Title: Nova

Author: Angel

Feedback: Please!

Archive: Please!

Classification: MSR, Colonization fic.

Rating: NC-17 (for some parts-very mild but to be safe!) Others are probably PG-13 or so.

Summery: The inevitable happens. Mulder has planned ahead and now does everything in his power to keep Scully safe. You MUST read all parts to understand! Available at Ephemeral and my home page.

Disclaimer: You know the drill. Characters are property of Fox, 1013, ect. No money is being made. No infringement is intended. Some poems are used without permission, names of authors are given. Prayers which I did not write, and I don’t know who wrote are included in some areas.

Homepage: (to find missing parts and sooner or later the completed version, also posted at Ephemeral)

A HUGE thanks to Evie my beta reader! Nova would never be doing this well, or going as fast, without her help! Thank you thank you thank you thank you!

Note: Want Nova updates in the mail? Just let me know!

"Baby don’t look up, the sky is falling." Tori Amos

(18/?)

Day 99

Skinner looked back and forth between the book he was reading at his table and the door which was just knocked on. He really didn’t feel like spending the energy needed to stand up. "Come in." He called.

Amanda slowly opened the door. "Hi Walter."

Skinner put the book down. "Amanda, how are you?" He asked surprised to see her.

"I’m fine. Dana asked me to stop by and see how you were feeling."

"Oh… I’m feeling better." Skinner looked at her in silence for a moment. Amanda looked uneasy, like an animal ready to flee. "Why don’t you sit down, we can talk for a while."

Amanda chewed her lip for a moment before nodding. "Ok." Amanda sat with Skinner. She smiled shyly. She liked Skinner. Even after he had bawled her out that one day for being rude to Scully he didn’t seem to hold it against her.

"Are you enjoying working with Scully?" Skinner asked leaning back in his chair relaxing, trying to put her at ease.

"Yes, I really am. I haven’t had the opportunity to do much of anything around here." Amanda laughed softly, shyly.

Skinner smiled at her timidity. "I’m not allowed to do anything. I know how you feel. Well at least about the work, but not about your father."

Amanda’s head shot up. "What do you mean?"

Skinner was flustered for a moment by her panicked look. "Just, I can’t imagine how it must be. He seems to be a very controlling person."

Amanda looked down at the tabletop, draw tiny obscure patterns with her fingertips. "It is. Made it hard to grow up I guess."

Skinner nodded slightly. "Yeah. It must be hard for people to look at you as anyone other then Benjamin’s daughter."

"Yeah." She nodded lost in thought. "I’m little Amanda who has lived in Nova all her life because her mother was crazy. People don’t really take me seriously. Like you, that’s what you thought when we first met. I was being a bitch because, you were right, I didn’t really know what else to do. So I was a spoiled brat."

Skinner looked at her squarely. "I don’t see you like that anymore. There’s a lot more to you Amanda. You just need to let it out."

Day 103

"Scully, wake up." Mulder said in a soothing voice. But she continued to whimper and struggle in her dream world. "Come on, Scully, wake up." He firmly. She began to fight, her arms pushing away invisible threats, her feet kicking for purchase, her body pushing off the bed trying to break away from the mysterious restraint she had told Mulder about. "Scully, wake up." Mulder ducked as her hand came towards him, but not fast enough. The back of her knuckles hit his cheek bone with a loud sound somewhere in between a smack and a crack. Wincing, Mulder rolled away slightly as Scully jolted awake from the painful contact.

"Mulder!"

"I’m here." He unconsciously groaned out with his hand over his eye.

Scully turned towards him in the dim light breathing heavily and trembling. Shaking herself from the last of her dream she pulled his hand away from his eye. "Oh Mulder… I’m so sorry." She dabbed at the smear of blood with her thumb.

"I’m ok. Are you?"

She nodded only half listening to him. "I want to get that cleaned up. You stay here, I’ll go to the Medical Room." She slid off the bed and pulled on enough clothes to be warm enough for her short trip.

"Scully… Don’t worry about it. Come back to bed."

She turned to him as she stepped into her shoes. "It’ll make me feel better, ok? I’ll only be gone a minute."

Mulder sighed and sat back against the cold wall. There was no was stopping Scully when she had her mind set on doing something.

The nighttime silence of Nova was cut through by a blood curdling scream.

Mulder jumped out of bed in his boxers, his legs tangling in the sheets before he was able to free himself and get out the door. He ran, a full force run, down the hall until he came to a stretching halt were Scully stood, shaking, and Benjamin stood shocked and confused from her reaction to meeting him in the hall. Mulder quickly stepped between the two, taking Scully’s face in his hands he looked her up and down for injuries. She looked ok other then being pale and shivering. "What happened?" Mulder looked around as other people started to file into the hallway, Benjamin told them to go back to bed. Without waiting for Scully to answer he scooped her up in his arms and quickly took her down the hall and back to their room. "What happened?" He asked again, firmer, after he set her on the bed.

Scully shook her head. "I don’t know. He scared me. I didn’t think anyone would be awake. I don’t know why I reacted that way."

Mulder nodded as Skinner walked in the room. "What the hell happened?"

Amanda walked in a few seconds later. "Dana? Was that you?"

Neither Scully or Mulder said anything to explain. Pulling on clothes Mulder looked up at Skinner and Amanda. "Stay with her. I’ll be back in a few minutes."

Scully watched as Mulder pulled on his shoes and jogged back down the hall. It took a second for her still racing mind to focus. "Skinner, stop him." She said finally realizing where Mulder was mostly likely going.

"Amanda, stay with her." Skinner left the room quickly in search of Mulder.

Amanda sat on the bed next to Scully. "Did you scream because you saw my father?"

Scully nodded numbly.

"I’m scared of him too." Amanda whispered.

Scully looked over at her, for some reason she wasn’t surprised.

"What the fuck did you do to her?!" Mulder screamed at Benjamin as he ran down the hall, Skinner close behind him.

"Calm down Mulder." Frohike said as he walked up into the dwindling crowd.

Mulder paid no attention to him as he continued to glare at Benjamin.

"I didn’t do anything Mulder. I was just walking my hallways."

Skinner caught Mulder with one arm around his chest as he tried to lunge towards him. "Stop it Mulder. This won’t help anything."

Benjamin stood with a smug grin on his face watching Mulder struggle against Skinner’s hold.

Scully walked up in front of Mulder, noticing the pained expression on Skinner’s face as he tried to hold him with still weak muscles. She placed a hand on either of his upper arms and looked up at him. "Mulder."

He relaxed slightly at her soothing tone and glanced down at her for a moment, not wanting to take his eyes off of Benjamin. "I want him to stay away from you." He snarled.

Scully couldn’t remember the last time she saw Mulder this angry. She ran her palms up and down his arms. Caressing him in almost a sensual way in front of the few people that Benjamin hadn’t been able to shoo away. "It’s ok Mulder. My dream set me on edge. It’s ok, really." He eased back slightly as she ran her hands up around his shoulders. "Mulder look at me." She waved Skinner away discreetly. Skinner slowly let go and stepped back as Mulder looked down at Scully.

He leaned over, his lips close to her ear. "I’m worried about you." He said softly, his hot breath tickling her skin.

"I know." She whispered back. Using the position to her advantage her pressed her lips to his neck feeling him slowly relax. "It’s ok. Let’s go and try to get some sleep." She slid her hands from his shoulders to his hands, clutching them she pulled him away and back down the hallway. But not before he shot one last deadly look toward Benjamin.

"Come on Amanda." Benjamin said after he watched Scully take Mulder down the hall.

Amanda looked at Skinner for a moment, then down at the ground, but didn’t move.

"Amanda. I said let’s go. I’ll walk you back to your room."

Skinner placed his hand on the center of her back. "I’ll see you tomorrow Amanda." He told her with his eyes to go with him and not fight it now. Everyone was too on edge.

Amanda nodded and gave him a small smile as she walked away with her father.

Day 105

Mulder heaved the axe over his head with a grunt. He had been chopping wood for the last few days, orders of Benjamin. Not only was he chopping wood all day, in the heat, but he was also an hour and half walk back to Nova. It did nothing more then make Mulder even madder at Benjamin. He had too much time to think. Lately he had been spending most of it imagining different ways to us his axe to end the problem with Benjamin for good.

A particularly graphic one involving the said axe and the contents of a pack of Morley’s in a certain bodily opening -he choose to ignore the fact that he couldn’t get a pack of Morley’s for entertainment’s sake- when he was interrupted when Frohike walked out of the path to where Mulder was throwing wood onto a cart. "Hey."

Cracking his knuckles Frohike leaned against a tree. "He’s got you busting your ass."

"No shit." Mulder grumbled.

"You know you have really pissed him off, don’t you?" Frohike asked slightly annoyed, but understanding his actions.

"No shit." He repeated.

Frohike sighed softly. "So what are you going to do about it?"

Mulder dropped the axe to the ground, wiping sweat from his brow with his forearm he turned to him, arms outstretched in question. "What can I do? The guy hates me because Scully loves me. Nothing I can do, nothing I want to do."

"But how long before he kicks you out of here?!"

Rubbing his face with his hands Mulder groaned. "I don’t know. I’m trying to stay calm with this. It’s got to blow over sooner or later. Maybe after a while he’ll realize that Scully doesn’t have any feelings for him and give up."

Frohike gave him a ‘yeah right’ look.

Mulder sighed and picked up his axe again. "Useless. It truly is useless. The guy is insane."

Frohike nodded. "I’m just waiting for you to crack, Mulder. Watch yourself."

He nodded soberly. "I am, trust me."

"Fuck!" Frohike yelled suddenly as a large ship passed over them.

Mulder frowned, unfazed. "Been happening all day." He said once it was out of site.

"Great… Just what we need."

Notes: I don’t think I have any… that’s odd….