Present in the Stars

AUTHOR: bcfan
FEEDBACK: bcfan@shaw.ca
SPOILERS: End Game, all things
SUMMARY: Sentinel stars set their watch in the sky.

***

Chemistry is the study of matter and how it changes and interacts with other matter. Matter has many properties. A big thing to remember is that matter can change in two major ways, physically and chemically.

***

Alaska, 1995

"I want a digoxin 0.1 milligram I.V. Hang a heparin drip at 1,000 units per hour. And get him two units of fresh frozen plasma now!"

As the resident M.D. protested, the nurse scurried out of the room to follow her directions. Scully ignored the flurry of activity around her, focused entirely on her comatose partner.

She murmured, "He's going to make it," and began to run her hand through Mulder's hair, hoping to soothe and anchor him through touch alone.

With two lines going - one for plasma, the other for adrenaline - Mulder finally seemed stable enough to move to ICU. As he was carefully wheeled down the hall, Scully pacing his gurney, she felt a wave of dizziness.

"I need some help here," commanded an orderly who caught Scully under her elbow.

"No, no, I'm fine," Scully breathed, but in the end was escorted to a cot set up next to Mulder's bed. Her argument with Skinner, the breakneck flight to Alaska, and her last-ditch effort to snatch Mulder from death - all had caught up with her. During the first 24 hours, she dozed and jerked awake, as Mulder remained inert and suspended from movement as the spirit he had almost become.

Later, though, detachment became Scully's routine. Mulder lay on his hospital bed, oxygen tube in his nose, medication fighting the chemical changes that the retrovirus had made to his blood. When she wasn't in the hospital lab painstakingly following a time-consuming routine to analyze the retrovirus, the staff could most often find her sitting at Mulder's bedside.

As tests were completed and her report written, Scully allowed herself forays onto the hospital grounds each evening. She craved moments of privacy - there was a sea change in her feelings toward Mulder that she was almost afraid to analyze. Gradual improvement in Mulder's condition had given her hope for his future. Now she began to examine what that future could become - for both of them.

Bundled in a borrowed coat, Scully sat gingerly on a wooden bench on the edge of the frozen walk. "Mulder." she breathed. "Why were you willing to risk so much? And why didn't you tell me..."

Scully looked up - and suddenly her heart was a red balloon floating to the heavens. An aurora borealis had appeared during her musings, magically painting the sky with bands of pure colour.

Scully smiled in delight. "This, too, is part of an ordered universe," she wondered. "Yet it seems like a miracle. Faith and science can walk hand in hand."

Long moments later, Scully returned to Mulder, a new sense of peace shining so strongly that the on-duty nurse grinned in shared happiness. Scully felt a wave of almost physical change overtake her as her sense of purpose returned. The determined set of her shoulders told the story. It was science that was saving Mulder's life. She promised herself never to doubt again.

The next day, Scully's vigil was rewarded. Mulder groaned - and woke, then turned to look at her. Scully's relief was palpable; her smile beaming.

She asked gently, "Hey. How you feeling?"

A whisper. "Like I got a bad case of freezer burn. How did I get here?"

As Scully explained, she couldn't help but ask, "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"No. No. But I...I found something I thought I'd lost. Faith to keep looking." They shared an understanding gaze.

Scully smiled again then held the straw while Mulder sipped water to ease his raw throat. "Let's get you home as soon as possible. When we return, we have some very big questions to investigate - and I, for one, expect to find some answers."

Mulder's "yes" was sighed as his eyes slipped shut, this time in more natural slumber.

"Soon partner. Very soon." Her quiet words were a vow.

***

List of ways matter can change physically:
- a solid can make a liquid
- liquids can make gases or solids
- gases can make liquids or plasmas

***

Washington D.C., 2000

Destiny, fate, how to throw a curve ball...Mulder couldn't explain the curve ball of Scully's change since his return from England yesterday. All he knew was that he woke up smiling, and was now eagerly rushing to their office in order to see her again. To talk about the miracle of last night. And to give Scully the present he had so carefully chosen for her during his brief Stonehenge visit. Mulder entered the room. Scully was standing with her back turned, reading a case file. Staring at her spine, the set of her shoulders, her fragile yet solid presence, Mulder was overcome with a wave of emotion that left him mute. A palimpsest of Scully's love was now written on his weary heart, and he could feel its magic melting into his very soul.

Airy delight bubbled up inside - too much for any work routine. He cleared his throat and as Scully turned, smiled tenderly. "C'mon, let's go sneak a look at the big picture today. Forget case details."

Scully returned his smile. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," he exaggerated a whisper, "let's play hooky. I have a certain place in mind that should help us put everything in perspective. You game?"

Scully shrugged. "Well, I'm sure you'll find a way to make our out-of office visit case-related. Somehow. Lead on."

Within the hour they were seated side by side in the Smithsonian's planetarium, watching the daily show. As they took their virtual journey through the stars, constellations and celestial highlights, Scully turned to Mulder with a complicated look on her face. It seemed to be a happy and questioning expression. Mulder took a deep breath, stuck his hand in his suit pocket, and pulled out a small package.

Mindful of the handful of other viewers, Mulder spoke quietly. "I picked up a little something for you in England. I was too distracted to give it to you last night. I'd like you to have it now."

"Thank you," a whispered reply.

Carefully unwrapping the package, Scully held a stone pendant in her hand.

"Mulder," she gasped. "It's beautiful. It's quartz, isn't it - but a kind I've never seen before."

The colour of the small flat stone helix combined grass green with dark, and seemed luminous in Scully's palm.

Mulder touched the pendant with his forefinger, then looked seriously into her eyes.

"This plasma quartz feels like magic to me. It's created and shaped as a liquid, then becomes so hard and strong."

Mulder blushed slightly, then continued. "I think we're like this quartz. We've been formed stronger together than apart. This is our moment in time, Scully." Mulder gesticulated with one arm at the star scene playing above them. His voice turned teasing. "What do you think - is it written in the stars?"

Scully grasped Mulder's hand with both of hers, creating a link that was more than physical.

"Yes, Mulder. I'm starting to think that our life together really is written in the stars. What I said last night - about how it seems in my life that there has been only one choice and all the other ones were wrong - I - I was talking about you. About us. We are that choice. I know that now."

Scully's smile and Mulder's echo were twin suns overshadowing all the stars in the heavens.

***

Most of the elements can be found right in your room, like tungsten, which is used to make light bulbs. I hope you don't have any sulfur though. Who thought playing with the elements could be exactly like playing with matches!

***

Wyoming, 2009

Whispered conversations and wriggling bodies fidgeting in their seats. The scratch of pencil on foolscap as heads bent over their tasks - the rough draft of a science report was due tomorrow.

As the teacher quietly paced between desks, answering questions and maintaining as much order as a class of eight year olds could muster, Will looked up and smiled faintly before returning to his assignment. There was something about the stars, something about their composition and movement that he found deeply fascinating.

Will spent many an evening after winter's dark sitting on his secret perch, a flat speckled rock. Homework abandoned, he'd creep out the back door and head down to the lower pasture, hidden by a copse of icy trees hanging by their thumbs under the silvery moon. Will felt flung free of his body as he gazed upward with delight- widened eyes, the stars swirling around him.

He knew others in his class didn't share these feelings, so he kept quiet - except in his writing. His teacher had instructed that in every report you should begin with the basics. Matter was the most basic thing he knew. Stars were the most magical.

***

When I started this report I was a little afraid because I knew nothing about matter. When I was writing I found out a lot. For one I did not know what plasmas were - but now I know that plasmas are special because they are present in the stars.