Novels The Damascus Files In The Interest of Science Other Stories A Deafening Silence Finding Zuzu's Petals Into The Mystic Je T'aime Knockin' On Heaven's Door Knowing Korena, Korena Matthew 19:14 Nightwing Sweet Dreams Symbiosis A Texas History Lesson This Could Be Heaven,   or This Could Be Hell Timepieces Your Soul in My Heart Other Info About Kat Linkage Feedback   Korena, Korena Text Only Rating: PG -13 Disclaimers: Chris Carter owns every one in here except the denizens of Deweyville, TX. There is a Deweyville, Texas but this Deweyville and all it's people are my creation. I ask that Mr. Carter not sue me, I'm only borrowing. I don't get paid for this, so he probably won't even notice. Summary: Mulder and Scully visit Deweyville, Texas to help a young woman investegate a series of abductions/murders. Categories: X-File, Angst The town of Deweyville sits on the Texas side of the Sabine River, 9 feet above sea level. All 9 feet is composed of silt and sludge, the debris from when the floods come. It makes for fertile farm land. But the people in the town are poor, dirt poor to use an old cliche. On either side of town, both north and south, are the vegetable stands. Before my abduction, I used to work at my family's southside stand during the summer. I hated it. I would rather be out playing, riding my bike, digging for crawfish -- anything but sitting behind the whitewashed board that served as our counter, and weighing tomatoes, peas and corn for the customers. Kristy, my little sister, took over my spot, after I could no longer work. She hates it, of course. I can't blame her. If I was 16, and looked like Kristy, I'd hate it, too. Kristy found the first victim. We had seen the signs that they were back. It was a cool summer for Southeast Texas, cool and rainy, just like it was that year I went missing. Kristy remembers how it was. That's why, when she waited too long, jawing with Pumpkin Boutee and Larry Williams, she didn't want to take the short cut. It was after nine. Nights come quickly in the Big Thicket. What little bit of twilight there is, is cut off by the trees. But it started storming. She walked part of the way down the highway, but when the bright, jagged lightning split the purpled, bruised sky she ran. She ran down by the stream. That's when she saw Skeeter Claraday, or what was left of him. She said his moaning is what caught her attention. She heard his whimpering moans and left the path. She admits she didn't know what she thought she'd be able to see. She saw more than she wanted to. She was almost upon him, when a big bolt shot across the sky. Night turned to day for a moment. And my little sister saw him. She saw what had almost happened to me. Skeeter was covered with a thick green gel. Under the goo, he was melting. It's hard growing up with my name and being an alien abductee. Of course, no one really believes I was abducted, nobody in this town anyway. It happened the summer before my 15th birthday. Everyone thinks I was grabbed by some perverted, rapist psycho. Especially because of the way I was found. To everybody, the proof that I wasn't abducted was it happened only once. Everyone knows aliens keep coming back for more, so it had to have been the pervert that took me off my bike that day. I know they figure no perverted rapist would take me now, not even a psycho one -- not the way I look. I grew up to the chant, "Korena, Korena, where'd ya go last night? ET took you, now your face is a fright." The lyrics have varied. They all hurt. But I'm strong. I've made it this far, haven't I? Most of my time is spent on the Internet. That's where I met Fox Mulder. The minute he confessed his real first name, it was love at first byte. I never thought I'd ever really see him, or that he'd see me. I'm not good at first meetings, or second, or any of them. Not when I have to meet someone face to my ruined face. I'm kinda shy that way. This is the story of how we met and of my first X-File. The pictures told the story. Fox Mulder studied each shot, imagining what it must have been like for the girl. The first was a school photograph. She had been pretty. Fourteen is an awkward age, but there was great promise of a certain loveliness yet to come. Her eyes were what mesmerized him. Even before the pain, she had the eyes of an old soul. Wide, deep blue, almost violet and knowing. Did they see what was to come? Is that why, even though there was a practiced, pasted on, smile for the camera, her expression was solemn? In every picture he had of her, she had that same expression. Even the cheesecake one on the bearskin rug. She'd only sent him snapshots of herself from before the abduction. She'd given him carte blanche to her medical records, so she knew he had seen her as she now was -- scarred, confined to a wheel chair, barely able to breathe. Maybe she'd only sent the old photos, because that is how she wanted him to picture her. Perhaps it was her way of saying this is the real me. Sadly, the Korena Brooks he envisioned when he thought of her was NOT the smiling school girl. What he saw in his mind's eye were the photos from her medical records. Stark black and white images, grizzly color shots showing how much pain a human spirit could endure and still survive. "Mulder, am I supposed to be on 87?" Dana Scully's question pulled him from his silent study. "What?" She gave a small sigh and pulled to park on the shoulder. Dana knew this case was special for him. It was Important, with a capital *I*. It was his quest, but it was more. It was the girl. Korena was a woman, now, or almost so. But to Mulder she would always be a little girl who had been stolen from her family. "Tell me", Scully requested, deliberately softening her tone after seeing his eyes. She knew he'd been looking at the pictures again. The ones in the file. Scully handed him the Texas road map. "Aren't we supposed to be on State Highway 87? I think I missed our turn-off." Mulder opened the oddly-folded chart and attempted to get his bearings. "Let's see, Interstate 10 to 12 then on to 87. That should put us about...ah, we should be there." A quick glance around confirmed that where they were was not there. Squinting, he glanced at the map again, "What road are we on?" Scully sighed. They were coming upon the little town, Deweyville, but in order to find Korena's house they needed to find Highway 87. They stopped at the local mercantile, Claybar's, and grabbed a much-needed drink. Using the down time, they studied the directions Korena's grandmother had sent for her house. The instructions had arrived regular mail. The elderly woman would not touch a computer -- religious beliefs. "Mulder, are you sure we shouldn't be staying at a motel? I feel strange, you know, staying at a civilian's house." The agent allowed a wry grin to cross his lips at his partner's term -- "civilian." "Scully, I've been writing to this woman for three years now. I know her. She doesn't mind. You can take it for a couple of days, can't you?" Scully shot him a reproachful glance, "I can TAKE it, Mulder. That's not the problem..." She stopped short, seeing he was not listening. He once again had his nose in the files. "There, there's the short cut Korena talks about. That goes by some little stream." Mulder was pointing at a well-worn path that had been paralleling the highway but turned into the thick cluster of pine trees, just past a wooden bridge. "That's where Korena was found and Miller Claraday's remains were discovered by Kristy Brooks." Dana remained silent until she made the turn onto the washboard dirt road, "And Miller..." "They called him Skeeter," Mulder offered. "I don't think too many people even knew his real name." "Skeeter," the agent repeated with a shrug. "Skeeter was the victim they found the substance on. The gel that matched what Korena had inhaled?" Mulder nodded. "Both were analyzed, both came back as a caustic substance -- chemical composition unknown." Scully sighed again, "No, 'not of terrestrial origin?' Mulder, I'm disappointed. We're on this case on such flimsy evidence." "We're on this case because Korena asked us," the agent murmured softly. Scully felt her cheeks redden, "Sorry, I..." She quickly caught his eye, wanting him to know she meant her words, "I'm sorry." She received a slight grin in answer and saw forgiveness in his eyes. "Is that it?" Scully asked, pointing at a ramshackle trailer, almost hidden in a clump of trees. The agent hoped not. If it was, sleeping in the car was going to be her preferred choice. "No, I think that's where her dad lives. He drinks, "Mulder replied, disgust lacing his voice. "No doubt." The house was beyond the copse of small pines. It was a large, country farm house, looking homey and lived in. A huge, screened porch spread almost entirely across the front. Dogs barked announcing their arrival and an elderly, big-boned woman made her way down the steps, coming to greet them. "They're here Beena!! Kristy, Beena! They're here!" Elizabeth Brooks trumpeted toward the front door. She hurried down the walk and met the agents at the gate. Mulder was immediately grabbed in a tight, warm hug. "You are a long, tall drink of water," the woman exclaimed, holding the man at arms length to take in his lanky frame. "Don' anybody feed you? Don' worry, Maw-Maw's here." Mulder noticed a tall, long-legged, teen hanging back behind a bush in the yard. The girl offered him a shy smile. That would be Korena's little sister, Kristy, Mulder realized. Elizabeth released the agent and turned her attentions to his partner. "And what a pretty little thing. You look like my little sister, Annie, God rest her soul." Scully suffered the quick embrace with good grace and they followed the Brooks' family matriarch back to the house. "Sonny! Red! Go get these people's things outta the car!" "No, I can get the..." Mulder began, pivoting to return to get their luggage. "No, those lazy boys can do it." Elizabeth stopped him and ushered the pair into the house. Mulder had waited for this moment. Dreaded it too. He didn't realize it, but he handled it well. Korena searched his face and saw no horror, no revulsion, a touch of pity perhaps, but he hid it well. She was impressed. She liked him. That had been her biggest fear -- that she would finally meet him and be disappointed. Life was like that. It rarely met one's expectations. Fox Mulder was one exception. He walked straight over to where she sat in her wheelchair and gave her a big warm hug. He even had tears in his eyes to match her own. Dana Scully also handled their first meeting well. She was more distant, more reserved in her greeting, but they hadn't been writing each other for three years. The conversation quickly turned to the case, which didn't bother Korena one bit. It helped them get used to each other and gave them a topic of conversation. Maw-Maw left Korena to her company, retiring to the kitchen to begin the task of fattening Fox up, and the boys, after dropping off the luggage, went back outside. Mulder, Scully and Korena began what was to prove to be the first of many power meetings. Kristy, as always stayed back, watching and listening. Korena went over what she knew of the three most recent victims. The first, of course, had been Skeeter. Kristy helped fill in the blanks, telling what happened, both before and after she'd ran to get help. Scully quizzed her on whether the man had actually been alive when she'd left him. Kristy replied he had been groaning. She knew he was still alive. The records the agents had acquired showed that there had been little left of Skeeter by the time the authorities arrived. The caustic, viscous, substance had disolved all of his soft tissue and most of his bone, leaving behind a puddle that was primarily the unknown gel mixed with a bit of primordial soup that had vestiges of the victim's DNA. There was even less found of the other two . Oly Riley had gone missing eight days after the Miller boy. It was assumed that the addled old man had gone on a pre-dawn fishing excursion and either injured himself, somehow, or perhaps simply wandered off. He had been known to do that on occasion. He was, after all, 94. A day and a half later, a local man had found a pool of greenish sludge near the back of his pasture. What frightened the discoverer of this grizzly m ess was the odd-shaped piece of metal that lay undisolved in the middle of the puddle. It resembled a sculpted human hip bone. Medical records showed that Oly had hip replacement surgery in 1990. Last week, just four days before, Lisa Phillips, 8, had been seen playing in a field, not a quarter of a mile from where Oly had been found. When she didn't return home for supper, a massive hunt was begun. The pasture, in fact every field and pasture from Kirbyville in the north, to Deweyville in the south, and west out to Vidor was searched. The town dragged the river, beat the bushes, combed the woods. No sign of the child was found. A full day and a half later, just at twilight, a passing motorist saw a flash of light cut through the trees that lined the road. He stopped, wanting to investigate. The moment he stepped from the car, he heard the scream and the frightened, high-pitched wailing of a terrified child. He ran toward the sound, fighting through the thick undergrowth that lined the banks at that part of the Sabine. By the time he reached her, her cries had stopped. All he found was an already liquefying skeleton. When the sheriff arrived, there was nothing left. Law enforcement, of course, assumed that there was a madman on the loose. It looked almost certain that the person or persons involved were connected to the sick bastard that had abducted and mutilated Korena Brooks almost four years before. They had no other clues, only the samples of the mysterious fluid. There had been no footprints around any of the remains, save those of the victims, and not even one tire track. There was nothing to indicate how the killer or killers arrived at or left the scene. It was as though each one of the deceased had simply appeared out of nowhere at that point in time and began to emulsify. "I think tonight would be a good night for stargazing," Mulder smiled, looking up from the reports. Korena shook her head. "I think tomorrow would be better." "Your theory?" Mulder grinned. "Theory?" Scully asked, brow raised. Mulder met Korena's eye and the girl nodded. Motioning the agents to follow she rolled over to her desk and began typing to bring up what looked to be a large chart, with several rows of figures and what appeared to be points of navigation. "Korena's got it all figured out," the agent began in explanation." "Mulder, it's still only theoretical. It worked that last time. It takes more than once for a theorem to be proven. Don't patronize me or her," the young woman complained, searching for the part of the file she needed. Dana gave a half-hearted attempt to hide her smile, meeting her partner's eye. "Okay, based on the time lapse between each victim, and the sightings I've been tracking, I'd say their sweep will start tomorrow at dusk, coming from the east by the river." "Do they always start at a certain point?" Mulder asked, bending to study the screen. Korena's smile was sheepish, "I haven't figured out the exact point of origin, having three recorded victims is what got me this far. If I were to just go by the sighting of the lights, my figures would be even less precise. I don't know why so many this year. I've kept records at the other hot spots, where I think the ship goes when it's not here and so far there has been nothing mentioned about any 'victims.' In those places it's all disappearances and alien abduction speculations. The only proof we have is how the abductees have been returned." The conversation was interrupted by Elizabeth's presence. The elderly woman announced lunch was nearly ready and suggested that her houseguests might use the time before the meal to settle into their respective bedrooms. After unpacking, Scully wandered from her small, neat room near the bathroom out to the screened back porch, Mulder's' assigned sleeping quarters. The metal-thatched windows on three sides afforded the room a nice, cool breeze. While offering less privacy than her quarters, Scully secretly wished she'd drawn his room. It offered a pleasant view of a sprawling back yard that tapered off to the tangled brush of the dense forest. The airy open design made it the coolest spot in the house. She found Mulder reclining in a rough-hewn wooden rocking chair, padded by a colorful homespun patchwork quilt. The setting was Americana personified. "Get you a pair of overalls and a baseball cap and you'd fit right in, Mulder," she quipped, settling down on a hanging bench swing. The man hiked a long leg up on the window sill, tipping the chair even further back. "Think I should try some of this Red Man?" He indicated the small can sitting beside his seat. Scully's face screwed up in disgust. "Stick to the seeds, G-man," she advised. Mulder chuckled, indicating a brass spittoon sitting by the door. "I'll just sit out here tonight and practice my aim." Her laugh bubbled up, floating on the breeze, "Think you could hit it?" Mulder sat up straight, rising to the challenge, "I KNOW I can," he began, reaching into his pocket for his ever present supply of ammunition. This demonstration of his prowess was halted by Kristy's call, "Come and get it, dinner's ready." The agents soon discovered their presence was not welcome or wanted. It is typical of small towns that word travels fast and Korena's steadfast resolve that she had been abducted by aliens did not sit well with the local law enforcement. They were searching for a killer, not little green men. And now the crazy little loon had the FBI on her side, wasting the taxpayers time and money. Scully was surprised by the utter stonewalling they received when they visited the Newton County Sheriff'ss Department. Apparently, the Brooks family had made some enemies with the sheriff. "Well, that accomplished a lot," she spat bitterly as they strolled out of the air-conditioned building into the thick, humid heat. By silent agreement Mulder took the wheel. She was just too frustrated to drive at that moment. "Korena warned me what it was going to be like in dealing with the locals. We got a feud brewing. Korena's daddy had a lot to say when her case went unsolved. Almost lost the sheriff his election. Sides were chosen. To the sheriff, we're the big guns and we got called out by the enemy. Sad thing is, if this really was what they think it is, an investigation for a serial killer, they'd be doing themselves more harm than good with the attitude they're copping." Mulder pulled out onto the steaming black top while Scully sat musing his comments in silence. "Mulder," she began, finally wanting to break the ice on what had been troubling her since their arrival. "You know I've read the files on all the new cases. And I've gone over what you've given me on Korena. Could this possibly be what that jackass and everybody else thinks it is? I mean I know it's horrible to believe, especially for a 14-year-old girl, but couldn't what happened to Korena be the act of some madman? Man's inhumanity to man is well-documented. We've seen what a twisted mind can do. Shouldn't we at least be considering this fact?" Mulder smile was painful. "Scully, not everything is in the file I gave you. I've been writing to Korena for three years now and some of what she's told me is personal. I believe her. Her story's never changed, not one detail. Even as young as she was when it happened, she told her story and you know the truth doesn't change." "But..." He didn't let her finish and his face was a hard mask of steely intensity. "I asked myself all the questions before I told Korena I'd come. That's three and a half years between murders. Serial killers normally don't take a sabbatical from their favorite pastime, at least not one as long as that. Then I reasoned, well, he could have moved, been doing his dirty deeds somewhere else. Nothing showed up, so maybe he was in jail. Or maybe something had put his mind at ease. He just didn't need to kill during that time. Not likely, but possible. It could happen, a serial killer being happy without killing. "Then I considered the facts of the case. The unexplained substance that's chemical composition unknown, stuff that dissolves human bones down to Jell-O. I thought, well maybe it's some classified chemical weapon from the military that a wacko got hold of. We just might be seeing the fallout from some cover-up. It's entirely believable that our government wouldn't admit that something this deadly fell into the wrong hands. "The bottom line is, Scully, you always say that we should look for the simplest explanation. Korena's version is the simplest." "I'd hardly call alien abduction a "simple explanation", Mulder," she stated sadly. Mulder let out a harsh breath in exasperation, "Scully, what she told me about what happened, that very first time even... well, it couldn't have been a lie, or a delusion. It couldn't have just sprung from the head of a teen-age country girl." It was his partner's turn to interrupt. "You're not giving her enough credit. Korena shows near genius capabilities in math. This is no simple country girl. Mulder, I'm not saying she's been deliberately misleading you or that she's crazy. I'm saying you just might have heard a tale of a child who suffered through something that was more painful, more horrifying, than anyone should ever have to go through. Her story could be her subconscious way of dealing with it all -- the fact that someone could be so cruel as to deliberately burn someone alive." "So you don't believe her? You don't believe US?" The agent gripped the steering wheel tightly. Disappointment and hurt tinged his voice as he said, "Why did you bother coming? Aren't you tired of chasing down aliens?" "Mulder," Scully softly replied, "Whoever did this to her isn't a real human being -- I just don't think it's an alien." The partners finished their drive in stony silence. The cool, wet breeze rustled the pines, whispering through the screened window to ruffle the agents' hair. The anger at Scully had dissipated after they'd spent the evening together, listening to Korena tell her story. After hearing the young woman speak, Mulder saw a certain amount of change in the steadfast resolve of his partner's doubts. He and Scully had retired to his room, feeling the lethargic aftereffects of Elizabeth's culinary efforts. Two full plates of fried chicken, mashed potatoes covered with cream gravy, fresh corn on the cob, cornbread with real home-churned butter did tend to make a person somewhat sleepy afterwards. To make matters worse, he'd discovered what okra was and had consumed three helpings of the fried delicacy. He had topped everything off with a massive bowl of homemade banana pudding and felt lucky he had the energy to make it to his rocking chair on the porch. Mulder wondered, as he stretched to make more room in his overstuffed gullet, if his life insurance coverage would pay full benefits to his mom for on the job death by gluttony. Scully, while not overeating as much, did appear uncomfortably full and the pair sat in silence, letting their meal settle, enjoying the cool breeze brought by an impending shower. The sound of boards creaking beneath wheels announced Korena's arrival. "You two feel like a stuffed tick?" the young woman queried with a smile. "Does she cook like that every night?" Mulder asked, shaking his head with misery. "Naw, just for company," Korena admitted. There was a moment's silence, then she spoke again, directly to Scully. "Mulder tells me you don't really believe in aliens." Scully cut a heated glare in the direction of her partner then, hopeful that the dim light would cover her reddening cheeks, responded, ";I just have never seen proof." Korena surprised the pair by giving a derisive snort. The girl herself blushed at her own reaction and leaned forward to catch Scully's eye. "I'm sorry. It's just that proof is what got me into this. See, I grew up hearing about the lights. Everybody around here knows the yarns. You grow up hearing them. Usually, they wind up being ghost stories. They have this one about a girl whose boyfriend raped and killed her. The light is supposed to be her with a candle searching for him to exact her revenge. I always wondered where the ghost got this candle. See, that's how my mind works. "My momma used to tell me I argue just to hear myself argue. That's why I was out there that morning. I'd watched and listened all summer and it seemed that the lights followed a pattern. I sat out in Uncle Joe's pasture all night. They didn't come. I needed to sneak back home before anyone knew I was gone. Just around daybreak, I rolled up my sleeping bag and got on my bike to get on home. That's when it happened. I felt a tingle, then everything got dark. When I opened my eyes, I was in a machine, a big black machine. I was floating, in the middle of this cylinder. Colored light passed over me like something was scanning me. I figure that's what it was, like an MRI or CAT scan. I never saw any aliens. This went on forever, the thing moving up and down me. I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. It didn't hurt, but I was scared. I was so scared." She stopped to make sure Scully was paying attention. She needn't have concerned herself. She continued: "I'd seen the movies and the TV shows. I used to love to watch them. I kept waiting for the little gray men to come in and start probing me. That never happened. Then suddenly, I don't know how long it had been, I felt like I was being swallowed by darkness -- thick darkness. I could feel it. Next thing I knew, I was in the tank. I was floating in the green liquid. I couldn't see anything. The stuff was so thick. I was breathing it. It was all around me. "Then I felt air. The air was cool. I felt it touching my skin. I could feel my body. It had weight again. I knew I was still covered with the green stuff, so I kept my eyes closed. I started feeling my skin burn. I screamed. It hurt. It hurt so much. I ran, screaming and I tripped and fell into the water. It was like I was on fire. I could feel my skin burning, my muscles melting. The water didn't help. It still hurt. I couldn't get my face out of the water. I knew I was going to drown. I didn't care. I just wanted the pain to stop. It didn't. Not for a long, long time." Korena stopped at the end of her story, drained. "I think I'll turn in now," she murmured softly and without another word, wheeled away. Mulder looked at his partner and saw she had tears in her eyes. "See why we're here?" he asked softly. Scully nodded. Morning broke bright and muggy from the prior evenings storm. The agents had slept late, their hostess being too well mannered to awaken them. The first chore, after grabbing some strong, steaming, coffee, was to check out the riverfront in order to decide on the best spot for their evening UFO watch. As the partners drove to the site, the clouds began to form, promising yet another heavy rain. Scully angrily swatted at the gnats swarming about her face. She glanced over to her partner, standing in the distance, on the grassy bank, silently perusing the muddy, slow moving river. "Why don't they bother him?" she wondered, wiping a sleeve across the wetness that plastered her hair to her face. He didn't even look like he was sweating. It wasn't fair. Physiologically, weren't men supposed to sweat more? Something was wrong with this picture. "What are you watching?" Scully asked, trudging across the loamy soil. They were in the shade. It was overcast. Why was it still so hot? "Nothing I guess," he murmured, still staring intently down the waterway. "There, Scully! Did you see it?" He pointed up the bank, in the distance, where the river made a wide bend. She peered in the direction he indicated. All she saw was dense, green foliage and the murky tributary, twisting lazily downstream. "Mulder, lets break for lunch. I don't even know why we're here now." She was talking to air. Her partner had scrambled down the steep drop off and was hurrying down a path beside the water. "Mulder!" She yelled in exasperation. He stopped suddenly, just short of the bend. Scully glanced down at the steep slope and cursed, "Damn you Mul..." Dana Scully saw the light. It traveled across from the other bank, where Mulder had been pointing. The long, glowing pillar moved toward them, rapidly picking up speed. She felt frozen to the spot, watching the shining beacon, until she realized it moved to intercept her partner. "Mulder" she screamed, finally able to move. She scrambled down the bank, sliding on her backside in the mud. "Mulder!!" He never moved. Dana watched in horror as he was enveloped by the light. In an instant, he was gone. Long moments passed as Scully sat in the mud, too stunned to do more than breathe. In, out, in, out. She gasped, growing dizzy from her labored breathing. Her mind couldn't grasp what had just happened, right before her eyes, in broad daylight. Her body finally reacted to the shock and she fell forward, catching herself with wildly-trembling hands. Scully raised her gaze once more to where Mulder had stood, not five minutes before. He was gone. She had seen him disappear, swallowed up by a beam of light. "Mulder," Scully whispered, struggling to make it to her feet. The third try was successful and she stumbled toward the spot where he had been standing when he vanished. His footprints still marked the place where he'd stood on the muddy river bottom. She bent to touch them, trying to confirm to herself the reality of the situation. Glancing out over the water she saw no more signs of the light. A quick look up showed her dark swollen skies. Was he out there, somewhere high above those charcoal colored clouds? Life had taken on the surreal atmosphere of a dream. She turned and climbed up the steep embankment. The shock was finally fading, leaving behind a worried confusion. What next? She kept moving, hurrying to the car, not knowing the answer. "Think, Dana," she commanded herself, forgetting where she'd put the keys. She began to laugh, control slipping away, when she remembered that Mulder had been driving. The keys were most likely in his pocket. Sinking to the seat, resting her head upon the wheel, she struggled to plan her next move. Spotting her cell phone, she dialed Elizabeth Brooks' number. IT'S THE LIGHT! NO, IT'S DARK. NO, NOT DARK...IT'S NOTHING. I'M NOTHING, THAT'S WHAT IT IS. STAR TREK. I'M BEING TRANSPORTED. LIKE ON STAR TREK. MY GOD, MY GOD, THIS IS HAPPENING. THIS IS REAL. WHAT'S NEXT? WHAT DID SHE SAY IS NEXT? MY GOD, I'M BEING ABDUCTED! NOT THIS. THIS ISN'T REAL. OH GOD, I KNOW WHAT THEY DO! I'M GONNA DIE! NO, PLEASE DON'T DO THIS! HELP ME! THEY'RE GOING TO MELT ME! I'M GONNA DIE! SCULLY? Korena watched Special Agent Dana Scully as she walked up the cracked side walk to the front porch. Never had she seen shock better defined than the expression she saw on the woman's face as she neared. "She looks broken," Korena thought to herself. It was frightening to see the change in the agent's demeanor. Scully looked shaken to her very soul. The morning's events had taken her entire system of beliefs and turned them upside down, disrupting her orderly life clear to its very foundation. "He's gone," Scully announced to everyone as she opened the screen door. Her voice was soft, the tone flat. Her eyes were glazed, lost and fearful. "I don't know what to do." Her admission brought the tears, and wrapping her arms about herself, she began to softly sob. Mulder was gone. She was alone and terrified of what she had seen. HE was not there to comfort her. "We have to be ready for when they bring him back," Korena said firmly, trying to break through the agent's daze. The young woman had tossed her a lifeline and Scully grabbed at it with both hands, "Can you figure out when they'll return him?" "Yeah," Korena spoke with a forced confidence. "I can narrow the time down close enough. What we're going to have to work on is location and what to do for him when he appears. That'll be your job, Scully." Dana's tears subsided, and her eyes cleared, now that there was a direction in which to go and a job to do. "Can one of you boys run down to Orange and pick up another set of keys for the rental?" she asked the brothers, her voice becoming firmer with each passing second as her resolve strengthened. "Who responds to medical emergencies out here? What town are they from? Can you take me there before you leave?" Korena smiled at the change in the agent. Her idea to help her new friend get through this had worked. Dana Scully was now on the case. THIS IS THE SHIP. I'M HERE ON AN ALIEN SHIP. IT'S STARTED. THIS IS HAPPENING. I KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN. WHERE'S THE LIGHT? THE COLORED LIGHT THAT SCANS ME. I CAN SEE. HOW CAN I SEE? THERE MUST BE LIGHT COMING FROM SOMEWHERE. WHERE IS THE LIGHT? NO! I CAN'T MOVE. YOU KNEW THAT, MULDER. KORENA TOLD YOU SHE COULDN'T MOVE WHEN THIS HAPPENED TO HER. I CAN'T TALK. I OPEN MY MOUTH BUT NOTHING COMES OUT. THERE'S OXYGEN HERE. WHY NOT? THEY'VE DONE THIS FOR YEARS. THEY KNOW WHAT WE BREATHE. WHAT DO THEY WANT TO KNOW ABOUT US? WHY DO THEY STUDY US? NOW, I SEE THEM. THE COLORED LIGHTS. SHE'S RIGHT. THEY DON'T HURT. THIS IS JUST LIKE KORENA SAID. IT'S HAPPENING JUST LIKE SHE SAID! THEY'RE GOING TO MELT ME! NO! OH, GOD! OH, GOD! HELP! STOP IT, MULDER! BUT I KNOW WHAT'S COMING. I KNOW HOW THIS ENDS. I'M DEAD. THIS ENDS WITH ME DEAD. HOW MUCH LONGER? I'M DEAD. OH, SCULLY. HELP ME, SCULLY! Scully decided no mention to anyone would be made of Mulder missing . Her chief reason was, of course, no one would have believed her story except the people who already knew he was gone and what good could the FBI, a sheriff's department, for that matter, any law enforcement agency do them? Fortunately, the animosity she had encountered with the sheriff in Deweyville did not extend to the personnel of the Orange County Ambulance Service. The agent met with the director and informed him that she and her partner were fast on the heels of the acid killer. She explained she was a doctor and wished to borrow equipment that she might need should they stumble upon a victim or she and her partner be exposed to the fast acting chemical during their manhunt. The ambulance service had responded to the calls that came in for the prior victims, so they knew how important immediate medical attention would be for anyone to survive an attack using the caustic substance. The medical technicians were as mystified as the people at the laboratory that examined the green compound. Scully did learn from the men that the caustic properties appeared to have a half-life of less than an hour. All of the personnel reported that, with only one exception, no one had been burned by touching the slime. The man who had discovered Lisa had touched her and received a nasty second degree burn on his hand. They offered her another bit of interesting information. The chemical seemed to burn the victims two ways. It burned through the surface tissues, but it also seeped into the underlying nerves and muscles, and cooked the victim from inside out. That is one reason why the bodies were so totally and utterly destroyed. It was as though the swelling tissues fed on the chemical and made the process speed up. Dana felt her heart beat faster and her stomach burn with worry at hearing this news. Irrigation alone would not stop the gel from doing it's deadly work. "Do you think ice would help retard the process?" Scully asked hopefully. "Maybe immersion in ice water at the scene?" The men considered her idea and all agreed it might, indeed, be a good plan of attack. The final thing she needed was their assurance they could have the flight for life, to the nearest burn center, on call when they made their try at capturing the killer. The teams promised her they would do all they could to keep a helicopter on standby for whatever time she told them. Scully hated lying to them, but she knew the truth would not help her mission. It was dark by the time she headed back to the Brook's house, her car full of what medical equipment the helpful EMT's could spare. She always carried a fairly well stocked pharmacopoeia herself. With accident-prone Mulder as a partner she'd learned not to leave home without it. "Mulder," she whispered, tears stinging her eyes. She angrily wiped at the wetness and fought for control. "You don't have time for this, Dana," she admonished herself. Korena was at her desk, working away on her computer. The young woman tendered a tired smile at seeing Dana. "Maw-Maw saved you a plate. It's in the kitchen on the stove." Scully sighed, shaking her head ruefully, "Maybe later. Things went pretty good for me. I got everything I think we'll need. How are you coming?" "I have the time narrowed down to within an hour, so I figured using that hour as a midline, we should shoot for a 180 minute window, just to be safe. Looks like the holding time for the victims is right at 40 hours. Of course, that's not precise because we don't have anything definite for most of our abduction times." Korena explained, pointing to the figures on the screen. "So you think it'll be about 4 a.m., day after tomorrow?" Korena nodded. "Now as for location, the closest I can come is a half-mile straight line. Lack of exact time again. There's one constant that helps, it was part of my theory I've been working on the last couple of years. The sighting of the lights seems to follow exactly the longitudinal meridian 93 degrees 30 minutes west. I've based my work on that. The aliens' sweep is confined to North America, and it seems to work with all the times I have." Scully's eyes burned with excitement, "You're kidding? That's great." Korena pepped up a bit, too, and eagerly reported her findings, "I believe the sweep they do here lasts for -- here we go again, 40 solar days. The lights travel north to south, then turns around at the Gulf of Mexico and goes back north. It looks like they should drop Mulder off in my Uncle Joe's pasture. The midline is a quarter mile so I think we should set up in the middle and watch both ways from that point. "We're lucky he's going to be returned at this part of their sweep, you know. It would have been hell if it had been further south, along the river or in the woods. There's no way we would have been able to get to him in time." "Let's hope we stay lucky," Scully murmured softly." HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN? DID KORENA SAY SHE SLEPT? I DON'T REMEMBER. I DON'T THINK I CAN SLEEP. IT'S BEEN SO LONG. I CAN TELL THEY'RE HERE, NOW. IT'S LIKE I CAN FEEL THEM WATCHING ME. MAYBE THEY CAN FEEL ME. I TRY TO COMMUNICATE, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF THEY HEAR ME. NO, THEY HEAR ME. I KNOW THEY HEAR ME. THEY JUST DON'T CARE. I'M NOTHING TO THEM. THEY DON'T CARE. I'M JUST SOMETHING THEY STUDY, AND WHEN THEY'RE DONE, THEY'LL THROW ME AWAY. I'M DISPOSABLE. AFTER THEY'RE DONE WITH ME, I'M GARBAGE TO THEM. THEY DON'T CARE. OH, SHIT. I'M DEAD. SCULLY, PLEASE! HELP ME. SCULLY, SCULLY. Kristy's boyfriend, Thumper Bowen, was leaving in less than a week for college. The young man planned to study engineering at Texas A & M in College Station. He had worked all summer, assisting his father who was an engineer. The hands-on experience in the field proved to be useful to the rescue plans. The boy helped Scully establish the location of the all important 93.30 meridian. Once the position of the line was drawn in her head, the agent chose the spot where they would wait and watch for Mulder's return. "We can put the trough right here," Dana instructed Korena's brothers, indicating a spot near the center of the field. She had already enlisted all three boys to help the following morning, and had also secured the use of their four wheel drive trucks. "You're sure your Uncle Joe doesn't mind us doing all this here?" "No ma'am, he doesn't mind. He's the one that found the puddle that was Old Oly. He said he don't want this happenin' on his land no more." Sonny answered. Scully offered him a smile and shook her head at how calmly these people handled the idea of aliens in their midst. "Can we get the trough here by tonight?" "Yes ma'am," Red replied walking off a six foot long rectangle in the muddy dirt. "We're set to grab it this afternoon. This about where you want it?" The agent nodded and flipped through her spiral bound checklist, going over everything yet another time. She was nervous, terrified actually. There were so many variables in what they planned to do, each one waiting to foil the success of their plans. And if they failed, they failed Mulder. He would be dead, or left maimed and handicapped, like Korena. It chilled her, the heavy responsibility that had fallen on her shoulders. Had Mulder felt like this, when she was missing? Had he felt his faith wavering? Had he doubted himself so much? When she had been taken to the mother ship in Antarctica, he had moved heaven and Earth to find her and rescue her. Korena had almost pinpointed every detail for her to rescue Mulder, Scully still feared she couldn't manage the task. Looking up at the high, cloud-streaked blue sky she searched for the answers, willing him to send her the strength of his beliefs. OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD!!! HELP ME! HELP ME. SCULLY! I'M HERE! HOW DID I GET HERE! THIS IS IT. THIS IS THE TUBE. I'M IN THE TUBE, IT'S ALMOST TIME IT'S ALMOST OVER! OH, GOD! THE GREEN STUFF. I CAN'T SEE. CLOSE YOUR EYES, MULDER. DON'T LET IT GET IN YOUR EYES. KORENA SAID SHE KEPT HER EYES CLOSED. THAT'S HOW SHE SAVED HER EYES. CLOSE MY EYES. I HAVE TO KEEP THEM CLOSED. GOD, DON'T LET IT START BURNING MY EYES. IT'S COMING. I KNOW IT'S COMING. GOD, DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO ME. DON'T LET IT BURN ME. I KNOW WHAT'S COMING. HELP ME! PLEASE HELP ME! DON'T DO THIS TO ME! LISTEN TO ME! OH GOD! HELP ME, SCULLY. GOD PLEASE! I'M GOING TO DIE. IT'S GOING TO BURN. HELP ME PLEASE. SCULLY! Korena sat in the cab of the truck watching the preparations going on around her. They had arrived at the site at midnight, a full three hours ahead of the window. It was too early. Waiting was going to be horrible, but she understood Scully's desire to be ready. The trough was placed here, at the midpoint of the ship's sweep through the pasture. She knew Dana planned to put the ice in the water that filled the long metal tub around 3 a.m. If it began to melt, she had a dozen chests, filled with more to replenish the supply. The idea was to get Mulder to the trough as quickly as they could. They needed to shove him in and let the clear water cleanse the green goo from his skin. The ice was decided on after talking to the EMTs. Scully figured that the tissues' swelling from the substance seeping into the muscles could be slowed down by the cold. Hopefully, it would keep it from burning him from inside out. Korena touched the clear tubing that fed her oxygen. Her lungs would never be the same. They all said it was a miracle she'd survived what the stuff had done to her lungs. Korena prayed Scully's plan to irrigate his lungs worked. It was horrifying to think what they were going to do to Mulder, but it was the only way. There were no portable irrigation devices. When Mulder was placed into the deep trough, the plan was to drown him. SCULLY! WHAT'S HAPPENING! IT'S STARTING! I FEEL IT! I'M WEIGHTLESS! OH GOD! MY BODY. I FEEL MY BODY NOW. THE AIR. NO! DON'T OPEN YOUR EYES! I FEEL THE AIR! NO! THE AIR! I'M ON FIRE!!! IT BURNS! OH MY GOD! IT'S BURNING ME! IT HURTS! NO! DON'T TOUCH ME! IT BURNS! LET ME GO! IT HURTS! NO! WATER? I'M IN WATER! GET IT OFF! WASH IT OFF! OH GODOHGOD! I'M MELTING! IT BURNS! NO, COLD! IT'S TOO COLD! I BURN! IT HURTS! IT'S COLD! LET ME GO! NO DON'T! I CAN'T BREATHE! THE WATER! SIT UP! I CAN'T SIT UP! LET ME UP! STOP! THERE'S SCULLY. SCULLY! HELP ME! SCULLY, LET ME UP! I CAN'T BREATHE! HELP ME GET IT OFF OF ME! SCULLY!! I CANT BREATHE! HELP ME, PLEASE! SCULLY, HELP ME! The beam of light first flickered down into the trees. It was swallowed up by the thick undergrowth but the sight of the glow made Dana Scully's heart begin to race. It was showtime, D-Day, it was happening. Now! All the plans, all the work was for this one upcoming moment and everything that mattered to her would be either destroyed or saved. Her breath caught in her throat when finally the pillar of light came into sight, cutting a swath through the clearing. She watched it move ever closer. It the blink of an eye, he appeared. Tall, lithely muscular, completely nude -- he was silhouetted by the spotlit glow. As it moved away, she saw him standing rigidly straight in the moonlight. His eyes were closed, his mouth open in a silent scream, the greenish fluid oozing from the widely agape orifice. He was covered with the toxic substance. She and her crew sprang suddenly to life, as if on cue. Korena's brothers reached him first and wrapped the quilts about him, hefting his struggling form between them as they raced to the trough. "Throw him in!!" Dana instructed, rushing to the tub to meet them. She was amazed her voice sounded so calm. She did not feel calm. The boys did as she ordered. Mulder instantly reacted to the feel of the ice water by trying to escape from the frigid discomfort. She could tell by his animal-like screams he was definitely not lucid. Another medical worry -- he was probably heading into shock. She had expected as much. "Get him down in it! Quickly! Under the water! SIT ON HIM!" Scully splashed the cleansing water over him, trying to wash the thick goo from his wildly thrashing form. She needed to get him to breathe in the water, to irrigate his lungs, but he would not lie back docilely. "Push his head under!" She screamed at the brother -- Red, Sonny, she didn't know which one held his shoulders. Mulder's eyes popped open with shock as he was shoved backwards into the icy liquid. He was struggling for air. His thrashing grew more frantic. She knew what was happening. He was drowning. His eyes were open now, she was amazed to see he stared directly at her. Could he see through the water that it was her? He must be able to for his mouth worked to speak. He was silently pleading to her that he couldn't breathe. "It's okay, Mulder" she cried, shaken by his mute entreaties for her help. His long, thin, hands rose shakily upwards, grasping for purchase. He was reaching for help. Instinct told him to sit up, to find air. The boys held him under and she watched his face until a last few bubbles escaped from his nose and mouth. His body went slack. Korena Brooks watched Scully and her brothers struggle with her friend, trying to keep him in the icy cold water. Tears streamed down her face as she viewed the event. She whispered to herself a silent cheer for Mulder to keep fighting. She knew that is what kept her alive. There was nothing for her to do right now. Scully hadn't noticed, but she had played her part in the drama the moment the light had cut through to the pasture. She had punched in the buttons that would signal the agents' new found friends, the Orange County EMTs. LifeFlight should be on its way. Now, there was nothing for her to do but wait. She couldn't find it in herself to pray. She'd found that little ritual to be useless when this had happened to her. She remembered, as she watched Dana Scully work over the gray, limp form of a very kind man, all the prayers she had offered when she'd been on the ship. She played over again in her mind how she had continued to beseech a callous God during her long, painful hospital stay. She recalled the last request she had made to the uncaring entity, when her mother lay dying of cancer. Her mother had been too spent to fight the ravages of the disease. She had been exhausted, worrying about the health of her oldest daughter. Korena smiled when she heard Mulder cough. Where there was life there was hope. He was still alive. Bright lights cut through the fog-shrouded dawn and Korena realized the helicopter was here. She spotted her baby brother running across the dewy grass, wildly waving his arms, trying to get the craft's attention. The medics followed him back to where Mulder lay in the trough. Within minutes they had the agent strapped to a gurney and he was in the air. Dana Scully had bullied her way on board. Korena had to smile, wondering how the little dynamo had managed that feat. Thumper was standing over her, asking her how she felt. She waited to answer, thinking about the truth. She was tired, weak -- it had been a long night and her health was none too good. "Happy," she whispered, then requested the boys to take her home. She needed to rest and wait by the phone for news of her best friend. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Somehow, if and when he ever had a close encounter of the third kind, Fox Mulder had pictured it as a consciousness-raising experience. He'd heard the horror stories. For better than a decade, listening to alien abductees' recount their memories, had been his life's work. Yet still, he had thought, if it were to happen to him, it would be an enlightening experience. All he felt now was darkness, deep in his soul, and pain. The pain was everywhere. The doctors didn't know what to do for him, now. When he'd first arrived, they'd known how to treat him. They'd saved his life, completing the work that Scully and Korena had begun. Mulder didn't remember those first couple of days, when the physicians at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston had first examined him, and struggled long and hard to successfully keep pneumonia and pulmonary edema at bay. He was still unconscious when they treated both the first degree burns that covered him from head to toe and the deep, second degree burns on both hands. He was glad he'd missed all that. The torture that he had felt from the aftermath of the alien, toxic substance, was enough that he had seriously considered suicide. Of course, there was no chance that he could have actually done away with himself. Not under the scrutinizing, 24 hour a day watch on an ICU patient. Now, however, they had moved him to a room on the burn unit. He was alone. The doctors had said there was nothing they could do for the agony that his damaged nerve endings sent coursing through his body. Even the strongest medication didn't scratch the surface of the pain. It just made him sleepy and out of it, less able to deal with the constant misery. His dark thoughts were interrupted by a quick knock at his door. It was Scully. She entered carrying a large, hard bound book and moved to sit in the chair beside his bed. "Hey, you're looking better. Has the medication kicked in?" she asked, offering him an encouraging smile. Where had she been? He knew they must have just dosed him with Demerol, his brain didn't seem to want to function. Had she ever been to see him since he'd been here? He didn't remember. "What's wrong? Isn't it even taking the edge off?" she questioned, rising to move to his side. He could see in her eyes she wanted to touch him, to comfort him. Apparently, she knew better. Maybe she had been to see him. "Have you been here?" he choked, then grimaced. The agony he felt in his throat was worse than any sore throat he'd ever had. "Hey, don't talk. Remember?" She cautioned patiently. Scully had been through this before with him. He sighed, tears filling his eyes. *She must have been with me the whole time,* he thought sadly, unable to stop his tears. "It's okay, Mulder," his partner whispered in comfort, her own eyes glistening, threatening to spill over. "How 'bout I read to you some more?" Mulder silently nodded. He somehow knew the sound of her voice would do more to ease his s uffering than any drug they gave him. Scully smiled and moved her chair closer to his side. "Okay, let's see. Where was I? Ah, Fran and Harold had just met up with Stu Redman. Okay." He relaxed as she once again began to read. Dana Scully was dozing when the nurse came in to check Mulder's vital signs. "How come you're not sleeping?" the young RN questioned, seeing that her patient was wide awake. Fox shrugged a shoulder in answer. "You need something for the pain?" she asked, feeling him tense as she checked his pulse. He shook his head. "Throat any better? Wanna try some juice again?" Again her patient silently answered in the negative. "We need to get you taking more orally so you can get rid of that tube." Mulder considered her words then sighed, "Apple juice." His nurse smiled, "Okay, I'll go get it." Scully stirred from her nap, "No, I'll grab some, save you a few steps," the agent sleepily murmured, stretching as she stood to work out the kinks. "No!" Mulder quickly complained. Scully immediately sank back down into her seat by his side. The nurse gave her a smile and a nod and left to get her patient's drink. "Your throat must be better if you can yell like that," she murmured, forcing a grin. Mulder looked away. He seemed to be embarrassed by his outburst. Scully read his chagrin and cautiously reached out to touch his cheek, relieved when he didn't shy away from the physical contact. He WAS getting better. "Mulder, look at me," Scully insisted. He complied with her request and met her eyes. She was suprised how close to the surface his emotions were. It showed how completely vulnerable his experience had left him. Before, even ill, injured or half dead, Mulder had always been in control of his feelings. This time it was different. Something had torn away his protective walls. It frightened Scully to see the naked fear in his eyes. It hurt her to see such pain. "Mulder, it's going to be okay. You're getting better." Scully soothed, lightly smoothing his hair away from his brow. His mouth was still raw from the burns. The skin had peeled and left the new flesh pink and tender, yet still he worried his full bottom lip from habit. "Scully, I can't be alone," he choked, tears threatening to spill from the corners of his eyes. "Please." "Mulder, I'm here." She carefully slid the rail down and moved her chair closer to the bed. The sweet RN arrived with his juice, then quickly left, not wanting to interrupt. Scully stood to help him sip his drink. Even though he grimaced as he drank, he finished the small container in a matter of minutes. "More?" she asked. Mulder shook his head and Dana settled back in her chair. "Are you ready to find out what happens to Fran and Stu?" she asked picking up the book from the bedside table. "Larry saves the day, Vegas is destroyed and Fran and Stu have their kid. It's a boy in the book." Mulder gave her his first grin in longer than she cared to remember. "Oh, you've read it?" Scully laughed sheepishly, "Why didn't you tell me?" Mulder nodded, "Back in high school. I just like hearing your voice, Scully." Dana found herself blushing, "Well, do you want to hear more?" He shook his head, "Can you just talk to me? I don't care what about. Pretend I'm Eddie Van Blundht," he teased. She cut him a cautionary glance but her smile betrayed her, "I tell it better with a little wine, but... It was my senior year in high school." Dana Scully grabbed the plastic bag and placed it on the bottom shelf of the mobile cart, mentally marking where she'd put it. In the large white sack were the medications she'd need to tend to her partner's hands and what the doctor had prescribed for his pain. He was better, now, physically at least. His damaged nerve endings were healing, slowly of course, as nerves always do, but he was well enough to get out of the hospital. "Mulder, you ready to go?" Dana called loudly, so he could hear her through the closed bathroom door. "Scully, you mind opening the door" for me?" came his muffled reply. "Oh shit," she whispered, moving quickly to release him from his temporary prison. She breathed a sigh of relief when she say he was smiling as he came out. It appeared that the sheer joy of leaving the hospital was keeping the depression that had been plaguing him at bay. "Now, can you do me one more favor," he asked, a hint of his old sly grin playing at his mouth. "I'm almost afraid to ask," Dana smiled playfully, wanting to keep his high spirits intact. "What?" "Can you zip my fly?" The expression on his face was almost the old Mulder, a teasing boyishness that she had sorely missed. She complied with his request, surprised that he had forced his tender skin into jeans. They were baggy because of the weight he'd lost during his confinement, but she knew they were much harsher to his still irritated nerve endings than his sweat pants had been. She guessed he just wanted to use the street pants as a badge of recovery. She guessed. "Guessed" was certainly a key word. Scully sighed, she had no idea what was in his head lately. Three and a half weeks in the hospital, during which he had almost died and had suffered more pain than any human being ever deserved to experience and she had not been able to draw anything more personal out of him than an admission that he couldn't take being alone. "Are we ready?" Mulder asked softly, interrupting her thoughts. Dana glanced up and realized he was impatiently standing by the door. 'Mulder, let me go tell them we're ready. They're not going to let you walk out you know?" she warned, reminding him that a wheelchair ride was going to be the only way hospital policy would allow anyone to exit. He made a disgusted face, but followed her out into the hall as she found the head nurse to tell her of their imminent departure. A teen-age candy-striper was given the duty of driving Mulder's two-wheeled chariot and Scully walked beside the pair, pushing the cart that held the personal odds and ends he had accumulated during his long stay. Mulder stood by the railing, watching the murky water churn into foam as the ferry plowed through Galveston Bay. "Feel good to be outside?" Scully asked walking up behind him. He nodded, relishing the feel of the wind on his face, the smell of the pungent salty air. "That breeze isn't too much for your skin, is it?" Scully worried, watching him carefully turn into the cool spray. "You got enough sunblock and lotion on my face that if I fell in it'd cause a bigger oil spill than the Valdez, Scully," he smiled. "It feels great." "Well you don't need a sunburn," she sniffed, still concerned. "It's waterproof so I don't think it'll wash off, but maybe we better go to the back of the ferry so it doesn't get you wet." "Oh, fuck it," he complained, his mood swinging so quickly it sacred her. "Let's just go on back to the car." Scully watched as he turned and strode away, stunned by his sudden anger. He had been so mercurial in the hospital, she hadn't know how to deal with it. It had been her hope, that finally getting out would calm his emotions. It didn't look like that was how it was going to be. Korena Brooks was shocked to see how much weight Mulder had lost, but other than being thinner and having bandages on his hands there were no visible aftereffects of his abduction -- at least no other physical ones. No one had to tell Korena what kind of damage had been done to him psychologically. She knew all too well. Even after almost four years, she still could not sleep unless Kristy was in the room with her. The young woman chuckled to herself, wondering what she was going to do if her sister ever married Thumper. Mulder had been in her home for two days now and she'd not found a moment when she had been able to speak privately to him. Korena was beginning to wonder if this had been by his design. She found her chance late evening of that second day, when she spotted him sitting in his favorite chair on the back porch. "How ya feeling?" she questioned, maneuvering her chair up beside him. He had been staring out at the lush green expanse of backyard, hidden in shadows from the full moon and apparently had not heard her approach. "Fine," he offered softly, a slight smile playing across his lips. The agent looked at his gauze wrapped hands as if to confirm this fact, then met her eye. "Fine." "It's good you're fine." Korena gave a tight smile, "Not hurting any more?" "Not really," Mulder murmured, turning back to stare out the screened window. "Good" she commented, her brow puckering in a frown. There was a long moment's silence until Korena finally broke the quite with a frustrated sigh. "Mulder, are you going to wait to get home before you tell me about what happened?" Fox looked down at his hands, "Korena, I don't even want to think about what happened." "But, that's all that you're gonna think about if you don't talk to someone about it," Korena replied adamantly. "Mulder, sometimes if you get things out in the open, out in the light, they're not so scary." The agent cut her a sharp glance and the young woman wondered if she'd overstepped her bounds. "Korena, it wasn't how I thought it was going to be," he confessed, his voice breaking with sadness. "Somehow I pictured, if it ever happened to me, if I ever got abducted... I don't know, I probably watched too much Steven Spielberg." His laugh was bitter." I didn't handle it too well, Korena." "Why? Because you were scared? Mulder, it had to have been worse for you, you knew what was coming. You didn't know if we'd be able to help you. I can't imagine knowing what was coming. Knowing that when they released you were as good as dead. Anyone would have been scared, Mulder." He winced as the memories came flooding back -- feelings of helplessness, of anger. "You know what was worst?" he asked, shaking his head, tears springing to his eyes." I tried to talk to them, but they didn't care. Korena, we mean nothing to them. We're garbage to them. And in the end, there's nothing we can do to stop them." Korena's eyes went wide at his words and she shook her head vehemently," No, Mulder, don't you see? That's not true anymore. They didn't win this time. We beat them. You survived. Next time we'll be ready. There're might be a way we can stop them from taking us. But now we know how to save the people they take. We even know where they'll take them. We've learned the truth about them, Mulder." "I'm not sure if I want to know the truth anymore, Korena. What's the truth gotten me?" "It saved your ass Mulder. It's given me a reason to go on. I've been talking to Maw-Maw since this happened to you. See, Mulder, when they did this to me, I thought I'd stopped having faith. I could never understand how Maw-Maw could believe like she does, you know, in God, and still believe in me. But, I think she's got it figured out, Mulder." "Oh, your grandmother has the word from God on alien abductions?" A bitter laugh escaped him, but he stopped short at her glare. "You'd shit if she did." Korena replied patiently, "No, but she understands a lot more than you think she does. She convinced me never to stop believing in myself. I never lost faith. I never lost faith in you, either. When this started happening again, who did I call?" Mulder let the young woman's words sink in until he was finally able to smile. "I bet you still believe ET's out there," he laughed, motioning to the starry night sky. "Maybe," Korena grinned, "I want to believe, Mulder." Alexandria, VA, two weeks later Mulder smiled as he looked at his computer screen. He had gone to the link Korena had sent him for her web page. "The truth is here on this website. They will return -- the watch will start September 2002. Anyone with news of the lights, all who live on the 93rd parallel, please stay in contact. We want to be ready when they come again! Contact Korena Brooks at kbrooks@9330tofight.com" The End DISCLAIMER: "The X-Files" and its characters are owned by FOX and its related entities. All rights reserved. This website, its operators and any content on this site relating to "The X-Files" are not authorized by Fox. No copyright infringement is intended. This site created and maintained by Wasatch Design and Consulting.