From starbright1@juno.com Wed Jan 15 17:41:52 1997 Past Tense (1/5): Prologue by Starbright (starbright1@juno.com) Rating: PG Classifications: X, maybe MSR later Keywords: x-file, crossover (sorta) Summary: A man takes a trip. This is a Mulder & Scully-less part, but it's necessary. these characters don't belong to me. they are the property of cc&co as well as 10-13 productions and the fox network and anyone else i forgot. chi and his world don't belong to me either, they are property of lisa mason and can be seen in her two excellent books 'summer of love' and 'the golden nineties'. i'm borrowing them for a time and *will* return them when i'm done playing. heheheheheheheheheheheh.... ;S THIS IS IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!! you must read this if you want to have even the slightest idea of what's happening in this story. (as i mentioned before, this is controlled weirdness) Re: THE SAVE BETTY PROJECT one of the preeminent physicists of t-port (time travel) technology, a woman named j. betty turner, had proposed a project that had a special meaning to her. when she was a girl, she had accidentally killed a woman. the tragedy had obsessed betty her whole life. as she grew older she became depressed. when it turned out the lisa techs could actually t-port someone to the past, betty wanted to try it herself. betty t-ported to the day of the accident but she did not return. she was the first recorded case of a closed time loop. she died in the past. she had been the woman killed by her younger self. the lisa techs sent another t-porter who brought betty back to her personal now so that the natural order of her life could be restored. but, because they disrupted a ctl--which by definition has no beginning or end--they tore a hole in spacetime. and one day, the fabric of spacetime itself split. and another reality, a corrupted version of theirs, intruded into their reality. entities from that reality, from the other now--called demons--began preying on their reality. and then the archives began disappearing, creating holes called hot dim spots. Re: the me3 event the me3 event is the actual transformation of matter into energy for tachyportation. whew. don't you just hate it when intros are long like this?? ================================================================== Tenets of the Grandfather Principle Developed for tachyportation projects by the Luxon Institute for Superluminal Applications Tenet One: You cannot kill any of your lineal ancestors (prior to his or her historical death), including yourself. Tenet Two: You cannot prevent the death of any of your ancestors (at the point of his or her historical death or thereafter, if applicable). Tenet Three: You cannot affect any person in the past, including aiding, coercing, deceiving, deterring, killing or saving him or her (except as defined and authorized by the project directors). Tenet Four: You cannot affect the natural world in the past. Tenet Five: You cannot reveal your identity as a modern person to any person in the past, including yourself. Tenet Six: You cannot reveal the personal future of any person in the past, or of his or her immediate family and descendants, to that person, including yourself. Tenet Seven: You cannot apply modern technologies, including tachyportation, to past events or people, except when the result conforms to the Archives, and, in that case, you cannot leave evidence of a modern technology in the past. The CTL Peril: You are capable of dying in the past, including your personal past (but see Tenet One). If this occurs, the tachyportation is transformed from and Open Time Loop (OTL) to a Closed Time Loop (CTL). *You are trapped in a CTL.* The Grandfather Principle floated in his head, it was behind his eyes when he closed them. Hadn't he done this before? Didn't he know the tenets by heart? Of course he did. He reviewed them once more, just to be safe. Opening his eyes, he stared out the window of the EM-Train, a black bullet on its cushion of magnetic forces. The only image that came to him was his own face. Pale as bone, with long red hair, well past his butt, the color of pomegranates, someone had once told him and clear blue eyes as deep as the sapphires he'd seen only once in reality, but many times in a natural history holoid when he was in school. He scowled. The face scowled back. He was still young, early 50s, and he was about to do something monumentally stupid. Chiron Cat's Eye in Draco was about to create a CTL. On purpose. Cosmicists weren't supposed to do things like this. They were supposed to remain untouched and pure in order to communicate with the Cosmic Mind and more fully understand the One Day, but *she* continued to play on his mind. Starbright and the Summer of Love slowly replaced the tenets in his mind. He had violated just about every single tenet on that mission. He grinned when he thought of how she'd mocked him and his rules. She said he'd been scared to get involved. Well, he'd gotten involved all right. She was supposed to be pregnant, but she'd gone and gotten an abortion without letting him know. So they'd had one night together and then he had to leave. She was pregnant when he left. Even though he knew it was wrong to try and stay, it was also wrong to keep a father from his child. It was wrong to keep a man from the woman he loved. Once he emerged topside, he walked slowly to the waterfront. From there a catamaran sped him to the silver monolith rising up out of the Chesapeake waters. The Luxon Institute was formidable as ever. It was a hydroplex: a marine-based skyscraper modeled on the ancient oil drilling platforms that had bobbed offshore when the technopolistic plutocracy held a stranglehold on a world economy fueled by petroleum. The hydroplex perched high above a polished gridwork harbor into which the catamaran navigated and docked. A short walk brought him to the T-port site. It amazed him still how easy it'd been to deceive them all. All the LISA techs with their fancy degrees and cosmicist philosophies. They didn't know what it was to love. The techs greeted him warmly. This, after all, was the man who would save the One Day. Chi was the one who'd discovered the "hot-dim spot" in 1997. The Archivists would be forever grateful. The Archives were the repository of all the known information about the world, preserved, recorded and uploaded into telespace. But thanks to the Save Betty Project, demons from the Other Now were attempting to collapse spacetime on the year 1997. At least, that's what they all thought. He wasn't going back to fight demons, he was going back to find Starbright and his daughter. It was then that he realized how hopeless his situation actually was, he didn't even know Starbright's real name. He had forgotten what it was and he was too nervous to jack into telespace and find it. A LISA tech handed him his gear. He was taking exactly what he'd taken to 1967 minus the nutribeads. A knuckletop, 100,000 prophylacs and a bunch of neurobics. The Summer of Love had been a dirty place, he hoped that 1997 would be cleaner at least. As soon as he could, he'd ditch the knuckletop, as soon as he found *her*. He stepped onto the small platform and awaited the ME3 event. END PART 1. TO BE CONTINUED.... ========================== || "He bit me with my own teeth!" || || --Grandpa Simpson || ========================== From starbright1@juno.com Sat Jan 18 22:26:58 1997 Past Tense (2/5): Dove Bars and Doughnuts by Starbright (starbright1@juno.com) ****NOTE TO ALL ARCHIVERS**** THIS STORY IS A CONTINUATION OF 'THE TWELVE DAYS OF X-MAS' Rating: PG for mild swearing Classifications: X, MSR Keywords: crossover, Mulder/Scully romance Summary: Scully takes a shower and recieves an unexpected guest. okay, i realized that i probably forgot to mention that the starbright that is being referred to is *not* me, but another character in lisa mason's book. i don't mind cameos in stories but i will never cast myself as a main character. the way i see it, only kenneth branaugh can pull that off with any skill. :D ***note*** this is a continuation of my previous story 'the twelve days of x-mas' but at this point it can stand alone because there're only a few, minor refrences, this may change, i'm not sure myself. comments are always welcome, my door is always open and all that junk. :D ================================================================== 8 Simms Court 8:30 pm January 19, 1997 I have never and will never understand cats. They are completely irrational. My mother keeps one, or rather, one keeps my mother. Really there's no other way to explain the proprietary way Tabasco curls around mom's shoulders. He squints at me with big, blue-green eyes, like the sea near Barbados that my father was always telling me about. He hisses. I hiss back, seized by some odd impulse. Tabasco is unimpressed by my pitiful canines. His are sharp as he sinks them into his hand. "Tabasco!" my mother scolds. "Talk about locking the barn door after the horse is stolen," I say back, more amused than annoyed. Tabasco sees that his teeth are having no effect on my disposition. He leaps from my mother's shoulder and perches on my arm, shifting his weight constantly so that he won't topple over before his evil plan can be put into effect. Sauntering oh-so-casually up my arm, he loses his footing and cuts deep swaths down the side of my neck. "Bad cat!" I say, while mom scoops him off the floor. She's cooing and clucking at him. "Better get some neosporin for those, dear," she says. "Cat scratches can be nasty. Do you want a doughnut? Aunt Verna brought some over this morning and I couldn't possibly finish them all myself." That's my mother. Practicality and pointlessness all in one, neat Scully package. * * * * 921 Philadelphia Avenue 10:04 pm So I silently curse Tabasco while the water pouring down from the showerhead burns against the scratches. The on-the-edge-of-scalding water wraps around me like familiar and comforting arms. I know I promised myself I wouldn't think about that night with Mulder, but I can't help it. Coming back from the dead subtly shifted my priorities I think. Before, I never would have considered a relationship with Mulder for more than a millisecond. Now, I find myself imagining what it would feel like to kiss him again, when we're both not half-dead from lack of oxygen. I shake myself sternly and concentrate on the task at hand, carefully soaping my hair. I don't want to waste my shampoo. You wouldn't believe what I have to go through just to find some plain Ivory shampoo in this stupid town. Everything's scented these days. I feel little or no desire to smell like a strawberry. For a moment there's an odd hitch in the motion of my arms and fingers, like when I watch my nieces and nephews play video games and the game slows up a bit. It's nothing, I'm sure. I hear a small noise and draw back the shower curtain a crack. There's a man in my bathroom. * * * * "Who the hell are you?" I ask, wrapping the shower curtain a little more securely around my body. The man looks at me. He has pale skin, even paler than mine and that's saying something, and long, long red hair. Not orange-red like mine, but actual, Crayola-crayon red. His eyes bore into me and I shrink back like a victorian virgin on her wedding night. If any mere mortal has x-ray vision, this is the guy. He raises his hand near his mouth and whispers something, then he looks back to me. "My name is Chiron Cat's Eye in Draco," he says, extending his hand. I take his warm fingers in my wet ones, meeting his eyes. "Special Agent Dana Scully," I say, fully aware of the absurdity of my position. "You can call me Chi," Chiron adds graciously. * * * * "So, Chi," I ask him later, I'm wrapped in a fuzzy fleece robe. My feet are bare. I seem to have misplaced my slippers again, "just exactly how *did* you get into my bathroom? I distinctly remember locking the door." In fact, I make a habit of locking my bathroom door. The incident with Tooms still bothers me but it's not only that. One day, Mulder walked in on me. Oh, the shower curtain was up and he didn't see anything, but he backed away muttering feeble jokes about being blinded for life. I don't intend on giving him the satisfaction again, I lock the door. "I'm sorry about that," says Chi, blushing in a way I find oddly charming. "The Archives didn't show this apartment as being occupied in December of 1997." "January, Chi, January," I remind him. "January?" he asks, panicked. I nod. "The LISA techs have never been so inaccurate..." "So you work for the government?" I ask nonchalantly. Chi nods in a distracted sort of way. "You know," I say, turning my head a little and squinting at him, "you remind me of someone." "A premonition is just a memory of the future," Chi says dully, like the phrase has been drilled into his head. "What?" I ask, confused. "Who are you exactly, Chiron Cat's Eye in Draco?" I ask, my tongue stumbling across the name. "No one," he says. "Everyone," he admits. I rub my temples. There is a knock on the door. It's Mulder of course. No one else comes to visit. "Hey, Scully," he says loudly, using his key to open the door, calling me from the living room. "I brought you some junk food," he adds. It is an odd sentence for anyone who hasn't been me for the past week. After Mulder put my name on the office door, he started giving me little gifts, nothing much, a brown bag lunch here, a typed-up expense report there. This current offering of food is just the latest installment in a series. "What'd you bring?" I ask the man in the living room while the man in the kitchen gives me an odd look. "Dove bars. Chocolate chocolate," he says, walking into the kitchen, a brown bag in one hand and a bunch of keys in the other. He sees Chi. His eyes get wide as saucers, well, maybe not. To the casual observer, Mulder is completely calm. To me, his eyes get wide as saucers. The keys drop. I rescue the Dove Bars. END PART 2. TO BE CONTINUED.... From starbright1@juno.com Tue Jan 21 18:23:09 1997 Past Tense (3/5): Sleepover by Starbright (starbright1@juno.com) Rating: PG, mild swearing Classification: X, C, MSR Keywords: crossover, Mulder/Scully Romance Summary: Mulder meets Chi. Something unexpected happens. as per usual, i live for feedback, even the negative stuff, which, in all honesty, gives me a chance to improve as a writer, fanfic or otherwise (and if that was *way* too sappy, i'm sorry. i'm just totally fizzed out on diet 7-up and too little sleep.) i'm afraid that this is going to develop into one of those 'you-can-read-each-story-on-its-own' series-es but that means i need a name for it. any ideas? i'm drawing a blank here. :D ================================================================== 921 Philadelphia Avenue 10:40 pm I know I must be looking pretty stupid right about now. If I could get a hold of my gaping mouth I'd ask the man in my partner's--yes that's right *my* partner--kitchen just exactly what he's doing there. All I can do is stare. Scully takes the Dove bars out of the bag, opens the package and calmly starts to nibble on one. She offers one to the man. He gives her a strange look that I can't quite decipher and accepts the ice cream bar. You'd think the man'd never had ice cream before. He studies the chocolate casing for a minute or so before biting into it. Scully smiles at him fondly. My stomach turns. Who is this man and who is he to Scully? If he's important, why haven't I met him before? "Sit down, Mulder," she says sternly. She has caught me staring. *Finally* my mouth comes unglued. "Who the hell are you?" I ask. The man raises his hand up near his mouth and whispers something. "Chiron Cat's Eye in Draco," he says, looking at me and through me. "Sit down, Mulder," Scully says again. "Boyfriend, Scully?" I ask, trying to keep the tremor of jealousy out of my voice. "No, Mulder," she says evenly, trying just as hard to keep from yelling. "He turned up in my bathroom about half an hour ago." My eyes widen. She looks nervous and tugs at her clothes. My eyes focus. My god. She's only wearing a robe. She cinches the belt tighter. The robe is fleece, in shades of cream, mint green and ice blue. The man stands. He is tall, in shades of cream, red and ice blue. "Thank you, Ms. Scully," he says formally. "Dana, please," she says quietly, mumbling almost. I wince. "Dana, thank you, but I really should be going." "Dressed like that?" she asks uncharacteristically. Since when has she been concerned with fashion? "I mean," she continues hastily, "with the wind chill it's about -5 out there and you don't have a coat. Mulder, give Chi your coat," she says, not taking her eyes off him. "No way, Scully," I say, contrary. "If I give Chiron my coat, I'll be cold." "So sleep here," she snaps. "Is that an invitation?" I ask, strangely disappointed because I know it's not. "On the couch, Mulder," she says, her voice thin. She's getting too tired to play this game. "No," I say stubbornly. "Chiron can stay here and so can I." "But..." Scully gropes for a response. "You said yourself, it's -5 and getting colder," I reason. "I don't feel like going out in that and I'm not giving Chiron my coat." "Fine," says Scully, glancing at Chiron for approval. He nods. "Great," I say, moving into the living room. I take the pillows off the couch and spread them on the floor. "I'll take the floor," I say graciously. "You can have the couch, Chiron." He nods. Scully leaves and returns with an armful of blankets. A couple afghans and a quilt. She carefully tosses me the afghans, making sure they hit me in the face. She gives the quilt to Chiron. Her mother made it. It is midnight blue, spangled with stars. Different swatches of material give the blanket texture and depth. Somehow, Margaret got the milky way into the quilt. In the upper right hand corner, there is a tiny, red planet. Chiron touches the planet with a tentative finger. "Man from Mars," he whispers. I think Chiron's even spookier than me. END PART 3. TO BE CONTINUED.... From starbright1@juno.com Mon Jan 27 17:41:18 1997 Past Tense (4\5): Chiron Cat's Eye in Draco by Starbright (starbright1@juno.com) Rating: mild PG Classifications: X, C, MSR Keywords: Crossover, mulder/scully romance Summary: Scully considers the possibilities. it just occured to me, scully's supposed to live in alexandria, right?? yikes but oh well, in my universe she's moved. alexandria's too far away from dc for any kind of sane hour commute anyway. and alexandria's a little too posh for a government employee such as herself. :) just thought i'd put in my two cents, like 'em or not! ;D comments are always appreciated and i *always* respond. :D ps. lindsey (who *i* happen to like) is my own character (yes, i *can* come up with characters of my own) pps. still looking for a name for this series.... ================================================================== 921 Philadelphia Avenue 5:45 am January 21, 1997 Yawning and stretching, I yank at a pair of dark blue sweatpants and a grey sweatshirt. I lace up my running shoes but leave my hair down. I pass silently into the living room. Mulder is squished up against the coffee table. I have a feeling that he's going to hit his head on it when he tries to sit up. Chiron is sprawled out on the couch and if he's not snoring, he's breathing a little too heavily through his mouth. The picture is precious. I smile and leave. Too long. Too long. My feet pound out the rhythm to complaining muscles. I make it to downtown Silver Spring before my straining calves rebel and refuse to lift my aching feet. It has been too long since I last ran. A car blows its horn. I move right. The horn comes again. I'm on the verge of doing something the nuns would have 'strongly disapproved' of. The car pulls over. The window eases down with a mechanical whir. "Dana!" exclaims an amused, youthful voice from the driver's seat. I turn. "Lindsey?" "Yeah." She smiles. "You look like you could use a ride." "That would be great," I say, unobtrusively wiping at a trickle of sweat that'd been working its way down my neck. I open the door and fall into the passanger's seat. "What are you doing out so early?" I ask once my breath returns. "My mom and me went to a couple of the inaugural balls yesterday. She's a little hung-over." Lindsey chuckles. "She sent me out for a few dozen eggs. Don't ask me why." "Really?" I ask, recalling my evening, which was seeming tamer and tamer. "Which ball?" "I went to the youth ball. She went to the normal one or something. I dunno." "What was it like?" Lindsey shrugs. "Like 'Clueless' meets 'West Side Story,'" she says, as if it's the most natural comparison in the world. She sees my uncomprehending stare. "It was a lot of hip east-coasters. Like 'Clueless' but darker." She shrugs again. "Sponge played and L.L. Cool J. It was pretty cool." She shakes herself a bit. "But why am I telling you this? You don't want to hear it. How is everything with you? Is Imogen....?" "No," I say a little too sharply. "She's not." "And your partner?" she prods. "Are you two....?" "No," I laugh. "We're not." "Too bad." * * * * I end up going into Giant with Lindsey. The harsh lighting plays mercilessly off my skin. I pick up a tomato and fiddle with it. "You break it, you buy it," Lindsey reminds me with a smile. I look up, startled. "What's up, Dana?" she asks. "You look more than a little distracted." "Maybe because it's only 6:30?" I ask hopefully. Lindsey shakes her head. "Try again. It's some guy. Don't try to deny it. I can tell." "A couple guys, actually," I say, smiling as her eyebrows go sky high. "They're both asleep in my apartment as we speak." "Pretty good," Lindsey says with a low whistle. "I'll bet one of them is that pompous partner of yours." "Good guess," I say flatly. "So who's the other one?" she asks, eagerly leaning on the bar of her shopping cart. I laugh. "His name is Chiron Cat's Eye in Draco." I'm getting better at saying his name. Lindsey's eyebrows are now in orbit. "Bless you!" she exclaims with a joie de vivre that's entirely inappropriate for 6:30 in the morning. "Is he cute?" An afterthought. "I guess," I venture cautiously. "You probably wouldn't think so. He's tall, pale, pale skin, red hair, blue eyes." "Hmmm," Lindsey murmurs noncommittally, "sounds like you. Except the tall part, of course." "Thank," I say in my driest voice. "Are you in love with him?" she inquires curiously. "No," I say firmly. "It took me almost two years to fall in love with...." I stop. This ends. I never thought about it for more than two seconds before. Mulder is out of the picture. He's not even interested. I should put him out of my mind. Besides, Chi is...different. He seems interested somehow. Don't ask me how I know, he's barely spoken two sentances to me. "But I think I could fall in love with him," I conclude, daring Lindsey to reply with a quirk of my eyebrows. "So what's the problem?" she asks. "Nothing," I say dully. END PART 4. TO BE CONTINUED.... From starbright1@juno.com Wed Jan 29 15:42:25 1997 Past Tense (5/5): Things are not as they appear to be by Starbright Rating: PG Classifications: X, C, MSR Keywords: Mulder/Scully romance, crossover Summary: Scully discovers that her father isn't dead. last part guys! oh boo hoo. i know you're all *so* sorry to see me go. ;D but i must. anyway, if anyone's still reading this and wants to make a trilogy out of it (and there are some *very* unresolved issues, let me assure you.) write me and let me know and i'll see what i can do. starbright1@juno.com toodles! ================================================================== 921 Philadelphia Avenue 7:15 am January 21, 1997 It's not often I'm seized by the domestic bug. Cooking and cleaning were never exactly my thing, mom's either, she says it's heredity. Mostly I'm glad. It's unmanly to cook. It unmans me. Is that the word? Nursing a sore forehead, I trudge into the kitchen. Chiron is snoring away on the couch. Scully left early this morning all tricked out for running. She wasn't beautiful at whatever ungodly hour it was, but she looked honest, if that makes any sense. The look she gave Chiron wrenches against my stomach even now. I locate what I need. Eggs, salt, pepper, tabasco sauce, a little cheese, a little cayenne pepper. I'm tempted to make it for two but Chiron'd probably just wake up and want some. The phone rings. I hold it against my shoulder and crack eggs into a deep frying pan. "Hello?" "Oh, hello Fox," Margaret Scully says with perfect composure. Nothing her daughter does really shocks her anymore. "Is Dana there?" "I'm sorry Mrs. Scully. Scu...er...Dana went out jogging this morning. She's not back yet." "When she gets back, tell her I called. She and I had plans to go out to breakfast this morning. I'm almost there. I want to catch her before she goes to work." "Sure, Mrs. Scully," I say, staring ruefully at my omelette. I hope Chiron's hungry. * * * * 7:20 am I slip in the door, making as little noise as possible. When I turn around, Chi is looking at me. "Hi," I say softly, sitting down. "Hi," he says. I study him closely. He can't be more than 35. "There's something I need to explain...but I...that is..." On an impulse, I take his hand. "You can tell me anything." His eyes search my face. "I think I can. It's so strange. I feel like we've met before." "Have you been talking to Mulder?" I murmur. "He's big on reincarnation." "No," he says seriously. "But don't you feel it?" "Yes." His fingers brush my neck ever-so-slightly. I shiver. His hands are icy. We are sitting close now. Our breath is mixing. There's a scraping at the front door. Someone with a key is trying to get in. Chi leans forward and places a kiss on the side of my mouth. The front door opens. "Dana!" It's my mom. Chi and I spring apart guiltily. The light hits Chi full in the face. My mother backs away. "Oh my god," she whispers. Then turns to me. "Dana, what are you doing?" "This is Chiron, mom," I say, wiping at my mouth. "Are you involved with him?" The horror in her voice is unspeakable. "No. Not yet. Why?" "He's not who you think he is, Dana. He's your father." THE END. OR IS IT?? (tee hee! i just *love* writing that)