In the Light of the Frozen Moon (4/?)
by Decoyly

Disclaimer: Mulder, Scully aren't mine, they belong to CC 
and Co.Absolutely no copyright infringement is intended! 

Feedback:  decoyly@gmail.com

Rating: PG

Classification: MSR

Summary: Started out in response to DD's comment that Mulder 
takes off his shirt in the new movie (see part one), but has since
become it's own non-movie related WIP. :D Hope you enjoy it!

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Mulder knocked on the door again.  "Agent Stern?" 

Again there was no answer.  He tried once more, but his only 
response was the flicker of his flashlight. 

"Agent Stern, it's Mulder.  I just needed to--" He stopped 
short as his flashlight blinked out completely.  

Mulder frowned, knocking the flashlight against his other hand.  
Nothing.  Deciding that Stern was clearly either ignoring him or 
not in his room, Mulder headed carefully back down the 
darkened hallway.

Calling on his photographic memory, Mulder made his way back 
towards Scully's room, keeping an eye out for any sign of light.  He 
wondered if Aunt Claire kept candles anywhere nearby.  Just as he 
thought it, a faint glow appeared near the end of the hallway.

"Hello?"  He didn't want to startle whoever was coming up the stairs.

"Agent Mulder?" a woman's voice called out and Mulder recognized 
the agent who had escorted Aunt Claire back to her room.

"Agent Cook."  Mulder met up with her at the top of the stairs. "Is 
Aunt Claire alright?"

"She's fine.  In fact, she insisted that I bring you these."  Cook 
held out a handful of candles and a lighter.  "She says there a 
plenty of holders in your rooms."

Mulder nodded a thanks and took the candles.  "Do you know 
where Agent Stern is?"

"Everyone else is out looking for Ivy," Cook answered, searching 
the hallway.  "What about your partner?  Is she alright?"

"She's fine."  I hope.  "If you see Agent Stern, remind him that he 
needs to take a shower."  At Cook's look, Mulder added, "Just to 
be on the safe side."  He'd let Scully explain later.

"I should get back to Aunt Claire.  She's worried sick over 
her niece."

"We'll find her," Mulder answered, unsure who he was trying to 
convince, Aunt Claire or himself.  Cook excused herself and 
headed back downstairs.

Mulder hesitated in the hallway.  Part of him needed to get back 
and make sure Scully was alright, but the other part felt guilty 
not looking for Ivy.  The young woman was still nowhere to be 
found and the blizzard didn't sound like it was going to be letting 
up anytime soon.  Sure Ivy had nearly a dozen agents looking for 
her, but still...

Suddenly the front door to the Inn burst open and those very 
agents were stomping back inside, cursing the weather and 
shaking off snow.  The first thing Mulder noticed was that 
none of them had working flashlights either.

~*~*~

Scully quickly stepped out of the coldest shower of her life 
and began blindly searching for a towel.  She'd never showered
in total darkness before, and it was certainly not a pleasant 
experience.  She'd seen enough in her lifetime to know bathrooms 
were not the place you wanted to be wandering around in the 
dark stark naked.

Scully felt around until her hand found a towel and, shivering, 
she quickly dried off and wrapped it around her.  Thankfully 
Aunt Claire kept the bathrooms stocked with big fluffy towels 
that reached past her knees.  

Now onto the candles.  Scully turned towards the mirror, 
feeling for the drawers under the sink.  Surely Aunt Claire 
kept candles in here somewhere.

It took her a few minutes, but she eventually found a lighter 
in the second drawer and a candle on a nearby shelf.  

Stepping back into the bedroom, Scully cast the candlelight 
around the room, searching for her suitcase.  Only then did 
she remember that she was in Mulder's room.  

This just keeps getting better and better...

Tugging the towel closer, Scully grabbed her discarded
clothes off the floor and headed for the connecting door 
leading her room.  She was almost there when a loud 
thump outside the window made her freeze.

The wind?  She remained still, searching the room for her gun.  
Guessing that Mulder would have put it on the bedside table 
after rescuing her from the frozen lake, Scully took a slow 
step back, keeping her gaze on the dark window.

Outside the wind continued to howl, knocking snow-covered 
branches against the sides of the Inn.  Scully glanced at the 
lock on the balcony door.  As far as she knew Mulder hadn't 
opened it since they got here, but who knew if it was still 
locked or not.

Finding her gun on the bedside table, Scully slowly slid it out 
of its holster, unlatching the safety.  The flame on the candle 
flickered, casting ominous shadows on the opposite walls.  

Scully held her breath and waited...

After a long moment the silence only seemed to make the 
darkness darker, and Scully decided it must have just been the 
wind.  Forcing herself to relax, she once again headed for her 
own room.

Shivering and wishing Mulder had a blow-dryer, Scully opened 
the connecting doors and stepped into her own room.  Only to 
gasp as an instant gust of frozen air snuffed out her candle and 
a shadow fell through her open window.

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"And you don't find that a little bit strange?" Mulder asked 
frowning at the group of FBI Agents who were receiving 
candles from Agent Cook and Aunt Claire.  

Not a single one of their flashlights worked, and Mulder found it 
very hard to believe that it was just a coincidence.  Some people 
blamed the freezing temperatures, others the old equipment.  Many 
were too tired and cold to care either way, and wanted nothing 
more than a hot bath and a good night's sleep.  

There was still no sign of Ivy or Agent Michaels anywhere.

"Does everything really have to have a spooky reason behind it?" 
a weary agent asked.  

"Not if you believe having a dozen FBI-issue flashlights blinking 
out conveniently all at the same time is normal," Mulder 
answered.  "Along with the electricity, a dead agent, a missing 
girl..."

"Alright, alright," Agent Stern interrupted.  "We get the picture.
So what is it this time Mulder?  Aliens?  The Abominable 
Snowman?" 

"Yeti, actually," Mulder corrected.  "Although he's native to 
the Himalayas, so you're probably referring to Bigfoot instead."

Agent Stern stared at him and Mulder fought the urge to laugh.  
He'd said it before and he thought it again, *Sometimes the need 
to mess with their heads outweighs the millstone of humiliation...*
If only Scully were here to share in his appreciation.

Scully.  Even though he hadn't been gone long, Mulder wanted to get 
back as quickly as possible.  He wasn't comfortable leaving her 
alone, especially when she wasn't feeling well.  If she passed out 
in the shower...

"What do you suggest we do then?" Agent Stern asked, recovering 
from his momentary lapse of disbelief. 

"Stock up on candles, light a fire," Mulder answered absently, 
glancing towards the stairs.  He really should get back to Scully.

"He's right," another agent said.  "We're not going to find Ivy 
running around tripping over ourselves out there in the dark."

"And that blizzard's not gonna shut down any time soon."

"But Ivy..." Aunt Claire suddenly appeared, a tea tray in hand.

"Is going to be fine," Mulder answered, turning his attention to 
the older woman.  He gave her a warm smile and helped her 
with the tray.  He was surprised to find not tea, but hot 
chocolate in the steaming mugs. 

"She couldn't have gotten far," an agent said, only to be silenced 
by an elbow to the ribs from the man standing next to him.

"He's right," Agent Cook assured.  "Ivy is probably still inside 
somewhere.  Maybe she just got scared."

"Locked in the basement or something..." another agent mumbled 
unconvincingly as he took a cup of hot chocolate from Mulder.  
Mulder frowned at him but remained silent.  

As everyone continued to light candles and two agents headed 
for the large wood-burning fireplace at the center of the room, 
there was a loud thump from upstairs.

Mulder froze.  Scully.

"What was that?"

Before anyone could answer, a gunshot cracked through the 
darkness.  Mulder was running for the stairs before anyone could 
stop him.

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Scully stared down in disbelief at the ragged man who had just tried 
to shoot himself.    

"Please--" he gasped, once again reaching for her weapon.  

"Sir--"  Fully prepared this time, Scully easily pulled her 
gun away, getting over the shock of finding a panicked 
stranger in her room. "--Calm down."

"I need--"

"It's okay--"

"No!" 

Delirious, the stranger clutched at her from his spot on the floor.  
Dressed in a worn leather coat and old fur trapper hat, the man 
looked like he hadn't eaten in days.  She noticed he was missing 
a boot on his left foot.

"Please..." The stranger stared up at her, wide-eyed, breathing 
hard, exhausted to the point he was unable to remain standing 
on his own.  Who was he?  And why on earth was he falling 
through her bedroom window in the middle of the night?  

Having no pockets in her makeshift towel-dress, Scully glanced at 
the man then placed her weapon a safe distance away.  There was 
no way he was reaching it without any help.

Tucking her flashlight under her arm, she quickly knelt next to him. 

"You're okay," Scully said softly, unable to keep from feeling 
sorry for the man as he pulled away from her like a scared 
child.  "I'm not going to hurt you."

He continued to stare at her suspiciously, but let her take his 
pulse, check his forehead.  His heart raced and he was burning 
up despite the fact that he'd just come inside from a blizzard.

"Scully?"  Mulder's voice was muffled by the thick wooden 
door, and both Scully and the stranger jumped when he 
knocked.

"I'm okay!" she called, and the terror was back in the stranger's 
eyes.  He began frantically searching the room, digging clumsily 
at his pockets.

"No, it's okay," Scully said, trying to calm him before he hurt 
himself. 

"No," he shot back, his search becoming more and more agitated.

Scully tried to stop him but he seemed to have forgotten she was 
even in the room.

"Stop," he mumbled.  "Have to stop!"

"Stop what?"

"Scully can I come in?" Mulder called from his room.

"Mulder hold on a--" 

"Take it!" The stranger suddenly interrupted, staring right at 
her as he thrust something small and round into her hand.  
Before she could ask what it was, he gasped, "Stop! Stop it, 
you have to stop it!"

Stop what?  She wasn't doing anything; what was he talking about?  
"Sir I don't--"

"Scully I'm coming in."

In the time it took Scully to glance to the door, the stranger 
suddenly leapt to his feet.  With a sudden burst of strength, he 
flung his slight frame towards the bed, grabbing Scully's gun.

Scully swung around just as Mulder stepped into the room. 

"No!"

It was too late.

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*BAM!*

Mulder watched in shock as a man he'd never seen before 
slumped to the floor, gun falling from his hand.  Scully 
rushed to the stranger's side but it was no use.  He'd just 
shot himself in the head. The man was gone.

"What the--" Agent Stern stopped cold in the doorway, causing 
the two agents behind him to run into his back.  

"Hey--"

"What's goin' on?"

The three agents tried to disentangle themselves as Scully looked up 
from the stranger to Mulder. 

"He's dead."

Mulder shook himself back into focus and holstered his weapon, 
stepping forward to help Scully to her feet. "Are you okay?" He 
still couldn't quite believe what he'd just witnessed.  Who was
this man?

More agents were crowding into Mulder's bedroom, trying to see 
what was happening in Scully's, but neither of them paid any 
attention.

"I'm fine," Scully answered, glancing down at the poor guy 
on the floor.  "But he wasn't."

Clearly.  "Who was he?" Mulder asked

"I have no idea."

~*~*~

Scully watched the blood pool around the stranger's head as 
snow swirled into the room, giving everything a surreal feel.  
She'd forgotten the balcony door was still open. 

"Here."  Mulder handed her a blanket and she suddenly 
remembered she was only wearing a towel.

Scully took the blanket, thanking her partner and watched 
him give another agent a dirty look.  The man blushed and 
quickly looked away from Scully's bare legs.

"What happened?" Agent Cook asked, sidestepping Stern to 
get into the room.  Another agent went to close the balcony
door before it blew off its hinges.

Scully quickly told them how the man had literally fallen 
through her door, frantic and gasping gibberish.  He'd 
taken one look at her and grabbed for her gun.  

Scully waved towards the wall behind the bed.  "His shot 
was way off.  I don't even know if he knew what he 
was doing."

"He was trying to kill you?" Agent Stern asked.

"I don't think so."  Scully turned back to the dead man 
on the floor.  His words still echoed in her mind, *You have 
to stop it!*  Had the man just been sick?  Speaking 
from a fever induced delusion?  Or was it something else? 

Scully fingered the small glassy stone in her palm, 
remembering the look on the stranger's face when he'd 
shoved it at her.  He certainly hadn't looked delusional then.
He looked...scared.  Something kept her from mentioning 
the object just yet; and she didn't have to as Agent Cook 
was already trying to usher everyone out.

"Why don't we let Agent Scully get dressed first and then 
we can decide what to do."  It wasn't a question.   

"This is crazy," another agent mumbled.  "It's three in the 
morning.  We should be sleeping, not running around 
chasing maniacs."

"Well fortunately the maniac came to us this time," Mulder 
answered dryly.  Scully noticed he'd been studying the 
door while everyone else was focused on the body and 
Scully's story.  

Mulder caught her eye.  He'd found something.  She nodded 
slightly, letting him know she too was waiting until they were 
alone to discuss this strange interruption.

Everyone left through Mulder's room but he hung back a 
second.  Scully could see the concern he was trying to hide, 
and smiled softly, silently answering unasked question, 
*Really Mulder I'm fine.*

He nodded wordlessly and closed the door behind him.

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When Scully stepped through their connecting door, Mulder 
got up to help her. She handed him her duffle bag as she 
tried to maneuver her dwindling candle and the doorknob 
at the same time.

"They're going to stop inviting us to nice places," Mulder 
said, smirking as he closed and locked the door behind her.

"No wonder they haven't asked us back for so long."  

Scully set her candle down on a table in the corner and 
rolled her head, trying to work out some of the kinks.  She'd 
been out of the lake just long enough for the soreness to 
start kicking in.  Her exhausted muscles screamed in protest 
and she frowned.  It was hard work fighting for your life in 
subzero temperatures.

"You okay Scully?" Mulder asked, setting her bag down 
next to his.

"Just stiff," she answered, wincing as she rubbed her 
shoulder and a jolt of pain shot up her back.  So much for 
a good night's sleep.

Without a word, Mulder stepped up behind her, taking over 
the massage to her shoulders.  Scully closed her eyes, leaning 
into his touch.  How did she get so lucky to have such a 
wonderfully giving partner?  Mulder worked his thumbs under 
her shoulder blades and she groaned in pleasure.  How had 
she forgotten how he good he was at this?  

"Your door was unlocked," Mulder said as he continued to 
work the knots out of her shoulders.  "And marked."

"Marked?" She started to turn around, but he stopped her, 
moving his hands to massage her lower back.  She nearly 
sighed, forgetting about turning around.

"There was a piece of red electrical tape on the balcony railing."  
Mulder dug the heels of his hands into the small of her back 
and Scully closed her eyes.  "Somebody was letting him know 
which room he needed to get to."

Scully kept her eyes closed, letting this new information sink
in as Mulder worked back to her shoulders.  Why would the 
man now lying dead in her bedroom want to get to her?  
She didn't know who he was, but did he know her? 

"Scully?" Mulder's breath hit her ear and she jumped, 
realizing that he'd stopped his massage and she was now 
leaning heavily against him.  

"Sorry," she pulled away.  "I guess I almost fell asleep."

"Considering what you've been through the past few 
hours I think I can forgive you."  He cocked a lopsided 
grin at her and gave her shoulders one last squeeze.  
"Now what was it you found?" 

Sometimes it was scary how much they could reach each 
other.  Scully pulled the small black stone from her 
pocket, handing it over to Mulder.  He took it over to 
the candle for better inspection. 

"Did he give you this?" Mulder asked, turning the glossy 
black stone over to study the front. 

"Shoved it at me is more like it," Scully said, watching the 
candlelight flicker off the stone.  It was perfectly smooth, 
about the size of a dollar coin and more disk-shaped than 
round.  It was cool to the touch but held a strange glow 
in the warm light.  Scully had never seen anything like it before.

~*~*~

Mulder studied the odd stone in his hand, feeling it warm 
slightly in the light from the candle.  He ran his thumb over 
the symbols carved into the front, brow furrowing in thought.  
A recessed star was underlined by what looked like a line 
of "m"s drawn in one sharply jagged stroke.  

"And he didn't give any explanation?" Mulder asked, 
looking back up to his partner. 

"All he said was that I had to 'stop it'.  But he didn't 
elaborate on what "it" was."

"I've seen this symbol before," Mulder said, standing up and 
pointing at the jagged line as he handed the stone back to 
Scully.  "It's the Egyptian hieroglyph for water."

"Water?"

"Although it can also mean the letter 'n'."  Mulder continued 
to think as Scully studied the symbol.  "But the star...I don't 
know, it could mean a number of things.  Of course they 
could both mean nothing."

At Scully's look, Mulder added, "You said the guy 
was delusional right?  Sick?"

Scully hesitated and Mulder raised an eyebrow.  Was she 
changing her mind now?  It was true that nothing ever 
really meant *nothing* in their line of work.

"I don't know Mulder," she finally said, turning her attention
 from the stone to him.  "At first I thought he was delusional, 
but..."  Scully sighed, scrubbing her fist across her tired eyes.  
"It's too late an hour for my brain to try and work everything 
out now."

She was right.  She was exhausted, had been through enough 
for one night and needed to get some sleep.  

"I'll go talk to them," Mulder said, giving her shoulder a squeeze.  
"You really should get some sleep."

"No I'll go talk to them," Scully said, heading towards the door. 
"You still need to take a shower."

He'd completely forgotten about the shower.  Mulder 
considered arguing with her for about a second then, knowing 
it was pointless, headed towards the bathroom, assuring 
Scully that he'd be quick.

Scully glanced at the candle and asked, "Mulder do you 
have your flashlight?  Mine died when I was taking a shower."

Mulder finished pulling his shirt over his head and turned 
to face her.  "They all died."

"All?" 

"That's why everyone came back from their search for 
Ivy.  Every single flashlight around here died at the 
same time."

An alarmed look cross Scully's face, and Mulder 
nodded.  "My thoughts exactly."

Sighing, Scully picked up another candle and lit it.  He 
watched her go before turning and heading for the shower.

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Again, thanks for reading! Hopefully I still have some readers...;)