Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 18:02:29 GMT Subject: NEW: Misted Moon Title: Misted Moon Author: Dana of Starbuck Archive: Anywhere, just let me know and give me a link! Summary: Stranded in heavy fog, Mulder and Scully have to depend on one thing: each other. Raging: PG-13 for one little itty-bitty word. Classification: VA Keywords: UST. Lots and lots of UST Spoilers: Detour, teeny one for Space. Disclaimer: Does anyone else get sick of writing these? They aren't mine. I'll leave it at that. Feedback: Pipn Took@aol.com or MrsSpooky1013@thexfiles.com Author's notes: At end Misted Moon The mist felt surreal, although it was more fog than mist - a think soup clinging to every blade of grass and broken twig. The jacket Scully wore had dampened, and the chill had long ago seeped through to her skin. Her teeth chattered constantly from the cold, and had been since her partner had disappeared into the fog fifteen minutes earlier. The moon shone through, brightening the humidity with a soft glow. She glanced around the rock where she was sitting. It didn't do much good - all was gray in every direction. Scully put her hand two feet in front of her face and was hardly surprised when its shape disappeared intothe glow. Wiping the excess moisture from the windbreaker, she pulled her arms and legs closer to her body in hope of conserving some body heat. It was still only four in the morning. The sun wouldn't rise for another hour. Her main hope dwelt on the fact that the sun would cause this cloud to evaporate and disperse, allowing herself and Mulder to escape this narrow valley. It had been beautiful half an hour ago. The green forest valley under the starry sky They had been following a lead - if it could be called that. An anonymous source had told them they would meet here. Well, she had to give the guy some credit. He had enough sense to check the forecast. Scully and Mulder had driven down this ravine, walked several yards, and could only watch as the clouds poured over the green ledge, filling the canyon like a giant soup bowl. With no visibility and no phone signal, all they could do was wait for the fog to lift. "Scully?!" She lifted her head from her knees with a jerk as his voice echoed through the valley. "I'm over here, Mulder!" "Scully?!" "This way!" "Scully, where the HELL am I going?!" "Just walk straight ahead!" "Ow!!" "Justlook out for roots along the way!" Mulder followed her voice -- with some difficulty -- back to the tall rock where they had sought refuge. She had her arms pulled inside the sleeves of the windbreaker now. HIS windbreaker. The air felt next to freezing without it, but he was wearing a sweater. Scully had worn nothing more than a blouse. She rubbed her hands together and blew into her palms. "Any luck finding the car?" "Nope," he sighed, lowering himself beside her. "We're going to have to wait this out." Scully didn't reply, biting down on her tongue to stop her teeth from chattering. It didn't work. Mulder, meanwhile, watched with half-interest as the mist from his breath blended and mingled with the surrounding fog. His partner shifted beside him. Cold and wet were not two of their favorite feelings. He ventured a look; and upon seeing her, Mulder paused and chucked. "What?" she asked cautiously. "You should let your hair curl more often," he said genuinely with a smile. Scully's hands immediately flew to her scalp, and her eyes widened when she felt how much thicker her hair had become. "It's so humid" she mumbled as she attempted to flatten the rebellious locks. "I dunno." Mulder brushed a few of the damp ringlets away from her face. "I think I like it. It lookscareless." "'Careless,' Mulder?" "Would you prefer the term 'bed-ruffled'?" Scully snorted and used the moisture that had collected on the jacket to plaster the frizzes to her head as her partner grinned and turned back to stare into the mist. The temperature had dropped. His sweatshirt was soaked through and was sticking to his torso. If the fog didn't lift and if they couldn't locate the car - the HEATED car - he would be in some trouble. "Mulder, you're shaking." He looked at her. "Huh?" "You're shaking," she repeated in her doctoral tone. Narrowing her eyes slightly from the effort, she pulled the jacket from her shoulders and wrapped it around her partner's. Mulder immediately protested; but she refused, giving him one of her looks. "Scully, one of us is going to be cold. I've got a thick shirt on, and you don't." "I'm not the one currently in risk of hypothermia." "In a few minutes you will be, and then we'll BOTH be stuck." "Well, that's what we get for running to the middle of Virginia at three in the morning, isn't it?" The moment the words came out she regretted them. And as she had expected, Mulder grew still beside her. "I'm sorry I dragged you out-" She wouldn't let him finish. "You didn't drag me out here, Mulder." Scully kept her eyes on him to emphasize her point, conveying as strongly as possible that this discussion was over. Deep inside, she hated this - hated when he delved too far into guilt. She chose these paths herself - he didn't pull her into them. And no matter what anyone claimed, Mulder had not destroyed her life. If anything, he had enhanced it. She valued different things now. She appreciated themand despite what the others said, the most significant gift he had given her was life. If it weren't for him, she never would have seen the true value of it. But it was too damn cold to think this at the moment. Scully rubbed her arms with vigor and stared at the haunted glow in the sky. "Mulder, did you ever want to go to the moon as a kid?" "Of course," he said, curling himself into a heat-conserving ball. "You know that." She smiled through the cold. "I was telling my nephew about thethat umwhat is it? That moon rover thing?" "Matthew's not even three yet, Scully." "This was Charlie's son. Several years ago." "Ah." He leaned closer to listen. "Well," she continued, scooting toward him, "apparently I didn't explain the story clearly enough. I used the word 'we,' as in 'we, America' to say that the U.S. had left that vehicle on the moon. My nephew, however, thought that my family had left a perfectly good car in space." "Was he in the car phase?" "Oh yeah." She smiled and leaned against his arm. Mulder instinctively wrapped it around her shoulder to keep her warm. "He dragged his Hot Wheels EVERYWHERE." Her head had lowered to the crook between his bicep and his torso. "I got a call from Charlie two days later, telling me that all he ever heard now was his son asking when they could go to the moon on vacation. He really wanted that car." Mulder raised an eyebrow. Scully glanced down at her feet in some embarrassment with a chuckle. "Pointless story; I know." "Nah, I think it's cute. We have to do something in this next hour, after all." Scully yawned once more before an errant chill shook her body. Looking down, she realized that her blouse was of no more use than a swimsuit. The only positive thing was that she had worn her green blouse instead of a white one. White shirts and damp surroundings certainly didn't mix. "Scully, it's a good thing your shirt isn't white." With that perfect display of the sixth sense the two of them shared, Scully couldn't help it. She laughed. The sound was slightly muffled in the surrounding mist, but she could feel the depth of the ravine by the faint echo returning to her ears. Mulder stared. "Nothing," she said with a smile. "Forget it." Mulder opened his mouth to protest, but thought better and shut it. He looked like a drowning fish. This only made Scully laugh harder. She couldn't help herself. "Scully..?" "Sorry," she said, wiping her eyes. "When I'm tired, I can get very -" "Wired?" "-hyper." Mulder made a small smile and looked in her eyes. "Scully?" he asked softly. Her teeth ceased their chattering. "Yeah?" Her partner gazed at her. The mist stopped being of any concern, the chill vanished, and all that remained was Scully and the man watching her. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, Mulder shook his head from side to side. "Out of everything we've told each other - especially me to you - that has to have been the one thing that made absolutely no sense whatsoever." She smiled. "But it's true." "So what does that tell you about everything else?" "It tells me," she said as she resumed her position in his arms, "that you and I have seen some pretty crazy shit." He sighed in mock disapproval. "I was hoping for something like 'maybe you've been right, Mulder.'" "Don't push your luck." "I won't." Scully's eyes began to droop, and her mouth gaped as another huge yawn unleashed itself. "What time is it?" Mulder peered through the darkness at his watch. "I think it's around five. Hard to see." "Mmm," was her only reply. It was almost a moan. It certainly got Mulder's attention. He looked down at his partner and saw that her eyes had closed and her breathing had slowed to a soft steady rhythm. "Hey, Scully?" It was no more than a whisper. If she was asleep, there was no way she would have heard it. "Hmm?" she mumbled. "Can you sit up for half a second?" "Why?" "I hate to break the mood and all, but my legs are asleep." She snorted a chuckle and obeyed, albeit tiredly. Quickly and smoothly, so as not to disturb her any further, Mulder slipped the jacket from his arms and repositioned himself so that Scully sat in front of him. She raised a half-hearted eyebrow but relaxed when she realized what he was doing. The jacket was soon covering the two of them like a blanket with Mulder as the armchair, and he wrapped his arms around her to become a human heating pad. They sat in silence for several minutes, Scully leaning against Mulder's chest to escape the damp chill. A drop of condensation escaped her bangs and trickled down her forehead, which Mulder would have wiped it away had his arms not been currently occupied. "Mulder?" Her eyes opened, and she looked up at him. "This seems vaguely familiar, doesn't it." He smiled. "A little." "And if I remember correctly, you owe me." For a moment he didn't understand what she was saying. He narrowed his eyebrows in thoughtand then suddenly, a look of total shock crossed his face; and he shook his head. "No, you never said that I owed you." "It's only fair." "I thought you were tired." "Not tired enough for this." "No, no, no" "Yes, Mulder." He sighed. "We never agreed on this." She grinned devilishly. "When do we agree with anything?" That stopped him cold. Scully stared at him unflinchingly, and he finally had no choice but to give in. With a triumphant grin, Scully settled back against his sweatshirt. Mulder sat awkwardly and bit his lip. He had half a mind to wait and see if Scully would fall asleep again to get him out of this pathetic situation. "Do it, Mulder." No such luck. So, taking a deep breath and saying a prayer to the God he didn't believe in, Mulder began to sing. "You are my sunshinemy only sunshine" Scully smiled against his shirt and chuckled. But her eyes remained closed, and her breathing remained soft. "You make me happywhen skies are gray" A quiet snore sounded beneath him. "You'll never know, dearhow much I love you" Scully stirred but did not awaken. The smile still crossed over her face. Taking the opportunity, he laid a gentle kiss to her hairline and held her closer. At that moment, the grayness faded to white, and he saw the beginnings of a sunrise breech over the edge of the ravine. Slowly, very slowly, the fog began to lift. And Mulder could almost see the outline of his car, eighty yards away. He smiled as the last remnants of the fog dissipated. "Please don't take my sunshine away" end XXXXXXXX Author's notes: Well, that's it, folks! Like it? No? Either way, tell me!!! I loooove mail! :-) Only 53 days left, guyswe can make it! By the wayI'm the one who thought that the family's car was on the moon. What can I say - I was five. As always, this goes out to my Phile buddies. Luv ya!