Twin Paradox, A New Interpretation by bcfan

Twin Paradox, A New Interpretation

AUTHOR: bcfan
FEEDBACK: bcfan@shaw.ca
SPOILERS: Amor Fati
RATING: MSR, MT
THANKS TO: Redwyne, my generous and ever-patient beta
SUMMARY: "Gravitation can not be held responsible for people falling in love." - Albert Einstein

Sometimes his feet were barely anchored to the earth.

Delight ran in fizzy bubbles through his veins as he relaxed, laid back and floated in no-time, a place where pastprestentfuture were one. Mulder met himself as a young boy crouching by an anthill, a pick-up game basketball player, a snuggler in bed with a sleepy redhead. A slight smile tugged at his lips and he hummed atonally in a murmur of contentment.

Mulder looked up - and he was outside on the grass staring at the night sky, twin stars Castor and Pollux shining in Gemini. He watched the pulse and whir of constellations dance in the heavens for long moments, until an insistent thought nudged its way into awareness. Stars. Star systems. Cassiopeia. Scully. He gasped and plunged to earth as reality hit.

Eyes jerking wide, Mulder woke.

*****

An exhausted Scully, sure Mulder was seizing again, rushed to press the bedside intercom. She withdrew her hand as she realized that - rather than a seizure - Mulder had jerked himself into consciousness.

Scully leaned over and tenderly cradled his bandaged head in her hands. A teary smile lit her face as she caressed his cheeks with her thumbs. Murmurs of comfort were close behind.

"Mulder, it's me. You're right here safe with me."

Mulder looked at her with trusting eyes, silent. He was awake for the first time since his rescue from the medical facility, and the doctor in Scully wanted to start an immediate evaluation of his condition. She was deeply troubled, wondering just what damage his brain surgery had inflicted.

But the woman in Scully held back. I'm keeping him tethered by my presence, she thought.

Scully swallowed her fear and began to speak quietly, gently massaging Mulder's temples through the bandages.

"You scared me, Mulder, but you're going to be all right. You're in my old friend's nursing home, tucked away in a private room. No one will find you, and we'll stay here until you're better."

Mulder slowly licked his lips and tried to speak. "Wha...?" almost silent.

Scully beamed and some of her worries receded.

"I should have known you'd start with questions," she teased. She held a cup with attached straw to Mulder's lips. He sucked weakly and was able to swallow a bit of water.

Mulder's eyes slid shut.

"We'll talk more later," Scully promised. She shrugged back into her chair and continued her vigil.

***

Mulder found himself in a rose garden on a lazy summer afternoon. He strolled relaxed and carefree down the meandering path, pausing now and then to inhale a particularly enticing perfume. Happiness enveloped him in a warm cloak. I need to share this moment with Scully, he thought, turned - and there she was. Mulder grinned as the Scully from long ago reached for his hand. She was like a new rose then, he realized. Fresh and dewy. With sharp little thorns to keep him in line! He chuckled with delight, and was unsurprised when the image of his now-Scully took her place.

"Come and sit with me, Scully. I want to show you something."

As they settled companionably on an ancient stone bench, Mulder held up the book in his hand.

"Did I ever tell you that I had to study Winnie the Pooh at Oxford?"

Mulder laughed at her surprised look.

"Of course - it was in Latin." He opened Winnie Ille Pu and began to read aloud, savouring the whimsical verse like aged claret as it rolled off his tongue:

"Quis vult in terra stare
Cum possit volitare?
Parva nubecula
Cantitat carmina.

Quis vult in terra stare
Cum possit volitare?
Vita nubeculae
Est fons superbiae.

Pooh wants to be a cloud and float to the sky. Will you be my blue balloon, Scully?"

His thoughts were interrupted by a buzzing noise. Mulder had only the blink of a moment to consider - bees? - before he was awake and tethered to the earth once more.

***

Scully sighed in appreciation of Mulder's easy journey to consciousness. He's getting better already, she dared to hope. She turned off the electric razor and put it on a bedside tray.

"Perfect timing, Mulder. No haircut, but I just got rid of three days worth of beard. How are you feeling?" Scully again held the water to Mulder's lips as she spoke.

"Better," he quietly replied, then gestured weakly with his hand. "Roses?"

"From my mother. Don't worry, she signed my middle name on the card. I knew they were for you, though."

Mulder smiled, and Scully's heart turned over.

"I've been dreaming. Good dreams. You're in them, Scully."

Mulder reached out and Scully eagerly grasped his hand.

"I'm so glad you're better, Mulder. Are you..." she hesitated. "Are you still hearing voices?" She swallowed back her fear and anger, focusing on the frail-looking man in front of her. The bruises under his eyes were in stark contrast to his white bandaged turban.

"No - thank god." A raspy reply, then continued. "How are you? You had to travel..."

"I'll tell you later." Scully was determined to spare Mulder the confusing and contradictory details of her own journey until he was better. She was also struggling with a private crisis of faith, which had shaken her badly. Focus on Mulder, she reminded herself.

"Mulder, if you're feeling up to it, I'd like to have my friend help me run you through a few simple neurological and physiological tests. It would help us decide on the right course of treatment and physiotherapy."

"Okay," he sighed, seemingly resigned, "But I'm feeling kind of hungry. Food first?"

Scully grinned wickedly and held up two cans. "I've been waiting for you to say that, Mulder. Which kind of Ensure would you like to start with - chocolate or vanilla?"

Mulder groaned. "Sometimes dreamland has its advantages," he muttered.

Scully set down the cans and gave his arm a friendly rub. "I'd rather have you right here with me. Real life can have advantages too."

She leaned over and kissed the bandages covering his forehead. "You made it back to me, Mulder. You've given our future back to us. I'm thankful for that, more than I can say."

"Me too, Scully," his serious reply.

***

The next day, Mulder's beautiful dreams were replaced by waking struggles with recuperation. He was shocked and dismayed to discover he couldn't leap out of bed and pick up where he left off. Mulder gritted his teeth in rueful effort as he realized how much he had taken his good health and easy athleticism for granted.

Sitting up, feeding himself, awkward steps between the bars then shuffling through the building's corridors - he seemed to be fighting gravity every single step of the way. He felt like his muscles were loose rubber bands, unresponsive to his direction.

Mulder persevered with grim determination, sweaty with effort as he finally graduated to short walks on a path around the building. It eased something inside him as Scully - without lavish praise - quietly stuck by his side. She is gracious silence in the face of my frustration, he realized, and something more - their unspoken bond seemed to be getting stronger daily.

Today the path was easier to navigate, and he actually felt a bit energetic as he faced the final hill. He glanced over at Scully and grinned.

"Race you," he challenged.

Scully smiled. "Showboating again, Mulder?" Her pace quickened, and Mulder gleefully matched her stride. He chuckled between gasps of air when he reached the top first, his fists raised in victory.

Mulder turned, then declared seriously, "Time to go home."

"You're right, Mulder. You've recuperated amazingly quickly. Let's not wear out our welcome."

Scully started to head back, so he touched her elbow.

"Wait. Wait, Scully." He looked into her eyes. He felt like a teenager again, like his younger self when his world was new and hopeful. My world can recapture these feelings, he thought - as long as Scully is here. I'm the moon orbiting her sun, and I better say something damned quick before she thinks I'm brain dead for real.

" I - I want to say thank you. For everything." Mulder wanted Scully to understand his gratitude - and so much more. I'm ready to move beyond what we have together, Mulder thought, then wondered - but is Scully?

She smiled up at him. "No problem, Mulder. It's a new millennium soon. Time for a fresh start."

Mulder pondered the meaning behind Scully's words as they meandered back inside.

The next morning found Mulder standing in the nursing home lobby as he waited for Scully to say goodbye to her friend. He was dressed comfortably in a jacket and sweats and, except for the turban of bandages spiking his hair at odd angles, no one would have been able to guess that he'd been so ill the week before. He paced, restless, then finally ducked into the tiny gift shop. He impulsively bought a card he saw on a revolving display, then sat on a soft lobby chair.

He held the card in his hands, smiling at the cover. Winnie the Pooh, paws behind his back, was staring at a star in the night sky.

I'll mail this later or, he considered, I could give it to her for Christmas. I've never given Scully a Christmas card before.

Mulder opened the card and chewed his lip at the white expanse in front of him, then relaxed in contemplation of all things Scully.

Sitting with his large feet casting shadows as they lay propped up on the lobby's coffee table, Mulder smiled fondly as he thought about their very first case together. He'd realized from the beginning that his partner was a contradictory statement, which nonetheless was true. Scully was a scientist with strong religious faith, a delicate looking woman who beat him in target practice scores, a loyal companion with no reason to be so. A walking paradox.

A sigh of appreciation, then Mulder began to write. All his yearning and desire seemed to spill on to the page. "In my dreams I'm always falling, Scully. I'm falling for you faster than the speed of light, stronger than gravity's pull."

Mulder closed the card with a satisfied snap, put it in the envelope - then hastily stuck it in his jacket pocket as Scully strode into view.

My message is unmistakable, he decided, I'll wait till the time is right. A Christmas and New Year with Scully would be the best time in the world.

Mulder smiled as they exited the building, his hand gently touching Scully's back. He was ready for the new millennium and hopeful for a new future.