William Van De Kamp

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by Jennifer Hammervald

Mulder could have been a family man with a wife and son but…that was at ashes at his feet these days though. He glanced at William. “Maybe one day I’ll see you playing for the Knicks.” He smiled at the thought. “I went to Oxford. I was offered more scholarships then I could count back then. Definitely not a band geek, although I had no beef with them.” He rolled his eyes. “I played basketball, baseball, and ran track. My dad wanted me to play baseball or basketball in college but I decided I didn’t want that. So, I went to England to study at Oxford and my father was livid.” He shrugged. “Worth it though.”

His jaw dropped further and further with every detail that Mulder tacked onto his high school years. It was a brief summation, he knew, but William was still awed by the prospect of someone not being exactly who he’d written them off to be. “You know, I used to think that I was an accomplished teenager, and then a man named Mulder came into my life and, well, he put me to shame.” He stared at the dimly-lit road ahead and cleared his throat, meekly. “You’re pretty awesome. You have an awesome life. Truthfully, I don’t see why your son wouldn’t want to meet you. I know I’d feel important with my commuter FBI dad at my games. Not that my dad’s bad or anything, he just... I don’t know how to finish this sentence without sounding like a brat, so I won’t even try to.”

                  ❝ It’s a pleasure to meet you, William. I’m Special Agent Dana Scully, and I’m just here to ask you a few questions, ❞ she explained, hoping it would help to soothe any NERVES that may have cropped up upon her arrival; after all, speaking with a federal agent wasn’t exactly normal for a teenage boy. ❝ There’s nothing to be worried about, I’m just hoping to clear some things up. Would you like to talk in here? ❞ came her gentle inquiry, her hands motioning towards the couch.

                ❝ I think we’re safe to go top secret. Ask me whatever you’d like. ❞

February 23rd, 1964.

Ansel walking to Bergdorf Goodman in New York City (x) [February 7, 2016] 

Mulder looked over in time to William flush. He looked so much like Scully in that moment. “It is rather boring, I’ll give you that, but I like my place. I lived in DC for a long time and it’s nice to have space now.” He admitted and turned left. “Those are some big schools. That’s great. My parents were not very happy about my school choice when I left but I’m pretty happy with it. Go somewhere you pick. Not your family. In the end it’s about where you want to be.” Mulder smiled a little. He was giving advice to his son. He turned left as he was told. “See, my dad was pretty mad that I didn’t play ball in college.”

The mystery tugging at Will’s mind now was whether or not Mulder was a family man, with a wife or other kids or anything of the sort. Why else would he need space? Plenty of reasons, Will’s conscience answered, and he left it alone for the sake of comfort–for now. “I’ll be sure to go with my heart, as weird as that sounds when I say it out loud. Where’d you go to school, Mulder?” Clearly, the teen had an affinity for using the man’s first name. There weren’t many adults who’d ever let him do that. “Whoa, hold it. No ball? No track? Wait, don’t tell me: you were the band geek.” He was only teasing, as he was was on good terms with most of the “cliques”.

“Hey, don’t sell yourself short. So, you got a bad mark on a test. Don’t sweat it. If you need help making corrections, I’ll help you out.“ Davante glanced down at his own test before turning back to the other. "Are you free later?”

“I appreciate it, man, I do.” He puffed up his cheeks and rested his chin on the table before him, looking rather helpless, to put it nicely. “I’m just...I have accepted that I’m never going to be a star student in Statistics. Or any class, at that. I’m a star out on the court. I don’t want to be a bother. You know by now, like everyone else, that I don’t catch onto things at the snap of a finger.”

It was the nicest feeling being able to talk to his son. Even though William didn’t know he was his dad. Mulder was still happy. “Because most people who work in DC don’t actually live in DC. We commute.” He chuckled. “You don’t like Virginia, do you?” Mulder glanced over at William. “Where do you wanna go to school at? It just sounds like you’ve given a bit of though.” He wanted to know more about William even though he knew he shouldn’t be doing this. 

His cheeks flushed when his geographical ignorance was exposed. Of course, he’d never expected to measure up to a seemingly well-traveled FBI man, but a boy could dream. “I’ve been once. I was little, and I was bored to death the whole time. So, no.” He visibly perked up at the mention of college, although he was careful to not let his tone oversell his excitement. “I’ve been scouted by Xavier University and the University of Oklahoma. There’s more, but those are my big ones. Mom and Dad aren’t too pleased. They met at UMich. They think I’m putting way too much emphasis on basketball and not my studies. Which is true.” He added, as an afterthought, “Turn left here.”

Mulder laughed a little. “I grew up in a small town called Martha’s Vineyard,” he informed William. “And I’d always imagined I’d raise my kids in a small town like this. I actually live outside of DC in a very isolated placed in Virginia right now.” It had been where he and Scully settled down and lived for awhile before they had separated and Scully moved out. “I bet this place isn’t nearly as bad as you think. No one likes where they grow up, city or not.”

He was typically a hyper teen, but somehow he managed to become genuinely invested in Mulder’s story, as evidenced by the bordering-on-creepy attention he paid the man as he dished out details on his life. The boy wrinkled his nose. “Why would you choose Virginia? Do you have family there or something? It just seems kind of...random. A pretty place like the Vineyard, a popular place like DC, and then Virginia.” The way he said the last word made it sound unfairly bland. Pursing his lips, he ceded to Mulder’s stance with a curt nod. “Maybe I’ll appreciate it once I leave for school. But, until then, I don’t think I have the capacity to be anything except for a brat.” He grinned amusedly.