"She's a daaaay tripper, sunday driver, yeah, it took me sooo long to find out what I found out..."

The music was loud enough to rattle the walls but seeing Mulder dancing in the middle of the livingroom with the boys and a barking puppy was a sight Skinner wished he had the video camera for. None of them had an ounce of rhythm but they made up for it with enthusiasm.

"Lady Madonna, children at your feet....."

Skinner jumped in much to the delight of the boys. No one heard the knock at the door.

"Hey, Jude....." Skinner sang along with the CD as he lifted Adam and danced around with him.

A throat clearing abruptly halted everyone. Mulder took the remote control out of his pocket and hit the mute button. Kisa halted in confusion as the sounds abruptly stopped.

"Giuliani," Mulder greeted the agent breathlessly. Agent Giuliani shifted nervously.

"Sir," he said. "Sorry to barg in but no one heard me knocking. You said you wanted me to partner you to the site today? It's 9am."

Mulder hit his forehead. "God! I lost track of time. Sorry to keep you waiting, give me two minutes." Mulder ran up the stairs to grab his ID and gun.

"So how was Christmas in your new home?" Skinner asked politely. The boys lay on the floor trying to catch their breath. Ivan wasn't having much luck since Kisa decided that this was a new game. Ivan giggled and tried to push her away.

"Very nice, Sir, thank you," Giuliani responded with a smile at Ivan. "We haven't unpacked everything yet, but Carla decorated real nice and the children were happy. How was your Christmas, Sir?"

"We went to New York to visit with my family," Skinner said. "The children stuffed themselves on Italian cooking and came home loaded with more presents than any child has a right to."

Giuliani smiled in appreciation. Skinner recognised the agent's nervous shifting; most agents did that in his presence, only his personal guards relaxed with him when he was AD.

"Boys," Skinner called for their attention. "Agent Giuliani's children will be going to school with you. Boys, girls?" he asked the agent.

"Sir? Oh, all girls, Sir," Giuliani said. "Angela is 10, Belinda 8, Christen 7, Danielle 5 and Erica is almost 2."

"You alphabetized them?" Skinner asked.

Giuliani ducked his head with a chuckle. "It seemed easiest, Sir, we planned on a large family. Carla is due with number six at the end of March. Felicia or Francesco."

"Congratulations," Skinner said.

"Thank you, Sir."

Skinner wondered how Carla felt about popping them out every year or so until her body was worn. Mulder hurried down the stairs and grabbed his parka out of the closet. He grabbed little ears for a quick peck and buzzed Skinner before hurrying out the door, pulling Giuliani out with him. Skinner looked at the waiting boys and pressed the mute button on the remote.

"You say you want a rev-o-lutuuun, weelll you knooow...."

The boys cheered, wiggled their hips and waved their arms.

***********************

With Natti gone for two weeks on vacation, Skinner had complete charge of the boys again during the day. Krycek was at work, a concept Skinner found almost laughable, so he bundled the boys up, dug out the sleds, and took them out to the edge of town where the snow banks were high enough to be fun. The greatest gift he had received that Christmas was hearing the twins calling him Daddy. He had no idea that the boys looked to him as their parent. With Krycek's blessing, and instigation, Skinner was in mid-process of becoming their legal parent, adopting the twins as his own sons. It had even caught Mulder by surprise. Krycek must have had poor Harry working on the paperwork double-time in order to have it ready for dinner.

Skinner wasn't the only one with the idea to wear out the children with fun in the snow; there had to be a dozen kids at the banks with one or both parents. It was winter vacation so parents were scrambling to find something to entertain their kids with. After the initial surprise at hearing Skinner's change of address, he was congratulated on his new parental status when he explained what was happening. To his own surprise, he was informed that a new principal would be in charge of the school when the children returned after the New Year. No one had the name of the new principal, they only knew what was coming down from the grapevine.

"What happened with Mr. Edwards?" he asked. The school board fired him for consistantly low academic scores on the state level. If it was only one or two teachers, then the teacher would be blamed, but the entire school? The blame fell to the leader.

"Sheriff Skinner?" He turned to the woman who had come up to him. She held a bundled toddler close, keeping the baby warm.

"Yes?" he said.

"I'm Carla Giuliani," she held out her mittened hand and Skinner shook it.

"Agent Giuliani's wife," he recognized. "How are you enjoying our little town?"

She smiled, her cheeks red from the cold. "So far, so good," she said. "A little too quiet for me, I'm used to the lullaby of cars and sirens. Eddie wanted to get the girls away from the drugs and violence of the city, though, so here we are."

Skinner wondered how long it would take for the lady to go stir-crazy. "I know what you mean. It took me a while to get used to the quiet and now I find the city too loud. But the city isn't too far away, only an hour drive and it's a nice drive. We have good people here, friendly and always willing to lend a hand when you need it. You won't lack for sitters if you want to take some time to yourself. I can give you a few names of girls that we've used for the boys," he offered. Ivan ran up and begged for coco. Skinner twisted off the top of the thermos and watched

as Ivan took a careful sip of the hot liquid. He warmed his insides and was off again.

"He's adorable," Carla said. "Eddie said you have twins?"

Skinner nodded. "That was Ivan, his brother is Pavel. They're 5. We also have my partner's son, Adam who is 8." He pointed Adam and Pavel out to her. He saw her delicately avoid the subject of 'partner' and hoped that she didn't have a problem with alternative lifestyles, considering the population that had been moving into town over the past year.

"How can you tell them apart?" she asked in amazement as Pavel and Ivan tumbled down a bank, their round cheeks and bow mouths rosey, dark brown hair spiked as their hats fell off.

"Usually they're color coded," he said. "Which everyone finds helpful. It's alright to ask them which is which and just about anyone can tell you who they are by what color they're wearing. I've learned to tell them apart but most can't. You wash a child's body often enough and you get to know them better than yourself."

Carla nodded knowingly. "That's the truth," she agreed with a mother's exhausted huff. She patted the toddler who Skinner assumed was Erica.

"You live on McGill, don't you?" he asked. Carla nodded. "Just on the corner, at 803, is a sixteen year old girl named Sarah. She's great with our boys and only charges ten dollars an hour. You should treat yourself to time off, let her bring your kids out here while you relax. She even knows how to watch babies. Tell her I recommended her."

******************

"....you should have seen his face!" Mulder laughed. "The guys let him go on about gays for most of the day before anyone informed him that his idol, ME, was one of those 'pansies'!" Mulder howled, clutching his stomach as he rolled on the bed."I thought he was going to have an anurism!"

Skinner chuckled. "And I suppose that you did nothing to discourage the poor guy while he stuck his foot deeper into his mouth."

"Hell, no!" Mulder said loudly. "I was agreeing with him and dredging up all the queer jokes that I could remember! He thought the guys were laughing with him not at him. I almost called you to beg you to come up and make out in front of him with me."

"Walter!" Mulder stopped laughing and turned over, crawling across to bed to Skinner. "Let's go to the drive-in!" He straddled Skinner's thighs, pinning him down.

"Alright, when?"

"Tonight! The midnight show!" Mulder begged.

Skinner took his glasses off. "Tonight? Why?"

"Because I want to make out with you there. I've never made out at a drive-in and I've always wanted to. Come on, we can wake up Alex and have him sleep in the livingroom. Pleeeeeaze?" he wheedled.

Skinner put on his serious face and pretended to consider the request.

"I want a date," he said. "Tomorrow night. Dinner. At a nice restaurant. You pay. We dress up. If you're nice, I will consider the drive-in."

Mulder dove and planted kisses all around Skinner's neck.

******************

A car stopped in front of their house as Skinner watched from his office. He waited as the bundled person walked to his door and knocked. If it was someone that knew him, they'd know to come to the office if there was no answer. The person waited and turned to descend the steps. He crossed the street.

"Marco!" Skinner called out when he was close enough to recognize. Marco raised a hand and hopped up the steps.

"Walter. Merry Christmas," Marc said. Skinner let him into the office and shut the door, keeping in the heat. He gave his young cousin a hug.

"You look rich," Skinner commented. "Touring agreeing with you?"

Marco took off his coat and scarf, hanging them on the coat stand. "Are you kidding? I just sang in front of the Queen of England."

"You didn't get home for Christmas. Zia Ginny was disappointed," Skinner said. Marc made a face.

"Tell me about it," he said. "I called and got the official Guilt Trip rammed into me. I tried to get home, but we ran into a nasty snow storm in London. Closed the airport. I stayed warm with the drummer. He keeps a good beat." Marc grinned mischievously. Skinner smiled and shook his head.

"Do I need to discuss condoms with you?" he asked. Marc glanced at Becky and reddened.

"No, Dad, I'm playing safe," the young man said. "What are you grinning like an ape for?"

Skinner led Marc into his office. "Just a glimpse of the future," he said. "I'm adopting the twins. They've started calling me Daddy. Knowing Alex, I shudder to think of what's going to happen when they hit puberty."

KC walked through the door and broke into a wide smile at the sight of Marc. She hugged him tightly and sat down with them.

Marc plopped himself into a chair. "Walter, that's great! Alex is alright with it?"

"Alex is practically insisting on it. He surprised me with the adoption papers at dinner a few nights ago. Did you come all the way out here just to gossip?"

"Nope," Marc stated. "I'm waiting for Dad."

Skinner frowned. "Is Carlo on his way down?"

"Yep."

"Why?" Skinner asked. "Visiting?"

"Nope."

"Marco, I'll hand you over to the twins and let them torture you if you don't spill it," Skinner warned.

"And I'll help him," KC promised.

Marc grinned and popped his gum. "He moving into his new house today."

"What new house?" Skinner asked.

"Over on Main Street," Marc said.

"Here?!" Skinner squeeked. KC echoed him in disbelief.

"Of course," Marc said. "You don't expect your new principal to commute from New York, do you?"

"Carlo is the new principal??" Skinner almost fell out of his chair. Marco stood up.

"Come on," he said. "Let's go check out the new place."

Skinner grabbed his parka and car keys. "Come on, Kisa," he called to the puppy. She yapped and toddled after him. On their way out to the car, they almost ran into Reverend Johnson.

"Morning, Reverend," Skinner greeted him politely. Johnson mumbled something and hurried along.

"Weird," Marc commented.

"No kidding," Skinner said. "He's been like that for months. I have no idea what his current problem is but he's been actively avoiding us like we have the plague or something. Since just after I went off on him at the house."

"Maybe he did call the Attorny General," Marc suggested. Skinner unlocked the car door and let Marco into the back while KC took the passenger seat and hoisted the puppy up onto the seat between them.

"I don't know," Skinner said, shutting his own door. "She didn't call and say anything to me about it."

"So, where are the boys?" Marc asked as they headed out.

"With Dom," Skinner said. "Natti is on vacation so Dom said he'd play babysitter." Marco gave him a look. Skinner raised a surrender hand. "I know, I know, but he promised to behave himself and follow the Manual. I trust the boys to speak up and call me if they need to. Dom's a good person, all in all, you have to admit that."

Marco gave a reluctant nod. "I know he is, and I love him, he just doesn't know when to leave well enough alone."

The roads were recently plowed so they got to the house fairly soon. Main street was close by the school, just a couple of blocks away from Carlo's new home. A truck pulled up behind them and one door opened and slammed shut.

"I still say you're nuts!"

Skinner turned to see Mario ragging on Carlo who was in the driver's seat.

"Walter!" Mario called out. "Tell him how crazy he is!" Mario pointed at Carlo. "He's giving up New York City for this!" He spread out his arms, indicating the town. Skinner waved at Carlo.

"Good decision, Carlo!" Skinner called out with a thumbs-up.

"Bahhhhh!" Mario waved his hands, dismissing Skinner in disgust. Mario buzzed KC's cheek with a flirtatious glint.

"Marky, get over here!" Carlo yelled as he got out of the truck. Marco stepped over a snow bank and into the street.

"Hey, Pop," he said. Carlo gave him a bone crunching hug. Skinner assumed that Marc came straight into town instead of stopping at home first. Squeals came from a second truck that pulled up behind them and Marc's sisters jumped out and rushed him.

"Leave him be, Mario," Skinner said. "He's doing what he feels he needs to do with his life and it is his life, not yours. Now, turn the truck around and bring it up close to the porch. Avoid as much snow as possible. The only crazy thing I see is trying to move a house in the middle of winter." While Mario grumbled as he got into the truck, Skinner used his radio to call the station and let them know where he was in case they needed him.

"Are you kidding, Sheriff?" Becky came back. "Most of our trouble makers are out on the farms. They're all snow-locked at the moment. We have peace until the plows get out there or until spring thaw. I'm counting on spring thaw."

Skinner gave a laugh. "10-4, Becky." He put the radio back on his belt. Their town bad-boys really weren't all that bad, they were just bored farmers who had nothing better to do until they could get to their land again. They had a few guys with attitude that lived in town and hung out at the bar but they weren't much trouble.

"What's that?" Mario asked, pointing down at Kisa who was sniffing Mario's shoes.

"It's a dog, Mario," Skinner informed him.

"I can see that, smart ass, I taught you people was cat people."

Skinner stared at his older cousin. "What kind of people is that? Tall people? Bald people? People with deep voices? People who wear glasses? People who have better taste in clothes than you? What?"

Mario raised his hands in surrender. "I didn't mean nutin', Walt, I just meant you gots three cats so I taught you was a cat type a people."

"Where did you learn to speak English? I think my spell-check just fried the mother-board," Skinner said.

Mario frowned. "Your what fried a what?"

Skinner gave up as Marc and Carlo snickered at Mario. Mario realised that he was being had and waved them off with a grumble.

KC and the girls had already unlocked the house and were giving themselves the grand tour while the men positioned the first truck. Skinner tied Kisa at the end of the porch and out of the way of big feet treading on her little paws. She sat on her blanket and watched the action, directing with a bark here and a yap there.

Bored neighbors came out to help and Dom dropped by with the boys at lunch with hot soup and sandwiches, and hot coffee and coco. Pavel sat on Carlo's lap and told him all about one of the myths on his new eBook; all in one rapid, twenty minute sentence without even missing a beat when Ivan broke in with points that Pavel left out. Carlo continued to nod and make sounds of interest.

"Politicians, Walter," Mario winked with a knowing nod at the boys. "They don't shut up and take a breath until everyone agrees with them."

"Believe me, of some of the politicians that I've met, the twins would do a better job," Skinner said.

When the trucks were emptied, Carlo headed back to New York with his kids and Mario for a final load and would be back the next day. Skinner hurried home to shower and dress. He had a date. He showered and dressed in a black jacket and slacks with an ivory shirt and a black silk tie. Krycek watched from the couch, amusement clearly written on his face as Skinner stood in front of him. Krycek wiggled a finger.

"What?" Skinner asked. He looked down, "Oh," and zipped up his fly. The boys ran in and handed him his shoes which they had been polishing. Skinner slipped them on and the boys cheered as Kisa barked her approval. The cats sat on the bookcase and stared down, studying Skinner before deigning to give their ok by arching their whiskers and going back to contemplating the insides of their eyelids.

Ivan crooked his finger and Skinner knelt down and looked into Ivan's green eyes and face round with baby fat as he studiously straightened Skinner's tie and brushed his shoulders, the very tip of Ivan's tongue poking through his red, bow lip as he concentrated. Behind him, Pavel attempted to straighten the few hairs that Skinner had left. He loved the boys so much he couldn't believe that they would want him as their father.

"Have a nice dinner, Daddy, and be home by midnight," Ivan said and patted Skinner's shoulder.

"Yeah, and no hanka-panky on the porch, you go straight to bed," Pavel ordered him. Krycek fell over and buried his face in the cushions. Skinner ignored him and gave the twins a hug. The front door opened and Mulder came in. He put something down when he saw the fashion show and made approving noises over Skinner.

"Uncle Fox!" Ivan stomped his foot and demanded attention. Mulder looked at him.

"Yes, Ivan?" he said.

Ivan shook his finger at Mulder. "Where's flowers? Dates have flowers, people say so on TV. And candy boxes. And balloons and teddy bears and...."

"Whoa!" Mulder halted him. He walked back into the alcove and bent down, coming back up with a small bouquet of wild flowers. He handed them to Skinner with a kiss. The boys clapped as Krycek made gagging noises. Ivan rapped him on the knee and shook his finger in warning. Mulder gave his own finger a shake and looked at Skinner who indicated that he had no idea where Ivan was getting it from.

"I'll be right back down, I want to change," Mulder said.

"Can I help you?" Adam asked.

"Of course you can," Mulder said. Adam rushed up the stairs ahead of him.

Before Mulder could reach the stairs, a rapid knock came to the door.

"Sheriff!" they heard along with more knocking which quickly turned to pounding. Being closer, Mulder reached the door first. He opened it and a child fell through and into Mulder's arms.

"What's wrong?" Skinner asked as he rushed into the alcove. He recognised the child as a local but didn't know her name. "Are you hurt?" He looked her over but didn't see anything wrong with her.

"My... my sister! Jessica!" the girl sobbed. "She... she started to cry and... sniff.. and scream and everything started to move!"

Skinner hit the speed dial on the phone. "KC! Get over to my house NOW!" he slammed the phone down. He took the child from Mulder and carried her down to the family room with the boys close behind.

"Where's your house, honey?" Skinner asked her as he set her on the couch. She told him in a stumbling stutter. "Alright, I'm going to go over there and see what's going on. You stay here with my sons. You can watch videos if you'd like. Deputy KC will be over to take care of you until your parents come and get you." She sobbed, all sorts of dampness running down her face.

"You boys stay in the house and keep -what's your name? Sarah- keep Sarah company. Be nice. KC will be over to watch you." The boys nodded solemnly. Skinner ran up the stairs and pulled his jacket and boots on just as KC burst through the door, her gun drawn.

"Children! Stay!" he ordered, pointing at the family room. Mulder was crouched before Adam, holding the boy's waist.

"Do you know what the problem is?" he asked Adam who was white around the gills.

"I... I think... she's starting to hear voices. She thinks they're demons," Adam said. "No, her parents thinks they're demons and she's afraid." Mulder hugged him tight and sent him down stairs with KC.

"Daddy?" Mulder stopped and turned. "Will you tell Jessica about the shields? Maybe she won't be afraid anymore."

"I promise," Mulder said. That was exactly what he was going to do anyway. And he was going to have to call the Kurts and find out where they were with their own investigations.

"Great," Mulder muttered as Skinner skied the Sheriff's 4x4 down the snowy streets. "Not only do we have to deal with children who are becoming telepathic thanks to the Vaccine, but a prepubescent teenage girl who's hormones are playing Carrie on us."

Krycek knocked him on the shoulder. "Look at it this way, Fox, there are no prepubescent teenage girls in our home."

"No, just a bunch of boys who are going to try out X-ray vision as soon as they're old enough to be interested," Skinner responded dryly. Mulder laughed.

It wasn't difficult to spot the house, it was the one giving off the light show. A few neighbors braved the cold to creep up to the sidewalk in front of the house, the rest were peering through the windows of their own homes. Upon entering the house, a chair whizzed by them in the air. The men ducked and it smashed against the wall.

"....I cast ye devils out in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!" they heard a pure Southern Baptist voice screech. All three men moaned.

"Alex, please deal with him while Mulder gets that girl calmed down," Skinner begged. Krycek grinned with a feral look in his eyes.

"My pleasure," he growled.

"Alex," Skinner called to him. "Just keep him out of the way, don't hurt him." Krycek grimaced in disappointment. "Why don't you call Dominic and have him come over and talk with Johnson," he suggested. Krycek gave a huff which Skinner assumed was an assent to his suggested. Mulder and Skinner had already discussed the upcoming problem with Dominc. Luckily, Dom was not only a priest, but a man who was a fan of science and understood the potential of the human mind.

In a moment, Johnson yelled. "NO! You cannot do this! I must cast out the demons from this child of God!" Krycek reappeared, dragging Johnson behind him by the wrist. "Skinner! Tell this.. this.. person to leave me to my work! He cannot manhandle me like this! The king of Evil is at work here! You are Satan himself!" he accused Krycek.

"No, that was my father. I'm just a little devil," Krycek responded as he dragged Johnson out of the room.

The girl, Jessica, had cornered herself, curled up on a ball on the floor of her bedroom. Skinner watched as Mulder slowly entered the room, his hands out on the universal gesture of 'no harm'. Movement attracted Skinner and he saw two heads poke up from behind the over-turned couch.

"Mr. Dover?" Skinner said quietly. He turned the couch right-side up and sat down. "Come and sit," he as calmly as he could. "Let Agent Mulder talk with your daughter and this will all be over soon." He could see into the girl's bedroom from the position of the couch and saw Mulder sit on the floor in front of Jessica. He couldn't hear what Mulder was saying, only the murmur of his soothing voice.

The parents cautiously came out from behind the couch and sat down. Mrs. Dover looked like Mary Kay cosmetics blew up in her face. Another tear ran down her cheek, spreading the make-up more.

"Wh... what's he doing?" she whispered.

"He's just going to talk with her, that's all," Skinner said.

"But... she's got a demon in her," Mr. Dover said. "We need the Reverend in here."

Skinner turned to face them. "Listen. You know what I did before I came here to be the Sheriff, right?" They nodded. "Do you believe the stories of what Mulder and Scully uncovered?" They nodded with a shrug. "Then you need to trust that Mulder can fix this. It isn't a demon, it's just Jessica's mind waking up. Things are flying around because she's scared. You scared her with stories of demon possession. Our minds are capable of so much more than what we are taught. Did you know that we only use less than 10 percent of our entire brain?" They shook their heads. "So what's that other 90 percent doing? Taking up space?" He was losing them.

"Think about it like this," he said. "Do you think that God would create this wonderful brain that we are born with and only let us use a tiny portion of it?"

"But the Reverend said..." Mrs. Dover began. Skinner cut her off.

"I know what the Reverend says and I'm not going to tell you what to believe and what not to believe," Skinner said. "Johnson is welcome to his beliefs just as you are but if Mulder has taught me one thing, it's that every once in a while, Life pulls a rabbit out of It's hat."

As they spoke, things gradually began to settle and quiet. Skinner noticed that with things being shot across the room, nothing had come close to hitting the Dovers.

"Why are you wearing a tux, may I ask?" Mrs. Dover asked. He had forgotten his tux.

"I had a date tonight," he said.

"Your boys need a mother," she said approvingly. Skinner didn't think it was the time to correct her. "Oh, my God, where's Sarah?!" Mrs. Dover suddenly remembered. Mr. Dover jumped to his feet. Skinner took her hands.

"Calm down, she's at my house with our sons and Deputy KC," he reassured her. The door opened and Dom came in. Skinner ushered him over and introduced everyone. He sat Dom down in his place and Dom began to explain the situation by using a slight religious bent that the shell-shocked couple would understand. Skinner made no apologies for the fact that he didn't have a head for science, but at the moment he was thankful that Dom did. Reverend Johnson sat at the end of the couch, his mouth zipped shut by Krycek's warning glare. If Skinner didn't know better, he'd swear that Krycek had something on the older man.

Jessica came hesitantly into the livingroom. Skinner had seen kids in 'Nam that looked less spooked. She bit back a sob and ran to her mother. Mulder came out and stretched, popping his spine.

"Dom," he said with a jerk of his head. Dom went over to him. "Do me a favor, write down that explanation you've been using," Skinner heard him ask. "I need to talk to a few people, there's going to have to be a press release very soon and I'd like to mix the science with the proper spiritual corollaries."

Dom nodded thoughtfully. "Would you like me to use several different religions?"

Mulder clapped him on the arm. "Thank God for Comparative majors," he breathed thankfully. "Yes, absolutely. Judeo-Christian and Muslim would be great. I can do the non-religious view with scientific highlights from friends who shall remain nameless and I'll get Emilia to write the alternative view. I'm not going to worry about the Eastern sects, their beliefs already cover it. You can touch on them if you want to. I'd like to get the release out within a couple of days."

"Not a problem," Dom promised. "I'll get it to you tomorrow."

"Do you really expect us to believe all this horse pucky?"

Everyone turned to look at Johnson.

"I could give a shit what you believe," Mulder snapped. "If you continue to fill that girl's head with demonic nonsense, you will create a psycotic child. Just because you don't understand something, does not make it evil. Use the brain God gave you, and ask an intelligent question once in a while.

"Mr. and Mrs. Dover? You can listen to this fool if you want to, but if you want to keep your daughter sane, you'll encourage her to meditate with the instructions that I gave her. If she has a problem, the best person to help her is Emilia Clairmont. I'm just a beginner at this myself and I gave Jessica the beginner's steps.

"I've seen demons, Reverend, and this doesn't even come close. A real demon would have laughed it's head off at your attempt at an exorcism. The only person in this town that has the talent to do an exorcism is Emilia. You should research the history of demons; you will find that they could care less what god you worship."

Skinner needed to get Mulder home; only a very bad headache or a very bad day would make Mulder speak with such impunity.

"Come on, let's get home," Skinner said. He dialed home on his cell phone. "Everything is fine, please bring Sarah home. No, they'll be alright for a few minutes. We're on our way."

Johnson stormed out of the house, his face beet-red. In a moment, they heard his car speed away, the tires squealing on the icy road.

"Thanks, Dom," Skinner said as he led Mulder out of the house. They said good night to the Dovers and left them to clean their home. He trusted Dom to see to their questions of the spirit. He tossed the keys to Krycek and got into the back seat with Mulder.

"Are you alright, Fox?" Skinner asked.

Mulder leaned his head against the back seat and shut his eyes. "Head hurts," he said in a raspy voice.

"We'll put you to bed in a few minutes," Skinner said.

"No," Mulder said. "We're going out. I need to get away from things. I'll take some aspirin, you drive, and I'll be fine after I get some food in me. I think I still have a couple of pain pills left over. We missed our reservation, but you make some calls while I get changed and see if there are any last minute openings."

Krycek pulled into the driveway a minute later after passing KC on the street. The boys had their faces pressed up to the window waiting for the men to get home.

"Is Jessica ok?" Adam asked as soon as they walked in. Kisa danced around their feet, letting them know that they were gone too long for her liking.

"Yes, she's fine," Skinner said. "She just needed to know about the shields." Adam gave a relieved breath. "Who wants to help me walk Kisa?" he asked. All the boys shouted with excitement. That won't last long, Skinner thought. He saw Mulder wince and hunch his shoulders.The boys rushed to get their boots and jackets on while Mulder walked up the stairs.

"Alex," Skinner called to Krycek. "Give Fox a hand. If you will call the Kurts and fill them in on tonight's happenings, and let them know to get something written for immediate publication." He spoke quietly and Krycek nodded. The boys were ready so Skinner corraled the puppy and attached her leash. Beginning to recognize what the leash meant, she wiggled excitedly and barked. At the top of the stairs, one of the cats stuck a hauty nose in the air and turned to find a warm bed.

The street was dark; there were very few street lights in their town, but they knew their way and the snow gave off a glow from the moon light.

"Unc... Daddy?" one of the twins began. Skinner thought it was Pavel. "Will we hear things, too?"

"I don't know," Skinner said with all honesty.

"Does it hurt, Adam?" Pavel asked.

"No, not really," Adam said. "It's kinda scary at first, only because it's new. It hurts a little if the noises are too loud but doing those mind games Miss Emilia said to do helps." Skinner smiled in the dark at the voice of experience. He suddenly wondered what kind of future the human race would have if all the children grew up reading minds. Would there be peace or would they destroy each other? He recalled a science fiction book where frightened adults tried to kill the children who had come into a similar situation. The children were taken and put into a protective compound, raised in what amounted to an isolation camp until they were old enough to control themselves. They were returned to society but in a position of service to the government. Skinner wondered if that was a part of the Original Plan. He snarled mentally at the dead Cancer Man.

"Who's that, Uncle Walter?" Adam asked. Skinner looked around but didn't see anyone.

"Who's who?"

"The man in your head that you don't like," Adam said. Skinner looked down at the boy. "I'm sorry, Miss Emilia said it was rude to peek but I didn't mean to. You broadcast loud," he explained, using a new phrase.

Just as Skinner was getting use to computer speak, he could see that society was about to undergo another linguistic evolution. Be as honest as possible with them, he reminded himself.

"That was someone very bad. He's been dead for a long time, so you don't have to worry about him." He made a clumsy attempt at shutting out his mind just as Mulder told him to.

The boys took turns holding Kisa's leash. After she squatted, they praised her with hugs and kisses.

"You know what?" one of the twins said.

"What?" Skinner responded.

"Joey has a puppy, he looks just like Kisa, and Joey pokes him and hits him and pulls on his ears and tail and takes his food away and pushes his face into the water and....." It had to be Pavel. A puppy just like Kisa?

"What do you mean by a puppy like Kisa?" Skinner interrupted Pavel. It was rude, but interrupting Pavel was the only way to get a word in edgewise.

"He looks just like Kisa," Pavel said as thought that explained it all.

"Same color? Same kind of puppy? Short hair, same color hair?" Skinner asked.

"Uh-huh," Pavel nodded.

Joey Fielding had a Lab puppy the same age and coloring as Kisa?

"Do you know where Joey got his puppy?" Skinner asked.

"His dad gave it to him for Christmas," Ivan said.

"Do you know where his dad got it?"

The boys shook their heads.

Skinner took them around the block and returned home. He sent the boys to get ready for bed and turned Kisa loose. She debated a drink or following the boys. She followed.

"Where's Fox?" he asked Krycek who pointed to the ceiling. Krycek had the phone to his ear with that 'perpetual hold' look. Skinner went upstairs and into their bedroom. Mulder was sound asleep on the bed wearing just his dress pants. Skinner gently turned him and tucked him in, shutting out the light on his way out the door. Their date would have to wait.

"He's asleep," he told Krycek and began to loosen his own cloths. "Alex, listen. you remember that boy, Joey, one of the boys that assaulted that young girl?" Krycek looked blank. "The day you came here in that expensive suit and car? We had that mock trial in my office?" Krycek nodded in recognition. Skinner told him about the puppy.

"It could be nothing," Skinner said. "It probably is nothing. But would you take a look around tomorrow and see if there's a new litter of Golden Labs around here?"

Krycek nodded. "What does Fielding do?"

Skinner thought for a moment. "I have no idea," he said. "I don't think I've ever heard anyone mention him. He's out of town quite often, I think." He went over to the table where Mulder had his laptop still set up from working the evening before. He logged onto the police's NCIC database. He typed and waited.

"Nothing," he said. Krycek walked over, the phone still stuck to his ear.

"That doesn't mean much if he's never been arrested," Krycek said. Skinner looked up at the phone.

"What are you doing?" he asked. Krycek slammed the phone down.

"Trying to order a pizza! Fuckers. Try driver's license," he suggested. Skinner punched it in. He didn't know Fieldings' first name, but he could use the last and the name of the city. He raised an eyebrow when it came back not found. Krycek pulled up a chair.

"Now this is getting interesting," he muttered. Skinner logged off the NCIC and entered the FBI database under Mulder's password. His own no longer worked.

"No such person?" Skinner read the response out loud in disbelief.

"Push over," Krycek said and turned the keyboard around, guarding his strokes from Skinner's sight. He logged off the FBI site and brought up a site that Skinner had never seen before.

"What's that, NSA?" Skinner asked.

"Nope," Krycek said without elaborating. "Tell me something. How did you find this job, in this town?"

Skinner shrugged. "Old friend. He was the Sheriff here. Roy McCombs. He was a sargent in Viet Nam. He's the one that pulled my ass out and got me to the nearest MASH unit when I was hit. We kept in touch and when all this went down a few years ago, he called, said he wanted to retire and offered me the job."

Krycek stopped typing. "Skinner, even you can't be that naive. You have enough knowledge of how our government works to teach a college level civics course and yet you don't know how a small town gets a sheriff? A town gets a sheriff one of two ways; first, the state can appoint a sheriff or an acting sheriff. Second, the town either votes in a sheriff or the mayor appoints one. The mayor also fires the sheriff if there is just cause. Your good buddy can't just call and say come on down. He petitions the mayor and the city council on your behalf and if they want to know more, they call you in for an interview and review your records, calling in character witnesses from the day you were born. Then, if you're lucky, they offer you the job until they either call for a no-confidence vote or until someone wants to take the job from you and runs against you during the next election."

The town had gone through one election since he had moved in and was due for another one soon. The job of Sheriff was never mentioned. Skinner shook his head.

"No, Alex, Roy couldn't be with Them," he insisted, feeling his heart jump into his throat. Krycek waved a hand and went back to typing.

"Chill, let me work on this," he said. "There are too many coincidences beginning to add up, something smells."

"We're READY!" came a yell from down the hall.

"You'd better see to them before they wake up Fox," Krycek said. Skinner nodded, feeling a headache of his own coming on. "And remember to shield!" Krycek called after him. "You're upset enough to knock Adam unconscious."

Krycek was right. Skinner took the time to center himself and practice his new meditation and build a wall around his mind. Down the hall, he found three naked little boys splashing around in the tub with the puppy. The floor held more water than the tub did.

"Everything washed?" Skinner asked. "With soap?"

"Yes!" they yelled out. Kisa yapped.

"Let's see the ears," he said. They held their heads up and turned from side to side. "Necks." They bent their heads to display their necks. "Feet." All three fell backwards into the water and held their feet up, toes pickled and pink. "Hair." Skinner looked close and saw soap bubbles. One at a time, he held them under the water and quickly rinsed their hair. "Alright, dry off, brush your teeth, get PJ's on and get into bed. And dry up this floor, please." He took a towel out of the hamper and lifted Kisa out, wrapping her in it. "And no more bathing with the puppy. I want you to smell like clean boys not wet dog." They giggled as they let the water out and dripped more water onto the floor.

Skinner took the dog out to the livingroom to check up on Krycek's progress. Krycek glanced at the bundled puppy and then glanced again.

"They didn't," he begged.

"They did," Skinner answered. He set Kisa on the floor and toweled her off. When she was set free, she shook herself and ran around, rolling and sliding on the floor.

"Alex, you do realise that by my adopting Pavel and Ivan, you will no longer have any control over them. Are you alright with that because once it's done, there's no going back." Skinner asked, worried that Krycek didn't fully understand the consequences of adoption. Krycek turned his attention from the computer to Skinner.

"I'm aware of that," he said. "More than likely, I will be killed doing whatever and you will die of old age. I don't want them to be worrying who is going to take care of them, nor do I want the state to have an excuse to come in and take them as orphans. Besides, they think of you as their father. You've been their father in everything except name. May as well make it official." He turned back to the computer, ending the discussion.

"Thank you, Alex," Skinner said and gave Krycek's shoulder a squeeze. Skinner went back to check on the boys' progess toward bed. Adam's room was first so Skinner went in and found the boy in bed and waiting to be tucked in. He sat on the edge of the bed and straightened the covers around Adam's chest. He smoothed the brown hair and kissed Adam's cheek.

"Anything you'd like to talk about?" he asked. Adam shook his head and shrugged.

"Things feel different," Adam said. Skinner leaned on one hand and studied the boy.

"Different in what way?" he asked.

Adam thought about it, trying to find the words. "Like... like things aren't fun anymore."

"More serious?" Skinner offered. Adam nodded. "You're right, things are more serious. It has to do with the Conspiracy that your father found years ago. Do you remember the stories of how your father found out about aliens? And how they almost took over the planet?"

Adam nodded. "Daddy saved the world, that's what my teachers say."

Skinner could imagine Mulder's reaction to that information. "Let's just say he helped in a big way. Not everything was bad, though. Scientists learned a lot from the aliens' technology. One of those things was the Vaccine. Some of the people that were helping to save the world invented the Vaccine so that we wouldn't die when the aliens let a disease loose on us. There is a side-effect that's starting to happen, though, something that no one realised would happen; some people are learning to hear each other's thoughts. It seems to be happening faster to kids and to adults that are able to do it naturally but never learned. Do you understand that?" Adam nodded.

"When people don't understand something, sometimes it scares them. When they get scared, they get angry or they think it's wrong. Some people say it's evil. It isn't. We all have that part of the brain that is able to read thoughts but it's asleep. The Vaccine is making that certain part of the brain wake up and work. We just need to learn how to use it and how to control it.

"That's why things are getting serious. Adults are afraid of this new thing that is happening."

Adam thought about it. "Are you afraid?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," he said honestly. "In a way, it's a good thing. If there are no secrets from each other, then people will learn to be nicer to each other because they will understand each other. On the other hand, without secrets we lose our privacy. Governments will collapse, religions will fall. People in power will no longer be in power. I won't know how I feel about it until I see which way people will go."

"Why would it hurt governments and religions?" Adam asked.

"Why don't you think about it and we can talk about it when you're ready?" Skinner suggested. "It's a matter of consequences. Action and reaction," he hinted.

"Who loves you?" Skinner asked. Adam grinned, looking so much like his father.

"You do," he said. "And Daddy and Mommy and Aunt Dana and Natti and... does Uncle Alex love me?" he asked.

"I think so," Skinner said. "Alex just has a hard time showing it. He has a hard time saying it. He spent his life with very few people to love him or for him to love, so he's learning."

Adam put out his arms and hugged Skinner tightly around the neck.

"I love you, good night," Skinner said.

"Love you, too, good night," Adam responded.

Skinner heard the twins scurry into bed at the sound of him in the hall. He couldn't count the number of times his father laid into him for reading by flashlight under the covers in the middle of the night. Skinner swore to himself that he'd never punish the children for wanting to learn. Playing, on the other hand....

"Alright, no monkeying around," he said upon entering the room. They looked at him innocently from their bunk-beds. Their wet hair was uncombed and would be poking up at all angles come morning. He straightened Ivan's covers on the bottom bunk and kissed him goodnight.

"I want to thank you boys for helping Sarah tonight," he said. "She was very scared and you were a big help in calming her down so that Uncle Fox and Alex and I could help Jessica and their parents.

"Do you need to talk about anything?" he asked. Both boys responded in the negative. He straighten Pavel's covers and buzzed his cheek.

"I love you boys very much and it makes me very happy to be your father. I hope I don't disappoint you, I've never been a father before." Fathers and sons had their share of arguements no matter how good their relationship and Skinner hoped that when the boys were older and they had a bad one that they wouldn't go running to Alex. No, he knew they would; he could only hope that Alex sent them right back and didn't try to interfere.

"You're doing good so far, Daddy," Ivan assured him. "We'll let you know if you're doing it wrong."

Skinner stifled a chuckle. "Thank you, I'd appreciate it," he said. He loved hearing that word out of them, directed at him. It sang to his soul. Daddy.

He returned to the livingroom to find Krycek glaring death daggers at the computer.

"What's your problem?" Skinner asked him. "Still can't find anything?"

Krycek shook his head. "No, I found something alright. See if you can wake up Fox."

Skinner hesitated. "Is it that bad?" Krycek pointed a finger at the stairs. Skinner went.

"Fox, wake up," he whispered at the bedside. He turned the light on and sat down, shaking Mulder's shoulders. "Fox!" Mulder grumbled and frowned. "Wake up, Alex needs to talk to us."

Mulder rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "This better be good," he warned. He rolled out of bed and stood up. He scratched his balls and realised that his pajamas felt different and looked down.

"Our date!" he remembered. "Walter, I'm sorry." Mulder looked stricken.

"It's alright," Skinner assured him. "We shouldn't have made weekday plans. We can go out on Saturday night." On their way downstairs, Skinner quickly filled Mulder in on Joey's puppy, Joey's father and Roy.

"He just called and asked you to be Sheriff?" Mulder stopped and looked at Skinner. Skinner put up a hand.

"I don't want to hear it, Alex already read me the riot act," he said.

"Is this Roy?" Krycek asked as they neared the table. He turned the monitor toward Skinner who saw a much younger version of his buddy. He nodded with a sick feeling in his stomach.

"Sargent Roy McCombs, USMC. His assignment was to scope you out and see if you could be of service to the Old Man. They had you tagged long before you met Sharon and married into the Family Business," Krycek informed him.

Skinner frowned. "How? Why? I was only 18."

"And I was 5, Samantha was 8, Fox and Jeff were both 12, what's your point?" Krycek returned. "You were a rah-rah patriot at 18 and you knew how to follow orders, that was their only concern."

"But why me?" Skinner insisted. "My family wasn't involved. Out of millions of teenagers in this country, why me?"

Krycek was blank for a moment. "I don't know," he said. He turned back to his computer and began typing again. "Let's skip you for the moment," he said. "This town seems to be crawling with retired and semi-inactive Consortium personnel. No coincidence. This place is one of the smaller 'safe' communities. I didn't know about it. All your recently deceased were Consortium." He handed some printouts back to the men. Skinner looked at ID photos of Mrs. Mathau, Mr. Berg and Mr. Peterson.

"This is Mr. Fields," Krycek said handing back another photo printout. "He's security. I've worked with him, which is probably why he's been scarce here in town lately. Your buddy Roy is now stationed in Wyoming, Sheriff over another small retirement community."

"He told me he was retiring to Arizona," Skinner said. Krycek shrugged.

"Sun City is filled with Consortium retirees, bunch a Nazis, but he went to Wyoming," Krycek said.

"Why haven't you found out about this before?" Mulder asked him.

"Because it didn't occure to me to wonder what the old timers did when they left the fold," Krycek snapped. "I assumed they went fishing and hung out, spend some of the millions that they earned."

"Guys, this town needs to be cleaned out," he said. "I can do it, but I need you to trust my judgement and to let me do this my way. I promise no blood-baths. I'll keep it quiet, no one will notice." His computer pinged and he looked at the return.

"Walter.... your father was tagged the same week he entered the country. I'm sorry. I can only assume that he wanted to be a good American. They probably used the patriotic bent with him, which he passed on to you. He was just a grunt watching over the Oregon coast, the marinas. If it makes you feel any better, he didn't do any of the nasty work."

Skinner fell into a chair and lowered his head between his knees, trying to stop the nausea. He felt Mulder's hand on the back of his head and then down to rub his back.

"And you never noticed that before, either?" Mulder asked sarcastically. Krycek glared at him.

"Hey, I didn't know that he was filed under his birth name instead of his American name," Krycek returned. "Lay off, Mulder, there are files that I have not read before. I wasn't the group historian or secretary, you know!"

"I thought you turned over all the files," Skinner croaked from his bent position.

"I turned over the files that I found in the Old Man's computer. His personal files. The working files. He didn't concern himself with inactives." Krycek took a zip-disk out of the harddrive and replaced it with a fresh one. "I'm downloading the information now," he said.

"How did you get in there?" Mulder asked. "Isn't there an alarm?"

"Yes, there is," Krycek said with a nod and a self-satisfied smirk. "I used the Old Man's backdoor pass. No one knew about it except the programmer who is dead."

"If he's dead, how do you know about it?" Mulder asked.

"Because he told me just before I killed him. He deserved to die; he liked little boys just a little too much."

His father. One of Them. He never did have a clear idea of what his father did for a living, only that he was some sort of dock foreman. Looking back, Skinner could see the differences between their family and other dock families; they had more money. Fine clothes, plenty of food on the table, trips to the Opera and plays were a regular occurrence. Skinner learned to speak as the upper-class did, without the flamboyant Italian accent of his mother or the harsh Hungarian accent of his father. All languages except English were forbidden in their house, so Skinner never learned the languages of his parents. He was taught how to blend in with the yuppies and preppies. He was being groomed for leadership in the Consortium.

Skinner found it ironic that he wasn't taught languages considering that they would have been as useful as everything else. Maybe his father was ashamed of where he came from. He knew of immigrants that refused to teach their children their language, wanting their children to be Americans. The only time he was allowed to speak another language was if it was required for a piece of music, and then he was only taught the correct pronunciation. Mass was still said in Latin, but his father didn't consider Church language to be heretical. Skinner still knew his prayers in Latin.

"Alex," Skinner said, picking his head up. "Just make a list of who's who, where they are and what they did. Evidence. And hand it over to the proper authorities. Arrest them and take them before the Tribunal. Nothing else, Alex."

Krycek turned to protest.

"No, Alex," Skinner insisted. "Think about it; what's going to happen if these people disappear? Someone is going to notice, a neighbor, family member, and report it. Everyone knows our history and most of the FBI know that you live here. If someone puts the pieces together, finds out that these people have a past in common, a past with the Consortium, guess who gets taken in for questioning?"

Krycek narrowed his eyes and curled his lip in a snarl of frustration.

"Be a good NSA agent and just turn the information in. Give it to Fox and he can say he received it anonymously," Skinner advised. It wouldn't be the first time. Mulder mumbled an agreement.

"Fine, whatever," Krycek grumbled and half-heartedly typed a command.

"Come on," Mulder said. "Let's go to bed, there's nothing we can do here."

Skinner said nothing but followed Mulder up the stairs. His mind was in turmoil, unable to believe. His entire life had been planned out by people other than himself, people who had expected him to simply comply, to kow-tow to their wishes as though he were a drone with no mind of his own.

"You're feeling angry, confused, lost, hurt and betrayed," Mulder said from the bed. He had taken his dress pants off and put his pajama bottoms on. Skinner said nothing as he removed his clothes and dressed for bed. "I know, Walter, I've been through it. My father helped to start the whole mess, remember? Should I thank Alex for killing him? Should I feel guilty for remembering good times with him? He wasn't a bad father, he just became more distant the guiltier he felt. Was your father a bad father or was he just a little too strict? Do you have any good memories of him? What did he teach you?"

Skinner got into bed and pulled the covers up, turning onto his side.

*******************

Just before the alarm was due to go off, Skinner opened his eyes. He never really got to sleep. He watched Mulder slowly awaken and finally open his hazel eyes.

"He taught me to swim. I have a picture of him holding my hands as I began walking. He never missed one of my concerts. He taught me to shave when I was 14 and how to knot a tie. He insisted that I walk proud, with a straight back and shoulders when I grew faster than the other boys. He told me the Facts, straight out, the first time I woke up with messed sheets. I thought I peed in my sleep and I was so afraid he was going to beat me. He never beat me. I got my share of spankings but nothing that I would qualify as a beating, and most of them I deserved. I think he knew when I had my first crush and subsequently my first heart-break; he took me out for ice-cream that night. Didn't say anything about it, though. We just sat and ate chocolate hot fudge sundaes. I think he loved me in his own way but he never told me."

Skinner turned and Mulder caught him.

After a while, Mulder reached out with one hand and snagged the phone.

"Please come down and see to the boys," he requested softly. "Thanks."

Skinner lifted up and rubbed his eyes with a sniff. "I'll go..." he began.

"No, let Alex do it," Mulder insisted. "Where is your father buried?"

"In Oregon, why?"

Mulder dialed the phone again.

"I'm taking off today. It's important. Oregon. No, Scully, it isn't a case, it's just someplace I need to go. He's going, too. No, Alex is working... don't laugh... can you take them until tomorrow? They'll be fine in daycare. Thanks, we'll drop them off on our way to the airport. I don't know, I haven't called yet. I'll let you know. Thanks, Scully."

"I'm not going to Oregon, Fox," Skinner said when Mulder hung the phone up.

"Yes, you are," Mulder said. "You need to. I'll be there for you, but you need to do this."

"Fox, I can't...."

Mulder gripped his neck and stared into his eyes. "Yes, you can. You need to." He gave Skinner a shake. "I love you and you're going to Oregon if I have to toss you over my shoulder and drag you there."

Mulder called the airport and made reservations while telling Krycek where they were going. The boys were excited to be spending the day and night with Aunt Dana. Skinner took Kisa to Dom for the day, Alex would pick her up when he got home. Ruvin was left in charge of the town.

They dropped the boys off at the daycare center at the Hoover, stopped in to see Scully and were off to the airport. Scully gave Mulder a package to take with them, asking him to drop it off at the local FBI office in Portland with a reminder to keep receipts and to please check on a situation; if he was on business, he could take the plane, car rental, food and hotel out of expenses.

Skinner barely spoke on the plane, he stared out the window unable to read his book. He kept one hand on Mulder's thigh, sometimes holding Mulder's hand. The stewards left them alone except to discreetly offer them a beverage or lunch. They had a two hour hold-over in Chicago where they got a pizza and waited.

In Portland, the day was dreary, gray and wet. Typical North-West winter. They dropped the package off at the local FBI and was handed a written report of a local problem. Nothing that couldn't have been done via e-mail or Fed-Ex. They were greeted with a small amount of awe and a load of pride by the local agents.

Mulder stood back at the cemetary and watched as Skinner knelt before the graves of his parents.

End.