The Disappearance Of Sara 1/3 By Nita Durham a.k.a. "Nita Dee" (Sequel to "Steps"--A "The Commish"/ "X-Files Crossover) "The Commish" and its characters belong to Stephen J. Cannell Productions and ABC circle films. "The X-Files" and its charcters belong to Chris Carter and Ten-Thirteen Productions, in association with Twenith Century Fox Television. ----------------------------------------------------------------- It was a rainy Sunday afternoon in early August when the Scali family sat down to Sunday dinner to eat, or rather try to eat, a roast prepared by Tony Scali's new wife Cyd. The roast was burnt and tough to eat. Cyd wasn't much of a cook--how could she be? She had spent her entire adult life as an FBI agent, a cop and a mayor. Domestics were new to her. Tony and his daughter Sara made the most of a bad situation, while Tony's son David let his dissatisfaction be known. David didn't have a lot of use for Cyd. It was only by threats from his father that kept any similance of respect from the young man for his step-mother. "I like roast crunchy, don't you Daddy? It makes the gravy taste better." Sarah said brightly. "Yes, it does make gravy better..gives it good texture." Tony chuckled. "Its really okay?" Cyd asked. Cyd was insecure about her cooking and left it to Tony as much as possible. "Yes!" Sara and Tony said, almost in unison. David rolled his eyes. "Cyd, this is terrible! I guess my father didn't marry you for your cooking. Thank God you've got a twat and know how to use it." David said bitterly. "What's a twat?" Sara asked as she watched her father rise from the table, angry. "David Anthony Scali, you will apologize at once for that remark and leave the table!" Tony thundered at his son. "Gladly!" David said, just as angry. "I am sorry for stating a fact! It will be a joy to leave here and go back to Nebraska next week." David stormed away from the table and left the house, jumping in his car to see his Eastbridge girlfriend Ginger. He was sorry for what he had said. David had once make a promise to his father to try to come to terms with his father's decision to re-marry after his mother's death in a car bombing. But it was hard for David to do this, seeing Cyd in his mother's chair, taking her place. David had been his mother's favorite. Back at the table, Tony tried to make amends. "Cyd..." Tony began. Cyd shook her head. "It's okay, Tony. I guess David will always have a problem accepting me. Besides, he did state a fact. This roast is terrible, and well...." Cyd smiled secretly at her husband. Tony smiled the same secret smile back. "You didn't answer my question..what's a tw..." Sara tried to say before her father covered her mouth. "You'll know someday." Tony said by way of answering her question. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Later that night, Tony was called away to the scene of a new murder investigation, leaving Cyd and Sara at the house. David had decided to spend the night with friends who roomed at the Eastbridge University dorms. It was 11:15 and Cyd was in bed looking over files on the budget for the City of Eastbridge. September 1st was coming and she had to make decisions about the city's fiscal budget. "Cyddie." A little voice belonging to Sara said outside the door. "Can I come and get in bed with you?" Sara asked. "Sure!" Cyd said. The budget could wait until tomorrow. Sara scampered into the bed with her step-mother, cuddling close. "This is only until Daddy comes home." Cyd said. "Cyddie, David is always rude...always! I wish he wasn't." Sara said. "Sara, we've talked about David before..he misses your mother." Cyd said. "I miss her too, but she has gone to Heaven and lives with the angels. He doesn't have to be rude to you just because Mommy is in Heaven and you are here to live with Daddy and me and David when he's not at college." Sara said. "Well, Sara..we will just have to be even nicer to him!" Cyd said. Sara cuddled even closer. "I'm glad Daddy married you." she said. "I'm glad Daddy married me, too." Cyd said smiling. The clock said 11:21. Suddenly, without warning the world became bright as day. "That must be lightening........" Cyd thought. Then Sara screamed. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Dawn was breaking when Tony Scali arrived home from the investigation. He walked into the house and upstairs to the bedroom, where he saw Cyd in her nightgown sitting on the floor in the corner of the bedroom. Cyd was staring off into space, eyes still and deathlike. Tony has seen Cyd like this once before..years ago, in 1993..when a cop named Bob took his life in front of Cyd and Tony after having held Cyd hostage. "Cyd?" Tony said quietly, dread filling his loins. He bent down to look at her. Cyd made a sound like a wounded animal. Then, looking into her husband's eyes she whimpered two devastating words. "Sara's gone." ----------------------------------------------------------------- In the basement of the J. Edgar Hoover building Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully were doing routine paperwork when a call came from AD Walter Skinner. Mulder took the call. Upon hanging up, he rose and began to gather together books on "Alien Abductions." "What's up?" Scully asked curiously. "Ever been to Eastbridge, NY? We've got an X-File there." Mulder said as he continued to pull books off the shelf. "No." Scully said shaking her head. "Did I ever tell you about my first date?" Mulder said to Scully. "Do I want to hear this?" Scully said humorously. "My family spent the summer of 1973 at our Summer cottage in Rhode Island. There was a little girl who lived two cottages down that summer. We had a lot of great times together. Well, Disney re-issued "Mary Poppins" that summer to theaters. I had to take Samantha and Cydania--that was her name and she hated it as much as I hate "Fox"--had to take her little brother Roger so our parents let the four of us go into town to the theater...alone. Roger and Samantha went to sit up front. Cydania and myself decided that we didn't want to see a wimpy Disney movie, so we left the theater and walked over to a rock and roll club." "And they let you in? You weren't but 12." Scully interjected. "No, but we sat on a park bench and could hear the band. Played a lot of Late Beatles and Steppenwolf. These two kids.. they couldn't have been more than 19 or 20 but to me and Cydania they were the utmost in coolness..were on the other park bench making out. So Cydania and me..tried it." Mulder said, a smile on his face. "And." Scully interjected again. "We kissed on the mouth once and thought it was gross! We ended up going back to the theater and watched the last part of "Mary Poppins." Mulder said. Mulder continued. "I lost track of that girl after that...Samantha was taken and we never went to the cottage again. Years later, I heard she was an FBI agent out of the New York City bureau and then became a police officer. Then, I heard she had married her commissioner and ran for Mayor...saw a report on CNN about it last fall." "And what does that girl have to do with this X-File?" Scully asked, impatiently. "A little girl, I think she is Cydania's step-daughter, has been taken from her home...and the MO sounds like an alien abduction." Mulder said. Mulder and Scully arrived at the Scali home a little after 2:00 the afternoon after Sara Scali had been taken. The street was covered with cop cars and the duo had to show their credentials to at least seven different police officers. "You get attention when you've got a problem these days... when Samantha was abducted, we only got two patrol cars." Mulder said, noting the irony. Missing children were a more common occurrence these days. "Plus, he's the police commissioner of this city." Scully pointed out. Mulder and Scully went into the house and asked the lead police officer on duty, Stan Kelley, where they could find Mr. and Mrs. Scali. "Cyd's upstairs in bed...she is taking this hard. I think the Commish is with her." Stan said, leading them up the stairwell. "Commish?" Scully asked. "Our pet name for Commissioner Scali." Stan said smiling. "I can just see us calling Skinner Assy-Directy" Mulder said in dry wit to Scully. Stan rapped on the door. "Sir, the two FBI agents out of Washington are here." "Have them come in." Tony said. Scully and Mulder walked into the bedroom--where Scully got the shock of her life. Mrs. Scali (Mulder's Cydania) looked almost like her late sister Melissa! Making a funny sound in her throat Scully turned quietly and bolted down the stairs. Mulder, too, was shocked at the resemblence--she did look like Melissa! It certainly wasn't what he expected his childhood friend to look like. The Cydania Madison he remembered had stringy pigtails, buck teeth and glasses. "Ahhh....my partner, Agent Scully just remembered she left something in the car. How do you do, Sir. My name is Special Agent Fox Mulder...I hope that Mrs. Scali might remember that name." Mulder said, showing his I.D. "Fox?" Cyd said, something of interest returning to her eyes. "Fox Mulder?" "I hoped you'd remember me." Mulder said, taking the liberty of sitting on the edge of the bed. "What happened?" Mulder said quietly. "I don't know...I don't know!! All I remember is a bright light." Cyd said sorrowfully. A bright light, Mulder thought to himself. That used to be all I could remember about Samantha's abduction. I wonder if Cydania will let us do hypnosis on her, he thought. "Mr. Scali...." Mulder began. "Tony" Tony said. "And Cyd..I don't want to hear Cydania." Cyd said. "Cyd?" Mulder asked. "I shortened it in high school..you know how I hated "Cydania". I'm surprised you've not done something with "Fox". Cyd said. "Its not from a lack of trying. I prefer Mulder these days." Mulder said. "I have something to ask you, but I want your permission first. Would you be willing to undergo hypnosis to reconstruct the events surrounding Sara's disappearance." "That's not a bad idea, Mulder. You're sharp! I could use you if you ever decide to become a cop." Tony said. "Hypnosis? How can that help?" Cyd asked. "I have undergone it myself. You remember, Cyd, that my little sister was also taken in a manner similar to the way Sara was. I think it could give us some clues." Mulder said. "You never found Samantha......." Cyd said tears welling up in her eyes. "Oh, God...Tony...we've got to find Sara." Cyd sobbed. Tony took his wife into his arms. "Mulder." Tony said. "Have Stan call the State Hypnotist we use. We are both willing to have this done." ----------------------------------------------------------------- Scully made her way down the stairs to the living room, where Stan and Paul Leone--Cyd's city manager from the Mayor's office--were sitting. Scully walked over to the fireplace mantle, looking at the pictures. She looked at Cyd and Tony's wedding picture. God, she thought, Mrs. Scali looks so much like Melissa. "Whose this?" Scully asked, referring to an earlier picture. It was of Mr. Scali and a dark haired lady. "That's the Commish's first wife, Rachel. She was killed in a car bombing about two years ago." Stan said. She looked at a picture of a happy young boy. "And this?" Scully asked. "Tony and Rachel's son, David. He hasn't come home yet." Stan said. Finally, she saw a picture of a little girl in a frilly dress. "And this must be Sara." Scully said. "Yes, that was made earlier this summer at Cyd and Tony's wedding. I hope they get the bastards responsible for taking Sara. She's just a little kid." Paul said angrily. "Any clues regarding suspects?" Scully asked the two men. "It could be someone angry with the Commish..he's made many enemies in his day. He has a 87% record of conviction." Stan said. "Impressive...we could use Mr. Scali at the FBI. Any others?" Scully asked. "Well...and this is only my personal opinion...it could be David." Paul said. "Man..don't go there!" Stan said disapprovingly. "David doesn't like Cyd...and he could have taken Sara and has her hid out somewhere to get back at Cyd. According to Cyd, they did have a quarrel last night." Paul said. "Officer Kelley." Mulder said as he was calling from the stairs. "Tony wants to you to call the State Hypnotist you use." "Yes, sir." Stan said, going into action. "Hypnotist?" Scully asked. "I have reason to believe that Sara has been taken by beings not of this world." Mulder said. "Mulder--you have not looked at all the angles yet. According to Stan Kelley it could be anyone that Commissioner Scali has put away. Or, it could even be a prank done by the Scali's son, David." Scully said. "Scully." Mulder said respectfully. "That is why I want to have a hypnotist look into the case. We can use all the clues we can get." End of Part One ****************************************** The Disappearance of Sara 2/3 See Disclaimer in Part One ----------------------------------------------------------------- "Shut your eyes, Mrs. Scali, and let your thoughts wander. You are going back to last night when Sara was here in bed with you. Think about that...Sara was in bed with you." Dr. Hulber said to Cyd as she allowed herself to be hypnotized. Dana Scully looked on with interest. She had once been hypnotized to try and remember events around her abduction too. But she was unable to continue once the memories became too hard to bear. "Is Sara in bed with you now?" Dr. Hulber asked. "Yes...I was working on the city's budget..it can wait until tomorrw......This can only be until Daddy comes home..... We've talked about David before, he misses his mother.....Well, we'll just have to be nicer to him...I'm glad I married Daddy, too....." Cyd said in unchanging tone. Suddenly, Cyd's eyes opened wide..."Thats not lightening! Whats going on? Sara..Sara..SARA!!! What are you doing? No, take me...Sara is a little girl. No, oh God, NO! Sara's floating!" Cyd's entire body trembled with fear. She rose from the bed, running to the bureau where she kept her pistol. "It won't open...Damnit! Sara, come back...don't take her, please don't take her." Cyd then became livid. "She will be alright...don't worry....how the hell can you say that? You gray bastard! Get your hands off of me!" Cyd moved into the corner where Tony had found her earlier that day. "Sara's gone." Cyd said and she began to stare into space. Tony looked at his wife, eyes filled with sorrow..and pride. Cyd tried to stop whoever had taken his little girl. "That's how I found her this morning." Tony said. Dr. Hulber clapped his hands. "Mrs. Scali, do you know where you are now?" Cyd came to herself. "Yes, I am in my bedroom. And Sara is still missing." Mulder looked on the proceedings with a great deal of interest. It was an Alien Abduction just like Samantha's! ----------------------------------------------------------------- David Scali was downstairs listening to the proceedings in the bedroom. That's my whole family--he thought woefully. First Mom, now Sara. I've still got Dad but he's got Cyd. He will probably start over and have more kids with her. Cyd's always going on about wanting a child with "eyes of Scali blue". Soon, Dr. Hulber, the FBI agents and Tony came down the stairs. Cyd was left in bed to rest. "What did you find out?" David said. "Someone came into this house and took your little sister. Cyd fought them off as best she could, but they still got Sara." Tony said, sighing. "Cyd didn't fight hard enough!" David said. "When you consider that what she was fighting wasn't of this earth, I'd say she did a good job." Mulder said. What a sniveling brat, he thought. "Oh, Mulder." Scully sighed. She felt that Cyd was blocking the truly terrifying events of the last evening--just as Mulder was doing with his sister's abduction. "Not of this earth?! You mean to say that the little green men got her?" David said sarcastically. "David." Tony said. "We can't rule out the possibilities. Now I myself personally do not believe in extraterrestrials, but I've been proven wrong before." Tony said, detective side kicking in. "Or maybe your darling new wife had something done with her. You know, 'can't stand the competition and reminders of the first wife'? She was alone here with Sara all night...she could have easily drowned her and dumped her body in East River." David said, ready for a fight. "Damn you....Damn you to hell, David Scali! How can you even think that?" Cyd said from the stairwell. She had heard everything. Dana Scully had to turn her head again. With her hair falling down her face like that, Cyd looked very much like Melissa did when something had angered her. "David, I have tried to understand you, to be a good step-mother to you. I have put up with your snide remarks and your insults for nearly two years. But I will not let this go by! Tony, I know this is your job and David is your son. But he will listen to me, his step-mother, on this one." Cyd was getting wound up. Mulder wondered if she had any Scully genes in her family tree. "You forget I was with your mother when she gave birth to Sara! I held her in my arms moments after her birth. Rachel Scali was a very dear friend of mine, and in some ways I feel that she somehow worked things out in the cosmos for me to be with her husband. I have loved both of you children as my own from the moment I met you! I love Tony Scali...I love his family...and I WILL NOT be accused of the murder of Sara! If you can't accept me, fine-- I can live with that. But you will never, ever have those kinds of thoughts about me again! Do I make myself clear?" Cyd said, anger flowing. Scully also wondered if Cyd had any Scully genes in her family tree. David looked shocked. "Y..Yesss." He finally stammered. "David, get your things together. You are going back to Nebraska as soon as I can find a flight for you. You are no longer welcome in this house." Tony said, storming as much as his wife. "Daaaad." David whined. "I don't want to go back to Nebraska now. I want to stay here and see if Sara is found." To Cyd, he said. "Cyd, please forgive me. I know you didn't have anything to do with Sara's disappearance. I will accept you...I promise. Please don't send me away." David said pathetically. "Okay, David. But if we ever catch you with that attitude again...you are gone!" Tony said, looking to Cyd who nodded her approval. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Weeks passed. First Eastbridge, then the State of New York, then the entire country was combed looking for Sara Lou Scali. No one turned up a trace of her. Fox Mulder and Dana Scully went back to Washington, D.C. after two weeks. "Assy Directy" Skinner--as Mulder called him behind his back--had called them back to work on other cases. Commissioner Scali and Mayor Madison-Scali went back to their respective jobs after the FBI left and the case was put on the "back burner." David Scali didn't go back to NNU, but enrolled at the University of New York at Eastbridge. David's attitude changed, as well. The young man had lost his mother and his sister in the course of two years--he couldn't bring himself to consider Sara as alive. He knew that the only vestige of family left was his father and Cyd. And David could come to love Cyd-- after all, Sara had. ----------------------------------------------------------------- It was a week before Thanksgiving when Mayor Cyd Madison-Scali found her way to the offices of "The FBI's Most Unwanted". Cyd was in Washington to attend a Mayor's conference, and decided to stop by and see Fox Mulder and Dana Scully to thank them again for their help. Dana Scully was typing at her computer when she saw Cyd at the door. For a moment, Scully thought she was seeing a ghost and dropped her coffee mug, spilling coffee on a newly finished report. "Oh, I'm sorry...I didn't mean to startle you." Cyd said as she tried to dry the coffee. "It's okay...I'll just run another copy off the computer." Scully said. "I remind you of your sister, don't I." Cyd said. "Who told you?" Scully said, knowing fully well who did. "Fox--er, Mulder." Cyd said. "Where is he?" "Right behind you, Cydania! How are you doing?" Mulder asked. "Fine, except for that "Cydania" crap! I was wondering if I could treat you and Agent Scully to lunch?" Cyd said. "None for me, Cyd. I've promised my mother I'd stop by the hospital and see my great-aunt Esther. I really need to go." Scully said, hoping Cyd bought it. Scully just couldn't image having lunch with this woman who reminded her so much of Melissa. "Well, I guess its the two of us." Mulder said brightly. To Scully, he said "Whose great-aunt Esther?" Mulder took Cyd to a fashionable Washington restaurant. As they waited for their order, Cyd began to talk. "Tony wants to put a monument up next to Rachel's for Sara." Cyd said softly. "Are you going to let him?" Mulder asked. "No!" Cyd said. "Good for you!" Mulder said. He remembered his anguish when his parents discussed doing the same thing for Samantha. And how he felt when he went with Mrs. Scully to pick out one for Dana Scully. "Mulder, sometimes I feel I am going crazy. I hear Sara on the stairs..she loves running up and down them...I see little girls who look like her. David and Tony say the same thing." Cyd said. "It was that way for me about Samantha for a while." Mulder said, resigned. "Is David treating you okay?" "Like a queen. I should have told him off years ago." Cyd said. Cyd then grabbed her breath. She looked across the restaurant where a Christmas tree was being put up. "Fox...I do wish I could have Sara home in time for Christmas." Cyd said, tears in her eyes. How many times have I thought that about Samantha? Fox Mulder thought woefully. ----------------------------------------------------------------- On Thanksgiving morning, two hunters were out near East River shooting quails for their Thanksgiving dinner. "Hey, John!" One of the hunters called. "What is that near the river?" "I don't know." The other hunter, Tim, said. "Lets check it out." The two hunters made their way to the East River...and found a dirty, disheveled little girl dressed in a summer night gown walking near the river. Sara Scali had come home. End of Part Two ****************************************** The Disappearance of Sara 3/3 See Disclaimer in Part One. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The Scully family had just cleared away the dishes from a Thanksgiving dinner to remember. The Scully menfolk had retired to the den to watch football while the Scully women cleaned the kitchen. Thanksgiving was not a day in the house of Scully for Equal Opportunity. Margaret Scully had Dana invite Fox Mulder over to eat with the family. She just couldn't bare the thought of Mulder heating up a T.V. Dinner in front of a television set. So Scully nagged Mulder until he agreed to come. Holidays were hard for Fox Mulder. Mulder had just joined the Scully men in watching the Redskins get beaten up badly by the Buffalo Bills. He was going to lose a lot of money to Charles and Bill, Jr. today. The quarterback called a time out, and a commercial aired with a newsbreak. The newsbreak was short and to the point. "In New York today, crowds gathered in Times Square to see the annual Macy's Thanksgiving day parade....The President and First Lady spent the day working in a homeless kitchen preparing Thanksgiving Dinners....and in Eastbridge, NY little Sara Lou Scali, missing since August 4th, was found wandering in the woods near the town. No word on her condition at this time. This is a WOLF news update." The announcer said. "Scully!!! Scully!!!" Mulder yelped like an animal in heat. "What is it, Mulder?" Scully said tiredly. Domestics were new to her too. "Scully, they've found Sara Scali! We've got to get up there and see her...see what she knows." Mulder said, excitement quivering his body. "Mulder, we just can't go up there...especially not today. Give her a little time with her family." Scully said. "No, we need to hit the iron while its hot. I'm calling the airport and see what flights are scheduled to New York." Mulder said. "I've got a pilot's license." Charles said. "And a friend in Alexandria said I could use his plane anytime he isn't in it. I'll fly you two up there....I want to see one of your "X-Files" up close." "Go on, then...Cissy and myself can finish here." Margaret said. Stopping Fox Mulder at a time like this would be like stopping a locomotive. ----------------------------------------------------------------- It was a little after 6:00 P.M. when Charles landed the private Cessna on the runway at Eastbridge Airport. Scully and Mulder took a taxi to Eastbridge Hospital.. covered by police officers in the front of the hospital the same way that the Scali house had been covered the day after Sara disappeared. The two FBI agents then made their way to the third floor pediatrics unit, where Sara was being held. "Agent's Mulder and Scully." A young man's voice called. It was David Scali. "David, how is Sara?" Mulder asked, while Scully looked on concerned. "The doctor's are keeping a close eye on her. She had been out in the woods for no telling how long. I just left the room...Sara seems to pretty much be her old self." David said, eyes shining. "Can we see her?" Mulder said. "Not tonight--tomorrow maybe. They just want Dad and Mom and me to go in now..being immediate family." David said. "Mom?" Mulder asked. "Mom--Cyd has earned that title. I told Sara earlier it was okay to start calling her Mommy...she's wanted to but was afraid I would be mad." David said with a new maturity becoming to him. He just didn't act like the whinny, nasty kid who inhabited his body after Rachel Scali's death. Scully made her way to the nurses station to inquire who Sara's pediatrician was. She wanted to make certain that certain tests were being run...and that an MRI was planned. Scully didn't want to admit this to Mulder, but Sara could have implants which had to be removed. Cyd came out of the room and motioned David to go back in. Before he entered, she pulled her arms around the young man and he responded by kissing her cheek. "Mulder! I knew sooner or later you would show up!" Cyd said, eyes burning red from the tears of joy she had shed since the call had come in at 7:30 a.m. that morning. "Tony's in there with Sara...I don't think he'll ever let her out of his sight again." Cyd said, as Mulder motioned her to take a seat in the waiting room. "Did Agent Scully come with you?" "Yes. She is talking to Dr. Barnes about Sara..wants to make sure the tests are run corretly..all the evidence taken properly." Mulder said. "She's all career, isn't she? Kind of reminds me of a Special Agent Cyd Madison who worked at the FBI about a half a decade ago." Cyd said. "Yes, that's Scully..not that having a career is a bad thing." Mulder said. "You should try to take things further with her, Mulder. Don't look shocked at me like that! I see the way you look at each other. Life's too short not to take advantage of everything." Cyd said. "Cyd..............Scully is just a GOOD friend, that's all." Mulder said embarrassed. "That's all Tony Scali was until one night he carried me into the bedroom and loved me in a way I had never been loved before. Once you have an Italian, you forget everything else." Cyd said. "CYD!!!" Mulder faked embarrassment. Then he whispered in Cyd's ear. "Thanks for the advice." ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fox Mulder and Dana Scully had a good night's sleep at the Eastbridge Best Western, while Charles checked out the nightlife in "swinging Eastbridge, New York.". The two FBI agents were down at the hospital early. Scully was appalled when her suspicions about an implant panned out. In the back of Sara's neck was a small metal object...like the one she herself once had. The implant was removed and sent to Lab Assistant Pendrall for testing. Mulder was like a little boy at Christmas when, carrying a new Christmas Barbie, he walked into Sara's room to talk to her about her ordeal. "Sara." Cyd said. "This is Fox Mulder...he works at the FBI like I used to. And, he's Mommy Cyd's very first boyfriend! He want's to talk to you." "I bet you like Barbies." Mulder said, remembering Samantha's fondness for the doll. "Yes, I like Barbies." Sara said. The child was painfully pale and thin, but her eyes danced and showed Mulder that she would be fine in a matter of time. "So, Sara...do you remember anything about being gone? You were gone a long, long time." Mulder said in his best "lets talk to children" voice. "Lights...lots and lots of lights..sometimes they hurt my eyes and I'd tell them to stop it! And they stuck needles in me, but I didn't cry. I remembered what my Mommy who is in heaven said about needles--they hurt but they do good things to make children feel better." Sara said. Not those needles, Mulder thought bitterly. "And sometimes the funny gray men and the real men who are like you and me would let me leave the room and play with other children." Sara continued. "Other children?" Mulder said, interest keen. "Lots of other children. And we would play and have fun. But then, the men would come back and take us to our rooms to do things to us again." Sara said. "Things like?" Mulder said. "Needles and lights and sounds and making the room move funny and sometimes I would float. Sometimes it hurt, but sometimes it was fun. I liked floating." Sara said with a smile. "The other children, Sara...was one named Samantha?" Mulder asked. "No, none named Samantha. But, there was a lady named Samantha...she asked me once if I liked "The Brady Bunch". I told her that I did, but my favorite show was "Full House." Sara said. "She got into a argument with the lady who wore a Rainbow around her neck. The Rainbow Lady said that it was dark and terrible to do what was being done to people at that place. Samantha looked at her and laughed, saying that it must not be too bad, that the Rainbow Lady was putting up with it. Then the Rainbow Lady said that it was better her than her sister having to go through it, because her..." Sara struggled to remember. "Car's Ma was strong and she could withstand it. It was funny to think that her car had a Mommy and that was the reason she stayed there." Mulder cringed with this revelation. Samantha..if that was his Samantha a willing participant in those activities. And the Rainbow lady sounded to be too much like Scully's sister Melissa to be anyone else. "So how did you get home?" Mulder asked. "The Rainbow lady came to me one night and said 'this will be one child who will be home for Christmas--home for all of us.' She had comforted me when I cried like Mommy Cyddie does...and you know she looked a lot like Mommy Cyddie too, except she was different. She gave me to this man who tried to be mean, but he was really nice. Smoked too many cigarettes, but he took me to the woods and told me to walk until I found someone to take me home." Sara said. "I'm tired, Fox....can I take a nap now?" Mulder nodded and left the room, pausing for a moment to look at Cyd and Tony..eyes shinning with joy. What he wouldn't give for his eyes to shine like that! ----------------------------------------------------------------- In a dark and terrible place, Samantha Mulder was fuming. "Damn that Scully woman...Sara Scali's tests were coming out beautifullly...she was a perfect for gene colonization." Samantha said. "Sami, pipe down! So one little kid is gone. This one was a Police Commissioner's daughter anyway....we've got plenty of kids who have no one to care about them to test on." The man said as he took a drag off his Morley cigarette. "Well, anyway, Little Missy Sunshine is paying the forfit..she'll be sorry she tangled with me!" Samantha said with anger.. "You and your brother are certainly light years different, Sami." Cancerman said. "Well, I had a good teacher....................Papa." Sami said, evil in her eyes. THE END