TITLE: Just Coincidence
AUTHOR: stellar_dust
EMAIL: stellar_dust_x@yahoo.com
WEBSITE: http://katycat.net/xfiles
ARCHIVE/FEEDBACK: Sure!
SPOILERS: Invocation, Empedocles, Release .. etc
RATING: PG
WORD COUNT: 315
CHALLENGE: AU
SUMMARY: If coincidences are just coincidences,
why do they feel so contrived?
DISCLAIMER: This makes TOO much sense for CC to 
have thought it up.
DATE: 08/08/2004


Scully was surprised to find the office unlocked at 6:30 
AM.  Thoughts of Mulder and the baby crowded out sleep; 
she thought she might rest easier if she came to what had 
been his sanctuary.

Failing that, at least she'd get some paperwork done.

"Agent Doggett?  I thought you'd been through all the old 
X-Files already."  Scully wound between the boxes to 
where he sat cross-legged on the floor, and peered over his 
shoulder, curious.

Doggett jumped, startled, and he glanced up at her guiltily.  
"Well - well, I had.  I was just ..."  He trailed off.

Scully sighed, and sat down in Mulder's chair.  "What's 
up?"

Doggett stared again at the file he held, tightly gripped, and 
swallowed.  "What d'you know about this picture?"

He handed Scully a glossy 8x10, of children working in a 
field under a canopy.  She kept her hands still and her voice 
calm as she looked at Samantha, mentally rearranging her 
features and shortening her hair to a boy's cut.  /Your 
guiding light for so long, Mulder .../

"Mulder discovered this farm in Canada several years ago.  
It's gone now.  The girls are clones of his sister .. "  Scully 
looked at Doggett again.  His eyes were red-rimmed.  
"Why?"

"Agent Scully, I never told you I had a son."  He swallowed 
raggedly.

"No ..."  Scully raised her eyebrows and peered at him.  
"Go on ..."

"1993.  He was seven years old.  Rode his bike around the 
block and disappeared.  We never found him."  He closed 
his eyes and took a deep breath.

"That's him, Agent Scully.  That's Luke."  Doggett's eyes 
bored into the photo Scully held, at the tall, blond-haired 
boys working beside the darker girls.  She was losing the 
battle to keep her hands steady.  "I'm sure of it."

"There must be some -" Scully's protest died on her lips as 
her eyes met Doggett's.

"What the hell is goin' on here?" he moaned.