Title: The Aftermath of Thunder
Author: Arsenic
Rating: ADULT (implications of f/f slash)
Keywords: Lyric Wheel Challenge, XOVER (X-Men/XF)
Disclaimers: Chris Carter and Ten Thirteen are the gatekeepers of Scully and Mulder's abode, Marvel keeps track of Ororo.
Thanks: To the person who sent me my lyrics, I am so sorry that I cannot find the email that allows me to know your name at this moment. They were quite helpful and appreciated.
Notes: Oh so sorry for any horrid grammar mistakes/plot holes/characterization quirks/canon issues. This was written during midterms week on very little sleep and finished five hours before I need wake to catch a flight away from school and my computer.
Dedication: For Pollyanna, because this is the first time I have allowed myself the time to write since coming back to school a month and a half ago. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to save myself from impending insanity.

***

It was only through long years of practice, a genuine curiosity and an underlying current of amusement at Mulder's oh-so-predictable lack of predictability that Scully managed to keep a straight face and even tone. "Mulder, what are we doing on a plane to Kenya?"

Mulder looked up from the peanut bag he had been wrestling with for the last five minutes in an attempt to open it. "I gave you the file."

"Which you knew I wouldn't be able to make heads or tails of -- Mulder, weather reports, meteorologist maps, ancient customs of worship in central Africa? What does any of this have to do with us? And for that matter, since when does the FBI have jurisdiction in Kenya?"

"Remember how I wouldn't let you know where we were going until at the gate?" Mulder looked slightly nervous.

Scully nodded, she'd been expecting an answer like this. Her suspicion had doubled when he wouldn't give her the case files until on the plane, claiming they would be good for the long hours of travel. Uh huh.

"Plausible deniability. Tell Skinner I rushed you off without an idea as to where we were heading."

Scully held back the urge to rub her temples. She knew she should have shot him. Again. "Forget it. Just explain why I am yet again risking my job."

"You'll like this one. There's a tribe not far outside of Kenya, rumor has it that they worship a woman in the tribe as a goddess."

Scully raised an eyebrow. "Since when are we anthropologists. I grant you that it might be an interesting case study or human interest feature as a journalist, but-"

"But what does it have to do with us Mulder?" He had the nerve to smirk at his own mocking but was quick to look repentant in the light of her responding glare. "They worship her because she supposedly can control the weather."

"Another Rain King." Scully was duly unimpressed.

"Not at all. The rain doesn't follow her. Neither does anything else - she can call up storms or wind or hail or snow, in the middle of Africa. The tribe obviously believes she could do this anywhere."

"Yeah, I'm sure you're maintaining that calm skepticism you always seem to bring into these investigations."

Mulder swore as the peanut bag won the battle by exploding all over him and the surrounding area. Scully gave a triumphant inner laugh and closed her eyes. Scientific causes for change in weather apparently caused by a single woman....

Ten Hours Later

Scully had, in no uncertain terms, made it clear that they were going to the motel first. She had also made him ask for directions out to the town where the tribe was located. About thirty minutes away from the motel, when the only things arguably alive were the plants, she was glad for the move. Her and Mulder had spent the last two hours of the plane ride spouting theories at each other and explaining why each other's wouldn't work. Scully was glad to watch the scenery in silence.

It had been well over an hour when the pair reached what was unquestionably the village they had in mind. Nothing Scully had seen in the long car ride there had come close to the vegitation surrounding the tiny homes of each family. Mulder had an expression on his face that was somewhere between amazement and smug confidence. Scully bit back a sigh. Why did things always outwardly go his way?

She opened the car and cursed herself for not changing the black suit she had put on this morning, more out of habit than as a well-thought through move. Movement among some of the wild brush that was growing rampant all over caught the corner of her eye, but by the time she turned all she saw was three children running toward what looked like the largest structure in sight.

Scully looked over at Mulder to confirm that he had seen them as well and as one they began walking toward where the children had disappeared. They got less than half-way there before noticing that someone was heading their way. It was a woman. Dark, exotic skin made the shock of the full white hair that cascaded down her back and light crystal-blue eyes even more dramatic. When she finally reached them, she towered over Scully, easily matching Mulder for height.

Cold eyes with an unreadable current swept over both of them and a heavily accented voice poured from the woman's lips. "Is there something you wish, that you have come here?"

As if psychically linked, Mulder and Scully reached for their badges. Mulder spoke up before Scully was able to get a word out. "We work for special section of the American Federal Bureau of Investigation looking into odd phenomena. We heard rumors of unusual weather in this particular area of Africa -- you can probably see how that fits under our area of expertise."

The woman's eyes narrowed slightly before she seemed to realize it and smooth out her expression. "Why are the Americans worried about African weather patterns?"

Scully had to give it to the woman, she wasn't allowing any intimidation to enter into the situation. "Worried is not really a good description. Interested, I suppose is better."

"We have enjoyed the bounty of the Goddess these past few years, she has granted us much in terms of weather."

"This goddess you speak of," Scully wanted to wince at the drollness that had crept into Mulder's tone, "she wouldn't be anywhere near, would she?"

"I suppose American religious tolerance does not extend to the wild banshee tribes of Africa, Agent?"

"Not when mortal women are posing as deities." Mulder's glare was a mix of irritation and his usual surface apathy. Scully put a hand on his arm; the last thing they needed was to get in trouble out here. Especially when she had the feeling Skinner would let them stew for a good few days and get his kicks out of seeing Mulder fall into a trap of his own making. Sometimes, she felt like an unnoticed casualty of war when it came to being between those two.

Scully took advantage of Mulder's silence to speak to the woman who stood there looking as if Mulder had mentioned the wonderful condition of the roofs in the village. Scully hoped she looked that composed half the time. "We don't mean to intrude upon your way of life, ma'am. We're merely looking to see if perhaps this is an event that can be recreated." She motioned to the relatively green surroundings. "After all, it seems to have benefited the immediate-"

She was cut off by the arrival of a boy, no more than thirteen, running up to the woman and delivering a message between panted breaths. "Goddess, my mother, the baby."

The woman, so regal up until that point, bent down to where her eyes met directly with the boy's. She placed one hand on his shoulder and the other on his chin. "Alright Kamau, I will be there soon."

She straightened as the boy ran back from where he had come. For the first time, Scully saw a hint of fear in her eyes. "I must go, the doctor must be brought."

Mulder's voice was quiet. "That so, Goddess?"

"You mock what you cannot possibly understand." There was a sadness hidden behind the determination in those words.

Scully was surprised to find a strange empathy swirl in her at that sadness. "Explain it to us."

For the first time, the woman looked at her without seeming to notice only the suit and neat hair-do. "Can you come back tomorrow? In the morning? I will have breakfast made and we can talk."

Scully nodded at the same time that Mulder made verbal confirmation. "Nine o' clock."

The woman smiled. "I will be in my house." She pointed to the smallest of the houses, squarely in the center of the rest. Something about the woman's choice made Scully want to smile. "Please, go to your car now, it will be safer."

Mystified, the two agents walked briskly back to the car and slid inside. No sooner had they reached safety than the winds picked up and the woman was lifted up in the force of the gales. She headed away from the village, toward where they could only assume a doctor would be.

Scully made sure her mouth wasn't hanging open. "Pretending to be a deity. Good one, that."

"I'm waiting with baited breath to hear your scientific explanation of that one." He started the car seeing that the woman had flown out of sight.

Scully stared out of the windshield at the empty sky that remained, busy calculating one such explanation. She was surprisingly interested in finding out what made the "goddess" tick. That, and it was long past her turn to get the last word on a case.

The Following Morning

Scully felt that the years of working with Mulder had shaped her into a formidable tactician. Which didn't make her any more confident about approaching the subject of their coming breakfast meeting. "Mulder."

"Yeah?" He kept his eyes on the road ahead of them.

"You think we could try a less aggressive tactic this morning?"

"The verbal bitch-slapping wasn't affective, huh?"

"I've seen you do better." She saw his responding smile without either of them having to turn towards the other. He started talking about the theory he had formulated over dinner last night - something to do with the occult and movement of planets and other things that Scully felt was distinctly unoriginal for Mulder. He performed for a half-sleeping audience most of the way there.

He found a small tree to park the car under and both of them headed for the structure the woman had pointed out to them. Upon reaching it, they knocked on the door and were immediately received by the town's seeming goddess. She stood aside to let them in, but not before Scully noticed the tightness of her face, the lines that amounted to weariness.

They all sat down around a small table set for three places. The woman motioned to a the yellow mush gracing the table. "I made n'dizi." She caught the uncomprehending look both agents were trying to hide and explained. "Bananas steamed in banana leaves. Uji, my normal breakfast is a type of gruel, I did not think that would be pleasing. Coffee?"

Both Mulder and Scully nodded in relief at both the offer of caffeine and something they recognized. The woman poured and it was beyond Scully to keep herself from putting the cup to her lips and simply inhaling. "It smells delicious."

To her surprise, the woman gave her a genuine smile. "If you can present me with a compliment, I think it is past time I was hospitable at least to the point of sharing my name. I am Ororo." She spooned out a bit of the n'dizi onto each plate.

Scully picked up her spoon and allowed Mulder the task of introducing them. She managed to smile covertly at Ororo in appreciation of the dish before Mulder plunged ahead with his questions. "Can you tell us how it is that you managed to bring up a wind force so strong that you were able to glide away inside of it?"

"The elements respond to my needs." She gave the eloquent version of most people's shrug. "I cannot explain it any further. I do not exploit the gift."

Scully swallowed the last of her coffee. "Has this always happened?"

Ororo shook her head slightly. "It began when I was thirteen. Thirteen and very angry." The last words were almost mouthed and Scully was surprised to see her hand cover the other woman's on the table top. The shock in Ororo's eyes almost covered the sadness of whatever memory those words recalled. Almost. Scully pulled her hand back into her own lap.

Mulder began to ask detailed questions about her worship practices, those of the tribe, what kind of needs corresponded to which types of weather, if the gift had ever failed her, and more until he could think of nothing else he wanted to know. Scully listened thoughtfully as she slowly formed a conclusion. The words thirteen and very angry were of significance, she just wasn't entirely sure how. What she was sure of, was that she needed more information than Mulder's Q&A session was going to retrieve.

"Ororo." The woman in question looked slightly startled to hear the female half of the two speak. Scully continued. "Would you be willing to come back with us for a few hours? I would like to do a few medical exams."

There was a flash of disappointment in Ororo at the woman's suggestion. "I will not be kept in a lab like a rat. I care for my tribe well and do no harm to others. What concern is my gift to you?"

"My medical ethics are slightly higher than you give me credit for. I do not sell my patients off to the traveling circuses that come asking so often. All I am asking for is four hours of your time, ride here and back included."

Amused in spite of herself, Ororo relented. "Four hours, I have responsibilities."

Two hours of holding back made Mulder's smart-aleckiness return with a vengeance. "Well, what d'you know Scully? That makes one of us."

It took a moment, but Ororo smiled.

At The Lab

Scully was well aware that her patient was nervous, no matter how cool the woman was playing it. "Have you had blood drawn before?"

Ororo pulled her eyes in Scully's direction and answered in an audible whisper. "No."

"I'm generally the gentle type." She smiled wryly. "When it comes to this stuff, at least."

Ororo's eyes flickered in confusion for a second before they flashed to the presently visible holster and gun. She held out her arm. "And your partner?"

"Mulder's harmless. He just doesn't like to think of himself that way."

"He thinks I am taking advantage of my tribe."

Scully tied the rubber tubing around Ororo's arm and swabbed at the vein. "It wouldn't be the first time we encountered something like that."

Ororo monitored Scully's actions warily. "What do you think?"

Scully was silent while she inserted the needle. "You came here, with very little hesitation, because I told you I would not harm you. Maybe you listened to what we said earlier about helping others, I'm not good at guessing what motivates others, I leave that to Mulder. I suppose I admire what I have seen of you. It's hard to be suspicious when you're busy approving."

Ororo jumped a little at the application of a band-aid, she hadn't noticed Scully remove the needle. "I am not one to - I do not run or hide from dangers presented to me. I did far too much of that as a child. Whatever you are hoping to find, whatever shows up under your machinery, that is part of me. It has its evils, but it has helped my tribe not to starve for years. Everything has two sides."

Scully grimaced at the truth in that situation. She held up one of the filled vials. "I 'm sending one of these off to the closest lab today. The others will be here, under my direct supervision. They're labeled anonymously, so nobody but I will know." She hesitated for a second. "And Mulder."

Ororo nodded. "Everything has two sides."

In The Car, Back At The Village

Ororo got out of the car but leaned in the still-open door. "How long before you will have results?"

"A week, maybe less."

Ororo looked up, as if checking to see that nothing in the village had changed in the four hours since she'd left. Evidently deciding it hadn't, she turned her face back to Scully. "Come to dinner here, my place, tomorrow night?"

"You're willing to invite us back into your house?"

"Not us. You." Ororo gave the tiniest smile. "You can tell Agent Mulder that it is not personal."

Scully's grip on the steering wheel tightened ever so subtly. "I leave for Washington as soon as I figure out what is going on here."

"It is a dinner. Maybe some coffee afterwards. A walk among the tents. A kiss." For the first time, Ororo's eyes seemed to melt. "A goddess cannot fraternize among her followers. I have not the luck of Zeus to be able to disguise myself when in the presence of mortals." Her lips twisted in dark humor at the last word. "I enjoy Agent Mulder's flippancy towards me, at least I know he sees the woman and not the idol. I enjoy your honesty and your intelligence and your beauty. The offer was not an insult, just an offer. I will understand if you do not accept."

Scully loosened her grip. "I would be foolish to do that. Your cooking is much better than the hotel's." She looked up candidly. "And you're exquisite."

Ororo flashed her teeth. "You are familiar with the goddess experience."

Scully shrugged. "I happen to be the FBI's most famous in-residence ice queen."

Dinner, An Evening Later

The door to Ororo's house opened and Scully fought to regain her breath before the other woman noticed that it had caught. The word goddess had suddenly had taken on a new meaning. Candles from the interior reflected off burnished skin and set white hair glowing in a way that reminded Scully of ignited magnesium. The planes of her face were highlighted by the shadows and her body seemed to flow up from the floor, wrapped in a strapless sarong. Ororo smiled. "I was worried you would change your mind." She stepped back to allow Scully in the house.

Scully followed her lead and looked around. "You obviously didn't let it affect your preparations. This is fantastic."

"Hopefully dinner will be more impressive than a few wild flowers and bee wax candles." Oror's voice held a hint of sarcasm, with an undercurrent of abashedness.

Scully turned to look at her. "It's probably a good thing we both know the other doesn't do this very often."

Ororo gave a soft laugh in agreement and disappeared into the kitchen. She reappeared moments later with two ceramic cups. She held one out to Scully. "Tea?"

Scully accepted and they both moved to sit down. The women sipped at their tea and talked about themselves. About Kenya and DC. About the food, which Scully was tempted to kidnap Ororo in order to obtain on a permanent basis. About the artwork that graced Ororo's living space. About Queequeg and the bird Scully had been rather startled to have fly past her during dinner, whom Ororo called Tiombe. She explained that the name was feminine for "shy," and that the flyby had been the pepper-bird's rather finicky attempt at getting to know the stranger. In light of the fact that Scully had been startled, Ororo made her turn around at pointed into the corner. For the first time, Scully noticed a pair of large, unblinking eyes. She blinked. "An Owl?"

Ororo grinned. "Carama. Teacher."

"What did she...he teach you?"

"He taught me that patience is underrated a virtue and that waiting when action should be taken is the mark of a fool." Ororo slid her fingers around the back of Scully's neck, causing the other woman to turn back toward her in surprise. Ororo took advantage of the slightly shocked immobility holding the smaller woman and leaned in to press her lips against Scully's. The kiss was light and quick, over before a response could be formulated. Ororo leaned back. "Yes?"

Scully didn't answer, just leaned back in to expand upon her knowledge of kissing a goddess. The exploration, for both women, lasted deep into the night and traveled beyond the confines of each other's mouths.

As the stars began to fade, the women lay tangled and Ororo's quilts and each other, Ororo murmured something.

Scully's eyes opened lazily. "Huh?"

"Akila. It means "Intelligent One Who Reasons."

Scully laughed at the appropriateness. "You have me pegged."

Ororo's hand found Scully's cheek and she stroked it. "But you are also Isoke. A satisfying gift from the Goddess."

Scully turned her head into the hand and gently kissed it. "Is there a word for 'magnificent in all ways'?"

Three Days Later

"Mulder, come look at this." Scully stared intently at the model that had taken her so long to piece together twirling on the screen.

"Oooh, DNA. Is this a biology lesson?" Mulder's voice floated over her shoulder.

"Mulder." She traced her finger along the section she wanted him to see.

"Your girlfriend has some seriously artistic genes there."

Scully rolled her eyes at the reference to the fact that she had returned to Ororo's the night after the one of their first date. The expression was quickly followed by a smile at the thought of those nights. The smile was quickly suppressed. She pulled herself back into the present. "Her DNA has mutated."

"What does that have to do with anything? A lot of people have DNA mutations, they end up with extra toes or weird eye muscles."

"She ended up with the ability to interact with the moisture, electricity and wind gales in the environment." She held up a finger to forestall his argument. "I already sent it out to three renowned DNA researchers in the form of a hypothetical question. They see what I am seeing."

"Can I talk now?"

Scully motioned that he could.

"As far as I can tell, you're probably right. I've done some digging. To all intents and purposes, the tribe's type of worship is pretty common in this part of Africa. She has demonstrated that her abilities aren't just a rumor or a hoax... Science wins this round."

Scully only allowed a small portion of her happiness to show.

"Are you going to tell her?"

"Yes. She likes honesty. And if anyone other than Skinner gets their hands on that, she's going to find out in another, less pleasant way."

Mulder knew he was one of the few people who would have heard the sadness and disgust in those statements. His hand found its way to her shoulder. "We have two more days here. I can take care of the case report and wrap ups and all the details."

This time the smile was a full measure of what she was feeling. "Sometimes, you really are worth the trouble."

At Ororo's

Ororo knew the minute she saw the car that something had happened. It was too early in the day for Scully to be there. Calmly she walked to meet the woman striding toward her with purpose. She spoke first when they reached each other. "You found something?"

Scully nodded. "I suppose, in a way, what you have is a gift from your Goddess."

Ororo cocked an eyebrow.

"Your DNA has mutated. I don't know how. My assumption would be that you are among the first to be part of a new stage of evolution, but since all the evidence I have is your samples, that would be a foolhardy assertion to make to anyone in the scientific community."

"My DNA allows me to call upon the wind and the rain?"

"As far as I can tell, you have something of a telekinetic tie with the air and all it's properties - moisture, electricity, you can 'move' them, for lack of a better description."

"And when your government finds out about this?"

"I do not know. I know that most of the reports Mulder and I turn in get ignored, left in the basement files to collect dust and quite a few other things, I'm sure. I can ask my superior to turn a blind eye, he's a good man."

"Pandora's box is opened, you know it as well as I."

"Yes, but I am attempting to keep its forces contained for a few years, until you find a way to control them."

"This tribe is all I have known since I was eleven."

"I know." She did too, Ororo had spent hours describing her personal history the evening before in exchange for being told about Scully. The stories had taken longer than they should have given all the...interruptions. Both women smiled bittersweetly.

"When do you leave?" The fear had fled from Ororo's voice.

"A couple of days. Mulder said I could stay here, that he would take care of things."

"When I allow you to go back to him, you must send my thanks."

"Oh, believe me, handling an angry Skinner will be thanks enough for both of us."

Ororo looked confused but nodded. She offered her hand. Scully grasped it tight enough to draw a gasp. There was very little time over the next two days that they let go.

When they did, for the last time, it was not without digging their nails into each other, leaving a physically temporary mark.

Ororo eyed the tiny wound on her lover and smiled. "Don't wish it gone. I would live inside of you, make you wear me, like a scar."

Scully answered with her own smile. "And I would burn myself into your memory."

In the Eye

--Suzanne Vega

If you were to kill me now
Right here I would still
Look you in the eye

And I would burn myself
Into your memory
As long as you were still alive

I would not run
I would not turn
I would not hide

I would live inside of you
I'd make you wear me
Like a scar

And I would burn myself
Into your memory
And run through everything you are

I would not run
I would not turn
I would not hide

Look me in the eye
In the eye