TITLE: Then The Morning Comes
AUTHOR: Lilly Rose
PAIRING: M/S of a sort (The world truly is ending...)
SPOILERS: None
CHALLENGE: Post-The Truth
RATING: PG-13 for theme, language, and Scully's general bad 
behavior.
WORD COUNT: 197. I tried. Really I did. *sulks* I like it the way 
it is and so it stays. 
DISCLAIMER: All characters herein belong to CC et al. 


As a child, she smoked stolen cigarettes in an act of rebellion. 
Like an old friend found after years apart, changed but still 
recognizable, that small rebellion comes back to her now. 

In the pre-dawn light, Mulder gives her an odd look as she lights 
up. She ignores him, rolls down the window to let the morning in 
and the smoke out. He says nothing, only lets up on the 
accelerator. Small considerations, but small considerations are 
all either of them has to give the other.

He could have told her to put the cigarette out. To which she 
would ask him: why bother? The world's ending in less than a 
decade, they're trapped in a nomadic existence, and their son was 
being raised by strangers. 

She snorts, inadvertently inhales smoke, and chokes. The burning 
in her lungs reminds her again of her childish rebellion. She's 
being just as childish now, but she won't give up her personal 
go-to-hell to the world outside her window. 

Not right then. For now, Mulder drives and she smokes. When the 
cigarette goes out, she'll be ready to fight for a world she no 
longer belongs in.


fin