Lost Together (R)


 
 
"Here! In here, come on!" Skinner had her by the arm, not quite carrying her. 
She must be frozen through. It wasn’t a whole lot warmer in here, but at least 
they were out of the wind. He managed to shove the door shut by using his body. 
Scully had collapsed in a heap on the floor.
He surveyed the room quickly, not a lot here to look at and no electricity; he 
flicked the light switch several times. That might or might not be from the 
storm. This was just a cabin that was probably not used in the winter anyway. He 
fervently hoped they kept some food here for when they did drop by.
Now he had Scully in his arms. She seemed to weigh even less frozen. He used his 
foot to uncover the couch from the sheet that was draped over it and laid her 
down gently. She was beyond shivering. He quickly grabbed the rest of the 
dustsheets and piled them on her. Not enough. Could he get a fire going? He had 
no choice; they’d both die here if he didn’t. At least there was wood in the 
box. If he could thaw a little he could probably find a woodpile outside. First 
he had to get her warm.
Smart people, they kept their matches in a container on the mantle. If they had 
been harder to find than that, he wasn’t sure he could have done it. As it was 
he was trembling so badly he dropped the first match without successfully 
striking it. He wasn’t much behind her with hypothermia. Willing his hands 
still, he managed to strike the second match and hold it to the paper underneath 
the fire that had been laid.
When he saw that it had caught, he hauled himself up and staggered toward 
Scully. He couldn’t lift her anymore, but he was able to drag her closer to the 
fire. He had to find something warm and dry to wear, for both of them.
Leaving her alone on the rug in front of the fire that was beginning to warm the 
room, he spotted the doors leading off of this room and the stairs leading to a 
loft. There had to be bedding here and maybe spare clothes. Move Skinner; you’re 
almost out of time. He hit pay dirt in the closer of the two downstairs rooms. 
Not much in the way of furniture, but several blankets piled at the foot of the 
bed. He stripped off his wet clothes, they weren’t nearly as stiff as they had 
been, and wrapped himself in a quilt from the bed. Then he loaded himself with 
the other blankets and hurried back to her. 
She hadn’t stirred. God, was he too late? No, there was a pulse. She had just 
passed out. The ice in her hair and clothes was melting and forming a puddle on 
the rug. For just seconds he hesitated before beginning to remove her clothes. 
To hell with modesty, this was life or death. 
He stripped her and began rubbing her down with one of the blankets he had 
brought. When she began to respond he wrapped her in a second blanket and pulled 
her into his lap. She was shivering now as the blood began to circulate and she 
burrowed herself into his chest. He sat on the floor, close to the fire, rocking 
her and reassuring her that they would be okay. It was long minutes before she 
was able to look up at him.
"Thanks." She managed to croak out. He nodded and pushed a piece of wet hair off 
of her forehead. The gesture reminded her of Mulder and her eyes widened.
"What?" He pulled her closer to him again.
"Do you think the others are okay?"
"I think Mulder and the others in the first transport are. I don’t think anyone 
else got out after us."
She closed her eyes and he knew the shivering was no longer just from being 
cold. At least eight were dead, very nearly ten. He should have been able to 
save more, but it had happened too fast. He also knew that Mulder was somewhere 
going ballistic for having left Scully while he went to interrogate their 
suspects. If the outside world knew yet.
"Do you think you can stand?" She nodded and he helped her to her feet. She held 
the blanket against her and he made her more comfortable on the couch. "I’ll see 
if there’s anything here to eat."
She nodded and pulled the blanket tighter around her. He wandered over to the 
kitchen area of the room and began searching the shelves for food. This was 
definitely not a luxury cabin, but adequate. No cabinets, but bright curtains 
had been hung to cover the shelves on the wall and under the sink. The 
refrigerator was empty; well that made sense if they had turned off the power 
for the winter. There were boxes of rice mixes, pasta and sauce, and a few cans 
of beans and soup. Not a feast, but they wouldn’t starve for awhile. Ah! Tea 
bags, that’s what Scully needed. Now he just had to figure out a way to heat 
water.
He turned at the touch of her hand. The blanket was twisted around her several 
times and still dragged on the floor as she walked. "Can I help?"
"Sure, we’re looking for something to boil water in." She nodded and turned to 
the far side of the kitchen to begin her search. He watched her walk away. There 
was so much woman crammed into that tiny package. He’d never met anyone with 
more determination or guts. Any other woman that he had ever met would be in 
hysterics on the couch. But Scully, minutes ago she’d been near death from 
exposure, now she was up helping him locate whatever it took to keep them safe. 
Mulder was one hell of a lucky man.
That thought drew him up short. She didn’t belong to Mulder. She was her own 
person. Oh, he’d heard all the rumors about the two of them, but he really 
didn’t think they were together that way. He understood the regulations better 
than the next man did, but Mulder was even more spooky than he thought if he was 
able to withstand the pressure of being around her. He shook his head to rid 
himself of those thoughts. This was a survival situation, get on track, Walter.
"Ah ha!" She turned triumphantly holding up a small pot for the water. "Now all 
we need is water."
"Let me get dressed, there’s plenty of the fluffy white kind outside."
"Our clothes aren’t dry. Let’s just reach out and get a little for now and do a 
major trip outside later."
Skinner nodded, that probably would be better. He needed to bring more wood in 
if he could find it and fill all the vessels in the cabin with snow. After the 
food was gone they’d have to survive on water until help came. Hopefully it 
wouldn’t take that long.
It didn’t take long to get the water boiling, and they both felt better with the 
warmth of the tea inside. Their clothes, now spread out in front of the fire, 
were drying quickly, but they both felt the dwindling of the wood box acutely.
Tucking the blanket back around her, Scully rose. "I’m going to see what we have 
here. Maybe there are other clothes."
Walter nodded, "I’ll take upstairs."
This was obviously a hunting cabin. There was the one main room that they were 
in with the fireplace. The two doors off of the room were the bedroom that 
Walter had found earlier and the bathroom. Again there were no cabinets or 
closets, just pegs and curtained alcoves. Scully found a winter jacket hanging 
on a peg just inside the bedroom and a pair of gloves on the shelf behind the 
curtain. There were no other clothes and Walter had already brought the blankets 
out of the room, except for the quilt covering the bed. There was no chest of 
drawers to search, only the bed and a small table beside it, which was empty.
The bathroom had little more to offer. There was no tub, only a shower, a toilet 
and a sink. The medicine cabinet above the sink held a half bottle of aspirin 
and a couple of disposable razors. Under the sink were some bathroom cleanser, a 
toilet brush, some antifreeze and a couple of rags.
She pulled herself up from her crouch under the sink. This had to be a man’s 
getaway. A woman would have left a few more amenities around, just to save 
having to haul them in each time. Well if the place saved their lives, she had 
no room to complain. Maybe Skinner had done better upstairs.
Actually he had. The loft had obviously become the storage area. There he found 
some older ski clothes, not in the best of condition, a pair of boots that had 
seen better days, three sweaters and a ski mask. There was also a futon for 
additional sleeping space. His problem was getting all of the loot downstairs 
while maintaining a modicum of modesty. He solved it by checking for her 
presence, giving a brief warning, then tossing everything over the railing. He 
followed down the stairs to find her picking through the lot.
"You did a lot better than I did. I found one additional blanket in the bedroom, 
and a few rags from the bathroom. Let’s take them over to the fire and beat the 
dust out of them."
Skinner insisted that he don the dry clothes and go outside in search of wood 
and additional water supplies. He piled on the clothes. The boots didn’t fit 
that well but he hoped not to be outside too long. What little light they’d had 
to help find the cabin was rapidly vanishing, as night joined the storm to blot 
out the sky.
His face froze immediately and he pulled the ski mask down over his features. He 
better find something quick, or he wouldn’t make it back in.
He finally got lucky, there was a large wood pile on the north side of the 
house, as far from the door as they could have put it. Figures. He loaded his 
arms and trudged back. She was waiting for him, holding the door open. She was 
wrapped in a couple of the blankets, which she had managed to twist enough that 
they didn’t fall as she took some of the wood from his trembling arms.
"Tell me where it is, I’ll make the next trip." She tried to pull him over 
closer to the fire.
"No. I’m already cold; I’ll make a couple more trips. There’s no reason for both 
of us to be miserable. I’ll dump it here by the door and you can move it over, 
okay?"
She nodded, not okay, but it did make sense. He was gone again, so she began 
stacking the wood closer to the fire to begin the drying process. After three 
trips she tried to bar him from going back out. 
"This will more than get us through the night. You need to warm up."
Shaking, he nodded his head. "Just let me get a bucket or two of snow and I’ll 
take you up on it." She handed him the two largest utensils she had found in the 
kitchen and let him go out one last time.
He could barely hold the pots when he returned and she took his arm and pulled 
him closer to the fire. She helped him to the floor and removed his gloves for 
him.
He had done too much, pushed himself too hard. "Walter, I want you to lay back 
and let me get these clothes off of you. Just relax."
"I can do it." He tried to remain upright as she pushed him down toward the rug.
"Walter?" He looked up into her eyes. "Shut up."
So this was what Mulder put up with. It didn’t occur to him to fight her on it. 
She meant business and she was going to have her way. She’d make a good director 
some day. He idly wondered if he would be retired by the time she made it that 
far.
He really was out of it, she was already undressing him while he zoned in and 
out. Would he even be able to move tomorrow? Oh come on, she could at least 
leave his shorts! Okay, they were damp, but. . . another losing fight. When had 
she started outranking him? Now he was being roughly massaged by the blanket he 
had used on her. Oh, turnabout was fair play, huh? His hands and feet felt like 
spikes were being driven through them. He was definitely going to put in for 
that vacation when he got back, somewhere tropical.
His breathing was easier and Scully began to relax. He’d stayed outside too 
long, doing heavy work. What would she do if something happened to him? They 
really needed each other to get through this. He was beginning to drift off to 
sleep now; she needed him to move to a drier spot before that happened.
"Walter! Walter, wake up. Come on, you need to get on the couch. Then you can 
rest better." He wearily obeyed her, half dragging himself with her help. He was 
asleep instantly.
When he woke he had no idea where he was or what had happened, but was 
immediately aware of the woman in his arms. What had he. . .? Scully! Why was he 
sleeping nude, with Scully scrunched up against him? She squirmed closer to him 
and he became aware of his erection pressing against her thigh. His first 
reaction was to get the hell out of here before Mulder shot him, then memory 
began returning. The avalanche and storm, remembering this cabin from the trip 
up, the fight to get here, rubbing her down to bring her back to life and now 
obviously she had reciprocated following his trips outside to bring in the wood. 
God this felt good! Nothing could happen between them, he was her supervisor, 
but on the other hand, nothing could keep him from enjoying this sensation. And 
he certainly was warm.
He glanced over at the fire. It was beginning to die down, he should get up and 
put more wood on. In a minute, this was too good to disturb. Okay, maybe he was 
a pervert but this had probably saved their lives. He was going to stick to that 
story in any case.
She stirred again, her leg rubbing against his cock. This was becoming less of a 
good idea. It had been too long and this felt too good.
"Scully?" Lord, he could sing bass about now. Her warm breath against his chest 
wasn’t helping any either. He cleared his throat and tried again, "Scully?"
"Um? Oh!" She woke with the start and immediately tried to draw herself away 
from him. The loss of her warmth against him was devastating in more ways than 
one.
"It’s okay. I just need to add more wood to the fire. Okay?"
 
"Yeah, sure." She didn’t meet his eyes, moving to get out of his way. He wrapped 
one of the dustsheets around him rather than take one the blankets surrounding 
her and refilled the fireplace.
Now did he return to the couch or. . .? He heard her take a deep breath. 
"Walter? Hurry, come on before we both freeze."
He glanced down, the room was probably cold enough to kill both of them, but not 
cold enough to take care of his problem. Great. Well, there really was no 
choice. He slipped back onto the couch and pulled her close to him again. This 
is a survival situation, just keep repeating that to yourself. A man his age 
should surely have more control than this. How do you ignore the elephant in the 
room when his trunk. . . damn!
"Think you can get back to sleep?"
"Maybe. I keep wondering what happens if they don’t come looking for us?"
Skinner actually chuckled at that. "What?" She twisted around, "What’s funny?"
"Thinking they won’t be searching for us. I’ve seen Mulder when you’ve been 
missing before. He moves heaven and earth to find you. All I have to do is stay 
close by and I’ll be rescued too."
There was a faint smile on her face now. "He does seem to want to know where I 
am most of the time. I guess losing Samantha like that at an early age. . ."
"You don’t think you’ve replaced his sister in his mind?"
"Well, I’m only a year older than she would be, and. . . "
"You’re kidding right?" She turned to look at him. "You don’t honestly think 
that Mulder thinks of you as substitute for his sister?"
"Well, I. . . "
"Sister is the last word that comes to his mind when he thinks of you. Please 
don’t tell me you’re oblivious to this."
"We’re partners, friends, even best friends, but. . . "
"That’s because you understand regulations and he has the social skills of a 
door knob."
"He does not." This could get uncomfortable, talking about Mulder while pressed 
against the nude body of another man.
"Well, maybe not. I thought he had evolved that high, but I could be wrong."
"You can’t fool me, I know how you really feel about Mulder."
"How I feel?"
"Yes, you respect his skills and you trust him more than any other agent under 
you." Skinner shifted a little and she couldn’t help the light laugh. "We’ve got 
to get a handle on this."
That drew a laugh from him, "You know Scully, there’s not a damn thing we can 
say that won’t be a double entendre right now. Maybe we should shut up and try 
to go back to sleep."
She nodded and turned away from him, cuddling in closer to his chest. She was 
quiet so long that he thought she had fallen asleep. He barely heard the 
whispered, "Thanks, Walter." He gave her a little squeeze, but didn’t speak. 
There wasn’t anything he could say.
They slept peacefully the rest of the night and pretended to ignore the obvious 
embarrassment the following morning, pulling on the now dry clothing in front of 
the fireplace.
Another mug of hot tea and some rice completed breakfast, then they restacked 
the wood that Skinner had risked his life for the previous night and checked the 
weather. The wind was down considerably, but the snow had not stopped and the 
sky was completely overcast. There was no hope of an air rescue yet. They 
settled in to wait.
*****
Mulder looked up at the tap on the door. Finally! He'd expected the rest of the 
team to get here quicker than this. Scully still had forensics to complete and 
he wanted her take on some of the answers he'd been given. He needed the 
"scientific" point of view.
"Agent Mulder?" The younger agent stuck his head in the door. He didn't really 
want to get any closer to the spooky guy. Especially not now.
"Oh, I thought you were my partner."
"We've received some bad news, sir."
"What?" Why was the back of his neck tingling like that?
"There's been an accident. The. . . the building you were using as headquarters 
on the mountain is gone."
"What do you mean, gone?" Mulder had risen to his feet.
"Well, gone, destroyed. After you and the prisoners left there was an avalanche 
and. . . and well it was swept away." He couldn't run away, he was an FBI agent. 
Why did he suddenly feel like a little kid about to be pounded into the ground?
Mulder took a step toward him. When had the air gotten so thick? "And the 
survivors?"
"Well, they haven't exactly been able to find any. The storm blew up faster than 
expected. We can't get up there to do a search and rescue."
"Are you telling me there are people up there, injured and we can't get to 
them?"
"Yes, uh yes sir."
"Who's in charge of the rescue?" He was already out of the room and striding 
down the hall. Stay in control, Mulder, stay in control. He fairly burst into 
the control room, where coordinates of the rescue were being planned.
"Bring me up to speed." His tone, his posture, his whole demeanor spoke command. 
The men bent over the map all but snapped to attention.
"It looks like the mountain let go here." The taller of the two men pointed at 
the map. "The building you were in was here." He pointed to another location 
below the first spot.
"Okay, but it was near the edge of the slide. See? They could have gotten out 
and. . . "
"There was almost no warning, Agent Mulder. I seriously doubt anyone got out." 
He locked eyes with the agent and saw the uncertainty flare behind the bravado.
"If they did, is there anywhere they could have gone for shelter." Don't give it 
up Mulder. Scully can do anything, how many times does she have to prove that to 
you?
The ranger gave a slight shake of his head, but answered "There are a few 
hunting cabins up this way. Nothing fancy, but shelter if they could get that 
far."
"Then that's where I'll start. Your men can search the area where the building 
was. I've heard of people that have survived in air pockets in the snow for 
days."
"I don't know of any, Agent Mulder. I don't want you getting your hopes up. 
We'll be retrieving bodies, you need to face that and get in touch with the 
authorities at the Bureau."
Mulder managed to fight down the impulse to flatten him. "You don't know the 
people I work with. My partner and my superior were in that building. I will 
find them. When do we leave?"
"When the storm dies down enough. That's going to be tomorrow at best. It's 
already almost dark. We can't do anything tonight."
"But they can't survive out there!"
The ranger looked at him, but didn't repeat his earlier statement. Instead he 
took Mulder's arm and led him away from the table. "I'm sorry, Agent Mulder. I 
really am. But it's my responsibility that no one else is lost up there. We'll 
have to see what the weather is in the morning. If we can get out then, we will. 
We've done everything we can right now."
Wait until morning? Could she survive overnight? Could he get to her without 
their assistance? 
"No one goes up there tonight. This is my jurisdiction and if I have to put you 
in cuffs I will." If this man self-destructed, at least he was going to do it 
here.
Mulder looked down, he was right. Looking for him could hinder the search for 
the real victims. Scully, hang on, please. I'll be there as soon as I can. Just 
hang on.
After a sleepless night he located the head of the team shortly after what 
should have been dawn. "When are we leaving?"
"Mulder, look out the damn window. We can't fly in that and what the hell good 
would it do to try to walk it? You're going to have to wait. I'm sorry to say 
this to you, I know these people were your friends, but they're in the same 
shape now they were twelve hours ago. I risk no one to rescue bodies. Am I 
making myself clear?"
The two men flanking Mulder managed to grab him before he got to their boss. 
Barely, and it took both of them to drag him down.
"Let him go. I'd feel the same way. Just remember Mulder, if you take me out, 
that's one less experienced person to help when we can get up there."
Mulder wiped his hand across his mouth and retreated from the room. Scully 
always said he did nothing with less grace than waiting. But Scully, I'm waiting 
to see if you're alive! He had to brace himself against the wall as the shudder 
ran through his body. His own personal nightmare, come alive again. He made it 
to his room and sank onto the bed, staring off into space.
*****
Smoke! There was smoke coming from that cabin! Someone had survived. It had to 
be her. It had to be! He turned to the younger man that had been assigned to 
accompany him. "See? Someone’s there. Come on!"
They trudged through the drifts of snow with renewed energy. Mulder reached the 
cabin first with Eric on his heels. The padlock hasp had been knocked loose, 
probably kicked. Mulder noted the trampled snow around the door as he shoved it 
open.
He took in the cabin with one glance. There was almost no furniture, a large 
fireplace, and a futon in front of it to capture the most heat. He watched 
Skinner raise his head from the blankets and watched as Skinner unwrapped 
himself from around Scully’s body. The joy on Mulder’s face drained. He was 
overjoyed that she was alive, he was damn it! But what was he seeing? He knew 
why she was lying nude in Skinner’s arms. He knew what was going on. But his gut 
was wrenched at the sight regardless.
Skinner followed his thoughts perfectly and opened his mouth to speak. She beat 
him to it. "Mulder! You did find us! Walter, you were right."
Walter? Well sure, when you’re pressed up against each other, naked, caressing 
each other, running your hands over each other. . . He controlled his shudder as 
he watched her wrap herself in a blanket to come toward him. She covered herself 
for him. He should be moving to her. He needed to show her how happy he was. He 
had to push this idiocy on his part aside. With effort he got his feet moving 
and was able to meet her halfway. He managed to put his arms around her and 
quickly let go, ostensibly to move her back to the fire.
She accepted that though Skinner saw the confusion on her face. His immediate 
impulse was to strangle Mulder. Wasn’t what was going on here obvious? Was he 
that blind, that jealous, where she was concerned?
The younger man stepped forward. "I’m Eric Stevens. Do you need medical 
assistance?"
Skinner shook his hand, "Walter Skinner." He nodded toward Scully, "Dana Scully. 
We’re fine, just a little frostbite."
Mulder should have asked that. Skinner’s anger rose. Couldn’t the fool see what 
he was doing to her with his distance? She’d gone so quiet and her eyes were 
down, not looking at anyone in the room. Was she embarrassed? Embarrassed that 
she’d done everything necessary to stay alive? That she’d stayed alive for him? 
Maybe he should strangle him.
Eric began unloading the backpack he wore, pulling out clothing and warm 
outerwear. That reminded Mulder of the supplies in his own backpack. The first 
aid kit didn’t appear necessary, but the coffee should be appreciated.
He poured a cup for Scully, which she took with murmured thanks, not meeting his 
eyes. He couldn’t look at Skinner, but thrust the cup toward him. Skinner 
managed not to throw the hot liquid back in his face.
Scully gathered up the set of clothing meant for her. He’d known her size and 
brought what she needed. As she headed toward the bedroom Skinner put out his 
hand and stopped her. Mulder stiffened at his gesture.
"It’s too cold in there, Scully. We’ll step outside."
"No Walter. It’ll only take me a minute. I’ll be okay."
"Are you sure?"
She nodded, giving him a small smile that didn’t look quite genuine.
As soon as the door closed he turned on Mulder, fury snapping in his eyes. The 
fact that he was wearing only a blanket not diminishing his dignity at all.
"What the hell is wrong with you, Mulder? She’s been through hell and you come 
in here with an attitude? She, hell, we were barely alive when we got here. We 
kept each other alive. Nothing happened between us. I shouldn’t have to tell you 
that.
Mulder’s face had gone white, but now flushed red. He said nothing, though his 
hands kept becoming fists. His reaction was confusing him more than he wanted to 
admit. He turned away, not able to face Skinner.
When the door opened Scully emerged fully clothed. Before Mulder could speak, 
Skinner was beside her.
"You okay?"
"I’m fine, Walter. It’s. . . invigorating in there."
"Great, just what I need – invigoration." At that she smiled, the first one 
Mulder had seen since he’d come in here and made a fool of himself. It was 
directed toward Skinner and his heart clutched.
Skinner gathered up the clothing brought for him and headed into the other room. 
Mulder took a step toward Scully, but stopped looking over at Eric.
"Uh, I’ll try and raise the team. I’ll be right outside." Eric made a hasty 
retreat from the cabin.
Now he approached her. "Scully?"
"Yes, Mulder." Still not looking at him, staring at her boots.
‘Scully, I. . . I. . . damn, I’m sorry. I’ve been up for over 36 hours trying to 
get them to come up here and look for you. When I saw the smoke from your fire I 
was afraid I was dreaming. Then I walked in and saw. . . "
"What did you see, Mulder?"
"You! You, alive and. . . and lying in another man’s arms." He dropped his head, 
he couldn’t face her.
"Did you see us doing anything, other than surviving?"
"No." He’d never felt so stupid, so thick.
"Then why would you assume such a thing? Walter saved my life. I wouldn’t have 
made it to this cabin, much less gotten a fire started or been able to keep it 
going. Then I saved his life after he got the wood to keep us alive. If you want 
an apology for that. . . "
"I. . ." he shook his head, there was no answer to that, other than his own 
stupidity.
He jumped as the door opened and Skinner rejoined them.
"Invigorating?" She looked over at him.
"Yeah. Very. Where’s Stevens?’
"He went out to raise the rescue team." Mulder motioned towards the door.
"Good, I want out of here and I’m sure Dana does too."
Mulder’s eyes narrowed, Skinner had done that on purpose. Dana, he’d called her 
Dana to get to him. And of course it had worked. He said nothing, he could only 
make it worse.
Stevens stuck his head in the door. Seeing that Skinner was back he came on in. 
"The helicopter’s on the way."
"Did they find anyone else?"
"Well they, uh," he glanced at Scully. "They’ve recovered six bodies so far. In 
the remains of the building."
Both men took a step toward her, but Skinner was closer. He put an arm around 
her and she leaned against him. "Oh Walter, you were right. They didn’t even 
have a chance to get out."
"But I was also right about him looking for you. I just needed to stay close 
by." He dropped his voice and whispered in her ear, "Obviously a little too 
close for him, but he’ll get over it."
"Do I even want him to?"
Skinner’s look of surprise didn’t escape him. Mulder watched this interchange 
with a lowness of spirit he hadn’t felt in years.
They heard the helicopter approaching. Apparently live rescues took precedence. 
When it landed the ranger that had given Mulder so much trouble was out first. 
He hurried over to where the four of them were waiting.
"Doug Martin. It’s very good to see you. Well Mulder, you were right. I guess I 
owe you an apology." Without waiting for a response, he took Scully’s arm. 
"We’ll get you back to civilization. They’ll want to observe you overnight, then 
you can head home."
"We’re fine, Walter made sure of that." They headed toward the ‘copter.
"I need to know who owns this place. I owe him a lot."
"I’m sure we can get that information for you sir."
Mulder was the last to board the helicopter, deep inside of himself. He sat 
silently, staring out the window. Doug glanced at him several times but kept 
quiet. He didn’t know what had happened, but he’d be questioning Stevens as soon 
as possible.
*****
His office didn’t feel the same. It had been his before her, why couldn’t it 
feel like his now? She’d be back on duty in a couple of days. He hadn’t heard 
she’d requested a transfer but it’s what he expected.
He hadn’t gotten much done since he got back. Self-flagellation took a hell of a 
lot of energy.
He looked up startled when the door opened, no one had knocked. Skinner stood 
before him, but he didn’t rise.
"I’ll tell you something, Mulder. Something you don’t deserve to know. It didn’t 
do my ego a lot of good to have that woman naked against me and have her talking 
about you. Especially now that I see how little you deserve it." Skinner turned 
and walked away.
She talked about him? Belatedly he rose and chased after Skinner into the hall. 
"Sir! Please."
Skinner stopped and turned to him, waiting. Finally he spoke, "What Mulder? What 
is it you want from me?"
"I don’t know. I think it’s too late to want anything."
Skinner looked away and sighed. "It’s not too late, Mulder. You’ve screwed up 
big time, but she’s used to that. At least she should be by now. I wouldn’t 
waste any more time though. You better get over there." Mulder barely hesitated, 
then turned. "Mulder. . . " He stopped and looked back. "I won’t help you on 
this again; I shouldn’t have this time. If you can’t deserve her, I will try."
Mulder nodded, he wasn’t going to let that happened without a fight. If Skinner 
was right and he had one shot left, he’d take it. Nothing was right without her.
 
She opened the door, surprised. He hadn’t called or been by to see her since 
they got home. "Mulder? I wasn’t expecting you."
"I know. Can I come in?"
"Of course." She moved to allow him entry.
He hadn’t seen her since she was released from the hospital. She looked great, 
her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, no makeup – of course she didn’t need 
it. She had on jeans and big sweater with a very deep v-neck.
She was waiting for him to speak, what should he say? "You look good. New 
jeans?" Damn, was that the best he could do?
"Uh no, I lost some weight on the mountain. I can get in them again."
He didn’t have a comeback for that. If he hadn’t left her behind when he took 
off with the prisoners none of this would have happened.
"You want some tea?"
"Uh, yeah, that’d be great."
"Okay, have a seat. I’ll be right back."
She headed into the kitchen. She’d told Walter not to do this. If Mulder wanted 
to be around her, he shouldn’t need encouragement. Except, she sighed, this was 
Mulder. With the social skills of a doorknob.
When she handed him his tea she said again, "I wasn’t expecting you. . . "
As he said, "I should have been here sooner."
She laughed, but he looked more uncomfortable than ever. "Mulder, relax. It’s 
me, it's Scully. Okay?"
"Scully, I’m afraid of you." He blurted out. She drew back.
"Afraid?"
"Yes. Of the way you make me feel. I feel things when I’m with you I’ve never 
felt before. When I walked in and saw you like that, in Skinner’s arms. . . I . 
. . it almost drove me mad."
"But Mulder. . . "
"I know. I have no right." He sank down further into the couch. She ignored 
that.
"What if it had been Phoebe or Diana?"
"I’d have taken a good look, probably congratulated Skinner later on copping a 
great feel. But it was you. Skinner had saved your life and all I could think 
was that I wanted to kill him."
"Mulder. . . "
"I had to tell you that, before you transfer out."
"Transfer? I’m not transferring anywhere. I’ll be back at work on Monday. I 
should already be back, but Walt. . . Skinner refused my request."
"He takes better care of you than I do." She ducked down to see into his eyes, 
her own beginning to twinkle. Mulder was truly jealous of Skinner. That’s what 
was wrong with him. Was Mulder truly just a Y chromosome walking around, like 
all the rest of them?
"Mulder stop it. No one takes care of me except me. Yes, Skinner saved my life, 
but then I turned around and saved his. We’re even. Then you came and saved us 
both, just like Skinner said you would. He knew you’d never leave me up there to 
die. He knew you better than you know yourself. He said you would move heaven 
and earth to find me, that he’d seen you do it. He said all he had to do was 
stay close and he’d be rescued too. And you came for me, just like he said, just 
like you’ve always done. Just like I count on you doing. Do you want the job 
anymore?"
"Is it an option?"
"The way I see it, it’s the only option. I don’t want to be lost if you’re not 
going to be looking for me."
"So we should only be lost together?"
She smiled and held out her hand to him. He grasped it as though it would keep 
him alive.
"So, you’d congratulate Skinner on copping a feel, huh?" The sheepish grin on 
his face said it all.