TITLE: Falling Snow, Chapter 2/10
AUTHOR: Snark
E-MAIL: snark_911@yahoo.com
CLASSIFICATION: SA (Story, Angst) plus some UST
KEYWORDS: NONE
RATING: PG-13 
SPOILERS: This story is set before the Two Fathers/
One Son episodes. While there are no true pre-requisites 
for this story, allusions are made to at least the 
following episodes: Sleepless, Red Museum, Detour, 
Triangle, Shapes, Alpha, Bad Blood, Clyde Bruckman's 
Final Repose, and Tithonus. 
DISTRIBUTION: OK to forward to ATXC newsgroup and to
Gossamer. Please ask permission before archiving anywhere
else, please. Or at least let me know that you have 
archived it, so that I can keep track of where it's listed.
DISCLAIMER: The characters of The X-Files universe belong
to Chris Carter, the FOX network and 1013 Productions.
No infringement is intended and no money is being made by
the existence of this story. (Unfortunately.) However, 
the characters of Khi Shaolin and Mobaje are my own creation. 
These characters are not for use by any other fanfic author 
without my express, written consent.
FEEDBACK: Mail comments to snark_911@yahoo.com.
AUTHOR HOMEPAGE: http://www.smartania.com/snark/index.html
SUMMARY: Mulder, Scully and a mysterious woman from Mulder's
past crash in the snowy landscape of the Colorado winter. 








------------
Chapter 2
------------

Scully slowly became aware of a ringing noise, a sound that had 
burrowed its way into her head and took up residence as if it had 
always belonged there. Groggily, she sat up and tried to shake 
the sleep from her body. She wasn't entirely successful--geez, she 
thought, if I feel like this, Mulder must be d-... She caught herself 
before she could finish the thought. She had had enough visions 
this past night of Mulder dying, and she wasn't going to start 
thinking about it again.

Concentrating again on the ringing noise, she at first couldn't 
figure out what was making it. Leaning over to her nightstand, 
she checked both the alarm clock and her cell phone--neither was 
the source of the offending noise. Finally, she remembered the 
new house phone she had picked up the a few days earlier. She 
realized she hadn't been home much since then, and had never 
heard it ring.

Pushing back the covers, Scully got out of bed and walked over 
to the phone. As she picked up the handset, she noticed that she 
hadn't powered the answering machine back on after connecting 
the new phone. It's probably the police, she thought wearily, 
responding to a missing person's report filed by my mother. After 
all the events of the past few years, her mother tended to get a 
little freaked out if her daughter was unavailable for more than a 
couple days.

"Scully," she said, hoping her tone would scare away any 
solicitors. As she glanced at the clock, she saw it was probably a 
little early for solicitors--the 06:57 of her stove clock shone 
steadily in the dim morning light.

"Agent Scully, I'm sorry to bother you so early and on your 
vacation, besides," the person calling said, the words clipped and 
brisk.

"Uh, no sir, that's fine, sir. What can I do for you?" she asked, 
unconsciously standing a little straighter and trying to smooth her 
hair to a more professional appearance. 

"We would like you to accompany Agent Mulder to Colorado for 
this conference, Agent Scully," AD Skinner said. "I can't give 
you many details, but AD Kersh thought it would be best to give 
Agent Mulder some... backup on this one," he finished. 

"You mean, keep him in line and make sure he doesn't tell the 
assembled agents what to go do with themselves," she said 
quietly, knowing full-well there was no logical reason for her to 
attend this conference. The pause on the other end of the line told 
her she was correct.

"We've rescheduled both of you to a different flight, leaving at 
9:25 this morning, since we couldn't get you a seat on Mulder's 
earlier flight," Skinner said. Yeah, right, Scully thought--
watchdogs have to be present from the start, or they don't do any 
good. She knew the drill.

"That's fine, sir. Does Agent Mulder already know of this 
change?" she asked, suddenly worried at the thought of Skinner 
talking to a hung-over Mulder at 7:00 in the morning. 

"I just got off the phone with him, it's all taken care of. He 
seemed eager to be on his way out there, so perhaps your... 
backup won't be as necessary as Kersh believed," Skinner said.

"I'm sure all will be fine," Scully said, not really listening 
anymore. Why was Mulder eager to get out of town for a few 
days, she wondered. Perhaps his 'reunion' with Khi did not go as 
well as it had seemed last night. A brief smile played on her lips 
at the thought.

She rounded out the conversation with the usual pleasantries and 
hung up the phone. Taking a deep breath, she began to pack her 
larger bag for the trip, knowing that they would be gone at least 4 
days. Mulder would be speaking tomorrow at the opening of the 
conference and then would be required to be present for the end 
session on Sunday morning. The day in between would probably 
just be free time for each of them, since she certainly couldn't see 
attending any more of the conference than was absolutely 
necessary.

Colorado in the winter, hmmm, she thought. Other than the 
obvious pastime of skiing, she didn't know what else there was to 
do there. Looking around her bedroom, she tossed in a couple of 
paperbacks she'd been meaning to read. She hoped they'd find 
something a little more interesting than that to do, but figured it 
was best to be prepared. Scully rummaged through her closet to 
find her heavy winter jacket, not knowing how cold it may or 
may not be in Colorado. 

Scully was headed for the shower as the phone rang again. 
"Scully," she answered. 

"It's me." Mulder's voice sounded perfectly clear, no hint of 
grogginess. How did he manage that, she wondered. "Skinner 
talk to you yet?" 

"Yeah, he called about 10 minutes ago. I guess I won't be getting 
my vacation weekend after all," she said, a hint of resignation 
coming through in her voice. 

"Well, you gotta keep the FBI's most unwanted on his leash, you 
know," he said with short laugh. "Anyway, the flight's at 9:25, 
we'll be by to pick you up at 8:30." He hung up as Scully did the 
same. It was as she stepped into the bathroom a minute later that 
she realized what he had said. 'We'...

"Oh god," she said to the empty air. 

     *    *    *    *    *    *

"Sorry not to give you any warning, Scully," Mulder had said as 
he loaded her bag into the trunk, indicating Khi in the front seat. 
"But when we woke up this morning, Khi said she'd leave for 
California in a couple of days anyway, so I asked if she wanted 
to join us in Colorado for the interim. She said sure, so I got her a 
seat."

Scully had taken a moment to answer, trying to wrap her brain 
around the concept of Mulder 'waking up' with Khi--waking up 
with someone meant you had to go to sleep with them, and 
Scully hadn't quite been able to accept that right away. Finally, as 
they'd  stepped back around to get in the car, she felt should 
could answer calmly. "It's fine, Mulder, don't worry about it," 
she'd said. "I'm sure it will be a fine couple of days."

Now, as she stood in the ticket line with them, watching them 
laugh and carouse with each other, she wondered if she could 
convincingly fake a sudden, deathly illness. Or inflict one...

It was tempting, surely, but she knew she couldn't bow out of her 
duties on this assignment, no matter how ridiculous they might 
be. Perhaps she'd be lucky and find out the Colorado airport was 
closed due to snow or something--dream on, honey, dream on, 
she said to herself. 

They were almost to the counter when it happened again--intense 
pain shot through Scully's temples, a fiery stab straight into her 
skull. Again, the image of Mulder down in the snow flashed 
behind her eyelids, clear as actual sight. Gasping for air, she 
nearly went to her knees from the sudden disorientation. Mulder 
was immediately at her side, holding her upright with a strong 
arm about her waist as he called out for Khi to get help. 

But as Khi began to take off for the emergency medical station, 
Scully felt herself snap out of it, just as quickly as she'd 
succumbed to it. "No, wait, Mulder," she stammered out. "I'm 
fine, really." She marshaled all her strength and held herself 
steady, disengaging herself from Mulder's grip. He was reluctant 
to let go, though, keeping one arm at the ready as the other 
reached out to touch her shoulder lightly.

Khi stepped through the small crowd of onlookers as Scully 
again said she was all right. Khi stepped up to Scully's side, 
looking her over completely as she reached out to lightly touch 
Scully's temple. Scully recoiled slightly at her touch--partly 
because she didn't like to be touched by people, but partly 
because of a slight sense of fear. It was as if Khi knew exactly 
where the pain had been centered. Her eyes seemed to look right 
through Scully, almost as if trying to confirm something. 

Khi must have seen something in her face, though, for she smiled 
slightly as she pulled back her hand. "Relax, Dana... Scully, I 
mean," she said in quick correction at a look from Mulder. "I've 
had medical training and I could see the veins on your temple 
pounding. I just meant to feel for pressure and for fever, but it 
seems to have subsided now. Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, I think so," she lied. "It was just a moment of 
disorientation. Perhaps I should have grabbed more to eat this 
morning before leaving." She tried to speak nonchalantly, 
dismissing the entire situation with a brief 'whatever' wave of her 
hand and a slight smile. Mulder was still hovering near her, 
though, a concerned look on his face. She brushed past him, 
stepping up to the counter as the ticket agent motioned them 
forward.

Tickets in hand, they headed for the gate to wait out the last few 
minutes before boarding began. Realizing Khi's seat was several 
rows behind theirs, Scully offered her ticket to Khi. "I see 
Mulder every day, why don't you take this to be able to catch up 
some more?" she said, trying to seem as if she were just being 
friendly. Mostly, she wanted to just sit quietly by herself for a 
few hours and try to forget the images she kept seeing--sitting 
right next to the man she kept envisioning dying would not help 
that endeavor. Plus, looking at the way Mulder appeared to jump 
at the idea, she figured she didn't want to spend the next several 
hours listening to Zippy stories from college...

Khi seemed to know exactly what Scully was thinking, what her 
real motives were. It was an uncanny sensation, she realized--
Scully had never really felt that anyone could read her when she 
didn't want them to. Well, no one besides Mulder, but even he 
could be frightfully oblivious at times. But as she exchanged a 
look with Khi, she could see Khi had easily discerned that Scully 
didn't trust her. 

Strangely, though, Khi seemed to accept that information without 
malice, simply turning to Mulder to ask if he thought that 
sounded like a good idea. He, in turn, gave a "You sure?" look to 
Scully to confirm. When she nodded and held the ticket out to 
Khi again, Khi took it and gave Scully hers in return. Mulder 
grinned at the exchange, reaching out to clap Scully on the 
shoulder--"Thanks!" he exclaimed, turning to chat with Khi 
again.

Yep, Mulder could be frightfully oblivious at times.

     *    *    *    *    *    *

The flight to Colorado Springs passed relatively uneventfully, 
much to the satisfaction of Scully. She had experienced no 
further pain or visions, and dared to believe perhaps they were 
gone for good. She'd been seated seven rows behind Mulder and 
Khi, far enough that she couldn't hear their conversation but 
close enough that she could hear their laughter. 

After twenty minutes of it, she retrieved her portable CD player. 
Enya served to soothe her jangled nerves and to block out 
everything else. 

Arriving in Colorado in the early evening after a connecting 
flight delay, Scully retrieved the rental car while Mulder and Khi 
got the luggage. Everything accounted for, they headed to the 
conference hotel on the other side of downtown, the Regal 
Springs Hilton. Scully and Mulder found they'd been booked 
rooms just down the hall from each other, while Khi was placed 
five floors up. Scully tried not to show how much that 
arrangement pleased her. She was happy to see Mulder didn't 
plan on continuing his college living arrangements while at a 
professional conference--perhaps he was taking this assignment 
more seriously than anyone had imagined. 

As she unpacked her clothing and arranged her personal effects 
in the bathroom, there was a knock at the door. Peering out the 
peephole, she saw Mulder standing there, thankfully sans-Khi. 
She opened the door to let him in and, as usual, he went right 
over to the bed and sprawled out on it as if it were his. Although 
she usually made some sarcastic comment to him whenever he 
did that, she let it ride this time--it was a return to normalcy she 
was glad to see.

"So, Scully, what's up?" he asked as he flipped through the TV 
channel guide he'd already located. "Go get some dinner? Do a 
little shopping? Watch a movie?" he said with a teasing eyebrow 
wag.

She graced him with the very slightest of smiles at that comment, 
turning back to the bathroom to finish unpacking her things. 
"What, you and Khi aren't off to crash a party, or hit the bars, or 
push each other around the halls on the luggage carts?" she 
asked.

She heard him laugh as he rolled up off her bed. He came to the 
bathroom doorway, leaning his tall frame against the jamb. "Nah, 
she wanted to visit a friend she has here in the city, so she's out 
for the night," Mulder said as he reached a hand out to rifle 
through her array of bottles and cases. Picking up a shampoo 
bottle, he struck a commercial pose. "Peach blossom and juju 
bean HerbalEssences always makes me feel like a new woman," 
he said brightly. Scully kept a straight face until he reached up to 
flip his non-existent long hair back from his shoulders.

The sight was just ludicrous enough to elicit a rare, real laugh 
from her, and she was amazed at how it made her feel so much 
better. She squeezed by him and returned to the bed, closing up 
the bag and placing it on the low luggage rack. She turned to see 
him looking at her, a look he didn't break off as she glanced up at 
him.

"What?" she asked slowly, quirking an eyebrow at him.

"Are you sure your feeling OK, Scully?" he asked. Before she 
could claim she was fine, he quipped "Cuz you *never* laugh at 
my jokes."

She barely, just barely, managed to keep from laughing again. 
Her lips made a very slight upward turn, though, and he laughed 
in response. "There, that's more like it," he said.

"To answer your question, Mulder, I'll have to pass on any 
activity for this evening," Scully said. "Maybe I didn't get enough 
sleep this week or something, but I really am feeling kind of 
tired. I think I just want to order some quick room service and 
pretty much head to bed."

"You're sure?" Mulder asked, looking a little depressed at the 
thought of spending the evening by himself. "We could just order 
in some pizza, maybe meet a nice vampire while we're at it."

"No, that's OK--I think we'll meet enough bloodsuckers 
tomorrow at the conference," she said dryly. It was Mulder's turn 
to laugh at her joke, nodding his head in agreement.

"Well, I'll leave you to your room service, then. G'night, Scully," 
he said as he headed for the door. She called out a goodnight to 
him, telling him to come and get her in the morning for the 
conference. "Will do," he said, stepping out into the hall, "Sweet 
dreams."

She managed to keep the fear from her face until he was out of 
the room.

     *    *    *    *    *    *

Mulder picked her up in the morning on time, carrying his stack 
of materials, and they headed to the hotel's conference facility. 
As they walked through the main lobby, Mulder spotted Khi 
sitting in the cozy low-walled Regal restaurant off to one side. 
She waved at them with a smile, gesturing for them to swing 
over that way. Mulder changed his course immediately, Scully 
following slightly less enthusiastically.

"Good morning, Zippy, Scully," Khi said. She was working her 
way through a sizeable breakfast--pancakes, eggs, bacon, 
sausage, toast, hash brows, juice, coffee and milk were all 
present on the table in front of her. Scully, who rarely ate 
anything more than a croissant or a muffin for breakfast, could 
not imagine how Khi could eat in such a fashion and still be in 
such phenomenal shape.

Khi must have caught the look on her face, because she gave a 
short laugh. "Believe me, Scully, I don't eat like this all the time. 
Any time I get away from my regular life for a while, I always 
make the best of it by eating huge," she said, indicating the 
rapidly-disappearing contents of her plates.

"What *is* your regular life, Khi?" Mulder asked as he took a 
bite of a piece of toast. "I don't think, in all the time I've known 
you, that you have ever mentioned what you do for a living."

"Well, I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you," Khi said, not 
quite sarcastically. She just raised an eyebrow at him as she 
drank down her coffee.

"C'mon, Mulder, we better get going," Scully said. "Conference 
starts in 30 minutes and we still have to check in and get you set 
up."

"Hey, you want to hook up for a late supper this evening, say 
around 8:00?" Khi asked, indicating both of them. She explained 
she would be out most of the day, but would be back to the hotel 
around 7:00 or so. Mulder glanced at Scully, who gave a simple 
'whatever' shrug of the shoulders.

"Sounds good. Shall we just meet down here around 7:30, then?" 
Mulder asked.

"Yeah, that's great. See you both then," Khi said, returning to her 
breakfast as Mulder and Scully headed off for the conference 
area. 

"She's planning something," Mulder said with a slight smile.

"What do you mean, planning something?" Scully asked in 
surprise. "Something good, she'll be paying for dinner? Or 
something bad, we'll both be jailed by morning?"

Mulder chuckled as they reached the sign-in table. Flashing their 
badges and signing the necessary forms, they both picked up a 
stack of conference materials and headed inside.

"Something outrageous, most likely," Mulder said, trying to 
juggle the new packets of literature with the huge stack of 
presentation materials he was already carrying. Scully deftly 
lifted the literature packs out of his grip, allowing him to 
concentrate on not spilling his presentation.

"Thanks. Anyway, what I mean is that Khi has a habit of 
springing a wild plan on people over dinner," Mulder said, 
thinking back. "I remember having dinner with her one night, 
then flying to Arizona the next day to whitewater raft the 
Colorado River, in the Grand Canyon."

"Don't you have to have a guide to raft most sections of that 
river?" Scully asked, vaguely remembering something she read 
once. They entered the main room, where several people were 
already present. They made their way to the front stage area, 
continuing to talk as Mulder set up.

"Yeah, you do, but Khi *is* a guide. Not that I knew that before 
we were renting the raft and survival gear!" he laughed. "I 
thought she was just going to have us take some back seat in a 
raft filled with several experienced people. Next thing I know, 
it's just the two of us careening down this river, me thinking 
we're going to overturn about every three seconds."

"Sounds like a blast," Scully said, the doubt clearly audible in her 
voice.

"The funny thing is, Scully, it was one of the best days of my 
life," Mulder said, arranging his materials. He signaled one of the 
conference assistants to begin passing out a set of papers to each 
person attending. "I was sure we'd be dead within the hour, but it 
was one of the most exhilarating experiences I've ever had. That's 
how it is with Khi--you can never quite be sure that what's 
happening is quite as it seems."

"That doesn't surprise me at all, Mulder," Scully said. At his 
questioning look, she tossed about for a description of what she 
meant, but finally just shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know 
what it is about her, Mulder, but I know that woman is hiding 
something about herself. I don't mean to insult you or your 
friend, but I get the distinct impression that the outward 
appearance of Khi Shaolin is nothing more than a well-crafted 
mask."

"She's secretive about her past and her life, yes," Mulder said, not 
quite mad but a little testy. "But I doubt she's hiding some deep, 
dark secret."

"I didn't mean to imply that she was going to murder us in our 
sleep or something, Mulder," Scully said. Mulder gave her a 
small smile in gratitude. "I just meant that, with Khi, I don't think 
what you see is necessarily what you get."

Mulder glanced at his watch, glancing out at the nearly-full 
room. "Whatever she's planning, we aren't going to find out what 
it is until we get this conference out of the way," he said. "Hey, I 
forgot to tell you I got roped into attending one of the afternoon 
sessions today. Or perhaps, 'leashed' would be a better word. 
Either way, I won't be out of here until after 4:00 or later."

"Actually, that's OK--I want to get a little gift shopping done 
while I've got some time here," Scully said. "I've got my 
nephew's birthday coming up soon, and other people I'm behind 
on. So I'll just see you in the lobby at 7:30, then, OK?"

"OK. Hope I can sit up pretty enough for everyone," Mulder said, 
barely pantomiming his neck being jerked by an invisible leash.

She just rolled her eyes at him and stepped down off the stage. 
She worked her way through the rows of chairs to an unoccupied 
seat near the back and settled in. She glanced out through the 
open door which led back to the main hallway and was surprised 
to see Khi speaking with a man dressed in what looked like a 
Marine captain's uniform. She watched them speak for a 
moment, her  surprise turning quickly to shock when the Marine 
saluted Khi before turning to leave. Scully knew that uniformed 
officers never salute unless it is warranted. 

So why the hell was a Marine captain saluting Khi Shaolin?

     *    *    *    *    *    *

After listening to Mulder's speech, which went surprisingly well, 
Scully escaped from the conference and headed back to her 
room. After a quick change into something more casual, she 
grabbed her coat and headed downstairs to browse the 
advertising literature in the lobby. Armed with several 
pamphlets, Scully was soon on her way to an afternoon of 
shopping.

She headed first to a couple of large clothing stores, finding a 
two sweaters and some jewelry for her mother's upcoming 
birthday. Looking around for something for her sister-in-law, she 
finally decided upon a delicate pair of diamond earrings after 
almost an hour of browsing. 

Checking her list, she saw the remainder of what she needed was 
pretty diverse, so she decided to just head to the South Spring 
Mall. Realizing she was rather hungry, she stopped for a quick 
bite at one of the mall food court shops. Hunger satisfied, she 
began to stroll through the mall at a leisurely pace, entering any 
shop that looked interesting, buying a few things here and there. 

Within a couple of hours, she had everything she needed for 
gifts, plus a few small items for herself, and felt thoroughly 
relaxed. Looking down at the armful of packages she was 
carrying, she made a quick stop to purchase another piece of soft-
side luggage. Nothing like bringing one bag on a trip and coming 
home with two, she laughed to herself.

As she worked her way back to the entrance, a store display 
window caught her eye. "Everything for the Sportsman in Your 
Life!" the in-store ads read as she perused the window items. She 
was about to move on when she spotted a mannequin wearing a 
sweatshirt that had an absolutely beautiful print of howling 
wolves on it. The quality was superb--it was as if she were 
looking at a photograph instead of a screen print. Thinking ahead 
to her brother's birthday in a couple of months, Scully decided to 
pick this up while she was in shopping mode. No telling when 
she'd get the chance for a leisurely day of shopping again.

Entering the store, she browsed until finding the right display 
rack, flicking through the hangers until finding the correct size. 
She took the shirt off the rack and headed for the checkout 
counter at the center of the store. Scully patiently waited in the 
small line until it was her turn, giving a smile to the obviously-
new-at-the-job male cashier as she laid the shirt on the counter.

She happened to be looking down at the wolf print when the boy 
whisked the shirt off the counter. As her eyes focused, she saw 
several knives displayed within the glass case, each folded out to 
show the various blades or tools it contained. One towards the 
back caught her attention--large and black-handled with an inlay 
of crimson, it contained only a single blade that shone brightly 
even in the murky fluorescent light of the store. 

The pain came unbidden as before, an intense wave that flowed 
over and engulfed her. Unlike before, it centered in her chest, 
constricting her lungs to the point of uselessness. Gasping for 
breath, she collapsed forward onto the display counter, unable to 
even cry out for help. Her brain began to slow everything down--
she saw the cashier come running around the counter as if he 
were moving through water, his frantic cry of "Hey, lady, are you 
OK?" muted and distorted. She slid down the front of the 
counter, hands outstretched as if trying to ward off an unseen 
attacker.

As consciousness slipped away, a new vision came--her hands 
covered with crimson blood, a black-handled knife lying next to 
Mulder's motionless form.

     *    *    *    *    *    *

"Ma'am, can you hear me? Wake up, c'mon now. Open your eyes 
and talk to me, honey."

Scully came to with a start, jerking halfway up from what 
seemed to be a bed before a gentle set of hands pushed her back 
down. "Wh... wh..." she tried ask where she was, but her throat 
was too dry to speak. A woman in nurse's garb released her hold 
on Scully's shoulders, turning to a nearby sink and drawing a 
glass of water. She handed it to Scully, who drank it down in a 
long, continuous swallow. 

"Thank you. Where am I?" Scully asked, looking around the 
small, sparsely-furnished room. She saw a few simple medical 
instruments neatly organized on counter, along with a jar of 
tongue depressors and several gauze wrap bandages.

"You're in the hospital, Ms. Scully. You collapsed at the Spring 
Mall about 30 minutes ago and were brought here immediately," 
the nurse explained. "Luckily, EMTs were already at that 
location on a false alarm. Do you remember what happened?"

"I was buying a shirt, standing at the counter, and suddenly I 
couldn't breathe. It felt as if my entire throat had closed off, as if 
my lungs were being crushed," she said. Feeling stronger by the 
minute, Scully swung her legs over the side of the low bed and 
sat up. 

"Well, we've been unable to determine what the cause might 
have been. Actually, we found no evidence of anything wrong 
with you at all," the nurse said. "You merely appeared to be 
asleep--no trauma to the head or throat, no evidence of 
obstructions in the airway, not even elevated blood pressure. Do 
you have any medical conditions which may have caused such a 
collapse?"

"None I'm aware of," Scully said, reluctant to mention the 
previous incidents since she had no way to explain those either. 
Remembering something, she reached for the small of her back--
"Where's my weapon?"

The nurse chuckled a bit, heading over to a small closet and 
withdrawing Scully's coat and weapon. "Here you are. The gun 
gave the EMTs a bit of a fright when they found it," she laughed. 
"It's not something you expect to find on a normal shopper. But 
when they found your ID and realized who you were, they 
simply brought the gun in with your other personal effects."

"And the bags I had with me at the sporting store, my other 
shopping?" Scully asked as she stood and holstered the weapon. 
She dreaded the thought of losing them--when will I ever find 
another day to go shopping, she thought, not to mention the 
several hundred dollars she had spent.

"I would imagine they're still at the store," the nurse said. 
Watching as Scully moved about the room easily, sliding into her 
coat and adjusting her clothing and hair in the small mirror, the 
nurse seemed perplexed. "Are you sure you feel all right now, 
Ms. Scully? When the EMTs arrived, they were quite certain 
they'd be bringing out a body bag for you soon. You had been 
out for at least three minutes, convulsing and not breathing. But 
just as they started to work on you, you just... came out of it. You 
were calm and breathing easily within seconds."

With a false smile and shrug of her shoulders, Scully replied "I'm 
not sure what to tell you. I feel fine now. If there's no reason for 
you to hold me here any longer, I think I'll be on my way."

"Just a couple of papers for you to sign at the front desk, out the 
door and down the hall to your left," the nurse pointed. "You 
should know that we attempted to call the name listed in your 
ID."

Scully jerked her head back, asking "Did you reach him at all?" 

"No, we only got an answering machine. By the time we had 
searched your ID for another number to call, you were beginning 
to wake up, so we didn't think it was necessary," the nurse 
explained. 

"All right, thank you," Scully said, turning and heading back 
down the hallway. Thank god, she thought with a sigh--the last 
thing I need is Mulder running around in AutoProtect mode for 
the rest of the weekend.

Finding the ER admission desk, Scully signed the necessary 
release forms and inquired about the location of the mall in 
relation to the hospital. She decided to just walk back to the mall, 
considering it was only about a mile away. It was still daylight 
outside and she figured she could find her way easily enough.

Stepping out into the cold, she began to walk briskly in the 
direction the admitting nurse had indicated. Wishing she had a 
hood on her coat, she settled for flipping up the large collar and 
trying to sink as far inside the jacket as she could. 

There was a light snow falling as she walked along.

Within 15 minutes, Scully had arrived at the mall, pausing in the 
doorway to shake off the dusting of snow that had accumulated 
on her jacket and hair. She quickly found the sporting store and 
stepped inside to inquire about her packages. Luckily, the same 
boy was still working--he recognized her immediately, reaching 
underneath the counter and withdrawing her several packages.

"Hello, ma'am, how're you feeling now?" he asked as she came 
up to the counter. "You sure freaked us out a bit there, for a 
moment. I just went ahead and set these under here to keep an 
eye on them."

"I feel fine now, thanks for asking," she said, tipping a smile up 
at him as she dug inside her jacket for her small wallet. "But I'm 
quite sure I didn't pay for that yet," indicating the last package he 
had set on the counter, emblazoned with the brightly-colored 
store logo.

"The manager said it was a gift for you, to help you feel better. 
He didn't want you to be saying that you got sick at Dave's 
Sporting Goods and-" he broke off suddenly, glancing around 
him nervously. "Whoops, I think I just said more than I was 
supposed to."

"That's okay, I won't tell anyone," Scully laughed. "But I really 
do want to pay for the shirt. It certainly wasn't the store's fault 
about what happened, and you were so quick to help me."

"Nope, I'm sorry, ma'am, but he told me to insist that you take 
the shirt, free of charge," the boy said firmly. Or as firmly as a 
16-year old boy could be when talking to a pretty woman in her 
30's who was smiling at him. "Really, take it."

"Well, then, thank you, and be sure to thank your manager as 
well," Scully said, beginning to gather her packages. Her eyes 
fell again on the knife as she cleared off the counter. 

"Perhaps you'll let me buy something else, then," she said.

     *    *    *    *    *    *

Back at the hotel, Scully carefully arranged all the packages in an 
out-of-the-way corner of her room, taking a moment to attach a 
quick note to the pile. No need for the cleaning staff to worry 
about moving them each day, she thought. 

Glancing at her watch, she saw that she still had two hours before 
dinner with Mulder and Khi. She considered taking a brief nap, 
but quickly dismissed that idea--she was much too tense to fall 
asleep at this time of day. She flipped through the television 
channels, smiling slightly as she clicked past Channel 14. Gee, I 
wonder which channel Mulder pre-set on his remote, she laughed 
to herself.

Finding nothing of interest, Scully got up and paced the room a 
bit. As she passed the low dresser, she saw the hotel's 
advertisement for its services and amenities. Seeing the entry for 
'full gym, complete with a variety of the latest equipment,' she 
thought perhaps that was what she needed. A good, hard run on a 
treadmill or a Stairmaster. Her brain cautioned she should 
probably just take it easy, but the thought was quickly swept 
away by her body's need to *do* something.

Scully rummaged through her bag until she found the pair of 
sweatpants and shirt she had brought. Grabbing them, along with 
a towel from the bathroom, she headed downstairs and found the 
gym with a little help from the concierge again. She changed in 
the small locker room, happy to see only a few lockers in use--
she hated fighting or waiting for gym equipment. 

The gym was small, but it really was well-equipped and 
thankfully nearly empty. After a moment's debate, she decided 
on a treadmill run. She did a few simple stretches, making sure 
she limbered up after the day's tension--no need to pull a muscle 
with two more days left of the trip, she thought.

Scully set the machine for about 6-7 miles per hour and hopped 
on, quickly falling into the necessary rhythm. The hotel had 
placed several TV screens around the gym, giving people 
something to look as they exercised. She normally took her CD 
player with her to work out, but had forgotten it upstairs. 

She found herself watching an infomercial for a food-packing 
unit that sealed stuff using a vacuum. She laughed to herself as 
she watched the spokesman peddle his wares--I couldn't act that 
deliriously happy even if I *was* getting paid for it, she thought.

The longer she jogged, the more in control she felt. The 
disturbing mental images, the physical tension, the general unrest 
she'd had for the last 24 hours slid into the past. Things to be 
remembered, but no longer worried about. The body took over 
and she was happy to let it do so.

After 50 minutes, she cranked the machine up a bit more and 
finished with a hard 5-minute run. Only then did she power it 
down to a gentle walk, allowing her body to cool down slowly. 
She knew a majority of muscle pulls and strains occurred as a 
result of improperly cooled muscles, not from the actual severity 
of the workout itself.

Noticing someone waiting for the machine, she shut it down and 
stepped off, finding a corner of the room to finish stretching out. 
Scully noticed the gym had filled up in the last hour and was glad 
that she had come down when she did.

She felt refreshed and energetic, more so than she'd felt in weeks. 
Maybe coming along will have some benefits after all, she 
mused. She headed back to the locker room and grabbed her 
clothes and towel, figuring on showering when she got back to 
her room. 

Keeping in the spirit of the workout, Scully decided to take the 
stairs up to her room. She laughed as she set out to jog up the 12 
flights--elevators were usually a necessity for her, brought on by 
the dress clothing she normally wore. She couldn't remember the 
last time she intentionally took a long jog up a flight of stairs. 

As she reached the 5th floor and rounded the corner to start up 
the next flight, she became aware of another set of footsteps 
coming up from below. She glanced down through the space in 
the staircase and saw Mulder racing up the steps. He was dressed 
in Spandex running pants with a light runner's jacket, a pair of 
gloves in his hands. She could see the bottoms of several layers 
of T-shirts and sweatshirts poking out from underneath the edge 
of the jacket.

"C'mon, Scully, I'll race you to our rooms--last one there has to 
spring for dinner tonight!" he yelled as he turned the corner 
below her.

"You're on, fly boy," she called out, feeling the adrenaline pour 
into her blood as she accelerated.

They yelled back and forth at each other as they ran: "Who you 
calling fly boy?"--"You, Spandex man"--"Oh, so I can't wear 
proper running attire now?"--"It's just a little... form-fitting, don't 
you think?"--"You making a move on me, woman?"--"Yeah, I'm 
moving out ahead of you." 

Scully was in the lead as they reached the 12th floor entrance. 
She reached out and flung open the door to the hallway. She 
quickly realized her mistake, though, as Mulder whizzed past her 
and into the hallway, laughing. "Thank ye kindly, ma'am!" he 
called to her as he zipped by.

Damn! "I had you, Mulder, and you know it!" she called out after 
him. "I had you!"

"Most restaurants take Visa, you know!" he laughed, flashing her 
a big smile. 

He managed to duck inside his room and shut the door before she 
had the chance to wipe that smile right off his face. 


      *** 30 *********  Section End  *********** 30 ***
 

Continued in Section Three, Chapter 3/10...

http://members.tripod.com/~koosn/falling_snow-3.txt