Title: Nova

Author: Angel

Feedback: Please! I love every but of it!

Classification: MSR, Colonization fic. (If I say anymore I’d give it all away!)

Spoilers: All the way up to 7^th season finale but NOT including even though nothing much is really mentioned.

Rating: NC-17 (for some parts-very mild consensual sex- but to be safe!) Others are probably PG-13 or so for naughty words and implied naughty stuff =).

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. A few poems and songs 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! Umm… one more! Thank you!

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

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

(48/48)

Day 253 (continued)

Mulder could feel the cold of the snow burning the exposed skin of his face. He knew he should move, but his head pounded so hard that it was impossible to think about anything else.

Slowly, as the ringing in his ears died down, the popping and sizzling sounds of fires were audible. He couldn’t hold in a groan as he rolled himself on his back, gasping for air as his throbbing body dealt with the movement. The large flakes of snow that fell on his face were soothing.

"Scully." He muttered out loud without even realizing. With a deep cringing breath Mulder forced himself into a sitting position. He pressed the heel of his hand to his spinning head. Ignoring the nausea Mulder struggled to stand.

He had to go back to Nova. He must get back as fast as he could. It ran through his head in a continuous loop.

Bracing himself with a hand on tree whenever possible, Mulder started trenching through the thick layer of snow on unsteady legs.

He focused on nothing else other then getting to Nova. It three hours away though, three hours before the latest two inch snow fall, before a nauseating headache. But the motivation he had now was completely different then his walk away from Nova. That was about finding a body, this was about finding his love.

***

The explosion must have been a few hundred miles west of Nova, Mulder decided. As he walked east, towards his home, the destruction lessened slightly. Trees were down everywhere, he hand walked past a few of the newly constructed barns, which now lay in mostly rumble amongst the snow.

Even when he was at a distance he could tell Nova had crumbled once again. A large cloud of dust rested in the sky above Nova, brought on by the tumbling of rocks and boulders. The snow now falling from the sky was black with soot. The heat of the fires had turned the ground into slush, Mulder was soaked through and shivering horribly. But, thank God, the air was breathable, the sky though gray was visible, and he could see Nova.

Finally Mulder reached a side entrance, only slightly caved in. He picked his way through not being as careful as he should, but he didn’t slow down. He couldn’t. The heat of the interior of Nova reminded him of the lives inside. He hadn’t seen anyone since he split up with the search group, but not once had that crossed his mind.

Nova was eerily quiet.

Mulder walked as quickly as his bruised body and aching head would allow down a small hallway that would intersect with the North Hallway.

The North Hallway was vacant. Mulder’s stomach twisted. Ignoring the pain in his body he broke out into a run, taking a small pathway that would cut across to the East Hallway.

With one light push his door swung open.

"Scully?" He called desperately.

His echo was the only answer.

Mulder walked over the crib, looking down with a mixture of hope and dread, not sure of what he wanted to see.

He saw nothing.

"Ok." He whispered to himself. "Think logically." Mulder left the room and made his way down the silent hallways of Nova.

With a deep breath Mulder turned the knob of the Medical Room door and stepped into the lit room.

"Oh Mulder, thank God you are ok." Judy said holding a fussing Aeryn in her arms.

Without a word Mulder walked up and took the baby into his arms holding her close to him, his lips pressed to her forehead, breathing in the comforting clean baby scent. Aeryn quieted in his familiar presence.

After a moment he raised his head and looked around the Medical Room, fully expecting to see Scully kneeling by one of the many cots. Mulder’s eyes closed in fear. "Where’s Scully?" He asked softly.

"I don’t know." Judy said nervously. "I was in here tending to people, no one was hurt badly, just scrapes and bruises, so I hadn’t sent for her. Then she came in, handed Aeryn to me and left. Skinner told everyone to stay in their rooms, I figured that’s why she hadn’t came back, but that doesn’t make much sense."

Mulder looked at her question. Why would Scully have left? People were injured, despite severity she would have stayed to help. Why would she leave the baby? It was all so unlike her.

Realization passed through Mulder, like an ice cold fist gripping his stomach. She went looking outside of Nova for him. That’s what he would have done if she had been out there. Left the baby is capable hands then started to search.

"Did she say anything?" He asked in hope. He just needed a clue as to what direction she started in and then he could find her-he would find her.

Judy shook her head slowly. "She just said she had to go."

"Oh God." Mulder breathed out, pressing Aeryn closer to him. "Can you watch her for me?"

Immediately Judy nodded and reached out to take the baby.

"I’ll be back." Mulder said with a lingering look at Aeryn before leaving the room.

"Not again." He prayed softly as he began to jog towards the Main opening of Nova.

He skidded to a stop halfway through the Main Room, at the Church door. With a shaking hand he opened the door. He wasn’t sure why he had stopped here, it was just instinctive. But Mulder had learned a long time ago, to never ignore his instincts. They had saved his, and Scully’s neck too often.

Disappointment filled his heart as he scanned the chairs, all vacant. As he went to close the door a small movement in the far corner caught his eye. "Scully." He breathed in relief, even though fear still occupied most of his heart. He slowly, cautiously, made his way over to her as she crouched in the corner; her knees pulled to her chest. "Scully?"

Her head flew up in surprise.

Mulder dropped to his knees beside her, pulling her against him. "Are you ok?"

Scully nodded, her tears beginning to soak through Mulder’s shirt. "I was so scared I would be called."

"You weren’t?" Mulder asked in surprise as he pulled away from just enough to see her face.

"No… But I was scared I would be. I had to get away for Aeryn."

Mulder nodded, pulling her back against him. It made sense to him now. She left Aeryn in fear that she would hurt her. Scully’s worst fear. His too. But it didn’t happen. Nothing happened. Scully was ok, They had left her alone this time.

"It’s ok." Mulder whispered as he rocked her gently.

"Aeryn." Scully said simply, attempting to move out of his embrace.

But he pulled her back to him, not wanting to let go of the warmth and comfort her body gave him. "She’s ok." He breathed into her hair. "I just saw her. Everything is ok."

Scully settled her head back on his shoulder. His strong arms encircling her, locking out any bad thoughts. He was ok. He hadn’t been killed in the explosion like she feared. Their family, though new and small was intact and safe in the walls of Nova.

Day 400 (About 5 months later)

Scully spread the blanket out on a fairly flat area of land, immediately laying on her back. The air was still cool from a long winter, but the sun was strong and bright, chasing away any chills from the wind.

Lowing Aeryn to the middle of the blanket, Mulder settled on his side looking over at Scully. Her eyes were closed, her head tilting back, doing her best to enjoy her Sunday off.

"Hey, where do you think you’re going?" He asked Aeryn as she rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself up as much as she could on her arms. Pinching the fabric of her shirt between his fingers, Mulder stopped any potential movement.

Scully lolled her head to the side, partly to see what the baby was doing and partly because a ship passing over head had blocked the sun’s warming rays for a moment. "She has your attention span."

Mulder just grinned. With an annoyed look at Aeryn he scooped her up from where she was slowly inching her way off the blanket and sat her up, leaning against his stomach as he lifted himself up on one elbow.

Sliding a little closer to them, Scully reached out and gently brushed her fingers through Aeryn’s soft red hair.

"What are you thinking about?" Mulder asked noticing her far off expression.

She looked up at him with a shrug. "Nothing and everything."

He nodded, knowing exactly what she meant.

Mulder caught Aeryn with a chuckle as she lost her balance and toppled to the side. He rested her head on his outstretched arm as he lowered himself completely to the blanket. She stared up at him, grabbing and reached for anything she could possibly get her curious little hands on. Scully watched with an amused smile as Aeryn wrapped her small fingers around the chain of Mulder’s Nova charm. He grumbled and carefully untangling her fingers, shoving the charm under his shirt.

After a few moments of silence, Aeryn now content with pulling at the collar of Mulder’s shirt, Scully gently tapped Mulder’s shin with her toe to get his attention. "What are you thinking about?"

"Same as you." He responded, running his fingers over Aeryn’s belly lightly, smiling as she giggled and cooed.

Scully laughed softly at the two. "What’s the ‘everything’ you are thinking about today?" She asked to make idle conversation.

"Same as it is every day."

She raised her eyebrows in question.

With a slight tilt of his chin, Mulder gestured to Aeryn and Scully. "You’re ‘everything’."

Scully smiled, inching even closer. "And what’s the ‘nothing’?"

Mulder jerked his head up the sky, signaling to the ships that passed over head all day long. They were all but forgotten, but never completely out of one’s conscious, even during the quiet times like this. "But the ‘nothing’ doesn’t matter." He said smiling into her eyes. "The ‘everything’ does."

"Yeah, it does." Scully said softly, settling her head on his forearm, and her hand on Aeryn’s belly.

Notes: It’s actually over….

First and foremost, thank you to Evie for all her timely beta work and suggestions and help. Evie supported me throughout this ordeal, yelled at me when I toyed with the idea of saying to hell with it and not finishing Nova, and gave me many virtual kicks when I wouldn’t be writing when I should. Sitting here now, after finishing Nova, I can’t think of word to describe how grateful I am for everything Evie has done. Thank you just doesn’t cut it.

Thanks to Evie (again) and Shell who had to listen to me whine about Nova for months now =). Just think, you are finally free!

And a HUGE thanks to everyone who read Nova. And a bigger thanks to those of you who sent me email about it. It always made me smile, especially the ones who wrote frequently (you know who you are). Without you all I never would have done as much as I did.

Nova, by far, has been the most interesting writing experience of my life. 5 months, 182 Word Doc pages later I have a fic that I can’t believe came from my muse. For a long time, as I was writing Nova, I thought this was going to be the last fic I would write. That’s a joke =). So don’t worry all who yelled at me for saying such a thing, I just don’t think its possible.

My goal with Nova was invoke emotion. Laughter, fear, joy, tears, and hopefully even some sense of closure with this story. The only way for Nova to end without any possibility of a sequel would be to kill everyone, but I can’t do that. Never will be able to without a huge amount of guilt. I felt Nova was becoming stale. I could have kept it going forever, but felt it was time to end it. Hopefully you feel the same. Please don’t flame me if you don’t agree, that only makes me sad =(. But I would love to hear your end thoughts on this fic.

So, once again, thank you for reading. The only point for this to be written is for it to be read. If you enjoyed this please archive, recommend, send me one last praise, whatever you would like to do. Nova is up for anything it deserves.

Thank you.