From: Nichole Peace <scoob4u@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2001 23:28:51 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Story: The Island Of Hell
Source: direct

Story: The Island Of Hell
Rated: R
Authors: Jamie and Nichole
Classification: MSR, X, UST
Archive: Yes, but let us know where it's going!
Feedback: YES PLEASE! Nichole: scoob4u@yahoo.com   
Jamie: my1in5billion@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: We do not own anything pertaining to "The X-files" 
or any of it's characters. They belong to Chris Carter, 1013, 
and FOX networks. 
Summary: Mulder and Scully investigate mysterious disappearances 
on a deserted island off the coast of South America. 
-They end up finding more than what they expected to.

XxXxXxX
PART 1:
XxXxXxX

FBI HEADQUARTERS, WASHINGTON DC.
Wednesday, 8:45 am.

"Good morning Agents, this is Doctor Nicholas O'Reily, 
he is a Physics Professor with Berkeley. Doctor, 
this is Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully." 

"Nice to meet you both." O'Reily shook Mulder's hand and gave 
Scully a small smile.

"Doctor O'Reily has come to the FBI about a situation that I 
think may spark both of your interests." Skinner continued.

Taking his Que., O'Reily spoke up. 

"Yes, I was the head of a team of scientists that were sent 
by the government to a small island off the coast of 
South America three weeks ago. We were stationed there 
to investigate some of the island's physical properties, 
such as it's living organisms, soils, and plant life."

"Pardon me Doctor, but what exactly does this case have 
to do with the FBI?" Mulder impatiently interjected. 

"Well Agent Mulder, as I was about to say, five out of 
the seven people who were stationed there went missing. 
Now, I know that people do not just vanish into thin air, 
I am after all, a Physicist. But the thing is, that 
there was absolutely no sign of them whatsoever. Not a trace. 
And missing persons cases do concern the FBI, and I was 
referred to you in particular because I was told that you 
specialize in these types of cases."

"Well, we did." Mulder looked at Skinner.

"So doctor, what exactly are you saying happened to 
these people?" Scully asked, quickly changing the subject.

"I'm not sure Agent Scully, that's why I am here." He replied, 
trying to keep the disgust from bleeding through his voice. 

"Doctor O'Reily has assembled a hand-full of scientists that will be 
accompanying you on this investigation, I think that it may be 
of great importance to have every aspect of scientific 
investigation available on this case." Skinner added. 

"What is it about this case that we aren't being told Sir?" 
Mulder couldn't help but ask.

"Some of the men experienced some disturbing things, such as 
terrible dreams, strange encounters and other things that even 
with my own scientific knowledge could not explain. 
I dismissed their complaints as being insane and didn't 
think anything of them, until they went missing."

"Are you saying that these things may have attributed to their 
disappearances?" Scully asked with skepticism.  

"I'm only telling you what I know, Agent Scully, not what I think." 
O'Reily answered.

"You said that two survived, I'm assuming that leaves you and one 
other person correct?" Mulder asked.

"Yes, myself and Doctor Richards. She was, I'm afraid, a little 
too shaken up from her experiences to join me today."

"Is there any way that we could speak to her?" Scully asked.

"Well, you can try I suppose. But I can almost assure you 
that it would not be of any help. As I said before, 
she was a great deal more upset than I. She was one of the 
people who came to me about the disturbances." 

"Then she would be our best bet for any kind of information 
on this case." Mulder quipped. 

"If you can get her to talk, yes I suppose that would be true." 
O'Reily answered.

"Mulder is right, we should at least try." Scully said.

"When do we leave for the island?" Mulder asked bluntly.

"I'm on the next flight to South America, which is tomorrow 
morning at 9:00am."

"Great, we'll see you at the airport tomorrow morning." 
Mulder announced, standing.

"It was nice meeting you Agent Mulder." O'Reily stood and shook 
Mulder's hand. "Agent Scully." He nodded and gave her a smile, 
which she returned. 

After O'Reily had taken his leave of Skinner's office, 
Mulder and Scully proceeded to do the same. 
Skinner spoke as they were making their way towards the door. 

"I wish you both the best of luck, and I expect to see 
your report on my desk by Monday morning."

With a small nod Mulder led the way through the door, 
silently asking Scully to go first with a gesture of his hand. 
She stepped in front of him and they entered the elevator.

"So Scully, you are being rather quiet this morning. 
What's on your mind? I find it hard to believe that you 
have no objections to just packing up and heading down to 
South America on a manhunt." He said with a slight grin 
on his face.

"Should I not be used to just packing up and flying half 
way around the world with you Mulder? It isn't as though 
I have never had to do it before, so why should I mind now?" 
She asked.

He didn't answer, but instead shook his head and gave her a 
sly smile.

"So I'll pick you up then?" He asked as they exited the elevator.

"What time Mulder?"

"Around 7:30 tomorrow morning sound all right?"

"Yes, that's fine. See you then." 

He turned to leave and she watched silently as he walked 
through the glass doors. 

XxXxXxXxXxX

DR. RICHARD'S RESIDENCE
11:43am.

Mulder pulled into the drive-way and exited the car, 
making his way up the quaint stone path towards the house. 
He banged on the window of the curtained door and announced 
his presence.

"Doctor Richards, this is Fox Mulder, I'm with the FBI may I 
speak with you?" He shouted at the closed door. 
when there was no reply, he silently retreated back to his car. 

"Damn it!" He said under his breath as he shut the door.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

DANA SCULLY'S APARTMENT, GEORGETOWN, WASHINGTON DC.
7:22am.

The next morning Scully was making her rounds through her 
apartment, checking to see if she had turned off all 
of her lights, checking her luggage to ensure that 
she had packed everything that she would need. 
It then occurred to her that she hadn't called her mom 
to tell her she was leaving town. She then picked up 
her cordless phone and called her.

"Hi Mom, it's Dana. I just wanted to call to tell you that I 
am going to be out of town on business for about a week or so, 
I'll call you when I get back." She placed the message on her 
machine and hung up the phone. It was then that she heard the 
familiar knock at the door. 

After a quick glance in the mirror, straightening her white T-shirt,
she opened it to reveal her handsome partner, standing there dressed 
as well as ever in a dark blue long-sleeved T-shirt and jeans.

"Come in Mulder, I just have a few more things to do before I am 
ready to go, we have time don't we?" 

"Yeah, we are doing fine on time." He said outwardly, but he had a 
feeling that they wouldn't be by the time she was ready.

"So, did you call your mom?" He called out, stepping towards the 
couch and sitting heavily on the soft cushions.

"Yes I did, she wasn't home though, I had to leave a message." 
She yelled from the other room. 

Mulder couldn't help but glance at the opened suitcase on the 
couch next to him, seeing a pair of her lacy panties neatly 
folded on top. He suppressed a giggle by smiling to himself. 

"Mulder, what do you make of..." She stopped mid-stride 
as she saw him gaping at her suitcase wearing a smile on 
his face. His eyes fluttered up to meet hers in a humorous gaze. 

"What do I make of what Scully?"

"Of this whole thing." She reached down and quickly shut 
the suitcase, zipping the sides of it with a jerk of her wrist. 
She looked up to meet his stare and found herself blushing 
slightly from embarrassment. 

"I think it's exciting, almost.... erotic. Sexy, if you will." 
He couldn't help but use the situation to his advantage even though 
he knew it would spark anger from his partner. 
He wore a sly smile on his face.

"I don't think you are very funny Mulder, really I don't." 
She shot him a glare.

XxXxXxXxX

The car ride was abnormally quiet, and Mulder, for one could not 
stand it.

"So Scully, O'Reily is from Berkeley, was he teaching there when you 
went through? God knows you had to have taken a slew of Physics 
classes for Med-school." 

"Yes, he was my first-year Physics Professor." She responded dryly, 
still somewhat burned by what had happened in her apartment.

Without even noticing the annoyance in her voice he continued; 
"Strange, he didn't seem like he remembered you at all..." 

"There were nearly ninety students in that class Mulder, 
what makes you think he would remember me?" She gave him a 
silencing look.

Just then, before anything else could be said, he slammed on the 
brakes to avoid ramming into the back of the Lincoln Continental 
in front of him. 
After recovering from the near-accident, 
Scully used the opportunity to change the subject 
before having to reveal her well-hidden secret. 

"So what exactly are your thoughts on this case so far?" 
She asked with a shaky voice. 

"I really don't have any thoughts on this case so far Scully, 
I need more than the vague references to clues that 
Doctor O'Reily gave us to come up with a theory." He spouted. 
"Besides that, if I were to tell you any theories that 
I would have this early on, you would most likely use 
them as a stake to burn me at. You would undoubtedly 
hold it over my head for the rest of my life." 
He gave her a self-satisfied grin.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean Mulder?" 
She asked with annoyance.

"We've been partners for what now Scully, five years? 
Now, how many times in the last five years have my 
theories proven to be wrong?"

She tilted her head and returned her gaze to the road ahead.

"My point exactly. I would never live it down if I made a 
presumptuous leap on a case that I know absolutely 
nothing about." 

The point that he had tried to make was taken, 
and they drove the rest of the way to the airport in 
silence. 

Once they reached the airport, they made their way into the 
terminal where they met Dr. O'Reily -who was standing 
there alone Mulder noted. 

"Hello Dr. O'Reily." Mulder said holding out his hand.

"Agent Mulder." He answered, taking his hand.

"Agent Scully." O'Reily stretched out his hand towards her.

"Dr. O'Reily." Scully said, taking his hand in hers with a smile.

"Where are the rest of the crew?" Mulder asked with curiosity.

"They have gone ahead to the island, we are to meet 
them there." O'Reily answered briefly. "So, let's get 
this show on the road shall we?" O'Reily motioned 
towards the boarding line.

"Yes, let's." Scully answered, and reached for her bag 
on the floor.

"Mulder then nodded his head and also grabbed his bags off 
of the floor and placed his hand on the small of 
Scully's back, leading them forward. O'Reily watched 
them as they began walking, his eyes glued to where they 
were connected. 

After situating their luggage, Mulder followed Scully 
into their seats, trying hard to get comfortable in the 
small amount of space that was allowed for his long legs. 

"Have enough leg room Mulder?" She asked with a smile.

"Oh, yeah...tons..." He replied with sarcasm. 
"You know, it must be nice." He added, looking down 
at her small legs that had an enormous amount of room
to inhabit.

"Oh, it is." Scully answered with a grin. "You see, 
unlike you tall people, we short people are made 
to travel."

Mulder gave her a dry "Ha-Ha" and a sarcastic smile.

From the other side of the plane, across the aisle, 
O'Reily laughed.
"Ah, the red-headed shark strikes again."

Mulder gave him a quick smile and nod to show how 
much he agreed before returning to the conversation 
with Scully.

"Kind of like those little compact toothbrushes?" 
He asked her. 

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

An hour into the flight, Scully drifted off to sleep, 
leaving Mulder reading in the seat next to her. 
After gently sweeping a strand of her auburn hair 
behind her ear, he decided to take the empty seat next to 
O'Reily to discuss the case with him.

"Doctor O'Reily, may I talk to you for a few minutes?" 
He asked politely as he was already taking the seat next to him

"Yeah, sure Agent Mulder." O'Reily responded. "And it's Nick."

"Okay Nick, there are some things that I would 
like to ask you about."

"Such as?" O'Reily asked.

"Well, mostly about your experiences on that island."

"Okay, what would you like to know?"

"You said that you received complaints from some of your 
colleagues, what exactly was said?"

"The last night I spent on the island, 
Dr. Alva came to me and was in some sort of distress. 
He said that two of the members of our team were missing. 
I didn't believe him at first because it was a small 
island... where the hell could they have gone? 
I mean come on, right?"

Mulder raised an eyebrow and nodded in response. 

"He said that he had seen things... in his dreams, horrible images 
that were so intense, so real, that he was frightened for his life. 
Now, like I said, I did not believe him, I thought he 
was just going wacko from exposure or something. 
But he seemed so certain that his experiences were real 
that I have to admit, it kind of frightened me." 

"Like what kinds of images? Give me an example."  

"He said that he had seen himself killing them in 
his dreams. He saw himself murder them in various 
ways, one of which was slashing their necks with his 
machete. Things of that nature. He said they came 
to him in flashes, that he couldn't see anything 
clearly. All the more reason why I thought he was 
going crazy."

"Did anyone else have any nightmares that you know of?"

"Dr. Alda and Dr. Richards were the only ones who 
spoke to me about it. But Dr. Alda said that some of 
the other men had spoken to him about it and that was when 
he began having the nightmares himself. He disappeared 
about two hours later. Dr. Richards and I decided to 
leave the island after that."

"Did you experience any nightmares after that Doctor?"

"Nick." He interrupted.

"I'm sorry, Nick."

"No, as I said that was my last night on the island."

"Was Doctor Alva taking any medications?"

"Not that I am aware of."

"When you came back to DC what did you do?" Mulder asked.   

"Dr. Richards and I went over what happened on 
the island and decided that we needed help finding them, 
so we turned to the FBI. We contacted the bureau and 
were referred to you." 

"Well, I suppose that's all I need for now. 
I'll leave you to yourself, and if you remember 
anything else, please let me know." 

"Will do, Agent Mulder." He said happily.

Mulder got out of the seat and began walking across the 
aisle when O'Reily called him back.

"Oh Agent Mulder, I do remember something else..." 

Mulder made his way back to the seat beside him. "Yes?"

"He said something, I don't know what it means or 
if it has anything to do with the case, but he said: 
'Hell is here, it's here!' I had no idea what he was talking 
about, but he kept saying it over and over. Maybe you can tell 
me what the hell he was talking about." 

"I'm afraid that I can't, not yet anyway. 
Thanks for the information though, it may prove 
to be useful."

"No problem, say, does she always sleep on planes?" 
He motioned his head towards the sleeping Scully. 

Mulder laughed. "Most of the time." 

"Not one for company then I take it." Nick mused. 

"She has her moments, but not on planes." Mulder said 
kindly, looking over at her sleeping form.

"Yeah I bet she does." O'Reily answered, 
looking out the window beside him. 

Mulder was taken back by his comment, but did not allow 
himself to analyze it as he usually would. So he returned 
to his seat next to his sleeping beauty, finding solace 
in being close to her. 

XxXxXxXxXxX

MANNAHURI AIRPORT, SOUTH AMERICA
Saturday, 4:00am.

"So where exactly were these men when they disappeared?" 
Scully asked, stepping off the platform stairs of the plane.

"220 miles Northwest." Nick answered. "We'll have to take a boat 
there."

"Oh, boy." Mulder said, grabbing his stomach 

Scully laughed. "He has a weak stomach when it comes to the sea."

"You're lucky." Mulder said making a face. "You have your father's 
sea legs." 

"Yeah, I do." Scully grinned. "But you're in luck Mulder, I 
remembered to bring the Dramamine."

"You know Scully, it's times like these when I realize just how much 
I truly love you." Mulder said, giving her a smile.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

TEN MILES OFF THE COAST OF MANNAHURI, SOUTH AMERICA   
Saturday, 6:45am.

After giving Mulder an injection of Dramamine and a life jacket, 
Scully sat back in her seat to relax. 
She hated it when he was sick. 
"Stop worrying Dana." She thought to herself as she kissed
his forehead. "He's sleeping like a baby." 

"Hey, Red!" O'Reily yelled, distracting Scully from her thoughts. 
"You look like you're a million miles away."

Scully smiled. "I guess I do." She replied as she got up and 
walked towards him, taking a seat next to him in the passenger seat.

"Got a lot on your mind?" Nick asked her, not taking his eyes off 
the water.

"Somewhat." She answered. "So how have you been all these 
years Nick?" 

"I've been good Dana." He replied. "And yourself?"

"As good as can be expected I suppose." She answered, 
giving a quick glance in Mulder's direction.

"I would never have guessed that you would someday become 
an FBI agent, Dana. What made you decide to do that?" He asked.

"It sparked my interest." Dana said.  "By joining the FBI, 
I thought that I could help people, to accomplish something that 
I could never have accomplished by just being a doctor."

He pursed his lips and silently nodded his head to show that he 
understood her, but that he wasn't thrilled by her decision, 
just like everyone else in her life.

"So, any current flames in your life? Judging by the absence of a 
wedding ring, 
I'm guessing that you aren't married." He asked.

"See now, that's how I remember you Nick, straightforward and 
blunt as hell." She mused.

"Well, that's something that I consider to be a curse."

"You shouldn't though, it's one of your best qualities." 
She assured him.

"Well, it has brought me nothing but loneliness for the past 
fifteen years Dana." He looked at her, trying to prove a point 
that he knew hurt her.

She had indeed been hurt by his words, though she refused 
to show it, so she instead looked away again, seeking 
comfort in the vision of her partner still sleeping 
soundly.

"You're still the same Dana." He said. "You haven't changed 
much a bit." He said with a lighter tone in his voice, 
desperately trying to regain her participation in their 
conversation.

"And you are the same, old Nick." She replied. "Just the way I 
remember you."

"What's that?" She asked, pointing her finger at the boat's 
speedometer.

"What's what?" His eyes looked down at the dial and he began 
to panic.

"We're losing speed." He said sternly.

"Are we out of gas?" She asked, trying to remain cool.

"No, that's the weird thing, the tank is full." 

"Well could it be wrong?"  She asked, allowing worry to come 
through in her voice.

"We haven't been traveling long enough to have used the 
entire tank, and besides that, we have a spare tank which 
is full as well." 

"There must be a leak or something..." Scully suggested.

Suddenly the boat lost all of its power, the engine ceased 
to run, and all of the lights on the dashboard had gone out 
as though someone had simply flicked a switch somewhere.

"Shit." Nick cursed. "We're stuck in the goddamn middle of 
nowhere!" He yelled, banging on the dashboard of the 
boat with his fists.

"WHAT?" Scully yelled furiously.

Hearing Scully's voice in full-fledged panic, Mulder 
opened his eyes.

"What's wrong? Why have we stopped?" He bolted immediately 
onto his feet. "Scully, are you okay?"

"I'm fine Mulder, but I can't say the same for the boat." 
She answered, looking at him.

"What happened?" Mulder asked, stepping towards them.

"The ship's engine failed." O'Reily answered.

"What do you mean failed?" He asked, the concern growing 
thick in his voice.

"I mean that it stopped working." He answered.

"What do you mean stopped working? Are we out of gas?"

"Mulder, I have already been through that with him, 
that can't be the problem." Scully said, trying to calm 
him down.

"Then what the hell is the problem?"

"I have no idea Agent Mulder, I'm not an experienced 
engine repair man." O'Reily answered quickly.

"Shit!" Mulder cursed. "Do we have anything else on 
this boat that floats?"

"We have a small blow-up raft in the storage closet below." 
Nick responded. 

"How far is the island from here?" Mulder asked.

Pulling out the map from drawer, O'Reily replied; 
"About twenty miles west according to this."

"Mulder, we can't leave the boat. If we leave, we have less 
chance of being rescued." Scully protested.

"And if we don't leave, we have less chance of survival." 
Mulder replied, placing his hands on his hips. 

"He's got a point. It could take days, maybe even weeks before 
anyone would be out in these waters. If we don't head for land, 
we might not make it." Nick added.

With a deep sigh, Scully agreed. "All right, when do we head out?" 

"Not till tomorrow, It's already after noon and we should try 
not to be out in the dark on that small raft." O'Reily suggested.

"I agree, let's camp here and set sail just after dawn." 
Mulder said, returning back to the seat that he had previously 
been sitting in, trying to get comfortable with the situation 
at hand.

Scully took a seat next to him, and O'Reily sat across from 
them both. 

Taking off her shoes, Scully began to rub her feet as Mulder 
got up to prepare a makeshift bed for them.

"Oh God, my feet hurt." She said quietly. 
"Dumb ass me forgetting to wear my Nike's."  

On the other end of the boat, Mulder was watching Scully as he 
spread out the large blanket. "Does she have any idea just how 
beautiful she is?" He wondered to himself. "I'd rub her feet 
for her if she'd let me."

"How are you feeling Dana?  O'Reily asked, taking the empty 
seat next to her.

"Dana?" Mulder thought to himself.  "I thought that he was 
just her professor."

"I'm fine Nick, really." Scully said while rubbing her sore feet.

"Uh-huh." O'Reily said skeptically. "Why don't you allow me?" 
He said while kneeling in front of her and taking her right 
foot in the palms of his hands. Mulder watched as he did this, 
anger and jealousy raging through him. Scully was unable to 
speak as he began rubbing her foot. She moaned slightly 
and leaned her head back as the tension seemed to melt 
beneath his touch. 

"You used to love my foot-rubs." O'Reily said gently.

Scully found herself becoming self-conscience and she could 
almost feel Mulder's eyes on them. 

"Wow, look at all the stars." Scully said, trying to sound 
truly interested. "There are so many."

"Yeah." O'Reily said, agreeing with her. "Don't get to see 
too many of those in DC. do you?"

"No, not really." She answered, keeping the conversation light. 

Mulder turned away from the sight of them. "Damn it!" 
He thought to himself, clenching his fists. "Professor my ass!"

"Feel better?" O'Reily asked, turning back to Scully.

"Hmm?" She absently asked.

"Do your feet feel any better?" 

"Oh, oh yeah, much, much better. Thank you Nick." She stuttered, 
turning her head to meet his gaze.

O'Reily raised up, standing on one leg and tucked a stray 
lock of her auburn hair behind her ear -on the side that 
was facing Mulder.

"Son-of-a-bitch!" Mulder said under his breath, shaking his 
head before lying down and trying to get comfortable.

"Goodnight Dana." O'Reily stood there a moment longer before 
moving to the blanket that was laid out on the deck, carefully 
making sure that he sat as far from Mulder as possible. 
Mulder turned his face away as he approached.

"Scully, It's late, you should get some sleep. We have to 
get an early start in the morning." Mulder called out to her.

"I was about to do so Agent Mulder." She said as she stood 
and stretched her arms over her head, exposing a small 
amount of her flat stomach.

Mulder turned away from her, getting as comfortable as 
possible in the small space that the blanket covered, 
staying away from O'Reily as he could. 

"What in the hell is his problem? Surely to God he isn't JEALOUS! 
What would he have to be jealous of anyhow? Doesn't he realize 
that the only man I want is him?" Scully thought as she sat in 
the space between Mulder and O'Reily and then lied down.

XxXxXxXxX
Sunday, 5:54am.

Scully was the first to wake, the sun had barely come up and 
she was surprised to see that she was in Mulder's arms. 
He was still sound-asleep, and she couldn't find it in her 
heart to wake him yet. Besides, she was enjoying the feeling 
of his warmth. Mulder then began to stir, and slowly retracted 
his arms from around her, sitting up and rubbing his newly-grown 
morning stubble in his hands. 

"Sleep well you two?" O'Reily asked in a rather cheerful 
mood as he sat up.

"Like little baby cats." Mulder replied through his hands, 
sounding less than excited.

The rocking of the boat began to upset Mulder's stomach, 
and he rose then proceeded to shuffle his feet to the edge 
of the boat, grabbing onto the railing for support as he 
lost what little stomach contents he had left from 
breakfast the previous morning. When he finished, he returned 
to the blanket, holding his stomach and wincing as he sat 
down again.

"You need another shot?" Scully asked him.

"Oh yeah, hook me up G-woman." He hoarsely replied.

"All right, G-man." Scully said with a wink. 
"Let me go getcha some." 

Mulder groaned as she walked away. 

"You weren't joking about the sea-sickness were you?" 
O'Reily asked.

"Nope." Scully answered matter-of-factly while looking 
through her bag.

Mulder simply looked up at him with a "damn straight" 
look on his face and clutched his stomach as he ran again 
to the side of the boat again.

"Poor Mulder, between autopsies, boats and constantly getting 
his ass kicked, I don't see how he has made it all these years. 
Hell, I could probably kick his sorry ass." 
Scully told O'Reily as she dug deeper into her bag.

"You just wait Scully, once we're back on land we'll test 
that theory." Mulder groaned from behind her. 
"Haven't you ever heard that it's not nice to pick on sick 
people Scully?" 

She merely smiled in reply. "Ah-ha!" She exclaimed as she 
pulled out the syringe and carefully drew out the Dramamine.
"You need to take it easy until this kicks in, should take about
twenty minutes or so." 

After giving him the injection, Scully began packing up 
what little they could take with them while Dr. O'Reily 
went below deck to retrieve the raft.

"Here, Dana help me inflate this.." O'Reily said, 
returning with the raft.

"Inflate this ass-hole!" Mulder whispered to himself, raising 
his middle finger behind his back as he slowly folded up 
the blankets. 

"Mulder you really shouldn't be moving around yet, you need 
to just sit down." 

"I'm fine Scully." He said, continuing his work. 

"Whatever." She mumbled.

Scully walked over to O'Reily and helped him inflate the raft, 
putting it in the water over the side of the boat. 
They loaded their things inside of it before climbing in, 
trying to get as comfortable as possible.  

XxXxXxXxX
Sunday, 7:32am.

"So how far have we gone?" Scully asked O'Reily as she 
took the ores from Mulder and began rowing. 

"We've got a long way to go Dana-Raina." He replied as he 
began rowing in sync with her. "I'm guessing we have gone about 
two miles so far. I am guessing that it will probably 
be at least forty-eight hours or so before we reach the island." 

"Oh joy." Mulder said, full of sarcasm as he looked at Scully. 
"That means we'll have to spend a night or two on the raft." 
He suggestively raised an eyebrow at her.

"That is a definite, Agent Mulder." O'Reily said. 
"Think you can try to keep what's left of your stomach a 
little longer?" 

"Yeah, at least until the Dramamine wears off."

"Oh shit, I left the last of the Dramamine on the boat." 
Scully said with a gasp.

"You didn't." Mulder said sternly.

Scully raised her eyebrows at him this time, teasing him.

"Scully, you are gonna get it."

"Get what Mulder? I think that you are at my mercy for now, 
so you better watch it."

"Didn't your mother ever teach you that it's not nice 
to tease?" Mulder asked making a sad puppy dog face.

"Oh Mulder, you can dish it out but can't take it." 
She have him a sly smile as she stopped rowing, breathing heavily.

"Just get rowing FBI woman. I can't wait to be on a surface 
that doesn't move." He said lying back in the raft, trying 
to get comfortable.

"You two always fight so much?" O'Reily asked with a 
grin on his face.

"Only when he doesn't behave." She replied. Mulder's head 
lifted off the edge of the raft and gave her a questioning look.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean Scully?" 

"Nothing Mulder, not a damn thing." She met his stare 
with a grin, and he returned his head to the position that 
it was in before, falling asleep. 

XxXxEND PART 1. CONTINUED IN PART 2.xXxX

XxXxX
PART 2
XxXxX

The Island
SUNDAY, 8:48pm.

"You love him don't you?" O'Reily calmly asked
Scully.

"He's my partner." She answered.

"He sure seems like more than that Dana." 

"That's a rather personal question Nick, 
one that I would rather not answer." 

He nodded silently before continuing; 
"Do you remember when I took you to our family's 
cabin for the weekend? It was a hellish week at 
Berkley and we both needed to get away for a while.  
It was so beautiful.  Fall was starting to come, 
and all the leaves were turning orange. 
We had a picnic-lunch beyond the river. You remarked at 
how beautiful it was. You were wearing this white 
sun-dress that brought out your fiery red hair.  
God you were beautiful Dana.  I couldn't take my 
eyes off you. We made love. Right then and there on the 
blanket. God Dana, I can still remember how you taste, 
the feel of your touch. It was like fire beating on my 
skin. I remember we spent the rest of the weekend just 
lying in bed naked." He paused for a moment. "Do you 
remember that Dana? Do you remember how beautiful it was?"

"Yes Nick, of course I do." Scully replied.  "How could I 
forget?" She paused. "It was beautiful while it lasted, 
but that was a long time ago Nick, you cannot continue 
living in the past Nick." She swallowed. "I have moved on,
so should you."

"Yeah." He replied. "You moved on, with him."

"Nick, our relationship ended over fourteen years ago. 
Why do you care what man is in my life now?" She fumed. 
At the sound of her voice raising in volume, Mulder 
jolted awake. He then decided that the conversation 
they were having might better be overheard rather than 
him announcing his presence. 

"Because I still love you Dana, that's why."  Nick said, 
grabbing a hold of her shoulders. "I can't get you out 
of my mind.  You're the first thing that I see when I 
wake up and the last thing I see when I go to bed."

He shifted towards her, pulling her closer to him as 
leaned his head down, taking her bottom lip between his. 
Scully was too shocked to react, so she remained still, 
allowing him to explore her mouth. It had been a long 
time since she felt someone's lips pressing against hers.
Mulder sat upright now, nearly jumping towards them in 
a fit of uncontrollable rage, but he played it cool 
and chose to fight this fight verbally. His mouth was 
gaping as he watched in silence waiting for them to 
break apart. 

Scully pulled away from Nick's embrace looking 
instinctively over at Mulder, fearing the worst. 
Much to her surprise, she saw him sitting up and 
gaping at her. 

"What the hell was that about? I doze off for what? 
Fifteen minutes, and you two start going at it? Am 
I missing something here?" He shouted angrily.

"Mulder.." Scully started.

"Mulder what? What the hell is going on here Scully?" 
He spouted.

"What do you care Mulder? Since when do I have to 
report to you? I suppose you are going to tell me that 
my curfew is 11:00 now." She raged. 

"You have no idea..." He started.

"Yes Mulder, I do. You think you need to protect me all 
of the time, like I am some feeble little lamb who is an 
innocent and can't defend herself. You have been this way 
ever since I got sick."

"Sick? Sick how?" Nick tried to interrupt, but was ignored.

"I don't want your pity Mulder." She raged. 
"Or your protection."

"You think that's what I do? Give you pity? Is that all 
you think I do? You are so wrong Scully, you couldn't 
be more wrong."

"Just know that I CAN take care of myself Mulder, 
I don't need you to baby-sit me." She jerked a blanket 
over her and gave him a glare before laying her head down.

Seeing that O'Reily was asleep, Mulder scooted closer to 
Scully. "Scully, I'm sorry. Mulder said quietly. 
"I didn't mean what I said. "I know." Scully said 
taking his hand in hers. " I'm sorry too." 
Mulder took his arm and put it around her.  "Come here." 
He ordered.  
Scully scooted closer and laid her head on his chest.  
He gently kissed her forehead, and they fell asleep in 
each other's arms.   

-=-=
Sunday, 10:55pm.

Rain was pouring, and waves were crashing. Scully awoke, 
disoriented, finding herself in Mulder's arms.   

"Its all right, Scully, I'm here." Mulder said as 
he took her head and pulled it towards him.  
"Oh, shit!" O'Reily yelled.  "We are going under!"  
Scully looked into Mulder's eyes.  

"Always Scully." Mulder said kissing her hand. 
"Always you."  

A large wave hurled toward them, taking them under.

XxXxXxX
Monday, 3:32pm.

O'Reily woke to his face in the sand.  "Oh, god!" 
He said getting up slowly to his feet.  
He noticed a pain in his left calf and saw that 
he was loosing blood.  "Wonderful, just wonderful."  
He noticed that Agent Mulder and Dana were missing. 

"Dana!" He called out, as he began to search for her.

"Over here." Scully yelled while walking towards him.

"Dana!" He yelled once more before he saw her.
"Dana, are you okay?" He asked, gently angling her 
face with his hand to check for damages.

"I'm fine. She said, jerking her head away from 
his touch. "Where's Mulder?"

"I don't know where he is Dana."

"We need to find him!" Scully said with worry 
in her voice.

"Dana, you need to calm down."

"I'm just worried about him."  Scully said 
taking deep breaths 

"We'll find him Dana, he can't be far."

"All right" Scully agreed." Are you hurt Nick?

"I think I might have done something to my leg."
He said, looking down at it to be sure.

"Lemme see." Scully said moving closer to his 
calf to get a closer look "It's a deep gash, 
but its not infected....  yet. I want you to go 
into the water and clean it, and then we'll find 
something to bandage it with. Here, just take this." 
She said, tearing what little was left of her T-shirt.
 
"But-" he protested
 
She continued to tear it, not paying attention to him, 
handing the torn pieces to him. As O'Reily washed 
his leg, Scully did a self examination of herself.  
Finding a couple of bruises, she became more determined 
to find Mulder.
 
O'Reily tied the torn shirt around his leg, and walked 
back to Scully.  
 
"Nick, I am going to walk the perimeter, I'll be back 
in just a few." 

"All right." He answered, pushing a strand of auburn 
hair behind her ear right before she began to walk.  
"Please, God...  please let Mulder be alive. 
I don't know what I would do without him." She thought.


She saw something orange in the far distance, and began 
to walk towards it. Getting closer and closer, she 
could see Mulder's limp body spread out across the sand. 
"Oh, God!" She thought to herself as she rushed towards him.
She checked for a pulse. "Oh thank God...He's still alive!"
She whispered.

"Mulder... Mulder... its me."

He began to wake up, moving his lips, trying to say 
something to her. So she moved closer to him, putting 
her ear above his mouth trying to hear him
 
"Scully... Scully..."

"Shh, Mulder.... I'm here." She said, rubbing his hair. 
"Are you okay?" 

"Scully..." He coughed. "I'm fine...  I just feel a 
little washed up."

"Mulder, you look washed up." She smiled.

"So do you... " Mulder said taking notice of her tussled 
hair and her wet clothes. "What happened to lover boy?" 
He asked with a grin.
  
 "He's okay , but he has a nasty cut on his leg." 
She explained. "I used my torn shirt to bandage it."  

Mulder nodded. 
"Are you okay Scully?" Mulder asked, slowly rising to 
his feet. 

"Yes." Scully said. "Just a couple bumps and bruises, 
that's all."

"You're sure?" He asked, scanning her body with his eyes 
trying to be sure that she was telling the truth.

"Yes Mulder, I'm fine."
 
Mulder extended his long arms and pulled her to him.  
"I'm glad that you're all right." He said as he ran his 
fingers through her tussled hair. 

"Oh God me too, Mulder." She said, talking into 
his shirt. With his arm around her, they proceeded to 
find O'Reily.

"How bad was the damage to our equipment?" Mulder asked

"It's barely recognizable, but we are supposed to meet 
the scientists here, they have the bulk of it." Scully said.

"You found him." Nick greeted as he walked towards them.

"Yes." Scully said, grinning that famous Scully smile. 
"He was lying on the beach, just about fifty feet from here."

Mulder nodded.

"Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I am feeling 
mighty hungry." O'Reily announced. 

"Yes, let's see what we can find to eat around here." 
Mulder agreed. 

They spread out in all directions, in search for food.

XxXxXxXxX
Monday, 6:46pm

"Hey guys!" O'Reily yelled. Mulder and 
Scully ran towards him.

"I've found some berries. They aren't 
poisonous, my crew and I dined on them." 
He said, popping one in his mouth.

Scully was the first to reach for one, pulling 
it off the bush and quickly placing it in her mouth.
"Mmm, tastes a lot like raspberries." She remarked.

Without further pause, Mulder quickly picked a 
handful and ate them.

"Are there any other bushes of them around here?" 
Scully asked O'Reily.

"Not that I know of, and I'm afraid to go any 
further in the forest in search, seeing as how 
it's nearly dark." O'Reily answered.

"Yes, we should be making camp before it gets 
dark." She agreed.

"Mulder, you finish what is left after Nick picks
a few more, you need to eat more than anyone right now." 
She said, finishing the few berries left in her palm.

"No Scully, you eat some more, I'll be fine." He protested.

"No Mulder, eat the damn berries and don't argue 
with me! You have lost a lot of strength the past 
few days from vomiting so often, you need to eat something." 

Mulder said nothing, and picked a few more berries off 
of the bush.

"Nick and I will go back to the beach and find what 
we can of our stuff and look for firewood. Maybe we 
can get a fire going to warm us up. We are all going 
to freeze to death otherwise." Scully said, looking 
down at each one of them in their wet clothes.
"You think you can find your way back to the beach safely?" 
She asked Mulder.

"I think so." He said with a mouthful of berries.

"Good, let's go Nick. The sun is going down and we 
don't have much time." She said, walking away.

Mulder worked quickly to gather as many of the berries 
in his shirt that he could and started back to the beach.

"Come on, Dana." Nick said taking her hand and leading 
her towards the ocean. "Let's see if we can find some 
more of our stuff." 

"All right." Scully said, following him into the water 

"Look for anything that night be useful to us." 
He shouted.

"Really Nick?" Scully asked. "I thought we were here 
to look for Mulder's porn tapes.

O'Reily responded to Scale's sarcastic remark by 
splashing her. "Smart-ass."  He said in a teasing tone.

"Me?" Scully said as she splashed him back. 
"Look who's talking."

"Why, you little weasel." Nick said, closing the space 
in between them and picking her up out of the water.

"Hey!" Scully exclaimed." You're a foot taller 
than I am. Go pick on somebody your own size."

"Why?" Nick asked. "You're more fun to pick on." 

Scully giggled at him as he began to tickle her." 
I still remember where you are the most ticklish Dana." 
O'Reily said with a smile. "And your laughter is 
like music to my ears." 

Hearing Scully's laugh made Mulder angry.  
"I want to be the one who always makes her laugh." 
He muttered.  "Not that Dick-head over there."
He stood behind a bush on shaky legs.  "Why now?" 
He thought to himself. "Why did he have to come back 
into her life now? What the hell does she see in him 
anyway?"

Unable to sit by and watch this display any longer, 
Mulder came out of hiding. "Any luck?" He asked 
coldly.
 
"No..." O'Reily said. "..nothing."

"Shit" Mulder said, munching on a few berries.
"We are fucking stranded here."

"Not necessarily Agent Mulder." O'Reily said 
as he set Scully back in the water. 
"The other scientists are here. They have a 
two-way radio for communication."

Mulder nodded in response.

"Nick where ARE the rest of your crew anyway?"

"Beyond the rocks and to the East." 
Nick said, pointing in behind Mulder.
"That's where their camp is.  We'll go there 
tomorrow, but right now we should probably get
some sleep. We shouldn't go out in the dark."

"Yeah." Mulder agreed, stretching out his arms.

XxXxXxXxX
Monday, 9:35pm.

"We need to try and stay warm Mulder." 
Scully said, sitting next to him and rubbing her 
arms with her hands.

"Oh, you mean we get to cuddle?" He asked 
with a smile. 

She gave him a quick sarcastic grin before 
scooting closer to him. She put her back to him 
and laid her head on the ground, putting her arm
beneath her head for cushion. 

"What about poor Nick?" He asked. 

"I gave him the blanket." She replied. 
"Get some sleep Mulder, we need to find the 
team in the morning." She said with a yawn.

When he did not answer, she rolled over to 
look at him, finding him sound asleep. With a deep 
sigh, she moved closer to him. She noticed him shiver 
and put her arms instinctively around him. She held 
him tightly and rested his head in the crook of 
her arm. She had just begun dozing off when she 
felt him move in her arms. He pulled his right arm 
around her waist and pulled her closer, mashing 
their bodies closely together.

She couldn't help but wonder if he was truly asleep, 
so she found herself looking down at his angelic face, 
looking for any signs of him being awake. She found 
nothing but his eyes closed heavily, his lips slightly 
parted, and his breathing calm and steady. 

Scully suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to reach out 
and touch him. She ran her fingers through his dark hair, 
and over his soft lips before gently kissing his forehead.

"We're gonna be okay Mulder." She whispered against 
his skin. She then laid her head back on the ground, 
once more trying to fall asleep. She felt him shift 
his weight again, this time moving his right hand back 
onto her side. She ignored it, thinking that he was 
just unconsciously making an attempt at getting 
comfortable on the damp, cold ground beneath them. 
She then felt his hand begin to move again, this time 
sliding it's way up to the bottom of her left breast. 
She felt his finger moving, smoothing out the fabric 
of her T-shirt. It was then that she began to worry 
that he truly wasn't asleep at all and became a little 
defensive. She looked down once more and found that 
his eyes were still lightly closed, his breathing 
steady and deep. 

"He's asleep, he doesn't know what he is doing." 
She tried to tell herself.

It was then that she felt it. His fingertips 
had brushed lightly against her nipple. In total 
shock, she didn't know what to do, or say. She lay 
there breathless, unable to speak, to defend herself 
against her beautiful, sleeping partner.

After the second brush of his fingers against her 
sensitive skin, she was filled with adrenaline 
once again. The thought that he was deliberately 
trying to seduce her had enraged her, and she 
immediately jolted back away from him. 

"Mulder!" She yelled. 
There was no response. The only sound was that of 
steady breathing. "Mulder!" She shouted louder. 
His hand made it's way back onto her breast, 
stroking her more precisely, adding pressure to 
the once feather-soft caresses that he had given before.
She found it to be so arousing, so irresistible 
that she let out a soft moan. 

"He doesn't know what he's doing, he's having some 
sort of erotic dream and is just unconsciously 
seeking out some type of physical contact." 
She told herself.

His hand then slid up, resting itself on the 
hollow of her throat. She could feel his still 
steady breath hot on her neck as he pulled her 
closer. She then felt his lips brushing lightly 
over the skin on her neck. 

"This isn't what I think it is." She tried to 
tell herself. "That was not his tongue that I 
felt on my neck." 

Her body trembling, she felt it again, only this 
time there was no mistaking it. 

"Mmuu." She tried to say his name, but ended up 
releasing a moan instead. 

"What is he trying to do to me?" She thought.

His hand then began traveling down her chest, 
her stomach and then resting on her hip. 
He planted small kisses up her neck, around her 
jaw and on her cheek before slowly covering her 
lips with his. "Oh God, this is not happening." 
She thought.
He moved his lips away from hers, leaving her 
gasping for air while he returned to her neck, 
continuing his oral exploration of her throat. 

He pressed against her, rolling her over as he 
shifted his body lightly on top of hers. 
"Muld..er." She breathed, but he did not reply. 

His hands slid down her body finding the front 
button on her jeans. 

"Oh God, not here not now." She thought. 
"This isn't right, not like this." 

She reached her hand down, grabbing his, stopping 
him from freeing her zipper. He stilled his hand 
and stopped his assault on her neck. 

"Mulder." She said desperately, trying to sound kind 
but also stern. "Mulder." She repeated. 
He didn't answer, but began to more forcefully work 
on her zipper.

"Mulder!" She cried. He freed the zipper and reached 
around her hips then tugged stiffly down on her jeans, 
commanding them to leave her body as he silenced her 
with his mouth, shoving his tongue inside. 

She put her hands up on his shoulder, trying to push 
him away but he remained there, still pulling on her clothes. 
He then broke away from their kiss to pull off her jeans, 
leaning back on his knees. She tried to fight him, 
clamping her legs shut and pulling them forward to 
prevent him from taking her jeans completely off 
of her legs. 

"Mulder!" She screamed. It was then that she 
realized that his eyes were still closed. 

"Oh my God!" She gasped.

He did not allow her another word before he grabbed 
onto her legs and began pulling on them, 
straightening them to allow him to finally free 
her jeans from their grip. 

She did not try to kick him, she didn't want 
to hurt him. "He doesn't even know what he is doing." 
She reminded herself. 

"MULDER!" She screamed one last time before he took 
his place on top of her, spreading her legs apart with 
his knee and covering her mouth again with his own. 
She tried to shove him, she tried to squirm under him, 
to close her legs and deny him what she knew they both 
had wanted for so long. But he only pushed harder, 
adding more pressure against her with his arms, 
restraining her legs with his hands. She was 
beginning to wonder if she would ever break free 
until she did the unthinkable. 

As he pulled away from their kiss, hit him. 
She hit him right in the jaw, hard enough to send 
him tumbling off of her and onto the ground beside them. 

For the first time since they had fallen asleep she heard 
him speak.

"Ouch Scully! What the HELL did you do that for?" 
He yelled, holding his jaw and giving her a confused look.

"Mulder what the hell were you trying to do to ME?" 
She asked in reply. 

He looked down at her bare legs, and then to the pile of 
rumpled jeans that laid beside her on the ground.

He felt a rush of tremendous horror rush through his body.
"Scully, oh my god! Are you all right?" He asked, 
sitting up and moving toward her.

"I don't know how to answer that question Mulder." 
She quipped, sitting up. She then quickly reached for the 
jeans on the ground. When she retrieved them, she 
slipped them on without a word.

"Scully, what the hell happened? What, what did I do?" 
He asked, standing up.

"You were sleeping Mulder. You were sleeping and 
you just started to... You started to..." 
She said, tears filling her eyes.

"Scully. Oh my god, Scully." He moved towards 
her, trying to comfort her. 

"No, Mulder, I don't want you to touch me right 
now okay?" She jerked away from him. 

"Scully... I.." 

"Just don't Mulder, don't. I know it wasn't your 
fault." She wasn't as sure of her words as she 
had wanted to sound.

"Mulder?" She asked, looking around them. 

"Yes?" He looked up at her humbly.

"Where is Nick?" She asked.

"Well, he was just over.." He turned to find him 
and saw the blanket on the ground. No Dr. O'Reily 
in sight. "Oh...shit!" He exclaimed.


"Where could he have gone?" Scully asked.

"I don't know Scully." Mulder said, gritting his 
teeth. "Wouldn't loverboy tell us if he was going 
out on his own?"

"I don't know." Scully said.  "I haven't seen 
the man in fourteen years." 

"I don't like this Scully, not one bit." 

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well, it's just too weird around here for my taste. 
I mean have you seen any wildlife on this island Scully?" 

"Come to think of it, no I haven't." She replied, 
looking around her surroundings. 

"And what about what just happened Scully?" 

Scully tilted her head back, biting her bottom lip. 

"I mean Scully, I honestly do not remember doing 
anything Scully. Do you believe me?" He asked, 
taking a step towards her. 

"Yes Mulder, I do believe you. I don't think that 
you would, under normal circumstances, try to seduce 
me in your sleep." She said, looking into his eyes for 
re-assurance. 

"Of course not, if I were to seduce you Scully, I 
most certainly would want to be awake during it." 
He smiled. 

"Mulder when you were sleeping, it was almost as 
though you were in some kind of trance. I couldn't 
wake you up until I hit you. It was like you were 
drugged Mulder." She said, creasing her forehead, 
deep in thought. 

"There is something strange going on here." She added. 

"Shit!" He swore.

"What?" 

"The berries. It's the fucking berries." He said clearly.

"There have been berries known to induce an altered 
state of reality, like an hallucinogen. There are 
many types of wild berries that are poisonous, ones 
that would cause that kind of deep sleep, or 
even psychosis." She agreed.

"We need to find O'Reily to warn him not to eat any 
more." Mulder said, trying to sound truly worried 
about him.

"Not tonight Mulder. We need to wait till morning, 
we don't know anything about these woods, we could 
easily get lost. That would be of no help to anyone, 
even Nick." 

"Right. Well, I think we should avoid sleeping tonight, 
just in case." Mulder stated.

"Scully?" 

"Yeah?" 

"I didn't hurt you did I?" He asked, looking into 
her beautiful blue eyes, trying to pry the truth from them. 

"No Mulder, you didn't hurt me. You could never hurt me. 
You are forgetting that I can kick your ass."

"We'll see about that Scully. We'll see just how 
big and bad you really are someday. That is, when 
we aren't fighting for our lives. 
We're gonna play a little one on one." Mulder laughed. 

"Just don't think that you're gonna win Mulder." 
Scully replied, winking her eye at him.

"Oh? And just what makes you so confident that I wont
Scully?" 

"Don't you know by now that I always have to win?" 
She said with a smile.

He returned her smile and they sat down once again 
on the blanket. 

XxXxEND PART 2. CONTINUED IN PART 3.xXxX

XxXxXxX
PART 3:
XxXxXxX

Tuesday, 12:31am.
 
"So talk to me Scully."

"About what?"

"Well, anything. We need to try and stay awake, 
so let's ask each other questions or something."

"All right, you start since it's your idea Mulder." 
She said with lax enthusiasm.

"Okay, who was your first real romance?"

She shot him a quick glance, deciding whether or 
not to answer. "You want to know the truth?" 

"When do I NOT want to know the truth Scully?" 
He asked with a smile.

She nodded her head before continuing. "Well, 
my first real romance would undoubtedly have 
been Nick." 

"No!" He protested in a deep voice. 

"Yes, Mulder." 

"So tell me everything Scully, how did the good 
doctor reel you in?" 

"The usual, he was my professor Mulder. He was 
handsome, smart, funny, and most of all, 
he listened."

"Ahh, the listening thing. Why do all chicks 
go for that?" 

"Chicks Mulder?"

"Excuse me, women."

"Well, because most women want men that 
understand them." She answered.

Mulder raised his eyebrows in interest, 
silently telling her to elaborate.

"And, the best way to understanding is through 
listening."

"So you're saying that if I were your professor, 
and I listened, you'd go out with me, no questions 
asked?"

"And, if you were smart and handsome..." 

"Am I supposed to be taking offense to that remark 
Scully?"

Scully bit her bottom lip and tilted her head 
suggestively. 

"Okay, so who was your first real romance Mulder?

"I think you know the answer to that question already 
Scully." 

"No Mulder, I don't. Please, do enlighten me."

Mulder swallowed hard before answering; "Phoebe." 

"The English bitch from hell?" Scully couldn't help 
but comment at his expense.

"I don't think that she was from hell Scully." 

"I could argue with that Mulder." 

"Look, I didn't make any comments about Nick."

"True, but you do have to admit that she was a bitch."

He didn't answer, but lowered his head. "She was 
the first person who seemed to understand me." 
He confessed.

"I rest my case.." 

He shot her a glare from across the blanket.

"Do want me to finish my story or not?"

"By all means, please continue." She motioned her 
hand in the air.

After giving her another questioning look, he 
began to speak again. "It was one of those typical 
'one person gets too close, and the other one gets 
uninterested' stories." 

"I take it that you were the one that got too close." 
She said quietly.

He tightened his face into a stiff grin and nodded.

"Mulder you deserved better than someone like her."

"Oh really?" He asked, scooting neared to her. 
"Do tell me Agent Scully, what did I deserve exactly?" 

"Me.." She thought to herself.

"A lot more than what Phoebe could have ever given 
you, that's for sure." She said out loud.

Mulder smiled. "Looking back, I really don't know 
what I saw in Phoebe. She was interested in money 
and power and danger... but never love. It's just a 
shame that I didn't see that earlier than I did." 

Scully nodded and reached down to take off her shoes, 
groaning loudly as the pain seared through her 
aching feet.

"Feet still hurt?" He asked her gently after 
staring at her for a moment. 

"Yeah, these damn shoes!" She swore.

"Shoulda brought your Nikes." Mulder joked. 

Scully gave a small attempt at laughter.

"Here, let me.." He reached his hand out, 
grabbing one of her feet.

"Mulder you.." 

"Pull-eease, I think that I am worthy enough 
to massage your feet. Even though I'm not a 
handsome, good-listening professor from Berkeley." 
He replied, giving her a full-toothed grin.
After finishing her right foot, he took her left in 
his hands, needing his thumbs into the bottom 
arch of her foot.

"Mmm that feeels gooood Mulllder." Scully said, 
as a small moan escaped her lips.

"You owe me big time Scully." He smiled.

"I owe you?" She said, getting a slight attitude 
in her voice.

He stopped massaging and looked at her with a 
devilish grin.

"Okay, okay, I owe you Mulder, please don't stop." 

"That's better." He began massaging again. 
"So tell me more about this Nick relationship..." 

"What more do you want to know Mulder?" She said 
quietly, leaning her head back on her shoulders.

"What first attracted you to him?" 

"His personality." She replied without much thought.

"Oh come on Scully.." He laughed.

"No, seriously Mulder. You might think it's insane 
yourself, but that is the first thing I look at 
in a man."

"Hmm.. So you're saying that it had nothing to do 
with physical attraction whatsoever?"

"I didn't say that." 

"Then what are you saying? That just comes in as 
second to you?"

"You cannot have a meaningful relationship with 
someone whose personality is that of a barn animal 
Mulder. Or at least I can't.." 

He gave her a silencing look, once again wondering 
if she was trying to imply something.

"You can't live the rest of your life with someone 
that you can't even carry on a conversation with, 
it's unhealthy." She continued.

"Well, that's one area that we would never be 
lacking in, Scully."

She gave him a small smile before rolling her head 
back again, looking up at the stars.

"They are beautiful, aren't they?" Mulder asked her. 
"Just like you." He thought to himself.

"Yes." She replied. "Definitely not stars you get 
in back in DC. You know Mulder, always dreamed as a 
child of living on a deserted island." Scully said. 
"Guess I got my wish."

Mulder laughed. "It'd be better if there were a 
five-star hotel around here."

".. And if there was food." Scully added, clutching 
her growling stomach.

"What a way to get a vacation, eh Scully?"

"I'd hardly call it that Mulder."

"If I were on vacation and on and island, there 
would be parties and handsome men..." Scully said 
with a grin.  "This is NOT a vacation."

"Why Scully, I never figured you to be much of a 
party animal."

"Well, a girls gotta have fun sometime Mulder." 
She said, looking at the stars again. "And God knows 
you can't have much of that while sitting in an 
office all day." 

He finished massaging her feet and she retracted 
them beneath her on the blanket. "Feel better?" 
He asked.

"Much better actually. Mulder, where did you ever 
learn how to do that? I never would have guessed 
that you were a masseuse."

"There are a lot of things that you don't know 
about me Scully. I'd like to think I have a few 
tricks up my sleeve." He said with a smile.

XxX
Tuesday, 6:05am.
XxX

"Oh look Mulder.." Scully pointed out towards 
the water. "The sunrise. We made it..."

"Tonight anyway." Mulder said, pessimism creeping 
into his tone as he stood to stretch his long legs. 
"It's going to be harder tonight. We are both going 
to be a great deal more tired."

"Yeah." Scully said, reaching for Mulder's hand to 
help her off the ground. "But we'll be tired together. 
And maybe, if we're lucky, there won't be another 
night. But just in case, we need to formulate a plan 
on what to do to stay awake." She tried her best to 
stay positive. "We need to get looking for Nick." 

"Why can't he just stay missing." Mulder thought 
to himself.

"Uhm, yeah, whatever." He replied. "Where should 
we start? Should we split up? Or stay Together?"

"Together, we don't know enough about this island 
to split up." She said, looking around.

"True. So which way should we go El Salvador?" 
He mocked.

She shot him a glare. "Over here." she motioned to 
their right, leading them into the woods.

"All right Scully." Mulder said following behind her. 
"But if we get lost, I'm gonna kick your ass. I am an 
Indian Guide after all."

"Indian Guide my ass." She muttered under her breath.

"What was that Scully?" He asked, hearing her say 
something that he couldn't quite understand.
"Did you say something?"

"Nothing Mulder" She said. "It's nothing."

XxX
Tuesday, 9:44am.
XxX

"Oh Mulder, look!" Scully said, pointing at a 
silver object in the ground.

"What is it?" He asked, eagerly following her 
towards the clearing.

"I don't know, looks like something metallic." 
She knelt down, uncovering the shiny object with 
her hands. 

"It's a cell phone." She said quietly, turning 
it over in her hands while examining it.

"Whose cell phone?" He asked, kneeling down next 
to her. 

"I dunno.. wait, there's a name on it... Jesus 
Mulder, it's Elvis'!" 

"Very funny Scully. Elvis was abducted by aliens, 
not stranded on some deserted island." 

She turned around to give him a small grin. 

"So?" He asked impatiently.

"Well the battery is dead, otherwise I could tell 
you Mulder. But, judging by the condition it's 
in, I'd say it's fairly new. Therefore, it hasn't 
been here long."

"Wonder if Nick dropped it on his way out."

"Mulder, if he had a cell phone he would have 
tried to use if before we left the boat." 

"How sure are you about that Scully?" 

She sighed deeply then stood up, to continue 
walking. 

They searched for nearly five hours, not resting. 
They had begun to feel a sting in their stomachs, 
the sting of hunger. 

"You know Scully, I am seriously considering the 
possibility of becoming a cannibal." He joked. 

"You'd have to kill me in order to eat me Mulder. 
Which by the way, I am beginning to think that isn't 
such a bad idea after all." She stopped walking for 
a moment, allowing them to catch their breath.

"Not necessarily." He panted, putting his hands on 
his knees.

"Not necessarily what Mulder?" 

"I wouldn't have to kill you in order to eat you." 

"Oh Mulder, is there ever a time when men don't 
think about sex?" She asked, sounding annoyed.

"Nope." Mulder said. "We male chauvinistic pigs 
who don't listen, think of nothing else."

"God, she looks beautiful. Even when she's all 
dirty and grimy." He silently thought to himself.

"Oh, then they take a break from it for what? 
Five minutes out of the day to eat?"

"Depends on the woman." He replied.

"Every minute of every day I think of you Scully." 
He thought to himself.

"Oh, does it?" Scully said full of sarcasm.

Mulder smiled at her in reply and she returned 
her gaze to their surroundings.

"Which way was it back to the beach?" She 
finally allowed herself to ask.

"Oh, the leader lost her way?" He teased.

"I never said that I was the Indian Guide, 
Mulder." 

"Allow me." He said, stepping in front of her 
to take the lead.

"Yes, by all means 'Oh Great Indian Guide'." 
She spat.

XxX
Tuesday, 3:55pm. 
XxX

"Jesus Scully, like I am supposed to know my way 
around an island after only being here for one day?" 
He shouted, looking back at her sitting on a stump.

She sat there quietly, rubbing her temples with 
both hands.

"You're the damn Indian Guide Mulder, not me." 
She yelled back. "God, what I wouldn't give for 
a compass and a map." She muttered to herself.

Scully sat up as she pushed a strand of red hair 
behind her ear.  Mulder was standing beside her now, 
his hands on his hips.

"Hey Scully.."

"What?"

"Look over there..."

She looked up at him, trying to see where he was 
looking. When she saw that he was looking behind her, 
she slowly turned around and saw a mound of 
disturbed dirt behind her.

"Please tell me that is just my imagination." 
He said, hoping for the best.

She raised up off the stump, slowly walking 
toward the heap.

"Is that a foot?" Mulder asked from behind her.

"Yes Mulder, it is." She said quietly. 

"This keeps getting better and better." He whined.

"Mulder give me a hand." Together, they began 
to uncover the body.

"One of the scientists I'm presuming." Scully said, 
as she wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. 

"I think we should rule out accidental death." 
He pointed toward the hole in the middle-aged 
man's head. "I'm thinking that isn't a fashion 
statement. What the hell did that?" 

 "It would appear as though he was shot, but 
there is an extraordinary lack of blood. It's 
almost like it was drilled post-mortem." 

"Post-mortem? Who the hell would have done that? 
And with what?" He asked. 

"I'm guessing with this." She pointed to a small 
metal object next to the body. "It's a drill bit 
Mulder." She said as she examined it closer.

"Who the hell would have had a drill bit on this 
island Scully? I don't think they were building 
their dream homes out here."

"I don't know, but the scientists might have carried 
one to build their temporary hutches, or put together 
their equipment." 

"In your medical opinion Scully, how long has this 
man been dead?" 

"I'm just guessing here Mulder, but judging by the 
mild decomposition that has occurred, I'm guessing 
about two to three days."

"There's something else that's weird about this 
Mulder."

"What do you mean?"

"Even after death, this man would have bled when 
this hole was drilled into his head, there isn't 
even so much as a spatter on his face or hair."

"What are you suggesting Scully?" 

"I would need to do a more thorough analysis, 
but it looks to me like he was drained of blood 
somehow, like it was sucked out of this hole."

Mulder was disgusted at this, and sat back on his 
heels, putting distance between himself and the 
body lying next to them. 

"Scully, as much as I hate to pull you away from 
this wonderful discovery, we need to get back to 
the beach before dark."

"Yeah, you're right." She sighed. 

"Let's try backtracking, I think that's our best 
bet Scully." 

They began walking back through the woods, 
following the direction that they had come from 
in hopes of finding the beach.

XxX
Tuesday, 6:45pm.
XxX

Once they reached the beach, Scully sat down 
on the blanket, trying to relax. 

"Don't think about it." Mulder said, returning 
to her side on the blanket. 

"Oh God Mulder, I want to sleep so bad that I am 
almost ready to never wake up again." 

"Don't even say that." He said sternly, looking 
at her with a serious expression on his face.

She returned the stare for a moment before 
turning her head away, having a hard time believing  
that he was so concerned. 

"We need to come up with a plan to stay awake Mulder." 

"Well I have a few ideas but it might take too 
much energy, of which I don't think either of us 
have right now." He laughed.

"I'm serious Mulder." She grunted. 

"Well, cold water keeps people awake doesn't it?" 
He asked.

"What do you have on your mind Mulder?" She 
returned her gaze to him. 

"Well, we have an entire sea to swim in, and to 
be honest I think we could both use a bath Scully."

"Mulder, if we get in the water wearing our clothes 
we will freeze when we get out." 

"Who said we had to wear our clothes Scully?" 

She shot him a questioning glare. 

"Come on." He got off the blanket and stretched 
out his hand to her. "I won't peek, I promise." 

She took his hand and he pulled her off the 
blanket. "There's a bush by the edge over there, 
I'll go first and get in the water. Then I'll turn 
around until you're in." 

She was nervous, extremely nervous. What would 
happen if she enjoyed this? Would that make her a 
bad person? "All right Mulder, I'll wait over here, 
you go ahead." She finally agreed. 

"No peeking." He reminded her with a wide grin, 
to which she nodded in reply. 

"All right Scully, I'm in!" He yelled from the water. 
"It's fucking cold, so brace yourself!"

"Wonderful." She muttered under her breath. "I'll 
be there in a minute, turn around!" She yelled back. 

"If you're not in the water in five minutes, I'm 
coming to look for you Scully, naked or not!" He 
humorously replied. 

"Whatever.." She said quietly as she walked behind 
the bush. "I can't believe I am doing this! I'm not 
a damn teenager!" She thought to herself.

"Scully, are you all right?" He yelled. 

"Yes Mulder, I'm fine. Just give me a minute." 
She stepped out of her jeans. 

"Oh my God, what am I doing?" She said out loud as 
she walked towards the water. "Mulder don't you 
dare turn around!" She yelled.

Her first step into the water felt like the pierce
of a needle into her foot. She gasped loudly and 
tried to step into the water with her other foot 
but found it to be extremely difficult. 
"This is insane Mulder!" She yelled as she quickly 
stepped further. When she was fully submerged into 
the icy water, she stood, unable to move. Her muscles 
felt like they were frozen, she could barely breathe. 
"Mulder? Where are you?" 

"I'm right here." He said from behind her, 
making her jump. 

"Damn it Mulder, you scared me!" 

He couldn't help but laugh at her. "Scully, 
how many times have you been skinny-dipping?" 

"Never Mulder." 

"Never?" He asked, not believing her. 

"That's right, never." 

"I find that so hard to believe." 

"How many times have you been skinny-dipping 
Mulder?" She asked with a smile.

He took a deep sigh and bit his lip. "Once. 
Before this, that is." 

"Okay, truth or dare Mulder?" 

"What?" 

"I said truth, or dare." 

He gave her a devilish grin, his eyebrows raising. 
"No one has ever asked me to play truth or dare before." 

"Really? I find THAT hard to believe." She said, 
mockingly.

"Yeah, it's such a girl game." 

"Well, if you don't wanna play that's all right 
with me Mulder, I just thought I'd ask." She teased.

"No no, I wanna play, it's just that I would never 
have imagined that it would be with you.."

"Okay, so truth or dare?" She asked again. 

"Truth." 

"Oh come on, Mulder!" 

"I said truth. I don't know if I trust your 
dares Scully." 

"All right, who did you go skinny-dipping with?" 

"How cheap! What if I don't want to answer that one?" 

"You have to, it's the rules." She taunted. 

"My sister." 

"WHAT?" 

"My sister, I bathed with my sister when we were 
younger. That's considered to be skinny-dipping 
isn't it?" 

"Mulder! You cheat!" She slapped his arm. 

"I was still a kid and mom used to just throw her 
in the tub with me. What's so bad about that?" 
He laughed.

"I thought you were going to tell me about some 
steamy romance you had in your late adolescence." 

"Sorry to disappoint you Scully." 

She glared at him. "Okay, it's your turn to ask 
me now." 

"Right, truth or dare Scully?" 

"Truth." 

"Oh, you're no fun." He whined. Suddenly his face 
broke out in a mischievous grin. "Okay, have you 
ever thought that one day we might become lovers?"  

"Mulder, I don't want to answer that." 

"You have to, it's the rule." He threw her previous 
words back in her face. 

She sighed loudly and looked around them absently. 

"Tick-tock, tick-tock." 

"Mulder, I think that in some way that question 
violates the trust between two people, especially 
friends." 

"Come on Scully, I swear I'll never speak of it 
again, ever. Besides, on this one I will allow 
you to lie. Is that fair enough?" 

"Yes."

"Okay, so what's your answer?" He questioned.

"I just told you."

"No you didn't." 

"Yes, I did."

"What did you say?"

"I said yes." 

His stomach felt like it had dropped to his feet, 
and he found himself having a hard time breathing. 
"You have?" 

"Yes Mulder, I have. Now it's your turn." 

His face was lit with a glow like she had never 
seen, although it was hard to see in the moonlight, 
she knew it was there, as bright as ever. 

"Wipe that silly-ass grin off your face Mulder. 
It's your turn, truth or dare?" 

"Dare." He said darkly, stepping a little closer 
to her in the water. 

"I dare you to kiss me." 

"I was hoping you'd say that Scully." He stepped 
closer, closing in on her like she was his prey. 

"Agent Mulder!" A voice yelled from the beach. 
Mulder stopped in the water, just before reaching her. 
He closed his eyes, trying to see if he could drown 
out the annoying sound. But it didn't work.
"Agent Mulder! Agent Scully!" The voice only yelled 
louder. He turned around to see the man, to find out 
who this was who had invaded his dreams, who had 
taken something from him he had worked so hard to get. 
"Damn it!" He cursed through gritted teeth as he saw 
Nicholas O'Reily standing on the beach. 

"Nick?" Scully yelled from behind him. 

"Yeah, where have you been? I have been looking all 
over the island for you! I thought you had gotten 
lost!" O'Reily yelled out to them. 

"We have to tell you about something Nick. But for 
now, can you turn around so we can get out of the 
water?" She yelled back. 

Just then, Nick spotted their clothes lying on the 
beach and he immediately understood. "Sure thing! 
I'll just be over there!" He yelled in reply. 

"After you Agent Scully." Mulder motioned his hand 
on the top of the water towards the beach. He turned 
around to allow her to pass him, his face fixed in 
a saddened expression. 

After they had both gotten out of the water and put 
their clothes on, they joined Nick at the blanket. 

"Nick, we went looking for you and found something." 
Scully said gravely as she sat next down.

"What?" 

"We found a body. A man's body not more than two 
miles from here." Mulder finished. 

"Oh my God!" Nick exclaimed. 

"It's just a preliminary hunch, but we are fairly 
certain that he was murdered."

"A hunch?"

"We are fairly certain, Nick." Mulder answered. 

"Murdered?" Nick asked flippantly. "Murdered how?"

"We aren't sure as of yet." Mulder replied.

"And how did you come up with this theory, Dana?" 
Nick asked, looking over at her.

"There is a puncture wound on his head, a hole 
that we believe was drilled, using this." Scully 
pulled out the drill bit for him to see.

Nick examined the bit.... "Uh-huh" he said 
suspiciously.

"There's something else." Scully said.

"We believe that his blood was drained as well. 
By whomever, or whatever did this to him." 
Mulder added.

"Whatever?" O'Reily asked, looking at Mulder 
with a confused expression.

Mulder simply nodded, leaving him to wonder. 

"Oh, I see." Nick said. "And is THAT agent Mulder's 
theory, or yours Dana? O'Reily questioned Scully.

"It's a theory that I cannot disagree completely 
with Nick." Scully replied.

"Aren't you going a little out on a limb Dana?" 
Nick quipped. "You're saying that some creature, 
some blood sucking alien, just grabbed a drill and 
sucked the life out of this man?"

"No, I'm not." Scully replied, the anger rising 
in her voice. "Nick, I've seen many strange things. 
Hell, I have seen things I would never have, in my 
wildest dreams thought possible. But, I am telling 
you this: That man was murdered, by what I don't know.
There was a hole drilled into his head with this 
instrument.." She held up the bit again for him to see 
once again. "And, his blood was extracted, and no, 
I don't know how to explain it."

"Very convincing Dana." Nick said. "What ever 
happened to the 'cold hard fact' Dana I once knew?"

"She was paired up with me Nick, that's what happened." 
Mulder interjected. "She's been the best partner and 
friend that anyone could ever ask for, and I love going 
to work each day knowing she's going be there. I assure 
you O'Reily, she is the type that gets under your skin,
making you itch for more."

Scully turned to Mulder, giving him a questioning glare. 
Why the hell was he saying this? She wondered.

"Mulder.." She said, trying to get his attention.

He didn't reply, but instead, just continued to stare 
at O'Reily. 

"Mulder.." 

"What Scully?"

"Mulder, you're bleeding."

He swiped the corner of his mouth and pulled back 
his hand, seeing a smear of blood on it.
Scully sat there, just looking at him, trying to decide 
what to do. She began to get up and he stopped her.

"I just bit my lip Scully, I'm all right."

She eased back on the blanket again, taking a deep breath. 

Mulder held his hand up to his lip to stop the bleeding.

"There's something else we need to tell him about Scully." 
Mulder said, his voice muffled by his hand. She tilted her 
head, asking him silently what he meant.

"About the sleeping... the berries.." Mulder prompted.

"That's right. Nick, we have reason to believe that the 
berries that we ate when we first arrived contain some 
sort of hallucinogen."

"What?" O'Reily questioned, growing somewhat unnerved.

"A hallucinogen, or some other type of chemical that 
alters your state of consciousness.

"What led you to believe that?" He asked, impatiently.

"After Mulder ate the berries, he went into some kind 
of trance, an altered state that caused him to act out 
irrationally."

"Irrationally? Irrationally how?"

"I made... advances towards Scully, of which I have no 
memory of doing." Mulder stated, trying to keep the 
uneasiness out of his voice.

"I have eaten these berries before, and they have 
had no such effect on me."

"Maybe so Nick, but you would not have remembered 
it even if you did." Scully said, trying to keep calm.

"I just think we should, for safety precautions, 
not eat anything, as Mulder and I have done. We have 
also avoided sleep, at least until we figure out what 
is causing this."

"Okay, and how do you propose that we do that?"

"Well, Mulder and I lasted one night without sleeping." 
Scully said. "We resorted to swimming in the cold water 
to stay awake, that's what we were doing when you 
found us."

"That's not all we were doing." Mulder thought silently 
to himself.

"Well, I have a pack of cards in my pocket if any one 
is interested." Nick offered. "Poker anyone?"

"How about strip poker?" Mulder asked, looking at 
Scully with a grin.

"Too cold Mulder." She returned.

"Ahh, but Dana, you have me to snuggle with." 
O'Reily said with a smile. 

Mulder gave him an annoyed look, and returned his 
eyes to Scully.

"Hmm, are you feeling lucky Nick? She asked, 
teasing him. "Remember who you're dealing with."

"Oh yes, Dana. I quite remember the last time we 
played poker." Nick said. "Navy brat." 

O'Reily began to deal the cards out, one by one. 
After nearly five hands Scully was winning, 
almost every time.

"Straight flush!" Scully yelled, laying her cards 
out for them both to see.

"Who the hell asked her to play?" Mulder 
questioned O'Reily. "She's kicking our sorry asses!"

He threw his empty hand down, gaping at Scully, 
who was giggling contentedly.

"This is gonna be a long night." Mulder concluded.

XxXxEND PART 3. CONTINUED IN PART 4.xXxX

XXXXXX
PART 4
XXXXXX

FBI Headquarters, Washington DC
Monday, 8:32am.


"Where the hell are they?" Skinner ran over and over 
in his mind while pacing the floor of his office. 

"Sir," his receptionist said, bursting in the door. 

"Yes?" He asked impatiently, running a hand over his 
balding head. 

"There is a Michelle Forline on the phone for you," 
she answered. 

"Thank you," he replied, taking a seat in his chair. 
"AD Skinner," he answered as he picked up the receiver. 

"Sir, I am trying to contact an Agent Mulder, whom 
I think is one of your agents," the feminine voice 
stated. "Do you have any idea where I can reach him?" 

"Have you tried his home phone?" He asked, feeling 
himself anger at the thought of the defiant agent.

"Yes sir, I have. He hasn't returned my phone calls 
in over a week and I tried his phone number at the 
Bureau and only got his answering service," she 
paused. "Look, it's rather important that I reach 
him, I just thought that you might know where I 
could find him."

"No ma'am, I'm sorry. Agent Mulder is apparently 
playing 'hooky' this morning, I apologize for the 
inconvenience. If I hear from him I'll be sure and 
let him know you are trying to reach him." 

"Thank you sir," she added before hanging up. 

Skinner pressed the intercom to speak with his 
assistant. "Kim," he called. 

"Yes sir?" 

"I would like to be told the minute Agent Mulder 
and/or Agent Scully get in," he briefly stated.

"Yes sir," she answered, hearing a click on the 
other end of the line.

XXX
FBI Headquarters, Washington DC
Tuesday, 9:45am.


"Son of a bitch! Where the hell is he? That's so 
damn typical for Mulder. Disobeying orders, always 
off gallivanting off into the nether-world. But 
Scully? She is usually so ... I don't know why 
she's being so irresponsible. Are they all right? 
Is one of them hurt? Are they dead? They had better 
be if they don't show up soon, because it will be 
the only excuse I'll accept. But what if they are? 
Surely not, knowing those two, they are just off 
slaying vampires with fake teeth or chasing spaceships. 
They're still alive... they have to be." Skinner thought, 
once again pacing the floors of his office. He was, 
whether he would admit it or not, worried about them. 

XXX
The Island
Wednesday, 5:15am.

"Hey where did you learn to play poker anyway?" 
Mulder asked, once again throwing his worthless hand 
down on the blanket.

"She learned all the best plays from me." O'Reily bragged. 

"I did not!" Scully exclaimed. "I remember chewing 
your ass when we played."

O'Reily gave Scully a "who, me?" look and continued 
to deal out the cards.

"Boys, you tend to learn many things living on a 
Navy base as a child." Scully said, sorting her cards.

"Hey, look the sun is coming up." Mulder said, 
changing the subject. "I'm loosing anyway..."

Scully laughed, sitting her cards down on the blanket. 
"I was gonna win."  She winked. 

"Smart-ass." O'Reily grunted.

"Too bad that I don't have my gun..." Scully teased.

"Yeah." Mulder said. "You better watch it, if you piss 
her off bad enough, she'll shoot you. Believe me, 
I know."

O'Reily laughed. "Are you serious?"

Mulder smiled at him and nodded his head. 

"I only shot him because he was being a dumb ass 
and was going to shoot a man with the same gun that 
was used in a murder not more than a few hours 
before." Scully explained, elbowing Mulder in the ribs. 
"You're lucky I'm a good shot Mulder."

Mulder groaned. "Ahh, such fine memories that we 
have together Scully."

O'Reily laughed. 

"Was that your stomach Mulder?" Scully asked, 
hearing a rather loud growling noise.

"I guess it was. Maybe it's against this hunger 
strike." Mulder chuckled. "Not eating for three 
days does that to a man."

"Against this hunger strike?" O'Reily laughed again.

"Scully what are the odds that we will find 
something edible on this island that doesn't 
require lava lamps and Pink Floyd music to enjoy?" 
Mulder asked with a grin on his face.

"Well, I don't know Mulder. We should probably 
spread out a little and look. But whatever you do, 
don't eat anything until we are all back together 
again."

"Yes mommy," they both chimed in unison.

She gave them both a glare before getting off the 
blanket. "Come on boys," 
she called.

They both followed behind her, looking like two small 
ducklings following a mother goose. She couldn't help 
but laugh at them. 

XXX
FBI Headquarters, Washington DC
Wednesday, 10:01am.

"Kim.."

"Yes sir?" 

"Get me Search and Rescue. I think we need to get 
down to South America," he said sadly, not believing 
his own words.

"Sir?"

"Yes Kim?"

"I just want to say good luck, sir."

"Thanks Kim, I'll need it," he replied. She directed 
his call and he waited for them to answer, still not 
believing that he had to do this. 

"Search and Rescue," the masculine voice answered.

"I have two agents missing, I want as many people 
as you can get..." Skinner said sternly. 
"Every man available."

"Sir?"

"This one is important to me."


XXX
The Island
Wednesday 10:01am.

"Mulder!" Scully called, making her way through 
the trees.

"Hey Scully, over here!"

"Where?"

"Over here!" 

She saw him through the thicket and made her way 
towards him.

"Hey, look what I found," he said, extending his 
hand, showing her the nuts in his palm. 

"They're peanuts Mulder," she said, examining 
one of them between her fingers.

"I know." Mulder replied. "It doesn't take a 
pathologist to figure that out."

"You smart-ass!" She replied, creasing her brow 
as she studied it further. She looked at the 
ground, trying to find more. "Mulder!"

"What?"

"You've been holding out on me!" She said, 
ripping the bag from off the ground from 
behind him.

"No, Scully I swear, I found them as is." 
He laughed. "One of O'Reily's buddies 
must have dropped them on their way out." 

"Please tell me that they are safe enough to 
eat," he said hopefully.

"I don't see why they wouldn't be. They were, 
after all, pre-packaged. They sure as hell 
smell good." Scully said, raising one to her 
small nose to sniff. She felt her stomach growl 
at the mere thought of eating it. She popped it 
into her mouth without a second thought.

"Have I told you lately how much I love you 
Scully?" He asked with a wide-toothed grin, 
as he placed one of the peanuts in his mouth.

"If I would have known that feeding you peanuts 
would get such a positive response, I'd own stock 
in Mr. Peanut."

Mulder hung his head and laughed. "Where's the 
man of the hour anyhow?"

"I don't know." Scully said, looking around them. 
"I haven't seen him in a while.."

"We better go look for him then," he said, 
raising to his feet. "Scully, consider 
yourself the sole keeper of my newfound nuts," 
he quipped, handing her the bag with a grin.

"Better watch it Mulder." Scully replied. 
"Or your wont have any left.."

"You better not eat them all or I might have to 
kick your ass!" He said, calling back to her.

"Promises, promises," she muttered, following 
behind him.

"What was that Scully? You talking under your 
breath again?" He looked back at her. 

"Mulder, just when DO you think you're gonna 
kick my ass? I have been waiting and you just 
keep chickening out on me," she responded. 

"Once I get food and take a shower we'll wrestle 
Scully, I promise." 

Scully giggled lightly and started walking again.


XXX
The Island
Wednesday 11:45am

"Nick!" Scully yelled, making her way through the woods. 
"Mulder, any sign of him?"

"No!" Mulder yelled. "No sign of dumb-nuts," he 
finished, under his breath. "Hey Scully, you think 
they have a Subway around here?" He asked, walking
towards her.

"Yeah Mulder, right next to the Wendy's I saw half 
a mile back."

"Hey Scully, what's that?" He asked, stopping to 
point at the ground in front of her.

"I dunno," she replied giving it a glance. 

Mulder walked in front of her, kneeling down to 
pick up the shiny object.

"It's a ring," he explained, looking at it carefully. 
"N and D forever," he said quietly, reading the 
inscription on the inside of the golden band. 
"Touching," he added, looking up at her.
"So Scully, how about it? Will you marry me?" He 
asked, wearing a large grin as he held the ring 
out for her to take.

"Oh, wow, Mulder!" Scully exclaimed. "You shouldn't 
have spent so much money on me, I'm touched."

"I got it dirt cheap, Scully what can I say?" 
He replied, getting up off the ground with a laugh. 
"So does N and D mean anything to you?"

"No, should it? She asked, reaching for the ring in 
his hands. She studied it carefully, turning it over 
in between her fingers. "I can't believe he still has 
this," she thought quietly.

"I'm guessing they are someone's initials," she 
said, immediately regretting the stupidity of her comment.

"Aww gee Scully, I thought it was the name of my 
dental service," he replied with a laugh. "Look 
Scully...D for Dana N for Nick." He chuckled.

 "Oh my god, he knows," she thought to herself, giving 
him a surprised look.

"I was just kidding," he replied, looking at her 
with a more serious expression. "You know, I never 
pictured you being married Scully."

"Is that so?" She asked, tilting her head to the 
side as she swept a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah Scully, I know how independent you are, 
and I just never could see you allowing someone else 
take care of you like that."

"Sometimes a woman has to be taken care of Mulder, 
whether they are independent or not."

"Oh my god, you found it!" O'Reily yelled from 
behind Scully, startling them both. He quickly 
grabbed the ring out of her hand.

"So did you guys find anything to eat?" He asked, 
placing the ring back on his finger.

"Just a bag of nuts," Mulder replied, nodding to 
Scully. "Someone probably left them here while 
they were running from the brain-sucking aliens."

O'Reily gave him a small, unimpressed smile before 
turning his stare to Scully, wondering where she 
kept the nuts that Mulder spoke of.

"Want some?" She asked, pulling them out of her pocket.

"Hell yeah!" O'Reily said, grabbing them out of 
her hand. "I'm starving..."

"Did you find anything Nick?" Scully asked.

"No, nothing other than a small stream. I filled 
the water bottles," he said, indicating the full 
bottles that he was carrying.

"We should be heading back to camp soon, it's 
going to get dark," Scully said, looking up at 
the darkening sky.

"You two go ahead, I am going to look a little 
longer. Surely there has to be something else to 
eat around here." Mulder said, looking around.

"Are you sure about that Mulder?" Scully asked. 
"Will you be able to find your way back to the beach?"

"I'll be fine Scully." Mulder said. "I am an Indian 
Guide after all."

"Whatever Mulder," she said, turning to walk away.

"I'll see you back at the beach!" He yelled back, 
watching her walk away with O'Reily by her side. 
He never broke his stare from the sight, he couldn't 
help but wonder if they had more together than what 
she admitted to. He tried to shake off the nagging 
thought that she was still in love with him,
that she was enjoying this far too much. The only 
way he could be sure was if he saw something while 
they were alone, if she gave some clue unintentionally. 

"Oomph!" Scully yelled, tripping on a large rock. 
O'Reily moved quickly to catch her, awkwardly grabbing 
her butt as he steadied her. 

"Son-of-a-bitch!" Mulder grunted to himself. 
"Where the hell does he come off? Why doesn't she 
just deck him like I know she would me?" 
When she made no movement to brush him off, Mulder 
felt a rage build inside of him. 

"You all right, Dana?" O'Reily asked, slowly letting 
go of her.

"I'm fine Nick." Scully replied, grabbing O'Reily's 
arm, steadying herself before walking again. "Oh, 
I think I might have twisted it," she said, hopping 
a little as she walked.

"Are you going to be okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, let's go," she replied impatiently. "I can't 
believe that you still have the ring Nick. 
After all this time..."
 
"Why wouldn't I still have it Dana?" Nick said, 
facing her. "It is a symbol of the love that we 
once had shared. Don't you still have yours?"

"Yes, but I don't still wear it." Scully said 
walking slowly with him.

"I can see that Dana," he replied, sounding hurt.

"Nick, our relationship ended 14 years ago!" 
She yelled, throwing her hands in the air, almost 
falling "I do not live in the past!  When will you 
realize that?"

"Damn it Dana!" O'Reily yelled, grabbing her 
shoulders. "I'm still in love with you! When are 
you going to realize that?" He moved his hand up 
the back of her head, pulling her towards him and 
kissed her passionately on the lips.

"Fucking bastard!" Mulder muttered aloud, but 
refused to run to her rescue. "Get your hands off 
her!" He stared at them a moment longer, seeing that 
Scully made no swift movement to push him away he 
turned around, unable to look at them any loner. 
"Well, I hope that you two are very happy together."
He stomped off in the opposite direction.

Scully pulled away from O'Reily, slapping him in the face. 
"Don't ever do that again!" 

"Do what again? This?" He asked, pulling her 
violently against him, pressing his mouth against hers. 

She fought against him, pushing on his chest with 
her hands.

"Nick what are you doing?" She yelled, breaking 
free of his rough embrace.

"You want this just as much as I do!" He yelled, 
grabbing her wrists.

"Let go of me damn it!" She screamed, lifting her 
knee up to jab him in the groin.

"Fuck!" He yelled, letting go of her hands.

She began running, hopping as the pain in her 
ankle seared. She began screaming for Mulder. 
She felt her knees buckle as she tripped over a large 
stump. O'Reily quickly caught up to her and roughly 
grabbed her off the ground.

"You're not going anywhere Dana. We have a date 
with some old friends of mine!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" She yelled, 
pulling at his arms that were 
around her neck, holding her against him.

"You'll see baby, you'll see," O'Reily put his hand 
over her mouth and drug her to a cave, not far from 
where they were standing.

"Why are you doing this Nick?" Scully asked. 
"I trusted you. I loved you." He continued to tie her 
hands up with a rope that was inside the entrance 
to the cave.

"Ahh, Dana, Dana, Dana.." O'Reily said. "You love me. 
You just haven't realized it yet."

"Where's Mulder you son-of-a-bitch?" She screamed, 
kicking against him. 

"Who cares about that big-nosed partner of yours? 
He doesn't love you like I do. You need a real 
man Dana. We can be so good together, we can 
live forever here as king and queen."

"King and queen of what Nick? Of this hell-hole 
of an island that animals won't even inhabit?
 I can't do that!" She protested. 

"I know, I'm not blind." O'Reily said. "I can see 
that you are in love with your precious Mulder. 
But soon the ancestors will have taken care of him."

"What the hell are you talking about Nick?" She screamed. 

"The ancestors need a sacrifice of the flesh, 
that is, other than our own. You don't think that 
they will allow us to reign with them forever if we do 
not offer them another life?"

"Nick please, just let me go!" She cried.

"No, I don't think so. Sooner or later your Mulder 
will have to fall asleep and they will take care of him, 
then you will have no reason to leave. 
And once that happens, we will die together."

"Nick." Scully said. "That's murder! You wouldn't. 
You would never murder someone."

"Oh... Well... I did Dana dear." O'Reily said. 
"You think that the other scientists just killed 
themselves? I found them, on the other side of the 
island the first night we were here, they were 
already going mad from the demons, I just helped 
them kill each other faster. I didn't want you and 
your nosy partner to find them still alive, that 
would have been a bad thing." 

"That man, that man that we found, you did that?" 
She stuttered, giving up fighting against the rope 
that was beginning to tear at the flesh of her 
wrists. He did nothing but give her a sly smile, 
stepping back to admire her heaving form that was 
tied against the wall. Tears began to form in Scully's 
eyes now. "You bastard!" She yelled. "You are not 
the man I once knew."

"Maybe not my dear, but soon we will be together, 
forever and you will grow to love me again." 

XXX
The Beach 
Wednesday 6:15pm. 

Mulder sat on the blanket thinking to him self. 
"N and D I should have known."
"Damn, him." Mulder said out loud, pouting. 
"He kissed her, that son-of-a-bitch! For five 
year long years I have worked to built a relationship 
with this woman and in four days this man comes 
back into her life and takes it all away," 
Mulder said, clenching his jaw. "The next time I 
see him, so help me God, I'll kill him!" 

He stood up to stretch, picking up a large pebble 
and throwing it in the water. He watched as the 
ripples formed peacefully in the water.

"And where the hell are they? It's getting dark 
and they're not back yet damn it!" He mumbled. 
"I bet they ate my damn peanuts too!" He threw 
another pebble in the water. "I guess I have to 
go and look for them now.. "

XXX
The Cave
Wednesday 6:58pm.

"You'll never get away with this Nick!" Scully yelled. 
"Even if you kill me, I'm an FBI agent, and it's a 
Federal offense. They'll track you down and 
electrocute your ass!"

"No, I don't think so," he replied slyly.

"Why not?"

"Because my dear, I will be dead already. And 
so will you, and your precious partner.

"That's your plan? Kill us both? Why? Why in the 
hell would you do that when we could live here on 
this island?" She screamed.

"So that we can be together," he said, stroking her 
face with his hand. "Forever. I thought we already 
discussed this."

"Nick, please!" She yelled, kicking at him with her 
small feet. "Mulder is going to be here soon, I know 
he will. And when he finds you, he's gonna kick your ass!"

"That big-nosed bastard? He won't even wrestle little 
you." He smiled. "He could never be man enough for you. 
Tell me Dana, has he ever kissed you the way I have? 
Has he ever even told you that he loves you?" He 
leaned in and kissed her roughly.

"Fuck you!" She said, pulling her face away and thrashing 
against the rope that held her to the wall.

"Ah, feisty, aren't we Dana?" He said, touching her 
face once more with the back of his hand. "You'll 
like the other side Dana." Nick said." Just think of it, 
we'll be together forever into eternity with the gods to 
protect us. You will be my queen and we will have so 
much power..."

"Like hell she will!" Mulder yelled, standing in the 
opening of the cave. 

O'Reily turned, and saw Mulder, his fists clenched 
at his sides. 

"Ah, Agent Mulder what a nice surprise. I was hoping 
that you'd join us!" He yelled, taking the 9mm service 
weapon out of the waist of his pants. 

"Mulder, get out of here, he's got your gun!" Scully 
yelled as she saw what he was doing.

"No, Mulder, I want you to stay." O'Reily said with an 
evil glare. "I want you to see Dana die with the man 
she truly loves."

"Like hell." Scully yelled, spitting at his feet

"Dana." O'Reily said pointing the gun to her head. 
"I could just kill you right now."

Beads of sweat were forming on her forehead. 
"W-why now, Nick?" Scully said, seeing Mulder sneaking 
up behind him with a large stone in his hand. 
"Why not do it slowly?" She continued, keeping his 
attention. "Why don't we take it nice and slow.." 
She rubbed her knee up against the Crotch of his pants.

"Well Dana, maybe we could take some time out and 
let your lover over there watch while we consummate 
our union." O'Reily responded, tilting his face towards 
hers once again. 

Mulder crept behind him and raised the rock in the air, 
striking O'Reily on the head, knocking him out cold 
on the floor.

"Scully, are you okay?" Mulder said, quickly untying 
the ropes that bound her.

"Yeah, I'm fine Mulder, let's just get the hell out 
of here!" She yelled, hopping towards the opening of 
the cave. Mulder followed behind her.

"Wait a minute!" He yelled, turning back. "The peanuts!" 

"What?" She asked impatiently.

"Where are they?" 

"I think they're in his right pocket. Mulder, you're 
not seriously going back for.." 

"I'll be right back Scully!" He yelled as he ran back 
to O'Reily's unconscious body, reaching into his pocket 
and retrieving the bag of peanuts.

He made his way back to her, dangling them in front 
of her eyes. "I don't know about you Scully, but I would 
hate to let these go to waste!"

"Whatever Mulder, let's go!" She hobbled out of the 
cave with him once again following closely behind her.

"What the hell happened Scully?" Mulder asked, as they 
ran through the forest.

"I don't know Mulder." Scully said. "One minute he 
was saying that he still loved me and the next he was 
forcing me into a kiss. It was like he was a different 
person completely."

"Okay Scully, I want to know the truth about you and 
him." He stopped running, looking at her. 

"What truth Mulder?" She asked, looking back at him 
with an innocent expression. 

"You know what I mean. What was there between you two?" 
Her stare only showed her guilt. "A man doesn't 
develop an obsession like that overnight." 

"Mulder, you're right." She swallowed, quickly trying 
to get the confidence in her to admit the truth. 
"He, he was my husband." 

Mulder's stare fell to the ground. The truth from her 
mouth disturbed him more than he ever thought it would. 

"We were only married for about three months." 

"Three months?" He asked.

"Yes, I was transferring out of Berkeley and he was 
staying, thus creating somewhat of a distance 
complication between us." 

"Did you love him? He asked.

"What?" 

"I said," he paused, looking up at her again. 
"Did YOU love HIM?"

"I thought it was love, but I was young and 
didn't know the true meaning of love," she admitted.
"Love has a lot more to do with a strong bond, 
a connection that I just did not share with him."

"And you have come to realize this why?"

"I have not, till recently, discovered exactly 
what love means, because it wasn't until recently 
that I found it." She paused, looking over his shoulder. 
"Mulder."

"What Scully?" He asked, still smiling from her last words. 

"He's coming!" 

"Shit!" Mulder swore, grabbing her arm as he ran past her. 
"He's the fucking Energizer Bunny! Come on Scully, run!" 


 A shot rang through the forest, scarring them both 
as the bullet hit a tree next to them. 

"Son-of-a-bitch!" Mulder swore as he pushed Scully 
ahead of him, shielding her with his body. They ran 
until they reached a steep cliff, one that they knew 
they couldn't jump from. Waves crashed below them, jagged 
rocks protruded near the edge of the water. 

"Oh god, he's coming closer!" Scully yelled, looking 
back behind them. 
 
"Dana, you can't get away from me!" O'Reily yelled. 
"You still love me, I know it."

"Fuck you, Nick!" Scully yelled. "If you still loved 
me, you wouldn't have hurt me."

O'Reily pulled out Mulder's gun and aimed it at her. 
"I'm trying to save you, Dana." He said, pulling the 
trigger, missing her on purpose.

"Scully!" Mulder yelled, holding a tighter grip on 
her arm.

"Its okay." Scully said. "He didn't hit me."

There was a tremendous amount of relief in Mulder's 
eyes. "We are running out of options here." He said gravely.

"Mulder we have to jump! There's no way out!" Scully 
said, looking at him with desperation on her face. 
Mulder realized that there was in fact, no other way out. 
Unless they headed back towards O'Reily, which, was 
not an option.    

"Scully, no matter what happens, I want you to know 
that you are the only person I'd ever share my peanuts 
with," he joked giving her a small smile.

"I love you too, Mulder," she replied with a smile of 
her own. 

"See you at the bottom then?" He asked. 

Definitely." Scully replied, taking his hand. "You ready?"

"On three," Mulder said, grabbing hold of Scully's 
hand with his. She nodded in response, trying to look 
as confident as she could. 

"Dana, what are you doing?" O'Reily yelled from behind. 

Mulder ignored him and counted. "One.. Two.. Three!" 
Together they jumped off the cliff, their hands 
remaining together until they hit the water. 

Realizing that the leap from the cliff would surely 
kill Scully, O'Reily turned the gun on himself. 

"See you on the other side Dana!" He yelled over 
the edge of the cliff, pulling the trigger. 


The Island
Wednesday, 10:10pm.

Mulder woke as the bright sun beat down on him. 
He looked around immediately trying to find Scully, 
not seeing her anywhere near him caused 
panic to spread throughout his entire body. 

"Scul...lay?" He yelled, hoping that she would respond. 
On the other side of the beach, he could see a mass of 
red in the water. "Scully!" He yelled as he ran 
frantically towards the water. When he reached her, 
he turned her over and saw she wasn't breathing. 

"Oh, god Scully, you can't leave me." Mulder said in a 
shaky voice. "Not now, baby..." He laid her flat 
on her back and tilted her head back, opening her mouth. 
He began chest compressions, counting to five before 
breathing into her mouth. After two rounds of this 
methodical resuscitation, she finally moved beneath him, 
angling her head to the side to spit out the water 
that had been lodged in her lungs.

"Breathe, Scully, breathe!"

She made a loud gasping sound as she filled her 
lungs once again with oxygen. Mulder held her 
face with his hands, softly wiping the wet strands 
of hair from her forehead.

You okay?" He asked tenderly.

"I'm fine Mulder. Where's Nick?" 

"I don't know, but I'm not going to find out either. 
I'm just glad you're talking to me Scully, you had 
me scared."

"I'm fine Mulder really." Scully said as he held 
out a hand to help her out of the water.

"Scully, what exactly went on in that cave?" 

"He believed that he was going to live on in this 
other-worldly life if he killed himself. He said that 
he wanted me with him, that he still loved me," 
she said quietly, breaking her stare from him. 

"And you went with him willingly?"

"No! Of course not Mulder! He dragged me into that 
cave, if it wasn't for you, I'd probably be dead by now!" 
She yelled back, her voice cracking.

"So before all this happened, did you love him?" 

"Mulder, what the hell does that have anything to do 
with it? We have already discussed this anyway, the 
point is.."

"The point is, that I need to know Scully." He cut 
her off, raising her chin with his fingers hooked 
beneath it. 

"No, I didn't. There, are you satisfied?" 

"So why didn't you just take him up on his offer?"

Scully sighed, she knew that he was going to 
interrogate her until she gave him what he wanted. 

"Because Mulder..."

"Because WHY Scully?"

"Because I'm in love with you damn it!" She jerked 
away from his touch. 

A large smile danced across his face as he heard the 
words he had longed to hear for years pour from her lips. 

"What are you smiling about?" She looked back up at 
him again, a small smirk now invading her once tight 
expression.

"Agent Dana Katherine Scully, in love. With me, I, 
I'm speechless!" 

"Well that sure as hell is a record breaker! Fox Mulder, 
speechless. I'll have to remember that one."

"Hey Scully, isn't this the part that we are supposed 
to kiss or something?"

"Keep dreaming Spooky.." She quipped, not truly meaning it. 

"Ouch! Now that's a little below the belt dontcha think?"

"C'mere Scully.." He said, gripping her waist as he 
pulled her close to him.

"Agents!" He heard a masculine voice thunder from 
behind him and saw a bright flashlight beam drawing nearer.

"Oh godamn it!" Mulder swore, looking behind him.

Scully could do nothing but laugh, her hand covering 
her mouth as she tried to hide it from him. 

"They're over here!" The Search and Rescue leader 
called out to his fellow agents.

"I swear to God, next time we need to find an island 
that just "disappears" from sight or something!" 
Mulder hissed.

"Mulder, just think about food... And a bed..." 
She tried to reason with him, still giggling.

"Will you be in it?" He asked with a smile.

"No, I'll be eating the food.."

"Agents Mulder and Scully, we are here to rescue you."

"Yeah, I figured as much. Some rescue job you guys do.." 
Mulder glanced at Scully. 

"We'll be taking you back to the main land, the 
chopper should be on it's way."

"Whatever," Mulder replied, taking one last look 
around the beautiful island that was, in fact, damned. 

As the chopper landed, the search and rescue team 
ushered them into it, much to Mulder's dismay. He'd 
rather have stayed to finish what they started on the island.

St. Michael's Hospital, 
Mannahuri, South America
Thursday, 9:04am.


Agent Dana Scully awoke to the sound of a loud cart 
rolling down the hall outside of their room.  She 
got out of bed and stretched her legs... She walked 
over to the bed next to her to find a snoring Fox 
Mulder, deep in sleep.

She smiled brightly. "He's so cute when he sleeps," 
she murmured to herself..

"Oh I am, am I?"

"Yes, you are," she said, wrinkling her nose at him.

"C'mere, Scully." Mulder said, patting on the mattress 
next to him. "My bed is getting cold."

"Mulder, that's not very professional of me to do."

"Screw professional, Scully." Mulder said in a whiny 
tone. " I need you. Besides, it's fucking freezing 
in here!"

She rolled her eyes and smiled. "How can I resist?" 
she said as she walked over to him and climbed in the bed.

"Mmm, that's better." Mulder said, putting his arms 
around her.

"So what would happen if someone saw us Mulder?" 

"We could lock the door..." They chuckled together at 
the suggestion. "Anyhow, who cares?" Mulder said. 
"All I want is the woman that I love to cuddle up with 
in a very cold bed.  What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing at all Mulder," she answered looking up at him. 
"So you love me?" 

"More than you'll ever know Scully.." He leaned 
forward drawing near to her.

There was a knock at the door. Dr. Rutabega entered 
the room. He cleared his throat. "Mr. Mulder, Miss Scully..."

"Yes?" Scully answered, sitting up in the bed.

"I was just doing my morning rounds and I am just making 
sure you two are doing all right before I release you 
this afternoon," he answered, his voice thick with a 
Spanish accent.

"All the test results came back normal?" Scully asked, 
getting off the bed.

"Yes, you are both the picture of health other than 
being a little dehydrated," Dr. Rutabega answered, 
looking down at their charts.

Mulder and Scully looked at each other and smiled.  

"Thank you Dr. Rutabega." Scully added. 

"You're very welcome, I wish you both the best of luck." 


XXX
FBI Headquarters, Washington DC.
Monday, 8:32am.

"Agent's Mulder and Scully to see you sir," Skinner's 
assistant introduced as she moved aside, allowing 
them to enter. 

"Have a seat," He absently instructed them as he 
continued to read the case file report in his hands.

"It appears that you two had quite an adventure." 
Skinner said. "I'm glad to see you two alive and in 
one piece."

"Thank you sir," Scully answered, speaking for them both.

"So let me get this straight, this man, Dr. O'Reily, 
was trying to kill you Agent Scully?" Skinner asked, 
looking up at her. "And then he proceeded to shoot himself?"

"That is correct," she nodded, placing her hands 
together neatly on her lap.

"And that he believed he was 'entering another 
dimension' as he killed himself?" 

"Yes." Scully said, licking her lips.

"And do you have any proof of this claim? Any evidence 
that would suggest that there was, indeed, some strange 
dimension on this island?"

"Well, not consecutive evidence sir, but.."

Mulder interrupted; "There were, psychological changes 
in the people who fell asleep, thus allowing the other 
entities from this other dimension to take control of 
their bodies, causing them to act out, sometimes dangerously. 
We believe that is what happened to the other scientists 
that were supposed to meet us on the island, and also the 
scientists that were there with O'Reily the time before, 
only we came to believe that O'Reily was the cause for 
their disappearances, or their deaths rather."

"But Agent Mulder, do you have any hard evidence to prove 
that theory?"

"No sir, I do not." Mulder answered, gritting his teeth. 

"But I'm sure that if we assembled a forensics team, 
we could get down there and find some."

"Agent Mulder, the military has since taken control of 
the island. They are running their own investigation. 
They claim to have found no other bodies, nor any 
hallucinogenic berries on that island. They have no reason 
to believe that the scientists were ever even there."

"That can't be!" Mulder protested, shifting forward in 
his seat and clenching his fists. 

"I'm afraid so. We have no jurisdiction over this 
investigation anymore. It's been taken care of, covered up." 
Skinner said softly.

Scully quietly took Mulder's hand and held it in hers. 

"Damn it!" Mulder muttered. "They are always trying to 
hide the truth."

"Nevertheless, I think that is all I need from you two, 
you may go." Skinner added, returning to his reading. 

"Come on Mulder," Scully instructed, tugging on his arm 
as she rose out of her chair.


XXX
FBI Headquarters, Washington DC.
Basement Office
 9:01am. 

"So Scully, what do you make of all this?" 

"It's the same as it is has always been Mulder, we think 
we are close to something only to find the rug being ripped 
out from beneath our feet."

"Yeah, well it sucks..." Mulder said. "So Scully, what are you 
doing for dinner tonight?" He asked, crossing his arms over 
his chest as he leaned against the edge of the desk.

"I don't know, but for some reason Chinese sounds really 
good to me," she smiled, leaning into him.

"Mmm.. Yeah." He agreed, putting his arm around her. 
"So what will be for desert?" He asked with a grin.

"Whatever we can find, I'm starving." 

"Well me too Scully, but that's not what I had in mind. 
Did anyone ever tell you that you don't pick up on 
innuendo very well?"

"How's this for innuendo Mulder?" She asked, as she 
lifted herself on her tiptoes to kiss him.

Their kiss was abruptly broken when Mulder began to 
laugh, unable to control himself.

"What Mulder?" She asked with a smile, pulling away.

"Oh, I was just expecting someone to interrupt us, you 
know maybe a little gray man standing in the doorway 
or something. But, anyhow, your sense of innuendo is 
getting progressively better Scully." 

"Oh yeah? Then how about this?" She asked, leaning 
forward to kiss him again, this time adding more pressure 
and movement on his lips.

He once again tore away from her. "Okay Scully, much 
more of this and we will be skipping dinner and heading 
straight for desert!" He breathed heavily.

"Is that such a bad thing?" She asked, breathing rather 
hard herself. A large smile broke across her face as she 
spoke again. "Well, I hate to break it to you Agent Mulder, 
but it's only 9 o'clock in the morning and dinner is a long 
time from now."

"Hey Scully.."

"Yeah?"

"You think the next case we work on can involve 
time travel?" He asked, meeting her smile with one 
of his own.

"In your dreams Spooky..."

XxXxTHE ENDxXxX

AUTHORS NOTES:

Nichole's Notes: 

Okay, now I have been told that this story was very 
Chris Carterish. I must agree. I can only say that it 
was a blast to write, and that I really enjoyed leaving the 
end open for a sequel. If you think that this should 
continue, please write one of us to let us know! I would 
really like to hear any suggestions for the sequel that 
you might have, it's a big help to have someone else tell 
you what they want to read. So Peace, Love, and the 
ever-illusive David Duchovny, 
~Nichole~

PS. JAMIE YOU ROCK!! :)
http://www.geocities.com/scoob4u/Nicholes_FanFic.html

Jamie's Notes:
 
Well, thank ya sista friend!  /takes a bow/ I ROCK!  
WOW! Anyway... well, Nikki girl we FINALLY finished 
this story... I guess or creative juices did some good 
flowing on this one, huh? LOL.  This story was a MAJOR 
blast to write, and I can't wait to write a sequel... if we think 
of one that is... I never realized that writing fanfic could be 
this fun...and believe it or not, kids its my first fanfic... :)  ;) 
Nikki girl and I CRAVE FEEDBACK, so feel free to send us 
some and tell us whatcha think of our little ficcy!  It feels so 
good to get compliments on whatcha write !!!  
Peace, love and hazel eyes,
--Jamie-

PS.  NIKKI GIRL, YOU'RE DA BOMB !!! :) 
http://www.geocities.com/scooby_jlm/xfpoemshomepage.html
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