Rating: PG-13. DV images.

Summary: What are families for?

Spoilers: None.
 

"Daylight breaks on the streets of my life
Where no sun shines there burns refusal to die."

"Permanence in Change," by McDonald & Peters, Copyright 1987 International Record Syndicate, Inc. Used without permission.
 

Makown
 

March 7, 2000

Dinner had been a noisy, raucous affair, and I think Joan was a bit overwhelmed by all the vocality of it. In addition to that, profanity is used in copious quantities in our household; you could see her visibly wince every time somebody uttered something vaguely off-color. She was wincing a lot.

"Let me help you," she offered and began to stack plates.

"You don't have to, but if you want to, I'm not going to turn you down," I warned her. "It's not like your brother ever offers."

"He always kept his room a mess, too."

"Some things never change," I smiled. "But he's a good guy. The best."

"He's a lot like I remember him," she smiled slightly. "But happier. He does seem happy."

"I think he is most of the time, except when he's not," I laughed. "He's pretty moody sometimes."

"He was always moody."

"Well, he's a Cancer, whaddya want?" Miranda grudgingly was putting away condiments and wrapping the few leftovers that remained.

"Do you...believe in astrology?" Joan eyed her skeptically.

"I think if it's done right, can be credible," she responded. "Just not many people do it right. Langly got me this really cool program, and not one like you get in the bookstore and stuff. You actually have to do some math and stuff. When's your birthday, Aunt Joan?"

"I don't...believe in astrology."

"Doesn't matter. When's your birthday?" Miranda could be pushy.

"September 8."

"Virgo. My mom's moon's in Virgo." I think I remembered Genie saying that as well. "But my mom's a Leo. Me, I'm a Scorpio, and Shelby here's a Taurus. You know what time you were born?"

"I think...around 7 at night. I'm not exactly sure."

"And where?"

"Here in Maryland. College Park. My father was working on his PhD at the University of Maryland."

"I could work with that. Mom, are we done yet?" she whined a bit.

"Go ahead," I waved her and Shelby off.

"You should...be careful about what you let her mix in," Joan warned gently.

"Joan, she has fun with that sort of thing, and it brings her no harm. Besides, Miranda takes the presence of the spirit world very seriously, and she's not about to do something that she thinks could be harmful. She won't do seances at slumber parties, because she truly believes you shouldn't disturb the dead. But astrology? Langly gave her a computer program, Joan, and she has a lot of fun with it. Besides, Miranda knows better than to swallow anything wholesale. She's got the soul of a skeptic." I packed dishes tightly into the dishwasher; we were going to have to run it more than once. "So what'd you talk about with Langly?"

"I'm sorry, it just sounds so funny...to hear you call him that."

"Well, it's weird to hear him called Ringo for me," I laughed.

"Just...things." She obviously didn't want to go into it. I'm not the type to press, unlike my daughter. "I really need to be going soon. I want to thank you for a lovely day. It's so good to see my baby brother doing well-"

"You're going? It's not even 9:30. We'll be up for hours." Maybe even after everyone leaves, I thought evilly...unless you wore that boy out more than you thought.

"I need to be at church early."

Langly bounded into the kitchen. "So Joanie? You staying?"

"No...I think I'd better go." She looked down as though embarrassed. "I'm sorry, baby brother. I'm just...not ready yet." Her eyes filled with tears.

"You are gonna come back and see us, aren't you?" His tone became young, pleading. "You're not just gonna go away..."

She hugged her little brother, who was now quite a lot bigger than her. "Ringo...I need to think this over. This is going to be...very difficult for me." She clung on to him.

He hugged her back. "Your decision. But we'll be here. And you better not miss my wedding." He smiled at her, put his thumb under her chin. "C'mon, smile. 'Kay? Please?"

She made a brave effort. "Ringo, I will see you again, and very soon. I'll call you. I love you, baby brother."

He embraced her, hard. They walked out to her car, where they stayed alone for quite a while.
 

I finished the last of the dishes, popped another beer, and lit a cigarette, sitting down in the quiet of the kitchen before joining the others in the living room. It had been a very long day. Not a bad one, not at all. Just long, and eventful, and emotional.

I was musing on the events of the day when a quiet voice broke the stillness of the dimmed kitchen.

"Ally?" Byers was standing in the doorway.

"Hi. You hungry?"

"A little."

"I saved you a plate." I got up, went to the fridge, and took out the plastic-covered plate I'd set aside for him. I didn't care what time he ate it, just so long as he did.

"I can heat that," he offered.

"Sit down already. Don't you know whose kitchen you're in?

"I keep forgetting." He smiled that sweet, winsome smile of his.

"So you got to talk to Julie."

"We did talk."

"And?"

"We need to get together. I'm going out to the offices to see if I can get a flight tomorrow. I have to be back at work in a week, so I need to see her now-"

"How about her coming here?"

"We'll see how this week goes." He left it at that.

"Do you want to be by yourself?" I asked.

He looked at me gratefully. "I think so. For a little while." He smiled that sweet smile again. "Thank you."

I'm not sure for what, but I take gratitude any way I can get it.
 

March 10, 2000

"Okay, we've sorted all the data on this," Michael announced triumphantly as I walked into the offices that evening.

"I appreciate that. What'd you come up with?"

"Well, my dad's theory was right about the numeric strings matching with parts of the hotel. There's some variation in the alpha strings, but there's a pattern there, too. By the way, when I went in to get a beer, your phone rang so I answered it, and it was Anne? That girl who was here at Christmas?"

"My brother's fiancee. What'd she say?"

"Well, Jason, I think that's what she-"

"That's his name. Go on." My heart lurched.

"He's in the hospital, Anne took him to SF Gen, whatever that is-" San Francisco General, probably the best place to be if you've got something weird-"and they said he's got some virus like they don't know anything about. Like what you guys had, I think, I bet."

"Did you have her tell the attending physician to call Dr. Ying?"

"Dude went to med school with Dr. Ying, it turns out. They're playing I'll show you mine, you show me yours."

"Sounds kinky. How's he doing?"

"Actually, compared to like how you and Langly did, not bad. Sorta like how Juliet was. Sick, but not wrecked. Way better than the professor. Say, what's the deal with the prof?"

"He's in Michigan. Didn't your dad tell you?"

"Yeah, guess he did. Trying to kiss and make up with Juliet?"

"I think so. They have some...issues." I remembered the New Year's Eve day conversation with Juliet. Wondering when they would have issues. Well, they had them now, in spades.

"Yeah. Andi left out one little issue when she started going out with me." The bitterness returned to his voice.

"What was that?"

"Like she had a boyfriend." He spat it out.

"That was totally rude of her."

"Tell me about it." He snorted. "Anyway, we got all this cool data, and we got it all coordinated and arranged and looking real pretty, and you know what? Don't mean shit."

"I guess the trick would be to find out what these numbers mean, and where they originated from."

"That would be the trick part of the question, wouldn't it?" he concurred. "Well, I'm off to see the wizard on that one. Gonna try some hacks into some databases, different types of ones. Langly's seeing what he can do with the DOD and CIA stuff. Course, while he's at work, he's gotta be sorta careful, I think he likes his job, at least he likes the paycheck-"

"Which we need if we're going to keep this house," I stated tartly.

"So he's trying some stuff, but so far, no go. But we just gotta keep looking till we come up with the right info."

I was pleased. Michael was getting more into his element. He had been annoyed initially when Langly and I had requested his help with this project. In fact, his father had almost had to force him to participate. But he'd done it, and he'd run with it.

I was proud of him.

"You've done some good stuff, Michael."

"Hey, I haven't done anything yet. Give me time."

I had no doubt about that.
 

March 13, 2000

Another Friday night, and the NCAA was heavily into the semi-finals, which meant that Langly, Frohike, Michael and Mulder could be easily located at Benny's, getting drunk, belching, and doing whatever disgusting male things guys do when they're in a bar together watching basketball.

Dana and I were hanging out at our house, watching "The Thin Man," which she loved, but since it wasn't closed captioned, she needed the dialogue interpreted. I also love "The Thin Man" and I offered to do the interpreting for her. I love Nora Charles; that woman could be my role model.

"You two remind me of Nick and Nora," Dana laughed when the movie was over. Rebecca was awake, but reasonably content to make infant noises and watch sign language. I noticed her beginning to try and form things with her little hands. She was a very pretty baby-absolutely Mulder's daughter.

"We're nowhere near so debonair," I laughed. "But we drink almost as much." We both laughed heartily.

"Speaking of drinking, if March Madness doesn't end soon, Mulder's going to have a beer gut," she quipped dryly. "On the other hand, I haven't had to worry about getting pregnant this month. During March, basketball is better than sex to him. Don't let him ever tell you otherwise."

"Well, it's probably the only time off you get," I giggled.

"That would be correct," she agreed. "Mind you, I'm not complaining." She smiled.

"About the time off or the rest of the time?"

"Both." She actually grinned, with teeth.

Dana had gotten so much more relaxed. Maybe it was going back into academia; maybe practicing medicine; maybe leaving the Bureau; maybe being married and having a much-loved daughter. Maybe all of the above. She wasn't nearly as thin as she used to be; she had a great figure, and were I Mulder, I'd have a 24/7 erection working as well.

"I've been working on the blood samples you all gave me," she turned the conversation back to her area of technical expertise.

"What've you come up with?"

"Well, protein structures that nobody seems to have identified as of yet. They're very strange...and there're slight mutations in them. Some of the proteins are heptagonal, which is a very unusual structure, to say the least."

"Anything about cases in other parts of the country?"

"There is...some evidence to suggest that this may not be isolated. Of course, when I get something from the CDC, it's only a case number. You never get names or any other identifying markers as a researcher."

"So what's going on with your work?"

"I'm attempting to identify and isolate the various protein components. I have to admit, I'm quite baffled." She shook her head. "Then again, research is slow. I have to remind myself of that. Being in law enforcement, time is always of the essence, and things move rapidly, but back in the laboratory...it's a slower universe. The problem is, time may move slowly in the lab, but in real life, people are being impacted. Sometimes with deadly consequences." She'd gone serious again. "There are nine deaths from an unidentified illness that've been recorded by the CDC. I'm studying as much data as I can from them...but it's very odd. I'm having trouble getting information from their HMO's, which most of the victims belonged to." She shook her flame-colored hair. God, I wished I had her shade of red. "Confidentiality shouldn't be a problem; as I said, CDC only gives numeric identification. I'm finding this...bizarre, to say the least."

Little Rebecca was moving her hands about in imitation of her mother.

"Dana, she's trying to sign. She's babbling."

"No, she's not." Dana was intensely skeptical.

"Yes, she is. I've seen babies of deaf parents. They almost always sign before they speak, and you can see her doing the sign equivalent of babbling." I smiled. "Your daughter will be able to speak with you soon."

That brought a smile to her face. "I've been very lucky. Mulder picks up things very rapidly; I swear he signs better than I do." Which, in fact, he did, but I didn't relay that to her. "And you, and Ellen...and I can't believe how many people at the Bureau took your class when you offered it."

"And here you never thought of yourself as a popular girl," I kidded.

"Believe me, I didn't. And for a long time at the Bureau, I was something of a pariah by association with Mulder."

"Do you miss it?"

"Sometimes. But it wouldn't be the same. And I'm ready to have moved on. I'm enjoying my new challenge, even if it has me completely frustrated. It does prove there's life after the X-files." She smiled sweetly. "I'm not certain I'd want to be there now...what with all the changes going on. You know that Skinner is being moved to another division as director, which is a
promotion for him-"

"No, can't say I've kept up on the gossip. Do tell."

"Well, the new AD is named Kersh. I don't know much about him. I'm not sure how the division will fare without Skinner. He's always been in our corner, somehow."

My gate buzzer rang. And I'd only had two beers; drinking with Dana was a pretty minimalist experience. So I knew I'd really heard it.

"Excuse me, the bell rang," I signed to Dana. I went to the intercom. I really wasn't in the mood for unexpected visitors, particularly not at 10:30 at night.

"Who is it?" I asked cautiously.

I heard sobbing, but no words. "Hello? Who is it?"

"It's...Joan." She barely got the words out.

"Joan? Joan Renshaw?" I buzzed the gate. She appeared on the doorstep what seemed to be an eternity later. She was moving very slowly, limping on one foot.

It was Joan, definitely, but she was looking even worse than when I'd seen her last weekend. I hugged her.

"What happened?"

She couldn't speak. I drew her into the light. I could see one side of her face was swollen, bruised. Her mouth had a trickle of blood running from the side. I rushed her inside, sat her on the sofa gently, and held her hands.

Dana plunged into MD mode almost immediately. "Allison, interpret for me, please," she asked in her best clinical tone. "Joan? What happened to you?" Her voice was still soft, well-modulated, in spite of the fact that she could no longer monitor herself aurally.

Joan couldn't speak. Finally, I spoke to her and signed to Dana.

"Did your husband do this?" She nodded.

"Allison, let me examine her. Joan?" She took Joan's hand gently. "I'm an MD, and I'd like to take a look at your injuries, please." She turned to me. "May I use your room? It's more private."

"Sure," I signed back. I took Rebecca and held her, listening to her babble and watching her make baby formations with her hands. Kid was definitely trying to sign.

Joan was having trouble in particular with her one foot. She was limping painfully. Dana did get her down to Langly's and my room, though.

I babbled at Rebecca and signed to her. I felt a bit sad. Langly and I might have had fun with this. A mix of him and me. It just wasn't going to happen. At least I'd had it for a little while, as ill-fated as it was. And for some reason, that made me feel better. I'm not sure why, but it did.

Dana emerged from the room a short time later. "I think she has a sprained ankle, and I'm very concerned about the eye. Also, she's missing a tooth. I think she should go to the hospital. If you can take her, I'll stay here with the girls."

"I'll take her." I rose up and handed Rebecca back to her. "Shit, Dana. Langly's gonna have a cow when he finds out about this."

"Why should he get angry with her?" She looked puzzled.

"Not at her. But let's just say with her husband, there's been a grudgefest there of long standing. And I'm pretty sure I'm not looking forward to the repercussions from that."

"If he gets back before you do, I'll talk to him," she assured me. "Hopefully she won't be seriously hurt enough for admission, but I'd like her checked out. Where're you taking her?"

"Where do you think I should go?"

"St. Brigit's is a good hospital." The other hospital in Alexandria was a Catholic one. "Go there. Unless you'd prefer me to take her?"

"No, I'll do it. She's my sister-in-law. Almost, anyway."

"You'll have to go slowly. Her ankle seems to be bothering her a great deal. And Allison?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have a Polaroid camera?"

"Yeah, a Captiva, it's small but it works."

"I'd like to take some photos of her injuries. It sounds to me as if there's a possible divorce in here, and if it gets nasty-and they usually do in these cases-the photos will be useful."

"Let me find it." I was pretty certain it was in the photo lab. I looked through the lab, and finally unearthed the camera and one pack of film. Thank God the film hadn't expired. I brought it to Dana and she loaded the film.

"This should be fine." She went back to the bedroom to talk to Joan. I could hear Joan sobbing even from where I stood.

Rebecca was sucking on her two middle fingers, eyes closing. I laid her down on a blanket on the floor. It's always been my belief that babies can't fall off the floor.

Dana and Joan emerged a short time later. Joan seemed calmer now; Dana did have that contralto voice that always soothed. Strangely, since her speech had become slightly more muffled, it was even more comforting.

"She refuses to go to the hospital, Allison." She turned to Joan. "Did you file a police report?"

Joan, I'd forgotten, taught special education, and had some knowledge of sign. She shook her head in the negative.

Dana looked at her gravely. "You need to do this."

Joan shook her head again. "Nobody will ever believe that my husband would ever do this." She falteringly signed the phrase.

"You might be surprised." Dana was trying to be reassuring with her.

"I shouldn't have come here," Joan began sobbing again.

"Yes, you should exactly have come here," I said firmly. "We're family. We're here for you." I led her to the sofa. "How did this happen?"

She looked down, ashamed. (Of what? That her husband was a jerk?)

"I told him I was going to go out tomorrow...to get a dress for my brother's wedding."

She began to cry even harder.

END OF PART 74