From: Donna Honeycutt Date: Fri, 03 Dec 1999 16:05:43 -0500 Subject: New Story - Relativity Source: direct Title - Relativity Author - Donna Email address - donnah@pop.uky.edu URL - www.geocities.com/Area51/Quadrant/4571/ Rating - R Category - MSR Spoilers - None Keywords - MSR Summary - Just another little trip to the woods Feedback - Please Disclaimer - Mulder, Scully, the Lone Gunman and Skinner all belong to Chris Carter, 10-13 and Fox. No infringement intended. Relativity "Scully, how do you feel about camping?" She looked at him without answering, waiting for the punchline. "Scully?" She sighed, "Our trips to the woods, historically, have been disasters." "Oh come on, your singing's not that bad." He ducked from the paperclip she threw at him. "No, really, we've got a case. We've got people vanishing from a campsite in southern Virginia, and turning up three days later in totally different areas of the country. We have reports of six cases so far." "Six? I haven't heard a word." "Well, there may be more. These aren't people who check in regularly." He handed her the file. She glanced at him once more, then opened it and began reading. "Mulder, these are deadheads. They could have been high and not even have remembered moving." "Most of them, yes. But look at the last two. Law students, not deaders. They swear they weren't using and they hadn't missed class before." "So you want to go where?" "I want to go camping. See what's really happening." She sighed again. Camping huh? It had been a long time. ***** Scully was unloading the trunk of the car as Mulder struggled to put up the tent. It wasn't a bad campsite, well laid out. They had picked a site fairly near one of the bathhouses. There were toilets, showers, and utility sinks - most of the comforts of home, minus electricity. There were picnic tables at each site, where Scully set up their kitchen. After successfully battling the tent upright, Mulder laid out the mats and sleeping bags. He made sure their clothing and toiletries were all inside the tent rather than left in the car. No one had reported that their car had followed them across country to where they had been found. Scully looked up at him as he came out of the tent. "What do you think?" She smiled. "It is beautiful here. And it smells so good. I'd forgotten how good it can smell in the mountains. We did some family camping when I was a kid. It was usually in the early fall like this, when it wasn't so oppressively hot." "Did you bring a suit?" He gestured toward the lake they could see glistening through the trees. "Aren't we suppose to be working?" "Nothing happens until dark according to the files. Come on, we're both hot from setting up." He shot her that puppy dog look. "Fine, but if the water's too cold, you go in alone." He smiled and ducked back into the tent. When he emerged she looked over at him. "What? No Speedo?" "I wasn't sure you could control yourself." Her eyebrow rose, "Right." She started toward him. "Scully?" He stepped back, she wouldn't. . . "Can I have the tent now?" "Oh, sure." He moved out of the way and checked the car one last time to ensure that everything had been unloaded. He kept one eye on the tent and stopped in his tracks when she stepped out. Why did she wear those suits to work? No, it was probably a good thing. He wouldn't get any work done. "Mulder?" She looked around for him. "Here." She turned toward his voice and felt the color rise in her face at his obvious regard. "Are we going to swim?" He nodded and they headed toward the lake. He stepped in and immediately retreated. "Damn, where do they keep the glacier?" "Chicken. It's not that cold. Come on." Scully eased into the water and began swimming toward the platform out in the lake. Well, he couldn't let her show him up that way. He dove in and managed to beat her to the raft. He climbed up and reached to help her up. "Not bad, Mulder." "Damn." He shivered. "Now I remember why I didn't wear the Speedo." She couldn't hold in the laugh, then shoved him back in the water. He came up sputtering. "You are dead meat, Agent Scully." When they finally called a truce, they sat on the raft and looked around. "This really is a beautiful place, Mulder." Mulder sprawled beside her. "It is nice here. Hard to believe a place like this exists a few hours from DC." "True. Are you sure this is the right place? There's not many people here, and the ones I've seen don't look like real Grateful Dead fans." "Good. Maybe you'll believe it's not a drug induced blackout." "We ought to get to work. See if anyone's seen anything." "Right. Would that entail getting back in that icy water?" "Be brave, Mulder. At least there's no sea monster out here. Bye!" She dove in before he could grace her with a reply and this time beat him to the shore. She ducked into the tent first as well, to change. "Hey, hurry in there! I'm freezing out here." "So how come you only brought one tent?" She called from inside. "Because if anything happens, I didn't want us separated." "Good answer, Mulder. I'll pretend to believe you." She came out in shorts and t-shirt, pulling her hair back. "Just stay on your side of the tent." "Scully, you wound me." He ducked into the tent to change. She was sitting on the picnic table when he emerged, tying her shoes. With her hair in a ponytail, she looked about twelve years old. He smiled; she hadn't in that bathing suit. She looked up then and returned his smile. She jumped down; "Do we ask questions as Fibbies or campers?" "Campers I think. You know, is it a quiet place? Were they here for the last couple of nights?" "Lead on McDuff." He stuck his tongue out at her and pulled her beside him. "A little respect, Agent Scully. This is a serious investigation." She rolled her eyes. No this wasn't a serious investigation; she was having too much fun. Besides, people didn't just vanish and then appear hundreds of miles away - not sober anyway. They spoke with everyone in the campsite. Their story was they were trying to catch up with friends. No one had seen or heard anything the night before, though Scully was convinced some of them wouldn't have noticed a jet landing in their tent. However, there were a number of senior citizens who had also heard nothing. "Mulder!" Scully was laughing as they headed back to their own campsite. "I feel like I'm in a 70's flashback." He loved to see her laugh. He didn't care if she was making fun of his case; she was relaxed and enjoying herself. At this point he didn't care if the case was a bust himself. They managed to fix dinner with a minimum of friendly bickering and after washing up, Mulder proceeded to pack everything inside the tent. "Tell me you're worried about bears, Mulder." "I just want everything we brought to be with us when we wake up." "So how come you piled everything on my side of the tent?" "Because with those short little legs, you don't need that much room." "You are going to pay for that one, Fox." "Oooh, playing dirty, Dana?" His eyes laughing, the taste of her name different on his lips. "You had better be nice to me, I know where the ingredients for the s'mores are hidden." "Oh Scully, don't tease me. You brought s'mores?" She grinned. "Couldn't let this trip be a total waste. Build me a fire, G-man, and I'll see if I brought enough for you." He admired those short legs as she headed to the car. When she returned with the bag he demanded to know where she had hidden the stuff. He'd checked the car at least twice. "You don't know everything about me, Mulder. A woman has to keep a little mystery." Their light-hearted banter continued as they sat across the fire from each other. He enjoyed the way the fire made her hair even redder, and the easy way she moved in her casual clothes. She in the meantime was enjoying his ease at being with her. He was like a different person out here without the melancholy air that always seemed to lie just behind his eyes. "You've got chocolate all over you, Scully." He teased as she was licking her fingers. "I do not. I am not a messy eater." "Right, then what's this?" He rose and used his finger to wipe some chocolate off the side of her face, then popped the finger in his mouth. The sight caused the color to rise in her face and she was very grateful for the heat of the fire as an excuse. "Enough! I've gained five pounds today." "Nyah, you swam that much off. You ready to turn in?' "Yeah. Hand me a flashlight please, I'll go on up to the bathhouse." "Wait. Let me put the fire out and I'll walk you." "Afraid I'll vanish, Mulder?" "Maybe, and maybe I'm afraid one of those old letches is lying in wait for you." She watched him douse the fire, making completely sure it was out, then they walked companionably up the rise to the bathhouse. He was waiting for her when she came out, and hung around outside the tent until she bade him enter. She was already in her sleeping bag. "Go ahead and change, Mulder. I won't peek." "Awww, and I wore my special glow in the dark boxers." "I can't believe I let you talk me into this, Mulder. But I'm glad you did, it's like a vacation from my past." "You can open your eyes now Scully." He stretched out in his own sleeping bag. "Oh, was I suppose to close them?" "You are having all together too much fun Dana Scully. You are going to have to fix breakfast for me in the morning as your punishment for not taking this case seriously enough." "Hold your breath, Mulder. Good night." "Night, Scully." She dropped off to sleep fairly easily. Mulder took longer, but her quiet even breathing was very relaxing and he finally drifted off as well. It was light when he woke. He rose quietly and decided to throw on some clothes, head to the bathhouse, and then start breakfast as a surprise for her. One step outside the tent was surprise enough. "Scully, get up. We're not in Kansas anymore." "What?" She rose from her sleeping bag. "Are you kidding?" He silently stepped aside. "Someone stole our car!" "They also stole our bathhouse and our lake." Her head whipped around to confirm his words. "Mulder. . . " "I don't know. I think we better check it out." He reached into his pack and found the compass. "Look." He held it out so she could see. It was spinning, not pointing to anything. "Mulder, where the hell are we?" "That's what we've got to find out." He stepped outside so that she could dress. She hurried and so did he. He brought some fruit bars out for breakfast. "Mulder, there's no noise. No birds, no bugs, nothing." "Like we're in some giant terrarium?" He offered. "What, you think Brainac took us up in his shrink ray and we're on the outskirts of the bottled city of Kandor?" Mulder's entire face lit up. "You know Kandor? I never pegged you for a Superman fan." "More Supergirl, until they killed her off, but I knew the entire mythology. So that is where you think we are?" "No, but right now I can't prove it." "Great. What do we do?" "We investigate. Come on." First they headed toward where the lake had been, making sure to keep the tent in sight. When that revealed nothing they returned to the campsite to find a way to mark their trail. The woods continued in every direction, no matter how far they walked. Their watches showed time passing, and they returned to their campsite at 5 p.m., tired and hungry, having missed lunch. They fixed dinner and cleaned up, rationing their potted water. They ate in silence, each thinking their own thoughts. When he reached for her plate to clean it, she handed it to him. "Remind me, no matter what you say, to never go into the woods with you again." "Scully, I. . . " "No. Three strikes and you're out. You got the prehistoric bugs, then the moth men, now this. They all reappear three days later?" "Yeah." He sounded very subdued. "How long did they think they had been gone?" "What?" "Did the people who vanished believe they were gone three days or more?" "I didn't. . . " She closed her eyes. He wilted a little, what had he done now? "Let's clean up. We can't do anything more tonight. It'll be getting dark soon." "Scully, I'm sorry." "Look, as far as we know, no one's been hurt. We just wait the three days and find our way home. I'm just glad you didn't come alone." "Don't let me off that easy." "I haven't. You owe me and you will pay, when I decide what I want." He managed to look up at her. She didn't look furious at least. But he knew he was on thin ice. "You know, I really miss that damn bathhouse with the spider webs in the corners. I'll see you in a little while." "Wait! You can't go off. . . " "Oh yes I can, Mulder." "But. . . " "Don't even think it." "Look, I'll stay here, but you have to keep me in sight. Promise me that, Scully. We don't know where we are or how we got here. We shouldn't be separated." "Well that's a little easier for you. Damn it, okay. You stay right here and do not move." He silently nodded. She stalked off behind him, muttering to herself. He was just as glad he couldn't quite understand the words, he could hear the sentiment clearly enough. Once they were both safely tucked into their sleeping bags he attempted again to apologize. "Mulder, I'm not really mad at you. I want to know what's going on and I want a rational explanation for it. And I'm a little bit scared, it's creepy with no bugs or anything, I miss the noise. But I'm very glad you didn't come alone, I'd be frantic." "Really?" "Mulder, go to sleep." She turned away from him and finally did drift off, exhausted from the hiking of the day. He had a lot more trouble. Even her breathing sounded accusing to him. When he did finally drop off it didn't last long. He woke to find her bending over him, brushing the hair from his forehead. "It's okay, Mulder. It was just a dream." He closed his eyes and sank back, relaxing his stomach muscles, and drawing a deep breath. "Did I cry out?" "You couldn't find me. But it's okay now. We're not separated." "These bags zip together." Had he said that out loud? "Mulder, there's less than two feet of space between us now. I'm not going anywhere." "But if I could touch . . . I'm sorry." She sat back on her heels and looked at him. He was giving himself a lot of grief about this and worrying about her. Oh what the hell . . . She would feel more at ease herself, not that she'd ever admit it. "Get up Mulder. But if you get out of line, you'll be limping for days." He gave her that familiar leering grin. "I swear Scully. No hanky panky." "Hanky panky? Good lord, Mulder . . . nevermind, just get up and help me get these bags together." "You know it's not really dark outside. There's no moon, but . . . " Scully looked up, she hadn't really thought about it. She could see fine, even inside the tent. Her night vision wasn't that good, there was a light source. She decided that she really didn't care where it was coming from and turned her attention back to the bags. "Scully, don't you want to check it out?" "No, I don't. I want to stay here, inside of this tent with you and turn up back home in a couple of days. I don't want to know what's making the glow or where the birds are or anything. And you aren't going outside either." "Yes ma'am." She was scared, he realized. That didn't happen often and he was the cause of it. He'd dragged her off again, without checking everything out, ignoring her safety because he wanted her company. If he ever did manage to grow up, he was going to owe her a hell of a lot more than he could ever repay in this lifetime. He finished fitting the bags together and let her get settled, then crawled in beside her, giving her a much room as possible. She finally had to laugh. "My touch won't turn you to stone, Mulder. You can have a little room." You want to bet? He thought, but decided no comment would be worth that amount of hurt. He did however relax a little and when she slipped her hand into his, he squeezed it and felt the tension leave his body. She woke feeling very rested and secure. It wasn't until she started to move that she realized that she was spooned into Mulder's chest. His arm was across her, his hand resting between her breasts, and his hard on pressing into her buttocks. When did they become so friendly? She moved to disengage herself and his arm tightened around her. His hand closed around her breast, his thumb began caressing her nipple. "Mulder. . . Mulder wake up." "Um, Scully." He nuzzled her hair. "Mulder!" She was more insistent this time. She couldn't let him. . . and he knew it was her. At least he was using her name. "Scully? I. . . oh god!" He released her immediately, giving her as much room as he could within the confines of the bag. "It's okay Mulder. Just relax, we were both asleep. And I did sleep very well, thank you." "Me too, listen, could you. . . I need to. . . " She could tell he really did need to, so she quickly slipped from the bag and let him up, turning her back so that he could leave the tent with some semblance of dignity. She didn't dare laugh, besides it wasn't funny. Well, yes it was, but not to him. She went ahead and dressed while he was out of the tent and when he returned slipped out herself. He was so subdued and totally mortified, she needed to reassure him, but didn't have a clue what to say. He obviously did not find this a joking matter, so why had he seemed so turned on? He didn't know anyone else named Scully to cuddle up with, did he? She squared her shoulders; this had to be taken care of. "Mulder." He actually shuddered, but wouldn't turn toward her. "Mulder, please. Nothing happened. I actually felt very safe." He muttered something, but she couldn't understand him. She drew closer and put her hand on his arm. "What? Mulder, look at me." "I said, that's what I'm going for with a beautiful woman in my arms. That she feel safe." He finally did look up, a rueful smile on his face. She knew she was blushing, no way she couldn't be. "By the way, when did you start sleeping in my clothes?" "What?" Oh good grief, the t-shirt she'd slept in, it was his. He'd left it at her apartment and . . . busted. She took a deep breath. "Why don't we just start this day over from scratch, Mulder. Nothing happened we can't get past. We're partners; we offer support to each other. That's all we did last night." "Right. Can't really see me offering that kind of support to Krycek, and of course if I caught him offering you anything like it, that would just be another reason to kill him." But at least he was smiling again. "Come on we have work to do. If we can't walk out, we should at least take samples back so we can figure out where we've been." "You're good for me Scully." "I know." She said softly and headed back toward the tent to fix some breakfast. "Mulder, the water. . . " "Don't tell me we sprung a leak last night." "No." Her voice was shaking. He was at her side in one step. "Its back up to the level it was yesterday morning. Mulder, who filled it and from where?" "Are you kidding. . . ? Scully, it's okay." Now she really looked frightened. "No it's not okay. Where the hell are we Mulder! How could someone have gotten into that tent last night with neither of us hearing anything and what is in the water? Maybe this is a drug-induced episode. What if we're still at that campsite!" "Scully calm down. That's not what's going on. This is real. If you don't want to drink any of the water, that's fine. We have other things here to drink. You were right, we need to get samples. Concentrate on that Scully, you have to believe that this is just like the other cases and we'll be home day after tomorrow. You have to believe that. Scully, you're not going to cry. . ." No, he couldn't take that. "No! I am not going to cry. Let's get the damn samples. I don't want to be gone from the site for long." "Should I pour out the water?" "I don't know. Do whatever you want." "Scully. . . " "I'm sorry." She visibly steadied herself. "We'll need samples of it too. I need to be busy, Mulder. I don't want to think right now." She walked away from him, not bothering to see if he followed. The day dragged, what samples they could collect did not take long and they didn't have the heart for it anyway. They ate lunch that day, mainly so they wouldn't have to throw things away. Neither had any appetite. Mulder tried to apologize again and Scully finally cut him off. "If you want to blame yourself go ahead. I don't blame you, I'm an adult and I could have refused to come with you. I didn't. Drop it, you are not responsible for me or my actions. So far we don't seem to be in any imminent danger and I don't want to dwell on it, okay? Don't apologize anymore." "I'm sor. . . right." Why did he pull such bone headed moves? He wasn't a kid anymore, he was supposed to be smarter than this. He stood and walked away from the fire he had started, more for light than warmth. She watched him walk away, then took a deep breath and followed him. "Mulder. Stop, look at me." She took hold of his arm, not that she could hold him if he truly wanted to get away. "It's not enough, is it? It doesn't matter that I don't blame you because you blame yourself. Come back to the fire, we have still have some s'mores to finish. You can tell me scary stories, okay?" She was unprepared for the look in his eyes, or his hand coming up to caress her hair. She found she didn't want to step back away from him. "You're too good for me Scully. I don't deserve you. I wish I had the strength to send you away." "I don't. . . " Her voice caught in her throat, "I don't want to go." She broke the gaze, confused and a little frightened. He immediately dropped his hand and turned back toward the fire. "Uh, did you say you had more s'mores?" She wasn't interested in him, not that way. Why should she be, look at their history? Business as usual, that's what he had to be for her. When they got home, and they would get home, they'd discuss a transfer for her with less emotion. He hadn't seen the hand she raised to pull him back to her and at his words, she dropped it quickly so he wouldn't see it. Damn it, why were they like this when they weren't working? Why couldn't they be comfortable together? It was her fault; she had to be giving him mixed signals, hell she was giving herself mixed signals when it came to him. She knew that he would give his life for her without a second thought. All she'd had to say was I need you and he dropped everything and came, even all the way to California when she'd found Emily. He loved her, he just wasn't in love with her. Of course that didn't explain this morning, but that was just biology. At least he didn't realize how wet she'd become in his arms, but he had whispered her name when he held her breast. They shouldn't spend time like this together. They needed to separate their work lives and their personal lives more. They were getting entangled and that wasn't good. Of course that entailed finding a life for herself. She sighed and followed him back to the fire. They ate the last of the s'mores, though they didn't seem as good as they had previously. Mulder looked up to find her watching him and tried to grin. "What? Have I got chocolate all over me now?" "Uh, no." She looked away; she wasn't about to tell him she was just enjoying looking at him. Even with everything going on that they didn't understand, there was a feeling of safety just being with him. God, she was losing it. She rose abruptly and headed for the tent. His mood sank even lower. She really would put in for that transfer this time. And they were supposed to be here one more day. If she murdered him, would his body return to his own dimension or would it stay here? He cleaned up everything around the site and put out the fire. The lighting around him seemed to brighten to compensate for the dousing of the fire. Rather than analyze it he headed for the tent. He had been sure she was in there separating the bags and moving as far from him as she could get in the confined space. He was wrong. She had gotten ready for bed, but had climbed into the sleeping bag as they had left it and was waiting for him. He didn't dare speak as she rolled over to give him some privacy. He crawled in beside her and took her shoulder to turn her back towards him. "Thanks." She shrugged and seemed to relax, scrunching down in the bag, but not turning away from him. "Scully. . ." "Yes?" "Nothing." He looked away, he was lying too close to her, this was too intimate. Maybe he should offer to separate the sleeping bags, he certainly wasn't going to be able to get to sleep with her right there practically against him. Especially when he wanted her to be completely against him and around him and under him and. . . . he groaned and turned away from her. "Mulder? What? What's wrong?" She moved closer to him until he could feel her breasts against his back. He reached for the zipper of the bag; "I'll be outside. I don't want to keep you awake." "No!" She clutched at his arm. "You can't go out there, I mean . . . Please don't." "Scully, I can't lay here with you, like this. I just can't. It's . . . It's not a good idea." "Why not?" He had to turn then to look at her, was she really that unaware of his feelings for her? At his incredulous look she realized what she was doing and blushed, releasing his arm and returning to her side of the bag. "We're hopeless aren't we." Scully sighed. "In what way?" Anything to keep her talking. "The reason I don't have a social life isn't that I don't have time. I just don't remember how. The men I have managed to date, I compare to you. How is an accountant or a salesman supposed to compete with you? It's not exciting to me, I'm looking for a way to get out after an hour or so. No one else takes me places like this, or causes my adrenaline to always be on full alert." "That's a good thing?" "I didn't say that, but it is addictive." She sighed again. "I like the thought of you being addicted to me." Her eyebrow rose, but he plowed on anyway. "I know, I'm not supposed to say things like that. You don't want it and I shouldn't force it." "I don't. . . ?" "I know. I don't blame you. This . . . " He looked around the tent, "This is a perfect example of what a fuck-up I am." "Mulder." "I don't want it to be like this. I don't want to only hurt you, hurt your family. I don't plan . . . " He gave a harsh laugh, "I guess that's the problem, I don't plan. I leap ahead without thinking about the consequences. I put you in danger when I should be protecting you, cherishing you. . . " "Mulder, I don't. . . " "I know." He interrupted her again, "I know you don't want me like that." He sighed. "I've known for a long time." "Would you shut up a minute." At that he looked at her face, he couldn't read her expression. She'd never looked at him like that before. "First of all, I never said I didn't want you to feel like cherishing me. And second of all, what kind of partners would we be if your focus were on protecting me instead of solving the case? Do you see the dilemma?" He just looked at her. "Mulder we'd be as confused as we are now if not more. As confused as I've been about you, about us, for years. You're my best friend, you know me as well as I know you. Hell, I can have whole arguments with you now and you don't even have to be there. I know what you'll say. But sometimes I can't forget you're a man - a very physically attractive man. I push it aside, sometimes easier than other times, but it's there. I don't want to think about you when I'm on a date, Mulder. It confuses me even more." "So what is the answer?" "I don't have one. Can't we just, for now, leave things as they are?" He sighed and turned away, but smiled slightly as he felt her cuddle up to his back. He woke to find she had not turned from him in the night, and was now nestled against his chest, her head tucked under his chin, her legs entwined around one of his. His erection was pressing into her stomach and at his acknowledgement of that, the problem grew. She stirred, waking and he whispered, "Please don't pull away from me." To his astonishment she didn't, relaxing back against him. "Why is this a better idea now than it was last night?" "It isn't." He began grinding his hips into hers. "What if. . . what if we're not good together?" "Are you worried about that?" "No." He smiled for the first time that morning. "Me either." And he ground himself harder into her. He felt her hand find its way inside of his t-shirt. "This is right Scully. No Bureau, no duty, for the time being our only responsibility is to each other. Makes me not want to go back." "Is that a possibility?" Instead of responding he cupped her ass in his hands and ground even harder. "Mulder." It was only a breath, not really even a word. He felt her nails against his back and smiled. To hell with reality, this was where he wanted to be. No fumbling, their clothing seemed to melt away, as though they had rehearsed this their whole lives. Both knowing instinctively what the other needed, wanted. Not good together? ***** She fell back exhausted. Never, it had never been like that. Oh she had come occasionally when she'd been with the guy a while and could let down her instinctive guard, but never over and over like this. She really hadn't thought it was possible, assuming her girlfriends were lying or at least exaggerating. When had he observed her, studied her to know these things about her? What had he observed and how? Spooky. He managed to roll to his side. Crushing her probably wouldn't be appreciated, especially with only that thin pad between them and the ground. He propped himself up on an elbow and lay looking at her as she worked her way back toward composure. He let his finger trace her hairline, not looking away, waiting for her to open her eyes. When she did he saw the love in there, the contentment, but also a touch of fear. "Scully?" She shook herself as though coming back from a long way. "Can it be too good, Mulder? What if I can't be without you now?" "Then you'll be where I've been for years. Dragging you off on these trips, showing up at your apartment, calling in the middle of the night - just to be with you any way I could. But never quite believing that this . . ." He leaned in and kissed her nose, "that this could happen. Right this minute, I don't even want to go back." She pressed her face into his chest. "Me either." He barely heard her, but let his arms close around her again. In a moment he felt her shaking and heard what could have been a sob. He pulled slightly away from her and moved her face up to where he could see it. Laughing? "Scully?" "You want me again." "Well, yeah. Are you okay?" "Delighted, ecstatic, thrilled, sore, horny." Now his smile matched her own and he pulled her on top of him. "Please tell me I've created a monster." She laughed out loud at that while her fingers sought out his nipples. For the next couple of hours both of them forgot everything else in whatever world they were in but each other. Fulfilling fantasies neither had ever dared express. He'd never seen Scully like this, so free, so wanton, so damn passionate he thought he'd die from it. Where had she been when he was seventeen and could do this forever? Okay, thirteen and definitely not this accommodating. But she was here now and she was his. Best of all, she wanted to be. She was lying on his chest now, eyes barely open. She was pretty sure if someone entered the tent now and drew a gun on them that she wouldn't be able to move. Hunger finally woke her and she eased herself out of the sleeping bag and tested her ability to walk. The nudity she'd observed before was nothing compared to this healthy Mulder. She quickly dressed and let herself out to get something together for them to eat. She was back from freshening up and looking into the supplies when he burst from the tent, stark naked, his eyes searching frantically for her. When he spotted her the relief almost sent him to his knees. "Damn it Scully! I couldn't even hear you out here. I thought. . . nevermind what I thought." "I'm sorry. It never occurred . . . I was just getting us something to eat. We used a hell of a lot of energy this morning." He was still too shaken to respond. "Maybe you ought to put on some clothes Mulder." He nodded and turned back to the tent, but glanced back once more before disappearing inside. When he emerged he seemed to be more in control. "I'm sorry Scully. It was just . . . hell, it was waking up to my worst nightmare. I'd finally gotten to be with you, the way I've wanted to for years, and you were gone without a trace, no sound, no movement, nothing." She said nothing for a moment, the two of them standing close enough to touch, but not making a move to do so. "I'm not going anywhere Mulder. I'm where I want to be, and with the man I want. You know that, don't you? After all these years, you do know that?" He took a deep shuddering breath. "It's good to hear. I was thinking about where we are though, that you'd been taken." "Like Samantha." He hung his head at that, though he did nod. "I'm not a little girl, Mulder. No one is going to take me from you. Not without the fight of their life." At that he drew her against him, just holding her loosely, trailing his hand up her back, over her shoulders. Memorizing her body with his fingers. "You believe me, don't you?" "I sure wouldn't want to be the recipient of that kind of fighting with you." She smiled. "Smart. I'd take you apart. We have to get past this Mulder. Neither of us can be afraid to let the other out of our sight." He nodded again. "I guess I'm not comfortable getting my heart's desire." She rose on tiptoe and kissed his nose. "You've had me for a long time, you should start getting comfortable." That finally brought a smile to his face. ***** She was lying comfortably in his arms the next morning when the sound of a child yelling brought her fully awake. "Mulder, wake up!" "Uh, what?" He struggled toward alertness, keeping her in his arms. "We're back." "What?" Now he was awake himself and could hear the sounds of other people. "I wonder where we're back to." "Yeah." They rose and dressed quickly, not having to look away or give the other privacy. Even in their hurry to check things out he paused to watch her dress. Nice, especially with no fear of being maimed for doing so. He realized she was watching him watch her, her eyebrow raised. He grinned, not intimidated by her glare. "Come on, woman. Let's see where we landed." She shook her head at him but didn't comment, following him outside. Well it wasn't Virginia. An older gentleman a couple of sites over waved at them and started toward them. "Got in kind of late last night didn't you?" "Uh, yeah. What time was it anyway?" "Don't know, after 2. Where's your car?" "Oh, we were dropped off." Scully had to look away at that, for heaven's sake don't let him see her smile. He nodded, "Well, we appreciate how quiet you were. Didn't even realized anyone else had come in." "It was so late, we hated to bother anyone. Where are we exactly?" "Bitterroot National Forest. If you haven't been here before there's a great hiking trail about a mile south of here. Beautiful country." "Thanks, we'll look into that." The man gave Mulder a friendly salute and headed back to his own campsite. "We're in Idaho, Scully." She nodded. "I'd love to hear your scientific explanation." "Bite me, Mulder. The cell phones are working." "Does this mean we have to come back to reality?" The words were simple, the look was not. "Call Skinner." She wouldn't look him in the eye. He felt lost suddenly; more lost that when they had been missing. He looked at her a moment, then dialed Skinner's number. He was put through immediately. "Where the hell are you Mulder?" Scully could hear the voice easily and winced as Mulder pulled back from the volume. "Idaho." "Idaho? Is Scully with you?" "Yes Sir." "Good." Mulder could feel Skinner calming slightly. "Now, what the fuck are you doing in Idaho? You've been reported missing from a camp ground on the North Carolina-Virginia border. Your car was recovered, but according to witnesses, you and your camping equipment vanished in the middle of the night." "Yes Sir." "That's it? Yes sir?" "It's complicated." "I bet it is. I want a report as soon as possible. When will you be back?" "Well, we've got to rent a car to get this equipment back and it'll take a couple of days driving straight through to get to DC. Excuse me what day is it Sir?" There was a long hesitation before Skinner spoke. "Tuesday." "Uh, thanks." He didn't know what to say next, if anything. Anyway his attention was divided, he knew he needed to report in, but he desperately needed to talk to Scully. He realized Skinner was speaking again. "Have Scully call her mother. She's very worried." "Yeah, I'll do that. We, uh, we'll get there as quick as we can." "Do that." The connection was broken. Mulder stood looking at the phone, not sure what to do next. "What was that last Mulder? I couldn't hear him." "You need to call your mother. She's concerned about you. Since we were reported missing I guess they contacted next of kin." "That would have been difficult, you're my next of kin." His head flew up at that. He was? Not her mother or Bill? "Scully . . . " "We need to break camp. Think we can get a rental car delivered out here?" She turned from him then to start dismantling the equipment. After a moment he called for a car then joined her. "Mulder, the samples are gone. All of them." He nodded, no more than he had expected. After that they worked in silence. When they were finished, Scully wiped her hair back off of her sweaty brow. "Where're the showers?" She felt like a new woman following the shower. He was waiting for her just outside the bathhouse. "Afraid I'll get whisked away again?" "Not willing to take the chance." His eyes were taking all of her in and she knew she was blushing. It was one thing to have this kind of regard from him when no one was around, but now the world suddenly seemed very crowded. How were they going to handle this now? Later, she couldn't handle it yet. "Come on, I need to call Mom. If we've been reported missing. . . " He nodded and they headed back for their camp. He sat on the pile the tent made while she talked to her mother. "I know. I'm sorry you were worried, it was a last minute thing and I really didn't know where we'd end up." Mulder looked up and grinned at her. She stuck her tongue out at him and said, "Mulder says hi." Then, "Yes I'm glad he was with me too Mom." She winked at Mulder but managed to keep the smile out of her voice. Such a small thing, but it made his heart race. She was able to look at him now. They needed to talk, and they would. They were facing a three-day car trip minimum. And wouldn't they have to sleep sometime?