Dreams
Work In Progress/Active
Title: X Factor
Rating: PG
Summary: Set after The Truth. Follows M/S and D/R in
their journeys.
Endorse: Characters belong to Fox, 1013, and Carter. The
story is mine. You can archive if you ask and my name is
attached. Feedback is welcomed, so please feel free to say what you think. Xtrekangel@hotmail.com
"Ahhh. This is a great song. Don't Fear the Reaper,
Blue Oyster Cult."
"I know who it is." She said. He turned the volume up
and looked over at her smiling. She was not amused and
propped her feet up on the dashboard, content to just look at
the road ahead. An endless desert landscape stretched out
for miles on either side of them. She looked at him again.
He was playing air guitar to the guitar solo that had begun
to play. A small smile spread on her face, and her eyebrow
rose.
"Mulder, do you want me to drive so you can play guitar
uninterrupted?"
"Come on Scully, have a little fun."
"We are supposed to be trying to stay alive, not have
fun."
"Well what's the point of trying to live if we aren't going
to have a little fun in our lives?"
"Usually your idea of fun is going out on some case when
I'm on vacation, or it's a holiday."
"And we have fun."
"Mulder, I don't recall having fun at the house that was
haunted."
"Yes you did."
"Thinking I was shot is not my idea of fun. That was just
creepy."
"But we found a real haunted house. Didn't you want to
see a real one when you were a kid?"
"No. I wasn't into being scared out of my mind when I
was a little girl."
"Were you scared of the dark?"
"No. Where are we going anyway?" She hadn't seen a
sign for awhile. Of course she was used to going places
with him, and not knowing where he was taking her. He
liked to do that allot. And thinking back on those times
when she wished she had chosen a different profession, she
wouldn't change anything. Mulder just acted the way he
acted. Even though she found him annoying at first, even
hated him at times, she got used to him, and they became
friends. Then later, they became more, without even
knowing it themselves.
"I'm looking for a place where we can lay low for awhile.
So I can figure some things out."
"And where do you plan on going."
"You'll see." He was annoying her right then. He never
could seem to come out with his plans right away. Yet she
always followed. Maybe it was one of her faults. Shifting
her sunglasses on her face, she turned her head and looked
out the window. To think of all they had been through, they
end up like this. Driving through deserts looking for a hide
out. Then eventually go looking for the truth. Like Mulder
says, the truth is out there. She wished things didn't have to
be this way. She leaned her head back on the seat. A few
years ago she would never in her life have thought things
would turn out like they have. Eventually the passing
landscape lulled her to sleep. Gratefully.
***********
"Hey Scully wake up." She stirred a little, then opened
her eyes and looked up. Mulder was standing outside her
door, looking in at her.
"Mulder where are we?"
"Home." He smiled at her. That can't be good. Sitting
up she realized where he had taken them.
"A trailer park?"
"Yes. It's the best I could find."
"But why not a motel?"
"Come on Scully, give it a chance. They could find us
easily at a motel. Here we are hidden." He opened the door
and she got out. The dirt and sand whipped around as the
wind swept across the dry ground. The trailer home was
dingy looking and run down. A foot of dirt and crud had
crusted on the outside. There was no grass to be seen
anywhere. The screen door was half hanging off of its
frame, and the steps that led to it seemed to have rotted
away. She could only imagine what it looked like inside.
"Let's get inside. And don't forget the shotgun honey.
Don't want them pesky neighbors messin up our property."
She wondered if he always acted like a teenager, or if it was
just around her. Carefully, she managed to get up the few
steps without breaking her leg, although it was a difficult
task. Mulder walked in ahead of her. She pushed the screen
door aside a little, and it fell to the ground with a bang. It
also caused the stairs to collapse. Scully sighed and looked
inside. Yup. Just as she imagined. It was like one you
would see on TV, only worse. Dirt and dust seemed to just
hang in the air, not moving. She had to cover her mouth
with the corner of her shirt. Everything seemed brown.
Even the little bit of sunlight streaming in.
"Well, we can fix it up." Mulder said, turning to face
her. He was still smiling.
"Mulder. How long do you plan on us staying here?"
"I don't know. But I'll go down to the store, back that
way, and get some things so we can fix this place up. You
can do woman things, while I go. Ok."
"Yeah." She said with a sigh, knowing the task at hand
was not going to be easy. The first thing she did was to pry
the windows open. It took over ten minutes just to get the
first one open. Rust and some other unidentified crusts had
glued them shut. After spending thirty minutes searching
for something to scrape the crust off, she found a
screwdriver, which helped the process along at a much faster
rate. Finally the windows were open, allowing the air to
move about. The dust started to clear out, and was
becoming breathable again. Looking around she noticed the
furniture did have sheets covering them. This was somewhat
of a relief. But she still had to get the sheets off of the
furniture with as little dust getting spread around as
possible. So began the delicate process. She figured the
best way was to fold the sheet over carefully. Her idea
worked, and she was able to get all of the sheets off the
furniture without incident. So she walked out the door, and
jumped to the ground, for the stairs had collapsed. Then
Scully got the bright idea to shake the sheets out. All of the
dirt and bugs flew back into her face, and covered her. It
was at this point she wondered where Mulder was. An urge
to hit him had suddenly overcome her. After shaking the
sheets out she went back inside and found a broom, and
began to sweep. Though when she moved the refrigerator to
sweep behind it, a huge rotting rat was laying there with
bugs crawling all over it. Now she had seen much worse
things before, but she didn't really care for rats much, and it
was an ordeal to get it picked up and thrown outside. Scully
worked for a couple of hours, almost two, cleaning the
inside of the trailer before Mulder finally showed back up.
"Looks pretty good in here."
"Pretty good? Mulder I've spent the past few hours
breathing in dust and dirt, and trying to pick up dead rotting
rats. It's more than pretty good. And where have you
been?"
"I went to the hardware store." He just looked at her.
She sighed and closed her eyes.
"I also got some food if you're hungry." She looked at him
and smiled. He held up a bag. She walked over and grabbed
it out of his hands, a looked inside.
"You can fix the door." Scully said walking out to the
car. She opened the door and on the side, then began to eat.
Mulder looked at her as she took a big bite of the
cheeseburger.
"What?" She asked, her mouth full. He turned around and
looked at the doorframe. "You don't know what to do, do
you?"
"Scully, I'm a man. Of course I know what to do." She
smirked and took another bite. Scully couldn't help but
laugh as she watched him. An hour later he had the door
fixed. "Ahhh. You shouldn't underestimate me Scully."
"Never." She said stepping out of the car where she had
been napping. "Let's try to get some of that stuff washed
off." She said, running her finger across the outside wall.
"I think there's a hose over there." She pointed at one end
of the trailer. Mulder walked over and picked it up looking
at it a second, then he bent and turned the water on. She
looked at the clear blue sky, and wiped the back of her hand
across her fore head. He obviously planned on them staying
here for awhile. She just hoped that one day they could go
back. Mulder began to spray the walls. Backing away, she
sat on top of the hood of the car, and watched. Everything
from the past presenting itself. She had come so far in life,
but had gotten nowhere at all. The truth's not just Mulder's
crusade anymore, something she was skeptical about for so
long. Scully believed the truth as well. How could she not.
But also look where the truth got them.
"Hey Scully?"
"What?" He turned around and sprayed her with the hose.
She screamed as she leaped off the hood. "Mulder!" He
chuckled and put the hose up.
"We're going to need food and other things. I saw a
Target down the road." He walked over to the car and
opened the door. "Aren't you coming?" He got into the car.
She sighed and gritted her teeth. As she got into the car she
glared at him.
At the store she managed to find a pair of jeans, shorts
and a couple of shirts, and a few other things. She had to
convince Mulder not to get too much junk food. Scully had
forgiven him by the time they left the store. She just
needed a way to get back at him. They got back, and they
went around with bug spray, spraying everything. Mulder
set up the TV they got, he insisted on getting it, so they
could see the news. Finally she sat down next to him on the
couch.
"We're going to run out of cash eventually Mulder. What
will we do then?"
"I'm prepared for everything Scully. I have a way to get
us money, and no one will know." He put his arm around
her, and she scooted a little closer. He propped his feet on
the table. "Everything's going to be ok. If we need to, we
can get jobs, new identities, anything as long as we work
together." He kissed her on her fore head. He flipped
through the channels, and landed on Jerry Springer of all
things. After a while, she fell asleep with her head in his
lap. She dreamed about the life she should have had. Her,
Mulder, and William. Living together away from danger, in
a nice house with a big backyard. The things she deserved.
Like everyone else. But her dream is not a happy one, and it
ends with death. She wakes up. The dream's vivid images
quickly fading, but the feelings still remaining. Sitting up
she looks at Mulder.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." She lied.
"Come on, let's get some sleep." Turning the TV off, he
grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the bed. They got
underneath the new clean sheets. Mulder wrapped his arms
around her, and kissed the back of her neck. "Sometimes do
you wish you never met me?"
"What?"
"I mean, all of the things that have happened to you are
because of me. Because you met me, despite what you may
say, it's true." She shifted her body around and looked at
him.
"Mulder, we've been through this already. I probably
would have had a different life, but that's all, different.
Who's to say it would have been better. William wouldn't
have been born."
"You probably would have had kids though."
"Mulder stop beating yourself up." He closed his eyes,
and buried his face in her hair.
"Scully. Do you love me?" She was surprised by his
question. Never really had they told each other of their
feelings.
"I think you know the answer to that." She grabbed his
face, and moved her lips towards his. Kissing him softly.
back
