Title:        The Truth, Finally
               
Author:       FatCat (feedback to fatcat33047@yahoo.com)
               
Rating:       PG (just words)

Category:     V 

Spoilers:     No Requiem, season 8 or season 9 in this 
              world

Archive:      As you wish, but please keep my name 
              attached.

Summary:      An old deceit leads Mulder to a welcomed 
              truth

Disclaimer:   They aren't mine nor anyone's but CC, Fox,
              1013, DD, and GA's.  No harm/no foul.
              No beta was insulted by this. 
              I did this! (After several years)
              Conceived and written 10/8/10

A man sat alone in his office, illuminated by a single 
desk lamp, and surrounded by shadows.  On his desk was a 
large, old fashioned reel-to-reel tape recorder, two 
stacks of tapes and a tablet scribbled with notes; 
obviously a project in progress.

Earphones pulled down around his neck, the man fed 
another tape through the machine then flipped his pad to 
a fresh page.   He picked up the metal tape cover and 
noted the title printed on it.  He pulled up the 
earphones and pressed play on the machine.

(The sound of hissing as the tape starts then the noise 
of someone answering a door.  Angry, unintelligible 
words, then as they drew closer . . .)
 
"Tina, you'll have to tell him."

"Tell him?  Tell him what?  Tell him how?"

"Tina, darling, you know we can't keep this from him.  
He's withdrawing more and more every day."

"He's just a child; he's too young to know, to 
understand."

"No, he's smart, wicked smart, and he's already 
questioning everything that's happened.  He needs to be 
told so he won't let Bill's guilt and hate overwhelm 
him."

"No, I can't."

"If you won't tell him, I will."

"NO!  I forbid it.  I'll deny it.  He's never to know."  

(Sounds of movement . . .)

"Tina, you've changed.  Darling, what's happened to 
you?"

"Clayton knows."

"What?!"

"He, he threatened to tell Bill I've been seeing you 
again if I didn't promise to not tell Fox."

"That bastard!  I won't stand for this."

"Please, please don't tell Fox.  Promise me you won't 
ever tell him.  Promise!"

"Why are you so upset?  What else did the weasel say to 
you?"

"He told me he'd kill Fox, kill Samantha, and kill you 
if I didn't agree to keep silent."

"You're shaking.  Sit down.  Sweetheart, what's going 
on?"

(Sounds of movement then silence for 20 seconds . . .)

"Things have changed since you've been gone this last 
time.  When Clayton found out we've been seeing each 
other again, he came to me and . . ."

"He's blackmailing you!"

"Yes."

"Why?  What can he possibly want from you?  Money?  
Power?  Damn!  He wants you."

"No!"

"Yes, that's it.  He's had a hate/love relationship with 
Bill for years.  You and Clay were all but engaged when 
Bill Mulder showed up with his money and old world 
manners."

"I was young and foolish when I married Bill.  I thought 
he loved me.  I didn't know he just wanted to best 
Clayton.  

"Damnit, David, he lied to me from the start.  He knew 
he was sterile before we married but it didn't matter to 
him.  Bill was blinded by ambition and jealousy and 
wanted to hurt Clayton by showing him up in front of 
their new bosses.  He was just as greedy and power 
hungry as the others and believed everything they told 
him from the beginning.  He bought into the 'program' 
just like Clay."

"So Bill knew Fox wasn't his when he was born?"

"Yes.  Even if he'd been capable of fathering our son, 
he was too busy working for the program to pay any 
attention to me.  I really don't think he cared.  Fox 
was a good distraction to keep me busy.  We were just 
props to him."

"And Samantha?"

"She's, she's Clayton's."

"What? Whatever possessed you to . . ."

(The sound of a striking match and someone breathing out 
smoke . . .)

"It wasn't consensual.  He, he raped me.  It was a party 
at Quonochontaug; we were all drinking, but he slipped 
me something.  When I realized I was pregnant, I was 
going to have an abortion without telling anyone about 
it.

"Somehow Bill found out and talked me into keeping the 
baby.  He told me he didn't care who the father was, 
he'd love it like it was his own.

"On the day Samantha was born, Clayton made a point of 
telling me she was his and Bill knew it all along."

"Damn.  This is all so convoluted.  What's going on?"

"You tell me."

(The sound of a cigarette being crushed out . . .)

"What do you mean?"

"You're the one traveling all over the world for them 
and their masters.  You tell me what you're doing, what 
you report back to them?"

"You know I can't, Tina."

"Why not?"

"For one thing, I don't really know myself.  I gather 
information about cancer victims, pregnancies, live and 
stillborn babies.  I don't know what the information I'm 
collecting means to the whole picture."

"Even if you knew you wouldn't tell me, would you?"

"I, I don't know.  It's so clandestine, so dangerous.  I 
don't think I'd want to drag you into it if I could 
prevent it."

(The sound of steps across the room and back. . .)

"Drag me into it?  How much deeper into this whole mess 
could I be?  I have a son who is being mentally tortured 
by my husband for losing his half-sister to a mysterious 
abduction, a daughter who has been taken away in a 
blinding flash of light to God knows where, and my 
husband's best friend trying to bed me every chance he 
gets.  How much more 'into it' do you think I could be?"

(The sound ice clanking into a glass, a bottle stopper 
popping, and liquid pouring . . .)

"Tina, I'm sorry.  I wish I could help.  Maybe telling 
Fox it wasn't his fault is the only way to make this 
whole thing stop."

"No.  Clayton's made sure of that."

"How?"

"Besides his threats to you and Sam, Clayton told me he 
wouldn't just have Fox 'disappear' if I said anything to 
anyone.  He'd make sure my boy died a long painful 
death."

"NO! You can't let this go on.  Let me think.  Maybe I 
can find some way to get you and Fox away."

(The sound of a woman softly sobbing. . .)

"It's no use."

"Why?  What do you mean?"

"I have one of those implants.  No matter where I go, he 
could find me."

"Can't you take it out?"

"You sweet fool.  Don't you see?  Why do you think those 
women you're tracking die?  They're part of an 
experiment with the implants.  When it's removed, the 
implant causes the host to get cancer.  If I die, who 
would take care of Fox?"

"Those bastards!  I want to kill them, all of them, Bill 
and Clay especially."

(The sound of a fist hitting the wall. . .)

"Please, David, no.  It's not such a bad trade.  They've 
assured me Samantha is alive and well and they've 
promised me my son's life for my silence."

"Tina, do you even realize how sick and depraved all 
this sounds?"

"Sick?  Yes, I guess that's a good word for it.  I'm 
sick in body, mind, and spirit.  I don't see any way 
out."

"We'll think of something; don't worry."

"David, no.  There can't be a 'we' any longer.  This is 
it.  We're over."

"Clayton has dictated it?  He wants to control you 
completely?"

(The sound of liquid and ice being swirled around, 
swallowing, then a glass slammed down. . .)

"Sarcasm doesn't become you, my love.  Clayton has his 
new wife and son to entertain him right now.  He's not 
touched me for weeks."

"Then why break it off now, Tina?"

"Clayton told me he'd get Bill to divorce me if I'd 
break it off with you.  Fox and I can be out of the 
program."

"And you believed him?  What about Fox?  To keep up 
appearances of the doting father, does Bill expect to 
get custody of my son?"

"He says he'll ask for joint custody of OUR son.  After 
all, Fox does believe Bill's his father."

"Don't you realize what Bill's doing to Fox every day is 
a form of abuse?  He's torturing our son, inflicting 
mental guilt and anguish that our innocent boy doesn't 
deserve."

"Soon Fox will be old enough to decide for himself who 
he wants to live with."

"Why can't it be me?  I'm his father!"

(The sound of pacing, almost stomping steps across a rug 
then a hardwood floor. . .)

"No one knows except you, me, Bill and Clayton."

"Who are you kidding?  If Bill and Clayton know, the 
entire organization above them knows."

"It doesn't matter if Fox is left alone."

"Tina, you can't do this!"

"Yes, I can.  I have.  It's over.  I don't, I don't want 
to see you again."

(The sound of clothes rustling, voices in close 
proximity, maybe a kiss. . .)

"All right, I have to accept your choice.  I'd never 
force myself on you.  Unlike Bill or Clay, I do respect 
you.  I love you."

"Thank you.  You know I love only you."

"You've got to know I won't give up Fox."

"You can't tell him you're his father, ever!  You can't 
even be his friend.  He'll know somehow.  After all he 
is named for you, David Fox Alexander."

"I won't, I promise, but I will watch over him."

"What do you plan to do?"

"I don't know, but I'll find a way to get him away from 
Bill and the organization."

"You want to do everything you can to keep him safe; I 
understand.  Just don't get too close, or they'll kill 
him and you."

(The sound of kissing. . .)

"David, I don't know how I'm going to live without you, 
but I must.  I have to lock my feelings up and never let 
them go."

"I understand, Tina.  I'll never love anyone like I do 
you.  I only wish we'd have met first."

(The sound of a woman's gentle laugh. . .)

"If only."

"I'm leaving tonight to go back home to England.  I was 
going to ask you and Fox to come with me, but I 
understand it's impossible now."

"Oh, David, with you gone, I'll have no one."

"No, you'll have Fox.  You're strong."

"I don't feel strong."

(The sound of a woman softly weeping. . .)

"You ARE strong, you'll be okay.  You'll forget me, 
forget us.  Just remember, you have to take care of Fox; 
you can't be sure of anyone one but yourself.  I'll 
watch out for Fox the best I can from a distance."

(The sound of kissing. . .)

"Goodbye my love."

"Goodbye, Tina.  Remember, trust no one!"

(The sound of steps receding, a door slamming, and after 
a few seconds, a woman weeping, then the hissing of the 
end of the tape. . .)

The silent man slumped over, tears rolling down his 
face.

"Mulder, what are you doing here?"  

The overhead light flashed on blinding him for a moment.  
He turned away, not wanting her to see his tears.

"Mulder?  Are you okay?"

"Yes.  No.  I don't know."

Scully moved to his side and slid her cool hand over his 
forehead and down to cup his cheek.

"Aren't those the tapes we found in Cancerman's safety 
deposit box?  What's on this one?"

"The truth, Scully.  Finally part of the truth."

1286564584 @ Ephemeral