Title: The Legacy of Truthseekers Author: Julie Cantrell Rating: PG Category: VA Spoilers: Tiny one from 'Two Fathers'. Nothing major. Keywords: Character deaths Summary: In a post-colonized world, Walter Skinner reflects on two fallen agents and the legacy they left behind. Feedback: Excepted gratefully at xfsista@hotmail.com (operators are standing by). Archive: DO NOT ARCHIVE AT GOSSAMER (I've already taken care of that). Anyone else, just ask first. Disclaimers: The characters of Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, Walter Skinner, Alex Krycek, CSM, Samantha Mulder, and Emily belong to Chris Carter, 1013 Productions, and Twentieth Century Fox Television. No profit is being made from their use. No infringement is intended. Annie is mine. See the end of this story for notes and additional disclaimers. Huge thanX to Jenn T., Ali, and Spookyteacher for editing this for me. I couldn't have done it without these three marvelous ladies! :) ************************** The Legacy of Truthseekers by Julie Cantrell ************************** I am seventy years old today. My mind is still sharp and I get around pretty damn good. The only thing that I don't have is hair, but that's something I lost long ago. No use crying over spilled milk, or lost hair for that matter. Today is also an international holiday. Annie made sure of that. She thinks that I'm some sort of hero. I'm honored, but I'm not the real hero. She's such a sweet child. Well, I guess you'd call her a young woman now. Do you know what she gave me for my birthday? A book! Not just any book, but a rare copy of Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass". Of course, these days, all books made of paper are rare. How she was able to get her hands on it is a mystery. Who's Annie, you ask? You mean to tell me that you don't know about our Savior? Annie hates to be called that, but Savior is what the press has dubbed her. Maybe I should start at the beginning. Annie is the biological child of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. Of course, she was born several years after their deaths. It's strange that even though she's never met her parents, she seems to possess a combination of their personalities. Anyway, as I was saying, Annie never knew her parents. They both died tragically young during the Invasion Wars. They fought until their dying day trying to save humanity. It's funny, but in a way, they did save it. You see, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully both possessed something that was rare in pre-colonization times. They both had been immunized against Purity. Purity is the disease that the aliens inflicted on the populace during the Invasion. Millions died because of the virus. Those who didn't die became slaves to an alien race. Mulder's and Scully's immunity kept them protected long enough for them to infiltrate the Syndicate and fight against colonization. Of course, their immunity from Purity couldn't save them from bullets. I was broken hearted over the deaths of Mulder and Scully. I was ashamed that they had given up so much of their lives while the rest of us had sat on our asses and watched in horror. They sacrificed their chance at a normal life so the rest of the world could live in peace. They gave up the comforts of a family so we could know the truth. God, how I admired them. They were so passionate and strong, I thought nothing could ever break them. Then, I heard the news of their deaths. Fox Mulder and Dana Scully were killed after being captured in a research facility in Montana. I didn't know the specifics other than the fact that they had both been shot. A few years later, I got a visit from Alex Krycek. It's funny, but Krycek turned out to be an unlikely hero. He gave me the details about Mulder's and Scully's deaths. I didn't want to hear about it, but I knew that I had to. Apparently, Mulder had been tipped off that experiments involving hybrids were taking place in the labs in Montana. Always eager to learn the truth, he convinced Scully to go along for the ride. They arrived at the lab and, in standard 'Mulder' fashion, they broke in. Little did they know, their arrival wasn't as secret as they had hoped. Krycek explained to me that the Smoking Man wanted Mulder to make a discovery before his capture. His next revelation shook my soul to the core. The little girl that Fox Mulder had spent his entire life and being looking for was a successful genetic engineer. She had been working with the men that he had fought against for years. Samantha Mulder was present for Dana Scully's abduction. She was there when his partner was experimented on. Emily had been her prize experiment. She flippantly remarked that she would have made a great test subject had Scully not have interfered. Mulder was horrified. To top it all off, Samantha Mulder had known where her brother was all along and that he had been searching for her. She just didn't care. Soon after his meeting with his sister, Mulder and Scully were captured. They were kept in a cell together and were given a minimal amount of food and water. After three days, the agents weakly held on to one another, both fearing for the other. Finally, Mulder's sister ordered them to be brought from the cell. According to Krycek, the agents clung to one another as Samantha mocked her brother, calling him a fool. Their dignity was stripped from them as they tried to fight off the Consortium goons, but in their weakened state, it was useless. In the end, Mulder begged for Scully to be spared. The once sweet girl laughed at her older brother's pleas and tears. She told him that he shouldn't have become a truthseeker without knowing the consequences. Ignorance is bliss and he and Scully could have been happy. Those were the rules. As a final insult, Samantha assisted with an experiment that would be the last violation of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. Annie was the result. After they had obtained the proper *materials*, also known as medical rape, Samantha Mulder took a pistol and shot Scully in the head. Mulder moaned in agony. He feebly attempted to break free from the restraints. He pleaded with Samantha to let him loose so he could touch Scully one more time. I'm sure that at that moment, Mulder knew that Scully was the only thing in this world that he could count on. Then, Samantha looked at her brother sadly and said, "I'm sorry, Fox. This is the cost of the truth." She raised the gun and ended Fox Mulder's pain. Annie had just been born when Krycek visited me. He was the one who told me of her birth, if you can call it that. She was conceived in a laboratory with the aid of tubes and containers. I was then told that she was the subject of ongoing tests. Feeling guilty over his part in these heinous acts, Krycek helped me find Annie and take her away from the evil of the Syndicate. Even a murderer like Krycek could see that what Mulder and Scully had been through was an atrocity. In a strange twist of irony, Mulder and Scully provided the evidence needed to expose the Consortium for what they were. Their evidence was a baby girl with reddish fuzz on her head and lovely hazel eyes. Because of her, Samantha Mulder and dozens of other members of the Consortium were prosecuted and sent to prison. Alex Krycek disappeared and was never seen again. It soon become evident that Annie's DNA held the key to the cure against the black cancer. She was the world's first child to be born with a natural immunity to Purity. At first, I was reluctant to have the little one endure any more tests. I relented, but only after I was assured that these tests would in no way be like the unspeakable horrors performed by the Syndicate. Again, the mystery that was Annie saved millions from a death by an extraterrestrial virus. Even in death, Mulder and Scully won. As she grew older, it was obvious that Mulder and Scully were Annie's parents. Her eyes are the same color as Mulder's, but they're shaped like Scully's. She has her mother's pouty mouth and her father's straight teeth. Of course, her fiery hair gives it all away. Her personality absolutely screams Mulder and Scully. She has the soft sarcasm of her father, but her mother's diplomacy to keep her in check and out of trouble. Two very different individuals combined have created a near perfect being. Annie makes mistakes, of course, she 'is' human, but she's the closest thing to perfection I've ever seen. She's spirited, loyal, and never backs down from a challenge. She's Mulder and Scully rolled into one. They complimented each other so well. Their daughter is proof of that. Annie uses her skills to help people. She's known internationally as a diplomat and a scientist. Her uncanny ability to make illogical leaps are, for lack of a better word, spooky. Of course, she'd never present these theories until she had the proper evidence to back them up. She has become quite a young woman. I think that Mulder and Scully would have been proud of how she turned out. I often wonder what role I would have played in her life had her parents survived their gruesome deaths. Would I have been non-existent? Maybe I would have played the part of a favorite uncle spoiling a darling child with extravagant gifts. I guess I'll never know. When she was a very little girl, she had mistakenly called me *Daddy*. I quickly corrected her. I was only a surrogate father and felt that I had no right to take a title that didn't belong to me. From that moment on, I was just Walter. I smile thoughtfully at my musings. I turn my head as I hear the front door click open. The red haired beauty steps into the room. "Hi, Walter," she smiles as she kisses my wrinkled cheek. This is a familiar ritual. Annie always makes sure that I get at least one kiss a day. Unlike her parents, she's very open with her feelings. There is no question that she loves me like a father. I sometimes wonder if she feels like she's making up for her parents and their ability to keep their emotions bottled in. "Hey, kiddo! How was the press conference?" I question. "Same old stuff," she jokes. "Only it's a different day." "Did they ask you about how you feel about being the Savior?" I know her answer already. Those dumb ass reporters ask the same questions every time. "Of course," she flashes that Mulder grin at me. "I told them that I'd been called a lot of things, but that one was new to me." She suddenly turns serious. "Actually, I told them that the real Saviors are no longer with us. I was just born, but it was Fox Mulder and Dana Scully that fought for our lives. They chose our lives over their own. I get so pissed off sometimes, Walter. So many people want to call the Consortium the real heroes. How can people who butchered and tortured other human beings be saviors?" She stares at an invisible spot on the carpet. "I'll be damned before I let people forget that my parents fought for humanity. I want history to keep their memory alive." The last part of her passionate speech slips out on a strained whisper. Touched by her honesty, my eyes water and I glance at the book in my lap. She catches my gaze. "Will you read one for me?" she asks while trying to change the subject. "Sure," I say as I flip open the yellowed pages until I find one to my liking. I clear my throat and begin: "Who includes diversity and is Nature, Who is the amplitude of the earth, and the coarseness and sexuality of the earth, and the great charity of the earth, and equilibrium also, Who has not look'd forth from the windows the eyes for nothing, or whose brain held audience with messengers for nothing, Who contains believers and disbelievers, who is the most majestic lover, Who holds duly his or her triune proportion of realism, spiritualism, an of the aesthetic or intellectual, Who having consider'd the body finds all its organs and parts good, Who, out of the theory of the earth and of his or her body understands by subtle analogies all other theories, The theory of a city, a poem, and of the large politics of these States; Who believes not only in our globe with its sun and moon, but in other globes with their suns and moons, Who, constructing the house of himself or herself, not for a day but for all time, sees races, eras, dates, generations, The past, the future, dwelling there, like space, inseparable together." As I finish, I look up at Annie. There are tears in her eyes. "'Kosmos'?" she asks, referring to the poem's title. I nod my head affirmatively. "Walter," she continues, "you have strange tastes." I laugh out loud at her outspoken nature. She smiles affectionately. Again, the lightness of the moment turns somber. "Did my parents love each other?" Annie has always known that she was not conceived naturally. Her parents dedicated their lives to finding the truth. I always felt the need to be absolutely honest with their daughter. If I denied the truth, it would have been an insult to her extraordinary parents. Her question doesn't surprise me. It's a question that she has asked repeatedly throughout her life. I always give her the same answer. She knows what I'm going to say, but I think she likes hearing it. It's comforting, like a familiar bedtime story. "Annie," I start, "I don't know if your parents were ever lovers. However, I'm certain of one thing. No two people loved each other as much as Fox Mulder and Dana Scully." Somehow, I know my words are the one and only truth that matters to anyone. To Mulder, to Scully, and to Annie. ************************* The End. ************************** Author's Notes: This story was written on February 12 and 13, 1999. I have no idea where to begin with this one. The idea struck me while reading Walt Whitman's poems and I couldn't shake it. So, blame Walt! *g* Seriously, writing this was an odd experience for me, but a good one, I think. I've never written anything quite like this before, but it feels good to be expanding my horizons. This was written in the week between "Two Fathers" and "One Son", so everything that's written here isn't necessarily relevant to the current XF timeline. Of course, that's part of the fun of fanfic! Speaking of fanfic fun, I'd like to issue a challenge to all of the authors (and potential authors) out there. The common point that my betas made was that they would have liked for me to expand on colonization and Samantha's role in the Consortium. While I think that these are very interesting ideas, this story more or less reflected Skinner's feelings about his agents. So, if anyone would like to take the situations in this story and explore them more thoroughly, I'd love to see what you can come up with. For instance, maybe someone could write Mulder's and Scully's final moments from their POV. Or, what if Krycek lied to Skinner? The possibilities are endless! So, tell me if this 'expansion of horizons' is good or bad. Please (I'm trying not to beg) send feedback to xfsista@hotmail.com and tell me what you think. All comments and criticisms are welcome. I prefer beautiful messages of divine love for this story, but I've been told that beggars can't be choosers! :) Additional note: My apologies to those who have e-mailed me at my Yahoo address. I didn't realize that when I deleted my Geocities website, they also deleted my Yahoo e-mail account. Another reason to hate Geocities! ************************** Additional Disclaimer: The poem 'Kosmos' was taken from "Leaves of Grass" by Walt Whitman as it appeared in the 1931 copyrighted version by Aventine Press, Inc. It was used without permission. No profit is being made from its use.