From: jzyvarek@udel.edu (Jzyvarek)
Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative
Subject: NEW STORY: A Picture from the Past 1/1
Date: 18 Jun 1995 01:55:51 -0400


now don't you all go jumping on my case. i know, you want me to finish
future and forget but i had this idea and it just kind of fell out of my
head, you know? i couldn't very well ignore this idea sitting on my
keyboard while i wrote the other ones. this is a short little piece, in
it's entirity. i  like to think that maybe they met when they were kids...
i'm sure i'm not the only one, since this is notexactly the first story of
this type. i do believe that there are things that are meant to be and
they're going to happen no matter what we do...  disclaimer here... only
the idea here belongs to me, not the characters. 
remember guys, (gals) I LOVE COMMENTS. i am comment hungry. when i hear
comments, i write more. unless said comment was for me to stop writing...
got it? PLEASE? I'M LONELY!!!
'nuf said


A Picture from the Past
     Dana Scully hate moving. It seemed like every time she finally got to
know some people that she wanted to be friends with her family had to
move. Today had been her first day at yet another new school. She'd had a
horrible time finding her way around the school and none of the kids
seemed very nice. One boy had even pulled the chair out from behind her
when she'd tried to sit down at lunch. She'd been so embarrassed that
she'd run out of the room. She didn't want to cry, but she couldn't stop
herself. She hid in the bathroom for the rest of the afternoon. No one had
even noticed. Not only hadn't she met anyone she could even consider being
friends with, but she hadn't even seen Lissa all day. Usually, if she saw
Lissa walking around confused, she'd at least feel better. Sometimes, if
their classmates seemed particularly unfriendly, they'd meet in the hall
and pretend that they were just friends from another school. Not today.
She hadn't seen Lissa once. The tended to keep the older kids away from
the younger ones. So, here Dana was trudging home along, dreading having
to go back the next day. Two boys on bikes came up behind her. She thought
that maybe they'd talk to her. Instead, as they rode past, one reached out
and pushed her so hard she fell. Now, she didn't even try to stop herself.
She sat down on the curb and started to cry. Her knee was bleeding and she
realized that she was lost. She'd been too busy thinking about her day to
even notice when she passed her street. She sat there, with her head
resting on her bloody knees for quite a while. If she was late enough, her
daddy would come out in the car looking for her. She heard someone coming
up the street. She was afraid that it was one of those boys. He didn't
have a bike, but she didn't trust any of these kids. They were all mean.
     The boy looked at his watched and started running. He didn't even
notice the little girl sitting right out front of his house. He just knew
that if he didn't get in the house by a certain time  everyday that his
father would beat the crap out of him. And he was late, 
     She froze for a minute when he started running. He was tall. And he
was bigger than her. But he just ran past her into the house. She relaxed,
For about a minute. Then, suddenly, she heard loud voices coming from the
house. Someone, probably the boy, was getting yelled at. And hit. She
turned around and looked at the house in horror. No one *ever* got hit in
her house. Never. No matter what. She was terrified. What if the guy came
out and saw her on the curb? Would he hit her too? She started to walk
away from the house, a little unsteady. Her knees hurt so much...
     The boy came running out of the house. His father had hit him again.
And again. He'd started to cry. Again. And then his father had hit him for
being a sissy. He ran for the door and luckily, his father hadn't caught
him. But he couldn't really see well through the tears. He ended up
running into, quite literally, the little girl he'd barely even noticed.

He felt so bad. The girl had already had skinned knees and now, she'd
fallen on them again. He looked at her. She had already started to cry.
She was about Sam's age. But she had red hair and blue eyes. He knew she
was new here and he felt a strange urge to help this little girl out.
     "I didn't mean to run into you. Are you o.k.?"
     Was he being mean? She didn't know, It was awfully hard to stop
crying. "My knees hurt."
     "You're new around here, aren't you?" He bent down to help her get
her books. She snatched them out of his hands, afraid that he was going to
run off with them.
     "Yes. I am. And when my Daddy finds out how mean the people are
around here, he'll move us somewhere else." Daddy never let anyone be mean
to his little girl. 
     "When you find a place where there are nice people, let me know,
o.k.?" He didn't think the people around here were very nice either.
Especially after Sam had vanished.
     Dana just didn't know what to make of the boy in front of her. He was
being nice enough. Maybe he could help her find her house. "Do you know
where White Oak Lane is? I can't remember how to get home." Her Daddy had
told her never to talk to strangers, but this was a kid. He surely hadn't
meant not to talk to another kid...
     "Oh, sure. It's just a few blocks. Want me to walk with you? It's
going to get dark soon." He just didn't want to have to go back in his
house...
     "Alright." She stared at him for a minute and then started to follow
him.
     "What's your name?"
     "Dana Katherine Scully. What's yours?" Dana smiled. She loved it when
people asked what her name was. She loved her name. She'd been named after
her great-grandmother. 
      The boy frowned for a minute. "You don't want to know."
      Dana stopped walking and put her hands on her hips. "I want to know
what your name is." She pouted, the same way she always did when her
parents wouldn't buy her something she wanted. It always worked on them...
     The boy looked at her and smiled.  She really reminds me of Sam.
"It's Fox. Fox Mulder."
     Dana's pout became a grin. "That's a silly name! Did your parents
really name you that?" The boy did not look happy. 
     He frowned at her. "Well, you asked. Yes, that's what my parents call
me."
     "Well, my Daddy calls me Starbuck, but that's not really my name.Are
you sure?"
     Fox looked at the girl in front of him. She was a lot younger than
she looked. And he was getting annoyed. "Yes, I'm sure that's my name.
Now, do you want me to show you where your house is or do you want to
stand here and stare at me all night?"
     "Wanna stay for dinner? My mom won't mind." Dana was always allowed
to bring friends over. Unfortunately, she usually didn't have any.
    Fox considered the offer. He really didn't want to go back home just
yet, his father was probably still mad. "Sure. Hey- this is your street.
Do you remember the number?"
     She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Of course I remember the
number. It's number nine. That's my age too. Isn't that neat?"
     So she was Sam's age. "Yup. That's pretty neat. There it is."
     Dana was so happy that she ran all the way to the door. When she was
halfway across the yard, the front door swung open and a man appeared. 
     "Starbuck! What happened to your knees?" He tried to unfasten his
daughter from around his legs, but he couldn't. She was holding on for
dear life. "Did that boy scare you?"
     "No Daddy. He showed me how to get here. Can Fox stay for dinner?"
     What kind of people named their son Fox? But he couldn't let his
daughter down. "Sure he can, honey. Go inside and let Mommy wash off your
knees." Dana ran inside, leaving her father and a very uncertain Fox
outside. 
     Fox was afraid of this guy. If his father was that big, he'd never
get away from him... He turned to walk away, obviously having been
forgotten by Dana.
     "Fox?" He turned to look at the man."Come on in. Starbuck wants you
to stay for dinner."
     "Do you mind?" He didn't want to just walk in without being wanted.
He could get that at home.
     "Any friend of Dana's is a friend of mine. You helped Dana out today,
bringing her home. You'll always be welcome in this house." The man didn't
seem quite so scary after all.
     Fox ate at Dana's a few times after that. He always looked for her on
his way home from school. He was afraid that the kids would be picking on
her since she was new. He liked having someone to protect and look out
for. It was almost like having Sam back. One day, he knocked on the
Scully's door to see if Dana wanted to play. Her sister Melissa answered.
He didn't like Melissa.
Melissa didn't like him.
     "Hi, is Dana here?" He knew she was, he'd just seen her walk up the
stairs.
     "Hold on a minute, FOX." The door slammed in his face. A few seconds
later, he heard Melissa's voice screaming for Dana. "DANA! Your boyfriend
is here!"
     "HE.IS.NOT.MY.BOYFRIEND." Fox had trouble believing that that voice
had come from Dana. He pondered momentarily if maybe they had two girls
with the same name. Then Dana appeared at the door, with her face still
red from screaming.
     "Hi, Fox!" She was going to pull the door closed behind her, but her
mother's hand grabbed the door.
     "Now, honey, don't stay out too late."
     Fox liked Dana's mom. She was always nice to everyone. "I'll bring
her home before seven."
     Margaret Scully patted him on the head.This Fox was such a nice boy.
"I know you will, Fox." Then she closed the door. She didn't want to have
to tell Dana that they were moving again. Dana liked it here. Margaret
thought about the strange dream she'd had the night before. She'd  been
talking to Dana, but Dana had been much older. A man she didn't recognize
was standing behind her. For one instant, they were frozen, like a
picture. She'd been afraid at first for Dana, who was the strange man? 
And then the man had smiled at her.  She knew that smile. And those
eyes... Margaret smiled as the forms of Dana and Fox disappeared over the
hill. She knew that Dana and Fox would meet again.  
      

     Lissa answered the door, even though she knew it was for Dana and she
knew it was Fox. She had always liked getting to the door before her
sister. 
     "Hi, is Dana here?" Why couldn't Scully answer the door? She knew it
was him. He didn't want to have to talk to Melissa. 
     "Uh, hold on a minute. Melissa turned around, refusing to let him in
the house. "Dana! Your boyfriend's here."
      "HE.IS.NOT.MY.BOYFRIEND."Dana could feel the blood rising to her
cheeks. Why did her family always have to embarrass her? She looked at
Mulder, pleased to  note that his face was sufficiently red as well.
     For some reason, Dana's outburst had seemed almost familiar,  even
though she never screamed. At least not in front of him...Dana's mom came
up behind her at the door. "Honey, don't stay out too late." Dana turned
around and rolled her eyes at her mother.
     "Mom! We have a meeting with the assistant director. He'll yell at us
and send us home. That's all he ever does." Dana stepped forward so she
was outside of the house. And Margaret saw a picture out of the past. She
remembered.
      "Mom? Are you feeling alright?" Dana was concerned. For a moment,
all of the color had run out of her mother's face.
     "Maybe you should sit down." Mulder reached out his arm, which
Margaret grasped tightly for a second, then let go of. The poor woman
looked like she'd seen a ghost. 
     "I'm just fine.  I just remembered something, that's all. Go on, I'll
have dinner waiting for you when you get back, Dana. And Fox, you're
certainly welcome."
     Dana smiled, concern still evident on her face. But Mulder seemed
content with Margaret's response. He smiled at her. She seemed so vaguely
familiar...like something out of a dream. Or from a long long time ago.
"I'll have her home before seven."
    Margaret's smile widened. She'd seen this picture before. This was a
picture from the past. She'd dreamed it so long ago. She'd almost
forgotten. "I know you will, Fox." She watched his face for a minute. She
watched him remember. They shared a smile before Dana broke in. 
     "Would someone please let me know what's going on here?" This was
getting annoying. The two of them were just looking at each other like
long lost friends. 
     "I'll tell you in the car, Scully." Mulder started walking away. Dana
looked at her mother again and sighed. She hated being left out.
**************************************
well? i'm waiting... later, jessica (jzyvarek@udel.edu)