X-Files/HP Things Fox Mulder Knows Are True

[thelastgoodname.livejournal.com]

I. Teenagers Often Know Things They Do Not Like to Share

Fox was sharpening pencils, waiting for Scully to return from her autopsy on a man who had started growing scales, and eventually died of what appeared to be heat stroke when he could no longer sweat. There were already 26 sharp pencils in a row on his desk, and an almost full box waited nearby; there were 3 pencils in the ceiling left over from the last time Fox had to wait for Scully. Fox picked up the 27th pencil and inserted it into the sharpener, which began whirring. Fox was so focused on the sound of the sharpener that he almost missed the pop.

When he looked up, a person had appeared in the office. The person seemed very confused, looking around anxiously, and it occurred to Fox that he hadn't heard the office door open or close. The door was in fact still closed behind the guy, who was staring at the poster behind Fox's desk. Then they looked at each other for a while. When the man spoke, it was with an English accent.

"Um, I don't think I'm supposed to be here."

It took Fox a moment to process the words. The person, whom Fox had initially taken for an adult, was actually more of a older teenager, with messy brown hair and a slight bit of extra weight around his waist. He was wearing a large black cloak with some sort of emblem on the front.

Fox didn't respond; the boy continued.

"I'm not sure what I did, but I definitely shouldn't be here."

Fox finally stood up, nodded, and asked, "Where should you be?" He was striving for comforting, with an edge of inquisition.

He must have succeeded, because the boy relaxed fractionally. "I was supposed to apparate to Zonko's, and then back to the Hog's Head. Hermione said it would be dead easy."

Fox nodded again, as if he understood what the boy was talking about.

"So what do you think you did wrong?" Fox asked.

The boy shrugged and scuffed his toe against the floor. "I don't know."

Fox said nothing, completely confused. This was beyond the purview of most X-Files, as the boy seemed more delusional than anything else. While Fox continued his silence, the boy looked up and examined the office curiously. "Where are we?"

"In Virginia," Fox said.

"America?" the boy asked, shocked .

Fox nodded.

"Oh, dear," the boy said. He frowned, and began to wring his hands.

Fox noticed he was holding a small brown stick, highly polished and with what looked to be a handle at one end, tapering to a blunt point at the other end.

"Is that a problem?" Fox ventured.

The boy nodded, and his lower lip quivered. "I'm supposed to be in Scotland," he said.

"Ah," Fox said.

The boy's lower lip trembled again, and Fox moved to help. He strode around the desk to stand in front of the boy, keeping well away from his in case the boy made any sudden moves.

"I'm Special Agent Fox Mulder, of the FBI," he said, and pulled out his badge.

The boy stopped looking as if he wanted to cry, and instead looked at Fox as if he though Fox were insane.

They stared at each other for a while, Fox becoming more uncomfortable and the boy becoming more confused, until the boy finally asked, "What's the FBI?"

By this time, the boy had stopped wringing his hands, and was now casually pointing the stick at Fox. From the way he held it, Fox thought it might be a weapon of some sort. Then Fox frowned; when he had been seconded to Scotland Yard, they had known what the FBI was. This person probably was delusional, but he would have to wait for Scully to return to make the diagnosis. Fix inched away from the desk, towards the far wall, forcing the boy to move closer file cabinets, trapping himself.

"The Federal Bureau of Investigations?" he offered as an answer to the boy's question, hoping that would either jar the boy's memory, or establish how deluded the boy was.

The boy just continued to look at him as if Fox were speaking in tongues. Fox continued to slowly maneuver himself towards the small open space in the office, keeping both eyes on the boy and his hand loosely by his side.

"The American version of Scotland Yard?" he tried again.

The boy frowned, and his grip in his wand tightened. "The Mu-- the people who look for criminals?" he asked.

Fox nodded. "Yes, we're sort of federal police."

The boy didn't look convinced. Fox tried a fourth time.

"We look for criminals, but also unexplained phenomena, or security issues, or searches for missing persons."

Now the boy looked scared. Terrified, even.

"What do you mean, unexplained?" He was clutching his wand so tightly his knuckles were white; Fox let his hand drift to his sidearm, not pulling it out, but ready to if the need arose.

Before Fox could answer, the door opened, and Scully came in. Her head was bent over some paperwork and she was still in her scrubs. She said, "Mulder?" and began an explanation of her findings without looking up, but Fox wasn't listening.

The door shielded the boy from Scully's view. The boy and Fox exchanged panicked glances, and then, before Fox's eyes, and with a much louder pop than before, the boy disappeared. Fox opened his mouth to yell after him, but realized that if they boy really were gone, back to Scotland, or even simply invisible, shouting probably wouldn't do much good. Scully had shut the door behind herself, but still hadn't noticed Fox's expression.

It was several moments before Scully looked up and noticed that Fox hadn't been paying attention. "Mulder? Did you hear me?"

Mulder shook his head to clear it as much as to answer Scully. He looked over to his desk, where the 26 sharp pencils were waiting, and the 27th still hung in the sharpener, and then back to where the boy had been standing.

"Did you," he began, but trailed off.

"Did I what, Mulder? Are you ok?" Scully asked, and looked him over wearing her doctor demeanor. Fox frowned at her, and went to sit down at his desk again.

She wasn't that concerned with his health, however, and didn't wait for an answer, but instead launched back into her findings on the scale-man. Fox stared at the spot where the boy had stood for a while, and then shook his head, and with some effort focused on Scully and the scale-man.



Rating: no sex, some profanity, no violence.
Disclaimer: not mine, never were, not ever going to be.
Summary: Fox Mulder meets Neville Longbottom, and they converse.