From: "Susan Frankovich" To: ; ; "Teresa Leeth" ; ; ; Subject: xfc: Thaw (1/1) Date: Monday, December 17, 2001 6:56 PM Title: Thaw Author: Susan Frankovich E-mail: susanf@ticnet.com or filesfan34@yahoo.com Classification: vignette Keyword: MSR Spoilers: Fight the Future movie Archive: Anywhere, just ask first please. Disclaimer: These characters belong to each other, not me. Author's notes at the end. Summary: Mulder pays a late night visit to Scully's hospital room in Antarctica after their ordeal out on the ice. ************************************************************* Thaw by Susan Frankovich ~~~~~~ "How's my favorite partner doing?" asked Mulder, slowly walking over to her bedside. "I'm your only partner," she replied in a raspy voice. "Yes, you are," he said quietly as he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "How are you feeling?" "I think I feel better than you look." She patted the sheets on her bed. "Sit down, Mulder." "You don't have to ask me twice," he stated, letting out a big groan as he sat down facing her. "You okay?" she immediately asked. He tilted his head from one side to the other, then gingerly rubbed his left arm and shoulder. "The doctor said I'll be fine." She pushed the collar of his hospital gown to the side and lightly pressed on his shoulder. "I don't care what the doctor said. I want to know what *you* think. Are you really alright?" "It's nothing some aspirin and a good night's sleep can't fix." "You need to take care of yourself, Mulder," she said, taking his hand in hers. "Your fingers are cold." "I can't seem to get warm," he said, shivering. "And being stuck wearing this flimsy hospital gown isn't exactly helping much." "There's an extra blanket over on the chair if you want to use it...or you could share mine if you want," she suggested, lifting up the corner of her bedding. "Scully, are you coming onto me?" he teased as he gently draped the sheets over his exhausted legs. "Leave it to you to be thinking about sex when we're both too exhausted to do anything about it, Mulder," she remarked, raising her eyebrow. His eyes widened. "You mean you've thought of it before...you've thought about us...in that way?" he asked, suddenly feeling a lot warmer than he was just a few moments ago. "I've thought about a lot of things since I've been here." "Like what?" "I've been thinking about what almost happened back home between us...you know...in your hallway," she said shyly. "Me too." "And I'm sorry about what I did. I shouldn't have told you I was quitting and then walked away from you like that. It wasn't fair." Placing his hand on top of hers, he said, "And I should've told you sooner how I felt about you, Scully. I guess I thought you already knew how much you meant to me professionally...and personally." He squeezed her fingers. "I guess I took it for granted that you'd always be there...and for that I'm sorry," he said softly. "When I think of you trapped in all that liquid, I just..." "But I'm okay now, Mulder," she interrupted. "You saved me, and for what it's worth, you didn't just save me from being buried underground." She lightly brushed her hand across the bullet wound on his forehead. "You saved me from making a terrible mistake, and that's what leaving you and the X-Files would've been...a terrible mistake." He closed his eyes a moment, savoring her words, then said, "I meant what I said, you know...out in the hallway before all this happened. I really wanted to kiss you then, Scully...just like I want to now." He tenderly touched her frostbitten cheek. She let out a sigh. He leaned in closer to her face. She closed her eyes. And then he did kiss her, not on the lips like he wanted to, but in the space above her eyebrow where her skin wasn't damaged from the cold. "I'll have another kiss for you when we get back home," he promised. "A better one..." Before she had a chance to say anything in return, he lifted the sheet off of his legs and stood up beside the bed. "It's late. I should get back to my room before the nurse comes looking for me." Grabbing hold of his hand before he could walk away, she looked up at him and said, "I'm going to hold you to that promise, Mulder." He smiled. "I'll see you in the morning...and Scully?" "Yes, what is it?" He squeezed her hand one last time, then replied, "For what it's worth, I don't feel cold anymore." She smiled back. "Neither do I." ~end~ *Can you believe that with all the vignettes I've written over the years, I had never written a Fight the Future one? That is...until now.:) I hope you enjoyed this trip back in time as much as I did. Let me know at susanf@ticnet.com Reflections http://members.tripod.com/sfrankovich/index.html Stories by Susan http://www.geocities.com/filesfan34/ To post, mail to xfc-ATXC@yahoogroups.com To subscribe, mail xfc-ATXC-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To unsubscribe, mail xfc-ATXC-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/