Icicles

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Chris Carter's, not mine....any questions

************

Slowly, as the biting cold of the air caressed his cheek, Agent Fox Mulder opened his eyes. His view of the world consisted of a blue, blue cloudless sky, starched white of virgin snow and the darkened auburn of his partner's hair. She was slumped forward on his chest, her arms wrapped so tightly around his body and arms. He blinked twice and once more for good measure. His body was chilled, like a good martini, and his half-sized friend was wrapped around him trying to generate heat. But even before he shifted, before her hair drifted across his face he knew that it would be crystalline, frozen. Silently he cursed himself and struggled with his frozen limbs to fall upright. Why did he pass out like that? Shit, Scully was already freezing cold and weak when he hauled them out of that ship, and sitting here on the ice, giving what little heat she had to him was not helping her in the least.

"Scully?" he croaked, raising his right hand to her hair and face. "Dana?"

Her eyes fluttered open, and a moan escaped from her lips followed by words: "Glad you could join me."

"How long have I been out?" Mulder pushed her arms away from his chest and came completely upright. "Are you okay?"

"I'm cold. I'm exhausted. And you've been out about a half-hour by my best estimate." Dana Scully gritted the words out from between her frozen teeth. "Not long."

Fox sighed and rose to his feet, staggering for a moment on legs that could barely hold his weight and fought the light-headedness that he felt. "I'm sorry for that."

She hung her head and didn't try and reassure him, that could come later. She was cold, bitterly so and tired, aching. Mulder turned to look at her and at the rock ahead of them. On the other side of the rise was the snow cat that he had ridden to this area. It was out of gas, but it was shelter and had a radio. A view of the sky beyond the rise showed approaching storm clouds; definitely not a good thing to be caught in without either one of those necessities. "Dana." he waited until her head raised to look at his. "There's a snowcat on the other side of the rise. Think you can help me get you there?"

He shuddered as the whiteness of her skin assaulted his eyes. Frostbite. He definitely had to get her there, help or no help. Scully slowly nodded, chewing on her lip. "I can. My legs aren't so useful right now, but my arms are movable."

"Your legs? Shit...how bad?" Mulder squatted down next to her. She was wearing his outer nylon snow pants and his heavy winter socks, good clothing, but definitely not enough. Not after the ordeal and freezing water that she had experienced. She gnawed on her lip more and shrugged. "I can't tell, Mulder, I can't take off the pants here and I can't feel them." Before he could begin to say anything, she reached with her hand and placed them on his lips. "Just help me up; there's no use in worrying until I have to."

He grimaced behind her hand and pulled her upright, steadying both of them as she fell forward into his arms. Without a word, he hefted her into his arms, gasping slightly as the added weight placed a strain on his already abused limbs. "Mulder." came the aggravated response to the movement.

"Hush."

"Mulder."

"Just use your arms and hold as much weight off of my arms as you can, Scully. You can't walk there, but I can. Just hang in there, partner."

Dana felt him juggle her for a moment, redistributing the weight and then felt him begin to move across the frozen snow. She couldn't see much around the fur of the coat, but she could see his mouth set in a firm line. Damn stubborn man, but one that had just recently saved her life and was now doing so again. Gingerly she moved her arms around his neck and pulled as much as she could upward.

"That's it, Scully."

"Yeah, yeah, anything to get my arms around you, right?"

"Promises."

--------

Dana Scully shivered as she watched her partner out the window. Mulder was moving around the cargo area of snowcat, pulling various pieces of nylon out and laying them out the ground. Five minutes ago, she had made contact with McKinley air base, and relayed their position. However...

"Two days?" Mulder had been incredulous. "Two fucking days."

"This storm system is over them, too, Mulder. It will take them a day to get out of there and then travel time..."

"Did you tell them..." he stopped and looked down at his hands, "that we had possible frostbite victims?"

She had answered that frostbite was not an issue right then, an uncertainty that she had no way of proving. The interior of the snowcat was freezing; the condensation in the inside had frosted over. After a few minutes of deliberation, Fox had left to pull the survival equipment from the cargo section. The interior was too cold, too cramped and had no power. So, as Scully remained indoors as an order, Mulder was setting up a resemblance of a camp. Near the rock they had navigated were drifts of snow, towering over Mulder and his six-foot frame. It was his idea to hollow out a portion of one of the drifts and erect the tent in the indentation. That together with the sleeping bags, little portable generator and what little food there was would constitute their place of residence for the next few days.

Her blue eyes shielded behind her frozen lashes watched him move with determination. The snow was blowing harder and the amount that was coming down would soon make moving around outside painful if not impossible. Carefully she drew the hood close to her face and pushed open the door against the howls of the bottom of the world. As slowly as she could she lowered herself to the ground and stumbled, with no feeling across the space to her partner.

"Slide part A into part B, my ass." Mulder mumbled to himself. "Problems, agent." Scully yelled above the howling.

"Scully?" Mulder turned and eyed her over. "What are you doing out here?"

"Helping?" she answered, tumbling forward against the drift as her legs grew more unsteady. "I can get this together while you haul things over." He shook his head and made toward her until she held up a hand. "I'm still me, Mulder; and I'll do this whether you say I can or not. In another half an hour, you and I are not going to be able to see anything, let alone make the trip back and forth from the cat to here. My arms still work as I want them to, I can put this together. But we need the bags, the heater, food, and the Coleman stove, and I can't do that..."

"The voice of reason." Mulder smiled, moving back toward the cat. There was a lot to get done and very little time to do it in. By the time he came back with the sleeping bags and food, Scully already had the interior structure erected and the nylon placed around it, stuffed into the corners of the hole he had dug. By the next trip, complete with the propane heater, she had made a nest out of the bags. And finally, on his last trip, she helped him pull and tuck the flaps closed against the harsh weather, closing them off to the world outside.

"Guess we should be thankful for the land of eternal sun, huh?"

Mulder shook his head, dislodging the flakes from his hair, and brushing off his clothes as well as he was able. "We won't have to worry about not having any light."

Scully nodded, pushing the Coleman stove as far as she could to the side. It was true, even with the storm outside, the light of day left a dim atmosphere inside the tent. The tent was a two man, made of the dullest green nylon she had ever seen. The space was definitely not made for all of this equipment and to people, but it was high enough for her to navigate on her knees and for Mulder to crawl. With the stove to the side and the food stashed in such as way next to it, that it took up very little room, there was room for Mulder to lie down. Fox, for his part, moved the heater as close to the flap of the tent as he could for ventilation.

"How much fuel?" Dana asked, pushing her still wet hair from her eyes.

"One full cylinder." Mulder leaned back on his elbows, "I don't know, running constantly maybe thirty-six hours worth, we'll have to conserve."

"Okay." Scully answered, stretching her legs out toward Mulder's head. Her lower limbs were complaining, she had some feeling. That was good, however, she needed to check them to see the extent of damage. Slowly she made to remove the pants, the bulkiness of the jacket adding to the clumsiness of her movements. Fox had closed his eyes tiredly, but they creaked open as she moved to shimmy the material down over her hips. "Scully?"

"Sorry for the immodesty, Mulder...I have to check them."

"Nothing immodest about it, Scully, I put those on you." In the pale light he could make out the grimace of pain on her face. "Let me help you get them off."

She opened her mouth to protest and found strength to do so as she realized that she was naked underneath the material. "I can't....I'm naked..."

"As the day you were born, Dana." Fox added, a slight smile pulling his lower full lip to tautness. It faded quickly. "You have to get them off, Scully, we have to check the legs. You're safe, I won't..."

Before she could finish, and driven by the fear for her legs, she pushed the material down to her feet. Fox leaned over and pulled the wet socks off of her feet, and eased the pants over her toes. Dana carefully examined the length of her legs, fearful for the white, grayish crystalline appearance of frostbite, but was glad to see none. Mulder, meanwhile, was examining her toes, one by one. He sighed wholeheartedly when he noticed none of the signs there, either. Within moments, Scully's small hand was resting on his on top of her foot. "Anything?"

"None, you're clear." he answered.

"Then..."she reached for the pants and he laid his hand on top of them and shook his head.

"Mulder..."

"They're too wet, leave them off."

"Mulder, it's not like I have..."

"While you're at it, lose the coat, Scully."

"Mulder!"

"Look, Scully, your coat is wet, it will soak the bags. I mean even the fur is wet, I can see the icicles from here. If we lay the coat out on top of the bags, fur toward the heater, maybe it will dry and you can put it on in a while. Just to inside the bag and zip it up."

"I zipped them together, Mulder." Scully looked down at her hands, resting on her knees, barely covered by the coat. "I thought we'd be warmer..."

"Body heat."

"Yeah, but I wasn't expecting to be naked in the bag." Dana lifted her eyes to his. In the dim light of the drift, she could see his hazel eyes looking unblinkingly at her. For a few moments, nothing was said, only their breaths mingling in the air. Finally: "I'll give you my shirt, Scully."

"It's wet, too."

"Different material, it's already drying out." Fox pulled the vest open, yanking the shirt over his head. Immediately, he was racked with shivers. He thrust the shirt at her and turned his head. Scully grabbed the shirt, unzipped the coat and pulled the shirt over her own head. It was long john material and came to mid thigh. She moved quickly, pulling by her arms to the head of the bag. However, before she could get inside, Mulder had turned and laid a hand on her arm. "Get to the inside of the drift, Scully; it's warmer there."

Without argument, she scurried to the other side of him. Meanwhile, Mulder was pulling off his soaked boots and putting them near the flap, and shedding his soaked pants. He had on a pair of sweat shorts that were mostly dry. As Dana slid under the flap of the bag, Mulder laid the coat and the pants, as well as his vest as well as he could over the bag's vinyl exterior. The heater was easy to ignite, and he set it on the lowest setting, so as to heat the interior a little and not risk melting their shelter. After fifteen minutes, he shut it off, and tucked the flaps closer together.

Mulder rubbed his palms against his legs, feeling the tingling that meant that he was safe from frostbite. Behind him, Dana was moaning appreciatedly as her limbs warmed a little in the dry environment. He felt an almost shy hand on his arm.

"Mulder? Why don't you get in here- it's very warm."

Fox looked to her, seeing the half-mast eyes of pleasure from the warmth. Her auburn hair was spread out on the case that was serving as a pillow. He pushed up and slid his legs into the bag, easing his body down until his feet hit the bottom. "Isn't that better, Mulder?"

"Much." he moaned, "Hell, feels like the tropics in here."

Turning his head on the case, he saw her face up close for the first time without the coat. "Jesus, Scully."

His hands flew to her face, pushing her thawing hair from her skin. "Jesus, Scully." he repeated, softer.

"What is it, Mulder?" her voice was strong and she tried to push his hands from her face. "What is it?"

"Your face..."his voice was low, and breaking. "Your face, there's....frost..."

"Frostbite?" she asked, quietly.

He made a movement with his head that was both a nod and a shake, his hands gently removing the strands. "On your cheeks and over your.." his hands touched the skin over her right eye, "eye."

"Bad?"

"How do I tell? Scully, I'm not a doctor. What's considered..."

Her return was quiet and calculated. "Extent of tissue damage, necrosis, color of the skin...you can estimate the depth of damage....white...surface; gray deeper."

"Okay..." his fingertips, skimmed the crystalline skin on her face. His hands were gentle, not prodding, not pushing. Dana was quiet under his hands, her eyes holding his face. "White..." he whispered.

"It's okay, then, just a burn." she answered.

"The hell it's okay, Scully." Mulder's hand drifted to her shoulder. "It's still damaged...what can I do?"

"Nothing, Mulder...moist air, which we are getting and don't allow anymore tissue damage due to exposure. I'll live." her words were gentle, as she cradled his face gently. "I'm fine."

His snort of laughter was caught short by a gasp, followed by the track of a sole tear running down his cheek. "After all this, I only wanted you to be able to leave all this unscathed. So you can walk away with out physical evidence of all the problems..."

"Mulder..." she sighed as his hazel eyes clashed with hers. There was two days growth of beard on his face and upper neck, his hair was twisted and messed. "I'm fine"

His arm snuck out and pulled her into an embrace. Dana's hands were caught between the two of them, but they were not pushing away, but rather were nestled. He could feel them tunneling through his chest hair, gently resting. Her auburn hair was bunched below his face, tumbling over his shoulder, and he smiled that downy softness was thawing. Her thighs were not against his, but he could feel the warmth that generated from them. "I know you're fine, Scully...we both are."

Scully, for her part, remained quiet. She allowed her hands to travel across his chest and the slight puffing motion it made when he breathed. His arms twitched, allowing her to feel the ropy muscles that were noticeable on his lanky frame. Their breaths were timed together- hers brushing his chest and his her hair. Eventually, Mulder broke the silence.

"Scully...I" he swallowed. "I meant what I said in the hallway at my place...I meant it when I talked about you making me whole...making me honest. You're everything...to me, Dana. And in that I do owe you everything."

He felt her open her mouth and he lifted his left hand to brush against her lips. "Hush. Let me finish. There have been other women in my life, Dana, you know that. But I never told you about a particular one, the one that you have recently met."

"Diana." Dana breathed as his arms drug her closer to his chest.

"Yeah, Diana. She meant a lot to me, she...well..she was my wife." He continued as Scully struggle to lift her face to look at him. "We were married about eighteen months, back in 1990 to 1991. Dated her for two years before that. We got married and I thought that I had found everything. We got a big apartment, made plans for kids, ate dinner at the in-laws, everything."

Dana looked him in the eye. "Normalcy, Mulder?"

"Be quiet, you." he admonished quietly. "Then I found the files. She helped me, even followed me to the basement. Understood me...but..."

He fell quiet and nestled his face in her hair. Dana wanted to hear the rest of the story, but wanted him to do it on his time. She knew that she was in shock about his announcement about once being married, but she hardly knew much about his younger adult life. She would be his friend and hear him out. Soon enough, she was rewarded...his chest puffed as he took in a breath.

"Diana made mention of following the mainstream often. She never did understand the one thing that probably bothered me the most; that whole Spooky thing. The files....that was where I belonged, and I belonged with the risk of the problems that arose there. She knew the work, though I must admit. She knew parapsychology, telepathy, golems..she knew them all. But as much as she believed in them, she didn't in me. Eventually, she told me that she needed to leave because of the problems...her career was important to her...the files were like a hobby, loved but not fulfilling. It hurt to watch it fall apart, but..." he sighed. "She didn't believe that it was important...and she didn't believe that I could accomplish anything there. And when she did believe in the validity of the work, when she helped me, she never made me work for anything. She agreed with me in everything, evidence on a scientific level was never pursued...the work was never validated in that way. It hurt that she never felt secure enough in us that she could disagree with me. She left. So I was alone, but purposeful."

"OH, Mul..."

"Then you came along. Young, green and eager to put yourself to good use. And you earned my trust. You believed in me."

"Always in you, Mulder, maybe not in all the things that we have seen and things that have happened, but always in you."

He lifted her face with his fingers. "That's why you have become everything to me, Dana. Because you believe in me. True you make me work for everything but that validates the work and edifies me. You won't except less than my all."

He continued. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Scully." Carefully, he tilted her head further up. "As far as I'm concerned on a lot of levels, spiritual, scientifically...I'm in love with you."

For a minute, she was silent. His eyes were boring into her face, drifting from her hair to her eyes to her lips. His own lips were drawn in a line, the thicker lower lip was taut and whitened in strain. And it was then that she realized that he felt that telling her was a risk to his heart. "Mulder..."

He stopped her again. "No...don't say anything.." he gnawed on his lower lip and his eyes took on the puppydog glaze. "I'm trying to tell you how much you mean to me...how much you belong here at my side...my equal."

"Mulder..."

He tilted her face so her eyes were in contact with his. More quickly then he had before, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers.

Time stopped. Dana was sure that it was an X-file itself. Mulder's hand, once his lips had anchored on to hers, moved to cup her neck as he had eons ago in his hallway. The kiss itself was warm and gentle, a brushing of lips, an urging of tongues. Slowly, he pulled apart and nuzzled her nose with his, kissing the side of her mouth.

She sighed and entangled her hands in his hair. "Mulder..."

He shook his head gently, her hands becoming more and more lost in the strands. His silence was made golden by the application of his lips along her chin and ears. She sighed and allowed the caresses, tracing her hands along his shoulders and neck. "Mulder...I....you couldn't know how I felt when I felt you there in the ship. When you...when you did...got me breathing again. It..." she sighed as he nuzzled her ear. "Mulder... you know I hate to rely on people...but"

"But?" Mulder lifted his head away from hers.

"Somehow or another in the last five years...Mulder, you have taught me that relying on another person is not a weakness. In our case, it is like relying...."

"On your other half."

Dana smiled gently. "Yeah. And you're wrong about a couple of things. I do owe you a lot, Mulder. I never got close to others before being partnered with you. I told that to the adoption woman out in San Diego. She thought I was talking strictly about Emily; it was as much about you as it was about her. I owe you that. I owe you friendship..."

"Scully."

Dana was not to be quieted though. "I love you, too."

Mulder smiled his little boy smile and kissed her forehead, his eyes were the warmest part of the tent. Under the iced hazel glaze, she shivered. He frowned slightly, and rolled away to turn on the heater again. "Why didn't you tell me that you were cold? Scully....we've got to keep you warm."

"Correction agent, we have to keep us warm." she sighed, lying on her back.

He rolled back and grinned at her position. The grin faded when she yawned and her eyes appeared increasing blurry. "Tired?"

Scully eyed his face; complete with the increased tousled hair. She knew that there was so much more to say, to tell him...but she was exhausted. "I'm beyond tired." she answered honestly.

"Then sleep..."

"I'm sorry...Mulder....I"

"We'll talk later, Scully."

She yawned. In seconds, she drifted into slumber...not sleep, she was beyond tired for that. Fox lifted himself on an elbow and traced her face with his finger and sighed.

------

"Mulder!"

How the hell could that man snore that loud? Dana rolled into Fox's side, tugging on his arm. Mulder mumbled and pushed his arm over Dana's body. Scully was drawn up against him with a whispered "Go back to sleep, Dana." Scully closed her eyes as he tossed a leg over hers, curling his foot in with her feet. "I can't sleep with you snoring." she whispered back, aware of the background white noise from the high wind outside.

"Just elbow me and tell me to roll over." her stated back, his voice gritty from sleep. "Like I just did. I'll stop."

Dana sighed and snuggled backward into his arms her back against his chest. "What time is it?"

The arm over her lifted as he checked his watch, and the warm weight returned as he settled back. "It's around eleven p.m."

"We've been asleep over ten hours?"

"Great deduction skills you have there, Scully." he mumbled back, running his hand up and down her upper arm. Silence fell, as he continued to rub her arms.

"Mulder...why didn't you ever tell me about Diana?" she asked quietly.

"I gather you're awake and coherent now?" he asked, puffing her hair. "I don't know, to be honest. I think it was because it was a part of my past that was gone."

"But Samantha is part of your past..." Dana nudged his arm so that she could lie on her back and look at him. Before he could continue, she answered for him. "Samantha made you what you are to day, inadvertently as it may be, didn't she? When someone strives to understand who you are, she is an intricate part of that. But Diana didn't trust and respect who you had become."

"Why do you always read my mind, Dana?" he sighed against her head. "I guess that is as close to the explanation as I can get. I wanted you to accept me for who I am, was. Trust me. I didn't want to compare."

"I do trust you, Mulder, probably more than a sane person would, but I do trust you." she grinned, wiping sleep out of her eyes. As her hand brushed her cheek, she grimaced. He mumbled something like sympathy and held her hand away from her face. "Do you want to try again with her?"

Mulder's hand stopped and lowered to his chest. "No."

She sighed and rolled toward him, unabashedly putting her leg over his. "Mulder...she's back after all these years, she might have changed."

"No, Scully."

She looked at his closed eyes and sighed. "You said you loved..."

"Yes, loved her. I was different then, younger. More accepting of getting trampled on, more gullible. Not that she hurt me deliberately, but I was hurt nonetheless. We left on good, friendly terms, but I knew then and now that getting back with her is not acceptable. Besides I have you, partner."

"Mulder, I can't fill that place." she raised her voice a little louder. "We hurt each other, more than is good for a partnership."

"The difference is that you never stop believing in me or us. You lash out because you are your own person, with your own ideas and I accept that. You accept me when I get angry...why?"

Dana rolled her blue eyes back into her lids. "Because it's part of you. You have feelings that need to be expressed, as dark as they are most of the time, I still accept them."

"Exactly. Do you know how much I like having to defend my theories against you? Do you know how many times I have stayed awake at nights, combing as much information as I can so that I have documented proof? You make me be all that I can be..and like any self-respecting man, I fight that." He kissed her forehead. "Besides, do you know how arousing it is to see you angry?"

"Oh, arousing, am I now?" she eyed him warily. "Mulder..."

"What..?"

"What are you getting at?" she sighed as his hand traveled low on her hips, skimming her rear. She had felt him since he had pulled her back against him. His arousal was strong and hot, intense.

He tilted her head back and kissed her. Gently at first and then with increasing intensity. His tongue entered her mouth and left her breathless. She skimmed her hands along his back and down to his rear, searching and grasping. For long minutes, their combined sounds of pants and moans filled the cavern until she pushed on his chest a little. Sensing the pressure he stopped to look down at her and her flushed, enraptured face.

Dana was confronted with a sight of her own. A Fox Mulder with parted, swollen lips, blurred eyesight, and a flushed appearance. She steadied her nerves and reserve; they needed to discuss this before it went too far.

"Mulder."

"Whatever you are going to say..please don't let it be that you regret that." he answered, his eyes traveling to her lips.

"Mulder...of course I don't regret that. It was..." she stopped and smiled a little smile that matched his own. "Wonderful."

"We're good at it."

"And, to be truthful, I want to find out how good we are in other aspects..." she placed her hands on his chest to keep him from coming forward. He fought the urge to just kiss her again and waited out her move. She kept her gaze down as she continued. "But I also have to say that I don't think this is a good idea."

He pushed a little back from her, settling against the bag. "What do you mean?"

"We... hell, Mulder...look at us...look at our lives."

He shrugged, dipping his head. "Yeah, we aren't what you would define as normal....but..."

"Just acting on this...I think that would lead to more problems than we could handle. I'm not saying that we need to sacrifice ourselves to a cause, but...Mulder look at what we just went through."

"Yeah, hell."

"And how much more hell are we going to go through? When is this going to be over? I can't stop now. I know you can't..."

"Shit, if it means that I have to make a decision between you and this truth found, then..."

She laid a hand against his lips. "I don't want you to make a choice. I don't want to be hurt anymore than you do, and I know that if you chose me, you would regret being off the trail. My choice is to remain on the trail, but I want you too. It's us now, this search. It's both of us. The only way I can see to have both worlds is to not act on this and ..."

"Scully," he pulled her hands into his. "You seem to have forgotten something. I love you."

"And you have for a while, true? Just like I have loved you for a while."

"Yes..." suddenly a light went on in his mind.

"Do you think that will be enough, Dana? Just loving each other. Do you think that I won't want to make love to you? Kiss you, take you out? Have you sit on my lap in front of a fire?"

She gnawed on her lip. He freed it from her teeth with his thumb. "I don't think we have a choice in the matter, Mulder. I think the personal stakes are going too high for either of us. Why complicate? We know our feelings. I know that they're only going to get deeper as time goes by."

"So you think that someday we'll be able to...consummate this love?"

"Mulder."

"Look," Mulder's anger was rising, "that is what it is.... the consummation of a relationship. I want to show you, Dana, how much I care...."

"You have...you did." she urged. "You saved me, Mulder...you gave me my life. You were willing to give me my daughter. No other man has ever done that, or even could do that, Mulder. You have shown me."

He grew silent. Thoughts flew through his mind, glancing off of his consciousness. Images of her smiling, of their times together, of Scully playing with Emily, of her holding his hand, head. His eyes were focused on some point in another world. Scully smiled gently knowing her was reliving times in his mind. She continued in a softer voice.

"Mulder...I love you more than I can say. We could have an open relationship, be flaunting in our actions. They couldn't say anything at the Bureau, as long as our work remained of the same caliber. But, how distracting would it be to feel you have to act on the feelings? How easy would it be for someone to take that away from either one of us? They can take away the proximity, the assignment, but they can't touch on the feelings. If we maintain this friendship, albeit with a little more closeness, what can they do that they haven't already? Emotions and love are intangible. Sex is very tangible. They can only take what is physically manifested; they can't take love. I won't let them. Let's keep it safe for now, Mulder."

He had lifted his head to gaze at her through the speech and was nodding slowly. "I understand, Dana. I do. And, if you put it that way, I agree. But, dammit, Scully..."

"It's about something we have no choice in, Mulder, I think it's about fate."

"I'm fated to be with you, that much I know." he answered back, pulling her back into an embrace. "I'm going to hate this, but if the only way I can keep you in my life and our love is to maintain our friendship...then okay."

She nodded solemnly; she liked this idea no better than he did. The act needed to be done, though, before the relationship got off to a steamy start and the path was chosen.

"For now." he added, kissing her forehead. "Although, I do expect friendly times together now more than before...I'm going to need it."

"Mulder..." she fingered his chest, "If you choose to pursue other women..."

"No. No, that isn't an option. I'm not as shallow as I used to be in that respect, Scully. My heart is in your little doctor's hands. Just promise that you'll take good care of it, until I come back to love it off of you...if you don't I won't leave my fish to you." Mulder smiled, but the clouds of loneliness were clouding his hazel eyes again.

She grimaced and hung her head. "Oh, Mulder."

Outside the little tent and drift, the wind increased and howled. Echoing, Dana thought, the sound of my heart in pain. The swirling snow obliterated the sky and icicles continued to form, crystalline and clear but very fragile.

-------

"Agent Scully, Agent Mulder. Glad to see you two back, and healthy."

"Thank you, sir." The two answered in unison.

Walter Skinner nodded to the two as they prepared to take seats, but he waved his hands impatiently. "No, no, unfortunately, I have a case here from the OPR board that they want clarified and evidence found to substantiate your findings. You need to get started immediately. Here, also, are the keys for you both to the new office that we have for you." On the desk lay two brass keys and a familiar red and manila folder announcing an X-file.

The two agents retrieved their respective keys and left the office without a sound. Slowly, and with a little trepidation, they made their way to the second floor. Mulder led Dana with a hand on her back, holding doors open for her and smiling as they passed others. Dana, dressed in dark blue to match her partner, held her head high as they approached the door to their office. Her eyes widened slightly at the names and the title on the door:

X-files division

Special Agent Dana Scully

Special Agent Fox Mulder

Mulder smiled at her look and unlocked the door. He leaned close and whispered in her ear. "Looks like we've come up in the world, Scully. We're back in the saddle again, Dana, love..."

Her eyes turned to his, her mouth ajar.

"Partner...friend." he finished, gently leading her across the threshold and without looking behind him, closed the door.