Author's note: Sorry for any confusion in previous chapters. Flashbacks will now be divided from the rest of the narrative with this -------

"December 22, 2012 dawns the Age of Aquarius, and with its birth comes great change- for good or ill" –ancient Egyptian prophecy

Weyburn, Saskatchewan

9 days after

Her breath came in short gasps as she tried to hold her body completely still. She heard Mulder's gun click as the safety was switched off and the barrel aimed at her large captor. Don't Mulder. Just put it down.

"Put the gun down on the floor. Hey—you get that gun off me or I kill her," the large man said gruffly.

Mulder bent over, and Dana heard the metal of the chrome 9mm sliding across the tile floor.

"What do you want?" Mulder asked caustically.

"Are you one of Them?"

"One of whom?"

"Turn around…NOW!"

Mulder complied tensely, and the man reached over Dana to examine the back of Mulder's neck carefully with his fingers. Appearing satisfied, the man backed away and pushed Dana forward roughly so that she stumbled into her husband's outstretched arms.

"If you're not them, then who are you? Are you with them?"

"Define Them," Dana said through clenched teeth as she rubbed the fresh bruises on her shoulders and collarbone.

"The ones who came to kill us. The ones who aren't human."

"We're humans, I can assure you. Have you seen…the others?" Mulder asked.

"Yes…yes, but they looked like people. They looked human and weren't. We tried to shoot them. It was two against five of us. They should have died but didn't. And their necks—there was something under the skin."

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"There are others just like him. You can call them what you want. They're human replacements, alien replicants. They're virtually unstoppable…"

"They want to knock out any and all attempts by us to survive the final days- - when they come back to retake the planet."

" They didn't even know about your baby. I don't know exactly how they could have found out just how... how important it is... how special."

"Please don't let this happen! It's my baby! Please don't let them take it! It's mine!"

They won't get him! I'll die first, goddamnit!

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"We've seen them before. A long time ago." Mulder said softly.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you here alone?" Dana asked, quickly turning the conversation in another direction.

"No, there are two others. We've been hiding here for the past couple of days. There's a hidden basement with several large storage rooms. It's my shift to do the watch."

"Did They come here?" Mulder asked.

"No, we met them on the road. We were camping in the mountains—me and two friends and their wives—when…everything started happening. We waited awhile after the light, and then hiked back to the car and just started driving to try and figure out what the hell was going on. All of a sudden, these two guys in, like, business suits were standing in the middle of the road, and I don't know how, but they reached out and stopped the car with their bare hands. They didn't say anything. We shot at them—and hit them—several times, but they didn't stop.

Then they took the two women, just grabbed them and left. We couldn't even see where they went cause it happened so fast, but we followed the direction they'd headed in. For days, we tried to find them, and we were starving…then we came to this place and decided to stay, at least for awhile. It was all messed up like this when we got here, but we found a stock of food and stuff in the basement that hadn't been touched."

"Joe? Joe! Who's here?" a voice hollered from somewhere below. Footsteps pounded up a flight of stairs and a small door in the back corner of the store was thrown open. As the smaller man strode closer, Dana could see that he also carried a rifle that was aimed at her and Mulder.

"Clint, it's okay. They're human. They're not going to hurt us."

"How do you know that? We agreed that you would yell for us if anyone came in."

"Hey. Hey. My name is Mulder and this is my wife, Dana. We just came down from the mountains like you did, and our car is out of gas. We're stranded here."

Dana turned to address Clint, who looked like a child with his curly hair and small frame standing beside Joe, who was well over six feet tall.

"Joe told us that the women with you were abducted," Dana said

Clint heaved a sigh of frustration and punched the larger man in the arm.

"I can't believe you would go talking to strangers when we don't even know if they—"

"You can trust us. Please, we have nowhere to go," Dana said

Clint sighed once more and spoke reluctantly.

"We're probably going to leave soon. We have to find Beth and Carly."

"Why would they take only the women?" Mulder murmured to himself, rubbing his forehead with his fist.

"Have you two seen…Them?" Clint asked.

"Um, several years ago, we used to work for the U.S. government, and we encountered some of these people that couldn't be killed through our…investigations," Dana explained.

"And they're taking over the world or something?"

"Maybe, we're not sure. At least partially; they're most likely a part of something greater," Mulder added.

"But we haven't seen anything since then. We don't know anything, really…Listen, we're hungry, and now we're stranded here. Joe mentioned that there is food and supplies downstairs…Please, our little girl is with us; she's sitting outside in the car. Could you spare anything?" Dana pleaded.

"Yeah, of course," Joe piped in, and Clint shot him another warning glance.

"I don't know—" he began.

"I'm a medical doctor, and I'm willing to help in any way that I can. And both my husband and I have experience with super—these…beings. Would that not be a fair exchange?"

Clint thought for a few moments before deciding on an answer.

"All right. You can stay here." He said cautiously.

--

Casa Grande, Arizona

20 days after

"Yes! Finally!" Gibson breathed in relief.

He'd never actually hotwired a car before, and after nearly two hours of failed attempts, he'd almost given up and decided to embark on the two day hike in the dark to find his truck, which he'd intended to ditch. The small town of Casa Grande was thankfully a short walking distance from the shelter, and an abundance of abandoned vehicles were scattered throughout the ghostly downtown area.

The engine of the grey Cadillac sputtered and coughed until it was able to sustain an even purr and ensure Gibson of his success.

"It works?" Olli cried excitedly, poking his head through the driver's door and hovering over Gibson.

"Yeah, we're good. Go get them and say we're ready to go." Go where? I guess we'll figure it out when we get there.

--

Interstate 70, near Alemogardo, New Mexico

Gibson's eyelids began to feel heavy as he kept his gaze transfixed upon the double yellow line. He yawned, turned his head from side to side, and shrugged his shoulders in an attempt to remain alert. A glance beside him and over his shoulder revealed that his three passengers slept soundly; Olli with his face pressed against the front seat window and Katie and Rowan leaning against each other in the back. After being cooped up with these people for three weeks in the underground shelter, Gibson was amazed that they hadn't been ready to slit each other's throats. If the circumstances were different, he would have said that he enjoyed getting to know Rowan and Katie. She was proving to be quite a puzzle, and Gibson couldn't seem to find all of the pieces. He glanced in the rearview mirror to see her sleeping peacefully on Rowan's shoulder. Gibson had not asked about her dreams, and she had not been forthcoming. In fact, she didn't say much of anything, though she clearly knew a great deal, despite Gibson's inability to read her. Who is she? Secrets don't keep forever…

In a way, Gibson had felt reluctant to leave the quiet safety of the shelter, even though he knew they had no choice, since most of the supplies were gone. His initial planning had only warranted enough food and water for one person, not four. Surprisingly, it was quite a relief to travel the open road. For a brief moment,he allowed himself to forget the danger, and he simply reveled in the normalcy of it. A road trip. Four young people with their whole lives ahead of them searching for a new adventure. I'm only 23. 23-year-olds do this kind of thing, right? As far back as he could remember, Gibson had been an adult. He'd always lived in a state of fear and preparation for whatever the future would bring; he'd never relished in the feel of being young and free.

Another mile marker breezed by his window. How long have I been driving? Three hours? Four? From what he could see, he was traveling through the middle of nowhere, with nothing but open desert on all sides. The feeling of complete exposure was a bit unnerving. Gibson leaned forward to see if he could see the stars, and then he remembered that it was actually morning, and even if it were night, the stars and moon had not shone in weeks. He'd never seen utter darkness before this. Time could no longer be measured by night and day, and Gibson felt that the survivors on Earth were trapped in some bizarre purgatory.

He squinted to read a sign on a wooden post beside the road. Preserve the natural beauty of New Mexico. So we're in New Mexico? It looks like…

--------

"Let me go! Let me go!"

"Let the boy go! Let him go, Mulder!"

But he isn't Mulder. NO ONE EVER BELIEVES ME. They took Mulder. He was my friend, he believed me, but now he's gone. Everything always gets taken away. And they're going to take me. Sometimes I wish I could just die…that would be easier, wouldn't it?

--------

Where are you? Did you survive this? Even if they did, I'll never see them again, Gibson thought grimly.

"Hey Gibson, do you want me to drive now? Sorry, I really didn't mean to sleep so long," Olli mumbled groggily as he sat up and rolled his neck.

"It's okay. I'll be fine for another hour or so—what the hell is that!"

"What? Gibson…what?"

Gibson pointed at the horizon as they drove around a curve in the road. "That light…"

He slowed his speed as the car approached a vivid purple glow that was emanating around some sort of dome-like structure. Gibson pulled the car over to the shoulder, just as Rowan and Katie began to stir in the backseat.

"What's going on? Why are we stopping?" Rowan muttered between yawns.

In response, Olli pointed straight ahead to the unnatural structure that stood a mile or so off the road. Gibson got out of the car, closing the door softly behind him, and the others followed. As they silently crept closer to the strange light, they realized that there was a bustle of activity around the building. Shadows of people moving about were silhouetted against the brilliant glow, and an electrical whirr could be heard above a cacophony of scattered voices.

"RUN!" Gibson suddenly choked in a hoarse whisper. "BACK TO THE CAR! NOW! GO NOW!"

"What is it?" Olli asked in a small, frightened voice.

"Them. It's Them. I can hear them, and…and they know I'm close…They know I'm here…oh god…RUN!"

--

Weyburn, Saskatchewan

30 days after

"We missed New Year's. I didn't even think about it, but I guess it was several days ago. 2013…what's the date today?"

Mulder blinked his eyes sleepily in the darkness and sighed deeply as he inhaled the sweetness of Dana's hair, which at just past her shoulders, he realized, was longer than he'd ever seen it. She'd managed to get a hold of some shampoo in one of the stock storage compartments in the lower level, and everyone had been using the sink upstairs in the single employee restroom to bathe. They had cleared half of the downstairs storage area for sleep quarters and hung make-shift curtains for mock privacy; not that anyone could see without a strong flashlight anyway.

Mulder groaned slightly when he rolled his sore shoulder; he was new at hunting and he'd never been much of a sportsman, despite the fact that he was a good shot. Killing a helpless animal was different than shooting at a fair opponent. He would not hurt his pride, however, by admitting that much of his difficulty with the rifle came from his guilt over murdering innocence and not necessarily a lack of skill. Whether he liked it or not, hunting for food had become part of his job in serving their little community, which now numbered eighteen. Along with Mulder, Dana, Abigail and the three men who first arrived, there were now three lone drifters, one older married couple, and two small families that now called the convenience store home. Mulder and Dana were grateful that one of the families had a nine-year-old daughter, Harper; she and Abby had been getting along well and their playtime had helped brighten the monotonous boredom.

The women seldom left the store, because word had traveled that They were searching for human women as trophies, and if a man were desperate enough, he might kidnap a woman and turn her in for a bounty. All anyone knew of the outside world came from the mouths of the newer members of the group. More people had begun arriving after Mulder and Dana had only been there a couple of days. It was difficult to turn anyone down, but they were going to have to start saying no fairly soon; space was running out, and too many people could not easily remain hidden. For the most part, everyone did their share in giving to the others, but with her medical experience, Dana was probably the most valued member. She had examined countless cuts and bruises and even set a broken wrist the week before after a small hunting accident. Mulder was not the only one who tended to fail miserably in the old ways of hunting and gathering.

For the first few nights, Abigail had insisted on sleeping between her parents on their "bed" that they had made out of sleeping bags, but now she was content in her own little corner on the other side of the curtain. "It's like your own pillow fort castle," Mulder had told her, only partially so that he might have a bit of privacy with Dana. Night was the only time they saw one another, and Mulder hated to sleep, because he never wanted to miss it.

"Mulder, are you awake?"

"Hmm?...yeah…yes."

"Did you hear what I just said?"

"Uh, yes…um maybe…er, no…I don't remember."

Dana had been lying across his bare chest, and she slowly sat up, her hair tickling his nose and cheeks. In the darkness, she traced a finger over the sharp bridge of his nose until she reached his lips. He gently grasped her wrist and kissed each of her fingers, lingering on her thumb.

--------

"I was afraid of what knowing would do to you. I was afraid it would crush your spirit."

"Why would I accept defeat? Why would I accept it, if you won't? Mulder, you say that you've failed but you only fail if you give up. And I know you -- you can't give up. It's what I saw in you when we first met. It's what made me follow you ... why I'd do it all over again."

"Maybe there's hope."

I want to hold onto this moment. Keep it forever so that when I'm dying I can remember my favorite part of life. If someone asks me as I draw my last breath what the best thing was, I will say this night; feeling Scully's heart beating against my chest as we lay in a shitty motel bed in Roswell, New Mexico when we're fugitives of the United States government. Tonight I have hope. I have love. Maybe I have a new beginning. It doesn't matter, because there is only now. Only this.

--------

"I said we missed New Year's. What is the date today?" Dana whispered into Mulder's ear as she settled her head against his shoulder.

"I don't know. I would guess around January 20th."

"That's so strange. We're in Saskatchewan—there should be several feet of snow on the ground this time of year."

"I don't think we'll ever see snow again."

"I wish we could fight them…"

"Time will give us answers, Scully. We can't accept defeat. Not yet."

"I haven't. ..There's always hope, right?"

Mulder smiled, knowing that she remembered. He turned over onto his side, facing her, and lovingly cupped her cheeks in his hands. Their lips met in a tender kiss that gradually built in intensity until their mouths opened, hearts beating faster. Mulder reached under her shirt to caress her back as he pushed the garment up to her neck, and then grasped her hips to turn their bodies so that she lay on top of him.

"Mulder, we can't…people will hear us," Dana murmured breathlessly.

"I can be quiet if you can," he whispered.

They both jumped when the door at the top of the stairs swung open, and heavy footsteps hurried down. Mulder and Dana rushed out of their curtained "bedroom" and were met by the blinding glare of two industrial strength flashlights.

"Dana?"

It was Nate, one of the newer drifters, and Clint stood beside him.

"Yeah. Clint, Nate…what's wrong? Has someone been hurt?"

"No. Come outside." Clint said.

"What is it!…" Mulder called as he rushed up the stairs behind his wife. When he caught the sight outside the large front windows of the store, he stopped and sucked in his breath.

"Oh my god, Mulder," Dana breathed.

"Sunrise…" he said softly. For the first time in weeks, he could really see his wife. Pale golden light glowed on her skin and danced in her hair, so that it was the color of a gentle flame. Tears shone in her blue eyes.