Pushing Dust By: afg – www.ofnoconsequence.com Rating: R Category: Angst. MSR Summary: Nothing lasts forever. Thanks: To Aud for her time and enormous brains. Feedback: Lovely! – siggy.63@btinternet.com Note: Set post 'The Truth.' This is a sequel to 'Redemption Day' ~oOo~ 'Let's love What's left Last dance First breath' - Richard Thompson ~oOo~ Tecumseh Nebraska Ed Swan looked up from the spark plug he was cleaning. He smiled at the woman who emerged from the battered pickup that had pulled in to the forecourt of his small garage. Hey, Annie. You looking for Jack?" "Yeah, Ed. Is he around?" Ed's smile faded as he noticed her slightly frazzled appearance; she was normally pale but today she looked like a ghost. "You okay, honey? You don't look so good." "I'm fine, I just got some bad news from my sister in Georgia. I need get down there. Is Jack here?" Ed knew she was lying, he knew a lot more about Jack and Annie than he suspected they thought he did. Annie especially didn't lie well, but he liked her, he liked both of them. "He's in the back doing an oil change, just go through." "Thanks." Ed watched her hurry off. He figured they'd be on their way now. Ed knew all about running and hiding; he'd done his fair share as a young man and he understood the need for lies and a packed bag Jack and Annie emerged from the garage. Jack hastily wiped his filthy hands on an equally filthy rag. "Ed, is it okay if I take off early this weekend? Annie's sister is having some problems she could use some help." "Sure, Jack. Take any time you need." "Thanks." Ed was surprised when Annie came over and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks for everything." Ed looked into her pale eyes and saw a quiet sadness, which almost broke his heart. "Wait a moment, will you?" Ed left the couple and slipped into his tiny and extremely disorganised office; he quickly returned, knowing that the couple needed to leave soon. "Take this." He held out his hand to Annie. She looked at the roll of bills in his hand. "Ed, no...we can't, really." "Sure you can, take it." Jack patted him on the shoulder and shook his head. "Ed, you've done enough for us, we can't take this." Ed looked at the couple for a long moment. "Look, I know someone's after you. I just want to know that at least you'll have something to tide you over 'til you find someplace new." He watched as Annie looked nervously at Jack. "I'm a good judge of people, I reckon you're decent folks. Please, it'll ease my mind." Annie's thin hand closed around the money. "Thank you doesn't seem to be enough." "No worries, Annie, just take care of that man of yours" he winked at Jack. "You'd best get going." Jack nodded and warmly shook Ed's hand. "Thanks Ed." They walked to the pickup and Annie started the engine. Ed stood by the driver's open window. "I won't tell them nothing about you, you don't have to worry on that score." "No, Ed. You tell them whatever they want to know. Don't get yourself into any trouble." Ed's curiosity got the better of him and he couldn't help himself. "What did you guys do?" Annie held his gaze. "We tried to tell the truth." Ed nodded. "I guess some folks would rather we didn't know that, huh?" "Yes." "You take care." "You too. Goodbye, Ed." Ed watched as they drove off. He watched until he couldn't see the pickup anymore. ~oOo~ Bottineau North Dakota Scully pulled up in the lot of the motel. She'd wanted to keep driving but Mulder had insisted that they rest for the night. The events of today had frightened her and what was to come frightened her even more; not the thing itself, telling Mulder would be the hardest part. "A Super 8, Mulder. Isn't this a bit up market for us?" "Thanks to Ed, we've enough to spare for a decent place. Come on, Scully, hot showers and a low bug count, how about it?" Scully smiled at him. She suspected he just wanted to watch cable but she didn't call him on it. "Okay." The check in was marked only by the look the manager gave them when they paid in cash. The room was modest but clean, and the shower curtain was devoid of any trace of mold, which made it seem like the Savoy to Scully. Over the noise of the shower she could hear Mulder rattling about in the bedroom; the hot water felt glorious as it eased her stiff muscles from the long drive. She shut the shower off, saving some hot water for Mulder. The clean towels felt rough against her skin; she'd become hypersensitive. They'd been running for well over a year now, and she jumped at the sight of every dark suit or uniform. She could never seem to relax and the strain had taken its toll. As she wiped off the condensation, the evidence was there in the mirror. She looked thin and worn. Her eyes seemed large in her angular face. The blond dye job had left her looking washed out, faded somehow. When she'd seen Colton at the Hospital, a tiny part of her had almost felt relief that now it would all end, but she knew that it would never really be over. They couldn't be caught. They would take her away and do their experiments. More importantly she wouldn't let them take Mulder. She'd lived six months with him in the ground; she couldn't do that again. "You finished in there?" Mulder's voice drifted through the half open door. "Yeah, it's all yours." Scully secured the towel around her and, grabbing a couple more, she walked into the bedroom. "Did you leave me any hot water?" Mulder had stripped down to his boxers. He still had grease under his fingernails and his hair was lank. "Yes." He walked up to her and kissed her cheek. His beard tickled. "You want to see if there's a place to eat near here, or are you too tired?" "Scully fished in her bag on the bed for her hair brush. "Would you mind if we just stayed here?" He smiled at her. She was surprised at how much the beard had changed the contours of his face. He looked harder somehow, tougher. The sophisticated FBI agent had disappeared and this dangerous looking man had taken his place. She liked it; she liked the feel of it on her skin; she liked the little pink blooms it left on her flesh. It made him more 'here', more present; it helped her not to think of him in that damn coffin under the cold earth. "No problem, but I'm going to want a decent breakfast in the morning. No bagels or, god forbid, Muesli." "Okay, I guess something with a high grease quotient could be arranged." "As long as there's bacon with it, I'll be happy." She watched him pad into the bathroom. She went back to her bag and pulled out her medical kit from the bottom. The mattress bounced as she sat down and sorted through the contents. She laid them out on one of the towels; a scalpel and tweezers, antibiotic cream, some gauze dressings, and Micropore surgical tape. She'd made up her mind, they'd discussed this a couple of times but Mulder had been so adamant and stubborn that she'd avoided mentioning it. In her mind though, it had stewed and bubbled until it was almost all she could think about. It was time and she would not be swayed. "Scully what's all this?" He stood in the doorway naked and damp, a towel hanging from his hand. "I'm not going to argue, Mulder. I want it out, now." She watched his eyes narrow and saw his whole body tense for battle. "We've talked about this and agreed that it's a bad idea." She had to make herself hard and her eyes never left his. "No, Mulder. You agreed that it was a bad idea. It has to come out, it's leading them to us all the time." "Scully that's just you being paranoid. Every time you see a cop you instantly think they're after us." She knew he didn't mean to be hurtful but it smarted all the same. "Mulder for all the years we've been partnered how often have you known me to overreact or be prone to paranoia?" He scrubbed his hands over his face. "We've been running for a long time now. I know it's getting to you, Christ it's getting to me too, but you cannot do this, it's not safe." "It'll be fine, it's hardly brain surgery and I've got plenty of antibiotic cream." "Don't be obtuse, Scully, you know what I mean." She dropped her gaze from his. She knew he was frightened; he was so frightened he couldn't even say the damn word. "There's no reason to believe that the cancer will come back if the chip's removed." There, she'd said it for him. "There's no reason to believe that it won't. The risk is not acceptable. No, I won't allow it." Scully felt the blood drain from her face. "You won't allow it." She stood up; her hands shook with suppressed emotion. "They've taken everything. My sister, my children, any chance of a normal life; they've taken control of my goddamn mind when it suits them and it has to end. It's my body, Mulder, it's not yours and it's certainly not theirs. The risk is acceptable, it's more than acceptable because I can't live with this thing inside me, and I won't be the means by which they take us...take you." Her breath hitched. "Help me?" She saw his shoulders slump and she knew she'd won she didn't feel remotely victorious because most of all, she knew how this would hurt him. She sat back down on the bed and parted her hair at the base of her neck. He walked to her and put one knee on the bed behind her. She felt his warm hand caress her skin; she shivered from the lightness of his touch. "What do I have to do?" His voice was hollow. "Feel for the chip. It's very near the surface, just make a small incision and use the tweezers to take it out." "Do you have any Novocaine?" "Yes, but I won't need it. You'll hardly be making a scratch. " "You're such a fucking stoic, Scully." For some reason this made her laugh. She felt him kiss the top of her head, and calmed. "You ready?" She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Yes." She felt the scalpel slice into her flesh. "There's never been a minute when I wasn't glad I came with you." "Be quiet, Scully." She couldn't comply. "When they brought you back and I had to bury you...if it hadn't been for William I'm not sure if I could have gone on. I was so lost." "Shhhhhhh. Nearly done." "We're no good apart. I'm always second-guessing myself. We're partners, Mulder." She felt him place the dressing on the stinging wound and then his warm breath tickled her ear. "Always." She turned to him, wrapped the bloody scalpel and tweezers in the towel and put them on the nightstand. She put the Micropore and leftover gauze back into her bag. She steeled herself to look into his eyes. The irises were almost black with some dark emotion. "Lie down with me." She took his hand and drew him up the bed beside her. She guided his head to her breast and she stroked his damp hair. "Nothing lasts forever, Mulder. Not us, not them, nothing. We're all just pushing dust around, but, for the time we have left, I want to be pushing the dust with you." He fell upon her then. He was too rough but she let him; he needed this and so did she. His hands clutched too hard and his lips and teeth left their mark on her pale flesh. She wasn't quite ready when he pushed inside her, but the burn made her feel alive and his hot flesh warmed her. She held him tight as he strained above her Her thighs cradled him and her hands smoothed the taut flesh of his back and buttocks. In the end their tears mingled on her face as he kissed her. He smiled sadly at her as they lay side by side their hands clasped, but there was a peace about him now. "Sorry about going all Neanderthal on you." "S'okay, it went with the beard." She was desperately tired but it was a good tired. A feeling of almost weightlessness flowed over her. It took her a moment to recognize the feeling. She found she was smiling, really smiling, with teeth and lips fully engaged. Mulder gave a little laugh. "Are you okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine...I'm free." She grinned. He gathered her to him, and she settled her head on his chest and felt the thud of his heart beneath her cheek. In the morning there would be bacon for breakfast and a whole new day. If that wasn't worth living for, she didn't know what was. ~oOo~ Tecumseh Nebraska Ed Swan opened his battered mailbox and took out his post. There was one padded envelope and, sandwiched between two utility bills, was a postcard. On it there was a picture of gulls swooping over the ocean. Ed turned the card over and read the words written in neat print. "Hi Ed. We're fine and J's got a new job at a garage thanks to everything you taught him. We can't thank you enough, but a friend of ours is sending you a little something. Take care of yourself. Love, A and J" Ed smiled and read the card again, happy that they were okay. He examined the padded envelope. The postmark said Washington D.C; he opened it and looked inside. He stared at the Gulls on the postcard. He'd always wanted to see the ocean. He riffled the notes and began planning a nice trip to the seaside. The end.