Disclaimer: I claim nothing herein for profit. Send thanks and pocket change to CC, 1013, and Fox. Rated: PG Spoilers: Season 4 content. Archivists are welcome, just keep my name and title attached. Genre: S, UST/MSR gray area ... but friendshipper safe. Feedback: driftster@hotmail.com Author: Shaye Beaumont Title: In Darkness Length 1/1 Summary: A Halloween challenge story. Scully experiences a strange nightmare and Mulder reaches out to her when they are reunited. In Darkness 1/1 by Shaye Beaumont "Do you feel at home?" her voice echoed mockingly from the hallway. A dark suited gentleman stepped from the shadowed area in the cell to answer her question. "It's darker where you're going, but you seem to have accepted that fate. It needn't be that way, my dear." Her expression became cold like a death mask etched in stone. Years of loathing for this man came back to her all at once in sharp pains to her heart. "Even if you had the cure it wouldn't absolve you from the countless other lives you have ruined." "You've missed the point. It's quality, not quantity. The saving of one can outweigh the many. Let me present it to you this way . . . would you save Einstein or the four million Jews that died in the Holocaust? What if Christ had lived? There would be no Second Coming or Apocalypse. Those are tough questions for someone who is a scientist and a Catholic." "Everything Dies," she answered in a sad, hushed whisper. "Is your God dead?" She did not want to answer him. To question the existence of God was to question the Afterlife. She would find out the answer soon enough. "I bet you'd like one of these wouldn't you?" she teased, as she raised her pale-skinned hand that held a cigarette to her lips. With the other hand she used a lighter to ignite the cigarette's end. The small blue and orange flame flickered and crackled as it touched the paper and tobacco. Slowly she exhaled a steady wisp of smoke, allowing it to drift in between the cell door's bars to lazily float in the air front of his face. He flashed a wicked smile, ignoring the smoke. "My ashtray is full. Treat yourself," he replied to her offer. The florescent tube-shaped lights that were mounted overhead in the hall snapped on, blinking a couple times before glowing brightly. The lights made a buzzing sound that filled the silence that lingered between her and her captive. It was then that a door at the end of the hallway opened and a familiar figured appeared. "Come on, Scully. Your family is waiting. You don't want to be late for your own funeral," Mulder said as he walked briskly towards her. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Dana opened her eyes and frighteningly stared out into her dark bedroom. A cold, late October breeze blew outside, causing a nearby tree to sway and creak its wood eerily. With each resurgence of wind, the long branches would briefly tap and scratch at the window glass. Fall was here and winter would soon follow. Everything was dying and she was dying with it. Her days were slipping away like the last vibrant autumn leaves. The shadow of the tree danced about on the far wall of her bedroom. Here in the dark, with her mind still lingering in a blurry realm of semi-sleep, she imagined the bare leafed tree as a skeleton and the sound of its branches scratching like a person who was buried alive. It was only when the creaking returned that she imagined it was the sound of her coffin closing. The image sprung to life, a fleeting vision of her loved ones looking upon her for the last time before she went to the dark solitude of the grave. Dana shifted her eyes away from the ghostly tree and turned over onto her side, pulling the blankets closer around her shivering body. She prayed silently to herself, a ritual taking her back to when she was a little girl when she hoped that the boogie man would not harm her. In childhood she would run to her brother Bill's room if she was scared at night. He would calm her fears and show her that the shadows could be anything that she wanted them to be. Bill would make shapes with his hands that would appear as a rabbit or butterfly on the wall. It always made her smile, Bill's hand-made shadow critters, because they had no sharp teeth or claws like the monsters in her room. Or like the ones in her head. The branches' scrapping had stopped and a strange quiet settled in the bedroom. A flash from the headlights of a line of oncoming cars passing outside had created a new image on the wall. The dark shape seemed to appear out of nowhere, almost from inside the wall itself. This shadow moved faster than the swaying image of the tree. This one traveled across the wall and glided lithely over the floor, coming to rest at the edge of her bed. Dana pulled herself into a fetal position, moving her feet away from the shadow. As the last car passed by, the darkness snaked across the bed and disappeared. Meanwhile, outside the wind had begun to stir again. Dana swore that the rustling leaves that tumbled down below on the street were calling her name. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Next night XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX "Well, Scully, this isn't the grand welcome-back-to-the-basement reunion that I had planned on, but you have to admit the change in atmosphere is nice." "Sure, if you're into Grizzly whatshisface, Mulder," she added, nodding her head slightly in agreement, while casting a quick glance to survey the huge, dimly lit interior of the barn. "Who was Grizzly's sidekick?" Mulder asked. Dana wrinkled her eyebrows as she tried to think of the character. "Hmm, I'm not sure. However, I do remember the donkey's name. It was . . . Old Number . . ." "Seven?" they answered at the same time, still not sure if that was correct. "Well, Scully, I think we better stay here tonight. We'll never find the outpost in the dark. I want to get an early start tomorrow, because our answers lie about ten miles from here over some rough terrain." Mulder laid down two sleeping bags on the floor. They both unzipped their respective bag and climbed inside to get warm. As Mulder reached over between them to turn down the flame in the lantern, Scully moved his hand away from it. "What's the matter? Are you afraid of the dark?" he half-joked. "No, I'm afraid of the flame going out," she replied quietly, still holding his hand but focusing her gaze on the lantern. He smiled faintly and wrapped his hand a little tighter around hers. For the first time he felt how physically fragile the cancer had made her. He knew his partner's spirit would soon follow if a cure wasn't found. "Scully, the flame inside won't go out. You won't let that happen . . . and neither will I." She looked away from the lantern and met his gaze. She immediately felt the added security and warmth that he gave her. It was a feeling that she had greatly missed since he had disappeared. There was a deep understanding between them that was beyond the norm of a partner friendship. He could comfort her on a higher level more than even her brother or anyone else. Without another word, Scully let go of his hand and turned the knob on the lantern to extinguish the light. In the dark, Mulder could hear her push the lantern past them to a place above their heads. A few moments later he heard the sound of the fabric from her sleeping bag brushing along the floor, coming closer to him. Mulder smiled and slowly inched his way over to put his arm around her. He knew a great many truths were within their reach. End 1/1 **************************************************** Please be kind and rewind. No late return rental fee. Happy Halloween '97 XF Fan Fic-ers. . . . Shaye driftster@hotmail.com *****************************************************