In this universe, Requiem hasn't happened.
 
 

I woke up just in time to see the first glimpses of the
sun. The faint light illuminated the sleeping form next
to me. His dark hair was rumpled from a fitful sleep.
His nightmares seemed to be getting worse with each
passing night, invading the sanctuary of his sleep with
visions of death and despair. I wrapped my body around
his, wanting to shield him from the woes of his slumber.
He mumbled something in his sleep, something about aliens
and peanut butter. I glanced at the doorway when I heard
footsteps coming down the hall, and detected the glorious
smell of coffee.

"Good morning," Mulder whispered, entering the room and
crossing to the bed. He sat down gently on the mattress,
placed his coffee cup on the night stand and snuggled up
behind me. His jean clad legs draped over mine, and his
arms held me and our son close.

"Good morning. How long have you been up?" I turned my
head and kissed him, savoring the flavors of Mulder and
instant coffee.

"A few hours. Caldwell came by around four-thirty. There
was some kind of activity in zone seven that he wanted a
hand checking out."

"What was it?" I asked.

"Nothing. One of the cows got loose. Set off the field
alarms." He sighed dramatically.

Jake stirred in my embrace. He blinked several times
before yawning, stretching his arms over his head. At
eight years old, he was quite small. He was roughly the
same size as our other child, who was nearly six. But
both had grown considerably since Mulder and I took them
in.

Jake and Brandon came into our lives not long after the
aliens did. Krycek had warned Mulder and me that
colonization was imminent. We didn't believe him. He's lied
so many times before, we assumed he had something planned,
some sort of trick up his sleeve. Mulder and I had just
become lovers, and I think maybe we didn't want to
believe him. We were finally together, after seven years
of denial and fear, and we didn't want any of it to end.

It was Skinner who convinced us. He said Krycek was the
one who infected him with the nanotechnology. He had been
using Skinner as a pawn. Krycek came to him one night
saying it was all over, handing him a Palm Pilot with a
software program that controlled the tiny machines in his
body. Skinner wouldn't tell us any more than that, saying
there was no time.

We packed what I had in Mulder's apartment, he threw in
some things of his own, and we left Washington, left for
the mid west in Skinner's SUV. I called my mom on the way,
but didn't get an answer. Bill was at sea, and Tara was
staying with her mother in the interim. I left a message
on Charlie's machine, warning him to get out of the cities.
I don't know if he ever got it.

Our original plan had been to form a resistance, and to
defend earth the best we could. In the end, it wasn't
necessary. The rebels had intercepted messages about the
invasion. They managed to fight the colonists off, but
the damage had already been done. Cities were bombed, and
the virus was released around the globe.

The first three months after the invasion, Mulder,
Skinner and I hid in the foothills of Kentucky. It may not
have been the brave thing to do, but it kept us from the
claws of the gestated aliens. With their short lifespan,
especially in the warmer climates, the spawn became less
of a threat. The three of us emerged to a new world.

Death was everywhere. Bodies were everywhere. I briefly
wondered why we even bothered hiding. What was the point?
Was this the kind of world we wanted to live in? One
full of death and destruction?

We drove west, changing vehicles when we ran out of fuel.
We came across other survivors, but not many. The best
we can tell, about seventy-five percent of the world's
population is gone, either ravaged by the alien
spawn, or in the chaos that reigned after the invasion.

The reality of all the death was the only thing that kept
me from thinking I was imagining it. If someone had told
me ten years ago that aliens would invade earth, I would
have laughed. Someone did tell me that only a year ago,
and that is exactly what I did. I laughed at Mulder. He
would be laughing now, if there wasn't so much loss. It
hasn't kept him from teasing me about it, though. If I
hear "I told you so" one more time I may lose it.

We eventually came upon a group of survivors in what
used to be Kansas. They were inhabiting an Army base
that remained mostly undamaged from the colonists'
bombing. Forty-seven men and women trying to start
over, and create something resembling a new life.
Mulder and I were tired of running. We'd been moving
for months, years really, I guess. So we stayed.
Skinner, too. Fifty people rebuilding.

It was an ideal place. The north side of the base was the
housing area. There were over two hundred apartments, so
there was plenty of room. Unfortunately, many still were
occupied by their owners. It took weeks to remove all the
bodies.

Beyond the base was a field perfect for farming. We had
acres of vegetables. Several teams, often led by Mulder,
would go out in the surrounding areas scavenging for
supplies. They had managed to gather some livestock, cows
and hogs, to breed on the base. Between the animals and the
farming efforts, no one went hungry. We named our community
Hope. It seemed appropriate.

Then the children started showing up. Groups of them.
Many had survived thanks to their training in hide-and-seek
on school playgrounds. They had hidden from the spawn and
the bandits who roamed the land. The kids had somehow
managed to scavenge enough food and water to survive. They
all seemed to be immune from the virus, something which
puzzled me. Skinner explained that Krycek had told him
people in certain areas were vaccinated against the virus.
While parents thought they were protecting their kids from
measles and chicken pox, the kids were actually being
immunized against the plague to end all plagues.

That's not to say the children were perfectly healthy.
Almost all were suffering from starvation and dehydration.
I think I set twenty-seven broken bones the first two
weeks the kids started showing up.

Every one in the community took a child. It was never
even discussed, really. When a child wandered in, they
were taken to the makeshift hospital immediately. Someone
from the community would follow, and that was their child
from then on. No child was without someone to care for
them. Mulder and I had taken two.

Jake was under forty pounds when he came to Hope. His
mother had taken him to the basement of their home when
the cities were being bombed. She died a week later, and
Jake wandered alone for several weeks before coming to
live with another group of children in the woods of
Kansas. They were the second group of kids who came to
Hope.

We don't know as much about Brandon. From what we can
gather from the the girl who brought him here, as well
as the scars on his body, Brandon was attacked by the
alien hatching from his father's body. Brandon has deep
scars on both his legs from the claws of the being, and
walks with a very noticeable limp. He doesn't speak, but
is getting better about using body language to communicate.

Mulder has made it his life's goal to make the little guy
laugh. Brandon didn't even smile for the first two months,
but not for Mulder's lack of trying. Now not a day passes
when we don't get a small grin.
 
Mulder's arm brushed mine as he moved his hand to tousle
Jake's hair. "Hey, sleepyhead," he said.

Jake smiled and hugged me close. "We gonna play baseball
today, Mulder?"

"We sure are, as soon as you get home from school."

I patted Jake's stomach. "Go on and get ready. What do
you want for breakfast? Potato pancakes, potato pancakes,
or potato pancakes?" I'll be so glad when some of the
explorer teams find a few chickens to raise here. Having
scrambled eggs once in a while would be a welcome change
over potato pancakes for breakfast. There was a surplus
of potatoes in Hope.

"Um....I think I'll have the potato pancakes." He laughed
and rolled out of bed.

"Wake up Brandon for me, ok?" I asked.

"Kay, Dana."

"Nicely!" I called to him as he took off down the hall.

I turned over and captured Mulder's mouth with mine. I
nipped at his bottom lip while he grabbed my ass and
pulled me closer to him. I could feel his cock twitching
slightly under the denim.

It had been a week since we'd made love. He works at all
hours of the night and day as head of security. I stay
busy as one of four doctors here, tending to the sick.
Between work and the kids, we don't have a lot of time
alone.

"He's got to start sleeping in his own bed all night,"
he said when I moved my attentions to his Adam's apple.

"Mmm hmm..." I agreed, biting his salty flesh. Jake's
nightmares meant he slept with us almost every night.

"Dana! Where are my shoes?" Jake called from his room.
I sighed, and crawled over Mulder to stand beside the bed.
I grabbed his coffee from the night stand and went to
look for the missing shoes while getting Brandon ready
for the day. As I left the room I glanced back to see
Mulder throw a pillow over his face in frustration. I
couldn't help but laugh.
 

**********************

I was running late, so Mulder took the boys to school for
me. Jake loved school. All the kids did. They all got along
quite well. School was easy compared to what they'd already
been though.

To my surprise, I finished my rounds by eleven. Usually I
have more patients to monitor, and I was glad to have time
to run home. With any luck, Mulder would be there.

Sure enough, his boots were sitting haphazardly by the coat
rack just inside the door. I heard him in the kitchen, and
it sounded like he was loading the wood burning stove. I
stood just outside the doorway, wishing he would go sans
shirt more often. I watched the way his muscles rippled as
he lifted a piece of wood into the compartment and shut the
door. He stood and reached for a pot that was hanging above
him. The summer months had turned him golden brown, and the
manual labor required of everyone in Hope had built him
quite a nice physique. Not that he didn't have one before,
but he was well-toned now in ways he wasn't previously.

I slipped up quietly behind him, my footsteps muffled by
the sound of water being poured into the pot and clanging
as he hoisted it onto the stove. I rubbed my hands up his
bare back, and he turned around with a look of shock.

"Surpri-"

My greeting became muted as his lips attacked, and his
tongue demanded entrance. I obliged, wondering how this
man who ate canned tuna almost every day and brushed his
teeth with baking soda could taste so damn good. We came
up for air, gasping. I ran my fingers from his back to
his chest, and could feel his rapidly beating heart. I
moved my hands and kissed him there, enjoying the feel
of his life source under my swollen lips. His heart isn't
just his life source, it's mine, too. I know he has a part
of me in there, and that for every beat of his heart my
own returns the rhythm.

I kissed my way down his stomach, and reached to unzip
the fly on his jeans.

"You want some lunch first? I was going to make mashed
potatoes." He only half-heartedly asked this, torn between
taking advantage of a rare opportunity to make love and
ensuring that I eat lunch. He knew I didn't have much
time between shifts at the hospital. It only took me a
moment to choose between sex and food.

"I can think of something else I'd rather eat," I replied,
unzipping his pants for emphasis. He threw his head back
and laughed, and I dropped his pants and boxers to the
floor. He was already hard, his erection bobbing up after
being released from its confinement. Grabbing his hips with
both hands, I maneuvered him until he was against the
kitchen wall. I sank to my knees and swallowed him as far
as I could. He ran his fingers through my hair, and moaned
loudly whenever I hollowed my cheeks and increased the
suction.

"Scully, stop...wait..." he gasped. I took my time taking
him out of my mouth, slowly running my lips down the silk
of his shaft. He shuddered, and I thought I'd damned myself
for a moment, but he kept his climax at bay. He dropped to
his knees and once more claimed my mouth. His hands cupped
my breasts through my t-shirt before he removed the
offending garment. Pinching my nipples between his graceful
fingers, he lowered me until my back came to rest on the
cool linoleum of the kitchen floor. I lifted my hips as he
pulled down my khakis and panties. My stomach quivered as
his fingers brushed over my swollen sex. He entered me,
first with one finger, then another. He was slow, teasing
me, and I almost cried out with frustration.

But I didn't. Instead, I cried out in pleasure as he
stroked my clit. The tension in my belly increased, and my
legs clamped around his arm as my body begged for release.

He leaned over me, resting his weight on his forearms.
He captured one of my nipples in his mouth, and I arched
my back and thrust closer to him. He was everywhere, all
around me, above me, his scent filling my nostrils and
his taste leaving my mouth wanting more. He was everywhere
but where I wanted him to be. As he played with my other
nipple, I reached between us to guide him into me. He
entered with one sure thrust, and my body spasmed slightly.

I wrapped my legs around him, needing him deeper. He
responded by thrusting harder. Each slam of his hips
against mine hammered my body into the kitchen floor.
I would probably be sore later, but I didn't care. It felt
too good, the smooth, cool floor beneath my back, and the
hot, sweaty skin above me.

I watched him, his face a mask of pleasure. He was mouthing

words of love and affection, but he was on autopilot now
and couldn't speak loud enough for me to hear him. I ran
one hand down his body as I reached to touch myself.

"Thanks," he somehow managed to say. Then he kissed me,
and the bright light behind my eyelids took over and
washed me away on a sea of pleasure.

****************************

I reluctantly said good bye to Mulder less than twenty
minutes later. He had some issues to attend to in zone
four, on the other side of Hope, before he reported to
work. I kissed him hard before he headed out the door.

"Be careful," I told him. He stopped and turned on the
porch.

"You're wonderful, you know that?"

"I bet you say that to all the girls."

"Just you. And Kimberly," he said, a twinkle in his eye
and a smile on his face.

"Kimberly? Tim Johnson's sister?" I played along.

"Yep, that's the one. She wants me" He stepped closer to
me.

"Oh, really? That so? What makes you think she would want
you?" I grabbed the bottom of his shirt and pulled him
against me.

"Let's see...I'm smart. Oxford educated, you know." He
tilted his head down to kiss my nose. "I'm immune to
the virus. That's a plus nowadays.."

"Yeah," I chuckled. "What else?"

"I look pretty good in a speedo. I tell a good story..."

"Indeed."

He cocked his head at me before continuing. "I can chase
down monsters, mutants, aliens, and any creature in
between. I remember birthdays. I remembered your birthday
this year, right?" He paused only for a second. "I'm
dedicated. And I'm the best baseball player Hope has ever
seen." He licked his lips before kissing me.

"Sounds like Kimberly is a lucky lady," I said, slipping
my hands in his back jeans pockets and squeezing his
shapely ass.

"Nah....not....really," he alternated kisses with words.
"Because I'm madly in love with someone else."

He pulled back and looked me directly in the eyes. I knew
he loved me. Seeing the world end has left me unsure
about a lot of things. My faith has faltered. I am now
unsure if the God I prayed to for so long was even up
there at all. I'm often unsure about my ability to survive
in this new world. But never unsure about Mulder's love
for me. I see it in the depths of his hazel eyes as they
gaze at me, in his gentle caresses as his skin connects
with mine, in his every movement. I hope he sees it in me,
too. I want him to be as sure as I am that he is loved.

If he can't see it, then I can at least make sure he can
hear it.

"I love you." I pulled him into a deep embrace. I hated
to let go, but we were both going to be late.

"Love you, too," he said, and left.

***********************************

I arrived at the hospital just in time for work. I entered
the building to find the main room crowded with Patrollers.

These were the older teenagers who chose to work instead of
going to school. Immune to the virus, they patrolled the
immediate fifteen miles outside of Hope, looking for any
signs of the spawn. In the six months they've been
patrolling, they've only seen seven  in this area.

I pushed my way through the crowd to Peggy, the
pediatrician. She was trying to quiet the group down.

"It's ok, just please be quiet. Some of the patients are
sleeping." She spotted me, and I could see the relief wash
over her face.

"Look, Dana's here, she'll want to take a look at it."

"Take a look at what? I asked, already knowing what was
coming.

Jay, the oldest of the group that was immunized, answered.

"We found a body. Looks like a spawn."

"Where?" I asked, trying to keep my voice neutral.

"Four miles from here, by the creek."

My heart sank to my stomach. The spawn had never been
so close. We knew that there were many out there, but
hoped that they were far from here. None of the adults,
except Mulder and I, were immune. If the virus was
moving this way, our town was in trouble.

I looked at Jay. "Let's go."

******************************

I met Mulder and Skinner at the south side of the
base ten minutes later. As I glanced at Skinner, I realized
how different he had become from his Assistant Director
persona. He, like Mulder, had beefed up. He often had to
rip the sleeves of his shirts so that they wouldn't cut off
the circulation in his huge biceps. He was a member of the
Hope Council, helping to keep everyone organized. His
experience as Assistant Director of the FBI had ensured
him this position.

Even with his new responsibilities, Skinner still made time
for his kids, and mine. In the afternoons, I would pick up
Jake and Brandon, along with both the Skinner kids, and
walk them to Skinner's place. He watches them until Mulder
or I can get home. Jake loves playing with Skinner's son,
so the afternoon arrangement works out great.

Jay, three of the Patrollers, Skinner, Mulder and I started
out. We all walked in silence, busy with our own thoughts.
This was a potentially deadly situation, and I'm sure
everyone recognized the magnitude of the discovery.

Sure enough, it was a spawn. I pulled out a pair of latex
gloves and touched the skin. It was still soft, so it
hadn't been dead for more than a few days. A set of tracks
parallel to the creek revealed the creature's route.

"There could be more." Skinner looked at his feet.

"We don't know that for sure," I said.

"I'll extend the perimeter two and a half miles tonight,
and assign some extra men for the patrol. If they're
around, we should be able to see them before they see us."

"I don't think that's absolutely necessary, is it, Mulder?"

I removed the gloves and tossed them on the body.

"Scully, that thing probably wasn't alive for more
than a few days. There's no way it could have
traveled far in that amount of time. He came from
nearby. And if there's one, there are bound to be more."

"But Mulder, these creatures don't travel in packs. It's
possible it originated from someone hiding out in the woods
who was stung by a bee."

"You can call a cow a duck, Scully, but you're still going
to get milk. Better safe than sorry."

I could tell the way his eyes dropped he regretted his
words. Not so much his words, but the biting tone in which
he said them. He immediately started to nibble nervously at
his bottom lip, as he studied my eyes for a reaction.

I had a reaction, but this wasn't the time or place for it.

I just nodded. He was right, anyway. I just didn't want to
believe it. I wanted to believe that we were safe. That
Hope would be a source of just that; a hope that we had
faced the toughest battle of our lives and won. Now
our only hope was that we could just enjoy being alive

"I'll take a team out tomorrow. We'll keep heading south,
follow the tracks." Mulder looked at Skinner. "I'll need
some help."

"I'll see if I can go," Skinner said, glancing at the
corpse.

We all headed back to Hope.

****************************

Jake was waiting for me, Brandon in tow, when I arrived
at the school. Both boys ran to me and hugged my legs.

"Hey guys," I said, picking up Brandon's small body and
hugging him tight. "Did you have a good day?"

Brandon merely blinked at me, his trademark, while Jake
rambled on. "It was great, Dana! We had a birthday party
for Maureen and Thomas, even though it may not really be
their birthday. Miss Judy made a cake, but it wasn't
so good cause there wasn't any icing. And then we
played Pin the Alien on the UFO. Me and Diane were
the only ones who got it on the first try."

He kept talking as I looked for Wayne and Marie.
They were Skinner's kids. Wayne and Marie seemed to be
eight and twelve. It's difficult to definitely know any of
the children's ages, since the birth dates are unknown. No
one was even absolutely sure of the current date, as no one
deemed a calendar worthy enough to protect during
apocalypse.

The children could have walked home by themselves, but
everyone in the community preferred an adult to be with
them at all times. With so much danger still lurking about,
no one wanted to take chances with the safety of the kids.

I spotted them on the slide, and called for them to come
over. They picked up their things and walked over to us.

"Hey guys. You ready to go?"

"Yes ma'am," Wayne said. I winced at the "ma'am." Skinner
had drilled Wayne to be very respectful.

We walked to Skinner's apartment, Jake and Wayne discussing
super heroes (Superman could definitely beat up all of
the colonists combined, according to Wayne.)

Marie didn't speak, but that's nothing new. Ten percent of
the kids here didn't speak, their subconscious choosing
silence as a way to deal with the trauma they have endured.
Once a week, Mulder saw each of them, trying to break
through to them. That's one reason he was so determined to
hear Brandon speak. As a psychologist, he knew the sooner
Brandon spoke, the better.

Marie was nearly a teenager, and I couldn't imagine how
she'd be able to cope with the rest of her life not being
able to speak. But Mulder and Skinner both were working
with her, coaxing her out of her silence. Mulder's
confident she'll be okay.

When we arrived at his apartment, Skinner was busy marking
plots on a map. He greeted all of the kids, setting
homemade potato chips on the kitchen table, and sitting
them down to do their homework.

After silencing the usual protests from the kids, he came
into the living room.

"Are you going with Mulder tomorrow?" I asked. Skinner
sometimes went with the teams, despite his not being immune
to the virus.

"Yeah, we're going to follow the creek for about twenty
miles, see what turns up. Can you watch the kids for me?"

"Of course. Let them stay with us tonight so you don't have
to wake them up so early tomorrow." I knew with that
distance, Mulder and the others would want to leave
particularly early, and might be gone for a few days. It's
for the best, and for everyone's safety, but it still
worried me every time Mulder went. I knew I wouldn't sleep
as well while he was gone.
 

****************************

"Keep your eye on the ball, ok? Hold your glove right
out in front of you. Yeah, that's right. "

Mulder knelt down to pick up the baseball before throwing
it to Jake. He missed again, scrambling backwards after the
ball.

"It's alright buddy, you'll get the next one."

I sat on the porch steps, holding Brandon close as he
watched Mulder and Jake attempt to play a game of catch.
Jake just didn't have the coordination. But he was
determined just the same. Jake threw the ball and it
actually made it to Mulder's glove.

I clapped my hands. "Great job, Jake!" Mulder threw the
ball again, but Jake missed and ran to retrieve it.  Mulder
turned and gave me a frustrated look. He was still looking
at me when Jake returned the ball, hitting Mulder squarely
in the chest. He gasped in surprise, and feigned injury.

Mulder grabbed his chest dramatically and fell backwards.
Jake laughed and ran over to Mulder, jumping on his
stomach. Mulder tickled him, teasing him about behavior
unbecoming a baseball player.

"What's daddy doing, huh?'' I asked Brandon, shifting him
so I could see his face. He was smiling. "Go get him, go
help Jake," I told him, swatting him gently on the rear. He
limped over to Mulder and Jake, who were still wrestling.
Mulder scooped Brandon into the air.

"You're coming to help me, right buddy? Jake's working your
old man over."  Brandon blinked, not answering.

Jake pounced on Mulder from behind, making the three of
them land in a heap on the lawn. The three wrestled in the
tall grass until Jake stood, looking down the roadway.

Skinner was walking toward us. Marie and Wayne beside him
with their duffle bags.

"Are they coming over for dinner?" Jake couldn't control
his excitement.

"Yeah, and Wayne and Marie are staying over tonight. Walter
and I have to go take care of some things tomorrow." Mulder
said cautiously. Jake adored Mulder, and worried as much as
I did whenever he had to leave.

Jake's smile faded quickly. "When will you be back?"

"Soon, pal. You gonna take care of everyone for me when I'm
gone?"

He nodded, looking worried. I patted him on the back.

"Everyone hungry?" I asked, as the Skinner trio approached.

********************************

"One more chapter? Please Dana?" Jake put on his best puppy
dog face, and Wayne matched it with an equally pitiful
look. But it wasn't working tonight.

"Tomorrow night. It's time for bed." I stood from the bed,
and tucked the bed covers around them.

I kissed them both on the cheek. "Night guys."

"Goodnight, Dana." They both chimed, and I left the room.

Mulder was just coming from Brandon's room. "Two down, two
to go."

Brandon was almost asleep when I went in his room. He
blessed me with one of his sweet smiles before yawning.

"Goodnight, little one." I kissed him and closed his door.

I glanced in the living room to make sure Marie was still
sleeping soundly on the couch. Then I went to the bedroom
and blew out the candle on the dresser. Oh how I missed
electricity. That was the next item on the agenda for the
community. We already had a few generators, but they were
used in the hospital to operate some of the medical
equipment.

I changed into a t-shirt and shorts, and slipped into bed
and under the sheet. The house was warm, and the coolness
of the sheets against my skin was refreshing.

Mulder came to the bedroom, stripped to his boxers and
spooned up behind me. My hands rested on top of his, our
fingers laced together.

"Dinner was great, Scully." He nuzzled his nose behind my
ear, inhaling deeply.  I guess I do make some mean beef
jerky and potato soup.

"How many do you think there are?"

He knew what I was referring to. "I don't know. The bees
are still out there, still infecting people everyday. There
are not a whole lot of people left, but still enough to
pose a threat if we're not careful."

I nodded, absorbing his words. This will never be over.

"I'm uh, I'm sorry about this afternoon." His thumb traced
my own softly.

"It's ok, Mulder. I just don't want you, or anyone, jumping
to conclusions." People were terrified of the spawn, with
good reason, and I didn't want a mass panic rerupting.

"We're just going to take a quick look around. Two, three
days at the most and I'll be back. I don't want to take any
chances, Scully." He kissed the skin just below my ear.

I stayed silent, thinking nothing could hurt me while in
his embrace.

"I'll miss you." He tightened his grip on me, and I leaned
back into him.

"I'll miss you, too. Be careful out there, Mulder."

"I will. It will be alright, Scully. Do you believe me?"

"I want to believe, Mulder."

Sleep came, and another day was officially over.
 

- e n d -

*********************
Author's notes:

This is a challenge for the IWTB birthday party. Challenge
included:

-a balloon, and/or something made of latex
-a candle
-someone blubbering, with or without alcoholic inducement
-the truth, a dare, and/or someone on top
-a crowded room
-a pin and/or a tail of any variation
-the phrase "I want to believe," spoken by someone other
than Mulder and/or the names of one or more IWTB members

A *huge* thank you to Sallie and Laura for the superb beta.
I gave them a quite a workout between my poor grammar and
dyslexia, but they never complained. Thank you so much,
ladies!

Happy birthday, IWTB!

Revilo Witts - 8/07/01
http://revilowitts.tripod.com