from: darkstar date: march 24, 1999 subject: colonization/msr spoilers: a bite-sized one for "the red and the black" and "patient x" rating: g disclaimer: i don't own them. i am merely borrowing them from whatever faceless aliens are parading as fox executives to mess with their minds a little. nothing that won't wash out. i promise. ;) summary: the end of the world from scully's pov archive: anywhere, everywhere, but let me know and keep my name and e-mail addy entact, if you please. --------------- Last Dance darkstar --------------- I thought the world would end in fire. I thought the world would end in ice. It didn't. Like most of life's great surprises, the end of the world came softly, without a tongue of fire or a star of ice, late one summer midnight, ushered in by a soft knocking at my door. Knock. Knock. Knock. The rat-tat of a fist striking wood, as unobtrusive as it might have been, jolted me from an a rare moment of truly peaceful slumber as if it had been a rifle shot. My eyes flew open, my hand reaching under my pillow for the cold reassurance of my gun in my palm even as my gaze arched through the air to rest on the clock on my dresser. 12:31. A million who-what-why's whirled through my head in the few seconds it took my feet to swing from the bed to the floor. Mulder ? He usually dalled. An assassin ? I didn't think they'd be quite so polite as to knock. But who ? My mother ? The Lone Gunmen ? Ugh. Frohike. The thought in itself roused me out of grogginess enough so I could pull on my robe, then slide the gun into a side pocket. Sure, Frohike in and of himself was no danger, but there was always the chance it wasn't him, or anyone else I knew. I'd rather be safe than sorry, or rather, sorry and dead. Thanks a lot Mulder, you're rubbing off on me. KNock. KNock. KNock. There it was again, still soft, but now my ears detected a note of frenzy the knocker tried hard to subdue. Just wait a minute, whoever you are. Nothing can be that important. Not at this ungodly hour of the night. I staggered through my apartment- in the dark it had become a sort of maze that I had to run, being the rat, in order to find the cheese, which is the door. Dana girl, clam down. It was 12:30- much too late to be waxing philosophical. After three near disasters and one stubbed toe, I made it to the door. "Who is it ?" I called, not particularly caring if my voice wasn't sugar and spice and all those other nice things. After the silence on the other side lapses into a long couple of moments, my fingers instinctively reach down to curl around my gun, my brain flying to a past painfully rememberes, when Duane Barry came to my door to take me away.... "Scully, it's me." My fingers released the gun immediately, the tension fading as quickly as a burst of flash powder, leaving only weariness and resigned annoyance. Even as I unlocked the door to let him and whatever case file he'd dug up into my apartment, a rebuke formed sharp on my tongue. A rebuke which died before it was fully birthed the moment I saw his face. I was used to Mulder's moods. His guilt, his depression, his anger at the world, and at himself. It all comes with the territory of being his partner, his friend, and maybe more, (now where did *that* thought come from Dr. Scully ?) but never in the six years we have worked together had I seen him so......haunted. It burned in his eyes. They were an intense grey blue tonight, and on fire with something infinitely too big for words, piercing my flesh and my tired bones to touch my soul. Mulder's eyes are truly stained glass windows to his soul, windows he keeps shut from everyone but me. I read pain, pouring from them like a flood. He had lost something, something incredibly precious to him. Samantha ? Had they found her only to discover her body ? Had his mother died ? Had my cancer returned ? He stood there, Atlas who carries the world on his shoulders and wears his heart on his sleeve, staring past me into nothingness, until I realized he wasn't moving on his own, and took hold of his arm, gently pulling him inside. "Mulder ??" I called his name hesitantly, briefly wondering who I was talking to tonight. "What is it ? What's wrong ?" His hand reached out slowly, and closed around mine, holding it with something near desperation, as if he was afraid if he let go I would disappear. He led me to sit on my couch, and looked into my eyes for the first time. "The world is ending." he said, his voice flat as wind on water. "How ? What happened ? Is she dead ? Did they find her ? Is she hurt ?" The questions fell freely from my lips as subconscious proof of my concern. "No." The muscles at the corners of his mouth twitched in what might have been the ghost of a sad smile. "She is safer than any of us tonight. If I could send you to where she is, I would." "Why Mulder ?" I dared to ask the question, half-fearing the answer. He was disconnected from me somehow, I could feel it. I wanted so desperately to get through to him, to take the pain and hurt from his eyes. To hold the world for him in only for a brief while, so his weary shoulders could rest. Tonight, I think they have broken. "Scully, *the world is ending*. Colonization will begin in exactly three hours. " "What ?" My own voice quickly faded into a shadow, quickly losing strength as the softly spoken words hit me in the gut like a velvet coated brick. "Oh dear God.... how do you know ?" "Cancer Man." Mulder spat the name out as if it were posion. "He called and told me. Called himself, he did. Right before he blew his brains all over the phone." "Coward." Even in my state of shock, I found myself able to muster up a decent amount of hatred for our old nemesis, if nothing to match Mulder's venom. For a handful of heartbeats we were both silent, his thoughts somewhere in space, and mine focused on the man inches away from me. He shook his head, as if to drive away the fog, then turned to me, his eyes seemingly clearer now that I too share his burden, and made a request, a command, whatever I could have called it. "Get dressed." he said."Pack enough clothes for a while, your gun, and whatever ammo you can get your hands on. Don't bother with food. You won't need money- in three hours it will be about as useful as kindling and nothing more." I smiled slightly. Mulder was back, and ready with our plan of action it would seem. "Do I get to know where we're going ?" He chose to reward me with a one of his smiles, and white teeth flashed in the moonlight. "Not yet. Just trust me." "I thought you told me to trust no one." Mulder shot me the wounded puppy look he does so well. "Since when does no one include me ?" "It doesn't Mulder." I rose to my feet, letting out the tension that had wrapped around my chest in a long sigh. "I'll be out in a minute." "Ok. But hurry. And you can take the gun out of your pocket." He grinned again, his eyes dancing wickedly. "I'm totally honorable, I promise." "Yeah but you still hang around Frohike a lot..." I called out as I shut the door. His comment flipped my frown into a wry smile as I pulled off my pajamas and exchanged them for a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Not exactly the things I thought I'd be wearing when the world ended. For some odd reason I'd imagined I'd still be wearing a suit and carrying my badge. But then again I never took it all seriously. Even though I was a part of it. Perhaps it was a mix of imagination and adrenalin but I could swear the implant in my neck began to hum. Only faintly, so faintly it was inaudible, only felt by one who has felt the same callings before. The last time I ended up on a bridge with a lot of burned bodies. And now, with the same people who took three months of my life in power, what will happen to me ? Will I be taken again ? Will Mulder try to save me once more ? I know that no matter how scared I am under the infamous Scully exterior, I don't want him to. Not this time. Not at the cost I fear the Colonizers will call on him to pay. "Five minutes Scully, time's moving fast." Mulder's voice pulled me back to life, and I shifted into overdrive. I yanked open my drawer, taking out every pair of clean underwear I owned (Hey, end of the world or not, some things are still necessitys), as well as some t-shirts and jeans. Next went my spare gun, and every bullet I could lay my hands on- a great many more than before I met Mulder and the X-files.) Everything somehow fit into my duffel bag. Before I zipped it shut, I picked up Emily's picture from my dresser, fingering it lovingly and blinking away the tears that came even after a year, then sliding it carefully on top of my clothes. Wherever I went, she was coming with me. "You coming already ?" Mr. Patient outside called me again. I don't blame him. If I'm this nervous, he must be going insane. "As ready as I'll ever be." I replied, meaning every word of it. How, in five minutes, can I be ready to leave my entire life behind me and walk out with Mulder to face the end of the world ? It wasn't all that hard really. I picked up the duffel bag, took one last look around my room, and walked out of my apartment. Forever. We drove. A lloonngg time. Mulder used the opportunity to fill me in on the little details- how the Colonists were starting out of bases in Tunisia, London, Russia, and Canada, working their way here. How'd they'd be arriving in America any minute. How his mother had taken cyanide when she'd learned. That one hurt a lot, although he tried to act like it didn't. How the Three Stooges...aka the Lone Gunemen had already gone underground and were organizing the resistance as we spoke. He spared us both the process of describing what earth would be like after they took over. I already knew what to expect. Skeptic as I was, when Mulder talked of the end times, I listened. Only then I didn't believe. Now I had all the proof I need, in the form of white glowing objects that appear over the horizon every so often, spreading to the four corners of the globe. That belief should come now, hours before my death or worse, was a cruel irony of fate. I wondered where Mulder was taking me, where we could go to hide when there was no place left. No place my implant didn't follow me. Twenty minutes before the world ended we arrived. I had expected a cave, a hideout, a fortress. I had not expected the sea, a black sheet of liquid velvet, edged by a white satin ribbon of sand. The moon, a thumbnail in the sky, painted a path across the waves, a path the surf carried right to our feet. "Mulder...." I turned to him, the questions in my voice once again. "What are we doing here ?" He killed the engine, and opened the door before answering. "Saying goodbye." He let the words cut through the air behind him as he walked towards the water. "Goodbye !?!" I jumped out of the car and stalked after him, hoping I hadn't heard him right. Mulder *could not* be ditching me. Not *now*. Not *here*. "Goodbye." He stopped at the water's edge, letting the surg swirl inches from his feet, his back still to me. "I'm leaving in the morning. We may have lost the battle, but resistance is not entirely futile." "And you don't want me to help ?" I couldn't keep the hurt out of my voice. "After all we've done ? After all we've been through ?" Tears that stung like betrayal rushed unbidden to my eyes. Mulder spun to face me, his jaw stretched tight with emotion. "Scully, you're the *only* thing I want." His answer caught me off-guard, but not as much as the sudden flare of passion in his tone. He stepped closer to me, and brushed a strand of hair away from my eyes with a gentleness only he has. When he spoke again, his voice was low and husky, as if he thought if he spoke to loudly the world would slip away. "But I can't let you come with me. It's too dangerous. They won't kill us if we fail, you know that as much as I'll do. They'll put us in their experiments. Take away our humanity. Scully, I can't watch that happen to you. I love you too much. It would kill me. Don't ask me to make that risk." I reached out for his hand, tears of a different kind stinging my eyes. Why did he have to tell me this now ? "Since when was there not a risk ?" Deep inside of me I know he's right, and a cold dread takes hold of my normally rational seld at the thought of capture. Not for fear of Death, but for fear of what might preceed it. He knows my fear, and that's why he's doing this. To protect me. But it doesn't make it any easier. It doesn't make it fair. "It's not like I haven't been there, done that before." "Scully....this is different. Trust me...there's a place in Montana where you can be safe. I'll make sure you get there, and then I'll vanish. Please don't try to find me." Trust him. So much trusting he's asking me to do tonight, so much he's asking me to give up. "What about my family ?" The realization slammed into me. "I can't just leave them-" "Don't worry." He interrupted. "I sent Frohike and the guys to get your mom, then they're picking up Bill and Tara. They'll meet you there. We couldn't get ahold of Charlie but we're working on it." I half-smiled at the thought of my prim and proper brother William Scully Jr. opening the door to see Frohike staring at him...or more likely at his chest, given that Frohike had all the height advantage of an Ewok, while my brother towered over me like Chewbacca. "And what if I don't want to go ?" He smiled for the first time since we'd arrived, mischief flashing silver in his eyes. "Then I'll be forced to do the only thing a gentleman can- knock you out and drag you." "C'mon and try it G-man." I almost laughed as I said it, but stopped myself. This was a time for tears, for sadness. My life was crumbling. Mulder was leaving me. How could I even think of laughter ? "It's ok to laugh Scully." he smiled, tracing the outline of my face with his finger. "The world doesn't end for a good fifteen minutes." Another moment of silence, bridged only by the unspoken flow of thoughts that linked us. Mulder, why do you have to be Atlas ? Why can't you leave that to others and stay with me ? Where you belong. But even as I ask him, I know that saving the world has been his destiny ever since Samantha disappeared. I was only a part of his quest, playing Dulcenia to my Don Quixote. "Take off your shoes." Mulder said, breaking the silence. "What ?" I stared at him, wondering just how much the pressure had gotten to him. "My shoes." "Yep. I'll be right back." He disappeared over a sand dune back towards the car without anything more than crytpic look about him.. I unlaced my sneakers, and pulled off my socks. The sand was cool under my feet, and smooth like glass. In a moment Mulder came back, bare-foot as well. The faint twang of as slow Elvis ballad filtered from the background. "Mulder..." A rebellious smile quirked the corner of my lips up again, despite my efforts to contain it. "What's the matter Scully, you don't like Elvis ?" Any other night I would have given him a resounding "NO!" but tonight it didn't matter. "It's fine." The King was crooning away, and despite my steadfast resolve to mourn it *was* rather catchy. I didn't noticed I had started swaying along to it until I felt Mulder's hands slide around my waist and realized we were dancing. He caught the ripples of surprise across my face before I could, and gave me a reassuring smile. "Relax. Skinner isn't going to catch us out here. Plus I don't think we're partners anymore. At least not the FBI kind." His last statement sent my nerves into a frenzy, but I determined not to melt into a little pile of goo. "That's not what I was thinking." I lied. What can I say ? Six years of habits is hard to break. Not that I didn't enjoy dancing with Mulder. Truth be told I loved it. We spun circles in the sand, and I felt a warm breeze blow from the south to wrap itself around me. Or maybe the warmth came from Mulder's hand on my back, strong as iron when it needed to be but so gentle with me, like it had always been. I closed my eyes, listening to the bittersweet symphony of the sea and the radio, overshadowed by the beating of Mulder's heart under my ear. And I danced. Like I never had before. Like there was no tomorrow. Because in many ways, there wouldn't be. I had almost forgotten what had led us to this beach when the radio turned to static, Elvis cut off at the height of his glory. I froze in his arms, and could feel his thoughts racing parallel to mine. Time up. Not just for us, but for the whole world. The emotions remained dormant for a heartbeat, then exploded within me with a force that rivaled Pompeii in all it's destruction. I wanted to scream. I couldn't. I wanted to cry. I couldn't. I couldn't move. For a moment I couldn't even breathe. Mulder pulled me closer to him, his arms enfolding me protectively, as he alone stood between me and the evil in the sky. He tipped my face up until I was looking deep into his eyes. Jade green eyes, warmed with sparks of gold. Slowly, he bent down and brushed a feather light kiss on my cheek. I scarcely felt it, but it was enough to unfreeze me. The world came out of slow motion, and I could breathe again. He took my hand again, and we began to dance. Three days later, Mulder was gone. True to his word, he left me in Montana, and gave Frohike orders to tie me to a chair if I tried to follow. Boy, I'll give the little troll credit. He ties knots any Boy Scout would be proud of. It took me fifteen minutes to get out of them, after Mulder had kissed me goodbye and walked out the door. Five minutes after that to stop screaming curses after him and prayers to heaven that God would keep him safe since I couldn't. Three days and I'm still not over him. Life isn't so bad here. We hide underground during the days, and scavenge food and other things at night. I'll admit it's not the Ritz, and I'm getting tired of beef jerk three times a day, but from what the Three Stooges can piece together of what used to be radio communication, we are very lucky. Bill seems to be in a state of shock, and even now refuses to admit Mulder was right. In face he even dared to hint that this whole thing might somehow be Mulder's fault. Well, I'm pretty sure he won't be saying that again, at least not for a while. I *know* it will take at least a week for the swelling to go down from what used to be the upper half of his lip. Hey, FBI self-defense courses do come in handy once every so often. I did it for you Mulder, wherever you are. The nights are the hardest, when ship patrol the skies like ghosts, and I huddle on the rocky ground shivering underneath my blanket. It's hardest because then I have the time to wonder if Mulder is still alive, and if he is thinking of me, or simply preoccupied with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Sure, it's selfish of me to want his attention, but I want it nonetheless. I'm still human. He's out there making sure I stay that way. I just hope he takes some time to watch his back so he'll come back alive too. My watch tells me its 12:30. Three days ago I was finding my way to answer a knock at the door, never imagining I would end up where I am now. I suppose I should sleep, but insomnia seems to be another Mulder-trait that has worn off on me. I thought the world would end in fire. I thought the world would end in ice. The world ended at precisely 3:30 AM, one soft summer night, with the wind at my face, the sand at my feet, and the surf at my heels. Innocent people died. Cities burned. In one day we ceased to be the rulers of our homeworld and fell to the rank of slaves. Tomorrow will be no different. The conquest will continue. More innocents will die, more cities will be destroyed, more slaves will be sold. But Mulder and I are still dancing. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> thanx for reading ! i hope u liked it. feedback will be worshipped daily at flames will be used in the burnt offerings. feed a starving artist, please ! thanx again, darkstar