Mulder kicked down the door and burst into the room, his gun held ready. The place was in darkness.

“Hello!” He called. Scully edged in behind him.

Mulder kicked down the door and burst into the room, his gun held ready. The place was in darkness.

“Hello!” He called. Scully edged in behind him.

“Anything?” She peered into the gloom.

“Not that I can see.” Mulder got out a flashlight and shone it around, opened the door to a couple of the rooms.

“What is this place?” Scully picked up a flask of green liquid from a table and walked around some sort of scientific apparatus.

“I have no idea.” Mulder shrugged.

“What exactly did the tip-off say again?” Scully opened the door of a huge freezer and stepped back as a cloud of cold white air engulfed her. Mulder got the note out of his pocket.

“An X File?” he read out. “And then it gives this address.” Mulder shrugged.

“But what are we looking for?” Scully glanced at him.

“You know as much as I do.” Mulder left the room and went back into the hallway. “Scully!” He called.

“What is it…?” She came out noisily and he held up his hand.

“Did you hear that?” he asked.

“What?” They both stood there silently for a moment and then they heard it again. A faint muffled, scuffling sound. Mulder pointed to the doorway at the end of the corridor and Scully nodded, drawing her gun. They edged down the passage and stopped, then Mulder kicked the door open and charged in, Scully close behind him. Mulder waved the flashlight around.

“Nothing,” he said.

“Wait…” They both saw it. A flash of white, more scuffling and then the tiniest whimpering sound. Mulder shone his flashlight in the direction of the noise and stared in surprise.

There, in the far corner of the room, huddling against the wall and trying to hide behind a chair, was a small boy.

“Hey…it’s all right.” Mulder inched forwards slowly as the child stared at him in mute terror, his eyes fixed on Mulder’s gun. “This?” Mulder held it up and put it away under his jacket. “It’s just a toy. Come on, we’re not going to hurt you.” He grinned and held up his hands. “See. We surrender!” The child regarded him with huge solemn eyes but did not move. Scully smiled at the little boy.

“Do you have a name?” she asked. He didn’t reply. “What on earth is he doing here?” She whispered to Mulder. “This place is deserted. How long has he been here do you suppose?”

“Who knows? He looks healthy enough.” Mulder spotlighted the child with the flashlight. “What on earth is he wearing?” The boy seemed to be dressed in a man’s shirt and nothing else. He had nothing on his feet, which were just visible, poking out under the shirttails. The arms of the shirt were far too big for him and his hands were tucked somewhere deep inside them.

“Come on, kid.” Mulder made a face. “We’re not that ugly are we? We want to help you.” He walked slowly closer, watching the child’s terrified eyes fixed on his every step. Finally he crouched a few feet away and held out a gentle hand as if to a stray cat. The kid couldn’t have been more than 4 or 5 years old. He had thin, floppy dark hair and huge dark brown eyes. Mulder managed to get a fingertip on the child’s shoulder and he smiled as reassuringly as he knew how. “We could be friends,” he suggested. “I could use some friends. I don’t have that many.”

The child considered this for a moment and Mulder sensed that he was weakening. “Come on. What do you say?” he urged holding his arms open. “Friends?” The boy nodded and then darted out from his hiding place and burrowed his head into Mulder’s shoulder, his small hands clinging pathetically to the FBI agent.

“Hey, it’s all right. It’s okay.” Mulder picked the child up and exchanged a glance with Scully. “What the hell has happened to this kid?” Mulder whispered to her. She shook her head.

“We’d better find out,” she said.

****

“Mulder this is stupid.” Scully sighed. “We should contact the social services, hand the child over for temporary fostering.”

“I don’t want to do that yet, Scully.” Mulder told her over the child’s head. The boy refused to budge from the safety of Mulder’s arms and had now fallen fast asleep. Scully bustled around Mulder’s apartment, making a cup of coffee and frowning in disgust at the smell of the milk carton in the refrigerator.

“Don’t you have anything fresh around the place?” She asked him.

“No.” He shrugged. “Look, Scully, we were told this was an X file. We find this kid all alone in a clearly abandoned house – a place that’s been used for some sort of experimentation. I agree that we have to check the missing child register and do our best to trace the kid, but I don’t want to hand him over for temporary fostering until I know who he is and what this is all about.”

“Why?” Scully asked.

“Because…”

“Because of what? Because you think he might be another clone? Or a hybrid – a key to the clones?” Scully said perceptively. Mulder sighed.

“Yes. Remember Emily, Scully. Remember how you felt about her.”

“She was my daughter!” Scully protested.

“Yes I know. And this kid could be the key to understanding more about what happened to my sister,” Mulder said softly.

“All right.” She held up her hands. “I give in. Keep him ’til morning, Mulder, but then we inform the social services. Now, I’m going to buy you and your new charge some food and then I am going to check the missing child register. Hey, sleepyhead.” She ruffled the boy’s dark hair and he started and whimpered, clinging tightly to Mulder’s neck. “It’s all right. I just need to know your name. Won’t you tell me?” The boy burrowed his face into Mulder’s shoulder again, his small body tense and frozen. “It’s okay. But how can we tell your mom and dad you’re safe unless we know who you are?” Scully asked him. The child turned his head in her direction when she said the words “mom and dad”.

“Don’t you want to go home?” Mulder asked. The child nodded.

“Then tell us who you are.” Scully smiled at him. He gazed at her with those solemn brown eyes but still he didn’t speak.

“Do you suppose he can speak?” Scully asked. “I mean, Emily had some developmental problems. It’s possible that this child has learning difficulties of some sort.”

“Who knows? Leave him be for now.” Mulder gestured with his head to the door. “I’ll try and get him to unwind a bit. You go and buy that food.”

Scully nodded uncertainly, not at all sure about this investigation.

“It’s just the two of us now, kid.” Mulder said, sitting down on the couch, the child still wrapped around him. “Will you talk to me now?” The child just gazed at him. Mulder sighed. “You’re safe here, I promise. I won’t let anyone hurt you. Come on, loosen up, you’re squeezing my neck off here!” The child was still gripping on for dear life. “You’ve had a shock haven’t you, little guy?” Mulder asked, smoothing the child’s hair. “Someone did something pretty bad to you didn’t they?” The child whimpered and Mulder saw the two large tears forming in his eyes. “Do you remember any of it? Hey?” He asked, soothing the child. The boy laid his head on Mulder’s shoulder and his body shook as he sobbed his heart out. Mulder lay back, holding the child tight and running his hands along the small, stiff body. “You’re okay now. I’m going to take care of you,” he said firmly.

This felt strange. He had no little cousins or nephews or nieces, no children in his family at all. The last child he remembered comforting was his sister when she must have been about the same age as this kid. It awoke a fierce protective streak in him that he had long ago buried. As he held the child, Mulder knew that this particular X File had become personal.

Mulder awoke with a start. He was lying on the couch covered by a blanket, the child nestled under his chin, still sleeping. He vaguely remembered Scully coming back and unpacking some groceries before covering them both with the blanket and leaving again. Mulder stared down at the child for a moment, seeing him more clearly now that he was no longer wrapped around his neck. He was fast asleep but the dark shadows were visible under his thick black eyelashes. His skin was paler than Mulder thought it should be – the kid had a warm, slightly tanned looking tone to his skin but now he looked sallow and washed out. As he watched, the child’s long lashes blinked open and he stared up at Mulder for a long while and then whimpered as he remembered something.

“Home,” he whispered.

“That’s better.” Mulder grinned at him. “So you can talk?”

“Yes.” The child whispered.

“Can you tell me your name then?” Mulder asked. The child looked at him, his expression scared and shocked, and then he went deathly white, his eyes rolling back in his head. Mulder shook him in alarm, then picked the kid up and ran him to the bathroom. He was just in time. The child was violently sick over his shirt and shoulder and finally, when his head was pointed in the right direction, into the toilet bowl. Mulder sighed. “So this is what parenthood is like,” he murmured.

The fit of vomiting soon passed but with it also went the child’s desire to talk. He refused to open his mouth again. Mulder surveyed his own smelly shirt and the child’s stained garment and then decided that he had to get the kid cleaned up. He started running a bath and unbuttoned the huge shirt that the boy was wearing.

“I wish I knew your name, kid,” he said. “I don’t know what to call you.” The boy just stood there, staring at him, his finger curling in a lock of his dark hair. “If I get you out of this shirt, will you get in the bath for me?” he asked. The child nodded. Mulder pulled the shirt off him and lifted him up into the bath, sitting him down and sponging him with a washcloth. The child giggled as he found the soap dish in the shape of a “grey”.

“Yeah, I have useless friends who give me useless presents. This was from a guy called Melvin. Melvin Frohike. I know loads of other people with names.” Mulder grinned at the kid. “I’m being stupid. I’m expecting you to tell me your name and I haven’t told you mine. I’m…” he hesitated. The child stared at him again with those solemn dark eyes. “I’m Fox,” he said. “Yeah, I know, weird name. Do you have a weird name?” The child thought about this for a moment and then shook his head, a gesture that developed into a nod. “Hmm. I don’t know what to make of that.” Mulder said, lifting the child out of the bath and wrapping him in a towel. “Now what do we dress you in?” He walked the boy back into the other room and went to his wardrobe, pulled out a tee shirt and put that on the kid. It was only marginally better than the huge shirt had been. “Oh dear. I see we need to go shopping,” he grinned. The child grinned back and was then immediately sick over Mulder’s tee shirt.

“We can’t keep doing this.” Mulder said as he took the boy back into the bathroom and undressed him again, stuck him back in the bath. Privately he was worried. This kid was way too pale. As he soaped the boy down again he took the opportunity to surreptitiously check out the back of the kid’s neck, not entirely sure what he was looking for or what he’d do if he found any evidence of green, pus-filled boils. There was nothing. Mulder stuck another tee shirt on the kid, wrapped him in a blanket and laid him back down on the couch.

“Now look. I’ve got puke all over me and I need a shower,” he said. “I’m gonna leave you here just for a few minutes, okay?” The kid’s eyes turned frantic and he got up and wrapped his arms around Mulder. “All right.” Mulder sighed. “I won’t have a shower, but I do need to get out of this shirt. You stay there and I’ll be back in a second.” He ran into the bedroom, got himself a sweatshirt and ran back again but even in that short time he could see that the terror had returned to the child’s eyes. “I wasn’t gone long.” Mulder chided, knowing he would never be able to turn this boy over to social services. Not until he knew what had been done to him. Not until he knew the kid would be all right. At that moment there was a knock on the door and he let Scully in.

“How is he?” she asked, wrinkling up her nose. “You smell,” she added.

“He’s ill and that’s why I smell.” Mulder told her. “He threw up. Twice. All over me.”

“That’s kids.” Scully grinned. “However, he is looking a bit pale.” She sat down next to the child and put a hand on his forehead. “He doesn’t have a temperature,” she said.

“Perhaps he just needs to eat. We don’t know when he last ate. And he’s obviously been through some sort of nasty experience.” Mulder said.

“You haven’t got him to talk then?”

“Well…only a couple of words. What did you find out?”

“Nothing. He doesn’t fit any of the photos in the missing child register. I went through every one. It took half the night. I mean there were a couple that could have been him but when I checked further it didn’t turn out to be. Too old or too young or the kid had already been found or whatever. Until we can find out his name, we’re stuck,” Scully said. “So, monster, why don’t you tell us your name, huh?” She smiled. He smiled back at her and touched her hair.

“Red,” he whispered.

“Red? Is that your name?” she asked. He shook his head and touched her hair again.

“Red,” he repeated.

“Red. Well let’s call him that shall we?” Mulder grinned. “Come on, Red. Let’s get you fed. See I’m a poet. Red – fed!” He grinned idiotically and was rewarded by a shy smile from the little boy. God, Mulder thought, it was amazing the sort of goofiness a grown man would do just in order to get such a smile. He carried the boy into the kitchen and sat him in a chair while he made some toast. The child wolfed it down greedily. Scully exchanged a glance with Mulder before helping herself to a slice.

“Now what?” Scully asked while Red munched his way through his 5th slice of toast.

“Now we go and buy Red some clothes.” Mulder said firmly.

****

“Shit.” Mulder said as they entered the mall, each clutching one of Red’s small hands.

“Careful.” Scully gestured with her head towards the child. “Little pitchers have big ears,” she murmured.

“Oh. Right.” Mulder grinned sheepishly. “It’s just I feel like we’re…normal or something.” Red was wearing a pair of Mulder’s running shorts, held up with one of his belts that had been wrapped round the child’s body twice. He was smiling as Mulder and Scully swung him between them, whooping as he lifted his feet off the floor.

“Normal?” Scully repeated, grinning down at Red.

“Yeah, you know, Mom and Dad out with their kid.” He smiled softly at Scully. “In another lifetime, huh, Scully?”

“He’s not ours, Mulder,” she told him softly. “You’ll have to give him back at some point.”

“I know.” Mulder shook his head. “I know that, Scully.”

Yes, but do you believe it? Scully thought to herself.

They bought Red two pairs of pants, a couple of tee shirts and some sweatshirts. Then they had his feet measured and Mulder forked out for an expensive pair of sneakers.

“I’ll put it on my expenses.” He grinned at Scully.

“Footwear for 4 year olds? What will Skinner say?” Scully laughed at him. The child stared at her. “What is it?” Scully looked down at him. “What’s the matter, Red?” The child opened his mouth and then closed it again, burying his head in Mulder’s leg once more. Mulder sighed and picked him up.

“What’s the matter, sport?” He asked. Red put his arms around Mulder’s neck and refused to open his mouth again. “Hey look.” Mulder pointed at the play area where whole crowd of kids were playing. “You want to join in? Have some fun?” He put the child down and pushed him over to where the other kids were. The child watched them playing, his finger twirling in his hair as he stood there. He clearly wanted to join in but he wouldn’t let go of Mulder’s hand.

“You’re really shy aren’t you?” Mulder ran an affectionate hand through the boy’s floppy dark hair. “All right. I’ll come with you.” He grinned, running over to join in the games, taking Red with him. Red began to giggle.

“Mulder!” Scully protested.

“You know me, Scully. I don’t mind looking stupid! I have no shame!” Mulder threw himself onto a huge inflatable elephant and Red launched himself on after him, squealing with delight as Mulder picked him up and threw him in the air. Scully couldn’t help smiling as she watched.

“Your husband is crazy!” A woman told her, standing next to her and grinning. “It’s great isn’t it? A lot of dads don’t have time for their kids.”

“Yeah.” Scully sighed. This was all getting a little bit too cozy for her liking. She watched, feeling a growing sense of discomfort. It was clear that Mulder and Red had a rapport. But then Red was a small, frightened child without friends, family or familiar faces and Mulder had a child-like quality to him that made him seem like just another, bigger kid. No wonder Red trusted him.

“What’s his name?” The woman asked.

“Red.” Scully smiled.

“He’s a cute kid. We are talking about the kid right? I assume your husband isn’t called Red? Although he’s cute as well!” The woman laughed.

“Yeah. He is.” Scully smiled. Or at least he could be. Right now he was at his best but he could also be the most annoying man in the universe.

“What’s your husband called?” The woman asked nosily.

“Fox.” Scully felt as if she should enlighten the woman as to the real nature of this supposed “family” but something stopped her. She was enjoying this!

“Fox and Red? Now that’s unusual!” The woman exclaimed.

“Yeah. We’re an unusual family.” Scully grinned, enjoying the private joke.

At that moment her “boys” came running back over to her, Mulder allowing Red to win the race. She swept the child up into her arms and smiled inanely as he shyly kissed her cheek. He was adorable. How had he come to be in that house alone? Was some poor woman somewhere weeping for him? Staring at his empty bed, his favorite toys and wondering where he was?

“Mulder…we have to find out who he is,” she whispered seriously over Red’s head as they set off to McDonald’s for something to eat.

“I know, I know,” Mulder said. “We will.”

“What do you want?” Mulder asked Red, pointing out the options. “Big Mac? Cheeseburger? Fries?”
Red studied the choices thoughtfully and then pointed at the cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate milk shake. He unwrapped the meal as they sat down and stared at it for a moment.

“You ever had one of these, Red?” Scully asked.

“Haven’t all kids eaten at McDonald’s?” Mulder asked. Red shook his head, stuffing the burger into his mouth and taking a big bite. Mulder exchanged a look with Scully. “Well, what’s the verdict, Red?” He asked. Red smiled and nodded his head vigorously in mid-chew holding up one small thumb as an endorsement of the meal. Mulder laughed.

They finally left the mall and Mulder strapped the child into the back of the car in the new car seat that he had bought against Scully’s advice.

“We won’t be having him that long,” she had protested.

“We need to keep him safe.” Mulder had said, ruffling Red’s hair. “Don’t we, sport?” Red had nodded solemnly, picking out a car seat he liked. “Anyway it’s the law.” Mulder told her. “You wouldn’t want me breaking the law would you?” He asked, grinning broadly. Scully had glared at him and given in. It had, however, been her idea to buy Red some toys.

“You’re just as bad as me,” Mulder whispered to her.

“Mulder, nobody is as bad as you,” she replied tartly.

They drove back to Mulder’s place in silence. Mulder kept checking in the mirror to see if Red was all right but he looked fine.

“Mulder…” Scully cleared her throat. “I’ve been wondering…what are we going to tell Skinner about all this?” She asked.

“I don’t know. I need more time.” Mulder sighed. “We’ll stall him while we run some tests on the stuff in that house. That equipment.”

“Do you intend to run those tests yourself?” Scully frowned. “I mean, you’ve got a kid to look after. Unless you’re going to hand him over to…”

“No.” Mulder said firmly. “You’ve seen him, Scully. He can’t bear me to be out of his sight. No, we’ll take him with us. It might jog his memory.”

“He’ll get bored.”

“No he won’t.” Mulder said. “I’ll keep him entertained.”

Red shivered as they arrived back at the house. A team of FBI investigators were already there, dismantling the place piece by piece on Mulder’s orders.

“Found anything?” Mulder asked. Red’s hand was clutched tightly in his own.

“Not yet.” One of the investigators looked at Red and smiled. “Hey kid!” He grinned, ruffling Red’s hair. Red turned away and buried his face in Mulder’s leg again.

“He’s a bit shy,” Mulder said. “Come on, Red. This guy is okay. He won’t hurt you.” Red remained wrapped around Mulder’s leg. “Come on. You know I won’t let anybody hurt you. Not anybody.” Mulder stated fiercely. When had he come to feel so protective he wondered? Yet this child was so endearing, such a lost soul. He knew that Scully felt the same. The kid was enchanting. He was physically beautiful, as all children that age were, but it was more than that. His dark eyes were so very serious, hinting at some awful tragedy, and whenever Mulder won a smile from this solemn little boy he felt as if he’d just saved the world single-handedly or walked on the moon or something. It was an amazing feeling.

Red glanced up at Mulder and allowed himself to be disentangled.

“Why don’t you play?” Mulder suggested. “Here.” He got out the space laser Scully had bought for the kid and pressed the button, making it light up and let out a whooshing sound. Red smiled, tentatively. He took the laser, pointed it at Mulder and fired. Mulder pretended to die, very noisily, throwing himself around until he was rewarded by Red’s fit of giggles. I should get an Oscar for this, Mulder thought to himself. What’s happening to me? I’m turning into some sort of clown. Perhaps I chose the wrong profession, I should have been a children’s entertainer.

Red trailed along after Mulder, shooting his laser at people who mostly were nice enough to pretend to have been shot. Mulder noted which ones didn’t and took an instant dislike to them. All the same, the child wouldn’t let Mulder out of his sight, following him through the entire house.

“Do you remember any of this?” Mulder asked gently. Red shook his head.

“None of it?” Mulder wanted to know. “I mean, you know you were here, right?” Red nodded, his eyes filling up with tears again. Mulder swept him up and held him tight.

“It’s all right. We’ll find out what this means. I promise,” he said.

“Bad men.” Red whimpered into his neck. “Bad men took me.”

“Okay, Red. I’m listening. Tell me more.” Mulder glanced at Scully over the top of Red’s hair.

“I…I…” Red looked into Mulder’s eyes, his small features screwed up with anguish. “They… drink,” he said.

“You’re thirsty?” Mulder asked.

“No.” Scully stepped over. “I think he’s saying that he was given something to drink.”

“Then what?” Mulder breathed, his muscles starting to tense. The child had been naked under that man’s shirt. What had they done to him? Drugged him? Abused him? Mulder felt a surge of anger, wanting to hit out at anybody who could hurt or abuse this defenseless child. Shit, he should have taken the kid to a hospital, to a counselor – what had he been thinking of? Yet, he’d bathed the child and there hadn’t been a mark on him, not even a bruise or a scratch. The child picked up on Mulder’s tension and whimpered again. “It’s okay,” Mulder soothed. “I’m just angry with the bad men, Red. Tell me what they did to you.”

“Made me feel ill,” Red said. “Drink. Then all the colors…” Without warning Red was sick again, all over Mulder’s shoulder.

“You are going to have to stop doing this to me.” Mulder sighed, wincing as the smell of partly digested cheeseburger assaulted his senses.

****

They took Red to a hospital.

“There’s no sign of sexual or physical abuse,” the pediatrician told Mulder and Scully. “But the vomiting is a cause for concern. We’ve given him something to settle his stomach. I don’t think it’s anything serious though. Probably just a bug.”

“There are some other tests I’d like you to run,” Scully said. She outlined them and the doctor stared at her in surprise.

“And you are the child’s parents?” The doctor asked suspiciously.

“Yes.” Mulder said firmly, remembering Scully’s battles over Emily. “We’re also federal agents. Red’s our son. I can bring you his birth certificate if you like.”

The pediatrician stared at them both for a long time and then nodded. “Alright. We’ll start the tests,” she said.

“Mulder…” Scully began as soon as the pediatrician left the room. Her face was creased up into a worried frown.

“I know.” Mulder looked pretty worried himself. “I’m sorry, Scully, but I think Red’s been involved in some sort of experiment. And we won’t know until we run those tests.”

“And if she calls your bluff?” Scully asked. “Checks us out?”

“I’ll deal with that if it happens.” Mulder shrugged. “You don’t mind being our son for a bit do you, Red?” Red stared at him and shook his head mutely. “You don’t have to call me dad or anything, just pretend. Huh?” Mulder asked. Red nodded.

“Make believe,” he whispered. Mulder grinned.

“That’s right, kid. And now you’re talking more, how about you tell us your name?” He asked, as persuasively as he knew how.

“She knows my name,” Red replied, his solemn eyes fixed on Scully now.

“Me? I don’t.” Scully sat down on the bed next to Red and took his hand in hers.

“You do…you said…” Red’s face screwed up again as he bit back the tears. “Fox…” he whispered pathetically.

“I’m here, Red.” Mulder sat down on the other side of the bed and took hold of Red’s other hand. “It’s okay. Just tell us when you can, all right? We can help you. I promise.” Red’s eyes were wide with fear as if he were remembering something. He looked so sad and confused that Mulder wanted to go out and kill whoever had brought him to this condition.

The test results were startling.

“His body has undergone some sort of trauma.” The pediatrician informed them. “I think the vomiting is a reaction to stress and emotional turmoil. His metabolism is so screwed up I can’t begin to think how he must be feeling. We’ve stabilized that with medication but there’s this that we don’t understand.” She pointed at something in the file. Mulder looked at Scully questioningly, waiting for her to interpret.

“A sort of DNA mutation?” he asked when nothing was forthcoming.

“Not really. I mean, sort of, but…I’ve never seen anything like this before. What does it mean?” Scully looked at the pediatrician.

“I have no idea.” The doctor shrugged.

“Is it life threatening?” Mulder asked.

“No. At least I don’t think so. These results are bizarre. I can’t even begin to understand them. I’ll take this away and work on it.” Scully told him.

“Can Red come home with us?” Mulder asked the doctor. She shrugged.

“Well…he seems to be okay. I suppose so,” she said reluctantly.

“Good.” Mulder turned round to find that Red had already scrambled out of the bed and was trying to get himself dressed. He laughed. “You hate hospitals too, Red!” he exclaimed.

“Like father, like son?” Scully commented ironically with a raised eyebrow at Mulder. Mulder ignored her.

****

“Mulder I need to take these results into the office.” Scully said, gesturing to the file as they walked back to the car.

“I know. We’ll come too. There’s some stuff I want to look through.”

“What about Red?” Scully asked.

“He’s coming with us.” Mulder told her firmly. Scully regarded her partner for a long while as they drove. She was worried about him and this bond he had forged with the small, silent boy who had fallen asleep on the back seat of the car. Not that Red wasn’t a sweetheart and she could see why Mulder would grow attached to him, but all the same it worried her. Mulder was going to get hurt over this one – she could see it coming a mile off.

Red ran excitedly down the corridors of the Hoover building. He turned a corner and hid, jumping out when Mulder and Scully reached him. Mulder pretended to have a heart attack from the fright of it and was rewarded with another of those giggles. Red seemed quite at home, running on ahead, ducking around people’s legs.

“Weird.” Mulder mused. “I mean at that house he was terrified and now he’s started to behave like a normal kid. Not so clingy.”

“The house scared him. Something awful was done to him there.” Scully told him. “Here he feels safe.”

“Yes.” Mulder considered this for a moment, a worrying thought niggling at his subconscious. He couldn’t vocalize it and pushed it away. “Come on, Red!” He exclaimed, “We’re going this way!” Red had started to run up the stairs. “Down!” Mulder pointed. “We live in the basement.” Red stared at him questioningly and then followed as Mulder disappeared down the stairs.

Red was very well behaved, Scully thought to herself as she watched the child playing in the corner of the office. Mulder had given the boy a stack of scrap paper and a lot of different colored pens and he was now drawing away quite happily, his dark eyes fixed on the picture he was working on. Too well behaved, Scully thought. Mulder didn’t know much about kids – maybe he wasn’t aware what a very strange kid Red was.

“What you drawing, Red?” Mulder asked. Then he took a sharp intake of breath. Red’s pictures were good. Not like a child’s drawing at all – they had line and symmetry. They were a random collection of images, all jumbled together on the page. A room, people, a sense of bustle and confusion.

“Is this what’s in your head?” Mulder asked. Red nodded. “Looks worse than what goes on in mine,” Mulder joked. Red smiled.

Mulder returned to his papers, trying to piece together some clue from the test results being run on the equipment in the house where they’d found Red, while Scully worked her way through Red’s hospital tests. They were both so engrossed in their work that neither of them noticed Red get up and quietly leave the room. It was some minutes before Mulder looked up.

“Scully…?” He hissed. “Where did Red go? Shit!” He got up and went to the open door of the office, Scully hard on his heels. “Where the hell is he?” Mulder ran out into the corridor. The phone in the office buzzed and Scully answered it.

“Mulder!” Scully called. “Come back here. We have another problem.”

“What?” Mulder raced back. “Has someone found Red?”

“Yes. Someone has.” Scully grimaced. “Or at least Red’s found somebody. That was Kimberly on the phone. It appears that Red has just turned up in Assistant Director Skinner’s office.”

“Oh shit.” Mulder said.

“How are we going to explain this?” Scully wanted to know as they climbed the stairs. “Skinner is not going to understand why you’ve still got this kid, Mulder.”

“I know.” Mulder shook his head and chewed on his lip, thinking.

“And he’s going to insist that you turn Red over to the social services a.s.a.p. If you’re lucky he’ll just be very angry.”

“And if I’m unlucky?” Mulder dared to ask.

“He’ll kill you.” Scully smiled sweetly. “So that story had better be good!”

Red was sitting on Kimberly’s knee, playing with her computer when they arrived.

“He’s sweet isn’t he?” Kimberly smiled at them. “I wondered where he came from. One minute I was working, next I found this little guy standing in my doorway. The only thing he said was “Fox” so I thought of calling you.”

“Great. Thanks.” Mulder smiled tightly, one eye on the door to Skinner’s office. “Hey, Red. Come here.”

He held out a hand. If they were lucky they might be able to get out of here without disturbing Skinner. Red ignored him, sliding off Kimberly’s lap and going over to the door leading to Skinner’s office. “No Red!” Mulder shouted, but it was too late, Red had one hand on the door and was pushing it open.

“Thanks, kid.” Mulder sighed mournfully. “You just got me into a whole heap of trouble.”

“Oh it’s all right, Agent Mulder.” Kimberly smiled at him. “A.D. Skinner isn’t in today.”

“He isn’t?” Mulder heaved a sigh of relief. “Good. I mean…you know…I wouldn’t want to disturb him.” He ignored Scully’s snort and chased after Red who had disappeared into the other room. “Red! No!” Mulder laughed out loud as he pushed open the door to find Red sitting in Skinner’s big black chair, his skinny legs swinging a long way off the ground. Red smiled at him. “Shit, Red, you’d better get off there.” He had a sudden vision of the child puking up all over Skinner’s desk and it made him shudder. Try and explain that one, Mulder he told himself. Red didn’t budge. He opened up one of the desk drawers and peered inside. Mulder swooped, descending on the child and lifting him up, away from the desk. Red struggled to be put down again.

“Want…” He reached out his arms to the desk.

“Well you can’t have,” Mulder told him firmly.

“Want…” Red said again, wriggling so violently that Mulder half put him down, half dropped him. Red ran back to the desk and pulled something out of the drawer.

“What is that?” Mulder asked. Red pressed something hard and metallic into his hand. It was a set of keys.

“Home.” Red said.

Mulder stared at the child.

“What is it, Red? What are you trying to say?” He asked. Red smiled, took hold of Mulder’s hand and led him to the door. “Home.” He said again. Mulder began to feel like he’d watched “ET” too many times. Small children, “home”- was this his life?

“Take us there, Red,” he said to the boy. “Take us to your home.” Which he supposed was a variation on “take us to your leader.” Scully was still talking to Kimberly.

“Mulder,” she said, turning to him. “We have a problem.”

“No. It’s “Houston we have a problem.” Mulder wise-cracked, feeling as if his life was becoming more surreal with every passing minute.

“It’s Skinner.” Scully said seriously. “Kimberly says she was expecting him in today but he hasn’t showed up.”

“Is that unusual?” Mulder asked.

“Actually, yes, Mulder.” Scully informed him. “For most people not showing up at work IS unusual. Not for you, obviously, but for the rest of the world who live by different rules it is.”

“Okay. Have you tried calling him?” Kimberly just managed to keep from rolling her eyes. “Yeah, stupid question. Well, I suppose we could go over to his apartment and check it out.” Mulder said reluctantly. He had a sudden idea. “Kim, does the A.D. have a spare set of keys anywhere?”

“Yes…in his drawer…” Kimberly got up but Mulder stopped her.

“These them?” He held up the keys that Red had given him.

“Yes where did you…?”

“Never mind.” Mulder swung Red up and set off, Scully trailing along behind. “There’s a mystery here,” Mulder said to Red as he walked. “And we’re going to get to the bottom of it aren’t we, Red?”

“Yes, Fox.” Red nodded solemnly.

“You can be my new partner. Scully won’t mind, will you, Scully?” Mulder shouted over his shoulder.

“Mind? I’d be relieved.” Scully told Red, catching them up. “You have no idea what you’re taking on, Red. Your new partner is a right royal pain in the…”

“Little pitchers, Scully!” Mulder said with an infuriating grin.

****

There was no reply to Mulder’s knock on Skinner’s door. He fumbled with the keys, feeling sure his boss would turn up at any moment and ask exactly why Mulder was trying to break into his apartment. He opened the door cautiously and Red ran in ahead of them and then stopped, shaking. The apartment was in a mess. Mulder had only been there a couple of times in his life but he knew that his boss was a tidy man who would not have left the place looking like this.

“What’s happened here?” Scully looked round, drawing her gun. Mulder put a protective hand around Red, pushing him against the wall. There was a broken lamp on the floor and a couple of chairs had been overturned.

“A struggle?” Mulder suggested. “Someone being taken somewhere they didn’t want to go?” He felt Red whimper under his hand and turned just in time to see the child vomit again.

“Oh shit,” he sighed. This was all he needed. An abducted boss and a pathologically puking child.

“Mulder I’m concerned.” Scully said as Mulder cleaned Red up in Skinner’s scrupulously spotless bathroom. “If Skinner has been abducted it might not have happened last night. Today’s Monday. Nobody’s seen Skinner since Friday evening, which means…”

“Yes I know. They could have quite a head start on us.” Mulder wiped Red’s face with a towel. “And there’s something else, Scully. I think all this is connected with Red in some way.”

“Red?” Scully frowned. “How?”

“I’m not sure.” Mulder shook his head. “But remember when you were abducted? They used your ova to create hybrids like Emily.”

“Yes, but still…You’re not suggesting that Red is some sort of clone of Skinner are you? That’s preposterous, Mulder! Emily was born after I’d been abducted. She was 3 years old. She had lived a normal time span.”

“We don’t know that Skinner hasn’t been abducted before.” Mulder pointed out.

“I’m sure he would have mentioned it!” Scully protested. “Knowing the sorts of investigations we’re involved in.”

“Not necessarily. He doesn’t talk about himself much.”

“Mulder this is stupid. There is no connection here.” Scully shook her head.

“Let’s find some photographs.”

“Of what?” Scully followed him out of the bathroom, Red still perched on his hip.

“Of Skinner as a kid. I mean look at Red. It’s possible, Scully.”

“Possible.” Scully frowned, staring at the child. “But not terribly likely, Mulder.” Scully tried her best to think what a 4 year old Skinner might look like and whether this boy could therefore be some sort of “son” of her boss. She supposed there was a resemblance, mainly around the eyes, but Skinner was a man who looked every inch…well, a man. In all the time she had known him she had never seen anything in him of the child he must once have been. Unlike Mulder, she thought wryly to herself, privately of the opinion that her partner had never grown up.

She helped Mulder go through drawers and look through cupboards, wondering if he felt as guilty as she did at all this intruding into somebody else’s life. Especially Skinner. He was such a private man. She didn’t want to know where he kept his socks and how many shirts were hanging in his wardrobe…shirts. Scully pulled one of the shirts out and stared at it.

“Scully? Is this some shirt fetish we were hitherto unaware of?” Mulder teased.

“No…just wondering. That shirt that Red came wrapped up in. Looked a bit like this didn’t it?” Scully asked. Mulder shrugged.

“A shirt’s a shirt. They all look like that, Scully. Two arms, buttons…”

“Maybe. Worth investigating further though isn’t it?” she asked. Mulder nodded.

“Hey, what have you found, Red?” He followed the child into what was clearly a storage room and watched as Red dug into a box and pulled out a couple of photograph albums. “Great! Well done, kiddo.” He beamed. Red beamed back, clearly delighted to be of use.

Mulder flicked through the album. Not many photos for a whole life story. Some of Sharon Skinner, wedding photos, honeymoon shots. He was startled to see a totally relaxed looking Skinner beaming out from these ones. He seemed happy as a man should be on his honeymoon, but still, it wasn’t a look Mulder had ever caught a glimpse of. Finally Mulder found a couple of older photos. A bit grainy but clear enough. A neat looking child, with slick dark hair, gap toothed. On the back it just said “Walter 1959.” Mulder held it up against Red and stared.

“Could be,” he murmured. Scully frowned and examined it.

“Possibly.” She flattened Red’s hair down and stared at him again. “Possibly, Mulder. But it’s hard to say for sure,” she said. “I mean there’s a definite resemblance but kids of that age all look a bit the same don’t they? Big eyes, small noses…”

“Hair.” Mulder grinned.

“Quite.” Scully grinned back.

“So, Red – what’s the answer? Who are you?”

“Him.” Red pointed at the photo.

****

“Anything?” She peered into the gloom.

“Not that I can see.” Mulder got out a flashlight and shone it around, opened the door to a couple of the rooms.

“What is this place?” Scully picked up a flask of green liquid from a table and walked around some sort of scientific apparatus.

“I have no idea.” Mulder shrugged.

“What exactly did the tip-off say again?” Scully opened the door of a huge freezer and stepped back as a cloud of cold white air engulfed her. Mulder got the note out of his pocket.

“An X File?” he read out. “And then it gives this address.” Mulder shrugged.

“But what are we looking for?” Scully glanced at him.

“You know as much as I do.” Mulder left the room and went back into the hallway. “Scully!” He called.

“What is it…?” She came out noisily and he held up his hand.

“Did you hear that?” he asked.

“What?” They both stood there silently for a moment and then they heard it again. A faint muffled, scuffling sound. Mulder pointed to the doorway at the end of the corridor and Scully nodded, drawing her gun. They edged down the passage and stopped, then Mulder kicked the door open and charged in, Scully close behind him. Mulder waved the flashlight around.

“Nothing,” he said.

“Wait…” They both saw it. A flash of white, more scuffling and then the tiniest whimpering sound. Mulder shone his flashlight in the direction of the noise and stared in surprise.

There, in the far corner of the room, huddling against the wall and trying to hide behind a chair, was a small boy.

“Hey…it’s all right.” Mulder inched forwards slowly as the child stared at him in mute terror, his eyes fixed on Mulder’s gun. “This?” Mulder held it up and put it away under his jacket. “It’s just a toy. Come on, we’re not going to hurt you.” He grinned and held up his hands. “See. We surrender!” The child regarded him with huge solemn eyes but did not move. Scully smiled at the little boy.

“Do you have a name?” she asked. He didn’t reply. “What on earth is he doing here?” She whispered to Mulder. “This place is deserted. How long has he been here do you suppose?”

“Who knows? He looks healthy enough.” Mulder spotlighted the child with the flashlight. “What on earth is he wearing?” The boy seemed to be dressed in a man’s shirt and nothing else. He had nothing on his feet, which were just visible, poking out under the shirttails. The arms of the shirt were far too big for him and his hands were tucked somewhere deep inside them.

“Come on, kid.” Mulder made a face. “We’re not that ugly are we? We want to help you.” He walked slowly closer, watching the child’s terrified eyes fixed on his every step. Finally he crouched a few feet away and held out a gentle hand as if to a stray cat. The kid couldn’t have been more than 4 or 5 years old. He had thin, floppy dark hair and huge dark brown eyes. Mulder managed to get a fingertip on the child’s shoulder and he smiled as reassuringly as he knew how. “We could be friends,” he suggested. “I could use some friends. I don’t have that many.”

The child considered this for a moment and Mulder sensed that he was weakening. “Come on. What do you say?” he urged holding his arms open. “Friends?” The boy nodded and then darted out from his hiding place and burrowed his head into Mulder’s shoulder, his small hands clinging pathetically to the FBI agent.

“Hey, it’s all right. It’s okay.” Mulder picked the child up and exchanged a glance with Scully. “What the hell has happened to this kid?” Mulder whispered to her. She shook her head.

“We’d better find out,” she said.

****

“Mulder this is stupid.” Scully sighed. “We should contact the social services, hand the child over for temporary fostering.”

“I don’t want to do that yet, Scully.” Mulder told her over the child’s head. The boy refused to budge from the safety of Mulder’s arms and had now fallen fast asleep. Scully bustled around Mulder’s apartment, making a cup of coffee and frowning in disgust at the smell of the milk carton in the refrigerator.

“Don’t you have anything fresh around the place?” She asked him.

“No.” He shrugged. “Look, Scully, we were told this was an X file. We find this kid all alone in a clearly abandoned house – a place that’s been used for some sort of experimentation. I agree that we have to check the missing child register and do our best to trace the kid, but I don’t want to hand him over for temporary fostering until I know who he is and what this is all about.”

“Why?” Scully asked.

“Because…”

“Because of what? Because you think he might be another clone? Or a hybrid – a key to the clones?” Scully said perceptively. Mulder sighed.

“Yes. Remember Emily, Scully. Remember how you felt about her.”

“She was my daughter!” Scully protested.

“Yes I know. And this kid could be the key to understanding more about what happened to my sister,” Mulder said softly.

“All right.” She held up her hands. “I give in. Keep him ’til morning, Mulder, but then we inform the social services. Now, I’m going to buy you and your new charge some food and then I am going to check the missing child register. Hey, sleepyhead.” She ruffled the boy’s dark hair and he started and whimpered, clinging tightly to Mulder’s neck. “It’s all right. I just need to know your name. Won’t you tell me?” The boy burrowed his face into Mulder’s shoulder again, his small body tense and frozen. “It’s okay. But how can we tell your mom and dad you’re safe unless we know who you are?” Scully asked him. The child turned his head in her direction when she said the words “mom and dad”.

“Don’t you want to go home?” Mulder asked. The child nodded.

“Then tell us who you are.” Scully smiled at him. He gazed at her with those solemn brown eyes but still he didn’t speak.

“Do you suppose he can speak?” Scully asked. “I mean, Emily had some developmental problems. It’s possible that this child has learning difficulties of some sort.”

“Who knows? Leave him be for now.” Mulder gestured with his head to the door. “I’ll try and get him to unwind a bit. You go and buy that food.”

Scully nodded uncertainly, not at all sure about this investigation.

“It’s just the two of us now, kid.” Mulder said, sitting down on the couch, the child still wrapped around him. “Will you talk to me now?” The child just gazed at him. Mulder sighed. “You’re safe here, I promise. I won’t let anyone hurt you. Come on, loosen up, you’re squeezing my neck off here!” The child was still gripping on for dear life. “You’ve had a shock haven’t you, little guy?” Mulder asked, smoothing the child’s hair. “Someone did something pretty bad to you didn’t they?” The child whimpered and Mulder saw the two large tears forming in his eyes. “Do you remember any of it? Hey?” He asked, soothing the child. The boy laid his head on Mulder’s shoulder and his body shook as he sobbed his heart out. Mulder lay back, holding the child tight and running his hands along the small, stiff body. “You’re okay now. I’m going to take care of you,” he said firmly.

This felt strange. He had no little cousins or nephews or nieces, no children in his family at all. The last child he remembered comforting was his sister when she must have been about the same age as this kid. It awoke a fierce protective streak in him that he had long ago buried. As he held the child, Mulder knew that this particular X File had become personal.

Mulder awoke with a start. He was lying on the couch covered by a blanket, the child nestled under his chin, still sleeping. He vaguely remembered Scully coming back and unpacking some groceries before covering them both with the blanket and leaving again. Mulder stared down at the child for a moment, seeing him more clearly now that he was no longer wrapped around his neck. He was fast asleep but the dark shadows were visible under his thick black eyelashes. His skin was paler than Mulder thought it should be – the kid had a warm, slightly tanned looking tone to his skin but now he looked sallow and washed out. As he watched, the child’s long lashes blinked open and he stared up at Mulder for a long while and then whimpered as he remembered something.

“Home,” he whispered.

“That’s better.” Mulder grinned at him. “So you can talk?”

“Yes.” The child whispered.

“Can you tell me your name then?” Mulder asked. The child looked at him, his expression scared and shocked, and then he went deathly white, his eyes rolling back in his head. Mulder shook him in alarm, then picked the kid up and ran him to the bathroom. He was just in time. The child was violently sick over his shirt and shoulder and finally, when his head was pointed in the right direction, into the toilet bowl. Mulder sighed. “So this is what parenthood is like,” he murmured.

The fit of vomiting soon passed but with it also went the child’s desire to talk. He refused to open his mouth again. Mulder surveyed his own smelly shirt and the child’s stained garment and then decided that he had to get the kid cleaned up. He started running a bath and unbuttoned the huge shirt that the boy was wearing.

“I wish I knew your name, kid,” he said. “I don’t know what to call you.” The boy just stood there, staring at him, his finger curling in a lock of his dark hair. “If I get you out of this shirt, will you get in the bath for me?” he asked. The child nodded. Mulder pulled the shirt off him and lifted him up into the bath, sitting him down and sponging him with a washcloth. The child giggled as he found the soap dish in the shape of a “grey”.

“Yeah, I have useless friends who give me useless presents. This was from a guy called Melvin. Melvin Frohike. I know loads of other people with names.” Mulder grinned at the kid. “I’m being stupid. I’m expecting you to tell me your name and I haven’t told you mine. I’m…” he hesitated. The child stared at him again with those solemn dark eyes. “I’m Fox,” he said. “Yeah, I know, weird name. Do you have a weird name?” The child thought about this for a moment and then shook his head, a gesture that developed into a nod. “Hmm. I don’t know what to make of that.” Mulder said, lifting the child out of the bath and wrapping him in a towel. “Now what do we dress you in?” He walked the boy back into the other room and went to his wardrobe, pulled out a tee shirt and put that on the kid. It was only marginally better than the huge shirt had been. “Oh dear. I see we need to go shopping,” he grinned. The child grinned back and was then immediately sick over Mulder’s tee shirt.

“We can’t keep doing this.” Mulder said as he took the boy back into the bathroom and undressed him again, stuck him back in the bath. Privately he was worried. This kid was way too pale. As he soaped the boy down again he took the opportunity to surreptitiously check out the back of the kid’s neck, not entirely sure what he was looking for or what he’d do if he found any evidence of green, pus-filled boils. There was nothing. Mulder stuck another tee shirt on the kid, wrapped him in a blanket and laid him back down on the couch.

“Now look. I’ve got puke all over me and I need a shower,” he said. “I’m gonna leave you here just for a few minutes, okay?” The kid’s eyes turned frantic and he got up and wrapped his arms around Mulder. “All right.” Mulder sighed. “I won’t have a shower, but I do need to get out of this shirt. You stay there and I’ll be back in a second.” He ran into the bedroom, got himself a sweatshirt and ran back again but even in that short time he could see that the terror had returned to the child’s eyes. “I wasn’t gone long.” Mulder chided, knowing he would never be able to turn this boy over to social services. Not until he knew what had been done to him. Not until he knew the kid would be all right. At that moment there was a knock on the door and he let Scully in.

“How is he?” she asked, wrinkling up her nose. “You smell,” she added.

“He’s ill and that’s why I smell.” Mulder told her. “He threw up. Twice. All over me.”

“That’s kids.” Scully grinned. “However, he is looking a bit pale.” She sat down next to the child and put a hand on his forehead. “He doesn’t have a temperature,” she said.

“Perhaps he just needs to eat. We don’t know when he last ate. And he’s obviously been through some sort of nasty experience.” Mulder said.

“You haven’t got him to talk then?”

“Well…only a couple of words. What did you find out?”

“Nothing. He doesn’t fit any of the photos in the missing child register. I went through every one. It took half the night. I mean there were a couple that could have been him but when I checked further it didn’t turn out to be. Too old or too young or the kid had already been found or whatever. Until we can find out his name, we’re stuck,” Scully said. “So, monster, why don’t you tell us your name, huh?” She smiled. He smiled back at her and touched her hair.

“Red,” he whispered.

“Red? Is that your name?” she asked. He shook his head and touched her hair again.

“Red,” he repeated.

“Red. Well let’s call him that shall we?” Mulder grinned. “Come on, Red. Let’s get you fed. See I’m a poet. Red – fed!” He grinned idiotically and was rewarded by a shy smile from the little boy. God, Mulder thought, it was amazing the sort of goofiness a grown man would do just in order to get such a smile. He carried the boy into the kitchen and sat him in a chair while he made some toast. The child wolfed it down greedily. Scully exchanged a glance with Mulder before helping herself to a slice.

“Now what?” Scully asked while Red munched his way through his 5th slice of toast.

“Now we go and buy Red some clothes.” Mulder said firmly.

****

“Shit.” Mulder said as they entered the mall, each clutching one of Red’s small hands.

“Careful.” Scully gestured with her head towards the child. “Little pitchers have big ears,” she murmured.

“Oh. Right.” Mulder grinned sheepishly. “It’s just I feel like we’re…normal or something.” Red was wearing a pair of Mulder’s running shorts, held up with one of his belts that had been wrapped round the child’s body twice. He was smiling as Mulder and Scully swung him between them, whooping as he lifted his feet off the floor.

“Normal?” Scully repeated, grinning down at Red.

“Yeah, you know, Mom and Dad out with their kid.” He smiled softly at Scully. “In another lifetime, huh, Scully?”

“He’s not ours, Mulder,” she told him softly. “You’ll have to give him back at some point.”

“I know.” Mulder shook his head. “I know that, Scully.”

Yes, but do you believe it? Scully thought to herself.

They bought Red two pairs of pants, a couple of tee shirts and some sweatshirts. Then they had his feet measured and Mulder forked out for an expensive pair of sneakers.

“I’ll put it on my expenses.” He grinned at Scully.

“Footwear for 4 year olds? What will Skinner say?” Scully laughed at him. The child stared at her. “What is it?” Scully looked down at him. “What’s the matter, Red?” The child opened his mouth and then closed it again, burying his head in Mulder’s leg once more. Mulder sighed and picked him up.

“What’s the matter, sport?” He asked. Red put his arms around Mulder’s neck and refused to open his mouth again. “Hey look.” Mulder pointed at the play area where whole crowd of kids were playing. “You want to join in? Have some fun?” He put the child down and pushed him over to where the other kids were. The child watched them playing, his finger twirling in his hair as he stood there. He clearly wanted to join in but he wouldn’t let go of Mulder’s hand.

“You’re really shy aren’t you?” Mulder ran an affectionate hand through the boy’s floppy dark hair. “All right. I’ll come with you.” He grinned, running over to join in the games, taking Red with him. Red began to giggle.

“Mulder!” Scully protested.

“You know me, Scully. I don’t mind looking stupid! I have no shame!” Mulder threw himself onto a huge inflatable elephant and Red launched himself on after him, squealing with delight as Mulder picked him up and threw him in the air. Scully couldn’t help smiling as she watched.

“Your husband is crazy!” A woman told her, standing next to her and grinning. “It’s great isn’t it? A lot of dads don’t have time for their kids.”

“Yeah.” Scully sighed. This was all getting a little bit too cozy for her liking. She watched, feeling a growing sense of discomfort. It was clear that Mulder and Red had a rapport. But then Red was a small, frightened child without friends, family or familiar faces and Mulder had a child-like quality to him that made him seem like just another, bigger kid. No wonder Red trusted him.

“What’s his name?” The woman asked.

“Red.” Scully smiled.

“He’s a cute kid. We are talking about the kid right? I assume your husband isn’t called Red? Although he’s cute as well!” The woman laughed.

“Yeah. He is.” Scully smiled. Or at least he could be. Right now he was at his best but he could also be the most annoying man in the universe.

“What’s your husband called?” The woman asked nosily.

“Fox.” Scully felt as if she should enlighten the woman as to the real nature of this supposed “family” but something stopped her. She was enjoying this!

“Fox and Red? Now that’s unusual!” The woman exclaimed.

“Yeah. We’re an unusual family.” Scully grinned, enjoying the private joke.

At that moment her “boys” came running back over to her, Mulder allowing Red to win the race. She swept the child up into her arms and smiled inanely as he shyly kissed her cheek. He was adorable. How had he come to be in that house alone? Was some poor woman somewhere weeping for him? Staring at his empty bed, his favorite toys and wondering where he was?

“Mulder…we have to find out who he is,” she whispered seriously over Red’s head as they set off to McDonald’s for something to eat.

“I know, I know,” Mulder said. “We will.”

“What do you want?” Mulder asked Red, pointing out the options. “Big Mac? Cheeseburger? Fries?”
Red studied the choices thoughtfully and then pointed at the cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate milk shake. He unwrapped the meal as they sat down and stared at it for a moment.

“You ever had one of these, Red?” Scully asked.

“Haven’t all kids eaten at McDonald’s?” Mulder asked. Red shook his head, stuffing the burger into his mouth and taking a big bite. Mulder exchanged a look with Scully. “Well, what’s the verdict, Red?” He asked. Red smiled and nodded his head vigorously in mid-chew holding up one small thumb as an endorsement of the meal. Mulder laughed.

They finally left the mall and Mulder strapped the child into the back of the car in the new car seat that he had bought against Scully’s advice.

“We won’t be having him that long,” she had protested.

“We need to keep him safe.” Mulder had said, ruffling Red’s hair. “Don’t we, sport?” Red had nodded solemnly, picking out a car seat he liked. “Anyway it’s the law.” Mulder told her. “You wouldn’t want me breaking the law would you?” He asked, grinning broadly. Scully had glared at him and given in. It had, however, been her idea to buy Red some toys.

“You’re just as bad as me,” Mulder whispered to her.

“Mulder, nobody is as bad as you,” she replied tartly.

They drove back to Mulder’s place in silence. Mulder kept checking in the mirror to see if Red was all right but he looked fine.

“Mulder…” Scully cleared her throat. “I’ve been wondering…what are we going to tell Skinner about all this?” She asked.

“I don’t know. I need more time.” Mulder sighed. “We’ll stall him while we run some tests on the stuff in that house. That equipment.”

“Do you intend to run those tests yourself?” Scully frowned. “I mean, you’ve got a kid to look after. Unless you’re going to hand him over to…”

“No.” Mulder said firmly. “You’ve seen him, Scully. He can’t bear me to be out of his sight. No, we’ll take him with us. It might jog his memory.”

“He’ll get bored.”

“No he won’t.” Mulder said. “I’ll keep him entertained.”

Red shivered as they arrived back at the house. A team of FBI investigators were already there, dismantling the place piece by piece on Mulder’s orders.

“Found anything?” Mulder asked. Red’s hand was clutched tightly in his own.

“Not yet.” One of the investigators looked at Red and smiled. “Hey kid!” He grinned, ruffling Red’s hair. Red turned away and buried his face in Mulder’s leg again.

“He’s a bit shy,” Mulder said. “Come on, Red. This guy is okay. He won’t hurt you.” Red remained wrapped around Mulder’s leg. “Come on. You know I won’t let anybody hurt you. Not anybody.” Mulder stated fiercely. When had he come to feel so protective he wondered? Yet this child was so endearing, such a lost soul. He knew that Scully felt the same. The kid was enchanting. He was physically beautiful, as all children that age were, but it was more than that. His dark eyes were so very serious, hinting at some awful tragedy, and whenever Mulder won a smile from this solemn little boy he felt as if he’d just saved the world single-handedly or walked on the moon or something. It was an amazing feeling.

Red glanced up at Mulder and allowed himself to be disentangled.

“Why don’t you play?” Mulder suggested. “Here.” He got out the space laser Scully had bought for the kid and pressed the button, making it light up and let out a whooshing sound. Red smiled, tentatively. He took the laser, pointed it at Mulder and fired. Mulder pretended to die, very noisily, throwing himself around until he was rewarded by Red’s fit of giggles. I should get an Oscar for this, Mulder thought to himself. What’s happening to me? I’m turning into some sort of clown. Perhaps I chose the wrong profession, I should have been a children’s entertainer.

Red trailed along after Mulder, shooting his laser at people who mostly were nice enough to pretend to have been shot. Mulder noted which ones didn’t and took an instant dislike to them. All the same, the child wouldn’t let Mulder out of his sight, following him through the entire house.

“Do you remember any of this?” Mulder asked gently. Red shook his head.

“None of it?” Mulder wanted to know. “I mean, you know you were here, right?” Red nodded, his eyes filling up with tears again. Mulder swept him up and held him tight.

“It’s all right. We’ll find out what this means. I promise,” he said.

“Bad men.” Red whimpered into his neck. “Bad men took me.”

“Okay, Red. I’m listening. Tell me more.” Mulder glanced at Scully over the top of Red’s hair.

“I…I…” Red looked into Mulder’s eyes, his small features screwed up with anguish. “They… drink,” he said.

“You’re thirsty?” Mulder asked.

“No.” Scully stepped over. “I think he’s saying that he was given something to drink.”

“Then what?” Mulder breathed, his muscles starting to tense. The child had been naked under that man’s shirt. What had they done to him? Drugged him? Abused him? Mulder felt a surge of anger, wanting to hit out at anybody who could hurt or abuse this defenseless child. Shit, he should have taken the kid to a hospital, to a counselor – what had he been thinking of? Yet, he’d bathed the child and there hadn’t been a mark on him, not even a bruise or a scratch. The child picked up on Mulder’s tension and whimpered again. “It’s okay,” Mulder soothed. “I’m just angry with the bad men, Red. Tell me what they did to you.”

“Made me feel ill,” Red said. “Drink. Then all the colors…” Without warning Red was sick again, all over Mulder’s shoulder.

“You are going to have to stop doing this to me.” Mulder sighed, wincing as the smell of partly digested cheeseburger assaulted his senses.

****

They took Red to a hospital.

“There’s no sign of sexual or physical abuse,” the pediatrician told Mulder and Scully. “But the vomiting is a cause for concern. We’ve given him something to settle his stomach. I don’t think it’s anything serious though. Probably just a bug.”

“There are some other tests I’d like you to run,” Scully said. She outlined them and the doctor stared at her in surprise.

“And you are the child’s parents?” The doctor asked suspiciously.

“Yes.” Mulder said firmly, remembering Scully’s battles over Emily. “We’re also federal agents. Red’s our son. I can bring you his birth certificate if you like.”

The pediatrician stared at them both for a long time and then nodded. “Alright. We’ll start the tests,” she said.

“Mulder…” Scully began as soon as the pediatrician left the room. Her face was creased up into a worried frown.

“I know.” Mulder looked pretty worried himself. “I’m sorry, Scully, but I think Red’s been involved in some sort of experiment. And we won’t know until we run those tests.”

“And if she calls your bluff?” Scully asked. “Checks us out?”

“I’ll deal with that if it happens.” Mulder shrugged. “You don’t mind being our son for a bit do you, Red?” Red stared at him and shook his head mutely. “You don’t have to call me dad or anything, just pretend. Huh?” Mulder asked. Red nodded.

“Make believe,” he whispered. Mulder grinned.

“That’s right, kid. And now you’re talking more, how about you tell us your name?” He asked, as persuasively as he knew how.

“She knows my name,” Red replied, his solemn eyes fixed on Scully now.

“Me? I don’t.” Scully sat down on the bed next to Red and took his hand in hers.

“You do…you said…” Red’s face screwed up again as he bit back the tears. “Fox…” he whispered pathetically.

“I’m here, Red.” Mulder sat down on the other side of the bed and took hold of Red’s other hand. “It’s okay. Just tell us when you can, all right? We can help you. I promise.” Red’s eyes were wide with fear as if he were remembering something. He looked so sad and confused that Mulder wanted to go out and kill whoever had brought him to this condition.

The test results were startling.

“His body has undergone some sort of trauma.” The pediatrician informed them. “I think the vomiting is a reaction to stress and emotional turmoil. His metabolism is so screwed up I can’t begin to think how he must be feeling. We’ve stabilized that with medication but there’s this that we don’t understand.” She pointed at something in the file. Mulder looked at Scully questioningly, waiting for her to interpret.

“A sort of DNA mutation?” he asked when nothing was forthcoming.

“Not really. I mean, sort of, but…I’ve never seen anything like this before. What does it mean?” Scully looked at the pediatrician.

“I have no idea.” The doctor shrugged.

“Is it life threatening?” Mulder asked.

“No. At least I don’t think so. These results are bizarre. I can’t even begin to understand them. I’ll take this away and work on it.” Scully told him.

“Can Red come home with us?” Mulder asked the doctor. She shrugged.

“Well…he seems to be okay. I suppose so,” she said reluctantly.

“Good.” Mulder turned round to find that Red had already scrambled out of the bed and was trying to get himself dressed. He laughed. “You hate hospitals too, Red!” he exclaimed.

“Like father, like son?” Scully commented ironically with a raised eyebrow at Mulder. Mulder ignored her.

****

“Mulder I need to take these results into the office.” Scully said, gesturing to the file as they walked back to the car.

“I know. We’ll come too. There’s some stuff I want to look through.”

“What about Red?” Scully asked.

“He’s coming with us.” Mulder told her firmly. Scully regarded her partner for a long while as they drove. She was worried about him and this bond he had forged with the small, silent boy who had fallen asleep on the back seat of the car. Not that Red wasn’t a sweetheart and she could see why Mulder would grow attached to him, but all the same it worried her. Mulder was going to get hurt over this one – she could see it coming a mile off.

Red ran excitedly down the corridors of the Hoover building. He turned a corner and hid, jumping out when Mulder and Scully reached him. Mulder pretended to have a heart attack from the fright of it and was rewarded with another of those giggles. Red seemed quite at home, running on ahead, ducking around people’s legs.

“Weird.” Mulder mused. “I mean at that house he was terrified and now he’s started to behave like a normal kid. Not so clingy.”

“The house scared him. Something awful was done to him there.” Scully told him. “Here he feels safe.”

“Yes.” Mulder considered this for a moment, a worrying thought niggling at his subconscious. He couldn’t vocalize it and pushed it away. “Come on, Red!” He exclaimed, “We’re going this way!” Red had started to run up the stairs. “Down!” Mulder pointed. “We live in the basement.” Red stared at him questioningly and then followed as Mulder disappeared down the stairs.

Red was very well behaved, Scully thought to herself as she watched the child playing in the corner of the office. Mulder had given the boy a stack of scrap paper and a lot of different colored pens and he was now drawing away quite happily, his dark eyes fixed on the picture he was working on. Too well behaved, Scully thought. Mulder didn’t know much about kids – maybe he wasn’t aware what a very strange kid Red was.

“What you drawing, Red?” Mulder asked. Then he took a sharp intake of breath. Red’s pictures were good. Not like a child’s drawing at all – they had line and symmetry. They were a random collection of images, all jumbled together on the page. A room, people, a sense of bustle and confusion.

“Is this what’s in your head?” Mulder asked. Red nodded. “Looks worse than what goes on in mine,” Mulder joked. Red smiled.

Mulder returned to his papers, trying to piece together some clue from the test results being run on the equipment in the house where they’d found Red, while Scully worked her way through Red’s hospital tests. They were both so engrossed in their work that neither of them noticed Red get up and quietly leave the room. It was some minutes before Mulder looked up.

“Scully…?” He hissed. “Where did Red go? Shit!” He got up and went to the open door of the office, Scully hard on his heels. “Where the hell is he?” Mulder ran out into the corridor. The phone in the office buzzed and Scully answered it.

“Mulder!” Scully called. “Come back here. We have another problem.”

“What?” Mulder raced back. “Has someone found Red?”

“Yes. Someone has.” Scully grimaced. “Or at least Red’s found somebody. That was Kimberly on the phone. It appears that Red has just turned up in Assistant Director Skinner’s office.”

“Oh shit.” Mulder said.

“How are we going to explain this?” Scully wanted to know as they climbed the stairs. “Skinner is not going to understand why you’ve still got this kid, Mulder.”

“I know.” Mulder shook his head and chewed on his lip, thinking.

“And he’s going to insist that you turn Red over to the social services a.s.a.p. If you’re lucky he’ll just be very angry.”

“And if I’m unlucky?” Mulder dared to ask.

“He’ll kill you.” Scully smiled sweetly. “So that story had better be good!”

Red was sitting on Kimberly’s knee, playing with her computer when they arrived.

“He’s sweet isn’t he?” Kimberly smiled at them. “I wondered where he came from. One minute I was working, next I found this little guy standing in my doorway. The only thing he said was “Fox” so I thought of calling you.”

“Great. Thanks.” Mulder smiled tightly, one eye on the door to Skinner’s office. “Hey, Red. Come here.”

He held out a hand. If they were lucky they might be able to get out of here without disturbing Skinner. Red ignored him, sliding off Kimberly’s lap and going over to the door leading to Skinner’s office. “No Red!” Mulder shouted, but it was too late, Red had one hand on the door and was pushing it open.

“Thanks, kid.” Mulder sighed mournfully. “You just got me into a whole heap of trouble.”

“Oh it’s all right, Agent Mulder.” Kimberly smiled at him. “A.D. Skinner isn’t in today.”

“He isn’t?” Mulder heaved a sigh of relief. “Good. I mean…you know…I wouldn’t want to disturb him.” He ignored Scully’s snort and chased after Red who had disappeared into the other room. “Red! No!” Mulder laughed out loud as he pushed open the door to find Red sitting in Skinner’s big black chair, his skinny legs swinging a long way off the ground. Red smiled at him. “Shit, Red, you’d better get off there.” He had a sudden vision of the child puking up all over Skinner’s desk and it made him shudder. Try and explain that one, Mulder he told himself. Red didn’t budge. He opened up one of the desk drawers and peered inside. Mulder swooped, descending on the child and lifting him up, away from the desk. Red struggled to be put down again.

“Want…” He reached out his arms to the desk.

“Well you can’t have,” Mulder told him firmly.

“Want…” Red said again, wriggling so violently that Mulder half put him down, half dropped him. Red ran back to the desk and pulled something out of the drawer.

“What is that?” Mulder asked. Red pressed something hard and metallic into his hand. It was a set of keys.

“Home.” Red said.

Mulder stared at the child.

“What is it, Red? What are you trying to say?” He asked. Red smiled, took hold of Mulder’s hand and led him to the door. “Home.” He said again. Mulder began to feel like he’d watched “ET” too many times. Small children, “home”- was this his life?

“Take us there, Red,” he said to the boy. “Take us to your home.” Which he supposed was a variation on “take us to your leader.” Scully was still talking to Kimberly.

“Mulder,” she said, turning to him. “We have a problem.”

“No. It’s “Houston we have a problem.” Mulder wise-cracked, feeling as if his life was becoming more surreal with every passing minute.

“It’s Skinner.” Scully said seriously. “Kimberly says she was expecting him in today but he hasn’t showed up.”

“Is that unusual?” Mulder asked.

“Actually, yes, Mulder.” Scully informed him. “For most people not showing up at work IS unusual. Not for you, obviously, but for the rest of the world who live by different rules it is.”

“Okay. Have you tried calling him?” Kimberly just managed to keep from rolling her eyes. “Yeah, stupid question. Well, I suppose we could go over to his apartment and check it out.” Mulder said reluctantly. He had a sudden idea. “Kim, does the A.D. have a spare set of keys anywhere?”

“Yes…in his drawer…” Kimberly got up but Mulder stopped her.

“These them?” He held up the keys that Red had given him.

“Yes where did you…?”

“Never mind.” Mulder swung Red up and set off, Scully trailing along behind. “There’s a mystery here,” Mulder said to Red as he walked. “And we’re going to get to the bottom of it aren’t we, Red?”

“Yes, Fox.” Red nodded solemnly.

“You can be my new partner. Scully won’t mind, will you, Scully?” Mulder shouted over his shoulder.

“Mind? I’d be relieved.” Scully told Red, catching them up. “You have no idea what you’re taking on, Red. Your new partner is a right royal pain in the…”

“Little pitchers, Scully!” Mulder said with an infuriating grin.

****

There was no reply to Mulder’s knock on Skinner’s door. He fumbled with the keys, feeling sure his boss would turn up at any moment and ask exactly why Mulder was trying to break into his apartment. He opened the door cautiously and Red ran in ahead of them and then stopped, shaking. The apartment was in a mess. Mulder had only been there a couple of times in his life but he knew that his boss was a tidy man who would not have left the place looking like this.

“What’s happened here?” Scully looked round, drawing her gun. Mulder put a protective hand around Red, pushing him against the wall. There was a broken lamp on the floor and a couple of chairs had been overturned.

“A struggle?” Mulder suggested. “Someone being taken somewhere they didn’t want to go?” He felt Red whimper under his hand and turned just in time to see the child vomit again.

“Oh shit,” he sighed. This was all he needed. An abducted boss and a pathologically puking child.

“Mulder I’m concerned.” Scully said as Mulder cleaned Red up in Skinner’s scrupulously spotless bathroom. “If Skinner has been abducted it might not have happened last night. Today’s Monday. Nobody’s seen Skinner since Friday evening, which means…”

“Yes I know. They could have quite a head start on us.” Mulder wiped Red’s face with a towel. “And there’s something else, Scully. I think all this is connected with Red in some way.”

“Red?” Scully frowned. “How?”

“I’m not sure.” Mulder shook his head. “But remember when you were abducted? They used your ova to create hybrids like Emily.”

“Yes, but still…You’re not suggesting that Red is some sort of clone of Skinner are you? That’s preposterous, Mulder! Emily was born after I’d been abducted. She was 3 years old. She had lived a normal time span.”

“We don’t know that Skinner hasn’t been abducted before.” Mulder pointed out.

“I’m sure he would have mentioned it!” Scully protested. “Knowing the sorts of investigations we’re involved in.”

“Not necessarily. He doesn’t talk about himself much.”

“Mulder this is stupid. There is no connection here.” Scully shook her head.

“Let’s find some photographs.”

“Of what?” Scully followed him out of the bathroom, Red still perched on his hip.

“Of Skinner as a kid. I mean look at Red. It’s possible, Scully.”

“Possible.” Scully frowned, staring at the child. “But not terribly likely, Mulder.” Scully tried her best to think what a 4 year old Skinner might look like and whether this boy could therefore be some sort of “son” of her boss. She supposed there was a resemblance, mainly around the eyes, but Skinner was a man who looked every inch…well, a man. In all the time she had known him she had never seen anything in him of the child he must once have been. Unlike Mulder, she thought wryly to herself, privately of the opinion that her partner had never grown up.

She helped Mulder go through drawers and look through cupboards, wondering if he felt as guilty as she did at all this intruding into somebody else’s life. Especially Skinner. He was such a private man. She didn’t want to know where he kept his socks and how many shirts were hanging in his wardrobe…shirts. Scully pulled one of the shirts out and stared at it.

“Scully? Is this some shirt fetish we were hitherto unaware of?” Mulder teased.

“No…just wondering. That shirt that Red came wrapped up in. Looked a bit like this didn’t it?” Scully asked. Mulder shrugged.

“A shirt’s a shirt. They all look like that, Scully. Two arms, buttons…”

“Maybe. Worth investigating further though isn’t it?” she asked. Mulder nodded.

“Hey, what have you found, Red?” He followed the child into what was clearly a storage room and watched as Red dug into a box and pulled out a couple of photograph albums. “Great! Well done, kiddo.” He beamed. Red beamed back, clearly delighted to be of use.

Mulder flicked through the album. Not many photos for a whole life story. Some of Sharon Skinner, wedding photos, honeymoon shots. He was startled to see a totally relaxed looking Skinner beaming out from these ones. He seemed happy as a man should be on his honeymoon, but still, it wasn’t a look Mulder had ever caught a glimpse of. Finally Mulder found a couple of older photos. A bit grainy but clear enough. A neat looking child, with slick dark hair, gap toothed. On the back it just said “Walter 1959.” Mulder held it up against Red and stared.

“Could be,” he murmured. Scully frowned and examined it.

“Possibly.” She flattened Red’s hair down and stared at him again. “Possibly, Mulder. But it’s hard to say for sure,” she said. “I mean there’s a definite resemblance but kids of that age all look a bit the same don’t they? Big eyes, small noses…”

“Hair.” Mulder grinned.

“Quite.” Scully grinned back.

“So, Red – what’s the answer? Who are you?”

“Him.” Red pointed at the photo.

****

Continued in Chapter 2