From: msnsc21@yahoo.com   
      
   ok to send to newsgroup; I'll send to Gossamer and Ephemeral.   
   Posted Date: February 12, 2006   
   Title:  Land of the Living Part I   
   Author:  ML   
   Email:  msnsc21@yahoo.com   
   Feedback: Love it!   
   Distribution: I welcome it, just tell me where.   
   Spoilers: you've seen the whole series, right?   
   Rating:  Adult themes, adult situations   
   Classification: S, A, UST/MSR   
   Keywords: Mulder/Scully romance   
   Summary: What happens next?  Picking up the pieces after "Closure."   
      
   Disclaimer:  The concept of the X-Files and of its characters belong   
   to Chris Carter, Ten Thirteen, and FOX.  I mean no infringement and   
   I'm making no money from this.   
      
   Author's notes:   
      
   I have stuck fairly close to canon, though some elements that were   
   introduced in S8 are ignored.   
      
   Please note that there will be a second part, already written, that   
   will be posted not too long after Part One is completely posted.   
   Part One starts just after the events in Closure.   
      
   Many, many thanks to Carol for beta and cheerleading, and to   
   Tess and Char for encouragement and kind words!   
      
   =====   
      
   There is a land of the living and a land of the dead, and   
   the bridge is love.   
                          -Thornton Wilder   
      
   ~x~   
      
   Land of the Living by ML   
      
   Prologue   
      
   ~Traveler's Rest Motel, outside Victorville, California~   
      
   The ringing of his cell phone wakes him.  He reaches out and   
   gropes for it, keeping his head buried in the pillow.  He's   
   so tired.   
      
   "H'lo?" he mutters hoarsely.   
      
   "Mulder, it's me," Scully greets him.  "I knocked on your   
   door but I guess you didn't hear me."   
      
   "Time's it?"  he asks, turning his head toward the nightstand.   
   The clock there reads 12:00.  No, that can't be right.  They'd   
   only checked in at eleven o'clock.  And why is it so light   
   outside?  Can't be moonlight.   
      
   "It's almost noon, Mulder.  I had to sweet talk the desk clerk   
   to extend checkout hours for us."   
      
   Normally, he wouldn't let a remark like that pass without a   
   response.  However, his surprise at finding out it's noon   
   *the next day* shocks him into silence.   
      
   Finally he says, "Where are you, Scully?"   
      
   "Just outside your door.  With lunch.  Want some?"   
      
   He stumbles out of bed, grabbing his sweatpants and putting   
   them on as he opens the door.  Scully stands there,   
   immaculate, a bag in one hand and her phone in the other.   
      
   He steps aside to let her in.  "Give me a minute."  He   
   grabs his clothes and enters the bathroom to shower and   
   dress.   
      
   The cool water helps wake him a little more but he still   
   feels exhausted.  So much has happened in such a short   
   time.  He closes his eyes against the needles of water.   
   His usually overstimulated brain seems emptied of every   
   thought, every emotion.   
      
   What now?  he thinks as he dries himself off.  For the   
   first time, I don't really know.  Maybe I don't care,   
   either.   
      
   Scully arranges their lunch, listening to the shower   
   and wondering about Mulder's mood.  She'd had a busy   
   night, and not much sleep.  After talking with Arbutus   
   Ray, she'd taken Mulder to the motel and then driven   
   Harold to the bus station.  Harold had lost heart,   
   unable to accept that his son was not in the same   
   place Mulder had found Samantha.  Scully had no words   
   of comfort for him.  How many times has she seen   
   Mulder in exactly the same circumstances, and had   
   no words that could reach him?  She's not sure now   
   why Mulder accepts what he says he saw.  She's not   
   even sure what he saw in that meadow.  What kind of   
   an explanation is starlight, after all?   
      
   Once back at the motel, she'd found that Mulder   
   had already turned in.  She couldn't even detect   
   the faint blue light of the television set.  Sleep   
   didn't come as easily to her as it had seemed to for   
   Mulder.  The outcome of the case isn't as acceptable   
   to her as it seems to be for him.   
      
   But Mulder believes.  For some reason, he believes.   
   If it gives him some peace, she can't begrudge him.   
   But she cannot help but worry about him.  Is he   
   accepting this explanation too easily?  She's too   
   close to it all to take it in.  She needs to gather   
   more information, understand what happened to Mulder,   
   before she can make up her mind.   
      
   As he opens the bathroom door Mulder can smell the   
   warm greasy odor of lunch awaiting him.  Scully has   
   set the food out on the small table by the window   
   and is in the process of adding the minute portion   
   of dressing she allows herself on her usual salad.   
      
   She doesn't look up right away and he's suddenly   
   shaken by the fear that this really is the end of   
   the road, that he's done or worse yet, Scully is   
   done, and that she will finally and irrevocably   
   leave him.  Panic rises over his numbness.   
      
   Calm, he must be calm.  He can discuss this rationally   
   with Scully.  She's still here.   
      
   Just at that moment she looks up and smiles.  Not her   
   welcome-back-from-the-dead smile, this is not quite as   
   toothy but every bit as genuine.  He remembers to smile   
   back, just, and sits down opposite her.   
      
   "How are you feeling?"  she asks.   
      
   "Okay, I guess.  Tired.  Really, really tired."  He   
   unwraps his burger and takes a huge bite, washing   
   it down with iced tea.  Ugh.  Flavored.   
      
   She notices his grimace.  "Sorry, there wasn't much   
   choice."   
      
   "S'okay," he says after he swallows.   
      
   They eat and drink in silence.  Mulder's mind begins   
   to race again, wondering what to say to Scully.  Once   
   before, he'd tried to say something to make her stay,   
   even tried to kiss her.  It hadn't turned out well.   
   Not because she'd resisted him, though, and the   
   circumstances are a little different now.  They've   
   even kissed, once, a couple of weeks ago.  Not that   
   either of them has mentioned it since.   
      
   Scully breaks the silence first.  "I don't think we   
   need to go back to Sacramento.  Samantha was not a part   
   of the LaPierre case.  We can send them a copy of our   
   final report when we get back to DC."   
      
   He nods his assent, staring down at the remains of his   
   lunch.   
      
   "We can either drive up to San Francisco or over to Los   
   Angeles to catch a flight," she continues.  "I checked   
   this morning, and no matter which way we go, those are   
   the only airports with direct flights."   
      
   "How far to San Francisco?"  he asks.  He doesn't   
   remember much of the drive down; Harold and Scully had   
   driven most of the way while he dozed.   
      
   "Couple of hours, at least.  We're much closer to Los   
   Angeles.  What do you want to do?" she asks, her blue   
   eyes piercing him.   
      
   I want to kiss you, he thinks.  I want to hold you so   
   close that I can't tell where I end and you begin.   
      
   "Mulder?"  He hasn't spoken the words out loud, but her   
   face has a startled expression on it.  He wonders what   
   his face looks like.  When he doesn't say anything, she   
   stands up and starts to gather the lunch debris together.   
      
   As she turns back from the trash can, in one stride he's   
   in front of her, crowding her, grasping her arms and   
   leaning in to kiss her.   
      
   At first she turns her head to one side as if to avoid   
   the touch of his lips on hers.  She turns back so quickly   
   he thinks he may have imagined it.  She stands very still,   
   her arms at her sides, and allows him to kiss her.  Her   
   lips are cool and slightly sweet from the soda.  He settles   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)