From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2001 14:51:59 -0600 Subject: The night in the cottage 1/2 by Kemariah Reply To: kemariah@hotmail.com The night in the cottage 10:12 pm, in the black woods "Do you hear this? Run, Scully!", Mulder shouted through the night. It was snowing and the white reflecting snow lay everywhere on the trees and even on the fine broken pieces of woods. It was cold and it seemed that there was still this safe feeling. But I was running. Running past the trees. Mulder was behind me, trying to keep running on this little path. We were fleeing. Hiding of the bright lights in the black sky. The loud roaring noise of a helicopter was following us. The snow in front of my feet reflected like ice. Smooth and soft, but I still slid away, step by step following Mulder's trace. 'Deep in the woods, we are down deep...like the place of which we were told about', I thought. This fact scared me, scared me so much, that I just now realized that Mulder had turned back to me. We suddenly found ourselves on a railway bridge, which was destroyed at the other end. Abruptly I was stopped by Mulder, who pulled my arm. I looked up the sky. The lights came closer and closer. There was no possibility of escaping anymore. "Now what!?!", I shouted trying to oversound the helicopter. Mulder took a brief look down the bridge. Down there was a river. Most parts of the water were frozen, covered with snow. "We have to jump!!" Mulder shouted. "Oh, no, no...no!" "We have no choice!" He pushed me towards the rail of the bridge. In his eyes reflected my face, so glittery I thought he would stare right through me. "I'm sorry!!" I shook my head. "For what?!" "For this!" Mulder grabbed my hand and jumped. He grub me so rough, that I was pulled after him and we both dropped off the bridge. I wanted to scream, but no loud came out of my mouth. We were falling. Falling deep down, falling. I could fell the ice breaking under my feet, as we landed in the cold water. The helicopter was above us. I gasped for air on the water surface. The cold water stung like thousands of needles on my skin. Dizzy I looked around. "Mulder!!" I heard him cough and turned back. On the water surface the water reflected in deep dark, it seemed as if there was nothing to hold on. An invisible eternity of blackness. In the black, there was a shape hard trying to reach the ice platform on the riverbank. It was Mulder. I swam over to him and realized that the helicopter was out of sight, silence was around us. I handled myself onto the ice plate. Then I took Mulder's arm and pulled him out of the water. Our bodies were wet and I was freezing. "Are you alright?", I asked. Mulder nodded shivering. "Let's...get out of here" I helped him to stand up and we started moving away from the river as fast as we could, deeper into the dark. We just wandered past a smattering trees and snow aimlessly. It was very cold and wet and we didn't know where we were or even where our car was. But suddenly Mulder focused something in the front. "Over there..." I had to strengthen my eyes to see what he was pointing at. In the moon's slim ray, a contour of a little cabin was visible. It was hidden by the trees and though it lay just in front of us, it was hard to reach. I couldn't feel my body anymore. My skin had never been that cold before. "Let's go there...", I decided. Mulder pushed the door open and we entered a small room. At the first sight it was very dark inside, but I recognized this well prepared living room, with it's small windows, an old stove and this bearskin carpet on the wooden floor. On the other side of the room was a fireplace and there was a shabby couch standing in the front. I shut the door and Mulder slowly dropped down onto the couch. I wanted to give way my first impression about this place, but I let it off. I would have liked to say 'Isn't it ironic, don't you think?", but I realized that I was way to exhausted and my lips were icy stuck together. "We need...to take off...our wet clothes", I said with a shivering voice. Mulder nodded still. I had perceived that Mulder was being in a shock. He wasn't able to think nor to do anything by himself. I sank down beside him. Slowly I took his wet sweatshirt and pulled it over his head...then his black T-shirt...and finally set his blue Hugo Boss pants off his legs. His skin was cold, just like mine. His lips were blue of coolness. Then I took off my jacket and my blouse...then my black trousers. Both of us wore nothing but our underwear. "I'll try....to make fire...ok?" "Ok", Mulder whispered and sat down onto the ground to be closer to the fireplace. I kneeled down at the fireside. Mulder was watching me. I could feel his penetrated eyes again. They were focusing on me. "Do you think, they are still searching for us?", he suddenly asked. Hard trying to light the wood pieces by a box of matches, I turned back to face him. "If they do, they will surely find us" "I'll better shut the windows..." Mulder bothering stood up and bolted the windows and the door. After several tries, a glimmer of fire finally lit the wood and in the next moment, there was a warm, snug fire. "Yeah..." Then I crawled backward on the ground and leaned my back against the front face of the couch. "It's still snowing. We better wait and leave tomorrow morning", Mulder perceived and sat down beside me. Suddenly he offered his shoulder to lean my head on it. Like as if it was of certainty for any kind of helpless situation. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder. But I liked the idea nestled my body to his and we both starred into the flames of the fire. "Are you still cold?" Mulder started thinking. "Well...Scully, I would like to remind you of the sleeping bag - method." I started laughing. But not hearable. This grin was inside of me. 'Hadn't we been on this point before? Oh yes I remember. It was when we got lost in the woods. He wished a sleeping bag had fallen off the sky ... and then his conclusive description about the use of it in such a helpless situation...' Suddenly something caught my eyes in the corner of the room. "Well this time, you supposed to be lucky, Mulder! There's a blanket!" I stood up to fetch the blanket. Then I sat down again and put the blanket over our shoulders. Still freezing, I lay my head onto Mulder' s chest. Body next to body. "Better?", I asked. "The only thing that could make it complete was a whirlpool full of hot water." "Oh, Mulder...", I sighed. He was starting again with his wishes. Mulder swung his arm around my shoulders. I could hear his heart beating, the fire crackling. The warm air of the flames were touching my face. I had never been so close to him before. I had never felt so safe like in his arms. There was one question I had always wanted to ask him and I thought, this would be the right moment. Thoughtfully I looked up to catch his eyes. "Mulder..?" I took him out of his thoughts. "Hmm..?" "May I ask you something personal?" "Sure" I sat up and turned to face him. There was a warm shining in his eyes, the flames seemed to reflect in his face. With a lower voice I asked: "Have you ever been romantically involved?" He laughed. "Hah, must have been ages ago! Why are you asking?" "Ohh, I'm just curious." "And what about you, Scully?" Expectfully he glanced at me and lifted his eyebrow. "Me? Umm...no." "Not even when you came to visit me in my motel room, standing in your bathrobe in front of my eyes?" Did I? Oh yes,it had happened nearby the second investigation we ever did together. My mouth dropped open. "You were looking for a little romance, Scully!" Mulder nodded at me. I couldn't believe my ears. "Haa? What?! I was scared! I had those...stings on my back!" "You knew for sure that they were only insect stings!" "No, I didn't!" "You were definitely looking for a little romance, Scully!" "NO, I WASN'T! But you...you were staring at me!!" Mulder didn't know what to say. "What?!" "You enjoyed it seeing me in my underwear!" "I was surprised!", he laughed. "No. You loved playing the hero!" I got him, because he blushed. I liked seeing this and I knew, he would never admit this. "Well....and after that?", he smiled. "Since I had joined the FBI, I had no one else to trust..." "You can trust me.." Mulder looked at me in such a way, I could nothing do but smile. I was happy to hear this. I felt save. Suddenly his eyes were catching mine and I couldn't look away. A moment of silence passed by. Thoughtfully I starred at him. "May I...?", he suddenly asked. "What?" (To be continued) IV The night in the cottage Part II "May I...?", he suddenly asked. "What?" He glanced at me and with a slow motion he leaned closer to me. "Turn back", he whispered. I didn't know what to expect, or what he was going to do, but I turned round. Suddenly I felt his warm fingers sliding down my neck. My heart started beating faster. He passed my hair off my neck and his hand suddenly appeared from behind to hang something around my neck. Surprised I let my fingers rest on my chest to feel for it. It was my golden necklace. "You had lost it while we were running. I thought you might like to have it back again.", he whispered. I didn't know what to say, so I turned to face him. "Thank you, Mulder", I smiled at him. "You are welcome, Scully", he smiled back. We were staring at each other. Suddenly there was a cracking noise..."Bufff..."...the fire abruptly was off. I jerked and we found ourselves sitting in darkness. "Great!", I sighed angrily. Mulder made a surprising gaze. "Well.." "I'll try to light it again", I said and kneeled forward. Mulder watched me. I wanted to take this box of matches, but in this moment, Mulder quickly grasped for it and hid it behind his back. "Hey!", I yelled. "Well, Scully...what do you think of sitting in darkness?" Mulder jumped up onto his feet. Evilly I glanced back at him and did the same. "Mulder give to them to me! It's getting cold!" I made a quick step toward him, tried to grab his hand, but he put the box over his head, so that I couldn't reach it. "Mulder, give it back to me!", I started to get angry. "Nope!" "It's enough, Mulder!", we scuffled for the matches. Mulder always took one more step towards me, so I couldn't do anything but moving backwards. Hard trying to reach this little box, I raise my hand up again and again, till I made this motion I shouldn't have done. When I made the next step backward, I felt something by my feet, but it was too late. I lost balance and fell. Mulder tried to catch me up, but he was too slow, so I tore him with me and we both fell onto the ground. Mulder landed over me. Then we couldn't keep us out of laughing anymore. He looked at me. "I'm sorry!" He definitely felt embarrassed. "Mulder, just give me that stupid box, please!!", I laughed. Lying over me, he put the matches into my hand. "Thank you!" We both laughed. This was the first time, I saw him really laughing. I enjoyed this moment and looked at him in an attentive way. I saw the shadows of the room, they were cold and frightening. But when I looked over Mulder's shoulder there was suddenly a different shadow. Something dark. My eyes grew bigger, as I starred at it. Then I could see a clear picture. I wanted to yell out, but no word came out. "Crack!" - the noise of a loading gun. A dark uniformed man suddenly appeared behind Mulder, holding a gun on his neck. Mulder was as shocked as me. "Stand up!", he commanded. Still in a shock, we got up onto our feet. We both knew, that this was the man, who had been chasing us in the helicopter. "Who are you!!", Mulder cried. "Shut up!", he shouted. His dark stature terrified me. With one arm he held Mulder around his throat with the other he pointed the gun at me. "Dress up!" We quickly put on our shirts. We had to sit down onto the ground. Back facing back. Then he chained our hands by a pair of handcuffs and fettered them with a piece of string. Hard trying to set ourselves free, the man took his radio. A yelling noise came out of it. "I've found them. Everything's alright. They are in the cottage" "What are you doing!! Why were you chasing us!", Mulder shouted angrily. The man turned to him. "Shut up I said!" He pushed his gun against Mulder's head. "What have you been doing there this night?!" Mulder didn't say a word. I bit my lip. "You won't have much time left to answer!!" I closed my eyes. It was like in a nightmare. The uniformed man thanked Mulder with a hit on his head. Mulder sacked down. Then the man took some steps backward and walked towards the door. He briefly looked at us and stepped outside with quick steps. Then the door fell shut. "Mulder, are you alright?", I whispered. "Yeah...", he moaned "...is he gone?" I tried to spy out of the window. "I think so, I can't see him" "They are hiding something out there, Scully", Mulder gasped. "Yeah and I hope he won't come back!" I sighed. Sitting here around in darkness, fettered by handcuffs and freezing was no good prospect. I looked around to find something to loose the string. Suddenly something caught my eye on the corner of the chimney. It looked like a black box. I wondered what this thing was. In the next moment, it switched on and numbers appeared on its display: 00:34 I turned back to speak to Mulder. "Mulder? What time is it?", I asked. "Umm...I don't know. Last time I looked at my watch it was about 1:15 am." Frightened I glanced at the box again: 00:32 00:31 Scully's eyes grew bigger as she perceived what she was staring at. "Mulder? How would you like to spend your last 30 sec. in your life?" I starred at the box. It definitely was a bomb. "My last 30 seconds? I've never thought about it!" "Well, you've got 25 seconds left to think!!" Mulder turned back and saw the bomb: 00:24 "OH SHIT! Well, I think I'd try to get us out of here!" "Then start doing it, Mulder!!" 00:22 Mulder tried to set his hands free. "Wait! I still have the matches!" 00:21 "Give them to me! I'll try to light them!" 00:20 I played with my fingers to get the box open and put it into Mulder's hand. Mulder was hard trying to get one of the matches out of the box, without dropping it. I leaned my body forward. Then he did the first try. It was really difficult, because he couldn't see his motion and again, our hands were so close chained to each other, that there was hardly any space for any movement. "Come on...", Mulder mumbled. 00:18 "Mulder!!" 00:17 "I'm trying, I'm trying!" 00:16 After the next try, a glimmer of a flame lit the string-piece. "Be careful!" Mulder must had been very concentrated as he carefully held the burning match under the string. "OUCH! God damn!", he yelled as he burnt his finger. 00:14 "Mulder hurry up!" My heart was beating faster and I couldn't stand this heat inside of me anymore. "Whatever they hide here...must be of great value!" 00:13 "If we don't hurry, we'll never find out!", I cried. 00:12 The string started to burn and slowly every staple was getting thinner and thinner. I could feel the heat on my fingers. 00:10 "Come on!!" 00:09 Finally Mulder tore the string and pulled out his hands. "Yeah! I got it!" He threw the box away. 00:08 I set my hands free, and jumped up. Mulder was about to do the same, but we were still chained with each other by the handcuffs, so it was hard to move on. 00:06 "Mulder, RUN!" 00:05 We ran out, smashed the door open as fast as we could, breathing hard. I nearly got a shock, as I felt the cold snow under my naked feet. 00:03 00:02 00:01 00:00 An exploding noise was left behind us. I could feel the heat of fire, as the cottage rose up in a fireball behind us. We dropped into the snow. Ruins of the house were falling down on us. Mulder hovered over me, in an protecting motion. Then there was silence, the pieces were burning in a crackling noise. I breathed again and looked at Mulder. He glanced back to the ruins of the cottage. "I've thought about it", he finally expressed. I looked at him. "About what?" "I would kiss you..." His eyes caught mine. Thoughtfully I starred at him. "Well...then lets say....this was the last moment in your life", I whispered. His breath was in my face and I closed my eyes. Although it was so cold, so freezing, I still felt his warm lips touching mine. Gently he kissed my lips. "Thank you", he whispered. "Let's get outta here." Behind us, the burning cottage and an endless wood of snow. Hey y'all, thanks for reading! Hope you liked it! 5