Redemption (22/26) 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------ XXII ------------------------------------------------------------------ "It was like the excitement of the battle except it was clean In a snowstorm it always seemed, for a time, as though there were no enemies. In a snowstorm the wind could blow a gale; but it blew a white cleanness and the air was full of a driving whiteness and all things were changed and when the wind stopped there would be the stillness. This was a big storm and he might as well enjoy it." - Ernest Hemingway, For Whom The Bell Tolls ------------------------------------------------------------------ PORT SULPHUR New Orleans, Louisiana March 6th, 2013 4:36 p.m. "Tell me I'm wrong," Mulder stated, eyeing Scully over his air filter. "I don't know if you're wrong, Mulder, I just know it's dangerous." Scully looked at the sky and then out on the bay where the trawler drifted. It might have been a postcard from the Arctic for the way the sun filtered through the ice and ash in the air, creating a thick bright haze. "What isn't these days...Do you have an alternative?" Scully sighed. "No, I don't know what you see." "Just trust me, Scully." Now Scully returned his gaze. "I've come with you this far, haven't I?" "We're going to have to," Frohike said behind them, perched on the bumper before the engine. "We're fried." Scully sighed, shaking her head at their predicament. "Okay. Let's go check it out. You, me, Will, and Kryder." Mulder leaned in close by Scully's ear to whisper. "Why don't you stay here with Will and Skinner? Kryder and I can handle it. We can signal back when the coast is clear." Scully glared at him in response before Will interrupted. "No one is on that boat." "Maybe it isn't anyone we need to be worried about," Mulder replied, keeping his eyes locked on Scully's. "Nevertheless," Scully steeled herself and took a deep breath, "we're coming with you." "What should we do if you don't signal back?" Byers asked. Mulder was already untethering a small fishing skiff that hadn't skipped its mooring. He reached a hand up to steady Scully before she stepped aboard. Will was seated by the time Kryder retrieved an extra rifle from the van and joined them. "Improvise," Mulder told Byers as he primed the gas. "Use your scope and watch for our signal. It will be something obvious, but discreet. We don't want to attract too much attention." "Good luck," Langly said just as Mulder pulled the motor. It sputtered slowly, threatening to stall, but then roared to life as it propelled them out from the dock. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Mulder listened intently as he cut the power to the engine when they neared the side of the vessel. The noise had made him paranoid and the limited visibility had kept them from scoping out the trawler at any significant distance. Beside him, Kryder was already scanning the vessel using his binoculars now that they were beside it. "I'm not seeing any signs of movement," he reported. Mulder managed to catch a post with their rope and began lashing the boat alongside the larger one. The jump he'd need to make to get on board would be awkward, but he could do it. "Someone could be hiding. Keep your guard up," Scully told him, understanding what he intended to do. Checking his arms, Mulder nodded in assent before he launched himself up the side of the trawler propelling himself off the side of the skiff. It wasn't a long jump, but Mulder hit the edge hard with his stomach, losing his breath. Regaining his momentum, he pulled himself up and over the side, landing on all fours before he pulled his handgun and looked around. Once settled that nothing was in the immediate vicinity, he stood up and silently lowered a ladder down the side and over to where the others waited. He motioned for them to give him five minutes. Mulder moved slowly, casing the vessel with his flashlight and handgun. It wasn't a large boat by any means, but there were enough corners and containers that he was being extra cautious. Slipping into the cockpit, he moved silently down into the galley where he heard a rustling coming from the dark. "Come out. I'm armed," Mulder announced, training his light and gun at the sound. The movement stopped and Mulder waited a moment before steeling himself to approach. Crouching, Mulder counted silently to three before he flipped the large cupboard open and shined his light inside with his weapon, prepared for anything. What he wasn't prepared for was the size of the snake that reared back to hiss at him. Before he even thought of pulling the trigger, Mulder landed hard on his ass as the snake's torso exploded. Cursing his reflexes, Mulder examined the gruesome remains before shutting the cupboard back up. He could have used his knife and saved the round. Chances were the snake wasn't even poisonous. "Mulder!" Scully came crashing through the door of the cockpit followed by Kryder and Will, flashing her light down the path he had followed moments earlier. Spotting him safe, she stopped. "What happened?" Mulder sighed and gestured at the closed cabinet with his handgun. "I almost blew a hole in the side of the damn boat...a snake." Despite her efforts not to, Scully couldn't help but smile as he stood up beside her. "A snake?" she questioned him. Kryder bent and began checking the other closed areas beside them. "Good thing they left some supplies here. Bland stuff, but it looks like it kept. It's still in the plastic and everything." "It was a big damn snake," Mulder qualified. Scully bent down to flick the cabinet open, but Mulder caught her wrist with his hand. "Don't look." Scully's smile widened into a grin when Mulder blushed. "Now if you'd have said it was a Fiji mermaid, I'd have been worried." She withdrew her hand and Mulder let go, rolling his eyes. "Seems we're clear. I'll check if we have fuel if you'll go and signal the others." Kryder reassured Will once Mulder and Scully split. "I'd have shot it, too." ------------------------------------------------------------------ Back on shore, Rachel bolted upright just before the shot fired on the boat echoed past. Langly saw the anticipation before he heard the shot himself and leapt to his feet from where he had been sitting near the destroyed van. Frohike had beaten the others to the edge of the dock and was surveying the vessel using his own set of binoculars. "Do you see anything?" Byers asked, catching up. "Mulder must be inside by himself. They're going in to see what happened. That's not a very big space." They waited with baited breath as long moments drew by quietly. While Frohike could watch the exterior of the ship, the lighting conditions kept him from seeing anything inside besides a few beams from several flashlights occasionally scraping the windows. "What's going on, Frohike?" Skinner barked. His view was blocked from where he rested inside the van. Frohike held up his hand. "Quiet! I think Mulder's coming out." Mulder appeared agitated and moved toward the stern of the ship where the skiff floated alongside the vessel. Facing the party on the shore, he covered his flashlight with his hand and signaled things were "AOK" via Morse code. "He says things are fine," Frohike relayed, bringing his binoculars down. "Hope you guys packed your sea legs." ------------------------------------------------------------------ "Well, how many miles do you need?" Scully asked. "I'm not sure. How far is it to Mexico City from here?" Scully raised her eyebrows at him. "We're going to Mexico City? Of all places?" "Give or take," Mulder said. "Unless we can refuel somewhere along the way, I don't think we'll make it that far." "Assuming the boat runs in the first place. How long do you think it's been floating out here?" "No idea. Give it a try. I don't want to risk moving Skinner for nothing. He's in poor enough condition that we really shouldn't be moving him at all." "I know," Mulder agreed. He settled into one of the seats by the control panel and started looking over the array of instruments before him. While a few of the labels seemed related to familiar concepts, he had no idea about all the others or any specific order in which they should be tripped. Just as Mulder was deciding on a random sequence to try, Scully opened a container in the seat beside him and pulled out the manual before she closed it and sat down. She always kept him guessing. Mulder's awe was apparent. "How did you know that would be there?" "Ahab took us out fishing a few times. It wasn't often, but they make every inch count on these smaller trawlers, especially older ones like this." As she opened the book in her lap, the key fell out beside it. Mulder nodded, impressed at their brief turn of serendipity. "Smart thinking." Scully smiled at their good fortune and hoped it would keep. She lifted the key and handed it to Mulder. "Good luck." "Well, here goes nothing." Turning the key in the ignition, Mulder listened to the tired battery crank the engine a few moments before the lifeless ship beneath them shuddered and came to life. The smile that curled the edges of Mulder's mouth was genuine. "I did not think that was going to work," he admitted. Scully returned Mulder's smile and turned to William who now stood behind them, ducking so he could look out into the gulf. He answered Scully's unspoken question. "Teotihuacan." ------------------------------------------------------------------ They had powered the ship down to save fuel before he left. Beside the small roar of the skiff engine, Mulder's view consisted of darkness and the single beam of Frohike's guiding flashlight leading him back to the shore. He missed the stars. Frohike greeted him with a hug once he stepped back onto the dock. "Hey big guy, you had us worried there for a bit." "Sorry," Mulder apologized. "How's Skinner?" Frohike shook his head lightly. "He's still coughing, pretty bad." "Let's get him on the boat. We can't leave him here." "Can't we...you know, knock him out or something so it won't hurt?" Mulder shook his head. "I wanted to, but Scully thinks we'll lose him if we try." Frohike looked down at the ground. "Well...shit." ------------------------------------------------------------------ A half-mile out on the water, Scully sat next to William on a blanket perched atop the trawler. Behind them, a tattered American flag shifted in the breeze. Kryder stood down below on the deck, watching the shore through his binoculars. The air was frigid, but the darkness outside was more of a comfort than the darkness within. "Can you see them, Kevin?" Scully asked. "I think they're moving him into the boat," Kryder responded. "I can't make much out besides what I can see from their flashlights." Scully squeezed Will's hand. "You may know this already, but I've never told you that you had an older sister." Will nodded toward the horizon, listening. "Her name was Emily. She was beautiful, and I think you two would have gotten along well." "You think about her quite often," Will observed. "She was an experiment, like me, but you didn't know until later. What is it you want to believe?" he asked. "Hmm?" Scully had left her mind drift with the waves that sloughed off the side of the bow. She paused, unsure what Will had pulled from her troubled thoughts. "I want to believe...that God has not abandoned us. That there is a greater reason or purpose for all this, and that we will come through this together as a family, stronger for the experience. I want to believe...that He is guiding you and Mulder to where we need to go, showing you what needs to be done." Will nodded silently knowing Scully's words were truthful. "I'd like to believe that, too," he confided. In the distance, the skiff's engine revved as Mulder directed the boat back toward them. Scully patted her son's knee beside her. "Let's climb down, Will. They'll need our help." ------------------------------------------------------------------ It had been exhausting and difficult, but they had managed to maneuver Skinner and his stretcher onto the boat. Though she was initially reluctant to, she dosed him heavily with cough medicine once it became clear he wouldn't be able to rest otherwise. Nine of them in the boat were several too many, but it seemed luxurious in comparison to the space restriction they had dealt with in the van. Scully left Kryder watching over Skinner while she joined Mulder up front where he was starting the engine. "We'll save miles if we don't have to hug the coast. Can you get me a bearing, Mulder?" Mulder paused before answering. "Do you think we could trust one?" Scully sighed, leaning back in her chair. "If you want an honest answer, given our track record with maritime vessels, well no." Mulder smiled at his partner's honesty. They'd mastered the art of compromise through the years. Sometimes he missed their debates over the scientific inane. "Well, for once let's play it safe then, as long as we can anyway." ------------------------------------------------------------------ Days passed seamlessly as they travelled south before one night when the dawn didn't come. Mulder stood perched on the deck with Kryder's binoculars, searching for the shore. While he knew it wasn't far to their starboard side, it didn't calm his fears. He recalled a line Scully wrote long ago when they faced their deaths prematurely on another sea. "I think I hear the wolf at the door." Behind him, Scully gripped his arm. "It has to be a storm," she told him, holding out her hand to catch a speck of falling ash or snow. The difference wasn't clear anymore. She rewound the scarf she was wearing around her face so that it was a bit more secure. "The sea is calm, Scully," he replied. "If anything, it's a bit too calm." She rested her head against his shoulder, tired and weary. "I think you're overreacting. You've heard of 'the calm before the storm'." Wrapping an arm around Scully's waist, Mulder ducked his head so he could whisper in her ear. "And I think you're underreacting for my benefit. The sky should be lightening, even if just by a little." "What are you proposing then? That the sun went out while we were sleeping? We'd be popsicles." Mulder appreciated the analogy and kissed the top of her head once he removed his mask. "I don't think conventional rules apply anymore." William joined them where they stood and Mulder wrapped his free arm around the boy's shoulder. One of his old black turtlenecks hung long and loose on the boy. He might have the chance to grow into it if everything wasn't going to hell in a hand basket. "When have we ever played by the rules, Mulder?" Scully asked. "I love you," he said, squeezing his family on either side. He pretended the watery ash streaking down his cheek was snowmelt.