Title: Return To Oz
Summary: Mulder and Scully return to Kansas to visit
the friends they made when Mulder was injured by a
tornado. Will Mother Nature cooperate this time
around?
Spoilers: None
Rating: PG
Category: MT, MSR
Disclaimer: Just for fun. Not for profit.
Archives: Probably, but please ask.
Feedback: Of course. Waddles52@wmconnect.com
Note: This is a sequel to To Oz and Beyond. It can
be read as a stand alone, but it might be helpful to
read To Oz and Beyond to meet the characters. I am
posting it in several parts, but it is finished and
awaiting final revisions.
Thanks: Special thanks to super-beta, Lisa. The
power has gone to her head and she has turned into a
slave driver! Seriously, she worked me hard in order
to make this a much better finished product.
"Anything interesting in the mail?" Scully asked as
she sat a cup of coffee on Mulder's desk, then took a
sip of her own. "Mmm, I needed that."
"Yeah, we got a card from Robbie," Mulder grinned.
"Oh, your little hospital roommate from Kansas. He
is so cute. What does he have to say?"
"He asks how you are, and whether we'll be coming
back to Kansas anytime soon."
"How's the weather?" Scully asked warily.
"Well, it's winter so I doubt we'd be bothered by any
tornadoes." Mulder got up from his desk. "He sent
me a great drawing. I'm going to put it on the
bulletin board."
"Oh, let me see."
Mulder handed her the drawing.
"Isn't that nice? That must be you and Robbie.
You're the one standing in front of the tornado with
a badge that says hero. How cute. He really thinks
a lot of you."
Mulder took the drawing from her and tacked it next
to his I Want To Believe poster.
"I'd really like to see the little guy again, and he
wants us to meet his mom and baby sister."
Mulder sat back down at his desk and took a sip of
his coffee.
"Didn't I see something come across your desk from
Nebraska?" Scully inquired.
"Yes, but I don't think there's much to it. Why?"
"Kansas is the next state south of Nebraska. Maybe
we could take a detour on the way back."
"I don't think Skinner will sign off on it."
"Mulder, you've gotten him to sign off on wild goose
chases with less to go on than this. I'm sure you
could persuade him."
"You think?"
"I think. Write it up and we'll give Robbie a call
and let him know we'll be there soon," Scully
encouraged.
"Guess it's worth a try."
Five days later Mulder and Scully were once again
driving across Kansas.
"Looks the same," Mulder commented.
"You're right. The sky is just as dreary and the
scenery is the same."
"Flat," they both said at the same time.
"Let's stop at the next place we see and give the
Stewart's a call. We can give them an ETA and get
detailed directions to their place," Scully
suggested.
"Good idea," Mulder agreed. "That sign we just
passed said there's a rest stop in two miles. We can
check in with Skinner too and let him know that we've
come to a dead end with our investigation."
"Okay. Why don't you let me try and sweet talk him
into an extra day to wind down?" Scully proposed.
"Hey, the big guy is all yours," Mulder laughed.
"Just don't get too sweet with him."
"Why, Mulder, if I didn't know better Id say you were
jealous."
"Hmph."
"You are jealous!" Scully exclaimed.
"Am not!" he fired back.
"Are too! Don't worry, Mulder. You have absolutely
nothing to be jealous about."
"Hmph."
Scully sat back and smiled as Mulder pulled into the
rest stop.
Fifteen minutes later they were back on the road.
"I got us two extra days, Mulder," Scully reported
triumphantly, as he pulled back onto the highway.
"I'm not sure I want to ask how."
"I just explained that we were dead tired, were
having trouble making plane connections, and that we
wanted to visit Robbie and family. Make some good
publicity for the F.B.I."
"So, in general you told him the truth?"
"That's generally the best policy."
"If I had tried that with Skinner, he'd probably
still be trying to rip me a new one," Mulder
complained.
"That's because in the past he's had reason to be
suspicious. You need to work on your people skills,
Mulder."
"I'm not going to get into that now," Mulder sighed.
"Did you talk to Robbie's dad?"
"Yes, I did. We're about fifty miles away. They
live a little ways off the main highway, so he gave
me pretty detailed directions."
"Good. Is that snow I see?" Scully asked.
"Looks like a few flurries. We can handle a little
snow, Scully," Mulder chided.
"Beats a tornado any day."
Allen Stewart's directions were right on the money
and Mulder and Scully were soon getting reacquainted
with Robbie after meeting his mom and baby sister.
"Do you like pizza, Robbie?" Mulder asked.
"Yeah! There's this place that has games and
everything!" Robbie answered enthusiastically.
"Which do you like best, the pizza or the games?"
Scully inquired.
"Um, I think I like them both the same."
"Good, because I asked your mom and dad if we could
take you out for pizza when I called earlier. What
do you think they said?" Mulder questioned Robbie,
who was getting more excited by the minute.
"I'll bet they said yes! Right, Mommy and Daddy?"
Robbie gushed, as he began to dance a little jig.
"Of course, we said yes. Now, you have to calm down
and be a good boy for Agent Mulder and Agent Scully,"
Allen Stewart said firmly.
"Okay, Daddy. I will," Robbie agreed solemnly.
"All right, then. Why don't you go with Mommy and
get ready?"
"Okay." Robbie took his mother's hand and began to
walk away. "Can Dana come too?" he asked.
"Of course. She might want to play with Lindsey Anne
though, while I get you ready."
"I'd love to," Scully said following them back.
"Lindsey Anne can't eat pizza 'cause she only gots
two teeth," Robbie explained as they disappeared
around a corner.
"He hasn't changed a bit," Mulder chuckled.
"I'm so glad you could come, Agent Mulder. We didn't
really get a chance to thank you properly, since you
were transferred to Dodge City so quickly after you
were stabilized."
"No thanks necessary, Allen. Besides, I'd say we're
pretty even. If you hadn't been with me when I fell
I probably would have bled to death."
"That was nothing, but taking care of Robbie in that
twister was really something. You were hurt pretty
bad already, and then jumping out of bed and taking
care of Robbie like you did . . .well, we just can't
thank you enough."
"Well, I was pretty busy saving my own ass too,"
Mulder protested.
"I'm ready!" Robbie announced, hopping into the room.
"Then, let's go," Mulder said, picking him up.
"You guys have fun, but be careful. Looks like we
have a little snow on the way," Allen warned.
"We will be very careful," Scully assured him as they
went outside. A dusting of snow already covered the
ground.
"We should be back before it gets too heavy. We'll
keep an eye on it," Mulder promised. "Come on, big
guy. I can almost smell that pizza from here. You
like pepperoni?"
Scully shook her head and hurried after them.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The pizza was consumed in a hurry because Robbie and
Mulder were anxious to get to the game room. Scully
watched them for quite a while, but when Mulder began
to give Robbie instructions for shooting the
basketball at the free throw game, she decided to
walk out front and check on the weather. To her
amazement almost a foot of snow had fallen in the
amount of time they had been inside. Although she
hated to break up the fun, she knew that driving was
going to be difficult, so she headed back to the game
room.
Mulder and Robbie met her by the restrooms. "Ah,
Scully, glad you're back. Robbie needs to make a pit
stop."
"Why can't you take him?"
"Um, he could probably use a woman's touch," Mulder
explained, placing Robbie's hand in hers.
"Mulder, you're something else. Just for that you
can go outside and dig the car out. We'll be waiting
up front when you pull the car to the door."
"Did you say dig the car out?"
"Yep, you heard me right, Agent Mulder. See you up
front," Scully pronounced as she noted the look of
urgency in Robbie's eyes.
Mulder worked feverishly for a few moments to clear
the snow off the car. How could it snow so much in
just a little over an hour? Robbie's folks would
probably be getting frantic with worry. He knocked
the last of the snow off the roof, climbed in, and
started the car.
When he pulled up to the front entrance, Robbie and
Scully were waiting just inside the door. As he got
out to open the doors for them his feet slipped and
he landed hard on his bottom, yelping in surprise and
biting down on a curse.
Robbie began to giggle and Scully soon followed suit.
She stopped abruptly when she saw that Mulder was
struggling to get up. She put Robbie down and waded
out to where Mulder had fallen. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I just can't seem to get up. Could you
give me a hand?"
"I'm not going to fall for that. Quit goofing
around, Mulder," she fussed.
"I am not goofing around! I could use a little help
here."
Robbie jumped through the snow and appeared at
Mulder's side with his arms out, ready to help.
"Thanks buddy, but I think I'm going to need some
grown-up help," Mulder blushed.
"You aren't kidding are you?" Scully finally realized
as she moved over to give him a hand. She pulled and
Robbie pushed until they finally had Mulder on his
feet.
"Sorry, I don't know what happened. I just couldn't
get my body to respond," he apologized as he dusted
the snow off his coat.
Robbie helped him dust the snow off with little,
mittened hands.
"Are you in any pain?" Scully inquired.
"No, I'm fine. That's what's so weird. I wasn't
hurt. I just couldn't move."
"All right, then. If you're okay, why don't you get
Robbie into the car seat and I'll drive. All right?"
"Fine with me," Mulder answered, still looking
perplexed.
Full of pizza and tired from the game room, Robbie
went to sleep as soon as the car started rolling.
Mulder soon followed him into dreamland while Scully
found herself trying to navigate and see through the
swirling snow at the same time. Nothing looked
familiar to her so she pulled off to the side to try
and get her bearings.
The lack of movement woke Mulder up. He looked at
his watch and was surprised to find that he'd been
sleeping for over an hour.
"Scully, what's wrong?"
"I must have taken a wrong turn. Nothing looks
familiar."
"How can you tell in all this snow? Do you think you
can backtrack?"
"I guess that would be the best thing to do." She
took her cell phone out only to find that she
couldn't get a signal. "We need to try and find a
phone to call Robbie's parents," she decided, trying
to keep the worry out of her voice.
Scully slid the car in gear and tried to make a u-
turn but there wasn't enough room. After putting the
car in reverse, she began to back up so she could
straighten the car out. She felt the right, rear
tire slip off the pavement. When she put the car
into drive she found that they were stuck.
"Damn it!" she muttered in frustration, pounding the
steering wheel.
Mulder reached for her right hand. "Calm down.
Little ears, remember?" Mulder smiled, remembering
when she'd said the same thing to him over six months
earlier.
"Oh, sorry," Scully said quietly, looking back at
Robbie who was still sleeping soundly.
"Look, I'll just get out and see if I can push the
car free. Don't do anything until I tell you,"
Mulder directed, getting out of the car.
Scully rolled her window down so she could hear
Mulder's directions.
When he had finally positioned himself behind the
car, Mulder told Scully to put it in drive and give
it some gas. He pushed for all he was worth, but try
as he might, the right, rear tire refused to gain any
traction.
Scully shoved the car back in park and waited for
further instructions from Mulder. He straightened up
his aching back and began to ponder the situation.
He moved back and glanced at the car. As he made his
way over to inspect the tire more closely his feet
suddenly slipped out from under him, landing him on
his bottom, just as he had done in the parking lot
earlier. Only, this time he was overcome with
excruciating pain up his spine and sparking down his
legs.
"Oh, shit!" he moaned. He couldn't move. In fact it
was all he could do to keep catching his breath
through the extreme pain that was assaulting him.
"Scully!" he croaked, struggling to get up and
getting chilled to the bone as he lay there.
Scully was waiting patiently for more directions from
Mulder when she heard him curse. She immediately
threw open the door to investigate and heard the
pain-filled manner in which he choked out her name,
kicking her into full alert.
"Mulder?"
"Over here! Need Help!"
"What happened?" she asked as she high-stepped over
the deep snow and made her way over to him.
Mulder was halfway between a sitting and reclining
position. His pain was obvious. "I fell again.
Can't get up. Hurt my back," he grunted.
"You can't move at all?" she questioned as she knelt
beside him in the snow.
"A little, but it hurts like hell. Don't wanna try
to get up."
"What part of your back is hurting?"
"Lower," he answered. Another fiery spasm lanced
through him, causing him to scream. "Scully! Oh,
damn! What is it? What's causing this?"
"Mulder, it could be anything from a strained muscle
to a ruptured disk. Have you ever hurt your back
like this before?"
"Sure, a little twinge here or there, but nothing
like this," he groaned, then cried wordlessly as
another ferocious spasm clenched his muscles tight.
"Make it stop!"
"Mulder, calm down. The first thing we have to do is
get you on your feet. Lying in the freezing snow
won't help your injury very much."
"Can't, Scully. Just let me lie here. I'd rather be
a frozen Popsicle than make any move right now," he
moaned breathlessly.
"No! Now, listen to me. I don't think moving from
the ground is going to hurt any worse than the slight
movements you've already attempted. If you can grab
onto the car's bumper and push up slowly, I think
you'll be able to get on your feet. It will be much
easier if you do it yourself, instead of me pulling
and possibly hurting you more."
"Easy for you to say." Mulder grunted as he followed
Scully's instructions, climbing gingerly and getting
to his feet. "Now what?" he gasped.
"Don't worry about straightening up right now. Just
see of you can walk over to the passenger door. I'll
hold on to you."
"Straightening up is not on my agenda. In fact, I
may never straighten up again," Mulder complained as
he began to walk, although it more closely resembled
a shuffle. White clouds of frozen breath poured from
his lips, a testament to his struggle against the
pain.
He finally made it and managed to lower himself down
onto the edge of the seat. That's where he ran into
more trouble. "Oh, shit, Scully! I can't lift my
legs! Son of a bitch, that hurts!"
"Shhh! Robbie's asleep. Let me lift your feet for
you. Here."
Mulder was not prepared for the onslaught of pain
that accompanied that movement. He bellowed his
discomfort, forgetting all about the sleeping Robbie,
Scully, or anything else. The pain was all consuming
and he fought for every ragged breath, sweat beading
his upper lip as he gasped. Gradually the pain
lessened and he came back to himself, although he
still felt aftershocks of pain travel through his
nerve endings.
Scully was trying to comfort a startled Robbie while
keeping a concerned eye on Mulder. "Mulder?" she
questioned, "You still with us?"
"I'm okay, I think. Don't think I've ever been in
that much pain. What the hell landed on my back and
broke it?" he groaned.
"Is it easing off?"
"Yeah, it's a little more bearable. Sorry I woke you
up, Robbie."
"Mulder has another boo-boo," Scully explained.
"Another one? We can take him to the hospital.
They'll make it better."
"We'll get there in a little while, but right now
we're going to have an adventure. The car won't go,
so we'll have to camp out inside here for a little
bit."
"Ooh, that sounds like fun. Can we build a fire?"
"No, I don't think that would be a very good idea,"
Scully grinned. "We'll start the car every so often
so we won't get too cold. Then, we'll wait for your
Dad and his friends to find us. I'll bet they're
already looking."
"Yeah, my daddy will find us and take Mulder to the
hospital."
"This is one time when I will gladly go to the
hospital. I need drugs. Lot's of strong drugs,"
Mulder moaned pitifully.
"Just hang in there, Mulder," Scully voiced, rubbing
his right shoulder, their icy predicament secretly
worrying her more than she was willing to admit.
Mulder managed a shaky grin followed by a grimace.
End Part One
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