Redemption (17/26) by GeorgeHale Rating: R Feedback: Classification: Colonization/Mythology/MSR/William, post I.W.T.B. Canon. Spoilers: Left, right, & center. This is best served if you REALLY know your X-Files. Disclaimer: I wish I made this. This has been my catharsis, five years in the making. Maybe it can be one for you, too. Warning: Violence, Gratuitous employment of the 'Our little sailor' clause (swearing,) Fluff with two 'f's, Cheesy dialogue, Friendly Ghosts, Melodramatics, Plot devices, Fiji Mermen (no, not really,) Angst, Blasphemy, Dehydration via crying, Scientific Whammies, Plams, Lots & Lots & Lots of...Bees, Magical Growing Scully Cross Chain, Red Herrings. It's going to get strange and ugly before the end. ------------------------------------------------------------------ XVII ------------------------------------------------------------------ "Among Halverson's belongings, I found a children's book of Norse legends. From what I can tell, the pictures show the end of the world - not in a sudden firestorm of damnation as the Bible teaches us, but in a slow covering blanket of snow. First the moon and the stars will be lost in a dense white fog, then the rivers and the lakes and the sea will freeze over. And finally a wolf named Skoll will open his jaws and eat the sun, sending the world into an everlasting night. I think I hear the wolf at the door." - Dana Scully, Dod Kalm ------------------------------------------------------------------ Mulder thought fondly of his Academy days as he listened to Scully instruct the others in basic firearms training while he did his best to sight in Will's rifle using one arm. Though the time they had was limited, Scully used it wisely to show them proper aiming and position before turning them loose on a few safe soft targets she and Mulder picked a short distance away in the fog. After handing Will's .22 back to him, Mulder took a minute to guide the Gunmen through reloading. He turned back to help William only to find Scully already with him, bracing his shoulder as he shot at a dirt mound in the distance. She was helping him learn how to absorb the recoil without reacting; a bad habit that beginners had a tendency to form. "Good," she coached, moving her hand away. "Now try again, this time with the scope." Mulder was relieved to see that she had warmed somewhat to the uncomfortable idea of their son wielding a weapon. She shared a brief sad glance with him as if she had sensed his gaze. They shot until cold and the last vestiges of light forced them back beneath the ground. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Dinner was mixed vegetable stew with canned beef, what Kryder insisted with a smirk was a delicacy dish he perfected during his tours overseas. He moved carefully with the backpacking stove pot, filling each person's small bowl to the brim. "Mmm," Mulder mused after he nearly burnt his tongue on the scalding mix, "when this is all over maybe you guys should open a delicatessen." Wrapped in her blanket, Scully grinned about her salty spoonful at Kryder, nearly biting her tongue as she found herself coughing while stifling a laugh. "Kiss the cook's ass, Mulder," Skinner grumbled before he coughed, sitting down carefully with his bowl on a bench. Frohike nodded over his steaming bowl at Langly. "Hitting withdrawal, yet?" "Oh yeah," Langly freely admitted, missing his electronics as they ate in companionable silence. "I'm going to start twitching soon." He kicked his leg out and shook his head at odd angles to elicit a knowing grin from Frohike. Byers was back to consulting his atlases, ignoring his comrades' hijinks. "We have a few routes available toward the South if anyone is interested," he said, his breath hanging on the chilled air. "Go on," Skinner encouraged him. "Assuming we're going to risk the highways, there are three main routes heading south passing through St. Louis, Dallas, and New Orleans." Byers paused, repositioning his glasses. Skinner tilted his head, watching the younger man question himself. "Which one do you think is best?" "The last," he said, tracing a finger along the route in his book. "It moves us south the soonest, and also happens to be the shortest route of the three." "I'm waiting for the but, because you don't sound convinced," Skinner prompted him with impatience. "This route leads us south through the Western Unaka, the Blue Ridge Mountains. It's all still part of the Appalachian Basin - we'd be moving through even higher mountains that share the same geologic origins." "More magnetite," Scully simplified, distressed as she looked to Mulder. "Yes," Byers sighed, laying down his books. All eyes rested on Mulder. "I'll be fine," he said, setting his bowl aside and standing up. "Don't fuss over me." Scully chuffed, giving him the eye as she raised her chin. "What's wrong with the other routes?" she asked the others. Frohike pounded his shirt pocket for effect as some ash dust flew off and illuminated the lamplight cast beside him. "This is what's wrong. St. Louis is almost directly west, so it's out. We need to be moving south to get away from this ash. We can't keep breathing this stuff or we're all going to be sick. What's the other name for miner's lung?" he indirectly asked Scully. "Silicosis," she supplied. "He's right," Byers agreed. "It's also the longest route and we can't even be sure we'll be able to stay on the roads with the van." "Okay, the other one?" Scully asked. "There's no cover," Skinner stated. "The mountains and magnetite at least offer us some protection. Lord knows we need it. We'll be sitting ducks in that van once we reach the open plains, assuming we make it that far. I didn't see the ship that chased us back from to the base, but I know it obliterated everything behind us." "Why can't we fly?" William interjected. Will had his answer before anyone even replied. "There's just too much ash, Will," Mulder responded, pacing. "And none of us know how to fly even if we could." "Surely there are back roads, foothills, hiking paths between the first route and the one you just talked about," Kryder said, waving his spoon. "We'll improvise. Hug the ridges if we have to." "Let's take the route through the mountains," Mulder asserted. "It's the quickest and safest. We're talking what, twenty-four hours of driving? If I feel sick, I'll say something." "No you won't," Will murmured. "And there won't be anywhere to go...Besides, we know you far better than that, Mulder," Scully added with wary eyes. "But you're right. And Kryder is right. We may have to improvise anyway." ------------------------------------------------------------------ The matter settled and bowls cleared, the team gave themselves what space they could as they unfurled their sleeping pads and bags. "Off with the shirt and jacket," Scully told Mulder without pretense, pulling out her medical kit and at the collar of his coat. "Here, in front of all these people?" Mulder flashed his most disarming smile at her, fumbling while slowly unbuttoning his coat with his good hand. "Red-eyed beast woman." "Beats manos de piedra, doesn't it?" Scully waved her antiseptic wipe in front of Mulder's nose causing him to snort and shake his head while she smiled at him. "You're an ass." Her face contorted in a different manner after she helped him disrobe and saw his arm unwrapped. "Oh, Mulder...I should have taken time to check this earlier." Mulder refused to look. "That good, huh?" "Yeah, you're a mess," she breathed, turning his arm closer to her headlight to examine it even as he winced. "You're not mending, and you tore some of your sutures. It's starting to get infected." "Not at all?" he asked, looking up at her surprised. "No..." Scully saw Kryder watching them and she motioned for him to come over as she felt Mulder's forehead with the back of her other hand. He matched her expression as he looked at Mulder's wound. "Boil some water?" she asked. He nodded and began searching for a free pot. Will couldn't help his curiosity as he crept closer to watch. Mulder called his name to get his attention as he came closer. "You probably don't want to see this," he warned, covering as much of the wound as he could with his free hand. "No, I'm curious," Will insisted, angling his head to see past Mulder's hand and Scully. "Let me see." Mulder sighed, dropping his hand to his knee when Scully placed hers in his. "It's going to be pretty gross, Will," she informed him. "He doesn't really think you have hands of stone, you know," William reassured her. "I know," Scully said, smiling. "But he might reconsider in a few minutes." "She shot me once, you know," Mulder told Will, poking at the puckered scar on his wounded shoulder. "Lesson learned." Will was surprised to hear the revelation and looked at Scully with a newfound respect. "Keep your mouth wide open like that and it will hold this flashlight at just the right angle," Scully deadpanned, putting a light in his hand. "I need you to get into the front pouch on my bag over there and get the containers in there. Can you do that for me, Will?" Will moved quickly, glad to be of use and was bringing them back when Mulder spotted the eye drops. Scully was busy removing the sutures Kryder had placed the day before. "Scully, save those for your eyes." Kryder returned with the steaming pot of water to see Mulder and Scully arguing and set it down to cool. "Byers' tea water, at your service," he announced. "Better listen to the lady, sir. You wouldn't like the alternative." "Salt?" Scully asked him. "Mixed," Kryder responded, handing her a new syringe. "All right. The eye drops go in the pot." "Scully," Mulder pleaded. "Salt water and eye drops? What's the alternative?" William asked. "Saline is the medical term for it," Scully clarified, showing him the saline label on one of the containers as she ignored Mulder. "It's good for cleaning wounds if you can supply pressure," Scully motioned at the syringe. "The alternative is " "A bit gross," Kryder supplied. "Ever get stung by a jellyfish?" William was baffled. "No." "Good, don't plan on it," Kryder said, grinning, "because if you get hard up for saline in an emergency situation, you have to deal with the awkward scenario of finding a friend to pee on your wound." William recoiled, groaning and grimacing to Kryder's amusement. "Okay, okay, we'll find more eye drops," Mulder decided. As Scully turned around to fetch some clean bandages, he lunged forward and grabbed a few bottles of the solution with his right hand. He casually slipped them behind his back as she turned back and silently dared the others watching him to say anything. Scully swirled the pot as the rest of the containers were emptied, filled her syringe, and showed Mulder where to brace his arm on the table. "This is probably going to hurt. I'm sorry. Do what you can to keep your arm relaxed so this can penetrate. Here's your cue, Will." William stepped closer and trained the large flashlight on Mulder's shoulder. Scully squirted the warm saline deep into Mulder's wound while he tried to focus on how cold he was, leaning his head back. Steam rose from the wound as it drained for a while before she patted it dry. "Now," Scully informed them, locating a small spray bottle she had set aside, "we're going to try something else." Moving slowly, she sprayed the contents of the bottle over Mulder's mangled shoulder from top to bottom and back before carefully wrapping it with fresh dressing. "Is that glue?" William inquired, dumbstruck. "In a very basic sense, yes." Scully nodded, batting Mulder's hand away when he grabbed for his shirt. "Let that air, and hold still while it sets. You're going to have to be careful with this or you're going to wind up with that peg appendage you've always wanted, and I have no desire to play Sawbones," she said with all seriousness, grabbing her blanket and slipping it around his other shoulder. "Here." Mulder nodded silently, accepting the edges of the blanket to hold. "Show's over," she told Will, doing her best to sterilize the few tools she had used. "You should try and lie down and get some sleep. You can bring your bag over here beside us if you want." Will shook his head. "That's okay." "Warm enough?" Scully asked him. "I have extra socks and there's-" "I'm okay," William asserted, moving away to his own bag. "And yes," he sighed, "I promise I'll keep my mask on." ------------------------------------------------------------------ Scully took a few minutes for herself and pulled Mulder's sweatshirt from her bag to use as a pillow. Bunching it up, she carefully slipped into her sleeping bag next to Mulder's. "Are you going to be able to sleep?" she asked him, slipping on a pair of heavy gloves. "I can give you something to help with the pain." "Nah, don't waste it on me, Scully." "You can't keep running on a sleep deficit, Mulder," she chided him. "You've got to be exhausted. Rest while you can. Skinner's awake." "You've already wasted too much stuff on me." Mulder deftly palmed the eye drops he had taken earlier from his pants pocket. "Don't do this, Mulder...you have no reason to. This isn't about playing the hero." "I love the attention, honestly Scully," Mulder replied, "but I wish the damn thing would just heal already. Always looking after everyone, it has to wear on you." He brought the eye drops out from beneath the cover of his sleeping bag into view. "Only when my wards act like hemorrhoids," Scully responded softly, sighing as she saw the bottle. "Somebody has to doctor the doctor," Mulder whispered confidentially, carefully opening the solution. "And you know I love playing doctor, Doc. Let me, and I promise I'll take anything you want me to." Scully eyed him beyond her spectacles just before she removed them and tilted her head back. "Oh brother." ------------------------------------------------------------------ Scully's eyes adjusted to the lamplight as she woke to the muted shuffle of Kryder's feet as he moved softly to prepare breakfast. Her second thought was of mortification when she realized how closely she had snuggled up against Mulder in the night near their friends. Thinking she might be able to extract herself quietly, Mulder blew her cover when he grumbled low nonsense and hugged her tighter as she tried to move away. His hazel eyes greeted her warmly when she looked up at him. "What's your rush?" he asked her, running his hand up and down her back. "You're warm. It's cold." "Ugh, sorry," she said, pulling away to sit up as she removed her gloves and brushed her hair back behind her. "How embarrassing." She shivered as the extra warmth from Mulder's body left her. "I've got a secret to confess, Scully," Mulder said behind her, leaning back. "I think everyone here is on to us. And...I don't mind. Been a while since I've got to watch you drool." "Shut up," Scully said, chuckling as she stretched and yawned. It had been a cold night and the floor beneath the sleeping bags and pads was unforgiving. Her eyes and airways felt like they were on fire and she was surprised to feel so hungry so soon after their last meal. "How's your arm?" she asked, wiping at the sleep beneath her eyes. "Bit itchy. How are your eyes? I see you're trying not to rub them." "Bit itchy, too," she admitted, looking at him. "Are they still really red?" Mulder groped for his flashlight and shined it near her face. "Yep, but not quite as bad." They both turned their head as Kryder clanked his pot with his spoon. "Chow's on, lovebirds," he announced.