Disclaimer: I do not own The X Files, or any of the characters, I'm just a faithful fan.

This fic begins on New Year's Day 2012, and picks up the story of Dana Scully and Fox Mulder (and others) after the events of the 2008 movie The X Files: I Want To Believe.

Scully is still a medical doctor, and Mulder is now working on cold cases for the F.B.I, using his psychological profiling skills to crack old murder investigations, and the like. They married in 2009, and have recently relocated back to Washington DC. Both of them have 'officially' kept out of anything related to the X Files, but it was never going to be that easy for our duo to leave it all behind.

Find The Future - Chapter 1

Bill Scully never let an opportunity to get a dig in at Fox Mulder pass him by. He stood up at the head of the dining table to deliver his customary annual speech. Raising his Champagne flute in a toast to the New Year, he shot his old enemy a meaningful glance.

"The coming of a new year is a time for celebration, and also for reflection. We join in remembrance of all those loved ones who are no longer with us, and we give thanks for all our dear friends and family, who are gathered here with us today. A new year is an opportunity to look to the future, and it can be an exciting time, as we anticipate the many blessings we hope are to come. I know we are all especially thankful to have my dear sister Dana, back here with us. I can hardly begin to express how happy I am that she is able to be here with us today. Those long years without her presence at our table were hard for us to bear, especially after…"

Bill tailed off for a moment, as he noticed his mother staring hard at him with disapproval. His sister and his wife were also shooting him pleading looks, as they hoped he wouldn't say anything more to sour the moment. He reluctantly took the hint, glancing over at Mulder, and immediately wishing he hadn't. The smug expression on his old adversary's face was almost too much for him to take. He sniffed back his hatred, and continued.

"Anyway, no use dwelling on the past, I suppose. We're all here to drink to the future. So, here's to 2012, I hope it brings good health and happiness for us all."

Bill drained his glass, and reached for the bottle, as the rest of the party echoed his toast.

Mulder stole a quick glance at his sleeping wife, as he drove them back home. The Scully family New Year's Day dinner had been taxing for both of them, and Dana seemed particularly exhausted. She had fallen asleep almost as soon as they got inside the car. It wasn't unusual for her to do that during their years on the X Files, when the hours had been irregular, to say the least. It was out of the norm for her now though, unless she'd had a particularly bad shift at the hospital. Dana hadn't been into work for a few days, and they'd spent a quiet New Year's Eve together. The two of them solemnly witnessed the passing of the old year. They had long dreaded the coming of 2012, but decided they couldn't run away from the past, or indeed the future, any longer. The move back to DC hadn't been easy for either of them, and after a few months, they were still readjusting to city living, after their reasonably sedate years of seclusion.

Dana stirred, and suddenly jerked awake as if something had startled her.

"What? I was asleep?"

She looked bewildered for a moment, and took a deep breath to calm herself.

Mulder couldn't hide his concern.

"Are you okay?" He enquired taking his eyes momentarily from the road and stealing a glance at her.

Dana recovered her composure, and she sought to reassure him.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I... I just didn't sleep very well last night, and then I had this weird dream."

"What was it about?" He inquired.

"Oh, it was silly really - I suppose I just had all that stuff on my mind, that's all. It doesn't matter," she sighed.

Mulder nodded his head, and decided not to push her for more information. She would tell him about her dream in her own time. He knew the signs; she obviously wanted to unburden herself. They drove in silence for a short while before Dana spoke again.

"The dream, it was about William. He was in danger and he was calling for me. I mean he was screaming mom, mommy, help me. I know he was calling for me, and not his adopted mother. I had the same dream again, when I fell asleep just now, that's what woke me up."

Mulder sighed, it wasn't the first time either of them had dreamt about their son. It wasn't surprising that they should. He didn't want to encourage her to dwell on the matter, because it only risked opening up old wounds, which had never really healed properly in the first place. Dana took the hint, and she didn't say anything more about her dream, or William. Mulder hastily sought to change the subject, and tried to lighten the mood.

"You know, I do believe your brother is finally warming to me. He didn't even try to punch me, or anything," he said with a mischievous grin.

Dana was still too hung up on her dream to engage in any banter, and her reply came out colder than she meant it too.

"Bill will never forgive you, you know that. No more than you will ever forgive yourself."

She quickly tried to backtrack, after seeing the hurt that flashed across her husband's face.

"You know what Bill's like. Anyway, he knew he'd overstepped the mark. I know mom said something to him, and maybe Tara did too."

"But not you?" Mulder shot back, still feeling stung.

"No, and I didn't need to; he knew I wasn't happy with him. Besides, now we're living an hour's drive away, we have to make the effort to get along. It's what you wanted, isn't it? You knew I was happy to stay where we were, I moved back to DC for you."

Dana was on the defensive, as her unease regarding their recent move resurfaced. She only agreed to relocate back to Washington DC because she knew her husband was going slowly insane living in seclusion. It was with weary acceptance, she regarded the impossibility of avoiding being dragged back into their old lives and the X files. Dana figured they couldn't hide away from the truth forever, because it would find them one day, of that she was sure.

Mulder didn't want to argue, he knew she'd been reluctant to move back to where the past waited for them around every corner. He wasn't completely comfortable with it, either. Being in DC also meant they were more exposed to those who had an axe to grind with them. But he felt they needed to be there, and whatever was coming, they both had to face it head on. He let out a heavy sigh, and silence descended between them once again.

Three months later…

Mulder worked diligently through a pile of old FBI case files on his desk. The apartment was quiet, and he was lost in his thoughts. Dana had left a few hours earlier for her job at a nearby Catholic hospital. It was a good place and she was settling in well.

The months were slipping by, however neither of them had lost sight of what was scheduled to happen in December. Since their relocation back to DC, they'd only been able to meet once with Walter Skinner. He offered them a glimmer of hope for the future, but they hadn't been in contact for over two months now, and Mulder in particular, was growing increasingly frustrated.

Dana wasn't blinkered when it came to the truth; she was just desperate to hold on to the life they'd built for each other. But the bad dreams wouldn't go away, and she knew she couldn't bury her head in the sand this time. Dana was restless in the night, with the recurring dream about her son calling out to her for help. She hadn't wanted to mention it again to Mulder, since his refusal to discuss it on New Year's Day. However, she felt compelled to repeat her concerns to him before she left for work that morning.

Mulder leaned back on his chair and pushed it away from his desk. He was surrounded by scattered files and papers, but all he could think about was Dana and William. A knock at the door broke into his reverie. He sighed, annoyed at the interruption, and reluctantly went to answer it.

"Skinner!" He exclaimed with shock, opening the door wider for his old boss to enter.

"Mulder, I'm sorry to turn up unannounced, but there's something urgent I need to talk to you about, you and Scully, is she here?" His old boss inquired in a grave manner, as he looked around for signs that Dana was home.

"No, she's at work; she won't be back for hours. What's up? We haven't seen you for months, and I know you said we should keep contact to a minimum, is everything okay?" Mulder questioned.

"I - I hoped you'd both be here, but maybe it's better this way, I mean, what I have to say, I shouldn't even be telling you this, but..." he paused and pulled out a thick file from inside his coat.

"This file came through to my personal mailbox, I got it this morning, I don't know who sent it, but I've been doing some checking, and it's definitely him."

Skinner paused, and handed the folder to his friend, who threw him a puzzled look, until he opened it. Mulder's eyes widened with shock, as he quickly scanned over the information contained on the pages of the file. He was aghast as he stared at the photograph inside, and what was written underneath it.

"Who sent this? Who knew about all of this? No one was supposed to know. Oh my God... William."

Mulder tried to steady himself, but his mind was racing. Everything they had done, and the sacrifice Dana made in the hope of protecting him, it had all been in vain. Someone had been keeping track of their son's life, from the moment he was born and throughout his adoption, to the present day. His eyes fixed back on the photograph, and if ever Mulder doubted that he was the child's biological father, he could doubt it no more. It was like looking at a picture of himself as a boy, but for his son having his mother's blue eyes and a reddish tint to his hair, the rest was all him. Skinner's voice broke into his musings.

"Mulder, there's more, and that's really the reason I'm here. If it had just been the file, I'm not sure I would have come to you, not yet anyway. But I got a call, an hour ago; it was from an old friend of mine in Illinois. I'd contacted him this morning for information on the file, and I was shocked when he called back and told me that Adam and Shannon Van De Kamp were found dead this morning at their home, and William is missing."

Mulder gasped, he was struggling to take it all in, and he thought again about Dana's dream. Maybe it had been some kind of premonition, and he cursed himself for being so dismissive about it. He started looking around for his phone to call her.

"Please try and stay calm, there are already people out looking for him. The Illinois police have a full scale search in operation, and the local FBI field office have been alerted," Skinner tried to offer what scant reassurance he could.

"I have to call Scully, she needs to know about this," Mulder pressed the quick dial button on his phone to call her.

There was no reply, and it went straight through to voicemail.

He started to feel frantic, and went to grab his jacket retrieving his car keys on the way. Getting Scully from the hospital was his priority, but his mind was whirring. He recalled an earlier conversation they'd had with Skinner.

"The last time we spoke, you said you'd received some new intelligence, and there was hope that alien colonisation might be avoided. You said, with the deaths of all those involved with the old syndicate, and a growing distrust among the new order, there might be a chance to disrupt their plans?" Mulder questioned.

"I heard the rebel aliens had been strengthening their position, and there was talk of them holding some sort of secret weapon. That was the intelligence I received from Marita Covarrubias and others. I even had a brief meeting with someone we believe to be an alien; Jeremiah Smith," Skinner replied.

"Jeremiah Smith was an alias used by a number of the aliens, we know they can assume different identities. How do we know any of them are to be trusted? What if they are the ones who took William and killed his adoptive parents?" Mulder started for the door, when his phone began to ring, it was Dana's number.

"Fox Mulder?"An unfamiliar male voice enquired.

"Who is this? Where's Dana?" He angrily demanded.

"We have your wife and she is safe, for now. We will exchange her for your son, William Van De Kamp."

Mulder was confused, afraid and angry.

"What the hell are you talking about?" He yelled.

"Your son has been taken by the rebels. I assume you know what I mean by that. You must recover him from them, and bring him to us, or your wife will be killed."

Mulder couldn't speak for a moment; he was in a state of shock and bewilderment. The man delivered his final demand.

"Find the boy and call this number when you have him. Deliver him to us, as per our instructions, and your wife will be returned to you unharmed."

The call was disconnected.

Mulder stumbled back against the wall and slid down to the floor.