Title: Winter Storm Author: Susan R. West Rating: PG-13 (I guess) Classification: Story Key Words: UST+ (the plus is pudding, pudding right in the mix) Spoilers: a few passing references but I wouldn't call them spoilers (Ascension, Detour, Emily, FTF, and a few others I don't remember the names of.) Summary: Mulder must deal with Scully in the grip of a nightmare when they are forced to share a hotel room. Disclaimer: Hey, Mr. Carter, can Mulder and Scully come out to play? I'll bring them back in time for dinner, no worse for the wear. I promise. Archiving: You want to? I'm delighted. Just keep my name on it and let me know so I can come visit. Winter Storm by Susan R. West Special Agent, Dana Scully held firmly onto the door of the rental car and peered out into the driving snow which the angry wipers could do little to dispel. An hour and a half ago, when they'd pulled out of the airport parking lot, there had only been a few fat flakes and she had smiled indulgently when her partner had hummed a few bars of "Winter Wonderland". But that gentle dusting had grown into a serious snowstorm. Mulder's confident 77 mph had dropped to a cautious 38 and the only cars they'd seen for the last 20 minutes had been in the ditches. Scully's knuckles tightened instinctively as the car swerved slightly against the wind. "Mulder, this is getting ridiculous. We should get off the road and find a hotel for the night." Mulder did not look at her or alter his slightly hunched posture but he let out an explosive sigh. "I guess your right. I just wanted to talk to that sheriff's deputy first thing in the morning." "I know, Mulder, but the case will still be there when we arrive. ... If we arrive." she added as they passed a semi trailer on its side. Mulder grimaced but gingerly moved toward the off ramp when a lit sign proclaiming "Stay-Mor Motor Lodge" became visible through the blinding snow. Mulder pulled the car through the crowded lot and parked in the lee of the office. "Wait here. I'll get us checked in." He said. For once Scully was only too happy to be left behind. The thought of standing in that wind was hardly pleasant and even a little intimidating. Despite the blowing car heater and the relative protection of the building, the screaming storm winds made Scully feel alone and helpless. With the howling wind, the seeping cold and the oppressive dark, the whole situation made her far more unsettled than she could explain. Dana kept a tight leash on her imagination and promised herself a hot bath when she got to her room. Her back and shoulders ached with tension. Then the dome light came on as Mulder piled into the driver's seat. For something to do, Scully picked up the poorly Xeroxed map of the complex and peered at it in the minimal light of the parking lot. "So where are the rooms?" "Room." Mulder said flatly as he put the car into gear and moved the car slowly around the building. "Room?" Scully asked picking up on the singular noun. "Room. They only had one left. I tried calling around but apparently every hotel within 20 miles is full up." He looked at her out of the corner of his eye trying to gauge her reaction. "Swell," Scully sighed. "Well, as long as the room has a hot shower and enough blankets on the beds I guess I'll live. ... Unless you snore." She added in an effort to lighten her mood. Mulder grinned at her. "Moi?" He pulled into a parking spot and turned serious. "Room 213 should be just up those stairs and to the left. Why don't you go on up and I'll grab our suitcases?" He said holding out a room key. She wondered. But she just nodded. Scully took the key and then reached into the back seat to grab her briefcase and her computer. Fighting her way up the external stairs in the driving wind was almost as much fun as she'd expected. xXxXx Fox Mulder watched his partner head for the stairs with vague concern. Most people wouldn't have noticed anything different about Scully, but he could tell. As he pulled the suitcases out of the trunk he tried to figure out what. He went over each aspect of the case, as they currently understood it looking for anything that might be a hot button issue for his skeptical yet soft-hearted partner. Mulder grinned Scully considered weakness unprofessional and would not at all appreciate being seen as soft-hearted. he thought. Mulder was the first to admit, and even proudly proclaim, that Scully was tuff as nails with an iron-clad stomach to boot. But he also knew that she _hated_ events she couldn't explain away scientifically, and that she sometimes got more torn up than she'd ever admit, particularly when the victims were kids. Still, there was nothing about this case that she should be getting upset about. Well, he'd just have to keep his eyes open for whatever clues she might let slip. In the mean time, he was ready to be out of this wind. Slamming the trunk shut, he grabbed up the suitcases and ran for the stairs. When Mulder got to the room he fit his key in the lock and turned the knob. The wind grabbed the door away from him and slammed it into the wall. "Sorry, Scully" he called. Tossing the bags into the room, he quickly shut the door and then looked around. The first thing he noticed was his partner sitting in the chair by the little desk staring tiredly in the direction of the bed. The next thing he noticed was that ....there was only _one_ bed. "What the... Scully I'm sorry I had no idea. I'll call the front desk and..." He trailed off. This was the only room left; the harried matron behind the desk had been quite emphatic about it. "Uh... I'll sleep on the floor." He went through the bureau and the closet looking for the extra pillows and blankets, but he failed to find even a single blanket. He turned helplessly back to Scully. Slowly Scully stirred. "Don't worry about it, Mulder," she said tiredly. "I'm sure we can share a bed without killing each other. I'm going to go take a bath." and with that she picked up her suitcase and disappeared into the bathroom. Mulder wandered aimlessly about the room for awhile, turning up the thermostat at the heater under the window, hanging up first his parka and then Scully's. If he'd had the room to himself the coat could have stayed on the chair where he'd initially thrown it but... Eventually he found the remote and began searching for some information on the storm. After about an hour, Scully emerged, carrying the bag. She was wearing blue and green, men's style, flannel pajamas with satin cuffs and collar. Mulder thought. What he said was, "Awe... and here I was hoping for a little silk and lace." "Wear what you want, Mulder." she shot back. "I personally don't intend to freeze to death tonight." He couldn't resist, he really couldn't. "But Scully, you know my love would keep you warm." As he more or less expected, she just rolled her eyes and changed the subject. "Any word on the storm?" He turned back to the television. "According to channel 7 there, it covers about 4 states at the moment, but it should have passed through by early morning." He watched Scully turn down the blankets and crawl into bed. "You're wearing socks to bed?" he asked, intrigued. "It's cold, Mulder." She took the remote from his hands, turned up the volume slightly, and began to flip channels. Mulder thought. He shrugged and headed into the bathroom. Mulder came out a short while later, wearing sweats and a T-shirt instead of just his shorts, more as a concession to the unusual sleeping arrangements than due to the cold. He noticed that Scully was still aimlessly flipping channels. "Scully, I was thinking. " She looked at him vaguely "In the Middle Ages, when a woman and her escort had to share a bed on the road he would place his sword between them as a sign that her virtue would be safe from him. Do you want me to put my gun between us." "No, Mulder," she sighed. "It would probably go off and I don't want to fill out the paper work." She cracked a tired little smile. He thought. With one last glance at the screen, Scully turned off the TV. "Hey..." "Go to sleep, Mulder." She grumbled as she turned her back to him, wrapped her arms around her pillow and closed her eyes. "As you wish, my lady." Mulder whispered with a smile. Outside the wind howled. xXxXx Special Agent Dana Scully strode determinedly through the snow with her gun held at the ready. She peered into the darkness beyond the parking lot of the Skyland Mountain lodge, looking for any sign of the suspect. Barry had to be around somewhere, He wasn't going to get away. The wind howled. The snow whipped in her face. It was getting so damn hard to move. The Light appeared, pinning her. She was caught! The wind argued with itself, trying to decide what to do with her. The figures were there - short with gray skin. She couldn't understand what they were saying, as they grumbled among themselves. She tried to tell them to stop but she couldn't move. Wait, that wasn't gray skin it was gray suits, Haz-mat suits. Scully ran through the woods. The wind was blinding her. She was frightened. It would be OK if only she could find him. Suddenly there was pain. The pain grew intense, the world swam before her eyes, and she collapsed. So cold. So very cold. She couldn't move. Why couldn't she move? She heard a husky chuckle. That bastard with the cigarettes was laughing at her. He stood and watched as she struggled to escape. < What was THAT? > Something had hold of her legs. It oozed up her body. It invaded her. It consumed her. The son of a bitch simply puffed and smiled as she screamed. Dana scuttled across the frozen mountainside, searching, calling, but she couldn't find what she was looking for... who she was looking for. Ahead was the lodge, closed for the season. The answers must be there. She opened her mouth to call out his name but no sound emerged. The voices argued as they pinned her to the table. The Light wouldn't let her move. The men in the haz-mat suits swarmed everywhere, doing things she couldn't see or understand. The little gray figures touched her. They tried to soothe her... tried to soothe the child. It wasn't working. She didn't want to be soothed. She had to escape ... she wanted to save herself... to save the child. The little gray figures started doing something to her belly. < No! Emily! They're stealing Emily! > Dana scrambled madly for the door. She had to get out of the snow and cold or she would die. If she could just get to the lodge she would be safe. She strove against the invisible force that tried to hold her back, tried to keep her from safety, tried to keep her from him. She cried and she panted as she fought the fear that wanted to keep her prisoner. At last, by sheer will she clutched the handle and threw open the door. The Light and the arguing voices caught her and she screamed in pure terror. "Mul--der!" xXxXx Mulder slowly became aware of feeling cold and, without being fully cognizant of doing so, he tried to snuggle up against Scully. Then he was wide-awake with the sudden sense that something was very wrong. Scully was no longer in the bed. Looking up he spotted her silhouetted by the open door with snow blowing fiercely around her. "Scully?" When she didn't respond he threw himself across the room, and pushed the door closed, locking out the wind. "Scully?" She still didn't respond. Mulder peered intently into her face. Her eyes were closed but tracking something only she could see. Her breathing was rapid and shallow. He took her hand. It was ice cold. "Back to bed, Sleeping Beauty," he said as he picked her up and carried her back to the bed. After laying Scully carefully down he moved to adjust her pajama top which had ridden up. The side of his hand brushed her ribs. He placed his palm on her abdomen. Her skin did not seem to warm to his touch. "Scully... Scully, help me out here. We have to get you warmed up." He shook her lightly but she didn't respond. His mind flashed on her explanation of bringing him back from a submarine frozen in the North Atlantic ice. He threw the blankets over her. "Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back." He said as he stepped into the tiny bathroom and turned on the tap. The water that came out of the tub faucet was tepid at first but then went cold. "Damn. I hope Triple A revokes your star. " He returned to check on Scully. She didn't seem to be warming up, and she was still in the grip of her nightmare. He was absently chaffing her cold fingers between his hands when snatches of a conversation on hypothermia came to mind. "Maybe if it rains sleeping bags you'll get lucky, Mulder" Scully had quipped, but she hadn't disputed his information. he thought. Then inspiration struck. He grabbed both parkas from the closet, and brought them back to the bed. First he slid his around Scully, putting her head in the hood but not threading her arms into the sleeves. Then he took her parka and zipped it up. Pausing only long enough to strip off her pajama bottoms and socks, he pulled the parka up around her legs with the hood at her feet. Then Mulder quickly stripped down to his shorts, and shimmied into the make-shift mummy sack as well, trapping his partner's chilled feet between his legs. Twisting awkwardly he pulled the meager bedding up and tucked it and his parka in around them for further insulation. Finally, he unbuttoned her flannel shirt and, snaking his arms underneath it, pulled her chilled body up against him with an involuntary hiss. For a time he simply held her, tried to think warm thoughts, and considered the second law of thermodynamics as her cold body slowly leached heat away from his own. Then he realized that Scully still seemed to be dreaming. From time to time she would twitch violently or mutter wordlessly against his shoulder. "Scully?" He whispered. "Scully wake up. ... It's only a dream. ..." "Come on Scully snap out of it. ... Scully? ... Dana?" "Mulder!" Scully awoke suddenly with a strangled scream. "Oh my God. Mulder --" "Shh, Scully." He soothed "It's OK. It was only a nightmare, an incredibly persistent nightmare, but a nightmare." She clung to him trembling with the after effects. "It was so awful," she gulped. " I couldn't get away. They kept talking but I couldn't understand... and there was this light ...and I couldn't find... I tried to fight but he just... and... and ... they took Emily from me... I tried to call to you but ... and ..." While her incoherent explanations came tumbling out, he rocked her gently and stroked her hair as if she were a child. "It's over now. I won't let them hurt you." He whispered when her words petered out. She was still trembling. With great tenderness Mulder planted a gentle kiss on Scully's forehead. Then, because he felt warm tears on his shoulder, he touched his lips to each closed eyelid. >From there it seemed only natural to press his lips to hers in fraternal benediction. Scully's reaction wasn't gentle or sororal. She clung to that kiss as if her life depended on it. Mulder was so startled by his partner's response his inner monologue stilled and he simply followed where she led. Deeper into the kiss. After a timeless moment another set of instincts kicked in and he came up for air. he tried to re-establish contact with the higher reasoning centers but Scully brought one leg up across his thighs and nuzzled her face deeply against his neck. Mulder's stomach muscles tightened when he felt her breath hot and moist on his ear. She let out a deep sigh. "Sc... Scully?" he asked raggedly around the pounding of his heart. She didn't respond. Scully's now warm body was draped bonelessly across him. She had dropped into a warm, dreamless sleep. Fox Mulder, however, did not manage to sleep for a long time. -30- Feedback: Please! Tell me it's wonderful, tell me it sucks, tell me I'm pure evil, just tell me.