#Then my dad and mom were distant and I saw ut coming for a while

[astral-catastrophe]

That moment you realize you never properly got to be a kid and now that you’re a year away from being an adult everything feels wrong

[dana-sculy]

Vive Ut Vivas - Chapter One

Okay, y’all. I’m not exactly writing material, but I gave it a shot and this was decent enough for me to post it (who am I kidding, it’s trash, sorry not sorry). You can find it in ao3 here.

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This is an alternate following to the episode One Breath. After Scully is released from hospital, she takes refugee in Melissa’s appartment and they go through the pain of what happened to her. I always thought Melissa deserved better than dying, so this explores her character and her relationship with Scully. She is also the leading factor to Mulder and Scully finally having a decent talk about their feelings, and whatever comes after that.

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Sometimes people are the last ones to see what’s right in from of them. Either from fear of the truth or from not believing it could quite be true. But these two are a case to be studied. I’d had a lot of men in my life, but God, they were no Fox Mulder.

I saw how he’d acted when Dana was dying, when hope was only a distant memory to him. I felt the darkness that emanated from him, and if my sister was trapped on a place between life and death, I bet this poor man was likely to be the thing holding her there.

So much to be said to each other. I know my sister more than her own shadow, and Dana was never the best at exposing her emotions to others, especially when they were deep.

“I knew there was a reason to live.” – She said, joking. It’s so good to see my sister smile, even if it’s still a week one. After all we’ve been through these last couple of days, it helps the tension in the room to dissipate a little.

He says his goodbye and touches her hand briefly, but it’s when their eyes meet that I have to hold my breath. There’s so much there: care, affection, hope. I suddenly feel like I’m intruding. It’s not exactly something private, some intimate demonstration of love, but their eye contact shares more than what’s there to be seen. It makes me feel like an outsider just to be around, like they were the only ones in the room and I just entered the wrong place at the wrong time. What was said between them is something I’ll probably never know, but I’m sure they do.

A minute passes by. I notice how Mulder looks nothing of what he looked before; his smile is warm, genuine now, and even Dana shares one or two when he’s around. That is certainly a meaningful exchange.

As soon as the door closes, her mother’s eyes meet hers. She’s noticed it too. If it bothers her, she doesn’t show. A mother always knows – Melissa can almost hear her say. They will save this conversation for later, though: right now Dana is alive and back from the dead, and that’s all that matters after all.

…

When I hear the phone ring, I immediately know it’s her. What surprises me is that my sister accepted my invitation to stay with me for the week, after being released from the hospital. You see, she has always had this terrible habit of closing herself after a moment of vulnerability, even if it was just me there, trying to help. I know it started because of our father, when her rebellious side decided she had something to prove to him, to prove her strong. When you grow up in a house of navy men, you learn to be tough. But I guess I dealt with it the light way and she chose the hard one.

Maybe that’s changing too. – I smile to myself. My apartment isn’t exactly as big and cozy as hers, but the two of us have always found comfort in each other’s company. Besides, it will give me just the opportunity I need to have a heart-to-heart conversation with Dana.

…

As I expected, she doesn’t let me pick her up at the hospital. I’ll let it pass this time, since I’m more than happy with her presence.

Half an hour has passed by when the doorbell finally rings and I hear the thud of her bags on the other side of the door. I rise from my spot on the couch and go open it for her.

“Mel, I don’t know if you made plans for today, but I can’t stay long. I have to present myself to the FBI as soon as possible so they can evaluate me and decide when I’ll be able to return to work again.” – As if to make her point clear, Dana does that eyebrow thing of hers that really annoys me.

“I know, I know. I’ll not step on your toes, sis, as long as you let me make plans for tomorrow. I missed you. It’s not gonna hurt if you spend some time away from Fox and everything to have some fun with your sister, right? – When the word “Fox” reaches her ears I’m sure she took the bait.

“You know, it’s not like that. We’re just partners. If there’s a reason for my eagerness to go back to work it’s just that I want at least a resemblance of my previous, normal life, that’s all.” – Yeah, right, sweetie. She truly believes that, poor thing.

“And the fact that he’s extremely attractive and obviously crazy about you does nothing to change that point of yours, Dana?” – Her eyes dart away from me for a second, and she tries her hardest to fight back a smile surging in the corners of her mouth. Even if she was successful at that, I know her way too much not to notice her signs: she likes him. She just probably doesn’t know it yet.

I remember when we still lived with mom, back when I was nineteen and she had just turned seventeen. At the time, she was into this guy named Paul, who was one of her friends. Whenever I mentioned him she would smile like a kid in a Christmas shop. Old Dana may hide her smile better, but it’s all the same.

“He’s not…crazy about me, Melissa. He trusts me, and we’re friends. Considering what happened to me, he’s happy to see me well again, and probably relieved too. He has this bad tendency to think everything is his fault.”

“Dana, I had boyfriends who cared less for me than he does for you. Mom had to drive him out of the hospital and take him to a restaurant to be sure he would even eat.” – she rolls her eyes at my comment, like she usually does when she wants to avoid talking about something.

“Look, I’m not trying to fight here. I just found you two… intriguing.” – I pose the devilish smile I can get. She can’t help but smile after that.

We stop talking about her partner as Dana guides herself through my place, looking around. She takes her time and then comes back to the couch, where I languidly rest while I wait for her little tour to end.

The floor of the apartment was an old-fashioned parquet with a blend of deep homely browns that contrasted with creamy-colored walls, on which lots of photographs were hanged: there were ones of me, Dana, mom and dad, my brothers and the closest of my friends.

On top of the fireplace, a delicate painting catches her attention – it was a landscape: the coastline jagged, covered by inlets where the water laid still. In the orange-kissed sky, the last vestiges of daylight contrasted with the growing black of cliffs, jagged and folded, shrinking into the distance.

Bursting through the large windows made of glass, she saw shafts of light streaming through the gaps in the linen curtains.

It’s the first time Dana comes to visit me here. It’s been a long time since I stayed in a place for more than one or two months, and after a while, she stopped coming to me and I started going to her place instead. It felt easier for us to spend time together.

When Dana’s finished, she sits next to me on the couch and rests her head on my shoulder. We stay this way for some time, in a quiet, yet comfortable silence. Her hair mingles with mine, leaving a delicious orange sent that probably came from her shampoo.

“Hmm.” – I hear her sigh on my side.

“Dana, can I ask you another thing? And please promise you’ll be honest with me.”

“Fine.” – She complies, defeated. I feel her tiny hand resting on mine, and we interlace our fingers.

“What made you come back? I mean, from the coma?” – I say barely above a whisper, choosing the words carefully.

She takes her time to answer, the thin lines of her forehead contorted in concentration. Finally, she speaks.

“I don’t know. At least, not with certitude.” – I release my breath, and when I’m about to disentangle with her, she holds me where I am. – “The truth is, I’m having a hard time figuring out what was part of my imagination and what was real. The things I’ve heard and seen during my state of coma, it’s all messed up, Mel. When I listened to Mulder’s voice calling me back, I…” – she sighs with frustration.

“Dana, please… don’t. Don’t close yourself now. I’m with you, and I believe that, if you decided to come here, at least some part of you wants me to help you heal.” – I take a strand of her beautiful hair and put it behind her ear, making her look at me. – “We’re sisters and I almost lost you. Please just let us be like we used to, we used to tell each other everything.” – When she meets my gaze, her eyes finally give in, and all the emotions she’s sinking down finally subside into quiet tears.

[itsworn]

Wide Ride: A Custom 1967 Widebody Mustang Fastback

To paraphrase an old saying, Mustang ownership is paved with good intentions. We’ve seen countless Mustangs sitting and languishing over the decades. From the famous “son that never came home from Vietnam” story to the more common “it’s not for sale and I’m going to restore it someday”—we’ve heard them all. More often than not the stories have merit and the owners mean well, but time doesn’t stand still or wait for anyone and before you know it the Mustang is so far gone it’s practically not worth saving.

Richard Flores of San Antonio, Texas, can certainly relate. He’s the person responsible for taking action on the Flores family fastback you see here. Richard’s father purchased the car in 1969 from the original owner and it has been in the Flores family ever since. His father used the fastback as a daily driver to get to and from trade school, since the family sedan saw duty as his wife’s daily driver to her job. Like most of these stories go, the car broke down sometime in 1976 or 1977 and it was parked. First it sat curbside in front of the Flores home in San Antonio. Later it would be pushed into the front yard adjacent the driveway, and finally it was moved into the Flores’ one-car garage, away from prying eyes.

It’s a love it or hate it proposition for many Mustang enthusiasts when it comes to a classic Mustang with a modern-looking body-color engine bay. We are big fans of the look for Pro Touring/G-machine builds like this.

During the years it sat at the curb (and even in the front yard), countless well-intentioned enthusiasts rang the doorbell or left notes on the fastback with questions of selling. “I give a lot of credit to my father (and mother), despite the occasional shortfalls financially, for never selling the car. Even after Gone in 60 Seconds with the increase in interested buyers, not once did they waiver. I was away in Austin for college, and whenever we would talk on the phone they would tell me how many serious offers they had received,” Richard remembers. Of course the father and son team meant well and tried to get it running a few times, with the last big effort in 1982. “We zeroed in on the problem and found the voltage regulator to be bad. For whatever reason, we never bought a new one, and the effort to breathe new life into the fastback never materialized.”

The reason many of these languishing Mustangs finally see the light of day are, of course, the memories. For Richard it was the memories he held close of “driving” the fastback at the age of seven. Sitting in the passenger seat, left hand on the four-speed, and rowing to the next gear when his dad said “now” as he pushed in the clutch. Other memories include Richard sitting on his father’s lap and steering the fastback down the road while his dad handled the pedal work and the shifter. Of course, not all the memories were good; one in particular still amazes Richard to this day. “I remember the Mustang dropping the driveshaft from the rear diff on a highway off ramp. Didn’t know it then, but now I realize how lucky dad and I were that it didn’t fall from the other end! I guess that’s why I had a driveshaft loop installed during the build process.”

It’s a love it or hate it proposition for many Mustang enthusiasts when it comes to a classic Mustang with a modern-looking body-color engine bay. We are big fans of the look for Pro Touring/G-machine builds like this.

Also like most restorations, as things moved along the scope of the project grew. Richard brought the fastback to Muscle Rod Shop, owned by Steve Enochs, also in San Antonio. The project started as a basic restoration of Richard’s dad’s ’67 fastback with the usual rust repair bits like floors, battery apron, and so on, and the fastback was just about ready for paint when Steve put an interesting idea in front of Richard—turning the fastback into a widebody build! “We did drawings and mockups and it was readily apparent that the new widebody idea was fantastic. The car was cut apart and the modifications were made. This process included widening not just the quarters but the entire length of the body. On Richard’s car, the grille and headlight area is stock width, but each fender begins to flare out immediately behind each headlight. From there clear to the tailpanel each side of the body was split and widened, culminating in a total of six inches added at the tailpanel. The roof is stock, but the fenders, doors, quarters, and tailpanel are significantly wider,” Steve explained of the process to get the look you see here.

Muscle Rod Shop also raised the wheel arches up into the body line. This gives a “slammed” look without ruining the ride quality. On this fastback build the rears were raised five inches. Add in the dropped rockers and channeled suspension for that “in the weeds” look without resorting to short suspension rates or air suspension. Additional custom metal work performed by Steve’s brother Brandon includes handmade steel front and rear valances and a custom hood. Once the all metal mods were finished the body was expertly prepped by Muscle Rod Shop’s Lorenzo Perez, and then finished off in House of Kolor Cinnamon Pearl base/clear by Muscle Rod Shop’s painter Jaime Ramos. “427R call-outs on the white side stripe with the subtle Longhorn graphic add personal touches. The color of the car was selected due to its similarity to UT Orange,” Steve says.

Keeping the interior looking stock, but with a gentle tweak, continues to the seats themselves. They’re the stock frames, bolstered by TMI’s sport foam and upholstery kit for a more comfortable ride.

Richard’s fastback was one unreal looking monster at this point, but of course it needed all the right boxes checked to turn it into a true masterpiece. To that end calls were made to some of the best drivetrain and suspension/brake/wheel companies out there. First call went to Roush for one of its famous 427R small-block crate engines, which is backed by a Tremec T-56 six-speed that is mated to the Roush mill via a Quicktime bellhousing that hides a McLeod clutch. A fully built Fab 9 9-inch housing with a helical geared posi unit wrapped in 3.89 gears is found out back. FPA headers and MagnaFlow pipes/mufflers snake through all of this to exit the fumes at the rear. The entire drivetrain was put in the capable hands of Jeff Enochs at Muscle Rod Shop.

Suspension-wise the fastback wears the full TCP catalog, including its front tubular coilover setup with rack-and-pinion conversion, while out back TCP’s famous G-Bar triangulated four-link with coilovers keeps the rear ably following wherever the front is steered. At all four corners you’ll find Baer brakes (14-inch slotted/drilled rotors with six-piston calipers boosted by a Hydratech hydraulic-assist unit) covered with Boze Lateral G hoops wrapped in Nitto Invo rubber—P245/40R18 fronts and P315/35R20 rears.

It might be a little deceiving, but if you had the chance to park this fastback next to a stock one the body modifications would be readily apparent, especially the raised wheel arches. That said, note the use of stock chrome bits (bumpers are tucked and tight-fit, but still chrome) and not an overabundance of billet widgets and exotic-looking race bits. Just a classic Mustang fastback with an attitude.

After his mom passed away from cancer in 1996 and his dad was getting on into retirement, Richard attempted to have the fastback restored by his dad’s 67th birthday; however, it would be another ten years, for his dad’s 77th birthday, before the fastback was finally done. The build itself took Muscle Rod Shop two years to complete and was ready to go home in 2015. “We are blessed to have dad still with us despite developing dementia before the reveal date in August of 2015. Dad was now living with us when Steve (Enochs) and I brought the car home. We parked the car in the driveway on the other side of a closed garage door. To ‘reveal’ the car to dad, we activated the garage door opener, and as the door slowly opened and dad saw the car he emphatically said, ‘Wow! That’s a ’67 fastback!’ Holding back the tears, I replied, ‘Dad, that’s YOUR ’67 fastback,’” Richard stated.

Since that reveal in 2015 Richard has put about 1,100 miles on it hitting cruises and shows, but his best time behind the wheel these days is when he takes his dad for a drive in it. “When we’re driving around, I can see in his eyes as distant memories come to the forefront of his mind. He doesn’t say much, but I can only imagine what he’s thinking. I find myself saying nothing to him so as not to disturb his moment of reminiscing. As his dementia progresses, I often wonder if there will come a time when he will forget who I am, or my wife, or his grandson. But I think with complete certainty that dad will always remember his 1967 Mustang fastback. And to honor him, I had the custom license plates on HIS car read, ‘DADS67.’”

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