"And She Goes On" by Caroline O'Connell Classification: General. (Being very good here! No bad language or stuff like that!!) Story: Drama. Set: After Elegy, Before Demons. Spoilers: Momento Mori, Elegy, Max Disclaimer: The Characters in this story are not mine (Ha, I wish!) . They belong to Chris Carter, 1013 Productions and/or Fox TV. They also belong to David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson who have created two characters to inspire. All respect due, no infringements intended. All song lyrics used will be credited. Distribution: Anywhere it may be appreciated, as long as my name remains in big, bright letters! Summary: Dana Scully lies seriously injured in hospital and contemplates her future. ************************************************************************* And She Goes on. Ch 1/3. (Caroline O'Connell - ginger@cyberia.ie) This girl I know needs some shelter. She don't believe anyone can help her. She's doing so much harm, so much damage. You don't want to get involved, you tell her she can manage. You can't change the way she feels but you could put your arms around her. I know you want to live yourself, could you forgive yourself if you left her there just the way you found her. I'll stand in front of you, take the force of the blow. Protection Protection - Massive Attack feat Tracey Thorne. ************************************************************************* A shot ....... A voice ...... "Look Out!" An explosion in my head ... "Scully!! Another shot, crushing me ... "FBI! Drop the gun!" More shots ..... Far away .... Can't see .... Can't breathe ..... Can't .... "Get Paramedics in here Now!" Mulder? What are you doing?.... Not Mulder ... Where's Mulder? .... It hurts .... "She's not breathing, get the mask." In .... out ... in ... out ... in .... out ... I can do this all day. Tired ... Sleep ... "She's losing consciousness again." What's that noise? Sirens? ... Where's Mulder ... Ow! No needles! ... Tired again ... "One of the broken ribs has punctured her lung. We need to operate now!" Operate? .... But .... Hang on ... Where is he?... No ... Wait .... Weird smell .... Sleep. A shot ... "Look Out!" "No!" Dana Scully bolted upright in her hospital bed, gasping for breath. She clutched her hand to her chest as she looked around the room, trying to come to terms with her surroundings. It was a hospital room ... That's right, she'd been shot ... Why didn't it feel like she'd been shot? She looked around. Mulder was asleep, holding her hand. She smiled and prized her hand from his grip. "Mulder, could you get a doctor?" She asked as she got out of bed. She scrunched up her face as she looked at her hospital gown. She had seen enough of those to last her a lifetime. She waited for Mulder's response, but he remained asleep. "Mulder?" She asked. "Mulder!" "He can't hear you." She spun around startled by the familiar voice. "Hi, Birthday Girl" "Pen... Pendrell?" She stuttered. "You're..." She looked at Mulder and then at Pendrell, completely bewildered. "What happened?... What's happening?" "You've been shot." Pendrell said moving around the bed. "See?" He pointed to the bed. She looked on feeling a mixture of fear and bemusement as she saw herself lying in the hospital bed. She could see the left side of her head was bandaged and the cheek bruised and swollen... and the ventilator doing her breathing for her. She found herself stunned into silence. "Weird, Huh?" Pendrell said, putting his hand on her shoulder. She just nodded, transfixed by the rhythmic beeps from the heart monitor and ventilator... And Mulder, holding her hand. "He can't hear me, right?" Scully asked looking closely as Mulder slept. Pendrell nodded. "And I'm not dead." He nodded again. "Why?" "That's because you're in a coma." Pendrell explained. "How the hell did I end up in a coma?" She asked, exasperated. "And, no offence, but what are you doing here?" "Well ..." He started to explain. "Dana?" "Mom?" Scully said as her mother burst into the hospital room jolting Mulder awake. "Mrs Scully." He said, jumping to attention, finally letting go of Scully's hand. "Fox, what happened to her?" Margaret Scully asked. "Is it the tumour?" She was desperately fighting back tears. "It's not as bad as it looks, I promise." Mulder said. "We were on a stakeout and we got the order to move in and Scul ... Dana was shot in the head and chest." He could hardly believe what he had to tell Scullys mother. He'd stood beside her in hospitals too many times. Each time was more heartbreaking. "Oh my God."Maggie sat down where Mulder had been moments earlier, the tears rolling down her cheeks. "But..." Mulder emphasised, "She was wearing a bulletproof vest that saved her. The shot was so close that it broke her ribs which punctured her lung ... Didn't the doctors tell you this?" "I didn't want to talk to any doctors. I just wanted to see Dana." Maggie stroked back a stray lock of hair from her daughter's face. "What about the head wound?" "It didn't penetrate the skull. The doctor said it caused a severe concussion which is why she's still unconsious." Mulder explained. "I'll get the doctor. She's better qualified to explain it than I am." And he left the room. "Mom, " Scully whispered into her mother's ear. "I'm fine, I promise." She was close to tears, herself. "The last time she came to see me in hospital," Scully turned to Pendrell. "She got so mad at me for not telling her about my...that I had cancer." She subconsciously rubbed her forhead. "We should go." Pendrell said quietly. "Go where?" Scully asked, panic suddenly rising in her stomach. "What? Is this it? Am I going to die now?" "No!" Pendrell exclaimed. " Oh boy, I should have explained. I've been sent to keep an eye on you until you wake up. And I can think of better places to go than here." "I can't leave her." She turned away from him and watched her mother. Maggie had one of Dana's hands clasped between her own. She was praying, silently. Even though Dana had long since lapsed her faith, her Mother's belief never ceased to amaze her. "Dana, you can't help anyone here." he said. "And you're not helping yourself either!" "So, where do we go?" Scully shrugged, resigned to leaving. "And do I get to change? I hate these things?" She still had her back to Pendrell. "From where I'm standing, you look great!" She spun around and looked at him, astonished that Pendrell, sweet, goofy Pendrell would say such a thing. "Pendrell!!" She exclaimed, clutching the back of the gown. He was smiling at her. "I'm sorry." he said. "But I've been dying to say that for ages!" Then it hit him. "Oh ... wow! Wrong choice of word there. What I meant was ... well ... I ..." That was more her Pendrell, Dana thought... Her Pendrell? He was never her Pendrell! She never gave him a look in. And he stood in front of a bullet meant for her and she didn't even know his first name and .... "So where do you want to go?" He interrupted her train of thought. Scully looked around the room. She couldn't help but laugh at the whole implausibility of it all. Knowing her and her dreams of late, she'd end up in a dark autopsy bay perfoming an autopsy on herself! "Surprise me!" she sighed, holding out her hand. "Okay, I'll take you to my place!" he said, taking her hand and leading her through the door of the hospital room. "This is your place?" Scully asked as she walked into the most beautiful garden she'd ever seen. Lush green grass, a rainbow of colourful flowers, and in the centre of it all, a small house. "Is this Heaven?" "No, it's Iowa." Pendrell replied "You have no idea how old that joke is!" Scully said throwing him a look. "No, really." he explained. "This is where my grandparents lived. I spent my summers here." "It's really beautiful." Scully said. "And I'm going to spend my happy ever afterlife right here!" He smiled, picking her a large daisy. Scully looked at him, completely at a loss. "I know what you're thinking. How can he be so flippant about the whole thing? Well I'm dead, so I can pretty much do what I want!!... Are you coming inside?" "So, you're here to look after me." Scully said following him in to the house. "Yup!" he said. " Your room is upstairs, second on the left. There's stuff you can change into." "Why you?" She asked standing on the stairs. " I thought maybe my dad or my sister would be here." "Family only come to take you at the end. It's complicated." he shrugged. " You think burocracy is bad in work! So in the meantime they send some body else to look after you and you got stuck with me." She smiled. She always liked his self-effacing humour. "One more question." Scully said. "Shoot." he said and immediately slapped his forehead. "I'm sorry... I really should watch what I say. What was your question?" "What's your name?" Scully asked. "I mean, your first name ... I've known you for God knows how long and I don't even know your first name." "It's Neil." he said. "Actually it's Francis Neil Pendrell Junior. Frank's my dad... I'm rambling again" his face was pinking up with embarrassment. "You should get changed." "This is a dream, right?" Scully smiled. "Well thanks, Neil for everything." She said, not waiting for him to confirm, or deny it and went upstairs. "I haven't done anything yet." he sighed. Scully went into her room. It was like her bedroom when she was young. She dreaded opening the wardrobe for fear she'd find that horrible green frilly smock dress she had to wear one Christmas. She looked like and extra from 'Little House on the Prairie'. But she was pleasantly surprised. No fashion nightmares from her past, and no damn suits either! She picked out a plain white tee and jeans. She smiled. This had to be the best dream she'd had in ages and she was in no hurry to wake up. Forty Eight Hours... Two whole days and nothing. Not a twitch, not a sigh... nothing. After Maggie Scully had arrived, both she and Mulder kept watch over her. Hoping for any signs of her waking up. The doctor said her vitals were good and she'd be off the ventilator soon, but there was no indication as to when she'd wake up. All they could do was watch over her and hope for the best. Maggie rubbed her eyes. She was feeling terrible, and hadn't been able to sleep. "You should go to Dana's and get some rest." Mulder said quietly. "You're exhausted." "I can't leave her" Maggie said. "What if..." "Nothing's going to happen to her." Mulder said trying to reassure her. "Take my phone. If anything happens in transit, I can contact you." He could see she was reluctant to go. "She's in the best hands." "You're not going to give up on this are you." She gave him a tired smile. "No." he smiled back. "Besides, if she does wake up to find us both asleep, she won't be impressed!" "Too darn right, Mulder!" Scully said sitting cross-legged in Pendrell's garden, making a daisy chain. "What you do is, you stick your nail through the stalk and thread the other daisy through... See?" She showed him what she'd already done. "Way to girlie for me!" Neil said stretched out beside her soaking up the sun. "When I was 5, Missy taught me how to make them. All the kids at the base were at it. We'd sit around for days making the world's longest daisy chain!" Scully smiled. "Did you succeed?" "No." she laughed. "Being the military, the gardens were groomed to within an inch of their life! We woke one morning to find the grass cut and all our daisies gone." "Aww! What did you do then?" "Baseball season!" She exclaimed. "You, Baseball?" he asked as he hoisted himself into a sitting position. "Lousy hitter, terrible pitcher, but boy, could I catch 'em!!" Scully exclaimed proudly. All Pendrell could do was laugh, shaking his head in disbelief. "What? "I just imagined you sitting around pulling the legs off spiders and doing autopsies on ladybirds." he said, as she placed a ring of daisies around his neck. "Oh the spider thing didn't happen until I was at least 14!" "Know something, Dana Scully, you are just full of surprises!" he slumped back down to get more sun. Now that he no longer had Maggie keeping him company. The silence was starting to get to Mulder. He sat and stared at Scully. He really wanted to talk to her, but he was so bad at this sort of thing. He never knew what to say. he hasn't known what to say for a while now. Every conversation seems to get stumped with a tense "I'm fine", even though in his heard he knew she wasn't. But try arguing that with her and you're into a whole new set of problems. You can't argue with her! it's either a complete shutout from her or he doesn't want to push it and upset her. A no-win situation that's put a real strain on their relationship of late. He closed his eyes for a moment and felt himself start to drift to sleep. The tiredness had finally caught up with him. He slumped back into the bedside chair, holding on to her hand and amid the silence, the deafening silence, he fell asleep. "Would you like some more?" Neil asked as Scully cleared her plate of the stirfry he had made. "No thanks, I am absolutely stuffed!" She replied sitting back and patting her stomach. She saw him staring at the shoestring strap of the red summer dress she was wearing. Once again it had slid off her shoulder. He wasn't used to seeing her dressed so informally. She started to tidy the contents of the table as a polite way of breaking the stare. "You can put those down, for a start!" He said taking wine glassses from her. "I'm supposed to be looking after you and you're supposed to be resting, so rest!" "You know," she said sitting into the plush couch. "this really is paradise." "It's not bad, is it!" He grinned, feeling very happy with himself as he cleared up. Dana watched him. In some ways he was so different, but mostly he was the same Pendrell. Shy, eager to please, cute in a goofy kind of way. Maybe if she'd had more time... Maybe what? Maybe she would have ignored him some more, gotten him to do more lab work and avoided any social contact whatsoever! Then again, he didn't try to ask her out, either. "Are you tired?" Pendrell asked coming in from the kitchen. "I'm fine." she said as he sat down beside her. She laughed at the irony of it. the automatic response that had become a mantra. When the reality was, she was far from fine. She was lying in hospital, in a coma fighting a battle against a cancer that she knew she couldn't win. And yet, somehow, she was sitting in Paradise, Iowa playing happy families with a guy she may or may not have gone out with if he had actually asked her. For the first time she was actually sorry that he didn't. "You should get some rest." Neil said putting a gentle hand on her arm. "You have to go back soon." She looked at him for a moment. "Do I have to?" "Well ... I ... " He stammered uneasily. "You have to go back because you're still alive." "If I want to, can I stay?" Scully asked. The look on her face meant she was serious. "Dana, do you know what you're saying?" He was horrified. "Do you understand that If you stay here, you will die." "Yes." ************************************************************************* End of chapter 1. Comments, flames, chocolate to: ginger@cyberia.ie "And She Goes On" Chapter 2 by Caroline O'Connell. (ginger@cyberia.ie) Classification: Parental Guidance (song lyrics only.) Story Content: General. Story: Drama Set: After Elegy, before Demons. Spoilers: Momento Mori, Elegy, Max. Disclaimer: See Chapter 1. Distribution: Anywhere. Summary: Dana Scully lies seriously injured in hospital and contemplates her future. ******************************************************* Smiling as the sh*t comes down. You can tell a man from what he has to say. Everything gets turned around and I will risk my neck again... again. You can take me where you will, up the creek and through the mill. Like all the things you can't explain. Like four seasons in one day. Four Seasons in One Day - Crowded House. ******************************************************* Maggie Scully raced into the hospital room carrying a radio/cassette recorder and a book. Mulder was reading the paper and drinking some exceptionally bad vending machine coffee. He looked pale and tired. "She had a quiet night." he said as Maggie began to set up the music near the head of the bed. "I read an article a while ago that said if you play their favourite music or read to them, coma patients can wake up, sometimes." She said as she sat on the side of the bed. "Now here's your phone, so you can go home and get some rest." "I'm okay." he said "I got some sleep last night." "Fox, you need some proper rest. You've been here three days." She wasn't taking no for an answer and Mulder knew it. "Go home." "Okay. But I'll be back later." He stood up and she hugged him gently. He was taken aback by it, but appreciated the sentiment behind it. Maggie felt a genuine affection for Mulder. He had been a good friend to Dana. Sometimes she felt he was a lost soul in need of comfort and maybe one small hug might make him feel that he wasn't alone. That he belonged...that he was family. Mulder left Maggie to settle in for the day. "Dana," she said stroking Scully's cheek as she remained in the same unconscious state as when she left. "Yes Mom." Scully said from Neil Pendrell's garden. "I took the tapes from your car, the ones recorded from your Cds. I hope they're your favourites..." Maggie said "So you come back when you're ready. I'll be here." Scully swung back and forth on the swinging porch chair. Pendrell watched her from the doorway. "Dana, we need to talk" he said sitting beside her. She sighed "Can't we just listen to the music and forget about gunshots and ventilators and cancer and Mulder and my Mother." "Why?" Neil asked. "Why would you want to give up?" "Because I'm dying, Neil! Don't you understand that?" She exploded. "What difference does it make if I die today, shot in the line of fire, on active duty or tomorrow or next week or next month of cancer?" He stood there and let her vent her anger and frustration. "Why should it matter to you anyway?" "Because you have a chance." he said trying to remain calm, but feeling his own anger rising. "A chance to survive, a chance to live, and if nothing else, a chance to say goodbye." "What?" She said quietly. "Do you know what I wouldn't give for one more minute with my family?" She watched as his eyes welled with tears. "Just one more minute to say goodbye... It all happened so quickly. One minute you were watching over me in hospital, the next minute Iwas here with my grandparents." he trailed off and wiped his eyes. "I... mean... I'm very happy here, but..." he shrugged and left the sentence hanging. They sat quietly for a while, listening to the music, swinging gently. Scully leant her head onto Pendrell's shoulder and closed her eyes. "Why do things have to be so complicated?" After a couple of hours sleep, Mulder dragged himself off the couch and into the shower. He was exhausted, physically and emotionally and no amount of warm soapy water was going to make a difference. Once he had finished, he sloped out and wiped the steam from the bathroom mirror. He stared at the face looking back at him. Pale, with dark shadows under his eyes, stubble on his face... Barely recognisable. He hadn't looked this bad in ages. Hadn't been this worried in ages. He had been concerned for Scully and her cancer, but always hopeful that ther was a way to cure her. But this? This was scaring him. What if she didn't come out of this? What if this and not the cancer finally got the better of Dana Katherine Scully? What was he going to do without her? The tears mingled with the dripping water from his hair, trickling down as he stared back at the sad face in the mirror looking to all intents and purposes like a lost little boy and feeling more alone than he ever had in his life. "Is the weather always this perfect?" Scully asked quietly as they watched the clouds float past in the sky. It had been a while since the argument. "Sometimes it rains, sometimes it snows... just like normal weather." He replied, relieved that she wasn't upset anymore. he was supposed to be minding her, encouraging her to go back and she now liked it so much she wanted to stay for the rest of her... the rest of forever! "What do you call a sheep with no legs?" Neil asked after another brief silence. "I have no idea." she said, intrigued. "A Cloud!" She laughed loudly. "That is the stupidest joke I have ever heard!" "I'm glad you think so." he smiled. "Roni said the same thing." "Roni?" she asked. He had never mentioned any Roni before! Was that a pang of jealousy she felt? Surely not! "It's short for Veronica." he explained. "She's my twin sister." "You're a twin?" She asked "Yeah!" he replied. "There's Me and Roni, I'm older by 10 minutes, and Sean who's 5 years younger." "Bill Junior, Melissa, Me and Charlie." Scully said listing off the family. "There's about 10 years between us all." "Roni and I always had this real 'twin' vibe." He said smiling. "I'd always know when she was about to ring me. She fainted two minutes before my appendix burst when we were 15. We joked about what would happen if she ever got pregnant!" He let out a loud sigh. "I miss her." "I know what you're trying to do." Scully said getting up from the bench. "I'm just making conversation." Neil shrugged. "You're trying to get me to change my mind about staying." she said. "It won't work." "I can't believe you're giving up just like that!" He said, exasperated. "You were the one who told me to keep breathing, that I wasn't going to die and I believed you. I took a bullet for you and despite it being pure agony, I kept breathing until I could breathe no more. God, Dana, I can not believe that you of all people would just throw in the towel. I've seen you look literally for a needle in a haystack and not give up. I've seen you with Mulder and for all his crazy ideas you will give him a rational, fact based, scientific theory. You, Dana Scully, don't give up on anything... so why are you giving up on life?" "It's too hard." she said fighting back the tears. "I'm tired of struggling with life. I'm tired of fighting my way through every single day for nothing. I'm tired of being sick and I'm tired of being scared." Finally the tears fell. She buried her face in her hands, ashamed for breaking down. More ashamed for yelling at him. He was being so good to her and she was throwing it back in his face. He put his arms around her and she buried her head into his shoulder. "It's going to be okay, Dana... I promise." he whispered into her ear as he carressed her hair. "Oh boy..." he sighed. "You have no idea how long I have waited to do this. And I knew it! We're a perfect fit. My cheek touching your forhead, like all the best films." He knew by the ways her shoulders shook she was laughing again, but now he was content to hold her, even just for a moment in time. Mulder arrived back at the hospital in the early evening. He was hoping that wearing his glasses would make him look a little less tired. Maggie was reading aloud to Scully from the novel she had been reading, but stopped when Mulder came in. "Oh, don't stop now, Mom, It's getting good!" Scully said standing with Pendrell over by the window, engrossed in the plot. "How is she?" Mulder asked, hanging up his coat. "No change." Maggie sighed. "I've been reading to her. Last week Dana told me she could hardly put this book down. There's a couple of chapters left if you want to read to her later." They were interrupted by the doctor's entrance. "I'm glad you're both here." Dr Grannell said. "Is something wrong?" Maggie asked, fearing the worst. "We want to take Dana off the ventilator." Dr Grannell noticed the concerned looks on both their faces. "That's actually a good sign. She's healing very well. I have every reason to believe she'll breathe on her own with no difficulties." Scully listened on as the doctor explained the procedure. "Well, Dana." Pendrell nudged her arm. "Here's your chance." "What?" She asked, startled out of her concentrating on the doctor. "If you're sure you want to stay, all you have to do is not breathe when they take out the tube." He explained. "And then it'll all be over." "Oh ... Okay." She said, not sounding too sure. She watched with Pendrell as her mother clung tightly to Mulder's hand, both hardly daring to breathe as the doctor removed the ventilator attachment from across Scully the Patient's mouth. They waited anxiously to see if she'd breathe on her own and hopefully come back to them. ********************************************************** End of chapter 2 Please send feedback! Cal ginger@cyberia.ie "And She Goes On" Chapter 3 by Caroline O'Connell (ginger@cyberia.ie) Classification: General. Story: Drama Set: After Elegy, before Demons. Spoilers: Momento Mori, Elegy, Max Distribution: Anywhere. As long as my name remains. Summary: Scully lies seriously injured in hospital and contemplates her future. ******************************************************* There is freedom within, there is freedom without. Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup. There's a battle ahead, many battles are lost. But you'll never see the end of the road while you're travelling with me. Hey now, hey now. Don't dream it's over. Hey now, hey now. When the world comes in. They'll come, they'll come to build a wall between us. You know they won't win. Don't Dream It's Over - Crowded House ******************************************************* "I have breath sounds." Dr Grannell said. "She's breathing on her own." "I knew you wouldn't do it." Pendrell smiled. "Everyone's an expert!" Scully sighed as she took a look at her medical chart. "I couldn't do it then. I mean, look at my mother! She hasn't smiled in days. When I decide it's time to go, I will go." "So you still intend to stay here?" Neil said. "You still don't want to go back." Scully didn't answer him. She watched as her mother hugged Mulder tightly. Relief and joy on both their faces. "Looks like they're managing quite fine without me." Dana muttered, sounding like she was trying to convince herself, more than Pendrell. "Maybe I need a little more time to make up my mind." Neil smiled and put his arms around her. "You take all the time you need, no matter what you decide." "Do you know when she'll wake up?" Maggie asked hopefully. "It's hard to tell with head injuries. " Dr Grannell said trying not to deflate their happiness. "But she's improving every day and now that she's off the ventilator, it could be a matter of hours, then again it could be several more days. We just can't say when." Scully and Pendrell watched as Maggie left with the doctor so Mulder could take over the night shift. She watched as he started to flick through the novel her mother had been reading from. "So, Scully, have we gotten to the good part yet?" he sighed, lifting his glasses and rubbing his eyes. "Yes, Mulder, we're right in the middle of the good part!" Scully said, suddenly impatient to find out the climax to the book. "And you look like hell! The glasses are fooling nobody!" "That's not very nice!" Pendrell laughed. "He can't hear me!" She said right in Mulder's ear. "Can you, Mulder?" "Knowing Fox Mulder, he probably can!" Pendrell muttered. "C'mon. Let's go back." "What about the book?" Scully asked as Neil began to escort her out. "Did nobody ever tell you, Dr Scully, that patience is a virtue?" "Not this patient!" Mulder munched on his sunflower seeds as he read Scully's book to himself. He had the radio on, the chart music playing quietly more for background noise than for entertainment. Scully, back in Pendrell's house was listening too. "I'll tell you what I want... what I really, really want," she said "is to never hear that song again!" Neil just laughed and handed her a tall glass of lemonade. "So they won't be adding Scully Spice to their numbers?" "When did you get to be so funny?" She asked as he sat beside her. "Me? Oh I'm a riot!" he shrugged. "Ask anyone!" "You were never this funny when you were...." she stopped as she realised what she was about to say. "I'm sorry... this is still very weird. But you weren't." "I get very shy and tongue-tied around women that I really like. And you, Dana Scully, are one of 3 women to ever make me tongue-tied. See, I can tell you this now" he sighed. "And when I finally get the courage to ask you out, dutch courage as it happened, I go and get myself shot!" "I'm sorry." she said putting her hand on his knee. "It wasn't your fault." he put his hand on hers. "But ..." he took a deep breath. "Technically, I did save your life. So you owe me one." "She gave him that look. Normally he'd have withered on the spot ... most people did! But this time he knew he had the upper hand. "In some cultures, you'd be indebted to me for the rest of your life... and I am not letting you off that easily, Dana Scully!" he repeated the last thing she said to him as he lay dying on the bar room floor. "Please let's not talk about going back." she asked quietly. "I'm not ready yet... I don't know if I'll ever be ready... but please, just give me a little more time." She kissed him lightly on the cheek and went to bed. Mulder dozed lightly, his glasses slighly askew as he leant his head on his hand. The other hand, held onto Scully's. Pendrell stood at the window looking at Mulder as he slept. "You have no idea how much I love her, do you? I don't think you know how much you love her. The only thing you care about is your damn work and you cast aside anything that gets in the way of your quest for the truth... You are such a jerk, Mulder, you know that?" Pendrell walked angrily towards him as he remained asleep. "You wouldn't know a good thing if it jumped up and bit you on the ass! But I'm not here to sort you out. Frankly, I don't have that much time! No, I'm here for her... For Dana." Neil sat on the side of the bed and looked at her. "She wants to stay with me... with me." he could hardly believe it. "But for her to do that she has to die, and it's not her time yet...God, it would be so easy for her to stay with me, for me to get what I want, just once.... And we'd be happy, I know we would." He smiled at her, as she remained deeply unconsious. "But it's not my decision to make. It's hers. And I know she wants to wake up, but she's just scared to. Scared that she'll be alone. And she'd sooner stay here than tell you how scared she is. She can't stay like this forever, so you have to coax her back." He gently stroked her face. "Now all the music and the reading is great, but it doesn't make her want to come around." He stood up and walked to Mulder's chair, leaning right into his ear. "You're the psychologist, Mulder. What do you do when something isn't working? That's right! REVERSE PSYCHOLOGY!" He yelled into the sleeping Mulder's ear... who never so much as blinked. When Maggie Scully arrived with a take out breakfast the next morning, Mulder was already awake. "I have coffee and warm cinnamon bagels" she said handing him a polystyrene beaker. The smell wafted through the room. "See, Scully. We have bagels. What have you got?" He looked at the label on her drip. "A dextro- saline something-or-other... mmmmm... tasty!" Maggie laughed. "What are you doing?" "It's an experiment." he said, picking out the centre of the soft bread and eating it. "I don't know why, but I just got the feeling that she's way too comfortable wherever she is and needs to be brought out of it. Her favourite stuff doesn't seem to be working, so I'm going to try and annoy her in to wakingup... and if anyone can annoy Dana Scully, I'm afraid it's me!" "I might be able to help you there." Maggie said. "I have some tapes in my car that I know Dana can't stand. Children never seem to appreciate their parents' taste in music." And she left to get them. "See, Scully, even your Mom is ganging up on you." he said quietly, stroking her forhead. "We're running out of ideas. This is our last resort. If this doesn't work, I don't know what we'll do." There was a slight tremble in his voice. He took a deep breath. The last thing he needed was for Scully's Mom to see him upset. "So hurry up and wake up... and we'll be with you all the way." He picked up the novel and started to read aloud to her, continuing reading up to the climax, even as Dr Grannell examined the patient and Mrs Scully returned with her tape collection from the car. Pendrell and Scully were in their usual place by the window, listening intently on the verge of finding out who the murderer was. He stopped reading as Dr Grannell marked up Scully's chart. "Nooo!" Scully whined. "Don't mind the doctor! Finish the book!" "Okay, Scully, here's the deal." Mulder said, loudly closing the book. "If you want to find out 'whodunnit', you'll have to read it yourself." "Ah, the old reverse psychology!" Dr Grannell smiled. Mulder looked curiously at her. He was having a full morning of deja vu and he didn't know why! "Well, I hope it works for you. I'll be in to check on Dana soon, but if she makes any movement or changes in breathing contact me straight away." Scully walked cockily around the room as the doctor left. "You can't break me, Mulder!" She said mock-dramatically. "Better men have tried, and failed!" She turned to Pendrell. "Come on Neil, let's get back to your place!" Pendrell smiled as they walked through his garden. Mulder had gotten the message! Now he just had to hope it worked. Scully and Pendrell spent the next while sitting on 2 sunloungers staring up at the clouds "Definitely looks like Brazil." Neil said pointing up at one cloud moving gently across the sky. "Now it looks like Brazil after an earthquake!" Scully said as the cloud started breaking up. The music started again from the hospital room. Why do bird suddenly appear, every time you are near? Just like me they long to be close to you... "Is that The Carpenters?" Scully scrunched her face up. On the day that you were born the angels got togerther and decided to make a dream come true..... "Sounds like it." Pendrell said. "do you want to dance? "Not to the Carpenters!" Scully said their name like it was a curse. "Mom must have mixed the tapes up. I'm sure she'll realise soon and change it." An hour later the same songs started again. "What?" Scully exclaimed. "Not again?" She went into the hospital room to find out what was going on. "We've played it once and nothing's happened." Maggie said. "Does she really dislike them that much?" Mulder asked, surprised, munching on more seeds. "You have no idea, Mulder!" Scully said standing behind them, hands on her hips. "Try 'despise's them'." Maggie smiled. "You don't seem to mind them." "I like them in a purely kitch 70's kind of way, but to be honest, I prefer Abba!" Mulder grinned. Maggie didn't know whether to take him seriously or not. Dana had told her of his weird sense of humour when they first started working together. But Maggie had a soft spot for Fox, whatever kind of humour he liked. Every sha-lala-lala, every woo-oha-oh still shines... Scully marched up to Pendrell. "Isn't there some kind of rule against this kind of thing?" Every shinga linga ling that they're starting to sing so fine... "Err... no." Neil replied defensively. "Well there should be!" She flopped back into her sunlounger. Shoobee doo lang lang... They played the tape a third time. "Dana was always the stubborn one." Maggie sighed, becoming bored with the repitition herself. "Chinese burns.... Chinese water torture... Hanged drawn and quartered I can handle!" Dana said squirming in her chair. "But if I hear On the Bayou one more time I'll...." "You'll what?" Neil laughed. "I'll have to kill them!" She yelled, hoping they'd hear her. "Ah, but you'd have to wake up to do that!" Neil pointed out her dilemma. She stopped and thought for a moment. "Okay, okay!" She exclaimed. "You win. I'll go back." She smiled at him. " If they'll stoop that low to get me back, then they deserve to be stuck with me!" "You're making the right decision." He said hugging her tightly. "I'm going to miss you." he whispered in her ear. She held his hand as they stood in the corridor, outside her hospital room. She was back in her much despised hospital gown. "I guess this is it." she said quietly, feeling very nervous. "Yeah." he said quietly. "Will I remember any of this?" "Probably not." "Oh... That's a pity, because I've had a really great time." She smiled at him. "I will, though." His heart was breaking at the thought of losing her again. But the memories of those 4 days would last him for an eternity. "I guess I better go." She said taking a couple of steps towards the door. "There's just one more thing..." She turned back to him. "What?" She threw her arms around his neck and gave him a long slow kiss on the lips that seemed to go on forever. When they finally broke off, he was out of breath. Without a word, but with a beaming smile, Dana went into the hospital room and closed the door. "Now I know I'm in Heaven ... Wow!" Pendrell said, barely able to believe his luck. He snapped out of it quickly when Mulder raced out of the hospital room. "Dr Grannell! She's awake!" he said. "She just opened her eyes!" He could hardly contain his delight as Mulder and Dr Grannell ran back into the room. Pendrell stood and watched the commotion. "Seeya sometime, Dana." ******************************************************* In her soft wind I will whisper. In her warn sun I will glisten. 'Til we see her once again in a world without end..... And she goes on. She Goes On - Crowded House. ******************************************************* Fade out. ******************************************************* Acknowledgements. Thanks to Crowded House for the great music, without them I would never have had the idea and for some strange reason, the lyrics seemed to fit! Apologies and thanks to The Carpenters and their fans. No offence intended. Thanks to you for reading. All comments gratefully accepted. Cal ginger@cyberia.ie