Author: Daydreamer
Posted: Daily beginning February 2004
Crystalship 134 Word Challenge She came for me. After I took off, no notice, no
word, she tracked me down and came after me. I'm
stunned. How many times does that make now? Ellens
AFB. New Jersey. Max. The whole sad debacle with
Phoebe. Tooms. Deep Throat. They separated us,
closed us down, and still she came for me.
And this time I had it. I had it in my hands. I saw
it, touched it, recorded it.
"You still have nothing."
And it's gone.
"I may not have the X-Files, Scully, but I still have
my work."
I thought my work was all that was left after they
took Scully from me. It wasn't much, but it was enough
to keep me going. At the time. But then, she came for
me.
"And I've still got you."
Crystalship 134 Word Challenge I don't know how much more I can take. I've never had
the longest attention span, despite a high IQ. I bore
easily and I can't take wiretap detail much longer. But
this is even worse, I think. Sewers. No respect.
Humiliation. At least there's Scully.
"I've been thinking about leaving."
"The bureau? What would you do?"
She sounds really concerned. I don't think she'd want
me to go.
"Pursue my work in the paranormal somehow."
"You could request a transfer to Quantico. Come back to
the Behavioral Science Unit."
If only it were that easy, Scully. I'd even go back to
the BSU, back to profiling, if it meant we could be
together.
"They don't want us working together, Scully... and
right now, that's the only reason I can think of to stay."
Crystalship 134 Word Challenge There are some things not even Scully can know.
Why can I comprehend the compulsions of Edward Funsch?
How do I understand that a perfectly normal man would
suddenly begin to see strange messages, feel strange
urges and depart from his safe and sane life?
Maybe because I've been there. I've walked in his shoes,
lived his life. Ever since I was twelve, my life has
been dictated by what I should have done, what I have
to do.
Certainly that has taken me outside the norm, made me
depart from the safe, and dare I say it? From the sane?
And now, it's over. The killing has stopped. And my
phone is blinking at me.
All done.
Bye-bye.
I can hear Scully calling me, but I'm frozen, unable to
react.
Sane? Who me?
Crystalship 134 Word Challenge Too many things are changed, too much is different.
Scully's still at Quantico, even if Skinner is letting
me out into the field. I still haven't figured Skinner
out. And this new guy, Krycek? Do they really think
I'm going to trust that weasely little brown nose?
And now there's someone new ...
"He said it's never been more dangerous."
"Skinner?"
I miss Scully. I love the chance to talk to her, even
if it is to compare failures.
"No, the man who leaked us the report. The one who's been
helping us."
"You actually met with him?"
She's shocked. My helpers usually don't want a
face-to-face.
"He said that closing down the X-Files was just the
beginning. That we've never been in greater danger."
"Do you trust him?"
Never. I only trust you.
Crystalship 134 Word Challenge "This could just be a piece of shrapnel. Duane Barry did a tour
of duty in Vietnam."
You're always looking for the other possibility, aren't you,
Scully? I could say you were trying to prove me wrong, but I
prefer to think you're challenging me to be right.
"It was right where he said it would be, Scully. Along with the
ones in his gums and sinus."
Challenge me on that one.
"And you think that this was implanted?"
Well, duh ...
"Well, if it was, that would mean Duane Barry is telling the
truth."
Believe, Scully. If you won't believe what you see, believe
in me.
"Or some version of the truth."
Be careful what you wish for, Scully. Some version of the
truth may be more dangerous than you can imagine ...
Crystalship 134 Word Challenge "Mulder, it's me. I just had something incredibly strange
happen. This piece of metal that they took out of Duane Barry,
it has some kind of a code on it. I ran it through a scanner
and some kind of a serial number came up. What the hell is this
thing, Mulder? It's almost as if... it's almost as if somebody
was using it to catalogue him."
I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! I knew something was up with
Barry! -- What the hell?? Glass breaking ... Scully? Oh, God!
"Mulder! I need your help!"
No, no. No! Not again! I can't lose someone else! I can't
lose her!
"Shut up!"
Barry! I'll kill the bastard -- I'll kill him!
"Mulder!"
I'm coming, Scully -- I'm coming! Just hold on ...
Crystalship 134 Word Challenge "Do you know something? Is Dana okay?"
I feel so responsible. In so many ways, it's like Samantha
all over again -- but different. Facing my mother -- facing
her mother. Admitting my uselessness ...
"We don't know anything more about her."
"I know you're doing all you can."
"I found this." A cross. Her cross. Ripped from her neck.
I never realized ... "It's something I... I never considered
about her. If she was... if she was such a skeptic, why did
she wear that?"
"I gave it to her."
Of course. It doesn't represent faith, not for my skeptical
Scully. Just love. But ... she's giving it back to me?
"Don't you want to keep it?"
"When you find her, you give it to her."
Ah ... Maybe it represents faith after all.
Crystalship 134 Word Challenge She's touching Scully's cross and it makes me feel
dirty. She's amused.
"You trying to ward me off?"
"That's from someone I lost."
The words are torn from my throat. I don't want to
talk about Scully with her.
I'm staying here now. I feel weak and Scully's not
here to make me strong. Everything about this case
makes me dirty.
I showered and now I'm shaving but it's hard with
no mirrors. Kristen takes the razor, blade scraping
against my skin and there's nick. She reaches out,
wiping the blood with her finger. I stop her from
licking.
"It's not who you are. It doesn't make you happy."
She stares at me, pulling me into a kiss and, God
forgive me, I am responding. I've lost Scully,
and I am so dirty ...
Crystalship 134 Word Challenge I can't breathe.
The phone rings.
Words are spoken.
On some level, they must make sense because I am moving.
Moving.
But I can't breathe.
Driving.
But I can't breathe.
Running.
But I can't breathe.
And I see her. She's here, living, breathing.
I thought that was all I needed, all I wanted, but I still can't breathe.
~*~*~*~
Melissa believes.
She touches her, feels her on some ethereal plain that
I can't quite reach. She seems to know what it is that Scully
needs.
Faith.
Hope.
Love.
Odd, isn't it, that I am the believer and yet now, faced
with the greatest challenge to my beliefs, I need something
more concrete, some more real than feelings and thoughts
and wishes.
I thought having her back would be enough, but ...
I still can't breathe.
Crystalship 134 Word Challenge I was ready to throw it all away, give it all up. It was
what I thought I wanted, what I was ready to fight for, but
I found myself denied.
I lost my faith and found it renewed in the oddest of
places -- Skinner.
I was faced with a choice, and I chose.
I stayed, waiting, watching, but there was nothing.
And then, it really did seem that all was lost.
~*~*~*~*
Now -- the phone rings.
Words are spoken.
On some level, they must make sense because I am moving.
Moving.
But I can't breathe.
Driving.
But I can't breathe.
Running.
But I can't breathe.
And I see her. She's here -- living, breathing.
And she speaks, "I had the strength of your beliefs."
That's all I needed:
One chance.
One dream.
One breath.
Crystalship 134 Word Challenge Oh, God! It's starting to become clear.
"They were all exposed. All of them."
Scully! She's back there -- and she could be exposed.
"I have a colleague - a friend - who's with O'Neil
right now. Let me go to her."
"She may already be infected."
He's holding a gun on me and I honestly don't care.
He doesn't understand that I am going to get to Scully.
Not he, the spores, the volcano, or God Almighty is
going to stop me.
"I can't let you leave."
"Then you're going to have to shoot me. Because I'm
walking out of here."
I'm walking, then I'm trotting and then I'm running
flat out, crying her name.
"Scully! Scully!"
She's alive.
I reach out -- I have to touch her.
"I'm okay."
So am I.
Crystalship 134 Word Challenge She's amazing. Even though we never see things the same
way, and she's always pressed to find an explanation for
the things she does see, she still approaches every case
with such an intent spirit -- it just amazes me.
I look at her now -- plates of food before her, talking
about walk-ins as if she might actually let me convince
her they exist. We both know that won't happen, but
she's willing to let me try, and she's willing to listen
with an open mind.
I'm distracted. There's sauce on her chin and before I
realize it, my hand has risen, napkin at the ready, and
I'm wiping her mouth.
She looks at me.
Smiles.
Says thanks.
And all conscious thought flees from my mind as I lose
myself in her eyes.
Crystalship 134 Word Challenge I've always considered myself to be open-minded,
but Scully makes me reevaluate and reconsider my
beliefs and behaviors -- the things I never knew
I needed to reevaluate.
Take this case.
I walk in on her and crack wise about porn, and she's
doing research on a rape case. Talk about foot in
mouth syndrome.
And then, halfway through, I'm mouthing off about
Charters concocting the whole rape thing, and Scully
politely points out the woman needed stitches and
had a concussion. And once again, I'm a fool for
trivializing rape.
Whether it was mushrooms, the residents, or a spirit
entity, at the end I was left with two things:
1. Scully makes me think.
2. I can count on Scully to be there for me, no matter
how big a jerk I've been.
Crystalship 134 Word Challenge Her hands. Tiny, delicate little things, but so strong,
so sure. She wielded her knife, pointed to the marks
on the rib, teased new information from the dead.
Now her fingers fly over the keyboard, sending the scans
to Quantico. Talented, agile fingers, on strong, capable
hands. What else can those hands do?
I look up as she speaks.
"Mulder, I don't think BJ was in the woods that night because
of engine failure."
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, the Motel Black would have been the perfect meeting
place -- away from town, away from his wife ... "
"What do you mean?"
"It's obvious BJ and Tillman are having an affair."
"How do you know?"
"A woman senses these things."
And what do you sense about me, Scully? What do you
know?
Crystalship 134 Word Challenge From the beginning this one bothered her.
She was so spooked, she took the body and left. Back
to DC -- to 'focus on the evidence.'
~*~*~*~*
She's coming back.
She asked if I could use her help and I said "Always."
Her help, her support, her presence. Always.
~*~*~*~*
She's missing.
I'm using every bit of skill and talent I have to find
this woman. I need her. Always.
~*~*~*~*
He's on top of her and I can see the fear in her eyes.
He moves and she scuttles away.
I follow her.
I take her chin in my hand, force her eyes to mine, and
finally -- finally -- she gives in and leans against me,
crying.
I enfold her in my arms and this time, I may never let
her go.
Crystalship 134 "The homicide did have a ceremonial presentation -- the
manner in which the body was displayed..."
"Mulder, I got the impression you didn't believe him either."
"I didn't want to incite his already clearly aggravated
imagination. But there is a weird feel to this place; maybe
there is some truth to those rumors."
"I think he incited your imagination. I think this case is
nothing more than a murderer taking advantage of local
folklore. I mean there's nothing odd about – "
She frustrates me at times and it’s nice to have physical
evidence of something weird, even toads. Gotta love that
look of disbelief on her face ...
"So... lunch?"
"Mulder, toads just fell from the sky!"
"I guess their parachutes didn't open. You were saying
something about this place not feeling odd?"
Crystalship 134 Word Challenge Know how you always find what you're looking for in the last place
you look -- because once you find it, you stop looking?
Well, the last thing I expected when Skinner called was that he
would tell me there was a family emergency and I should call my
father.
And the last thing I expected when I called my father was to
have my mother answer the phone.
And the last I expected when I got to my father's was to see
my sister, talking with Mom like nothing had ever happened.
I think I stopped expecting at that point.
But, those expectations all came rushing back when I called
Scully and I could tell: something was wrong -- seriously
wrong.
So --
Expectations be damned! When it' Scully -- I'll never stop.
Crystalship 134 Word Challenge She's here. I was alone for so long; it still amazes me that she is
with me. That she comes.
"Hey. How you feeling?"
She's here, and she really cares. Hard to believe.
"Like I got a bad case of freezer burn. How did I get here?"
"A naval reconnaissance squad found and choppered you to
Eisenhower Field."
There's more - I can see it on her face. I'm in trouble.
"Thanks for ditching me."
"I... I'm sorry, I... I couldn't let you risk your life on this."
Don't you see, Scully? It's just ... I lost my sister - I couldn't
risk losing you, too.
"Did you find what you were looking for?"
"No. But I ... I found something I thought I'd lost."
You, Scully. I found you. And ...
"Faith to keep looking."
Crystalship 134 Words I don’t feel like I’ve done any good at all on this case.
I have more questions than answers, which isn’t all
that unusual for me, but it feels strange this time. Like
I should have been able to make more sense out of all
the things that occurred.
Animals died, people died, more were hurt.
Maybe the one good thing that will come from this is the
animals being relocated. Maybe whatever, or whoever,
was taking them, won’t act with such impunity elsewhere.
Perhaps these abductions really are just an extraterrestrial
form of Noah’s ark. Advanced beings harvesting DNA to
protect and preserve the species.
If that’s so – is that why they take people as well?
Is that why they took Samantha?
Oh, my God, no ...
Is that why they took Scully?
Crystalship 134 Words She's brought water.
"You go ahead and drink it."
"No, Mulder!"
Stubborn woman. I knew she would refuse. No use appealing to
emotion - try logic.
"It's the only logical choice, Scully. You're a woman. Your life
expectancy is greater, and your body retains more water in fatty
tissues.
"That's more reason for you to drink it."
I wanted to grow old with her, but not this way.
"You have a much greater chance of surviving until help comes."
"Don't do this, Mulder."
"Don't be so stubborn, Scully. You know I'm right."
"Well, there isn't much liquid to make a difference anyway."
"There might be."
"No."
I'm too tired to fight. I take a long look at her before I
lay my head down. She's still beautiful. And she loves
me - enough to die.
Crystalship 134 Words Scully figured this one out. I was all over the board:
everyone from the Sheriff, AKA Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced
Boy, to the Blockhead. She was the one who figured out it
was the twin.
It feels odd. I was looking for the so-called "normal"
killer in all of this, and -- while there was a scientific
basis in fact for her solution -- it just wasn’t something
my mind would have come up with.
It seems my mind is more closed than I thought. I have
two directions –- standard profiler mode, or Spooky’s
"out there" mode.
It was a hindrance this time.
For someone who’s such a skeptic, Scully has repeatedly
surprised me with her open-mindedness.
For that matter, Scully has repeatedly surprised me on
all counts: loyalty, dedication, persistence, and dare
I say it?
Love.
Crystalship 134 Word Challenge The boy was possessed.
There's a fine line between possession and obsession.
It's a line I'm quite familiar with.
I was normal once -- I think. Until I was twelve.
And then I became obsessed.
Or possessed.
Take your pick.
Obsessed with my sister's abduction.
Obsessed with school.
Obsessed with work.
It was the obsession with work that made me have to get
out of VCS. I think, at times, I was possessed by the
people I was profiling.
I think -- at times -- I walked that line a little too
closely.
There were no Calusari to protect me then -- to ward
away the evil. And even now, they leave me with the
chilling thought that it knows me.
Despite that, I am not afraid.
I have protection now.
I have Scully.
Crystalship 134 Words We are a nation of users.
The government used Pinck.
Pinck Pharmaceuticals used the prisoners.
The prisoners used that family, and then Paul used
his girlfriend.
The smoking bastard used Skinner and he used us.
And me?
I used Scully.
I took off, pursuing something I should have known would
never yield proof, and left her there in the prison,
investigating a deadly contagion, when at any moment she
could have been exposed -- could have died.
Have I been around users so much, been used so often, that
I no longer realize when I have begun to do the same?
When I realized how dangerous things were, how much she'd
been willing to risk, it made me sick to think I could use
her like that.
What the hell's the matter with me?
Crystalship 134 Word Challenge This case was an X-File in every sense -- filled
with unexplained phenomena.
Dark matter. Quantum physics. Quarks and gluons and
other things that go bump in the night.
Yet the Richmond PD tried to treat it as just another
homicide investigation. Detective Ryan knew better,
and she was smart enough to ask Scully for help.
But when it came right down to it, Ryan fell in with
the party line, and Scully let her. Scully said she knew
what it was like to be up against the old boys' network,
and she didn't want to make things worse.
Now -- it's tearing her apart. She only wanted to help her
friend, a woman who is now dead.
She feels responsible.
That's a feeling I've come to know well since I've
been with Scully.
Crystalship 134 Words "Scully, Chaco's not here."
Bad feeling.
"Yeah, Mrs. Kearns is missing, too, Mulder."
Worse feeling.
"Chaco must have taken her."
Then -- the worst. I hear the phone hit the floor.
"Scully! Scully! Scully! What happened? Scully! Are
you there?"
I can't do this again -- I can't!
"Are you all right? Answer me! SCULLY!"
****
Driving.
I will make it in time.
Nothing will happen to her.
I can see the bonfire.
I can see the people.
Running.
Oh, God! I can see Scully!
My gun is out.
My hand will not shake.
Nothing will happen to her.
An axe! He has an axe! Over her head!
I fire.
He falls.
I finally reach her, release her, speak to her.
"You all right?"
She nods and all is right with the world again.
Crystalship 134 Word Challenge My dad called me. He never calls me, so, of course,
I went to him.
He was trying to tell me something, but was cryptic.
Nothing was clear.
And then he was dead.
My father was dead -- murdered -- and all I could do
was call Scully.
But, someone shot at her, too.
I was terrified -- sick.
Must have shown because she put me to bed when I got
home.
When I woke, she was gone -- and she had my weapon.
She had it tested; she didn't trust me.
I told her off. I thought it was over.
Then, I saw Krycek, had him in my sights -- and she
shot me.
I trusted her and she shot me.
The physical pain was nothing compared to the pain
of her betrayal.
Crystalship 134 Word Challenge I was so relieved when I woke up and realized Scully
hadn't betrayed me -- she'd saved me.
She put her career on the line to keep me safe. She
brought me here -- to a place where I might find answers.
Now, in this boxcar, I stare at the proof I've sought
for so long, and I owe it all to her. She made the
connections, made it all possible.
When I hear the high-pitched whistle, I dig. Under
the bodies, the metal is decayed and I push through
as the first bomb hits. The heat is scorching and all
I feel is searing pain, but I dig and dig until I can't
go on.
Fire, smoke, heat and thick air. My precious proof
burns behind me.
I'm sorry, Scully, I'm so sorry.
Episode: Little Green Men
Episode: The Host
Episode: Blood
Episode: Sleepless
Episode: Duane Barry
Episode: Ascension - part 1
Episode: Ascension -- part 2
Episode: 3
Episode: One Breath - Part 1
Episode: One Breath - Part 2
Episode: Firewalker
Episode: Red Museum
Episode: Excelsius Dei
Episode: Aubrey
Episode: Irresistable
Episode: Die Hand Die Verletz
Episode: Colony
Episode: End Game
Episode: Fearful Symmetry
Episode:Dod Kalm
Episode: Humbug
Episode: The Calusari
Episode: F. Emasculata
Episode: Soft Light
Episode: Our Town
Episode: Anasazi - part 1
Episode: Anasazi - part 2