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Title: All the Time in the World Summary: This is the conclusion of a trilogy I started with You Only Live Twice and For Your Eyes Only. I strongly suggest you read those stories first. Mulder and Scully return to Washington only to find the revolution has started without them and soon learn there are many others like themselves who realize there's hope. We have all the time in the world, Every step or the way will find us Flagstaff, AZ We've been in Flagstaff for about a month. Having driven down here in the darkness after an evening we shared watching the sun set on the rim of the Grand Canyon. Scully had fallen asleep shortly after we left the park and I was left alone in a hundred miles of darkness to think about where life would lead us from here. I was just as tired as she was but driving on throughout the night was a better alternative than reliving my dreams again. I just can't shake them or it, it's always been the same dream or at least it was until now. Scully's in the bathroom of this sparsely- furnished apartment we are renting. She's been in there since we both woke from what seems like a shared dream. I think she's crying. Thing is, I'm not sure what I was experiencing was actually a dream, it seemed more like an out-of-body experience. Except I wasn't myself. I remember a room covered in puffy white clouds and the sweet scent of baby powder. The soft caress of the night breeze against my skin and the musical sounds of a country night in the air. I remember seeing a soft light spread across the room as someone opens the door. It illuminates a mobile hanging over me with what look like cows or maybe buffalo dancing in the air. I see the face of a woman with short dark hair hovering over me, kissing my forehead and the sound of her gentle voice saying "Sweet dreams, William." That's when Scully awoke with a jolt. I sat up with her, trying to comfort her as she trembled next to me. When I asked her what was wrong as she darted from the bed all she said was 'Oh God, Mulder' and ran for the bathroom. She is crying, I can hear her as I stand outside the bathroom door trying to figure out what to do. Despite all the things she's told me about her fears and the reasons she gave up our son, I know it's breaking her heart. I need to tell her what I have and I need to know on no uncertain terms what she wants to do. I never gave consent for the adoption and as his biological father, I could get him back. But in doing so, I would expose not only myself, but him as well. "Scully?" I say hesitantly as I knock on the door. "Can I come in?" There's no answer from behind the door. I grab my jeans off the chair and slip them on, wrapping my hand around the doorknob I'm almost surprised to find it unlocked. I open the door slowly to find her huddled in the corner, her knees drawn up to her chest, her arms crossed and her forehead resting on them. She's no longer crying and I almost think she's fallen asleep. Maybe I should have left her alone. I take the few steps it takes to reach her, my own knees popping as I stoop down beside her. She chuckles softly at my distress. "You sound like an old man Mulder," she says softly without looking up. I am an old man, but I don't say that out loud. "It's not the years Scully, it's the mileage." I'm her private Indiana Jones. She turns her head in my direction and I can see her tear stained face. "I had a dream Mulder, about a little baby." She lifts her head and looks at me with earnest, willing me to understand who she was dreaming about without actually having to say his name. It's just too painful. "He had a room with cloud wallpaper. He seemed so happy and bubbly and then someone was kissing him goodnight...but it wasn't me," her voice trails off at the end and I see the tears start to pool in her eyes again. She's trembling, dressed in nothing but one of my tee shirts and her underwear. I think it's partly shock because it's not really cold in here. I caress the side of her face with my hand. "It was my dream Scully." She looks at me confused. "What do you mean, it was your dream?" "I don't know, it was like I was him and seeing everything through his eyes. He's safe and happy Scully. Maybe he wants us both to know that." I see her mood change in an instant from sadly wistful to frightened and angry. "What do you mean HE wanted us to know that? He's just a little baby. Dammit Mulder, don't start this! He wasn't sending you thoughts and you weren't sending them to me. It's impossible, I don't believe it!" She pushes herself up from the floor, exiting the bathroom and leaving me there on the floor to believe it on my own. I left her alone for an hour or so. We both needed to get ourselves together. I know she hasn't gone back to sleep in the other room because I can hear the sound of newspaper rustling as she reads through it and I smelled coffee some time ago. Finally getting up the nerve I climb out of bed and open this old suitcase that I guard with my life. Hidden in the pocket inside are Sam's diary and the copies of William's adoption records. It's time to come clean. I find her sitting at the kitchen table much like she was that morning back at the trailer when I found her going through William's pictures. I put the file on the table in front of her and turn to pour myself a cup of coffee. "What's this?" "Open it." I see her eyes flash at me with the cryptic remark and she flips the cover back. She sifts through the documents as I sip my coffee. This is strong stuff, she must need the caffine rush too. It doesn't take her long to realize what she's looking at especially when she sees his photo stapled to the top of one of the documents. I don't know what I expected her reaction to be to this but I'm surprised at how little reaction I actually get. "Where did you get these?" "Skinner." "These are only copies Mulder, what do you hope to gain by having them?" "I made the copies Scully. I have the originals too. The records are sealed by the court but if someone tries to trace him they'll never find the actual records." "They will if they find you." She won't look at me. "I don't have them with me." She looks up at me surprised. "Where are they?" I grab a piece of paper off the counter and a pen. On it I write the name of the bank in Gallop, the lock box number and the name Eric gave me and hand it to her. She takes the paper from me, realizing sadly why I've written it down. Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you. "Commit that to memory Scully, in some way that makes sense to you. We need to burn these documents. I only made them to show you." "How thoughtful," her reply drips with sarcasm. Two can play that game. "There's one thing missing off all those documents Scully, my signature." "What are you suggesting Mulder?" she says to me rather smuggly. What does she think I'm suggesting? That I'm angry because this was all done behind my back? I step over to her and squat down, placing my hand on her right arm. "I'm suggesting, there's a way to get him back. I never gave my consent." I watch as she curls her lower lip into her mouth and bites down gently, a frown forming on her tired face. "No, we can't get him back." She says this with a finality that makes me feel like a fool for even suggesting it. "Fine, then we need to burn this stuff." I say as I get up from my crouch and go to dump the rest of my coffee in the sink, the taste now bitter in my mouth. "How long have you had these?" She asks my back. I put my palms on the counter, and look down at its surface, confessing, "Since we left D.C." "What made you decide to finally show them to me?" I turn around and lean again on the counter. "Last night." "That damn dream." God, this is frustrating. "I wasn't a dream Scully. You...you were experiencing what I was feeling and I...I was feeling what William was actually experiencing. Why is that so hard to believe? What the hell are you so afraid of?" "You."
We've spent the past couple days poring over the files we had lifted from our office before all this began. The guys had scanned them all to disc and sent them to me last year. I had kept my own records for years but when they lifted my hard drive from my apartment most of those were lost. They had all been encrypted, useless to anyone unless they could break the code. I think that's what that whole business of a trial had been about. They wanted to know how much I knew, how much we all knew about their colonization plans and the cover-up created to hide it from the public. That's what Scully and I have to prove with these files. That not only is the military involved, but the government knows about the involvement. I've talked to Kallenbrunner several times, using pay phones from anywhere in a hundred-mile radius. I'm beginning to feel like Deep Throat or X. I'm gonna have to buy a trench coat and meet him in a parking garage when we finally put together some proof he can use. I remember years ago believing we could bring these men to justice, make them accountable for the crimes they had committed against the innocent. But Krycek was right, what these men fear more than anything is exposure. It's what my father had tried to do and it's what Deep Throat hoped I could do from my position within the FBI. I used to think it was my father and his status with the State Department that got me that job fresh out of college. Maybe initially it was but when it became apparent to the higher powers within the Bureau that I had another agenda they did everything they could to make sure I didn't succeed. I also used to think they valued my work but I know now that my work was engineered to be the perfect cover-up of their plans. They gave me this great job, provided me with a challenging partner and free reign on my investigations, what more could I want? The same thing that eludes me now, proof. Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer and they had me right in the palm of their hand. To Scully's credit, she was too smart for their plans. Instead of making a fool of me, her scientific outlook gave credence to our investigations. People outside the Bureau started to take notice. And while the status of our partnership was the number one topic of the latest water cooler humor it also became a tool they could use against us. The relationship that grew from that partnership was an even greater hindrance to my work than any other threat they could conjure up. The bullet had been fired and I stepped blindly in front of it. Kallenbrunner has been able to put my mind at ease about one thing. There is no statewide manhunt for us. Bringing me in as an escaped fugitive would only cause them to have to reveal how I became one in the first place. For once their fear of exposure has left us relatively in the clear. I won't however discount the idea that they could want us to develop a false sense of security and make a mistake. We could both die in a simple car accident and nobody would be the wiser. Scully fears a meeting with Kallenbrunner will blow our cover. But it's my belief that we need to come out in the open now. Implicating ourselves in this conspiracy is the only way we can insure our own safety. We are both victims and a lot of the proof we need lies within what has happened to us and the others named in the files we have. It's a risk but then at least dying in that car accident would raise some suspicions. We haven't talked anymore about William. I watched Scully burn all the copies of his adoption records in the gas grill on the patio. I can't shake the feeling by her quick 'no' to my offer that there is something more to all this than she has led me to believe. We're still keeping secrets and I am no less guilty than she is, we're still working against each other after all we've been through. It's late afternoon and I'm sitting her flipping between a ballgame and a movie. I told Scully to go out for a while. We needed a break from each other. The intensity of the last month or so has worn us down. I gave her some money to go shopping. I don't remember her being much of a 'shopper' and I know she resented the fact that I gave her money to do so. Scully is a strong independent woman and she doesn't like the idea that she has to rely on me for support at the moment. I know she's keeping track of what I give her, determined that when we get back to D.C. she can reimburse me for all of it. I don't want a damn cent from her. This is my father's blood money and she of all people has just as much a right to it as I do. I hear the door to the old truck slam out in the parking lot and the jingling of keys as she approaches the door. When she opens it I see her trip has been successful by the number of bags she wrestles through the door. "Need some help?" "Not now," she grunts dropping the bags in a heap and kicking the door closed with her foot. She looks flustered and I don't know whether she's looking for sympathy or to chew my head off so for the moment I don't move. "You know Mulder, if we ever leave here and go back to civilization the first thing I'm going to do is put that damn truck out of its misery. The AC doesn't work and it's hotter than hell out there." She's hated that truck from the moment she saw it. The first time she drove it it was all I could do to resist making another comment about her little feet not reaching the pedals. She has to move the seat up so far to reach them that the steering wheel is practically in her throat. I think she wants to chew my head off so I get up to go help her with the bags. "It goes with the hat Scully." I start to pick up two or three of the bags when suddenly she grabs them out of my hands with a jerk. "Give me those! You look like an idiot in that hat." She scoops everything up and heads into the bedroom leaving me standing by the door. Maybe it wasn't such a successful trip after all. I hear the shower come on and resist the urge to join her in it deciding that maybe after a shower she'll turn into something resembling human. She's been prone to mood swings lately. A condition I've always been famous for and I wonder how she or anyone else for that matter ever put up with me. It's all this indecisiveness. This not knowing where we're going. It's eating away at both of us and as much as she fears the consequences I know what we need to do. We need to go home. I'm lost in thought and the idealistic conclusion of a movie when she emerges from the bedroom to come sit beside me. Drawing her knees up and tucking them beneath her robe she leans against me in what I assume is an apology for barking at me earlier. As a commercial erupts on the screen I wrap my arm around her shoulder and pull her closer. "What are you watching?" "The Time Machine." "The original or the remake?" "They remade The Time Machine?" I ask her astonished that anyone would attempt such blasphemy. "Yeah, it wasn't very good." She snuggles against me and I can smell the fragrant scent of her shampoo. "This is a classic Scully, it would be like remaking Gone With the Wind, or Ben Hur or..." "Easy Mulder, it's just a movie." "Shhh, this is the best part." We sit together and listen as David and the housekeeper discover George has returned to the future to rebuild civilization with three books he has taken from his own library. The housekeeper can only wonder when David asks her what three books she would have taken. I've always been intrigued by that question. H.G. Wells' wrote all his novels in the late 19th century. His vision of the future was both fascinating and frightening. How would he have answered that question? I look over at Scully with David's final line about his time traveling friend "He has all the time in the world." "What three books would you have taken Scully?" "Mulder," I get an eye roll. "There's a reason that question isn't answered in the film. How could someone pick only three books from which to build a civilization? Everyone would have a different answer." "Sort of like the way you and I see things huh?" I'm suddenly hit with a harsh realization. "More importantly, the way humanity sees things. We can't even agree to disagree." My problem is that I want to believe in Gene Roddenberry's vision of the universe. A united federation of planets and I'm disgusted that we can't even unite a planet. I turn away from Scully but she quickly draws me back with a hand on my chin. Her robe gaps and I'm treated to a spectacular view of her cleavage making me instantly forget my despair in favor of a little afternoon delight. One look into her eyes and I'm lost. Her lips touch mine and as I draw her closer to deepen the kiss she quickly divests me of my tee shirt in one swift move. Pushing her back against the cushions and untying her robe I begin to explore the plans of her skin with my mouth in a ravenous frenzy. She runs her fingers through my hair tugging gently to get me to look up at her. "Mulder," she says with a somewhat dreamy smile. "We have all the time in the world." Oh God, Scully, if only that were true. Note to self...let Scully go shopping more often. I sit her now in the stillness of the morning. In fact it's still dark and I actually have no idea what time it is. The dream came to me again during the night. Not the peaceful visions I get from William but those frightening images that I can't escape reminding me of a promise I made to myself not so long ago. I will NOT let this happen to anyone else. Spread before me now on the kitchen table are the files I believe hold the clues to defeating the colonists. Somewhere in here are the answers to why they're here and the proof of what they want from us. I'm dying for coffee but if I start a pot Scully will be up in an instant, the smell of caffeine beckoning her from sleep. Somehow I woke from my dream in silence and slipped from our bed without waking her. She lay there, hair splayed out across the pillow, her face void of any worry or fear. As I watched her sleep I was hit with the powerful realization that she is why I am here. She told me once, years ago when she awoke from a coma that the power of my beliefs had brought her back. Did she hear me in her sleep telling her that she wasn't ready to go? Truth was, I wasn't ready to let her go. Now I wonder if the power of her beliefs is what brought me back to her. Did her God see she couldn't to this alone either and graciously bring me back to her side? Or am I just trying to justify a miracle? I have seen too many of these not to believe they can happen. It's why I told her never to give up and we won't. I rub my eyes with the heels of my hands. God, I'm tired. Yesterday morning Scully told me she was afraid of me. She's not really 'afraid' of me, she's afraid of what I might do and she has been trying desperately not to add any fuel to the fire I'm building. I need her expertise. That's what made us one of the best teams in the Bureau. We might have looked at things differently but somehow those differences always managed to bring us to the right conclusions. Today's the day we go back to work. I wake to someone's hand stroking through my hair. "Mulder? What are you doing out here?" Scully is standing beside me in her robe, her hair still damp from a shower, the hand that had awakened me gently falling to the nap of my neck as I sit up stiffly from where I'd fallen asleep in a heap at the table. I rub my eyes again and she smiles sympathetically, stepping away to attend to making a pot of coffee. She knows exactly what I was doing and neither of us says anything as she puts together some breakfast and I stack up the files. I watch her as she puts the coffee on the table with a stack of toasted English muffins, some jam and a couple plates. Then she sits down across from me, looking me up and down, without so much as a word. I feel suddenly very self conscious. "What?" "Nothing...I'm just admiring the view." I look down at myself, I've got nothing on but the jeans I had on yesterday, I haven't shaved and my hair is sticking up in all directions from falling asleep on the table. What view? She just smirks when a look at her puzzled. "Okay, there's a joke here right...why don't I get it?" "Only another woman would get it Mulder," she says as she seductively takes a bite of her muffin. "I hope you're not planning on getting a haircut soon, I always had a thing for that little lock that falls across your forehead." I suddenly feel this flush. She has a 'thing' for scruffy Mulder. I meet her eyes letting her know I've gotten the point and she smiles back at me in acknowledgment. "How long have you been out here?" "I don't know," I say, breaking eye contact and looking down at the coffee cup my hands are nervously caressing. "I had another trip to Never-Never Land. I didn't want to wake you." She reaches across the table to still them drawing my eyes back to hers. "You can always wake me if you need to Mulder." My hand closes on hers and I search her face for any sign of pity. What I see there is only compassion and I squeeze her hand gently. "I know. Somehow just knowing I'm no longer alone is enough." Breaking the connection I glance over at the files. "We have work to do Scully. I need your help." "I was wondering when you were going to ask," she says as she begins to stack up the dishes and gets up from the table. "Go take a shower, I'll make more coffee." When I don't make any attempt to move she turns back to me with a wicked look in her eye. "You're too damn distracting." After a shower and a shave and deciding that despite her admiration for my shaggy locks I really do need a haircut I wander back into the kitchen to find her dressed much the same as I am in a tee shirt and jeans. She hands me a fresh cup of coffee. "Where do we start?" I sit down and grab the stack of files. "The beginning." It isn't long before I sense this bemused look on Scully's face as she watches me sort through them trying desperately to focus on the right one. For some reason I seem to be the brunt of the joke this morning. "Now what?" "Having a little trouble finding what you're looking for?" Yes, Scully, I'm a half-blind old man. I dig around and find my glasses underneath a stack of topography maps and put them on. "Happy now?" "Yes, very," she says with a purr. This woman is as horny as a toad this morning. I glance up to meet her eyes and find that the smirk I had seen before has been replaced by a very hooded expression. Where the hell did she go yesterday? I clear my throat and look back down at the files from Antarctica. "Scully, the Englishman, the one I told you gave me the vaccine and the coordinates to find you in Antarctica explained to me that the black oil may be the original inhabitant of this planet." "And we're sucking it up to use it to fuel our automobiles. No wonder they're mad at us." I close my eyes. Is this going to go on all day? "Okay, not the oil itself, it's just a medium...something that is using the oil to sustain itself until it can find another host. Regardless, it's been a part of this planet...possibly since the beginnings of time. "It's also the substance we found in that Mars rock Mulder," she says turning serious again. "So did it come here from Mars? "No, that was 1908, it's been here much longer than that. That rock was a key piece of evidence Scully, it's what that whole charade before the Senate subcommittee was about. If the substance in the Mars rock is the same as the substance in the oil, it's evidence of it being extraterrestrial. They didn't want you or I, they just wanted that rock back." I take a swig of coffee, the caffeine finally beginning to jar me awake. "You know in 1996 NASA held this news conference in Washington. They announced to a world wide audience that they had evidence that strongly suggested a primitive life form might have existed on Mars billions of years ago. They claimed to have found possible microscopic fossils of primitive bacteria in a Mars' rock that had fallen to earth as a meteorite. If that were true then I think this is some sort of universal life form." "Mulder. I saw what it did to Dr. Sacks. That wasn't primitive bacteria." "I know Scully. You know we laughed about it then, this ability to 'body jump' as I called it." Scully smiles at the reference. She thought I was nuts even suggesting such a thing but now it doesn't seem so funny. "It has an intelligence Scully. I think it had a plan, knew exactly who to inhabit to get what it wanted." "And what do they want Mulder?" "I think they want us Scully, but not the way the Consortium thought. They were under the impression that the aliens would use hybridized humans as slaves, as servants but that wasn't the plan at all. We weren't meant to be anything more than gestating vessels for another life form that the virus could inhabit. Don't you see Scully, these beings that we think of as aliens, the grays; they're not the colonizing force. It's the black oil, the virus itself and the plan is to use humans to gestate a race of superior beings, these grays, that the virus can inhabit and reclaim the planet." We both sip our coffee eying each other, not if we can help it. "So what's their plan? You said you saw information at Mount Weather that the date for colonization, for an invasion is December of two thousand twelve." "Do you remember the bodies that were found in Phoenix? The one whose torso had been torn away and the other man who had been mangled?" "Yes, and I remember you trying to tell me that it had been done by some alien being who had birthed itself from the body cavity of the first man only to kill the second." "Which you later proved to be correct..." "Mulder, I only proved that the DNA from that nail matched the virus." I start waving my hands not wanting this to get into a debate. We don't have time for debates and neither one of us want to bring back the memories of that case or my utter humiliation at being shot down in front of an OPR board by my own partner. "Scully! Just back the hell up a minute, okay?" She stops the debate with a glare. "I don't think there's going to be an 'invasion' per- se. I think what we were dealing with there, what I saw in that ship in Antarctica, what happened to you by the way, was an incubation project of some sort. Proof they were using humans as hosts to breed a colonizing force right here on earth." "Humans are too fragile Mulder, that's obvious by what happened to that Rouch employee." "I know. Let's just go back a few years." I chug the rest of my cooling coffee and get up to pour another cup. I motion to Scully to refill her cup but she shakes her head. No wonder I don't sleep. I stay where I am, leaning back against the counter. "Both Spender and the Englishman told me that the Syndicate's plans had to do with a deal they had made with the colonists back in the 1940's. These men were certain that they couldn't stop the eventual colonization of the planet so being the selfish bastards that they were they made a deal to save themselves. They thought that by developing a human/alien hybrid that could survive the colonization process they would be able to use the gene therapy gained in this process to protect themselves and their families." "You're talking about Cassandra Spender. She said once the aliens knew of her existence that the process would begin." "I think she was the one the colonists knew about. Myself and maybe others, they didn't." "Mulder, that's speculation on your part." "Okay, look." Just like old times I think to myself. "My Father, Spender, Kurtzweil were a part of this. The deal was in exchange for fetal alien tissue that could be used in the hybrid program members of the Syndicate had to provide insurance that they would keep the deal. That insurance was family members. I was supposed to be my father's insurance. Something changed that Scully." "What about the abductions Mulder? Were people being abducted by aliens or by the syndicate looking for genetic material for their program? What about what happened to me?" If I tell her it was the Syndicate I automatically invalidate my own belief. She realizes this too as she waits patiently for my answer. I set my coffee cup on the counter, running my fingers through my hair. "Both." That gets the smile I expected. "I'll go so far as to admit that you, those women in Allentown, what I found at The Center for Reproductive Medicine, and that old age home in San Diego, were not the result of alien intervention. You're right, they needed genetic material, ova, and a way to gestate what they were trying to create." I see her expression change and I step towards her, running my hand down her arm as I stoop to her eye level. This is bringing back painful memories for both of us. "Cassandra on the other hand is another story. I think the aliens were abducting her to monitor the progress. And I will tell you without a shadow of a doubt that no human was responsible for what happened to me or the other abductees in Oregon." I search her face, seeking acceptance of my statement. I am not disappointed. "Mulder, you don't have to debate the existence of alien life with me anymore. I'm willing to believe in the possibility. And I will tell you without a doubt that I'm well aware of the threat that possibility means to humanity." She turns to look at me, all the indecisiveness gone from her expression. She's absolutely serious. "What you're saying is that the colonists and the Syndicate in a sense duped each other. The Syndicate believed that in exchange for hostages or 'insurance' as you call them, they would get alien technology and genetic tissue with which they could create a way to save themselves when colonization took place. What possible need would the aliens have for these hybrids? I can't believe it took these men this long to figure out that they were only helping to create a better way for the colonists to gestate more of their own kind." "Not their own kind Scully. Beings the virus could inhabit. It does seem pretty absurd doesn't it? But what the colonists didn't know was that behind their backs certain members of the Syndicate where trying to create a way to thwart the colonization plans." "Men like your father." I can't help the gentle curl that comes to my lips with her last comment. Scully refuses to believe I'm in any way related to good old 'smokey'. "And Spender." "Spender! Are you insane?" She hesitates for a moment. "Don't answer that." "Scully," I say pushing myself up from the crouch I'd been in. "I have no room in my heart for that bastard either but I do believe now he was on the right side." "What?" I turn around and sit on the edge of the table. "The guy was an assassin Scully, the perfect henchman to protect their hidden project. The one you and I would surely have exposed had he not been there to cover it up." "But I thought you wanted to expose them Mulder?" I drop my head, my eyes coming to rest on my bare feet. I did want to expose their inhuman practices and unethical means but now I realize what they were trying to do and I have no right to jeopardize what might be our only chance at stopping the inevitable. "They had a plan Scully, my father had a good plan." I look up again to meet her eyes and find she's puzzled by my change of heart. "How do you fight a virus Scully?" "By...by developing a way to immunize against it. By finding a way to trigger the body's immune system to build a defense mechanism against the disease. You need to develop a vaccine that will cause the immune system to produce antibodies to attack the disease." "Isn't that what they were trying to do?" "Well yes, but my God Mulder, the way they were going about it." She's horrified now, thinking that I condone what was going on. "The abductions, the tests, how many lives will it take? What about Emily?" I get up off the table walking away from her with my hands on my hips. "Jesus Scully, I'm not saying that was right. You know me better than that." I turn around again and face her. God I hope she does. We glare at each other until she has to look away. I pull the chair back out and sit facing her taking off my glasses and rubbing my eyes. "Isn't it true that people who have been exposed to a virus and survived it may produce antibodies that could help fight the disease in others?" "Yes, but that's a passive vaccine, it's not a long term cure. In order to develop an active vaccine you need the virus itself to work with, it takes time and in this case could be extremely dangerous." "Scully, from what we know about the colonization plans, do we need a long term cure right now?" I drop my arms to the table and just stare at her. Think Scully. Think. I watch her face as realization dawn across it. She's finally beginning to think that my little project within the project theory might not be a fantasy after all. But it's not just me. She's survived it to and perhaps there are others. "You too, Scully." "Antarctica." "Do you remember what you told me? That within every illness lies its cure? I held it in my hand Scully. I used it to save you. I was vaccinated with it in that Russian gulag. There has to be a way to replicate it or...or to find the men in Russia who have been successful in producing it. The Englishman told me it was a weak vaccine. Maybe it just needs...your expertise." She reaches across the table to take my hand. I'm surprised at how cold hers is. "I'm not a miracle worker Mulder." "Don't sell yourself short Scully. Everything happens for a reason, right?" I watch her nod ever so slightly. "Why do you think Spender made us partners?" We spent another hour debating the ethics of the Syndicate's research. By what we had found at the nursing home in Boca Raton it's obvious that there is a way to expel the virus from the body. The only problem is it kills the patient at the same time. The Russian vaccine I was given and what I injected into Scully didn't kill either of us meaning they have perfected it to some point, I wonder how many lives it cost them to do that. We're both certain there is a better way to go about this but unfortunately this little apartment is not the place for experimentation. Scully is still skeptical about my immunity theory and the only way to test it is to find the live virus and experiment with it using ourselves as test subjects. The thought of that makes even me shudder. I never told her everything about my experiences in Tunguska. About the icy cold sensation as the vaccine was injected into me or the fiery burning of my eyes and nostrils as I felt the oil creep across my face. Suddenly my whole body was on fire. I heard the others screaming around me, finally giving in to the impulse myself. Then my mind had been consumed in blackness and any memories of what happened next was lost. Scully also realizes that an apartment in Flagstaff, AZ is no place to do research. She's trying to ignore the inevitable. We have to get ourselves back to D.C. We're going to have to walk right in to the lion's den but before we can do that we have to have some insurance of our own. According to Kallenbrunner there's already a big shake up happening within the FBI, the case against the military also implicates the government. Can we trust him? What we've seen in the papers is very vague. Someone is keeping the press out of this. Scully's afraid it's a huge setup. She's more paranoid than I ever was. I'm certain they know where we are, they don't have to set us up. I think they could nail us whenever they want. So why haven't they? Actually I think the answer is rather simple. We have no proof, nothing tangible anyway. Stacks of eyewitness accounts and here say have never proven anything. We need something we can throw in the their faces. Something undeniable that we can present to the world. We had something amazing. Something we could have used to prove that this wasn't all nonsense. Thank God Scully had the courage to protect it. That she still has it. I'm not that strong. Through the years we have left a trail of disappearing evidence behind us. Implants, microchips, photographs, fetal tissue, abductees. That evidence has got to be somewhere. Years ago Cancer Man let me walk out of the DOD's Advance Research Project Facility with a cure for Scully's cancer. What else would I have found deep within the walls of the Pentagon? Would he have let me walk out with other evidence had I had the consciousness to look for it? Scaly found me naked and barely conscious spread eagle on a DOD operating table with what was left of my mind aided by Diana's key card. It's all happening right under the public's nose. Whatever Spender tried to take from me that day I think he did it because he didn't think I had the guts to go through with this. He was ready to go to any lengths to hinder the invasion and preserve his power. I don't want the power, I never have, but I too am willing to go to whatever lengths it takes to make things right. My head is starting to pound from fatigue and too much caffeine. I get up from the table at Scully's questioning gaze. I Grab the keys and my wallet off the counter and wiggle my feet into my shoes without socks. Scully starts to gather the papers together without saying anything. She grabs our coffee mugs and puts them in the sink. I reach the door before I hear her question my actions. "Where are you going?" "Shopping." I was gone most of the afternoon. I drove down to Clarkdale and called Kallenbrunner to tell him that if it was evidence he was looking for then I knew where he could probably find it. He wanted to know how the hell I thought they were going to get a search warrant for The Pentagon. On the way back through Flagstaff I stopped and sold the truck at one of those auto-pawn joints and rented a car telling them I was going to drop it off in LA. I stopped and got a hair cut and then headed back to the apartment. None of it made me feel any better. Scully was curled up on the couch reading when I walked in the door. Disappointment evident on her face when she saw my hair. Actually I'd compromised and left it longer on the top but I think she still took it as an act of rebellion on my part. She knew I wasn't a happy camper when I'd left earlier. She doesn't disagree with me she just thinks we're going about this way too quickly. She doesn't know it yet, but we're heading for LA via San Diego. I'm going to give her one last chance to walk away. "Not a very productive trip." She acknowledges the fact that I came in empty handed. I toss her the keys to the rental. "I sold the truck." She turns the tag over revealing the Lariat emblem attached to a very familiar Ford key and smiles. Untangling her legs she gets up, walks to the window and peers through the blinds at the silver Taurus parked outside the door. "We should have taken a picture of the truck," she says looking back at me. "Nobody will ever believe you actually bought that thing." "A fantasy fulfilled." She crosses the room, brushing her hand down my arm as she passes me on the way to the kitchen. "You hungry?" I hadn't even thought about it until she mentioned it. I'd survived the day on caffeine. I'm hungry for a lot of things Scully, but dinner will do for now. I watch her open the oven door to check on what ever she's already made and a little part of me momentarily thinks about that other fantasy I'd had in what now seems a century ago, a family life. She glances up at me wondering why I haven't answered her. I just stand there mesmerized by where I wish we could be. "You okay Mulder?" Reality raises its ugly head. "Yeah...I'm fine." It's out of my mouth before I've even realized I said it. She shuts the oven door and takes a couple steps in my direction. I look away from her, shuffling my feet. I can't move. She came back yesterday horny as hell and here I stand lost in a life we can never have. "What's wrong?" I look at her and then look away again. "I'm," I shake my head, this is ridiculous. I let out a chuckle. "I'm...just thinking how absurd this is. The man of the house, coming home to the little wife who's been slaving all day over the stove so dinner can be ready when he gets here. This isn't us is it Scully?" She looks at me like I've grown two heads. "What on earth made you think about that"? She asks with a hint of humor until she realizes I'm not trying to be funny. Truth is I'm fucking scared to death of what we're about to do. The guys tried to tell me, we could have high tailed it for Canada and oblivion, and no one would care. We could probably live out the rest of our lives together passively sitting back with everyone else while we watched the world end. She steps into my space wrapping her arms around me and resting her head on my chest. I accept her embrace wrapping her in my arms, my chin on the top of her head. We just stand there for a few moments listening to each other breath. I know she can hear my heart beating. "When are we leaving and were are we going?" I can barely hear her when she speaks. And I pull back to look at her face. What I see there surprises me. There is no fear, only the strength and trust she has always given me. I caress her face and place a gentle kiss on her forehead. Thank you Scully. "As soon as we're ready, the LA field office." Accepting the inevitable she steps away. "Did you call Kallenbrunner?" "Yeah, but I didn't tell him we were coming in." "Did you get us a flight?" She asks walking back into the kitchen steadying herself with putting dinner on the table. "I got us a car." "We're driving?" Yeah Scully, we are. This just might be the last road trip we ever take together but I don't tell her that. "It's only about 10 hours." She looks at me exasperated. "Mulder, you're dead on your feet, don't tell me you're not." "You can help. That's why I got the car...you're little feet can reach the pedals." She's right, I am dead on my feet and my reflexes aren't that good because I don't duck fast enough as the towel she used to get the dish out of the oven smacks me in the face. BARSTOW, CALIFORNIA We said hardly anything to each other during the whole seven hours it took us to get here. We'd spent a day in Flagstaff putting things together. I'd told the landlord we were leaving. The rent was paid until the end of the month and he had our security deposit so he didn't really give a damn. Scully had been quiet the whole day. It was sort of like preparing for your own funeral. She's sitting on the other bed reading while I flip through channels looking for something to take my mind off tomorrow. I lied to her yesterday. I 'd made two phone calls while I was out. The second was to her brother in San Diego. He has no idea what's going on only that no one had heard from Dana in over a month. Mrs. Scully knew she was with me and Dana had told her not to worry. I didn't tell him anything, only that I had some business to take care of in LA and I'd be glad to drop her off for a while to visit. I know he didn't want me around. I don't know what's going to happen when I walk into the LA field office. They're either going to shake my hand or slap cuffs on them and I don't want Scully with me when I find out. She'll be furious but right now I have to talk her into making this unexpected stop. I find a ballgame and roll over on my stomach to watch her read. She senses she's being observed and looks over at me. She glances at the screen in disgust. "You know if you found something interesting I might just put this book down and come join you over there." "What's wrong with baseball? I thought you liked it," I add wiggling my eyebrows. A cool Summer night comes back to both of us. My arms wrapped around her as we shagged balls high into the starry night. Listening to Scully giggle as I enthralled her with my witty conversation made me smile more than I had in years. I learned two things from Arthur Dales. Baseball does keep you forever young and the matters of the heart are far more precious than getting to the heart of any matter. She closes her book lost in the same thoughts I am. "Get over here, Scully." I motion with my head much as I did that night coaxing her to step up to the plate and join me. She gives in, turning off the light and grabbing the pillows off her bed, tossing them at me as she comes over to climb in beside me. We jostle them around and I end up with my back against them and her snuggled against my side, her head on my chest. "Who's playing," she asks as I rub my hand up and down her arm. "San Diego Padres and the Giants." I picked this game for a reason. We sit for a while just watching the game. I start to tell her Arthur's theory that all the great ball players were aliens. How he said they didn't fit in, 'Not in this world, not in any other world.' It makes her laugh but then she looks up at me. "Sort of like us. We don't fit in. Maybe we're the aliens here Mulder." I kiss the top of her head. "You know he and I had this same conversation because I couldn't figure out if he was trying to tell me that they were aliens who wanted to be human or humans that wanted to be aliens or something in between." "What did he tell you?" "He said something about a dog's chemistry being almost identical to a mans'." "There is very little difference in the genetic make up of a lot of species Mulder." "I knew you 'd tell me that but it doesn't make him a man does it?" "Of course not." "He said to be a man is to have the heart of a man. Integrity, decency, sympathy; these are the things that make a man a man." "I've been trying to tell you that for the past two months." That she has and I still don't listen. Time to change the subject. "Your brother still lives in San Diego doesn't he?" "Yeah, he's still at Miramar, why?" I've got to play this cool or she's going to figure out my motives. She knows her brother hates me and there's no reason I'd want to see him. "It just crossed my mind, we're not that far away." "I thought you wanted to go to LA?" "That's the final destination yes, but we're not on a deadline here Scully." I stroke her hair. "You've got family, people that are worried about you. I was just thinking if you wanted to stop we could." What if she doesn't? She doesn't say anything for a while. There are a lot of issues between her and her family. Things they don't understand and are unbelievable to explain. I can understand her not wanting to face that right now. "I don't know what I'd say to him Mulder. How do I explain what's happened." "Who says you have to? He's your brother Scully, you shouldn't have to explain your actions to him." "Mulder, if you showed up at his door right now he'd probably kill you." I'd thought of that. "I could just drop you off. You could call when you want me to come get you." "Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?" "Yeah I do. But if you want to see them I can handle it." She turns in my arms. "You're serious aren't you? What would you do with yourself?" "I don't know, drive out to the beach or something. Go shopping." "We don't need another car Mulder." "I'll find something to do Scully. Think about it okay." She nods her head gently against my chest then reaches for the remote and turns off the television leaving the room in total darkness. Her hand comes up to pull my face down to hers but instead of our lips meeting hers end up next to my ear and I hear her whisper seductively into it. "How about if we work on my obscenely overdue triple-x bill?"
San DIEGO, CALIFORNIA Scully called her brother this morning from our motel room. It's been another quiet drive. I'm sure she knows what I'm up to and yet she's going along with it. We both know it makes sense. This has always been the way we did things, separately watching out for each other. This could still be a well-orchestrated trap and there's no point in both of us walking into it. She doesn't know it but inside her shoulder bag are copies of everything we put together over the past few days. If we get separated now at least we are both armed with information. I turn the corner onto Bill's street and I feel her tense up beside me. I don't know if it's the anticipation of a confrontation with Bill or that we both realize that this could be goodbye. I hear her swallow and she doesn't look at me when her arm comes up to point out the house. "It's the third one on the left." I pull into the drive but don't kill the engine. We just sit there for a minute and then she gathers her bag from the floor. The screen door slams and I look up to see a young boy about 5 or 6 come running across the lawn towards us. Jesus, is that Matthew? His hair is light and when he gets close enough I can see his blue eyes. I lump forms uncontrollably in my throat. Is this what William will look like? He stops a few feet from the car when Scully makes no attempt to open the door. "Hey Aunt Dana!" She gives him a little wave and then turns back to me. "You sure you don't want to come in?" I'm not sure why she asks that. She knows Bill doesn't want to see me and that doing so would only provoke feelings that are better left hidden. Maybe she's just looking for some support. My hands are stuck to the steering wheel because what I want to do, hug her and never leg go, I can't. "No, I think it's better that I don't. Just call me when you want me to come back and get you." And if you don't want me to come back, don't call me and tell me so. Only I don't say that out loud either. She sighs and looks up at the house. Bill is standing in the doorway now glaring at us and Matthew looks a little confused. She looks back, right into my eyes and I see the pools of moisture that she won't let fall. "Do you have your gun?" I don't say anything, I can't. I just tug on my pant leg to let her know I'm wearing it. "It's an unregistered weapon Mulder, don't walk into the Bureau wearing it." She confirms my suspicions of earlier. She knows exactly what I'm up to. "Scully, I..." She doesn't let me finish, reaching over to press her fingers against my lips. "I know what you're doing Mulder and I know why you didn't tell me. You haven't changed a bit and I hate you and love you for it at the same time," her hand caresses my cheek. I hope Bill is getting an eye full of this. "Please be careful." And then her hand goes around to the back of my neck and she's pulling me into a kiss that's passionate and desperate and eternal. I hug her back but words still escape me. Finally breaking the kiss when all the air has left my lungs. She smiles warmly and then devilishly at me. "I will call you in about three hours Mulder. If I can't get you on your cell I'll call Kallenbrunner at the Bureau. Is that okay?" We had bought a couple of those cell phones with the minutes already programmed into them. Scully had been amazed that I had managed to survive without one for so long. Finally finding my voice I acknowledge her question. "Yeah, it'll take me a couple hours to get up there." Knowing Scully as I do, if this all goes to hell she'll be on her way to LA to save my ass as usual. I can't let her do that now; the stakes are too high. "Look, if you cant' get in touch with either of us, don't come looking for me. Promise me that. Just stay with your brother. I'll know you're safe that way." I stroke her hair and give her a chaste peck on the lips. She reluctantly nods her head. "You trust him don't you?" "Kallenbrunner?" She nods again. I don't know why but I do. I sensed those days in the courtroom that he was just a pawn who had gotten in over his head because of his legal background and was putting up a good front to earn some brownie points. He's smart though and now that he knows what the stakes are, he refuses to play the game. He's not the only one. Or so he says. "Yeah, I do." I watch her gather up her bag and pop open the door. Matthew jumps right in with a hug and Scully stoops to accept it. I see him look at me from over Scully's shoulder and I give him a wink. He smiles back at me. The innocence of youth, may they never know the horrors that await them. I stay in the drive as Scully closes the door and watch as she walks across the lawn with Matthew and into her brother's embrace. Tara has come out onto the porch too holding a toddler. This is what it's all about Scully. Something I've known only in my dreams but refuse to let go of. I put the car in reverse and back out of the drive as they all go back into the house. I watch Bill close the door, putting the car in gear I drive away. FBI FIELD Office, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA I've sat out here in the parking lot for 10 minutes trying to decide if I should do this or not. Fight or flight. Do or die. Finally I pull the phone from my pocket and dial Kallenbrunner's number. "Kallenbrunner." "I'm sitting in your visitor parking lot. What do you want me to do?" I'm surprised my voice works. "Mulder?" I hear him whisper into the phone. "Shit, you're here?" "Physically, but I have to tell you I'm seriously considering hitting the gas and getting the hell out of here." "Fuck, I'll be right down. What are you driving?" "Silver Taurus, can't miss it." A couple minutes later I jump when the passenger door opens and Kallenbrunner slides in beside me. I look around the car half expecting the area to be swarming with armed agents but we're alone. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," he looks a little alarmed. "What the hell are you doing here? Where's Agent Scully?" "She's not here." He just nods at my reluctance to answer his question truthfully. Trust no one. "The shit it the fan yesterday Mulder. They raided the Pentagon." Now it's my turn to be shocked. "What? What did they find?" "Nobody's talking. Look, this isn't exactly a sanctioned operation. A lot of people including me are putting their asses on the line for you two." Kallenbrunner's not much younger than I am, probably Scully's age. He obviously has a legal background, which is how he got railroaded into posing as the prosecution. He has also figured out that getting picked for that swell assignment had nothing to do with his smarts. They wanted somebody they could maneuver and who was expendable if things didn't go the way they planned and now he knows he's gotten himself into something monumental. I suddenly get the impression that this whole thing isn't as cut and dried as I thought. "Are you telling me that this isn't exactly an approved investigation? Just exactly WHO is involved in this?" Now he's got me worried. I notice sweat has started to break out on his forehead and it's not because it's hot in the car. I left it running and the AC is on. He's scared to death. I keep looking over my shoulder. "Look Mulder, I'm just a shmuck but I knew something wasn't right at that hokey trial. You can't try a civilian in a military court, there weren't even going to be any court records and the when Agent Scully came in with evidence that would exonerate you and they dismissed it, I knew you'd been set up. The question I had was why? I went home like a good little boy but I couldn't sleep. You have a reputation you know, not just the 'spooky' persona, but of someone who's not afraid to fight for what's right. There are a lot of people in the Bureau who admire you for that wish they had your courage. God, what you said to those bastards when they found you guilty. I didn't want to be a victim, there are a lot of others who don't either." I sit dumbfounded by his honesty. Who are all these people who have suddenly come out from the woodwork to support me? "I came back and requisitioned some case files of yours and what I found scared the shit out of me. How come nobody ever put two and two together here Mulder?" "Because the top brass is in on the cover-up and the rest just flat out refused to believe me." I catch the sick look on his face. "We don't have any evidence of alien involvement Mulder, but we got enough to take to the Attorney General on a cover-up involving the military and unsanctioned medical experiments. Skinner's working on it in D.C. "Skinner?" "Yeah, he was your A.D. right?" Suddenly not only is he scared to death, so am I. Skinner, Kersh, they got us out of DC but at what cost? Gibson told me the last time he saw either of them was when they had been called into the Director's office and both of us are pretty damn sure the Director is not of this earth. How could Skinner be running a covert operation without them knowing about it? "Kallen...." I shake my head, I should be a little more personal with this guy. "You got a first name?" "David" "Dave?" He nods. I look him in the eye. "I know Skinner, I trusted him for years but right now I'm not real sure he's really who he claims to be. Things happened when Scully and I left DC. He could have been compromised. These 'men' would be able to tell if he was working against them. The can read minds." He stares at me for a minute, unsure of whether or not to believe me. Mind readers. Yeah, buddy, I'm beginning to think I'm one too. I look down at my watch. It's been a little of two hours since I dropped Scully off at her brothers. Dave and I are going to look a little suspicious if we sit out here in the car together much longer. "Hungry?" "Huh?" I back the car out of my parking space. "I'll buy you a sandwich, we need to talk." We found a little deli far enough away from the Bureau office that the likelihood of anyone else stopping in was slim. I don't know who was more nervous, Kallenbrunner or myself. I lost my nerve years ago, I think it was part of what Spender took from me or maybe now I just value my life more than I did back then. I sat and watched him pick at his food and continuously glance nervously out the window like he was expecting the hounds of hell to track us down. When I told him back in the car that I wasn't sure about Skinner I felt all the wind go out of his sails. Now he's afraid that if Skinner is one of them and he arranged for the raid on the Pentagon then whatever evidence they found would now end up in the hands of the very people we're accusing of hiding it. The misconduct case he filed against the military won't stand up unless he can produce the person he's claiming was unjustly tried and convicted and that unfortunately would be me. Under military law I have the right to an appeal but being an escaped fugitive doesn't do much for my character. Truth is I didn't belong in a military court in the first place and that court wasn't conducted under any normal rules or procedures. There are no records other than the eyewitness reports of those who testified and Kallenbrunner. If anything, I've got a case against the military for cruel and unusual punishment but I can't prove that either. None of this makes a damn bit of difference anyway. What we have to do is prove that certain groups within the military and the government itself are involved in a conspiracy against the public. That they've made an alliance with an alien race in what they thought was a deal to gain technological advancement and that an elaborate system of cover-ups has prevented this information from being known. The plot has to be exposed and we need whatever was found in the Pentagon to prove it. When Dave asked me how we were going to find out whose side Skinner was on I told him that there was only one way. We had to go to Washington. On the way back to the LA office my phone rang. I knew who it was going to be and as I fumbled the phone from my pocket I almost gave the game away by answering 'Mulder'. "Mul...yeah." "Hi." With one little word she grounds me. "Where are you, you sound like you're driving?" "Taking Dave back to the office." "Dave?" "Yeah, we just had lunch." "Are you coming home?" "Do you want me to?" "I never wanted you to leave..." I sigh, I had to do it this way Scully, and you know that. We've kept the conversation generic, Dave keeps glancing at me, he knows who I'm talking to and he knows why we're talking in riddles, somebody could be listening. Time to cut this conversation short, Scully's a sitting duck. "See ya in a couple hours." As we pull into the parking lot Kallenbrunner looks over at me. "What do we do now?" "Whose involved with you in this, here in LA? "Just my SAC, Marcus DeLille." I don't recognize the name but then being out of the mainstream for the past couple years has left me with few contacts. "Okay, don't let him know you were in contact with me, not yet. He needs to get you to Washington and Scully and I need to be on the same plane. I'll be in touch, tomorrow." He opens the door but before he steps out of the car he turns to me and I see something akin to regret on his face. "Look Mulder...I just want you to know that I'm really sorry about everything I said to you and about you during the trial. I...I just had no idea what this was all about then and...and from what they had given me..." I don't let him finish. He has no need to apologize to me for doing his job. "I know, I looked like a quack." He smiles softly and I reach across the seat and extend my hand in thanks. "You don't need to apologize to me. You were just doing your job. It's me that should be thanking you. You may not realize it, but what you've set in motion may just save all of us." BILL Scully's Residence, San DIEGO, CALIFORNIA I was really hoping they'd all be out front when I got here, it would give me an excuse to just stay in the car but now I'm standing on Bill's front porch feeling more ill at ease then I did in the Bureau parking lot. I'm glad when Tara answers the door. She smiles graciously and opens the door. "Hello, Fox. Come on in." "Thanks." I step hesitantly inside the house. It doesn't look much different than it did five years or so ago when Scully called me out here on a more personal matter. It brings back a time in our relationship I've tried very hard to forget. I wonder if she feels the same. Tara motions toward the living room. "Dana's in there." I turn and take a few steps into the living room and freeze. Scully is sitting on the floor playing with the toddler I had seen Tara holding when I dropper her off earlier. She looks up and smiles. "Hey." A flood of emotions overwhelms me and I can't speak. I'm suddenly hit with that same vision I had back in the apartment in Flagstaff, coming home to my wife and dinner only now our son's been thrown into the mix, the family I've never had. I manage to nod and amble slowly over to where they are playing. Scully can see the pain on my face and she scoops the baby up as she stands. "This is Katie," she says and makes to hand her too me. With the slightest shake of my head I manage to choke out an "I can't" just as Katie squeals and wraps her arms around Scully's neck. I step a little closer and brush her golden curls away from her face. I've always been desperate for contact, to connect to other people; it's like I have to touch them to know for certain that they are real. I think Scully was a little taken aback that first time I caressed her face that morning after her father had passed away. She might have thought it was a condescending gesture, like I was consoling a child but I was just trying to let her know I was there if she needed me. She looks at me now in much the same way. "Katie's working on her terrible two's" "She doesn't look terrible to me, I think she's very pretty." And further proof that the world went on without me just fine. I hear the floor creek and look over to see Bill standing in the archway between the living room and dining room. New England manners dictate that I make nice so I extend my hand to him. "Bill." He however makes no effort to remove his hands from his pockets to accept my greeting. My own hands end up in my pocket as I sigh tilting my head back and closing my eyes in resignation. If only you knew Bill what a damn lucky man you really are. I hear Scully put Katie down and open my eyes and look down at her. Bill's still standing there watching or waiting for me to make some smart-ass comment. The spell is quickly broken when Tara bustles into the room to ask if I want something to eat. I beg off stating that I had a late lunch and then quietly I ask Scully if she's ready to leave and she nods. I retreat to the hallway and wait as Scully gathers up her things and I hear Tara ask if she has the pictures of the kids. Bill has disappeared, perhaps to go find Matthew. I hear a clamor out on the porch and Matthew peers inside the door holding a baseball mitt. Scully and Tara and the baby all file out the door. I'm just about to follow them when someone calls my name. "Mulder?" I turn around. Bill is standing at the back of the hall. I take a few steps back so we're not carrying on a conversation across ten feet of uncarpeted wood flooring. He takes a few steps in my direction and suddenly I'm slammed into the wall by his big fists balled in my jacket. The impact jars the family photographs behind me and I raise my hands in surrender. I glance out the door but no one is in site. They must have all gone out onto the lawn. Bill pounds me against the wall again to get my attention. I'd like nothing more than to deck this guy but what I sense in his rage is not anger, it's fear. Scully has told him everything. "This is all true isn't it?" He snarls at me. Jesus, he believes her? "You know Mulder, I used to think you were a fucking lunatic and that my sister was fucking crazy to work with you. But I know she had to bury you and I know what that cost her. "And now you've got that dead man pinned against your wall." He let's go of my jacket and I drop my hands. He steps back a few steps so we're no longer nose to nose looking down at his feet and then nervously back to me again. "I know about some of the cover-ups but I swear to God I had no idea what was going on." "You weren't supposed to Bill, nobody is." "Where is this all going? What about my Tara, my kids?" I meet his eyes, what about my kid Bill? He doesn't have to be a mind reader or even psychic to know what I'm thinking and he looks away, out the door to his own son playing on the lawn. "That's why she gave him away isn't it?" "We've only got ten years Bill." I start to walk away from him, towards the door when he grabs my arm and spins me back around. "Mulder, if anything happens to my sister, you don't have a chance, you understand?" I shake his arm off. I know he's afraid and threatening me is just a show but I don't need his macho man image right now. "If anything happens to your sister, none of us have a chance." When I get out on the porch Scully is pitching to Matthew and he shags one that careens off the bat in my direction and I snag it out of the air barehanded. "You're out!" He slumps to a stop and I hear Bill booing from behind me. Fuck Bill, "Hey Matthew, come here a minute." I motion for him to follow me over to the car and pop the truck lid. I grab one of the bags and start rummaging through it. Scully comes over to see what I'm looking for. Bill has come down to join Tara on the lawn. "You like baseball?" "Yeah, I play in a league and my Dad takes me to the Padres' games." Padres fan, poor kid. I finally find what I'm looking for, perhaps my prize baseball possession from my youth. A Ted Williams' autographed baseball. It's in one of those plastic cases and I hand it to Matthew. I hear Scully suck in a breath. No Scully, this isn't an act of resignation; I'm just passing the torch. I squat down in front of Matthew. "This isn't a ball to play with okay? This is autographed by the best hitter baseball ever had; his name was Ted Williams. You have your dad put it up in your room. You keep practicing and someday you'll be a great hitter just like him." I ruffle his hair and he darts off to show Bill and Tara the ball. Scully looks at me as I close the trunk. Ten years from now he'll only be sixteen, she understands that I'm counting on there being a future for him to fulfill that dream. LAGUNA Beach, CALIFORNIA We head up the coast towards LA. Scully seems withdrawn again. We haven't had much of a conversation since we left Flagstaff. She told me she called her mother while she was at Bill's. Probably not a good idea but it doesn't really matter now, we're going home. She wanted to know what had transpired in LA. Nothing much unfortunately. I was really hoping they had more to take to the Attorney General. What they filed is a matter of public record which is probably how it ended up in the paper but unless they can build a case on the accusations it's just going to be a footnote in somebody's file. Something else is going on, I can feel it. Kallenbrunner was too nervous. This case against the military is just a cover story for something a lot bigger. Who ever is behind all this is trying to catch the colonists and their allies at their own game. We find a little motel on the beach and indulge ourselves in some fine seafood. Scully sticks to conversations about her niece and nephew. In a way it makes me happy that she can relate to Bill's kids without the painful memories coming back to haunt her. Either she's beginning to heal or she's just really gotten good at hiding it because all I sense in her tonight is peace. Scully and I have walked down to the beach. It's a cool night for southern California and I hold her hand as we walk along the surf, the cold water lapping at our ankles. The moon makes the water sparkle mirroring the stars above us. We need these little moments of normalcy to remind us that the rest of the world is going on about the business of life just fine, oblivious to the things we know. She stops for a moment and turns to look out at the surf and I sense she's got something she needs to get off her chest. "You didn't have to give Matthew that ball Mulder." I'm somewhat dumbfounded by her choice of topics. No I didn't, the point I was trying to make wasn't for Matthew anyway. "The ball wasn't for Matthew, it was for your brother." She turns towards me, realizing that I must know what she has told Bill. "I had to tell him something Mulder or he never would have let you in the house. I don't know how much of it he believes but I know the events of the past few years had made him question his earlier opinion of you...of us. "He's scared Scully, he thinks he's been a part of the cover-up and now he doesn't know how to get himself out or how to protect his family. I know how he feels." The little worry lines appear on her forehead. I don't think the idea of her brother being involved in any of this ever dawned on her. He didn't know it of course but that doesn't make it any easier to comprehend. She squeezes my hand and then let's go walking on up the beach away from me. Scully loves the sea. I can see it in the way she inhales the salty air and plays with the sand between her toes. The sea, from which all live originated is a therapy for both of us. For Scully it takes her back to another life, filled with family and carefree moments I know she cherishes. For me, it is a balm that sooths my hyper-driven mind. I watch as the wind whips her hair and I smile when she laughs at me as the surf splashes up to soak my jeans. Tomorrow or the next day we head back to DC and the uncertainty that awaits us there. Right now there is just the sea, and Scully and my need to chase her into the moonlit surf. While Scully's in the shower the next morning I try to get in touch with Kallenbrunner. There's no answer at his desk and I'm told that he didn't report to work this morning when I call through the switchboard. I can't raise him on his cell either. The idea dawns on me that someone could be monitoring his phone and I've just given away our location. I throw some clothes on and bang on the bathroom door. "Scully!" Opening the door as I hear the water shut off I tell her to get moving, we need to get out of here. She steps into the room in a towel with dripping hair as I busy myself with throwing our stuff into the two bags we brought in with us last night. "Mulder? What's going on?" I look up with my panic face in full bloom. "I can't get in touch with Kallenbrunner. They may have traced the calls." As she heads for her bag and some clothes I step into the bathroom, splash water on my face and try to get the little sweaters off my teeth with a quick pass of the toothbrush. I run my fingers through my hair. The hell with shaving, Scully will have to live with me scruffy. I'm trying to take a leak when Scully's back in the bathroom fully dressed and gathering up her belongings. "Pee fast, it's my turn." There's something disconcerting when you're in the middle of a nice long pee and somebody tells you to 'hurry up'. I turn my back to her as she fires up the complimentary hair dryer. "Forget that, pee and let's go." I nudge her out of the way to rinse my hands and leave the room. I throw our bags in the trunk and come back inside; she's still in the bathroom. "Scully! What the hell are you doing in there, let's go!" I'm sitting in the car with the engine running when she comes out to join me. Jerking the door open she throws her toiletry bag in the back seat sits down and slams the car door. I don't say anything throwing the car in reverse and pealing out of the parking lot. We ride in silence as I jump on the interstate. It's not until I make the turn towards Anaheim and I15 that she questions my sanity. "Mulder, where are we going? I thought we were going to fly back to D.C., LAX is the other way?" "Vegas." "Why? We short on cash?" I give her one of my patented smug smiles. "Scully, if they heard any of the conversation I had with Kallenbrunner yesterday, that's where they'll be expecting us to go. I'm just trying to throw them off the track. We can fly out of McCarran." She gets quiet again, glancing over her shoulder looking for a tail. "I haven't seen anybody." No government fleet sedans anyway I think to myself. "Maybe I'm just being my paranoid self but I didn't like the answers I was getting when I tried to reach Dave." She glances away, out her window and then looks straight ahead out the windshield. "Do you think..." "I don't know. God, I hope not. He was nervous about something though yesterday. He seemed upset that I even showed up." "You want me to call and see if I can get us a flight?" "No, we'll just get what we can, pay cash." Six hours of desert and a four-hour wait for the flight we're now seated in the first class section of a flight bound for D.C. via Cleveland. We weren't flying on the government's dime and I needed a nap. These first class seats are like recliners and I intend to use mine for the next four hours. I managed to change my shirt and run the razor over my face in a McCarran Airport bathroom. At least now it doesn't look like Scully is flying with a tramp. We both picked our way through a meal while we waited. Food doesn't sit well on a stomach full of knots. If all goes well, we should be in D.C. early tomorrow morning. Then what do we do? I need a drink. Scully gives me the eye when I ask the flight attendant for a Scotch but then she orders a glass of wine. I resist the urge to chug the Scotch, taking a healthy swig and then swirling the cubes around in the glass. "What are you thinking about?" "How is it you always know when I'm thinking about something?" "You get quiet, for someone whose never at a loss for words that's an unmistakable give away. So what are you thinking about?" "What the hell we're going to do when that plane lands in D.C." "My Mom's, my apartment?" She suggests only because neither of us can think of anything else. "Yeah, that'll work." I chug the rest of the Scotch. The flight attendant comes by and seeing my empty glass asks if I'd like another one. I stare at the glass in my hand. I'd like a whole damn bottle actually but I tell her no and hand her the empty glass. Wasn't there supposed to be a plan? You know, we fly back to D.C. and meet up with some collaborator who whisks us off to some secret location. That's how it works in the movies. I can't help feeling we've been had and that what awaits us at the end of this flight is a nightmare. Maybe we should have stayed where we were. Maybe I jumped the gun and D.C.'s the last place we should be headed. I feel Scully's hand on my arm and look over at her seeking some kind of confirmation that this is all going to work out. "Whatever we decide, whatever happens, we're together Mulder. This is about 'us', don't try to make it about 'you'. Do you understand?" I take her hand, entwining her fingers with mine and stretch back into this four hundred eighty two-dollar seat. I'm gonna get what I paid for. Washington, D.C. By eight thirty the next morning I know I've made a huge mistake. When we taxied up to the gate at Dulles the pilot asked that all passengers remain in their seats. Four armed MP's came through the door as soon as it was opened and proceeded to approach us. I looked at Scully and all she did was grab my hand. The head goon makes eye contact with me and now there's no question who there here to see. With the usual military charm he addresses us. "Sir, Madam, will you come with us please? We don't want to make a scene." No, of course not, the fate of the planet is at stake here, why make a mountain out of a molehill. I don't say anything to them or Scully. Letting go of her hand I rise from my seat, turning around to grab the small bags we'd stored in the overhead. The McDonald's coffee and McMuffin I choked down in Cleveland are threatening to make a second appearance and I swallow hard to chase away the feeling. I step back to let Scully out of the seat and we leave the plane sandwiched between sets of armed guards and the eyes of a hundred or so passengers upon us. They lead us through the terminal to a security entrance and then down a flight of stairs. I've had enough of this espionage. "Somebody want to tell me what this is all about?" "Mulder," Scully touches my arm. "Don't." "Sir, if you'll just step this way," goon number one says as he opens a door out onto the tarmac. There's a military limousine waiting for us just outside the door." "If you and the lady will get in the vehicle please." I shake off Scully's hand. "I'm not getting in any fucking vehicle until somebody tells me what the hell is going on!" Goon number two grabs me by the shoulder and tries to wrestle me into the car. I get him with a good head butt but then goon numbers three and four take up where he left off. As I continue my futile struggle one of them knees me in the chest and I end up on all fours gasping for air. Scully, who's now being restrained can do nothing but watch me make an ass out of myself. "Sir, if you'll please just get in the vehicle this will all be cleared up shortly." Fuck, do I have a choice? I get in the damn car and Scully climbs in after me. She reaches over to take my hand again. "Mulder, please, don't make this hard for us." I shake her off again and lean forward, dropping my head into my hands. I want to cry. I want her out of here. I'm not going back to that fucking brig and I don't want to die. Scully's hand comes to rest on my back and she rubs my shoulders. I lean into her comfort. What the hell have I done?
Before long we're traveling the streets of D. C. This city was my home for almost fifteen years and yet now I feel like it has betrayed me. I look out my window when the car turns onto Pennsylvania Avenue and turn to look at Scully confused. I mouth 'the White House' and she shrugs. The next turn brings us into a service drive and we're cleared through the gate. A short time later we find ourselves standing in the secretary's office outside the Oval Office. There are a half dozen secret service men dressed in their government issue dress suits to keep us company making me feel strangely out of place in my shirt and jeans. I look over at Scully and see fear in her eyes. We've come a long way to play out this hunch of mine, bound together by a determination to see that justice and the rights of the people are not forgotten. The phone rings and the president's secretary picks it up. I hear her replying softly to the president's request and then she turns to us. In her expression I am suddenly hit with a wave of emotion. She knows what lies on the other side of that door and it frightens her. I really do feel like Daniel walking into the lion's den. But there is something else there too, a desire to help if only she knew how. "The President will see you now Agent Mulder." One of the president's SS proceeds us to the door and opens it for us, motioning us to follow him. As we step into the office I feel the blood drain from my face. We have company. General Suveg and some of my 'friends' from the brig in their familiar military garb are also in attendance. Shit. "Agent Mulder, Agent Scully, please have a seat," the president motions with his hand for the two of us to sit in the chairs that have been placed directly in front of his desk. We walk over to the chairs but neither one of us makes any attempt to sit. My buddies come to stand behind us. What's with the 'Agent' ? I'm almost certain this man has no clue about what's really going and that he's just acting out his part here. "No thank you, sir. I'd rather stand." "We're all very please you've decided to turn yourself in Agent Mulder. It's going to make it a lot easier to clean up this very messy situation you've gotten yourself in to." Turn myself in? That's not exactly what I had in mind but as long as I'm here I might as well lay my cards on the table. "If you're referring to the mess you and your constituents have created behind the backs of the American people, then yes, that's why I'm here. You've violated every right to the office you hold." He seems taken aback with my accusation. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I assure you Agent Mulder, we have only the best interest of the people in mind." "Oh you know damn well what I'm talking about only you're in it up to your neck just like I am. The only difference is you have the power to do something about it." I sense his anger and his fear as he flashes a glance over to Suveg. I'm not sure at first if he's asking him for help here or wishing he hadn't invited him in the first place. And then the general speaks and I get my answer. "Sir, if I may. Agent Mulder is an escaped prisoner. He broken into a high security facility in order to obtained information vital to National Security and killed one of my men. He was sentenced to death for his crimes. There is no 'mess' to clean up. This man comes in here spouting off about rights, he has no rights!" Scully's had enough. "How dare you speak about rights! This man is an American citizen just like you Mr. President. What right was he granted when he was tried in a court without proper representation?" "Sir, he was tried by a jury of his peers. Agents of the Federal government," Suveg says with some trepidation. "He's not an agent of the Federal government. He was fired. He's an American citizen and as such he has the right to a fair trial and proper representation; not that kangaroo court you pretended to preside over. If you wish to try him for these 'crimes' you say he's committed he should be tried in a public court where the evidence is freely revealed to the public." Then she glares at Suveg. "Only you'll never do that because then all that dirty little mess you're trying to hide under the rug will be discovered." Scully is livid. That fire in her blazing to an almost uncontrollable level and I'm afraid they're going to haul her out of here. I reach over; about to grab her arm to settle her when I hear guns being cocked, I almost can't breathe. They could shoot me down right here, both of us for that matter and it would be all over. This is NOT why I risked everything to come back here. "Sir, if I may speak?" I manage to get out even though my heart is pounding in my throat. The president says nothing, but motions me to speak. I sense his desire to hear what I have to say. I see in his eyes a need for an answer to a question he hasn't been able to ask. This man is terrified there is no way out of what he has gotten himself into. "Sir, I've spent the better part of my lifetime trying to uncover the truth. And while I've been witness to some incredible and amazing things that exists in this world, I have also seen the horrific things man can do to his fellow man. Especially when it comes to the very people chosen to represent them," he can see in my eyes that I'm referring to him and it makes him shudder suddenly. "Agent Mulder." "Mr. Mulder, sir. I don't work for the Bureau anymore." He glances at Suveg again angrily. "Mr. Mulder, I'm sure as a 'former' employee of the Federal government you are well aware that there are times when information needs to be withheld for reasons of public safety and national security. And that being an employee of the government it is your duty to protect that information. "And who protects the people sir?" "We are protecting them by withholding the information." "No, you're protecting yourself." "What the hell are you talking about. I'm an elected official. Chosen by the people to..." I don't let him finish. There are probably a hundred different kinds of surveillance in this room, the general and his goons are standing behind us but suddenly I don't care. Somewhere this man has a conscience and I'm about to appeal to it in a major way. I'm about to put him in harms way too and I suddenly can't help wonder if that's what happened to Kennedy...he wouldn't play the game either. "Chosen by the people to REPRESENT them!" I feel Scully take my left hand in my outburst, squeezing it to tell me she's behind me in whatever I'm about to do. I squeeze back hard. If she could feel my pulse right now she'd be seriously concerned. My heart is racing. "Elected by the people, sir, to serve and protect them and this country and instead you're plotting against everything this country stands for...basic human rights. You and every other elected leader on this planet have the obligation to adhere to those rights and none of you have the right to dictate the fate of the people. I can see sweat breaking out on the president's reddened face. He doesn't know whether to be angry or afraid at the direction this conversation has taken. And he's definitely not ready to concede that what I'm saying is the truth. "Mr. Mulder, there is a war raging here, a matter of national security that you seem to want to ignore." "Sir, if there's anyone who's being ignorant here it's you. You're right, there is a war raging and it's time you figured out what side you're on. For some reason you," I say to him with a determination I didn't know I had. "And you," I say again nodding to Suveg, "believe that if you play along with these 'men' you'll still have some authority in the end. There is nothing to be gained by an alliance here." I catch a glimpse of someone standing to my right out of the corner of my eye. Turning my head in that directions just slightly I realize it's Krycek and his words from several years ago come flooding back to me. "There is only one law, fight or die, resist or serve." I see the president's face pale as he looks toward Suveg. Neither of them says a word. I turn to the guards standing behind me. "And what about these men, do they have any idea what they're protecting? Do they know what the outcome of this will be, the danger to themselves, their families, and the future? There is no future. Your alliance with the devil has pretty much sealed the fate of the world. What the hell were you thinking?" I see a concession form on the president's face. He knows what I'm saying is true. "Think about what you're throwing away." I say as I walk over to a copy of the Gettysburg Address that I spotted hanging on the wall. It's not patriotism that's drawn me to it; it's those voices of the dead that are speaking. Crying out for recognition and I suddenly feel the tears forming in my own eyes as I turn to face the president. My dad, my mother, my sister, Deep Throat, X, Captain Scully, Melissa, and Albert; Cassandra Spender, Diana, Krycek, the Gunmen, and a proliferation of faces I don't recognize are all standing about the room. I turn back and tap the glass protecting the document. "Listen to what these people are telling you sir. Please don't let them have died in vain." He knows what I'm talking about, I see tears in his own eyes as well, moved by the truth of my words and because he doesn't know how to fix this. "Arrest this man!" Suveg shouts. As cuffs are slapped on my wrists I suddenly become resigned to my fate. I turn away from the president, back to the document behind me and read those words Abraham Lincoln penned so many years ago. "...It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us-that from those honored dead we take increased devotion-to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion-that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain-that this nation, under God shall have a new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth." Scully comes to stand beside me, I want desperately to wrap my arms around her, and the tears are now flowing down both my face and hers. "They deserve to know the truth Scully, I choke out." "Who Mulder?" "The people Scully, they're not free if someone else is controlling their fate. They deserve that new birth of freedom." We don't get a chance to say anything else as I'm roughly jerked from her side and steered towards the door. I cast a penetrating glance back at the president and though I know his lips don't move I distinctly hear him say, "How do we stop this?" Shaking the cuffs and glaring back at him I let him know he's the only one who can make that happen. My eyes meet Scully's in one last moment of remorse and then the door closes and both he and Scully are gone from my site.
It's raining hard, big stinging drops that pelt us as we hustle out the door, Suveg shouting instructions as two of his goons are wrestling me towards their government issue limo. We're all soaked as we near the vehicle. One of them let's go of me to get the door and as he swings it open our eyes meet. "I'm just doing my job," the young officer says to me as if he's apologizing. The guy's terrified for his life in more ways than one. He can't be any more than twenty-five and probably has no idea how he happened to draw this assignment. I can't tell him it's because he's been deemed 'expendable'. This isn't his fault. I check the name emblazoned on his uniform, Andrew Shea. "You just keep doing your job Officer Shea." Fact is, we're all expendable, the whole fucking population of the United States, hell the world is, with the possible exception of a few collaborators who will find out soon enough that they are no longer needed either. Somewhere back in the beginning of all this was the false assumption that these men could buy their survival in lives. The needs of the few outweighing the needs of the many. It's time these men learned the ugly truth. The screeching of tires interrupts our silent exchange, suddenly the drive is filled with government vehicles and men in black. G.I. Joe turns away from me just as gunfire erupts around us. I see Suveg go down out of the corner of my eye, bullets pepper the car and as I try to dive inside for cover I feel one rip through my left thigh just above my knee. Shit, not again. What the hell is going on? Men are running everywhere. I hear footsteps and shouting. A familiar voice yells frantically. "Where's Mulder?" Someone opens the car door, "I've got him," he yells, grabbing my leg as I try to scramble away and out the other door. Pain shoots up my leg taking my breath away. He grabs my arm, yanking me with him. "Come on! We've got to get out of here!" I stumble as he pulls me from the car, catching myself with my other hand when I hit the pavement. I hear sirens off in the distance, I wish I could tell who the bad guys are. As I'm being pulled again to my feet a soft touch and gentle voice answer that question for me. "Oh Mulder, come on, we've got to get out here now." "What's going on?" "You don't think we'd start the revolution without you do you?" A grimacing smile is all I can give her as they half drag me over to a waiting SUV. I climb in dragging my injured leg with me and Scully climbs in after me. The doors are slammed shut and we're moving before I even get a chance to catch my breath. Christ, whoever these men are, they've just murdered a general and his platoon to get me out of there. I'm left to wonder what happened to the frightened soldier. "Do you have your knife Mulder?" Why is Scully asking me for my knife? I look at her dazed and puzzled as I fight for comprehension through the haze of pain. "I need to look at your leg Mulder, cut your jeans away," her voice is soothing but I see concern in her eyes. I look down at my blood soaked jeans, fumbling in my pocket for my knife as we speed through the streets of D.C. As I hand it to her with bloodied fingers a voice coming from the front seat startles me even more. "How is he?" comes the question in Skinner's deep baritone. My eyes flash to his searching for recognition, a confirmation that it's really him and not some replicated version sent to dupe us. Scully senses my fear and reaches to assure me we're safe for the moment and I feel nothing to the contrary. "It's okay Mulder, a lot has happened since we left D.C." She's sitting on the floor in the back seat where she can get a better look at the damage done to my leg as she starts to cut what's left of my pant leg away. My hands clench at the cloth and I slam my eyes shut in an attempt to still the urge to cry out. I want to know what she's talking about, what happened after I was hustled out of the Oval Office but all my energy is focused on controlling the pain. "I have to lift your leg Mulder, I'm sorry," she says and she gently lifts my leg at the knee to continue her work. My back arches and my arms fly out to my sides at the intensity of the pain. I want something to hold on to, a bullet to bite on. "Can you get me a bullet to bit on?" I say with a shaky voice. She looks up at me, the beginnings of a grin on her lips but the sadness doesn't leave her eyes. She probes the wound tenderly. "Christ...Scully," I hiss out, grabbing her wrist to get her to stop poking me. She turns to Skinner to answer his question. "He's bleeding badly but I don't see any vascular damage, just a nasty flesh wound." "Yeah, and it's just my flesh." She looks up at me from under her brow; concern mixed with the smirk I see forming on her lips. "We need to get him to a hospital or some kind of medical facility. He needs stitches, something for the pain and probably a unit of blood." I squeeze her wrist tightly and she turns back to me. "No hospital." I feel nauseated either from the pain or the motion of the car as we continue to weave our way out of D.C. She can see it in my expression, in the sweat competing with the rainwater on my brow. "Mulder," it's Skinner again, "we've got a drive ahead of us, I'm not going to let you bleed to death back there." Scully rolls up the part of my pant leg she cut off and stuffs it under my leg, hoping that the weight of my leg against it will be enough pressure to slow the bleeding. She begins to search frantically under the seats from her awkward position on the floor. "This is a government vehicle, isn't there anything in here I can dress this with?" "Shit, yeah, there's a kit in the back," our driver pipes up. I don't recognize the man but evidently Skinner is confident of his alliance. Scully is up and climbing over me to get into the back before I can voice an objection. She's trying desperately to be careful and I use my arms to steady her. With the first aid kit in hand she settles back onto the floor to see what she can use. I watch her rifle through the kit, opening some alcohol wipes to clean the blood off her hands "Well I can probably get the bleeding stopped with these pressure bandages but there's nothing in here for pain but some expired Tylenol." I extend my hand for her to hand them to me; I'll take anything I can get right now. "There's nothing to wash them down with Mulder," she tells me with regret. "I'll use spit." She hands me a packet and I motion for her to hand me a second one. If they're expired it's gonna take more than two to do any good. Reluctantly handing me another packet she watches me choke them down on what little spit I can muster. I let my head fall back against the armrest and she reaches to check my pulse. Her hands feel warm against my cooled skin. I'm beginning to feel chilled and shocky and that I know is not good. With a frown at what she finds she looks at me. I know Scully, I'm sorry too. I hear her ask Skinner for his jacket that she lays across my chest. "Mulder, I need you to roll onto your right side," she says as she strokes my cheek. "I'm going to have to hurt you to wrap it, I'm so sorry." I start to turn slowly towards the back of the seat. "No more being sorry, remember?" "I remember."
Catoctin Mountains, Maryland I remember waking up with my head in Scully's lap, voices and then some men dragging me out of the car, placing me on a gurney. Pleading with Scully 'no hospital' and her hand on my forehead reassuring me. Skinner's voice advising someone about the gunshot wound to my leg, Scully giving them my blood type and another female voice saying she'd take good care of me. I remember the rest of my clothes being cut away but being too incoherent to care, it seems like half the world has seen me naked by now anyway. Voices giving orders and stating vitals, a mask over my face and something cold in my veins and then all went black. I hear voices now. Someone, I think its Skinner asking how I'm doing. Scully in a soft voice so as not to wake me telling him I'm fine. "That's a lie." I feel her hand that's been resting on my arm jump. She turns to look at me startled by my reply to her answer. She drops her gaze, concentrating on tracing the veins in the back of my hand. "We have to stop meeting like this partner." "Just like old times, huh?" She doesn't answer me, still refusing to look me in the eyes. I reach up and brush her hair back from her face. "Hey, can't be too bad, I still have my leg." She finally looks up. "God, Mulder, don't even think that. Yes, you still have your leg and some nice tapestry work to go with it. How do you feel?" "Not fine. Kinda dizzy." She smiles briefly in sympathy. "That's probably the anesthetic. They put you out to sew you up." "Where are we anyway?" "Camp David." My eyes widen in shock. Jesus Christ, Camp David is under Marine control just like Quantico. Are they insane? What exactly is going on here? I want to know everything but I can't keep my eyes open. Even doped up Scully can see the panic spreading across my face. "Welcome to the revolution, Mulder," she says with more conviction than I have heard in her voice in some time. She wraps her hands around my wrist. "It's a really long story and I can see you're drifting off. Get some rest. What I've got to tell you even you won't believe." She gets up and leans over the bed. Running her fingers through my hair and kisses me softly. "I think this is another one of those miracles you told me to never stop believing in." There's a soft glow in the sky when I wake up alone. The clock says 7:20 but I'm not sure if it's AM or PM. Hell, I'm not even sure what month it is. I look around to get my bearings. Standard hospital-type room in a very swanky hospital. I try to pull myself up a little and am reminded by my leg that I'm going to need some help. Besides that I gotta pee. They might have stripped me naked but at least they didn't humiliate me further with a catheter. I'm checking out my options when Skinner strolls into the room unaware that I'm awake. He sees me rifling through the covers and quickens his pace to be of assistance. "Mulder, what do you need?" Frustrated I look up. "Somebody better get me a bottle or they're gonna have to change the sheets." I see his face redden when he realizes what I'm talking about. "I'll get the nurse." Relief and a dose of pain medication later Skinner is back in my room. He's dressed casually, the 'man-in- black' look gone. I get the impression he's got a lot to say but doesn't know where to start. "Where's Scully?" He finally looks at me. "She's asleep Mulder, she's exhausted." Now that we're alone I can read him better. This is the Skinner that defended me in that hokey courtroom. He knew what a futile cause it was then and yet he stood by me because he believed in me. They all did I've now come to realize. But things have happened since then I can tell by his demeanor. He's got a lot to tell me but he's waiting for me to take the initiative. "Good, then you can tell me what the hell is going on." "What's going on is what you started at Mount Weather." "It all came to an end there. I don't understand." He comes over to sit in the chair next to the bed, resting his elbows on his knees and bringing his hands up to scrub his face. He's exhausted too. Freedom never comes without a price. "The shock wave from that investigation Agent Kallenbrunner started in LA has reached all the way back here Mulder. All the leads you gave him. The information panned out. It was me who cleaned out your office at the Bureau. All the original files are here. All your missing evidence was recovered in the raid on the Pentagon. There's going to be a huge Grand Jury investigation into the military, all the cover-ups and the government's involvement in them. When this information gets out to the press the public will know the truth. It goes all the way up to the president Mulder and he knows what other leaders are involved." I don't know whether to be elated or terrified. The implications of what he's just told me are astronomical. I think about my fear for what the truth would do to Scully. I couldn't tell her our fate had already been determined and now the whole world will know it. I realize Skinner is waiting for some reaction from me. I honestly don't know what to say. I know the president is a pawn like the rest of us and the people are going to need someone to restore their faith in the government. "The president's not one of them, he's a pawn just like the rest of us. He's only been used to perpetuate the lie. Implicating him will destroy any faith the public has." Something else he's said suddenly dawns on me. "What do you mean you cleaned out my office?" He doesn't answer my last question. Preferring instead to let me know I wasn't the only one they rescued from the White House. "The president is here Mulder," he looks away from me, getting up to cross the room and look out the window. The sky is considerably brighter now and I realize it's AM and I slept all night. He turns to face me. "Doggett and Reyes came back to the Bureau after you and Scully left that night. They had Gibson with them. When they went to down to the basement office it was empty, down to the bare walls. I'm sure they thought everything had been confiscated by bureau personnel but I'd beaten them to it," he looks down at his feet, ashamed of what he's about to admit. "I knew you didn't have a chance in that courtroom Mulder. If I couldn't save you at least I could save your work." I'm overwhelmed with his admission and when he finally meets my eyes I stumble to express my gratitude. "That was a huge gamble on your part Sir," is all I can choke out. We spend the next hour or so discussing what information they have and what plans have been established. I'm shocked to learn that these aliens do have liabilities, that there is still a need for human collaboration in their plan for colonization. It's much easier for them to grow an alien force right here on this planet than to transport one here from elsewhere. But humans are frail creatures, which is why they needed the Syndicate's help in creating a better species in which to propagate the invasion force. That's why the implants were needed to track the abductees and monitor the progress being made. Those fools within the Syndicate thought they could outsmart the aliens and stall the date of colonization by killing Cassandra. The colonists didn't need any politely worded announcement that a hybrid had been successfully created, they knew immediately. I think about the implant Scully still carries in her neck. Can they still track her with it or did Spender in some final act of redemption turn it off? I still want to know how we were followed to New Mexico. Skinner and Kersh were called on the carpet about their duplicity in my escape but were allowed to continue their roles as pawns in this unholy game. They're needed to keep their unsuspecting subordinates on board for the final move. Scully and I have determined that there is more than one faction of aliens involved here. The colonists aligned with the military have created this race of super-soldiers. Designed as assassins, their job is to destroy any chance the human race has of preventing the eventual colonization of earth. They're the ones who are out to get me and her and anyone else who poses a threat to their plans. They're indestructible or so they believe. The magnetite that Scully discovered is our only weapon against them right now. But luring them to it or getting it to them is the problem. There is no way to identify who is the enemy here. There is however, another party in this scenario, one that could hold the key to our salvation, another alien race. There have been incredible leaps in development over the course of mankind's evolution, baffling scientists for centuries as to their cause and origin. Scully's investigation into the claw we found in AZ some years ago proved that we are all in some part 'alien'. Each one of us possesses the genetic remnants of another race of beings. This is not information we should fear. It is instead a revelation of the unity of the entire universe. Further proof that we are not only one species here on earth but genetically related to whoever else inhabits the universe. We are not alone. It is within these genetic remnants that the key to our survival may be found. Found in the gifted few that through some quirk of fate of perhaps the hand of God find themselves with abilities far beyond what we believe are humanly possible. It is unclear why or how these genes became dormant in some of us or why in some of us they remain active. This is what I tried to get an assembly of agents and Skinner himself to understand. This is the key to the X-Files. The proof of everything we can't or won't explain lies in these genetic codes. Gibson, my brave young friend is one of these gifted individuals. His ability to read minds allows him to communicate with the aliens and also to identify those who plot against us. I believe William is also gifted. We cannot however, bring children into this war. We need to find a better way to identify our enemy, to understand how these alien races are connected and as the president pleaded with me as I was dragged from his office, find a way to stop this. Skinner must think I've zoned out on him. The gentle pressure of his hand on my leg brings me back to the present. I think about what he's said. Is revealing the cover-up of plans for alien colonization to the world really a good idea? For years this is all I had wanted and then when I knew it to be true I couldn't even speak it myself. We have to be very careful about what is revealed because it has to be backed up with irrefutable evidence. Despite how much I want the truth to win out we need to be extremely careful. "Look, this is a great idea, but the Grand Jury could be just as much a part of the cover-up as the military is. They would make a mockery out of the judicial system. We could end up putting all the evidence right back in their hands. How can we be sure who we're dealing with?" Skinner sighs. "That's just it Mulder, we can't. We have to find a way to identify them. If we can do that, along with Scully's research, we have a chance to defeat them." This sounds too much like the McCarthy hearings. "I won't bring Gibson into this." "No one's asking you too. There's another way," he looks away from me, mulling over something in his mind that he's not sure I'm ready to hear at the moment "What other way? I don't understand what you're getting at." "You." 'Me' I think to myself, how can Skinner possibly think that I can help identify the enemy. "I can't read minds, I told you that, not anymore. Where did you get this idea?" I finish with a laugh. He's beginning to aggravate me and he can see that my patience is beginning to run thin. He draws a manila folder from his coat. "I have to show you something that might change you mind," with some hesitation he continues. Handing me three clear plastic sheets he's withdrawn from the envelope. "These are PCR results. These two," he says as he puts the top two sheets together, "are from the nail you and Scully found in AZ and Gibson Praise. These markers," he explains, pointing to several of the stains, "are not genetic codes normally found in human DNA, they match." "I know all this, Scully and I have this information," I say impatiently. "This one," he continues as he lines up the third sheet, " is yours. Scully did this when...when we dug you up, it also matches. Do you understand the implication here Mulder?" I sit and stare at the results in front of me. Yeah, I understand perfectly. It's like I've been trying to tell Scully, I'm not who I was. Finally able to find my voice I look up at him. "Scully knew this? She ran tests on the baby. Why didn't she say anything to me?" "Maybe because she was afraid of what the information means. Or what you would do with it if you knew. I told you before; she can't lose you again Mulder. Whatever her reasons, she knows. The truth you've been searching for, it's in you but she's not going to let you die to prove it." He finishes by staring into me. I read him loud and clear. I have this sudden flash of Diana leaning over me saying almost those exact words not long ago. She had something else on her mind then and it terrified me, as I lay there unable to do anything to save myself. Little did I know then how truthful her words would turn out to be? I look down at the sheets in my hands still not totally comprehending what I've been shown. This gift Skinner tells me I have, is it what's guided me all along? Given me the ability to empathize with victims, allowed me access to the minds of killers and provided those leaps of logic that too others seemed 'spooky'? If that's the case, then this has always been a part of me. My head hurts with confusion. "Can I keep these for a while?" Skinner's not sure telling me all this was a good idea now. He hesitates for a moment at my request. Finally acknowledging when he realizes that I want to discuss this with Scully. "Yeah, sure. Mulder. You know this doesn't make you a..." he looks at me sympathetically. "Freak," I say finishing his thought for him. "Not any more than my son, huh?" He doesn't deny that's what he was thinking. "I'll talk to you later," he says as he walks from the room. Leaving me to face a truth I'd often thought about but was always afraid to admit, even to myself. They must have a heck of a satellite system here judging from the selection I'm finding on the TV. I'm surfing stations when Scully walks in the room carrying a duffel bag. I'm also guessing it's warm outside. She's dressed in a tank top and khaki slacks, her hair tied back. She heads my way, dropping the bag at the end of the bed and nailing me with a good morning kiss. "Morning, Mulder." "Morning yourself. Sleeping without me does you good." I meant that as a compliment but she seems taken aback with my comment. She grabs my hand. "I don't ever want to be without you," she says quietly, looking down at our joined hands. "How do you feel?" "High as a kite actually. A little dopey." She resists the urge to make a comment and leans over the end of the bed, grabbing the chart hanging there. "They still have you on Demerol? Are you in that much pain?" She came in her all bubbly and bright and I've already succeeded in dampening her mood. I just want to get the hell out of here so I give her a cocky answer. "How would I know? What's in the bag?" She smiles, rolling her eyes with exasperation. "Clothes, want to get out of here?" "Are you serious?" "I'm...we're in a private cottage, what difference does it make where you lay around." She reaches to unzip the bag she's brought with her, suddenly eying the envelope still resting on the bed where Skinner left it. "What's this?" I meet her eyes. "Maybe you can tell me." She eyes me suspiciously, opening the envelope and withdrawing the charts. "These look like PCR results." "Yep, they are. I understand you know all about them." She stands there comparing them in silence. I'm trying desperately not to sound like I'm calling her on this. But sensing her reluctance to address the situation I'm beginning to wonder what else she knows. Realization dawns across her face. "I'm not who I was am I?" "Mulder? Who gave you these?" She's cautious now. Not wanting to give up the game she has so cleverly manipulated to keep me in the dark. "Skinner, they think I can help them identify the aliens. You didn't answer my question." Anger, fear, I feel them start to come off her in waves. She slams the sheets down on the bedside table. "dammit Mulder, stop saying that!" "You just won't admit what I am because then it means that William is the same thing and you gave birth to him!" I can't hold my anger in either. I thought we were though lying to each other. "Don't you even think that!" The slap I get is not surprising but I'm quick enough to grab her wrist before she can pull away. She yanks back hard enough to almost pull me out of bed and I have to let her go. "You're not some fucking alien Mulder and neither is our son!" Suddenly all the fight goes out of her. "He's just a baby, an innocent little baby." The expletive surprises me but the tears do not. She's backing away from me as I start to climb out of the bed. I realize she's about to flee when she turns quickly for the door. As soon as I hit the floor I know why they had me on Demerol. Pain shoots up my leg but I refuse to let her escape. Somehow I beat her to the door, my IV pole crashing to the floor in the process. I hear footsteps in the hall and slam the door shut throwing my weight against it and turning around to face her. She's standing in front of me, bewildered and upset by this whole event. I try to reach out to her, blood running down the back of my hand from where the IV line was ripped out but she flinches away from me. "Scully...I...I just want an explanation. Please...I just want to know what's happened to me." She doesn't say anything; we're just staring intently at each other when there's someone pounding on the door, pushing against me as I try to hold it shut. "Tell them it's okay Scully," I plead with her. Panting through the pain, perspiration starting to bead my forehead. She sighs, her brows furrowing, a look of defeat crossing her face. "We're okay...can you just give us a minute?" I open the door a crack to an insistent looking nurse. She's surprised to see me standing there. "We need a minute here, please." I see her glance back up the hall like she's looking to someone else for help. But then she acknowledges my request turning away without comment. I close the door again and turn back to Scully trying not to put any weight on my leg I lean on the door for support. I really need to sit down. She steps toward me, taking my bloody hand in one of her shaky ones. "Mulder, look what you've done to your hand," she looks up finally meeting my eyes. "Let's get you back to bed." We stager across the room like a couple of drunks and she unceremoniously plops me back on the bed. Returning from the bathroom a minute later with a basin and washcloth to clean off my hand. I watch her as she gently dabs away the blood, removing the rest of the tape and pressing the cloth against the wound to stop the bleeding. I have to break this silence. "Those are the abnormalities you were talking about in AZ aren't they? I didn't understand how you could just let that comment go without an explanation. Tell me what it means." I watch her run her tongue across her teeth; she won't look at me now. She's debating how to approach this. Confusion, disbelief, denial and a little fear all fighting for control. I feel the same way Scully, talk to me. She struggles to put the words together. I reach for her, bring her hands to my lap, holding them there. "Talk to me." I say to her quietly. She sighs like she's dealing with a petulant child. "Mulder you suspected this. It's why you asked for Kritschgau, to help you prove that what had happened to you was alien in nature." "I wanted you to prove it Scully." She looks away from me again and I touch her chin with my finger drawing her gaze back to me. "You didn't fail me Scully." "Mulder, this is all my fault. When I came back from Africa, Kritschgau stole my files. He sent them to the National Institute of Health for evaluation. All your personal medical files, proof of what you suspected. Even if they didn't believe what was in them, the information was out there for anyone to see. I thought I had deleted them but someone killed him for those files." Krycek I think to myself. If she'd been there instead of Kritschgau would she have believed what her science told her about me? Do I believe it? Like she says, the information is out there now, obviously of interest to the people here and making me a prime target of the colonists. Everybody has a bounty on my head. None of that matters now. What I need to know is how she feels about all this. I squeeze her hand again. "So what did you find? What did your science tell you?" She looks down again at our joined hands. "You remember what I found out about the nail we discovered in that house and how it related to Gibson...to all of us?" Her voice is soft, almost like she's still refusing to believe what her science was telling her. "When I saw the abnormalities in your scans it reminded me of what we had seen in Gibson's tests. I went back and checked Gibson's file that's how I found it. William has then too." "But you said we all have these dormant genes." "We do, but remember I told you that in Gibson they were turned on?" "You can't just turn genes on and off can you?" "No, but certain influences can suppress them or actuate them." "But that has to be at conception doesn't it?" "Normally, but not always." "The artifact?" "No, in your case it was probably something you were exposed to or a trauma to your body." "The black oil," she looks up then, the reminder of my trip to Russia pains her face. "Or dying," I finish sadly. "Or coming back to life," she says with a gentle smile. She pulls her hands from mine with her last sentence. Running her hand down the left side of my face now reddened from her hand. "But you were exposed to the virus Scully." "There's something in your genetic code Mulder that was triggered. We're all different. It's why I have blue eyes and your are..." she doesn't finish. Instead gazing deeply into my eyes that want so badly to make all this go away for her. "They're very special boys. And you, Fox Mulder are a very special man. You always have been, this doesn't change anything, it only confirms it." Reaching to taking my right hand to place it on the washcloth she signals the end of our conversation for now. "Keep some pressure on that, I'll get something to dress it with, then we can get out of here." As she turns towards the door I grab her hand again to make her turn back to me. "Scully? Why didn't you tell me before?" "I was afraid Mulder." "Afraid of what?" I see a sad smile cross her lips. "Afraid that you'd do just what you're about to do anyway. Save the world." Skinner ran us over here in a Jeep a few hours ago. They'd released me with crutches and a nice supply of pain pills and told me to get lots of rest. I'm sitting out here on the porch of our cottage enjoying the fresh air and hoping it will wake me up. Most of these cottages were built back in the 50's but the one we are in is one of the few that were rebuilt to upgrade the accommodations for visiting dignitaries. FDR lovingly called this 'shangri La' and while it's nestled in a very scenic part of the Maryland hills, it's far from paradise. Scully tried to get me to go in and lie down for a while but I told her I could just as easily nap out here. After spending the better part of my life in a shirt and tie sequestered in an office building I've grown to feel at home outdoors in the past year. The Appalachian air is humid, reminding me of my childhood days on the Vineyard and making me wish to be back in those days of innocence. Nobody, not even Scully, knew what it was like, or could in any way comprehend what only I knew to be true. For years I was the joke of the Bureau. Living with the scorn of my peers who now come to me looking for the answers that everyone then refused to understand or believe. I'd like to tell them all to go to hell but they know I won't that I can't. Damn that CBG. He sent me to Mount Weather, knowing what would happen when I got there. Did he also know that no matter what the outcome, that trial would open the door to the dirty secrets that have been hidden behind if for years? Scully tried to tell me that she saw in him a desire to redeem himself somehow for the wrongs he had done. I highly doubt that man has anything resembling a conscience but maybe his using me was his attempt to expose the project. These people here believe I've got some kind of inside information or some kind of alien radar system and that by pointing me in the right direction I can pinpoint the enemy for them. Scully believes it too, it's why she didn't tell me and why I realize now she protected William by giving him up. I'm afraid to believe it. It's going to take a lot more than me to win this war. I've got to make them understand that. I hear the door open and close and Scully's soft footsteps as she crosses to porch to where I'm sprawled in one of the Adirondack chairs. She has something to drink with her, I hear the ice cubes clinking against glass as she approaches and hesitates, trying to assess if I'm conscious or not "I hope you have one of those for me, it's hotter than hell out here." I pry my eyes open and look at her standing beside me with two glasses of ice tea in her hands, patting my right thigh for her to sit. She hands me a glass and I drink greedily from it. Wiping the sweat from my forehead with my other hand. "You know, it's air conditioned inside. You don't have to sit out here in this heat." "Yeah, I know," she can see the resignation, feel the despair in my voice and she slowly sits down on the thigh I offered her. "But there's birds and a breeze and green things out here. I was hoping they'd convince me I'm doing the right thing." "I've never doubted that Mulder." She rubs her hand on my injured thigh, stirring things I can't deal with right now. "They need you, I need you and I was wrong to keep what I knew from you." I grab her hand, pulling it away from the caress. "Sore?" "Not exactly." She doesn't say anything but smiles at me with an acknowledgment. The breeze stirs her hair, blowing fine tendrils of it across her face. I reach to tuck them behind her ear like I've done so many times before. "You really believe I have some kind of inhuman abilities don't you?" "No, not inhuman Mulder." She runs the fingers of the hand that had been caressing my thigh across my chest stopping to press them against my heart. "You are very much human, more human than any of us. I look at you and realize what we all could be," those wonderful blue eyes of hers coming to rest in mine. I shake my head slightly at her words. "Spooky doesn't even begin to describe me now." "Mulder, I want you to listen to me for a minute." She sets her glass down on the little table next to my chair and puts both her hands on my shoulders making eye contact that she dares me without saying so to break. "You are no different now than you've ever been. You keep trying to tell me that you're not Fox Mulder but you are. You're still that man that could always put the smallest of clues together to find an answer. You are the most caring, charismatic, charming and conscientious person I have ever known. Only you could makes those incredible leaps of logic that eventually lead to a solution and who could always see that the evil was not in the person but in the cause. I know you hated the nickname and the scorn that came with it but those people were jealous Mulder and a lot of them admire you as I do. They wish they had your courage." I set my glass down next to hers and tip my head back against back of the chair closing my eyes with a sigh. Her hand comes up to caress the side of my face and I feel her fingers ripple gently through the short hair at my temple now lightly peppered with gray. "The miles are starting to show." She chuckles softly at my acknowledgment. "They're medals of honor Mulder, and you've earned every one of them." "I'm tired Scully," I say as I lean into her hand. "And I don't know what they want from me." She pulls me towards her placing a soft kiss on the top of my head and then rests her chin there mimicking a comforting pose I have often used with her. We sit like that for a few minutes in silence listening to the sounds of the earth all around us. "They want your help Mulder. The truth is out there now and its' frightening. They just want you to tell them there's hope." "It's not up to me Scully, they have to find the hope in themselves." Camp David, MD Scully and I have spent weeks going through the files that Skinner stole from our FBI office. They have very efficiently set us up with a room here that we can use as an office and just about anything we need. There are other things here too. My degrees, commendations back from when I'd actually had an interest in a career, an old antique microscope, photos of Scully and I and a multitude of other things that I never thought I'd see again. Everything that I'd left behind when I walked out of our basement office over a year ago. Scully had asked me then if I'd cleaned out the office and all I could tell her was there was nothing there that meant anything to me anymore. That everything there belonged to someone else, in a different life. I think that frightened her but what I was trying to tell her was that she and William were the only things that I really valued. Just as I had told Kallenbrunner, evidence of our investigations was found in of all places, the archives of the Pentagon. The original implant Scully had taken from the corpse in Oregon and more importantly fetal tissue, several of them actually. Scully believes one of them is the material Deep Throat had her steal in exchange for my life all those years ago. How ironic actually that it was all there the day I'd broken in to get the chip for Scully. It makes me furious now to know that I'd been such a damn fool. We've been able to come up with some theories, all incredibly unbelievable but true. The question is now, how do we approach the people here with what we think are the answers and how will they use them to develop a plan to fight back. I heard someone at the front door a few moments ago, it's Skinner and I can hear he and Scully discussing my recovery. She's angry with him that I spend all my time in here. Scully doesn't see it this way, but this is just another prison cell, the only difference is the bars are invisible. There's no where else for us to go. I look up when I sense someone at the door. Skinner's standing there with his hands in his pockets looking like he has a really bad wedgie. "Mulder, what are you doing in here?" "Looking for the answers you and your constituents think I can give you." He sighs, looking away from me in disgust. I'm the one who should be disgusted. He wants answers and Scully wants me to slow down. I just wish they'd both leave me the hell alone. I may be out of the Bureau but nothing's changed. He wanders over but doesn't say anything. "Look, I know Scully called you so why don't you just come out and say what you came over here to say." I throw the pen I had been using on the desk and push the chair back. I want him to know I'm on to the game. He's got a short fuse today because it doesn't take him long to react. "No, you look! I didn't bring you up here to martyr yourself. There are a lot of good people here. People like Scully and myself who believe there's a way we can prevent this colonization plan. I've been riding the fence since I met you Mulder, it costs me my wife and damn nearly my life so don't think you're the only one who's lost here!" I love it when Skinner gets angry. His whole head turns red, I swear it glows. I get up from the chair and limp around the desk to face him. Slamming the door to the room on my way. "Fuck, all I have to do is look at Scully to realize that!" I seriously crowd his space. "That's exactly why I'm here. I don't want anybody to have to go through what she or I or you have gone through. It stops now. If you only knew how badly I wish I could do what you think I can. I'd like nothing more than to point my finger at everyone of those fucking bastards and then watch them dissolve away right before my eyes. I can't, okay? You got it? I can't do that and all I know is that we've got a deadline so if you want me in the fight then you let me do what I can, on my own terms." My anger abates as I step back, breaking eye contact and staring at the floor. "Mulder?" Skinner steps towards me, putting a hand on my shoulder in an attempt to get me to look up. I don't. "How do you know I'm not one of them...or the president for that matter?" If I answer him, I'm doomed and yet I have trusted this man since I met him. I have to tell him the truth. When I look up all I see in his eyes is compassion. He knows what I'm struggling with. With a shaky voice I finally answer him. "I just know." I step away from him again. Limping over to the window where I trace the outline of the panes before I continue. He doesn't say anything to me, patience winning out over aggravation. "That day in the courtroom, when Gibson pointed them out I could feel it too. It scared the hell out of me, it still does." I look over at him still standing next to the desk. I can tell he doesn't know what to say at my admission. I catch his eye for a second and then look back out into the compound. "I won't be the one this whole plan rests on. You can't ask me to do that." I close my eyes, my hands coming up to rub at them and scrub my unshaven face. Finally I just stand there with my head in my hands. Too tired to move or say anything more. Skinner clears his throat, I hear the rustle of clothing but he doesn't approach me. "Nobody in their right mind would accept that burden Mulder." I drop my hands and turn to him an incredulous smile slowly spreading across my face. Finally I laugh at him. "Nobody ever thought I was in my right mind, sir." I watch as the smirk turns up the corners of his lips and that little twinkle forms in his eyes. We both know this is serious business we are discussing but the humor is a welcome relief and I sag visibly with the acknowledgment of the joke. "Mulder, sit down before you fall down and I'll tell you what I really came over here for." I flop into the chair under the window as he leans up against the desk. "We've got a project meeting day after tomorrow. I'd like you and Scully to be there. Things are happening fast Mulder. They know their plan has been exposed. We think if they could they would step up the date for colonization but the hybrid program is at a standstill because of what happened in Antarctica and at El Rico. It's slowed down their ability to gestate an invasion force. You were responsible for that." If he's going to spell out the plan I want Scully to hear this too. "Wait a minute, ask Scully to come in here. I want her to hear all of this too." Skinner steps away from the desk to open the door and then he wanders down the hall in search of Scully. I get up and dig through the boxes of shit from the office to find a tape recorder. I'm sitting behind the desk with the recorder ready when they both return. Scully and I exchange a brief glare as she sits in the chair I had just vacated. I motion to Skinner to continue. "I was just telling Mulder where we think we stand so far. When we walk into the conference room two days later I'm shocked by who I find in attendance. One person in particular actually, Marita Covarrubias. No wonder Krycek warned me not to let her expose herself. Scully gives me an incredulous look. She trusted this woman even less than I trusted Krycek but Maria is one of the slickest double agents I have ever known. I asked her once why she was so willing to help me. She replied by telling me because she could and because there were people who believed in what I was trying to do. I've now come face to face with those people. Skinner comes over to tell Scully that the medical personnel are meeting in another building and that they could use her expertise. She's torn between wanting to go and being here to hold me up or to keep me from blowing up. I make the decision for her. "You go, this is how we do things." I say it with as much conviction as I can and I know by the look in her eyes that she doesn't believe me. Skinner introduces her to one of the doctors here and I watch her back disappear through the doors as she goes off to make the world a safer place. During the course of the meeting I come to find out that parts of the Syndicate are very much alive only now they're working for the other side...so to speak. Resistance is in our grasp. Through a coalition of scientists from around the globe work has continued on a vaccine against the virus. Now with Scully's help and my cooperation the antibodies we and perhaps other abductees carry may aide in creating an effective way to prevent infection by the black oil. Both Maria and Krycek knew that the path the Russians were taking with their research was the right one. Their methods were incredibly unethical and inhuman but they were obtaining success with their research. Scully and I are proof of that. As much as I hated Krycek he is one of the few people who had the better interests of all of us in mind. For years he snatched up evidence and research that could aid us in forming a resisting force against colonization. I called him a murderer, a liar and a coward and yet he did these things to obtain the information he needed...we needed because he knew I could never do them. He used me just like the Syndicate used me as a miss direction for what was really going on. I hate knowing that now but I no longer regret it. Krycek knew what had happened to me long before I could bring myself to face it. He had the data from Kritschgau to prove it and he lured me to that Oregon wood knowing exactly what I would do when I got there. He tried everything to open my eyes, a first hand experience was all I needed. Marita has now taken up his cause, the cause that's always been mine; a search for the truth and the answer to how to change it. How far do we go now? How much can we expose without exposing ourselves? There is a lot of work to be done here. The desire to bring these truths out into the open warring with the possibility that doing so will cause more harm than continuing to keep the secrets. Scully and I had this discussion years ago during a case involving Pink Pharmaceuticals and the government's knowledge of a cover-up. I was determined to release the information to the media, feeling the public's right to know outweighed the dangers involved. But Skinner and Scully convinced me of the error of my ways. The epidemic was contained though not without the cost of lives and the general public went on about their lives none the wiser. The bastard's words come back to me, 'The truth would have caused panic. Panic would have cost lives. We controlled the disease by controlling the information'. Can we do that now without a guilty conscience? I can't help but think it's against everything Scully and I have fought for. That withholding the information of a possible plague, of the dangers to human life is wrong. My heart tells me this. My mind on the other hand tells me that if somehow we can find a cure, if we can find a way to destroy these indestructible soldiers and if we can find a way to defeat the colonists all without the public's knowledge it will be for the best. This battle within me is becoming too much to bear. I am also shocked to learn that after the destruction of most of the Syndicate members at El Rico a fragile alliance was formed between this new group and the rebel forces that had been systematically eliminating abductees through the brutal deaths at Kazakhstan. Skyland Mountain and Ruskin Dam. It's unclear who called these abductees to the sites but it's obvious that the rebel forces whose survival is also being threatened are fighting back with a violent attempt to prevent colonization. It doesn't take me long to put two and two together. This is another reason they want me around...to communicate with the rebels. They need this ability I seem to have, to hopefully get into the rebels heads and coordinate the efforts. Even if we can't stop it, if we can make it next to impossible for them to carry out their plans we can buy ourselves some time. Murder however, is not the answer. The problem now is these new 'super Soldiers', just how do they fit into the equation and are they a product of alien research or something even more frightening, our own government? And more importantly, just what is their agenda? Scully is certain that I would have ended up like Billy Miles, a Super Soldier. When the Oregon abductees were returned they were in a state of hibernation, resembling death. Those that Jeremiah wasn't able to help either transformed into soldiers or were given a proper burial like myself. This Scully tells me is what saved me; the cold of the earth around me prevented me from transforming. Heat evidently is necessary in the gestation process. It's what drew that creature to the nuclear plant in AZ. And it was only because Skinner took matters into his own hands, unwilling to force the choice between our baby and I on Scully that I'm here today. He told me the about the conversation with Krycek. The offer of a vaccine to save me in exchange for the baby but Krycek knew exactly what Skinner would do. He saved my life. This information leads me to believe that these soldiers are alien in nature. I know where I was and it sure as hell wasn't any government facility and if all the abductees from those Oregon woods came back this way, it can be the only answer. Marita is arguing this point with several Marine officers and I head over to rescue her from their stupidity. "You just don't understand. We have to determine why these soldiers have been created. If the colonists were on to the fact that we are trying to undermine their plans there has to be a leak somewhere. If they've created these indestructible beings because of information they obtained from one of our personnel we have to find this leak before we can proceed." "Maybe it's you who doesn't understand. We have no way of knowing who is on our side. How the hell to you expect us to plot an offensive against an unknown enemy?" Maria catches my eye as I approach and I'm surprised to see the 'stay out of this' expression on her face. She knows this is the reason I'm here. "We have to determine who they are Colonel. We don't know if there were designed to protect the colonization project or to prevent it. They have been systematically destroying the evidence of alien presence. We need to know why." "Well," the colonel says looking in my direction. "Isn't that why he's here. Agent Mulder, the FBI's star profiler," he looks right into me now as I come to stand next to Marita. "Profile them. Get into their heads. Isn't that what you do?" "You can drop the 'Agent', I don't work for the Bureau anymore." The bastard fluffs out his chest in an unconvincing attempt to prove whose boss. "You're right, now you work for us." "I'm here voluntarily." I'm desperately trying to keep my cool here. This guy's not much taller then I but he outweighs me by a good twenty pounds. We're probably close to the same age but he's obviously got a problem with authority...he's the authority and nobody better question him on it. "You just go right on thinking that. Just goes to show how easily it will be to convince the public of the same thing." Now he's starting to get under my skin. "What the hell are you talking about?" "Nothing you need to concern yourself with 'Mr. Mulder'. You're here to do your job. These people have a M.O., your job is to figure it out and come up with a theory of what they will do next. Fuck, if only it was that easy. "You can profile a man. Profiling an army is something all together different." "Then you need to find the man who is controlling the army." Hours later Scully finds me sitting on the porch of our cottage. I won't even look at her as she climbs the steps. I'm sure she heard about my explosion this afternoon and Skinner's subsequent dumping of my ass in the presidential pool to cool it off. 'Find the man who is controlling the army', that asinine colonel's words are still ringing in my ears. There is no 'man' controlling this army. Fucking idiots I'm dealing with here. These men are here to fight but they refuse to believe the evidence that the 'killer' in this case is not an earthly one. And if they continue to believe that then these killers will be successful in destroying the evidence that proves that fact to be true. The public, the courts, no one will believe and accusation unless there's evidence to back it up. And if they can destroy all the evidence then the plans for colonization will continue unabated until it's too late to stop it. Scully thinks her science will give us an answer but these scientists here, conviction scientists who harbor an unshakeable belief that they're right, that they're following the right path even with all the evidence to the contrary. This isn't just a virus we're dealing with, it has intelligence and right now it's smarter than we are. She scowls at me as she climbs the steps and I can read the anger in her body language. I stop her before she can voice her opinion. "Don't say it, I know I made a lot of friends today." "Just stay away from MY friends Mulder, we don't have time for this." She walks right past me and on into the cottage without another word. I think I've just been insulted. Getting up I follow her into the cottage, petulance getting the better of me. "Well, hey, if you and your 'friends' have this all figured out I'm through here." "Oh, you're through Mulder, through making an ass of yourself. What the hell has gotten into you? You've been telling me for months that you...that we can't do this alone and now that we've got all these people here who are willing to risk everything to help us you...you can't play nice. You tell me that they have to figure out for themselves that there's hope for the future but you offer them none." Jesus doesn't she see what's still going on here? Skinner, these people here they're creating their own conspiracy in the name of humanity. "They're just planning new ways to cover it up Scully. You weren't at the same meeting I was! Oh, they're working on a vaccine and with your help they'll discover one only when it's available to the public it won't be because it prevents them from being infected by some alien virus, they'll make up some fucking story about a flue vaccine or something. And maybe the evidence of a cover-up will go before the Grand Jury but it won't be about covering up the government's knowledge of extraterrestrials or a plot to cover up the colonization of this planet by an alien race. Don't you see Scully, people still won't know the truth!" "Fuck the truth Mulder! Does it really matter what people know if it saves their lives?" Her eyes are blazing at me. "It's about survival Mulder, the survival of the human race. What does it matter anymore how it's done!" She turns away from me as tears well up in her eyes. She's fighting the same demons I am. Both of us wanting to do the right thing but not knowing what the right thing is. This is what I feared back at Mount Weather. This is everything we've fought for and now the truth is that after ten years we have to admit we were wrong. Perhaps our job all along was to protect people from the truth. She won't look at the defeat in my eyes and I can't bear to see it in hers. "Scully, don't do this." She turns slightly and I see here eyes soften at the look of desperation on my face. "Look, I know how badly you want the truth to be known Mulder but is it really wise? Look how much you feared telling me." 'Whose truth?' I hear X in my head and close my eyes. A moment later I feel her touch on my arm, hesitant and uncertain. When I open my eyes she is standing right in front of me. This is so hard to come to terms with. "I couldn't tell you Scully because to tell you would have meant invalidating everything we've done for the past ten years. What was the point of it all if we're just going to lie about what's going on just like the rest of them? It's all been for nothing." "Do you really believe that Mulder?" I don't. We did good work you and I. Work that I'm proud of. We saved a lot of lives and isn't that really what it's all about?" In the Fifth World that the Natives believe is dawning the focus of life will be on truth. They believe that all the information in the world is useless without truth. But for them it is an inner truth, an inner knowledge of all things. In order to change the world we must first change ourselves. How do I change something that has driven me for the better part of a lifetime? When I don't answer her she turns away from me, walking over to look out the window. "We need to get away from here Mulder. Even if it's just for a day" I walk over and put my hands on her shoulders and she leans back against me. My arms coming around to wrap her in an embrace and pull her to my chest. I kiss the top of her head. Wordlessly we've come to an understanding. She's right, we need a day in the sun. I lean down and whisper close to her ear. "What would you like to do?" Scully's been busy all morning while I sit here and surf through what CD TV has to offer. She closed the door to our office first thing this morning and told me if I went in there she'd shoot me where it hurt. It always hurts when you're shot but I know what she meant and I really have a fondness for my manhood. She told me this morning she had plans for today and I it made me think of telling her the same thing months ago on a desert night that started out with stargazing and ended with us wrapped around each other. There's a Ford Explorer parked out front with government issue plates. I suspect Skinner had it dropped off sometime early this morning I found the keys in an envelope inside the front door. I'd like to think that when I close that door I'm shutting out everyone else but I'm not that naïve. I sweep the cottage on a regular basis. All those years being friends with the Gunmen did teach me a thing or two about electronic surveillance. I haven't found anything, but I still can't shake the feeling. She wants this day badly and in all honesty so do I. We both need it if we're going to hold on to our sanity. "Mulder? Can you put this stuff in the car?" I get up off my ass and head into the small kitchenette to find she's borrowed a backpack from someone and has stuffed it with all the essentials we need. Where the hell did she get this stuff? She's also got a blanket rolled up and a shoulder bag with our jackets in it. "You're not going to tell me where we're going are you?" She smiles, wickedly and shakes her head. "Trust me, Mulder." A half-hour later we're passing through the high metal gates that guard the entrance to the camp. I find it hard to believe we can actually get out of here without an escort. I look over at Scully who's commandeered the driver's seat. She smiles at the Marine guard at the gate and then steps on the gas, her attention fixated on the road ahead as it winds through the Maryland woods. "This is a big complex Scully, I can't believe they actually let us out of here...alone. Hell, we could just as easily take off." She turns to look at me in disbelief. "We're not prisoners here Mulder. What makes you say that?" "I'm not a free man either and neither are you." I look away from her, back out the front window of the car and watch the early fall foliage pass. "We're prisoners of our conscience Scully, we could never leave here without wondering what we could have done had we stayed. I hate that feeling." She reaches over to touch my arm and my gaze comes back to rest in her eyes. What I see in them is a determination I wish I could say I had. One I need desperately to get back in order to convince these people here what needs to be done. "Mulder, none of these people would be here if they weren't all prisoners of the same thing. The president, these military leaders; think about what they've risked to be here. I know you don't like the circumstances, the way they're going about it but they have only the best interest of the public in mind Mulder, I honestly believe that and I think if you thought otherwise you wouldn't waste any time in saying so." She's right. I've gotten no impressions otherwise but my conscience is also telling me that this is not the way it was supposed to be. As much as I try I still keep thinking that this fight is mine, that I'm the one who's supposed to stop it even though a few billion other people are at risk. Scully is aware of this war raging inside me, it's why she planned this day and I have to let it go...just for today. Cunningham Falls State Park, MD It's the middle of the week and the park is relatively quiet, we haven't passed another car since we entered the park boundary. The early fall foliage glows softly against the brilliant blue sky; we couldn't have picked a prettier day. Scully is following the signs to a picnic area near the lake and when she sees the one she's looking for she turns in to the empty lot and parks the car. I'm a little confused since it's not even 11 yet but following her lead I get out of the car and stretch my legs. The air smells like fallen leaves and though there's a chill in the air, the sun feels warm on my face. "You're hungry already?" I ask over the roof of the car. "No, come on, I'm going to put you to work before we eat." She heads around the back of the car and when she gets to my side she points to a sign with an arrow pointing to a boathouse. Oh great, another boat ride. I remember the last time we rented a boat together and suddenly wish I'd brought a change of clothes. She opens the back of the car and removes our jackets and sets off in the direction of the boathouse. Within a short while I'm rowing us out onto the lake. A nice little launch would have been better in my eyes but Scully is obviously enjoying watching me exert myself. The breeze whips her hair and she pins it behind her ears in an attempt to keep it out of her face. She's kept it long, the way she wore it when I first saw her at Mount Weather. It gives her a wistful child-like look and I can almost believe for once that we're just to ordinary people. She is so different from the woman who walked into my office some ten years ago. Knowing me has cost her her innocence but not her strength. She sees me eying her and smiles softly. "Mulder, you're thinking again, what's wrong?" "I'm thinking about you actually. About you when I first met you and about who you are now." I stop rowing and let the boat drift with the current. "I'm the same person Mulder, nothing's changed." "Everything's changed Scully. This has all cost you too much and I'm forever in your debt for that." She starts to deny what I just said and then something makes her change her mind. She smiles. "OK, then it's time you started paying up." I look up at her, my mouth agape and she's just grinning wickedly at me. "Keep rowing." By the time we've toured the lake once my arms feel like they're about to fall off. I shucked the jacket a while ago and I've broken out in a sweat as the day begins to warm up. All this land was once inhabited by small tribes of Native Americans who left the area shortly after the first settlers appeared. It now belongs to the park service. It's one of the few branches of government I have any faith in. I look around me and wonder what is to become of places like this if we cannot stop what is to come. Scully's been quietly enjoying the ride. She's lounging in the front of the boat, her face tipped up to the sun and I have an almost insatiable urge to nibble my way down her neck. Something must alert her to my desires because she tips her head back down and gives me a wonderfully seductive look. "You hungry yet?" My desire to jump in the back seat of the car is gone when Scully pulls the backpack and shoulder bag from the back and announces we're going for a hike around the lake. She throws the bag over her shoulder and hands me the pack. I guess I haven't paid up yet. The sun filters through the trees above us casting rays down upon the fallen trees and rocky ledges that lay hidden in the foliage. All we can hear are the sounds of the forest and our own breathing. Scully's walking at a good clip using the trail map as a guide. She's succeeded in bringing us almost half way around the lake. It feels wonderful to get out in the fresh air and get the old heart rate going again. We chat about things we see along the trail and she laughs when I stumble on some roots because I'm too busy looking at things she's pointing out to me. We've probably come about two miles on this up and down trail and my leg is starting to ache. The wound has healed but between it and the one I suffered some years ago the muscles just can't take the stress. She comes to a stop just ahead of me where the canopy of the trees opens up and waits for me. She seems so young and I'm beginning to feel more and more like an old man. "How about here?" God yes, I think to myself, anywhere will do. The spot she's picked is a small clearing that goes down to the edge of the lake. She takes the bag off her shoulder and pulls out the blanket she brought. Getting down on all fours she spreads it out. If I get down there with her will I be able to get back up? I set the backpack down and join her on the blanket. She digs into it, handing me a bottle of wine and a corkscrew...good stuff. What else have I been lugging in that thing? She opens a container of fried chicken and some cheese, finger food. Well at least I didn't have to bring the dinnerware. Her face is a little flushed from the hike, the hair around her face slightly damp. I watch her lick the grease from the chicken off her fingers and I begin for feel an ache elsewhere. She giggles when I look at her with obvious desire in my eyes. "We'll have something to eat and then we can hike up to the falls. It's supposed to be very pretty." Oh great, more hiking. Nothing like killing the mood babe. We eat in silence. I wish I could think up some witty conversation that doesn't suggest the end of the world but the fun center of my brain seems to be the one that's been missing of late. I find myself chugging the wine. Scully's trying desperately not to say anything to me. She knows my mind is elsewhere and she thinks I'm aggravated with being taken away from what I feel I should be doing. I'm not angry with her. I'm angry with myself for ruining the day for her and the more I think about what an ass I'm being the more it disgusts me. When I throw another chicken bone in a 'lets get this over with' style to the plastic container on the blanket she's decided she's had enough. "You know Mulder, I'm really sorry I pulled you away from your work today. God only knows but this might have been the day you figured out how to save the world." "I can't save the world Scully." "So what? Life's not worth living now?" I look up and see how annoyed she is with me and know it's all my fault. "Shit, no, look I'm sorry...." she doesn't let me finish. "Shut up!" She draws her legs up to her chest and wraps her arms around them, withdrawing from me. "Scully, I don't know what you want me to say." "I want you to say that we're going to spend the rest of this life together and that the time we spend together will be doing things like this and not locked away in some office or some lab trying to change something that maybe isn't our place to change." She turns to look at me, her eyes pleading with me to see this her way. "What if we can't stop it Mulder? What if 10 years is all we have? I want to make the most of those years, do all the things we missed. I want to spend that time with you. I love you Mulder, why can't that be enough for you?" Why can't it? The guys standing there by the side of the road while I pissed in the wind. Frohike telling me to turn around and Byers asking me 'Why risk perfect happiness? Why risk your lives?' I've pissed my whole life away until now; I've got to find a way to change that but I don't know how. I can't answer her and when the silence becomes unbearable she unwraps herself and gets up off the blanket heading up the trail without me. Shit. "Scully wait!" I get up to follow her taking the trail to the left that leads further into the woods. There's no sign of her. How did she get so far ahead of me? "Scully!" About a quarter mile up the trail I come to a sign that says 'FALLS TRAIL' and take it. She mentioned the falls when we sat down for lunch. I can hear the rush of water ahead and when I make a turn on the trail the falls comes into view in front of me. Scully is standing on some rocks just below the 70-foot drop. Either she can't hear me above the roar of the water or she's ignoring me as I climb up to stand beside her. The falls are beautiful and I find myself watching them and not paying attention to the slippery footing. "Why did you run off like that?" "Leave me alone Mulder." Like hell, I step towards her, reaching out to her to get her attention. Suddenly my feet fly out from under me and I feel the impact from my tailbone all the way up my spine when my ass hits the rock I had been standing on. All I can do is sit there, biting my lip to stifle the misery I feel myself in. Scully says nothing, continuing to watch the water as it cascades over the falls. She finally looks down to where I still sit waiting for the pain to abate. "You alright Mulder?" "Oh, yeah...I'm fine." "Of course you are," she says with more bitterness than I expect from her but understanding it's just a reaction to my 'fine' comment. "I'm okay." "That's just another four letter word Mulder," she huffs at me. Is this ever going to stop? As I struggle to my feet her hand wraps around my arm to steady me. I look at her surprised at this turn in her demeanor. "What the hell do you want me to say?" "I can't take you anywhere can I? It's nice to know at least that hasn't changed." I wince as I straighten myself out and I see her eyes soften. "Seriously Mulder, are you alright?" "My ass broke the fall...again." She watches with a smirk as I rub my rear end. "You know, you could kiss it and make it better." Instead, she reached up to wrap her arms around my neck and I stoop to meet her half way. Our lips meet. This woman loves me with all her heart and I know what I'm about to ask her is right. "Marry me." She pulls back from me, amazement in her expression. "What?" "You asked me for a commitment. Marry me Scully." It soon becomes evident she hasn't heard what I said. She's not looking at me. Her gaze is trained on something over my right shoulder and I see the disbelief in her eyes. I turn around, following her gaze up the falls to the rocky ledge at the top and see what has garnered her attention. Albert Hosteen is standing at the top of the falls watching us. I'm thinking this is just another vision of mine until realization dawn on me. Scully can see him too. I look into her eyes. "You see him too, don't you?" "Yes," she says hesitantly. "I told you once before that I had seen him. You told me at the time that I couldn't have, that he had passed away." She meets my gaze. "You are actually seeing all these people you've told me about aren't you?" Christ, she thought I was making all this up? "You didn't believe me? What did you think...that I was delusional?" She looks away, ashamed of her admission. "I...when you said 'voices of the dead' I didn't believe they were really talking to you or that you really 'saw' them Mulder. I thought you were using this as a coping mechanism, to deal with what had happened to you." "Shit." I turn my back to her and step away. I feel her had graze my arm. "Mulder, wait. I don't know what to say. Are you saying you are seeing the dead? How?" "Yeah, me an Haley Joel Osment. I see dead people. I don't know how!" I glance back up to the top of the falls but Albert is gone. "You don't understand why the spirits come to you?" We both jump at the sound of his voice. Albert is now standing directly behind us. Albert is a man of simple wisdom and I came to trust his judgment and his advice. I feel Scully's arm slide around my waist. "I don't understand what they want from me." "They do not want anything from you. They come to you to share their knowledge and to help to follow the right path." "And what path would that be?" "It is not for me to say. You must find it here," he reaches out to place his palm against my chest. "Then why are you here?" "I have come to bring you something that was destined to be yours." I notice now that he has been holding something wrapped in leather. "What is it?" "Instructions that were meant for you." It dawns on both Scully and I what Albert has brought for me and Scully is instantly afraid of what my accepting the gift might mean. Something within me is telling me that this is what I must do and I extend both my hands to accept his gift. "No, Mulder, don't take it." Scully grabs my arm in an attempt to stop me from taking the artifact from Albert. "It was not meant to harm him." "It almost killed him!" Scully is visibly shaken at what is transpiring here. "It wasn't the artifact or the rubbing of it that affected him. It was what those men did to try and stop him being who he is meant to be; from fulfilling his destiny." "Drugged me into a Haldoperidol coma is what they did." I shudder, thinking back to being restrained, my mind on overdrive but my body useless to me from the influence of the drugs. "You and your people are under some illusion that Mulder is some mythical savior of the world. It's not true!" "No, Mulder is not. But he and you are one of many who can awaken the consciouness of the world and bring people to an understanding of what must be done to save it. "What do I do with this?" Albert looks at me and as I meet his eyes there is an understanding between us. He knows that I understand his message. "You will know when the time comes. It is a part of something that is bigger than the both of you." I look down at what I hold in my hands and slowly start to unwrap it. Scully says nothing, the fear evident on her face. Inside the leather wrapping is the actual artifact the rubbing Skinner handed me in his office came from. Scully believes to my astonishment that it is a piece of the ship she saw on the Ivory Coast. I have no reaction to it, no hollow noise, no voices in my head, no disorientation. Scully searches my face warily and takes the artifact from me to wrap it back in the leather covering. When we look up, Albert has vanished. "What did he mean...we'll know when the time comes?" "I don't know, but if I start building Devil's Tower out of my mashed potatoes we could be in trouble." Camp David, MD When we pull up to the gate a young marine check's our ID's. "Agent Scully, they've been looking for you. There's been an incident in the labs." Scully eyes flash to me instantly as I lean into her space to question the guard. "What kind of incident?" "I don't have that information sir." Scully's not waiting; she hits the gas as soon as the gate opens careening through it and on up the road to the compound. "Stop at the cottage first." "Why?" "We need to put this someplace first," I say as I pick the artifact up off the floor. When we get to the center of the compound there are military personnel and emergency vehicles everywhere. Scully makes a quick right and follows the drive to our cottage. She looks over at me without taking her hands off the wheel and I'm actually surprised when she comes to a stop a few feet from the porch. "Give me two minutes," I say, jumping from the car. I take the steps in one leap and crash through the door. Scrambling through the cottage to hide the artifact my sore tailbone protesting the quick movements. I barely get the door closed when I jump back in the car as Scully peels off toward the labs to see what is going on. Skinner meets us at the clinic where the labs have been set up. She slams the car into park but doesn't turn it off and is out the door instantly with me right behind her. "What the hell is going on?" Skinner tries to slow her down, grabbing her by the arm to prevent her from entering the facility. "There was some trouble. Several of the doctors have been shot." "Shot?" "Yes, three of them are dead. The equipment has been damaged; it looks like records were stolen. It's a mess Scully, just stay out of the way!" Scully is furious. She's spent as much time working on the vaccine as I have trying to get into the heads of our alien enemies. "I thought this was a secure facility. Who did this?" She pulls her arm from Skinner's grasp and heads into the clinic. Skinner tries again to stop her but it's me who stops him with a hand on his shoulder. He turns to look me in the eye. "Let her go." We follow her into the clinic. Skinner was right, it's a mess. The dead and injured have been removed but the evidence of what happened here has not. Pools of blood dot the floor; it's rich coppery smell filling my nostrils. Broken glass crunches under our feet as we cross the small lobby and enter the research lab. Most of the computers have been destroyed, the freezers and refrigerators emptied. I get this sickening feeling in my stomach that all we had gained in the past months has been lost and we are once again left with nothing. "Who did this?" Skinner gets a nervous look from one of the officers helping with the cleanup. "A marine. We have him in custody." One man, how could one person have caused this much destruction without being subdued by the army of enlisted men who are stationed here? The answer is suddenly obvious. It wasn't a man. "I want to see him." "Easy Mulder, he's been restrained and is being questioned. It's okay." I grab Skinner and turn him around. "Bullshit. I want to see him now. A man didn't do this!" We glare at each other. "This is what you want me for you bastard. To point the finger at the enemy." Skinner shrugs out of my grasp. Several enlisted men and the officer come over to subtly convey the message that I'm getting out of hand. He turns and watches Scully and two of the other doctors as they pick there way through the destruction that this animal has caused. "Now," I hiss at him. "Come on," he finally gives in and turns; I follow him out the door and across the compound to the security office. When we enter the building we find this 'marine' shackled to a chair. Skinner tells me his name is Private Randall. As soon as I see him I know what he is and he is equally aware of the fact that I can identify him for what he is. A chill overcomes me; I can feel him in my mind daring me to make the first move. We stare at each other, everyone else in the room well aware of the mind game going on here but unable or unwilling to challenge us. This is my chance to make everyone here realize just what we are up against. He knows my intentions instantly and we all watch in amazement as he stands, effortlessly breaking his bonds. The two guards who had been standing beside him become his first victims; both of them dropping like rocks from blows to the head. Someone shouts for more help. The officers in attendance scramble away from this monster, pinning themselves against a wall in an effort to get out of his way. Randall is still making eye contact with me as he makes his way across the room towards the officers. He's daring me to come at him but I can't beat him and he knows it. What happens next is still a blur. I'm wearing my gun but bending down to retrieve it from my ankle is not an option. Skinner is still standing next to me, his service weapon easily attainable. Slamming him into the wall I manage to relieve him of his gun before he can stop me. Lunging away I fire off five rounds into Randall's head and chest before the extra guards Skinner called in can stop me. I hit the wall hard. Someone's wrenching my right arm behind me so hard I hear my shoulder pop and cry out in pain from the separation. I drop the gun. "Look at him...look at him, he's not dead!" Randall lies still in a pool of blood on the floor looking VERY dead. The ruckus has attracted quite an audience. I'm still pinned to the wall by several guards but I can hear Marita's voice and the colonel I made such a big impression on discussing the nutcase who cause all this, me. Suddenly the room grows quiet. The guards lessen their hold on me and I turn to see that Randall has begun to move on the floor. We all watch in horror as his wounds begin healing themselves. "Magnetite! He has to be exposed while the flesh is still breached!" It sounds like Scully. I try to wrench myself away from the guards but one of them slams me hard again against the wall and all goes black. When I come too I find myself in our bed in the cottage. My head is pounding. My right arm is rather snuggly wrapped in a sling to immobilize it and throbs relentlessly. This has got to stop. "Hey, sleepyhead." My angel of mercy is once again sitting by my side. "How do you feel?" I take a quick inventory again. My ass still hurts my shoulder hurts and my head feels like it's going to explode. I don't answer her. "How'd I get here?" "You don't remember?" I close my eyes; I don't want to remember. I feel her warm hands on my left arm and open my eyes to gaze into hers. "You did something incredibly stupid...again." "Some things never change." "They could have killed you Mulder." "They know what they're up against now don't they?" She breaks eye contact. "Yes, they do and they're rethinking their whole strategy. Skinner said something about bringing in a General McLean. Someone he knew in Nam." "What happened to Randall? Where's Marita?" She hits me with a glare at the mention of her name. "What's left of Randall is in what's left of the lab. They're doing an autopsy now. I'm confused, what is she doing here? "Why aren't you there?" "Because I'm here with you." "I'm fi..." "You're not fine Mulder. That jerk dislocated your shoulder and you have a concussion. I can't give you anything but Tylenol for a while, I'm sorry." I drop my head back onto the pillow. "Just go Scully. Go figure out what makes these soldiers tick. I'm just gonna lie here and..." I feel her hand caress my weary brow. "What did you do with the artifact?" "I'm sitting on it. It's under the mattress." I open my eyes to see her smile. "I'll send Skinner over. Someone needs to wake you every few hours to be sure you're coherent." She kisses me gently on the lips. "Sure, fine, whatever." She slaps my leg as she leaves me alone in my misery. The time Albert spoke of comes to me unexpectedly. For the past month Scully and the rest of the research team have been working hard to restore the destroyed labs and recreate the vaccine that Krycek brought from Russia. Several Russian scientists have joined them in the project bringing with them samples of the rock from Tunguska. They now have the live virus to work with. Tests have provided a positive outlook that they are on the right track. Survivors of the virus like Scully and I have been instrumental in helping to strengthen the effectiveness of the vaccine. I'm beginning to look like a drug addict from the needle tracks on my arms. The final step of course will be human testing. The idea brings back the memories of those terrified men in that gulag. That will not happen here. I continue to study the movements of the super soldiers. There have been reports of several other encounters between them and the rebel forces. The soldiers are systematically working to destroy any evidence of alien presence. The rebels have been helping to identify and destroy the last pockets of alien research and genetic engineering. We are systematically destroying their ability to gestate an invasion force. After spending almost a month here, the president returned to Washington. Our escape from there in July was explained to the general public as a terrorist attempt on his life. More lies. He remained in seclusion here until new security measures could be established. We're all well aware that sending him back there will expose him to an even greater threat from the super soldiers but he has to retain the image for the people. Even they realize that. He's a brave man. His job is to go about the everyday process of running the country and right how he has a lot of work on his hands. Most of the work being done here has been kept from him. Having an alien probe his mind to find out we're secretly plotting against them isn't an option right now. We're in the fight of our lives. It's now 3AM and I find myself standing in the drive in front of our cottage my gaze drawn to the heavens above me. The mighty constellation of Orion who for centuries has guided dreamers and discoverers fills the sky. I stand here and wonder if it is he I have heard for the past three nights beckoning me to a place unknown. I hear the door slam behind me and turn to see Scully, wrapped in a heavy robe making her way down the steps and across the drive to where I stand shivering. She steps up against me and wraps her arm around my waist. I put my good arm over her shoulder and pull her close relishing her warmth. "What are you doing out here again Mulder?" I chuckle softly, what am I doing out here? I look back up at Orion. "I don't know Scully." She follows my gaze. "You're feeling it aren't you, what Albert said?" "I don't know, maybe. I've just had this powerful feeling of late that I need to be somewhere else, that something is about to occur that we're supposed to be a part of." I rub her arm and turn to face her. "I keep having this dream, about a mountainside and a gathering of people. There's a ship or something resembling one. I'm a part of that gathering." "It sounds like what you remember from before your abduction Mulder. Maybe you're just reliving it in a dream." God, I don't want to relive that, even in a dream. "No, it's not Oregon. It's open rolling hills, out west, maybe the Black Hills." "Wyoming? You're not going without me, not this time." I chuckle sadly. She trusted that I'd come back from Oregon and I let her down. "I don't think I'm supposed to go alone Scully. We both saw Albert, remember?" She hugs me as I look back up to the heavens. "Isn't that Orion?" "Yeah, the constellation sits on the celestial equator. It's visible in both the northern and southern hemispheres. It's been used as a navigation point for centuries." "You know in Greek mythology, Orion was a handsome and mighty hunter...not unlike someone else I know." I smile back down at her with the comment, squeezing her tightly. "You're freezing Mulder, let's go inside." We start to walk back towards the cottage but I hesitate for a moment. "Scully, if we leave here it's possible we may never get back. Once we're out in the open again we're vulnerable." "I realize that Mulder. The research can continue without me. There are good dedicated people involved and they already have what they need." She rubs my arm. "I'm so sorry about this. McLean and his men, Skinner, they won't give up, not now. Where ever you and I are supposed to be I feel it's something we need to do for ourselves." Black Hills National Forest, WY It took three days of driving to get us out here. Skinner wasn't even surprised when we told him we were leaving. I got the impression he expected it. They have enough evidence to take before the Grand Jury on charges of a government cover-up of unethical military practices. A lot of people are going to pay for their duplicity. Any reference to alien involvement has been replaced with mentions of terrorist plots against the American people. I don't like it but until we can hand them absolute proof of the invasion threat it's better we keep our mouths shut about that. My hope is that someday humanity will welcome the existence of alien life and not view it as a threat to our survival. Skinner didn't ask where we were headed but he did offer to provide us with identification. We both politely declined his offer; tired of pretending we are someone else. He seemed satisfied with our assurance that we intended to come back, that our work here wasn't finished. In every great revolution there are those who sacrifice their personal wellbeing for the greater good. Those who choose hope over selfishness. My father was one of those people and I have followed his example. His hope as the Englishman told me was that I would do everything in my power to stop colonization and I have made that commitment without regrets. Devil's Tower National Monumen, WY As we make the turn into the park there are cars parked everywhere making it hard to navigate the road. People are walking to an unknown destination and we follow them in our car. When we get to the point where the car can take us no further Scully and I climb out to watch the procession of people passing by us. It's a warm evening for early autumn and the setting sun has left an amber glow on the horizon. The huge monolith of Devil's Tower dwarfs us as we climb the small rise before us. Scully hasn't said a word. I didn't tell her back in Maryland that its presence was a part of my dreams. At the time I'm sure she would have thought seriously of having me committed. The deep blue of twilight is already beginning to creep across the sky when we reach the top. We both stop in amazement. Below us in the meadow are hundreds of artifacts laid out in the shape of the ship Scully had seen in Africa and I had seen in my dreams. I look down at the parcel I hold in my hand. The artifact that Albert had given us carefully wrapped in leather. A glance at Scully as I begin to unwrap it. Beyond the assembled pieces hundreds; perhaps thousands of people have gathered. People of all races that have come together here on this spot to fulfill a prophecy. Ages ago a force of unknown origin brought the power of creation to this planet and with it, the instructions for how that power was to be used to benefit all that was created. Somehow as the legends tell us, these instructions got lost or misinterpreted or destroyed leaving the earth an all those who inhabit it in turmoil. It's time to put those instructions back together so we may all realize our true purpose. I take the artifact from the wrapping and reach for Scully's hand. "I can't do this alone." She smiles at me, holding tightly to my trembling hand. "You were never supposed to." And together we slowly descend into the field. It's almost dark now and the heavens above us shine brilliantly with thousands of tiny lights of hope. Without letting go of her hand I place the artifact we had brought into it's rightful place among the rest and step back. The Natives who are here are chanting, beating drums. Others pray. I feel slightly out of place in this moment of deep spirituality. The chanting stops and it becomes incredibly quiet. All the sounds of the night have ceased. The breeze that had earlier been blowing has stilled. Suddenly we feel the ground shaking and we are all enveloped in a blinding white light. Scully let's go of my hand to shield her eyes and I feel suddenly alone. There is nothing but the blinding white light around me. I yell Scully's name but there is no answer. Tears run from my eyes, this isn't what was supposed to happen is it? The light begins to flicker and I can make out shadows moving about. Suddenly a figure begins to appear before me, it's small and at first I think it's Scully but then I realize the shape is wrong. It is a being with long slender arms and legs and an odd shaped head. It's not human. As my eyes adjust and I can see it more clearly I recognize it as one I am familiar with. There is something graceful and calming about the way it is moving towards me and I am not afraid. In a moment it is standing right in front of me, its deep black eyes seem to plead with me to accept what I am seeing and to understand it's purpose. In an act of salutation, it reaches out its hand to me and I can find no reason not to accept the greeting. "Mulder? Mulder, it's me." I feel a warm hand caressing my forehead and struggle to open my eyes. It's hard to focus at first, the brightness from the light momentarily damaging my site like when you have your picture taken with a flash bulb. Scully's concerned face comes into view and I realize I'm lying on my back in the grass. What the hell happened? She smiles at me as I open my eyes. A peaceful gentle smile that I haven't seen on her in ages. She kisses me like she's waking up her prince and I stroke her hair. "What happened?" I say as I gather myself up off the ground. "Everything Mulder." I look around me, the artifacts; all of them are gone. There are people milling about, whispering with amazement. I know what I saw, I remember the tiny hand in mine and the peace I felt in knowing that I was connecting to life that was so different and yet the same as my own. I feel somehow enlightened for lack of a better word. My soul filled with a peaceful resonance in knowing a truth I have long searched for has been found. I reach to stroke the side of Scully's face. She won't tell me what she saw and I feel I have no right to ask. Who ever came to her in the light I can tell she has made peace with herself as well. The first light of dawn is beginning to tint the eastern sky. We turn and join the others here to watch the sun rise on a new day of hope. I find it somehow fitting that this event should happen here of all places. According to the Native legends it was near this place that the White Buffalo woman first came to the Sioux nation bearing her sacred bundle. She taught the people the ways to live in the world and when she departed she promised to return in a time of great need to bring a message of peace and unity. Perhaps that time is now. I see now with the eyes of someone who has looked too long for factual evidence that these 'original instructions' the Natives speak of are not any written or otherwise fixed documentation but instead the broad understanding that we all exist in a universe of living things. That all things are related and that respect and harmony for all must prevail I stand behind Scully and wrap my arms around her. Our breath shows in the chilly predawn air. A strange feeling overcomes me suddenly. Like I'm watching myself from a distance. It is the same feeling I had once before when I found myself in a child's room with the face of a gentle woman watching over me. I look around, scanning the crowd until my gaze stops on a couple standing not too far from us. The man is holding a sandy haired toddler. I recognize the woman instantly. I squeeze Scully tightly; unable to speak, the child's eyes meet mine and he smiles. Swallowing hard I feel Scully glance back in my direction concerned. She follows my gaze to the child and she gasps. "Oh God, Mulder." I feel her sway and tighten my grip even more. She wraps her arms around mine as we stand and watch our son smiling back at us. West Tisbury, Martha's Vineyard Ten years ago lost in a world of hopelessness and self- despair I was sure this day would never come and yet here we are; not just Scully and I but all six billion of us still thriving on this miracle we call Earth. And while a lot has changed in the last ten years civilization really hasn't undergone any radical transformation. Something happened that night in Wyoming that none of us were able to explain. Whether it was unearthly or divine intervention is not for us to question. The seeds that were planted that night have continued to grow and a new awareness of peace and understanding seems to be spreading across the globe. The ancient texts predicted the world would end in a cataclysm of fire. The Natives, say it is the time when the earth passes from one world to the next. Astrologists will call it the Age of Aquarius. I'd just like to think of it as a new beginning. There will always be conflict. It has been a part of human nature since the Bible, this war between good and evil is an eternal one. But there are things now that have unite us. We owe our existence now to the teamwork of some extraordinary men and women of which my Scully is one. She was right all those years ago; there is no substitute for perseverance and hard work. We haven't gotten here alone. The sacrifices we have all made have given humanity a fighting chance. Truth vs. lies, good vs. evil, the quest continues. We may learn the truth but that truth only serves to provide us with more questions. There has to be something for the next generation to discover and achieve. It took me almost half my life to realize that the greatest truth is something you find in your heart; one for which you need no proof. There have been many times over the past decade when I wondered why I drew the straw to keep the quest alive. Like Frodo Baggins, in Tolkien's tales of the Hobbit, I often wish the ring had never been given to me either but I no longer question my place in the grand scheme of things. What matters, as Gandalf said is what you do with the time that is given to you. Scully is now that doctor she always wanted to be and I bide my time writing and dabbling in the paranormal, sometimes consulting for the Bureau. I wrote a book about my abduction experience. Scully told me to do it, she said it would help me get it out of my head. She was right, again. I've never had the nerve to have it published but I no longer wake in the night terrified by what had happened to me. After 20 years together we still haven't tied the knot so to speak but it's not something I regret. She got her diamonds, she wears them in her ears every day and I got something this morning that further signifies our commitment to each other. Scully gave me a sundial, an 18th century time piece around which was inscribed "GROW OLD WITH ME. The BEST IS YET TO BE. I have no intention of doing anything else. I lie here now in my father's house having awakened from a dream. A connection I share with the son I haven't seen in years. I was standing on the porch of that farmhouse I have seen often in these dreams. It's a clear and crisp tonight and I am alone on the porch. I heard the door open and a man's voice telling me to come in from the cold but I refuse. Wanting instead to enjoy the Christmas present I brought out here to use. Mom and Dad insisted that Santa had brought it for me and though I'm too old to believe that I also know they couldn't afford this wonderful telescope. Scully is reluctant to come on these journeys with me but I need her here tonight. I reach over and stroke her cheek. She stirs in her sleep and mumbles something unrecognizable. "Scully." "Hmmm...Mulder? What?" I put my arm across her shoulder and touch my forehead to hers. "I want you to dream with me." She hugs me back and presses her head against mine. Suddenly I'm back on the porch and hear my father's voice as he comes out on to the porch with me. "Son, you're gonna freeze out here. What are you looking at?" "The universe, Dad. It's incredible." He chuckles softly at my enthusiasm. "And what is it you see in this universe of yours?" "Life. It's everywhere. I can feel it. Do you think someday we'll discover where life exists out there?" He puts his arm around my shoulder and we look up into the heavens together. "Son, if anyone can find it you can. I know you, you have a gift, you'll never stop searching." Scully can feel me smiling against her. She runs her fingers though my silvery hair and kisses the top of my head. "He has all the time in the world." The End We have all the time in the world, Every step of the way will find us, We have all the time in the world,
Authors Notes: This is it, you've made it to the end of my story. This whole thing started out as a little 40K story that I did because I felt some resolution was needed at the end of The TRUTH...this is what happened! I apologize for any spelling and grammatical errors. Goodness knows, it's been a long time since English class. I'll also apologize to the nitpickers and for any inconsistencies. I tried to do some research on the subjects I touched throughout my stories but I won't guarantee that there aren't some mistakes or physical improbabilities. But then I think CC sort flew by the seat of his pants too. You may not agree with my ideas but I hope you respect the journey. References to Native myth come from LEGEND of The RAINBOW WARRIORS by Steven McFadden. Also Devil's Tower really does play a factor in these legends. Perhaps that is why Steven Speilberg used it in his film CLOSE ENCOUNTERS of The Third KIND. I've sort of nicknamed these stories The BOND SERIES since they're all named after song titles from James Bond films and also because to me the show itself was centered around a bond between two characters that not even death could separate. Feedback welcome at iluvxf@hotmail.com
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