark," Kate whimpered. She must not have completely gotten the Scully thing down yet. "I'll go check the other lights," Mulder offered. Scully nodded, so he got up and left the room, putting hands on the shoulders of Will and Robert to make them go, too. Once again in the living room, he found Jess sitting on the couch in the dark, looking at the ceiling. "It's snowing harder, Fox," he said. "Jess, it quit snowing hours ago." "It's snowing." "How do you know?" "Because I looked." Mulder couldn't stop himself from proving it for himself, so he let go of Robert and Will and went over to the window. He squinted when he looked out- apparently it WAS the electricity that was gone- and could just barely see the snow falling. Hard, like Jess had said. It didn't look like they were going to go anywhere any time soon. ______________________________________________ "Maggie, come with me and Kate into the living room," Scully said, standing up with Kate, still terrified of the 'monsters' she was sure were about to get her, and attempting to walk out of the room without falling to the side. A 5-year-old sure seemed to be a lot of weight all of a sudden. She managed to get to the other room and drop Kate on the couch next to Robert. Will was on his other side, half-asleep, and Jess was next to him. Mulder was still at the window. "What's going on?" Maggie asked, yawning and sitting next to her younger sister. "I'm not sure..." Scully said, then joined Mulder at the window. Outside, she could see almost nothing- but what she COULD see was white. It was snowing again. Snowing HARD this time. "I guess the electricity IS out," she muttered. "Think so?" Mulder asked sarcastically. "Don't start acting like Jess, Mulder. We've got a REAL problem now. Not only do we not have lights, we don't have heat." "I KNOW you're kidding, Scully." "None." "Oh, god, we're in trouble..." "Uh-huh." "What's wrong, Aunt Dana?" Kate, too, joined them, then Will, Robert, and Maggie seconds later. Only Jess stayed where he was. "Um..." Scully seemed to be the one who wasn't sure what the right thing to say was this time. But Mulder, fortunately, was. "How would you guys like to sleep out here with us, since the lights aren't working?" "Like a... a sleep-over party thing like Maggie had at her birthday?" Kate asked. "Sure," Mulder said, and, inside, he enjoyed the greatful smile Scully gave him. She didn't give those very often. "Cool!" Will said, and Kate nodded. "Can we all sleep on the floor?" Robert asked. Even Jess joined them and looked almost excited. "Scully, got anymore blankets?" Mulder asked. "Yeah, back in my room... but I need some help getting them. Have I got any guys in here who'd like to help?" "Me!" Robert and Will shouted in unison. "I wanna help!" Kate cried. "Okay, you three come with me, and Mulder can stay here with Maggie and Jess." Scully held out a hand for Kate to hold, then swung her arm and began marching, making Kate giggle. Will and Robert joined in, marching behind them, into the dark. "Why does Fox call you 'Scully'?" Kate asked, no longer worried about the monsters, apparently. "In the FBI, everybody goes by their last name." "WHY?" "I don't know, they just do." "Oh." "How come he doesn't call you Dana when you're not at work?" Robert asked. "And how come you don't call him Fox?" asked Will. "He calls me Dana every once in a while, but he likes me to call him Mulder." "He wanted us to call him Mulder, too, but Mom said no," Will said. "Is your mom doing okay?" Scully asked. "Uh-huh. 'Cept she's sad because she's always mad at Dad." "Are they getting a divorce?" "Uh-huh. That's why we're here." "Okay... can you guys just stand here while I hand you the extra blankets." "Yeah," Robert said, answering for them all. Scully stretched as high as she could, reaching for the top shelf of the closet where she kept blankets for the few times she had family or whatever staying with her. She grabbed as many as she could the first time and dropped them down. They unfolded and draped over the three children, who laughed and struggled to get out. At least they hadn't gotten scared. She dropped one more load down, then helped them get out. "Everybody take a couple of blankets," she said, and they actually listened. This time, as they marched back, they had to go in a line. Robert went first, then Will, then Kate, and finally Scully. Scully, for the second time that night, worried that she might fall- she had six of eleven blankets, and they weighed what felt like a couple of tons. Robert and Will each had a two and Kate had only one. But she managed to get, once again, into the living room without dropping one thing. Then she dropped the blankets on Mulder. "Hey!" he cried, but she could barely hear him, because Kate and Will decided it looked fun to bury him under blankets and dropped theirs on him, too. He eventually managed to get out, trying to look angry, but having a hard time doing it with his nephews and Scully and her nieces and nephew all laughing at him. "Ha-ha," he said, which just made them laugh harder. And he finally did, too. ______________________________________________ A Time to Remember Always 2/2 E.MILLER ______________________________________________ Mulder woke up the next morning, at first unable to tell where he was, then unable to tell why he was so warm. When he tried to move, he found out. Kate was half on top of him, Maggie was lying on his arm, and Will was using his feet for a pillow. He couldn't move at all. "Shhhh," he heard Scully say, and he glanced over at her. She, obviously, couldn't move either, because Kate's other half was on her legs and Robert and Jess were curled up on either side of her. "Hi," he replied. "Hi. Good morning." "That too. How long have you been awake?" "About 15 minutes. Can you see what time it is?" Fortunately, Maggie was on his right arm, and he wore his watch on his left. So he was able to lift his arm and look at it. "Almost 10." "10!?" "Yeah, 10." "I was thinking it was maybe 7 or 8. We've got to wake up the kids. Their parents have probably heard about the snow and don't know if we were in my apartment when it started..." "Don't worry. Samantha couldn't possibly care if she lost Jess." "Give him a break, Mulder, he's been through a lot." "HE has!" "You have, too. You two are a lot alike." "But-" "Mulder. Help me get them up and fed." "One night and it sounds like we've been married for years," he muttered, then reached his free arm over to shake Maggie. She woke up almost immediately, and so did Will. Scully managed to get Robert and Jess up- but Kate wasn't going to cooperate. "Too early to get up..." she mumbled when both Mulder and Scully were trying to talk her into getting off them. "Kate, please do it. It's late," Scully said. "I'm tired, Aunt Dana..." "Kate, get up," Mulder said, as loudly as he dared without being worried about scaring her. She rolled half-closed eyes over to look at him. He saw then somebody he hadn't seen for years- and hadn't really liked when he HAD seen her. "Why?" she asked. "Because it's time to. Get up, or you can go home and sleep there." She was sitting up seconds later. Apparently Scully's apartment was many times more interesting than home was. "Go wait in the kitchen while, um... Fox... and I clean up a little in here," Scully said. The kids ran off. Mulder helped Scully fold one of the blankets they'd used and put it on the couch in case they needed it the next night, too. "Kate looks like Melissa," he said. "Uh-huh," Scully replied, handing him the side of another blanket. "Robert looks like his mother, and Maggie looks like her namesake- MY mother." "I didn't notice that resemblance." This time, he put the blanket on the couch. "I didn't either, until I was looking at old photos last time I visited my mother." "Will looks like his father. Jess looks like... I'm not sure who. Maybe he just looks like himself." Scully gave him a small smile. "Maybe he looks like you and you just don't want to admit it." "How would you know what I looked when I was a kid?" "I've seen that picture you keep in your apartment. The one of you and Samantha... Mulder...?" He was standing beside her, blanket in hand, but looked gone. "Mulder?" she repeated. "Do you miss your sister, Scully?" "Melissa?" "Yeah, Melissa." "Of course I do," Scully reached over and took the blanket from him, then tossed it on the couch. "I miss Samantha." "But she's back." "Not her. The Samantha I remember. The Samantha I have now is different- we still don't really trust each other. We both believed for years that something horrible had happened to the other one, and now we're having to believe something just the opposite- that the ones we trusted most lied to us. About everything. I want that 8-year-old back, the exasperating little sister. And I think she wants her abusive 12-year-old brother back." "I think that's normal, Mulder. You've both changed in reality in the years since you saw each other," she put a hand on his arm and pulled him with her to sit on the couch, on top of the blankets. "But each of you still pictures the other like they were. Its hard to realize that things change when you don't actually see the changes. But eventually-" "Aunt Dana! We're gonna starve!" Will yelled. "I guess we better go get them something to eat," Scully said, rubbing his shoulder as she stood up to leave. He didn't get up immediately, but watched her go. He felt a little sorry that she hadn't stayed long enough for them to continue their conversation. He really wanted to know if what he was feeling about Samantha was normal. It was worrying him as much as Will was worried about starving before lunch. "Fox! Your girlfriend-FBI-agent needs help," Jess called. So he got up and went to help. ______________________________________________ When everybody was finally fed and mostly happy, Scully wasn't sure she was going to make it through the day. The apartment was, by now, so cold that she'd made all the kids put on all the clothes they'd brought. Kate's sweaters and heavy coat made it almost impossible for her to get anywhere and Maggie's gloves kept her from being able to write anything about 'odd weather phenomenon in November'. "Aunt Dana? Can we go outside and play?" Robert asked as she finished cleaning up the kitchen floor. She looked at Mulder helplessly, hoping he would give them a good reason not to, but he was sitting on her couch, staring at the ceiling and ignoring the small tornadoes around him. "Not right-" she started to say to Robert, then saw 4 other faces looking at her hopefully. "If you get really wet, you'll just have to stay that way. I don't have any extra clothes for you to wear- you've got on everything." "We won't get we, Aunt Dana!" Maggie called as all 5 of them raced for the door, wanting just to be outside for a while. "Don't go too far! I'm watching from the window!" Scully warned them as the door slammed and she heard the thumping of sneakers and boots on the hall floor. She winced for the others snowed in in the building. "Still so sure you want children, Scully?" Mulder asked as she went over to sit beside him, not really thinking it was necessary to watch the kids like she'd said she would. The snow was really too hard for any of them to slip into it, so they would probably be okay until they got cold and came back in. "Don't start, Mulder, I have the worst headache I've ever had in my life," she replied. "Want me to watch them?" "I don't think they really need to be watched. They'll just be more careful if they think I'm watching." "You hope." "Yeah." "When do you think they'll get the roads clear?" "The last time it snowed, it took them about half a day to get all the way over here." "When are Maggie and Robert and Kate supposed to go home?" "Not for 4 more days, but if there's a chance of more snow, Charles will probably want them home early." "Samantha's supposed to get home this afternoon. So we were planning on getting Jess and Will back to her this morning. Looks like it'll be a little later now." "You want to try to get to your apartment and drop them off, just so Samantha will know they're okay?" "Is it safe to drive?" "The snow's not really that bad, and I don't think there's much ice. I'll drive the kids to your apartment if you're willing to help with the 4 hour drive to Charles'." "I don't think that would be too smart right now, Scully. Let's give 'em a little longer to get the snow off the streets, then try it. If they aren't here by noon, we can feed the kids again and then leave." She nodded and silence fell. The only sound was the slight rustle of her coat as she leaned close to him for warmth. ______________________________________________ Robert finally had a chance now for revenge. Yesterday, Kate had gotten him in trouble right before something he'd been excited about for weeks. He wasn't one to let her get away with that. Boring ol' Maggie was trying to figure out how she could use the sun's reflection on the snow to contact something in the sky, or something like that. She'd tried to explain it to him, but she used words too big. Jess was trying to bury Will in the snow, which was what gave Robert his idea. Kate was making one of those stupid angels she made every time it snowed, and had once tried to make in sand. She'd gotten in trouble because she'd gotten sand in her hair. He snuck up behind her, on the cold ground so she couldn't see him. She was going to get in trouble this time, too, because Aunt Dana had said don't get wet. Will and Jess were wet, too, so Aunt Dana would get mad at them. Only Robert and Maggie were dry- but he wasn't sure he was going to stay that way. Oh, well, he got in trouble a lot. He scooped as much snow as he could into his arms and got even closer to Kate. She still didn't see him. He didn't think anymore about what he was doing, in case he got in trouble. He dumped the snow on her face. She screamed and started trying to get up. But he'd gotten more snow than he'd thought, and she struggled, still wailing, for a minute. When she finally got the snow off her and sat up, he knew he was in real trouble. Not only was she soaked, her face was red and her nose was bleeding. And she was still screaming. ______________________________________________ Even on the third floor and half-asleep, Mulder and Scully heard the screams from the snow. Scully knew immediately that it had to be one 'her' kids- the only other children in the building were either over the age of 15 or under 3. "What now?" Mulder muttered as they ran out of the apartment almost as quickly as the kids had an hour before. He didn't bother closing the door, just tried to keep up with Scully, who seemed genuinely scared that somebody was hurt. He suspected that they were just playing something loud. He JUST got in the elevator before Scully started hitting the 'close' button. The elevator didn't cooperate with her and went as slowly as always. They finally got to the bottom floor and she was out before the door even opened. He followed as soon as he could get out. When he got out, Scully was already on the snow beside Kate, who was howling about Robert and whose nose was bleeding. "It's okay, Kate, it's okay," Scully was saying, holding the 5-year-old close to her. Mulder felt uncomfortable for a second, not knowing what HE could do to help, then felt a small hand take his. He looked down at Will. "Is she okay?" he asked, eyes solemn with fear. "I think so." Scully carried Kate back inside, followed by a silent, worried parade. Back in her apartment, she took the girl back to her bathroom to clean her up. Mulder sat on the couch to wait, and the other kids joined him, Robert and Will on either side, Maggie and Jess on the floor, their backs against the couch. "I didn't mean to hurt her," Robert said. "I know you didn't. Nobody's mad at you," Mulder said. "You're nice, Fox." "Yeah, you're nice," agreed Will. "Yeah," even Jess said. "You're the coolest person in the world," Maggie said. Fox didn't know what to say. He'd never been told he was nice before, by a child or anyone else. He'd been told many things, some that he wouldn't repeat to anyone, not even Scully, no matter what. But never nice. It was kind of nice to be called nice. ______________________________________________ Charles came that evening, having started driving the second the roads near where he lived were safe, or mostly safe, to drive on. Kate refused to go until Scully promised that they could come back the next summer and stay as long as they wanted. "Will Fox and Will and Jess be here?" Robert asked, almost as reluctant to leave as his sister. "Sure," Mulder said. "Okay, I'll go," Kate said. Charles offered to take Jess and Will back to Mulder's apartment on his way, and Mulder agreed. So Mulder and Scully were alone to clean up her apartment. "Did you have fun?" he asked her as they put the blankets they'd folded earlier back in the closet. She stopped handing blankets up for a second and looked thoughtful. "Hmm... yeah, I did." "I did, too." ______________________________________________ It was going to be longer, but I ran out of ideas. Anybody want me to do a sequel, the 'summer' adventure?