Ladies and Witches

Thankfully, he didn't mention the topic again. Soon enough, they were in the diner eating breakfast, Mulder eagerly devouring his own stack of pancakes. He was so engrossed in his food that he didn't notice the flyer being placed on the table - not until the sound of Scully's half hidden laughter instantly stole his attention.

He looked up, then down to the flyer. The person who had been handing them out was already gone, Mulder barely catching a glimpse of a back of a head as the figure passed through dinner's door and out of view. Was that suspicious, or were they just in a hurry?

Naturally, Mulder's instincts decided it was suspicious. The whole situation was! With one finger, he turned the flyer on the table so they could both read it.

"Looks like it starts tonight," he commented. "We could expense the tickets."

Skinner wouldn't be pleased, but then, when was he? In the grand scheme of things, a couple of tickets to the movies was far from the worst thing Mulder had ever tried to expense.

"You never know, the local cultist might try to sacrifice us in the middle of it."

Looking over the details of the flyer, Scully saw that it was a typical small town event. Re-using an old building that had since gone out of business, or a neglected area of a park, or even out in a field, were all common settings for these kind of festivals. But seeing that the films would screened in an area that ran beside the corn maze they'd been chased in yesterday set her a little on edge.

"Expense the tickets?" She repeated. "I think even Skinner is going to find it difficult to accept a movie screening as an expense, Mulder." Especially if her partner decided to also add 'scarecrow monsters' into his report.

But she couldn't deny instincts were tugging her there, telling her that it was as worthy of their attention as their planned research at the library.

"Alright, fine," she agreed. "But you can be the one that almost gets sacrificed this time." The memory of her own cult near-miss, how close she had been to cannibalistic execution, wasn't one that was going to fade any time soon.

"But before we do your thing--" She tapped the flyer. "--we're doing my thing. The library and archives should be open by now," she added, checking the time on her watch.

“ Is this really how you looked in your twenties? ” Vivi looked between them both, this woman still looked like Scully, the similarities were obvious, but Vivi couldn't quite connect that she was the same one she knew. “ You're beautiful. And this shade of red suits you much more. ”

They still had no idea what triggered this change, how did the cave do it or why it chose to transform only Scully and leave Vivi untouched.

“ Where were you standing? ” Mulder began looking around the cave. His tone held anxiousness mixed with curiosity. “ Was it here? ” He found a spot with a lot of footsteps and distorted sand, the place the flash of light separated them.. he stood there, as if waiting for anything to happen, to no luck.

“ You done? ” Vivi quirked an eyebrow at him, only the disappointed look on his face held her back from making more fun of it.

Still stubbornly standing there, hands on his hips and expression far from content, Mulder wondered aloud. “ There's the opening in the roof of the cave, the moonlight could be shining inside. ”

"Except you had a lot more pant suits back then," Mulder chimed in from where he was shuffling around.

"How is it that both of you have somehow managed to insult me?" Scully asked, looking between the two of them in challenge. Vivienne might have said she was beautiful, but she'd also thrown in that note about her hair colour. "Mulder, what are you doing? You can't seriously be trying to recreate this effect. What if it happens again but instead it advances your age??" They needed to find out what happened here and, more importantly, they needed to reverse it, but Scully wanted to do that away from the vicinity of the incident, at least until they knew what caused it.

"What do you mean I shouldn't have followed you?" Scully asked, turning to Vivienne, one eyebrow raised. "You shouldn't have come here on your own. I realise you have an interest in our work, but you have to know that what we investigate can be dangerous. What if I hadn't come here and whatever it was that flashed from that cave had hit you instead? We could be taking you home in a baby carrier."

At least in this scenario, Scully was still an adult. She just had a face that no longer matched her driver's license or her FBI badge.

"We need to take a closer look at those witness accounts."

So when Vivi heard of their new case, it was obvious the three of them would be going to Oregon. She was glad her parents finally grew up and realized resistance was pointless. Vivi always tried to behave and not get in the way of their investigation.. okay that was a lie. She didn't go to Oregon to sit in the hotel.

One peek into that cave, nothing's bad gonna happen; she'll take a look around and be back, hopefully with some new info. It was better that she'd go there alone than with them, if anything was to happen. There had to be a source for all these events, anything to hint her into the proper direction. Vivi checked the stone walls of the cave for any hidden portals or symbols, now sitting down, she was searching the bottom of the cave, all for nothing, when she heard Scully's voice.

“ This isn't a lab, nothing's gonna happen until we figure out how to trigger it - ” she was getting up to her feet as Scully joined her when the flash of light turned them both temporarily blind. She could feel Scully's grip on her arm, she held her tight right back until in one second, she slipped away.

“ Mom! ” Vivi called out, she'd use her magic, protect them from all of this if she only saw anything. In a second, the light was gone and she spotted Scully just a short distance away. Immediately dashing forward, she heard someone running to them, didn't need to be psychic to know who it was.

“ Scullaaay! ”

The sight in front of her eyes was something neither of them could be prepared for. Scully wasn't hurt, she looked okay, she looked, “ You've got b-bangs.. ” Vivi stuttered, her mouth agape. It was Scully no doubts, right?

Except she didn't feel bruised. She felt winded, yes, but otherwise...she felt like she'd taken a dozen vitamins and had about twenty hours of sleep.

"We're here, Mulder!" she called out, and again noticed how high her voice sounded. Clearing her throat again, she looked at Vivienne. "Bangs?" she repeated, frowning a little before lifting her hand to pull at the strands of hair around her face. Instinctively, she checked the back of her hair too and felt some very dated layers. "What the---"

She barely had time to finish her thought when she heard the sound of Mulder skidding into the cave. He was looking at her with the same shocked fixation as Vivienne.

"Okay, now you're both looking at me that way, why? What did it do to my hair?" she asked, as worried as she was puzzled.

Mulder's answer only made her feel worse.

"Twenty five years youn-- Mulder, that's impossible. That's--" Pausing in frustration, Scully checked her pockets for her phone and swiped to the front facing camera. "Oh my god..." She touched her own cheek, her own hair, her nose, her mouth, eventually lifting her gaze back to Mulder and Vivienne, looking between them in bewilderment. "This can't be real," she protested. "I look twelve, Mulder"

His mouth twitched. "I don't know. But my dad dad, my real dad, he's kind, too. He's great. And, just so you know, he doesn't know the whole.. that thing."

"I like being told I look like my mom. It makes me feel close to her. But I also like when people say I'm like my Aunt Zelda. Or if they tell me an idea I have is one my father had too. I mean, don't you think it's kinda nice to know that you're connected to all your family in these tiny, everyday ways?"

Sabrina knew the confusion of having two families, two sets of parents, and the complication of wanting to honour all sides.

"Sounds like both your dads would have gotten along," she told him. "But it's probably for the best that your dad doesn't know, well, everything. Some people do not do well with that kind of revelation."

"I don't know. She said my birth dad was 'kind.' Like, what am I supposed to do with that?"

Why couldn't the whole town be in on it? Just because it had happened in a movie didn't mean that it couldn't happen in real life too! After all, they'd seen it before - or had Scully so quickly forgotten that town with a chicken processing plant and a spreading prion disease? They'd answered their questions there too, but that hadn't stopped them from continuing with their nefarious plans.

Research sounded good. Coffee sounded better. Scully was right; they needed to be prepared. Delving into the history of the town would be interesting. Really, there was no way they could lose with it! Whether or not their efforts dug up anything useful, the scarecrow still existed. If they found mention of it in their history, it would be fascinating. If they didn't, it'd be a bit more irritating, but it'd still be just as fascinating. Either way, they were going to learn something new.

When they were back in the office, perhaps he'd make a slideshow about the case...

"Don't worry, Scully, I don't think anyone could ever claim you were a mere replacement," Mulder said as he climbed into the driver's seat. He flashed her a small smile - the expression akin to a smirk in his own typical fashion - before clicking his seat belt into place and starting up the car.

The diner's coffee came in the form of refills that were surprisingly good. The pancakes Scully decidedly to indulgently order as her breakfast were even more so.

Stabbing an overly generous portion onto her fork and shoving it into her mouth with reckless abandon, Scully thought that if the locals were in on whatever it was that attacked them in that corn maze, she might be compelled to forgive them in exchange for pancakes alone.

Mid-bite, a flyer was placed down between them, advertising a local movie festival of old movies. Starting with...The Wicker Man.

"Oh my god." Scully's words were slightly muffled by pancake and she forced herself to swallow before barely masking a laugh. "Now I'm worried they've bugged our car," she joked. Half-joked.

While she was sure Sabrina genuinely believed her hometown to be so incredibly unique, Zelda couldn't help but roll her eyes. Sure, Greendale had a sprinkling extraordinary events than your average town, but it was hardly the only place demons liked to frequent. Zelda shuddered to think of the trouble she could get into abroad.

"Next time I'm covered in demon blood I'll make sure I don't disturb you from the evening papers, Aunt Zee," Sabrina promised drily, rolling her eyes as she headed up the stairs to take off the clothes and maybe shower for about an hour.

When she came back downstairs, cleaner, in better clothes, and smelling faintly of lavender, Sabrina found her aunt just where she left her. Whether she'd stayed there the whole time, or returned to the seat to make a point, Sabrina wasn't sure.

"You're seriously not going to ask me about the demon?"

It took a few minutes of reassurance to calm down his racing heart. Even when he got up after her, his legs still felt wobbly, walking barefoot on the cold floor. Out of habit, Mulder grabbed the gun from the bedside table, just in case.

At the sight of their son in Vivi's bed, he sighed with reluctant acceptance. “ Doesn't look like we're winning this one, does it? ” Seemed like midnight bed checks weren't as effective as he assumed they would be. At least William still had his pajamas on, but the way his arm was laying openly across the bed gave away the space next to him was occupied not long ago.

Outside, Vivi heard Scully's voice calling her name, her head snapped back with instant worry. One last drag before putting the cigarette out, she made sure to blow out all the smoke before coming back in. “ Scully? I'm in here. ” She replied, trying to keep her voice down at this hour.

When Mulder followed Scully to the living room, she instantly spotted what he was holding by his side. “ Hey, hey! ” Now her voice raised in panic, as did her hands; a pack of cigs and lighter in one of them.

He quickly tried to hide the gun behind his back, fully aware by the look on her face that it was too late. “ Are you alright? You alone? ”

“ Yes! What are you two doing walking around with this thing?! ” Vivi must've been standing outside for a while, her skin turning paper like shade with only color being some pink on her nose.

She turned her head in disbelief, the scar on the left side wasn't as pink as it used to be just last week, in fact, it was completely gone as if it was never there. Back in the day it required Scully's medical attention and some stitches; running from the temple to the top of her ear. Vivi had been worried it'd never fade, but now hair was naturally growing in that area.

Hearing Vivi's voice, Scully followed the sound, feeling a little less on edge but no more reassured. Why was the girl wandering around at this time? Why had she gotten out of bed when the rest of the house was sleeping?

"We heard a noise, and I don't know, I just...." Scully trailed off, reluctant to explain the feeling she'd had, the way something in her gut had pulled at her, telling her something was wrong, or the way it had, for the briefest moment, felt like the baby was telling her something was wrong.

Sighing heavily, Scully looked at Mulder, at the gun in his hand, and silently vowed to do her best to let it go.

"It's nothing," she told Vivienne. "We were just worried. It wouldn't be the first time someone had broken into our home." Or tried to hurt their family.

Only just now realising her heart had been racing and that she had been holding her breath with tension, Scully put a hand to her forehead as she turned to her partner. "I'll be in in a minute," she told him, putting her hand on his arm. "I think I'm going to stay up a little longer."

Only when Mulder had retreated back to their bedroom did Scully return her full attention to Vivienne.

"Do you wanna tell me why you were out on the porch in the middle of the night?" she asked, heading towards the kitchen. If she was going to be awake in the early hours, then she was going to satisfy some pregnancy cravings, and she knew there were some chocolate covered pretzels left in her secret snack cupboard. "It's not exactly warm out there."

But that comment did nothing to distract either of them. When they casually continued to bounce their arguments around, Vivi leaned closer to Lilia to whisper with obvious amusement. “ Believe it or not, they're actually flirting now. ” She announced. “ They do it all the time, literally all the time. ” Accenting the word, she shook her head. Maybe Lilia was right before, they don't need to name it, but denying it was simply delusional.

Unity and celebration? How it could be even a little relevant to their situation now? Vivi raised an eyebrow at Lilia. She knew Lilia knew what she was going on in her head. Mulder and Scully had plane tickets back to Washington for 10am the next day, all it would take was to leave unnoticed and wouldn't be found until the plane takes off the next day. And Vivi had the advantage of her hometown.

Quickly casting a look at Scully, Vivi tired to assess how much of Lilia's words the woman was willing to believe. Luckily it seemed the score wasn't very high. There might be hope for her after all.

“ I'm gonna wait in the car. ” She told them, already directing her steps to the door. If the reading was over, then it was the wisest move to get the agents out of there, before Lilia says anything more that might give the agents any ideas or work in contrary to what Vivi had planned or reveal anymore stuff that she'd like to remain private.

Passing by Lilia, the girl stopped for a short moment, looking up at her friend. Words were at the tip of her tongue, yet in the last moment she decided against it. “ See you next time. ” She said quietly, then left the store, bells above the door chiming it's usual melody.

Their rental car was parked just on the opposite side of the street. Despite the keys still being in Mulder's pocket, the car blinked orange lights as Vivi unlocked it. Finally in the back, she sunk down in the seat and let out a long sigh – the air she was unconsciously holding now lifted from her chest. But Vivi knew it was just the beginning of her problems, the agents will surely have more questions to ask, questions she didn't want to answer.

"There was certainly a lot said back there," she commented neutrally.

"A lot that couldn't be explained, Scully; even you have to admit that hokey shop aside, that woman's the real deal."

Rolling her eyes, Scully walked around to the passenger side of the car, giving Mulder a look as she did so. She wasn't going to get into the argument about whether or not Madame Calderu was legitimately a psychic, or if those old photos of her were doctored; what was important was that no matter how she'd come by all this information, it had involved their son, and there had clearly been significant parts of their conversation that Vivienne hadn't wanted Lilia to talk about.

"Sure, we can stop by the store; is there something you wanted?" Scully said as she pulled on her seat belt.

"If you're talking about the store over on Fulton, I think I already clocked that place on the drive here," Mulder admitted, having already taken note of a few snacks.

"Is everything okay?" Scully asked Vivi, turning around with concern to look at where she was sat in the back seat.

So he could lie now. Good. Weird, still, annoying and irritating. But there wasn't anything that he could do now. He glared at Hilda once. "No, it definitely doesn't mean that."

She was still here. He could just imagine the ranting and teasing she'd give him when she found out what happened, what trapped he'd walked into this time. You see? She'd say. This is why Lilia had to sigil you. And he wouldn't have very much of a retort, she had been telling him he needed to learn to sense power.

"I'd say thank you, but I don't really want to," Billy said, raising an eyebrow at her. He didn't want her to feel like she'd successfully flattered him, or that they were getting along. And it didn't help that he already knew what the future expected from him. Promising was a laugh riot.

Pulling back a little, blue eyes widening in unoffended surprise at his cutting remark, Hilda resisted the urge to say the first thing that was on her tongue which would have sounded a bit indulgently childish.

"Well, no one has to say thank you for an observation, dear," she said instead. "But if you want a bit of advice?" Before he could answer, she gave a wave of the hand, dismissing the question. "Ah, doesn't matter, I'm going to give it anyway" She looked at him with a serious gaze, and while the humour was gone from her expression, there was still warmth even through the solemnity of what she had to say.

"Witches, we're a prickly bunch. We have to be, after centuries of being hunted and attacked, we've learned to be guarded. Of course we all do it in different ways. Some of us get defensive, some of us use truth cake to make sure we're not surrounded by enemies, others isolate themselves, living alone, it's really just whatever works best for each of us, to make us feel a bit safer in a world that doesn't always treat us too kindly. Start to learn the difference between people who mean you harm and people who don't, because if you start finding yourself getting offended by a bit of witch habits, you're never going to get yourself a coven. And I'm sure you've already been told how important that is to have. We don't do too well without a support network."

Serious point made, Hilda broke back into a pleasant smile.

"Now, do you want me to tell Sabrina you popped by?"