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scully-xo · 2 years

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Now complete! “Quantum Files”

X-Files/Quantum Leap crossover, pre-series canon divergence, pining, angst, MSR

word count: 12k, rated t

@today-in-fic @xffictober2022

Their connection was tenuous - always had been. It began in person, a few brief moments he cherished, but it had been forged from light, her projected image shining out at him. Now she flickered, crackled - tiny lightning-bolts arcing through her façade. Or was it all in his head? Had his visions of her become more real than her manifestations? Or with each leap, was he surely, inevitably, fraying the threads that let her appear to him? Would the day come that he wouldn’t see her at all? Or would he continue like normal, talking to a figment that truly wasn’t there?

Read on AO3

Chapter: 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 . 6

***

Chapter 7

After dropping off his cargo, Mulder learned that it was 1978. Too late. Too early. So, he led Jared Sica’s life as best he could. His wallet didn’t contain any photos of a family. Only a few crumpled bills and plastic cards. A rosary was wrapped around the rear-view mirror, but he had to stow it away in the glove compartment. It was one thing to want to hold on to memories of Scully, to remember what she looked like and the steady sibilance of her voice. It was entirely different to be reminded with every glance as he drove that he would never see or hear it again.

Instead of getting another payload, and continuing his cross-country lonesome journey, he found himself hanging around the same area. Driving by Vicky’s aunt’s place. He never saw her, but he wondered. It was safer than his other thoughts.

Several times, he passed by the place where he’d found her. The oil tanker was long gone. The weather turned, the brightness of summer burning away the mist. Each time he drove past, wheels grumbling on the asphalt, he wished for the fog. Maybe if it returned, Scully would come back, materializing through the wall of trees. Her unsubstantial light morphing into something real. It wouldn’t happen, couldn’t, but still he wished for it.

Soon, he’d have to move on. Jared had savings, and Mulder was Jared and could do what he wanted. He could use his savings, sell his truck, move near Vicky, and make sure she’d be okay. It was the only thing he could think to do that might make a difference. After all, he was five years too late to save Samantha.

But some part of him wouldn’t let him. A little nugget of hope. Maybe Scully would find a way. If anyone could, it would be her. He didn’t let himself linger on that idea very much. Usually just in the moments before he fell asleep. When he reached out and pretended to run his fingers through her crimson hair. At this moment, it was just as real as every other time he tried to do it. Just like those other times, he’d feel nothing, as his hand moved through space instead. It felt real. Maybe pretending would be enough.

***

Mulder was passing by the stretch of road once again. It was the trees that gave the spot away. Something he’d even noticed in the mist, and was even more obvious in the bright glare of a summer sun. Two massive redwoods, side by side, crossing as they rose into the sky. It made a giant ‘X’, screaming that this was spot. This was it. Where he’d lost her.

He parked, pulling onto the gravelly shoulder, and approached the trees. Up close, he was dwarfed by them. It was a dizzying effect, and he laid his hand on the tough, spongy bark and inhaled the spicy-sweet scent. Bowed his head. In his pocket he carried Jared’s rosary and he fingered the chipped wooden beads. How much of the trucker did he carry with him? Would Jared’s God answer his prayers, fooled by the deception?

Even if Jared believed, and Scully, Mulder didn’t. He sighed, stretched his back, sore from sitting for so long. Then he unzipped his pants and pissed against the tree instead.

“Mulder.”

“Shit!” He spun around, dick in his hand, spraying everywhere, to see Scully standing next to him.

Her eyes flicked down, then back up to his face. “Um…”

Turning his back to her, stuffing himself in his pants, he whipped around again. “Scully!”

Her cheeks blazed. Her hair shone in the sun. Looked just like he remembered, better than any sunrise.

Crossing her arms in front of her chest, her expression turned serious. “We don’t have much time. Where are you?”

“I’m, uh… right where I should be, I think?” He wanted to reach out and hug her. Wrap himself around her, like Vicky’s aunt. “God, Scully… you did it.”

Then he noticed her face. Drawn, thin. Her straight nose stood out, her cheekbones soared. Eyes a dull blue. Of course she’d done it. And it had cost her.

She nodded, looking around. “You were driving. Can you get to the same place? Even if you’re within a few yards I think I can manage it.”

“I remember, Scully.”

Standing a few feet away, she looked up at him. Hesitated. “I don’t want to go,” she said, biting her lip.

He kneeled in front of her. Felt the stones of the rosary in his pocket jam against his leg. The weight of the device around his neck.

“It’s never changed, Scully.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“I believe in you.”

Nodding, her back straightening, she gave him one last smile before stepping back into the shadows of the trees around them. Disappearing, hopefully, for the last time.

>>>FLASH<<<

His whole body ached. Limbs felt like he’d been torn apart and put back together again, over and over. His eyes felt like he’d been standing in a sand storm.

He coughed. Throat was dry. Stomach felt like it had shrunk to the size of a pea. Like he hadn’t had any food or water in three months. Maybe he hadn’t.

Cracking his eyes open, he saw the familiar capsule surrounding him. Trapping him inside. And across the plastic barrier, dark and dreamlike, was Scully. They were in the same room as before, but the lights were off. The screens surrounding him, and the ones near Scully, were the only source of light. She stood there, eyes wide.

“Wanna…” he croaked, his voice rough with disuse. Coughed again. Pulled against his restraints.

Instead of Scully, it was Mario in front of him, unlocking the door and pulling him out. Scully hadn’t moved.

“Slow now,” Mario supported him, half-carrying him from the chair onto another one. “There ya go.”

Everything was under plastic sheets. Packed away. Chairs lifted from the ground onto long rows of tables. Cables strewn along the tiled floors. He craned his head to look where he’d last seen Scully. She was gone. Disappeared. Was this a dream? Would they taunt him, for the rest of his life?

Small hands laid upon his shoulders. They trembled. He opened his eyes and saw her.

“Mulder.”

“Hey.”

“You’re really here.”

His eyes burned, but he kept them open until tears formed, turning her into an indistinct apparition. But she was there. He felt the touch of her hands as they patted over his arms, up his neck, over his cheeks. When her thumbs grazed over his lips, he nearly jumped from the contact. Her breath was sweet, minty. She smelled like sweat and soap. As much as he loved seeing her and hearing her, knowing she was there, it was all the rest of his senses catching up that convinced him this was real.

“God, Scully.”

Her face twisted, tears falling from her eyes, though she didn’t stop staring at him.

“It’s okay. It’s okay Scully. You did it. I’m home.”

Nodding, silent, she bowed her head against his chest. Her hands wrapped around his shoulders and held him close. It was a loose embrace, nothing like the bruising hug he witnessed between Vicky and her aunt. But with every second that passed, holding her and laying his cheek against her soft hair, he felt himself twining around her. Making an endless thread, her and him, that could never be unraveled.

She pulled back and looked into his eyes. Shining, bright, hopeful for the first time in weeks. Months.

Then he kissed her.

End.

#xf fanfic #mulder and scully #msr #txf #canon divergence #crossover #quantum files #i write #scully x mulder #dana scully #fox mulder #pining #angst #the x-files #xfiles #angst with a happy ending #hope you enjoyed taking this journey with me #completed fic #complete

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roguespazz · 1 year

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#Sorry for clumping the treks #Ran out of space #90s sci fi #farscape #sliders #babylon 5 #star trek #star trek ds9 #star trek voyager #roswell tv show #tumblr polls #x files #stargate #sg1 #outer limits #quantum leap #the pretender

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raining-anonymously · 7 months

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for a kids’ cartoon, this show has got a LOT of different endings. for ANY show, it’s got a lot of different endings! i’m really very curious about which ones other people liked best.

Notes:

The holiday episodes are listed as their own future because they clearly take place after a lot of summer already happened (Canderemy being an established couple, Heinz & Perry on very good terms, Irving being there). But it’s fall/winter, so summer is over. But it’s not compliant with “Last Day of Summer,” since Heinz is still very much scheming. Hence — alternate future.

With those rules in mind, Candace Against the Universe is still not considered to cause an alternate future here on the grounds that OP believes the joke with Perry’s watch at the end led to another round of Amnesia-inator.

Fun Fact: “Act Your Age” & “OWCA Files” are the only futures here that are reconcilable with “Last Day Of Summer.” I’m not including “Doof 101” in this for two reasons — it would take place directly after LDOS, but Vanessa’s attitude to her father appears different (at least to me), plus there wouldn’t have been time for a whole arrest/hard-time-or-community-service thing to go down. I’m also not including “Quantum Boogaloo” on the grounds that Heinz & Perry in the good timeline give the impression that Heinz never quit evil. Plus, from a Doylist perspective, I don’t believe they would have had Doof-1 create that horrific of an empire if QB had been an episode in later seasons. MML is not LDOS compliant because Heinz is still “evil” when Milo&co meet him (I think - I’ve not watched it).

edit: i’ve now watched MML. heinz is, in fact, no longer evil. he still sets traps for the pizza guy, though. and it is LDOS compliant. idk he’s just like that.

#phineas and ferb #pnf #milo murphy's law #milo murphys law #mml #p&f #phineas & ferb #milo murphy’s law #dwampyverse #quantum boogaloo #last day of summer #doof 101 #owca files #act your age

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quantum-cat · 7 months

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Also which is better, dvd or blu-ray? And should I buy the show all at once or season by season? So many choices. Aaand I also don't have a dvd or blu-ray player, so any recs on one of those or one that can do both? Is there a such thing as a dvd/blu-ray player that can plug into a computer and a tv (not at the same time)? I guess if you have a enough adaptors...

EDIT: I am a fool and forgot Star Trek ToS as an option in the poll!

#buffy the vampire slayer #doctor who #quantum leap #star trek enterprise #stargate atlantis #stargate sg1 #the x files #qc meows #star trek tos

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ashe-fics · 2 years

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#ql2022 #quantum leap #quantum leap 2022 #This may be the silliest thing I've ever made #and I wrote 10 Sliders fan scripts #ghost files #paranormal #witchblr #meme #me being a geek #quantumleap #geekness

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bioswear · 3 months

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had a normal one last night when I got home from the NieR concert 🤪🥰

#I vaguely remember writing these notes down #personal txt #as above so below and all that. why did this story focus on an underground bunker #and rein is focusing on the moon base server #also if we remember the lore that was shoved onto the NieR official desktop PCs #accord mentions that files are backed up to quantum servers around the world #in 4298 AD: humanity’s extinction is confirmed. all records are moved to #maximum priority folders and backups are sent to regional quantum servers for safekeeping #in 5012 AD an attack from aliens damaged servers #in 5155 AD machine life forms launch an Ark into space. resulting in a new divergence. an attempt is made #to sync with servers from the past #2021 AD - synchronization with past servers is successful. - Accord

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thebestestwinner · 4 months

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Best Best TV Drama: Bonus Round

#emmys #emmy awards #quantum leap #twin peaks #star trek #the x-files #chicago hope #star trek tng #star trek the next generation #x files #best drama #poll #polls

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sobekc · 1 year

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a little sam/al video I put together to try to get them out of my system

#quantum leap #sam beckett #al calavicci #sam/al #they make me want to sob if I didn’t have roommates I’d be screaming and crying #every time I hear a nice tiktok audio I immediately think of ways to apply it to ql #I can’t browse tiktok before bed bc I’ll find a nice song and start editing and I can’t stop until I’m done #also sorry for the low volume but the ql files on archive.org are very quiet and idk how to make clips louder #video

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ophilosoraptoro · 5 months

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Gravity is a Lie, Light Speed is Slow, Nothing is Real, the Universe is Electric

youtube

#history #astronomy #physics #quantum physics #mythology #quantum mechanics #electric universe #relativity #the why files

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fandomdancer · 6 months

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Listen I don’t know you and you don’t know me but for your information tumblr advertises you as the top gutterman blog

So congrats. 👏👏👏

Holy smokes, I...what? 🤯🤯 Wow. 😳😳 That's pretty cool! Thank you for telling me! ❤️

James Whitmore Jr is worth every bit of attention you can give him.

Also while I am flattered, I defer to @nade2308 and @thethistlegirl for Gutterman content. They are geniuses and have fantastic edits and stories!

#Jim Gutterman #James Whitmore Jr #beautiful character #inspirational actor #baa baa black sheep #black sheep squadron #magnum pi #the greatest american hero #quantum leap #the pretender #the twilight zone #the xfiles #the x files #ncis #blue bloods #bret maverick #and so so so many more #actor #director

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scully-xo · 2 years

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Quantum Files part 6 of 7

Fictober, part 6 / My version of fictober: No beta readers. Quick drafts. Incomplete, though outlined. Next chapter to follow in a few days. Tagging @today-in-fic @xffictober2022

AO3 Link

X-Files/Quantum Leap crossover, rated T, words 2920/10854, Canon Divergence, Pining, Slow Burn (kind of), Angst

Chapter: 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5

https://youtu.be/y9Hqn8x6a8s / ‘Songbird’ by Fleetwood Mac

***

Chapter 6

It came after 6 days. The last leap. Not a week! Mulder wanted to yell. You cheated me out of a day! But, of course, no one was listening.

With each unsuccessful leap home, three altogether, Scully drew inside herself. The few smiles he’d wrangled out of her in their time together were long gone. She didn’t ask him questions, nor did she answer his when he attempted to change the subject. It was like she only had energy to exist in his space while she was here. To sit silently and watch the world around them. He caught her looking at him, like she wanted to memorize his face. It was something he recognized, because he was trying to do it himself.

He was in a semi, driving along a deserted highway. Tall green redwoods on either side told him he was on the north-west coast. Gray skies and rain-blackened asphalt beneath told him it was spring.

He’d never driven one of these giant trucks, but like everything else he knew how to do when he leaped into a body, it felt completely natural. His gnarled, wrinkled hands knew which levers to push to activate the windshield wipers. His feet moved on the accelerator with just enough force to drive smoothly. Fog began to move over the road, wispy apparitions that looked like they were materializing from the trees themselves. He slowed, applying precise pressure to the brakes, and scanned the road ahead.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sensed Scully appear. Her hair was escaping from the ponytail she wore, crimson tendrils cascading over her neck. She never looked more tired. Hopefully this would be one of the last times she would appear to him, and things would go back to how they were… before.

“Just… be careful, Mulder.”

He didn’t turn his head, heeding her advice and keeping his eyes peeled on the road ahead. Pushing the brake a little bit more, he slowed to a speed that would surely aggravate anyone traveling behind him. So far, though, it was deserted.

He reached his hand to the console between them. The barrier was nothing compared to the one that separated them by an unknown distance and time. Somehow, he didn’t have to look to sense that she put her hand near his, her pinkie intersecting with his own.

“Don’t do anything heroic. Stick to the plan.”

He turned then, for a brief second, and gave her a tight smile. “Me? Heroic. Think you have the wrong guy, Scully.”

He heard her sigh, then everything was quiet. The rain began to spatter on the car, dotting the windshield with translucent spheres in an unpredictable pattern. Like his leaps. Moving from one person to another. No determining factor except they were all normal folk, people who had bad things happen to them. Moments in time that created a forked path. The raindrops made rivulets against the glass, then were washed away by the wipers, only to start over. Again and again.

Sometimes, he wouldn’t know what decision he would have to make. But today, the moment seemed obvious. Ahead of him, the bright lights of another semi shone against the mist, fuzzy and indistinct. Unmistakable, though, in the long stretch of road.

Mulder braked, and the truck hissed and slowed as he pulled over to the shoulder of the deserted highway. He switched on the hazard lights. Turned to Scully, her outline indistinct like the fog that swarmed outside the cab.

“Remember, Mulder.” Her eyes pleaded with him and then she was gone.

He stared at the passenger seat for a few seconds, repeating her words to him like a mantra. Of course, he’d remember. How could he not? Switching on the CB radio, he turned the dial to the channel that most drivers used to communicate with each other, and spoke into the mike.

“Any trouble over there? Over.”

Only the crackle of static. But underneath it, oh so quiet, he thought he heard a voice.

Hanging up the mike, Mulder checked the side-mirror for any traffic and jumped down to the road, his hand grasping familiar handholds so he wouldn’t stumble. The truck ahead of him was carrying oil or natural gas, its rotund trailer appearing in the mist as he walked forward. The gravel underneath his cowboy boots crunched, and he hunched into his jean jacket and ratty ballcap. Did the previous driver continue on, concerned with his own payload?

As the other semi solidified as he grew closer, his own truck all but disappeared. One last look behind him, one more hesitation. I have to do this right. He knocked, a loud double rap that shattered the foggy silence around him. No response.

“Hey, need any help in there?” he shouted, stepping onto the running board and peering into the cab. The windows were rolled up against the rain. Wiping the moisture from the window and cupping his hands around his eyes, he looked closer, but all he saw was the faint outline of seats in the darkness. No one slumped over the steering wheel, or against the window. Maybe… maybe this wasn’t what he was supposed to fix?

As he stepped down, though, he heard something. The same noise he’d heard on the radio, but louder. A voice, high-pitched and muffled. He couldn’t hear what they said, but he knew the tone. Fear. Desperation.

Maybe this was where he was supposed to be.

There was a switchblade sheathed on his belt. He retrieved it and flipped it open with a flick of his wrist. Testing the handle of the door to the sleeper of the cab, finding it unlocked, he eased it open silently.

“Hey, what the fuck?” a gruff voice from deep inside the cab yelled out.

The driver scrambled for something, but Mulder didn’t wait. He lept into the cab and tackled him against the opposite door. Thank god, the body he inhabited, despite his age, was fit and strong. Wiry muscle and adrenaline fueling his effort to hold him down, to pin his arms behind his back and press his face against the seat.

And then Mulder saw her.

A girl, no more than 14. Julie. Was it her? Or had he forgotten her face?

She was huddled at the far end of the sleeper, holding onto her left arm. Her face was bloodied, her bottom lip swollen. Green eyes, red-rimmed and furious, shone out at him over an oversized sweatshirt. Tattered jeans and tennis shoes curled up against her chest.

He saw red; his own on rage drowning out every other thought. When he slammed the driver against the wall, heedless of whatever metal handles or knobs dug into the other man’s face, he squealed in pain.

“This ain’t what it looks like. She’s my niece.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Mulder gripped the knife. He knew what to do with it. This person he inhabited must have been a hunter. Slide the knife right here, that was the kidney. Or maybe a bit lower, the stomach, to make it painful. No less than he deserved.

“Do it.” a hoarse voice commanded.

Mulder looked back. Julie, or not-Julie, watched from the shadows, back straight and a dangerous glint in her eyes. But her hand trembled as she held onto her injured arm. Even if she could take some satisfaction from it, he couldn’t kill this guy in front of her. More violence in an already violent life. He had a choice, and he would make the right one this time. For her. What he needed to do was make sure she would be okay. That she would be safe. That she couldn’t disappear again. Run off into the darkness, only to find someone else to victimize her.

He should radio the police. Get this fucker put away so he couldn’t hurt anyone ever again. But who knew how long he’d have to stay, needing to be a witness for a crime the person who’s body he inhabited wouldn’t remember?

There was only one thing to do. Mulder cold-cocked the guy, leaving him unconscious on the narrow floor of the sleeper cab. He turned to Julie.

“I’m gonna help you, okay? Take you somewhere safe.”

“You’re not gonna kill him?”

“I’m gonna radio some guys I know, they’ll take him to the police–”

“No police.”

Mulder sat on the seat, keeping his distance. Nodded. “No police. But you need that arm checked out.”

Fear flashed through her eyes for a second, disappearing under her defiant mask. “No hospital.”

“Where can I take you?”

Her jaw clenched. “Who the fuck are you? How do I know you’re not just like him?”

“Name’s Mulder.” Fuck. That wasn’t the name of this guy. Too late. He sighed, then snapped his blade closed and handed it to her.

“What kind of name’s Mulder?” She took the knife, drawing her hand along the pearl-inlay. Fumbling with the switch, she opened it with an awkward grip..

He shrugged.

“That guy has a gun. I think I want that instead.” She held the knife at him, though it wavered in her hand.

Directing him under the driver’s seat, he found not only a rifle but a semi-automatic pistol, still in its holster. He unlatched it, and made sure the safety was on before handing it to her. She didn’t seem to notice, her shoulders relaxing visibly as she held onto the cold steel.

“Where can I take you?” Mulder asked. “Is there someone who can help you?”

She bit her lip, looked past him at the unconscious truck driver lying on the floor of the sleeper. Then her gaze shifted to Mulder. “I was… I was going to my aunt’s. She’s a vet tech. She…”

“Tell me where. I’ll take you.”

Julie nodded, scrambling off the bed of the sleeper and out of the cab. She stumbled as she jumped down, awkwardly holding onto the weapon with the hand of her injured arm, but Mulder didn’t intervene, just watched to make sure she wouldn’t hurt herself. He followed at a safe distance, pointing towards his truck to the rear of this one. The mist had cleared somewhat, in the few, short minutes that he’d found this girl. Ahead and behind them his truck appeared, a ghostly apparition in the fog. It’s black paint and shining grille a beacon, pulling them forward.

When they were settled inside, Julie sitting behind him awkwardly pointing the gun, he radioed the people that this body knew. Told them what they’d find here on the stretch of deserted road. Mulder had no doubt that the silence and whispered curses on the other end meant bad things for the other driver. If he was killed or badly beaten, at least it wasn’t in front of the girl.

When he revved the engine and left the tanker truck behind them, they both breathed easier. Like another chapter was ahead, and surely it was a better one.

Julie scrounged up food from the mini-fridge he had stashed in the back. The gun laid beside her, only a few inches from her hands at all times, while she got crumbs all over the upholstery. He passed back his thermos, which he tasted and thought only had coffee in it. The radio blared, tuned to a country station and he switched to it one they both preferred: classic rock. Though maybe it wasn’t so classic for her. Mulder hummed along and drummed his fingers over the steering wheel and attempted to make small talk. To find out about her. Her glare caught him in the rear-view mirror, and he stopped pretending he could be more than a temporary blip in her life.

And beside him in the passenger seat, Scully appeared. Her image blinked furiously, then solidified, though the edges of her body reminded him of the fog he was quickly leaving behind.

“Mulder.”

He didn’t look at her. He knew what she was going to say.

“You have to turn around, Mulder.”

He shook his head, enough so she would know that he was answering, but hopefully not enough that Julie would find anything amiss.

“You’re going to miss the window, Mulder. Please. She’s safe now. That’s-that’s what it means.”

He turned his head slightly, pleading with his eyes, and he wished he hadn’t. Hands twisted in her lap, Scully was chewing on her lower lip and watching him with an agonized expression. She knew as well as he did what he was going to do.

It meant he was gone. It meant he’d be in this body forever, that the trucker would be, essentially, dead. It would mean he’d never get his answers. Would never know the touch of Scully’s hand, the feel of her lips on his own. He’d never get to live his life by her side. It’s what he wanted. More than anything. Now that it was torn from his grasp, that he would never have it, that idea solidified in his mind, as real as the trees that grew beside him. As real as the road under his truck’s tires. A fact. But just as true as knowing she was the person he was meant to love, was that he would never get to show her.

But giving all of that up would mean Julie was safe. It was a choice he’d make over and over again.

“Please, Mulder.”

The song changed, and Mulder sang along, glancing at Scully as long as the road allowed, and as long as he could stand to see her face.

“And the songbirds are singing, like they know the score… And I love you, I love you, I love you like never before.”

“Mulder–” Scully reached out and the absence of her hand moved against his. The heat from the sun, blazing through the trees as they drove from the mist, warmed his hand, and he imagined it’s how she would feel.

“And I wish you all the love in the world but most of all, I wish it from myself.”

Julie didn’t interrupt, or tell him to stop. Perhaps she liked the song. Perhaps she heard the tremor of emotion in his voice as he said the words to the woman who she didn’t see.

“Mulder, I know you can’t do anything else. I dreaded the day this would happen. Knew it would, eventually. And maybe that’s why I fell in love with you, too.” Her voice faded, becoming thready and weak. “I’ll– I’ll do what I can, but…”

“I know.”

A four-way came up, and he stopped. Julie was asleep in the back. Facing Scully, he reached his hand up to cup her face. She leaned into it, and he imagined he could feel her light.

“It was enough, you know. Meeting you. If this is all it can be, it’s enough.” Mulder caressed his thumb over her cheeks. It was only electromagnetic radiation. And maybe not even that. Chemicals firing in his brain. Making him pretend to see an illusion.

“I should have–”

“No, Scully. You did what you could. I need– I need you to move on. Don’t blame yourself. Please. I need to know you’re out there living. It’s the only thing that’ll keep me going.”

“If I know you’re out there, Mulder. I can find you. I can.”

“I know you can’t see me. But look at me. I’m at least sixty. How old are you now? Whatever time this is?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It does. I don’t want that for you.”

“Goddamned self-sacrificing asshole.” She smiled sadly, and pulled away, looking out the window. “I’ll stay as long as I can but… I might disappear without any warning.”

“I’ll take it.”

Her eyes were wet, but her face dry, as she looked at him. “Goodbye, Mulder.”

“Bye, Scully.”

Their hands found each other, and at least they occupied the same space if they couldn’t touch.

She stayed for thirty minutes, and then she was gone. Eyes burning with unshed tears, he looked straight ahead, pretending that there was a ghost in the seat next to him. Julie was quiet, and he was thankful.

He drove for another two hours. Julie got to her aunt’s house. Not Julie - Vicky. Her aunt screamed her real name as she ran up to the girl stumbling out of his truck and wrapped her in a giant hug. Mulder looked away at that, blinking back tears. He should have smiled at his success, but he felt empty.

Mulder got back on the highway. He knew where he was supposed to take his cargo. He would be penalized for being late. His heart ached.

Pulling into a truck stop despite his tardiness, he laid on the bed in the back of his cab. The light of dawn shone on the horizon before his mind was empty enough to fall asleep.

He didn’t dream.

#xf fanfic #msr #mulder and scully #scully x mulder #canon divergence #pre-series #quantum leap #crossover #quantum files #txf #the x-files #xfiles #pining #angst #last chapter to come on tuesday #thanks for reading everyone its been a wild ride!

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wingached · 7 months

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𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫: @ghcstchild from xue yang

Xue Yang watches as the spirit trapping pouch is both observed and dismissed in the hands of Wei Wuxian, the only man capable of returning the cultivator in whites spirit to his body. If Wei Wuxian could rise from the dead after so many years, bringing the ghost general back at his side, there was very little that the delinquent believed he couldn't do.

Hand shakes, coming to a tight fist at his side ( sans his pinky finger that remains stick straight, clothed in the black fabric of a glove ), as his request for help is immediately dismissed. If a spiritual cognition doesn't have the will to live, then it'll most likely be impossible to save. It doesn't come naturally to him, to ask for assistance, in a world that had only ever tried to crush him beneath their feet. But something about the man before him makes it almost easy.

"We are of the same nature, Yilling Laozu -- I don't take to following the ways of others so easily . . . but you are something else." Is it jealousy or admiration that fuels Xue Yang's adoration of the demonic cultivator, he can't entirely be sure. Perhaps both. "This is not beyond you, so think of it as a challenge. Work with me."

#im going from cql canon so forgive me pls 🙏🏻 if this doesnt work i am like one million percent down to plot something #this is roughly prior to wen ning interrupting their fun little talk in episode 37!#working out xue yangs timeline in line with other characters is like doing quantum physics #chanting: yi city yi city yi city #xue yang: im ur biggest fan i just wanna see chenqing ONCE #* . 　 ♡ . ˚ ic - xue yang ˗ˏˋ lately i’ve been dressing for revenge ˎˊ˗

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crazy56u · 6 months

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Guess who has two thumbs and was effectively tricked into agreeing to work on his day off tonight?

Also, why the fuck is the title "Closure Encounters", I thought it was a typo at first...

No saga sell, we enter The X-Files and die like men, lets go.

"I'll go take a look", says the man about to be abducted by aliens...

Okay, legitimately, were those children real?

And why were there lawn gnomes?

Okay, given how "Star Light, Star Bright" actually did confirm aliens existed in the world of Quantum Leap, it's going to be interesting if this episode honors that.

"Look, maybe we can deal with the potential alien shit first, the relationship shit later?"

"Ziggy still doesn't know why you're here." Ziggy still doesn't know how to talk, Addison.

Project Sign flopped so Project Blue Book couldn't, checkmate, atheists.

Calling it: the police forced Carrie to take the blame.

And the car radio is being a real piece of shit right now.

"Pretty much remember everyone now." Meanwhile back at the Project, Tom starts to sweat and he doesn't know why.

"Can you take me through what happened?" "There was a car crash, and I wound up here." "Not what I meant."

They crossed into the Twilight Zone.

RULE OF THUMB: You cannot outrun a UFO, hitting the gas will only fuck you over.

My guess is that Melanie fell and hit her head, causing her coma.

"Like it or not, this is a criminal manner." "And I'm the criminal." Everyone's batting 1000 today.

Okay, calling it: the government is trying to cover up the UFO, so they moved the coma girl back into the car.

...or Russell Hunt did the coverup, honestly, either is likely at this stage. Not a good first impression.

"Say what you want, the law is on his side. Now if you excuse me, I have to be his lapdog."

"Okay, nine minutes of leap, one minute of Project, now you can't complain about us taking a break!"

I love the implication that it took Ben roughly eight hours to find a reflective surface.

"Could she really go to jail?" "Look, I don't wanna think about that right now, can I please just have a coffee?"

The atom bomb and yo-yos: Two horrors born out of World War II.

In this family, if you are a male, you either become the Sheriff, or you die. It's the 1940s, those are the rules.

So, is this a car chase scene, or...

Oh, how I so wish he just decided to floor it and play chicken- Okay, shut me the fuck up, then...

MORAL OF THE STORY: The sheriff has more stones than a random fuck with a hat.

"You're the one who called Project Sign." Honestly, did not expect that plot twist.

Addison, no need to state the obvious.

Okay, that's how you know the Sheriff is cool: He tampers with the crime scene to protect his granddaughter.

"I don't see why anyone would go out of their way to brush over their tracks." Yep, it's a coverup.

"Ben, I need to talk to you-" "Addison, if you are about to tell me there's no aliens, and Carrie is guilty, I am going to scream."

"Hey, this girl's in a coma, what do we do about it?" "Eh, just hang a cross over her head, it's the 1940s, that's good enough medical care."

"But it sounds so crazy..." "Honey, you're talking to a time traveler from 2022, possessing a man from the 1940s, investigating aliens."

My personal rule of thumb rears its head: Green is evil.

Ah, yes, that's smart, get Indiana Jones to help you beat up Agent Mulder in the middle of the street.

And now the Sheriff is packing.

So, basically, because Carrie crashed her car into Hunt's backyard, he has a fucking vendetta.

I will fucking laugh if Ben actually sees a UFO for real before he leaps out, and the Project is made to look like dummies.

"Addison, your ex-fiance is getting reckless, tell him to calm the fuck down." "Magic, I flushed my ring three years ago, I will do no such thing."

Calling it now, Hunt is in the middle of burning his helicopter in the middle of nowhere.

And back to the blue dimension.

"Grief is a strange thing." Well, according to Queen Elizabeth, and a shithead fanfic, grief is also the price we pay. [I will not be explaining the context to that latter bit.]

And the Imaging Chamber conked out, that's how you know it's aliens.

Also, soft confirmation that Janis isn't coming back for Season 2.

"SHIT, I ALWAYS WANTED TO SHOOT A UFO/HELICOPTER!"

And the cameraman snaps and mauls Raymond Lee.

[I don't know which is worse: The fact that Glade Pods had that guy make time stop by making love to his blanket, or the fact his name was Steve.]

And Ben wakes up either in the sheriff's house, or a fancy ass hotel.

Translation: Ben is openly suppressing his emotional problems.

Okay, so, did the cameraman inject Ben and Melanie with evil?

But when was the military ever exotic, Ben?

"You said you didn't believe in UFOs." "Well, I'm an open-minded man, and I hate Hunt more."

Okay, Ian, could you bottom-line what that drug was, I know you said Ben was right, but you just said gibberish to me.

Oh shit, a triangle.

Why does this 1940s neighborhood look like the 1980s?

And the sheriff is about to pull a Thelma and Louise.

"Ben, if the sheriff leaves, Hunt's going to send him to jail." "Yeah, I got that."

Is Ben going to get shot by the sheriff in broad daylight?

"Ben, you can't just walk into a military base, Ben why are you ignoring me?!"

"Look, I got a syringe of adrenaline, I'll be fine!"

Meanwhile, back at the Project, it's pointed out that Ben's plan is stupid.

This is the closest Ian has ever gotten to being in Independence Day.

And Ben chooses then and there to flip the fuck out over his relationship shit, like a sane man.

[Switching to WordPad.]

And Ben gets attacked by the Splinter Cell guy, and wakes up in Area 52, that's how you know this episode is sane.

Meanwhile, in MASH.

"DUMP THE BODY AND FLEE, MEN!"

"BEN, WAKE UP, YOU'RE SHIRTLESS!"

"Okay, we're in luck, my ghost was able to see everything, we have proof now!" "Son, did they fucking drug you with the hard shit this time?!"

And the climax takes place in an empty field.

Why does the Man in Black look like Kevin Costner?

This was the same mine they faked the Roswell Incident in.

Gamma blue 5, coincidentally enough, would later go on to be used in the invention of Monster Energy.

You know it's a good ending if the heroes are about to blackmail a new car out of the government.

"I don't know how best to thank you." "Just keep living your life, I guess, I dunno, the episode's almost over."

"Okay, I just trimmed my bonsai tree, now the migraine's kicking in."

Addison, he was just unconscious, it's not like they stabbed him in the jugular.

"Look, maybe I should just leave the show-" "Yeah, that ain't happening."

Is Tom the Poochie now? They basically just did a Poochie.

And while Magic talks to Phone Guy, Ben still hasn't leapt yet.

"All's well that ends well." There's three minutes left, Ben.

Annnnnnnnnd I am instantly suspicious of the waitress.

[Okay, am I wrong, or did it only get established it was 1949 right then and there?]

"Bye, Hannah." "Wait, no, Red vs. Blue taught me saying goodbye is bad!"

And Ben wakes up on the set of a heist movie.

[Next time on Quantum Leap: Ben discovers the horrors of Hollywood. On a completely unrelated note, the SAG-AFTRA strike is still ongoing.]

Truly, that was a closure encounter.

#quantum leap #closure encounters #spoilers #the x-files #the twilight zone #independence day #splinter cell #mash

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