From: Snark 911 <snark_911@hotmail.com>
Date: 13 Jun 1999 14:24:43 -0700
Subject: xfc REPOST: Falling Snow, 1/19

From: Snark 911 <snark_911@hotmail.com>

TITLE: Falling Snow, Section 1/19
AUTHOR: Snark
E-MAIL: snark_911@yahoo.com


CLASSIFICATION: SA (Story, Angst) plus some UST
KEYWORDS: NONE
RATING: PG-13
SPOILERS: This story is set before the Two Fathers/
One Son episodes. While there are no true pre-requisites
for this story, allusions are made to at least the
following episodes: Sleepless, Red Museum, Detour,
Triangle, Shapes, Alpha, Bad Blood, Clyde Bruckman's
Final Repose, and Tithonus.
DISTRIBUTION: OK to forward to ATXC newsgroup and to
Gossamer. Please ask permission before archiving anywhere
else, please. Or at least let me know that you have
archived it, so that I can keep track of where it's listed.
DISCLAIMER: The characters of The X-Files universe belong
to Chris Carter, the FOX network and 1013 Productions.
No infringement is intended and no money is being made by
the existence of this story. (Unfortunately.) However,
the characters of Khi Shaolin and Mobaje are my own creation.
These characters are not for use by any other fanfic author
without my express, written consent.
FEEDBACK: Mail comments to snark_911@yahoo.com.
STORY HOMEPAGE: http://members.tripod.com/~koosn/falling.html
SUMMARY: Mulder, Scully and a mysterious woman from Mulder's
past crash in the snowy landscape of the Colorado winter.





------------
Chapter 1
------------



The man was asleep and then he was awake. His eyes snapped
open to the darkness, the rest of his body remaining still--he had
learned long ago that jerking awake often had unpleasant
consequences. His gun, which had been lying on the low table in
front of him, was now in his hand, retrieved by an almost
imperceptible shift of his right arm.

The man listened to the night. What had awakened him? Living
in the apartment building, he had become used to the usual
sounds that filtered into his apartment from the outside world:
doors closing, cars passing, babies crying, lovers quarrelling. The
man's brain automatically filtered out such sounds, not bothering
to alert his body of their presence. No, this had been something
else, something that had danced along the edge of perception and
awakened him. Something inside the apartment.

Without sound, the man rolled off his couch and stood into a
gunman's position, all in one fluid motion. The light from street
lamps backlit his tall, shirtless frame, his wide shoulders tapering
down to narrow hips. The arms and chest that held the gun so
steady were lean but powerful, muscles rippling just beneath the
surface. His eyes, often filled with humor but now gone cold,
surveyed the room quickly. Every corner, every shadow was
catalogued and dismissed.

The man moved forward slowly, gliding into the other half of his
quarters. He rounded the corner to his kitchen and found nothing,
backtracking to check the lock on his apartment door. He looked
around again, uncertain at what his eyes showed him--something
had awakened him, but he couldn't find its cause. He saw nothing
out of order, no item misplaced or in disarray.

Well, nothing except for the perpetual stack of unwashed dishes
and take-out containers on his kitchen counter.

Exhaling a short chuckle, the man slid his gun into the front of
his jeans and relaxed. He went to the kitchen again and opened
the refrigerator, shoving aside the boxed-up remnants of last
night's pizza supreme to search for that last Wicked Ale he knew
was in there somewhere. Finding it hidden behind an empty juice
carton, the man withdrew the bottle and smiled--no one makes
ale like Pete, he thought to himself.

After a short search for the bottle opener, the man resorted to the
trick he learned in college, using the edge of his countertop and a
quick downward swipe to pop the cap off. Noticing how beat up
the counter edge looked, he realized that perhaps he had used this
trick too often lately. He shrugged off the thought quickly,
instead focusing on the pleasurable sensation of drinking the ale.
Screw 'em, he thought--after spending his days doing lousy grunt
work, he'd be damned if he wasn't going to enjoy a few cold ones
at night.

Polishing off half the bottle in a single draught, the man turned
and headed back towards his couch. As he moved into the room,
his body snapped to a halt almost before he even saw it. The
bedroom door, closed tightly when he had left the room minutes
earlier, was now standing open a few inches.

The ale was instantly replaced by the gun as the man moved
across the intervening space in just two strides. He paused the
merest of seconds before kicking the door open with his left leg,
quickly bringing his foot down to hold the door open in its new
position before it could swing back in his face. As his gun came
to bear unflinchingly on the figure sprawled across his waterbed,
a voice flowed out from the darkness. A voice that he
immediately recognized, but could not believe he was hearing--a
voice he had thought he would never hear again.

"What the hell took you so long, Zippy?"

The man, who had rarely been called anything other than Mulder
(at least to his face) in almost 10 years, just threw his head back
and laughed.

     *    *    *    *    *    *

"No, sir. You must understand--your wife is not being
investigated. She applied for a job at a federally-operated office,
which requires us to do a background check to verify her
identity. Sir... sir, that's not necessary... yes, I understand... sir, I
realize that you are trying to help, but faxing me photos from the
Kalchette family reunion is not going to help. No, it's really not
necessary, sir. Really, I think I've found out everything I need,
thank you for your time. Yes... no, thank you... Yes, you too, sir."

The woman sighed, hanging up the phone for the... She realized
that she couldn't even remember how many calls she had placed
this day. They had all tumbled together and become indiscernible
from each other, a mind-numbing conglomeration of the same
phrases and questions she'd spoken a thousand times over.

I swear to god, she said to herself, if one more person freaks out
at me over a background check, I won't be responsible for the
outcome. The woman reached to the small of her back and felt
the weapon holstered there--she gave a slight smile as she
imagined the possibilities.

The smile faded quickly, though, as the woman flipped to the
next data page and saw the never-ending list of names and phone
numbers lying before her. Sheet after sheet, it went on, printing
out her future in perfect 10-pt type, tiny black letters standing
stark against the whiteness. Their effect was almost hypnotic--as
she kept staring at the page, feeling her eyes begin to go out of
focus, she half-expected to see the words "Next Call, Please"
coalesce before her.

Thinking over what she had just thought, the woman realized she
must be very tired indeed. Usually exceptionally well-organized
and categorized, her thoughts only wandered when the body had
foregone sleep more than it should. It's a good thing I'm taking a
couple of vacation days, she thought.

Glancing around the bullpen, she saw that she was the only one
remaining. She caught sight of the wall clock as it hung barely
illuminated by the feeble light of her desk lamp--nearly midnight,
she thought with a start. No wonder everyone was gone already.

Grumbling "Damn time zone differences" under her breath, the
woman stood and stretched, slowly but thoroughly, an almost
feline quality to her movements. Each muscle groaned, each joint
stiff in its response. She hadn't moved from her desk in almost 4
hours, and even then it was just a quick stop to the restroom.

The woman shut her desktop down, logging out of the computer
system and putting her phone on night hold. She started to file
the phone list in her top drawer, but then just tossed it back down
by the phone. Screw it, she thought--it's not like it won't be there
Monday morning. Grabbing her coat off the back of the chair,
she headed for the door, relishing the thought of just getting
home to a nice, hot bath and perhaps a glass of wine.

Passing her partner's desk, though, she noticed a stack of folders
and printouts with a large note stuck to the top--Take Home, Do
Not Forget! Stopping to look more closely, she saw that it was
the presentation slides and materials that her partner was
supposed to have for his trip to Colorado tomorrow. If he flew
out without them, thereby negating the most important section of
the senior conference, she doubted that their superiors would be
very sympathetic. More than likely, they'd give him work so
brainless it made background checks seem like theoretical
quantum biology.

Figuring it was easiest to just drop the materials off at his
apartment, the woman scooped up the stack and headed out the
door. The miles to her partner's residence passed by virtually
unnoticed--she doubted she would have noticed had a herd of
pink gazelles gone bounding across the road. Pulling into a
parking spot outside the apartment building, she was glad to see
her partner's window brightly lit. Good, she thought, I'll get these
dropped off and be on my way home in about 60 seconds.

The woman entered the building and used the elevator to reach
the fourth floor. As she walked down the hall, she heard raucous
laughter emanating from an apartment towards the other end. She
quirked the tiniest of smiles--no wonder her partner was still
awake, with all that noise going on.

As she approached his apartment, though, the woman was
surprised to realize that the laughter wasn't coming from a nearby
apartment. It was spilling out from within his apartment,
stretching out to every corner of the hallway. She could hear his
baritone laugh intermixed with another voice--a voice whose
low, resonating quality masked whether it was male or female.
Unnoticed, her hand went to her gun, drawing it halfway out
before she caught herself. C'mon, she thought, it's not like
hearing your partner laugh is a sign of the apocalypse or
anything.

In fact, her partner laughed often, but usually in more of a soft
chuckle accompanied by small, almost teasing smile. She had
rarely heard the full-throated belly laughs that she was hearing
now. Some part of the woman's brain acknowledged how nice
that laugh actually sounded, while the majority focused on
gathering herself together and knocking on the door.

Reaching up, the woman knocked a few times, just to the left of
the brass '42' nailed to the door. Getting no response, she
pounded a bit harder, using the flat of her closed fist instead of
her knuckles. She could hear the conversation inside, punctuated
by laughter and loud exclamations, so she knew that there were
indeed people inside. Determined to be heard this time, the
woman drew back her whole arm to bang on the door.

Suddenly, the door popped open in front of her, startling her so
much she nearly dropped the stack of papers. She could not
believe what she saw--her partner stood in the open doorway,
dressed only in a pair of faded blue jeans, holding a nearly empty
pitcher of some sort of slushed drink, with an Hawaiian lei
around his neck and a grin from ear to ear. When he spoke, she
wondered if perhaps the apocalypse had indeed begun.

"Come on in and get on down, Sister D!"

The woman, who had rarely been called anything other than
Scully (except by her family) in her entire life, just cocked an
eyebrow and stared.

     *    *    *    *    *    *

Mulder reached out and took hold of Scully's elbow, pulling her
inside the apartment and shutting the door behind her. When she
started to explain about the papers, he 'shushed' her and guided
her into the living room. As she stepped through the doorway,
Scully saw a woman sitting on the couch, dressed in jeans and a
cut-off sweatshirt, also wearing a lei and obviously having a
good time. The woman appeared to be swaying slightly,
seemingly having trouble keeping hold of her large drink glass,
even though it was nearly empty.

"Dana Scully, I'd like you to meet Khi Shaolin, my roommate
from college and a friend I haven't seen in... well, in more years
than I care to remember," Mulder said with another laugh. "Khi,
this is Dana Scully, my partner at the F...B...I." He over-
enunciated the letters, ending with a dramatic flourish of his hand
to indicate her.

Scully watched as Khi, whom 30 seconds ago she would have
sworn was too drunk to stand, set her drink down and rose off the
couch smoothly, stretching out a hand and bowing very slightly
from the waist. "Ms. Scully, it is a pleasure, I am sure," she said,
without hint of slurring or unsteadiness. As Scully reached to
shake the proffered hand, she was again surprised by the low
resonance of Khi's voice--it had a musical, almost mesmerizing
quality.

Scully realized she had underestimated the Khi's height and
weight. She was 5'11" easily, and must have gone 160 or even
more. But Khi was not fat or out of shape--Scully could see a
well-developed set of abdominal muscles where the sweatshirt
cut off. Annoyingly well-developed, actually. The hand that
enclosed Scully's was strong and firm, yet not crushing. Scully
got the impression of great strength held in check.

Who *is* this woman, she said to herself, and why is Mulder
drinking like a fraternity pledge with her?

"Yes, a pleasure," Scully said, rather coldly. Turning back to
where Mulder had been, she started to explain why she was
there. "You left these at the office, Mulder. I thought it would be
easier to just drop them off for..." She broke off in mid-sentence,
realizing Mulder was no longer standing behind her. Wondering
where he had gone, she heard the whirring of a blender out in the
kitchen.

With a glance back at Khi, who had sat down on the couch again,
Scully walked into Mulder's kitchen to find him busily mixing
another pitcher of whatever it was that he and Khi were drinking.
She saw at least four distinct liqueurs go into the pitcher, along
with liberal quantities of ice and whipped cream.

"Mulder," she tried again, "here's your presentation and slides for
tomorrow's conference. I'll just set them dow-" Again, Mulder
'shushed' her, pouring the pitcher's contents into a tall glass and
handing it to her.

"Scully, you gots to try this," he said. "It's what Khi calls a 'Black
Angel Kamikaze'--it's excellent! We used to drink them all the
time, but I never learned how to make them before she..." Mulder
trailed off, leaving the thought hanging unspoken.

"So, you and Khi were roommates?" she asked, breaking the
uncomfortable silence. She was trying to be polite, even though
she knew she probably didn't want to know the details. "I thought
Quantico didn't allow cross-sex roommates."

"Oh, they don't," Mulder replied, turning to face her as he poured
himself a drink. "Khi wasn't an 'official' roommate. Hell, she
didn't even attend Quantico. We just lived together for a year
when I was a senior and living off-dorm. She was completely
unlike anyone I had ever met before. She still is, in fact."

"I've never heard you mention her before," Scully said with just
the merest hint of defiance in her tone.

"Well, I haven't seen her since the day I graduated, nearly 10
years ago," Mulder explained, oblivious to Scully's annoyance.
Noticing Scully's completely full drink sitting on the table, he
leaned over and handed it to her with that 'Trust me' look in his
eyes. "You gotta at least try it, Scully. Anyway, when I got back
to the house after graduation ceremonies, I found that she'd
packed up and left. No explanation, no note, no nothing." His
eyes seemed to focus on something not in the room with them,
remembering. "But whatever--she's back now and that's what
matters. C'mon, Scully, are you gonna taste that drink or what?!"

To get him off her back, and to distract herself from wondering
why Khi's return would matter so much to Mulder, Scully took a
little sip of the drink. Expecting something horrible, she was
surprised to find that it was wonderfully delicious--iced and
creamy without being overpowering. She didn't want to get
trapped into staying with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Khi,
however, so she merely said that it was OK and set it back down.
Mulder just kind of scoffed, teasing her that she wouldn't know a
good drink if it jumped out and bit her.

Khi came into the kitchen at that point. Or, rather, Khi danced
into the kitchen at that point. Her arms up above her head,
singing "Wave your hands in the air, like you don't care. C'mon,
Zippy, let's dance," she began to circle the room. And if that
wasn't a shocking enough sight to Scully, she just about fell over
when Mulder, apparently also known as Zippy, immediately
plunked his drink down and joined in. Going over to Khi, the two
of them formed the world's tiniest conga line, chanting "W... O...
R... D... Up!" as they danced.

Even though it was painfully clear that neither of them would
probably listen to her, Scully drew a deep breath and forged
ahead anyway. "Mulder, as the only person in this room who is
not completely tanked, I feel the need to point out that you have a
flight out to Colorado at 8:30am tomorrow--no, today," she
corrected herself after a quick glance at her watch. "You are the
keynote speaker at a conference whose attendees are the very
same people that, if you fail to show up or are in less than peak
form for it, will take you off your currently less-than-thrilling
assignment and stick you in only-god-knows-where, USA, where
your duties will most likely consist of color-coding office reports
and pushing the lunch cart."

Mulder drew himself to a stop and Scully felt a glimmer of hope
that she had gotten through to him. She watched as he took a
small sip from his glass, appearing to think about what she had
said. That hope was shattered, though, when he snapped his
fingers and said "Needs more whipped cream!"

Scully shook her head, rolling her eyes slightly as she turned on
her heel and walked back into the living room. She set the stack
of papers on Mulder's bookcase shelf, figuring that location was
at least reasonably safe from whatever lei-wearing, drink-
downing, word-upping antics might take place as the night wore
on. She refused to imagine what those antics might actually be.

As she headed for the front door, Mulder came out of the kitchen
and stopped her with a gentle hand on her arm. "Hey Scully,
thanks," he said. "Sorry about all this, I'm just happy to see Khi
again. It's like she never left, we're right back in the groove.
Thanks for bringing that stuff by--I would surely have forgotten
it in all the excitement."

Scully, somewhat amazed that he had even picked up on the
reason that she stopped by, just looked at him for a second.
"Sometimes, Mulder, I think you'd forget your head if it wasn't
attached to the rest of you," she said. Mulder gave the short, quiet
chuckle she was used to hearing, mumbling "Right on, Sister D."

He opened the apartment door for her and placed his hand on the
small of her back, guiding her through as they stepped out into
the hall together. "Remember, Mulder," Scully said, turning back
to look at him. "8:30am, plane to Oregon, your future at the
FBI."

"I'll be there, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, yes ma'am," Mulder
said, affecting a sort of mock military stance and attempting to
salute her.

Scully was tempted to crack a small smile, but that was forgotten
as Khi came gliding up behind Mulder. She wrapped her arms
around his waist, pinning his arms to his sides and lifting him
clear off the floor, saying "Geez, Zippy, your desk job made you
slow or what?" Scully watched in amazement as Mulder did a
quick twist to try and break free, but was unable to loose Khi's
hold on him. As Khi hauled him backwards into the apartment,
Mulder called out "Hey Scully, get the door please, will ya? I'm
about to be ta-"

Scully reached in and pulled the door closed just as Khi was
executing a bodyslam maneuver to send Mulder sprawling onto
the couch. Scully looked at the '42' for a few seconds before
turning and walking away.

"Your future at the FBI, Mulder," she said quietly as she walked
down the hall. "I hope you're there for it."

Almost to the elevator, she was suddenly overcome by a wave of
intense pain. As her hands came to her head, she doubled over,
her throat constricting. As she squeezed her eyes closed, she was
shocked at what she saw--an image of Mulder lying on snow-
covered ground, red blood seeping through the white show, she
herself cradling his head in her hands. The image had the clarity
of actual vision--for that briefest of seconds, she would have
sworn she was in that time and that place, experiencing that
sequence of events.

And then it was gone. The vision, the pain, the fear--all gone
between one heartbeat and the next. Scully staggered slightly as
she tried to regain her composure, leaning heavily against the
wall, breathing hard. She remained there for a half-minute or so,
finally gathering herself together and walking on again. She
threw one last glance at Mulder's apartment as she rounded the
corner, wondering.


      *** 30 *********  Section End  *********** 30 ***

TITLE: Falling Snow, Section 2/19
AUTHOR: Snark


    *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

"She *so* does not like me, Zippy, you catch that?" Khi said,
nonchalantly holding Mulder down on the couch with a well-
placed knee on his back and his arm twisted behind him. Mulder
was struggling hard (as hard as he could in his inebriated state,
anyway), yet Khi held him easily, seemingly exerting no effort at
all.

"Mmmph wrmm ffmpph hfmpv," Mulder said, or at least that's
what it sounded like. Khi laughed and relinquished her hold.
"Time was, Mulder, that you would have broken free on your
own," she said teasingly, "at least for a few moments."

"Yeah, whatever, shut up," Mulder said with a smile, turning
over and sitting up on the couch, rubbing his shoulder a bit.
"Why is it that no matter how much *you* drink, you never seem
to lose your grip on things? Whatever those things may be..." he
finished with a laugh, indicating his sore arm.

Khi laughed for a few seconds, making an 'aw, poor baby' face at
him. "Losing control is a dangerous thing, FBI Agent Mulder,"
Khi said. "You should realize that by now, especially in your line
of work--when the body and mind are weakened, the soul is
unleashed. If a person isn't careful, the soul can be lost forever."

Shaking off the seriousness of her words with a short laugh, Khi
stepped over to check his arm, feeling the bones and tendons that
connected the arm to the shoulder. "You'll live, Zippy. Which is
something I can't say for myself, if your partner ever catches me
alone in a dark alley," she said, standing and making motions as
if pointing a gun to her head.

"As I was trying to say before, you're nuts. Scully liked you just
fine, she's just kind of... well... distant when she first meets
people," Mulder said, rising off the couch and stretching a bit.

"You mean when she first meets people that just happen to be
from *your* past," Khi said with a wink. "I know these things.
And trust me, Zippy, if her eyes has been bullets, I'd be playing
'Word Up' on a harp right now." With the expression of a perfect
angel, she made harp-plucking motions as she headed off for the
bathroom.

Mulder stepped out of the living room, heading into his bedroom
to find a shirt to slip on. Since he wasn't busy dancing or mixing
drinks anymore, he found he felt slightly chilled. He grabbed a
black T-shirt out of a stack of identical T-shirts in his bottom
drawer, pulling it down over his head to cover his bare chest.
Feeling warmer immediately, he headed back out to the couch
and sat down, propping his feet up on the table.

Whaddya know Zippy, he said to himself, Khi Shaolin has
returned with a bang. As he waited for her, he wondered where
she'd been for the last 10 years, what she'd been doing that
steered her to his door. He realized that he hadn't ever really
known what Khi did even back at Quantico--she had just been
this person in his life. A person that, at the time, he couldn't have
done without. With an almost unbelievable combination of wild-
eyed adventurism and utter self-control, Khi had been exactly
what he needed to stay on track. More than once, she'd pulled
him back from the edge of self-induced madness, using nothing
but a voice filled with logic and reason.

That, plus a well-executed half-nelson hold every once in a
while, he laughed to himself.

Mulder heard the door to the bathroom open and saw Khi head
past the living room into the kitchen. After a moment, she came
back, carrying a brimming pitcher. "Ack, no! No more," Mulder
exclaimed, making the sign of the cross in front of him. "I can't
drink another drop if I want to make that flight in the morning."

"*This* is going to help you make that flight," she said, handing
him the pitcher along with a fresh glass. As she sat down next to
him, he saw only water in the pitcher. "Force yourself to drink all
of that before you try to sleep, and you should be hang-over free
when you wake up." Khi rested her head on the back of the
couch, closing her eyes and becoming still.

"And why is that?" Mulder asked, reaching out and pouring a
glass of water.

"Water serves as an equalizer for the alcohol in your
bloodstream," Khi explained, not bothering to open her eyes or
even turn her head. "The alcohol you consumed made your blood
fall out of acidic balance. While your body would eventually
return to the proper balance on its own, through metabolization
and time, the water speeds the process by adding a large volume
of pH-neutral liquid into your system."

Hearing no response, Khi opened one eye and turned to look at
Mulder--she found him staring at her, a half smile formed on his
lips. "What?" she asked warily.

"Nothing. You just reminded me of someone there, for a
minute," he said, starting to drink the glass of water to cover the
smile.

"Who?" Khi asked innocently. She already knew the answer, but
wanted to see if Mulder would actually tell her. He'd never been
someone that confided in others easily, though there were times
she'd gotten him to open up. But that had been a long time ago.

"Ah, no-one you know," he said after he draining the glass.

"Sure, okay," she said, waiting while he poured himself a second
glass. "Would 'someone' happen to be a redhead and carry a
gun?" Khi asked, relishing the look on Mulder's face--double-
takes that good were few and far between. He didn't deny her
statement, though.

"Is she going on this trip with you tomorrow?" Khi asked. "She
seemed awfully concerned that you make it there on time."

"No, she's staying here," Mulder said deadpan. "Someone's gotta
stay and make sure the world is safe from people who inhaled
when they were 17."

Khi roared at that one, laughing until she was nearly crying.
"Good god, Zippy--you can still make me laugh like no one else
in the world," she said when she was finally able to speak again.
"I've missed it."

"And I've missed you," Mulder said quietly, reaching out and
taking her hand in his. She nodded in agreement and smiled,
placing her other hand over his and leaning to rest her head
briefly on his shoulder.

"Well, before this turns into a Taster's Choice moment," Khi
said, letting go of his hand and standing up, "we should probably
get you to bed. Finish that water first." She headed off into the
bedroom, where he could hear her rustling around in her bag.

"Yes, sir!" Mulder called out. He drank down the last of the
water and returned both the glass and the pitcher to the kitchen
counter. After stopping at the bathroom to do his nightly routine,
he padded into the bedroom and began stripping down to his
boxers. Khi, already changed into a set of baggy flannel pajamas,
watched approvingly.

"Oooh, black silk. My, my, my..." she teased him. "You've got
good taste. Or should I be saying, 'someone' has good taste?"

"Keep talking like that, and you *will* end up playing that harp,
Khi," Mulder said. "She'd pull your tongue right out of your head
and beat you to death with it."

"For some reason, I truly believe she would," Khi laughed,
pulling back the covers on the waterbed and crawling in. Mulder
came over to the bed and grabbed a pillow, turning to head back
to the living room and the couch.

"What, you don't want to sleep with me, Zippy?" Khi asked,
affecting a hurt expression complete with a down-turned lower
lip. She was amused by the sudden shyness apparent in Mulder's
mannerisms--he was twisting the corner of the pillow with his
hands as his eyes darted around at everything but her.

"Well, I didn't want to assume that you... I wasn't sure that's what
you did anymore, or what you wanted to do... or what you...
whatever," he finished lamely.

"Yeah, I still like to sleep, Mulder," she said, laughing. "I don't
think they've quite figured out how to negate the need for sleep
in humans yet."

She turned the covers back on one side of the bed, scooting over
to the other side to make room for him. He hesitated for the
slightest of moments, then slid into bed next to her. As he curled
up to sleep on his side, his feet just barely grazing her legs, a
small smile crossed his face briefly--just like old times, he
thought.

As he felt himself drifting off to sleep, he said "Actually, they
have figured that out, Khi--you just don't want to know what
happens when they do."



      *** 30 *********  Section End  *********** 30 ***

TITLE: Falling Snow, Section 3/19
AUTHOR: Snark
------------
Chapter 2
------------

Scully slowly became aware of a ringing noise, a sound that had
burrowed its way into her head and took up residence as if it had
always belonged there. Groggily, she sat up and tried to shake
the sleep from her body. She wasn't entirely successful--geez, she
thought, if I feel like this, Mulder must be d-... She caught herself
before she could finish the thought. She had had enough visions
this past night of Mulder dying, and she wasn't going to start
thinking about it again.

Concentrating again on the ringing noise, she at first couldn't
figure out what was making it. Leaning over to her nightstand,
she checked both the alarm clock and her cell phone--neither was
the source of the offending noise. Finally, she remembered the
new house phone she had picked up the a few days earlier. She
realized she hadn't been home much since then, and had never
heard it ring.

Pushing back the covers, Scully got out of bed and walked over
to the phone. As she picked up the handset, she noticed that she
hadn't powered the answering machine back on after connecting
the new phone. It's probably the police, she thought wearily,
responding to a missing person's report filed by my mother. After
all the events of the past few years, her mother tended to get a
little freaked out if her daughter was unavailable for more than a
couple days.

"Scully," she said, hoping her tone would scare away any
solicitors. As she glanced at the clock, she saw it was probably a
little early for solicitors--the 06:57 of her stove clock shone
steadily in the dim morning light.

"Agent Scully, I'm sorry to bother you so early and on your
vacation, besides," the person calling said, the words clipped and
brisk.

"Uh, no sir, that's fine, sir. What can I do for you?" she asked,
unconsciously standing a little straighter and trying to smooth her
hair to a more professional appearance.

"We would like you to accompany Agent Mulder to Colorado for
this conference, Agent Scully," AD Skinner said. "I can't give
you many details, but AD Kersh thought it would be best to give
Agent Mulder some... backup on this one," he finished.

"You mean, keep him in line and make sure he doesn't tell the
assembled agents what to go do with themselves," she said
quietly, knowing full-well there was no logical reason for her to
attend this conference. The pause on the other end of the line told
her she was correct.

"We've rescheduled both of you to a different flight, leaving at
9:25 this morning, since we couldn't get you a seat on Mulder's
earlier flight," Skinner said. Yeah, right, Scully thought--
watchdogs have to be present from the start, or they don't do any
good. She knew the drill.

"That's fine, sir. Does Agent Mulder already know of this
change?" she asked, suddenly worried at the thought of Skinner
talking to a hung-over Mulder at 7:00 in the morning.

"I just got off the phone with him, it's all taken care of. He
seemed eager to be on his way out there, so perhaps your...
backup won't be as necessary as Kersh believed," Skinner said.

"I'm sure all will be fine," Scully said, not really listening
anymore. Why was Mulder eager to get out of town for a few
days, she wondered. Perhaps his 'reunion' with Khi did not go as
well as it had seemed last night. A brief smile played on her lips
at the thought.

She rounded out the conversation with the usual pleasantries and
hung up the phone. Taking a deep breath, she began to pack her
larger bag for the trip, knowing that they would be gone at least 4
days. Mulder would be speaking tomorrow at the opening of the
conference and then would be required to be present for the end
session on Sunday morning. The day in between would probably
just be free time for each of them, since she certainly couldn't see
attending any more of the conference than was absolutely
necessary.

Colorado in the winter, hmmm, she thought. Other than the
obvious pastime of skiing, she didn't know what else there was to
do there. Looking around her bedroom, she tossed in a couple of
paperbacks she'd been meaning to read. She hoped they'd find
something a little more interesting than that to do, but figured it
was best to be prepared. Scully rummaged through her closet to
find her heavy winter jacket, not knowing how cold it may or
may not be in Colorado.

Scully was headed for the shower as the phone rang again.
"Scully," she answered.

"It's me." Mulder's voice sounded perfectly clear, no hint of
grogginess. How did he manage that, she wondered. "Skinner
talk to you yet?"

"Yeah, he called about 10 minutes ago. I guess I won't be getting
my vacation weekend after all," she said, a hint of resignation
coming through in her voice.

"Well, you gotta keep the FBI's most unwanted on his leash, you
know," he said with short laugh. "Anyway, the flight's at 9:25,
we'll be by to pick you up at 8:30." He hung up as Scully did the
same. It was as she stepped into the bathroom a minute later that
she realized what he had said. 'We'...

"Oh god," she said to the empty air.

     *    *    *    *    *    *

"Sorry not to give you any warning, Scully," Mulder had said as
he loaded her bag into the trunk, indicating Khi in the front seat.
"But when we woke up this morning, Khi said she'd leave for
California in a couple of days anyway, so I asked if she wanted
to join us in Colorado for the interim. She said sure, so I got her a
seat."

Scully had taken a moment to answer, trying to wrap her brain
around the concept of Mulder 'waking up' with Khi--waking up
with someone meant you had to go to sleep with them, and
Scully hadn't quite been able to accept that right away. Finally, as
they'd  stepped back around to get in the car, she felt should
could answer calmly. "It's fine, Mulder, don't worry about it,"
she'd said. "I'm sure it will be a fine couple of days."

Now, as she stood in the ticket line with them, watching them
laugh and carouse with each other, she wondered if she could
convincingly fake a sudden, deathly illness. Or inflict one...

It was tempting, surely, but she knew she couldn't bow out of her
duties on this assignment, no matter how ridiculous they might
be. Perhaps she'd be lucky and find out the Colorado airport was
closed due to snow or something--dream on, honey, dream on,
she said to herself.

They were almost to the counter when it happened again--intense
pain shot through Scully's temples, a fiery stab straight into her
skull. Again, the image of Mulder down in the snow flashed
behind her eyelids, clear as actual sight. Gasping for air, she
nearly went to her knees from the sudden disorientation. Mulder
was immediately at her side, holding her upright with a strong
arm about her waist as he called out for Khi to get help.

But as Khi began to take off for the emergency medical station,
Scully felt herself snap out of it, just as quickly as she'd
succumbed to it. "No, wait, Mulder," she stammered out. "I'm
fine, really." She marshaled all her strength and held herself
steady, disengaging herself from Mulder's grip. He was reluctant
to let go, though, keeping one arm at the ready as the other
reached out to touch her shoulder lightly.

Khi stepped through the small crowd of onlookers as Scully
again said she was all right. Khi stepped up to Scully's side,
looking her over completely as she reached out to lightly touch
Scully's temple. Scully recoiled slightly at her touch--partly
because she didn't like to be touched by people, but partly
because of a slight sense of fear. It was as if Khi knew exactly
where the pain had been centered. Her eyes seemed to look right
through Scully, almost as if trying to confirm something.

Khi must have seen something in her face, though, for she smiled
slightly as she pulled back her hand. "Relax, Dana... Scully, I
mean," she said in quick correction at a look from Mulder. "I've
had medical training and I could see the veins on your temple
pounding. I just meant to feel for pressure and for fever, but it
seems to have subsided now. Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, I think so," she lied. "It was just a moment of
disorientation. Perhaps I should have grabbed more to eat this
morning before leaving." She tried to speak nonchalantly,
dismissing the entire situation with a brief 'whatever' wave of her
hand and a slight smile. Mulder was still hovering near her,
though, a concerned look on his face. She brushed past him,
stepping up to the counter as the ticket agent motioned them
forward.

Tickets in hand, they headed for the gate to wait out the last few
minutes before boarding began. Realizing Khi's seat was several
rows behind theirs, Scully offered her ticket to Khi. "I see
Mulder every day, why don't you take this to be able to catch up
some more?" she said, trying to seem as if she were just being
friendly. Mostly, she wanted to just sit quietly by herself for a
few hours and try to forget the images she kept seeing--sitting
right next to the man she kept envisioning dying would not help
that endeavor. Plus, looking at the way Mulder appeared to jump
at the idea, she figured she didn't want to spend the next several
hours listening to Zippy stories from college...

Khi seemed to know exactly what Scully was thinking, what her
real motives were. It was an uncanny sensation, she realized--
Scully had never really felt that anyone could read her when she
didn't want them to. Well, no one besides Mulder, but even he
could be frightfully oblivious at times. But as she exchanged a
look with Khi, she could see Khi had easily discerned that Scully
didn't trust her.

Strangely, though, Khi seemed to accept that information without
malice, simply turning to Mulder to ask if he thought that
sounded like a good idea. He, in turn, gave a "You sure?" look to
Scully to confirm. When she nodded and held the ticket out to
Khi again, Khi took it and gave Scully hers in return. Mulder
grinned at the exchange, reaching out to clap Scully on the
shoulder--"Thanks!" he exclaimed, turning to chat with Khi
again.

Yep, Mulder could be frightfully oblivious at times.

     *    *    *    *    *    *

The flight to Colorado Springs passed relatively uneventfully,
much to the satisfaction of Scully. She had experienced no
further pain or visions, and dared to believe perhaps they were
gone for good. She'd been seated seven rows behind Mulder and
Khi, far enough that she couldn't hear their conversation but
close enough that she could hear their laughter.

After twenty minutes of it, she retrieved her portable CD player.
Enya served to soothe her jangled nerves and to block out
everything else.

Arriving in Colorado in the early evening after a connecting
flight delay, Scully retrieved the rental car while Mulder and Khi
got the luggage. Everything accounted for, they headed to the
conference hotel on the other side of downtown, the Regal
Springs Hilton. Scully and Mulder found they'd been booked
rooms just down the hall from each other, while Khi was placed
five floors up. Scully tried not to show how much that
arrangement pleased her. She was happy to see Mulder didn't
plan on continuing his college living arrangements while at a
professional conference--perhaps he was taking this assignment
more seriously than anyone had imagined.

As she unpacked her clothing and arranged her personal effects
in the bathroom, there was a knock at the door. Peering out the
peephole, she saw Mulder standing there, thankfully sans-Khi.
She opened the door to let him in and, as usual, he went right
over to the bed and sprawled out on it as if it were his. Although
she usually made some sarcastic comment to him whenever he
did that, she let it ride this time--it was a return to normalcy she
was glad to see.

"So, Scully, what's up?" he asked as he flipped through the TV
channel guide he'd already located. "Go get some dinner? Do a
little shopping? Watch a movie?" he said with a teasing eyebrow
wag.

She graced him with the very slightest of smiles at that comment,
turning back to the bathroom to finish unpacking her things.
"What, you and Khi aren't off to crash a party, or hit the bars, or
push each other around the halls on the luggage carts?" she
asked.

She heard him laugh as he rolled up off her bed. He came to the
bathroom doorway, leaning his tall frame against the jamb. "Nah,
she wanted to visit a friend she has here in the city, so she's out
for the night," Mulder said as he reached a hand out to rifle
through her array of bottles and cases. Picking up a shampoo
bottle, he struck a commercial pose. "Peach blossom and juju
bean HerbalEssences always makes me feel like a new woman,"
he said brightly. Scully kept a straight face until he reached up to
flip his non-existent long hair back from his shoulders.

The sight was just ludicrous enough to elicit a rare, real laugh
from her, and she was amazed at how it made her feel so much
better. She squeezed by him and returned to the bed, closing up
the bag and placing it on the low luggage rack. She turned to see
him looking at her, a look he didn't break off as she glanced up at
him.

"What?" she asked slowly, quirking an eyebrow at him.

"Are you sure your feeling OK, Scully?" he asked. Before she
could claim she was fine, he quipped "Cuz you *never* laugh at
my jokes."

She barely, just barely, managed to keep from laughing again.
Her lips made a very slight upward turn, though, and he laughed
in response. "There, that's more like it," he said.

"To answer your question, Mulder, I'll have to pass on any
activity for this evening," Scully said. "Maybe I didn't get enough
sleep this week or something, but I really am feeling kind of
tired. I think I just want to order some quick room service and
pretty much head to bed."

"You're sure?" Mulder asked, looking a little depressed at the
thought of spending the evening by himself. "We could just order
in some pizza, maybe meet a nice vampire while we're at it."

"No, that's OK--I think we'll meet enough bloodsuckers
tomorrow at the conference," she said dryly. It was Mulder's turn
to laugh at her joke, nodding his head in agreement.

"Well, I'll leave you to your room service, then. G'night, Scully,"
he said as he headed for the door. She called out a goodnight to
him, telling him to come and get her in the morning for the
conference. "Will do," he said, stepping out into the hall, "Sweet
dreams."

She managed to keep the fear from her face until he was out of
the room.

     *    *    *    *    *    *

Mulder picked her up in the morning on time, carrying his stack
of materials, and they headed to the hotel's conference facility.
As they walked through the main lobby, Mulder spotted Khi
sitting in the cozy low-walled Regal restaurant off to one side.
She waved at them with a smile, gesturing for them to swing
over that way. Mulder changed his course immediately, Scully
following slightly less enthusiastically.

"Good morning, Zippy, Scully," Khi said. She was working her
way through a sizeable breakfast--pancakes, eggs, bacon,
sausage, toast, hash brows, juice, coffee and milk were all
present on the table in front of her. Scully, who rarely ate
anything more than a croissant or a muffin for breakfast, could
not imagine how Khi could eat in such a fashion and still be in
such phenomenal shape.

Khi must have caught the look on her face, because she gave a
short laugh. "Believe me, Scully, I don't eat like this all the time.
Any time I get away from my regular life for a while, I always
make the best of it by eating huge," she said, indicating the
rapidly-disappearing contents of her plates.

"What *is* your regular life, Khi?" Mulder asked as he took a
bite of a piece of toast. "I don't think, in all the time I've known
you, that you have ever mentioned what you do for a living."

"Well, I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you," Khi said, not
quite sarcastically. She just raised an eyebrow at him as she
drank down her coffee.

"C'mon, Mulder, we better get going," Scully said. "Conference
starts in 30 minutes and we still have to check in and get you set
up."

"Hey, you want to hook up for a late supper this evening, say
around 8:00?" Khi asked, indicating both of them. She explained
she would be out most of the day, but would be back to the hotel
around 7:00 or so. Mulder glanced at Scully, who gave a simple
'whatever' shrug of the shoulders.

"Sounds good. Shall we just meet down here around 7:30, then?"
Mulder asked.

"Yeah, that's great. See you both then," Khi said, returning to her
breakfast as Mulder and Scully headed off for the conference
area.

"She's planning something," Mulder said with a slight smile.

"What do you mean, planning something?" Scully asked in
surprise. "Something good, she'll be paying for dinner? Or
something bad, we'll both be jailed by morning?"

Mulder chuckled as they reached the sign-in table. Flashing their
badges and signing the necessary forms, they both picked up a
stack of conference materials and headed inside.

"Something outrageous, most likely," Mulder said, trying to
juggle the new packets of literature with the huge stack of
presentation materials he was already carrying. Scully deftly
lifted the literature packs out of his grip, allowing him to
concentrate on not spilling his presentation.

"Thanks. Anyway, what I mean is that Khi has a habit of
springing a wild plan on people over dinner," Mulder said,
thinking back. "I remember having dinner with her one night,
then flying to Arizona the next day to whitewater raft the
Colorado River, in the Grand Canyon."

"Don't you have to have a guide to raft most sections of that
river?" Scully asked, vaguely remembering something she read
once. They entered the main room, where several people were
already present. They made their way to the front stage area,
continuing to talk as Mulder set up.

"Yeah, you do, but Khi *is* a guide. Not that I knew that before
we were renting the raft and survival gear!" he laughed. "I
thought she was just going to have us take some back seat in a
raft filled with several experienced people. Next thing I know,
it's just the two of us careening down this river, me thinking
we're going to overturn about every three seconds."

"Sounds like a blast," Scully said, the doubt clearly audible in her
voice.

"The funny thing is, Scully, it was one of the best days of my
life," Mulder said, arranging his materials. He signaled one of the
conference assistants to begin passing out a set of papers to each
person attending. "I was sure we'd be dead within the hour, but it
was one of the most exhilarating experiences I've ever had. That's
how it is with Khi--you can never quite be sure that what's
happening is quite as it seems."

"That doesn't surprise me at all, Mulder," Scully said. At his
questioning look, she tossed about for a description of what she
meant, but finally just shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know
what it is about her, Mulder, but I know that woman is hiding
something about herself. I don't mean to insult you or your
friend, but I get the distinct impression that the outward
appearance of Khi Shaolin is nothing more than a well-crafted
mask."

"She's secretive about her past and her life, yes," Mulder said, not
quite mad but a little testy. "But I doubt she's hiding some deep,
dark secret."

"I didn't mean to imply that she was going to murder us in our
sleep or something, Mulder," Scully said. Mulder gave her a
small smile in gratitude. "I just meant that, with Khi, I don't think
what you see is necessarily what you get."

Mulder glanced at his watch, glancing out at the nearly-full
room. "Whatever she's planning, we aren't going to find out what
it is until we get this conference out of the way," he said. "Hey, I
forgot to tell you I got roped into attending one of the afternoon
sessions today. Or perhaps, 'leashed' would be a better word.
Either way, I won't be out of here until after 4:00 or later."

"Actually, that's OK--I want to get a little gift shopping done
while I've got some time here," Scully said. "I've got my
nephew's birthday coming up soon, and other people I'm behind
on. So I'll just see you in the lobby at 7:30, then, OK?"

"OK. Hope I can sit up pretty enough for everyone," Mulder said,
barely pantomiming his neck being jerked by an invisible leash.

She just rolled her eyes at him and stepped down off the stage.
She worked her way through the rows of chairs to an unoccupied
seat near the back and settled in. She glanced out through the
open door which led back to the main hallway and was surprised
to see Khi speaking with a man dressed in what looked like a
Marine captain's uniform. She watched them speak for a
moment, her  surprise turning quickly to shock when the Marine
saluted Khi before turning to leave. Scully knew that uniformed
officers never salute unless it is warranted.

So why the hell was a Marine captain saluting Khi Shaolin?


      *** 30 *********  Section End  *********** 30 ***

TITLE: Falling Snow, Section 4/19
AUTHOR: Snark

     *    *    *    *    *    *

After listening to Mulder's speech, which went surprisingly well,
Scully escaped from the conference and headed back to her
room. After a quick change into something more casual, she
grabbed her coat and headed downstairs to browse the
advertising literature in the lobby. Armed with several
pamphlets, Scully was soon on her way to an afternoon of
shopping.

She headed first to a couple of large clothing stores, finding a
two sweaters and some jewelry for her mother's upcoming
birthday. Looking around for something for her sister-in-law, she
finally decided upon a delicate pair of diamond earrings after
almost an hour of browsing.

Checking her list, she saw the remainder of what she needed was
pretty diverse, so she decided to just head to the South Spring
Mall. Realizing she was rather hungry, she stopped for a quick
bite at one of the mall food court shops. Hunger satisfied, she
began to stroll through the mall at a leisurely pace, entering any
shop that looked interesting, buying a few things here and there.

Within a couple of hours, she had everything she needed for
gifts, plus a few small items for herself, and felt thoroughly
relaxed. Looking down at the armful of packages she was
carrying, she made a quick stop to purchase another piece of soft-
side luggage. Nothing like bringing one bag on a trip and coming
home with two, she laughed to herself.

As she worked her way back to the entrance, a store display
window caught her eye. "Everything for the Sportsman in Your
Life!" the in-store ads read as she perused the window items. She
was about to move on when she spotted a mannequin wearing a
sweatshirt that had an absolutely beautiful print of howling
wolves on it. The quality was superb--it was as if she were
looking at a photograph instead of a screen print. Thinking ahead
to her brother's birthday in a couple of months, Scully decided to
pick this up while she was in shopping mode. No telling when
she'd get the chance for a leisurely day of shopping again.

Entering the store, she browsed until finding the right display
rack, flicking through the hangers until finding the correct size.
She took the shirt off the rack and headed for the checkout
counter at the center of the store. Scully patiently waited in the
small line until it was her turn, giving a smile to the obviously-
new-at-the-job male cashier as she laid the shirt on the counter.

She happened to be looking down at the wolf print when the boy
whisked the shirt off the counter. As her eyes focused, she saw
several knives displayed within the glass case, each folded out to
show the various blades or tools it contained. One towards the
back caught her attention--large and black-handled with an inlay
of crimson, it contained only a single blade that shone brightly
even in the murky fluorescent light of the store.

The pain came unbidden as before, an intense wave that flowed
over and engulfed her. Unlike before, it centered in her chest,
constricting her lungs to the point of uselessness. Gasping for
breath, she collapsed forward onto the display counter, unable to
even cry out for help. Her brain began to slow everything down--
she saw the cashier come running around the counter as if he
were moving through water, his frantic cry of "Hey, lady, are you
OK?" muted and distorted. She slid down the front of the
counter, hands outstretched as if trying to ward off an unseen
attacker.

As consciousness slipped away, a new vision came--her hands
covered with crimson blood, a black-handled knife lying next to
Mulder's motionless form.

     *    *    *    *    *    *

"Ma'am, can you hear me? Wake up, c'mon now. Open your eyes
and talk to me, honey."

Scully came to with a start, jerking halfway up from what
seemed to be a bed before a gentle set of hands pushed her back
down. "Wh... wh..." she tried ask where she was, but her throat
was too dry to speak. A woman in nurse's garb released her hold
on Scully's shoulders, turning to a nearby sink and drawing a
glass of water. She handed it to Scully, who drank it down in a
long, continuous swallow.

"Thank you. Where am I?" Scully asked, looking around the
small, sparsely-furnished room. She saw a few simple medical
instruments neatly organized on counter, along with a jar of
tongue depressors and several gauze wrap bandages.

"You're in the hospital, Ms. Scully. You collapsed at the Spring
Mall about 30 minutes ago and were brought here immediately,"
the nurse explained. "Luckily, EMTs were already at that
location on a false alarm. Do you remember what happened?"

"I was buying a shirt, standing at the counter, and suddenly I
couldn't breathe. It felt as if my entire throat had closed off, as if
my lungs were being crushed," she said. Feeling stronger by the
minute, Scully swung her legs over the side of the low bed and
sat up.

"Well, we've been unable to determine what the cause might
have been. Actually, we found no evidence of anything wrong
with you at all," the nurse said. "You merely appeared to be
asleep--no trauma to the head or throat, no evidence of
obstructions in the airway, not even elevated blood pressure. Do
you have any medical conditions which may have caused such a
collapse?"

"None I'm aware of," Scully said, reluctant to mention the
previous incidents since she had no way to explain those either.
Remembering something, she reached for the small of her back--
"Where's my weapon?"

The nurse chuckled a bit, heading over to a small closet and
withdrawing Scully's coat and weapon. "Here you are. The gun
gave the EMTs a bit of a fright when they found it," she laughed.
"It's not something you expect to find on a normal shopper. But
when they found your ID and realized who you were, they
simply brought the gun in with your other personal effects."

"And the bags I had with me at the sporting store, my other
shopping?" Scully asked as she stood and holstered the weapon.
She dreaded the thought of losing them--when will I ever find
another day to go shopping, she thought, not to mention the
several hundred dollars she had spent.

"I would imagine they're still at the store," the nurse said.
Watching as Scully moved about the room easily, sliding into her
coat and adjusting her clothing and hair in the small mirror, the
nurse seemed perplexed. "Are you sure you feel all right now,
Ms. Scully? When the EMTs arrived, they were quite certain
they'd be bringing out a body bag for you soon. You had been
out for at least three minutes, convulsing and not breathing. But
just as they started to work on you, you just... came out of it. You
were calm and breathing easily within seconds."

With a false smile and shrug of her shoulders, Scully replied "I'm
not sure what to tell you. I feel fine now. If there's no reason for
you to hold me here any longer, I think I'll be on my way."

"Just a couple of papers for you to sign at the front desk, out the
door and down the hall to your left," the nurse pointed. "You
should know that we attempted to call the name listed in your
ID."

Scully jerked her head back, asking "Did you reach him at all?"

"No, we only got an answering machine. By the time we had
searched your ID for another number to call, you were beginning
to wake up, so we didn't think it was necessary," the nurse
explained.

"All right, thank you," Scully said, turning and heading back
down the hallway. Thank god, she thought with a sigh--the last
thing I need is Mulder running around in AutoProtect mode for
the rest of the weekend.

Finding the ER admission desk, Scully signed the necessary
release forms and inquired about the location of the mall in
relation to the hospital. She decided to just walk back to the mall,
considering it was only about a mile away. It was still daylight
outside and she figured she could find her way easily enough.

Stepping out into the cold, she began to walk briskly in the
direction the admitting nurse had indicated. Wishing she had a
hood on her coat, she settled for flipping up the large collar and
trying to sink as far inside the jacket as she could.

There was a light snow falling as she walked along.

Within 15 minutes, Scully had arrived at the mall, pausing in the
doorway to shake off the dusting of snow that had accumulated
on her jacket and hair. She quickly found the sporting store and
stepped inside to inquire about her packages. Luckily, the same
boy was still working--he recognized her immediately, reaching
underneath the counter and withdrawing her several packages.

"Hello, ma'am, how're you feeling now?" he asked as she came
up to the counter. "You sure freaked us out a bit there, for a
moment. I just went ahead and set these under here to keep an
eye on them."

"I feel fine now, thanks for asking," she said, tipping a smile up
at him as she dug inside her jacket for her small wallet. "But I'm
quite sure I didn't pay for that yet," indicating the last package he
had set on the counter, emblazoned with the brightly-colored
store logo.

"The manager said it was a gift for you, to help you feel better.
He didn't want you to be saying that you got sick at Dave's
Sporting Goods and-" he broke off suddenly, glancing around
him nervously. "Whoops, I think I just said more than I was
supposed to."

"That's okay, I won't tell anyone," Scully laughed. "But I really
do want to pay for the shirt. It certainly wasn't the store's fault
about what happened, and you were so quick to help me."

"Nope, I'm sorry, ma'am, but he told me to insist that you take
the shirt, free of charge," the boy said firmly. Or as firmly as a
16-year old boy could be when talking to a pretty woman in her
30's who was smiling at him. "Really, take it."

"Well, then, thank you, and be sure to thank your manager as
well," Scully said, beginning to gather her packages. Her eyes
fell again on the knife as she cleared off the counter.

"Perhaps you'll let me buy something else, then," she said.

     *    *    *    *    *    *

Back at the hotel, Scully carefully arranged all the packages in an
out-of-the-way corner of her room, taking a moment to attach a
quick note to the pile. No need for the cleaning staff to worry
about moving them each day, she thought.

Glancing at her watch, she saw that she still had two hours before
dinner with Mulder and Khi. She considered taking a brief nap,
but quickly dismissed that idea--she was much too tense to fall
asleep at this time of day. She flipped through the television
channels, smiling slightly as she clicked past Channel 14. Gee, I
wonder which channel Mulder pre-set on his remote, she laughed
to herself.

Finding nothing of interest, Scully got up and paced the room a
bit. As she passed the low dresser, she saw the hotel's
advertisement for its services and amenities. Seeing the entry for
'full gym, complete with a variety of the latest equipment,' she
thought perhaps that was what she needed. A good, hard run on a
treadmill or a Stairmaster. Her brain cautioned she should
probably just take it easy, but the thought was quickly swept
away by her body's need to *do* something.

Scully rummaged through her bag until she found the pair of
sweatpants and shirt she had brought. Grabbing them, along with
a towel from the bathroom, she headed downstairs and found the
gym with a little help from the concierge again. She changed in
the small locker room, happy to see only a few lockers in use--
she hated fighting or waiting for gym equipment.

The gym was small, but it really was well-equipped and
thankfully nearly empty. After a moment's debate, she decided
on a treadmill run. She did a few simple stretches, making sure
she limbered up after the day's tension--no need to pull a muscle
with two more days left of the trip, she thought.

Scully set the machine for about 6-7 miles per hour and hopped
on, quickly falling into the necessary rhythm. The hotel had
placed several TV screens around the gym, giving people
something to look as they exercised. She normally took her CD
player with her to work out, but had forgotten it upstairs.

She found herself watching an infomercial for a food-packing
unit that sealed stuff using a vacuum. She laughed to herself as
she watched the spokesman peddle his wares--I couldn't act that
deliriously happy even if I *was* getting paid for it, she thought.

The longer she jogged, the more in control she felt. The
disturbing mental images, the physical tension, the general unrest
she'd had for the last 24 hours slid into the past. Things to be
remembered, but no longer worried about. The body took over
and she was happy to let it do so.

After 50 minutes, she cranked the machine up a bit more and
finished with a hard 5-minute run. Only then did she power it
down to a gentle walk, allowing her body to cool down slowly.
She knew a majority of muscle pulls and strains occurred as a
result of improperly cooled muscles, not from the actual severity
of the workout itself.

Noticing someone waiting for the machine, she shut it down and
stepped off, finding a corner of the room to finish stretching out.
Scully noticed the gym had filled up in the last hour and was glad
that she had come down when she did.

She felt refreshed and energetic, more so than she'd felt in weeks.
Maybe coming along will have some benefits after all, she
mused. She headed back to the locker room and grabbed her
clothes and towel, figuring on showering when she got back to
her room.

Keeping in the spirit of the workout, Scully decided to take the
stairs up to her room. She laughed as she set out to jog up the 12
flights--elevators were usually a necessity for her, brought on by
the dress clothing she normally wore. She couldn't remember the
last time she intentionally took a long jog up a flight of stairs.

As she reached the 5th floor and rounded the corner to start up
the next flight, she became aware of another set of footsteps
coming up from below. She glanced down through the space in
the staircase and saw Mulder racing up the steps. He was dressed
in Spandex running pants with a light runner's jacket, a pair of
gloves in his hands. She could see the bottoms of several layers
of T-shirts and sweatshirts poking out from underneath the edge
of the jacket.

"C'mon, Scully, I'll race you to our rooms--last one there has to
spring for dinner tonight!" he yelled as he turned the corner
below her.

"You're on, fly boy," she called out, feeling the adrenaline pour
into her blood as she accelerated.

They yelled back and forth at each other as they ran: "Who you
calling fly boy?"--"You, Spandex man"--"Oh, so I can't wear
proper running attire now?"--"It's just a little... form-fitting, don't
you think?"--"You making a move on me, woman?"--"Yeah, I'm
moving out ahead of you."

Scully was in the lead as they reached the 12th floor entrance.
She reached out and flung open the door to the hallway. She
quickly realized her mistake, though, as Mulder whizzed past her
and into the hallway, laughing. "Thank ye kindly, ma'am!" he
called to her as he zipped by.

Damn! "I had you, Mulder, and you know it!" she called out after
him. "I had you!"

"Most restaurants take Visa, you know!" he laughed, flashing her
a big smile.

He managed to duck inside his room and shut the door before she
had the chance to wipe that smile right off his face.


      *** 30 *********  Section End  *********** 30 ***
TITLE: Falling Snow, Section 5/19
AUTHOR: Snark
------------
Chapter 3
------------


Mulder had picked Scully up at her room just before 7:30. She
had been glad to see he'd dressed casually as well, his black jeans
topped by an intense forest green sweater that set off his eyes
nicely. She'd teased him that he was supposed to bring flowers
when picking up a woman for dinner.

"Sorry, my lady," he had said, giving her a slight bow from the
waist as he effected a 'mea culpa' motion with his hand to his
chest. "My dating skills are a little rusty lately."

As they had walked down the hall, Mulder had offered her his
arm, as if they were dressed to the nines and attending a formal
affair instead of just a casual dinner out. As Scully had threaded
her hand into the crook of his arm, she'd smiled to herself. Rusty
perhaps, but still alive and well.

Now, as they sat relaxing at the table after dinner, Scully
watched in amused silence as Mulder continued the date
pretense, ordering a sort of ice cream and cherries dessert for the
two of them to share. They had split a pizza between them for
dinner already, so why not a dessert too, he had calmly
explained.

Khi had opted out of the pizza-sharing idea, going instead with a
half-pound burger piled with every topping known to man, and a
few that probably weren't. The restaurant was more of a bar and
grill, really, but the food had been excellent and the staff both
friendly and efficient.

They chatted amiably throughout dinner, drifting from topic to
topic like a butterfly floating on a gentle breeze. Scully feared
she would be a third wheel at the college reunion, but both
Mulder and Khi had nicely kept the conversation out of the 'old
times' category.

"To friendships. Both old and new," Khi said, raising her bottle
of St. Paulie Girl into the air. Mulder and Scully followed suit,
murmuring the toast as their wine glasses clinked together with
the bottle. While Scully still didn't quite trust Khi, she found her
to be an intelligent, even witty, dinner companion. The evening
had been quite relaxing so far, a fact that came as a pleasant
surprise.

"So Khi, Mulder tells me that you might be... let's see, how did
he put it?" Scully pretended to think for a moment, rolling her
eyes up towards the overhead lights and tapping a forefinger
against her lips. "Planning something, I believe was the exact
phrase," she finished with an amused glance over at Mulder.

"Zippy! What have you been telling this woman about me?" Khi
reacted with feigned shock. "Planning something, why I never..."

She ranted and raved, each phrase more indignant and outrageous
than the last, until Mulder, and finally even Scully, were
laughing outright. Khi eventually ran out of words to say, ending
with a spluttering string of nonsense as she finally dissolved into
laughter herself.

As they slowly gained control of themselves again, Mulder
looked around for the waiter, wanting to order another round of
drinks. Showing again the efficiency of the staff, the waiter was
already on his way over with another carafe of wine for Mulder
and Scully and a fresh beer for Khi.

"But now that you mention it..." Khi intoned with a devilish look
in her eye. She slowly raised a single eyebrow as she said it,
sending them all laughing again as the waiter cleared away the
last of the empty dishes and glasses.

"So what's it going to be this time, Khi... rafting? Bungee-
jumping? Deep-sea diving?" Mulder asked, pausing to take a sip
of the wine. "The Mall of America the day before Christmas?" he
finished with a what-did-I-tell-you glance at Scully. She gave a
slight shake of her head, beginning to smile as she reached for
her glass.

Khi laughed. "Now, *there's* something that would truly be life-
threatening. I'd never inflict that on you, plus it's still a ways off.
No, I was thinking more like... parachuting."

The glass never reached Scully's lips. She set it down sharply,
thankful Mulder and Khi were too involved to notice the loud
clanking noise it made as it hit the table.

"In the middle of the winter?! Thanks, but I'll just take the mall,
thank you very much. Parachuting into the snow, Jes-" Mulder
finished in a mumble, shaking his head as he laughed.

Mulder didn't notice that Scully had turned as white as the snow
falling outside the bar's windows.

     *    *    *    *    *    *

"Hey now, parachuting is *best* in the winter, believe me. All
that nice, fluffy snow to break your fall--it's like dropping down
onto a bed of feathers," Khi said, pantomiming gentle falling
motions as she spoke. "I've got a friend who has a plane, we can
have him fly us down tomorrow morning, do the jump and be
back here in time for tea. We just need to-" Khi launched into
full persuasion mode, outlining every detail in her most
convincing tone.

Scully heard none of it. It took all of her strength and
concentration to keep her body from betraying her fear, to keep
her hands and face steady as she tried to catch her breath.

After a few moments, when she felt she could stand without
promptly passing out, she managed a small "Excuse me, guys,
restroom break," as she got up and headed away from the table.
Khi and Mulder each gave a sort of half-wave of
acknowledgement, each too engrossed in the conversation to
really even look up as she left.

If they had, they might have been concerned when she didn't
head for the restroom, making her way instead towards the heavy
wooden doors of the front entrance. Scully murmured a comment
to the bouncer as she headed outside, showing him her
establishment-ID bracelet. Noticing her paleness even in the
rather dim light of the bar's interior, the bouncer asked her if she
was all right as he opened the door for her.

"Yes, fine, thank you," she said in a voice barely above a
whisper. "I just need a quick breath of fresh air, that's all." Scully
waved a nonchalant hand in the air as she ducked through the
doorway.

She immediately noticed that the temperature had risen by
several degrees--it was markedly warmer than when they'd first
entered, although still brisk. The snow, which had been closer to
small pellets when they arrived, had switched over to large,
beautiful flakes. Each made their way down out of the sky,
silently covering everything in a gentle blanket of whiteness.

Scully walked a short distance down the block, the night air
providing the clarity she was looking for. She breathed deeply
several times in succession, doing a few quick arm rotations to
get her blood pumping again. Her breath hung in the air before
her, slowly swirling away as the seconds passed.

"What the hell is wrong with me," she mumbled to herself.
"You're a doctor, a scientist, not the Stupendous Yappi."

She knew there was no logical reason to be alarmed, that indeed
there was little proof of clairvoyant ability. But no matter what
she told herself, no matter how hard she tried to dismiss her fear,
she couldn't shake the feeling she was truly perceiving the future.
That events would unfold exactly as she kept envisioning.

That Mulder would die in her arms, his life bleeding onto the
snow beneath them.

     *    *    *    *    *    *

After a long look up at the night sky, and knowing she couldn't
be gone more than five minutes without Mulder getting worried,
Scully turned and headed back into the bar. The bouncer flashed
her a grin and told her it looked like the walk did her some good.
She gave a small smile in return as she moved past him,
threading her way through the small crowd waiting to get seated.
It had to be approaching 10:00pm, but the dining area was still
nearly full, forcing people to wait for available tables.

Mulder was just getting up from the table, laughing at something
Khi had just said, when he caught sight of Scully. He stepped to
her side as she came closer, reaching out to touch her shoulder
very briefly.

Well-schooled in Mulder101, Scully could see the look of
concern veiled beneath the smile--a look quiet and hidden, but
there nonetheless. Scully was always amazed at the depth of
feeling Mulder could convey with a seemingly simple look or
motion.

"You OK, Scully? We were about to send out the reconnaissance
teams for you," Mulder asked, the offhand comment masking the
once-over glance he gave her, searching for some outward sign
of trouble. She couldn't tell if he'd seen her come in from outside.

"I'm fine, Mulder, I just stepped outside for a second," she said,
feeling it was safer to bend the truth slightly than risk an outright
lie. "I was feeling a little warm in here and just wanted to cool
down a little bit."

Playing every inch the gentleman this evening, Mulder pulled her
chair out for her, graciously seating her before returning to his
own chair. As she watched him settle back into his seat, she
realized with something of a start that she wasn't being
completely fair--Mulder was often gentlemanly, holding doors
and pulling out chairs for her, guiding her through doorways with
a gentle hand. It was just that those things normally happened in
the course of their daily work, not during a casual evening
together.

Scully refused to use the word 'date,' even in the safety of her
own thoughts.

"Well, as crazy as it sounds, Khi's got me damn close to sold on
this parachuting idea, Scully," Mulder said, pouring himself
another glass of wine. He laughed as Khi did a little dance-of-joy
at the table, complete with a Homer-ish 'Whoo Hoo.'

"Sounds pretty painless, really, and might actually be kind of
fun," he continued.

Khi chimed in with the reassurance that nothing could be
simpler--"A troop of girl scouts laden with boxes of Thin Mints
could do this jump, it's so easy," she said, figuring that a
challenge-to-the-manhood couldn't hurt her cause. Scully was not
surprised to see that it worked, watching as Mulder bristled
slightly even as he tried to toss it off with a "Yeah, whatever,
shut up" response.

"Mulder, forget for a moment that a) you've never parajumped
before, b) you're here on business and c) it's the dead of winter
and no more than 30 degrees outside," Scully began, smiling in
spite of herself as she saw Khi and Mulder exchange a told-you-
so look between them. "You're in the middle of a senior bureau
conference.  If you were to miss the final session on Sunday, you
could seriously compromise your career at the FBI. You could be
reprimanded, you could be censured, you could be fired
outright..."

Scully caught the gleam in Mulder's eye as he listened to her.

"...you could just go ahead and book that plane for three seats,"
she finished with a resigned sigh.

"Two for the price of one!" Khi laughed. "I didn't really think I
could even convince Zippy to do it, and here I got a second FBI
agent thrown in as well. My skills of persuasion must be sharper
than I thought." She started outlining the where and when details
of the next day's jump.

Scully reached out and poured herself another wine, leaning back
in her chair and thinking. Wondering who Khi Shaolin really was
and if she were really just the adventurous friend she presented
herself to be. Wondering if her own decision to go with them
would seal Mulder's fate, condemning him to a death she had
seen all too clearly.

"So, does that seem reasonable to you?" Khi asked as she and
Mulder turned towards Scully. Breaking out of her mental
reverie, Scully took a sip of her wine before answering. The few
seconds gave her time to replay their conversation in her head.

Even though her attention had been completely focused on her
own thoughts, some part of her mind had still tuned into their
planning session and was now able to pick out the pertinent
details at high speed. It was a skill she had developed over the
years without even really trying--she knew it was the only thing
that had gotten her through more than a few 7:00am bureau
meetings.

"Um, yeah, that should work all right," she said. "Hotel lobby at
9:00am, out to the airfield by 11:00, in the air and en route by
noon, jump around 1:00, picked up and back here by late
afternoon," she summarized quickly.

Khi was impressed with Scully's succinct recitation, teasing
Mulder he'd better watch out, having a partner with a memory
like that. "You won't be getting away with anything, Zippy," Khi
said with a chuckle.

"I wouldn't even dream of trying," Mulder said, giving Scully a
cryptic grin. The waiter arrived with their dessert, cutting off
Scully's question before she could ask it.

As the waiter began setting their dessert on the table, Scully
realized why it had taken fifteen minutes to bring it out. It was,
quite simply, a work of art. Perfectly sculpted mounds of pure
white ice cream lined the inside of an ornate crystal goblet. Dark,
sumptuous cherries ringed the upper edge of the ice cream,
complementing the small tower of them that had been placed in
the center.

Another dish contained still more cherries, simmering and
bubbling in a thickened sauce. Placing the dish near the edge of
the table, the waiter took a small bottle and poured an amber
liquid over the simmering mixture. And then, with a flourish
worthy of the theater, the waiter set the entire dish on fire.

Smiling, Scully looked across the table at Mulder, noticing the
perfect reflection created by his glasses. The visual effect was
stunning--it was as if he were a creation of fire himself. As if his
very soul had been set ablaze and unleashed for her to see. She
was mesmerized for a moment, unable to break the hypnotic
effect.

Finally, it was the realization she was gazing at him like a
schoolgirl that gave her the strength to drop her eyes down to the
table. But it had not been quick enough, she knew. She knew
Mulder had experienced the same thing in those few moments.

That he, too, had looked deep inside her, right to the very center
of her soul, and had seen the same fire.


      *** 30 *********  Section End  *********** 30 ***

TITLE: Falling Snow, Section 6/19
AUTHOR: Snark


     *    *    *    *    *    *

The rest of the evening at the bar and grill passed quickly. Khi
finally broke down as she watched Mulder and Scully enjoy their
jubilee dessert, quickly ordering a large hot fudge sundae for
herself. There wasn't much conversation at Table 14-A after
that--just murmuring variations of "I can't believe how good this
is" from all of them.

Finishing off her sundae, savoring the last of the dark chocolate,
Khi put her spoon down with a satisfied sigh. "You know, when
you eat something like that, you can totally see how the phrase
'Chocolate is better than sex' got started," she said with a laugh, a
sentiment echoed by Mulder and Scully. Seeing they were nearly
finished as well, Khi excused herself, wanting to hit the restroom
quick before leaving.

The waiter made one last stop, asking if anyone needed anything
else before he totaled their tab. Scully, laughing, told him no,
they had consumed far more than they needed to already. The
waiter stepped over to the bar for a moment, tapping things into
the keypad at a computerized billing station. He returned a
moment later with the bill, proffering it to Mulder first.

Mulder just laughed. "No, I believe that should be given to the
lovely redhead over there, my friend," he said, giving Scully an
evil grin. The waiter laughed as well, turning and handing it to
her with a flourish. Throwing a mock glare at Mulder as she put
the bill down next to her, Scully took the opportunity to thank the
waiter for the excellent service, wanting him to extend their
gratitude to the cooking staff as well for the delicious dinner and
dessert.

The waiter seemed genuinely pleased at the compliment,
graciously giving her a slight bow and telling them if they ever
came again, to make sure they asked for Josh. Scully told him to
hang on just a second, pulling her small wallet out of her jacket
and extracting the desired credit card. "You take Visa, right?"
Mulder asked him, tossing Scully a teasing look. He expertly
dodged the cloth napkin that came sailing his way, laughing as he
retrieved it from the floor and set it on the edge of the table.

The waiter quickly settled the bill, giving Scully her receipt on a
small tray filled with brightly wrapped mints. "Enjoy the rest of
your dessert and your evening, sir, ma'am," he said as he left.

Mulder tipped the crystal goblet towards him, intending to scoop
up his next bite, and saw there was only a single cherry left. With
the barest hint of a grin, he tipped it up onto his spoon, making
sure he also got the last of the deliciously thick sauce, too.

After a moment's pause, he held the spoon across the table for
Scully, offering her the last taste. She reached out to take the
spoon from him, but he moved it out of her grasp. When she put
her hand back down, he held the spoon out again. She quirked an
eyebrow at him, a look he returned with a quick flicking up and
down of his own brow.

Scully gave him a small eye-roll and sigh, before finally giving
in and leaning forward to mouth the cherry off the spoon. She
didn't quite get all of it, though--a  bit of the dark sauce trickled
its way down her chin. Reaching for her napkin, she quickly
remembered that she'd fired it at Mulder for his earlier comment.
She reached up to try and stop the flow with her hand as she
stretched for another napkin from the center of the table.

Before she could reach one, though, Mulder leaned over and
wiped the offending sauce off with a gentle finger. He smiled
slightly as he wiped his hand on his own napkin--"At least it
comes off easier than the barbecue sauce did," he quipped.

It took Scully a moment to reference the comment, but when she
did, she gave him a quick grin in acknowledgement. Scully
settled back in her chair, relishing the wonderful flavor as she
licked the last little bit of the sauce off her fingers. It was
amazing, she thought, that a bar and grill in the middle of
Colorado would serve the best dessert she'd ever tasted. "Perhaps
Khi was right with the chocolate comment," she said.

"Yeah, except we're not eating chocolate, are we," he said with
an unbelievably sly look and grin. As her eyes widened at his
flirtatiousness, he stood and headed off towards the restroom
himself, giving Khi a quick wave as he met her on her way back
to the table.

As Scully watched him move away, she was glad Mulder had left
the table immediately, not giving her the chance to say her usual
sarcastic reply.

Because this time, she didn't want to say it.

     *    *    *    *    *    *

They caught another cab back to the hotel, Khi splitting off from
Mulder and Scully as they entered the lobby. Khi said she was
normally one to go for midnight runs, but would settle for a light
workout in the hotel gym this night.

"Wouldn't want to twist my ankle in the snow and not be able to
throw you guys out of a plane tomo-" Khi broke off,
backtracking slightly and masking her face into a look of pure
innocence. "I mean, not be able to guide you expertly to safety
on your first parajumping experience," she finished sweetly.

"Yeah, whatever, shut up," Mulder said, laughing as he heard
Scully's voice saying the same words. Grins were exchanged as
Mulder and Scully headed for the elevators, Khi starting down
the hallway to the gym.

"What, you don't want to take the stairs this time, Scully?"
Mulder asked as he held the elevator doors for her.

"Don't even start with me, Mulder. I *so* had you beat--you
should've been paying for dinner," Scully said as she pressed the
button for the 12th floor. She couldn't resist smiling a little,
though, when Mulder heaved an exaggerated sigh, murmuring
"Mmm, mmm, good" as he bent down to re-tie a boot lace.

Scully folded her arms and leaned against the wall of the elevator
as it began its slow climb. Whether from the wine or the pleasant
evening, she was feeling very relaxed, almost detached from
herself. She watched as the first floor lazily drifted down beneath
her--the Regal's main elevator was glass-walled, allowing its
passengers to look out over the lobby and recreation area as they
ascended.

"So why are you coming on this jump, Scully?" Mulder asked. "I
mean, I know you don't really like Khi all that much, and you
don't exactly seem the type to have always harbored a secret
passion for extreme sports."

"Actually, Mulder, I've always thought that parachuting might be
rather interesting," Scully explained, keeping her voice light and
conversational. "Free-falling to earth, the air rushing past you,
your body able to twist and turn without restriction... Should be
an interesting experience."

She sure as hell knew she wasn't going to tell him the real reason.

"Well, the only thing I know for certain about doing anything
with Khi--it is *always* interesting," Mulder laughed, moving
over to stand near Scully and look out over the lobby with her.
He was so close to her, she could have sworn that she felt the
heat radiating from him.

The elevator slowed as they reached the 9th floor, the bell
chiming out the stop signal. As the doors opened, an elderly
couple began to step inside. As they saw Mulder and Scully,
though, they paused.

"We're headed down to the lobby--is this going up or down?" the
woman asked politely. "We couldn't tell from the indicators out
here."

"Up, ma'am, to the 12th floor," Mulder replied. "We'll be there in
a second, then you can head back down to the lobby from there."
He stepped forward and held out a hand, offering her some
assistance should she need it.

"No, no, that's all right, son," the man chimed in with a smile.
"We'll let you two finish your ride up. Just push the 9th floor
button when you get out to send it right back to us."

"Are you sure? It's no trouble at all," Scully said, motioning for
Mulder to hold the doors open.

"You two go on, now," the man said, waving for them to be on
their way. "Just send it back down for us."

Mulder smiled at the couple, stepping back inside and releasing
the doors. As they were nearly closed, the woman caught Scully's
eye, giving her a smile and sly wink.

"Have fun," the woman called as the doors squeezed shut.

As Scully caught Mulder's eye as she turned away from the
doors, she asked "Now, what do you suppose she meant by that?"

"I have absolutely no idea," Mulder replied, his tone innocent.
The wink he gave her was decidedly *not* innocent. Scully
turned to face the glass again before she was tempted to return
the wink.

When the doors opened on the 12th floor, Mulder held out an
elbow for her, just as he had when they originally left for the
evening. Scully placed her hand on his arm, reaching back at the
last second to hit the button for the 9th floor.

As they walked along in comfortable silence, Scully tried to
remember an evening when she'd had so much fun, when she'd
felt so completely relaxed and at ease. Considering she couldn't
think of anything, she concluded it had been a very long time.

"Here you are, my lady," Mulder said, stopping in front of her
door. He'd been covering her hand with his own--with a gentle
squeeze, he took his hand away and stepped back slightly as she
unhooked her arm from his.

Scully pulled out her entry keycard, working the door lock with
the studied ease of someone who checks into more hotels in a
year than most people do in a lifetime. Mulder started down the
hall towards his own room, but turned back almost immediately
as Scully called out his name.

"Mulder?" she said, stepping towards him even as he turned to
face her. She had originally reached up a hand to touch his
shoulder as he walked away, but he had turned too suddenly--the
hand now rested squarely against his chest instead. They were
mere inches away from each other, Scully looking up at Mulder
as he tipped his head to look down at her.

She was shocked at the depths of those hazel eyes, feeling as if
she were looking over the edge of a bottomless abyss. She
wondered how she had never seen it before. Or perhaps more
accurately, why she'd never allowed herself to see it before. She
teetered on the edge of that abyss for a few long seconds, feeling
as though she were being drawn forward by some unseen hand.

Mulder finally broke the moment, reaching out to brush her
cheek with back of his fingers. Light and gentle, surely, but she
was rocked by the nearly electric charge it sent through her.

"I had a great time, too, Scully," he said quietly. Taking her hand
off his chest, he pressed a gentle kiss into her palm as he turned
away again.

Scully shook herself slightly, her mind trying to comprehend
what had just happened, why she had done and said the things
she had. It must be the wine, she thought firmly to herself. Had to
be the wine.

As she stepped inside her door, she heard Mulder call out a
"Good night, Scully" as he opened his own door. She poked her
head back around the doorframe, laughing as she saw that he was
doing the same thing a few doors down.

"G'night, Mulder," she said. He grinned back at her, finally
moving inside his room and shutting the door behind him. Scully
did the same, leaning against the door as she closed her eyes for a
minute. Girl, she said to herself, you need a hot bath and a good
night's sleep.

She didn't see them at first, turning immediately from the room
door to enter the bathroom. She began drawing a bath, glad that
she'd remembered to pack a couple of scented bath oils. She
paused for a few moments to make sure the water temperature
was going to stay constant, then went out into the main room.

This time, she saw them immediately.

A dozen long-stemmed roses were lying on her bed, a flowering
vine intricately woven around and through the stems. The
delicate purplish-white petals of the vine's flower provided a
stark contrast to the dark, rich red of the roses. The arrangement
was exquisitely beautiful.

As she picked them up, she noticed a small piece of paper tucked
inside the vine. She withdrew it carefully, unfolding it to reveal
the strong, bold strokes of a hand-written note.

      "I know I should have had these
            for you earlier, but I thought--
                   better late than never.

                                     --Fly Boy"

How does he *do* that, she wondered--she hadn't been away
from Mulder for more than five minutes all night. Scully shook
her head in silence, a grin slowly spreading across her face as she
fingered the petals of the roses.

As she placed the arrangement on the nightstand, making sure
not to crush any of the flowers, a thought sprang unbidden into
her mind. One that, even a few short months ago, she would have
pushed aside without a second's thought. But not tonight.

Tonight, she knew that one day, she would look into Mulder's
eyes and jump willingly over the edge of the abyss.


      *** 30 *********  Section End  *********** 30 ***