Laura Cooksey
lcooksey@clark.net

Based on characters copyright 1995 by Ten-Thirteen
Productions, Chris Carter and 20th Century Fox. No copyright
infringement intended.
The author welcomes comments at her e-mail address.

               Friends and Enemies
                 Part Two of Two

     Aaron looked a little embarrassed, but did as she asked.
Pacing near the stove, he said, "This is difficult. It's a
subject I've always avoided discussing, but it's important
that you know, Mr. Mulder."
     "Go on."
     "Very well." He took a deep breath. "I'm aware of what
happened to your sister, Samantha, and of your encounter with
the shapeshifter." Scully saw Mulder go deathly still, his
face betraying no emotion as Aaron continued. "I've been asked
to tell you that not all visitors are your enemies. There are
those who would treat you as an expendable species, and those
that are benign or indifferent to you. But there are also
those who wish to help."
     "And which type are you?" Mulder asked calmly.
     "Believe it or not, Mr. Mulder, I'm almost as human as
you are."
     "Almost?"
     Aaron shrugged. "There have been changes made to me.
Physically and genetically, I doubt if you could tell much
difference between us without extensive testing. Emotionally
and mentally, though, well, I haven't had much exposure to
other humans. I'm just here studying."
     Scully looked from one man to the other. Aaron seemed
sane, despite his crazy story. Mulder -- she couldn't tell what
he was thinking. "And why should we believe you?" she asked.
     He shrugged again. "I'm not here to prove anything to
either one of you. Just to talk. Whether you believe, or
whether you don't, is not my concern."
     "And that's your message?" Mulder said skeptically.
     "No. My message is that we -- my people -- are small
players in the great scheme of things, but that we are not
without resources. We're trying to find your sister, Agent
Mulder. If we do, we'll be certain to let you know anything we
find out."
     Mulder sat very still for a long time before answering.
"That's it? You know Samantha disappeared, you don't know
where she is, but if you hear anything you'll let me know?"
His voice trembled with anger and disappointment; he felt like
his memory of Sam was being used to manipulate him again. "The
UFO sightings -- were they just a ruse to get us out here?"
     Swallowing nervously at Mulder's anger, Aaron shook his
head, saying, "No. I was planning to travel to Washington to
see you, but the sightings brought you to me first." He paused
for a moment. "We know the shapeshifters had her. We're trying
to find out if they still do."
     Mulder went from angry to livid. "Shut up! How dare you?
How dare you jerk me around like this?" He was shouting as he
stood up.
     Aaron's voice echoed in his head. <Please don't be angry,
Mr. Mulder. I'm telling the truth.>
     Mulder gasped in shock at the emotionless, icy voice that
touched his mind. He twisted toward the bed and grabbed his
gun, knuckles going white with the force of his grip. "If you
_ever_ do that again," he said in a low voice, shaking with
fury, "I'll kill you." The pistol trembled in his hand as he
leveled it at Aaron's head.
     "Mulder!" Scully gasped, watching him stand stiffly, his
face tight, betraying little of the rage within him. But even
the little she saw frightened her. "Mulder, what's going on?
Put that gun down. Look at me!" she said, grabbing his left
arm.
     Aaron had gone pale, standing up slowly, his arms
extended at his sides, palms outward. His fear was obvious.
Mulder relaxed and let his arm drop, turning toward Scully. He
placed his gun in her hands, swallowing hard, looking pale and
shocky as he staggered past her to lean against the wall in
the corner of the room. He slid down to the floor and leaned
his head against his crossed arms on his knees. Scully glanced
over at Aaron, then went to kneel beside her partner.
     "Mulder?" She touched his arm lightly.
     "Go away, Scully. Just go away and leave me alone," he
whispered. "I'm so tired."
     Scully's heart ached at the anguish in his voice, but he
was so withdrawn that she resisted the temptation to try to
force him to talk to her. She said only, "I'll be right here
if you need me, Mulder." He gave no sign that he heard her.
     Aaron had retreated to the front wall of the cabin,
between the door and one of the windows. He leaned against the
wall for support, shaking with the shock of how close he'd
come to death that night. "Are you all right?" Scully asked.
     "I think so. No-one's ever threatened to kill me before,"
he replied nervously, running a hand through his salt-and-
pepper hair.
     "What did you do to him?" she asked. "What happened?"
     Aaron considered the gun in her hand carefully before
answering. "I touched his mind. It provoked the memory of his
sister's abduction, unfortunately." The older man was
stricken, looking lost. "I only meant to bring him hope, Dana.
Yet all I've done is anger and hurt him. I'm so sorry. Will he
be well? He looks and feels very ill." At Scully's puzzled
expression, he explained, "His mind feels ill to me."
     Scully gritted her teeth. This man was probably just
another barely-sane UFO-nut, and he might just have pushed
Mulder over the edge. "If you're what you say you are, prove
it to me," she snapped, losing patience.
     <Very well. But only because you insisted.>
     Scully's stomach tightened as Aaron's voice sounded
clearly, coldly, in her mind. "Oh my God," she whispered.
     "Please don't be afraid," Aaron begged.
     "I'm not," Scully said. "It's just... that wasn't a very
pleasant sensation."
     "I promise not to do it again, Dana. I know that it is
uncomfortable for most of you normal humans."
     Scully started to say something, but a noise from the
corner caught her attention. After a moment, she realized with
a stab of pain that Mulder was rocking back and forth with his
arms over his head. She returned to his side, first calling
his name, and then shaking him gently. Neither effort produced
a response. "Come on, Mulder, you're starting to scare me."
     Aaron had followed her. "He isn't aware of you or of his
surroundings. He's withdrawn."
     "You're certain?" she asked. When he nodded, she said,
"Then can you help me get him onto the bed where he'll be more
comfortable?"
     Looking relieved to be able to do something constructive,
Aaron motioned for her to step aside and scooped Mulder up
into his arms as if he were a small child. Scully picked her
gun up off of the foot of the bed and turned back the blanket
so Aaron could put Mulder down. Once on the bed, Mulder rolled
over, turning his back to them, curling up on his side with
his arm over his face. Scully tucked him in gently, wondering
how he had survived for so long with so much pain.
     "I'm glad you're here, Dana," Aaron said. "If I'd been
alone with him, I'm not certain what would have happened."
     "Neither am I," she said. She sat down on the edge of the
bed, her hip against Mulder's back, and stroked his hair
gently, over and over. Every so often she called his name, but
he never reacted. Several hours later she realized that she
had dozed off and that Aaron was talking to her.
     "Ms. Scully? Dana? I got my sleeping bag out, if you'd
like to lay down. I can watch him for a while."
     She almost said no, but she was still exhausted from
their ordeal in the storm, and -- in his current condition --
she didn't think it would make much difference to Mulder if
she was there or not. Besides, if Aaron wanted to hurt them,
he'd already had plenty of opportunities. She squeezed
Mulder's shoulder once before rising, wondering darkly if he'd
ever come out of it.
     *Dana! Stop that!* she chided herself angrily. *He'll be
okay. He has to be okay.* Aloud, she said only, "Thank you,
Aaron." She put both pistols in the sleeping bag with her and
watched him turn the lantern down low. He set the chair next
to the bed and sat down, folding his hands in his lap,
silently watching over Mulder.
     After another hour or so, Mulder started to stir. *Sam, I
still miss you so much,* he thought, rubbing the bridge of his
nose between his fingers, wiping away a tear. A hand stroked
his hair and he sighed. *Poor Scully. I really wigged out this
time; she must be worried sick.* He rolled over slowly and was
startled half out of his wits to see Aaron sitting beside the
bed. He gasped loudly, looking around in a panic for Scully,
backing away as far as he could without falling out of the
bed.
     Aaron held up both hands in a peaceful gesture. "Ms.
Scully was falling asleep, so I offered to watch you for a
while. She has both of your pistols. Would you like me to wake
her?"
     Mulder pushed himself up to a sitting position and tried
to calm down. "No. Let her rest." His heart hammered in his
chest as he thought of how strong Aaron was, and of how close
he'd come to shooting the man. *I can't believe Scully went to
sleep and left him watching me. He could have twisted my head
off!*
     "I'm sorry that I startled you, Agent Mulder. I didn't
realize that I was doing something inappropriate. Dana sat
with you for hours, touching you that way, and it seemed to
help you rest more easily. I'm sorry."
     *Hours?* he thought, glancing at his watch; it was nearly
five in the morning. *Scully must have been exhausted.* And
Aaron looked so distressed that Mulder could hardly remain
angry or frightened. "I... it's okay, Aaron. I'm just so tired
of the nightmares. And I miss Sam so much. So much," he
repeated, feeling his throat grow tight. He looked away.
     Aaron rose suddenly and began to quietly go through the
bottom drawer of the chest in the far corner of the room. He
came back with a small leather folder, clutching it in both
hands. "I'm not supposed to have this, really. And you must
promise me that you'll not show this to anyone other than
Dana."
     Mulder was wary. "I don't know if I can do that."
     Aaron sighed, hanging his head. "Very well. I'll take
whatever consequences come, then." He opened the folder and
extracted an old color photo, handing it to Mulder. Mulder
turned it around, then angled it toward the light, holding it
carefully by the edges.
     What he saw stunned him so badly that he could hardly
stop his hands from shaking so he could look at the photo.
"Sam," he breathed. "Oh my God, it's Samantha." But not as he
remembered her. She looked like a teenager in the picture,
wearing a flower-print tank top, smiling up at the camera,
blue sky and trees in the background. "Where did you get
this?" Mulder whispered through tears.
     "I'm not sure where it came from. I thought it might be
useful to convince you that I spoke the truth, but I wasn't
supposed to take it. And I'm certainly not supposed to give it
to you. But I couldn't sit here and watch you suffer," Aaron
said. He watched, fascinated, as Mulder stood and turned up
the lantern, examining the picture carefully.
     "She looks like she's about fourteen or fifteen," Mulder
said to himself. Tears kept blurring his vision, and he rubbed
his eyes with one arm. "Scully!" he called, bending to shake
her awake.
     "What?" she shouted, startled, as her eyes snapped open.
     "It's Sam, Scully, it's Sam! Look!" He thrust the picture
into her face and she took it carefully from him.
     "Take it easy, Mulder." She accepted the picture from him
and stood up, examining it for several minutes as carefully as
he had. "It looks real. You think it's your sister?"
     "I _know_ it is, Scully. It's evidence that she was alive
long after she was abducted."
     He sounded so excited that she could hardly bear to point
out, "That doesn't mean she's alive now, Mulder."
     He sobered. "I know, Scully. But it's the only physical
evidence I've ever had that she was alive at all after her
abduction."
     "You're sure it's her?"
     His face twisted in anguish as he thought hard about it,
facing his own doubts about the photo. But after nearly a
minute of silence he was able to honestly say, "Yes."
     Scully opened her arms to hug him and simply stood there
with him as he buried his face in her shoulder awkwardly and
wept with twenty years worth of relief. When the tears slowed
a little, she said, "You should sit down, Mulder. You aren't
very steady right now, and you're hyperventilating. Take a few
deep breaths."
     He nodded wordlessly and sat back down on the bed
cradling the picture in both hands, unable to take his eyes
off of it. Aaron's eyes were wide and he whispered to Scully,
"Is he okay?"
     "Yeah, I think so."
     "Are you okay?" he asked.
     Scully realized that she'd been crying, too, and wiped at
her eyes with the sleeve of her borrowed sweater. "I'm okay,
Aaron."
     "You don't believe me, do you?" he asked. "Why not? After
all you've seen in working with Agent Mulder, why do you still
not believe?"
     "It's just too outrageous. What would a species capable
of interstellar travel want with earth? Any resources would be
more easily obtained in free space. It just doesn't make any
sense."
     Aaron nodded, listening to her. "And the idea that a
species so much more technologically advanced than yours might
be capturing and experimenting on humans is a very frightening
one."
     Scully glanced up at him and bit her lip. "Yes. Yes, that
too." He nodded at her and didn't say anything else, walking
over to the window and looking out into the darkness, watching
the last of the storm expend its fury.
     The room had grown a little chilly, and Scully shivered.
"Mulder, I'm going to try to get another hour or two of sleep,
if that's okay."
     "Yeah, sure," he said, distracted. He stood up, still
staring at the photo, carefully committing every detail to his
eidetic memory. "You can take the bed. I'm too excited to
sleep."
     Scully gave a grateful sigh. "My back thanks you. Here,"
she said, handing him his gun. He wandered over to the table
and laid it down absentmindedly. "Mulder!" she said with a
laugh, and he finally looked at her. "What?" he asked.
     "Honestly, I'm going to buy you a lanyard for that
thing," she threatened. He looked back at the table, and his
gun, and flashed her a big smile. It had been a while since
she'd seen that expression, and she smiled back, happy for
him. She tucked her gun under the pillow and burrowed into the
covers on the bed, still relishing the feeling of being warm
after being trapped outside in the rain.
     She woke around eight a.m. to the whistle of the
teakettle. It was bright in the cabin, sunlight coming
indirectly through the two windows. Mulder had changed back
into his own clothes and hers were laying over the back of the
chair next to the bed.
     "Hey, Sleeping Beauty," Mulder called to her.
     "I suppose that makes you Prince Charming?"
     "That or the evil stepmother; take your pick."
     She grunted and yawned. "I was going to vote for the
coachman mouse."
     "Scully, that was Cinderella."
     "Mulder, I'm not awake yet, okay?"
     The three of them each had another mug of tea, then set
out for the FBI agents' rental car. The temperature had
hovered around freezing all night, but was warmer now, so
there were only a few patches of ice along the trail. Aaron
pointed out some features of the terrain, but otherwise they
said little on their journey. Finally, they arrived at the
car. Mulder climbed in and started it, to warm it up, then got
back out and threw his backpack in the trunk. He stood there
for a moment after closing the trunk again.
     Scully watched him slowly pull the picture of Samantha
out of his pocket and stare at it, then hold it out to Aaron,
who took it reflexively. "I don't want you to get in any
trouble over this, Aaron. I don't want you to get hurt."
     Aaron looked shocked, saying, "Agent Mulder, they're my
family. They wouldn't hurt me. And as for trouble -- well, it
won't be the first time my human nature has gotten the better
of them. Or of me." He handed the picture back to the younger
man with a gentle smile. "No, Agent Mulder, you keep this. You
need it more than I do."
     "Mulder," he said, taking the photograph. "My friends
call me Mulder, Aaron."
     It took Aaron a few seconds to figure out that Mulder was
naming him as a friend. He looked awestruck, and said, "Be
careful, Mulder. You live a dangerous life. I'm glad I got to
meet the two of you, and I hope this won't be the last time I
see you."
     Scully stepped forward and hugged him. "I hope so too,
Aaron. Thank you for everything you've done for us." He hugged
her back with an expression of pure joy on his face.
     Mulder stepped forward as well, then, and hugged Aaron,
but there were no words capable of expressing his gratitude.
He could only murmur an inadequate, "Thank you." Aaron held
him by both shoulders for a moment as he let go, saying, "I
understand. You're welcome." Mulder smiled and nodded.
     "Good-bye," Aaron said to them both, and walked back down
the trail toward his cabin. Scully and Mulder watched him
until he disappeared from view.
     When Mulder headed for the driver's side of the car,
Scully stepped in front of him. "No, you don't. I'm driving."
     "What? Why?"
     "Because you're way too happy to trust behind the wheel
of a car right now, Mulder. You're delirious."
     He gave her a broad grin and shrugged. "You're probably
right." He went around the other side and got in, as she sat
behind the wheel and closed the door.
     As they started slowly down the gravel road, he looked at
the photo again. "I appreciate your not saying anything
discouraging about the picture, Scully. I'm sure it's hard to
resist the temptation."
     "No," she said softly, "not really. In a few days you'll
be analyzing that picture yourself to see if it's a fake. If I
have any doubts, you can hear them then. For right now, you
deserve the right to believe."
     "Are you going soft on me, Scully?"
     "Don't push your luck, Mulder."