Redemption (18/26) 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------ XVIII ------------------------------------------------------------------ "Hey Scully, should we be picking out china patterns or what?" - Fox Mulder, Small Potatoes ------------------------------------------------------------------ Kryder sang absently in a soft baritone whisper as he stared out the passenger window. "Get yourself a Sweet Madonna, dressed in rhinestones sitting on a...pedestal of abalone shells...Goin' ninety, I'm not wary, 'cause I've got my plastic Mary...assuring me that I won't go to Hell..." "I wish we could pull off ninety," Frohike grumbled to the dashboard ornament, driving the van along at a crawl. Tucked uncomfortably behind him on the floor, Scully reached her hand up and patted the younger man's shoulder. "You okay, Kevin? Need a break?" He started at her touch. "Yeah, sorry...getting distracted. There's nothing to see. It's just a silver curtain out there." Near the rear hatch, William silently practiced twisting a screw near his foot. The van smelled, everyone was uncomfortable, and he was having a hard time not complaining. Mulder tried not to crack his joints as he attempted to stretch. "Pull over Frohike, I can drive a while." They had left White Sulphur Springs eight hours past, changing drivers every hour or so to avoid the fatigue of watching the road so closely. They had lost more time than they had anticipated to divert to secondary roads and in stopping twice to remove trees as they travelled south through the Jefferson National Forest. The last sign they passed had told them they were less than five miles from the "Home of Mountain Dew" Marion, VA and the group decided to find a location there to camp for the evening before they lost daylight. "Won't be much longer now, I'll be okay," Frohike said dismissively, waving his fingerless glove. "Fifteen more minutes." Awkwardly, Kryder and Scully switched positions in the moving van and Scully immediately understood staring out the window at the berm why it was so difficult to retain focus when her mind threatened to wonder. "Just help me stay on the road," Frohike asked. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Hungry, frozen, dirty, and bored, the party arrived near the town's outskirts a few minutes later, but the only scene discerned in greeting was one of utter destruction. The pondered the scene in silence a few moments before Frohike spoke. "I'm going to have to turn around, guys," Frohike told the rest stoically as the road disappeared beneath a thick field of heavy debris. "How about some map voodoo here, Byers?" He tried not to sound as dejected as he felt as the others muttered behind him. Byers already had his headlamp on and was scanning the section of map folded carefully in his lap with a pencil. "Double back and look for a Snider Branch road going north. "There's a state park a few miles north from here we can try. Hungry Mother?" Mulder was taken aback by the name. "Now," he mused, "that's fitting." "I'm presuming you've been there?" Skinner asked. Mulder nodded as he took a sip from his water bottle. "My parents took Sam and me camping there a few times on our way to the Carolinas when we were kids," Mulder responded as Frohike carefully turned the van around. Mulder stared absently, remembering. "One of the kids at the lake had me convinced the Hungry Mother was going to eat me while I slept." "And who's the Hungry Mother, besides this guy?" Langly asked. "Molly Marley and her child escaped after natives raided their settlement. Wondering down the side of the mountain and along the creek, they found little to eat and she eventually collapsed. When the child finally wondered into a group of settlers, all the kid could mutter was 'Hungry Mother.' So the legend goes." Langly coughed as he laughed nervously. "Well, that's depressing." ------------------------------------------------------------------ HUNGRY MOTHER STATE PARK Marion, Virginia February 23nd, 2013 5:14 p.m. Long minutes stretched the bumpy silence past as they entered the park and searched for signs. Eventually they found their way to a large lodge courtesy of the landscaped markers that provided directions through the park. They pulled in just as the light began to fade. "Jackpot," Frohike announced as he killed the motor. "Good call, Byers." The padlock securing the front door fell before Frohike's ministrations and the group felt out of sorts walking into the pristine cabin, a stinging reminder of the time before Colonization. "Can you believe this place?" Skinner asked, removing his outer coat. He closed his eyes and groaned with satisfaction as he sank into one of the plush chairs near the fireplace. "We lucked out," Byers commented, moving to see how many other rooms there were. "We should get water while there's light," Scully said, cutting short their commentary. "Everyone can wash and change clothes." The long ride in the van had made it glaringly obvious how much everyone could use one. "You fellas can even shave, unless you enjoy looking like bears." "I'll get us some wood," Kryder volunteered, fluffing his considerable beard with the backs of his covered palms for Scully's benefit as he walked past, earning himself a disenchanted snort. "Not by yourself," Skinner amended, rising with regret. "We'll get the water then," Mulder said. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Bringing the last of the buckets of water in, Langly held the door for Skinner and Kryder as they each returned with an armful of split wood. Scully and Mulder set to treating and filtering the water as the others set to other mundane tasks that were quickly becoming routine. "Whoever's taking first watch ought to get some sleep now," Skinner advised. "I'll do it tonight," Langly volunteered, slinking his pack over his back and heading for one of the back bedroom cots. "Wake me up for dinner, will you?" ------------------------------------------------------------------ Though the fresh wood took some skilled coaxing to catch, Kryder and Skinner were persistent and built a respectable fire that was slowly warming the central room between wafts of thick pine and occasional smoke. Relaxing near it, they spent time showing William, Frohike, and Byers how to clean their weapons. Rachel seemed content watching the fire and the others. "Does this place have one of those old-fashioned firepla- aha," Scully said, noticing the pot hung on its swinging rack near the fire. "Quaint." She cleaned it briefly before quickly adding rice, canned chicken, and mixed vegetables they had found the previous day. "Keep an eye on that," she told the others, hanging it near the fire to cook. Returning to the kitchen, Scully watched Mulder's face as he slouched down into a chair briefly before he spotted her. The last bucket of water was draining through the sediment filter they had improvised through a crate and netting. "You could have waited, you know. You've been putting on a pretty good show," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "Thanks," Mulder chuckled, stretching his neck until he winced. "It wasn't so bad until those pills you gave me wore off." "I have more," Scully said, producing a small bottle from her coat pocket. She slipped two pills into his outstretched hand. "I'll have to switch you to something less potent if it doesn't ease up soon." "Duly noted, Doc," he replied, popping them into his mouth. "Alright, Indian Guide," she queried, looking him up and down as he drank from his water bottle. "What's the best way to turn some of this frigid lake into a nice bath?" "Hmm," Mulder considered, enjoying the moniker she rarely employed as he crossed his arm over his chest and balled his fist. "Indian Guide says run to Builders' Surplus and buy a submersible heat pump." He narrowed his eyes at her and smirked. "You're useless," Scully sighed, rolling her eyes as Mulder broke his pose and grinned up at her. "What I wouldn't give to just...soak," she lamented. "Okay, okay," Mulder said, standing and grabbing one of the buckets. "Let's go for a walk." Will looked up hopefully as Mulder and Scully told the others where they were going and to expect them back shortly. He looked crestfallen and ready to argue when Mulder silently shook his head at him. "We won't be gone long," he said. ------------------------------------------------------------------ "So, what are we doing out here, Mulder?" Scully asked, swinging the empty bucket through falling snow. "We...are looking for potboilers," Mulder informed her, scanning the ground with his flashlight. "Okay," Scully declared. "Enlighten me." "You heat the rocks and then put them in the tub with some water. The water heats up as you transfer heat in. Takes a while, can't do the whole thing at once." "Ah," Scully said, grasping the thermodynamics. "A Poorboy's submersible heat pump." "You got it," Mulder continued as they walked through the woods behind the cabin. "So we want solid rocks that will heat up, preferably without exploding." "You know," Scully admitted as she bent down to pick up a stone, "When I whined back there, I didn't really expect to get a decent bath out of it." "I know," Mulder answered, stooping to get a rock of his own. "You're being awfully nice," Scully said, prompting him as she adjusted her scarf over her facemask. "You're not usually nice when you're sick." The snow was coming down quickly in larger, thick flakes now. "Besides the obvious, I owe you an apology," Mulder said softly, looking up as he noted the shift in weather. "I gave Will that rifle without talking to you about it." Moving forward, Scully knew now why Mulder hadn't wanted Will to tag along with them. "I was really upset about it when I first saw him with it - he looked like a child soldier," she admitted, placing another rock in the bucket. "But once I thought about it longer, I realized that my brothers had received their first rifles when they were about his age...And I realized you wouldn't have given it to him unless you made sure he understood about safety. It's better he has it and learns how to use it." Mulder was nodding silently beside her. "I was fine with it then...until after we finished target practice," Scully continued. "Then I realized I had taught our eleven-year old son where to aim yesterday, Mulder, to kill someone." Unexpected tears clouded her vision and she quickly swiped at them with her glove beneath her goggles. "He deserves so much better than to live his life in constant fear." "I know, Scully," Mulder agreed. "We all do." He paused, searching for what to say. "You're the strongest person I know." "Oh, Mulder," she chuffed dismissing him, shaking her head. "I'm here crying. I should be dehydrated from crying. I'm not strong." "No. You are, Scully, really, I mean that. We're all adapting the best we can. Better to bend and cry than to break." Coming from behind, he set down the bucket and wrapped his arm around her shoulder pulling her toward him in a hug for emphasis. "Don't give up," he whispered in her ear before he nuzzled her neck, "remember." He would have kissed the sensitive spot on the edge of her collarbone had her coat collar but allowed him access. Scully nodded slowly, closing her eyes. "I won't." Leaning his head against hers, Mulder spotted something past them on the ground and pointed his light at it. "Hey, hold still." "What do you see?" Scully opened her eyes and strained to see what Mulder's light was illuminating. Mulder bent and grabbed a rock from the bucket and tossed it at the offending object once he drew closer. The spiked iron teeth of the bear trap snapped shut once the rock tripped the pan. "Damn," Scully said, surprised. "I would have walked right into it. If Will had been here with-" "Then one of you could have had my peg leg," Mulder deadpanned. "These traps are illegal. This shouldn't even be here," he said hunching down, running his hand over the ground. "Do you think it's recent?" Scully asked, scanning the forest and the ground surrounding them a bit closer than she had been with her own light. Just when she dropped her guard, something happened to trip her sense of paranoia. "I hope not," Mulder said, digging the rest of the antique out with its chain. He placed it on top of the other rocks along with the one he threw before picking the bucket up as he backed up, nodding back toward the lodge as he flexed his eyebrows for his partner. "Could be our last night in Virginia, Scully and you know...they say Virginia is for lovers." Scully bit her lip and shot him a look as she cast her light over the path back, not in the least surprised by his tactics. "Well, lover," she emphasized walking past him, "we have to heat up the rocks before we can get them off." Mulder snorted helplessly behind his mask, laughing at his partner's unexpected lewd pun. "Oh, Scully... touché," he drew out as he turned to follow. "I'll always keep you guessing, Mulder," she called back. ------------------------------------------------------------------ The others were finishing the stew Scully had started earlier when she and Mulder arrived back, letting a burst of cold wind and dirty snow in before she got the door shut. An intense game of Checkers was transpiring between William and Kevin. "Here Skinman, brought you a present," Mulder announced, pulling the bear trap from its place by its chain. Skinner, half-asleep in the chair he had occupied before, woke with a start and turned his head along with the others to Mulder where the wet iron dripped rusty water unceremoniously, half-illuminated. "Is that what I think it is?" he asked, squinting sans spectacles. Mulder nodded, bringing it closer so Skinner could take it. "Where did it come from?" he asked, examining it, ignoring the way the cold metal was quickly numbing his hands. "Just behind the cabin here," Mulder explained. "It was set in the woods. We got lucky and spotted it before one of us needed a prosthetic." Frohike whistled. "Damn, that's a big trap." Skinner frowned, wondering where it had come from. "How's the weather?" "Coming down in buckets," Scully said, taking Mulder's from him. "Damn," Skinner agreed. ------------------------------------------------------------------ The rocks were heating slowly, buried in the coals close to the center of the fire. Stew finished with mixed fruit cocktail dessert. The nutritional value wasn't much to Scully's liking, but she knew it wasn't worth dwelling over what she could not help. She resolved to stop worrying about such things for the time being, knowing she would make herself sick otherwise. Checkers turned into games of Battleship thanks to the creative use of a marker as the night wore on. As each of the band turned in, their number in the central room dwindled to just Frohike, William, Rachel, Mulder, and Scully. William's celebration of a sunken destroyer marked his victory in their latest fray and he placed a hand over his toothy smirk at Joy. She had silently assisted him from her location near Frohike but betrayed nothing. Mulder was not nearly as modest, shouting, "Admiral Toto goes down!" before Scully hushed him while she addressed his wound. Frohike threw up his hands in defeat before he yawned, none the wiser. "Accept my flag, noble sir. Your kung-foo reigns supreme...today. But know this, young sailor," he eyed William, narrowing his eyes to thin slits. "I have many fleets that sail these storied checkered waters and now they all know your name." William grinned at the older man and the prospect of their eventual rematch even as he whined in protest. "Awww, come on. One more game," he pleaded. Frohike cast his eyes aside before looking to Mulder and Scully seated together on the couch. "I'll tell you what," he told the children. "Have you ever heard the story of the legendary man-of-action, 'El Lobo?'" Mulder stifled a laugh on the couch as Will shot him a questioning look and Frohike winked at him over his shoulder. "I'll tell you a tale before I pass out if you go get ready for bed," Frohike promised. Will rose quickly and disappeared with Rachel to the room they were splitting. He avoided Mulder and Scully, still upset they had not included him in their excursion. Miming elaborate handgun gestures, Frohike silently mouthed, "You owe me big time" at his friends before disappearing down the hallway. He reappeared embarrassed a moment later, his grand moment ruined. "Make sure one of you gets Langly up before you, uh...go to bed," he said awkwardly, turning back. Mulder cast Scully a coy smile once Frohike was gone, staring down at her through heavy lids while she wrapped his arm in new medical gauze. The only sound beside the wind beating the windows and side of the lodge was the sizzle and occasional pop of the fire and heating stones. The light came by the fire and oil lamp that burned low nearby, casting them in alternating shades. "You really did forget, didn't you?" Mulder asked, staring down at his partner. "All day I thought you were just being humble," he shook his head at her, "but you really did." "Forget what," Scully asked innocently, feeling absently beside her for her tape. She was distracted and tired. She was sad Will was feeling hurt. "For once, you're the one who missed your birthday," Mulder said. Scully's head snapped up before she caught herself and shook her head, exhaling. "Oh. I thought you were going to say something important." She patted his side once she sealed the tape to let him know she was done. "You're set," she said, though her hand lingered. "Thank you," he said, meeting her eyes before he cast them toward his jacket and back. "Would you mind reaching for my jacket for me?" he asked, nodding his head past his shoulder. "It's a bit chilly." Scully considered his question a moment as she rose before she stretched over him, reaching behind him to grab the garment. "Okay, I'm humoring you," she let him know, the fabric of her shirt pooling before him. "Thank you," he said again, grabbing her by the hips as she returned, drawing her down to sit in his lap. Scully found herself giggling even as she sighed at him. "Really," she said. "Mulder. Is this my birthday present?" She debated how she might make him pay for his audacity. Throwing his jacket across the room crossed her mind. Trailing his hand up her side, Mulder moved his hand along her shoulder and arm before he placed it over hers where it rested on his coat collar. The worn leather jacket had been to hell and back, just like Mulder. "Hips before hands if you recall, Scully, but let's celebrate anyway. It's not every day your partner turns thirty-three." "Twenty-nine," Scully said with absolute authority, leaning back against him, deciding the end of the modern progression of the Gregorian calendar was not such a bad thing. "Thirty-three," Mulder reasserted, grinning. "I thought we could follow up to thirty-two this time...It's the first time I realized just how deep my feelings for you had grown." Tilting her head, Scully questioned him silently, touched he had remembered even if she was missing his reference. He always had a way with numbers and memories she had never possessed. "I had just received my cancer diagnosis. Mulder..." "I know this place doesn't quite have the ambiance of the Headless Woman, but..." Mulder reached with Scully's hand into one pocket to produce a package of Hostess Snowballs from beneath his jacket. "Tada." "Mulder," Scully laughed, nonplussed as she grabbed the package, having expected another. "Snowballs...Really. You shouldn't have...No sparkler this time?" she asked. "Well, they didn't have the regular kind," Mulder pouted, reaching back into his jacket. A stone cracked in the fireplace, momentarily drawing their eyes to the fire before they returned to their exchange. "You'll have to settle for second best." Scully's eyes narrowed and she suppressed her smile, waiting for whatever cheap, goofy gift he had found her, anticipating his worst. "I thought you only liked to celebrate birthdays on dog years," she said, recalling a faint memory. "Give or take, I'd call this a dog year," Mulder clarified, returning from his expedition with a small white box similar to the one he had presented her Apollo keychain to her with so long ago. "You have got to be kidding me," she echoed, giggling helplessly as she laid her eyes on the box. Had Mulder found her a new keychain? "Not this time," Mulder spoke softly against her ear, leaning into her as he held the box out in front of them with his palm. The shift in his tone and his breath against her ear sent Scully's heart racing and a shiver down her spine. Was it because she felt Mulder's own heart suddenly beat a double cadence behind her? "Go ahead, open it." Scully reached out slowly and delicately for the box lid, briefly forgetting the Snowballs, forgetting everything. "It's just something that reminded me of you," he said. "Indestructible. Incorruptible...beautiful, and completely genuine. Pliny said they even baffle poison, dispel fear, and stave off insanity." Scully laid her eyes on the stunning diamond ring she had uncovered and gasped. It was the last thing she had expected. "Mulder," she choked out, "Wow...I never thought..." Setting the box down, Mulder pulled the ring from its resting place and positioned it between his fingers, lifting it up to catch the light. "I know we've played at it enough off and on through the years, in Arcadia, when we ran, and if you go by common law it was a done deal long ago, but..." Mulder leaned in so he could gaze straight into her eyes. "Say it's forever, you and me." "It's forever," Scully confirmed, nodding up at him, feeling tears of happiness as she felt his relieved sigh reverberate through her. "You're stuck with me. Always, Mulder." Mulder slipped the ring over the fourth finger of her left hand with her help. It was a bit too large but she would figure it out later. "I know we've never needed rings to show our relationship to the world, but...with Will back in our lives, with everything else that's been broken or destroyed, it just feels right, like something you can put your back up against. Though much is taken, much abides." Scully finished Mulder's thought as she admired the adornment on her finger, smiling at the absurd ring and at the notion of traditional marriage compared to what she and Mulder already shared. "That which we are, we are. One equal temper of heroic hearts, made weak by time and fate, but strong in will, to seek, to find, and not to yield." Mulder shared a tight-lipped grin with her even as his eyes danced. He was very pleased with himself and was doing a half-hearted job of hiding it. "Touché, Mulder," Scully conceded happily, wrapping her arms around his neck before she drew his lips down to meet hers. "This might be...the best...birthday present," she murmured between their kisses. "Oh, you thought that was the present? That wasn't the present," Mulder teased, breathless. He wrapped his arms around her as he rose, lifting her against him as he stood. Langly was startled awake by a sharp boot knocking against his bedroom door and the sound of...muted laughter? He shook his head as the fog of sleep cleared; sure he had been having an intense dream. Jade Blue Afterglow would haunt him forever. "You're on watch, Scarecrow - I've got rocks to attend to," Mulder's voice drifted away.