Title: Nova: East of Eden

Feedback: I love it more then chocolate.

Rating: NC-17 for possible graphic violence and sexual situations.

Warning: Minor character death and sexual situations.

Disclaimer: Not mine, I’m making no money, just playing.

Classification: Angst, Post-Colonization-sequel to my fic ‘Nova’, available at my page, Ephemeral, Gossamer, and, Annex to name a few.

Spoilers: It’s a WIP, so I really don’t know what will happen. But anything up to but not including the 7^th season finale is fair game. PLEASE PLEASE don’t try to read this fic without reading ‘Nova’ first. Thank you.

Summery: Five years have passes since the ending of ‘Nova’, one late night Scully looks back .

--If you are missing any parts of East of Eden they are at my page and Ephemeral.

Dedication: To Evie for her always perfect beta job and from the get go listening to my endless questions and whining. Melissa for her more then excited response when I told her of this fic, her encouragement and beta. And to all the original ‘Nova’ readers, I became addicted to your feedback and just had to get some more of it. I hope this WIP can live up the standards ‘Nova’ set for me.

Part 2 of ?

Present day…

I’ve watched many deaths in my life. I’ve even caused some. There is a big difference in watching a criminal bleed to death, watching them writhe in pain, I’m ashamed to say that gives me a sense of pride. Knowing they are feeling, if only a small portion, of the pain they inflicted on their victims and their families. But being witness to an innocent death is another story. I have seen many of those too, and each one haunts me at night. Even worse than that is an array of deaths because I stood in the center of the Medical Room completely at a loss for what to do. Those deaths haunt me while I’m awake.

It all started to go bad, really bad, our second winter here. People began coming into the Medical Room with coughs, hard wet coughs that turned into a deadly fever. No matter how hard I tried nothing I would do could help. It just got worse. I scrubbed my skin and changed my clothes before I left the room every time. People thought I was over reacting when I began a quarantine as the symptoms became worse. But, three days later, when we started removing the dead bodies from Nova, that stopped. That was a long winter. I don’t even know how many people died. Some made it though, as long as the fever didn’t set in they had a chance.

Sometimes, when it’s quiet, I can still hear the wheezing of so many on their deathbeds, trying desperately to get what could be their last breath.

4 years earlier…

Early winter

Scully’s hands still burned from the harsh scrubbing she gave her body. Still she felt as if the microscopic germs were crawling on her flesh, waiting to infect the next unknowing victim. Shaking off those thoughts the best she could, Scully opened the door to her room.

Silence met her as she stifled a yawn with the back of her hand.

"Hey." Mulder said in a low voice, rising from his chair to meet her as she walked towards Aeryn’s bed. "I just put her to bed, she fell right to sleep."

Scully nodded absentmindedly as she looked down at her daughter, reaching out to push the soft ringlets of light hair from her cheek.

"She wanted to stay up and wait for you but…." Mulder trailed off, knowing Scully didn’t want to talk about the Sickness. Not wanting to talk about it himself. His arms wrapped tightly around her waist, he rested his head on her shoulder. Scully immediately stiffened, thinking of all the particles of Death lingering on her body, even after all her carefulness. "Aeryn wanted me to give you a kiss goodnight for her." Mulder murmured in her ear.

His words made the tension melt from her body. She turned her head to accept his gentle kiss.

Scully was dead on her feet. The thought of her soft bed with her warm husband was fantastic, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from her child yet. Aeryn was Scully’s miracle. No matter how hard her day was, no matter what horrible things this world brought to her the sight of her daughter made everything better, even if it was only for a short while. Aeryn was always there at the end of her day. Always smiling and beautiful and happy. Her little angel. Well….most of the time. "Did she give you any trouble eating dinner?" Scully turned in Mulder’s embrace, her other savoir. Always there to listen, to talk to, or to just be with. For as long as she knew Mulder, his selflessness when it came to her was still a shock. After long days working at Nova, when it was obvious he just wanted to collapse in bed, he would stay awake long enough to massage the kinks out of Scully’s shoulders. Or to whisper to Aeryn some insane fairy tale he made up on the spot to put her to sleep, so that Scully could rest. The list was endless. Mulder was truly devoted to his family, and amazingly enough it made Scully love him even more.

Mulder laughed softly at her question, rolling his eyes good naturally. "No more then usual." He looked around Scully with a smile at their sleeping child. "Are the terrible two’s over yet?"

Huffing, Scully snuggled up to the warmth his body gave off. "Not by a long shot."

"Let’s get you into bed." He whispered as Scully pressed her face into his chest to stifle another yawn.

Her nod against him was weak and short.

Mulder hugged her tightly to his body while he pivoted on his feet. Backing Scully up he sat her on the edge of the bed and kneeled down to pull off her shoes.

"It’s getting worse." She whispered, staring off at the wall behind Mulder as he eased her pants off her legs. "A dozen people came in today. Eight with a fever of over one hundred." Scully blinked slowly, bringing the room back into focus as Mulder swung her legs up onto the bed. "What am I going to do, Mulder?" Her voice caught in her throat, making her swallow dryly-causing her throat to restrict in the need to cough. But she swallowed it, afraid she would start to contribute to the coughing that filled the Medical Room.

A sigh, soft and thoughtful, was Mulder’s only answer for a moment as he settled into bed on his side next to Scully. He tucked her hair behind her ear. "You are going to keep doing just what you are. Researching and studying this disease as you make everyone as comfortable as you can."

"It’s not enough."

Cupping her jaw gently Mulder brought her eyes level with his. "You are doing everything you can. That’s all that people ask of you, Scully. That’s all they expect-"

"I should be able to do more." She interrupted, her voice rising in frustration.

"Don’t." He dropped his tone to just a breath of a whisper. "Don’t do this to yourself." Moving closer he tucked Scully’s head under his chin, effectively ending the conversation.

She was silent with her thoughts for many moments, fiddling with the worn cotton of Mulder’s shirt. "I just….I just don’t know what to do." She whispered finally.

Mulder lowered his lips to her temple. After dropping a light kiss there he let out a soft breath against her skin. "We’ll figure something out."

Three days later…

Scully stepped out of the quarantine room and into a smaller attached room to clean up. Setting the water to boil on the stove, she began pulling off her dirty clothes after checking to be sure the door was locked. Three bodies had just been taken out. Scully couldn’t bear to see anymore, Amanda could tell and told her to go home to her family. Scully didn’t argue. So she began her ritual of scrubbing her skin with the harsh soap made at Nova.

Thirty minutes later she slowly began to dress in clean clothes. Her tired mind and aching muscles fighting the whole time. Her stomach grumbled in complaint of being empty for too long, but Scully didn’t have the energy to eat. She just wanted her bed.

Finally, for the first time since early that morning, Scully stepped out into the hallways of Nova. They seemed oddly quiet. Just over two dozen people were in quarantine, all with fevers. Scully knew it was just a matter of time before they died. Many others stayed in their rooms. Maybe they were hoping that locking themselves up with their loved ones would stop infestation. The smart individuals were the people who spent as much time as possible in the fresh air. Even if it was cold with bitter wind, it was clean air.

"Scully, wait up."

She turned on her heel to see Mulder jogging slowly down the hallway towards her, a bundle of firewood in the carrier swaying at his side. Striding up to her he took her chin in his hand and kissed her lightly.

"Where’s Aeryn?" It was unusual to see Mulder without Aeryn. She was infatuated with her father and went anywhere and everywhere she could with him.

"Playing with William still." Scully nodded. If Aeryn wasn’t with Mulder she would bet money-if it still meant anything in this world-that she was with Skinner and Amanda’s son. He was only six months younger then her, people were always teasing that they would be married in twenty years. "I have to pick her up on the way back to our room." He said as he stooped to retrieve a small piece of wood that tumbled from the carrier.

Scully’s exhausted mind took a moment to order her legs to slow down and wait for him.

Mulder’s breath caught harshly in his throat as he started to rise. Dropping the wood at his feet a hand went to his throat as he started to cough. Gently at first. Then with more force. So much that he could barely get enough air in.

"Mulder?" Scully called softly.

Barely hearing her plea over his hacking, Mulder held out a hand as he stayed doubled over, not wanting her to come any closer.

One hand fiddled nervously with the chains around her neck as she watched Mulder struggle. Scully only stopped when the gold and silver chains tightened suddenly around her throat, causing her to jump in surprise and release them. Glancing away from Mulder briefly enough she looked down to see the gold cross and silver star spinning wildly against the blue cotton of her shirt as the chains unwound themselves.

"Mulder, are you ok?" She asked again a moment later after he fell silent.

He nodded quickly, not trusting his voice just yet.

Scully quickly stepped up to him, running her cool hands over his forehead and neck. "You don’t feel warm."

"I’m ok." Mulder said tentatively, afraid that speaking would start him coughing again. "That came out of no where…" He trailed off as he met Scully’s eyes. Her lower lip was quivering just slightly, her eyes filled with fearful tears. Reassuringly he touched her arm. "Really. I feel fine."

Closing her eyes suddenly, Scully clasped a hand over her mouth for a moment, trying to compose herself. Stepping closer to Mulder she laid her hand over his chest, feeling his heart still beating fast from the coughing. "I’m so scared." She admitted in a whisper. Scully didn’t say what she was a afraid of. She didn’t have to. Mulder knew, they shared their fears just like everything else.

Present day….

It seemed after a short while everyone was coughing. When Aeryn started I thought my heart would stop. I drove her two-year-old impatient self, crazy taking her temperature every hour on the hour. I didn’t sleep through a night for over two months. Mulder was about ready to strap me into the bed. But when I would wake up for some unknown reason there was no way I could rest until I laid my hand on Mulder’s forehead to be sure he was ok, then I would have to crawl out of bed to check Aeryn before I could rest again. No matter how hard I tried I always woke Mulder. It was one of the middle of the night trips out of bed that I noticed the change in Nova. It was always silent. Even in the daytime sound didn’t travel well in the hallways. But then, at the height of the Sickness, I could hear the coughing and wheezing. Muffled by the walls, but it was there.

"Mulder?" I had said softly, as to not wake Aeryn, as I crawled back into bed.

"Is she ok?" Mulder may not have approved of me rising countless times during the night, but I have a feeling if I hadn’t been he would have himself. More then a few times I caught him out of the corner of my eye placing a hand on Aeryn’s forehead. And when he would stroke my cheek so many times during the day, he would linger just a bit longer then usual.

I nodded to him as I cuddled back up in the warm sheets. "Do you hear that?" I had whispered. Part of me was afraid it was all in my head. Maybe I had the Fever and was hallucinating. "The coughing, Mulder. Do you hear everyone coughing?"

He had only nodded, tucking my hair behind my ear.

"You need to take Aeryn outside with you tomorrow." I said that to him every night. Many times. He probably thought I was insane the way I repeated myself over and over when he knew that needed to be done. "You both need to be in the fresh air. Take her outside with you." For months those were my last words before I fell asleep.

4 years earlier…

Late winter

Leaning against the doorway of the stock room Scully watched Mulder as he sorted through a shelf.

Sensing her presence Mulder turned and gave her a soft smile. It faded as he took in her defeated posture. "What, Scully?"

She took a deep breath as she stepped into the large cool room. "Um…Byers…He…" Scully trailed off, not knowing what to say. Raising her head she met his eyes. Feeling her throat tighten and her eyes glaze over with tears she shook her head as she reached out to lay her hand on his arm.

Mulder sucked in a deep breath, turning his eyes away from hers. For a moment he just stared at the wall beside them, unseeing. "When?" He asked without looking at her.

The question caught Scully off guard. "Just about a half hour ago." She said quickly. The truth was she didn’t really know when he died. The quarantine room was full of the sick. Amanda had come up to her, took her to the side and told her softly that Byers had passed on.

Mulder nodded solemnly. "Did they take his body out yet?"

Another question that caught Scully off guard. "Yes, a few minutes ago."

Nodding once more he stepped out of her reach and around her, towards the door.

"Mulder, wait."

Pausing in the doorway he tilted his head slightly in her direction.

Scully somehow knew he wanted to witness the burning. "Can I come with you?"

He turned fully at her question, his hand reaching out towards her. "Please."

The cold air burned Scully’s lungs and throat, sore from constant coughing. She and Mulder stood under the cover of a large pine tree, trying to avoid the heavy snowfall. They where far enough away from the other bystanders to be seen but not heard. When they had walked out Mulder had given a single nod to Frohike and Langly. Nothing else.

Mulder pulled Scully back against him as they watched the newest bodies being brought out of a side door of Nova. It was impossible to tell who was who. Each body was wrapped in its own bedclothes.

The train of bodies seemed endless, Scully forced herself to stop counting after seven. She turned her body into Mulder’s, pressing her face into his shirt as a torch was brought to the base of the pile. Scully had insisted on the bodies being burned verses buried. This was the first time she was a witness to the event. She hadn’t realized until this moment that she was denying the family member’s a burial site. She couldn’t even fathom what that must be like.

Mulder just stared at the flames as they steadily licked their way up the pile, silent and almost motionless except for idly stroking Scully’s hair as she leaned into him.

Within moments the thick smell of burnt flesh filled the winter air.

It was odd watching the destruction of so many bodies at once. A countless pile of people they both once knew. Turning, before their eyes, to a pile of ash and bone fragments that would be buried beneath the new snowfall before the next morning. And soon after that another stack of bodies would be burned like the one in front of them now.

They stood silently as the bodies disappeared, the flames died into a pile of embers and everyone else left to mourn in their warm rooms.

After long silent moments Scully turned to look up at Mulder. He was still staring, glassy eyed, at the burn site. Taking his hand gently in hers she tugged. "Come on, it’s getting too cold."

Mulder nodded, glancing at the rapidly setting sun. He took a step, allowing Scully to lead him back into Nova. He kept his eyes lowered, not wanting to look at the faces of his friends he may pass in the halls. Friends that could very well be dead within a few days.

It seemed the walk took forever to get to their quiet room. Once Mulder shut the door behind them he pulled Scully against him, pressing his face into her hair. It only took a moment for her to realize he was hiding his tears.

"Shh." She whispered, although he was silent. Running her hands up and down his arms a few times she took a hold of his waist and pulled him towards the bed. Sitting him down Scully quickly straddled his thighs. Cradling his face in her hands she kissed the tear streaks away as fast as they formed. "Don’t cry." Scully coaxed, trying to ignore her own tears. Lowering her head she kissed him softly. Tasting the salt of his tears, feeling his warm hands settle comfortably on her waist. Scully’s hands ran through his hair, one hand stopping to cup the base of his skull, the other moving to wrap low on his waist. His supple lips opened beneath hers. She swallowed his lingering sobs like she had done countless times before.

They had little time alone, the curtain that separated Aeryn’s bed from the rest of the room gave little privacy. Their bodies almost acted independent of their minds when they were actually alone. High emotions added to the situation. Therefore their lovemaking had turned even more emotional then before. Often quick and intense with little chance to enjoy the afterglow. Still they both treasured the time and were more then satisfied.

Mulder suddenly pulled his mouth away from Scully. Resting his forehead on Scully’s shoulder he coughed for a few moments.

Scully stayed quiet. Stroking his back and kissing the side of his neck until the convulsions passed. The moment Mulder raised his head again Scully pulled his layers of shirts over his head. Pushing him back against the bed she ran her hands over the smooth skin of his chest. His heart thumped strongly beneath her hands, from the coughing or arousal she didn’t know. She didn’t care. All that she needed, all that he needed, at the moment was to feel. To feel alive, to feel pleasure which would bring them new found hope as it always did.

With a gasp, Scully arched into Mulder’s hands as they slid up the front of her shirt to cup her breasts. She struggled to pull her clothes off and keep Mulder’s hot hands on her at the same time.

With both of them naked from the waist up Mulder pulled Scully’s chest down flat against him, groaning at the contact. "I love you." He whispered softly against her ear, before pulling the sensitive flesh into his mouth. Before Scully could return the sentiment he rolled her beneath him. Pinning her with a gentle rhythmic thrust of his hips.

Scully huffed slightly in frustration, forcing room for her hands between their bodies. Mulder quickly rose on to his knees and they both struggled to remove the remaining clothing, becoming desperate to be with her.

Falling back into the valley of her thighs he wasted no time sliding into the warmth and comfort of her body, causing Scully to take a sharp breath. Her reaction was of surprise, not discomfort. Over time they had both become accustomed to being efficient with their time.

Mulder settled against her, a tender kiss on her check apologizing for his impatience before he began to move steadily inside her. His breath came in harsh pants against the dampening skin of her neck. Scully moaned softly as his fingers found her sensitive nipples, rolling and tweaking each one in turn. He lowered his lips to her ear and began whispering softly how she felt, how she made him feel. His loving and erotic words always made her writhe.

It didn’t take long before they both tired from the struggle to get enough air in their congested lungs. Mulder rested his weight as much as he dared against Scully’s petite frame, grinding his hips against hers.

Scully twisted and panted beneath him. Mulder’s pubic bone rested firmly against her swollen clitoris. She gasped out his name as she raised her legs around his waist, causing him to sink deeper within her. Bucking against him she felt the tight coil of release deep in her belly. She sunk her nails in the skin of Mulder’s back as her orgasm whipped through her.

Mulder grimaced as she contracted strongly around his engorged flesh and thrust deeply, letting his own release take him.

They rested against each other, panting and wheezing desperately.

Present day…

I thank God every day that spring came early that year. I don’t know the exact number of people that died, no one does. Over a hundred, I know that, well over a hundred. One fifth of Nova’s population, at the time, gone in one winter.

That hell finally ended when the snow melted and we could finally open the doors of Nova. The cool spring breeze forced out the dank air. And with it, it seemed, the Sickness.

Why the Sickness happened I don’t know. Yes, Nova was poorly ventilated, but no one had been deathly ill prior to that winter. Some people think it was Them. That They wanted to kill Earth’s inhabitants that the bombs had missed and this was their way. But then the Sickness would have been air born which means everyone should have been infected severely, not just the cough.

Or maybe it was just Mother Nature’s way to weeding out the population of Nova. We never had as many crops as we planed to. Bombings have destroyed the fields over and over again, making the planting process every year a tiring job. Our canned products left over from Before are sacred items, being saved for only the most desperate situation. I can’t remember the last time I opened one of them.

The Sickness left the halls of Nova quiet and dispirited. Children without parents and parents without their children. Entire families gone. Mulder and I were lucky to come out of that with our family intact. To say it was devastating doesn’t even come close to a appropriate description. It was just the first in the long line of diabolical events.