A Family Affair

Disclaimer: Don’t own it, wish I did, but I don’t. Honestly, if I did own it, there would be a lot more MSR going on, plus there’d still be season after season of X-Files going on. I do take credit for the new girl and the storyline, that’s really it.

Spoilers: None specifically; this is set way after the finale.

Okay, so I’m a total slacker. I’m sorry this took so long to get up and I apologize in advance for the major shortness, but I just had to get something on here. I kinda miss this story. Hope you like and I really will try to write more after finals are over in a week.

Chapter Seven: Home for the Lonely

Samantha sat quietly looking out the bay window to the street. There were children playing and neighbors conversing over white fences. People walked their dogs and stopped to wave at those they knew. Cars drove slowly as to not hit the children playing touch football down the way.

She remembered when life had been like this and she missed it. Ever since he had been taken away from her family and friends she longed for life to be like this for her again. She missed her brother, her mother and father. She missed the girls she used to play with and her pets. She missed everything about her old life except one thing: what really happened to her the night she was abducted.

She didn’t tell the story anymore. She couldn’t stand the strange looks she received when she told it. No one really believed her, even when they said they did. Only one person would believe her if she told them, but she had died years before. Knowing someone out there believed her would keep her going, but now she had to try and convince the Foxes that her story was true and that they alone could help her.

Scully stood by the sink rewashing the same plate that she had started on ten minutes before. She didn’t look down at it. Instead she looked out the window at the children playing, the neighbors laughing, and the quiet business of everyday occurring. She had looked out this window hundreds of time in their three years there, but never did she notice just how peaceful it all was. When she worked for the FBI she dreamed of a day where she could look out her window and see this sight. Now, three years after moving in, she was really seeing it for the first time. She realized just how lonely she had always been. Even with her family and Mulder around her she couldn’t help but be alone.

She had a home now and a developing family, but she still felt like she was missing something. It wasn’t William. She knew she had done right by her son in giving him up, but there was still something she felt she needed to have in her life. She felt more fulfilled now than she ever had in the past, but she knew it still wasn’t enough.

Mulder sat in the den quietly reflecting on what had transpired in the last few hours. He had his sister back. She was in his house. They had had dinner together and she laughed at his old jokes. He knew there was something different about her, but to him it didn’t matter. His sister was there. She was alive and now he could get to know her all over again. He had missed her and felt so alone, even when he had Scully. All the years of searching had paid off and he had found her.

He knew it could never be the same, but he also knew that everything was better now that he had her back in his life. It wasn’t that his life wasn’t full. He was desperately happy with Scully and was proud of the life they had made with each other, but there was still that piece of him that was missing. He knew Scully could feel it. He could feel she felt the same way. Perhaps they needed the same thing, but neither knew what it was. Perhaps they would never know what the missing part of them was, but they had each other and now Mulder had his sister. Knowing these things helped him continue.

She couldn’t put her finger on it, but Samantha knew that there was something wrong in the Fox home. There was a void that couldn’t be filled. Not by her, or anything else for that matter. She knew what loss was like, but she had never felt it so strong before. She knew that these were the people who would help her and that the bond the three of them shared was immense. She knew them. She knew who they were. She knew everything. She just hoped they would know enough to help her.

Thinking about it made it harder for her to sit still. She had to get up and do something. She rose from her seat and made her way into the kitchen where Scully was still washing the same plate.

“You’ll rub a hole in it.”

“Huh?” Scully asked snapping out of her daze. “Oh,” she said looking down, “I guess I got distracted.”

“Distractions can be good things.” She helped herself to the dishtowel and dishes set of to dry. As she wiped the plates and utensils down, she looked out the window at the street. “I remember this.”

“What do you mean?”

“I remember what it was like to be normal. What it was like to have a home and a family and a street to look out on while I helped with the dishes. It’s weird. I miss doing little things like this. I miss having a normal conversation.”

“I would imagine.” Scully placed the dishes in the drying rack, but didn’t look up at Samantha.

“You know, Dana, there’s a lot that you and Fox are missing out on by hiding like you are.”

A shatter rand through the house as the plate hit the tile floor. Shocked, Scully turned to Samantha, “What did you say?”

“You heard me. The government doesn’t care about you anymore, but I do. Maybe if you stopped hiding you could get more joy out of your life.” She looked back at Scully calmly. “I’m here to help you. If you help me of course.”

Wow. That ended up being a lot longer than I thought it would be. I just started typing and couldn’t stop. Hmm…maybe another chapter will happen sooner than I thought it would. Crosses fingers I’ll try.