From: Ten <kristena@ocean.com.au>
Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2001 09:23:31 +1000
Subject: "Keeping Time" by Ten (1/2)
Source: xff


TITLE: "Keeping Time" (1/2)
BY: Ten
E-MAIL ADDRESS: kristena@ocean.com.au and/or
kristena@netconnect.com.au

CATEGORY: V, MSR, A, MT, X-File
RATING: PG-13 (consensual adult situations not gone into
in detail)
SUMMARY: To save a dying Mulder, Scully finds herself
doing something she would never have dreamed possible.
TIMESPAN/SPOILER WARNING: There are slight references to
"Tooms", "One Breath" and "Fight the Future". I didn't
set it in any particular season when writing it, but it
would be in six or seven.
NOTE: The national park mentioned in this story is
fictitious.

ARCHIVE INFO: It goes to Gossamer through xff. Can be
archived anywhere as long as my name, addy and disclaimer
stay intact.
FEEDBACK: I love to know who is out there in the ether!
HUGE THANKS TO: Gerry, Judie, Sally, Debbie, Mac, Suzanne
and Sheila, for reading and re-reading this one and
having to put up with regular emails bearing subject
headings like: "Just one more question..." or "Can you
look at this bit again?" or "I said I wasn't going to,
but I tweaked some more..."

My website for all my X-Files fanfiction, thanks to the
wonderful Skyfox, is at:
http://tenxffic.tripod.com
Mirror site:
http://homex.coolconnect.com/member3/tenxffic/

DISCLAIMER: The X-Files, the episodes referred to, Mulder
and Scully and all other characters from the show belong
to Chris Carter and his team of writers, Ten Thirteen
Productions and Fox Broadcasting, and are used without
permission. No copyright infringement is intended, no
profit will be gained. Characters not recognised from the
show are mine.

The X-Files: "Keeping Time" (1/2)
By Ten, July-September 2001

xXx

Monday morning:

Another town, another state, another motel room. Scully
tried to remember the last time she had spent a whole
week in her own apartment. Life had become a succession
of out-of-state cases.

"Hey, at least we're in demand," was Mulder's comment.

But their latest case had proven to be a hoax - even her
partner agreed. Now Scully had her suitcase on her motel
bed, almost finished packing. She went to the connecting
door and knocked. There was no answer. The door was
slightly ajar, so Scully opened it a few inches more and
was about to say Mulder's name but then she heard the
sound of the shower going in his bathroom.

Dana went to retreat back to her own room, then Mulder's
cellphone started ringing from somewhere nearby. She
opened the door fully, and at the same time came the
sound of a curse and the water being turned off. "I'll
get it!" Scully called to Mulder, half-relieved and half-
disappointed at preventing her partner from charging wet
and most likely naked into her presence. She moved into
his room, tracking the ringing sound. The phone was lying
on the bed, next to his own semi-packed suitcase.

The caller was Luke Blackwell, the Agent In Charge of the
nearest field office, who had been keeping tabs on their
now finished case. He knew Mulder and Scully from his
time at the Hoover Building a few years ago and had
called them in specifically when the case had shown signs
of being paranormal. "Agent Scully, you're not answering
Mulder's phone because he's injured himself again, are
you? Because from the report I got, he actually managed
to get through this investigation intact."

"He's just unavailable for a few minutes, sir."

"Are you on your way to the airport yet?"

"We're getting ready to leave." A sinking feeling came
over her. Please don't tell me that something has come up
and we are NOT leaving, or that we're going to have to
jump right into another case...

"Well, I'm sorry the case ended up being a fraud, but
I've got something else for you. I've been speaking to
the head ranger of Ambrose National Park and he's
requested our help. Five people, including a guide, went
missing on a hike in that park on the weekend."

"Yes, we heard about it on the news," Scully said. The
park started on the edge of the neighbouring town to
where she and Mulder were. Their own 'case' did not have
any links to the disappearances.

Blackwell said, "Two of those hikers have just been found
in the vicinity of a campsite - stabbed to death. Our
office is sending a crime-scene team out, but it will
take them a while to get there. Since you and Agent
Mulder are in the vicinity, I've requested that the both
of you help out until the other agents arrive. Advise,
supervise. If your assistance is required past that
stage, we can sort it out with your boss. I've already
informed him that we're keeping you a little longer."

"Yes sir."

Mulder had stuck his still-soaked head around the
bathroom door while she was listening to the information.
It only took her one look to communicate to him that he
was not going to be feeding his fish and sleeping on his
own couch tonight... Scully indicated that he did not
need to take over the call, even though it had been to
his phone. She would bring him up to speed very soon. He
nodded and retreated back into the bathroom. She heard
him turn the water on again.

Blackwell answered her questions about the status of the
case, then gave her the head ranger's details so she
could contact him directly.

When Scully got off the phone, a towel-clad Mulder
appeared in the bathroom doorway, shower completed. She
told him the news, and he nodded fatalistically, saying,
"Have we got great timing or what?"

While Mulder dried and dressed, Scully phoned Ranger
Lees, who arranged to meet them at the rangers' station.

"One more thing," Lees said. "With the route that you'll
be taking to get to my office, you'll be going past the
property of an ex-guide from the park, Gordy Merrett. His
local knowledge is second to none. I'd like him on the
search. He doesn't have a phone or such, so would you be
able to call in and pick him up, or let him know he's
needed?"

Soon Mulder and Scully were driving out in the boondocks.
Instructions on how to reach the ex-guide's property were
on a page of Dana's notebook, which was open in her lap.
Scully looked out of the car window. It was a lovely,
warm day. "This is a beautiful area. It would be nice to
come back here sometime and go hiking."

"We may get to do so today - unfortunately in an official
capacity." Mulder looked regretful.

Scully nodded. That was a definite possibility. Viewing
the crime scene, perhaps joining the search for the
people still missing... if she and Mulder were kept on
the case. "This should be the turn up ahead."

It was. They took the turn onto a dirt road and soon
pulled up at the end of it, outside a cosy-looking cabin.
A pick up truck was parked nearby, hood up, parts of the
engine on a bench a few yards away. The cabin door opened
and a fit and tanned man in his late forties appeared,
his overalls covered with a mix of paint and grease.

Scully asked, "Gordy Merrett?" He nodded. "We're Special
Agents Mulder and Scully with the FBI." They showed their
badges as they met him at the steps of the cabin's porch.
"Ranger Lees asked us to come see you. I'm not sure if
you've heard that some hikers have been missing?"

Gordy said, "No, but that doesn't surprise me. There's
always people wandering off where they shouldn't. I
gather Lees wants me to join the search?"

"Yes, he does, but unfortunately it's more than just
'wandering off' this time. Two of the hikers have been
discovered murdered; the others still have not been
found."

"Murdered? Oh no..." Gordy said quietly, staring at them.
Then he gestured towards the cabin door. "Come in and
fill me in while I get ready. I gather you're on your way
to the rangers' station?"

"Yes. We'll take you there. Is that your only vehicle?"
Mulder asked, stopping to point back to the dismantled
pick up.

"Yep. Does me fine."

"Well, if you have any problems with it, you're stranded
out here," Scully couldn't help saying. "Ranger Lees said
you don't have a phone."

"That's not such a bad thing."

Mulder asked, "Which? No phone or being stranded?" The
porch boards creaked as they walked on them.

Gordy laughed. "I can stay out here for ages at a time.
Even if I couldn't fix the truck, I'm used to walking
long distances. But the truck'll be fine by tomorrow. I'm
good with engines."

"I guess that view is worth the isolation," Mulder said.
He took an appreciative look at the mountain panorama to
their left and the nearby river on their right before
entering the cabin.

"Does me fine too," Gordy said. He ushered them in. The
front door opened into a multi-purpose room. It had a
living area, kitchen, and stairs which lead to a small
loft area for the bedroom. A bare-beamed ceiling gave
further rustic appeal. A door on the far wall, over on
the left, led off to what Scully assumed were the
bathroom facilities. Near the front door a bird chirped
in its cage between an armchair and a wooden easel. A
table full of art supplies was in a corner and a number
of beautiful oil paintings hung on the walls.

All the paintings were landscapes - some were vista
views, some more intimate. Many of them Scully recognised
as images from the park's guidebook. But the main
eyecatchers were the intimate forest floor views that
contained not native wildlife, but unicorns instead.

Intrigued, Scully wanted to have a better look at the
nearest paintings. Mulder was actually moving towards
them when Gordy spoke.

"Do either of you want something to drink while you're
waiting? The stove isn't going, but I've got iced tea."

The agents declined. "All right, fill me in." Gordy
headed for a backpack. "How many hikers? Were they on a
guided tour or on their own?" He began checking the
backpack's contents.

"Rob Durie was their guide," Scully said. Best to break
that news to Gordy first, the partners had decided, then
elaborate. Ranger Lees had told Scully that Durie had
been a guide for a long time, so it was likely he had
worked alongside Gordy for a while at least.

Gordy stopped his rummaging, looking horrified. "Oh God.
We go way back - worked together for years. Is he dead or
one of the ones still missing?"

Mulder solemnly replied, "Durie is currently missing. He
took four tourists on a hike on Saturday - a day trip.
They didn't show up back at the rangers' station when
they were supposed to. The bodies of two of the hikers
were found in undergrowth in the vicinity of a camping
area this morning. Durie and the other two have not been
found yet."

Gordy sat on a chair, looking stunned and worried.

"The camping area was on their set route," Mulder
continued. "Lees thought you might want to join in the
search and use your formidable local knowledge. If so,
you can get a ride with us to the rangers' station as
soon as you're ready."

The man nodded. "Of course. Anything I can do... Where
were the bodies found?"

Scully read out the location from her notebook. "Quiet
Glen Campsite. The vehicle the group used was found
parked at the Mitchell Campsite."

"Mitchell is the usual starting point of the walks in
that section of park," Gordy told them.

Mulder said, "Lees thought that there could have been a
few 'off map' sites, not well known, that the group might
have gone to look at on the spur of the moment and then
were ambushed."

He and Scully left other possibilities unsaid. Someone in
the group could be the killer. The names of the four
hikers and the guide had been run through the FBI
database, but AIC Blackwell had reported that nothing had
popped up. No priors, outstanding warrants, or histories
of violence. There were no escaped prisoners in the area.

Blackwell was going to arrange interviews with family
members and known associates to try to find out if anyone
had a grudge against Durie or the four hikers. He was
also faced with trying to find out who was in that area
over the timeframe - a logistical nightmare considering
all the possible entry and exit spots. Investigations and
searches were mainly concentrated for the moment around
and at the Quiet Glen and Mitchell campsites. Once the
crime scene team arrived, it was hoped that they would
find evidence or clues easily overlooked.

Scully considered what else to say. The killer could have
hidden the other bodies in an isolated spot. Or the
surviving people could be wandering around lost. The perp
could be hiding out somewhere or holding the others
against their will. But there was no need to go into all
that detail now with Gordy. What they had told him was
enough to show the risk and leave it to him whether or
not he chose to come.

Gordy was on the move around his cabin. "I'll grab some
stuff and be ready in a few minutes."

Mulder nodded. "Sure."

While Gordy raced around grabbing binoculars, supplies
and equipment, and putting them in the backpack, Mulder
went over to examine the nearest paintings. Scully
followed suit. The signature on each was Gordy's.

"Looks like engines aren't your only talent. These are
great."

The ex-guide smiled at Scully's compliment. "Thanks. I
decided to try painting full time last year. Gave up my
guide work. I used to do that to earn the money for
paints but then got to a point where the paintings were
paying their own way."

"The ones with the unicorns are so detailed."

"My best selling 'line'."

Mulder was looking at the backgrounds of the unicorn
paintings closely. He pointed out to Scully a distinctive
tree in several of those paintings. "This is the same
area. Did you base it on a real place in the park?" he
asked Gordy.

"Sort of. There are some really magical spots. But mostly
from my imagination."

Mulder looked at him thoughtfully and nodded. "Looks like
a beautiful place. The way the light falls."

Gordy checked that the bird had enough food and water,
then said, "I'll just go to the bathroom." He disappeared
through the door.

The agents kept studying the paintings. Then Scully
realised that Mulder's eyes weren't focused on the
pictures anymore. She recognised the signs. He was
profiling. He was making one of his famous leaps.

"What is it?"

"Something..."

He was leaping, but needed to find something solid to
land on. He turned and gazed intently around the cabin,
as if his mind was a metal detector and he was sweeping
the area for the payoff. Somehow she knew that he was
going over their entire conversation with Gordy and every
reaction the man had made. Scully started doing the same,
trying to discover what had set her partner off.

When Mulder had asked Gordy if he had based the unicorn
background on a real area, she had not looked at the ex-
guide to see his expression, but Gordy's tone... It had
been guarded... Why?

Then Mulder turned again to the paintings, specifically
the unicorn ones.

"Scully, it's *him*," Mulder mouthed, then headed for the
bathroom.

"What?"

Mulder knocked on the door. "Gordy?" No answer. Her
partner pulled his gun and opened the door. There was a
pause as he checked inside, then he turned back to
Scully. "He's gone out the window. I don't think it was
to fetch firewood." Mulder moved rapidly towards the
front door. "Call for back up. Let them know. We've got
to -"

He stopped, verbally and physically, staring out the
closest window. Scully came over beside him and saw the
cause. The tires had been slashed on their car. She could
only see two of the tires from here, but whether only two
or all of them had been disabled, she and Mulder were
stranded.

Mulder headed for the door again. As Scully was reaching
for her phone, all hell broke loose. There was a blur of
motion across the window, thuds on creaking porch boards,
then the door flew open. Gordy lunged forward, blade in
his hand, for the nearest agent. Mulder.

Her partner either fired his gun or it went off in the
struggle. The bullet hit the window pane. The gun landed
on the floor. Scully held her weapon, ready to shoot or
act when given an opening. The men knocked over the
birdcage, breaking it, and the freed occupant shrieked,
flying up onto a bookcase. Mulder cried out in pain and
then managed to shove Gordy. The ex-guide stumbled, then
came forward again with the knife, ignoring Scully's
yelled, "Stay where you are!"

There was a slim moment of time where the killer was a
clear target and Scully didn't hesitate in taking it. She
pulled the trigger.

Gordy collapsed to the floor. Mulder staggered back
against the armchair. Scully had to keep her focus on
Gordy as she went forward to check him, but in her
peripheral vision she could see that Mulder was holding
his arm. Thank God, just his arm.

"Gordy's dead." So certainly dead that she didn't even
need to kneel down and check for a pulse. Her aim had
been spot on. The knife, bloody, lay beside him. She
started to turn, her mouth opening to shape her partner's
name, and in it, ask how he was, but before she could,
Mulder choked out two words.

"Scully - artery..."

Her blood froze. Mulder's was doing anything but. Even
though his other hand was clutching the wound tightly,
blood was...everywhere.

Scully cursed her relieved 'just his arm' thought. As a
doctor, she should have known better. It didn't matter if
it was 'only' the arm. Nick or sever an artery anywhere
in the human body and it was still a quick countdown to
death.

Their eyes locked, both filled with alarm. Then Scully
rushed forward and went into medical mode.

The blood. She would have to risk applying a tourniquet,
which would cut off all circulation to the limb. They
often did more harm than good. Tourniquets needed to be
properly applied and supervised because they had the
potential to cause such severe and irreparable nerve and
tissue damage that the limb would then need to be
amputated. So they were used only when it was the only
way to save the wounded person's life.

Like now.

The tourniquet had to be tight enough to stop the flow of
blood, but not tight enough to damage the nerves - so it
needed to be something as wide as possible. Scully used
Mulder's belt and glanced at the clock above the
fireplace, marking in her mind when she would have to
loosen the belt. It could not be left that tight for any
more than twenty minutes, before being loosened.
Otherwise the tissue would become necrotic due to lack of
circulation. But loosening the tourniquet had the
possibility of clots dislodging... Risks every way she
turned.

Thank God her cellular worked. She vaguely remembered
noticing some transmission towers atop a hill a mile or
so back.

xXx

The ambulance was on its way - as well as the police.
Scully sat on the floor with Mulder in her arms. She had
propped his legs up on a couch, so that they were higher
than his head and chest.

Scully had made a pressure dressing and bandage out of a
clean sheet she had found. She was also applying pressure
with her hands. The tourniquet had stopped the blood from
spurting, but there was still some leakage and it was a
stop-gap measure at best. She also managed to position
his arm so the slash wound was above the level of his
heart. As far as she could ascertain and as far as Mulder
had been able to tell her, this was his only serious
injury from the attack. But it was more than enough.

Holding Mulder and applying pressure were about all she
could do now. Her fingers could not stroke his forehead,
so her lips did it instead. He was so pale. Sweat had
appeared on his skin. She had wrapped his lower torso and
legs with a blanket to try to prevent him losing body
heat through shock. "It's all right, it's all right," she
said.

But it wasn't. Scully had done the calculations in her
head. Several times over. The distance the ambulance had
to cover. The amount of blood Mulder had lost. His
rapidly deteriorating condition...

She could see that Mulder knew the truth too. Even if the
EMTs broke all speed records, they were going to be too
late to save her partner.

And nothing could be done about it. There was no working
vehicle to get Mulder into and use to meet the ambulance
halfway. No helicopter was available to press into
service. She couldn't sew up the artery herself or clamp
it.

Her gaze fell on the fireplace, the poker. Images of
times of old came to her - use of a red hot poker to
cauterise everything. Yes, the bleeding would stop. Too
bad the pain or almost-certain wound infection often then
killed the patient...

If the fire was lit, would she risk it?

Scully had forced her mind to remain locked in doctor
mode, going over every option that could possibly keep
Mulder alive. She had to keep herself together: as a
doctor, and as Mulder's carer and comforter. It would do
him no good if she let herself become overwhelmed by her
anguish. But it was so difficult, with cold, hard logic
once again telling her that her partner was going to...

She shied away from even thinking the word. No, not
Mulder. Not like this.

"Scully..." Mulder opened his mouth to say more.

"No!" came out of her mouth before she realised she had
spoken. There were so many things to say, but Scully
could not accept that these would be their final words,
the last conversation.

I will NOT let this be the end.

"Don't talk. Just lie still. Okay?"

His pulse and respiratory rate were rapid. He was very
short of breath. Not gasping though - Scully realised
with fear that he didn't have the strength to do so. She
could feel tremors of shock going through his body. But
Mulder managed to smile up at her. "All in... all... not
a bad...way... to go..."

Being stabbed by a killer and bleeding to death? Scully
stared at Mulder incredulously. Then she realised.

He meant dying in her arms.

"Mulder, there are plenty of things you're going to get
to do in my arms, but dying is not one of them. I won't
allow it."

Scully struggled for more words, for more time. Mulder
stared up at her. 'I know,' his gaze said. 'Me too.' She
bent down. Their lips met in a brief but eternal kiss.
Then they tried to say everything with their eyes.

She could see the life steadily leaving him. Another
minute, perhaps one more, perhaps less, and he would go
into delirium. Shock would completely swallow him up and
he would pass out and then his heart and his lungs would
stop their struggle....

And he would never return to her.

She felt so desolate, so helpless...

"Sing," he whispered.

For a moment she thought he had reached the delirium
stage. But from the look in his eyes, he was still lucid
enough.

How could she deny his final request? And in the words of
a song, she could tell him her feelings. A perfect one
was hovering on her lips. She cleared her throat and
forced herself to begin.

"If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I'd like to do
Is to save every day
Til eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you."

Mulder was mouthing the words along with her. Tears were
running down her face. Her voice kept cracking and
wavering, but she pressed on, meaning every word, feeling
every line, wishing it with all her heart. As she sang
the next verse, Mulder's mouth stopped following the
words. His breathing and pulse became slower. Weaker. She
knew it was inevitable, but this was happening so quickly
- oh God, please, no...

"If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
I would save every day like a treasure
And then again I would spend them with you..."

She couldn't sing any more. Mulder's eyes closed. Scully
clutched him tightly, feeling a surge of emotion go
through her and embrace her, stunning in its intensity.
Then Mulder's breathing and heart stopped. He was leaden
in her arms.

Oh God, had that been his soul passing over?

She could not let it end like this. Time for CPR, to try
to keep her partner 'viable' for when the ambulance
arrived, more chance for them to revive him. She knew it
was a lost cause with a major bleed, but it was better
than doing nothing. He felt impossibly heavy in her arms.

A microsecond off releasing her grip so she could scoot
around to start the CPR, Scully looked up, tearing her
gaze from Mulder's face in order to check the nearby
clock - needing to judge how much longer the ambulance
would take, to check how long the tourniquet had been
tied for, and to note the time she was about to begin
resuscitation.

What caught her attention instead was Gordy's bird. She
stared.

A part of her brain had been aware that the creature had
stopped making so much noise. Or any noise at all. She
had thought perhaps it had settled down or flown out the
broken window, or she had just been too distracted to
notice.

But now...

The bird was about seven feet away, wings spread in mid-
flight. Motionless.

Scully stared. The bird was not moving. It was not
perched on anything or beating its wings. It was
simply...there, mid-air, like someone had hit pause
during a 'birds in flight' documentary. How could a bird
be up there like that and not fall to the floor?

And as she tried to comprehend what she was seeing, she
realised it wasn't the only thing that had halted. The
clock above the fireplace was not ticking. Its hands were
not moving. The pendulum was not swinging.

Scully could see Mulder's watch - she had removed it from
his wrist when loosening his clothing and exposing the
wound and had dropped it on the floor. The watch had
stopped too. Perhaps from the fall, but that would not
explain the bird, the clock...

Had *everything* stopped? Time itself...? No, it couldn't
have.

"Not in this zipcode," she whispered.

But... What if?

She looked down at Mulder. Did he feel so heavy because
he was still 'pinned' down to a point in time that was
not progressing? And, much more importantly, she realised
that if time *had* frozen, then he might not be dead yet.
The slowing down and cessation of his heart and lungs
could have been through time coming to a halt, snatching
him from death... At least if time had stopped in time...

"He might not be dead..." Then she said it louder. "He
might not be dead!"

That thought slashed through the panic and fear and
uncertainty and hysteria that were rising up in her,
culling them back to a more manageable level. For now.

"This can't be happening. But, God, I hope it is..."

END PART ONE OF TWO

TITLE: "Keeping Time" (2/2)
BY: Ten
E-MAIL ADDRESS: kristena@ocean.com.au and/or
kristena@netconnect.com.au

xXx

However, what good was frozen time if the whole world had stopped?
The situation would be just as hopeless. She couldn't move Mulder.
The ambulance wouldn't be coming...

Then Scully looked up, out a window, and realised she could see
the tops of trees waving in the wind. She could hear birds. Life
was going on outside. The ambulance would arrive. Scully nearly
sagged with relief.

But how had this happened? Missing time? Aliens? Had she somehow
willed it? Had God answered her prayers, her desperate thoughts?
Had the song acted like some sort of spell or wish? Scully
remembered the feeling that had gone through her as she had sung
the second verse. How she gathered Mulder, her whole world, as
close to her as possible.

What if she had gathered up more than him at the same time? Not
just the physical, but the metaphysical?

The Greeks had believed that every person's life was a thread spun
by the Fates. What if time had threads too?

And somehow Scully knew that she was holding the ones in this
room.

If so, could she control them? And could she release them when
needed? What if she was locked in some sort of delusion in her
mind, traumatised to the point where she believed this was real
because the alternative was too difficult to face, and she was
neglecting CPR because of it?

Unsure if events and grief had sent her out of her mind, and, also
wanting proof, she loosened her grip on Mulder a little.

Mulder's chest slowly, sluggishly, rose. Blood resumed its course
out of his body - she could feel and see more on the bandage, warm
against her fingers. She heard the clock give a drawn out 'tick'
as she stared at him. Reluctantly she tore her eyes away just long
enough to seek more proof. Yes, the bird's wings were moving.

Her partner *was* alive. Relief and joy nearly overwhelmed her.
But...

Every breath and every progressive moment in time would put him
closer to death.

So to save him, she actually had to halt time again, stopping his
heart and his lungs. If she could.

Scully quickly squeezed, resuming her full grip, and everything
ceased.

"Oh my God..." This was really happening.

She was the three Fates rolled into one.

Wait - one sister spun the thread of life, another measured it and
the final sister cut it.

She was their antithesis. She had stopped the spinning, denied the
measuring and NO ONE, nothing, was going to sever this thread.

But the stretched out stillness and the angst of waiting were
eerie. Thoughts jostled in her head. Her breathing was so loud.
How can I still be breathing? Am I out of time but not out of
space? She felt herself start to panic, then made herself focus on
Mulder instead. He was what mattered. The laws of physics didn't.

However, that set off more worries... Is it all right to leave a
tourniquet on a 'frozen' man? Should I try to release it? Can I?
And I might undo this whole thing if I try. CPR was impossible
like this too, but at least she would be doing *something* while
waiting.

Scully laughed. 'Doing something?' She certainly was.

She sat on the floor and continued to hold time by the throat.

And she thought of so many things that she wanted to say to Mulder
but never had, and so many things they hadn't done.

Eventually the wail of an ambulance siren could be heard in the
distance. It came closer and closer, louder and louder, until she
could hear the vehicle pull up outside.

Scully took a deep breath. "Okay, Mulder, are you ready? We're
going back." Then she loosened her grip, enough to release the
room, putting it back in alignment. The bird flew on without
missing a beat, flapping out the window, raising a ruckus all the
way, but it and the clock's tick tocking were all background to
the weak breathing coming from the man in her arms.

Two EMTs entered the room. She could see the surprise on their
faces when they realised that Mulder was still alive. But they
quickly set to work.

However, even with help now here, even with the aid they were
administering and the equipment they had, Scully knew there was a
strong possibility that her partner could still die. The distance
back to the hospital... Hopefully the treatment he was getting now
and would get on the way would be enough to sustain him. If his
breathing or heart did stop, there was a better chance of reviving
him.

If need be, she would freeze time inside the ambulance until it
reached the hospital. Just the back of the ambulance. The physics
major in her said that freezing time in a room was one thing, but
halting it *inside* a moving vehicle...? What sort of effect would
that have: the ambulance moving while the suspended rectangle of
time didn't, resulting in it tearing through the metal or bursting
out the back like a box falling out of a truck? Or tearing apart
the very fabric of time and space?

Just pray. Don't look for trouble. But if it comes, be ready to
halt it in its tracks.

xXx

Century General Hospital

Mulder had held on.

He was roused briefly in the Recovery Room but drifted off again
and had been asleep now for several hours. The artery and wound
had been sewn up and bandaged, and Mulder had been given enough
units of blood via transfusions. So he would recover very quickly
now.

Scully sat at his bedside. There was plenty of time to think, but
her brain kept shying away from what had happened. And she let it,
wanting to focus on Mulder's condition, on the fact that he was
here and alive.

During this time, one of the field office agents arrived to take
her statement - AIC Blackwell knew there was no way Scully would
be leaving the hospital any time soon - and to report back about
Mulder's health. Scully was not being charged with the shooting.
The field agent also had some news. Gordy's cabin was being
searched. A journal had been found. Even a quick skim through the
pages at the scene had provided insight into Gordy's mindset.

The journal would be photocopied and a copy delivered to Scully to
examine. She had been one of the first officers on the scene and
Blackwell's team wanted her specific input on its contents.
Something else to keep her mind occupied.

She and her partner were alone in the room when he stirred.

Most times when Mulder woke up in a hospital, he could remember
right away the reason why. True to form, this time he blinked at
Scully and muttered, "Gordy..." He glanced down at his injured
arm, which was in a velcro sling. But there was one detail that
creased his brow. "I'm alive?" he asked uncertainly, wincing as
pain started to register in his mind.

"Yes, you are. Very much so."

Scully used the intercom to ask the nurses on duty for his
medication. One had been preparing to come anyway, having seen by
the data on a monitor at the nurses' station that Mulder was
awake. Scully then gave him some water while waiting for the nurse
to arrive, partly because he needed a drink and partly to distract
him from the pain.

Mulder was still puzzling over the fact he was alive. "But... I
thought - the distance... Did the ambulance achieve warp factor
nine or something to get to us?"

"Not quite," Scully hedged. "Your arm will need some physical
therapy, but it will be fine. It's in a sling to stop you doing
anything foolish until it heals properly, and you're on
antibiotics in case of infection."

The nurse came in. After asking Mulder some questions and
performing some checks, she delivered the painkiller via his IV,
then exited. His eyelids drooped as it took rapid effect and
Scully tried to hide her relief.

"It's okay. We're got plenty of time. Sleep."

Mulder was 'drifty' for what was left of the afternoon and most of
the evening, mainly because of the pain medication, which would
make him nap for an hour or two each time. The nurses were able to
rouse him easily enough when required. There were checks that
needed his conscious input, like having him wiggle his fingers to
check his motor skills and seeing if he could feel when his
fingertips were being touched. Then he would quickly fall asleep
again.

Scully spent the time studying the photocopied pages of Gordy's
journal and additional information provided by the crime team
agents when they visited. The latter was news from interviews with
Gordy's ex-workmates and rangers, which backed up and expanded
Gordy's notes and character.

And she spent time watching Mulder. When her thoughts started to
slide towards what she had done, she would hastily focus on the
pages again.

xXx

The time came when Mulder was alert enough to have a proper
conversation. He looked balefully at the sling. "How long am I
stuck with this thing?"

"You have to wear it for a week, perhaps two. Even in bed."

"You're kidding..."

"No, I'm not. The doctor doesn't want you to risk opening up those
sutures. And I don't want that happening either!"

He pouted, then asked her what had happened with the case.

Scully said, "Blackwell's team searched Gordy's cabin. They found
a hidden journal which brings to light quite a few things. It
isn't a 'day to day' journal as such. It had a more specific
purpose. He called it his 'unicorn' book." She indicated the pages
on the bedside table. "The forest background in the unicorn
paintings is a real glade in the park. A very isolated one, hard
to get to. Gordy and Rob Durie stumbled across it one day. It
isn't mentioned in the guidebooks. The expense to get a decent
trail and access to it was too much. But Gordy would go there
often to paint."

"Must have been quite a place for him to go to the effort of
hauling his supplies there then." Mulder got the profiler look in
his eyes again, any tiredness he was feeling immediately banished
to a corner. "Lemme guess. Instead of having a close encounter
with a UFO there, he thought he had one with a unicorn instead?"

"He thought he did. Even before the first 'sighting' he recorded
in his notes, he'd always had an obsession with them, and had been
putting them in the paintings he was doing of the grove, because
it seemed 'right'. His diary and the rangers and guides all
mentioned his 'thing' for unicorns - 'Unicorn Man' was the
nickname his work colleagues gave him. They didn't know about his
'sightings' though." Scully paused briefly. "I think Gordy wanted
to see unicorns so much and was so into his fantasy world that he
*made* himself see them. Unless he was high while out there. His
notes show he believed that the grove was a sacred place that the
unicorns could cross over into at will from their own universe."

Mulder chuckled. "Unicorns... In a national park. Sheesh. And
people think *I'm*..." He trailed off and his expression and tone
became more serious. "And those people died because of his
obsession. He would have wanted to be the keeper of the grove and
guardian of the unicorns."

Scully nodded. "To keep the 'secret' safe he tried passing the
grove off as a place in his imagination."

"I bet he grew more and more obsessed and protective as time went
on..."

"Yes. His sightings and notes became more frequent and frenzied.
He wanted to keep the secret safe, but felt compelled to paint
them and show their beauty to others. They were bringing the money
in for him too."

"And Rob Durie and the hikers went tramping around in there or
were heading that way?"

"Yes. All the bodies have been found. Gordy didn't mention the
killings in his journal, but it looks like he caught up with them
on the way back to the marked trail and campsite. Durie and two of
the hikers were further back than the others. Gordy might have
thought up some ruse to split the hikers up, then pick them off -
with the five together in a group, the odds of him being
overpowered or someone escaping were high."

Mulder nodded. "And since Durie knew Gordy, he wouldn't have
thought anything of Gordy coming up to them... If Gordy had been
able to head them off before they reached the grove and convinced
them to go elsewhere instead, he probably then wouldn't have
killed them..." Mulder sighed.

"Something still under investigation is that no cameras or
photographic equipment have been found on the bodies or amongst
their equipment. It seems odd that no one was carrying one. One of
the field agents told me it was being looked into - the victim's
relatives were being asked to check the homes and possessions of
the deceased to see if they'd taken their cameras with them. So
there is the possibility that Gordy stole their cameras and the
films. Or that the hikers just weren't photo people..." Scully
theorised.

"And Gordy didn't want us and a whole search party violating the
place - the thought of it made him snap, otherwise he would have
bided his time and not risked attacking us at the cabin." Mulder's
good hand plucked at the bedsheets as he spoke.

Scully said, "It was so isolated out at the cabin I think he might
have tried to get rid of us and our car - probably into that river
- and then tell Blackwell or Lees that we never arrived..." There
was a pause. Scully tried to lighten the mood a little and also
satisfy her curiosity about an earlier comment. "Mulder, it
sounded like you don't actually believe in unicorns... I'm
shocked."

"Even I have limits, partner. Some mythical creatures are just
that - mythical. I think that even after I've read the journal and
been to the grove, I'll still believe that the unicorns were most
likely in Gordy's mind, if anywhere."

The profiler light dimmed in Mulder's eyes, tiredness taking over.

"Go to sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."

He did. And she was.

xXx

Mulder was feeling stronger and was being more active in his
'requests' to be discharged. And for the last few hours he and
Scully had gone over information together that the crime-scene
team had brought to them.

Mulder said, "I've been thinking about Gordy leaving the bodies
where he did... You said they hadn't been dragged there from
elsewhere. They died there."

"And?"

"I'm wondering if he considered hiding them elsewhere. He knew all
the places - the victims might never have been found. But then
again, the search team would probably have looked in the glade
anyway, defeating the purpose."

"Plus defeating all that effort," Scully pointed out. "There would
have been the risk of him being caught in the act, trying to
dispose of five bodies. There's the time it would have taken. And
it would have been messy. Probably a trail of blood marking the
way and blood on him too. Even more than what was most likely on
him after the murders."

"True. With the bodies found, there was still the risk of the
glade being searched for the killer or clues. It doesn't look like
there's any evidence that Gordy tried to set up the crime to look
like Durie or a hiker did the stabbing. His glade had been
trespassed on. That was all that mattered to him."

Mulder blinked sleepily in the following silence. She could see
him make an effort to batter the sleep away. Something else was on
his mind. "Scully?"

"Yes?"

He took a deep breath. "What's wrong? There's something you're not
telling me. I can feel it - have been feeling it since I first
woke up in here." There was silence, during which she tried to
deliver a convincing denial, but couldn't manage it. Mulder said,
"Did I say or do anything that upset you when..." He swallowed,
then plunged on. "...in what I thought were my last few minutes on
this earth?"

"It very nearly *was* your last few minutes on this earth, Mulder.
That was quite upsetting enough. That's what it is. I'm getting
over the scare."

He just stared at her. He was not giving her an out this time. And
Scully remembered how she had felt when he was frozen in her arms,
and realised that she didn't want an out.

"Do... do you remember me singing to you?"

He thought for a moment, then said, "Yes. 'Time in a Bottle'."
There was a pause, a long look exchanged. "I feel the same way.
But if you don't want to -"

"It happened. It came true. Time stopped," she blurted out.

"What?"

"I... *I* stopped it," she said more firmly. Mulder was definitely
wide awake now, so she took a deep breath and proceeded to tell
him exactly what had happened.

When she had finished, he said, "So, it was sort of the reverse of
Alaska. This time you saved my life by *stopping* my heart." He
squeezed her hand. "My miracle worker."

Scully opened her mouth, not sure what she was going to say, but
found that once again nothing would come out.

Mulder got one of those 'theory-building' looks on his face. "I
wonder... What if Gordy really did summon up his unicorns? The
parkland area might have 'pockets' of space, like the glade, where
time and space or energy can be used. Maybe Gordy wanted his
unicorns badly enough that he was able to will them into existence
for the periods of time he was there or open a portal to their
universe."

"Mulder -"

He gave a look that was the equivalent of a shrug. "Perhaps...
Perhaps not. Well, is it any more strange than stopping time? What
if there was a 'pocket', a tear in the cosmic fabric, in Gordy's
cabin too?"

"Then he'd have unicorns in his kitchen." Accepting and admitting
that time had frozen was one thing, but couldn't Mulder let her
pace herself a little?

Mulder shook his head. "He'd only 'summon' them in the glade. The
proper 'setting' for such creatures. Otherwise he would have
considered it sacrilege. It didn't matter if they were real or
imagined. I'm sure his journal shows that being visited by the
unicorns was like a religious experience to him." He considered
for a moment. "Though if there was some sort of pocket in the
cabin, Gordy mustn't have known about it, otherwise he would have
used it to his advantage when he attacked us. Unless he didn't
realise what else it could do."

Then Mulder turned his intense gaze on Scully. "*You* were able to
stop time, because you didn't want me to die. You willed it."

She swallowed. "I think God gave me the power. Or our bond gave me
the power. I wasn't going to let you go, and somehow that force of
will, that prayer, manifested itself." She stumbled on, nervous
but determined. "There have been times before... When my life
support was turned off when I was in the coma, when we were in the
frozen wastes of Antarctica... There are so many other examples.
By all rights we shouldn't have survived, but -"

"We did." He nodded. "You're right."

"And in the past I haven't said anything after each incident, but
after this, I can't stay quiet or be afraid anymore. I don't stop
time for just anyone, Mulder."

They looked at each other, their feelings unguarded on their faces
and in their eyes. And they touched. Mulder's good hand stroked
Scully's cheek, while her fingers ran through his hair. Scully
leaned down and kissed him on the lips.

Soon she got up onto the bed - on Mulder's 'good' side, and
settled down against him, her arm around his waist so she didn't
jostle the sling.

"You stop my heart all the time, you know," he remarked sleepily.

"Huh?"

"To quote another song: 'Every time that you walk in the room'."

"Mulder..."

"I can't help the effect you have on me!"

"I'm flattered. Now get some sleep."

"Is that one of the things that you said I'd get to do in your
arms? You said I'd get to do many things."

"Trust you to remember that. Yes, it is."

"Will I get to do it again once we leave here?"

"Yes," she said with certainty.

xXx

Seven weeks later
Scully's apartment
Bedroom

The phone. The phone was ringing. Scully managed to scoop up the
receiver and say her name.

"Laura - hi!" Scully then listened and her eyes widened. "Oh. No.
Not at all... I'm fine. Better than fine. It was actually...um...
a happy noise. A very happy cry. They all were... No distress, no
kidnap or attack in progress. ...Yes, thanks for checking. Bye."

She put the phone back in its cradle and snuggled her naked body
back under the blankets against her just-as-naked partner's body,
feeling their hearts still racing, a feeling of bliss still in
their systems - and now, laughter on their lips.

"Laura..." Mulder mumbled, as he wrapped his arms around her
again. "Isn't she the woman in the next apartment?"

"Yes." Their voices were still somewhat breathless from their
exertions. "Laura has had to call the police a few times in the
last few years thanks to me. She heard the thumping and strange
noises... and of course feared the worst."

"She's never heard two people get it on before?"

"Mulder, *I* have never heard such noises issuing from my throat
before... No wonder she got concerned." Scully stopped momentarily
for breath. "It's not like my apartment has been full of males
before now. I lived like a nun. She thinks I don't have a life,
let alone a sex life... And your name can sound akin to 'Murder'."

"Well, she'll be hearing it a lot from now on. So let's hope she
learns to differentiate... Or that you learn to enunciate clearly
when in the throes of passion."

"I'm lucky I can remember my name... I think you scrambled my
brain."

He laughed. "Well, you sure did a number on me too... Looks like
halting time is only one of your extraordinary talents. Or our
bond, our own power, manifested itself again. That was... I'll get
back to you when I find the right words."

Scully didn't know how long they then lay quietly for. She felt
her breathing go back to normal, and thought that Mulder had
drifted off to sleep, but he suddenly asked quietly, "Did I thank
you for saving my life?"

"You did a pretty thorough job of thanking me just before. I love
your brand of gratitude."

Mulder nestled even closer against Scully. "Love you," he said
into her hair.

"I love you too."

Mulder said, "I'd ask 'bigger than a breadbox', but I know the
answer. Bigger than the laws of physics."

"I think we just broke a few more rules of physics..."

He grinned. "What's that saying? 'Stop the world, I want to get
off.' Well, we sure did! In all meanings of the phrase." She
elbowed him gently.

They were silent for a few moments in their embrace, totally
content. Mulder whispered, "I wouldn't mind stopping the world
right here and staying in this moment forever..."

"Then we wouldn't be able to do it again. We'd be stuck in
perpetual afterglow. And I think that would be a shame, even as
lovely as it is. I'd miss going supernova. Especially now that I
know what it's like."

"I like your thinking."

"And I like your doing. So let's get to sleep so we can do some
more of it in the morning..."

"Fine by me. You set the alarm, didn't you?"

"It's over your side of the bed. You check."

"Yeah, but you're the time-keeper. Literally."

Scully gave him a look. "I wonder if a tongue can be frozen but
the rest of the body be left viable?"

"You weren't complaining about my tongue just before!"

"Good night, Mulder."

She felt his smile and silent laughter and let herself drift in
the pocket of happiness of their own making.

THE END (PART TWO OF TWO).


Author's notes:
In the episode "Monday", the story centred around time 'hiccuping'
over and over until events played out the way they were supposed
to. I wanted to try a variation - a situation, a tragedy that was
inexorably going to happen unless time halted.

Months ago, a few hours after I discussed the core of this idea
with friends, my aunt said she had found a CD she had been after
for ages. She put it on. By typical X-Files coincidence, the first
song was "Time in a Bottle".

"Time in a Bottle" was written and is copyright Jim Croce.
"Every Time that You Walk in the Room" - I'm not sure who owns the
copyright to the lyrics, but have been told it was recorded by the
Searchers and then Paul Carrack. No infringement intended.