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So cold. Oh, God. I'm freezing. Where am I, and how the hell did I get here? Is this the north or south pole? Or someplace else? Geez, I can't stop shaking. How did I wind up here? I remember the hallway. I remember bracing myself as Mulder brought his face down slowly, his lips nearing mine, his breath warm on my face as he prepared himself to kiss me for the first time. Next thing I know, I'm freezing, struggling for breath. Mulder was there, pulling me from where ever I was, stripping off his outer layers of clothing and dressing my nude body. Wait a second....nude? Jesus! He saw me naked?! That's gonna complicate things in the future, I bet. Next thing I know, he was carrying my through what appeared to be a vessel of some kind. We climb up, and up, forever. I knew I was going to lose consciousness, I should have said something. Instead, I wake up, confused, finding Mulder straddling me, screaming at me to breathe. The rest is a blur....now we're here and....we....Oh, God. Mulder. Where's Mulder? I force my eyes open to see blinding sunlight. I fight my sleepy body to lift my head. He's next to me. He looks pale. He's shaking worse than I am and I'm pretty sure he's unconscious. He's going to freeze to death, he doesn't have much clothing on, just a polar fleece vest, a sweatshirt and some black jeans. I struggle to get up. Finally, I do, and I roll Mulder onto my lap, holding him against me. I clutch him as tightly as I can, pressing my nose into his wet hair. He's shivering, and I do the best I can to warm him. I find myself crying into his hair. I'm so grateful for him. If he were awake right now, I would tell him. I'd tell him that I loved him, and cover his face in kisses. Well, maybe not....Okay, probably not....We'll finish what we started. Sooner or later. I feel him move in my embrace. I look down at him. He struggles to roll over, then succeeds, burying his face into my chest, hunching his shoulders. He turns his face upwards, his eyelids fluttering open. His eyes focus on me. I smile at him. He returns the gesture.

"Hey, look. A Scully-sicle," he says hoarsely. I laugh. It feels good. My hands run through his hair.

"Are you okay?" I ask through chattering teeth. He gives me a look of disbelief.

"Who should be asking that to who, Scully? Are YOU okay?" he says, his fingers coming up, stroking my frozen cheek.

"I'm cold."

"Me, too."

"Mulder?"

"Yeah?"

"Where the hell are we?"

"Antarctica."

"Antarctica," I repeat in disbelief.

"Yup."

"And we wound up here....how?" I ask. He untangles himself from me, then sits up.

"I'll tell you when we get home," he says, opening his arms. I lean into him immediately, and I put my arms around him, his encircle me. I feel him kiss the side of my neck. "God, I'm so glad you're all right."

I squeeze him tightly, the chill leaving my body. "Thank you," I whisper.

"For what? Did you honestly think that I'd let you get away that easily?"

"Not after the hallway. I could see that was hard for you. It was just as hard for me to think of leaving."

"You know, I was close to handcuffing you to my coat rack to make you stay."

"Technically, I still would have been able to leave."

"And wouldn't you have looked cool strolling down the street with it dragging behind you?" he says, chuckling at the image. I smile, and pull back. I look at him. He's pale, but his cheeks are red.

"I think that would rather do that than have to try to leave again," I whisper. He looks at me with a look that I've never seen before. Somewhere between happiness and sorrow, but completely compassionate. A look of sincerity that makes me get tears in my eyes. He doesn't have to say anything else to me. That says it all. He reaches for me and I suddenly feel weak. I fall into his arms.

"Scully?" he says, alarmed.

"So....so tired," I mumble. I feel him lift me again. Now he's carrying me somewhere. I feel each step he takes, I'm so weak I can't even flex any muscles to prevent myself from being bounced with each stride. So I allow myself to be limp. My neck muscles ache from my head being tilted back. I can feel myself being lowered. I hear a sound. A loud sound and then I hear Mulder. He's screaming. I'm scared to death. With what little energy I have, I find my voice and call out his name. Mulder keeps yelling. The sound gets louder. I am mortified. Whatever it is, its getting closer. I hear it, it's above me. It's towering above me. So loud. I can't hear anything else. I hear someone coming. "Scully?"

It's him. I'm so relieved, I want to cry. I let out a strange noise to signal I'm okay. "Hmnmmphhh?"

"There's a helicopter," he said, his voice sounded eager. I'm lifted into his arms. "I don't know who radioed in our coordinates, but somebody knew we were here," he says. The noise is louder. But now I know its the sound of the helicopter's blades, and its the most beautiful sound I've ever heard. I hear other voices, then I'm suddenly hit by warm air. I shift in Mulders arms. I hear the voices.

"Is she okay? How long has she been exposed?"

"She's been here for awhile, but she'd only been in the cold for the last hour or so."

"How many layers of clothing has she got on?"

"Just what you see. That's my snow gear she's got on."

"You gave her your stuff?"

"Well, yeah. Why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know....that just surprises me for some reason. HEY! Dan! Grab some more blankets for these two, will ya?! Here, take my parka, you're freezing to death, Agent Mulder."

The helicopter lifts off the ground after a few moments. I feel someone next to me. I know it's Mulder. I move closer. I force my eyes open. He sees me and smiles.

"I feel like a thawing piece of meat, don't you?" he asks. Before I can answer, someone comes and hands Mulder some blankets.

"Here," a voice says. Then, "How is she?"

"She's up. But she's freezing," Mulder replies, spreading the blankets over us. He draws me to him, and I snuggle against his growing warmth. The weight of the blankets, combined with the safe confines of Mulder's embrace is enough to put me to sleep. So I do....and when I wake, Mulder is asleep. I look at him with a thousand emotions filling me. I lean towards him and discover I can't quite reach his cheek, so I kiss his jawbone instead. His skin feels warm. And then I realize, I'M warm. I let out a sigh of relief and wiggle my toes. I can move my feet. Thank God. I look down and watch me feet move. Who knew such a simple thing could ever delight anyone? Mulder shifts and I look up at him. He's watching me.

"Hi," I say, suddenly feeling shy.

"Hey, 'morning. Or afternoon. Or night. Er....What time is it?"

"I don't know. I don't really care."

"Me, neither," he replies.

A man turns around in front of us. "Hey, they're up!" he calls to the pilot. He gets up and picks up two glasses of water, and makes his way to us. Mulder keeps one arm around my shoulders, and uses the other to take his glass. I drink my water twice as fast as he does, it tastes so *good,* and I start on my second. Mulder looks down at me as he hands his cup back to the man. He offers me more water, but I'm full, so I give him my glass. I feel Mulder's arm come back around me.

"If you could be anywhere right now, Scully, where would you be?"

"Not here. Anywhere that doesn't have bees, corn, snow, ice or sand," I say flatly.

He chuckles. "That really limits your possibilities," he says. "You could live in a tree."

"No, there might be bees."

"Then we'll dig a nice deep hole for you to live in. You can party with the earthworms and buck-toothed rodents."

"Only if you're coming with," I reply a smile on my face.

"I've got the back hoe if you've got the shovel."

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Skinner is waiting for us when we return to the states. He looks a bit perplexed when he sees Mulder and I walking together, arms around each other, supporting one another. He tells us to relax, that an ambulance is coming. After being treated for minor frostbite, Mulder brings me to my apartment. "You know what?" he asks.

"Hmmm?"

"Your clothes are still on that ship."

"Oh, well. I'm sure those things always wanted an Armani suit and a pair of high heels," I replied. Then something occurs to me. I put my fingers frantically to my neck. My necklace isn't there. " Oh, shit!" I cry out.

Mulder looks at me, surprised by my outburst. "What's wrong, Scully?"

"My necklace! Oh, God....Mom's gonna be so hurt," I say, sitting down on my couch, face in my hands. I feel a lump the size of a tennis ball in my throat.

"Scully." I look up to see a cross dangling in front of my face. *My* cross. *The* cross. Now the lump in my throat is surely the size of a basketball. I stand up and my arms are around Mulder neck so tightly he gags. I apologize and keep one arm around his shoulder then slide the other one so it hooks under his arm. He squeezes me, and I pull back. I can't help it. This is too much. This man....he's done too much for me now. I press my lips to his, a kiss that reveals nothing but gratitude and pull back. He smiles at me and releases me. I step back, and he heads to the door. I follow him, fingering the thin chain in my hands.

"Goodnight, Scully."

"'Night, Mulder." He leans in and kisses my cheek quickly before turning and walking to the exit of the building.