CHAPTER 21

3 days later

She found herself in the middle of a meadow surrounded by warm faces of people she didn't recognize. American Indians - Navajo, they somehow silently specified, their elder closest to her as she lay on a beautiful bed of white flowers. She wore only two pieces of pure white cloth, one draped over her chest and the other over her pelvis. Several children with beautifully large brown eyes approached her side, saying "Estsán-nahtáh" as they placed more delicate white wildflowers by her side.

The elder's eyes were intense, filled with wisdom to be bestowed on her through his weathered hands as he reached over her, his palms following the length of her body. He chanted softly, his eyes closing as his long, silvery-white hair danced in the gentle, warm breeze around them. She had no need to move, the peace that filled her soul causing her body to come to the deepest rest it ever experienced.

The elder's eyes opened, peering directly into hers as he continued to chant, his hands stopping over her heart and stomach. A young boy carefully stepped to his side, holding a small wooden bowl out with great importance. Through his chanting, the elder dipped his fingers into the brick red paste in the bowl, his calloused fingers first tracing over her forehead, a shape of a snake expertly drawn by his hand. He re-dipped his finger, then began to trace over her chest a bear. Her arms, he drew rope symbols. Moving past her stomach, he drew a cross resembling a plus sign on each of her legs. On her feet, he drew lightening bolts, his thick finger lingering for a moment as he paused his chant. In silence, the elder dipped his finger for the last time, tracing over her stomach large mountains, his eyes closing as he finished.

As his eyes reopened, she searched them, her lips opening gently to speak. His finger came to his mouth, ushering her into silence, his voice soft as he spoke:

"Estsán-nahtáh ... shimá."

"She's waking up!"

A scurry of sounds filled the room she now hazily saw, opening her eyes slowly against their will to remain closed. As the fog lifted off of her mind, she pushed forward, her heart straining in worry when she didn't see him.

"Will!" she gasped.

"Easy, easy ..."

Cara turned to the man who was sitting next to her, blinking to try to clear her vision as she took in his face. The lines of his jaw were familiar, as well as his dominate nose and his intense eyes ... "Where is he?" she breathed, knowing the man who stared back at her was Fox Mulder. She watched him swallow, his hesitant pause enough to send her worry into overdrive. "Is he hurt? Where is he?" she demanded.

"Cara," Scully's gentle voice gained Cara's attention as the petite woman moved to her left side, donning a long white lab coat. "You've been through a lot. You need to relax so you can-"

"Where is Will?!" Cara nearly screamed, feeling Mulder's gentle yet firm grip on her upper body as he pushed her back down against the hospital sheets. Her breathing slowed against his gentle pin, realizing the answer was one she didn't most likely want to hear. "He's alive, isn't he?" she whispered, her eyes filling with tears.

"Yes," Mulder said softly, continuing to hold her in place.

"Cara, William is in Federal custody," Scully explained, a waver in her voice more than evident.

Cara's lips parted. "He didn't do anything!" she breathed.

"He confessed to it all," Mulder explained, his hands leaving Cara and rubbing his eyes; Cara saw the redness in them, the lines etched on his face looking fresh from recent worries. "Doggett and Reyes are fighting for custody of him."

"What did he confess to?" Cara asked, confused.

"Killing the doctor, kidnapping you ..."

"Why?!"

"It was the only way to protect us, as he saw." Mulder sighed deeply. "You fell into a coma after he surrendered."

In Cara's mind's eye, she recalled the passionate kiss she shared with Will, his soft breath that tickled her ear, and his warmth slowly leaving her side as his hands raised to the sides of his head. She gasped as she saw him be pushed down to his knees, the officers more than brutal in their capture of his still weakened body. Despite his condition, he could have easily thrown all of the officers across the overlook, but he chose not to, silently subjecting himself to false accusation to keep safe the people he loved.

She remembered screaming his name, her cries joining the chaotic mess of sounds around her, feeling her heart break as she watched Will be dragged away in cuffs. She heard Doggett rushing past her on the grass, his voice calling back to Mulder and Scully, "We'll get him out!" and then forward to the officers, "FBI! He's in our custody!"

The last thing she saw was Will, who chose to take a last look at her before he was shoved into a car. As she slumped backward into darkness, the final sound that echoed in her mind was Will's desperate voice as he screamed her name.

Cara laid frozen in her hospital bed, Mulder and Scully silent as they watched her. Her weary blue eyes shifted to Scully. "You fell into a coma just as William was being taken," Scully said softly. "You've been asleep for three days."

"Where are they taking him?" Cara whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"ADX Florence," Mulder grumbled softly, his anger still burning at the location that was deemed appropriate for his son.

Cara gasped. "The supermax penitentiary?" She saw Mulder nod. Her bottom lip quivered as she processed the information. "He'll die in there!" she whispered.

Mulder's jaw tightened as he heard Cara's statement. "We're going to get him a pardon," he said firmly. "So long as he continues to cooperate, he'll be able to retain his reprieve."

"Cara," Scully interrupted, "you'll need to stay under observation for at least a week. You lost a lot of blood, and I need to monitor your condition closely."

"I need to see him!"

"You can't, Cara. He won't be able to have visitors besides his lawyer, Doggett and Reyes for at least six weeks."

Cara's heart dropped at Scully's words. Her mouth moved slightly, but nothing came out. Seeing her struggle, Mulder took her hand in his gently. "He asked us to protect you, Cara," Mulder said softly, his thumb tracing her skin gently almost in the same way Will's had before.

"I don't need protection. I need to find evidence of his innocence," Cara said firmly. "I need to go back to Hoboken to investigate."

"And you will," Scully said, "in no sooner than a week's time."

"You need protection now more than ever," Mulder added. "One of your captors is still unaccounted for, and God knows how many we don't know about that are out there too. They know of your power. They won't stop until it's destroyed."

Cara's eyebrow raised at Mulder. "And what about you?" she asked, her gaze turning to acknowledge Scully in her question as well.

Scully looked at Mulder, who continued to hold Cara's hand; Mulder's eyes closed as he took a deep breath. "We're going with you," he replied.

"No," Cara said, shaking her head. "I can't risk either of you getting hurt-"

"It's not up for debate," Mulder interrupted, squeezing her hand. Cara's lips parted at Mulder's choice of words - she recalled herself chiding Will with those exact words as he protested her involvement in his escape. "We will take William's apartment. We will find the evidence together."

"What about the cave?"

Scully shook her head. "Nothing was recovered from the site."

Cara gritted her teeth in anger at the evidence that was destroyed. "I know there are answers in the Shield Project." Cara's voice was firm.

Mulder leaned forward. "When you're stronger," he began, feeling Scully's disapproving gaze on him, "there are ways to remember things long hidden in the mind."

"Mulder ..." Scully shook her head, knowing what Mulder was implying and trying to steer him away from it.

"Such as?" Cara's curiosity was peaked.

"Regressive hypnosis," Mulder explained, choosing for the moment to ignore Scully's concern. He was confident that whatever secrets were supposedly erased from Cara's memory might resurface, the weight of the evidence they carried enough to save Will from the death penalty. Cara's past was the key, and he would do whatever it took to unlock it.

Cara nodded, acknowledging the power she might hold inside her mind. She was determined to exonerate Will, even if it took everything she had to do it.

"Whatever it takes."

ADX Florence
Colorado

The 37-acre ADX prison facility stretched across the barren and dusty mountain landscape, easily earning its nickname of the Alcatraz of the Rockies with its extensive security and high-profile residents. Will knew as he walked slowly through the dirt path leading to the entrance that it was designed specifically to be the ultimate deterrent for inmates, complete with the prospect of 23 hours of isolation a day with only an ill-placed four inch by four foot window to remind one that they actually hadn't entered hell itself, but rather the next closest thing. He knew the inmates were left to live in slow psychological torture, their cells barren and privileges extremely few. His eyes shut as six armed guards led him, shackled twice each on his hands and feet for good measure, into his nightmare, a place filled with violence, misery and pain which he had no reason to be in - only to protect his parents and the woman he loved.

The image of Cara's face filled his mind as he silently proceeded into the compound, promising himself to keep the taste of her kiss on his lips as long as he was alive. He knew she was in good hands, under his mother's expert medical care, but his heart ached not knowing what had happened to her after she collapsed, his last sight of her tainted by a forceful blow from the officer who shoved him into a vehicle. He swallowed, choosing to remember their night together, his fingers flexing as he recalled how the silky curve of her warm hips felt under them.

He hadn't spoken in five days, letting Doggett and Reyes find him "the best damn lawyer," as Doggett put it. Doggett swore on anything and everything that he would get Will out. Will didn't have any words; no one seemed to need them anyway, as he mostly was shoved from one cell to another, and now into the belly of the darkest pit imaginable. The less he chose to feel at this point, the better. He numbed himself to everything around him - everything but the memory of her in his mind. She became his only sanity, his only reason to press on, one foot in front of the other as he passed by concrete closets that the world's worst and most notorious criminals were locked in, the key to each long gone.

He knew nothing but magnetite could kill him physically. He wasn't scared for the potential violence or torture of his body. What frightened him, as the guards shoved him into his cell, several guns aimed at him as they threatened to "end his miserable life" should he blink too hard while they unshackled him, was not knowing if she was safe. The thoughts of her body being drained of blood, the fresh wounds on her arms and legs, the evident beatings she took and wondering what she had endured that he didn't see made him sick, the bile quickly rising in his throat as the guards neared the door. He couldn't contain it, and it escaped his mouth, missing the small combination sink bolted to the wall in front of him. He heard some of the guards laugh, assuming his vomit was induced by the prison itself, and they grabbed Will, four men holding him as two beat him. His face, his stomach, his back - pounded on, crushed and bruised as he collapsed to the floor, wiping the blood and bile from his mouth.

As the steel door sealed shut, he ran his fingers over his lips, desperate to find a piece of solace to cling on to. He shut his eyes, sighing in relief as he felt that the kiss was still there. He stood slowly, his eyes fixed on the small window, knowing it was designed to disorient the average human inmate from being able to plan an escape. He, on the other hand, had the power of location, which he used to find his parents. He could find his way out. He could even survive the bullets. The cell, as rigid as it might have been designed, wasn't capable of containing someone like him. Yet, he resigned himself to stay inside of it, knowing she was free of any association to his "crimes" so long as he played the part. He was convinced that he had made the right choice, to stop running and allow Cara freedom and innocence. He would do whatever was necessary to make sure she wouldn't have to endure anything for his sake ever again.

As he stared down at the putrid vomit on the floor that had become mixed with bits of his blood, Will's eyes turned sharply to the small window, seeing a shadow pass across it. He took a hesitant step forward, his fist tightening by his side as he watched, not knowing if it was the group of guards coming for Round Two.

Will felt the color drain from his face as he saw a pair of eyes peering back at him through the other side of the glass, knowing they belonged to the only bounty hunter that got away.

TO BE CONTINUED
in Book #2: "JABBERWOCKY"