A DIVIDED HIGHWAY (11/16)
by Nicole Perry
[email protected]
1/10/97
 
 

It was much warmer inside the mine, and Scully was thankful for that,
though none of her fear had vanished.  If anything, she was more afraid
than before;  the air in the mine was stale, and it made her feel vaguely
claustrophobic.  She kept a tight hold of Cooper's arm, afraid of tripping
and falling in this dank and cavernous place.

     "How far in are we?" she asked him.  It felt as though they had
been walking for miles.

     "Not far," he answered, his words reverberating with a strange
echo.  "We passed through the outer cavern;  this is one of the main
tunnels."

     "Is it safe in here?"

     "Safe enough," Cooper responded.  "Parts of the main cavern are
visible from the outside, which doesn't make it the best place to hide.
In here, there's less chance of someone spotting us."

     His words comforted her somewhat.   Cooper had secreted the disk
in an alcove of rock somewhere near where they were hiding, and she felt
reasonably certain that even if they were found, it wouldn't be.  More
than anything else, Scully didn't want the mysterious men to find it.  She
was positive that if they did, it would only make things worse for Mulder.
 Assuming Mulder was still alive.

     The thought made her shiver, and she felt Cooper's arm raise up to
slip around her shoulder.  "Are you still cold?"

     "No," she answered.  "Just a little...uneasy."

     "Me too," he told her.  "But I think if we stay here, we'll be
okay."

     "I hope so," Scully responded, scooting a little closer to him as
they waited.
 
 

The man prodded her with the gun again and Rebecca responded to the
gesture, walking as slowly as she dared towards the barn.  They reached
the door and she fumbled with the keys, turning first one deadbolt and
then the next.   When she had finished, the man moved so that he was
standing beside her and opened the door, forcing her inside.

     Rebecca exhaled a relieved breath to find the studio dark and
apparently empty.  "Turn on the lights," the man instructed, and she did
as she was told, flipping the switch and illuminating the space.

     "Come on," said the man, tapping the gun against her, and Rebecca
led the way, walking a few steps in front of him as he conducted his
search.  The man was nothing if not thorough, examining every crevice and
corner in which someone might hide.   The darkroom door was closed and she
opened it when she was bidden, again pleased to find that there was no one
inside.

     Seemingly satisfied, the man turned back to her and then asked,
"Did you put the disk in here?"

     Rebecca shook her head emphatically, hoping the man would believe
her.  "I don't know anything about a disk," she told him. "There's nothing
like that in here."

     "Stay right where you are," the man ordered.  "Don't even think
about trying to run."

     That was the farthest thing from Rebecca's mind;  all she wanted
to do was survive, so she stood still as requested, watching as the man
poked his way amongst her photographic equipment, searching for the
mysterious disk that seemed so important to him.  Terrified, she was
unable to take her eyes off of him or the gun that he carried.

     It was when the man's back was turned that Rebecca spotted another
man out of the corner of her eye.   He was standing in the doorway and
when she turned her head slightly to look at him, she was surprised to see
him put one hand over his mouth as though ordering her to keep silent.
He was unarmed, dressed in a windbreaker and jeans, but it wasn't the fact
that he didn't seem to be a visible threat that reassured her.  It was the
look on his face, a look that was equal parts gentle and determined, that
made her instinctively feel that she could trust him.

     Rebecca gave the man a small nod and then looked away from him,
back towards the man who had forced her to open her studio to his prying
eyes.  He was rifling through the equipment that she had placed on one of
the small tables, and watching him, an idea came to mind.

     "You might want to check the cupboard on the far wall," she
offered, knowing that there was nothing inside that would be of interest
to him, but feeling as though it would make for a worthy distraction.
The man glanced up at her and then took a step towards the cabinet, before
motioning to her again with the gun.

     "Come with me," he ordered, and she complied, walking with him
towards the far end of the studio.

     Once there, the man poked her again with the barrel of his gun.
"Open it," he told her, and Rebecca did as instructed.  The cabinet
contained a variety of plastic containers, each bearing a different kind
of developing agent, labeled according to type.  The man leaned in towards
her as though reading the labels, his breath hot on the back of her neck.

     Behind them, she heard the squeak of a loose board, and the man
whirled, his gun pointed in front of him.  Acting on instinct, Rebecca
grabbed the closest container and unscrewed the lid.  Turning to face the
man, she shouted, "Hey!"

     The man spun on his heels to look at her and as he did so, she
raised the container with astonishing speed, tossing its contents directly
at his head.  The liquid splashed on his face and the man shouted, a loud
agonized yell, dropping his weapon as he brought both of his hands to his
face, clawing at his eyes.

     The man that Rebecca had first seen in the doorway leapt towards
him, jumping on him and hurling him to the ground, pummeling him with his
fists until the temporarily blinded man was gasping for breath.   The
second man then grabbed the abandoned gun and pointed it at the first, his
breath coming in heavy pants.

     Looking up at Rebecca the second man said, "Good job."

     Rebecca suddenly found it hard to catch her own breath, and merely
nodded.  An impulse seized her and she said, "Rick?"

     The second man nodded, glancing at the man sprawled on the floor
and then turning his eyes back to face her, the gun in his hand still and
unwavering.  "Yes," he replied.  "And you're Rebecca, right?"

     She nodded again, resting her hands on her thighs, feeling winded
as some of the terror she'd been feeling began to dissipate.

     "What did you hit him with?" Rick asked, and Rebecca glanced at
the container, which lay on the ground where she'd dropped it after making
her move.

     "Fixer," she told him.  "Sodium thiosulfate.  It's pretty toxic
stuff."

     "I guess so," Rick replied, looking back at the man writhing on
the floor.
 
 

Reaching out with one hand, Mulder hauled Larry to his feet, careful to
keep the gun pointed at his head.  When Larry was standing, his hands
still wiping at his eyes, Mulder said, "Give me the key."

     Larry glared at him balefully but remained still, so Mulder cocked
the gun again for emphasis.  "Give it to me."

     Reaching into the pocket of his jacket, Larry pulled out the
electronic key to the bracelet and held it in his hand.   "Help me out,
here," Mulder instructed Rebecca, and the girl moved forward and grabbed
the key.

     "Pull back my right sleeve," Mulder told her, using his left hand
to hold the gun steady on Christophe's henchman.  Rebecca did as she was
told, untying the belt he'd used as a makeshift anchor for the wand and
tossing it away.  Yanking the wand from his sleeve, she threw it down as
well and then used the key to unlock the electronic bracelet from his
wrist.  It fell to the ground with a satisfying clang and Mulder couldn't
stifle a triumphant grin.

     "Now," he said, addressing his remarks to Larry, "tell me where
Christophe is."

     Larry didn't respond, his eyes never wavering from the gun.

     "Tell me," Mulder repeated, to no avail.

     "There was another man here," Rebecca offered, and it was the look
of anger that crossed Larry's face at her remark that got Mulder's
attention.

     "Behind the house," Rebecca continued, "he found some footsteps.
I think Coop and Lisa went out that way, towards the hills -- the man, he
went after them.  That's where I think he's gone."

     Turning his full attention back to Larry, Mulder asked, "Is that
true?"  This time, he pulled the trigger back with his finger before
repeating the question.  "Is she telling the truth?"

     This time, Mulder was rewarded with a small shrug.   Glancing back
at Rebecca, he asked, "What's up there?"

     "The hills are full of caves," Rebecca responded.  "Some of them
used to be mines -- Cooper knows where they are.  They might have gone up
there to hide."

     It made a certain sort of sense, and Mulder nodded.  "We're going
after them," he told Rebecca.  "I want you to stay here -- go inside the
house, and lock all the doors.  Don't let anyone in except for me."

     Rebecca nodded her comprehension, and then held up the fingers of
one hand in a gesture that indicated that he wait.  She moved away from
them, out of his line of vision, and Mulder heard the sound of cabinet
doors being opened and closed.

     She returned a moment later, clutching a battered lantern in one
hand.  "Here," she said, holding it out towards him.  "It's carbide --
I've used it before, when I've gone exploring.  It's dark in those mines
-- if that's where they are, you'll be glad you have it."
 
 

Cooper crouched next to Lisa in the darkness, one arm still resting across
her shoulders.  She was trembling slightly, but he suspected that she was
telling the truth, and that her shudders were due to anxiety rather than a
chill.  It was actually warmer inside the mine than it had been outside,
and that pleased him, as he didn't know how long they would end up having
to wait.   He had no way of knowing when it would be safe to return to the
house, having no idea what the strangers who had arrived so unexpectedly
had planned.

     He thought of Rebecca and Elliot, wondering what would happen if
either of them returned home to find the men inside the house, and he
shivered, hoping that they both decided to stay in town for a good long
time.

     "Are you okay?" Lisa asked, having sensed the small tremor that
rocked him.

     "Yes," he told her.  "Just thinking."

     "Me too," she answered, and he pulled her a little closer to him
in response.

     They were hiding at the end of the first tunnel, near a wooden
catwalk that crossed the width of an abandoned shaft.  The shafts were
dangerous, Cooper knew, plunging far below the earth.  The ground was
stable where they were, however;  that much he was sure, the tunnel itself
firmly entrenched on solid earth.

     Next to him on the ground lay an old, battered shovel that he had
retrieved from the main cavern.  There had been a few abandoned tools left
to rust against the walls of the mine, and the shovel had looked like the
most solid of the lot.  It wasn't the best of weapons, but he still felt
better having it by his side.

     Lisa tilted her head to the side, a frown crossing her face that
was barely visible in the shadows.   "Cooper?  What's that noise?"

     Cooper listened intently, but only silence met his ears.  "I don't
hear anything."

     "Listen," she murmured.  "That noise."

     This time, in the distance, Cooper heard a rattling sound.  His
mind processed the noise, and told him that it was the sound of footsteps
against rock.  His heart began to pound as he realized that someone was
coming their way.

     "Stay here," he whispered, slipping his arm from around her and
giving her shoulder a little squeeze.

     "Where are you going?"  she asked, and though her words were soft
he could hear the panic beneath them.

     "I just want to check things out," he told her, unwilling to lie.
 

     Lisa shook her head violently.  "Don't.  Don't go."

     There was nothing more that he wanted to do than stay, but if
there was a confrontation to be had, he felt better about having it in the
main cavern.

     "It's probably nothing," Cooper assured her.  "Some falling rock,
or something like that.  I'm just going to take a look."

     His eyes adjusted to the darkness of the tunnel, he could just
barely see her face.  Her lips were pressed tightly together, but she
finally acquiesced with a reluctant nod.  "Then take me with you."

     "No," he said, shaking his own head though he knew she couldn't
see him.  "Stay here -- stay right here.  I'll be back in a second."

     Before she could protest further, he slipped away from her,
clutching the rusted shovel in his hand, knowing he would be unable to
deny her if she asked him again.

     Walking slowly, careful not to make any noise, Cooper made his way
back down the tunnel towards the main cavern.  He stepped inside, his eyes
adjusting to the faint light that filtered in from the outside to cast
shadows along the walls.  He saw nothing amiss, and though he stood still
and waited, he heard no sounds.

     Unsatisfied, he moved further into the cavern, gripping the shovel
tightly, turning his head from side to side as he searched for the source
of the disturbance.  He was glancing to his left when he heard a noise on
his right and he turned towards the sound, only to be blindsided by a
shadow as it rushed towards him.  Acting on instinct, Cooper raised his
arms and swung.  His aim was surprisingly accurate and he felt the blow
find its mark, a grunt of pain coming from his surprise assailant.  A loud
bang echoed in the cavern and it took him a moment to realize that a gun
had just been fired.

     Relieved by the fact that the bullet had missed its mark, Cooper
struck again, determined to bring down his opponent, successfully landing
another hit.  Something connected with his head and he yelled as a
brilliant constellation of sparks exploded in his brain, sending him
reeling towards unconsciousness.  A second blow made him trip and the
ground came rushing up at him.  He fell hard on his left side, a loud
snapping sound crashing in his ears, pain ricocheting through his body as
his mind faded to black.
 
 

Scully heard the gunshot, followed by Cooper's shout of pain and a shudder
raced through her body, all of her instincts telling her to run to his
aid.  She rose to her feet, but the rational part of her mind stopped her
in her tracks.

     Hide, she thought.  You have to hide.   But she had no idea where
to go;  without Cooper by her side, the mine was a large, forbidding
menace.  Scully had no way of knowing where she could even dare step,
fearing that danger lurked on all sides.

     Horrified, she heard the sound of approaching footsteps, and it
galvanized her into action.  She flailed her hands wildly, searching for
something, anything that she could use to help her.  Behind her, Scully
found a railing and grabbed hold of it with both hands.  Taking a cautious
step forward with one foot, she felt a solid surface beneath her, and
decided to continue.  Clutching tightly to the railing, she moved further
back into the mine.
 
 

Mulder and Larry had almost reached the end of the trail of footsteps,
close enough to see the point where they vanished into a dark, yawning
cavern cut into the rock of the hillside, when the echo of a gunshot
filled the air.

     Mulder was momentarily stunned by the sound, his mind instantly
flashing to Scully, and Larry chose that moment to attack, whirling and
leaping on him in an attempt to grab the gun.   Though he dropped the
carbide lantern, years of Bureau training didn't fail him and Mulder
parried the attack, retaining his grasp on the gun and pulling the
trigger.   Larry was blown back by the force of the gunshot, falling away
to collapse on the ground.

     Fighting the impulse to rush into the mine and search for Scully,
Mulder moved towards the fallen man, unwilling to take the chance of being
blindsided by him.  He kept a steady hold on the gun, watching him
carefully.   From the looks of things, the shot had been a good one,
catching Larry in the chest.  He lay on his back, blood pouring from the
wound.

     Mulder approached until he was close enough to see the man's face.
 Larry said nothing, glaring at him with an expression frozen in anger
until his eyes finally fluttered closed.   Leaning down, Mulder checked
for a pulse, but discovered none.

     Leaving Larry where he lay, Mulder picked up the fallen lantern
and sprinted towards the entrance to the mine.
 
 

Here endeth part 11... parts 12-16 posted simultaneously.  Let me know if
there are problems with the posting at [email protected].
 

X-11                               X-11
 

From [email protected] Tue Feb 25 12:47:55 1997
Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative
Subject: **NEW** - "A Divided Highway" (12/16)
From: [email protected] (NVRGRIM)
Date: 25 Feb 1997 18:47:55 GMT
--------
This is part twelve of a sixteen-part post.  Author's Note, Spoiler
Warning, and Disclaimer can be found at the beginning of part 1.  If there
are problems with the posting (or comments on the story!) I'm at
[email protected].
 
 

A DIVIDED HIGHWAY (12/16)
by Nicole Perry
[email protected]
1/10/97
 
 

Rebecca sat on the couch, her arms clutching her knees against her chest.
Tucker was curled up beside her, growling deep in the back of his throat,
and she took comfort in his nearness.  It felt like they'd been sitting
there forever when the dog raised his head and began to bark, leaping off
the couch and running towards the kitchen.  Her heart thudding in her
chest, Rebecca slowly followed him.

     In the kitchen she glanced out the window, relief washing over her
as she saw Elliot piloting his bike up the hill.  Rebecca yanked open the
kitchen door and dashed down the steps, Tucker running along beside her as
she headed for the barn.

     "Elliot!"  She threw herself at him before he could even take off
his helmet, wrapping her arms around him in a desperate hug.

     "Beck -- what is it?  What's wrong?"

     He had slipped his own arms around her waist automatically, and
Rebecca drew strength from his embrace, pulling back enough to look at
him.  "We've got to do something," she cried.  "These men -- these men
showed up at the house, and they had guns -- something's happened to Coop
and Lisa...."   She knew she wasn't making any sense, the words tumbling
from her in a confused panic, and inexplicably she began to cry.
 
 

Elliot kept one of his arms tightly around her, using the other to tug the
helmet off of his head.  "Beck, honey, you have to tell me what happened.
What men?  What's going on?"   He stroked her hair gently, trying to calm
her down.

     Rebecca nodded, her breath coming in little choking gasps as she
fought back the tears and told him what had happened in the short time
that he'd been gone.  He listened, in a shocked and horrified silence, and
then pulled her close again, thankful that she, at least, was okay.

     "What are we going to do, Elliot?"  she asked him.  "Should we
call the police?"

     Elliot considered the question carefully, weighing the options in
his mind.  It made sense -- hell, it made a whole lot of sense -- to call
in the authorities and end this thing, once and for all.  A fury was
raging inside of him at the fact that the woman he loved had been put at
the mercy of a man with a gun, and part of him wanted to curse at Rick and
Lisa for ever having involved them in this situation.

     Then again, Rick and Lisa weren't entirely to blame;  he'd brought
Lisa home with him of his own volition, and he had been at least partially
aware of the danger that might bring.  Try as he might, Elliot couldn't
completely absolve himself of his involvement  in the current
circumstance.  And the one thing he knew Rick and Lisa feared, above all
else, was the police.  He wasn't sure if he wanted to risk violating the
trust they had placed in him by calling the authorities.

     Aloud, he said, "I don't know, Beck.  I promised Lisa that we
wouldn't -- we both did."

     Rebecca nodded, but said nothing, which left the decision-making
up to him.

     In the end, Elliot reached a conclusion that was really more of a
compromise.  "I'm going to follow Rick -- try and get a handle on what's
happening up there.  If it looks like things are out of control, then I'm
calling the police.  It's beyond Rick and Lisa now -- Coop could be in
danger, and I can't risk something happening to him."

     "Okay," Rebecca replied, "but I'm coming with you."   Elliot
opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off with a threat.  "I'm not
letting you go alone -- if you do, I'm calling the police right now."

     He could see that she meant what she said, and unwilling to argue
the matter with her further, Elliot conceded, taking her by the hand.
"Let's go."
 
 

Mulder stepped into the cavernous entrance to the mine, his eyes adjusting
to the dimness as he realized just how little light filtered in from
outside.  He turned on the lantern, thankful now that he had it.  The
light it provided was weak, and he suspected that it didn't have much
fuel, but it did a fair job of illuminating the area immediately around
him.

     The mine had been hollowed directly into the rock, ancient wood
support beams still braced against the sides of the cave.   The ceiling as
defined by those beams was low, though the room itself was wide enough
that he couldn't see either end from where he stood, the edges fading out
into shadowy darkness.

     Remembering the gunshot that he had heard from outside, Mulder
forced himself to move with caution, his ears attuned to the slightest
sound.  Listening closely, he heard the rasp of labored uneven breathing.
A bolt of fear coursed through him as he began to search for the source of
the noise.

     Holding the lantern in one hand and his gun in the other, Mulder
made his way along the walls.  There were a few rusted tools scattered on
the rugged, uneven ground, a couple of shovels and something that looked
like a pick.   There was a heap of old, fraying rope nearby that looked as
though it had been abandoned at the same time as the tools.

     The noise was coming from somewhere further in, and he kept
walking.  Near the far wall, Mulder discovered some crudely built wooden
frames.  Back there, he thought, edging carefully closer.  They looked
like troughs of some sort, and when he raised the lantern to look inside,
he found them filled with a grainy, powdery dirt.   A stack of rusted
metal was piled beside them, and he realized upon closer inspection that
they were sieves of some kind, used to filter through the dirt in search
of whatever treasures the mine provided.

     There was space between the wooden troughs and the rock wall, and
Mulder's eyes widened in horror when the lantern illuminated a young man
lying there, sprawled against the ground, unconscious.  Blood oozed from a
nasty gash on his forehead, and the erratic rise and fall of his chest
indicated the seriousness of the injury.  Mulder knew immediately who he
was.

     "Cooper?"  he called, but got no response.

     Setting the lantern down on the ground, Mulder pulled the man out
from behind the trough, settling him flat on his back.  "Cooper?   Cooper,
can you hear me?"  Checking Cooper's pulse, Mulder was relieved to find
that it was relatively steady.

     Cooper's left arm was twisted at a strange angle and a quick
examination revealed that it was definitely broken.  Mulder found no
evidence that the young man had been shot, though the fact that he
remained unconscious was frightening.

     There was no sign of Scully anywhere.  He didn't want to leave
Cooper, but Mulder knew he had little choice.  Quickly stripping off his
windbreaker, he covered the young man with it.  Picking up the lantern, he
moved over to the tunnel that branched off from the cavern and stepped
inside, his gun once again cocked and ready.
 
 

It was almost pitch black in the tunnel, and Christophe cursed himself for
not thinking to bring the flashlight from the car.  He had made his way
through to its end, and now he stood absolutely still, straining to see
what lay beyond.

     As his eyes gradually adjusted, he was able to discern the lines
of a wooden bridge.  It began about ten feet from where he was standing,
and stretched across what looked like empty space to a tunnel on the other
side.   Looking more closely, he realized that it wasn't as much a bridge
as it was a catwalk, leading to a rectangular wooden platform that
extended in for a healthy distance on either side of the catwalk.  Without
light, Christophe was unable to see just what it was that kept the
platform suspended over the empty space beneath, but that was of no
concern to him, as he had just spotted the object to his quest.

     The girl was standing on the rectangular platform, holding tight
to the wooden railing that ran along the catwalk and across the platform
to the opposite end.  Her head was cocked to the side, and Christophe had
no doubt that she had heard his approach, and was silently waiting for his
next move.

     A dark smile of satisfaction crossed his face.  "Dana Scully.  At
last we meet."

     Her head jerked up at the sound of his voice.  He couldn't see her
expression from where he stood, but he could smell her panic.  "Who are
you?"  she asked, her voice surprisingly strong.

     "You can call me Christophe," he told her, savoring her fear.  "As
long as I can call you Dana."

     She didn't respond, but he saw her hands clench the railing more
firmly.

     His gun in hand, Christophe stepped out on to the wooden boards of
the catwalk, hearing them creak under his weight.  Moving carefully, he
made his way towards her.

     The noise of his motion startled her, and Christophe saw her take
a few hesitant steps away, moving further back on the platform.  "Stay
away from me," she warned him, and her defiance made him laugh.

     "I don't think so," he replied, halfway to the platform.  "You've
led me a merry chase, Dana, but I'm afraid that's over now."

     "Keep away!"

     He was close enough to see her now, close enough to see the
trembling of her body as she listened to his inexorable approach.  A
victorious thrill swept over him at the sight of her terror.

     The sound of running footsteps reached his ears a second before
light flooded the mine.  "Get the hell away from her!"  a voice shouted,
and Christophe turned his head to see Mulder, standing at the tunnel
entrance.  He was holding a lantern in one hand, and a gun, pointed
directly at him, in the other.

     The thrill Christophe had been feeling faded to something
resembling irritation as he glared at his adversary.  He had had enough
presence of mind to leave his gun pointed at the girl, and that fact
imbued him with confidence, knowing that Mulder wouldn't dare use his own
weapon, fearing for her safety.

     "It's over, Mulder," Christophe explained.  "Drop the gun, or I'll
shoot."

     For a moment, Mulder hesitated and Christophe thought for a
fleeting instant that it would really turn out to be that simple, but then
Mulder shook his head.  "You won't shoot," he informed him.  "But I will."
 
 

Scully gripped the railing, listening intently to the verbal exchange.
The powerful relief that had flooded over her at the sound of Mulder's
voice hadn't abated any of her terror.  She had no doubt about the fact
that Christophe's gun was pointed at her, and she knew that there was a
very real possibility that he would make good on his promise and kill her
with it.

     "Try it if you want," Christophe offered.  "But I'm a lot closer
to her than you are to me, which means you don't have much of a chance of
stopping me in time."

     Scully knew that Mulder was considering what Christophe had said,
and she didn't want him to put down his gun and make himself vulnerable in
a vain attempt to protect her.  Her fear for Mulder suddenly made
everything else seem less important.  "We'll give you the disk," she
declared.  "As long as you leave us alone."
 
     "Unfortunately, Dana, the disk is only part of what I've come to
collect."  Christophe paused, his words ringing out clearly in the
cavernous mine.  "There are some people who aren't quite finished with
you.  People who need me to bring you back."

     "You bastard."  It was Mulder's voice, laced with fury.  "You told
me that she wasn't a part of this."

     "On the contrary," Christophe disagreed.  "I told you that *I*
didn't have any interest in the girl.  I don't -- my only interest is in
you, in the payback you owe me for having killed one of my most valued
employees back in New Orleans.   The fact that I promised to turn her over
to someone else isn't a factor."

     Scully barely heard the rest of Christophe's words, focused only
on the fact Mulder's life was in jeopardy.  He had killed that man to save
her, and she wasn't about to let him suffer for it.  Without hesitation,
she said, "I'll make you a deal."

     "Scully, no."  Mulder interrupted her, but she ignored him.

     "You want to bring me back?"  she asked.  "Fine, I'll let you --
I'll come with you willingly.  On one condition.  You let him go, and
forget about your goddamn payback."
 
 

"No way."  Mulder's voice was loud, but Christophe could see the gun
shaking in his grip.  "Do whatever you want with me, but you leave her
alone.  She's not going back to them."

     Christophe ignored the foolishly brave words, considering the
girl's offer.  He had no intention of holding to the bargain, but there
was nothing stopping him from killing Mulder later.  And the thought that
she would accompany him of her own accord would certainly make fulfilling
his commitment to the man that much easier.

     "You've got a deal, Dana," he told her.  "Your life for his."
 
 

Scully took a step towards Christophe.  It was a small, hesitant step, but
it chilled Mulder to the bone.  Christophe turned his head towards her,
watching with a smirk of satisfaction on his cold, hard face, and Mulder
knew that the time was now or never.

     Pressing his finger against the trigger of the gun, Mulder fired a
shot.  It was heinously loud in the relative silence of the mine, and
Scully screamed at the sound of its mighty echo, dropping to her knees on
the platform.

     The shot went wild, causing Christophe to spin back in his
direction and cock his own gun.  Mulder fired again without hesitation,
the bullet catching Christophe head on, making him shout in response.
Christophe dropped the gun as his muscles went limp, his body toppling to
fall against the railing of the catwalk where he stood.   The ancient wood
cracked against his weight and the railing fell away, sending Christophe
plunging downwards amidst the debris of the fallen catwalk.  An inhuman
howl echoed through the mine as he fell down the shaft, fading with
distance until it suddenly cut off abruptly, leaving no doubt as to his
fate.

     His eyes on Christophe as he fell, Mulder heard Scully scream
again and whirled towards her, his jaw dropping in horror.   The platform
where she had been standing was gone, had vanished as though it had never
been there, leaving only a dark gaping maw behind.   In a heart-stopping
instant, Mulder realized that Christophe's collapse of the railing had
caused the entire platform to shift and fall away.

     "Scully!"  Frightened, he shouted her name, desperate for a
response.  "SCULLY!"

     "Mulder!"  Her voice reached his ears, sounding faint and far
away.  "Mulder!!  HELP!!"

     Mulder could hear the panic in her words, and he fought down his
own in an effort to reassure her.  "I'm coming, Scully, I'm coming!"

     Moving as quickly as he dared, Mulder cautiously made his way
along the catwalk, acutely aware of the creaks in the ancient wooden
boards.  As he neared the T-joint that had supported the platform, Mulder
lowered himself into a crouch, holding tight to the iron bar as he leaned
over the edge.  His heart leapt into his throat at the sight that greeted
him.

     The collapsed platform had fallen midway down the mine shaft and
was balanced precariously against the side, caught between two jagged
outcroppings of rock at an alarming angle.  The higher end of the platform
was dangling easily thirty feet below the edge;  the lower end hung nearly
another fifteen feet beyond that, thanks to the length of the platform
itself.

     Scully was clinging to that lower edge, both hands gripping the
aged wood with white-knuckled intensity, her legs kicking uselessly at the
black void beneath her.  The dark rock absorbed most of the light from
above, throwing careless shadows across her small figure, making it
difficult to see her face.   But Mulder had no trouble hearing her
screams.

     "Mulder!!!   Mulder!!!    HELP!!!"

     "I'm here, Scully," he called out, his eyes gauging the distance
between them in vain.  "Just hang on, hang on --"

     "Mulder!!!"  Kicking her legs ferociously, Scully sought to better
her grasp on the platform.  The effort backfired, however, the motion of
her lower body serving only to jostle the platform further.   As Mulder
watched, bile rising in his stomach, the platform slid another ten feet
before catching once again to hang at an even sharper grade.

     Scully's screams trailed off into an incoherent, terrified wail,
the sound magnified by the cavernous echo of the shaft.

     Forcing a calm he did not feel, Mulder shouted to her, fighting to
keep the words steady and strong.  "Scully!!  Don't move!!  That platform
isn't steady... you have to hold still, you have to hang on, just hang on
for a little longer --"

     No one around to turn to for help.   No time to find anyone,
either -- he doubted that she'd be able to hold on for too long.

     Once again, they were on their own.

     "Mulder, help me, please, PLEASE..."

     She was too far down the shaft.  The drop was too steep, the
handholds too precarious for him to try and climb down without some kind
of support.  With the dull ache of certainty, Mulder knew he had only one
choice.

     "Listen to me, Scully -- I can't get down to where you are without
a rope -- I need to go and get --"

     "NO!"  Another agonized scream.  "Don't leave me Mulder, don't
LEAVE me here, please, PLEASE --"

     Her words were like little needles against his heart, piercing him
with guilt and recrimination.  You did this, you did this to me, now make
it right.....

     His fear for her made him angry and Mulder poured the helpless
rage into his words.  "Dammit, Dana -- we don't have TIME for this -- now
you LISTEN to me!!   I am going to get some ROPE and I will be RIGHT back
and you WILL hang on until I get back do you HEAR me?!!"

     A sob escaped her in answer.

     "Dana??  Answer me...."

     "Don't leave me, PLEASE...."

     He was already backing away from the edge, grabbing the lantern in
one shaking hand.  "I have to -- just trust me, okay -- I'll be right back
I promise...."

     She didn't respond to that, but he could hear her crying.  The
sound of her sobs followed him as he turned on his heel and raced back
down the tunnel.
 
 

Scully hung suspended in air, her only grasp of reality the thin wood
beneath her hands.  It was frighteningly bizarre to have no other way to
define the space in which she existed, her only connection to life the
board to which she clung.

     It was dank and damp within the shaft;  the smell that assaulted
her nostrils left her no doubt as to the place where she lay dangling.  It
smelled of dirt and sulfur and a thousand other things that were too
frightening to name, her mind whirling in an attempt to make sense of what
was happening to her.

     Alone, she was so alone....

     She listened as Mulder's footsteps faded into the distance, a
tight vise of panic clutching at her heart.  Despite her best intentions
her body refused to remain still, her feet pinwheeling beneath her,
desperately seeking a solid surface.  She heard the loud creaking groan as
the board to which she clung shifted further, carrying a cacophony of
sound to her ears.

     The incessant sound of rock, falling endlessly.... pinging against
the walls in a constant journey to a never ending bottom.

     <Nopleasenononodon'tletmefall>

     She took a deep, shuddering breath, willing the motion of her legs
to stop, feeling her body quiver with the effort.   A piece of falling
rock had grazed her forehead and now she could feel a trickle of warm
blood sliding down her cheek.

     <pleasepleaseMulderhurryhurryhurryplease>

     Her arms were burning, her fingers tingling as they sought to
retain their grasp on the wood that seemed to be splintering beneath her
fragile hold.  Rivulets of sweat trickled down her neck beneath her shirt,
soiling her with the salty tang of fearful panic.

     <helpmepleaseohhelpmepleaseGodhelpmeplease>

     She could feel a cramp beginning in her left shoulder and she
shifted slightly in an attempt to relieve the ache, a cry escaping her
lips as she felt the board slide even further on its journey down the
shaft.

     Afraid, she was so desperately afraid....

     <pleasepleasehelpmeohGodMulderpleaseplease>

     Forever.... she had been here forever, and then some.  The sound
of falling rock assaulted her ears, bruising the occasional silence.  It
was so musty here, below the surface of the earth.  Like a tomb.  Her
tomb.

     <ohpleasepleasepleasegetmeoutgetmeout>

     She felt the board move yet again and she screamed, a helpless cry
of defeat.
 
 

Here endeth part 12... parts 13-16 posted simultaneously.  Let me know if
there are problems with the posting at [email protected].
 

X-12                               X-12
 

From [email protected] Tue Feb 25 12:49:46 1997
Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative
Subject: **NEW** - "A Divided Highway" (13/16)
From: [email protected] (NVRGRIM)
Date: 25 Feb 1997 18:49:46 GMT
--------
This is part thirteen of a sixteen-part post.  Author's Note, Spoiler
Warning, and Disclaimer can be found at the beginning of part 1.  If there
are problems with the posting (or comments on the story!) I'm at
[email protected].
 
 

A DIVIDED HIGHWAY (13/16)
by Nicole Perry
[email protected]
1/10/97
 
 

Mulder reached the main cave in under a minute, his feet frantically
churning beneath him as he retraced his steps, heedless of any potential
danger to himself.   Hang on, hang on, hang on.... the words echoed in his
mind and he was tempted to shout them aloud.

     He was relieved to see that his memory of the main cave had been
correct;  the mining equipment hadn't been a figment of his imagination.
However, upon close examination, he discovered that it had been abandoned
for a reason.   The metal tools were rusted, their wood handles warped and
moldy.   It wasn't the tools that caught his attention, though, all of
them being far too short in length to do him any good.  The pile of rope
was nearby, and he crossed to it on shaky legs.  It consisted of several
different pieces in varying lengths, and Mulder grabbed each in turn.
The first two were frayed beyond repair, the strands falling to pieces
almost at his touch.  The third seemed solid enough but Mulder could tell
instantly that it was too short for his purposes.   The fourth and fifth,
however, seemed to be ideal -- long enough to be of some use and still
taut and firm, with no apparent signs of rot.

     Grabbing the last two pieces firmly in hand, Mulder ran back down
the tunnel, hoping against hope that he'd been fast enough, that he wasn't
too late.

     "Scully?  Dana??"

     There was no response, and he felt the bile rise in his throat.

     "Dana???  ANSWER ME!!!"

     He was back out on the catwalk now, almost to the T-joint.

     "DANA???  CAN YOU HEAR ME???"

     Leaning over, Mulder stared down into the darkness.  The platform
had shifted position again in his absence, falling at least another twenty
feet.  Thanks to the angle at which it hung, the lower edge was now
completely enveloped in darkness.   Despite the light from the lantern, he
could see nothing, nothing....

     "DANA???"

     At last he was rewarded by the sound of her voice, trembling with
the effort it took to produce three short words.

     "I'm here, Mulder..."

     "Good," he called back, relieved beyond all measure.  His hands
were shaking and he took a deep breath to steady his nerves.  "I'm back,
Dana, I've got some rope and I'm coming down to get you, okay??   You just
hang on for another minute and I'll be there.  Can you do that??"

     "Yes...."   The response was faint but determined and it gave him
hope.

     Working as fast as he dared, Mulder tied the two lengths of rope
together, making a double-knot and pulling it tight.   He took one end and
laced it around the metal T-joint, making sure that he looped it around
several times before securely tying it off.  He took the other end and
wrapped it around his waist, cinching it as tight as possible, checking
and then double-checking the knot he'd made.

     As he worked, he kept calling to her, little meaningless words of
encouragement that were designed to give both of them the confidence he
knew that they so desperately needed.   "It's not so bad, Dana, I'll be
right down, we'll be out of here in no time, I promise.  Just hang on a
little bit more...."

     She answered him with a weak series of moans mixed with faint
pleas that he couldn't quite hear.  He didn't want her to waste her
strength and he told her so.  "Don't try and answer, Dana -- just listen
to me.  Listen to my voice and hold on, just do that for me, okay?"

     Finally there was nothing left to check, nothing left to tie.  It
was now or never, and Mulder swallowed as he stood at the edge of the
collapsed catwalk, staring at the dark expanse beneath him.  He put the
lantern as close to the edge as he dared, hoping its faint light would be
enough when he got down below.  Resolute, he turned his back on the chasm
and, grasping the T-bar with both hands, he stepped off the edge.

     The coil of safety line he'd fashioned out of the abandoned rope
spiralled out below his dangling legs and Mulder resisted the temptation
to let go and fall, allowing the rope to catch him.  He had no way of
knowing if the rope could take the strain -- if he did a free-fall and it
snapped, that would be the end for both he and Scully.   He had to be
pragmatic and use the rope for the safety measure that it was, and make
the climb on his own.

     With smooth cautious motions Mulder lifted his left hand off of
the T-bar and reached for the rock face, grasping its sharp surface with a
firm grip.   He swung his body so that his feet were braced against the
rock wall and then allowed his right hand to follow until he clung like a
spider to the wall of the shaft, the makeshift rope around his waist the
most tenuous of connections to the surface.

     "Mulder??"

     "Piece of cake," he called back, gritting his teeth.  "I'll be
right there."

     He sought to make good on his promise, edging his way slowly down
the rock wall.  The handholds were few and far between and he found
himself forced to stretch his arms to their full length to make it from
one stable section to another.  He tried to use his feet for support and
balance but little was forthcoming.   Twice he lost his grip and slid,
causing a torrent of rock fragments to plummet down the shaft, echoing as
they fell.   The second time he lost his balance completely, hanging on by
one hand and twisting for a dizzying minute as he searched for another
grip.   Before he could regain his footing he crashed into an outcropping
of rock, banging his head against its unyielding surface.   His vision
blurred and he could feel a warm damp trickle of blood on his forehead,
causing him to cry out in pain.

     "Mulder!!!  Are you okay??"

     "I'm fine," he reassured her, though the words couldn't be further
from the truth.  His head was throbbing, his arms were aching, his hands
were scraped raw, and more important, he was nearly out of rope.  And he'd
barely reached the upper end of the fallen platform.

     The good news, though, was that he could see her again.  Scully's
eyes were closed, her mouth parted as her lungs struggled to bring air
into her dangling body.   Her legs were hanging straight beneath her like
dead weight, indicating that she had finally managed to subdue her natural
inclination to try and climb out on her own.   He was so close to her now
that he could hear her breathing, so close to her now that he could smell
her sweat.

     Just not yet close enough to touch her.   Not yet close enough to
save her.

     Mulder edged carefully downward, inch by inch, flailing for each
tenuous foothold, until he was just a few feet from her.

     Until there was no more rope to belay.

     Clinging to the rock wall with both hands, the rope taut around
his waist, Mulder looked over his shoulder at Scully.   She was perhaps
three feet away from him, but another two feet below him.  So close, and
yet it seemed like an insurmountable distance.

     Mulder gave the rope a tug, hoping against hope that somehow it
would stretch, enabling him to get that much closer to her, but his
efforts were in vain.   Okay then, he thought.  We just have to do this
thing.

     Aloud, he said, "I'm here now, Dana -- I'm here now, and I'm going
to get you back up, okay?"

     "Yes...."

     Experimenting, Mulder braced both feet against the rock wall and
then grabbed the rope firmly with his left hand, figuring it would be
better to use his stronger arm to help her.   He extended his right arm
behind him, leaning down towards her as far as he could.   He couldn't
reach far enough to touch her where she hung, but he might be able to grab
her hand...

     "Okay, Dana, this is what we're gonna do.   I'm right here beside
you, and I'm ready to pull you up, but I need you to give me your hand."

     "Which... which hand?"  she asked, her voice surprisingly steady.

     "Your left," he replied without hesitation, wanting her to leave
her stronger hand on the wood.  "Keep holding on to the platform with your
right and stretch your left hand out in the direction of my voice, and
I'll grab it.  Okay?"

     Scully's eyes were open now and even in the dim light from the
lantern above Mulder could see that they were wet with tears.  "Okay," she
said.  "Now?"

     "Now," he confirmed.

     He could see her shoulders tense, could see the almost
imperceptible shift in the positioning of her body and then she was
moving, her left arm swinging towards him, her hand just brushing his own.

     And missing.
 
 

She was swinging in space and for a second, for a brief second, it was as
though she'd found solid ground, her hand touching his for just an
instant.

     And then he was gone, leaving her hand nothing to grasp but air.

     "MULDER!"  The scream forced its way out from behind her teeth,
clenched tightly together in fear, her balance completely lost.
Desperate to retain her grip on the platform, Scully kicked wildly,
thrusting with her body as she stretched her left arm blindly upward.  Her
fingers scraped the battered wood and she fought for a handhold.   She
found it, just barely, her left hand clinging once again beside her right,
but the effort had cost her dearly, and she screamed again as the board
began to slide.

     The crashing echo of falling rock filled her ears....

     "DANA!!  HANG ON!!"

     She could hear the terror in Mulder's voice and all she could
think was, Dear God it must be worse than I thought, it must be worse, I'm
going to die, I'm going to die now....

     Yet almost as soon as it began, the sliding stopped, the board
having balanced precariously against the rock wall once more.   In the
relative silence of the aftermath, Scully was still deafened by the
roaring in her ears, and it took a moment before she could focus on
Mulder's words.

     "Dana??  Dana, we've got to try this again, okay?  We don't -- we
don't have much time."

     He sounded so far away, farther than before, and Scully's heart
sank.  If it hadn't worked before, there was no way it possibly could now.
  "Mulder," she moaned, "I can't... I can't do it."

     "Yes you can, I know you can," he assured her.  "You just have to
reach out for me and --"

     "NO!"  The fear that had accosted her during those precarious
moments of dangling by one hand now threatened to paralyze her.  "I can't,
I can't let go again Mulder, if I do I'll fall, I'll fall, I can't do it
--"

     Mulder's voice floated back to her, calm and steady.  "You won't
fall, Dana, I promise I won't let you fall.  You can do this -- we can do
this together."

     "No, Mulder, no no no -- I can't --"

     "You have to trust me, Dana," he told her, his words a soothing
balm on her panic.  "You trust me, don't you?"

     He knew that she did;  he didn't have to ask, but Scully knew why
he was doing it.  He was trying to remind her that above all else, they
were partners, a team in the truest sense of the word.  She could trust
him with her life, and she could trust him with her fears.

     "I'm scared, Mulder..."

     "I am too."  He paused, then said, "But we can do this.  Reach
behind and up and I'll grab you.  On a count of three, you give me your
hand, okay?"

     "Okay," Scully replied, taking a deep breath as she waited for the
count.

     "One... two... three!"

     Galvanized by the energy in his words Scully shifted her weight to
her right arm once again and swung her left arm out behind her, stretching
it as far up as she could into the dark empty void of space that
surrounded her, hoping for contact.

     Scully felt Mulder's fingers brush her palm in the briefest, most
teasing of touches, and then vanish, her heart sinking to her toes with
the burning sting of failure.

     And then she felt his hand close around her wrist with a fearsome
pressure, yanking her body hard and causing her to lose her precarious
hold on the platform.  Her right hand slipped away from the splintery
surface and her body followed in a harrowing moment of free fall, only to
be stopped by the agonizing pressure on her left wrist.  It felt as though
her arm might be pulled right out of the socket.  Another small cry
escaped her as Scully realized that the only thing now keeping her from
plunging to the bottom of the shaft was Mulder's vice-like grip.

     That was small comfort, however, as Scully felt her body
continuing to swing, her cry escalating to a scream of agony as she
crashed into the rock wall of the shaft.  She heard Mulder shout as well,
and felt his grip on her wrist tighten in response.

     And then the sound enveloped her completely, a raucous crashing
and banging that rivalled anything that she had heard thus far, a
torturous medley of falling rock.

     "HANG ON!" she heard Mulder yell.  Petrified, Scully did her best
to do just that.
 
 

Mulder watched with horrified eyes as the platform gave way completely,
splintering into myriad pieces that tumbled down the chasm with
astonishing speed.  The noise was deafening, echoing in the shaft with
Dolby stereo quality.

     Mulder was having a hell of a time just hanging on, his last-ditch
attempt to grab Scully having caused him to lose his footing and his grip
on the rock face.  His hands were raw from grabbing the rope, which had
become slick with his blood.  He found himself holding onto her
desperately with one hand and fighting the rope with the other.  Gravity
had them both twirling out into space and then back again to crash against
the side of the shaft;  they'd hit twice now and Mulder was suffering more
from Scully's screams than from the pain of impact.
 
     "I've got you, Dana, I've got you,"  Mulder called to her,
straining to get the words out.  He had her, that much was true, but his
grip was awkward and the angle at which she hung had added more than a few
pounds to her petite frame.

     Returning from their third swing into space, Mulder positioned his
body so that his arm holding the rope hit the wall directly, a throbbing
ache ricocheting through him as he shuddered to a stop.  With Scully still
dangling from his right arm, Mulder braced both of his feet against the
side of the shaft, thankful that he had finally found some leverage.

     He could hear Scully moaning, little jagged sobs of pain, and he
called out to her.  "Are you hurt?"

     "I'm okay..."

     "Dana, listen to me.  I'm going to pull us both up and out of
here, but first I need you to get a better grip."  Mulder took a deep
breath and forced himself to continue.  "I'm going to lift you, and I need
you to reach up with your free hand and get your arm around my neck, so I
can carry you."

     "Like piggyback," she answered in a small voice.

     "Exactly like that," he replied, relieved that she understood.
"Ready?"

     "Yes."

     Mustering all of his strength, Mulder raised his right arm up as
high as he could in a perverse imitation of calisthenics, using the woman
he loved as a free weight.  He felt her hand fumbling along his waist and
his back before finding his shoulder and he fought to lift her higher, to
give her the opportunity she needed to loop her arm around his neck.   She
finally succeeded, grabbing his neck almost tight enough to choke him, and
he struggled to form words.  "Put your legs... around my waist..."
 
 

Scully struggled to do as she was told, climbing up the man she loved like
a piece of gym equipment.  She finally managed it, wrapping her legs
around his waist and crossing her ankles in front to help her balance.
She felt him release his fierce grip on her left wrist and she brought
that arm up to join her right, loosening her hold on his neck and twining
her arms around his collarbone.

     Her face was pressed against the back of his neck and Scully
thought she had never in her life smelled anything as good as his sweat.
"Okay," she whispered.  "Am I hurting you?"

     "I'm fine," he replied, but the exhaustion in his voice belied his
words.  "Hang on, Dana, we're getting out of here."

     Scully felt his arms begin to move, the muscles in his shoulders
and back rippling as he sought to pull them out of the dank hole.  She had
no idea how far it was to the surface, and the sound of Mulder's tortured
gasps as he fought to move his body terrified her.   She clung to him
desperately, praying that he would find the strength to save them both.

Mulder struggled to put one hand over the other, edging his way slowly up
the rope.  He used his feet as leverage, moving crab-like along the wall
of the shaft, loosening pieces of rock every step of the way.   Scully's
breath was warm against his neck and he focused on its staccato, uneven
rhythm, each breath she took serving as a bit of courage to push him along
that much farther.

     "Almost there," he muttered, though he was greatly exaggerating
the truth.  They were only half as far as they needed to go, and secretly
Mulder was beginning to wonder if he would be able to make it.  His palms
were scraped and raw from rubbing against the rope, and the burning
sensation shot through his hands and up his arms, wracking his body with
pain.

     Scully didn't say anything, but he was reassured by the beating of
her heart, thudding in her chest and pounding against his back.  You can
do this, Mulder, he told himself.  A little bit more, just a little bit
more...
 
 

The sweat was pouring off of Mulder in buckets now.   It had drenched his
shirt and its damp wetness had begun to seep through her own.  "Mulder..."
she whispered his name, wanting to give him strength but unsure what to
say.

     "Just a... little bit... more..." he moaned, and Scully fought to
hold on to him.  As tired as she was, she knew it had to be a thousand
times worse for him, and she voiced a silent prayer, begging God not to
let all of his effort be for nought.

     She thought that delirium had set in when she heard shouting,
voices echoing as though from a distance, but rather than dimming, the
voices grew louder.  "Mulder," she said, "I think someone's coming..."

     "Lisa??  Rick??  Are you in here??"

     Mulder groaned, and Scully instinctively knew that he didn't have
the strength to answer.  She swallowed to ease the parched, dry feeling in
her throat, and called back in the loudest voice she could muster.

     "HELP!!  WE'RE DOWN HERE!!  PLEASE, HELP!!"

     The shouts grew louder and Scully responded each time, relief
flooding over her as she heard the sound of approaching footsteps.

     "Oh my God!"  It was Rebecca's voice, raised nearly to a scream,
followed by Elliot's, louder and more commanding.  "Hang on, you guys,
hang on and we'll pull you out."

     The voices distorted, then, Elliot's mixing with Lisa's and then
Cooper's in excited babble, and then Elliot called out again.

     "Rick, we're going to pull from up here, okay?  On a count of
three and then we'll go."

     Mulder tried to answer in the affirmative, but Scully doubted that
they could hear the croak that emerged from up above.  "Okay," she called
out in his stead.  "We're ready."

     "One, two, three!"

     Scully felt them move upwards in a sudden heaving jerk, causing
her to sway a little and she tightened her grip on Mulder's shoulders in
response.  She could feel his body moving beneath her, his legs kicking at
the shaft as his arms climbed relentlessly, aided by the upward motion of
the rope.  They were moving faster now, and Scully held her breath, hoping
that her prayers had at last been answered.

     Several tugs later and Scully felt hands on her shoulders,
slipping beneath her arms and lifting her away from Mulder.  "I've got
you, Lisa, I've got you, come on...."  It was Elliot's voice, soothing,
encouraging, and Scully relaxed in his grip, allowing him to pull her up.
 The next moment Scully felt the shocking solidity of ground beneath her,
and she collapsed to her knees, supported only by the arms that held her.

     Gasping for breath, Scully crouched on the ground.  Soothing words
reached her ears and a dim part of her mind realized it was now Rebecca
who was holding her.  "It's okay, Lisa, you're okay..."

     Behind her, Scully could hear Elliot and Cooper as they grunted
and wheezed, calling Mulder by his alias as they hauled him to the
surface.  It felt so good, so very good, to be on solid ground, to have
Rebecca's arms around her, but they weren't the arms she longed for, and
Scully knew that until she was certain that Mulder was okay she could
never feel truly safe.
 
 

     Rebecca held onto Lisa as tightly as she was able, watching as
Elliot and Cooper dragged Rick out of the shaft.  Cooper's left arm hung
limply against his side, and she could see him gritting his teeth against
the pain as he used his right to help Elliot, pulling with all his might.
 

     They got him out and Rick fell to his knees, gasping for breath,
Elliot reaching forward to untie the rope that was knotted around his
waist.   Elliot had barely finished when Rick moved him aside, reaching
out to Lisa with arms that were trembling with fatigue.   Rebecca
relinquished her grip on Lisa and Rick folded her into his embrace,
holding her tightly against him.

     A loud sob escaped Lisa as she buried her head against Rick's
chest, wrapping her arms around his back and pulling him close.  He tucked
his face against the crook of her neck and rocked her against him,
murmuring to her softly.  His words were barely audible, but Rebecca was
fairly certain that the name he was mumbling wasn't 'Lisa', though it
sounded awfully similar.

     Watching them together, Rebecca was almost uncomfortable.  It was
as though they were in a world of their own, completely separate from
anything and anyone else, and she was profoundly struck by the depth of
their connection to one another.  As though he was aware of how she was
feeling, Elliot slipped his hand in hers, and she squeezed it gratefully.
 

     It was Cooper's agonized sigh that brought her back to reality,
forcing her to tear her eyes away from the newly reunited couple.
"Elliot," she whispered, "we need to get Coop to a doctor."

     "I'm okay," Cooper muttered, having overheard her statement, but
Elliot waved him off.

     "Beck's right," he said.  He leaned over and tapped Rick on the
shoulder.  "Rick, let's get out of here."

     Rebecca saw Rick nod in response.  Brushing Lisa's hair away from
her face with a raw, bloodied palm, Rick whispered into her ear and then
helped her to her feet.  Copying his example, Rebecca took Cooper by his
good arm and followed Elliot as he led the way out of the mine.
 
 

Here endeth part 13... parts 14-16 posted simultaneously.  Let me know if
there are problems with the posting at [email protected].

 
X-13
               X-13
 

From [email protected] Tue Feb 25 12:51:33 1997
Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative
Subject: **NEW** - "A Divided Highway" (14/16)
From: [email protected] (NVRGRIM)
Date: 25 Feb 1997 18:51:33 GMT
--------
This is part fourteen of a sixteen-part post.  Author's Note, Spoiler
Warning, and Disclaimer can be found at the beginning of part 1.  If there
are problems with the posting (or comments on the story!) I'm at
[email protected].
 
 

A DIVIDED HIGHWAY (14/16)
by Nicole Perry
[email protected]
1/10/97
 
 

Finished with his shower, Mulder walked into the kitchen, where he found
Rebecca in the process of making a salad.

     "Hey," he said by way of greeting.

     "How are you doing?" she asked, pausing in her slicing of a
cucumber to look up at him.

     "Fine," Mulder replied.  "Better, now that I've cleaned up a bit."
 And it was true -- he felt more like himself than he had in awhile,
washed and shaved and dressed in clean clothes.  He could hear the sound
of running water coming from the other bathroom and the sound buoyed his
spirit, knowing that it was his precious Scully who was making the noise.

     "Good," Rebecca responded, shooting a glance at his hands.
Unconsciously, Mulder pressed his palms together.  Despite his best
attempts to clean them up in the shower, they were still red and raw and
painful.

     "Well," he amended, "maybe not fine.  My hands are still a little
sore."

     Rebecca nodded in comprehension, and then set down the knife that
she'd been using to cut up the vegetables.  "Hang on a second," she told
him.  "Maybe I can help you out."

     She vanished back into the main part of the house and Mulder sank
down in a chair, resting his elbows on the kitchen table.  A glance at the
clock assured him that Elliot and Cooper would be returning shortly;
Elliot had taken his roommate to the hospital to deal with the broken arm
Cooper had incurred during his encounter with Christophe.

     Christophe.... Mulder drew in a deep breath, relieved that the man
no longer posed any threat to him.  Nor did any of his henchmen;  after
they had returned to the house and settled in, Mulder had made a quick
trip back up to the mine to retrieve the hidden disk, and had disposed of
Larry's body by dumping him down the shaft after Christophe.   A small
part of his mind still harbored regret that things had turned out as they
had, but Mulder knew he hadn't had any other choice.   There was nothing
that he wouldn't do to protect Scully, or the people who had helped her in
his absence.  Nothing.

     Rebecca walked back into the kitchen carrying a slightly battered
first aid kit.  "It's old," she told him, "but I think there's some stuff
in here we can use."

     Opening the kit, Rebecca extracted some ointment and a roll of
bandages.  Reaching for his left hand, she squeezed a bit of the paste out
of the tube and rubbed it gently into his palm, wrapping a bandage tightly
around it.  "Feel better?"  she asked.

     Mulder nodded in response, watching her as she worked.  She was a
lovely girl, he thought, strong and smart and extremely capable.
"Elliot's lucky to have you around," he said, putting words to his
thoughts.

     "Think so?"  She smiled at him, and it held for a moment, and then
slipped away.  "Rick?  Is it -- is it over?  Do you think they're coming
back?"

     "Don't worry," he assured her.  "They won't be coming back."

     Mulder spoke the words in a firm, loud voice, certain that at
least for now, he was telling the truth, and he saw the relief that
flooded her face.  He wished that he could feel the same relief, that he
too could be certain that the danger was behind them.

     Having heard Christophe's words concerning Scully, however, Mulder
feared that he might never feel that certain.

     The sound of footsteps on the hardwood floor caused him to look up
and Mulder smiled as he saw Scully enter the kitchen.  She was dressed in
a flannel shirt and jeans, her dark hair still wet from the shower.
"Hey," she said. "What's going on in here?"

     "Nothing," Mulder replied, waiting for Rebecca to finish wrapping
the last bandage before he rose from his chair.  He crossed the distance
to her in a few quick steps and took her in his arms.  "Just waiting for
you to get out of the shower."

     "Are you implying that I'm slow?"  Scully teased, and he chuckled
in response.

     "No," he told her.  "I'm implying that I was anxious for you to be
done."

Mulder's words made her smile, and Scully allowed him to escort her to a
chair.  She sank down into it, incredibly relieved to be back at the
house, and to have Mulder here with her, safe and alive.  "Are the boys
back yet?" she asked.

     "No," Rebecca replied.  "But they should be, any minute.  Elliot
called while you were in the shower -- they're bringing a pizza."

     "Sounds great," Mulder remarked, and Scully had to agree.  She
felt Mulder take her hand in his and she twined her fingers in his,
feeling once again like a lovesick teenager but too happy to be
embarrassed about it.

     Scully heard Rebecca's footsteps fade as she walked out of the
kitchen, leaving them alone.  Leaning in Mulder's general direction, she
lowered her voice and asked, ""What are we going to do now?"

     "I think we should get out of here," he answered.  "We've put them
through more than enough already."

     "You're probably right," Scully replied, but part of her was loath
to leave so quickly.  She was exhausted, and at the moment nothing sounded
better than a good night's sleep.  But considering all that had happened,
she knew that Mulder's suggestion was best -- it would be better to leave
right away than to risk putting Elliot and his roommates at any additional
risk.

     From a distance, Scully heard the unmistakable sound of Tucker's
barks, and seconds later she heard the patter of his feet against the
wooden floor as he ran past them.  "I guess the boys are back," she said,
and her words were proved true as the kitchen door opened with a loud
squeak.

     "We're back, and we come bearing gifts!"  It was Elliot's voice,
and Scully smiled, rising to her feet, her hand still clasped in Mulder's.

     "Hey, guys," she said with a smile.  "Cooper?  How are you
feeling?"

     "Fine," came the response, and a moment later, Scully felt
Cooper's hand on her shoulder.  "You know, if you break your arm, they
give you really good drugs.  I highly recommend it."
 
 

"You would," said Rebecca as she walked into the kitchen and relieved
Elliot of the pizza box he was carrying, placing a kiss on his cheek.

          Cooper ignored her sarcasm, his attention focused on Lisa,
standing beside him.  There was a bright smile on her face, and somehow it
didn't matter that her vacant eyes were looking just past him.  "How are
*you*?"   he asked, noticing that Rick held her hand tightly in his own.

     "Good," she replied.  "But I was worried about you, Coop."

     "Oh, it takes more than a broken arm to keep me down," he
answered, though his arm was throbbing beneath the plaster.   For some
reason, he was acutely aware of how closely Rick was watching them.  To
hell with it, Cooper thought, and he leaned forward and embraced Lisa with
his good arm.

     She slipped her hand from Rick's and brought both of her arms
around his waist, holding him tight, and for that brief moment, Cooper was
the happiest man in the world.

     "Thanks, Coop," Lisa whispered, her head pressed against his
shoulder.  "Thank you for everything."

     "Anytime," Cooper answered as he pulled away, committing her sweet
face to memory and filing it away.  Turning to where Rebecca and Elliot
stood by the counter, he announced, "I think it's time to eat."
 
 

It was late, and Cooper had gone to bed, after taking some more of the
painkillers that he had been given at the hospital.  Dinner was long since
finished, the pizza having been completely devoured, and Mulder couldn't
remember when he had last felt so content.  Beside him, he saw Scully
raise a delicate hand to her face to stifle a yawn, and it brought a smile
to his own.

     Elliot had noticed as well, and remarked, "I think it's wise that
you guys agreed to head out in the morning instead of tonight."

     "I could use a good night's sleep," Scully admitted, just before
another yawn overtook her.

     "Me too," Mulder concurred.  "Shall we?"

     Scully nodded in response and Mulder rose from his chair.  "Can I
help clean up?"

     Elliot shook his head.  "Don't worry about it," he told him.
"We'll take care of it."

     Indeed, Rebecca had already begun gathering up the plates.  As she
piled them into a neat stack, she suggested, "Why don't you guys take the
loft in the studio.  Elliot lit the stove before dinner, so it should be
warm enough, and it's a little more private."   Mulder caught the hint of
a blush in her cheeks as she added, "I put fresh linens on the bed when we
got back."

     The idea of a little privacy was incredibly appealing and Mulder
accepted the offer.  "Nothing like a little southwestern hospitality," he
said by way of thanks.

     He helped Scully up from her seat as they said their goodnights,
and then led the way into the kitchen, where they both pulled on their
coats before heading out the door.  The night air was cold and brisk and
Mulder pulled Scully close to him as they crossed the yard.  He pulled
open the barn door, flipping on the light switch and illuminating the
cluttered space.   They stepped inside and Mulder was again struck by the
haunting beauty of the artfully framed photographs, black-and-whites mixed
with color in a dazzling array.

     Beside him, Scully remarked, "Beck was right -- it's plenty warm
in here."

     "It is," Mulder agreed.  "I just want to make sure it stays that
way."

     He stepped away from Scully long enough to check the wood in the
pot-bellied stove, throwing an extra pile of kindling inside for good
measure, and then returned to take her by the hand.   They walked over to
the stairs arm in arm and then he said, "We need to be careful going up
these stairs.  Stick close to me, okay?"

     "Always," she answered, a sudden shyness in her voice, and he gave
her arm a little squeeze.  They mounted the stairs together, taking them
slowly, one step at a time, until they reached the top.  Mulder guided
Scully away from the edge, towards the bed.  As he helped her off with her
coat, Mulder noticed with a certain wry satisfaction that the bed was
nearly twice the size of the one they had shared on the train.  A sense of
anticipation flooded him and he took her hand in his.  He kissed her palm
gently, and it brought a smile to her face.

     Mulder removed his jacket as well and then hung them both in the
armoire, taking an appreciative look around as he did so.  "You said that
Cooper built this?"

     "Yes."

     "He did quite a job,"  Mulder admitted, crossing back to where he
had left her.  "Except the railing on this platform isn't very solid, so I
don't want you walking around up here without me."

     "I'm not going anywhere, Mulder," Scully replied, wrapping her arm
around his waist.

     He turned so that he was facing her and slipped his own arms
around her slender frame, holding her close.  "I hope not," he whispered,
and then he leaned down and kissed her.

      It was a gentle kiss at first, their lips barely touching time
and again.  A tender kiss, that spoke of reunion and renewal.  A sweet
kiss, that spoke of a shared past and a united future.  A delicious kiss,
that spoke of promise and hope.

     Slowly the kiss deepened into a more complete exploration, their
lips parting, their tongues searching and tasting, relishing the
closeness.  Mulder allowed one of his hands to skim up the curve of her
back and along the bend of her neck until his fingers were twined in her
hair, tugging her head gently to give him better access to her mouth.  A
small moan escaped her and it only increased his hunger for her.  He was
tantalized by her nearness, by the fact that she was here and real and in
his arms.  It was almost more than he could bear.

     He guided her back towards the bed without breaking off their
kiss, keeping her body safe within the cradle of his arms, and Scully
accompanied him willingly.  When her knees hit the edge of the bed she
sank down upon it, pulling him with her until he was kneeling before her,
his legs folded beneath him on the wood floor.

     Drawing back from her gently, Mulder gazed at her, her face now
just above the level of his own.  Her sightless eyes were closed, perfect
lashes resting against her flushed cheeks.  Her lips were slightly parted,
moist and reddened from their kisses.  Though he still wasn't quite
accustomed to her darker, longer hair, he loved the silky feel of it in
his hands, and he ran his fingers through it now, sweeping it gently over
her shoulders.  Her pale skin was marred with tiny cuts and bruises she
had suffered during the incident in the mine, but it made no difference to
Mulder.  She was the most beautiful woman in the world, and she was his.

     "Dana," he breathed.  "God, I missed you."

     "I missed you," Scully whispered in answer, looping her arms
around his neck and capturing his lips with her own once more.  He brought
his hands up and rested his palms against her cheeks, resenting the
bandages that kept him from fully enjoying the sensation of his skin
against hers.  Her legs were parted and he knelt between them, her thighs
pressing against his waist as she pulled him ever closer to her.

     When the kiss ended, Mulder realized that his face was wet, and he
looked up at her, surprised to find that she was crying.  He raised his
right hand slightly to sweep a wayward lock of dark hair away from her
brow.  "Are you okay?"

     She nodded, a gesture that would have been imperceptible save for
the fact that he still held her face in his grasp.

     "But you're crying," he told her.  "Is something wrong?"

     Scully slowly moved her own hands up to cover his, twining her
fingers in his.  "The way you touch me, Mulder," she breathed.  "The way
you hold me.  You... you chase away the darkness."

     Her tender words brought tears to his own eyes.  "Oh, Dana," he
murmured.  "I want to.  I love you."

     And he did, oh God he did.  He loved her with every fiber of his
being.  With his mind, with his heart, with his very soul.

     "I love you," he repeated, brushing his lips gently against hers.

     "I love you too," she echoed, her voice as hushed as his.

     "Dana..."  He allowed his voice to trail off as he searched for
the words that he needed.  "If anything had happened to you..."

     She stopped him in his tracks, moving their joined hands down to
her lap and holding him close.  "It didn't, Mulder.  Nothing happened --
I'm here, and I'm fine."  Her eyes were open now, fixed on a point just
beyond his ear.  She gently squeezed his hand for emphasis as she added,
"And so are you."

     Watching her, Mulder felt a lump forming in his throat and he had
to force his words past it.  "Do you have any idea," he asked her, "how
proud I am of you?  How much I love you?  You are so brave... so
strong..."

     "I had the strength of your beliefs," Scully answered, and the
familiar words made him smile. "I believe in you, Mulder.  I believe in
us.  That was all I needed -- that's what gave me strength."

     Her words encompassed what he was feeling better than any he could
choose on his own.  Bereft of speech, Mulder sought to explain his
feelings by kissing her again, using his lips to say what his voice could
not.
 
 

He kissed her, a slow, long, deep, wet kiss, and Scully sighed with
pleasure.  As he pulled away, Mulder murmured, "You give *me* strength.
You always have."   He paused, and when he spoke again, she could hear the
naked honesty in his words.

     "I'm so sorry, Dana.  I'm sorry that I left you alone -- I'm sorry
that I let this happen."

     "Mulder!"  He was starting it again, that familiar litany of
self-recrimination, and Scully wasn't about to let him continue.  "Don't
be ridiculous," she told him.  "There was no way that you could have known
what was going to happen.  I'm not going to let you take the blame for
this.  I'm not," she finished, bringing one of her hands up to touch his
face again.

     He didn't reply for a long moment and Scully wished that she could
see his face and read his thoughts.   Finally, in a low voice, he said, "I
don't deserve you."

     The comment brought an unexpected smile to her face.  Only Mulder
could make her feel this way.   Despite everything that had happened, he
still thought she was something to be cherished and treasured.

     "Well," she replied, "you've got me, so I guess you'll have to
make the best of it."

     Her hand still rested against his cheek and she felt the smile as
it bloomed across his face.  "Oh," Mulder promised, "I will."

     He began to kiss her again in earnest and Scully lost herself in
the sensation as his lips moved across her face, down her cheek and along
the slope of her jaw.   She arched her head back as his mouth found her
neck, nibbling at her skin with hungry little bites.   Her hands slid down
to rest on his shoulders as his hands moved away from her face, his arms
coming down to support her back.  The intensity of his kisses increased as
Mulder rose up from where he had been crouching between her legs, the
motion of his body forcing her to lean further and further back until she
came to rest against the bed, the comforter soft and cool against the bare
skin of her neck.

     Now that she was flat on her back, she no longer needed to hold
his shoulders for balance and Scully ran them up along his neck until they
were tangled in the soft strands of his hair.  Her legs still dangled off
the edge of the bed, bent at the knees, and Mulder stood between them,
leaning over her, his hands roaming their way down her body as his lips
caressed her collarbone.

     "Dana, Dana, Dana...." he murmured her name between his kisses,
and Scully was aroused by the way his deep voice washed over her, bathing
her in the sanctity of its warmth.  There was more talking to be done, she
knew that;  they both had too much to say, too much to share.  But this
wasn't the time, or the moment.  All that mattered now was having him
close to her, feeling him touch her.  A sigh escaped her as she
surrendered to the physical joy of his presence, knowing that at least for
this moment, they had all the time in the world.

     He closed his mouth upon hers once more, and Scully felt his hands
dance along her throat, coming to rest on her jaw as he broke off the
kiss.  Using the fingers of one hand, he traced his way up along her cheek
to her hairline, then back again across her forehead, down her nose to
rest on her lips.  She moaned as he slowly traced the shape of her lips,
two strong fingers running gently back and forth in a tender and
incredibly sensual caress.

     "You're teasing me, Mulder," she admonished him, but the words
carried little weight, aroused as she was by the feel of his hand against
her skin.   He was watching her, she realized, silently staring, and the
knowledge ignited a fire deep inside her that caused her to shift
restlessly against the bed. "Don't tease," she helplessly pleaded.

     "Sorry," he murmured, his breath hot against her ear.  "I got
carried away.  You're just so beautiful..."  She heard the conviction
behind his hushed words and decided to believe him.

     He brought his lips back to hers and Scully groaned as he kissed
her once more, plunging his tongue deep into her throat.  His fingers were
at her neck now, pulling at the lapels to her flannel shirt, fumbling with
the buttons one by one.  His hands were warm but she shivered as the shirt
fell open, exposing her bare skin to the air.

     "Are you cold?"  Mulder whispered, and she nodded, closing her
eyes as he placed a kiss in the valley between her breasts, his teeth
nipping at the edge of her brassiere.

     "A little," she moaned, "but I don't want you to stop."

     A small chuckle escaped him.  "Don't worry.  We can have it both
ways."

     With that, he pulled the lapels of her shirt gently closed.
Scully released her grasp of him as he moved away, her hands falling to
rest on the bed beside her.   She heard the floorboards creak beneath his
weight as he crouched between her legs and pulled off her shoes one by
one, tossing them to the floor, followed by her socks.   His hands moved
up to the waistband of her jeans and he undid each of the rivets with
lightning speed, placing a kiss on her belly above the edge of her panties
before pulling the jeans off of her body.

     "Come on," he whispered, taking her by the hand, and Scully
followed him, scooting up to the head of the bed.  Mulder pulled back the
comforter and she slipped beneath the sheets, still wearing her flannel
shirt over her underwear.  She was surprised to discover that the sheets
were flannel as well, exquisitely soft and warm, and a satisfied sigh
slipped past her lips.

     "Feel good?"  Mulder asked, and she nodded happily, her
contentment increased tenfold as he placed a tender kiss on her lips.

     "I'll feel better if you hurry up and join me," she told him, and
was rewarded by the rich full sound of his laugh.
 
 

Here endeth part 14... parts 15-16 posted simultaneously.  IMPORTANT:  the
next section is rated NC-17 -- if you're underage, or don't like that sort
of thing, skip directly to part 16 -- I *promise* you won't miss anything
important to the story as a whole!!!

Let me know if there are problems with the posting at [email protected].
 

X-14                               X-14
 

From [email protected] Tue Feb 25 12:53:48 1997
Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative
Subject: **NEW** - "A Divided Highway" (15/16) *NC-17*
From: [email protected] (NVRGRIM)
Date: 25 Feb 1997 18:53:48 GMT
--------
This is part fifteen of a sixteen-part post.  IMPORTANT:  This section is
rated NC-17 -- if you're not old enough to be reading this, or are just
plain uninterested, skip directly to part 16 -- I *promise* you won't miss
anything important to the story!!!

NOTE:  For those of you who wrote after "Down The Tracks" worried about
Mulder and Scully's safe sex practices, I refer to the section entitled
'Sex' in the truly hilarious book, "Everything You Always Wanted To Know
About Life Inside A Movie".  It states that 'characters in a movie can
have sex at any time and in any place without giving thought to any of the
normal concerns (pregnancy etc.), unless said concerns are part of the
plot of the movie itself'.  And they aren't, not in this story -- the last
thing these two need is a baby, at least at the moment.  So there you have
it, let's get on with it, shall we?? <bg>

Author's Note, Spoiler Warning, and Disclaimer can be found at the
beginning of part 1.  If there are problems with the posting (or comments
on the story!) I'm at [email protected].
 
 

A DIVIDED HIGHWAY (15/16)   *NC-17*
by Nicole Perry
[email protected]
1/10/97
 
 

With Scully safely tucked under the covers, Mulder hurriedly stripped off
his clothing, tossing it into a random pile on the floor by the bed.  His
boxers were the last to go and then he slipped in beside her.  She rolled
towards him instinctively, slipping her flannel covered arms around his
back and tucking her face against his bare chest.   She placed little
kisses everywhere her lips could reach, her hands slipping around him to
caress his back.

     "Mmmmm," she moaned.  "You feel so good."

     "I want to be able to say the same," he replied, and Scully
laughed, a tinkling bell-like sound that warmed his heart.  Taking that as
his cue, Mulder slipped the shirt off of her shoulders, pulling it down
and off of her arms and then tossing it out of the bed.   He took her in
his arms and rolled her onto her back, leaning on his side to trail his
hand down the length of her body, a small murmur escaping her as he ran
his fingers along the smooth curve of her breasts.  The brassiere was in
his way and he slipped his hand beneath her to unfasten the clasp.  The
cotton fabric fell loosely against her skin and he gently slid the straps
off of her shoulders, removing it completely and tossing it aside.

     Mulder pulled her close again, so that they were lying on their
sides, her beautiful face just inches from his.  "Now," he said, placing a
gentle kiss on her forehead, "I can definitely say the same."   Her skin
was smooth as silk, rubbing against his body in a way that was
unbelievably arousing.   He caressed her back with his hands and Scully
pressed further up against him in response, her arms clasped around his
waist, her firm round breasts crushed against his chest.

     He didn't think he would ever get enough of just holding her like
this, and he told her so, murmuring the words to her in between his
kisses.

     Scully moved one of her small hands from where it rested against
his back and raised it to his face, running it along his cheek.  "I love
this," she told him softly.  "I love being able to touch you this way, to
feel the lines of your jaw between my fingers."  She kissed him tenderly,
and when she finished, there was a smile on her face.  "I'm never letting
you grow back that beard."

     "Then what," he asked her, "am I going to do for a disguise?"

     "I don't know," she answered, kissing him again.  "And right now,
I don't really care."

     She proved it to him by sliding her mouth across his face,
adorning him with tiny kisses along every single inch, and Mulder groaned
aloud with the sheer pleasure of it.
 
 

Scully could feel her arousal growing, sweeping over her with a deepening
intensity and she sighed, relinquishing herself to the sensation.  Her
panties were damp now against her skin and she brought a hand to her waist
to push them away.

     "Let me help you with that," Mulder whispered, and she nodded,
finding his mouth again with hers as his hands moved to her waist.  She
curled her legs up against him as he slid the panties down, allowing him
to pull them off and away.  He brought his hands back up to her butt and
squeezed, gently at first and then hard enough to make her moan.

     "Oh, Mulder..."  He murmured something in response that she
couldn't quite hear and then one of his hands slipped between their
bodies, grazing the damp hair at the juncture of her legs.  He slid two
fingers inside her and Scully squirmed with pleasure.  In response,
Mulder's arm tightened around her waist, pinning her more tightly against
him, one hand still cupping her butt.  She could feel the bandage that was
wrapped around his hand, its texture smooth and cool in comparison to the
warm dampness of his palm.

     The exhaustion that she had been feeling melted away as his
fingers probed and searched and squeezed her innermost core, making her
tremble, making her weak in a way that had nothing to do with physical
weariness and everything to do with emotional surrender.  Desire flooded
her as he continued to stroke her and she moaned aloud.  It was happening
so fast and she fought the sensation, wanting to savor the feelings that
he evoked in her, wanting to share them with him.  Despite her best
efforts to hang on, she could feel her body betraying her, racing towards
the edge in search of satisfaction.
 
 

Scully wriggled in his arms, her skin damp with sweat, and Mulder fought
to hold her, wanting to keep her close to him.   She was panting now, her
breaths coming in little frantic gasps, her head twisting against the
pillow, her hair tickling the underside of his chin.

     "Mulder..."   His name on her lips was a vague helpless plea for
release, and he continued to stroke her, anxious to give her what she
wanted.   Beneath the sheets her legs were tangled up in his, her thighs
rubbing against his erection, creating a dizzying friction that threatened
to shatter the walls of his control.

     Scully's arms were around his neck, her fingers twined in his
hair, but as he continued to caress her, Mulder felt one of her small
hands edge its way down his neck, sliding down his back, coming to rest on
his butt.  She squeezed him in a gentle imitation of the way that he still
held her, and then slipped her hand around to cup his balls.

     "Ahh..."  A cry escaped him at her touch and he almost lost it
then and there.  "Dana, no, not yet..."

     She ignored him, moving her hand again until her fingers were
wrapped around his shaft, gripping him tightly for a moment and then
sliding gently up and down.   Mulder closed his eyes, biting down on his
lip in a last, feeble attempt to hold on.

     "Mulder..."   She whimpered his name as she held him, pulling him
towards her.  He knew what she wanted, and he was powerless to resist,
unable to deny her.  Gently withdrawing his fingers from inside her, he
lifted her top leg and draped it around his waist, opening her to him more
fully.   He opened his eyes then, needing to see her as he slipped inside
her.

     Scully's lips parted on a sigh as he pushed his way inside, her
head rocking back as she gave herself over to him.  Raising her arms to
encircle his neck, she slid her leg further across his body to give him
better access.   He took advantage of the offer, cupping her butt again
with both of his hands, pulling her as close to him as he possibly could.
 Lying beside her, with their bodies joined and her lovely face just
inches from his, was almost more than Mulder could take.  Unable to stop
himself, he began to move inside her as he leaned in to steal another
kiss.
 
 

He kissed her, plunging his tongue deep within the cavern of her mouth,
the sensation mirroring that of his shaft, buried deep inside her.  Scully
bucked and moaned, thrashing her body against his, drowning in the ecstasy
of the dual penetration, wishing that time would stop and leave her
suspended in this magical place.  She was completely consumed by her need
and her desire for him, and she wanted nothing more than to satisfy
herself by satisfying him.

     He was moving deep within her, sliding in and out of her body with
ever increasing intensity, and she rocked her body against his, both of
her legs twined around his waist now, the soft flannel sheets tangled
around her, trapping her against him.

     Mulder's mouth slipped away from hers, his lips trailing wetly
across her cheek and Scully responded in kind, finding his ear with her
mouth and suckling upon it, tracing the outline of his ear with her
tongue.  She could hear him moaning, deep low incoherent groans that
ignited a fire in her belly, urging her to rock harder against him,
pushing them both ever closer to the ultimate peak of satisfaction.

     Scully felt Mulder moving their joined bodies, still holding her
tight, until she realized that she was laying atop him, his back now flat
against the bed.  The reason for the shift in position became abundantly
clear as she felt his arms slip from around her back, his hands cupping
her breasts, squeezing them hungrily.   She cried out at the sensation,
rising up to press herself more firmly into his grasp.  The flannel sheets
resting along her shoulders slid down her back as she sat up, finding
Mulder's shoulders with her hands and gripping them tight, pressing her
hips against his groin with all her strength.

     "Dana..."  She heard her name on his lips and the sound made her
whimper, her throat no longer able to form words.  He clutched her tighter
and she whimpered again, losing control, wanting nothing more than to push
them both over that abyss together, to fall into ecstasy with him by her
side.
 
 

"Dana..." He couldn't stop murmuring her name, it was the only thing that
his consciousness was still wrapped around, much as her body was still
wrapped around his.   Mulder raised his hips, plunging into her with ever
increasing intensity, wanting to please her as much as he wanted to please
himself.  "Oh, Dana...."

     He slid his mouth down her neck and took one of her breasts in his
mouth, caressing the other with his hand as he bit and sucked at her
nipple, savoring her cries as they reached his ears.  One of her hands
rose up and tangled in his hair, the other gripping his shoulder fiercely
as she rode him hard.

     Mulder felt her thighs tighten around his waist as the
contractions began, her innermost core swallowing him whole, devouring
him.  He accompanied her willingly, his body arching against hers as he
succumbed to the force of her release.  The feel of her body closing in on
his drew him over the edge, coaxing his essence from him, draining him as
easily as water rushes through a sieve, the sheer pleasure of loving her
driving him to distraction, making him crazy, forcing him to give her
everything he had, everything he was.

     Another loud cry escaped her lips and then Scully collapsed
against him, her head buried against his chest beneath the curtain of her
hair.  Completely spent, Mulder cradled her tightly in his arms, summoning
the last reserves of his strength to roll onto his side once more, their
bodies still joined beneath the flannel sheets.  Her head slid back to lay
against the pillow, revealing her mouth to him, open and empty and gasping
for air.  He kissed her, filling her with oxygen from his own lungs,
giving her back the heavenly life she had granted him by sharing her body
with him so openly, so trustingly.
 
 

He held her close and she never wanted him to release her, savoring each
beat of his heart as it pulsed against her cheek.  Scully felt one of his
hands glide up along her back, raising goosebumps in its wake.  He took
her head in his hand, twining his fingers in the damp length of her hair,
and she heard his voice slice through the darkness left behind in the wake
of their climax.

     "I love you, Dana," he murmured, each of the words loud in the
stillness.  "Now, forever, always."

     As he had done before, he kissed her after each word in the way
that she had come to treasure, and she smiled, tucking her head against
his chest.  Mulder tightened his arms across her back, and then gently,
slowly, he slipped out of her.  Though she missed the intimate contact,
she took solace in the strength of his embrace, nestling closer to him,
allowing the exhaustion that she had held at bay to slowly overtake her.
 
 

She was dreaming, dreaming of a soft, sandy beach, where huge rolling
waves crashed against the shore.  The sky was blue and smell of salt was
in the air and Mulder's arms were around her, strong and solid and real,
his face clearly visible before her own, his hazel eyes sparkling as he
gazed down at her.   His lips were ripe and rich and deliciously tender as
he kissed her, his hands holding her close, his bare skin pressed against
her own.  A wave crashed over them, drenching them, leaving them icy cold
in its wake...

     It was the cold that woke her, and Scully shifted uncomfortably
against the mattress, her hand extended in search of the covers.  The
vague sense of alarm she felt at Mulder's absence from her side vanished
at the sound of his sleep-drenched breaths, and she rolled over, edging
closer to him.

     Finding the wayward flannel sheet, she grasped it and pulled, her
lack of success in retrieving it causing her to realize that Mulder must
be tangled up in it.  Scully tugged again, harder, the motion causing a
ripple of pain to shoot up her arm.
 
 

Mulder heard her low moan and it awakened him immediately.  "Dana?  Are
you okay?"  he asked, the words tumbling from his tired mouth.

     "Fine, Mulder," she told him, her face buried in the pillow.
"Just cold."

     Rolling onto his side, Mulder realized that he had stolen more
than his share of the blankets, leaving Scully's naked back exposed to the
air.  "Sorry," he apologized, pulling the flannel coverings back up and
over her shoulders.

     "S'okay," she murmured sleepily, but as she snuggled up against
him he heard her moan again.

     "What is it?"  He was concerned now, drawing a hand down the
smooth length of her back.

     "Nothing...a little sore, that's all."

     Soreness was a feeling that Mulder could empathize with;  his own
shoulders and back were throbbing from his exertions in the mine.  But as
always, she was his primary concern, and he increased the pressure of his
hand against her back.  "Feel better?"  he asked, and she responded with
an affirmative murmur.

     "Better..."

     The word inspired him and Mulder shifted his position beneath the
sheets until he was straddling her small frame, bracing his knees on
either side of her waist.   He rose up on his elbows, the sheets draped
over his shoulders covering them both, and then he moved so that the
majority of his weight was resting on his legs, freeing his hands and
arms.

     With slow, circular motions, he began to massage her back, working
gently outward from her neck with a firm pressure.  Wayward strands of
dark hair were strewn across her shoulders and he pushed them aside, and a
little sigh escaped her in response.

     "Feel good?"  he asked, and Scully nodded against the pillow.

     Mulder continued the massage, stroking her slowly, kneading her
tired muscles with her hands.  His fingers found a particularly hard knot
and he rubbed it until he felt it disappear beneath his touch, a small
sigh slipping from her lips.

     "Oh," she whimpered, "so good..."

     Unexpectedly, Mulder felt his groin harden in response to her
hushed words, the feel of her skin beneath his hands arousing him despite
his own exhaustion.  He leaned forward, pressing more closely against her,
stimulated by the increased contact.
 
 

Scully slid her hands beneath the pillow on which her head rested,
resisting the impulse to turn over and grab Mulder and pull him close.
The massage felt too good, and she didn't want to do anything that might
tempt him to stop.

     Though it didn't seem as though he planned on doing so anytime
soon;  on the contrary, though his hands had moved away from her
shoulders, they now seemed perfectly content to stroke her back, running
up and down her spine with a practiced ease.  Much to her surprise, Scully
felt Mulder's lips on her neck, placing tender kisses along her nape.  She
sighed and turned her head to the side in a silent signal that he
responded to by nibbling his way along her cheek.

     She felt his body falling across hers, enveloping her completely,
and Scully surrendered to the sensation, reveling in the feel of his warm
nakedness.  She could feel his erection rubbing against her back and she
moaned in response, his body shifting against hers, his hands stopping
their gentle motion and slipping beneath her.

     His hands cupped her breasts, holding them tenderly as he slowly
rocked against her.  "Dana..."  His deep voice caressed her name, singing
it like a benediction, and she answered him with a cry of her own.

     "Mulder, oh...."

     One of his hands slid away from its grasp of her chest, moving
lower, pressing against her belly before finding its way to the most
sensitive part of her anatomy, stroking her briefly and then moving away.
 
 

His fingers slick with the proof of her arousal, Mulder took his rock-hard
shaft in his hand, guiding it under the curve of her butt, sliding it
beneath her and then inside her, an rush of air escaping him as he filled
her once more.

     It was more than he had dared to dream, the idea of possessing her
yet again, but his body responded as it had been designed to, filling her
completely, his body rocking against her as he found the way that he fit
inside her best.

     Scully whimpered again, a tiny cry that echoed in his ears and he
slid further inside her, feeling her butt rise up against his groin in
response.  He tightened his hold on her, his fingers toying with her
nipples, cupping the weight of her breasts in his hands as his legs
tangled with hers.  He was incredibly relaxed, her warm soft body trapped
beneath the hard length of his, her hot tight wetness drawing him deeper
inside with each twist of her hips.   Mulder felt his body readying once
again and he thrust against her, kissing her shoulders, her neck, her
ears.  She turned her face towards him, her lips hungrily seeking his own,
and he indulged her, leaning forward to meet her in a kiss, carried away
on a raging wave of pure need.
 
 

He thrust against her several times in quick succession and Scully arched
her back, feeling his grasp of her breasts tighten as she allowed him
additional leverage.  Her own hands were still trapped beneath the pillow,
and her inability to reach for him heightened her own desire.  She wanted
him more than she had ever wanted anything, and she moaned with sheer
pleasure at his domination of her body.  He shoved himself further inside
her, burying himself as deep inside as she would allow, and she spread her
legs beneath him, rising up against him, giving him as much access as she
possibly could, wanting him to have all of her.  Needing him to have it
with a ferocity that made her dizzy with desire.

     Drowning beneath the force of his need, Scully felt her body
completely relax, melting into a puddle of nerves that were stimulated
only by his hands, his motions, his touch.   She felt her mouth connect
with his once more and she gave herself over to him, her lips parting
under his own as he thrust into her one last time, pushing them both over
the edge with tremendous force.  She felt the orgasms ripple through her
one after another, each successive one chasing the one that preceded it,
leaving her paralyzed in their wake.

     At long last, the tremors having finally subsided, Scully felt
Mulder's arms shift beneath her, pulling her towards him once again, and
she went willingly, not bothered when he slid from inside her, comforted
by the feel of his arms encircling her chest.  Satiated beyond her wildest
imaginings, she collapsed against him, conscious of nothing save his
breath against her neck as she tumbled once again towards sleep.
 
 

Here endeth part 15... part 16 posted simultaneously.  Let me know if
there are problems with the posting at [email protected].
 

X-15                               X-15
 

From [email protected] Tue Feb 25 12:55:05 1997
Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative
Subject: **NEW** - "A Divided Highway" (16/16)
From: [email protected] (NVRGRIM)
Date: 25 Feb 1997 18:55:05 GMT
--------
This is part sixteen of a sixteen-part post.  Author's Note, Spoiler
Warning, and Disclaimer can be found at the beginning of part 1.  If there
are problems with the posting (or comments on the story!) I'm at
[email protected].
 
 

A DIVIDED HIGHWAY (16/16)
by Nicole Perry
[email protected]
1/10/97
 
 

Mulder awakened in the quiet hours of early morning, still cradling Scully
against his chest.  The bit of sunlight filtering in through the barn
windows alerted him to the fact that the time had come to leave, though
there was nothing he wanted more than to remain in this safe haven
forever.

     Rocking her gently in his arms, Mulder used his mouth to wake her,
dropping little kisses along her face until he felt her stir against him.
"Good morning," he whispered, punctuating the words with another kiss.

     Scully raised her head, finding his lips with hers and kissing him
in response.  "It *is* good, isn't it," she murmured with a smile as she
pulled away.

     "I love you," he told her, wanting to say the words again though
he'd just spent the better part of the night proving it to her.

     "I love you too," she softly replied.  "Now, forever --"

     "Always," he finished, placing a kiss on the crown of her head.
"Always."

     Scully was quiet for a time, her fingers wandering idly against
his chest.  When she spoke, he heard the resignation in her voice, giving
words to his darkest fears.  "They want me back."

     "They'll never get you back," Mulder declared, tightening his hold
on her.  "Never.  Not so long as I'm alive."

     "But that's what I'm afraid of," she admitted.  "I'm afraid
they'll kill you, to get what they want."  She fell silent for a moment,
then continued.  "Maybe I should just turn myself in."

     "Stop it," he admonished her.  "Stop talking like that.  Nothing
is going to happen to you, or to me."
 
 

Scully knew that he was dreaming, and she told him so, still haunted by
the words Christophe had uttered in the tunnel.  "Mulder, they've found us
before, and they'll find us again.  We can't keep on like this forever.
Not now that we know what it is that they're after."

     She felt his hand on her chin, shifting the position of her head
slightly.  "Listen to me, Dana.  We are not giving up on this.  We are not
giving up on us.  If we do that, we let them win."

     His words were so strong, so brave, and despite her best
intentions, Scully found herself wanting to believe him.  "But how can we
beat them?"  she asked.  "We've got nothing.  No leverage, no allies, no
support."

     "We've got us," he told her, and then she felt his lips brush
against hers.  Scully allowed her mouth to part against the gentle
pressure of his and sought solace once again in his kiss.  When they
finally came up for air, Mulder finished his thought.  "Together, Dana,
we're unbeatable.  You have to remember that."

     "I'm trying," she answered.  Lying in his arms, she felt safe
enough to admit the truth.  "But I'm afraid, Mulder.  I'm afraid that our
luck is going to run out."

     To her surprise, she heard him chuckle.  "Don't you know?  The
good guys always win."

     His words made her laugh as well, and she snuggled closer to him,
a warm feeling of contentment enveloping her.   Nothing could frighten her
when they were together like this, she realized.  Nothing.

     "It's time to go," he said finally, and Scully could hear the
reluctance in his voice.

     "I know," she replied, but they both lay still for a while longer,
in a vain attempt to postpone the inevitable.
 
 

They took Rebecca's Jeep into Albuquerque, the five of them crammed into
the small vehicle.  Despite the music on the radio, it was a fairly somber
journey, no one certain exactly what to say to break the silence.

     When they reached the bus station, Elliot parked the car, and
climbed out to stand beside Rebecca, Coop and Lisa while Rick went in to
purchase two tickets to Los Angeles.  Elliot had given him the money,
though Rick had been loath to accept it.

     "Consider it a loan," Elliot had told him, and Rick had finally
relented.

     "I'll pay you back," Rick had promised. "As soon as we get where
we're going."

     "Whenever," he had replied, glad to be able to help.

     All too soon, Rick returned with the tickets, and they said their
goodbyes.  Elliot gave Lisa a warm hug and shook Rick's hand, watching as
his roommates made similar parting gestures.

     Elliot felt a hand on his arm and turned to see Lisa standing
beside him, a wistful smile on her face.  "I'll miss you, Elliot," she
said.  "I'm glad we met."

     "Me too," he replied, pulling her close in another quick hug,
surprised to realize that his words were true.  He would miss her, despite
the danger that she represented, danger that had touched his own life in a
way that he had never thought possible.  There was something about her,
something undefinable, that made Elliot glad that they had crossed paths.

     The bus arrived and Rick helped Lisa up the stairs, carrying their
duffel bag over his shoulder.  Elliot stood beside Cooper, with his arm
around Rebecca, and the three of them watched as the bus pulled away,
headed west.
 
 

Finally settled in their seats, Scully leaned her head against Mulder's
shoulder and sighed.  "You okay?" he asked, and she nodded.

     "I'm fine," she replied, and meant it.  Having Mulder by her side
was all she really needed to make her feel that everything was right with
the world.

     "Long trip," he remarked.  "We won't be into Los Angeles until
tomorrow."

     A thought hit her, and she asked, "Is it safe for us to take this
bus all the way there?"

     "I think so," Mulder replied.  "I think we're safe for now."

     Hoping that he was correct, Scully snuggled closer to him, feeling
his arm tighten around her shoulders in response.  A yawn escaped her and
he wondered, "You tired already?"

     "A little," she told him.  "We didn't get much sleep."

     "No," he admitted, "but it was worth it."

     "Definitely," she grinned, and he brushed her lips with a quick
kiss.

     "Get some sleep if you want," said Mulder.  "I'll be here when you
wake up."

     "I'm counting on it," Scully replied, and closing her eyes, she
did just that.
 
 

"...if our troubles should vanish
Like rain at the midday
I've no doubt there'll be more
We can't run and we can't cheat
Because when we meet
What we're afraid of
We find out what we're made of

So if you lose your faith, you can have mine
If when I'm lost, you're right behind
And if it's dark, there's a light I'll shine
We walk the same line..."

- everything but the girl
 
 

And that's all she wrote... we've come to the end of the Road, at least
for now. <g>  I hope that this turned out to be worth the wait -- at this
point, I'd love *nothing* more than a little bit of feedback, even if it's
just to tell me that you made it all the way to the end!!   Drop me a line
at [email protected] -- and thanks again for reading!!   :-)
 

X-16
               X-16