Title: He calls to Meet
Author: Miranda
Email address - allicat_purrr@hotmail.com
Rating - G
Spoilers - none
Summary - Charlie calls to see Dana.
Feedback - please
Archive - Anywhere, just keep my name and email addy with it.
Disclaimer - Mulder, Scully, and Charlie all belong to Chris,
10-13 and Fox, along with Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny
- Damn them! (but thank you for making such wonderful
characters)  No infringement intended.


When she received the phone call, she hadn't been sure it was
really him. It had his voice, but it was older, deeper
somehow. It was Charlie. Of course, with the time differences,
he had forgotten and called at one in the morning, so Scully
supposed she didn't have her best 'voice detector' on. And
expecting it to be Mulder didn't help things. She had
remembered everything he said, about meeting him tomorrow for
lunch in the park that was two blocks away from where he
thought she still worked. She didn't correct him, but agreed
to meet in the park. Getting the day off would be easy,
although an adequate excuse would have to be thought up for
Mulder. When it really came down to it, he wasn't her keeper.
After The Call, as Scully was beginning to label it, after
finding herself no more able to sleep than a tomato is able to
help arthritis, she got herself out of bed, wrapped her pale
frame in a robe, and slunk to the kitchen to make tea. And
toast. With lots of strawberry jam. Scully sat on her coach,
eating the toast, sipping the tea, and flicking through a book
she had found tucked in her bookshelf. To Kill A Mockingbird.
It was interesting, although it basically had a plot about
nothing, but hearing the views of the World through the eyes
of a child was interesting. Scully set the book down at four,
and lay herself out on the couch, reaching out with a delicate
foot to turn the lamp on the table out.
She woke at eight, and rang Mulder. It wasn't a surprise that
he was working already, and Scully quickly explained to him
that she was getting a surprise visit form someone she hadn't
seen in a long time, and would it be possible for him to cover
for her. Being Mulder, he asked questions, and being Scully,
she avoided them.
At eleven thirty, Scully was dressed and ready. She had
decided on a black suit, and matching black shoes. Kind of a
control outfit, but still flexible enough to be comfortable.
She didn't know what to expect.
At twelve fifteen, Scully had ordered a cream cheese bagel,
and a cup of black coffee, and was walking across to the park.
She had decided not to park her car very close to where she
was meeting him, so she could not tempt herself with a fast
getaway. She still did not know what to expect.
At twelve thirty, Scully sat down on the agreed bench and
waited. Time passed, and Scully ate her bagel. More time, and
her coffee cup was ready for the bin.
"Dana." A voice behind her made her turn around, and Scully
quelched down her look of horror to favor her face with a
smile.
"Charlie." She stood and they hugged, although not the way
they would have if they kept in constant contact. Arms were
barely touched, cheeks kept apart. They sat down together,
each not knowing quite what to expect. Charlie was far
different from the man Scully had known seven and a half years
ago. He was as thin as an anorexic sufferer, and he had shrunk
as well. His eyes were sunken and dull, as though they were
much older than the body, and his feet were bare. Hair that
was previously thick and golden was now darker, more auburn,
and was desperately overdue for a trim. Piano playing fingers
were dull, and the skin on them was stained, from many years
of cigarette smoke. The hands trembled as he lit a match to
bring up to the smoke dangling from between dry, brittle
teeth. Lips drew together to suck smoke in, and lines formed
at the sides, rough etchings of edges of experiences long
past.
"How have you been?" Scully felt compelled to ask, once she
had taken in the information of her youngest brother's demise.
His lips curled, slightly, and a noise mistaken for a snigger,
passed through them.
"Not well." Several measured moments were left, before Scully
spoke again.
"What have you been doing." Charlie turned to her at that, and
she knew she was in for a story, of sorts. He drew in a breath
of real air, and paused. Then he started.
"The last time you saw me was just before Dad retired. I had
hopes of becoming a Naval sea captain like him, and like Bill.
I went away to join the army reserves instead. I was taken in
by a family. They looked after me while I was at the training
camp, and being under pressure, and more than a little
homesick, I stayed with them instead of moving to the base
where most people lived. It lasted two years, before I had the
choice to either come home, or stay there. They persuaded me,
using black mail, to stay with them, and help their son train
to become more powerful. They had hopes of him one day
fighting for the country, and winning them a medal. So I
stayed. It went on for a year, before the son went off the
idea of joining the army. He was heavily into drugs, and was
making the kind of money I dreamed about. One night, he just
left. No note, anything. I was blamed, and forced to do his
work around their property, as well as my own work. Because he
had been contributing a lot of his money from drugs, we became
poorer. Sure, I could always have left, but I knew that
somehow, they would track me down. So I started selling
drugs."
"Charlie." Scully said, her tone one of neither reprimand nor
sympathy.
"I started off just selling pot, then I graduated to crack,
and heroine. I was making big money, but before long, the lady
I was staying with, she got sick. Cancer. Her husband took it
hard, and within two months of her death, he also died. A week
later, the cops were crawling all over the farm, and they
found a lot of laundered money, false records of stocks, and
drugs. So, I was put in jail for five years. I got out half
way through last year, and still couldn't face seeing you or
Mom. I was most worried about Dad, although I guess I
shouldn't have. I knew you would support me, but I thought
Bill might get to Missy and Mom."
"Are you going to see Mom?" Scully asked.
"Small steps, large leaps." Charlie replied, and she smiled,
thinking of a childhood memory. Charlie and Dana had crept out
of the house and were heading for the river to catch yabbies.
Bill caught them, and since he was the one looking after them,
knew he would get in trouble if their parents found out.
Charlie had asked Bill why they couldn't tell Dad, and Bill
had given them a long winded version of the bad side to
boarding school, how bad most people looked with shaved heads,
and he even quoted the line from the first man who stood on
the moon. 'One small step for man, a large leap for mankind.'
Somehow Bill had managed to liken their telling Mom and Dad to
the natural extinction of mankind. Needless to say, they had
never told.
"So what are you going to do now?" Scully asked, looking into
the distance. She caught sight of a longhaired dog, and
followed its run after a frisbee with her eyes. Charlie
sighed, and sagged next to her, as if the telling of that
story had taken all his energy out.
"I think I'll disappear." He said. Scully turned to tell him
not to, but he wasn't there. She stood, puzzled. Sure, he
could say he was going to disappear, but he couldn't mean it
literally. Unless he'd somehow slipped her a hallucinogenic
drug. Yes, that must be it. Scully headed in the direction of
her car. She reached it, and looked back to the park, shading
her eyes from the afternoon sun with her hands. The seat she
had just departed from looked cool under the shade of the oak
tree which draped it's leaves over the top of it. From back
here, it looked empty, but as Scully turned her attention to
the car, a lone figure appeared under the tree, skeletal legs
bent at the knees, feet bare.
The next day, Scully got a call from her mother.
"Dana, it's Mom. I just got word from the police. They found
Charlie, Dana. Apparently he just got out of jail, and his
drug friends were still mad about not getting their share. He
was shot yesterday, at twelve forty- five." Scully clicked the
phone shut without bothering to say good bye. She knew what to
expect now.