Temporary by Mischa mischablue@crosswinds.net Rating: PG Category: VAR Keywords: Doggett, Scully, Reyes, Mulder, DSR, DAL (M/S and D/S), pre-colonisation?? Spoilers: general knowledge, 'Ice', 'Biogenesis' Summary: In the dead of night, a reunion takes place as the end draws near. Archive: XFMU, yes; SHODDSters, yes; will post other places, too. Disclaimer: The characters of John Doggett and Dana Scully aren't mine -- they are the intellectually and creatively the property of 1013, Fox, Chris Carter, and the actors who portray them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Stars didn't seem to appear to fall as often now, but when they did they raced through the sky with a fervour she wished she had. Once, she had known of meteor showers, of full moons, of constellations cycling through the sky, but now things were different. From stars, life she had once thought impossible descended. And from that life, there was loss. There was the kind of loss that scarred a life forever in the shape of a fallen comrade, death rising from the ashes in a groteque mimicry of the phoenix' triumph. There were smaller losses too: of faith, of hope, of belief. Death would rise and so many other things would fall; the heart of existence, the wonder that kept humanity searching the stars. Dana Scully was searching the stars now, seeking the answers held behind points of light suspended in unfathomable sky. She sat alone in the darkness, under the canopy of night, flanked by watchful friends. She felt like a sacrifice offered to the gods raining fire down upon them, bait laid out for scavengers' hunger. Yet that was not what this meeting was for; they were congregating here in silence and solitude, a reunion tainted by paranoia and fear. Doggett's voice broke the silence them, softly tumbling from the darkness. "He's here," he said, and Scully suddenly wished he was right beside her at that moment, if only so she could feel his presence radiating warmth around her. The night before, he had held her and whispered to her so many things. That they would all make it out of here okay. That as futile as this meeting seemed, it was necessary. That in the end, it would be worth it for all. They had loved each other fiercely then, with a passion she feared, because she thought it was her instinct telling her it would soon be the end forever. The safety on Reyes' gun clicked off. Everything seemed to slow down. In the sharp silence she could hear her heart thud in her ears as she rose to her feet. The car pulled in with the sleekness of the wind blowing past their faces, silent in the night. The car door opened and closed, and a shadow stepped out. "Scully, it's me. Call off the dogs?" In another life... in *this* life, she may have found that funny, if only there hadn't been so much at risk. Reyes sprung into action without Scully needing to ask, heading towards the newcomer with determination in her gaze. The approaching figure wouldn't have a chance if he attempted to rush her. "Mulder." "Agent Reyes," he said, and she stopped. "It's him," Reyes called to Scully as Mulder approached, and the two women smiled. "I'll... check anyway," Reyes added, and Mulder bowed slightly at her, smiling at her intuition. "Agent Reyes, you *know* it's me," he said as she checked the back of his neck. "There's knowledge, and there's being sure. Having said that, of course, I think a little more inspection wouldn't hurt." Mulder chuckled and Reyes allowed him to stand straight, sharing a solemn nod. "Are we safe?" Mulder asked, all humour gone, gaze beseeching. "We're safe," Reyes replied, and there was little doubt in her eyes. They were as safe as they could possibly be, under the circumstances, and they all knew to trust her instincts. "Mulder... I'm glad you're still you." "I'm glad I'm still me, too." They nodded at each other again, a little awkward, both relieved. Mulder glanced over to where Doggett stood at the edge of the circle Scully seemed to have created for herself; they acknowledged each other with respect in their eyes. They all knew what had to be done this night. Scully sought out one last, reassuring gaze from Doggett before turning to her former partner, watching him approach through the desert wind. "Mulder," she said, and it was all she needed to say. There was a powerful melancholy threading through the air this night; weaving through the darkness, into their souls, along the connections these four people had forged and strengthened as they had known each other. They each had a pivotal place in the scheme of things, and they all knew it, respected it, respected each other. There was solidarity this night, and sadness, because soon they would have to depart and the future would bear down on them again. And so when Mulder came to her, Scully knew it could never be like old times. As Reyes had done, Scully examined the back of his neck and remembered a storage room in Alaska, paranoia thick in the air. They had been new partners then, learning the game. They had come so far since then, but the fear was the same. Reyes' instinctive call had been the right one, as it had been so many times in the past, but Scully couldn't help but want to see it for herself. The brief moment of contact allowed for confirmation that she couldn't trust to her eyes alone. Finally, satisfied, she pulled away and met his gaze. "You look well," she said, and on the surface it was a lie. He was beaten, bruised, broken in more ways than she had feared when he had first left in the night promising to find answers. The livid shadows clung to his flesh, and she knew that he was concealing more than his outward appearance suggested. And yet something radiated from him that she knew no attacker could touch. Resilience, a fire emanating from him that she hoped the alien beings could never understand. For while the superhuman faculties of the alien replicants allowed them to take bullets and walk away, she still believed in the strength of the human spirit, its capacity to survive all trials. She knew that now. She had always reminded herself of that when metal cracked through the air, when she held William in her arms, when John stood beside her on cold winters by child-sized graves. Years had passed this way, and Mulder was resilient as they were now, but carried with him a shadow of sadness. "You look temporary," he said as he watched her sit on the sand. Scully curled her feet under her and sighed. "So do you." It felt like maybe this was a dream, of a child building sandcastles by the waters on African shores. The truth stretching out beyond them in angles predicting humanity's past. Or eternity, flying out before them, the wasteland mere crumbs in an hourglass. Time was slipping away from them in each moment, and the future rising. Her hands pushed through the sand, and remembered a crucifix laid out among bags of eroded stone and quartz. Another innocent lost to the future, an innocent never meant to be. So much had been laid to rest for the cause they were all fighting for, and if nothing happened soon, everything else would be laid to hell. The night before this, she had rested in John's arms and simply didn't move. She would only ever admit it to herself and to him, but she was scared of losing the time she now held so precious. The call had been unexpected, from a man they had thought long dead, and it could only mean one thing, that the colonisation was coming. And that it was coming soon. It was selfish of her, she knew, but she couldn't help but categorise all that had been taken from her to this point. "I lost Emily to this," she had told Doggett, and he held her close. "I lost too much of my life, to this. They created life from me, they took it from me, they let me die only to prove they could save me. And in the end, after all of this, They still win." "Dana, they didn't take your faith," he said, and she frowned. He was right, in a twisted way; she still had William, hidden away in the hideout of the Lone Gunmen, no doubt receiving an education no six-year-old child had a right to learn. And she still believed in things, although they were few and far between. Scully believed in Doggett. And he believed in her. It had been enough to move them past the bitterness she had felt at Mulder's voluntary departure, beyond the professionalism of the working relationship compromised by high-level corruption at the hands of the conspiracy. It had been enough when she stood in his house the first night they had fallen together, shocked at the revelation that had built within her for months before spilling out in one tense moment. It was enough as they survived attempts on their lives, their constant investigations, sharing memories over graves in snow and the broken promise of the New Year. And now... it was enough now, too. Scully glanced up, caught Doggett's gaze. He stood opposite to Reyes, gun drawn and tense in his hands, his eyes reassuring. She took a deep breath and faced Mulder again. "Tell me," she said, steeling herself as she spoke. The meteor shower around them lit up the sky in scattered light. Mulder's voice was made for storytelling, and it was a harrowing tale he told. Of shadows and metal, fire and ascension. Meteors fell heedlessly around the three agents and their friend, a backdrop of falling stars, a hint of the future soon to descend upon them. And he told it to her quickly, rushed by time. Urgency crept in with every second slipping past and they strategized as quickly as two people who would never see each other again could. This was the final plan, and from the sidelines Reyes and Doggett planned with them. They kept their eyes peeled, senses alert. If anyone were to see them from the road, they would be at risk. If a light descended from the sky and revolved around them, they would all be dead. "He loves you," Mulder finally said, after Scully's gaze strayed one too many times. "I know," she said, and startled herself with her own certainty. Reyes turned away slightly, giving the appearance of privacy, and Doggett simply met Scully's steady gaze. Mulder's voice dropped, needing to know, wanting to make sure she was safe in her choice. "Do you love him, Scully?" The meteors had stopped falling, but she kept her neck craned to the sky, still focused on impossible points of light. "Mulder..." "I'm only asking. I need to know Doggett's taking care of you." There was regret in his voice; genuine and melancholy, but they couldn't dwell on that now, not while the world was ending at their feet, not when things were so different now. "I gave my life to you. He brought it back." Her voice tightened, suspecting his reasons for asking her. "It's not gratitude," she defended herself. "That's not why I'm with him." He stared at her for a moment and smiled. Just like old times, that smile was enough to soothe all tension away. "I knew it wasn't gratitude by the way you looked at him tonight," Mulder said. "I don't doubt it, Scully. I wouldn't, ever." Scully looked away from Mulder and focused on her lover, gun in hand, protectively watching them both. Time was running out for them all now, and so much still needed to be said, and there were no words. "I know that," she said, standing up. "I know that, and you have to leave now." He sighed, and slowly rose from the sand. Scully felt for her cross, uttered a silent prayer to a God she wasn't entirely sure existed anymore. "Mulder..." "I may not make it." "We know." It finally felt like a true reunion then; each person moving past their wariness and stepping forward, giving their farewells to Mulder right when he was about to leave. They would never see him again. They knew it with a certainty that frightened them. Maybe the colonisation would come, maybe their efforts on the outside world and Mulder's on the underground would prevent it, but either way, their paths would never cross after this. "Take care of yourself," he told Scully, as Reyes stepped respectfully away and Doggett remained by her side. "I will." "Take care of William." "I will." "Watch Doggett's back." "Mulder, you don't have to *ask* me to do any of this, you know." Mulder grinned down at her, his smile lopsided and sad. Words were always so inadequate here; there was always too much to be said, and the breadth of the English language not enough to cover it. She simply took his hand and squeezed. "Take care." "If anything happens to me out there... you'll know. I don't know how I'll get the message to you, Scully, but --" "I'll know," she murmured, and they both knew it was true. Maybe she would wake up gasping in the night the moment his soul extinguished into the atmosphere, but Doggett would be there to catch her. "You'll be okay to leave?" Reyes called, ready to watch Mulder's back as well if he asked. "Yeah." And with a final parting smile, he turned and left, heading back to his car. No, there were no words, after all. Desert cold raced up her arms, and she shuddered. Reyes stepped towards her, tentatively putting her arms around her defensive friend. "Dana," Reyes said. "It's okay. That was goodbye." Scully knew it was. That wasn't why she was shaking. She was shaking because she knew that now there was only one step to go, and two paths to be taken from here. Maybe they'd awaken to a broken world, of ravaged cities and rising plagues. Or maybe they'd simply wake up to the same world it was now, a world descending into a man-made corruption, the hope of a star-gazing humanity tainted by their own machinations. Either option left little solace for her, but still Scully knew she would fight for the latter, if only to maintain her own free will. "I don't think it's my instinct or feelings you should rely on here," Reyes said. "Dana, it's yours. You know this better than me." Sometimes, Monica seemed so much like Melissa it threatened to break Scully's heart. "You're right," she said, and they smiled at each other, a smile forged in sadness and shared cameraderie. "Thank you for being here," Scully added. "Thank you... for watching our backs." "Always." Reyes paused, searching for the right words. "Dana," she finally said before pulling away from her embrace, "There's no point wishing on falling stars now." Scully looked into the intuitive, wise depths of her friends eyes and saw the same disillusioned hopes of childhood within them. And knew that Reyes was right. "I haven't wished on a star for years." "Don't start now, just because they're around a lot tonight." The same could be said of relying on hope alone, Scully thought, and she knew that was why this night had been so bitterly sad. "I'll leave you two alone," Monica said, reaching up to give Doggett a hug as well. The two friends held each other close, years of shared memory creasing their foreheads. Scully and Doggett didn't know if they would see Reyes again after this night either, but as long as there was a strategy in place for the colonisation to be defeated, there was always the possibility that they could. But only a possibility. And then, in the desert night, taillights moving into the distance, they were alone. "You okay?" he asked. She slid her arms around him and felt his pulse under her ears. The desert was cold at night, empty, and alone. "John," Scully said with all the conviction she had left in this world, "we will last." "I know," he said with the same confidence he'd once had just before she'd thrown a cup of water in his face. She rolled her eyes up at him. "We *will*." "Dana..." Doggett pulled back from her enough to stare straight into her eyes, her heart. Playfulness gone, for one moment in time. "We will." She nodded. "I just... I had to let you know." They moved to the car as one, ducking away from the chill air, escaping to reality even as an unspoken part of them both wanted to run from it. "Mulder will make it," Doggett said, but he wasn't entirely confident, and it showed in his eyes. "Yes," she said, and she wasn't sure if that meant she thought he would halt events on his side or that he would survive. "I'll fight for you and Will. You know that." It was the same vow he had made her ever since Scully and William had first found themselves alone in the world, and she knew in her heart she would do the same. "I would fight for you. Just... please, do it here." They were weary of the world and its descent into denial and madness, but they would promise each other what they could offer of hope anyway, because they believed in each other. The car rumbled into life, and it felt like another small phase had passed from a night of unreality to the chaos that lay beyond. She watched Mulder's retreating taillights in the mirror as they pulled away. When they had faded to pinpoints on the horizon, another caught her attention. One last falling star, right out of the corner of her eye. Scully closed her eyes, for one fond moment... and then opened them again. Hopes left unspoken. Watching the flaming stone extinguish into the night. "Let's go home," Doggett said, and it was enough. She leaned against the window and stared out into the night sky. "Yes," she said. Scully didn't believe in the power of falling stars anymore, but then she no longer needed to wish. ~ END ~