TITLE: WHERE IN THE WORLD... ANTARCTICA? AUTHOR: RAVENWALD DISCLAIMER: Anyone you recognize belongs to Chris Carter, anyone you don't belongs to us. CLASSIFICATIONS: Movie fic, MRS/UST, Mulder Angst, Scully Angst, Lone Gunmen Angst. RATING: Mostly, PG 13, except for part 9 which is NC-17 KEYWORDS: Mulder/Scully, Frohike/other (yeah you read that right!) SPOILERS: FTF, Slight for: PILOT, FIRE, EBE, END GAME, DEMONS, THE END SUMMARY: Mulder goes to Antarctica to search for Scully. The Gunmen go along. Frohike has some fun. AUTHOR NOTES: I swear by everything I hold dear, that this was supposed to be an MSR. Really. I just wanted to write a nice, little story that explained how Mulder and Scully made it back from Antarctica. Somehow, somewhere along the line, Frohike and company just took over. Thanks to my writing partner, Wylfcynne, as always for telling me 'hey, they wouldn't do that!' and 'those are run-on sentences,' and occasionally expanding on what she calls 'my outlines,' (Okay, so I took it as a compliment when my history prof told me: 'you write succinctly.' He'd never believe my output now! And please god, no one tell him I'm writing this stuff!) And for Frohike51 for the final close edit - thank you very, very, very, very, very, very much much! A person couldn't ask for two better betas. Someday, I'll pay Wylfcynne back for getting me involved with X-Files and it isn't going to be pretty! For that matter, someday I'll get back at my sister for introducing me to Highlander which started me writing when I had resisted the blandishments of all other fandoms! For twenty-five years I managed to keep myself aloof from this time-consuming and wretched pastime and she wrecked it with one sentence: "Can you tape Highlander for me? I'm out of tape." Gloria, I'll get you for this someday! Where in the World...? Antarctica? by Ravenwald Prologue Part I - Arrival Australian Base Somewhere in Antarctica Minus 36 hrs. "Carmen asked me to tell you that there was an emergency pickup at the Canadian base, their chopper is down for maintenance and their Doctor came down with appendicitis. He's being evacuated here." The speaker met them at the airfield and ushered them inside the closest building. They were now walking through dimly lit halls of the quiet base. Most everyone was asleep this late at night. "Not a problem, Jack. Things like that have a way of happening to me." Mulder turned to the three men accompanying him. "Boys, I want you to meet the base Doctor, Jack Kepper. Jack, this is Frohike, Langly and Byers." "Gee, the Lone Gunmen in person!" He breathed, but with a touch of sarcasm. "Mulder, what's going on? Carmen told me: 'help him. Do whatever he wants you to, give him whatever he needs.'" "I have to get to these coordinates in the next 18 hours." He pulled out the slip of paper that the Well-Manicured Man had given him. "That's a ways from this base. You would have been better off going to the American base." "Yeah, but I don't know anyone at the American base, and they wouldn't help me without a lot of red tape. You guys at least know me well enough to trust me without me having to go into a long explanation beforehand." "Well, Carmen does, at least. I've got a 'Cat ready for you. Are you sure you're okay to do this by yourself? Shouldn't you take someone along?" "Will the Sno-cat make it to the coordinates and back on one tank of gas with the extra weight?" Jack sighed. "No, it probably wouldn't and you wouldn't be able to carry enough extra fuel to compensate. Hell, you might not even make it back to base with the extra fuel I already loaded. I hate it when you're logical." Mulder just shrugged. "Let's get me ready." He continued to follow the Doctor through the hallways of the Aussie base and into the large room that made up the motor pool. "Mulder, Carmen said to give you this to be on the safe side. Hopefully you won't need it, but just in case." The Britisher handed Mulder a small GPS unit: one with a transmitter. "If you run into problems, use it. Carmen says they'll be back by tonight. Are you sure you won't wait?" Mulder looked grim. "I won't chance it, Scully's only got 36 hours left." "It'll take you almost ten hours to get to the coordinates by 'Cat, Mulder." "Yeah, but it's better than waiting and not being able to do anything in case Carmen's held up. Thanks." While he was talking, Mulder rifled through the emergency supplies in the 'Cat, nodding when he found everything he'd asked for. "Mulder?" He looked over at Frohike, somehow not surprised by the look of intense concern on the other man's face. "What?" "Bring her back." "You know I will." The silent addition of 'or I'll die trying' did not need to be said between them. Frohike knew that Mulder would move heaven and earth and anything in between to save Scully. Prologue Part II - Who in the World... Australian Base Common Room Antarctica Minus 26 hours The Gunmen were waiting, mostly silent with their thoughts. They were shown to a bunk room and they had tried to sleep, but their worry over their friends made sleep an elusive commodity. Finally, giving up, they found their way to the common room where coffee was brewing. Langly was pacing the small room's perimeter, muttering about surveillance cameras and hidden microphones. Byers was standing, staring at a satellite map of the area that was hanging on one wall, and Frohike was sitting, his head in his hands, worrying that this time Mulder and Scully wouldn't make it. He absently got up to get his umpteenth cup of coffee when the door to the room blew open and a small whirlwind entered. "Okay, what the hell is going on? Where's Mulder and who the hell are you three jokers?" The Gunmen were speechless. The whirlwind proved to be a short woman with close cut, brown, curly hair and intense, dark blue eyes She wore a form-fitting jumpsuit and was carrying a helmet under her arm. Frohike was immediately captivated both by her 'don't fuck with me' attitude and her shape which was far from the current too thin style. (*God, this woman has a real shape! Tits and an ass to die for!*) Unfortunately, in his distraction, he said it out loud. "What did you just say, you little gnome?" she asked through her teeth. He looked disconcerted at the woman who was now standing within inches of him staring up belligerently into his face, and backed up slightly as he felt his body respond to her nearness. (*Oh, shit, Mulder's going to kill me if she doesn't first!*) he thought to himself even while absently noting that she was even smaller than and her eyes were even bluer than Scully's and that she was not wearing a wedding ring. Before the woman could continue, Byers broke in gently turning her from his friend to introduced himself. "I'm John Byers. We're friends of Mulder's. Come and sit down and I'll tell you all I know about what's going on. May I get you a cup of coffee?" The woman gave Frohike one last, scathing look and muttered "troll" under her breath as she followed Byers over to a table. Frohike just stood there, entranced. "How much did Agent Mulder tell you?" Byers asked, setting down the cup of coffee and the sugar and cream in front of the aggravated woman. "Just that his partner had been kidnapped and that she was being held down here on a secret base. Right, yeah, secret base. Does this have something to do with Mulder's little grey men?" she asked suspiciously. "The ones that kidnapped Sam?" Byers was rather taken aback by both her attitude and her knowledge of Mulder and his sister. "How well do you know...?" his question was interrupted by Frohike sitting down on the other side of the table. "What do you want, worm?" Carmen asked him. "Nothing but to bask in your glory, oh..." Carmen couldn't help it, she started to laugh. "You have *got* to be Frohike! Mulder warned me about you!" Frohike's face immediately fell getting to his feet and backing away. "He did?" "Oh, yeah! Said that you were paranoid and a nut case, but he'd trust his life to any one of the three of you. Oh, hell, sit down and tell me about what's really going on. First off, introduce your friend over there?" Byers and Frohike called Langly over and introduced him. The four of them sat while the Gunmen told her everything they knew about the current situation. Langly was just starting to get antsy again when a pair of blond teenage surfer-types broke into the room and giving into his nervousness, he bolted from the table to resume his pacing. "Dr Santiago, Jack said he'd like to talk to you," they told her, in chorus. "He asked if he could meet you in your office in about fifteen minutes." Carmen put her head down on the table at the look on Frohike's face. (*Great, the teenage-interns from hell have just found an ally*) she thought, as Frohike started humming the theme to 'Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego'. Byers looked confused and Frohike was about to enlighten him when Carmen raised her head and gave him a look that was worthy of Scully herself. "Don't!" "But..." "I said don't... not if you want to survive until Mulder gets back and tells me why I shouldn't sling your sorry ass out into the ice and snow." Frohike reluctantly shut up, but Carmen knew, deep down, that she had not heard the last of this. She turned back to the teenagers. "Carter, Chris, go tell Jack that will be fine." She was silent as the twins left, then turned back to see the question in the two men's eyes. She sighed. "*They* are yet another cross this base has to bear. That and their lab partners. The four of them won a contest sponsored by The Discovery Channel and the University. So now we're stuck with the surfer-scientist interns from hell for the next six months. Do you know they brought their snowboards? No one told them that it's nearly flat around here. They were so disappointed. They keep harassing us to go out on the 'Cats to find some mountains so they can tell their friends that they snowboarded in the Antarctic! Kids!" She shook her head wearily and took a sip of her coffee. "The trouble is, they really are brilliant kids, but they are going to drive me insane before their internship is over." She took a look at her watch. "Well, it was... interesting meeting you three. I, at least, have work to do. I'll let you know if we hear anything from Mulder," she told them before they were able to ask. She got up to leave and Frohike stood and watched as she left. Byers turned and smiled faintly at the absolutely besotted look on the other man's face. (*Well, at least he won't be bothering Agent Scully for a while!*) Prologue Part III - Waiting of Mulder... or someone like him. Australian Base Common Room Antarctica Minus 8 hours Eighteen hours later, there was still no word from Mulder and the Gunmen; Carmen were frankly getting worried about their friend. Carmen started pacing the common room with Langly, while Frohike and Byers tossed back numerous cups of coffee. Frohike could see how worried Carmen was and wondered yet again about her history with Mulder. It did not seem to be the worry of someone in love with him, more like the worry for a beloved little brother. Figuring he could get her mind off Mulder for a bit, he started singing *the* song. Byers had been catching up Carmen on some of Mulder's more *interesting* antics, but all it had done was make her worry more. Frohike's singing set her barely held temper off. "Frohike!" She bellowed from across the table, "if you sing that damned song one more time, I'll..." "You'll what, Carmen, my sweet?" he asked hopefully. "I don't care if you are Mulder's friend, he's going to come back to find a Frocicle." "Ooow, promises, promises!" he retorted, looking her over with a lascivious grin. "When?" "Arrrrghhh!" She stormed away, throwing over her shoulder, "I'm going to go see if the chopper has been refueled." Melvin Frohike sighed longingly as she stalked away from him. (*God, she's even hotter than Scully!*) Part IV -- Awakening Somewhere in Antarctica Minus 2 hours Scully looked up into the cold, blue sky, at the clouds starting to gather and shuddered It was beginning to get dark and darkness would bring more cold still. "Mulder... Mulder... wake up!" She shook the unconscious man in her arms carefully and was rewarded when he opened his eyes. "Scully..." Mulder smiled faintly and raised his hand to her cheek. He rubbed his thumb gently across it. "Where are we?" "I was hoping you could tell me, Mulder. The last thing *I* remember is being stung by a bee." "Bee, hall, kiss..." Mulder paused, a soft, silly smile crossing his face. Then it faded. "Ambulance, gunshot... Antarctica. We're in Antarctica," he finished triumphantly, proud that he could connect everything. His eyes started to drift shut again. She shook him gently. "That doesn't tell me what we're doing here." "I'm here to rescue you." "Mulder!" she smiled ruefully. Only Mulder would take a life-and-death situation and try to turn it to make her smile. "Try again, you know I never went for the little blond heroes." "Okay, I'm Han Solo, I'm here to rescue you." She gave up. "Okay, Han, where's the Millennium Falcon?" "Over that ridge." Mulder pointed toward the setting sun. "And we'd better get moving," he commented as he noticed that even the twilight had faded away. (*It took me almost twenty four hours just to find her.*) He shuddered when he realized just how close he had come to losing her. Looking at his wristwatch, he saw the countdown blinking at him. (*A couple more hours and it would have been too late. I *would* have lost her!*) He twisted around in Scully's arms and wrapped his tight around her, burying his face in her neck. "Mulder?" She heard a sound that could only be a whimper. It frightened her. "What's wrong?" "I could have lost you." His voice was harsh. "Two more hours and it would have been too late for the serum to work. You..." (*Serum? What the hell is he talking about?! Oh, well, I'll find out eventually.*) "You weren't too late and I'm... I'll be okay, Mulder. Come on, lead me to the Falcon." They struggled to their feet and followed Mulder's footsteps up over the ridge to the Snow-Cat. When they got there, Mulder noticed the access panel to the motor was open. He peered in, but could not see anything wrong. "I've got a bad feeling about this." Mulder, get your mind out of that movie and help me into this machine." He turned slowly back toward her and saw her dilemma. He grasped her about the waist . He lifted her straight up and placed her on the top of the tread. "There you go, Princess. Go on in and get changed, there are dry clothes back behind the seat. I'll come in when you're done." "Mulder, don't be ridiculous. Come in here out of the cold." "Actually, Scully, it's probably colder in there. Besides, I've got to fill the tank up." "Well, when you're finished, come in. You've already seen me naked today; you can just turn your back if you're worried about it. I'm not." She looked up at him and grinned faintly. "Frankly, if we don't get somewhere warm soon, it just may be raining sleeping bags," she muttered to herself. Mulder stood and stared up at her, his mouth hanging open. (*Did she just say what I think she said?*) Shaking his head in an attempt to clear it, he refilled the gas tank from the jerry cans then climbed up after her. Scully was already rummaging through the duffel bag that was stashed behind the driver's seat in the cab of the Snow-Cat. She pulled out a sweat suit and thermal underwear. There was an extra parka in her size hanging off the back of the other seat. Unconcerned at this point about modesty, she stripped out of the oversize parka and snow pants that her partner had dressed her in, dried off as best she could, then pulled on the clothing that he had provided for her. "Get this thing started and get some heat in here or we're both going to end up hypothermic." Keeping his attention on the control panel, he inserted and turned the key. Nothing happened. He tried a couple more times and then spoke up. "Uh, Scully?" "What?" Her voice was muffled as she pulled the sweatshirt over her head. "They did something to the 'Cat. It won't start. It won't even turn over." "Do you have an alternate plan for getting back to civilization?" "I've got a GPS with a signaling device just in case. Check the pockets of the parka." Scully picked up the coat she had been wearing and started going through the pockets. The first thing she came up with was her cross, its broken chain dangling through her fingers. The next thing was a bottle that had about a half-inch of straw colored liquid in it. "Mulder, what's this?" she asked. "That's the end of the vaccine that he gave me for you. Be careful. There may be enough to have it analyzed." "Why didn't you give me the full dose?" "I figured that it was a dose for a normal sized adult and considering how small you are, I didn't want to overdose you on the cure. I... I was afraid of poisoning you." Mulder started to shiver. Scully put the items in her hand down and went through the rest of the pockets. Finally in one of the zippered pockets in the snow-pants, she came up with the GPS. "How do we trigger this?" "P-p-p-push the b-b-button, Scully." Scully pushed the button and set it down next to the other items on the seat. She turned and pulled the rest of the clothing out of the bag. "Put these on, Mulder. The ones you're wearing are wet." "I'm f-f-f-ine, Scully. You put them on. You've been colder, longer." "But I'm dry now, you aren't. Am I going to have to get rough with you, Agent Mulder?" "P-p-promises, promises." Mulder muttered as he turned but started stripping off the damp clothes in question. He jerked when he felt Scully's cold fingers touch him as she rubbed him down with the towel she had found in the tool box. It wasn't very clean, but it did dry him off and started the blood circulating. Unfortunately, it started pooling down below his waist. "Uh, Scully... I... you can stop now. I'm okay... really." "Mulder, you're freezing. Turn around." "Scully!" Mulder turned from her as she tried to squeeze between him and the seat. The contact of their bodies made things worse. "Mulder, you..." Scully's voice trailed off when she realized what it was that Mulder was trying to hide. She placed her hand gently on his bare shoulder and draped the towel over the other. "Okay, partner, you do it." Grateful for her forbearance, Mulder took the towel and rubbed his arms and chest vigorously. He did not notice Scully watching him in the rear view mirror. (*I'm impressed!*) Scully thought hysterically, as she stood mesmerized. She had seen Mulder naked before, but never aroused. (*I'm in the middle of a snow field in a vehicle that doesn't work, we don't know if we're going to be rescued and I'm getting turned on by the fact that my partner is hung like the proverbial horse, even in this cold. God, what would he be like... how does he hide *that* in tailored slacks, much less jeans?*) She pondered those thoughts, and then shook her head to clear it. (*Later, girl, when you're both warm and out of danger. You can jump him later,*) she promised herself. Mulder finished drying off quickly and put on the dry clothing. He pulled the parka on, leaving off the snow-pants because they were damp with green goo. Rolling them up carefully around the ampule of remaining serum, he put them into the now empty duffel. Zipping it shut, he turned around with the extra parka in his hands. "Put this on, you're starting to shiver." Scully had not noticed the cold that much once she had the dry clothing on, but it was now starting to seep into her very bones. "OK." She pulled the coat out of his hands and put it on. She started to zip it up but Mulder stopped her, zipping it for her. Then, he pulled up the hood and tucked her hair in, gently caressing her face as he did so. He pulled the emergency kit from under the driver's seat and placed the large, thermal blanket from it down on the seat. He pulled out two chemical heat packs , then he sat down and pulled Scully into his lap. Tucking the blanket tight around them, the last thing he did was grab Scully's feet and started rubbing them gently. He had had no way to protect her feet barring the socks which would not be adequate protection for them. He was worried about frostbite. When they felt a little warmer, he activated the heat packs and placed one in each of her socks. "You should have saved them for later," she protested. "Later won't help, if you die from cold feet before that," he said. Scully smiled and decided to throw an innuendo at Mulder for a change. "I'm not going to get cold feet, Mulder," she promised. She snuggled into his embrace as they stared into the dark sky around them. Speechless, Mulder tightened his hold on her and together they drifted off into sleep. Even though both knew that it was a bad idea, exhaustion has a way of superseding good sense. PART V Australian Base Common Room Antarctica Minus 1.5 hours Carmen stuck her head into the room where the Gunmen were waiting restlessly for word of Mulder. "He signaled! And there was an earthquake or something that was epicentered very near to where the signal is coming from." "We're coming with you!" Frohike announced. The other two men trailed out behind him as he ran after the pilot and caught her by the arm. "I don't need help!" she told him firmly, aggressively, attempting to pull away. "I didn't say you needed help, but he's our friend, too. So's Scully. And you *might* need help. You don't know what you're going to find there." Frohike faced her down, the pair of them staring at one another until Carmen, seeing the need and worry in Frohike's eyes, acquiesced. "All right, but you do what I say, when I say it. Go get dressed and meet me outside the hangar in no more than ten minutes. Any longer and you get left." She would have preferred to take men from the base, but she understood the Gunmen's need to be involved in the rescue. They ran off to the bunk room where their outer clothing had been abandoned. "God, I hope everything is all right with them," Byers commented. "You know we wouldn't have gotten a signal if he hadn't recovered her," Frohike responded sadly. "Too true," Byers answered. The three men pulled on their boots, grabbed the rest of their snow gear and headed for the hangar. PART VI Snowfield Somewhere in Antarctica Plus 1 hour "Scully, Agent Scully, wake up." The worried voice finally penetrated her weariness and she opened her eyes to be confronted from less than a foot away by Frohike's concerned visage. She recoiled, then realized where she was... held in Mulder's lap in an inoperable Snow-Cat in the middle of the Antarctic. Shaking her head to try to clear it, she noticed Byers behind his friend. "3PO, R2. Where's Chewie?" "Dr. Scully?" he questioned gravely, worried at her disjointed response. "We have to get the two of you out of here. There's a storm coming up. We're just very happy to have reached you when we did. The meteorologist back at the base said if we didn't get out here and back within four hours, we'd probably be stuck until the storm passed. This storm blew up out of nowhere and he's afraid that it's going to be a bad one." Scully noticed that it was still dark. "How did you get here?" "Carmen flew us here. Mulder has some pretty good friends back at the base. Come on, let me help you up." Scully extricated herself gently from Mulder's embrace. She was worried because he had not awakened. She found herself being carefully helped to her feet by Frohike. He passed her back to Byers, who in turn, passed her out of the Snow-Cat and into Langly's arms. Langly carried her to the rescue helicopter and after helping her inside, returned to help the others with Mulder. "Come up front. Let the guys freeze their balls off back there." Scully turned to find a short, heavyset woman motioning to her. She was rewarded by a sudden blast of warm air as she entered the pilot's cabin of the helicopter. She sighed and snuggled down in the co-pilot's seat. "How much time until the storm hits?" "About twenty minutes... it's going to be following us into the station. We may or may not make base before it hits." The pilot looked at Scully's white face. "Don't worry, we'll be fine." She looked back to where the Mulder's three friends were manhandling his body toward the helicopter. "Well, we'll make it as long as the Three Stooges there get a move on and get Mulder on board." Scully snorted at the pilot's description of their friends. She had often thought the same thing, privately, and to hear it voiced somehow comforted her. "Yeah, but what they're good at, they are *very* good at." "Nice to know they're good at something besides causing trouble. God knows they've been into enough of it back at the base. By the way, I'm Carmen Santiago... and don't say it... your friend Frohike has made enough jokes about my name in the past twenty-four hours to last me for the rest of my life. I hate that show!" "Dana Scully," she answered, holding out her hand. "You don't have to tell me about Frohike," she told the pilot, smiling at her in commiseration at Frohike's lack of social graces. "The first time I met him, he turned to my partner and told him that I was hot!" Carmen grimaced. "God, he is such a gnome! He's been trailing me around like a puppy for the entire time they've been at the base." Scully sighed. "Yeah, well, he can be *really* annoying, but he's been a good friend, too. I sometimes wonder what we would have done all these years without their help. Putting up with his teasing is little enough payment for all he's done for us." Their conversation was interrupted by rattling of the outside door as the Gunmen hauled Mulder into the helicopter's rear cabin. "Okay, Carmen, my love, we're all set to go!" Frohike called out. "How's Mulder doing?" Scully started to get up, but sat back down when she heard the report from the rear cabin. "He's breathing okay. He just seems to be out of it. He's got a really sappy smile on his face and he keeps murmuring Agent Scully's name over and over. I can guess what *he's* dreaming of!" Scully and the pilot exchanged glances. Carmen shook her head before she put her helmet back on and readied the aircraft for takeoff. Scully put her own helmet on, but almost immediately started coughing. "That sounds nasty." "Feels nasty too, like I'm breathing lime Jell-O!" "Yuck! That was a image I could have done without." "Tell me about it." Continued in Part 2 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> New Yahoo! Mail Plus. More flexibility. More control. More power. Get POP access, more storage, more filters, and more. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Hcb0iA/P.iFAA/46VHAA/QsMolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> AXF is your list for ALL X-Files Fanfic... all genres, all characters, all ratings. Automatic newsgroup posting too! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/all-xf Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ From ravenwald@aol.com Mon Mar 31 14:26:20 2003 Date: 2 Mar 2003 18:40:04 -0800 From: ravenwald@aol.com Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: [all-xf] Where in the World... Antarctica! - Ravenwald 2 of 4 See Disclaimers in Part 1 PART VII Over the snowfield Antarctica Scully spent most of the trip holding onto the armrests tightly, her face alternately white from fear and red from coughing fits. As the flight went on, the time between coughing fits became shorter and they blended into one continuous spasm that wracked the small woman's frame cruelly. Carmen watched her carefully. When they were about five minutes out from the base, she switched channels, radioing ahead to have gurneys ready to take them to sickbay. By the time the helicopter landed, Scully's breathing was erratic and labored. The door opened up and the cold blast of air sent her into a coughing fit that she was unable to recover from. Two of the staff members lifted her out and onto the gurney. They carried her inside while two others, with help from the Gunmen, extricated Mulder from the rear of the craft. While all this was being done, Carmen shut down the helicopter and got out to assist the ground crew in securing the aircraft hangar for the quickly approaching storm. Antarctica Australian base Sickbay Plus 3.5 hours Carmen entered the main building where the sickbay was located and went to see how the two FBI agents were doing. She was greeted by a scene of controlled chaos. The Lone Gunmen were wrapping Mulder in blankets while the entire medical staff of the base worked on his partner. "She's congested and not getting enough oxygen. Her blood O2 level is 86." Carmen went over to where Jack Kepper, was overseeing the process of getting the red-head settled. "Hi! She seemed to be okay when she first came into the helicopter, but the longer she was up in the cabin with heat, the harder it was for her to breathe. Then she started coughing. She said it felt as if she was breathing lime Jell-o." "Well, considering what's she's coughed up so far, that doesn't sound too far off... except it looks more like lemon. I'm going to put her in an oxygen tank with one hundred percent humidity, but drop the temperature some. Maybe that'll help. If what you observed is true, this stuff may liquefy on contact with cooler air." They had already started an IV drip with a hydrating agent, a mega-dose of antibiotics and an expectorant. "If she doesn't improve in a half hour we can try nebulizing her. I just wish her friend would wake up and tell us what she was exposed to. I'd almost say it looks like an environmental toxin, but as far as I can see, there isn't any tissue damage. When we stabilize her breathing, I want to run a full set of chest X-rays." Carmen wandered over to the bed that Mulder was in and looked down at him. He looked exhausted, his face drawn and he was shivering. She turned back to the med tech. "Hey, Jack, I think Mulder here is either in shock or he's hypothermic." "Well, you know the drill, take his temp, and take care of it. I've got my hands full here!" "Here, let me help, Carmen." Carmen turned to find Frohike at her side, worry etched on his face. (*Maybe he isn't such a gnome, after all,*) she thought. "Mulder was shot in the head four days ago; he really shouldn't have come after her, but we couldn't stop him," Frohike told her soberly as she took Mulder's temperature. "They're really close, aren't they?" "Yes, and no. They aren't involved, if that's what you mean, at least not that way. Not yet, anyhow. Neither one of them wants to take the chance that the other doesn't want them in the same way... and then, too, they have enemies." "That isn't a reason." "It is for them. Both of them have had siblings taken from them by the people that they're fighting. You seem to know about Mulder's sister, Scully's sister was killed a couple of years back." Frohike was speaking to himself now. "Why can't they just leave them alone?" "Who?" Carmen was distracted by his mutterings from reminding Frohike that Mulder was an old friend of hers. Frohike's face was a study in pain. "Our governments." Melvin Frohike watched the shock and then the disbelief spread across the pilot's face. He sighed. He had come to like Mulder's British friend and the sadness he felt at having to be the one to disillusion her surprised him. "How long have you known Mulder?" he asked her, attempting to change the subject. "Since he was seventeen. I was finishing up my doctorate and they assigned me to him as his student mentor. Brilliant kid, but no social skills whatsoever. Which surprised me, given his background, his father being an employee of your State Department and all. I didn't find out until a couple of years later what he had gone through as a kid. "He has the world's worst luck, doesn't he?" Carmen looked toward the bed where the oxygen tent was being set up. "Mostly, yes, but maybe this time, his luck has changed." "Maybe. I hope so, anyway," Frohike agreed. Frohike and Carmen, with some hesitant and uncertain help from Byers and Langly, stripped Mulder to his skivvies. Carmen dredged up all the refreshers and in-service classes she had had since her first aid classes, and went over her friend's body hurriedly, checking for injury, looking for some reason why he was still unconscious. The bullet graze on his skull looked angry, but there was no CT or MRI scanner on the base; an X-ray would not do them much good at this point. If his skull was fractured, he probably wouldn't have been able to accomplish everything he apparently had done since the injury had been incurred. The bruises that covered him were frightening, and Carmen found herself wondering what could possibly have caused them. After all, all he had done was drive the Snow-Cat out onto the plateau. He had been waiting there for them, still in the 'Cat. But he looked as if he had been severely beaten, or had suffered a terrible fall. "Oh, my God." Langly's voice, thick with horror and nausea. Carmen and the other two Gunmen looked up. They looked where he was looking, and each, in their own way, reacted much as Langly had. Mulder's left leg, from just below the knee to his heel, was ripped open by four deep, ragged parallel cuts. The boot was also slashed, and buried in the thick sole was the evidence of the cause of the damage. Langly pried out the bit of broken claw tip with a small forceps, and held it up to show it to his friends. "I wonder what almost got him?" Byers produced a small Lexan vial and encased the claw tip efficiently. "I think that wound needs to be cleaned really well," he said intensely. Carmen frowned. "It should be bleeding more; what is this gelatin in here?" She was about to poke at it with her finger when Frohike grabbed her wrist and pulled her away. "No. Level One quarantine," he said harshly. "Latex and masks. That virus doesn't pass easily from human to human, but it might, especially if it gained entrance through blood or mucus membranes." He turned to stare at Byers. "What can you remember about what Scully told us she had to do in Alaska to keep him alive?" "Blood thinners, cold temperatures and tailored experimental anti-viral medications," Langly growled harshly. "He was on a respirator for nine days, and didn't regain consciousness for twenty-four days after that. She had to defibrillate him twice." "He should have antibodies for this virus," Byers said softly. "He survived his two previous exposures..." Frohike blinked. Then he studied his unconscious friend a little more closely. "Okay. Look, he's breathing okay, and he doesn't seem to be in any particular distress right now. Let warm him up a little, and clean and bandage that wound. If he shows distress, we can always lower the temperature. We don't have the anti-virals it'll take to kill it if it really gets a hold of him, but maybe he can fight it off if we support him." That made sense to the other two Gunmen, and they set about cleaning Mulder up. Carmen, having had the most medical training, worked on the wounds on Mulder's leg, wearing doubled latex gloves and two masks. She used every disinfectant and antiseptic they had, and was cautiously pleased when, after she had irrigated the wounds clean of all the blood-red gelatin with which they were filled, they began to bleed a little. "Well, look at that." Frohike looked up, saw the blood seeping, and allowed himself a pleased expression that did not quite measure up to being called a smile. "That's great, Carmen. The virus causes the blood to gel; if he's bleeding, maybe the virus has no toehold there." "If we use blood thinners, he's going to be in real pain, considering all the bruising he's sustained," she was thinking out loud as she coated the wounds with a triple antibiotic ointment and started laying on squares of sterile gauze. "And I'm not even sure if we have any blood thinners beside aspirin." "Uh, guys?" Langly interrupted them. "Yeah?" "Let Scully handle it, okay?" he suggested nervously. "He should be okay for awhile if we keep his temperature down. She'll kill us if we hurt him messing around with stuff we don't really understand." Byers straightened. "You're right, Ringo. This is her area of expertise. We'll leave it to her." They helped Carmen bandage the long claw marks, and they put him to bed in the same room beside Scully, knowing that both would rest more easily if they were together. The base had only minimal telemetry capability, and the guys had to kludge some of the electronics, but they cobbled up a blood pressure and pulse monitor, hooked Mulder up, and were finishing up the last of the bandages. Suddenly, the day hit Carmen; she sighed slumping against the wall, closing her eyes. She was shocked when an arm came around her shoulder to turn her. "Come on, the important stuff is done. You're exhausted, Byers can finish up." With Byers's assurances that he could cope, she allowed Frohike to lead her out of the sickbay and down to her room. She collapsed onto the bed and allowed Frohike to put her feet up and remove her boots and socks. She lay there in bewilderment as he hitched himself up on the bed and pulled her feet into his lap. "Frohike!" "Mel, I think you should call me Mel." Frohike murmured in equal bemusement as he began to massage her feet. "What do you think you're doing?" "I'm massaging your feet. They've got to be sore after the day you've put in," he replied, as he continued his ministrations. Carmen sighed, but could not tell if it was in resignation or in bliss as Frohike's strong fingers kneaded the cramp out of her right foot. (*How did he know?*) she wondered. Then, she let down her guard and abandoned herself to the sensations the strong fingers engendered. After a little while, Frohike noticed that Carmen's breathing had evened out and that she had fallen asleep. (*I should leave,*) he thought, as he undid the laces of his boots. He was almost as drained as the woman, though, so he crept up next to her and snuggled down, pulling her back against him. He took off his glasses and set them on the footlocker next to the bed. His final thoughts as he pulled the blankets over them were: (*She's going kick my ass and stake me naked outside for this when she wakes up!*) But he realized that he did not really care. Sometime during the night, Carmen woke up, disoriented. (*What the hell?*) She looked down to see an arm wrapped around her and she was using the other for a pillow. (*He is a gnome!*) She thought, recognizing the hands in the fingerless gloves. She started to turn, but the arm tightened and drew her snugly back against the compact body behind her. She sighed, shaking her head, and nestled into the embrace. (*I can always kick his butt in the morning!*) she decided fuzzily and fell back asleep. Part VIII Australian Base Sick Bay Plus 9 hours It was dark in the room when Mulder woke up. He sat up suddenly, staring around the room in a panic. "Scully!" "Calm down. She's going to be fine." Byers answered in a quiet voice, pushing his friend back onto the mattress. "They've got her on oxygen and antibiotics. She's breathing much better than when we got you two here." Mulder pushed against the restraining hand of the Gunman. "I want to see her," he said firmly, swinging his legs around. He tried to stand up and then sat back down again as he gasped. Pain raced up his leg and exploded into agony. "Take it easy. I'll help you. Stay put for a minute." Byers knew just how worried Mulder was about Scully and knew he would never keep him in the bed. "Let me put a chair next to her bed first." Leaving Mulder sitting on the edge of the bed studying the bandaging on his leg, Byers went to the next room and came back pushing one of the easy chairs from the Rec Room. He set it up on the side of the bed away from the IV lines, then went back to help Mulder limp over. Mulder held on as Byers eased him down and into the chair. "I'm going to go tell Jack you're awake. He wanted to know." "Fine." Mulder said, distractedly, his attention riveted on his partner. After Byers left, Mulder got up, pushed the chair flush against the bed and picked up Scully's hand. Holding it between both of his, he started rocking back and forth, tears falling. "Oh, Scully, oh, Scully. Why does all this happen to you?" Finally, not being able to bear being apart from her, he crawled into the bed with her and pulled her back against him, being careful not to tangle the IV line. "Mulder?" "Scully, you're awake!" "I have been for a while," she whispered. "It just hurts to talk. I was coughing earlier and I could hardly breath. They nebulized me twice. The doctor wants to know what the yellow goo is." "Oh, yeah, he's going to love being told that it's alien slime." "Alien slime!" A merry voice interrupted them from the doorway as Dr. Kepper entered the room. "What are you on, and where can I get some, Mulder?" "I told you," he whispered to Scully. He released her gently and climbed out of the bed, favoring his injured leg. "It *was* alien slime, Jack. Scully was infected with a virus after being stung by a genetically engineered bee. I followed her here to Antarctica and found her in the bowels of a very large spaceship. You can ask Carm just how big the hole was that it left when it took off. I found her in a pod..." "I knew pods were going to come into it somewhere," Dr. Kepper muttered. Mulder ignored him. "...smashed it open, injected Scully with a serum that I obtained from a contact. I pulled the umbilical out of her throat and we got the hell out of there." Mulder was defiant as he told the story of Scully's rescue. After listening to the entire story, Dr. Kepper sighed. "You're delusional, Mulder." "I'm not, and like I said, ask Carmen just how large that hole was she found us next to." Mulder repeated. "And I have a sample of the serum I injected Scully with that we can analyze. And while you're at it, why don't you analyze the stuff she's been coughing up?" "We have," Dr. Kepper shrugged carelessly. "As far as we can tell, it's mucus. Just plain old ordinary mucus. Nothing strange about it other than it's color." Mulder was getting angry when Scully sat up and distracted both men from the argument. "He isn't lying, at least as far as the pod and the rest of *that* is concerned," she said didactically. "And whatever it was where I was being held, something happened to it, because it's gone now." "Dr. Scully, you were oxygen deprived when you were brought in here. You were probably hallucinating." "Why don't you analyze the rest of the serum?" "We don't have the facilities for that here." "Then how do you know that the stuff Scully coughed up was 'just mucus'?" Mulder demanded. "Our equipment can handle that... "Jack..." "Mulder!" Scully broke in. "Let it be for now. Come back to bed. We're both tired and nothing is going to be solved by fighting. Let it go." Mulder's shoulders slumped in capitulation and went back to stand beside Scully's bed. "You need your sleep more than you need me around. I'll just..." "Mulder, get in here." Scully told him firmly. She put a hand and pulled at his arm. "I don't care what anyone thinks. Right now, I want and need you beside me. I want to know that I'm here and I'm not in a pod somewhere dreaming all of this." Mulder turned to Jack Kepper and shook his head. "She bullies me like this all the time," he sighed. "I guess we'll finish this discussion in the morning." "You're not going to fight with the doctor, Mulder. You're going to be polite and do exactly what he tells you," Scully told him calmly, ignoring his original aside to the doctor. "Yes, ma'am." Mulder slid into bed with his partner. He laid down on the bed and carefully hugged her to him. "And in the morning, we're going to have a discussion about insubordination, Agent Scully." "Yeah, right, Mulder." Scully grinned and snuggled close. "Hey, Byers?" "Yes, Agent Scully?" "When you see the boys, tell them thanks." "I will, if I ever find where Frohike went. He disappeared about four hours ago and no one has seen him since." "Ask Carmen, she can tell you where she buried the body," Mulder told him, laughing. The others joined in and Dr. Kepper and Byers left the room, leaving the agents their privacy. Scully squirmed carefully around until she was facing Mulder, one hand on his chest. "I thought I lost you out there on the ice." "I thought I lost you when that damned bee stung you and then again when you stopped breathing in the ship." He tightened his arms around her. "I don't think I could go on if that were to happen. I need you, Scully." Continued in Part 2 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Rent DVDs Online-No late fees! Try Netflix for FREE! http://us.click.yahoo.com/bbvVKB/oEZFAA/46VHAA/QsMolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> AXF is your list for ALL X-Files Fanfic... all genres, all characters, all ratings. Automatic newsgroup posting too! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/all-xf Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ From ravenwald@aol.com Mon Mar 31 14:26:26 2003 Date: 2 Mar 2003 18:40:05 -0800 From: ravenwald@aol.com Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: [all-xf] Where in the World... Antarctica! - Ravenwald 3 of 4 Disclaimers, etc in part 1 Part 9 Australian Base Carmen's Quarters Plus 12 hours He opened his eyes slowly, wondering where he was and who was in bed with him. Waking up with another person in bed with him, much less snuggled close to him, was an occurrence that had been rare in recent years. (*In fact, I can't remember the last time I woke up in bed with someone!*) Usually women were put off by his paranoia, his looks, or the attitude he had cultivated when he realized that no one was going to fall for him for his looks. (*Oh, hell, what's the worst she can do to me?*) and he tightened one arm around Carmen while the other pushed the curls back from her forehead. He ran a finger across the side of her face that was not buried in his chest. "What do you think you're doing, Frohike?" Carmen's voice was muffled from her position but did not sound angry, just curious. Taking heart from the fact that she had not sprung out of bed or his embrace, he let his hand drift down her neck to her back where he started massaging little circles on her shoulder blades. "Frohike?" "I told you last night, call me Mel, and I'm just taking up where I left off last night." "Why?" Carmen's voice was toneless, her body limp with resignation. "It's not like you and your friends need my help any more. Besides, I would have done it for Mulder, anyhow." Frohike's hand stilled abruptly. "Do you think I'd do this just to get you to help us?" "C'mon, Frohike. Give me a break. I'm 43, I'm sixty pounds over-weight, and I've got a mirror; I know I'm no beauty. Why would anyone, even you, want me, unless they wanted something from me?" "Maybe because I like you? Possibly because, when I look at you I see the lovely person you are. Maybe because I'm as lonely as you seem to be." "I don't need your pity." The words were wrenched from Carmen, the pain in them evident and he could feel her body begin to shake as she tried to pull away. "Right, like you'd need *my* pity! Carmen, look at me! Women call me, troll and troglodyte to my face and probably a lot of other, less complimentary adjectives behind my back. Who am I to pity you? I felt a connection when we met; something told me that we could be friends. Maybe more than friends, but at the very least friends." He combed his fingers through her curly, light brown. "Why do you think I couldn't want you?" "Why should you, no one else ever has." "Then they've all been blind." Frohike ran his thumb across her cheek and followed it with his lips. He caught her gaze and she stared into his warm, brown eyes as he bent his head to kiss her. She sobbed as she turned in his arms and encircled his body with hers, clutching him tightly to her, burying her head in his chest. He threaded the fingers of one hand into her hair and gently forced her to meet his gaze. "I'm going to show you just how much someone could want you," he told her firmly and he began to kiss his way down her throat. Bemused at the firmness in his voice, Carmen allowed Mulder's strange little friend to take liberties that she had never allowed any man to take. She gasped as his lips closed over one, cotton-covered nipple, her back arching in reaction. "Oh, my God!" "Carmen?" Frohike was rather taken aback at her reaction. It suddenly dawned on him that given her attitude, there was a very good chance that he was dealing with a virgin and frankly, it scared him. "Don't stop!" "I'm not going to stop, but I am going to slow down. Carmen, talk to me." She looked up into his eyes and started to draw back. "I..." He tightened his hold on her. "No... I'm not stopping, but ..." Frohike was at a loss for words. (*How do you ask a 43 year-old-woman if she's a virgin?*) "Carmen, are you... have you ever..." Her reaction when she realized what he was asking would have been comical if Frohike had not been so deadly serious about what he decided that he really, really wanted to do. She blushed beet red, the blush spreading down her neck disappearing down the neck of her shirt. She tried to pull away from his embrace. "Well, I guess that answers that question," he mused as he tightened his grip on her. "Stop trying to get away." he murmured as he began kissing her again. "But...." "But nothing. I'm going to make this good for you if it kills me!" "But..." "Carmen?" "What?" "Shut up and kiss me." Ten minutes later, they were still kissing, Frohike having found that he *liked* kissing Carmen. "Are we ever going to do anything else?" Carmen asked breathlessly. "Yeah, but I figure you've got at least twenty years of foreplay coming to you," he told her, an evil grin spreading across his face. "Oh, my!" she responded faintly, as she realized that while he had been kissing her, he had taken advantage of the fact that she was distracted and stripped off her shirt and bra and had worked the zipper down on her jeans. "How...?" "You seem to have been preoccupied," he told her as he stood up and pulled her jeans and panties off. He purposely did not stare at her body, but took off his vest and pulled his sweater and t-shirt over his head. His fingers moved to his belt before he got a reaction out of Carmen. "Uh..." "Well, I just thought you'd be more comfortable if we both had the same amount of clothes on." "Oh." "You know, you almost sound interested. Is there something I could show you, little girl?" He grinned again as the blush spread across her chest again as he waggled his eyebrows at her, leering. "I'm not little, and I'm certainly no girl," she answered, trying to keep the smile out of her voice. Frohike's voice grew serious. "Carmen, I don't want to do anything that you're uncomfortable with. I want this to be good for you and if we have to spend the next week in this bed..." "A week!" "Well, your weather guy said the storm is going to be around for at least a week and I can't think of a better way to spend the time. Can you?" "Well, we could always overhaul the helicopter... it takes a lot of maintenance to be able to fly it down here." Frohike opened his mouth, then shut it again, when he realized that she was putting him on. He pulled her to her knees on the bed and wrapped his arms around her, burying her face in the valley between her breasts. He grinned at her sudden intake of breath as he licked first one, then the other. "I think I'd rather do maintenance right here." "Are you good with your tool?" she asked, shocking another grin out of him. "Well, it's been quite a while, but I think I still know how to use it." "And, it hasn't rusted away from lack of use?" "Carmen!" Frohike was laughing out loud now. "What would give you that notion?" "Well, when I talk to Mulder he's told me about you, and he said you were waiting for his video collection. I know about that collection! That, and he says you keep propositioning his partner." "Well, as far as the video collection goes, it's purely scientific interest." Frohike told her laughing, but then he became serious. "And as for Scully, she needs someone to make her laugh. Mulder tries, but they're too bound up in this conspiracy; they have very little to laugh about. So, I made it my job to play court jester for her." "Truly?" "If you're asking am I pining for Dr. Scully, the answer is no. I've always known she belonged to Mulder. From the first time we saw them together we all knew. Hell, the only people that don't know that Mulder and Scully belong together are Mulder and Scully." "I like her. I think she's been good for Mulder." "I know she's good for him. She'll never treat him like Diana did." "Good Lord, is that harpy still around?" "Yeah, but why are we talking about Mulder's old girlfriend? Hell," he said, pulling away and yanking off the rest of his clothing, "why are we talking at all?" Without giving her a chance to escape, he slipped into bed and pulled her down on top of him. Carmen's eyes widened at the feel of him pressing hard against her. She tried to look down, but he took her head in his hands and began to kiss her again. Starting at her forehead, he kissed his way down to her lips and lingered there. His hands gravitated to her back again where he began rubbing small circles on her shoulder blades and continued their movements as he turned them over. Carmen let her hands slid around him to touch his back, echoing his movements. They froze when they felt the distinctive ridges of scar tissue. "Oh, my God! What happened to you?" she gasped. Frohike stilled as her fingers lightly traced the scars that criss-crossed his entire back, then tried to pull away. This time, it was Carmen's turn to hold tight. She forgot her own nervousness as she slid out from beneath him and straddled his thighs. She held him down, then began to trail kisses along the jagged lines. (*How did he survive this?*) Carmen wondered. Frohike's back was a mass of scar tissue... more scar than skin, in fact. (*It almost looks as if he was flayed!** "Mel...? How... when...?" she questioned... tears beginning to fall at the thought of the pain he must have gone through. "Vietnam," he answered in a tight voice. "I spent four months as a guest of the Viet Cong, and the commander enjoyed inflicting pain. And he was an artist at it. He could whip you and keep you conscious for hours on end. The pain never became quite bad enough to let you pass out. And it went on and on." He took a deep breath and continued. "Those four months seemed like an eternity. Then the camp was liberated by a Ranger unit. They were on a mission in the area and they stumbled across us by accident. Their leader decided that they could manage to use the mission as a diversion to rescue us, too. "I spent six months in the hospital afterwards." He squirmed and she allowed him to turn over. "I was lucky. The commander only got as far as my back and hands." He stripped off the fingerless gloves she had never seen him without, and she caught her breath again as he turned his hands for her to see. "Most of that time they spent doing skin grafts and reconstructive surgery on my hands. The Commander had started on them first and by the time we were rescued, they were infected badly and the bones in the hand itself were healing crooked. I was damned lucky, though. Some of the men rescued didn't survive the trip out, others lost hands and feet. One of the men, he had been there the longest, over eighteen months, had wounds and scars over his entire body. "What happened to him?" "He committed suicide. He just couldn't take looking at himself in the mirror. At least gloves and a t-shirt cover my scars." "Tell me the rest of the story." "The Ranger commander caught Lieutenant Nguyen working over one of the other prisoners and he put a bullet in his gut. Then he walked away. The guards were shot cleanly, but Captain Childress told his men to let the Lieutenant die like the scum he was." [[ Frohike pulled Carmen down to him and she laid there, listening to the beat of his heart as he finished his story. "Childress was court- martialed for rescuing us. 'Disregarding the orders of a superior officer' were the charges brought against him, because they had been under orders to make no contact with the VC beyond their objective. I've often wondered since if someone hadn't known we were there all along. It was while I was in the hospital and I listened to the stories some of the other soldiers told, that I began to wonder about our government. Stories about experiments being done on unsuspecting soldiers, entire units disappearing, stuff like that." Carmen had no answer for that. She simply twined the fingers of his right hand with her left and brought it to her mouth and kissed each finger then the back of it. Frohike ran his other hand up her arm to her neck and pulled her back down to him, kissing her hungrily, all embarrassment erased by her actions. After a few minutes, he pushed gently at her shoulder and she rolled off him onto her back, gasping for air. "Now, where were we?" he asked and proceeded to kiss his way down her neck. He stopped and paid special attention to each breast, rolling the nipples to attention between his fingers, before fastening his lips to one of them. Again, Carmen arched off the bed. As he continued his assault with his mouth, he trailed his fingers down her side, lightly, but with enough pressure not to tickle. His fingers slipped between her legs and she shuddered as they slid across her clit. "What did you just do!?" she panted. (*It never feels like *that* when I touch myself!*) "If you have to ask, I'm obviously not doing it right," Frohike responded and slid his body down hers to bury his face between her legs. "No, no! Whatever it was, do it again! Now!" (*Now, let's see if I can remember how to do this.*) Frohike thought, maniacally. Placing his hands on her knees, he pressed softly and was pleased when they fell open for him. Then he grasped her softly around one ankle to ground her. He used the other to open her, and stared in awe at the warm, moist wonder before him. Tentatively, he reached out with his tongue and swiped from bottom to top, flicking gently at her clit. She moaned. He grinned and settled down to enjoy himself. He licked her again, she moaned again... and kept moaning, slightly louder each time his tongue touched her. He slid one finger to her opening and felt her tense. "Let it go, Carmen..." and rubbed her with his thumb while he stroked gently in and out. He could feel her begin to shudder and he pushed a second finger inside. Twisting and stroking, widening the fingers into a V to try to stretch her... (*She's tight and I don't want to hurt her...*) Plunging deeper, he used his other hand to expose her and blew across her clit. She pushed up, into his hand and cried out softly, shuddering violently. Not waiting for her climax to end he removed his hand and positioned himself at her entrance. "Carmen, look at me," he commanded. It was difficult, but she focused her eyes on his and they never broke contact as he slowly sank into her. She bit her lip as he entered deeper, fighting the pain below with pain from above. He suddenly felt the resistance give way and continued until he was fully sheathed. "Relax, sweetie... just let me love you." "Sweetie?" "You tasted pretty sweet to me," he told her with a grin and bent down to kiss her. She groaned as he began to move. (*Oh, my god, I'm really doing this.*) And as she felt the pleasure build once again... (*If I had known what I was missing...!*) Carmen thought as he bent his head to take a nipple between his teeth and worry it gently. She started breathing harder as she felt the tension in her body begin to crest again. "Mel... Mel... Mel..." she started to chant until she stiffened and exploded around him. "Melvin.....!" she screamed and collapsed back against the bed as Frohike finished right after her, wrapping her tightly in his arms as if he would never let her go. Part 10 Australian base Sick Bay Plus 12 hours Byers came in to the sick bay, a serious look on his face. Mulder was sitting next to Scully's bed, the doctor having decided that she would probably recover faster if she lay propped up on the bed instead of her partner. After much grumbling on both agent's parts, they reluctantly complied. Mulder had to admit that Scully was breathing better and consoled himself with this thought as he sat in exile in the uncomfortable chair, his wounded leg propped up at the foot of her bed beside her feet. "Mulder, how's Agent Scully?" "Better. Jack is a real pain." Mulder added as the doctor in question entered behind the Gunman. "I told you she would be. I'm surprised either one of you listened." Kepper glanced at the two American men, and growled. "Do you know where your friend, Frohike is? No one has seen either him or Carm since they left here last night." Byers and Mulder exchanged startled glances. Silent thoughts occurred to them both at the same time but they both dismissed their wildly differing thoughts at the same time. "Nah, couldn't be." "Couldn't be, what?" Jack asked. "She wouldn't have thrown him outside, would she, Mulder?" Byers asked worriedly. Mulder shrugged helplessly. "Well, if he pissed her off enough, yeah, Carm is fully capable of doing something like that." Byers looked even more worried. "But she wouldn't really do it, I mean, she'd just threaten to, right?" Mulder began to answer when the morning quiet was broken by a female voice screaming a name. Byers looked puzzled. "What do you think Alvin's done to piss Carm off?" Dr. Kepper frowned. "We don't have any one on the base named Alvin." (*No, it couldn't be... she wouldn't...*) Mulder thought, amazed. (*But if there's no one named Alvin, and she and Frohike supposedly disappeared about the same time...? And come to think of it, that wasn't a scream of anger that we just heard. That was the voice of a woman well and truly fucked.*) Mulder burst into laughter. "What?" both Byers and Kepper asked at once. "I think I know where Carm and Frohike got to. I don't think we have to worry about them." Jack looked confused, while Byers just stared at Mulder. "He didn't!" "I'd say the odds are pretty good that *they* did. God, I would have laid odds that Carmen would have killed him first." The look on Mulder's face changed subtly as he settled back in his chair, but he let no clue as to his thoughts. (*And if he hurts her, I'll kill the little troll myself!*) "Would someone kindly tell me what the hell the two of you are talking about?" the doctor almost shouted. Scully's voice was filled with silent laughter as she took pity on the poor man. "I'd say that Carmen and Frohike spent the night together... and not sleeping." Jack looked shocked... "But Carm doesn't..." "I'd say Carm did." (*Frohike and Carmen; who'd've thought it,*) she mused shaking her head. Her face turned to Mulder's and a small smile crossed it. (*Poor Mulder. Everybody's getting some except him. Well, maybe we can change that. I'm certainly willing to give it a try. Let's see if I can embarrass him.*) She pulled his hand into hers, startling him out of his thoughts. "Hey, Mulder?" "What?" he said, shaking his head to clear it of the vision of one of his oldest friends wrapped in Frohike's torrid embrace. He leaned toward her, searching her face. "Is anything wrong?" She pulled him down closer. "How does it feel to know that even Frohike is getting some? Maybe he won't be wanting those videos that aren't yours after all." "Scully... You're talking about *Frohike* and one of my oldest friends! If he hurts her..." She realized just how upset he was, but could not bear not teasing him just a bit more. "Oh, well, you never know, she might be a black widow spider or a preying mantis... I mean right now she could be chomping poor Melvin's head off." Mulder smiled. "Which one?" "Yeeew! Mulder!" Part 10 Australian Base Carmen's quarters plus 13 hours "Now, tell me why you could possibly think that no one would want you." Frohike commanded as he rolled onto his back and fought to catch his breath. "No one has. Certainly not my father -- he wanted a boy as first born. My mother wanted someone graceful not the klutz I turned out to be. I was forever breaking things, tripping over things that weren't there. My sister despised and hated me... Hell, I couldn't even keep the husband they bought for me." Frohike's hand stilled as she was speaking. (*No wonder she and Mulder are friends! They both know what it's like to be rejected by their family and lovers.*) "What happened?" "I actually thought he loved me. I adored him. He was gorgeous and I was dazzled that someone like him would want someone plain like me. I didn't know about the arrangement he and my father had come to. He got drunk at the wedding reception. I thought it was nerves. I helped him to bed and then I went to my old room sleep because he was passed-out, sprawled across the bed in our room. At least I thought he was passed out." "And the next morning?" "My illusion of happiness didn't even last that long. I woke up at two in the morning with my sister screaming at someone for interrupting her fun. Our rooms connected and I went in to see what was going on and to ask her to be quiet because the house was filled with guests and I didn't want a scandal. I found my naked sister sitting astride my equally naked husband. And there was poor Mulder, standing there in a robe with a bottle of champagne in one hand and two glasses in the other, looking equal parts shocked, angry and sick. "He just stood there, saying over and over, 'How could you betray your sister this way?' Not, how could you betray me, but 'how could you betray your sister.'" "He would see it that way," Frohike interjected. "What did you do?" he asked gently, never letting up on the small circles he was making on her back. "Me? I just stood there shaking, not able to say a word. My sister turned when she noticed that I had come into the room and asked me what I expected. 'It's not like he's in love with you! Father wanted to get you and Phaedra out of his hair and Jorge and Raoul needed their debts paid. Everyone's happy! At least Phaedra was woman enough to keep a hold on Raoul!' I'll never forget those words." Carmen rolled out of his arms and pushed the pillows behind her, propping herself up so she was sitting against the wall. "Mulder stood there staring at her for the longest time, then he turned to me and told me to get dressed and pack a bag. She looked at him as if he had grown second head. No one had ever gone against her... much less supported *me* against her. And certainly not one of her men! She'd forgotten about Mulder's sense of honor and that he and I had been friends first. She tried talk to him, but all the while still snuggled up to Jorge. Mulder ignored her and repeated himself and told me to meet him at the front door in ten minutes. I didn't even bother to pack. I got dressed and waited for him in the hall. "Phoebe and Jorge never left her bedroom. "One good thing came out of that debacle. Mulder finally realized just what kind of crazed bitch my baby sister could be. He took me back to Oxford and helped me get settled. As far as I know, he never saw Phoebe again." Frohike jerked as her sister's name finally registered. "Wait a minute, you're Phoebe Green's sister? But... but you're so... so... nice!" he told her, shocked. He remembered Scully's story of what happened when Phoebe had come back, though temporarily, into Mulder's life. Carmen smiled at him then, a brilliant smile that lit up her face, and made him forget where he was and what he was doing. All he could see was the smile that turned her ordinary face, extraordinary. "I think that's the nicest, most amazing thing anyone has ever said to me," she told him as tears streamed down her face. Frohike had been laying on his side leaning on one elbow. Now he settled himself next to her and pulled her back into his arms, settling her snug against his side. "Tell me the rest." "Not that much more to tell. Mulder got me settled back in Oxford. He let me stay at his place for a couple of weeks until I could find a place of my own; I had let my rooms go when I went home to get married. He helped me find a lawyer and helped me realize just what it was that I wanted." Frohike raised his eyebrows in query and she continued. "I wanted freedom from my family to do what I wanted and for that, I needed access to my trust fund. We found a lawyer who wasn't put off by my father's position, and we spelled it out for my darling father. I then found out that the money that he had been going to settle on Jorge was actually mine outright from my grandmother. There was no trust fund. My father had just told me that so he continued to have access to the interest. I wanted the money, as well as the property she had left me. He was going to fight it, but I pointed out that I could prove that the marriage had not been consummated and that I would. "I thought he was going to have a stroke right there and then. I got my annulment in exchange for agreeing not to release any of the dirty little details. God forbid that any of the friends or family find out what had happened. Of course, everyone did find out and I got blamed for everything. Jorge's father was the Consul General for Spain... they were a really *old* family, with lands and ancient titles; totally unlike my upstart family. We had the money, but we'd only had the title about two hundred years. His father was a bloody duke!" Her eyes were closed in pain, remembering. "You know, I thought I had been happy before that... I mean I had friends at University and I had come to terms with the fact that my family basically had no use for me. It wasn't until after I got my second doctorate that I realized that nothing I had done before had been for myself... it had always been a hidden attempt at trying to prove myself to my parents." She shook her head. "Before the debacle with Jorge, I was just another society child, and unwanted one, but it was there in my background and I always tried to fit myself into the mold. I'm glad it happened the way it did, because it woke me up. "There isn't much more to tell, Jorge came into the court room screaming that I was a frigid bitch that no one would want anyhow. Well, a foreigner screaming at My Lord Justice didn't go over very well. So, I got what I wanted and I never went back. I haven't seen any of them since. I went back to school and studied something practical this time and I ended up here." "Title, money..." Frohike was dazed as he stared at her. "Didn't Mulder ever tell you anything about Phoebe?" "He never says too much about his old girlfriends. They all seem to be the same type, though: Tall, brunette, busty bitches." "Well, that describes my sister Phoebe, all right. He finally seems to have gained some sense, though. I like Dana." "So do I, but you're trying to change the subject. Tell me the rest." "I got the annulment, changed my name legally; I kept his last name as a reminder not to be a fool again, and Carmen just kind of went along with it. I wanted to reinvent myself totally, though if I had known they were going to make that wretched television program, I would have picked a different first name," she commented with a faint grin. Frohike has the grace to look abashed and he started to apologize for his actions of the past couple of days. "Don't worry, I'm used to it. If you think you're bad, you should have heard the last set of interns we had. They got together and practiced the song and during one of the impromptu talent nights, they trotted it out. I thought Jack Kepper was going to have a stroke trying not to laugh." "What's your birth name? What did the evil fairies christen you?" "Sure you want to know?" "Come on, it can't be as bad as Melvin Nathaniel Frohike." "Wanna bet? Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you." Her lips curled up into a smile. "Melvin Nathaniel Frohike, I'd like you to meet Lady Penelope Ermintrude Emmaline Catherine Green." Frohike started at her. "Penelope Ermintrude? Why in heaven's name would anyone saddle a child with Ermintrude? God, no wonder you and Mulder get along so well! Weird names and dysfunctional families." He shook his head and hugged her to take away the sting of his words. "It's family tradition that the eldest daughter is always named Penelope Ermintrude." "Why?" When she didn't answer immediately, he shook her gently. "God, getting information out of you is a tough as getting information out of the US Government. Yes, I want to know." "Well, the family's title dates from the time of Charles II. He used to give out titles for..." "Yeah, I know about Charles II 'Services rendered to the crown' is what I think they termed it, wasn't it? But what does that have to do with you? Don't tell me...?" "Yup. The titles were sometimes given to women in their own right. And some of them were not just courtesy titles, but real peerages, depending upon the services that were rendered." Her grin widened. "A very few of those have a codicil to the inheritance. If there are no direct male heirs, but there are direct daughters, the eldest daughter inherits. So the first son is always named Charles but the first daughter is always named Penelope Ermintrude after the First Countess of Middlesex and Thames. Well, Father hasn't been able to sire a son yet. He's had three different wives and they all have spawned girls. So..." "So!?" "Unless he manages to get himself a son before he dies, and from what I've heard he isn't at all well, I'll be the next Countess of Middlesex and Thames and won't that piss off little sister Phoebe!" Frohike sat there holding Carmen, for once in his life totally speechless. Continued in part 4 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Rent DVDs Online-No late fees! Try Netflix for FREE! http://us.click.yahoo.com/bbvVKB/oEZFAA/46VHAA/QsMolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> AXF is your list for ALL X-Files Fanfic... all genres, all characters, all ratings. Automatic newsgroup posting too! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/all-xf Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ From ravenwald@aol.com Mon Mar 31 14:26:31 2003 Date: 2 Mar 2003 18:40:12 -0800 From: ravenwald@aol.com Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: [all-xf] Where in the World... Antarctica! - Ravenwald part 4 of 4 Disclaimers, etc in part 1 Part 11 Australian Base Sick Bay Plus 13 hours When Jack and Byers had left the room, Scully turned to Mulder. "We're going to have to do something about this, you know." "About wha?" "Frohike getting some and you not getting any." "Scully!" He took a deep breath. "Are you sure?" he asked, hesitantly. "I've never been more certain of anything in my life," she told him, pulling him tighter to her. "I promised myself back in the 'Cat that if we survived, we weren't going to let anything keep us apart. It may not happen right away, but we are going to do this!" (*I'm certainly not going to tell him that I was watching as he got dressed!*) she thought to herself with a grin. "What?" "What, what?" "Why are you grinning?" Scully thought quickly. "Just imagining the night that Frohike and Carmen had, that's all." "Now we don't *know*..." "Mulder, you've watched enough of those videos that aren't yours to know a scream of ecstasy when you hear it," she asked, eyebrow crawling toward her hairline. "Scully!" "Just making sure," she told him, the serious look on her face barely made it past the end of the sentence. "Come on back to bed. I want you fully rested for later." "I think I'll sleep in my own bed for awhile. You know Jack said he wanted you alone in bed and propped up. Here." He straightened her blankets and adjusted the slope of the bed until she was comfortable. Bending down, he placed a kiss on her forehead. "Hey, I'm not that sick," she told him, pulling his lips down to hers. The kiss was so intense, and he was so unprepared for it, that it buckled his knees and he hit the floor beside her bed. "Oh, damn...!" He caught himself with his forearms on her mattress. "Mulder?!" "My leg..." This was the first clue she had had that he was injured. "Mulder? What happened to your leg?!" His head was still down; he was forcing the pain under control. "Mulder?!" He heard her voice going shrill and inhaled, held it, knowing he had to get himself together before she called Jack back. "Scully, calm down. It just hurts. It's okay." "Mulder, pain means it isn't okay! What happened to you?!" He sat down in the chair again, and used both hands to lift his leg up onto the mattress again. Then he sagged back into the chair, panting, letting his head fall back, his eyes closed. Scully could see, now, a bit of white gauze bandaging visible below the pale pastel pajama pants Mulder was wearing. She stretched, and managed to get a hold on his hand. "Mulder..." "When we were climbing up that chute?" She frowned, trying to remember details that were blurred by pain and anoxic distress. "Yeah...?" "There were aliens chasing us. They were hatching in that corridor, and there were a couple chasing us. They even climbed up the chute after us. One of 'em clawed me up a little." "A little?! How much is a little, Mulder?!" "From just below my knee to just above my ankle," he admitted reluctantly. "Could've been worse; my boot protected my ankle and foot." "How bad is it?" He rolled his head over to look at her. "It's okay, Scully. They're just deep scratches. No arteries, no tendons, nothing important. And," he glanced at his watch, "I'm an hour late taking the pills I'm supposed to be taking." "And that includes the painkiller, right?" "Yeah," he admitted. He did not mention the fears he had shared with Jack about the virus; he had wanted to warn Jack in case the virus got out of hand. He was glad that the Gunmen had been alert enough to recognize the first stirrings of viral activity in the jelled blood. He had been terrified of the virus getting loose here, where they had nothing more than, effectively, a MASH unit for medical care. If the virus got loose down here, they all would have died. "Take 'em, Mulder. Then come back here." He glanced at her, still a little unnerved at the sudden appearance of a Scully persona he had never met before, and whose existence he had only suspected. But it certainly looked as though Horny!Scully was here and running the show. (*I couldn't get this lucky when we're home and healthy? When we could order in pizza and have all the privacy we wanted?*) "Mulder..." "Be patient, Scully. I'm not firing on all cylinders, here." He pushed himself out of the chair, and took a cautious step. The pain was present, but he could handle it. He made it across the room and found the bottles there. He deliberately stood so that Scully could not see everything he was taking. He tossed back the handful of antibiotics, immune boosters and the non-NSAID painkiller that had a name he couldn't pronounce, and swallowed them with the end of the glass of juice that sat on the table next to his bed. Then he went back to the bed and swiped her water glass to wash the taste out of his mouth and throat. Only then did he look at her. "Happy?" "Delirious," she drawled sarcastically. "Come back here, Mulder..." "Are you going to molest me?" he asked her warily. "Because if you are, I'm calling for help. You're supposed to be resting..." "...and you're injured." Scully sighed, and then ostentatiously pouted. "I never get to have any fun." Mulder smiled, and lay down beside her. She snuggled close, and he put his arm around her. "You'll have fun soon," he promised. "If it kills me." "That wouldn't be fun!" she protested. Part 12 Australian base Carmen's quarters plus 28 hours "What time is it?" Carmen asked sleepily, from her position snuggled on top of Frohike. Turning his head from where it was buried in her curls he searched for a clock. "Um..." squinting he tried to make out the small clock on the side of her bunk. "Looks like it's 11." "A.m. or p.m.?" "Damned if I know. I can barely read it. I don't have my glasses on." Carmen sighed, and turned over and immediately pulled away. Getting out of bed, she frantically searched for clothing. "Hell, how did we lose over 24 hours. It's 11 a.m.! Why didn't anyone come to find me?" Frohike grinned at her. "Well, as to losing the time, three rounds of really intense sex can do that. And as to why no one came looking for you... You were pretty loud there that first time." As he was speaking, he propped himself up against the wall with her pillows, and his grin widened as he watched the blush wash down her face and neck, across her breasts. "I often wondered how far a blush went." Carmen turned with a stricken look on her face. "I didn't think... Oh, God. What they must think of me!" She buried her face in her hands and began to cry. "I have to command these people." (*Aw, shit, Frohike, when will you learn to keep your mouth shut!*) He climbed out of bed and pulled on his jeans then went over to take the distraught woman in his arms. "Carmen... Carmen, look at me." Suiting his action to his words he took her chin in his hand and turned her head to look at him. What he saw there upset him. "Carmen, what you do in your free time is your own business. Ignore them. Just don't ignore me. I wouldn't be able to stand it." His voice was shaking in reaction to her sobs. "Please don't regret this! Please don't be having second thoughts." he pleaded, as he pulled her back into his arms and hugged her tightly to him. She looked at him in wonder. (*He's upset because I am? God, he really did mean those things he said last night!*) In that moment, Carmen Santiago aka Lady Penelope fell in love with the troll and their fairy story began. But the troll, being a troll, had to have the last word. "Now what's this about you being the base commander?!" Frohike asked with a raised eyebrow that rivaled any that Scully had ever managed. "I thought you were the chopper pilot." Carmen grinned back at him, thoroughly smitten. "I am. I'm also the assistant cook and I really do, do my own maintenance on the chopper. Down here, it helps to have back up people. Most everyone except the Doctor has a second speciality and some have two or three." Frohike shook his head and hugged her tighter. (*Shit! Beauty *and* brains. How did I get this lucky?*) Part 13 Australian Base Sick bay Plus 28 hours She opened her eyes and looked around the small sickbay. A smile spread across her face as she saw her partner, the object of her desire, of her obsession, asleep with his back to her in the next bed. (*Wait a minute, we fell asleep in this bed!*) Carefully getting out of bed she crept over and stood over him, her eyes tracing the elegant lines of his body. He had kicked the covers off as he slept and she frowned as she noticed the massive bruising on his legs and back. She tentatively reached out a finger and traced the bruise across his back and up over the side of his chest, her finger hovering just above the surface of his skin. "Like what you see, G-Woman?" "As a matter of fact, no, I don't. Has the doctor checked you out? This looks like you cracked some ribs." "It's not as bad as it looks," he told her grumpily, not liking the fact that she had dropped into doctor mode. "How did this happen?" She seemed genuinely puzzled, and he frowned. "I fell through the ice onto the ship, then slid down a helluva long chute. Then we both fell off the ship onto the ice, so I'm not sure which bruise happened when. I don't suppose it matters. Frankly, I don't care. All I care about is that you're here and you're safe." "And so are you..." "How are you both?" Jack inquired as he entered the sickbay. "I don't like the way Mulder's bruises look." "Well, we X-rayed him and nothing's broken... he's just going to be incredibly sore for the next couple of weeks. It was time for Mulder's bandage to be changed. Scully made a point of watching as Jack cut the gauze and eased it away. There was no sticking, and Mulder did not flinch. Scully sucked in a short breath as she saw the gashes for the first time. Then she studied them more closely. Jack was checking them, too. Mulder was lying flat, not even trying to watch. "Mulder?" "Hmmm?" "How does it feel?" Mulder blinked. "It hurts, but less every time the bandage is changed. They've been checking it every four hours. It doesn't bother me much unless I bang it on something." "Did the bandage hurt coming off?" "No." Scully leaned forward. "So, what's the red jelly there? Some new ointment?" Jack looked pensive, and Mulder pushed himself up onto his elbows. "Jack?" "Not as much as last time, Mulder. It's getting better." Scully heard the note of concern in Jack's voice, noting for the first time the double gloves but was really alerted by the thread of fear in Mulder's. "Jack, what's going on here that you aren't telling me?" Mulder let himself fall back against the pillows. "The virus was on the thing's claws, Scully. So far, its staying localized in the wounds. He heard her gasp in fear, stretched his hand out and grabbed hers, pulling her closer. "Scully, calm down. All the blood tests show clean." She held onto him tightly and turned on Jack. "This is the same virus that affected in him Alaska?" Jack spread his hands. "I think so. I isolated some of his white blood cells and on a slide, they killed the virus. The Three Stooges all said that the virus caused the blood to gel like this and we found quite a bit of it when we first got you two back. But each time we've checked, there's been less of it. I'm pretty sure his immune system is winning." He finished bandaging the leg and stepped away. Scully sighed with relief and crawled into Mulder's bed, hugging him back. Jack left them that way, and the two of them slipped into sleep. Part 14 Australian Base Carmen's quarters Plus 3 days, 5:00 a.m. "Do you have anything left to eat in here?" Frohike asked Carmen as he came up for air from underneath the blankets. Carmen was still shuddering from her last orgasm and was rather taken aback at his question. "Excuse me?" Realizing what this must have sounded like to her, he quickly qualified his statement. "Food, I meant food!" he squeaked. And Carmen started giggling at his obvious embarrassment. "Sure you did. But no, there's nothing left in here." She pouted at him. "You ate all my candy, you dirty old man!" "Yeah, I did, didn't I?" Frohike started to grin. Then he threw back the blankets. "Well, you know what that means." Carmen ducked her head and began to blush. He watched entranced as it spread across her body, following it with the lightest of touches. "I thought you were hungry?" Carmen inquired. "Oh, I am!" the little man told her, leering down at her, "but as much as I'd love to stay here for the rest of the winter/summer/whatever," he said softly as he toyed with one nipple, "I really do mean for food." He sighed dramatically and Carmen captured the fingers that rove across her body and brought the hand up to kiss his palm. "Well, I suppose if you can face the music, so can I," and she got up and started searching the room for a change of clothing. Australian Base Sick bay Plus 3 days, 5:30 a.m. Byers entered the room after knocking, having interrupted Mulder and Scully in a rather vociferous argument the last time he had visited them in sickbay. Mulder was of the opinion that he was perfectly able to get out of bed and 'Dr. Scully' had decided that he was not. Normally, Mulder would just lie there and enjoy the extra attention that his partner was showing him, but he was feeling frustrated. Scully had finally admitted that she wanted him as badly as he wanted her, and now she was withdrawing from him as she had so many times before. He was worried that by the time they got back to civilization, Scully would have rationalized away her feelings as a reaction to their near-death experience and pull back into her shell. In part, he was correct. Dana Scully was feeling overwhelmed by everything that had happened, and was becoming scared at her reaction to the events of the last three weeks. "I can't, Mulder," Byers heard as he stood just inside the doorway, the two inhabitants of the room oblivious to his presence. "I just can't. I know what I said, and I know how this is hurting you, but I need more time." Mulder looked away, sad and a bit angry that his partner could not trust him enough to let him stay within her walls and feeling his world crumbling in on him yet again. "I would have thought seven years was enough time, Scully," he said under his breath as he got up from the bed and limped passed Byers. "Stay with her?" Byers just shook his head and watched Mulder retreat slowly from the battlefield. He walked over and stood over Scully where she had sunk into a chair, her face buried in her hands. She looked hopefully up at his touch, but her expression fell when she realized that it was not Mulder and tears began to slowly fall. Not knowing what else to do, he placed a hand on her shoulder and stood guard as Dana Scully cried. Australian Base Common Room Day three 6:00 am Mulder followed the scent of coffee and entered the room to find Carmen, Frohike and Langly sitting around a small table, laughing, as Frohike and Carmen wolfed down sandwiches and soup. "Any left for a poor starving FBI Agent?" he asked, trying not to sound too despondent. He must have succeeded because Carmen looked up and smiled when she saw him. "You look a shit-load better than the last time I saw you," she told him after she swallowed. "Well, that was three days ago, according to what I've been told. What have you been doing?" Mulder was amazed when Carmen did not blush at his question but brought her head up sharply trying to find disapproval in his tone or attitude. "Why?" Mulder was taken aback. "Carmen, this is me, Mulder. If this troll hurts you, I'll kill him." "No, you won't, Fox Mulder. This is my own decision," and then surprised her friend yet again by breaking into the smile that had so enchanted Frohike. It was then that Fox Mulder finally understood what meeting Melvin Frohike meant to his friend. All he could force out was: "Penney?" before he crossed the room to hug the friend that had been hurt and in hiding for almost fifteen years. Over an hour later, Scully and Byers entered the room and she was taken aback to see Mulder laughing with Frohike, Carmen and Langly. Carmen saw them and smiled and got up to go over to them, but Frohike put a hand on her arm and shook his head. Mulder turned around to see the look of desolation in Scully's eyes and his heart broke again. He got up and went over to her. Without a word, he opened his arms and she scurried into his embrace. They stood there, silently, as the Gunmen and Carmen looked on. Finally, he put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her away just enough for him to see down into her eyes. "Forgiven?" he asked. "I acted like a real jerk." Scully wrapped her arms back around his waist and hugged him tightly. "You always do, it's one of the things I've always like about you. I must, or I wouldn't still be here." Epilogue Australian Base Day eight 5:00 a.m. Frohike was lying with Carmen in his arms, thinking hard about their impending separation. Neither one could see a way around it. Frohike could not just stay here and Carmen had a contract that ran for another six months that she could not, in good faith, break. "Well, there's always e-mail," she said hesitantly, not really ready to let him go, afraid that he would disappear. Afraid that the last week had just been a dream. "And telephones and radios, though they can be listened in on, and even e-mail isn't really safe. I'll have Langly set you up with an encryption program for your e-mail. He hugged her tightly. "It isn't the end of the world, you know. It's only six months until your contract is up and then we can figure something out. You can always come and live with us." He laughed at a sudden thought. "Byers always said the place could use a woman's touch." "I have to warn you, I don't do windows," Carmen said lightly. "Not a problem... there are none." She pulled away and stared at him in consternation. "No windows... what kind of place do you guys live in, anyhow, a cave?" "No, though Scully *has* called it the BatCave a couple of times, now that I think of it. No, it's just that windows are a security problem... no windows, no security problem." He looked down at her and saw the beginning of disbelief in her eyes and hastened to explain himself. "We do have enemies, they really are out to get us," he assured her and then realized what it sounded like. The only trouble was, it was the truth. They had made enemies during the ten years they had been together and if the Consortium or the Military could figure out a way to get rid of them without consequences, they would not hesitate to do so. (*Is it really fair to bring her into this?*) he wondered to himself. Carmen saw the way his face changed, saw an echo of the look of desolation that Mulder now wore and felt him start to pull away. She hugged him to her hard, and started talking. "I don't care if the Pope himself is after you, he can't have you, you're mine now, and you're not going to escape." Frohike hugged her back, then rolled her over and pinned her to the bed. "And I won't ever, ever, let anyone hurt you again," he promised and sealed it with a kiss.