From: Barbara Osen Date: Sun, 30 May 1999 21:28:15 +0300 Subject: post- "Fight the Future" story Title: That Far Author: babos Rating: PG, Mulder angst Disclaimer Dance: Yes, they belong to Fox and CC and Rupert and ... Mostly they belong to David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson who give them life and soul. But, we love them so we like to take them out to play. Archive: anyplace that wants it! Please keep my name attached and let me know where it is so I can visit. Spoilers: this is true mush- songfic (is that a category?) after watching FTF three times in one evening. Thanks to Sara Evans, Tom Shapiro and Tony Martin for the wonderful song. Feedback: hell, yes! It is what fanfic authors live for. (at least, I do) at br_osen @hotmail.com That Far 540 miles per hour. Damn, couldn't this thing fly any faster? Fox Mulder pushed the seat back to the furthest position and tried to get comfortable. It was no use. He'd gotten the worst seat on the flight to Melbourne and still had over six hours left. He closed his eyes and played back the conversation he'd had at the airline gate at Dulles. "That's what happens when you book at the last minute." the smiling Qantas airlines attendant had told him. She seem genuinely sorry as she looked over the haggard yet handsome man as he signed the credit card slip. She pondered about the mean looking gash on the side of his head. He did not look well. There was a sheen of perspiration on his forehead that made the worry lines look deeper. She decided that she would speak to a flight attendant about trying to get him a better seat if there were some "no-shows" on the flight to Australia. This guy did not appear to be heading for a vacation in "the land down-under". He only carried a small carry-on bag and said that he had no other bags to check. This Mr. Hale appeared to be on some sort of mission. He had barely been listening when she'd tried to make conversation. He was very distracted. Too bad. He was extremely good-looking and, when she saw that he was from the DC area, she'd used her best charms to flirt with him. He wasn't wearing a ring but that didn't mean too much. He must be involved. Just my luck, thought the attendant. There hadn't been an extra seat on the plane so Mulder ended up in the back near the toilets. Thank God they didn't still allow smoking on flights. He already had the screaming baby across the aisle to deal with. With his luck the kid would have been a smoker, too! His head hurt like hell and he knew he had a concussion. If Scully knew he was flying across the world in this condition she would kill him. But Scully was the reason he was flying across the world. And he *would* find her--- or die trying! After getting the base coordinates from the Well-Manicured Man and then watching the same man blow himself up in a Lincoln Town Car in front of him, he had stumbled home to throw some things into a bag. Enroute, he'd phoned the Lone Gunmen who had start ed making the arrangements he would need to get from Melbourne to Wilkes Land, Antarctica. After all that had been arranged he was now on a plane to Australia and there was nothing he could do but sit and wait. It was so frustrating to just sit there and listen to his pounding head and aching leg muscles with nothing to do. He had read over t he little bit of information they could piece together about the situation he was heading into. Read it over and committed it to memory. Even with his aching head that had not taken very long. Seems the eidetic memory hadn't been impaired by a gunshot wound! He shifted his long legs again in an attempt at working out some of the kinks and hoped the drinks cart wouldn't run into them again. He didn't have any other place for them to go. The woman in the seat next to him had the "carry-ons from hell" and they were not only stuffed under her seat but his as well. She was so sweet that he didn't have the heart to say anything to her. He thought about what he was about to do. How could all these other people sit on this plane and chat and look forward to a vacation or returning home when his life was being ripped to shreds as he sat there? What was happening to Scully? Was she still alive? How would he find her? He didn't know what he would find when/if he even found the base. As he stretched his legs again he thought that, despite the concussion, he'd better try to rest up for what was to come. His mind was racing and he couldn't drift off to sleep. He was at a bad angle to see the in-flight movie. Maybe if he listened to s ome music he could fade out for a while. It was almost like having the TV on and sleeping on his couch. Mulder hooked in the head set and placed it over his ears, mindful of the gash near his temple. No wonder the woman at the Qantas counter looked at me like I was death warmed over. "I must look like shit," he said softly to himself. "Well, that would be appropriate since that's how I feel." "I'm sorry, dear. Did you say something?" The woman next to him looked up from her romance novel. "What? Ah, ah, no, ah, I'm sorry. I was just talking to myself," Mulder stuttered in response. He gave her a sheepish smile and turned his attention to the airline magazine. He flipped through the channels on the console for some music to distract hi m. He wasn't really the easy-listening music type, preferring the Stones as well as some of newer groups like Bare-Naked Ladies. But the softer stuff might be easier to sleep to. He wouldn't feel like tapping his feet or humming along to the stuff he didn't know. Not that he had the desire to do either at this time. He had almost drifted off to the sounds of Mary Chapin-Carpenter when the drink cart struck his feet and jolted him awake. He apologized (again) to the flight attendant, who gave him a sympathetic smile, and shifted his legs into the small area under the seat. He was about to disconnect the headset and take a stretch when a voice came on the stereo. He caught the words and listened more intently. "I can't imagine any greater fear Then waking up without you here. Though the sun would still shine on My whole world would all be gone ...but not for long." It was his life! His greatest fears. She was gone. His world was teetering on an icy landscape some place at the bottom of the planet. He turned up the volume slightly to catch the lyrics. "If I had to run, if I had to crawl, if I had to swim a hundred rivers just to climb a thousand walls. Always know that I would find a way get to where you are. There's no place that far." His mind drifted to his apartment hallway. He had almost lost her there. By her choice as she was taking the reassignment to Salt Lake City. How could she believe that he didn't need her! He needed her like he needed air. She was his "one in five bil lion". How could he get her to understand that. He thought she knew. They had been so close to that kiss of confirmation when that damn bee climbed out of her shirt. And then all hell broke loose. "It wouldn't matter why we're apart, Lonely miles, two stubborn hearts Nothing short of God above Could turn me away from your love. I need you that much." "Stubborn hearts- man, that sure is true," Mulder said under his breath. We are both too damn stubborn to admit any weakness, including how we feel about each other. At least he hoped that she felt the same for him. He thought she had some feelings for him. He told himself that when he found her he would take the chance and tell her. If she didn't feel the same he would convince her to go to Salt Lake City. He wouldn't hold her back. He would let her go. She would survive. She surely didn't need him. Sc ully would go further without his dead weight dragging her down. He had kept her from advancing in the Bureau for 5 years already. She would go to Salt Lake and, before you knew it, she would be Head Pathologist there. She would wind up as an Assistant Director some day. And he - he would probably try to tough it out for a while at the Bureau. He knew the X Files were gone. He'd screwed up one time too many and that was it. They would give him the crappiest jobs or send him back to VCS and he would work himself to dea th. He'd just get by. He would never really live again. He would not survive. He couldn't even remember his life before Scully. He didn't feel the tear that rolled down his cheek until it hit his lip. "If I had to run, If I had to crawl, If I had to swim a hundred rivers just to climb a thousand walls, Always know that I would find a way to get to where you are There's no place that far." Far- this was about as far as one could go but he was determined to find her. He didn't know what was in front of him but he did know that he would do anything and everything in his power to get to her. There was "no place that far." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Sorry, it really did turn to mush. Any comments will be treasured and responded to at br_osen@hotmail.com . You may now return to your regular viewing of the "crater hug". Thanks!