Summary: Is there a way to bring the dead back to the living? It may be the most important question of Mulder and Scully's lives... Or perhaps deaths.

Preferred listening material to pop in the cd player while reading this series: "Teotihuacan" -- The X-Files Movie Soundtrack Track number 13

"Only the moon bears witness
To my hotel Angel
Through the window."
- Hotel Angel, Jewel Kilcher

Oh yeah! And I wrote this really lame story called: "The Bitch!!!" You guys gotta check that one out. Hehehe. HERE WE GO!

The night air was crisp and clean, the loud noise of the slamming car door breaking through the icy silence.

"Mulder, what's so important that we have to leave the Robinson case?" Scully a small sigh as she watched Mulder lift their suitcases from the trunk and carry them to the two adjoining motel rooms. She was still slightly annoyed that he'd insisted their skills were needed more in a new investigation. They'd abandoned a double murder and gone to Ukiah; A small town in northern California. Scully didn't even have a clear idea on why they were there, because of her partner's apparent distaste of enlightening her on the subject. She'd exhausted herself in the Robinson case leads-- The leads which meant squat, now that her partner had terminated their involvement on the case.

Mulder opened the door for her after placing her suitcase inside. "Scully, trust me. This is more important." She bit down a yawn, but Mulder could still clearly see it. "I'll tell you about it tomorrow, Scully. We both need some rest."

Mulder set the two double mochas on the table in Scully's motel room and opened up two manila folders. His eyes grazed the room, her clothing lining the closet in perfect order, her suitcase closed at the foot of her made bed, and a few articles of clothes folded neatly on the nightstand. 'Only Scully.' He laughed to himself, thinking of his already destroyed room, and took a drink from his coffee. Scully stepped from the bathroom, fixing her lavender jacket and sat down across from Mulder. He flashed her a lopsided grin and handed her the folders. "Morning Sunshine."

She sipped from her coffee, nodding a 'thank you' and cracked open the first folder. She spoke while reading it. "Hadley Gabriel, 34. This says he appeared at a local hospital a few weeks ago with a mild concussion." She glanced back at Mulder. "So? Why did we leave the Robinson case for this?" Mulder opened the other manila folder and handed it to her, so she could see it contained a death certificate. "What's the importance of this?" Scully looked up at Mulder again.

"Read the name on it, Scully-- Hadley Gabriel. He died in a car crash 6 years ago. He was 34." Scully arched an eyebrow, but he continued on. "The hospital was reluctant to believe that he was a dead man, so they ran some forensic and DNA tests. They all came up positive."

Scully snatched the folder from his hand. "So a dead man walked into a hospital without having aged a day?" Her tone was slightly annoyed.

Mulder shrugged. "Call me crazy Scully, but the tests don't lie."

Scully rubbed her forehead. "Mulder-- You're crazy." She stood, seemingly flustered. "Mulder you are *intensely* crazy! Not only for believing that this man rose from the dead, but also because you dragged me down here on an X-file!" She threw the folder in her hand across the room. "Mulder, the X-Files are closed!" Mulder watched her take a deep, calming breath and he frowned.

"Mulder, " Scully sat, and absent-mindedly took his hand into both of her small ones. "I know this is your crusade. And Mulder, sometimes I actually enjoy helping you try to find what you're looking for. But we should be back on the Robinson case." Mulder stared at her small hands encircling his, his eyes finally focusing on hers.

"I know, Scully. You can go back to D.C." Her hands let go of his. "I'm always doing this to you, aren't I?" His words were more of a statement than a question, and he adverted his eyes, looking downward. "I just want to check this out for a while, then I'll go back home." The word 'home' tasted unfamiliar and far from the truth.

Scully pressed her lips in thought. "I'll stay for this one. But I need some reassurance that you won't lead me on another case like this without telling me what it's about." Mulder nodded and Scully stood up, retrieving the folder she'd thrown. "So where are we going?"

Standing, Mulder opened the door and ushered her out with his hand on the small of her back. "214 North Spring Street; To talk to the dead man himself."

4:27
Ukiah Forest, California
Highway 41

The rental Taurus sped through the shadowed highway, trees whizzing past the small windows. Mulder was fiddling with the radio, as his hands gripped the steering wheel, driving the sharp curves of the road.

The radio volume, turned to its maximum, omitted not a single sound-- no fuzzy music, static, or even a strong frequency polka station that can play anywhere. It read that all the stations were out. He turned the it off and held his bag of Sunflower seeds out to Scully, in the passenger seat. Thanking him, she took one, and crunched it for a minute, then turned back to him.

"Do you know any extra information about this dead guy?" Scully's eyes watched the trees race by the window as Mulder nodded, tossing aside the bag of seeds.

"He told police officers at the hospital that his wife had brought him back from the dead; That it was some cosmic hole in time out here in the forest." Scully's eyes traveled through the dark wintery forest. It was quite a setting for a case like this. She continued listening to Mulder--

"Her love was supposedly great enough to change the gravitational pull of the warp."

Scully arched an eyebrow, a tiny smile playing across her lips. "You know the saying: True love saves the day."

4:00 Government Meeting
Unknown setting

The small cigarette shone from the far corner of the room. His voice was expressionless, breaking the silence of the nameless congressional meeting.

"Well gentlemen, " His eyes moved, calmly around the room. "Any suggestions?"

A man stood, straightening his suit in the dim light. "The information is too valuable. They'll investigate the little 'problem' that was found by Mr. Gabriel."

"The project?"

"Yes."

"And we'd hid it so carefully..."

"It was easily found. You can't hide from human nature. We couldn't have known such a feeble thing would let it open again for the world."

A man stepped from the shadows and pressed his Morley in between his middle and index finger, the pressure killing the light. "Evidently." He tossed the useless cigarette aside. "In the past we've needed Mr. Mulder to survive for our benefit. But this is no longer so."

"And his partner?"

The smoking man shook his head, after a brief thought. "No. He is all that keeps her from following the demands of her assistant director. She'll be useless against us."

The men exchanged glances and stood.

"All is settled, then."

The forest had ended a few miles ago, the two partners continuing across the huge stretch of the town. Clouds were gathering in the endless sky, the sun fading, as they hit a four way stop. A red sports car pulled alongside of Scully's window, giving her a wink as he revved the engine up again, as if to somehow be of impressment. She arched an eyebrow, then reluctantly turned back to her partner, who's laughter was being difficultly held in by a grin.

"Oooh, he wants you bad, Scully." The man in the opposite car revved his engine again, the radio blaring from his speakers. Mulder waved to him and loudly charged the engine.

"Mulder... This is a Taurus." She looked over at the red sports car, her eyebrow still high in place.

"What, my car doesn't turn you on, agent?" Mulder's patented grin lay upon his face and he shouted to the guy in the red car. "Let's race, kid." The man nodded and Mulder counted "3, 2, 1, GO!" The man sped quickly away through the town, Mulder still sitting at the stop. He was still grinning. "Sucker." Scully lightly knocked her head against the dashboard, in dismay.

"Mulder I'm never going to understand men's philosophy. Why are all of you constantly measuring your--"

Mulder cut her sentence off. "Scully that man had a radio."

She leaned up from the dashboard. "Why is that important?"

"He was picking up a station-- unlike this piece of crap." Mulder turned on the radio, getting nothing again, and hit it lightly, astonished when it smashed at his touch into many pieces.

Scully looked surprised. "Mulder the people at the car rental place aren't going to be happ--"

"Shh!" He pressed a finger to her lips, listening to new hazy static filling the car. "Scully, did you hear that?" His intense eyes stared into hers.

"Hear what?"

"What you just said about the rental place-- it came out of the car speakers." Mulder picked up one of the control knobs he'd broken off the radio and studied it, looking inside the hollow. He rolled the window and threw it out onto a sidewalk. "Scully, someone's bugged us. I must have screwed it up when I hit the radio."

Her eyes widened and she leaned back in the seat. "They're listening to us. Mulder these could be in our apartments."

Mulder started the engine. "It's the case, Scully. They don't want us here." Silence hung in the air. The car sped several blocks down, and Mulder then slowed it, scanning Hadley Gabriel's street. An unmarked car sat in the driveway, Mulder and Scully exchanged glances, and Mulder quickly drove off in the opposite direction.

"Mulder let's just find a hotel, and then figure out what to do." Scully's eyes traced the window as it started to snow.

The snow piled upon the streets, and the tiny windshield wipers battled with clearing the window of the frozen weather. Mulder pulled the Taurus up to the small Bed And Breakfast, shrugging at Scully.

"Only hotel here on the map." He exited the car, opening the door for Scully and they got the suitcases, heading through the snow to the door. Mulder talked to a man behind the hotel counter for a moment, then reluctantly turned to Scully. "Only one room left. It's 12 miles to the next hotel, so I think it's our only choice." Scully nodded, and picked up her suitcase.

Scully roughly dropped her suitcase on the floor of the cramped hotel room, and then turned to Mulder, a confused expression painted onto her face.

"Mulder, there aren't twin beds and there isn't a couch or cot."

Mulder ran a hand through his messy hair and set his suitcase down next to hers, shrugging. "I'll sleep on the floor."

Scully walked to the heater. "Mulder the heater's not working."

Mulder nodded. "The man said that he was closing up the lobby because it was getting cold and the heater system's down."

"So we can't even get some extra blankets from the lobby?" Scully suppressed a small sigh. "Mulder, the bed has few blankets enough. We're already going to freeze, let alone having one of us sleep on the floor."

Mulder looked from the bed to Scully and tried to look cool. He shrugged again. "No big deal."

Scully arched an eyebrow, going through her bag, and then with some items, walked to the tiny bathroom to take a shower. "Just stay on your side or I'll shoot you-- again."

"Yes FBI woman." He heard the bathroom door shut, and the sound of the water start. As he sat down on the king size bed, he shivered, realizing the room was already getting chilly. Mulder was quickly getting overwhelming nervous about his current situation.

Then so suddenly, the bathroom door opened just a crack; The lock must have been broken. A thin gust of steam from the shower, poured from the opened space.

A ball of fire lodged in Mulder's throat as he caught a glimpse of Scully through the door's small gap-- Bathed in the light of the cheap motel's bathroom, running a hand through her hair, her clothes strewn across the floor. His first reaction-- He fell off the bed with a giant thud that rocked the room so greatly, the door's open crack closed with a 'click', right as Scully turned towards where she *would* have seen Mulder staring at her.

She spoke through the now closed door, concerned at the loud noise of the thud. "You ok out there, Mulder?"

His voice cracked, and was shrill. "Yes."

Stepping into the hot shower, she shrugged it off.

The night air seemed to be seeping from the corners of the small hotel room. Mulder fidgeted, still recovering from his great fall. He'd stripped into sweats and an undershirt, and had busied himself with the task of trying to help the small room retain its fleeting warmth. He shoved two towels, which had been sitting on the nightstand, over the small crevice of light coming from under the front door.

"Flukeman, Flukeman, Flukeman..." He muttered quiet words of disgust under his breath, shaking white silk imagery from his mind.

The force hit him again, the visions of soft curves and velvet red hair assaulting him, and he groaned loudly, right as Scully emerged from the bathroom door, towel drying her hair, clad in lavender pajamas.

"Mulder?" She looked at him questioningly, still rubbing beads of water from her red hair and examining his new attire.

He stood up, nearly feeling as though he was caught red handed-- Then soon realized he was blowing his cover. "Ugh... It's already freezing in here." Her small body gathered goose-flesh as she nodded and climbed under the blankets on her side of the bed. Mulder turned back the sheets somewhat reluctantly, and lay down a good distance from the woman beside him.

"G'night, Mulder." Scully shifted to switch off the small lamp which had illuminated the room.

"Don't let the 'Eddie's' bite." He silently winced at his statement, wishing he'd not revealed what was on his mind at the moment.

"'Eddie's'..." Scully watched his form cast by shadows upon one of the tattered walls. "Now that's an original one." She shivered before slowly closing her eyes.

Mulder awoke with a start that night, his eyes snapping open upon the frost lined windows, the snow falling lightly. A warm being rested at his side, her back facing the ceiling, her head rested silently upon his shoulder, a small silken hand resting on his chest. His muscles tensed immediately from her radiated warmth, but when the mass of red hair snuggled in more deeply to his shoulder, he soon relaxed. He heard her mutter 'nothing's' and slowly, careful not to wake her, snaked an arm around her, and brought his face to the red curls surrounding her face, inhaling her warm scent. He moved a hand across her soft cheek, and pressed one finger lightly to her lips. Surprising the living hell out of her partner, in mid dream, Scully laid a soft kiss on the tip of his finger, taking its tip into her lips and sucking on it lightly. A straining erection quickly grew inside of Mulder's boxers, and as an instant reflex Mulder yanked away his hand and retreated to his side of the bed, his teeth chattering from the sudden cold.

The next morning as Mulder stepped in through the hotel room door with coffee from the lobby, his partner was sitting on the corner of the bed sporting a shocked look of defeat. Her eyes contacted with Mulder right as a weak hand dropped her cellphone so it clattered to the floor. Mulder set the coffee on a small table and kneeled in front of her.

"Scully?" His voice echoed through the silent room.

"He's dead. Hadley Gabriel. He's dead."

Mulder stood up. "What?"

Her voice had slight tinges of hurt, anger, and annoyance. "They got him, Mulder. They got to him before we could and they killed him. He's gone."

"Shit." The word hung in the air.

Scully spoke after a brief pause, her voice more calm. "We're in over our heads. Mulder, this is dangerous."

"Scully, I'm involved now. They can't just make people disappear like this when they feel necessary. We have to expose them." Hollow eyes of a desperate man adverted to the other corner of the room, and Scully grabbed his hand, so his head snapped back, looking her in the eye. Her voice was soft, a comfort.

"Mulder, you saved me in Antarctica. Let me save you." Her hand was warm to the touch, eyes pleading. Mulder's mind raced back to the near-kiss in his hallway. He'd since contemplated the situation over and over again in his mind. It had so completely felt genuine and from the heart to him. He'd since been stuck on the fact that she may believe he'd tried to do what he had so he could manipulate her into staying with him. A voice in the back of his throat which ne never let speak tried with effort to release words, but his stubbornness caught up with his thoughts and pressed out a sentence.

"Scully, I need to check this one out."

"Mulder someday soon these choices you're making are going to form a death wish." She hid the desperation in her mind well, her voice not cracking a tinge. Mulder headed for the door, turning back when she spoke again.

"Mulder you're not leaving me here." Her words were laced with spite.

"You said yourself it was dangerous, Scully, stay here." He reached for the knob again, and she pressed a strong hand against the door standing blocking his passage through it.

"It's dangerous-- All the better reason to have me there to save your ass." She made eye contact with him and continued. "Mulder don't expect me to stay here like some kind of damsel in distress." She opened the door and ushered him out.

Feeling extremely guilty, he climbed into the car and glanced over at her in the passenger seat before driving off to speak to Hadley Gabriel's wife-- Well, Ex-wife.

The forest was dense with tree's and snow, and Scully twiddled a finger against on the Taurus's frosted windows. The drive through the woods was a long one.

"Mulder, " Scully broke the long silence. "What do you hope to find?"

He crunched on one of his last sunflower seeds and thought for a moment. "Evidence, proof. I want to find the men trying to hide this and crucify them."

Scully shifted somewhat awkwardly in her seat. "I don't just mean that. I mean-- Life. Generally speaking. What do you want?"

Mulder's brow creased with a steady look streaked with hints of pain and sadness.

Scully watched his expression. "Never mind, it's not imp-"

"There's lots of things." He interrupted her. "Lots of things I want to find." A heavy sigh escaped his lips. "A hobby other than chasing little green men. A respectable name. A Samantha that missed me and that I actually grew up with. Someone to wear my old shirts and bring food to fill my refrigerator, " he paused. "Yeah, that's much needed..." He paused thinking, then continued along his list. "Somebody that'll make me throw out all those videos that aren't mine, and that likes the fact I wear U.F.O boxers and don't trust anyone." His eyes were still fixed on the road, the remark about trusting no one embedded into his thoughts. She was in fact the only one which he trusted. "Well, except for you." He mended the sentence, because of some desire to set things right.

Scully watched him intently-- His white knuckles gripping the steering wheel. "Yeah." She just suppressed a small nod.

Mulder turned to Scully, his eyes still partially on the road. "Scully." She turned to look at him.

"Hmm?"

"Thank you." His eyes were fixated on hers.

"For what, Mulder?" Slight confusion grew inside her.

"For you." His voice was tight, but low.

A million fragments of thought raced through her head, a million emotions upon her tongue. She bit down on all of her will, and shakily stated, "You're welcome, Mulder. Very welcome." Mulder's eyes stared at her soft white skin, her red lips and hair, until she looked out onto the road ahead of them and shouted loudly.

"Mulder! Watch the road!" The Taurus swerved off the road and into a small creek bed to avoid hitting a large black car with tinted windows and no license plates. The Taurus's side hit a tree with great force, finally stopping, Scully painfully smashed. She groaned and tried to open her door, then looked over at Mulder with relief. He sat coughing and compacted, though not hurt.

"Scully, I think they're coming after us..." In the now deformed rear view mirror Mulder saw some men in officer type uniforms running down the slope of the creek bed. Mulder pushed open his door and clobbered out, helping Scully through.

"Scully, run!" He grabbed for her hand, half dragging her along with him through the knee deep snow. Immense shadowy trees loomed in all directions, Mulder dragging Scully between and around tree's, trying to escape from the four men chasing them. A shot went off from a distance-- A bullet nearly grazing the side of Scully's head. She ran on, breathing heavily, her droplets of sweat freezing against her back. The snow was impenetrable and thick, freezing her small legs. Mulder grabbed her up in his arms with a groan and continued running.

"You're not going fast enough." He stifled the words between sharp intakes of breath.

Another gun shot went off this time closer. It hit its target. Mulder buckled over in pain, falling into the white snow, dropping Scully. He held his chest, the snow around him spreading with red. The men were getting closer.

"Mulder!" The word pressed, frantically through Scully's lips, her breath seen before her in the freezing air. She knew at the first glance that is was bad. The shot had penetrated through a lung, maybe skimmed the heart. The men would be there any minute. She pressed a hand to the wound. "Oh, god..." Blood oozed from the hole in his skin. She watched to see a steamy breath come from his lips, but there was none. Finally, a small coughing spurt escaped him. He tried to force a grin.

"Don't worry Scully. Tomorrow I'll wake up with a leak in my water bed. It's ok. It'll be ok." He coughed violently again, a drop of blood escaping from the corner of his lips. "Scully, you need to go. They're coming. I'll be fine. You need to run." A single tear fell from Scully's eye, her face emotionless. It landed on his face-- He could taste its salt. She sat at his side, cradling his head in her lap. The men had finished scaling the drop into the creek bed and they had found the two agents in their vision, hiding behind a large group of snow laced trees.

"There!" A man pointed and they all trudged quickly through the snow. A sudden and unforeseen obstacle came in their way.

The forest was suddenly dim, the snow turned grey in the shadows. The sun somehow melted away behind the trees. Scully, her hand still covering Mulder's wound, and Mulder, his eyes fluttering open and closed, both looked up into the sky.

A dim blue glow assaulted the woods. It traced through the snow, leaving its devious glow bathing the forest. It seemed built of song, the traces of a million words spoken through a translucent thickness in the air. The dim colors caressed the sky. Scully felt this unbelievable stirring and involuntarily shrunk back, withdrawing her hand ever so slightly from Mulder's wound.

The men looked on in disbelief and terror. "It's happening..." The snow gave out where the four stood. Thin ice caving in, swallowing them whole into the darkness of the hues that consumed the forest.

Scully watched as sudden light winds washed over Mulder's body, translucent against the blue glow reflecting from the snow. His wound was slowly disappearing. It looked as though it were a large lake, slowly evaporating from summer heat. The trickle of blood was gone from his lip. His eyes opened, the bright colors of the air misting away. Neither of them did move. Scully cradled his head in her lap, and he gripped onto her small hands, they're lips shivering from lying in the piercing cold of the snow.

When Mulder woke up next to Scully on the flight back to DC, he hadn't at all recalled they're visit to Fredrickson Hospital in Ukiah. The visions of the forest still haunted him though. He'd remembered everything though after looking into his partner's unsure eyes during the flight. They spoke silently for a very long time, sharing no words. Just staring at each other. Occasional glances that led to eye contact. Scully had been the first to actually speak a word on the flight.

"This is going to prove to be quite an interesting report to Kersh. I'm sure he'll find it as amusing as we did."

A tiny, nearly unnoticeable smile played upon Mulder's lips. "Yeah."

The rental car drove slowly through D.C.'s familiar streets. The city was amazingly different from the snow covered foothills that had been so recently abandoned.

"Mulder," Scully, still concentrating on the road, made a turn towards his apartment, but she could sense that his eyes were now on her. "I don't want to be a-- Do you thin--..." She glanced at him for a minute. "It's just that..."

Mulder understood what she was trying to get across. "Stay at my apartment tonight, Scully. I got my water bed fixed. You can sleep on it and I'll take the couch."

She smiled at him. "Thank you, Mulder."

"No problem." He tried to advert his eyes from her.

"No." She glanced in his direction, feeling his eyes upon her. She emphasized the words clearly, they rolled off her tongue. "Thank you."

"For what?" He watched her face, the glow of the streetlights and moon upon her.

"For you." She sent a smile in his direction-- One of those patented Scully smiles that could light an ocean on fire. She stopped the car at the curb to Mulder's apartment and stepped out, leaving him grinning like an idiot in the passenger's seat.

The hallway within the apartment building was dim, the walls chapped by the splitting wallpaper. Mulder dropped their suitcases in front of his door and picked up the '4' from his apartment number off the floor and placed it back on the door. He threw a lazy grin at Scully and then put the inside the lock. Scully placed her hand on top of his, ceasing the movement of his hand.

He turned his head and looked down to her. She looked strangely fragile. It took him a moment to recall when he'd last seen this expression. It hit him though, as her eyes locked onto his. It was when he had tried to kiss her. When he'd finally given up. When he'd bet against the odds. There was no sound in the dim hallway excluding the two's shaky breaths. Silence encircled them, digging in its heels. Her hand still rested upon his. Mulder stepped closer towards her, and took her tiny form inside of his own. He placed a gentle kiss upon her forehead as she had for him. He locked his eyes onto hers again. The sweet, chaste, kiss still burning into her, melted down through her entire body, the sweetness of it evaporated by their steel glares. Wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, Scully claimed his lips, passion sweeping though her in immense waves. A long, deep groan escaped Mulder's lips, and he pressed her up against the wall of the hallway, his tongue tasting her delicious flavor.

The years were falling down.

Mulder nipped at the skin of her neck, biting it lightly as she drew in a sharp breath. He whisper was thick velvet in her ear. "No bee's this time, Scully."

She lightly sucked on his lower lip, as she had to his finger a few nights before. "No bee's, Mulder."

Mulder finally gained enough control to open the door, drag Scully inside, and pin her up against it from the inside. Scully pulled his turtle neck over his head, in between long, wet kisses. She ran her hands over his chest, then grabbed his ass and pulled him against her closer. Mulder combed his hands through Scully's silken hair, and pulled her shirt over her head, yanking down her pants, and kissing her stomach. He kissed her chest while struggling with unclasping her bra, finally undoing the garment, and he tossed it aside. He pressed her up against the wall harder, and a whimper escaped her lips as he took a nipple into his mouth, caressing her other breast with his hand. Scully ground her hips into his and then pulled down his jeans, revealing his boxers.

Mulder pulled out of a long kiss, breathing heavily. "Let's take this to a bed. It's more comfortable than the wall." His breathing became more even, as a smile curved upon Scully's lips. "No." She pushed him over backwards, so he fell onto his couch. "I want you here. Where you actually sleep on occasion." His erection strained within his boxers as she sat down on top of him, straddling him.

He tried to get his voice to work. "Okay." The simple word came out shakily. Scully dropped kisses across his chest, stopping to bite one of his nipples. Another loud groan escaped from him, and Scully smiled into another kiss. Mulder pulled down her panties so she was completely naked before him and his erection strained more inside his boxers. He rubbed his thumb over her clit while pulling her into another long, wet kiss, and she took a sharp intake of breath, suppressing a small whimper. She pulled down his boxers, taking his engorged cock inside her hand, and stroked the length of it. She whispered, her breath hot, in his ear, and nibbled on his earlobe.

"Mulder I want you now. Inside me."

Mulder pushed her back down onto the couch, and slowly pushed himself inside her, drawing out her name in a long groan. He pulled himself out, inch by inch, and then thrust back into her again, increasing in speed each time. Scully bit down on his shoulder, a small sound of mixed pleasure and pain suppressed. He kissed under her jaw, breathing in the scent of her hair.

"God, Scully. You smell so good. It feels so good like this." She let out a small moan, and met each of his hard thrusts with her hips. Sensing he was about to go over the edge, she held hid face with one hand, making his eye's contact with hers.

"Mulder I want to see you. Come for me."

"Scully..." The word slurred into a groan. He thrust fast and hard into her as she screamed out his name intertwined with fragments of words over and over as he came inside her. Large waves washed over them and he collapsed on top of her. She shifted her body, climbing out from underneath, and lay on his chest as he drew lazy circles across her back. She nestled into him, her eyes feeling heavy.

"What happens now, Mulder? Where do we go?" Her eyes met his.

"We live. Some things shouldn't be changed." His voice was thick.

Her muscles momentarily tensed; He could feel it, her tiny body wrapped against his. "Mulder, I'm not fully understanding..." Her voice trailed off, but she quickly caught it. "Tomorrow we won't forget this... I know for a simple fact that it's impossible."

His encircling arms held her more tightly. "Scully, you know that's not an option-- And certainly not one that I would choose even if the circumstances were different." The blinds cast luminous street light shadows over their bodies. Light rain droplets were forming at the windows. "You know I love you." He paused. "Don't you?" A look of concern mingled with slight guilt plagued his face.

She kissed him lightly, and it lingered in the air, blending with the silence.

"I know now."

She laid her head back down upon his chest and drifted lightly into sleep. As he had in the motel room with Scully curled around his body, tonight he slept soundly-- As he rarely did.

The rain beat restlessly from scattered clouds. The sun peeked through the blinds, barely, it's color grey from the morning weather. Mulder woke, reaching for warmth which wasn't there. He glanced around the room for her. The light sound of the shower now audible to him, he finally inhaled a breath of air. He felt a tinge of a guilt for assuming she would be gone. He knew her better than that. Much better.

He checked the clock. 11:21. He'd never slept this late. His late arrival from D.C. was partially responsible, also the warmth which lay atop him through the night. The thought of Scully in the shower suddenly assailed him and he bounded towards the door. Reaching for the knob, his stomach growled loudly. With a slight sigh he walked towards the kitchen, opening the refrigerator.

His heart stopped.

Nearly falling over, he did an extremely obvious double-take.

Milk. Lettuce. Yogurt. Pasta. Several unusual healthy items were seated on it's middle shelf. A 6 pack of iced tea and root beer were at the bottom.

Scully emerged into the kitchen in her towel, wet locks of red hair framing her face. He was pale, his fact sporting an unfamiliar look which she couldn't decipher.

"What is it?" She proceeded to take a can of root beer from the open fridge.

He stared at her, sporting the same expression. He separated his words. "You got me food. You filled my refrigerator."

She nodded. "I got hungry and you didn't have anything. Sometimes I wonder how you manage to survive with your living standards." She walked into the bathroom, her voice drifting through the halls as she went to change. "I woke up at 8 and decided to go get some food."

Mulder just stood there, in clear shock and amusement. 'She filled up my refrigerator...' He watched her as she stepped from around the hallway wearing one of his Nick's shirts and a pair of his sweats.

All speech left him.

"I don't have anything clean. I had to go to the grocery store in my clothes from yesterday." She closed the still open refrigerator door. "I hope you don't mind." She looked at him, and waited for a reply. None came. "Mulder? You there?" She placed a small hand on his shoulder.

Shaking himself out of his trance, a grin consumed his face.

END.