Title: Taking Back Life

Author: Anne Milne

Email: annem@iprimus.com.au

http: www.milneyfilms.com/mum

Date: November 12, 2006

Spoilers: None. Time frame is S6/7

Disclaimer: Anyone you recognise doesn't belong to me. They've just come over to play for a while. They'll be back home by the time it gets dark, I promise. Really.

Category: MSR, angst, ST

Rating: PG13, physical violence

Feedback: Pleeeeeeeeeease!

Archive: Go for it

Thanks: Sara B., for encouragement, and for the beta. You rock! MY BP, for liking the X-Files and her mum's efforts at writing.

Summary: Mulder and Scully learn that there's more to life than what they think.

Other stuff: I normally don't really like the mytharc, but you all know what happens when you ask yourself, "What if…"

Taking Back Life

It all started in 1947.

The world was starting to settle down after the ravages of the Second World War when the alien craft crashed in Roswell. A group of military men banded together to protect their President, their country, and their people. Over time, others were carefully recruited into their consortium, both in the United States and in other countries as well. Their motives were pure, to begin with. Work with the aliens and protect the people.

At least, it was like that at first.

As the years passed, the original leaders were replaced through either natural or unnatural causes. Those that replaced them had more selfish motives, like power and personal gain. The doctors and scientists who had been recruited saw how the Projects were changing direction, and some decided to change direction too.

Using the Consortium's methods, they faked their deaths.

Using the Consortium's money, they set up their own sets of secret facilities.

Using the Consortium's technology, they began their own Project.

Using the Consortium's stolen genetic material, they created a group of human warriors.

Grown in cloning tanks to maturity, these warriors had great intelligence, physical strength, and psychic abilities. They were 100% human, with their DNA enhanced. There were an equal number of males and females created, given deeply checkable backgrounds, and placed in the various branches of the military, law enforcement, and the scientific and medical communities. The warriors had received thorough educations while in the tanks, and went to conventional colleges for postgraduate studies. This got them out in the world, and gave them experience with their kindred. These warriors were physically good looking, socially able, and morally just. Better than human.

They needed to be in order for humanity to survive.

One of the early alliances the Group made was with the Jeremiah Smiths. The Jeremiahs were able to give the Group information that was invaluable to the survival of humanity. They were also able to show the doctors how to give the warriors specialised abilities, like being able to heal those who were sick or injured. Some of the warriors were chosen to infiltrate the Consortium. These were the warriors created from the Northern ova.

Jeremiah also brought several of the Kurt Crawford clones.

The Kurts wanted to help the Group as a way of repaying the women whose ova had been stolen. They wanted to help humanity because of their mothers.

The Group knew that the Consortium had kept close watch on some of the contributors of genetic material. Four of the warriors were assigned to watch over The Two. Word had been received by the Group that The Two were in danger. So, the Group was going to protect them.

Genetic material from The Two had created four of the warriors, but only one warrior was assigned as one of the four watchers. She had been named Caitlyn Edana Crane by the Group. Bright blue eyes. Reddish gold hair. Medium height and build.

Cait and her companions were looking forward to their assignment. Cait was looking forward to meeting her parents.

The Two.

Fox Mulder and Dana Scully.

********

"Who did we upset to get this detail, Scully?" Fox Mulder whined as they walked towards the main lecture theatre in Quantico.

"No one as far as I know, Mulder," replied his partner Dana Scully. "I think that it was Skinner's turn, and he decided that we owed him. So here we are."

"I can think of far better things to do with my time than guest lecture a bunch of rookies."

Scully chuckled softly under her breath, and said, "You know, Mulder, we were rookies once."

"My point exactly, Scully. Can't we just go home?"

"No, Mulder. We need to do this," she said as they entered the theatre.

Seated in the lecture theatre was the latest class of FBI recruits. The group of thirty took up only the lower three rows of seats. Usually, there were more in the theatre, but this time there were no National Academy students or police observers. Scully breathed a sigh of relief at having a smaller group to talk to. As they entered, someone called out, "Hey Spooky! Who's mad at you now?"

Mulder grinned at Scully as he turned to answer the questioner. "Pete Stratton, you old ass! How's Academy life treating you?" Mulder asked as he grabbed Agent Stratton's hand and pumped it enthusiastically. "Pete, this is my partner,"

"Dr Dana Scully, of course." Stratton beat Mulder to the punch. "How do you put up with Mr UFO here, Dr Scully?" he said as he shook Scully's hand.

Scully smiled as she answered, "It's Dana, and I had to shoot him once, so we have an understanding." Stratton raised an eyebrow, and she continued, "He behaves, and he doesn't get a matching scar in his right shoulder."

Stratton burst out laughing, and Mulder explained to Scully that he and Stratton had been buddies in the Academy. Scully nodded, grateful that Mulder had some other people in his life that he could call 'friend'. She knew how much that meant to her partner. She came out of her reverie to hear Agent Stratton telling Mulder about the new agent class they were about to meet.

"I'm telling you Mulder, there's a rookie who reminds me of you. She just seems to know things, almost before you have a chance to talk. Caldwell calls her 'The Freak'."

Mulder shrugged, and Scully looked at Stratton expectantly. Stratton continued, "Well, we all know that Caldwell's a sniffer. He propositioned her, and of course, she turned him down. The Freak is one of the tamer things he calls her."

"How does she take it?" Mulder asked.

"Pretty well, really. Her classmates all respect the hell out of her, and they asked that Caldwell be removed as one of their instructors. It was amazing to see."

Scully nodded thoughtfully. "She must be okay if her classmates got together and did that for her."

"Don't point her out to us, Jim," said Mulder. "Let us figure this one out for ourselves." Jim Stratton nodded, and moved up to the podium. He called the cadets to order, and introduced the two senior agents to the class.

The next hour was spent with Mulder relating the weirder cases they'd solved, and Scully showing how the evidence worked in unexplained cases. The time was then opened up for questions, and Scully braced herself for some of the likely curly ones.

Surprisingly, there were none. Even Mulder had expected the usual little green men taunts. When the questions were done, Mulder did something a little different.

"As this is the first time that Agent Scully and I have been here in some years, we'd like to hear briefly from each of you. What I'd like is for you to stand and introduce yourself to us. Tell us your name, age, birthplace, background, and why you want to be FBI agents. We'll start with the gentleman on the back row on the left and work across the row. Agent Scully and I may interrupt you if we feel so inclined, but I promise that we won't be too nasty." Mulder turned and flashed a grin at his partner, and said, "Or at least I won't. I can't vouch for my partner." Scully gave him a mock glare, and sat back to see what the class, and Mulder, would do.

Caitlyn Crane was sitting in the middle of the second row, and knew exactly what was going on. She knew that Agent Stratton had mentioned to Mulder and Scully about the Freak. Generally, Cait didn't listen in on people's thoughts, but had made an exception in this case. She knew that Mulder was trying to work out who the Freak was, and Cait wasn't about to make it easy for him or Scully to do so. While she was listening to the first of her classmates discuss himself, she thought back to the last conversation she had with her siblings.

********

The four of them has been summoned by the Group's leaders to go over their assignments. Padraic was the acknowledged leader of the warriors. Dallon was the undisputed second in command, and a master tactician. Bria had the soul of a poet, and knew how to calm and center those around her. Cait was the healer. The four of them listened to their instructions, and talked for a while about the opportunity that Cait now had to be near their parents.

"You realise that they'll look at you and see a resemblance to the Scullys," Padraic said.

"Pad's right, Cait," added Dallon. "You look kind of like mom's sister Melissa."

Cait nodded at their comments. "As usual, you're both right. However, I think that I can stay under their radar for a while. My watching duties are mainly at night, and I have another three weeks at the Academy. I'll be able to remain invisible: it's what I do best," she finished with a quiet chuckle.

"Cait will be fine," Bria added, "don't you agree, Jeremiah?"

"Yes. Caitlyn has blended in well," Jeremiah Smith said to the four of them. Then to Cait he added, "Be observant at all times, young Caitlyn. It will save your life as well as your parents."

"I will, Jeremiah." Cait hugged her siblings, gripped Jeremiah Smith's hand, and left the room.

"You're worried about her, aren't you?" asked Padraic.

"Yes, but not for the reasons you might think." At their questioning looks, he added, "It's her dreams that concern me. They seem to be portents, and I know that Caitlyn is upset by them." Jeremiah shook himself, and seemed to speak almost to himself, "I will be close by, young Caitlyn."

********

Cait amused herself while waiting her turn by observing Mulder and Scully's reactions to her classmates. She could see them alternating between boredom and interest, and it added to her knowledge of her parents. Then, it was her turn, and Cait stood. Dana Scully gasped, and Cait thought, 'looks like Dallon might be right after all.'

"I'm Caitlyn Crane, born in 1973 in Lansing, Michigan. I did my undergrad work at M.I.T. in physics and chemistry, and qualified as a doctor specialising in Emergency Medicine at Tufts. The FBI recruited me not long after I passed my boards."

Mulder looked at Scully, who looked like she had seen a ghost, then asked, "What about your family, Dr Crane?"

"My foster parents aren't with us any longer, and I don't remember my parents.  I have three siblings, two brothers and a sister," Cait answered easily. Each of the warriors knew their backgrounds well, and knew that no discrepancies would be found.

Mulder continued, "Why the FBI? Why not stay in medicine?"

"The FBI seemed like the right place to be able to make a difference." This comment seemed to rouse Scully from her reverie.

"Do you know much about your ancestors, Dr Crane?"

Cait paused for a moment before answering, "Not really. I think that my mother's family came from Ireland, while my father's were from somewhere in Europe."

Dana Scully nodded, thanked Cait, and moved onto the next recruit. As he stood and started talking, Scully leant over to Mulder and said, "We need to check into Caitlyn Crane a little." Mulder acknowledged her comment, and let the show and tell continue, no closer to the identity of the Freak. 

Cait simply watched and waited.

********

That night, Mulder and Scully were at the Lone Gunmen's lair. The guys were checking into Caitlyn Crane's background, and coming up with nothing out of the ordinary.

"I'm sorry, man," said Frohike. "There's nothing unusual about your young Dr Crane, other than she's a twin, and her other siblings are twins as well."

"Is she older or younger?" queried Scully.

"She's the youngest of the four of them. Her twin is Dallon Ryan. The older twins are Padraic Renny and Bria Alanna. Dallon's a DC cop, Padraic is a captain in the Air Force, and Bria is a published poet. Here's some pictures of them," Langly answered, handing the agents the printouts. They studied the information, and Scully looked carefully at the pictures. She was about to make a comment to Mulder when his cell started chirping.

"Mulder. Oh, hi Diana. What can I do for you?" he said as he stood and walked away from the small group. Scully looked at the guys and rolled her eyes. Byers just shrugged, while Langly and Frohike went on with their searches. Mulder finished the call, and rejoined them.

"What does Diana want?" Scully asked.

"She says that she's received information on a case of hers that she thinks should be an X-File. I'm gonna go check it out. You okay to get home, Scully?"

Scully nodded. "I'm sure that Byers can wait with me for a cab." Byers nodded, and Mulder added,

"Let me know the tab, and I'll pay you back." Then he was out the door without looking back.

"Sometimes I wonder why I stick around," Scully said under her breath, then to Byers added, "Can you wait with me now, please? I'd like to get home and study those files. . . that Mulder has taken with him." She shook her head, and asked the guys to print up another set of everything for her. After agreeing on a time for her to collect the files, and thanking the guys for their help, Scully and Byers went outside to wait for a cab.

"You know that what Mulder feels for Diana isn't a tenth of what he feels for you, don't you?" Byers asked.

"Sometimes, I wonder about that," she replied. A cab pulled up at Byers' wave, and she got in. "Thanks again," she said, and the cab drove off. Byers returned to his friends.

Scully turned to the cab driver and said, "Georgetown, please."

"Not tonight, Agent Scully," a familiar voice said to her. Scully heard a hissing noise, and as darkness overtook her she recognised who had taken her captive. The Bounty Hunter.

********

Caitlyn woke screaming from the dream, and her companion watcher, James Dalton, ran into her bedroom.

"What on earth was that all about?" he all but shouted at Cait.

"My mom's in trouble, and we need to get to her right now." At his nod, Cait added, "Get out of here Jimmy, so I can get dressed."

"I'll get the gear ready."

Two minutes later, two shadowy figures left the house and went in search of Dana Scully.

********

The Bounty Hunter towered over Dana Scully. She was handcuffed to a chair, and she had stopped struggling to focus on the huge being. Her face was bruised, and her wrists were bloodied from her struggles against the cuffs. They were alone in the warehouse. "What exactly do you want with me?" she demanded.

The Hunter made a sound that could have been called laughter. "My task is to kill you, Agent Scully. It is the only way to stop Agent Mulder. Once you are dead, he will soon follow."

"You're wrong about that. Mulder will not rest until he stops you and your human collaborators," Scully spat.

"Your Mr Spender is of that opinion as well. Pity that he is not in ultimate charge right now." The Hunter considered his next words carefully. "Diana Fowley said that Mulder would come when she called. It seems that he does not have quite the same regard for you as you have for him."

"So Fowley is one of your puppets. What is she going to do, kill Mulder?"

"No. After you are found dead, her role will be to comfort Mulder and direct his actions, as she did before."

"If you have her to control Mulder, why kill me?" she asked.

"You help Mulder to focus his efforts. Without you, he will flounder, and will eventually lose his will to live. You think you know him. You think you can beat us, but we are too strong for you puny humans," the Hunter bragged. "It's time for you to die, but first, I will have some fun," he said as he raised his gun. He aimed at Scully's left knee and fired. She screamed in pain as her knee shattered. "I suppose I could just leave you to bleed to death," he considered out loud, then continued, "but where's the fun in that?"

Scully had tears of pain in her eyes, but she gathered her courage and said, "So do it. Kill me."

"As you wish. Goodbye, Agent Scully." The Hunter raised the gun, and as he was about to fire, a voice came from behind him.

"No. It is you who will die without honor, without your true face showing." The Hunter's last thought was, 'What does a human know about my true face?' as he felt a spike enter the back of his neck. The gun fell from his hands as he began to liquefy into toxic green sludge.

Dana felt gentle hands unlock the cuffs and lower her to the floor. A folded jacket made a pillow, and the same gentle hands made an inventory of her injuries. She heard a soft voice describe those injuries, and thought, 'I know that voice.' Then she felt a gripping on her shattered knee, followed by warmth.

"There. Good as new," Cait said to Jimmy. She looked down at the prone agent, and whispered, while touching Dana's forehead, "Sleep now, mom. You're safe, and we'll get you home."

Dana felt sleep creeping up on her as the warmth from the touch on her head spread through the rest of her body. 'No,' she thought, 'let me stay awake. Who's calling me mom?' Then sleep claimed her.

Jimmy stood, and directed Cait to help him pick Dana up. With her securely in his arms, the two watchers carried their precious cargo to their car. They found Jeremiah waiting for them.

"You have done well, young ones," he said. At Cait's questioning look, he added, "I felt your dream, Caitlyn, and I had to come." Jeremiah gripped the watchers' shoulders, and quietly left.

"Come on, Cait. Time to go." Jimmy had finished settling their charge in the back seat of the car, and was ready. Cait simply nodded, and they set off.

********

The door to Dana Scully's apartment opened quietly, and as Cait entered, she put her lockpick back in her pocket. She moved through the dark apartment, flipping lights on so that Jimmy wouldn't bump into anything and wake Dana. Cait opened the bedroom door, and moved to turn the bedspread down. Jimmy carefully placed Dana on the bed, then stood up straight and stretched.

"You didn't tell me how heavy she is," he whispered to Cait.

"She isn't; sleeping people just weigh more," Cait replied. At his puzzled look, she added, "I'll explain later. Have you got the note?"

Jimmy nodded and took the note from his pocket, and gave it to Cait. She placed it on the bed next to the sleeping agent, and motioned that it was time to leave. Before moving out of the bedroom, she went over to Dana, and carefully brushed the hair from her face. Dana twitched, then settled.

"Sleep well, mom. I'll see you around."

The two of them had almost made it out of the front door when the phone started ringing. They shared a glance, then quietly exited, and left the building via the fire stairs.

At about the same time, a groggy Dana Scully reached for the phone. "H'lo?" she slurred.

"Hey, Scully, it's me. Where have you been? This is the fifth time I've called you tonight."

"What time is. . ." Scully trailed off as she came into full wakefulness, and began remembering exactly what had happened to her earlier that evening. She was lost in thought when she heard Mulder shouting at her through the phone.

"Scully! What's going on? Answer me!" came out of an increasingly frantic Mulder.

"I'm here, Mulder. It's okay."

"I don't think so, Scully."

"Just come over, will you? There are some things you need to see. . ." she trailed off again, and Mulder responded with, "I'm there," and disconnected.

Scully pushed the bedcovers down, and saw the bloody pants that she was still wearing. 'It really did happen,' she thought. 'My knee was shot out by the Bounty Hunter, and I was rescued by two people, one of whom called me mom. It's official sports fans, I'm finally losing it.'

But the proof of what happened was on her body. She shuddered, and removed the ruined slacks. Tossing them on the bed, she heard a crinkling sound, and discovered the note. 'Best keep that with the slacks,' she thought.

She pulled out a pair of sweatpants and an old flannel shirt. Putting them on, she thought, 'I've got to get warm. Tea, that's what I need.'

She was still standing in the kitchen, staring vacantly at the wall when Mulder burst in through her front door.

"Scully? Where are you?"

"I'm here, Mulder," she said as she exited the kitchen. She put her mug on the table, and walked straight into Mulder's arms.

"You're shivering," he said, "and it's 70 degrees out. What happened to you tonight?"

"You'd better sit down." As he did, she continued, "I have a couple of things to show you, and you need to let me tell you about it at my pace, okay?" Mulder nodded, and leant back on the sofa. Scully went to her bedroom, and came out carrying a couple of things. She sat next to Mulder, and began her narrative.

"I left the guys' place about fifteen minutes after you. Byers and I waited about five minutes for a cab. This is where it starts getting weird. The driver was the Bounty Hunter."

"How do you know for sure?"

"Apart from knowing who he is by having been thrown across a room and choked by him, I saw him, and heard him speak. Then I heard a hissing sound, and the next thing I know, I'm handcuffed to a chair, and he's pointing a gun at me. He said some things to me, and shot my left knee out." At Mulder's look of disbelief, she handed him her slacks. The hole where the bullet exited was obvious, and the amount of blood backed up what she was saying.

"Is this what I think it is?"

"If you mean, is that white stuff bone fragments, then yes, you're right." He sat back and looked carefully at the slacks, grimacing as he touched one of the bone fragments.

"I'm having a very weird moment here," he said. After a brief interval, he motioned for her to continue.

"He said goodbye to me and raised the gun to my head, when I heard a voice from behind him telling him he'd die without his true face. Then whoever it was stabbed him in the back of the neck, and he started melting. I remember there were two voices, and the woman healed me. My knee is as good as new, and I have no handcuff scars. Then, she touched my head and I fell asleep. I was in my own bed when you called, Mulder," she finished.

He sat and thought for a few minutes. "Whoever it was, it has to be a female Jeremiah Smith," he said. "What's the piece of paper?"

"I found this on my bed. I haven't looked at it yet."

"Well, let's get to it."

The note's contents surprised them both.

"Agent Scully,

Go to Warehouse E, 1400 Cromer Street, Severn, Maryland. You will find the cab you got into, as well as forensic evidence of what's left of the Bounty Hunter. The chair and cuffs are still in place.

Jeremiah Smith will be in touch within twenty-four hours.

Do not trust Diana Fowley. She is only interested in controlling Agent Mulder, and in hurting you in whatever way she can.

Use an iron supplement, and drink plenty of fluids to replace your blood loss.

There are interesting times ahead. Be prepared."

They read the note over several times, and looked at each other. Mulder opened his mouth to speak, but Scully cut him off.

"Exactly what did Agent Fowley want tonight?"

Mulder had the grace to look embarrassed. "She told me she had a case that looked like an X-File. When I got to the office, she was dressed, ready to go out. When I asked her if she had plans, she said she had. With me." Scully nodded, and he went on. "As soon as I saw what was going on, I asked her about the case."

"There was no case, was there?"

"No. Obviously, it was a ruse to separate us. It worked, almost too well."

"The Bounty Hunter said that it was Fowley's job to comfort you after my death, and then to control you. This was a set-up, Mulder."

He nodded. "If your rescuers hadn't shown up when they did, I'd be a mess right about now."

"Which was part of the plan all along." They looked at each other, and Scully stood. "Let me just get some other clothes on, and we can find that warehouse."

********

Forty minutes later, the two agents were looking at the cab that the Bounty Hunter had driven. As they checked the cab over, they heard a familiar rattling as the Gunmen arrived. The guys started getting equipment out of the van, and Byers asked, "Where do you want us to start?"

Mulder answered, "Start with the cab. Do the whole smash, prints, samples. . ."

"We know what to do," Frohike stopped Mulder's spiel before he really got wound up. "We'll follow you inside soon." The guys got started, and the agents moved into the factory.

Scully began to wish that she had stayed outside when she saw the evidence that her experience had been real. The chair, complete with bloodied handcuffs, was in place, as were the blood stains on and around it. Ten feet away was a pool of green sludge. A Sig Sauer lay just outside the puddle.

"Well, it looks like your mysterious rescuers got here just in time," Mulder said. Looking at Scully to see how she was handling being there.

"It really happened," she whispered, and Mulder stepped over to her and enveloped her in his arms. They stood together for a few minutes until Scully stopped shaking. She looked up at him, and quietly thanked him.

Mulder kissed her hair, and said, "No problem. You okay to do this now?"

"I have to. They tried to have me killed tonight, and this has got to stop."

"Yes, Agent Scully, it does need to be stopped," a new voice said.

Mulder turned, and said, "Jeremiah."

"Agent Mulder, it's good to see you again. But this is not a time for pleasantries."

"Jeremiah," said Scully, "who helped me tonight? Who saved my life?"

"That is part of a longer story, and one that we don't have time for right now." At the agents' disbelieving looks, he continued. "I will explain everything to you later. Meet me at this address," he said, handing Scully a slip of paper, "at seven pm, and I will answer all your questions."

Scully nodded, and Mulder asked, "Just one question, then?" When Jeremiah agreed, Mulder said, "The woman who healed Scully. She's a hybrid, right?"

"No, Agent Mulder. The one who healed Agent Scully is a genetically enhanced human." The looks on Mulder and Scully's faces were priceless. "Tomorrow at seven pm." Jeremiah vanished back into the shadows.

Scully sank to the floor, and Mulder crouched beside her. "A genetically enhanced human, Mulder? What can he possibly mean?"

"I'm not sure, but we're going to find out in less than eighteen hours. It's good that it's Saturday."

Scully nodded at him. "We'd better get going, then." She and Mulder left the warehouse just as the guys were finishing up with the cab. They spent a few minutes conferring, then the guys continued on into the warehouse, while the agents left the scene.

As they were driving back to D.C., Scully turned to Mulder and asked, "Why don't we stop at your place and pick up enough clothes to last the weekend, as well as work things for Monday?"

Mulder leered at her and replied, "Why, Scully, are you coming on to me?" His cheeky grin faded with Scully's response.

"As a matter of fact, no, but if I was, you'd be in no doubt. Mulder, less than six hours ago, I was handcuffed to a chair with a gun pointed at my head. I thought I was going to die. Do you know what I was thinking?"

Mulder said quietly, "No, Scully, I don't. Will you tell me, please?"

Scully took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I sat in that chair, and all I felt was regret. I would die, and you would never know how I really feel about you. I promised myself after I recovered from cancer that I would tell you how I feel, and I hadn't. So, now I'm going to come clean." She turned in the car seat to face Mulder, and asked, "You ready for this?"

He swallowed and said, "Probably not, but I think I need to hear this."

Scully nodded and ploughed ahead. "Mulder, I love you. I am in love with you, and I don't want to be apart from you any more. I want you to spend the weekend with me because I need you near me. I don't want to waste any more time. The games stop now."

He couldn't believe that Scully, his Scully, had finally said the words that he had wanted to hear for years. He had always thought that she'd loved him, but had doubts because she'd never said the words. Now she'd said them, and he was blown away.

"Wow."

"Yeah. And to think all it took was an alien holding me at gunpoint to finally get it out," she finished.

"Okay. For the record, I love you too, and I want to be with you. How about this: I'll get my stuff, we'll go back to your place and get some sleep. Then, we'll eat, and plan out the rest of the day. Sound okay?"

"Sounds pretty good to me," Scully replied. She smiled, and laughed out loud. The world could spare them for a few hours.

********

The rest of the day saw them talking and touching and smiling, wearing the glow that new lovers have. The only cloud happened around lunchtime, when Mulder's cell phone went off.

"Yeah, Mulder." He listened, shook his head and answered, "No, Diana, I'm not at home." Scully went to stand up and leave the room, but he took hold of her hand and mouthed at her to stay with him. "No, I haven't heard about anything bad happening to Scully." Dana's eyes bugged at that, and she motioned for Mulder to let her listen in.

". . .you know that I'm just concerned about you, Fox, and I know that Agent Scully is your partner. Are you sure that everything's alright?"

"Yes, Diana, everything's fine. Why are you so sure that something's wrong with Scully?"

"I just heard a report on the radio that an unidentified red-haired female FBI agent was found shot to death in a warehouse in Maryland, and I thought that it might be Scully."

Dana couldn't keep silent any longer. "You know, Agent Fowley, maybe you shouldn't believe everything that you hear on the radio." Fowley gasped, and Dana went on. "In fact, it could seem as though you were involved in some nefarious plot to hurt me."

"Not at all, Dana. I heard the news bulletin, and simply wanted to be sure of you being okay. Now that I know that you're fine, I'll leave you to your day. Goodbye, Fox." Fowley ended the call.

Dana said, "I wonder why she hung up? What did I say?"

Mulder just chuckled and said, "I don't care. I plan on having a serious discussion with Diana when I have my thoughts clear. Right now, though, let's do something about lunch."

********

It was five minutes before seven pm, and the two agents were pulling up at the kerb outside a neat home In Chevy Chase. Mulder had asked the guys to do a search on the occupants, only to find that it was part of a property portfolio held by a firm called Future Conservation. When the guys had checked further into Future Conservation, the results had been interesting, to say the least. FC was involved in medical and chemical research, as well as the provision of nursing services. The founders of the company preferred to remain anonymous, but Frohike said to give him time, and he'd find out who they were.

"I think that we'll have enough questions to keep Jeremiah Smith talking for most of the night, don't you think?" Dana asked.

Mulder nodded, and said, "Come on. Time's a wastin'!"

They walked up the path, and Mulder rang the doorbell. A woman answered the door, and this time it was Mulder's turn to gasp in recognition.

"Agent Mulder, Agent Scully, please come in," said the brunette. "Jeremiah said that you'd be on time." She showed them into the living room, and invited them to sit. "He'll be just a moment."

Mulder recovered his wits in time to ask the woman, "I'm sorry, we didn't catch your name before."

"That's because I didn't give you my name." Her hazel eyes twinkled, and she went on, "Small joke. I'm Bria Crane."

Dana Scully looked at Bria, and saw what Mulder had obviously seen – Samantha. Dana looked more closely at the shape of her face and eyes, and asked, "Do you know a woman named Caitlyn Crane?"

Bria chuckled and replied, "Of course I do; Cait's my baby sister. But you already know that, don't you?"

All Dana could do was agree, and Bria was about to say more when Jeremiah Smith entered the room. Rather than stay with the agents, Bria bid them all goodnight, and left the room. Jeremiah watched Dana and Mulder follow Bria with their eyes, then the agents turned their full attention to Jeremiah.

"If you know Bria Crane, then you must know Caitlyn Crane," Dana said.

Jeremiah simply nodded. Then, he said, "That is all part of what we need to discuss. Please, get comfortable. This is going to take some time." And Jeremiah began to explain, about the Group, about its' objectives, and about the warriors. He also explained that Caitlyn could sense the differences between the different alien races, and that this had somehow been in her DNA.

Several hours later, outside the house, the four watchers were talking about their charges, and about the possible topics of conversation.

"Come on Cait, you can listen in better than any of us. You're the best telepath," Roni urged.

"And you have the best range, too," added Wade. "Fill us in!"

Cait merely grunted, and left it to Jimmy to answer.

"Both of you know that Cait doesn't like to be a mind reader," he said. At their dubious looks, he added, "Really." He was about to go on, when Cait straightened up, nudged him, and said,

"Trouble."

The watchers moved quickly to their action stations, and soon Wade spotted the vehicle. 'Black sedan, two occupants, moving at 15 mph,' he thought.

'One's a hunter, the other's a human. . .it's Krycek!' Cait thought. As one, the watchers began to act.

Three minutes later, it was all over.

Roni and Wade had used silenced weapons to take out all four tires on the sedan. Cait had neutralised the Bounty Hunter, while Jimmy had immobilized Krycek. Wade had called for a cleaner to take the car, and Roni and Jimmy had marched Krycek into the house. Cait vanished into the shadows.

It was two very surprised agents that greeted Krycek when the watchers manhandled him inside.

"Hey Jeremiah, look what we found sneaking around outside!" Roni chortled.

Krycek started to struggle, and Roni simply kicked his feet out from underneath him. As he fell to the floor, she hissed, "Behave, or I'll get nasty." Then to Mulder, Roni asked, "What would you like us to do with him?"

Mulder looked over at Dana, who simply shrugged. "I'm not sure. If we take him in, he'll end up getting sprung by his masters, whoever they are this week. Maybe you should take him to your people," he finished, looking at Jeremiah.

"That would probably be for the best," Jeremiah mused. "You know what to do," he said to the Watchers. As they started to leave, Krycek blurted out, "Who was the girl that took out the Bounty Hunter?"

Without thinking, Roni answered, "It was Cait, of course," before Jimmy had a chance to stop her.

"We'll be going now," he said, and hauled both Roni and Krycek outside. Wade had already arranged transport. Surrounded, Krycek had no option but to go quietly.

After Krycek had been escorted out, Dana rounded on Jeremiah. "It was Caitlyn Crane last night, wasn't it? She was the one who saved me."

Jeremiah inclined his head, and Dana went on. "I want to see her, right now." She turned to Mulder and said, "I have to see her. We both owe her." Dana turned blindly, her mind spinning with the probabilities of what she and Mulder had heard so far. She slumped down on the sofa, her head cradled in her hands as she started putting the threads of Jeremiah's explanations together.

Just as Mulder knelt before her to check on her, she lifted her head, and zeroed in on Jeremiah. "The ova that you took from the Consortium? Some were mine, weren't they?"

Jeremiah nodded. "We knew twenty years ago that you and Agent Mulder were of special interest to the Consortium."

"But I was only taken four years ago," she said. "How did they have my ova before then?"

"You went into hospital when you were seventeen, for treatment of severe ovarian cysts." Dana nodded, and Jeremiah went on. "During the surgery, a section of your ovary was removed. The ova were saved, and that is how we obtained them."

"How many ova did you take?"

"We only took four. We needed to be unobtrusive."

"Four ova. All fertilized by Mulder's sperm, I imagine." Jeremiah merely nodded again, and he watched as Dana put the rest of the pieces together in her mind. A look midway between anger and joy appeared on her face as she said, "The Crane siblings. They're our children." She whispered to herself, "I have four children."

Mulder couldn't contain himself any longer. "You're saying that among these warriors that you've made are our children? How is that possible?" He was about to explode when he felt Dana's hand on his arm.

"The cloning tanks, Mulder. They used younger ova, and this project of the Group has been going for, what would it be, ten years? It fits. We saw photographs of Caitlyn that had been taken at med school, and Jeremiah said that these children grew in the tanks to maturity, then went to grad schools. It gave them a checkable background."

"And you're okay with this?" he all but shouted at her.

"Not really, but I can see why the Group have taken this approach. If you can't have the best and brightest, then you build them."

Jeremiah began to talk again, pitching his voice to a soothing level. "Believe me, Agent Scully, if we could have brought you and Agent Mulder on board before now, we would have. It is your intelligence, in tandem with each other, that the Consortium fears the most. Anything that we can do to assuage the pain that we have caused you, we will do."

"I want to see Caitlyn," was all Dana said.

"And you will, but not now." Jeremiah raised his hand to forestall the agents' objections, and continued, "You've heard a great many things tonight. It's getting late, and you both need to rest, particularly you, Agent Scully." He indicated the hallway, and said, "Please stay here tonight. You'll be safe. In the morning, we will show you all that you ask."

Mulder looked at Dana, and she shrugged and nodded. "Okay. We'll try to rest, but we want real answers tomorrow."

Jeremiah merely nodded, and escorted them towards one of the bedrooms. He knew that Roni and Wade were back in position, and he needed to check on Cait. Something was not quite right, and it concerned him. He bid the agents a good night, and left the house.

However, at five am, Assistant Director Walter Skinner called the agents. They were needed urgently in Des Moines, Iowa, to assist in a possible cult-related mass killing. It would be six long, gruesome days before Agents Mulder and Scully could become Dana and Mulder, two adults trying to connect with their adult children. Whenever they had an off-duty moment, Jeremiah's revelations were all they talked about.

********

"So tell me again why you like to sit on the roof at three am on a Sunday morning," James Dalton asked Cait. When he had arrived back home after taking Krycek to the Group's headquarters, he had gone looking for Cait. He had found her sitting on the roof, looking at the stars.

"If I'm here on the roof, then I'm in no danger of falling asleep," was the quiet reply.

"Nightmares bugging you?"

"Yep."

"Tell me about them."

"Why?" At Jimmy's look of concern, Cait went on. "There are two types. Death and destruction in one type, with me in the starring role. The other, after the struggles everything works out, with my parents in the lead, and my siblings right there with them. I, however, am not. The meaning seems fairly clear."

"Stay and there's a bloodbath, go and all's well."

"See, Jimmy? You're a fast learner." Cait lay back until she was leaning on her elbows. "I love looking at the night sky, you know. I look at the constellations and think about the myths that grew around them thousands of years ago. Watching the way the stars move through the sky helps me feel grounded, strangely enough," she finished quietly.

Jimmy watched Cait as she slowly relaxed, and felt a surge of emotion. He had always had deep feelings for Cait, and sharing a house had only made those feelings stronger. As he watched her, his whirling thoughts stilled, and he knew exactly what to say to the woman he considered his best friend.

"Let's change your dreams, Cait."

"What do you mean?"

"Let's change the focus away from you."

"And just how do you propose to do that?"

"Interesting choice of words."

"What do. . .oh, no," Cait stopped as she realised what Jimmy was trying to say. "You cannot be serious about this."

"I am. Marry me, and change the focus from you to us." Cait started to shake her head, and he rushed on before she could say anything to him. "It all became clear to me when you said that you're the factor in your dreams. Going from 'you' to 'us' changes that. It stops the burden being yours alone, and even though I don't have the abilities that you do, I can be here for you. You know, share the burdens, sickness and health, the whole nine yards." He looked into her eyes, to try to determine if his plea was succeeding. "Please, Cait. Say yes. Please. Don't make me get on my knees to beg, because I'll fall off the roof!"

Cait started to chuckle as the visual of Jimmy going down on one knee and then sliding off the roof appeared in her mind. "We need to talk about this, but my gut reaction is to say not yet." She took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. "Let's go inside. We both need sleep." Jimmy looked a little confused, and she added, "Wanna share my bed?"

He grinned widely, and answered, "Hell, yes!"

"Just to sleep, that's all, okay?" Cait waited until she saw the understanding go through his thoughts, and the two of them continued off the roof and into the house.

They got ready for bed, and Jimmy pulled Cait into his arms, and covered them both with the quilt. He kissed her hair, and they wished each other good night.

Two hours later Cait woke up screaming.

"Tell me what you see!" he demanded.

Cait looked up at him. He had never seen her in this kind of state before. Cait was covered in perspiration, and her eyes were huge and unfocussed. Gradually, her breathing slowed, and she began to speak.

"Ships overhead, Hunters all around us, my parents and siblings gone." She finally focussed on Jimmy, and whispered, "You were gone, too. So much death." Her gaze seemed to go inward as she spoke almost to herself, "Have to find the keys to the kingdom."

Jimmy shook her gently. "Come on back to me, Cait. Focus on me. Breathe with me."

Cait struggled against him briefly, then relaxed as she listened to him repeating the same things over and over. Fifteen minutes passed, and she looked at him wryly, and said, "Bet you didn't think that they were that bad, huh?"

"Doesn't matter to me. All that matters is you." He held her gently, then asked, "What do you think the keys of the kingdom are?"

"I think we need to talk to Jeremiah." At his nod, she continued, "I think he has the answers that we need."

********

Two nights later, Cait woke from another dream. This one, however, wasn't one of hers: it was a dream that Dana Scully was having.

"Mom?" Cait asked. "You need to wake up."

Half a continent away, Dana stirred and her eyes flew open. "Caitlyn?" How is this possible?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but I think that we're connected now because of last Friday night."

Dana came fully awake with Cait's answer. "Where are you?"

"In bed in DC. Your dream woke me up, so I thought I'd try and rouse you from it." Cait paused, then asked, "Is that okay?"

Dana looked around her. Mulder was sound asleep beside her. The details of the case they were on flooded back into her mind, and she answered Cait, "Yes. Thank you for doing that." Dana took a few deep breaths to calm down, and continued, "And thank you for saving my life. I wanted to see you on Saturday night, but Jeremiah wouldn't allow it. Then we were assigned this case."

"It's not a walk in the park, is it?" Cait asked. "Look in the victim's hair. There's a larva in their hair." Cait's voice had taken on a dreamlike quality while she spoke, then went back to normal. "Find the larva means you find the area means you find the killers. Not a cult, just garden-variety psychos."

"Mulder felt that was the case, but the locals don't agree. Now I can prove it, and we can come back to DC. Then, you and I need to talk."

"Looking forward to it. Now, sleep." Cait paused, and added, "Mom."

"Night, Caitlyn," Dana said, and turned to find a wide awake Mulder looking at her in amazement.

"Would you like to tell me what that was all about?" he asked.

"It seems that Caitlyn and I have some kind of psychic connection." Mulder raised his eyebrows, and Dana continued. "She thinks that it could be due to her healing me."

"So she fessed up to that."

"Yep. And, she gave me a line of investigation to follow." Dana yawned, and said, "I'll tell you all about it in a few hours, at the morgue. Okay?"

Mulder grumbled a little, but acquiesced. 'Anything to bring this horrific case to a close,' he thought.

Cait leant back into Jimmy's arms. 'That's never happened before,' she thought, 'but I've never healed my mom before, either.' She smiled slightly as she drifted back to sleep.

********

"The keys to the kingdom, you say?" Jeremiah hadn't heard the beacons referred to in that way since he arrived on Earth. "Where did you hear that?"

"In my dreams. I know that you know what I'm talking about, so tell me," Cait demanded.

Jeremiah sighed, and sat down, motioning for Cait to do the same. "When we arrived here, one of the artefacts from my civilisation that we brought was a very powerful beacon. It broadcasts a number of different signals to the installations here on your planet, and to our ships. Including the ships that are en route."

"Can it be turned off?"

"Yes."

Cait thought furiously, then asked, "Can its output be changed to disable the ships, and damage the ground installations?"

He pondered this for a time, then answered in the affirmative. "But to change the frequencies, or destroy the beacon, you need to be at its control panel." Cait's look said 'So?', and Jeremiah filled in the blanks. "Caitlyn, this is a very powerful transmitter. My people don't even approach it in protective clothing. The Consortium humans don't go near it. No one knows what will happen to those who approach it."

"I know exactly what will happen."

He looked at Cait's face, and he realised that she truly understood what the likely outcome would be. He nodded.

"So, tell me how to change the frequencies, or destroy it. This needs to happen soon." At Jeremiah's look of surprise, she added, "My dreams are getting clearer, which means it's not far off." Cait stood and walked around the room. "It's time for me to take the keys of the kingdom, and change them so that your people don't have their promised land anymore."

********

It was late Friday evening, and Special Agents Mulder and Scully had just arrived back in Washington DC. As they walked down the jetway, talking quietly, Dana looked around. Cait and Jimmy were waiting for them.

"Wow, a welcoming committee! What's the occasion?" she asked.

Jimmy answered. "Cait said that she needed to make sure that both of you were okay, after what this case was like."

Dana looked at the younger woman, and noted that she looked troubled. 'There's something that she's not saying that's got her twisted. Have to find out what it is.' Dana heard Mulder answer.

"Yeah, it wasn't a great experience, but thanks to Caitlyn, we were able to point the locals in the right direction. In fact, we were at the airport when the sheriff called us to let us know that they'd taken three suspects into custody. I suggested that they zero in on the one that seemed weakest, and he'd give up his buddies." He was about to continue, when his cell chirped. He moved away to take the call, and when he came back, he was grinning.

"Good news?" asked Dana.

"The best. Each one of the suspects confessed, but made out that it was the other two's idea." He looked at Dana, and said, "See? This is the kind of case that you like." At her questioning gaze, he added, "Closed and resolved." Dana laughed softly as she nodded.

"We're okay, Caitlyn."

Cait simply shrugged, and turned away. When Jimmy reached out for her, she looked at him, and he nodded.

"And we think we've got that silent communication thing going. What do you think about these two, Scully?"

"I think that we need to get to know them better," Dana responded. Looking at Jimmy she said, "You know where I live." He nodded, and she continued, "Lunch tomorrow, one pm. Dress casual, and make sure Caitlyn is with you." He nodded again, and the two agents went in search of their bags.

"Lunch tomorrow?" asked Cait as she returned.

"Yep. Please don't walk off like that again. I may be a telepath, but they aren't, and it's not polite." He took her hand, and went on. "Something has really got you worried, and I'd like to know what it is. Please?"

Cait looked at her best friend. "I'm not ready to talk about it yet. Just give me some time, please." She started walking out of the airport, pulling Jimmy along with her. After a few steps, he gave up trying to stop her, and they walked at a more normal pace to their car.

********

Lunch was surprisingly upbeat. Mulder and Dana had slept well, and Cait seemed to have thrown off the sombre mood of the night before. Following the meal, they decided to go to the Mall to work off some energy. Once Mulder had found out that Jimmy was a Yankees fan, he insisted that 'the men' toss a ball around, while 'the womenfolk' watched them get hot and sweaty. Dana and Cait smiled, and sat in the shade while they watched the boys play. After about ten minutes of small talk, Dana decided it was time for some answers.

"So. You're my daughter."

"Yes. I am the result of an IVF procedure that fertilized an ovum of yours with one of Agent Mulder's sperm. I was grown in a cloning tank for four years, then spent five years at Tufts, when you add resident time in. I am completely human. My DNA has been enhanced a little, and I am, for want of a better expression, psychic."

"And you have three siblings."

"Two brothers and a sister. You've met Bria. My brothers look like Agent Mulder, but one has red hair, and the other has blue eyes."

"Can you tell me what I'm thinking?"

"If that's what you want me to do." At Dana's nod, Cait sighed and muttered, "you asked for it," under her breath. Then Cait leant back, and her eyes became unfocussed as she started to talk.

"This is all unbelievable. Genetically enhanced humans. Aliens all around us. She's really reading my mind." Cait felt a cool hand on her arm, and she stopped.

"Can you switch it off?"

"Yes. I have my mental barriers in place pretty much all the time, except for when I sleep. That's when the dreams happen." Cait looked at Dana, and said, "I didn't mean to listen to your dreams the other night."

"That's okay." Dana was silent for a few minutes, then asked, "What's going on between you and Jimmy?"

"We sleep in the same bed; we haven't had sex yet; he's my best friend; he asked me to marry him; I haven't answered yet. Those are the high points."

"Is there a reason why you haven't answered?"

"Maybe I want my parents to approve first."

That one comment showed Dana how seriously Cait was taking the whole situation. Cait knew who her parents were, and was just insecure enough to want their approval before taking a life-altering step. As Dana recovered from that shock, she looked at Mulder and Jimmy. 'They seem to be getting along, and Jimmy has to be a good man, otherwise Caitlyn wouldn't want anything to do with him,' she thought. Out loud, she said, "Why wouldn't we approve? Look at how your father is treating him: like a long-lost friend." Cait released the breath she didn't realise she'd been holding, and smiled at her mother.

"So, we can do this?" Dana nodded. "And you and dad will be there?" Another nod, and Cait laughed out loud as the burden of fear that she'd been carrying around fell from her shoulders. She gathered her thoughts, and sent Jimmy a message, that the answer was yes, and it needed to be soon. He stopped in mid-stride and turned to look at the two women, both of whom wore silly grins. He whooped out loud, and ran over to them. He picked Cait up and twirled her around, saying, "Thank you," over and over.

Mulder walked over to where they had been sitting, and put his hand out to help Dana stand. "What's going on?"

"Our little girl is getting married," came the quiet response.

"And you're okay with this?"

"More than okay. Mulder, Caitlyn is our child. Conceived without our knowledge or agreement, certainly, but we can't blame her for that. She is an intelligent woman, who seems to have inherited the best of both of us. And, more to the point, Jimmy loves her, and makes her happy. So, yes, I am okay with this," she finished with a soft smile.

Mulder looked down at her, and said, "Well, why don't we make it a double wedding, right now?"

"I was beginning to think that you'd never ask. Sounds good to me, Mulder. Let's tell the kids."

Three hours later, the formalities had been dispensed with. Byers was a Justice of the Peace, and all four had recent blood tests available. Maggie Scully was there, to see Dana and Mulder take the plunge. Then Mulder gave Cait away, and when Byers asked if the two younger people had any special vows to say, they looked into each others' eyes, and said in unison, "Forever". Dana and Maggie cried, and Mulder simply looked proud. Frohike cried when Dana said "I do." The couples went their separate ways for the briefest of honeymoons.

********

The next two weeks passed quietly for Agents Mulder and Scully. Monday, they let Skinner know of their change of marital status. All he said was, "It's about time," and asked what they'd like as a wedding gift. On Tuesday, an email arrived from Mulder's friend Pete Stratton, telling him that Caitlyn Crane had resigned from the Academy, and that she was the one called 'The Freak'. Dana simply nodded and said that she'd felt it likely that Caitlyn would resign. What happened on Wednesday, however, made Dana Scully's year. It was the day that Diana Fowley ceased to be a part of Mulder's life.

It was coming up towards lunch, and the agents were debating the merits of the various local eateries, when Fowley opened the door and walked into the X-Files office like she owned it. Dana was not amused. "How can we help you, Agent Fowley?"

"You can't, Agent Scully, But Fox can," she replied silkily. "Fox, I've just found a new Italian restaurant about ten minutes from here. I'd love to show it to you."

"I don't think so, Agent Fowley."

"But it's a beautiful day out, and the food is quite. . . tempting," she purred.

"No, Agent Fowley."

"Why not, Fox? It's just me."

Mulder seemed to consider her offer, leant back in his chair and grinned. "No, I really don't think so, Agent Fowley."

"But why?" Diana seemed genuinely bewildered at Mulder's lack of enthusiasm for her.

He looked over at Dana, and gave her a broad, genuine smile, and said, "Because I love my wife, Agent Fowley, and I will do nothing to hurt her, ever."

Fowley looked at the seated agents' left hands, saw the glint of gold bands, and her gaze grew cold. "I don't believe you, Fox. Of all people, you choose the Ice Queen? She can't have children, so you'll be the last of the Mulders." She spoke as if Dana wasn't even in the room.

"Well, Agent Fowley, then I suppose that you need to be enlightened," said Mulder as he opened his desk drawer and pulled out a small tape recorder. He motioned to the chair in front of his desk, and said, "Perhaps you'd better sit down." At her bemused look, he added, "I don't want you to fall down."

Fowley smirked as she sat, and said, "Nothing that I hear can have that effect. . ." then became silent as she heard two voices on the tape. One was hers, the other was the Bounty Hunter. The three of them sat in the office and listened to Fowley and the Hunter plan Dana Scully's death.

Mulder switched the tape off. He looked at Dana, and motioned for her to ask the questions.

"So, Agent Fowley. Is that you on that tape?"

Fowley sat there with her mouth opening and closing like one of Mulder's fish. Finally, she whispered, "Where did you get that?"

Dana simply said, "We have friends, too, Agent Fowley. Now, can you explain why you want me dead?"

"Because you weren't supposed to survive the cancer. Fox was supposed to be mine again," all being said in that same strained whisper.

"You know, Agent Fowley," said Mulder, "The best course of action for you would be to leave."

"Leave?" she repeated stupidly.

"Yes, leave. Leave the Bureau, leave the country, and leave us alone. I don't love you, and I don't want to see you any more. In fact, if you don't leave right now, I'll have to take this tape up to AD Skinner, and I'll let him decide how quickly to arrest you. That's the only option, so take it or leave it."

Fowley sat there, and Dana watched as the older woman's face fell. Dana knew that she was witnessing the complete destruction of Fowley's world. It made her feel sad, very briefly, and then she simply invited Fowley to leave. Fowley stood slowly, and walked towards the door like an old, old woman. Fowley reached the door, opened it, and with a last, longing look at Mulder, she left. Mulder was immediately on the phone to one of his buddies in building security, letting him know that Diana Fowley was on her way out of the building, and shouldn't be allowed back in unescorted.

Dana took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. "Do you think we've seen the last of her?"

Mulder thought for a bit, and answered, "I think so. You can bet that Smoking Man will find out about this if he doesn't already know, and make sure that she's not in any position to threaten his plans." Dana nodded, and he said, "So, lunch now?" She chuckled softly and stood up, extending her hand to him. He too stood, kissed her softly, and they both left for the fresh air and sunshine. It seemed to shine brighter for Dana, with Fowley finally out of their lives.

********

It was Saturday night, and Dana and Mulder were relaxing after spending the day doing chores, when there was a hammering on the door. Mulder got up and checked through the peephole. "It's the kids," he said to Dana. He opened the door to Cait and James.

"Jeremiah needs to see the two of you, tonight. We're here to take you to him, if that's alright with you."

The agents looked at each other, and Mulder answered. "Sure. Let's go."

During the hour long trip, Dana noticed that James was doing all of the talking. Cait's sombre mood of two weeks earlier was back. "Caitlyn?" she asked.

Cait seemed to wake from a daze. "Mom?"

"Is everything alright? You seem to have a lot on your mind."

"I'm okay. Jeremiah will answer all your questions soon." And she closed off again. Jimmy sighed, and kept driving.

Once they were at the installation, the four of them were ushered into a meeting room. As Mulder and Scully gazed around the room, they were both struck with the air of anticipation. Scully turned to Mulder, and whispered, "This is a war briefing."

Mulder whispered back, "If that's the case, I hope we're on the right side." They both turned their attention to the front of the room when Padraic Crane stood and called the meeting to order.

Dana was listening to the different options that were being discussed, when she felt more than heard Caitlyn leave the room. She touched Mulder on the arm, and whispered to him that she was going to follow Caitlyn. He nodded, and Dana slipped out.

She caught up with Caitlyn about thirty seconds later.

"We need to talk, you know."

"Come outside with me. It's a clear night, and the stars are out. We can talk there."

Cait kept walking until she and Dana had walked to a soccer field, and had climbed to the top of the bleachers. She motioned for Dana to sit, and simply said, "Mom."

"Tell me what's bothering you so much, Caitlyn."

"Cait, not Caitlyn. Just Cait."

Dana was a little taken aback, but gathered her thoughts and pressed on. "Alright, Cait, what's going on?"

Cait didn't answer the question. Instead, she looked up at the stars, and said, "I've always loved the night sky. It helps me feel centred when I can watch the stars rotate around me."

"You didn't bring me out here to point out the constellations, though. What is it?"

"My part of the fighting is what it is. I'm going to disable the beacon, and it's fairly dangerous."

Dana Scully was not a great investigator because she was stupid. "You don't think you'll come back, do you?"

"That's the probability, yes."

"You just need the right backup." At Cait's quizzical expression, Dana added,
"Me. I'll come with you."

Cait seemed to consider the proposal, and agreed. If Dana had known Cait a little better, she would have been more on her guard. Cait stood and started walking back down the bleachers. "You coming?" she queried. Dana got up and followed her daughter back towards the buildings.

Shortly, the two women arrived outside a squat building set apart from the main buildings. "This is the armoury, mom. You ready?"

"Lead on, Cait," was Dana's response.

Cait moved into the armoury, and started selecting weapons and ammunition. She paused by the body armour, looked at Dana, and selected an appropriate size, which she then handed over.

Dana slipped it on, and said, "Good choice, and a perfect fit."

"I'm a good guesser," was the quiet response. Cait then handed her mother a selection of weapons and full clips. "The ammunition is all magnetite, so it'll stop hybrids and super soldiers as well as humans." She looked at Dana, and saw a lack of understanding. "If you had stayed in the briefing, you'd know about this. Just aim for the chin or the base of the skull. It's a guaranteed kill shot."

"You seem quite unfazed about killing."

Cait had selected an Uzi, which she proceeded to check over as she spoke. "That is not the case. I have killed five Hunters and eleven super soldiers. Did you know that when something dies, it releases a burst of thoughts?" Dana shook her head, and Cait pressed on. "When the death is violent, it's worse. Sixteen times, I have been bombarded with all sorts of thoughts, ranging from anger to grief to relief. That's why I don't stick around to talk about it. Anyway, I can sense the different species, and I act accordingly." Cait shrugged into her body armour, and said, "Here, let me help you with that."

Dana simply stood and waited for Cait to adjust the armour. Too late, she felt Cait press on her neck, and as Dana slipped into unconsciousness, she heard Cait say, "I want Caitlyn Mulder Dalton on my headstone."

"No," said Dana. Then the blackness swallowed her.

Cait placed her palm on her mother's forehead. "I'm sorry, mom, but dad needs you. Your baby needs you. Look after Jimmy for me. You won't be out long, but you will remember this."

Fifteen minutes later, Jimmy and Mulder found Dana on the floor of the armoury. "Dana, wake up. Where's Cait?"

"Dammit, she's gone," Dana said as she sat up and looked around. "She knocked me out!"

Jimmy was about to ask another question when Jeremiah came up to her, and knelt beside her. "Leave us. This won't take long," he said.

"We'll be just outside," Mulder said to his wife, and he and Jimmy left.

Jeremiah looked at Dana with kind, sad eyes. "You need to tell me what Caitlyn said to you."

"It was more what she thought at me," Dana mused. She recalled Cait's parting words, and gripped Jeremiah's arms. "We need to find her. She's going to need our help!"

Jeremiah shook his head, and said "She will need us, but not to help her. She'll need us to bury her."

"No. I won't accept that. You cannot let her die." Dana's voice had gotten louder, then faded away to almost nothing, and she finished in a whisper, "You can't let my daughter die."

"Let's get moving, and give Cait all the help that she needs," came a new voice. Padraic Crane had moved into the armoury, and had ordered that weapons and materiel be distributed. He checked Dana's weapons and armour, and said to her, "You're good to go. Take Jeremiah, Jimmy, and Mulder. Jimmy will know who else to take." He looked directly into his mother's eyes, blue into piercing blue. "If anyone can save her, it'll be you," he said as he gripped her shoulder. Then he turned, and started giving orders. Mulder and Jimmy were quickly outfitted, the rest of the team selected, and they were off.

********

Cait had moved efficiently through the building, picking off adversaries as if it was a simple video game. She could feel the atmosphere change as she approached the beacon, and became aware that the beacon was sentient. She paused only briefly to place small shaped charges on the outer panels, then she opened the six inch thick glass panel, and entered the inner room.

"What kind of creature are you?" a voice boomed in her head.

"I'm the one that's going to break the key," Cait responded confidently. She moved towards the glowing sphere, and almost immediately felt a push back. 'So that's how it's going to be,' she thought grimly. She pulled her visor down, and locked and loaded her weapon.

"Your weapons will not hurt me."

"Do you truly know so little of us?" Cait asked, and was unsurprised at the answer.

"All I need to know, I have gleaned from the minds of those around me. You will fail."

"Can you read me?"

There was a hesitation as the entity tried to probe Cait's mind, and failed. She could sense what the entity was trying to do, and felt satisfied that she was able to resist its probing. She approached the control panel located directly underneath the sphere, and started to change the settings. She felt the entity' pushing of her intensify, and the glow increased. As it did, Cait felt the temperature in the room begin to rise. 'Now the fun really begins,' she thought.

It was becoming harder for her to focus on the task at hand. She had felt the popping of the shaped charges as the outer control panels were destroyed. The entity was buffeting her mind as well as her body, and she felt herself starting to weaken. Suddenly, the entity's attention was focussed away from her. She heard Dana Scully shout, "No!" The rest of the team was laying down covering fire outside the control room.

"Puny humans and the traitor. You will all suffer."

"Not if I can help it," Cait said, and raised her weapon. Flipping the Uzi to full auto mode, she emptied a clip of magnetite bullets into the sphere. In response, she felt something like a giant hand pick her up and throw her into the glass wall. Something cracked, and Cait thought grimly, 'I didn't need that shoulder, anyway.' She calmly ejected the clip, inserted another, and kept firing from her position against the wall. This was repeated again and again until she had expended all the clips she'd brought with her.

The entity was weakening. The only thing that it had sensed from Cait was that Dana was important to her, so it focussed on Dana. Cait felt her mother start to gasp for air, and said to the being, "No-one hurts my mother." She pulled herself away from the wall, and walked straight at the sphere. Cait dropped all of her mental barriers, and hit the entity with every thought and every feeling that she could find from five years' worth of experiences. Beams of heat and light lanced out at her, but she continued her movement towards the control panels. "This is for all those who your people have hurt over the years," she said as she pulled the cover off. As she plunged her hand deep into the device's innards, she added, "And this is for all the times my parents were hurt because of you." She opened her hand, and dropped a magnetite grenade into the internal workings of the sphere.

"You too will die," the entity said.

"If it means that I take you with me, then I'll gladly pay the price to be rid of you and your kind." Cait pulled out her Sig Sauer, and aimed it at the very heart of the sphere. "I'll see you in hell," was said as she pulled the trigger and emptied a fifteen shot clip into the sphere in two seconds. As the last bullet entered the sphere, the grenade exploded, and Cait was once again thrown across the room. There was a huge burst of heat and light, then nothing.

Jeremiah helped Dana to a sitting position.

"Is it over?" she asked him.

"Yes. The beacon is destroyed. The ships in transit have been left deaf, blind, and crippled. The self-destruct mechanisms have all been started, and within the next seventy-two hours, all the ships will become dust."

Dana was listening to Jeremiah's answer, but was waiting for the light to fade so that she could determine how Cait was. She tuned in to hear him say that the earthbound installations were now wide open, and that the warriors were going in to clean up. Then the light faded, and Dana whispered, "No," as she spotted Cait's crumpled body. Then she asked Jeremiah, "Can you get that door open?"

He hurried to do as she had asked, and Dana made her way over to the figure against the wall. "Cait?" she asked as she started to inventory Cait's injuries. There was a commotion behind them, and the rest of the team came into the room. Jimmy made his way over to them, and knelt beside Cait.

"Can you help her? Jeremiah, there must be something that you can do." He was openly sobbing as he turned to Dana and said, "You're a doctor, surely you can do something," he repeated over and over as he held Cait's limp hand.

The activity around her seemed to bring Cait back. She looked at Dana, and said, "Look after Jimmy," and to him, she said, "Look after my baby brother." She smiled at him, and mouthed, 'Love you.' Then her eyes rolled back, and she was gone.

Dana turned to Jeremiah, and she was furious. "You can bring her back, I know you can."

"I cannot, Agent Scully. She absorbed too much of the beacon's energy to survive it."

"I don't accept that. You will do all you can. . ." she faded out as the room seemed to become brighter. The glow was coming from Cait.

Something seemed to take control of Dana, and she saw herself place her hands on Cait's body, one on her head and one on her heart. Jeremiah, too, was drawn to place his hands on Cait. The glow intensified, and Dana saw two small boys playing together. The boys stopped playing, looked directly at Dana, and she felt them tell her to look after Sean's mama, and that Will would see her soon. The glow began to fade, and after it went away completely, Cait drew in a shuddering breath. Dana immediately began giving orders, and Cait was quickly taken for treatment.

********

Cait slowly came back to herself, and her first thought was, 'Where am I?' As she became more aware, she recognised the sounds and smells of a hospital. She tentatively reached out with her mind, and encountered the cool familiarity of her mother.

"Well, it's about time you woke up!"

Cait grinned, and asked, "How long?"

Dana walked over to the bed, and picked up her daughter's hand. "Three weeks. The vent came out after the first week, and we've been waiting for you to come back to us." Dana anticipated Cait's next question, and said, "Mulder took Jimmy down to the cafeteria for lunch. At leat one of us has been here with you the whole time."

"Why am I still here?" Cait queried. "I was sure that it was a one-way trip."

"You gave all of us quite a scare that I'm sure Jimmy will want to talk to you about, and that I certainly want to talk about with you," Dana said with a mock glare. "As near as Jeremiah and I can work out, it was our children that saved you."

Cait's look was priceless. "Children?"

"Yes. Both you and I are pregnant. I'm a couple of weeks further along than you. I assume that I have you to thank for the return of my fertility?" she posed.

Cait thought for a while, and agreed that it could be possible. "I'm just glad to be here. So, will you fill in the details, please?"

Dana had just finished telling Cait about the events in the control room when James and Mulder came into the room. "You're back!" exclaimed Jimmy, and he carefully sat beside her on the bed. Dana moved over to stand with Mulder, and they watched the two younger people get reacquainted. She saw a glimpse of the future, their future. She saw herself and Cait, heavily pregnant, with the men that they loved, looking forward to a new life in a new world. The vision Dana saw was glorious.

********

'History is written by the victors' was said by Winston Churchill.  The victors, in this case, were glad to be able to write anything independent at all.

It was called "The Reticulan Situation" by the government. After the destruction of the beacon, the warriors worked in tandem with the military to bring the members of the Consortium in. What happened after that, the warriors, and the Group, had nothing to do with.

There was a set of very public trials and