From: Christina Talay Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1998 17:33:43 -0400 (EDT) Subject: XF Short--"Terminal X" Title - Terminal X (1/1) Author - Christina L. Talay E-Mail address - cltala@maila.wm.edu Rating - G Category - S (Story) Spoilers - Absolutely None! Keywords - Pre-XF, Mulder/Scully Friendship Summary - Four-year-old Fox meets some new acquaintences in a busy airport terminal. Disclaimer: The characters Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, and their families are the property of Chris Carter and 1013 Productions. I wrote this for fun, and I'm not making any money off of it. So don't sue me! I'm only a poor college student! I was wondering what it would have been like if Mulder and Scully met when they were still little kids... This is just like X-Files meets Rugrats. :) TERMINAL X Written in July 1998 by Christina L. Talay Summer, 1966; An Airport A mother with two small children made her way through the busy flight terminal. She pushed a stroller while she dragged along a tiny, adorable little boy. Inside the stroller, an infant with budding light brown curls clapped her hands in excitement and cooed. The little boy struggled to keep up with his mother's quick footsteps, but he still fell behind with his tiny legs, which had yet need to consume the remains of his baby fat. When he tumbled and slipped, he let out a yelp, in fear not of injury, but of being left behind. "Hurry up, Fox," the mother said, grabbing his arm to help him to his feet. She continued to move--straight into Terminal X. "We have a plane to catch." Much to the boy's relief, they stopped and sat down in the first available seats. Fox barely noticed another baby stroller and two other children when his mother nudged him in the seat next to her. It was his first roundtrip on an airplane, but his second actual ride. Fox, his mother, and his baby sister were returning from a family vacation in Wisconsin, where their relatives lived. The two airplane flights composed a great bulk of the excitement for Fox; he was admittingly detached from all the grown-ups who had pinched his cheeks and cooed over him, only to then turn him up for his baby sister. Tired, Fox leaned against his mother. But she pushed him away and lifted the baby on her lap. "Bring me her bottle, Fox," she demanded. Stunned by his mother's rejection, Fox froze. "The bottle," she repeated. He jumped off his seat and reached into the baby bag, pulling out a clear bottle, half-filled with white warm liquid. Thirsty, he was tempted to drink it himself, but he handed it over to his mother instead. She snatched away the bottle and instantly began to feed the baby, a ritual Fox had witnessed one too many times. He turned to look at the baby bag. Still quenched with thirst, he hoped to find a second drink inside. He unzipped the central portion of the bag, and to his delight, discovered exactly what he wanted. "Fox!" his mother exclaimed, yanking away his greedy hand from the bag. The sudden jerk caused his unsettled sister to cry, and wearily, the mother moaned. "Fox, you know better than that. Now look: you made your sister cry." Fox stared to the ground, then turned to his side, as a sinking feeling of guilt set in. He noticed that the red-haired little boy nearby was staring at him with saucer-sized blue eyes. Fox's mother, also noticing the little boy, turned to her son and snapped, "Why can't you be like that little boy and sit quietly? I have to finish feeding your sister." With a sigh, Fox quietly slipped back into his seat. He sat there, with his hazel eyes downcast, for several minutes. But curiosity got the better of him, and finally he succumbed to it and turned to look at the red-headed stranger, two seats away from him. Fox leaned over the single, empty seat between them and asked, "What's your name?" The other boy crossed his arms around his chest. "I'm not s'pposed to talk," he snapped. "Oh." Disappointed, Fox sat up in his seat. He almost turned away, when a little girl with strawberry-blonde hair shouted, "Billy!" "Huh?" both boys asked, staring at her. The little girl giggled. "That's his name--Billy. An' I'm Missy." "Missy!" the boy, Billy, gasped. "Who are you?" Missy went on, smiling at the strange boy. "Fox," he said. Then he couldn't resist a smile. At least Missy had better manners than Billy. "Mommy!" Billy pouted. A dark-haired woman sitting next to Missy turned to look, and for the first time, Fox noticed a blue-eyed toddler sitting on her lap. The toddler smiled. He smiled back. "Mommy! Missy's talking!" Billy whined. "I just said hi to that boy," Missy protested. The mother glanced over at Fox, and he leaned against his mother for protection. Suddenly, Billy and Missy's mother smiled, and Fox felt his mother's fingers in his hair--a rare but always appreciated gesture. The women regarded each other--fellow victims of motherhood. Then the other mother was the first to speak. "Hello," she said with a smile. "You have an adorable little boy." "Oh! Thank you," Fox heard his mother respond over his head. He reveled in such attention. "His name's fox, and he's four and a half." The other mother smiled. "A little one. I can understand. Billy and Melissa are just a little bit younger--and although Melissa's older, sometimes I think Billy's three going on fourteen." Billy and Missy beamed in pride. "And you have a baby, too?" Fox's mother asked, but it was more like a statement. "Yes. This is Dana." The mother turned to the blushing red-head and asked, "Can you say 'hi,' Sweetie?" When the little girl buried her head in her mother's chest, the mother looked up and explained, "She's two and a half, actually, but she won't be the baby much longer. My husband Bill and I... we're expecting our fourth child in six more months." Fox turned to his mother in delight, waiting for her to brag about their baby. "I know how it is," his mother said. "My little girl, Samantha, is going on two next year. Those 'terrible twos.'" The other lady smiled. "I'll choke myself for saying this six months down the road, but for the time being, it's never been that way with Dana. Her big accomplishment right now is that we just got her potty trained, and without any problems. But there's always sibling rivalry." Fox's mother smiled in understanding. "Yes. I know how that is." Dana's mother grinned. "Dana's actually pretty good with her sister, but if you leave her alone with Billy... Well, what I'm really worried about is how she'll adjust when the new baby comes. Thinks she's queen of the world right now." Dana peered out from her mother's comforting arms until Fox could see one giant blue eye. Then she quickly turned away again. Her mother laughed. "As you can see, she's a little shy." Fox giggled. Then Missy climbed off her chair to talk to her little sister. "C'mon, Dana. Say 'hi.'" "No!" Dana snapped, her head still turned. All Fox could see was one little auburn ponytail. He climbed off his seat and walked around to see her. "Hi!" he exclaimed. Dana quickly turned around again. Her hair dusted Fox's forehead as she moved. He giggled and ran around to the other side. He repeated this friendly greeting; she repeated her reaction. But this time both of them giggled. While they continued to play this game, the mothers introduced themselves. "I'm Teena," Fox's mother said. "Maggie," the other responded. "We're in the process of moving." "Oh really? We're returning to our summer home in Martha's Vineyard. Where are you moving to?" "Texas," Billy answered with a smile. "That's right," Maggie added. "To Texas for a year, and then to Virginia." She had just lowered Dana off her lap, and for the first time, Fox could see her clearly. Tiny, still only a baby to him. But she could stand very well without holding onto anything. Suddenly, he wanted to introduce her to his sister, just to see what would happen should the two babies meet. But right now it seemed hard enough just to get her attention. He smiled at her, but she quickly hid her face in her mother's skirt. Missy tried to tug on her shoulder, but the little girl only whimpered. "Missy, honey, leave Dana alone," Maggie scolded. Losing interest, Fox turned and climbed back in his seat. At least he could put his head on his mother's side. The two mothers continued to talk while Missy and Billy both started to play with the terminal's carpeting. Fox watched for a moment, then joined them. "So, then, where is your husband?" Teena asked Maggie. Dana looked like she was about to fall asleep leaning against her mother's lap. Samantha was already peacefully snoozing--to Teena's relief. It would be a long flight home, and it was already past her naptime. "Oh, Bill's already there. We chose to stay behind, just until Billy and Missy finished preschool. Missy's almost ready for kindergarten now." Missy looked up from the carpet and beamed. Fox saw his chance and snatched a loose cord out of her hands. Now it was all his! But then suddenly, Missy pointed at a corner in the terminal. "Look Mommy! Candy!" she squealed. "That's gum, Missy," Billy snapped. "Sissy Missy, Sissssseeee Misseeeee..." Missy pouted and pushed her brother. Billy almost accidentally knocked Fox down, but being a well-behaved little boy, Fox backed out of the way and hid on the other side of his mother's skirt. "Missy! You watch it!" Maggie warned. "Mommy! I want gum!" Missy whined. Maggie sighed and lowered Dana to the floor so she could grab her purse. Fox thought the toddler would start whining, but much to his surprise, she instantly made her way to the bubble gum machine, tripping and toddling all the way. Missy, Billy, and their mother were too busy searching for a nickel to notice, and Fox's mother nudged him with her foot. "Fox, go after her!" she ordered. So he did. Being a good foot taller and with longer legs, Fox reached Dana just as soon as she stopped at the machine. He grabbed her hand to pull her back, but she slapped him. Then she stared wantonly up at the huge multi-colored treats, and following her gaze, Fox realized just how much he wanted bubble gum too. He stood there for a moment, staring at the gum. Then he looked at Dana. For a minute, he shifted attention from one to the other, in hot debate, until finally he made his decision. He wanted the gum more. But how to get it? Fox stood on tiptoes and groped around for an extra nickel in the slot, just in case one had been left by mistake. No such luck. He banged the poll in attempt to shake one out. Once again, he failed. So he banged and banged again, unaware that Dana was losing interest. She was temporarily forgotten--until he looked to see she was gone. "Fox!" he heard his mother call. He cringed at the very sound of his name. Boy was he going to get it. He reluctantly turned to face her, just as she called to him again. Much to his relief, there was Dana, back by her mother's side. Glad, Fox started to walk back when she suddenly darted past him on those stubby little legs, triumphantly carrying a shiny nickel. He watched as she stood on her tip toes, in attempt to stick it in the slot, but she wasn't tall enough to reach. "Help her, Fox!" he heard his mother shout. So Fox returned to the gumball machine, took the nickel from Dana, and stuck it in the slot. As soon as he turned the crank, she stuck a pudgy, greedy fist up into the release and grabbed the little pink gumball. She pulled it out slowly, making Fox yearn for his own piece even more. Suddenly, Billy appeared and pushed him out of the way. "Hey! She's not s'pposed to have gum!" he exclaimed. He reached for the gumball, but Dana pulled it out of his way. "Mine!" she insisted in a very sharp, strong voice. "Nuh-uh. You can't have gum 'til you're three." He had one of those bossy, bragging voices that Fox had rarely heard but already strongly disliked. Fox watched as Billy reached again, this time pulling the pink ball right out of her hands. Dana wailed and ran back to her mother. Fox was so busy watching poor Dana cry that he didn't even notice that Billy had pulled out two more gumballs. "One for me, one for Missy," he muttered, starting to walk back to where Missy was waiting. Fox counted three pieces of gum in his hands--including the pink one stolen from Dana. "Can I have one?" he begged, following Billy back to their seats. "No!" Billy snapped. Maggie turned to Teena. "Is it all right?" she asked, and Teena nodded. Suddenly, Billy lost one of his two remaining gumballs. Maggie handed the pink one over to Fox. "What do you say, Fox?" Teena asked, hovering over him like the Grecian goddess Athena. Fox trembled, hating to thank Billy the bully, who was impatiently waiting for a "thank you" with his hands on his hips. Besides, he didn't like the teary look Dana was giving him. He wished he could give the gumball back to her. A voice boomed overhead: "All passengers for Boston, please board the plane now." "Hurry up, Fox!" his mother snapped. "Thank you," Fox stuttered, staring at the ground in shame. Dana let out a whimper, and he was overwhelmed with guilt. Now he had made two babies cry in one afternoon. "Now come on," Teena insisted, pushing her son along. Samantha was already in the stroller, and still fast asleep. Fox weakly started to follow the moving stroller and his mother's flowing skirt--until he noticed that Maggie, Billy, Missy, and Dana were starting to leave in the opposite direction. "Mommy, where are they going?" he asked. "Home. Like us. Come *on,* Fox." She didn't even turn around. Fox watched as Maggie hurried her brood along. Dana turned in her stroller to look back at him, still wearing a sad face. Clutching the now slightly-sticky pink gumball, Fox raced over to the stroller when Maggie turned her back to it. Quickly, he handed Dana the pink gumball. She took it eagerly and stuck it in her mouth. Fox smiled. With eyes still moist from her temper tantrum, Dana smiled back. Then Fox felt a sharp pull on his arm as his mother silently urged him away. "C'MON, Fox. We're going home." As Fox sat down in the window seat, he sighed and wondered if he'd see the cute little red-haired baby ever again. June, 1996 Special Agent Fox Mulder sighed as he climbed in the driver's seat of the rented Ford Taurus. It had been a hard day; a suspect in the recent murder case had just been released on lack of evidence, and soon he expected to hear news of yet another death. "Let me guess. He got off," said a voice beside him--his auburn-haired partner. "You guessed, Scully," he grumbled. He tossed a handful of sunflower seed crumbs out the window and stuck the keys in the ignition. Just before he could start the car, however, Scully held out her hand. In it was a piece of gum. Pink gum. "For your sunflower seed breath," she teased. He smiled back, accepted the gum, and started the car. As they pulled away, he wondered why it was all so familiar... Finis Well, like it or hate it, I love email! Send to: cltala@maila.wm.edu. "I'm afraid God is speaking, and no one is listening." --Dana Scully ("Revelations," X-Files) http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Corridor/9570/ "Can You hear my heart? It's silent to the world. Can You feel what I can't let others see?" -- from "Anne's Song" "Do not be afraid, I am with you. I have called you each by name. Come and follow me, I will bring you home; I love you and you are mine."