Subject: New: The Last Generation (1/1)
Date: 11 Mar 2000 18:06:19 GMT
From: rhiaramsay@aol.com (RhiaRamsay)
Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com
Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative

Title: The Last Generation
Author: Elizabeth L. Iacono
Rating: PG
Category: Crossover, Romance, Angst
Keywords: The X-Files/The Dark Is Rising Series
          crossover, (yet another) alternate
          universe, Pre-XF, light Mulder/Scully
          Romance (yeesh, that's a lot of keywords...)
Spoilers: Sein Und Zeit (to be safe)
Summary: A mother would do anything to protect her son.

I'm taking a little break from 'Storm Child' to stamp
out this little piece of work.  I just got the idea
today and couldn't resist it, I have been dying to
do a crossover with this series.  You don't have
to have read any of the books in the series to
understand the story, but if you have you'll get
some of the things I'm suggesting in the story.

Archive: Gossamer and Spookys, anywhere else just
drop me a line so I can visit it.

Feedback: Please?  My addy is RhiaRamsay@aol.com

Disclaimer: Mulder and Scully are not mine.  Merriman
Lyon, and anything else associated with 'The Dark Is
Rising' Series belongs to Susan Cooper.  I own Arthur
Evans, Elizabeth Mulder, and Nathan Andrew Mulder.

The Last Generation
Elizabeth L. Iacono

October 20, 1961
Chilmark, Martha's Vineyard
1:00 a.m.

     The young woman looked out the window, staring at
the moorish plain that dropped off suddenly into the
roiling Atlantic Ocean.  To the woman, this island
was home, with its many lakes, its cliffs that gave
way to oceans, its plains and hills, it was her home.
It was where she was born, had spent her childhood and
most of her teen years, and where she had planned to
settle down for a good long time.

     But now that wasn't going to be possible.  There
was a great evil rising up in the world, one that had
been building for ages.  The young woman was one of
the few who would be able to fight it.  It was a
frightening prospect, going up against the Dark,
but it was something that had to be done.

     The slight shuffling noise behind her reminded
her once more why she had to leave and help the
Light.  The young woman, whose name was Elizabeth
Mulder, turned away from the window and towards the
tiny crib next to the daybed.  She walked over to
it, her stocking feet softly padding on the floor.
She looked down at the baby barely a week old that
was lying in there and smiled.

     Her little baby, the one she had toiled for
hours a week ago to bring him into this world.  Her
little Fox, who she had chosen the name for, much
to the chagrin of the rest of the Mulder family.
Elizabeth peered down into the small crib to see
Fox awake already, eyes wide and wandering around,
taking in the surroundings.  She smiled once more
as she looked at his eyes which were not the dark
blue color that all infants sport, but a greenish-gold
hazel color that caught the moonlight in them.  It was
not a normal occurrence in a baby, but Fox wasn't
normal.  It was something he'd inherited from both
his parents.

     Elizabeth's eyes looked over at the clock,
whose ticking was loud enough to garner her
attention.  There wasn't much time until she was
going to have to leave.  Until then, she was going
to spend as much time with her son as possible.
She moved over to the dresser and retrieved a thick
sweater, one that was made on the island and her
grandfather had taken out on the whaling ships
with him.  She pulled it on over her shirt and
skirt, feeling the warmth settle around her.  Next
she retrieved a large, brown knit blanket and laid
it out on the bed.  Elizabeth carefully pulled Fox
out of the crib and set him down on the blanket,
wrapping it tightly around him to keep him warm.
All the while Fox was still awake, surprisingly
silent and taking in everything around him.

     When Fox was safely bundled up in her arms she
made her way downstairs with him, taking the time to
see her childhood home one last time.  She walked
through the halls and into the kitchen.  She paused
by the back door to slide her feet into a pair of
heavy boots that belonged to one of her little
brothers.  She pushed open the back door and felt
a gust of cold air against her face and stir her
wavy dark hair around.

     She walked through the back yard, her feet
crunching over grass that had begun to die for the
winter.  Soon she crossed the boundary from the neatly
kept part of the yard to the wilder, untamed part that
bordered the cliff.  Her feet followed a small path
cleared through the high grasses, walking carefully
so as not to jostle the baby in her arms.  Elizabeth
stopped when the path did, a scant few feet from the
edge of the cliff.

     Sighing wistfully she stared out at the ocean,
seeing the waves build and then hearing them crash
against the base of the cliff.  Out of the corner
of her eye she saw the flashing lighthouse at
Aquinnah, providing a guiding light for sailors
on their way home.  Her eyes glided up to the moon
and stars above, finally visible after a fortnight
of storms.  They shone down on them merrily, bathing
them in silver light.

     Elizabeth looked down at Fox who was practically
buried within the heavy brown blanket.  She shifted his
weight onto one arm and with the other carefully
loosened the blanket so the moonlight shone onto
his little face.  As she gently stroked his face
with the tip of her finger Fox reached up and clamped
a hand around it with that surprisingly strong grip
that babies have.  She smiled down at him, watching
him pull her finger close.  And then she began to
talk, trying to tell her son as much as she could
before she had to leave.

     "'The time has come, the walrus said, to talk
of many things, of shoes and ships and sealing wax,
and cabbages and kings'," Elizabeth recited, smiling
and pulling Fox closer to her body to protect him
from the wind.  "You know our family's been on this
island for centuries," she said.  "Course, that
means it's probably been inbred a few times, but
don't you worry, your father's not from around
here.  He's not even from this country."  Her mind
thought back to four years past, when she was
eighteen and had set off to Wales for one of her
first missions for the Light and ended up meeting
the man she would fall in love with.

     "It's a lovely place to grow up, I'll tell you
that.  Plenty of space to run around, and having the
ocean close by.  It's ideal.  You'll have lots of
family around here too, yeah, plenty of aunts and
uncles.  My mother, your grandma Clara, had ten kids
in twenty years, from when she was eighteen through
thirty eight.  I was right there in the middle, kid
number five.  My brother William, the one who you'll
grow up to believe is your father, is the oldest.
He's got a good ten years on me.

     "Billy and his wife Tena are going to be your
parents now, they're good people.  You'll have a
much more normal life with them than you will with
me and your father fighting the Dark.  It's dangerous
and not conducive to a good childhood.

     "Do you know how special you are, Fox?" she asked
of the baby clutching tightly to her finger and not
expecting an answer.  "Of course you don't, you won't
for a very long time, but that's the way it's going
to have to be.  I can assure you though that you are
a special boy, and you're going to do some great
things when you're older."  She chuckled lightly
and hugged Fox closer to her chest.  "Every mother
hopes that her boy will be President someday.  And
if you want to be go ahead, but all I really hope
for you is that you grow up to be a good person
and that you help people to see the Light and the
good in the world.  Of course, that's a high
aspiration in and of itself, but I have full
confidence in you."

     Elizabeth suddenly changed lines of speech,
some more thoughts coming to her head.  "You know,
it must have been a great stroke of luck that Tena
and I arrived on the island at the same time.  What
happened was neither one of us had been to the island
in over a year, and our boat got here right before
the first storm hit, so there was no one around to
see us land.  Since then, which was two weeks ago,
we've both been holed up here at the house because
of the storms, no one from town's seen us, none of
my brothers and sisters (except for Billy) are around
due to a well placed fishing trip courtesy of your
grandpa, and it's entirely possible that you're
really Tena's boy.  As bad as it sounds it's going
to be better for you later on to have everyone think
except for a select few that you're Tena and Billy's.

     "What I can't figure out is why they're moving
back here to the island.  Billy was always so eager
to leave the island and he met Tena when he went to
college.  Now all of a sudden he's decided to come
back here.  Why I can't puzzle out, I only hope
it's for a good reason," she sighed, feeling a
slight shudder go through her body at her words.
Ever since Billy had moved away he'd been changing
from the Billy she used to know.  There were a couple
of fleeting moments where she was wondering if she was
making the right decision by choosing him to take
care of her Fox.

     "Tena's a good person though.  I know she'll
take care of you and love you as if you were her own
son.  It's with her that I'm going to leave you a
letter to be given to you a long time in the future
that will explain why your father and I had to leave.
It won't explain about the Dark and the Light and the
Old Ones, but it'll tell you that we had to leave in
order to protect you.  And that we love you, remember
that Fox."  Elizabeth held Fox close to her face and
brought the tiny hand that was still clutching her
finger to her heart.  "Remember that.  No matter
what happens we will always love you."

     From somewhere behind her footsteps rang out
on the cold ground.  Elizabeth whipped around to see
a tall, dark haired young man in a pair of jeans and
a barn jacket walking up the path towards her.  Her
face broke out into a smile as the man got closer,
seeing him for the first time in over two weeks.
This was the man she loved, who had helped her create
her beautiful Fox.  She bent her head down to smile at
Fox.  "Fox," she whispered happily, "I want you to
meet your daddy."

     Arthur Evans walked right up to the edge of the
path also and stopped next to her.  He bent his head
to gently brush his lips across hers.  "You look
different than the last time I saw you," he grinned,
trying to stay lighthearted amongst the seriousness
of the night.

     "Well I got rid of that big lump in front of me,"
she joked along with him.  "But there is someone I'd
like you to meet," she said softly, holding the bundle
of blanket with Fox wrapped in the middle of it to
him.  Arthur moved close to her to take him, seeing
that he wouldn't release his grip on Elizabeth's
finger and neither one of them wanted to disrupt that.

     "I'm not good at this," Arthur said softly as he
accepted Fox into his arms.  He stared down at the
baby in awe, knowing that this was something he helped
to create and still being totally overwhelmed by it.

     "You'll get use..."  You'll get used to it was
what she was about to say, before she remembered
that soon they would be separating themselves from
Fox for his own protection.

     "I know," he whispered, then turned his attention
towards Fox.  "Hi," he whispered in an even softer
voice.  "I know you're not going to remember me, but
I am your father, and that I love you more than you
can imagine."  Elizabeth bit her lip and covered her
mouth with her hand, trying to hold back the tears
caused by the strength of Arthur's emotions.

     Arthur looked over at her sadly as he handed
Fox back to her, the finger that his hand was wrapped
around being a lifeline back to his mother.
"Merriman's waiting for us down at the dock.  We've
got to leave before dawn."

     "I know," Elizabeth sighed, clutching Fox to her
chest.  "We better get a move on then," she said, her
voice taking on a saddened tone.  Together they began
to walk back down the path, taking slow and measured
steps as if they could put off the inevitable by taking
their time.  Sooner than they would have liked though
the back door to the house was before them and they
silently walked inside, Elizabeth stopping once more
to take her boots off.

     Arthur looked around the house, absorbing the
atmosphere of it.  This was his first and most likely
last time visiting her childhood home, but even from
that brief glimpse he could tell that it was this
loving home that had helped Elizabeth become the
woman she grew up to be.

     As they were making their way up the stairs to
retrieve Elizabeth's things from her bedroom Clara
Mulder appeared before them on the landing.  Elizabeth
gasped in surprise, she wasn't expecting anyone to be
awake that late at night.  "Mom," she sighed.

     "You're leaving now?" Clara asked.  She knew that
her daughter had to leave, and although Elizabeth
wouldn't give her a clear and definite reason for
her leaving, she could tell that this was the way
it had to be.

     "Yeah," she nodded, still holding Fox tightly,
taking comfort in the tiny hand that was still
wrapped around her finger.  "A friend is waiting
with a boat at the dock.  As soon as I get my things
we have to leave."

     Clara nodded somberly, realizing the urgency
of the situation, but then her expression softened.
"And is this Fox's father?" she asked, her face
breaking out into a soft smile.  "I can see where
he gets his good looks from."

     Elizabeth smiled as she heard Arthur shuffling
on the stairs behind her and she knew his face was
breaking out into a blush.  "Mom, this is Arthur
Evans," she introduced.

     "It's nice to meet the father of my grandchild,"
Clara said honestly.

     "Same here," Arthur replied quietly.

     "We really should get going," Elizabeth sighed,
knowing deep down that she didn't want to leave, that
she wanted to take Fox and Arthur and run away where
no one could find them.  There was the higher purpose
though, the forces of the Light who needed their help
in order to defeat the Dark.  The three continued up
the stairs and into her room, knowing that this was it.

     Elizabeth walked over to the tiny crib and laid
Fox down in it, keeping the heavy wool blanket wrapped
around him.  She saw that as soon as she had unlatched
Fox's little hand from her finger that his eyes had
closed and he had dropped off to sleep.  She caressed
his head softly and looked up at Arthur, who was
standing on the other side of the crib.  As Arthur
knelt down to say goodbye to his son Elizabeth moved
over to the desk in the room where two letters
waited.  One was a plain white envelope addressed to
Tena telling her what to do with the other, much more
important letter.  This letter was written on a
piece of parchment, giving it the valuable look it
warranted.

     From a little box next to the parchment
Elizabeth pulled out a small candle, a matchbox, a
stick of ruby red wax, and a seal.  She folded the
parchment up into three equal parts.  Then she lit
the candle, watching the match flare to life,
bringing light into the darkened room and sending
a sulfur smell into the air.  She carefully heated
the red wax over the candle until it turned liquid
and then dripped an amount of it onto the fold of
the parchment.  Holding the parchment down with one
hand, she used the other to grab the seal and press
it tightly into the still liquid wax, pressing and
sealing the edges together.  Pulling the seal back
she saw that the sign of the Light was now embedded
into the ruby red wax, a cross inside a circle.  It
was a powerful symbol, one that would hopefully
protect Fox until they would be able to see each
other again.  Before she turned away from the desk
she glimpsed the other piece of paper on it.  It was
Fox's birth certificate with what his name was going
to be on it, not the name he would have had if he was
going to stay with them: Fox William Mulder.

     She turned to her mother and handed her the two
letters.  "This white one goes to Tena, it'll tell
her what to do with this other one."  Clara nodded
and took the letters.  Elizabeth sighed and wrapped
her mother into a hug.  "Oh, I'm going to miss you,
Mommy," she said as Clara hugged her back.

     "I'm going to too," Clara said.  "But it's
something you have to do, so I wish you as much
luck as possible."

     "Thanks, Mom," she said.  She turned back to
the crib where Fox was sleeping soundly.  She knelt
down and stroked Fox's face once more.  This was
going to be the hardest part of all she knew as she
leaned over and pressed a kiss to his forehead.
"Bye, Fox," she whispered, trying to keep the tears
at bay but knowing she failed when she saw a few drop
onto Fox's cheeks.  "I love you so much and I'll see
you again, I promise."

     Before she could react anymore she stood up and
her and Arthur walked out of the room, him carrying
her suitcase.  Without looking back they walked out
of the house and soon they were in the car Arthur
had borrowed, driving towards the dock at the other
end of the island.

     As they drove Elizabeth leaned against the door,
trying once more to hold back the tears.  She held up
her right index finger, the one that Fox had clutched
onto so tightly.  If she looked at it close enough
she could still see where his hand had left marks
on her finger.  She brought the finger closer to her
eyes, resting it right in a patch of moonlight, and
she saw that she wasn't just seeing things.  The
imprint of a tiny little hand was wrapped around her
finger, now marked into her skin for all time.  She
smiled slightly even though she felt the tears come
to her eyes.  Now, she had something of her son's
that would be with her forever.

     Sooner than expected the docks loomed in front
of them, and they hastened their way down to the boat
that was waiting for them.  Standing on the dock in
front of their boat was Merriman Lyon, the oldest of
the Old Ones.  Elizabeth stared at his familiar
profile, a strong, bony head, deep-set eyes, an
arched nose like a hawk's beak, a jutting chin,
and wiry white hair springing back from a high
forehead.  "Are you okay, Elizabeth?" he asked in
his indistinguishable accent.

     She nodded.  "I'll be okay," she said.

     Merriman escorted the two onto the boat.  As
they headed for the controls he said to Elizabeth,
"You know that it's for the best this way."

     "I do," Elizabeth sighed, seating herself next
to where Merriman was steering the ship.  Arthur was
across from her, stretching out on a bench and close
to falling asleep.

     "It is," Merriman affirmed her.  "Fox is part of
the Last Generation, the first of the last three Old
Ones to be born.  Will Stanton is going to be born in
about two months, and the other one is going to arrive
in about a  couple of years from now, a daughter of
the Tuatha De Danann, appropriately called Dana.
Will is the only one that is needed with any urgency,
but Fox and the other girl, Dana, will be able to grow
up as if they were ordinary people.  When the time
comes though, they will be there in order to help
defeat the Dark.  So you are really doing the best
thing for Fox."

     Elizabeth wrapped her arms around her waist.
"I know.  But it's still painful."

     Merriman nodded.  "That it is, child, that
it is."

     Elizabeth sighed again and pushed herself off
of her seat.  She walked over on slightly unsteady
sea legs to where Arthur was laid out on the bench
and laid down next to him.  She felt him wrap an
arm around her waist and soon she was lulled to
sleep by the motion of the waves and the sight of
the small handprint on her finger.

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     The next morning Tena Mulder stared at the
letter Elizabeth had left for her, and knew that
she would do what it asked of her.  Fox had a right
to know someday about his real parents, and the
parchment letter would explain all that he needed
to know.  But that wouldn't happen until Tena had
died, as per the letter.  It was something her and
Elizabeth had talked about, that Fox shouldn't know
the truth until he was mature enough to handle it,
and the only way they could ensure that enough time
would have passed was if it was delivered upon Tena's
death.  The next day she would take the parchment to
her lawyer, who would deliver it to Fox only when
she had passed on.

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March 1, 2000
Washington D.C.
8:30 p.m.

     Dana Scully walked into the townhouse, rubbing
her neck wearily while trying to juggle the mail with
the other.  It was a long day, longer than expected
because she was called to do two autopsies that were
routine and had absolutely nothing to do with the
X-Files.  It was a waste of her time when her and
Mulder could be investigating more pertinent cases.

     She walked into the living room, and smiled
at the sight on the couch.  Mulder was sitting in t
he middle of it with his glasses perched on his
nose, the coffee table pulled close to the edge
with plenty of old X-Files spread out across it
ready for his examination.  Sitting on Mulder's
lap was their little miracle, their three and a
half month old son Nathan Andrew Mulder, chewing
on Mulder's loosened tie.  Scully didn't think it
was that big of a loss, it wasn't that great a tie.

     Ever since she had found out she was two months
pregnant last April she had spent the time up until
his birth that November wondering if it was really
true, that she was really carrying Mulder's child.
Only until she was actually holding Nate in her arms
was she able to breathe a sigh of relief that their
little boy was there with them, alive and healthy.

     "How'd the autopsies go?" Mulder asked as she
dropped the mail and her purse on the table.

     "Absolutely routine," she said as she dropped
to her knees to kiss Nate hello.  Nate giggled and
rubbed his head against hers happily.  "I can't
figure out why they asked me to do them."

     "You're the best in the business," Mulder said,
taking his glasses off and resting them on the table.
"They know that, and they wanted you to do the job."

     "It's just so boring compared with a lot of the
stuff we've seen though," Scully grinned up at him.
"Did you eat dinner yet?" she asked.

     Mulder shook his head no.  "Nate had a bottle,
but I thought I'd wait for you."

     "Pizza good then?" Scully asked, pushing herself
to her feet and walking into the kitchen where the
phone was.

     "Fine with me," Mulder said, holding Nate back
with one hand as he reached for the pile of mail.
One piece in particular caught his eye, and he
pulled it out of the stack.  The return address
on the large manila envelope surprised him, it was
from his Mother's lawyer.  While Nate went back to
chewing and drooling on his tie Mulder reached for
a pen to slit the thing open.  Inside the envelope
was a plain white one addressed to him in his
mother's handwriting, and next to that was a piece
of parchment paper, folded and sealed with a slab
of ruby colored wax.

     Mulder turned the parchment over in his hands,
trying to figure out what it was that his mother was
sending to him.  It wasn't something that the lawyer
had mentioned at the reading of the will, but it
obviously was something his mother had wanted him
to have.  He got a better look at the wax and saw
the impression in it, a cross within a circle.
There was something strangely familiar about it,
but he couldn't place it.

     Before he got a chance to open the plain white
envelope a cry from Nate had distracted him.  Mulder
did the routine check, it wasn't the diaper, so he
was probably hungry again.  That wasn't anything
new, his mother had told him he was the same was
as a baby, always eating.  He picked him up and
began to walk towards the kitchen where Scully
and the food was.

     He couldn't help turning around once to get
a look at the letter and the parchment sitting on
the table though.  For some strange reason, he knew
that what was contained in them had the potential
to change his life.  But first things first, feeding
Nate and then sitting down to a dinner of pizza with
the woman he loved, Scully.  The letters would
come later.

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The end.....but who knows?  Is a follow-up warranted?
For those of you who know The Dark Is Rising Series
you know that the Last Generation does not exist in
there, and that Will Stanton is the real youngest and
last Old One, but I changed it a little for the story.
Yes, the Dana Merriman refers to is Scully. ;)
I also did not use my name for the character of
Elizabeth Mulder because I wanted to put myself into
the story, but because the name just seemed to fit
the character.
Also, the story assumes that Biogenesis/Sixth
Extinction/Amor Fati took place in mid May, when
Scully was about three months pregnant (suspend your
belief a little) and the rest of the cases in season
resumed after that November when the baby was born.
That and the fact they've been involved for a while
before that.  Like I said, it's alternate universe, so
a little suspension of belief can't hurt. ;)

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'True love, it's the
greatest thing in the
world.'

Miracle Max
The Princess Bride

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'Men will fight bravely
and be heroes, but for a
last ditch defense against
any odds, get a mother.'

Lightbringer
High Wizardry

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'This is the Fish Patrol in
201.  Our flying fish has
flown away.  In fact,
things are so rotten around
here that even the pigs
won't stay!  But we'll
fight to the bitter end!
Beware the Fish!'

Bruno Walton
Beware The Fish

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