*****

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

*****


"Ah, ha, ha, ha,
Stayin' alive,
Stayin' alive..."

- The Bee Gees

*****

August 30
Boulder
1800 hours


Scully sat on the back deck of the house nursing her tea. She wrapped her hand around the mug, gauging its heat. The liquid had just now reached the perfect temperature. Not too hot, not too cool. As Goldilocks would say, "Just right!"

It had taken exactly four-hundred and twenty-nine of her heartbeats for the tea to reach this point after Mulder poured the boiling water over the tea bag. She had counted each one. To his credit, Mulder hadn't said anything when he brought her the tea and noticed her fingers on the pulse point in her wrist. His eyes had narrowed a bit, but he remained silent. He had carefully set down the mug next to the bear-shaped honey bottle and the plate for the used tea bag, then he walked back inside.

Four-hundred and twenty-nine down, she had no idea how many or how few to go. They had taken so long to count, but had passed by so quickly. Yet, so much could happen in those fast four-hundred and twenty-nine numbers. What was Matthew doing during those beats? Was he laughing or crying? Sleeping or playing? Was he alone? Did he have his finger shoved up his nose in his favorite pose?

She laid her head back against the deck lounger. From his sprawled position beside her chair, Fluffy released a snorted sigh. He hadn't moved during the entire countdown. For that matter, he hadn't left her side since George released her from the hospital yesterday morning.

There had been no point to extending her hospital stay. There was little George could do for her beyond making her comfortable. And she was much more comfortable at home -- what had become her home of sorts -- with Mulder. Besides, it was a drain on the hospital's resources to keep her there. It had taken alot of attention and precious fuel to keep the generator running for her room.

Physically, she was weak. Her body was still recovering from the blood loss. But, she had suffered no more episodes since the main event. She just needed rest. Her mental well-being was another matter. It did not want to rest. It wanted her to get on the road immediately to find Matthew, before it was too late. The promise to Mother Abagail be damned. Time was a-wastin'.

She leaned over and scratched Fluffy's neck. "What do you know, boy? I'm just as impatient as Mulder," she mumbled. She shivered in the cooling air.

Fluffy took the scratch and the conversation as an invitation to join her on the lounge chair. He inched his way up and slowly insinuated himself beside her, his nose and paws finding a way under and around her right leg. She gave in after a few seconds and soon the whole dog was on board, his head resting contentedly on top of her thigh.

She scratched his ears, enjoying the feel of his soft fur on her fingers. Then she lifted his head and leaned forward to look at him eye to eye. "Ya' know, fur face, I think it's almost time for you to have a bath. I know Mulder didn't give you one this week."

Under normal circumstances Fluffy would have whined and protested, but this time was different. He liked getting attention from Scully, even if it meant he had to suffer the indiginities water and soap could bring to a dog of his caliber. He quickly stuck out his tongue and licked Scully's face.

"Yuck!" she laughed as she wiped the doggie spit from her cheek.

"Fluffy!" Mulder shouted as he came out onto the deck, a blanket in his hand.

"It's okay, Mulder," Scully responded, rubbing Fluffy's head again. "Fluffy's just being my leg warmer," she added.

Mulder stared at the dog doubtfully. Fluffy stared back with big brown innocent eyes -- albeit eyes with a trumphant gleam. "The sun's going down soon. I thought you might like a blanket," Mulder stated as he held the blanket up for her to inspect.

"Thank you, Mulder. I'm sure Fluffy and I both appreciate your thoughtfulness," Scully answered with a soft grin.

Mulder grumbled good-naturedly as he helped Scully lean forward and he draped the blanket over her shoulders. "The dog can get his own blanket," he mumbled with a smirk toward Fluffy. Then he turned serious, letting his hand drift to smooth Scully's hair where the blanket had mussed it.

"Dinner will be ready soon. Do you need anything for now?"

"We're fine, Mulder. I think I might just take a nap for little bit."

"Do you want to go inside?"

"No. I'm fine here. We'll be just fine."

"Okay. If it doesn't get too cold, maybe we can just eat out here tonight," Mulder said.

Scully nodded. He leaned over and kissed her gently. It was just an illusion of domestic bliss, but he wasn't in the mood to shatter it just now.

As Scully closed her eyes to sleep, she caressed Fluffy's head, reminding herself that she needed to talk to Dick about scanning Fluffy with the Avid scanner. She kept forgetting to do that...

Mulder went back inside. And as he tinkered around the hot wood stove, he prayed for more time. "Mother Abagail, where are you?"

***

1900 hours


"Coming!" Mulder yelled as he ran to answer the knock at the front door, a damp dish towel still tossed over his shoulder.

Stu stood at the front door, an arrangement of wildflowers clenched in his hand.

"For me, Stu? You shouldn't have!" Mulder exclaimed as Stu stepped inside.

"Very funny, Mulder. Fran sent these over for Dana," Stu countered as he thrust the flowers forward awkwardly.

"Hang on to those for a sec and you can deliver those to the lady yourself," Mulder said as he led Stu into the living room. "We just finished up dinner," he continued as he wiped his damp fingers on his towel.

Fluffy was dead to the world on his doggie bed in the corner. He lazily raised his head an inch to let everyone know he was still on the job but not feeling compelled to move since it was only Stu.

Scully was relaxing on the sofa. Stu headed toward her. "Dana, it's good to see you with some color in your cheeks!" Stu exclaimed as he leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He held out the flowers. "Here. Fran wanted me to give you these."

"Thanks, Stu." She gently set the flowers down on the end table. "Has there been any word on Mother Abagail?"

Stu shook his head. "No. And you know I'll make sure you get the word as soon as I know anything."

"I just made some coffee, you want some?" Mulder asked from the doorway, suddenly realizing that he was looking way too domesticated.

"No, no. I'm just fine. I just wanted to check in on you and maybe discuss a few things," Stu answered.

Scully gestured for Stu to sit and he chose an easy chair. Mulder joined them as he sat down beside Scully, sitting where she could lean back against him.

"So, what's the news?" Mulder asked.

"Well, the good news is that we might have the electricity runnin' again tomorrow."

"That's great news," Scully responded. She ran her fingers through her hair. The idea of using a hair dryer again was enticing.

Mulder's eyes narrowed. "And what's the bad news?"

Stu chuckled for a moment. "No bad news tonight. Unless word about our growing bureaucracy can qualify as bad news."

"It might," Mulder muttered, memories of Washington, D.C. red tape still flowing through his head.

"No, really. And this is a big part of why I'm here. We're having a meeting day after tomorrow at Nick and Ralph's house. All the council and the heads of the various committees. Sort of a progress report and planning meeting. And I think we could use your help, Dana."

"Me?" she asked.

"Yeah." Stu paused. He bowed his head as he tried to come up with the right words. He was clearly uncomfortable.

"Just spit it out, Stu, before you choke," Mulder prodded.

"Well. I kinda got myself appointed as Sheriff of these here parts..."

"Oooh, Scully. I feel a Roy Rogers' song coming on..." Mulder quipped, although his tone clearly showed Stu that he approved of the appointment.

"Anyway," he looked to see if Mulder was going to wisecrack again. Mulder waved him on. "That sort of makes me the Public Safety chief for now. And some of us on the council have some concerns about the Burial Committee."

"What concerns?" Scully leaned forward.

"Concerns about disease. I mean, the guys on the Burial detail are doing a great job. A job nobody else wants to touch. But we need to know if we're going about this business in the right way. We sure as hell don't want some epidemic sprouting up just as our population is passing the one-thousand mark. We need to check our procedures and then we oughta have some plan in place just in case folks do start getting sick..."

"You need to know if your...disposal methods are sound. And you need to know what signs and symptoms to look for in case something does start to break out," Scully continued his train of thought.

"Right. That's it!" Stu exclaimed, grateful Scully was in the gist of things.

"I don't know, Stu. Scully hasn't been out of the hospital for more than..." Mulder stopped when he caught Scully's look of frustration. She finally had a chance to feel useful. To have something important to do instead of just sit around the house waiting, and here he was cutting her off at the knees. "What about Dr. Richardson?" He finished.

"George was the one who suggested we ask Dana. He needs the help and he can't make it to the meeting. He's on duty at the hospital tomorrow. Hell, he's always on duty at the hospital. Although he does have Dick Ellis working for him as a paramedic now."

"So, Dr. Richardson thinks it's okay..." Scully said. She was looking at Stu, but Mulder knew the remark was directed at him. Mulder raised his hands in surrender. He let one hand fall on her back and he began to massage her muscles there. His way of apologizing. She signaled her acceptance by leaning back into the massage.

"Great then. It's settled," Stu grinned. "The meeting starts at eight, but most of us are headed over a little early for some barbecue. There won't be any steaks, but Fran has developed some kind of burger from canned tuna...and we'll have lots of corn on the cob and greens. Say six-thirty?"

"We'll be there," Scully responded.

"And I guess I better get a move on. Fran'll get all over me if I don't get home at a decent hour tonight."

He stood and Mulder followed suit, seeing him to the door. When they reached the door, Stu spoke quietly.

"Can I talk to you outside for a sec?"

Mulder nodded. He hollered back toward the living room, "Scully, I'm gonna see Stu out to his car. Be back in a minute!"

"Okay," echoed back from the area of the sofa.

The men stepped outside and Mulder closed the front door.

"What's up?" Mulder asked.

Stu gestured for him to sit down on the steps. Mulder raised his eyebrow. It must be serious if he was sitting down. Meanwhile, Stu paced.

"I know I'm the one they appointed to do this law and order thing, but I could sure use your help, Mulder." Stu was uncomfortable asking for assistance. It wasn't the way of life in East Texas where a man stood on his own two feet. But his mamma didn't raise no fool either. Mulder knew ways to get information that he did not. He knew technical things that he did not.

"I don't know how much I can help, Stu. Scully needs me...and I just don't know how long we'll be sticking around..." Mulder's voice trailed off.

Stu knew that Scully had been doing better the past few days. But he also knew from Susan Stern that her days appeared to be numbered only in the low double digits. Stu doubted that Mulder would last long after that.

"Well, I really would appreciate your help in one matter. We can see about other things after that," Stu said.

Mulder crossed his arms across his chest to ward off some of the evening chill and sighed. "I can't make promises to you. All my promises are tied up in Scully. But I'll do what I can for you. We owe folks here alot, especially you. What's the problem?"

"In a word -- Harold." Stu grimaced as he stated it out loud.

Mulder nodded with a frown. He had suspected as much. Harold Lauder had made his stomach churn from day one. There was just something not quite right in that smug boy's head.

"I have to confess," Stu began, "I thought he would take off for Las Vegas and Randall Flagg a week after we got here. He looks like he's trying to fit in, but I don't know. I can't help but get the feelin' that he's up to something. Like he's got his own agenda and it ain't necessarily what's best for the rest of the folks in Boulder."

"What do you think his plan is?" Mulder asked.

"I don't know," Stu responded. He looked down and kicked at a small rock. It skittered across the pavement. "But Frannie's gone and got it in her head that it involves hurting me."

Mulder leaned back on the stoop and chewed on the information for a moment. "She may be right, Stu."

"What do you mean?"

"C'mon, Stu. You can't say that you haven't noticed the evil eye he gives you everytime Fran is around. The boy is so jealous he can't spit straight. In his mind, you represent everything he hates. All those years he was a geek who was tortured at school. He wants to exact revenge upon you."

Stu could only nod. Mulder was right. It was obvious. Had been since the day they met.

"But I wonder, too," Mulder continued. "Why hasn't he taken off for Vegas. I've noticed that some other people have been slipping out of Boulder in the middle of the night." He looked at Stu, his eyes closely watching Stu for any reaction as he went on. "Although, I suspect that a few of those who left didn't do it to go and join Flagg and his minions. I suspect they were sent."

Stu remained quiet. The council had agreed to keep information about the three spies they had sent West top secret. He knew Mulder was a safe bet, but he had given his word. No one could know that Judge Farris, Dayna Jurgens and Tom Cullen had been sent to ferret out intel about what the Dark Man was doing. Checking the Air Force bases and nuclear weapons to see if Flagg was planning on attacking Boulder in the near future.

"I know you can't say anything, Stu. But it's a smart thing to do," Mulder set Stu's mind at ease. He stood up to head inside. "Let me see what I can find out about our friend Harold. I'll let you know when I've got any ideas."

"Thanks, friend," Stu waved.

"But, Stu!" Mulder turned and called out at the last second. Stu turned to face him.

"Yeah?"

"Canned tuna burgers?" Mulder gulped, his throat feeling constricted.

"Yeah," Stu replied, a lump in his own throat.

Mulder shook his head and went inside the house. Stu turned and walked down the driveway, headed home to Fran and the canned tuna.

***

2200 hours


Harold Lauder sat in his basement, hunched over the workbench. A tinny old boom box blasted out the most popular disco hits of the '70s. All he needed was a mirror ball and roller skates and then the Bee Gees ambience would be complete. Instead, he was surrounded by snips of assorted wires, blobs of discarded electrical tape, batteries, and other sundry items he had picked up around town over the past week.

The Dark Man had showed him in his dreams exactly where to look to find the most important ingredient to his current project. The lovely storehouses of the old Boulder Department of Public Works. A quick trip to his local Boulder Public Library gave him the book that showed him how to bring it all together. Your tax dollars in action.

Three days and counting. All he had to do was be ready for the meeting at Nick and Ralph's house on September 2.

He turned up the music on his boom box and got ready to boogie.

***

September 2
Boulder
1800 Hours


Mulder had quickly dubbed September First as "The Day of the Blender." They had gotten the electricity turned on, sure enough. And then the electricity crashed.

It seemed that everyone in Boulder when the lights first went out had left every high powered appliance in the "on" mode. Never bothered to turn them off. Of course, dying was a pretty good excuse for not following politically correct energy conservation procedures. But all this meant that a new Boulder committee would have to be formed. The "Go Around To All The Buildings And Turn Everything The Hell Off So We Don't Blow Another Generator Or Turbine" Committee.

Just one more thing for the agenda of tonight's meeting.

"Are you sure you want to go to this meeting, Scully?" Mulder asked as he hopped around the bedroom, pulling on his dark socks and shoes.

"Yes, I'm sure," was her muffled response as she pulled a shirt over her head. She looked him over from head to toe. "Mulder, is there some reason you're looking like Johnny Cash? What's with all the black clothing?"

Mulder looked down at his clothing, his arms held out from his sides. Black pullover, black jeans, black socks. They were there for a reason, but Scully didn't need to know the details. She didn't need to be worrying while he was funky poaching at Chez Harold.

He walked behind her and wrapped his arms around her. She tilted her neck with a smile and he nipped her ear. "I just know how the Man in Black turns you on," he whispered, letting his breath blow across the side of her face.

She shivered. "Don't start anything we can't finish, Mulder," she sighed with disappointment.

Mulder turned her around to face him. "But I'm the happiest man on earth just standing here like this, right now."

Scully pulled his head down and kissed him with a smile. "Let's go, G-Man in Black."

Mulder gave her another quick kiss and then he turned to grab their jackets. He held Scully's jacket for her as she slipped her arms into the sleeves.

"You think Fluffy will be okay here by himself?" She asked, a little concerned about the idea of being separated from her furry companion.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, Scully. I already told him no parties and no having friends over while we're gone," Mulder lectured lightly as Scully smirked. "He's happy by the fire right now and I filled his bowls. I even left the back door cracked open so he can get outside if necessary. We won't be out that late."

Scully nodded like a reluctant parent and they headed out the door.

***

Nick and Ralph's House
1930 Hours


Dinner was winding down and everyone was cleaning up the corn cobs, baked beans residue, tuna burgers which had been surprisingly good, and paper plates to get ready for the meeting.

Mulder watched Scully from across the back lawn. It was the first time she had been out and about in public since she had gotten out of the hospital. He had been pleased to see her talking and laughing with Fran and Susan Stern. Susan had made sure to take Scully under her wing, make sure she wasn't overdoing it.

In fact, right now Scully was sitting at the picnic table with Susan and Ralph. Ralph was doing a great job of keeping her glued to her wooden seat, not letting her lift a finger to help in the cleanup.

It would be a good time for him to make his quiet exit. He had already arranged it with Stu. He looked around the crowd and finally found Stu around the side of the house talking to Glen. He walked over to the two.

"It's time now, Stu," Mulder stated quietly.

Stu nodded. "Are you sure it'll be okay? He hasn't been seen around for two days..." Stu cautioned.

"I'm sure it'll be fine. Maybe we just got lucky and he and that Cross woman took off for Vegas already," Mulder responded, although he wasn't sure he believed the theory.

"Okay," Stu replied. I'll let Scully know in a few minutes. "Good luck, Mulder."

And Mulder headed off into the darkness.

***

1952 Hours


Scully looked around the yard but she still couldn't find Mulder. The meeting would be starting soon. Where had he gotten off to? She stood and headed into the house. Maybe he was helping Ralph get the chairs set up inside. As she walked in the back door, Stu was waiting for her, just inside the kitchen.

"Dana," he said.

"Oh, Stu. Have you seen Mulder? I'm thinking maybe I need to get him a leash."

"Shoot," Stu exclaimed as he hit himself in the forehead. "I promised him I'd tell you and I plum forgot..."

"What?"

"I asked him to run an errand for me. He left a little while ago," Stu said, not entirely comfortable with the deceit, but at least it wasn't a complete lie.

"But the meeting will be starting in a just a few minutes," Scully protested.

Stu lowered his voice and leaned in toward her, as if to share a secret. "I kinda had the impression that Mulder wasn't real keen on sitting through meetings."

Scully shook her head. Typical Mulder.

"Look, Dana. Don't be mad at Mulder. It's really my fault. I'm the one that asked him to go," Stu tried to run interference.

"And I'm sure you had to force him," Scully remarked.

"Okay, folks!" Ralph's voice bellowed from the living room. "Let's get this show on the road!"

Stu headed into the living room, relieved that Ralph's call had saved him from more questions.

Scully followed slowly behind him. She knew there was more to this than Stu had told her, but she didn't have the time or energy to prod any further. As she took a chair beside Susan, she eyed Stu carefully. Yup. Something was up.

She'd get to the bottom of it right after the meeting.

***

1953 Hours


"C'mon, you old dog. Mother Abagail could use your help right now!"

Fluffy sat up from his bed, his senses fully alert. His ears perked forward. He had heard the old woman's voice.

"You're been a good boy. Now don't make this old woman wait..." the voice trailed off.

Fluffy knew the nice woman was weak. She needed his help. With a yelp he bounded for the back door and ran into the night.

***

2000 Hours


It had taken him almost thirty minutes to make the hike to Harold Lauder's house. Mulder had enjoyed the chill of the summer evening. The walk had given him the chance to get back into federal agent mode, planning his recon of Harold's lair.

He crouched behind the bushes at the edge of Harold's dark yard. There were no signs of life. Harold's motorbike and Nadine's puny Vespa were gone. No lights in any window.

He crept toward the house and peeked in the windows. Nope. Nobody home. And it looked as though Harold had left in a hurry.

Mulder walked around to the back and opened the back door. He stepped inside.

***

2005 Hours


The meeting was already boring. Scully had always been good at managing to sit through these things, but that didn't mean she enjoyed all the details people always wanted to dwell upon. Two men were already arguing about how to assign housing to new arrivals in Boulder.

Where the hell was Mulder?

***

2008 Hours


Fluffy found Mother Abagail a few blocks away. Her frail bones could barely keep her standing. Her skin was rough and dry after weeks in the wilderness. And she was so very cold. Fluffy ran to her side. Mother Abagail could only whisper as she placed one hand on Fluffy's shoulder to lean upon him.

"I knew you would be comin'...but we gotsta hurry, dog. There's danger."

She took several steps aided by Fluffy, but age and the elements were against her. Her knees began to buckle.

Fluffy whined and barked as she collapsed onto the ground.

"Go, dog. Get help!" She whispered urgently with her last remaining strength.

Fluffy ran, barking wildly as he headed for the nearest occupied house. It was just down the street.


***

2010 Hours


Mulder egded his way down the stairs into the basement. There were no clues upstairs, and somehow, Mulder knew Harold was a "keep the secrets below ground" type of guy.

When he reached the bottom stair, he shone his flashlight across the room. There was a workbench. He moved forward to investigate.

Wires, batteries, Radio Shack walkie-talkie boxes. And little tiny samples of a crystalized substance on the table. A book laying front cover down...

Oh, god. Mulder knew what Harold had done in this very room. And the target came to him with crashing clarity.

He ran.

***

2011 Hours


Three people ran behind Fluffy toward the woman.

"Mother Abagail!"

***

2018 Hours


Mulder ran as fast his legs would carry him. "No, no, no, no, no! I've got to get there in time," his mind screamed. He ignored the pain flaming in his side from his recent appendectomy. He didn't care if he tore something open and let his guts spill out onto the Boulder streets. As long as he got to Scully in time.

***

2024 Hours

There was a commotion on the front lawn. The sounds of motorcycles arriving. Someone went to the door to see what was going on.

"They're saying something about Mother Abagail...what?" The man stuck his head back out of the door. "They're saying that Mother Abagail is back! She's come back!" Then Stu and Ralph were running out the door, followed by a few others.

But suddenly, something was wrong. A sharp pain lanced through Scully's head. Her hands snapped up to her temples.

"Run, Dana!"

It was Mother Abagail's voice. The excited voices in the room were now just a din of unintelligble noise.

"RUN! Get out of the house now!"

Scully wasn't the only one who had heard the message. Several people were looking around the room, panic forming on their faces. And in a moment when everyone should have been rejoicing, everything became eerily still. Fran broke the silence.

"Everyone get out of the house now!" she screamed, her eyes wide with fear.

Scully started grabbing the slow movers and pushed them toward the door. She could almost hear the clock ticking, each second snapping in her mind. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nick running toward the hall closet. What the hell was he doing? She turned to go after him, but then someone grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the front door. There was no time to fight. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that Nick had picked up a shoe box from the closet floor.

"RUN Everyone!" Mother Abagail's voice bellowed with unbelievable power.

Scully's feet cleared the doorway onto the front porch.

***

2025 Hours


Mulder turned the last corner and could see the house just ahead. Something was going on because there was a small mass of people on the front lawn. Folks were running to and fro, hither and yon. No one seemed to be in charge.

Then he could see people running out of the house. They were grabbing those on the lawn and pulling them away.

*Thank God! Maybe they found the bomb....*

He scanned the runners for Scully. Where was she?

There! There she was. Running out the front door. He was still three houses away, but he yelled anyway.

"Scully!"

And the world exploded.