From: fyrerose@usa.net Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1998 13:09:52 GMT Subject: Once (1/2) By Sarah Draven I posted this to the x-files-fanfic list back in May, but I never got much feedback. I made some changes and decided to post it here. Title: Once Author: Sarah Draven (fyrerose@usa.net) Classification: X, R Rating: PG-13 Keywords: Adventure, Mulder/Other UST Spoilers: Tunguska and Terma Summary: Missing Scene from Terma. A mysterious woman helps Mulder get out of Russia. Content warning: Mulder/Other UST ahead. Proceed at your own risk Disclaimer: Mulder and the X-Files are not mine, never have, never will be. Ekaterina Rozhenko is mine, however. You can use her in other stories. But please ask first. The song "Once" is property of the almighty Van Halen :-) The lyrics are at the end of the second part. Archive anywhere, but please keep my name on it. Now, here's "Once" XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Tunguska, Russia 11/29/96 12:14 a.m. Ekaterina Rozhenko loved the Russian forests. Even now when she was working, the deep silence and unspoiled beauty appealed to her. It was one of the few places where she felt totally at peace. Right now, she thought she was the only one at peace in the woods. She was hiding behind a tree and watching a big bear of man drag a smaller man out from under a pile of dead leaves. She knew without having to get any closer that the smaller man, Mulder, was the one they had told her to protect. Keeping a short distance behind the two men, Katia trailed them to a cabin on the edge of the woods. She waited for a few minutes after they entered to approach the cabin. Like many houses in the area, the door wasn't locked. She slowly opened the door and stepped inside. The big man was holding a knife and advancing towards the smaller one as entered the house. She took action almost without thinking. "Wait," she said in perfect Russian, keeping her tone low but authoritative. "Don't chop off his arm until you know who he is." "Listen to her, Sergi," his wife advised. "Keep talking, stranger, or I'll cut," Sergi demanded. "He works for the American government," Katia explained. "I can help him get back to America and tell everyone about the Black Cancer." This caught their interest. "How do you know that?" Sergi asked, lowering the knife slightly. "I work for the American government, too," she replied. "At least let me talk to him." Sergi nodded and she crossed the room and knelt in front of Mulder. He was rather well built, had mussed brown hair, and a rather nice but dirty face. she thought, and banished the thought from her mind. She couldn't afford to think like that. "How are you feeling?" she asked in unaccented English. Green eyes looked up at her in surprise. "I'm OK, considering. Are you a doctor?" she thought. "My name's Katia and I can help you get back to the states." She was told to give his as little information as possible, and she was doing just that. Katia was a shortened version of Ekaterina, and she was going to help him get back to the states. He studied her for a moment and she knew what he was seeing. A petite, slender frame, long, dark brown hair, blue-gray eyes, and delicate facial features. But she got the impression he was trying to look beyond that, trying to see _her_. It was unsettling but appealing in a strange way. Very few people knew the real Katia Rozhenko. "Why do you want to help me?" he asked. Again, it was simple and to the point, but there were a million unspoken questions behind it. "Because you don't speak Russian, you don't know your way around, and you ask way too many questions," Katia replied. He grinned a shadow of a grin at her. "If everyone always gave three answers for every question, I may not have to ask so many." He slowly stood up. "I'm unarmed, so I'm at your mercy." Breathing an inner sigh of relief, she returned his grin. "I won't lay a hand on you." She turned towards the door, Mulder following behind her. "Make sure he doesn't wreck any more trucks!" Sergi yelled in Russian as they left the cabin. Katia said nothing, but she had a sinking feeling wrecking trucks would be the least of their problems. To be continued- Here's the conclusion of "Once" XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Fox Mulder was a sucker for a mystery. As he looked at the woman running beside him, he decided she was definitely a mystery. Under normal circumstances, he would have never trusted her. All he knew about her was that her name was "Katia", she spoke Russian and English like a native, and she wanted to help him get back to Washington. But these were far from normal circumstances, and Mulder decided the best way to stay alive was to stick with Katia. For now. For the past half hour, they had been running through the Russian country side. It wasn't as densely wooded as the forests had been, but there were very few houses. It wasn't until they stopped to catch their breaths that either one spoke. "If you expect me to trust you, you need to tell me more," Mulder informed her. "My parents were Russian, but I was born in America," she said with a sigh of resignation. "The people I work for told me I would find you here and that you needed to get back to America to expose what was going on here. They told me you were a FBI agent named Fox Mulder. And that's all I'm telling you." She finished, flashing him a stubborn look. He wanted to ask more, but suddenly the sound of hoof beats sounded in the distance. As the sounds got closer, he could also make out angry voices yelling in Russian. "Come on," Katia said, directing him towards an abandoned barn. They ran inside and Katia slammed the door, leaning back against it. "We should be safe in here-" she began, but at that same moment, bullets flew through the door, barely missing her. Without thinking, Mulder threw her to the ground and fell next to her. "Are you sure about that?" Katia scowled in frustration. "We're so close! A truck is coming by at dawn that would take you to the airport-" she muttered a few Russian curses under her breath. "I don't think they saw us come in here," Mulder said. "They seem like they're taking random shots and trying to get lucky." With that, they both lapsed into a tense, waiting silence. Mulder tried hard not to focus on the feel of her breath against his face or even the blue of her eyes. If they lived through this, he would never see her again, so those kind of thoughts were worthless. Before long, the gunfire ceased. There were a few shouts and Mulder looked to Katia for translation. "They've decided there's nothing here, and they're moving on," she said, not even bothering to hide her relief. Mulder helped her up and they exited the barn. "And it's almost dawn," he pointed out, looking up at the pale gray sky. As if his observation was a premonition, a truck came careening along the dirt road and screeched to a stop not far from them. The driver yelled something at Katia. "That's your ticket out of here," she told Mulder. Instead of leaving, they both started at each other for a moment. She felt his green eyes searching hers, and she tried hard to meet his gaze. He moved closer to her and acted like he was going to say something, but instead, he gently kissed her on the cheek. It was his way of saying thanks, Katia guessed. He lifted his head just a few inches. "Who are you?" he whispered. "Ekaterina Rozhenko," she replied, then gave him a push on the chest. "You need to go back." With that he walked towards the truck, but turned around when he was half way there. "We'll see each other again." Katia hoped he was right, but could bring herself to say anything. She just turned around and headed back towards the wilderness. THE END This story was based on the song "Once" by the greatest band out there, Van Halen. Here's the lyrics: Once embraced, can't ever be let go Once revealed, can't ever be not shown Once believed, can't ever lose faith Once shared, can't ever be separate Once sown, once can't ever be not reaped Like the dawn of a brand new day With the power of deity Well, I can feel it inside of me Feel it. Can you feel it? Once born, can't ever be not conceived Once present, can't ever be past Once first, once can't ever be not everlast Returning home of the prodigal Holding the intangible To believe in a miracle Believe it. Can you believe it? Have you ever been touched? Once whoa, really touched? Could it ever be too much? Whoa-oh-oh, can you tell me? Once seen, can't ever lose sight Once dawn, can't ever be not light Once, once felt, once felt Can't ever be untouched The assurance only hope can bring With the conviction of the unseen See it's greater than everything See it, oh can you see it? Have you ever been touched? Once whoa-oh really, really touched? Could it ever be too much? Whoa-ooh-oh oh, can you tell me? Have you ever really touched love once? Oh! Have you ever been touched? Once whoa-oh-oh really touched? Could it ever be too much? I don't know. Did you tell me? Have you ever really touched Once. Whoa-oh really, really touched? Could it ever be too much? Oh-ooh somebody tell me Have you ever really touched Love once? Ah, have you ever really touched Love once? Have you ever really touched love Touched love?