DAYBREAK I: DUSK story by: Jennifer Frye(LFrye123@aol.com) adaptation/interpretation by: Annie Jennings(Auralissa@aol.com) Disclaimer in part one. EPILOGUE: SILHOUETTES "So you walked with me for a while Bared your naked soul And you told me of your plan How you would never let them know In the morning of the night You cried a long lost child And I tried oh I tried to hold you But you were young And you were wild "But I, I will never be the same Oh, I, I will never be the same Caught in your eyes Lost in your name I will never be the same "Secrets of your life I never wanted for myself But you guarded them like a lie And placed them on the highest shelf In the morning of the night When I woke to find you gone I knew your distant devil Must be dragging you along "But I, I will never be the same Oh, I, I will never be the same Caught in your eyes Lost in your name I will never be the same "And you swore that you were bound for glory And for wanting you had no shame But I loved you And then I lost you And I will never be the same "But I, I will never be the same Oh, I, I will never be the same Caught in your eyes Lost in your name I will never be the same" --Melissa Etheridge "I Will Never Be The Same", Yes I Am, 1993 J. Edgar Hoover Building Washington, D.C. 11:21 AM, Wednesday, November 20 Dana Scully's high heels echoed on the tile floor of the hallway outside of Fox Mulder's basement office. It seemed like a year instead of a week... had time really passed so slowly? Was she really that different since she had left Washington? She knew that she was different. The pure, good, and clear search for the truth had been replaced by a distorted, bitter, and clouded search for her son. Her son... oh, God, why him? Scully was empty of tears to shed. They were all gone, spilled for herself, for Mulder, but most of all for Christopher Ahab. Her lost child, her stolen dream, and her life. She braced herself for opening the door on him. Was he as broken and as shattered as she was? She was unsure of the man she would see when she entered the office. God knows that she was different... was he, too? Scully knocked on the door, and she heard an empty call. "Come in." Mulder sat at the desk, his face buried in his hands, the fingers ruffling his brown hair. His tie was loose around his neck, his jacket and coat draped over the back of a chair. When he saw Scully in the doorway, he started to get on his feet, but Scully shook his head, signalling for him to stay seated. She took the seat across from him, and crossed her legs. She looked pale, and her eyes were red from crying. She looked tired, weary, and full of sadness. It was funny, just how empty he had felt this past week, without his silent son and his makeshift wife always with him, beside him. They had been so close that now there was a hole in his heart... and it only grew bigger when he realized what he would have to do. "How have you been, Dana?" he asked, surprising her with the sentient use of her first name. She shook her head, slowly. "I don't think that I could ever cry again," she murmured. He felt the pain that she radiated. He nodded, slowly. "I told Skinner the entire story," he said. She nodded. "What did he make of it?" He shook his head. "I don't know how I know, but I think that this has permanently shaken Skinner's faith in the government and the system... That wasn't my intention, Scully, and I feel guilty about it. I didn't want to ruin him, too. He believed me." Scully was only mildly surprised, but what Mulder did next got to her. He passed her a thin file, and she read the outside: X-1001106: Christopher Ahab Scully-Mulder. She looked up at him, quizzically. "You opened an X-File on him?" she asked. "That's why I called you," he explained. "I need your signature on it to initiate the file. I've already signed it. I think that this is the only place where I can do this. The only place where he belongs." She looked over the file, and felt sorrowful when she saw the photograph in it. It was of Christopher in his crib, staring pensively at the camera. She traced the outline of his face, remembering the softness of his skin, the silkiness of his flaming hair, the emptiness in those hooded blue eyes... Scully took out a fountain pen and signed her name: Dana K. Scully. "I can't stop thinking about him..." she whispered. "I suppose that you're right. This is where he belongs." He cleared his throat, and she noticed how nervous and edgy he was. She passed the file back to him, and he sat down across from her, holding her hands. "I've missed you so much..." he whispered. "I feel like a part of me's been taken away. You and Christopher are all that I am, and all that I ever will be." She knew how he felt. On every lonely night, she kept turning back to that night in the woods, when he had held her in his arms and kept her safe. "You're such a part of me, too," she confessed. "Mulder, what do we do? I don't know where we go from here." He nodded. "What do we do? Dana, you know how I feel..." She did, oh, God she knew. The words that she struggled to say were full of choked emotion. "Maybe... maybe it's best if we let things remain as they were for a while," she said, her voice denying the fact that she was dying inside. "Until he's back. Until we're all together." He nodded, and his soul wept the tears that he could not shed. "For him..." he agreed, and still held her hands in his. She looked away for a moment, then back at him. "I don't know how I could go on without you at my side. I need you with me, now and always." He looked earnestly at her. "And I will be with you. Always." She knew that he would be... and she knew that the decision she had made would haunt her always, and she already regretted it. She looked back into his green eyes, and furrowed her brow. "How are we going to continue this quest for the truth? Will the X-Files survive?" His jaw tightened, and he stared deeply into her eyes, so intense that it overpowered her. "We have to tell the people involved about this. The people have a right to know. They should know that they are needed. And a child out there needs us. This is only the beginning of all of this." "The dusk before the night..." she murmured, and he nodded. "This is our time to strike back," he vowed, and she knew that he was right. They needed vengeance. They needed to stop letting these men torture and control them. This was the time for revenge. Fox William Mulder stood up, his sillhouette pronounced by the desk lamp. He looked strong, powerful, and willing, standing in the light, unafraid to move on. He gave her his hand, and she accepted it, entering the light as well, and being consumed by his strength, his courage, and his will. She was almost whole next to him, and he was almost whole next to her. "I'll be here, Mulder," she promised. "I will always be here for you." Mulder put his hand on her shoulder, wishing that he could do more. "I know," he whispered. And the two solemnly prepared for the dark, deep, fathomless night. THE END Thank you for reading this! This is the first story in a trilogy, and I will soon be sending the second part, "Night", in. Merci, mes amis.