Redemption (24/26) 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------ XXIV ------------------------------------------------------------------ "It begins where it ends... in nothingness. A nightmare borne from deepest fears, coming to the unguarded. Whispering images unlocked from time and distance. A soul unbound, touched by others but never held. On a course charted by some unseen hand. The journey ahead promising no more than my past reflected back upon me. Until at last I reached the end. Facing a truth I could no longer deny." - Dana Scully, Emily ------------------------------------------------------------------ Outside Singuilucan, Mexico Unknown Coordinates March 17th, 2013 9:23 a.m. They had ridden the work train car until they had run out of track. Thinking they had wrecked when the car came to a lurching stop, Kryder grabbed his chest sure his heart would explode, but the failsafe mechanism and their slow speed worked together to absorb their momentum without any catastrophic consequences. The adults on board had each taken turns manning the emergency brake knowing it would be of little use if they came upon any debris large enough to derail the vehicle. Given the lack of visibility, they had set the pace of the car to a crawl and spent the long cold hours curled in their sleeping bags attempting to find what rest they could against the clatter of the wheels on the track. Now they disembarked in the dark, unsure of exactly where they were. Miles behind them, the Gunmen watched over Skinner and Rachel. Before them, the great fog lights of the wrecker illuminated a nonexistent path beside a river flowing southwest. In the distance, the arc lightning slipped and thundered across the sky. Will gripped Scully's hand in his as he pointed beyond the river. "I can feel it. Can't you?" Scully feared the indescribable pull she felt. "Mulder?" "I feel it, too." He tightened the strap of his pack against his shoulder. "Guess we'll have to hoof it from here." Kryder wasn't sure what the others were noticing. "Feel what?" "It's calling us," Will replied. "Maybe we shouldn't go," Mulder said. "Scully, is it like when you were abducted? Like Ruskin Dam?" "I'm not sure, Mulder. I don't remember much from that time." To his side, Mulder felt a presence and turned to see that Melissa had joined them. "This isn't like before," she told him. Scully noticed Mulder's head jerk and turned to him. "What is it? What did you see?" When Mulder didn't immediately respond, Will did. "He sees your sister." "Melissa?" Mulder focused on Scully's voice past the spirit's, so much alike. "She says this isn't like before." "Mulder, tell her-" "She knows, Scully. They all know. They've been with you, with us." He turned back to Melissa, but she was gone. "They've been here whenever we need them. There's a road over this hill we can follow. C'mon." ------------------------------------------------------------------ Slowly but surely, the sole of Will's boot was tearing off. His feet had grown since he'd gotten these shoes, and the thick boots had been becoming uncomfortable. Now that he could feel the blisters on his toes, it was more difficult to ignore. Unable to stand it anymore, he finally stopped and sat down on the road. "Can we stop a minute?" He was already pulling off the offending shoes. Turning her light on, Scully was beside him. "What's wrong? This is a really bad place to stop." "It's my feet," Will admitted, peeling off his socks. Scully kneeled back to avoid the strong odor coming off them. "Aw Will, why didn't you say something before?" Mulder crouched down beside the boy, casting a doubtful look at Scully. "I didn't want to be any trouble," Will whispered. "I'm sorry. I should have been more careful with my shoes. I just need a few minutes." "Oh no," Scully said, shaking her head. "You can't walk on these. We'll find some shelter and treat this, but you're going to have to take it easy. Don't worry about the shoes, we'll fix them. How far have we walked, Kryder?" "Nine, ten miles?" "This is going to hurt, but put the socks back on. It's too cold out here to stay exposed." Scully gingerly slipped the socks back on one at a time. Once she grabbed the boy's boots, Mulder slipped his arms beneath the boy and stood, hugging him against his chest. It registered in his mind that the boy should not have felt so light. "Whaddaya say we get out of this dust for a while?" ------------------------------------------------------------------ They were crowded in the small tent. Mulder was doing what he could to fix Will's boots while Scully treated the boy's sores. "You're going to have to let this air for a while, despite the cold. You really should have said something, you know. This could be dangerous." "Good thing your Mom's a doctor, huh?" Kryder said after he paused to cough, attempting to lighten the mood as he removed his facemask. "A couple of hours of rest will do us all good." "Wouldn't hurt if we could all stretch out," Mulder said, holding up his handiwork before his fading light. He grimaced before he set them back down. "Can't say cobbling was a required course at the Academy." "Can you cut out the edge so his toes have room? Loosen the laces, too?" Scully asked. "Yeah, I can play with them some more if I can borrow your light." "Kryder, how are you for bandages? I'm short." Kryder maneuvered his thick pack awkwardly in the tight space. "I'll give you what I got, hold on, but I think we're out of batteries." ------------------------------------------------------------------ *'You're close now. It's calling you.' "What is it?" Will asked. He recognized what he thought was Albert's voice, disembodied, surrounding him. 'It's the first ship that came. The first well.' "The first ship?" Will pressed. 'The one your Mother saw was the last. It was the destroyer. This one was a creator, but it has been sleeping.' "You talk about it as if it's alive. What do you mean?" 'It's waiting for you. Listen to your instincts and ancestors, and they will guide you. They have been with you, and they are with you still.' Sensing the spirit leaving him, Will cried for Albert to wait. "I still don't know what you expect me to do! Help me!"* ------------------------------------------------------------------ Will woke in a cold sweat and immediately felt that his toes were numb. Blind in the dark, he shifted and inadvertently elbowed Mulder in the gut. Before he understood what was happening, Mulder was on his knees above the boy with his switchblade poised at the boy's throat. Kryder had sat up at the first hint of sound, turning on his headlight while blinding them both. Catching Will's terrified expression and scream beneath his, Mulder tore away though there was little room to move in the tent. Kryder moved just in time to avoid Mulder landing where he had been on his ass. Commotion erupted as Scully woke thinking they were under attack. "Jesus Christ Will, I could have killed you!" Mulder bellowed. He dropped the switchblade beside him and covered his face and hair with his hands. Will's heart was hammering his chest and he coughed hard after breathing so heavily. "I'm sorry! I was dreaming...I didn't mean to hit you!" "Alright, stop shouting!" Scully yelled. She was slightly calmer when she asked, "Is everyone okay?" When no one answered, she answered herself. "It's okay, we're all okay." Beside her, Will curled up in a ball as Scully wrapped her arms around the boy. He was desperately aware of his feet. "Can I have my socks now?" "Yeah, let's get out of here." ------------------------------------------------------------------ Federal Highway 132 Unknown Location, Mexico March 18th, 2013 1:15 a.m. They had been walking for hours. A particularly bold streak of lightning lit Will's face as he reaffirmed his grip on Mulder's shoulders. His feet hadn't lasted long, and he had been riding on Mulder's back ever since. Now his arms ached as much as his feet. The bright streak had also provided their first glimpse of the looming pyramids. "There! Did you see them?" Mulder asked, pointing with his torch. Their lights were rapidly failing and Mulder had improvised before they resumed their journey. "They're huge," Kryder commented. "I'll say," Scully added. Mulder began walking through the brush bordering the highway toward the structures. "This was once one of the largest cities in the world. Then around 750, key sites were burned and people abandoned the city. Remarkably strange was that someone returned in force to bury many of the structures, in an effort not dissimilar to what it took to create them, despite their more limited resources. Eight square miles, 250,000 people, and now...it's this. A microcosm of what eventually happened to rest of us...We should have learned." A voice in the darkness behind them called out as it approached. The figure was humanoid and its edges emitted a soft glow that radiated an otherworldly light. "They feared what they saw coming," it said in a thin feminine voice. "They attempted to bury it. They knew the world changing heralded their deaths." "Joy!" Will called. The girl had stayed behind with the Gunmen to look after Skinner. Stepping into their lights, the others now saw it was the girl they knew as Rachel. But Joy continued speaking in a voice that did not match her form, lifting an arm blindly to point to the left of the largest pyramid. The pulling sensation they felt seemed to be focused there. "The people believed in representing the universe in how they laid out their cities. They believed that this granted their rulers the power to transverse with other worlds within their temples. The Upperworld and the Underworld where their deities and spirits lived. Great ceiba trees once grew here, uniting the planes and life forms from one world to the next." She walked past them and ahead, leaving them little choice but to follow. "By caring for the roots of the trees, the people ensured their ability to call on their ancestors for help and guidance, but when they abandoned the city, these things were lost. The last of the roots of the sacred trees have died, and you are not long for this world. Come, I will show you." "Wait! Joy!" Will called. "Is this another dream?" Running forward before Scully could grab him, he reached for the girl's shoulder to watch in horror as his hand passed through her. Shimmering, the light turned in the guise of the girl to the boy, but continued to walk. "I have taken this form only to comfort you, because it is familiar to you." Shifting, the light slowly morphed through several forms: Melissa, Albert, Samantha, the boy from the beach, an older woman in a nurse's uniform. "Nurse Owen!" Scully cried. "I have many forms," the light continued. "Each I have taken when you needed it most." Mulder spoke up, unsure of what they were confronting. "But you told us we had to come here, to ask for help. Is it you we're asking? What are you?" The light continued moving and morphing. One moment it was in the form of Owen Jarvis, tall, bald, and menacing. The next moment the ghost spoke as Maurice. "You are here, you are asking." The form shifted to that of Deep Throat. "You've been asking for a very, very long time." The light paused and turned to Mulder, Deep Throat's smiling expression turning to one of pity. "I often spoke to you when you ran the track at the park, do you remember?" Mulder nodded. "Why here, now, when it's already too late? We can't go on like this." Waiting for an answer, the spirit compelled him to whisper words from the past. "Because...all the evidence to the contrary, is not entirely dissuasive." Taking the form of Bill Mulder, the spirit gauged him. "Don't give up." "Where are you leading us?" Scully asked. "Have we died?" "Here," the spirit said, pointing at the ground ahead. It was difficult to ascertain what the light was referring to, but then Mulder crouched and saw the pitch in the ground as a gaping orifice opened into the Earth. Steam rose in the chilled air. "What is it?" Kryder asked. "It's a hole," Mulder replied. "Is this the entrance to the tunnel they found in 2004?" Mulder asked. "Below the Temple of the Feathered Serpent? Quetzalcoatl was a dualistic deity here, Earth-bound yet divine, a bringer of knowledge." The light descended into the depth, nearly disappearing in the dark. "It is a well. Beneath the temple there is a ship...Those of us who came here with it remain bound here. This planet was our home. We were the first." Mulder cast a wary glance at Scully seeing that her misgivings matched his own. "Look...spirit, I'm sorry, I don't know what to call you..." "I told you once to trust no one. You learned quickly...I have no name. I have many names. Mehen..." The spirit began sinking slowly and Mulder followed down on the ladder left behind by whatever team had been surveying this site, holding his torch aloft as he descended. "Tell me, then...the Greys?" Mulder asked. "The clones and shape shifters? The faceless men?" "Other forms of what you call the oil, but younger, and corrupted ...all seeking a new home. Our home...All misguided." Mulder followed the light as it shimmered and rotated across the open expanse of a thin but tall tunnel. He noticed Scully and the other following him down but didn't know whether to tell them to wait or join him. "You called it *our* home?" Mulder asked. "Old souls...rising and rising again...together...to learn and grow..." The light paused, as if it waited for the others to edge closer. "Is that why you brought us here?" Mulder asked it. "Though the roots are gone," the spirit replied, "the seeds remain. They were buried here by those that were dead." Mulder felt the pull again by his feet and saw that Will had come to stand beside him. "It's here, below us, isn't it? The ship?" Getting down on his knees, Will brushed at the dirt of the tunnel floor until a smooth metal surface was revealed. A faint glow became apparent around a paper thin circular edge larger than Will's spread hands. The glow strengthened as a ring of hieroglyphs lit as Will continued brushing dirt and sand away from the tunnel floor. William felt the passage from the Quran as Scully recognized it. It was chapter seventy-five, detailing the day of final judgment and rebirth. She had seen it etched like this before. "It's your ship...you're destroying it," the boy whispered, unsure why the phrase was echoing through his mind. "Help me..." Beneath his hands, he could feel mechanisms shifting and spinning. Mulder dropped to his knees beside the boy and began to uncover the outer crevices of the ship with his hands. The pulse of the glowing light intensified as the light grew exponentially. Behind them, Kryder dropped to his knees and began to pray. For a moment, there was complete darkness, and then the next moment, a deafening roar and a blinding flash that seemed endless.