Mulder and Scully stood back as the young boy kneeled in front of the tombstone, carefully placing the flowers they had picked out earlier in front of it. They watched from afar as the boy said his final goodbyes to his sister.

Being surrounded by death, the silence made Scully uncomfortable. "You know, Mulder," she said, "we still aren't certain what happened to Patricia Anderson."

"Well, I have two theories," Mulder replied. "David could be not only telekinetic but pyro-kinetic as well; that is, he has the ability to create fire with his mind as well as motion. The other possibility is that the massive amounts of adrenaline released during the situation somehow reacted with whatever allows him to use his power, magnifying its intensity. Kind of like when a person does something physically impossible in an emergency, or that old episode of The Lucy Show." He turned to look at his partner, her face paler than usual. "What do you make of it, Scully?"

"Well, Mulder, couldn't it also be possible that instead of telekinetics or chemical reactions an appliance or a light short circuited, and a spark set off the 'Candle Theory'?"

"I suppose it's possible, though not likely," Mulder replied, turning his attention back to David. He paused, drawing in a slow, heavy breath. "I see so much of myself in him, Scully."

"What do you mean, Mulder? Are you talking about how he is intelligent, witty, but still just a twelve year old boy?"

"That too, I suppose," he said, smiling a little. He sighed. "Kristina wasn't much older than Samantha was when she was kidnapped."

"I thought you had come to terms with this, Mulder."

"I have, but I can't help wondering 'what if?' What if David had not been born to such God-awful parents? Would his sister have died? What if Samantha had never been kidnapped? Would not life had been much better for all of those involved if such crucial variables had been altered?"

Scully thought for a second, and then said, "Mulder, you do realize that if you had never lost Samantha you would have never sought out the X-Files. I would have never been assigned as your partner; we probably never would have even spoken to one another. We would have missed out on one of the best relationships in our entire lives. Then what about David? He probably would have been locked up, keeping his pain to himself until one day the load became so unbearable that he collapsed under its weight. What if that happened? What if life is one big picture, that when you look at it as a whole, even the darkest elements are seen as crucial and important to the entire portrait?"

"I hate it when you do that."

"Do what?"

"Beat me at my own game."

Dear Dana and Fox,

How are you? I'm fine. The Watsons are very nice, and I really like it here. They have a son, about my age (his name is Robert), but I have my own room. They even have a swimming pool! Mr. and Mrs. Watson are really good to me, but they aren't as cool as you two are. I tried to get Robert into Galaxy Cross, but he isn't very good at it. Don't tell him I said this, but he SUCKS. He can't even beat the Qasdac Gun Squad with a level 12 Mech! I'm dieing for competition. You and I will have to play sometime, Fox.

How are your current cases going? I bet they aren't as exciting as me. (heh heh) I don't use my telekinesis much at all. Sometimes I do if I have to clean my room, but that's it, really, I swear. Okay, maybe when I take out the garbage too.

There's this girl at school I really like. Her name is Heather Pear. She's smart, funny, and she smells really good. I think she likes me too. We're supposed to go to the movies this Friday, wish me luck.

I hope you two are having a good time whatever you are doing. I miss you both a lot. If you're ever over here in Kansas on a case, come by and see me. I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Watson won't mind strangers sleeping in their house :). Please write me sometime.

Your friend,
David.

P.S. When you two DO get married, I want an invite, okay?

Scully smiled as she set the letter down.

"You and me married? Ha, like that will ever happen," Mulder scoffed, leaning back in his chair.

"I don't know, Mulder. Stranger things have happened to us."

"No they haven't."

She laughed, and sat down. Mulder watched as her smile slowly sunk into a frown. "What is it?" he asked.

"Remember that time we were stranded in the Arctic?"

"If you are going to say that was more pleasant than that feeling you got watching David wave as we got on the plane back here... I'm way ahead of you."

"Good to see some things never change."

"You realize, I find all these 'mushy' feelings are more irritating than that movie Skin-Man's buddy made about the O'Fallon case."

"Mulder," Scully said, looking at her partner, "how is it possible that you are able to say something surprisingly sweet yet obviously cynical at the same time?"

He just shrugged, and leaned forward on the desk, closer to her. "You figure it out. After all, Scully, you're smart, funny, and you smell good."

She laughed out loud. It was weird; with that one little laugh, she lit up the tiny little office and saw it in its new light. Where she was right now, though it was just a tiny, dark office instead of a sprawling two-story house with a picket fence and the perfect little suburban family, was where she belonged. Her perfect life was the one she was living at that moment. She realized then that she would not have it any differently.

For the time being…