Part 10 Hospital Cafeteria 12: 35 AM It took a while to calm Agnes down. She was sobbing into her hands and Mulder and Scully had somehow only garnered that she had put Candi into a coma. "I had to. . .I had to." "Because she was out of control?" "No. Well, yes. It was partially that but she didn't understand what she was playing with. She never understood what she was playing with. She called me last night. She said she did something very wrong and put you (she nodded toward Mulder) into a coma and she really felt bad about that because you did nothing to her. She was just mad at Dana and she later found out she shouldn't have been. I know my girl. She's not always thinking straight. She thinks with the heart of a three year old sometimes. But she's not a bad girl. She was just given a gift--or a curse--she never should have been given. She's too immature to make decisions on how to handle it. This is not her fault. But yesterday, she wanted to mess with Janet. And that could not happen." "Excuse me, Mrs. Zleinek. I just don't quite understand why going after Janet made you act. I mean, you told me you knew she was doing this for quite a while and you never stopped her before. . .and, logically, if she were to have revenge on anyone--this would be the person she should have placed her anger on in the first place. So. . .why now?" "Because I knew you girls would not be going to hell. Not a chance. When it comes time for Candi to be judged, all she would be guilty of is forcing you to decide whether or not you wanted to take stock of your life and atone early. With Janet--there is something I feel in my bones. I'm not so sure if Candi sent her to hell--she wouldn't qualify to go. And, if she didshe would have given final judgment. Something that is only God's job. And she'd have to suffer the consequences for that arrogance. She's my baby. I couldn't let that happen." Scully reached out and touched the woman's hand and Mulder just stared at her for a while. It was a strange experience for him. While he had been pretty open from the start about the existence of purgatory, even though he didn't necessarily even understand his own religious beliefs or disbeliefs, it was bizarre seeing these things talked about freely. Seeing Scully fight against the concept while believing on some frightened level. He was beginning to understand some of what she must feel when he had backup for some of his more bizarre theories and she was the complete outsider trying to make sense of it all. On their way out of the hospital, they went into Candi's room. They were a little surprised to find a visitor. Gary was sitting by her bedside, just watching her. He looked less tired than the last time they had seen them. God works in some very mysterious ways, Scully thought. She walked up to the head of the bed and looked down. Candi was a very beautiful womaneven without her ever- present makeup and with all the tubes in place. She touched her shoulder and said a silent prayer that she would recover quickly and fully realize what she had done. And most of all, "sin no more." She turned to Mulder as they got back out into the hallway. "I think we should go home tomorrow afternoon. Check in the morning to make sure the benefit went well and that someone will make sure the money will go where it's needed. . .probably back to Candi now--and then leave this bizarre high school version of Knot's Landing. Frankly, I'm exhausted." He smiled as they made their way back to the parking lot. Days Inn 3 AM The water was cold. Damned cold. Probably not the smartest idea. A moonlight swim. Sounds romantic but in actuality, Mulder found it a bit alarming. There was no telling what could be lurking in the water and after encounters with all and sundry forms of life procreating, gestating and parasiting in the stuff, his imagination didn't have to run rampant in order for him to get some pretty vivid pictures playing in his mind. And worse, romance was really out of the question. Really. Scully was making that discovery. "Not a chance, huh?" she asked him as she stroked him inside his swimming trunks. "You'd have to thaw them out at this point." Her laughter rang out as she gave his testes a soft caress and moved her hand back up to his shoulder. "Oh, well. Too bad we don't have a hot tub around." "You have a water fetish today, Scully?" "I guess I must." "Can we go inside before the deep freeze turns into frostbite?" "Oh, we definitely can't let that happen." She started to walk out of the water but as more and more of her skin was exposed to the cool night air, the temperature finally began to have an effect on her. She suddenly broke into as quick a run as she could with the water swirling around her feet and then bolted through the sand and up to her room. By the time Mulder followed, she was already in the shower. He joined her as quickly as it took to remove his trunks. "Hold me, I'm cold," she shivered. She huddled into him as if he could entirely envelope her body. The water was warm and steamy but they both knew the shower would pretty much remain functional rather than sexy. Scully turned off the water, grabbed a towel and bathrobe, and with a muttered "fuck this," she ran to the bedroom where she quickly turned up the heater and snuggled under the blanket. Mulder soon followed and was again summoned to warm her. "You are a very pushy woman, Scully. Did I ever tell you that before?" He spooned around her body and rubbed his hands up and down over her terrycloth covered arms. "Whose bright idea was this midnight swim in the icy waters of the Pacific?" she asked through teeth that were just past the verge of chattering. "I believe that was the idea of the woman who spent a good deal of her formative years in said water. And it's way past midnight, by the way." "Oh. See. That was my mistake. The temperature drops dramatically after the witching hour." "I think the temperature rises much higher when the damned sun comes out. Much better to do that kind of thing in broad daylight. Sun--good. Moon--bad. For warmth, anyway." He snuggled closer to her. "We could live here on a beach somewhere, you know." She couldn't tell from his voice if he was serious. "What?" "We could. We could sell margaritas on the beach. I would flirt with the old lady tourists for bigger tips and you could show the old guys some thigh. We'd make a living." "I would most definitely do nothing of the kind. And I don't condone serving alcoholic beverages to the elderly in the hot sun. They could have bottled water or juice." "I can see who will be making the money in this enterprise. Well, you know, it's always been the traditional role of the male to bring home the bacon. . .or tofu or whatever the hell you are into this week. So. . ." She turned in his arms. "Would you really. . .ever do this?" "Sell margaritas on the beach?" "No. I mean, leave the FBI. Stop the madness." "I don't know. Right now, I don't think we're doing an awful balancing job. But, if you were unhappyand actually let me know, which would be a first--or if we both just found ourselves working without passion--yes. I guess I would. If you would go with me, of course." "Of course." "Well, is that something you would like to do? Someday?" "Not right now. I guess I also don't feel it's necessary. We're in a redefining stage of life, that's for sure and I think that scared me. I know that scared me. I think I felt that we needed very clear boundaries between work and our relationship but--really, that's exactly what we've done all these years and that didn't make us happy. We've sort of naturally been blending the two in the last few weeks and it's been nice. And, the fact that we are comfortable enough with each other to still yell, scream, pout, and get the hell away from each other is a very healthy sign." "Very healthy," he agreed. She felt him nod against the top of her head. She slipped her hands under his robe to encircle his waist. "I do love you, Mulder. You are the last one for me." His arms tightened around her to the point where she could barely breathe. She returned the squeeze. It was a nice sort of mutual discomfort. The words weren't such a big deal after all. The world, for the second time so far in this millennium, did not end. In fact, it had several new, small beginnings. The End. Author's notes: I was thinking about "Candi" yesterday. How a little power in the wrong hands can lead to loads of trouble. The same holds true for a certain novice fanfic writer who, pumped up from kind and generous feedback, decided to take on--oh, say nice contained little subjects like life after death, eternal retribution and wayward cheerleaders. The life lesson I learned from this particular story is- -ignore inspirations received at bus stops. When the little voice starts up with the old familiar, "wouldn't it be interesting if. . ." forget the bus and start walking. Exercise will chase those wayward thoughts back where they belong. Thank you for taking this bizarre little trip with me.
Text file Source (historic): geocities.com/ginarainfic
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