ARCHIVE STUFF...
Summary:  Scully is stuck in a plane on New Years Eve
with her partner, and the circumstances aren't ideal...

Category:  S
Rating:  PG

Disclaimers:  Yes, they're mine.  All of them.  You can't
use them, or I'll send my posse after you.  And don't
even TRY to sue, Chris, because I'll plead insanity and 
you'd better believe they'll believe me!

Author's Notes---This story is set during New Years of
Season 5...until which time Chris will throw in something
dumb to the series and totally screw this up...

This is dedicated to the Reader of all Readers, Kristine.
Thanx for all your help!  You amaze me!


Flames cheerfully used to badly burn all those dissin'
POST-MODERN---GO FOR IT!!!

        MiSsY~

X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X

       X-o-o-o-o-o-| UP IN THE AIR |-o-o-o-o-o-X        

                   by Renata Schaafsma
                 scharea@lgboe.edu.on.ca        

        "I have so much to do, I'm going to bed."
                        ---Savoyard Proverb

X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X

        Scully was angry.  

        It was bad enough having to fly in the middle of the 
night and not being able to get to sleep.  But that wasn't 
unusual, and could have been forgiven.  The rest is what 
pissed her off.  
        She was spending her New Years Eve sandwiched 
between a dozing Mulder and an overweight, creepy-looking man 
who had evidently decided to celebrate even though he was far 
above civilization and probably far out of his time zone.  
She was also annoyed at the stewardess who had been flirting 
incessantly with her partner and kept supplying her other 
seat mate with alcohol even though he was already obviously 
inebriated.
        The case had turned out not to be an X-File, and 
Mulder had handed it over to the local authorities after 
only three days.  But that didn't stop one of the gang members
involved from coming after him and pulling a Tonya Harding.
The agents had missed their flight by only a few minutes, and
they would have made it had the emergency room not been so 
jammed up.  The earliest flight they could get was the next night,
despite Scully trying the "I'm an FBI agent" approach.  The damn
woman didn't even seem as though she could *spell* FBI.
        And so here they were, Mulder's injury having gained 
him HER isle seat while she got to enjoy the company of 
the dipsomaniac to her left, whose drunken leers had driven
her as close to her partner as possible without sitting on his 
lap.  Mulder, for his part, had apologized for having to switch
seats, although his reaction to her predicament hadn't been
as sympathetic.  
        And HER reaction to his laughter had left a bruise
on his arm.
        Mulder stirred, and Scully moved to put a few inches
between them before he woke up fully---she wouldn't give him
the satisfaction of seeing her discomfort.  
        The other man grinned widely when he saw this and
patted the space between them.  "That's it, sweetie.  You just
move your pretty self right here beside Murray."
        Scully closed the distance between her and her partner
again, eyeing the drunk warily.
        This time it was Mulder's turn to grin.  "This guy bugging
you, Scully?" he asked, amused.  But to his credit he did follow
the jest with a menacingly look at Murray that shut the man up
for several minutes.
        "How's your knee, Mulder?" she asked without thanking
him, her side still pressed against his.
        "Pretty sore, " he admitted.  "Is it time for my pain meds
yet?"
        She checked her watch.  She checked his watch.  She
even considered checking Murray's watch, but shot that idea
down pretty quickly.    
        "What is it?" 
        She narrowed her eyes.  "What time zone are you set
for?"
        "Ours, " he told her. "I never bothered to change it."
        "Neither did I."
        He waited.  "So?"
        "So you were supposed to have your next dose at 9:30,
but that was in the other time zone."
        "Okay, so if there was a two hour difference..." Mulder 
thought out loud.  "Wait, maybe it was only one.  How far away
is..."  He carried on the dialogue silently, his pain and exhaustion
making the problem all that much more complicated.
        Scully didn't bother trying to figure it out.  Instead, she
reached for her purse and took out a pill bottle, tossing it on his
lap.  "Just take it, Mulder, " she ordered.  "I'm afraid you're going
to hurt yourself...again."
        He signaled for a stewardess, and of course it was the
same one that had been dangling herself hopefully under his nose
for the duration of the flight.  "Could I get a glass of water, 
please?"
        "Why, certainly, sir, " the woman practically purred, 
flashing her teeth in a seductive smile and then slinking off 
down the aisle.
        Mulder noticed his partner's disgusted look, but said 
nothing.  When the stewardess returned, he thanked her politely
but exaggerated his disinterest in the hopes of discouraging her.
        It worked, and he caught Scully smiling slightly.  He 
extracted two capsules from the bottle and handed it back to her.
He downed all the water in one breath.
        A different stewardess came to take the glass away.
Scully smiled again.  
        Sitting back in his seat, Mulder waiting for the effects
of the meds to kick in.  He'd almost fallen asleep again when
he felt Scully shift uncomfortably against him.  He opened one
eye and saw that Murray had become bold again and was 
openly leering at her.  
        "Hey, buddy, " Mulder growled at him.  "Do you have
a death wish?  She's taken!"
        That did it.  Murray backed down immediately, turning
toward the window and feigning sleep.
        This time Scully *did* thank her partner, adding "I'm
'taken'?"
        Mulder just shrugged.  "Hey, what time is it?"  He checked
his watch.  "12:01.  Happy New Year, Scully."
        "Happy New Year, Mulder."
        "Here's to five more years, " he said as he offered 
her his shoulder to sleep on.
        "God, Mulder.  Don't depress me..."  She said it seriously,
but didn't hide the smile that appeared on her lips.

        Scully wasn't angry anymore.

            X-o-o-o-o-o-| T H E  E N D |-o-o-o-o-o-X



M:  "You've lost some weight recently, haven't you, Scully?"    
S:  "Yeah, I have, actually, thanks for not..."
        ---QUAGMIRE, "Talk On A Rock I"

M:  "Someone once told me that the best way to regenerate body heat 
    is to crawl naked into a sleeping bag with someone who's 
    already naked."
S:  "Maybe if it rains sleeping bags you'll get lucky."
        ---DETOUR, "Talk On A Rock II"

Izzy:  "He's no monster!"
        ---POST MODERN PROMETHEUS

I HAVE A SIG AND I'M NOT AFRAID TO USE IT!!!