By bcfan
bcfan@shaw.ca

Spoilers: Beyond the Sea
Rating: G

------------------

Fishing for Minnows
by bcfan
 

Candles flickered and sweet incense filled the air as Dana
Scully entered the hospital chapel.  She sat heavily in a
pew close to the altar, exhausted from her ordeal. Her
visions of her father, Mulder's almost fatal gunshot wound
and Boggs' execution - all conspired to weigh on her soul.
Dana's heart felt squeezed.  Tears made their way past
blinking lids.  She could only repress them for so long.
Soon she was quietly sobbing.

A quiet voice interrupted her grief, and as she looked up
Dana hastily wiped her eyes with her fingers.

"May I help you child?"

Dana smiled slightly.  The black-garbed priest seemed the
same age as she.

Clearing her throat, she composed herself and
answered firmly, "No thank you father, I'm fine - just
a little tired."

"Are you visiting someone here at the hospital?"  He
inquired kindly.

"Yes, my friend was shot several days ago.  He's out
of ICU though, and they predict he'll make a
full recovery."

The priest held out his hand and Dana shook it, "My name
is Father Callahan."

"I'm Dana Scully.  Nice to meet you."

"Would your friend like a visitor, I'd be happy to drop by."

"Thank you Father, but we don't live here.  I'll be flying
back to D.C. with him as soon as he's able to travel."
Scully stood.  Father Callahan pressed a small book in her
hand as she turned toward the door.

"If I'm not going to visit, I can at least provide some
reading material," he smiled.  "I just noticed that someone
left this on the back pew when I was tidying up."

Dana smiled fondly as she recognized the same bible
stories book she had read long ago.

"Daniel in the Lion's Den, Jonah and the Whale, Noah's
Ark - thanks Father.  My friend is still too tired to talk
much, this will give me something to read to him."

"Go in God then, my child, and remember - this door is
always open."

"Thank you Father," she murmured, then turned down the
hall, pausing at a vending machine before entering
Mulder's room.

Her somber mood broken, Scully smiled slightly as she
saw a scowling Mulder propped up on his bed, shooting
daggers at the mobile tray holding his hospital lunch,
which consisted of watery rice pudding and lime jello.

"Scully."  His raspy whine gave Scully a pang.  "Look at
this crap.  I'll starve before I get out of here."

"Here Mulder," she held up a can of caffeine-free ice tea.
"Do you think a sip or two of this will help kill the taste of
your food?"

"Oh yeah," Mulder fervently replied.

By the halfway point, even with liberal swallows of tea,
Mulder was drooping

"Enough."  He pushed the tray weakly then laid back, his
eyes at half-mast.

Scully got up and wet a cloth, wiping the slight sweat from
his face.  She noticed Mulder seemed to be unconsciously
leaning into her touch, so she gently brushed back his hair.

"Thanks," he whispered.

Scully returned to her seat at his bedside, then held up her
new acquisition.  "Dinner and a movie Mulder, or the
hospital version anyway - lunch and a story.  You've
finished lunch.  Which would you prefer I read to you -
the budget report on this case, or a bible story from this
book I just picked up?"

"That's my choice?"  A slight whine, then, "Okay, a story.
But make it a good one, where the hero beats out the bad
guys and gets the girl."  Mulder's haggard face sported a
smirk.

Scully cleared her throat self-consciously, then began.
"Close your eyes, Mulder, relax and imagine you are living
in ancient Israel..."

Mulder dutifully closed his eyes and relaxed back onto his
bed.

She continued, "Many years ago, the Philistines and the
Israelites were going to fight each other in a war. The
Philistines were on one mountain and the Israelites were
on another mountain. The valley of E'-lah was in between
them."

Mulder opened one eye.  "This is David and Goliath,
right?"

Scully shook her head in amusement.  She reminded
herself never to be surprised by Mulder's wealth of
knowledge.

"That's right, Mulder.  We have to fight government
conspiracy, and David has to fight a giant.  Maybe we can
learn something here.  Should I continue?"

Mulder nodded

"The Israelites were God's chosen people, but the
Philistines had a secret weapon--his name was Goliath.
Goliath was the champion of the Philistines."  Scully was
pleased to note that Mulder looked relaxed and pain-free.
She began to paraphrase the story, "Goliath was nine feet
tall and, like most bullies, was proud and scornful of
others.  He had the hubris to believe he was invincible..."

"Hey Scully," a quiet voice, "Do you think Goliath was an
alien?"

"Well I don't know, Mulder."  Scully's surprise turned
thoughtful.  "It never occurred to me.  The Bible isn't
organized around the possibility of life on other planets.
It's only concerned about life on this planet."

"Yeah Scully, but besides God, the Old Testament
mentions sons of God and giants.  Couldn't they be a
reference to non-human entities?"

"Do you mean Genesis?   Hmmm, that might be stretching
it."

Mulder's slight smile.  "I like to stretch things."

Don't I know it, Scully thought.  "Relax and enjoy,
Mulder.  We have an exciting battle coming up."

Mulder sighed back into the bed, eyes fluttering closed.
He still looks so pale, Scully thought.

She continued.  "Why are you out here all ready to have a
battle?" Goliath boasted.  "Am I not a Philistine and aren't
you Israelites mere servants? Do you want even more
hardship and torture from the Philistine army?  Give up
now - or pick one man from your army and let him come
down here to me. I'm ready to fight. If your man can kill
me, we Philistines will be your servants. But if I prevail
against him, and kill him, you Israelites will be our
servants."

"Goliath kept saying this every morning and every evening
for forty days."

Her narrative interrupted by a soft snore, Scully glanced
up.  She knew without being told that Mulder slept better
when she was near, so she settled in the uncomfortable
chair to wait a bit.

As she sat, Scully's mind wandered to the story she had
been reading.  Mulder is like David, she mused.  He's got a
great heart, and is never afraid to face an adversary, no
matter how big.  He thinks anything is possible.  And, like
David, Mulder is almost destined for the role he plays.
Mulder's birthright seems preordained.  Scully shivered at
this last thought.

To distract herself, she began to make a mental list of all
the things needed to get Mulder back to D.C. safe and
sound.  She would need to organize two plane tickets from
Raleigh, arrange physiotherapy for Mulder, help him fill
out temporary disability forms, and probably do some grocery
shopping and laundry.  Scully knew that Mulder would be
on his own, and wondered if she should call one of his
relatives to lend a hand.  No, she thought to herself, he
never mentions family.  I'll help him instead.  She prided
herself on being efficient and organized, and this was a
way she could help.

Scully began to idly page through the story once more.  A
bookmark fluttered to the ground.  Scully picked it up and
read: "Are you standing on a Whale, fishing for
minnows?"

Scully slowly read the words again, and then - for the first
time in what seemed like forever - began to relax.  I'm
happy now, she thought.  Mulder is safe now.  If I think
about my father, I know in my heart he loved me, he was
proud of me.  I don't need to know what he wanted to say
to me, when I know this.

And at two-fifteen p.m. on a Wednesday afternoon in
January, Dana Scully made a vow to herself: no more
fishing for minnows.
 

*****

"...as the Polynesian saying goes, you are then 'standing on
a whale fishing for minnows.'  We are standing on a whale.
The ground of being is the ground of our being, and when
we simply turn outward, we see all of these little problems
here and there. But, if we look inward, we see that we are
the source of them all."
Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

*****

END `Fishing for Minnows' by bcfan