A New World

by Wesa

Series: War of the Worlds, The Equalizer, and The X-Files. Guest appearances in future parts from characters from Due South, The Man from UNCLE, and The Pretender; perhaps from others as the whim takes me.

Standard disclaimers apply. All characters belong to their various creators and the powers that be. Some of these characters belong to Chris Carter, Fox, and 10-13 Productions. I've just invited them over to play for a while, and I promise to send them home when the party's over. Others belong to Universal or Paramount, but it doesn't look like anyone is playing with them at the moment, so I'm going to let them stay as long as they want. Littlehawk belongs to Jan Harley. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Jan, for your wonderful story. I hope you don't mind if he comes over to help chaperone the party; of course, he can come home whenever you need him. Tierney, Lainie, and Kira are mine; they live here.

Constructive criticism is welcomed.

Warning: Character 'death.' Except I don't actually believe in death.

By Wesa.

They left footprints in the volcanic ash as they crossed the plain above the forest. When rain was followed by another ashfall, Kira smiled wryly, despite her discomfort, behind a remnant of the shirt she had worn that long ago day when they had been abducted. Her smile must have shown in her eyes, because Mulder got pissed at her.

"What are you grinning about?" Mulder wanted to know, his tone sour. He was miserable, wet, cold, and gritty. Samantha was miserable, too, and Lainie was even more miserable because she was morning sick as well. Mulder didn't see anything to smile about.

Kira gestured at the footprints they were leaving behind them, now being covered by a second layer of ash. "That's exactly what they thought happened to create the fossil hominid footprints Mary Leakey found in Africa," she told him. "We just made some future archaeologist very happy."

Control snorted. "Good for him. Personally, I thought I'd left the risk of lung cancer behind on Earth, along with tobacco. I don't need to be breathing this stuff," he complained.

"None of us do," Dana said, checking the cloth she had tied over William's nose and mouth to try to keep the fine particles out of his lungs. "But it's not as bad as they first thought when Mt. Saint Helens erupted. Just try to breathe through the rags as much as possible; they'll strain out the larger particles."

"It could be worse," Lainie told them.

"How?" Kincaid asked.

"It was dry and eighty-five degrees when Mt. Saint Helens blew," she replied. "The ash soaks up water and reflects heat. After the eruption, it just got hotter and drier. We're still early enough in the spring here that we don't have to deal with that. Nasty and miserable as it is, the rain is actually helping keep the dust down so we don't have to breathe as much of it."

"Thank goodness for small favors," Robert muttered, and coughed roughly.

Suzanne looked up at him in concern. "Are you all right?" she asked worriedly, not liking the color of his complexion.

He smiled down at her. "I'll be fine. It's just the ash," he told her.

Suzanne studied Robert's face a moment longer but was distracted from her worry when Hank started crying. She shifted him in the sling in which she carried him, and opened her shirt to expose her breast so she could feed him, then was distracted again when Kira smacked Paul in the abdomen for watching. Suzanne blushed deeply, the red tide sweeping down her chest, adding even more interest to the scene for the males in their group.

"Hey, I'm over here," Kira told Paul. "I'd have thought you'd be desensitized to that by now."

"Never," he told her, hugging her close to his side.

"Mulder's just as bad," Lainie said, and Dana chuckled in agreement. Harrison frowned.

"Norton too," Tierney agreed. "Every time anyone feeds a baby around here, he's all eyes."

"Hey, can I help it if they thought bottle-feeding was better for babies when I was born?" he asked defensively. "I have an infantile bias, and I've known it since I was a kid."

"Actually, I was thinking about watching Kira feed our son," Paul told them. "I'm looking forward to that."

"What makes you think it's a boy this time?" Mickey asked. "I mean, aside from the fact that everyone else got boys."

Dana snorted. "Everyone else got boys because they were implanted, Mickey," she told him, "with the possible exception of you and Sydney. And Adam looks so much like you that I don't see much possibility that you aren't his genetic father. For you it was just luck. For the babies conceived here it will much more evenly split."

"Littlehawk?" Eric asked Paul softly, and Paul nodded. "Does he look just like you?" the teenager wondered.

Paul nodded, looking at the young man curiously. "You've seen him?" he asked.

Eric nodded. "He says Debi and I - He wants us to wait a little longer. He says it's important."

"She's only a child," Paul told the boy in a low voice, but he looked critically at Debi for the first time in a long time.

Taller now than her mother, Debi had developed a roundness at chest and hip that could not be attributed to baby fat. She was long-legged and narrow waisted, and had for some time been gathering dried moss for her own monthly use, though she had blushed scarlet when Paul had caught her at it, asking why she had gone out alone when she knew how dangerous it was. She was fifteen when they were abducted, and that must have been almost a year ago; the babies were nearly three months old. Years were longer on this planet than on Earth, he realized.

"It's only in more technologically advanced civilizations that people wait until their twenties to marry," Kira murmured softly. "She must be sixteen, or close to it. Our children will consider that an old maid. She's mature enough, psychologically, in my opinion. She knows how to process hides, and she's learning to sew. She cooks better than I do."

"I'll see if I can get Littlehawk to tell me why he wants you to wait," Paul told Eric, "but don't hold your breath while you wait for a straight answer."

"You approve?" the boy asked in astonishment.

"Not yet," Paul told him sternly. "When Littlehawk says okay, then if Debi's agreeable I'll talk to her mother for you, if you want me to."

Eric grinned in relief. "Thanks," he said, then ran forward to join Debi, Samantha, and Michel where they walked just behind Scott and Trudy.

"I just wish they had more to choose from," Kira murmured. "I do think they're well-suited to each other ... "

"But?" Paul prodded. Kira shook her head. "Eric's what? Twenty?" Paul asked. "I don't know if he was active before, but he must be feeling the tension now. He hears the rest of us nearly every night, no matter how discreet we try to be. Hell, I only held out for what? Four months? And I only had to listen to Mickey and Sydney."

Kira chuckled. "You were horny," she agreed. "So was I."

"I remember." Paul tightened his arm around her shoulders.

**********

Eventually they left most of the volcanic ash behind, though they still got a few small flakes when the wind was from the southeast. Here there was plenty of game and a lot of varied vegetation bearing flowers, foliage, and fruit that they could eat. They found a small lake with fish and shellfish in it, and decided to settle once more.

There were few rocks to build with. The men hunted and fished, or dragged long limbs from the thin stands of trees. The women cared for the children, gathered roots and fruits, scraped the hides of the animals the men killed, and sewed the hides together to make teepee covers, learning by trial and error. No one failed to notice that Eric made certain Debi got all the hides from his kills, nor that he brought her little gifts of fruit and flowers.

Robert and Control built another smokehouse from the few suitable rocks that could be found, sometimes having to rig a travois to get them back to their camp. A year of lean living and lots of exercise had hardened even the older men's bodies. Still, Control watched his oldest friend with concern when at times his face seemed to go gray under the layer of dirt that none of them were able to scrape completely off.

Finally Kira, Yvette, and Lainie made a successful clay bowl, firing it in the campfire one night after the evening meal. They made three more the next day, and suddenly their diet improved, with the addition of soups, stews, sauces and gravies. Meals became a cultural event as well as fulfilling their physical needs. Smaller bowls and pans followed, giving each of them a dish to eat from.

Kira made another bowl and a flat pan, marking them with the word 'yuck' before she fired them.

"Why?" Tierney asked.

"Because I don't want you using my soap dishes to fix my dinner in," Kira replied, "and if you do, I want to know before I eat any of it."

Paul had found a quiet place along the edge of the lake where he could sing to the spirits, and he went there to speak to Littlehawk, away from the others in the group. "Debi seems to be ready," he told the spirit of his clone. "Why did you ask them to wait?"

Littlehawk seemed reluctant to answer at first, saying only, "Suzanne will need her more than Eric does. And by the time she recovers, they must wait several weeks before they start their family."

"Suzanne isn't ill?" Paul asked in alarm.

"No," Littlehawk replied. "But she will soon carry another child; and Robert is preparing to come to us here."

Paul took the news solemnly, surprised only by his own lack of surprise. "He hasn't looked well lately," he said. "Isn't there anything we can do to help him? Can we make him more comfortable?"

"He would not thank you for it," Littlehawk told him. "That is a man much like yourself, Darkeagle. He would rather suffer and die than cause anyone else hardship. Do not tell the others."

**********

Kira boiled wood ashes in water over a separate fire, warning everyone she saw not to taste what she was cooking, as it was probably poisonous. When it had boiled down into a thin paste, she took it off the fire to cool, and after an hour or so, she mixed in oil drippings she had saved from their last several roasts. After stirring the horrible-looking concoction with a stick until it was evenly colored and smooth, she poured the mixture into the flat pan.

Debi had watched the whole process with great interest. Kira laughed at her gently. "If this works," she teased, "poor Eric won't be able to keep his hands off you."

Debi blushed prettily, but smiled. "Do you think it will work?" she asked. "When will it be ready?"

"It has to cure for a couple of days at least before I can cut it," Kira told her, "and that's if I got the mixture right. Then we have to find someone brave enough to test it."

"Test it? Why?"

"If I got too much lye in it, it'll burn," Kira explained. "We don't want it to take the skin off along with the dirt."

**********

Robert and Mickey returned from their hunt to find the camp strangely deserted. "Where is everyone?" Robert wondered.

Sydney emerged from the teepee she shared with Mickey and their two sons. Mickey caught his breath at her beauty, the bright radiance of her freshly washed hair. She handed each of them a sliver of soap. "I think a few of the men are still down at the lake," she said. "Supper should be ready by the time you get back."

"And the other women?" Robert asked.

Before she could answer, laughter echoed from the teepee Tierney and Norton shared. "Wait, wait!" Tierney giggled.

Sydney shrugged. "Some of them may be a little late for dinner," she replied.

Debi stepped out of her mother's teepee. "Sydney, I need your help," she called. "I can't get Mom's hair braided right."

Sydney shooed the hunters down toward the lake. "Go," she told them. "We'll be here when you get back."

Eric looked up as Mickey and Robert approached. "Oh, good," he told Michel. "Your dad's here. He'll see that you get clean."

"You giving Eric a bad time?" Mickey asked his elder son. Only half-jokingly he checked behind Michel's ears, then frowned at the boy. "You aren't clean," he said sternly. "Back into the lake."

"Are the women all gone?" Robert asked Eric hesitantly as Mickey stripped and followed his son into the water.

Eric ran the bone comb he had made through the black hair that fell well past his shoulders. "Went back up to camp 'bout a half-hour ago," he replied in the curiously laconic way he always spoke. He parted his hair in the middle and began to braid each half over his shoulders.

Robert hesitated only another moment, then stripped and followed Mickey into the water while Paul and Kincaid splashed out past them. They both put their breechclouts and moccasins on, but carried their leggings and shirts when they hurried back up toward camp.

The lake water was cold, but the soap lathered fairly well, and when Robert left the water, he felt better than he had in a long while. He left Mickey washing Michel's hair and went back up to the camp.

"Mom has clean clothes ready for you, Robert," Debi told him, blithely ignoring the sounds issuing from most of the teepees in the camp as she tended the fire and the foods simmering on it. Robert marveled at her beauty and smiled at Eric who, dressed in fresh clothing, brought more wood to stack conveniently close to the fire, then offered Samantha a brightly colored pebble he had found.

**********

"Mmmm," Kira murmured as Paul collapsed on top of her. "Oh, wonderful. I forgot how good you smell."

He chuckled softly in her ear, then decided to nibble on it. "If I wasn't hungry, I'd just stay here," he murmured.

Kira kissed him, then urged him to move aside so she could get up to help Debi with supper. Both of them had just finished dressing when Suzanne's scream for help split the air.

Paul reached her teepee first and burst in to find Suzanne giving Robert CPR. Harrison ran in behind him, and Paul urged Kira to get Dana. He took over for Suzanne, who was tiring from the effort. Debi came from nowhere and took her mother in her arms, soothing her sobs and urging her to get dressed.

"He just sighed and collapsed," Suzanne sobbed as Dana arrived, followed by Mickey and Control. "At first I thought he was just going to sleep -- "

"Shhh, Mom," Debi soothed helplessly, finally wrapping her mother in the black fur that Robert had given her only a few days before.

"Dad?" Scott's voice came from outside. "Yvette, what's happened to Dad?"

"Keep them out!" Mickey exclaimed, taking over compressions from Paul. "Dana?"

**********

Six weeks after Robert's funeral, after Suzanne realized she was pregnant again, even though Hank was still nursing, and just starting to walk, Paul invited her to come with him to his isolated spot on the north side of the lake.

"We won't be gone long," he promised Kira. "Probably not even overnight."

"Do you have enough bedding for all three of you, just in case?" Kira worried. "Don't let Hank get chilled. Suzanne has enough troubles right now without a sick baby."

Watching them go, Tierney asked, "Aren't you worried about letting them go off together like that?"

Kira shook her head. "Intellectually, I know I should be," she admitted. "Paul loves Suzanne, but it's not the same as he feels about me. Even if something should happen between them - and I don't for one second believe it will - I'm carrying Paul's child, and Suzanne is carrying Robert's. And for what he wants to do for her, the circumstances almost completely preclude it."

"What's he going to do?"

"He's hoping that Littlehawk can help Suzanne talk to Robert."

**********

Scott and Kincaid led a stranger into camp. "We saw one of those shiny things come down," Scott told Control, who reached out to shake the man's hand.

The stranger, still wearing Earth clothes, jeans, boots, and a tee-shirt, shook hands automatically. "You - I know you," he said. "You're --"

"I was Control, yes," Control said, "and most of the people here are accustomed to calling me that, Mr. Skinner."

**********

Suzanne sobbed softly, reaching out to Robert's spirit. "Come back to me," she pleaded.

He shook his head. "I cannot, Suzanne," he told her. "I will be here when you come. For now, there is another waiting for you."

"Another?" Suzanne protested. "I don't want anyone else."

"That's true now," Robert agreed, "but you haven't met Walter yet. And he will be a good father to your son and my daughter, as well as the children he will give you. Let him court you, Suzanne. Allow yourself love. Consider it my dying wish."

Down on the lakeshore, Paul held Hank and pointed out the monkeykats playing at the edge of the water, bouncing the boy on his knee. When the child insisted on getting down and trying to chase the scampering, brightly furred creatures, Paul followed, his hands a fraction of an inch from either shoulder of the unsteady toddler.

"I wish I had a camera," Suzanne told him, smiling gently. "I'd like to show Kira what a good father you'll be."

Paul picked up Hank and turned, his lips quirking to one side. "She already figured out I'm ticklish. That wouldn't have been your doing, would it?"

"Kira's sharing your bed," Suzanne said. "I shouldn't have to point that out to her - and if I did, she'd wonder how I knew."

"Are you okay?" Paul asked her gently.

"Not yet," she told him, "but Robert says I will be."

End of part 14.