From: Ten <kristena@ocean.com.au>
Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2001 09:23:31 +1000
Subject: "Keeping Time" by Ten (1/2)
Source: xff


TITLE: "Keeping Time" (1/2)
BY: Ten
E-MAIL ADDRESS: kristena@ocean.com.au and/or
kristena@netconnect.com.au

CATEGORY: V, MSR, A, MT, X-File
RATING: PG-13 (consensual adult situations not gone into
in detail)
SUMMARY: To save a dying Mulder, Scully finds herself
doing something she would never have dreamed possible.
TIMESPAN/SPOILER WARNING: There are slight references to
"Tooms", "One Breath" and "Fight the Future". I didn't
set it in any particular season when writing it, but it
would be in six or seven.
NOTE: The national park mentioned in this story is
fictitious.

ARCHIVE INFO: It goes to Gossamer through xff. Can be
archived anywhere as long as my name, addy and disclaimer
stay intact.
FEEDBACK: I love to know who is out there in the ether!
HUGE THANKS TO: Gerry, Judie, Sally, Debbie, Mac, Suzanne
and Sheila, for reading and re-reading this one and
having to put up with regular emails bearing subject
headings like: "Just one more question..." or "Can you
look at this bit again?" or "I said I wasn't going to,
but I tweaked some more..."

My website for all my X-Files fanfiction, thanks to the
wonderful Skyfox, is at:
http://tenxffic.tripod.com
Mirror site:
http://homex.coolconnect.com/member3/tenxffic/

DISCLAIMER: The X-Files, the episodes referred to, Mulder
and Scully and all other characters from the show belong
to Chris Carter and his team of writers, Ten Thirteen
Productions and Fox Broadcasting, and are used without
permission. No copyright infringement is intended, no
profit will be gained. Characters not recognised from the
show are mine.

The X-Files: "Keeping Time" (1/2)
By Ten, July-September 2001

xXx

Monday morning:

Another town, another state, another motel room. Scully
tried to remember the last time she had spent a whole
week in her own apartment. Life had become a succession
of out-of-state cases.

"Hey, at least we're in demand," was Mulder's comment.

But their latest case had proven to be a hoax - even her
partner agreed. Now Scully had her suitcase on her motel
bed, almost finished packing. She went to the connecting
door and knocked. There was no answer. The door was
slightly ajar, so Scully opened it a few inches more and
was about to say Mulder's name but then she heard the
sound of the shower going in his bathroom.

Dana went to retreat back to her own room, then Mulder's
cellphone started ringing from somewhere nearby. She
opened the door fully, and at the same time came the
sound of a curse and the water being turned off. "I'll
get it!" Scully called to Mulder, half-relieved and half-
disappointed at preventing her partner from charging wet
and most likely naked into her presence. She moved into
his room, tracking the ringing sound. The phone was lying
on the bed, next to his own semi-packed suitcase.

The caller was Luke Blackwell, the Agent In Charge of the
nearest field office, who had been keeping tabs on their
now finished case. He knew Mulder and Scully from his
time at the Hoover Building a few years ago and had
called them in specifically when the case had shown signs
of being paranormal. "Agent Scully, you're not answering
Mulder's phone because he's injured himself again, are
you? Because from the report I got, he actually managed
to get through this investigation intact."

"He's just unavailable for a few minutes, sir."

"Are you on your way to the airport yet?"

"We're getting ready to leave." A sinking feeling came
over her. Please don't tell me that something has come up
and we are NOT leaving, or that we're going to have to
jump right into another case...

"Well, I'm sorry the case ended up being a fraud, but
I've got something else for you. I've been speaking to
the head ranger of Ambrose National Park and he's
requested our help. Five people, including a guide, went
missing on a hike in that park on the weekend."

"Yes, we heard about it on the news," Scully said. The
park started on the edge of the neighbouring town to
where she and Mulder were. Their own 'case' did not have
any links to the disappearances.

Blackwell said, "Two of those hikers have just been found
in the vicinity of a campsite - stabbed to death. Our
office is sending a crime-scene team out, but it will
take them a while to get there. Since you and Agent
Mulder are in the vicinity, I've requested that the both
of you help out until the other agents arrive. Advise,
supervise. If your assistance is required past that
stage, we can sort it out with your boss. I've already
informed him that we're keeping you a little longer."

"Yes sir."

Mulder had stuck his still-soaked head around the
bathroom door while she was listening to the information.
It only took her one look to communicate to him that he
was not going to be feeding his fish and sleeping on his
own couch tonight... Scully indicated that he did not
need to take over the call, even though it had been to
his phone. She would bring him up to speed very soon. He
nodded and retreated back into the bathroom. She heard
him turn the water on again.

Blackwell answered her questions about the status of the
case, then gave her the head ranger's details so she
could contact him directly.

When Scully got off the phone, a towel-clad Mulder
appeared in the bathroom doorway, shower completed. She
told him the news, and he nodded fatalistically, saying,
"Have we got great timing or what?"

While Mulder dried and dressed, Scully phoned Ranger
Lees, who arranged to meet them at the rangers' station.

"One more thing," Lees said. "With the route that you'll
be taking to get to my office, you'll be going past the
property of an ex-guide from the park, Gordy Merrett. His
local knowledge is second to none. I'd like him on the
search. He doesn't have a phone or such, so would you be
able to call in and pick him up, or let him know he's
needed?"

Soon Mulder and Scully were driving out in the boondocks.
Instructions on how to reach the ex-guide's property were
on a page of Dana's notebook, which was open in her lap.
Scully looked out of the car window. It was a lovely,
warm day. "This is a beautiful area. It would be nice to
come back here sometime and go hiking."

"We may get to do so today - unfortunately in an official
capacity." Mulder looked regretful.

Scully nodded. That was a definite possibility. Viewing
the crime scene, perhaps joining the search for the
people still missing... if she and Mulder were kept on
the case. "This should be the turn up ahead."

It was. They took the turn onto a dirt road and soon
pulled up at the end of it, outside a cosy-looking cabin.
A pick up truck was parked nearby, hood up, parts of the
engine on a bench a few yards away. The cabin door opened
and a fit and tanned man in his late forties appeared,
his overalls covered with a mix of paint and grease.

Scully asked, "Gordy Merrett?" He nodded. "We're Special
Agents Mulder and Scully with the FBI." They showed their
badges as they met him at the steps of the cabin's porch.
"Ranger Lees asked us to come see you. I'm not sure if
you've heard that some hikers have been missing?"

Gordy said, "No, but that doesn't surprise me. There's
always people wandering off where they shouldn't. I
gather Lees wants me to join the search?"

"Yes, he does, but unfortunately it's more than just
'wandering off' this time. Two of the hikers have been
discovered murdered; the others still have not been
found."

"Murdered? Oh no..." Gordy said quietly, staring at them.
Then he gestured towards the cabin door. "Come in and
fill me in while I get ready. I gather you're on your way
to the rangers' station?"

"Yes. We'll take you there. Is that your only vehicle?"
Mulder asked, stopping to point back to the dismantled
pick up.

"Yep. Does me fine."

"Well, if you have any problems with it, you're stranded
out here," Scully couldn't help saying. "Ranger Lees said
you don't have a phone."

"That's not such a bad thing."

Mulder asked, "Which? No phone or being stranded?" The
porch boards creaked as they walked on them.

Gordy laughed. "I can stay out here for ages at a time.
Even if I couldn't fix the truck, I'm used to walking
long distances. But the truck'll be fine by tomorrow. I'm
good with engines."

"I guess that view is worth the isolation," Mulder said.
He took an appreciative look at the mountain panorama to
their left and the nearby river on their right before
entering the cabin.

"Does me fine too," Gordy said. He ushered them in. The
front door opened into a multi-purpose room. It had a
living area, kitchen, and stairs which lead to a small
loft area for the bedroom. A bare-beamed ceiling gave
further rustic appeal. A door on the far wall, over on
the left, led off to what Scully assumed were the
bathroom facilities. Near the front door a bird chirped
in its cage between an armchair and a wooden easel. A
table full of art supplies was in a corner and a number
of beautiful oil paintings hung on the walls.

All the paintings were landscapes - some were vista
views, some more intimate. Many of them Scully recognised
as images from the park's guidebook. But the main
eyecatchers were the intimate forest floor views that
contained not native wildlife, but unicorns instead.

Intrigued, Scully wanted to have a better look at the
nearest paintings. Mulder was actually moving towards
them when Gordy spoke.

"Do either of you want something to drink while you're
waiting? The stove isn't going, but I've got iced tea."

The agents declined. "All right, fill me in." Gordy
headed for a backpack. "How many hikers? Were they on a
guided tour or on their own?" He began checking the
backpack's contents.

"Rob Durie was their guide," Scully said. Best to break
that news to Gordy first, the partners had decided, then
elaborate. Ranger Lees had told Scully that Durie had
been a guide for a long time, so it was likely he had
worked alongside Gordy for a while at least.

Gordy stopped his rummaging, looking horrified. "Oh God.
We go way back - worked together for years. Is he dead or
one of the ones still missing?"

Mulder solemnly replied, "Durie is currently missing. He
took four tourists on a hike on Saturday - a day trip.
They didn't show up back at the rangers' station when
they were supposed to. The bodies of two of the hikers
were found in undergrowth in the vicinity of a camping
area this morning. Durie and the other two have not been
found yet."

Gordy sat on a chair, looking stunned and worried.

"The camping area was on their set route," Mulder
continued. "Lees thought you might want to join in the
search and use your formidable local knowledge. If so,
you can get a ride with us to the rangers' station as
soon as you're ready."

The man nodded. "Of course. Anything I can do... Where
were the bodies found?"

Scully read out the location from her notebook. "Quiet
Glen Campsite. The vehicle the group used was found
parked at the Mitchell Campsite."

"Mitchell is the usual starting point of the walks in
that section of park," Gordy told them.

Mulder said, "Lees thought that there could have been a
few 'off map' sites, not well known, that the group might
have gone to look at on the spur of the moment and then
were ambushed."

He and Scully left other possibilities unsaid. Someone in
the group could be the killer. The names of the four
hikers and the guide had been run through the FBI
database, but AIC Blackwell had reported that nothing had
popped up. No priors, outstanding warrants, or histories
of violence. There were no escaped prisoners in the area.

Blackwell was going to arrange interviews with family
members and known associates to try to find out if anyone
had a grudge against Durie or the four hikers. He was
also faced with trying to find out who was in that area
over the timeframe - a logistical nightmare considering
all the possible entry and exit spots. Investigations and
searches were mainly concentrated for the moment around
and at the Quiet Glen and Mitchell campsites. Once the
crime scene team arrived, it was hoped that they would
find evidence or clues easily overlooked.

Scully considered what else to say. The killer could have
hidden the other bodies in an isolated spot. Or the
surviving people could be wandering around lost. The perp
could be hiding out somewhere or holding the others
against their will. But there was no need to go into all
that detail now with Gordy. What they had told him was
enough to show the risk and leave it to him whether or
not he chose to come.

Gordy was on the move around his cabin. "I'll grab some
stuff and be ready in a few minutes."

Mulder nodded. "Sure."

While Gordy raced around grabbing binoculars, supplies
and equipment, and putting them in the backpack, Mulder
went over to examine the nearest paintings. Scully
followed suit. The signature on each was Gordy's.

"Looks like engines aren't your only talent. These are
great."

The ex-guide smiled at Scully's compliment. "Thanks. I
decided to try painting full time last year. Gave up my
guide work. I used to do that to earn the money for
paints but then got to a point where the paintings were
paying their own way."

"The ones with the unicorns are so detailed."

"My best selling 'line'."

Mulder was looking at the backgrounds of the unicorn
paintings closely. He pointed out to Scully a distinctive
tree in several of those paintings. "This is the same
area. Did you base it on a real place in the park?" he
asked Gordy.

"Sort of. There are some really magical spots. But mostly
from my imagination."

Mulder looked at him thoughtfully and nodded. "Looks like
a beautiful place. The way the light falls."

Gordy checked that the bird had enough food and water,
then said, "I'll just go to the bathroom." He disappeared
through the door.

The agents kept studying the paintings. Then Scully
realised that Mulder's eyes weren't focused on the
pictures anymore. She recognised the signs. He was
profiling. He was making one of his famous leaps.

"What is it?"

"Something..."

He was leaping, but needed to find something solid to
land on. He turned and gazed intently around the cabin,
as if his mind was a metal detector and he was sweeping
the area for the payoff. Somehow she knew that he was
going over their entire conversation with Gordy and every
reaction the man had made. Scully started doing the same,
trying to discover what had set her partner off.

When Mulder had asked Gordy if he had based the unicorn
background on a real area, she had not looked at the ex-
guide to see his expression, but Gordy's tone... It had
been guarded... Why?

Then Mulder turned again to the paintings, specifically
the unicorn ones.

"Scully, it's *him*," Mulder mouthed, then headed for the
bathroom.

"What?"

Mulder knocked on the door. "Gordy?" No answer. Her
partner pulled his gun and opened the door. There was a
pause as he checked inside, then he turned back to
Scully. "He's gone out the window. I don't think it was
to fetch firewood." Mulder moved rapidly towards the
front door. "Call for back up. Let them know. We've got
to -"

He stopped, verbally and physically, staring out the
closest window. Scully came over beside him and saw the
cause. The tires had been slashed on their car. She could
only see two of the tires from here, but whether only two
or all of them had been disabled, she and Mulder were
stranded.

Mulder headed for the door again. As Scully was reaching
for her phone, all hell broke loose. There was a blur of
motion across the window, thuds on creaking porch boards,
then the door flew open. Gordy lunged forward, blade in
his hand, for the nearest agent. Mulder.

Her partner either fired his gun or it went off in the
struggle. The bullet hit the window pane. The gun landed
on the floor. Scully held her weapon, ready to shoot or
act when given an opening. The men knocked over the
birdcage, breaking it, and the freed occupant shrieked,
flying up onto a bookcase. Mulder cried out in pain and
then managed to shove Gordy. The ex-guide stumbled, then
came forward again with the knife, ignoring Scully's
yelled, "Stay where you are!"

There was a slim moment of time where the killer was a
clear target and Scully didn't hesitate in taking it. She
pulled the trigger.

Gordy collapsed to the floor. Mulder staggered back
against the armchair. Scully had to keep her focus on
Gordy as she went forward to check him, but in her
peripheral vision she could see that Mulder was holding
his arm. Thank God, just his arm.

"Gordy's dead." So certainly dead that she didn't even
need to kneel down and check for a pulse. Her aim had
been spot on. The knife, bloody, lay beside him. She
started to turn, her mouth opening to shape her partner's
name, and in it, ask how he was, but before she could,
Mulder choked out two words.

"Scully - artery..."

Her blood froze. Mulder's was doing anything but. Even
though his other hand was clutching the wound tightly,
blood was...everywhere.

Scully cursed her relieved 'just his arm' thought. As a
doctor, she should have known better. It didn't matter if
it was 'only' the arm. Nick or sever an artery anywhere
in the human body and it was still a quick countdown to
death.

Their eyes locked, both filled with alarm. Then Scully
rushed forward and went into medical mode.

The blood. She would have to risk applying a tourniquet,
which would cut off all circulation to the limb. They
often did more harm than good. Tourniquets needed to be
properly applied and supervised because they had the
potential to cause such severe and irreparable nerve and
tissue damage that the limb would then need to be
amputated. So they were used only when it was the only
way to save the wounded person's life.

Like now.

The tourniquet had to be tight enough to stop the flow of
blood, but not tight enough to damage the nerves - so it
needed to be something as wide as possible. Scully used
Mulder's belt and glanced at the clock above the
fireplace, marking in her mind when she would have to
loosen the belt. It could not be left that tight for any
more than twenty minutes, before being loosened.
Otherwise the tissue would become necrotic due to lack of
circulation. But loosening the tourniquet had the
possibility of clots dislodging... Risks every way she
turned.

Thank God her cellular worked. She vaguely remembered
noticing some transmission towers atop a hill a mile or
so back.

xXx

The ambulance was on its way - as well as the police.
Scully sat on the floor with Mulder in her arms. She had
propped his legs up on a couch, so that they were higher
than his head and chest.

Scully had made a pressure dressing and bandage out of a
clean sheet she had found. She was also applying pressure
with her hands. The tourniquet had stopped the blood from
spurting, but there was still some leakage and it was a
stop-gap measure at best. She also managed to position
his arm so the slash wound was above the level of his
heart. As far as she could ascertain and as far as Mulder
had been able to tell her, this was his only serious
injury from the attack. But it was more than enough.

Holding Mulder and applying pressure were about all she
could do now. Her fingers could not stroke his forehead,
so her lips did it instead. He was so pale. Sweat had
appeared on his skin. She had wrapped his lower torso and
legs with a blanket to try to prevent him losing body
heat through shock. "It's all right, it's all right," she
said.

But it wasn't. Scully had done the calculations in her
head. Several times over. The distance the ambulance had
to cover. The amount of blood Mulder had lost. His
rapidly deteriorating condition...

She could see that Mulder knew the truth too. Even if the
EMTs broke all speed records, they were going to be too
late to save her partner.

And nothing could be done about it. There was no working
vehicle to get Mulder into and use to meet the ambulance
halfway. No helicopter was available to press into
service. She couldn't sew up the artery herself or clamp
it.

Her gaze fell on the fireplace, the poker. Images of
times of old came to her - use of a red hot poker to
cauterise everything. Yes, the bleeding would stop. Too
bad the pain or almost-certain wound infection often then
killed the patient...

If the fire was lit, would she risk it?

Scully had forced her mind to remain locked in doctor
mode, going over every option that could possibly keep
Mulder alive. She had to keep herself together: as a
doctor, and as Mulder's carer and comforter. It would do
him no good if she let herself become overwhelmed by her
anguish. But it was so difficult, with cold, hard logic
once again telling her that her partner was going to...

She shied away from even thinking the word. No, not
Mulder. Not like this.

"Scully..." Mulder opened his mouth to say more.

"No!" came out of her mouth before she realised she had
spoken. There were so many things to say, but Scully
could not accept that these would be their final words,
the last conversation.

I will NOT let this be the end.

"Don't talk. Just lie still. Okay?"

His pulse and respiratory rate were rapid. He was very
short of breath. Not gasping though - Scully realised
with fear that he didn't have the strength to do so. She
could feel tremors of shock going through his body. But
Mulder managed to smile up at her. "All in... all... not
a bad...way... to go..."

Being stabbed by a killer and bleeding to death? Scully
stared at Mulder incredulously. Then she realised.

He meant dying in her arms.

"Mulder, there are plenty of things you're going to get
to do in my arms, but dying is not one of them. I won't
allow it."

Scully struggled for more words, for more time. Mulder
stared up at her. 'I know,' his gaze said. 'Me too.' She
bent down. Their lips met in a brief but eternal kiss.
Then they tried to say everything with their eyes.

She could see the life steadily leaving him. Another
minute, perhaps one more, perhaps less, and he would go
into delirium. Shock would completely swallow him up and
he would pass out and then his heart and his lungs would
stop their struggle....

And he would never return to her.

She felt so desolate, so helpless...

"Sing," he whispered.

For a moment she thought he had reached the delirium
stage. But from the look in his eyes, he was still lucid
enough.

How could she deny his final request? And in the words of
a song, she could tell him her feelings. A perfect one
was hovering on her lips. She cleared her throat and
forced herself to begin.

"If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I'd like to do
Is to save every day
Til eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you."

Mulder was mouthing the words along with her. Tears were
running down her face. Her voice kept cracking and
wavering, but she pressed on, meaning every word, feeling
every line, wishing it with all her heart. As she sang
the next verse, Mulder's mouth stopped following the
words. His breathing and pulse became slower. Weaker. She
knew it was inevitable, but this was happening so quickly
- oh God, please, no...

"If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
I would save every day like a treasure
And then again I would spend them with you..."

She couldn't sing any more. Mulder's eyes closed. Scully
clutched him tightly, feeling a surge of emotion go
through her and embrace her, stunning in its intensity.
Then Mulder's breathing and heart stopped. He was leaden
in her arms.

Oh God, had that been his soul passing over?

She could not let it end like this. Time for CPR, to try
to keep her partner 'viable' for when the ambulance
arrived, more chance for them to revive him. She knew it
was a lost cause with a major bleed, but it was better
than doing nothing. He felt impossibly heavy in her arms.

A microsecond off releasing her grip so she could scoot
around to start the CPR, Scully looked up, tearing her
gaze from Mulder's face in order to check the nearby
clock - needing to judge how much longer the ambulance
would take, to check how long the tourniquet had been
tied for, and to note the time she was about to begin
resuscitation.

What caught her attention instead was Gordy's bird. She
stared.

A part of her brain had been aware that the creature had
stopped making so much noise. Or any noise at all. She
had thought perhaps it had settled down or flown out the
broken window, or she had just been too distracted to
notice.

But now...

The bird was about seven feet away, wings spread in mid-
flight. Motionless.

Scully stared. The bird was not moving. It was not
perched on anything or beating its wings. It was
simply...there, mid-air, like someone had hit pause
during a 'birds in flight' documentary. How could a bird
be up there like that and not fall to the floor?

And as she tried to comprehend what she was seeing, she
realised it wasn't the only thing that had halted. The
clock above the fireplace was not ticking. Its hands were
not moving. The pendulum was not swinging.

Scully could see Mulder's watch - she had removed it from
his wrist when loosening his clothing and exposing the
wound and had dropped it on the floor. The watch had
stopped too. Perhaps from the fall, but that would not
explain the bird, the clock...

Had *everything* stopped? Time itself...? No, it couldn't
have.

"Not in this zipcode," she whispered.

But... What if?

She looked down at Mulder. Did he feel so heavy because
he was still 'pinned' down to a point in time that was
not progressing? And, much more importantly, she realised
that if time *had* frozen, then he might not be dead yet.
The slowing down and cessation of his heart and lungs
could have been through time coming to a halt, snatching
him from death... At least if time had stopped in time...

"He might not be dead..." Then she said it louder. "He
might not be dead!"

That thought slashed through the panic and fear and
uncertainty and hysteria that were rising up in her,
culling them back to a more manageable level. For now.

"This can't be happening. But, God, I hope it is..."

END PART ONE OF TWO