In the Light of the Frozen Moon (8/?)
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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Although her eyes had adjusted to the dark, there was nothing
 much to see anyway.  As the sound grew louder--definitely 
water--Scully and Mulder both began a frantic search for a 
way to escape it.  Scully felt down the slimy rock wall, feeling 
for another tunnel, a handhold to higher ground, anything!  She 
found nothing but even slimier solid rock. 

Fighting back the panic that comes with knowing you're about 
to be hit with thousands of gallons of rushing water, Scully 
turned towards her partner.  "Mulder?"  Silently, she added, 
~please tell me you have a plan~. 

~*~*~

Mulder was still searching the wall, knowing the ceiling was 
definitely taller in here than the other tunnels.  The sides of 
the room sloped upward, but so far he was finding no 
evidence of higher ground, so to speak.  

A rush of air hit his face, warning that the water, wherever 
it was coming from, was coming fast.  

"There's got to be another way out of here," Scully said, 
searching low as he continued to search high.  They were 
quickly making their way back around the circular room, 
and Mulder wondered why they weren't finding the 
tunnel they'd come in through.    

Misty sprays of water were now hitting his face, and 
Mulder knew they'd run out of time.  "Guess you 
were right about that trap after all."

Just when he was about to give up, Mulder's fingers 
curled around the rock.  A ledge?  He stood on his 
tiptoes and pushed his hand forward. ~Yes!~

"Scully there's a--"  Mulder's words were cut off by 
a deafening roar as freezing water crashed around a 
corner.  He had only a split second to react, grabbing 
his partner to his chest as the water slammed into 
them both.  

~*~*~

Scully was knocked off her feet and Mulder grabbed 
her just before they were both flung into the wall.  She 
thought she heard her partner yell, "Hang on!" but the 
force and temperature of the water stole his words 
and her breath.  

Her sense memory immediately kicked in, and Scully 
was suddenly thrust back into the nightmare of falling 
through the frozen lake. ~No!~ She forced herself not 
to panic. ~Not again, fight! You are not dying like this!~ 

The water was rising fast, already lifting Scully off her 
feet.  Mulder tightened his hold on her and shouted, 
"Scully grab the ledge!" 

Ledge? What ledge? Trusting her partner, Scully 
reached out, finding nothing but slippery rock.  
"There's nothing there!" 

~*~*~

The cave was big, but not big enough to hold all this 
water.  Mulder was already up to his neck, but he 
refused to let them both drown.  "Keep trying, Scully! 
I felt it, I know it's there!" He mustered all his strength,
using the buoyancy of the water to help him lift her 
further.

"Wait! Got it!" Scully had to shout to be heard over 
the swirling water.  

"Great," Mulder gasped, feeling like he was about to 
be sucked down a giant flushing toilet.  "You wanna 
hurry there Scully? I don't know how much longer 
my footing's gonna--"  As if the words themselves 
jinxed him, an undercurrent caught him, and Mulder 
slipped, losing his grip on his partner.

~*~*~

"Mulder!" Scully had just managed to grab hold of the 
ledge, and was starting to pull herself up when Mulder 
suddenly disappeared beneath her. Fear for him made
her lose her grip, and she fumbled to regain it.  If 
Scully lost the ledge now, she'd never find it again.  

"Go!" Mulder yelled, and relief flooded her veins.  He 
was still there.  He was okay! But for how long?

Scully turned her attention back to rock as Mulder 
began to cough.  ~Come on Dana, hurry up! You 
have to get him out of there!~ 

Finally, she was climbing out of the water, and Scully 
swung around, ripping off her coat as she called, 
"Mulder!" 

~*~*~

His arms were about to be pulled out of their sockets, 
but Mulder had managed to find a grip on the wall at 
least long enough to help Scully up and out of the water.  

"Mulder!" 

The water splashed up against him, shoving him into 
the rock again, and Mulder swallowed more than his 
fair share of icy water.  When he finally managed to 
break the surface, gasping for air, he shouted, "Scully 
get back!" 

She was hanging over the edge, telling him to grab her 
hand, but he knew one wave, and she'd be easily 
swept back into the churning water, lost to him forever.  

Scully was shouting at him, but he couldn't hear what 
she was saying.  The acoustics of the rocky cave was 
making it impossible to hear anything but the roar of 
angry water.  Mulder thought he heard Scully yell 
"Coat!" just before something solid hit him in the head.  

Mulder lost his grip on the rock, and only barely 
managed to grab hold of Scully's coat before he was 
swept into the current.  He felt her pull back hard, 
and realized she was going to try and pull him out. 
Was she crazy? His weight alone would yank her 
back in!

"Scully--" He was sucked under again, and blindly 
grabbed out for the wall.  His hand found Scully's 
instead.  

~*~*~

Dead set on pulling Mulder out of there, Scully got 
up off her stomach, digging her heels into the rock 
and pulling with all her strength.  The rising water 
was finally good for something as a sudden wave 
crashed froward, sending Mulder shooting towards
her.  

"Mulder hang on!" Scully shouted, and he grabbed 
hold of the ledge just long enough for her to grab him 
under the arms.  

~*~*~

It took a lot of grunting, scrapes, and swallowing of 
water, but together Mulder and Scully finally managed 
to pull him up, and onto the ledge.  They both fell to 
the floor, gasping, energy drained.

 "Thanks." 

"Don't mention it."

They both continued to breathe hard, neither of them 
bothering to sit up just yet. After what felt like a 
lifetime, Mulder's heart began to slow, and Scully 
was crawling over to look down at him. 

"You okay?" she asked, her hair dripping on his face.  

"Scully, remind me again why we wanted to investigate 
the cabin?" 

She laughed, helped him sit up, and began checking 
his leg.  His sweater tourniquet had been swept away 
in the water, but thankfully he wasn't bleeding too 
horribly bad.  

Wait a second...Mulder suddenly realized that he 
could see the blood on his leg and turned to look at 
the room.  The water wasn't rising anymore.  In fact, 
it was lowering, draining into a funnel in the center of 
the room. And the lower the water got, the more the 
walls themselves seemed to glow.  

"Amazing," Scully said, looking up as the ceiling began 
to grow in blue-white light.  

"What do you think it is?" Mulder asked, transfixed 
by the calming glow. 

"I don't know." Scully squinted at the glowing wall, 
and said, "Some sort of bioluminescent algae?" 

The water quickly drained completely out through a 
spiral pattern in the floor, and the sudden silence left 
an eerie presence in the now glowing cave.  Mulder 
noticed that the tracks they had been following here 
were now also glowing.  They led in a bluish swirl 
around the room before heading off in four different 
directions down four different tunnels.  Now that he 
could see, Mulder realized the water must have 
triggered doors to be shut over the other tunnels 
until the water drained. 

"Guess we found the light switch, huh?" Mulder 
asked, turning from the room back to his partner.  
His smile disappeared when he saw how much she 
was shaking.  

"Scully come here, you're freezing."  ~Gee Mulder,
take long enough?~ Mulder silently cursed himself, 
quickly removing his coat and wet shirt underneath 
even as Scully told him she was fine.

~*~*~

"Mulder you're the one who spent more time in the 
water."  Even as she said it, she knew he was right.  
They were both going to freeze to death if they 
didn't get warm soon.  

Without another moment of hesitation, Scully tugged 
off her wet sweater, leaving her fairly dry--thanks 
to Mulder--camisole on as she scooted over to 
wrap her arms around Mulder's chest.  She willed 
her body heat to warm him, wishing she had more 
to offer. 

~*~*~

Knowing that rubbing their arms would only make 
things worse, Mulder and Scully simply held each 
other.  They listened to the other's breathing, feeling 
their hearts thump melodically as one.  Scully's 
breath tickled his chest and Mulder rested his chin 
on her head, wishing there was more he could do. 

"Someone went to a lot of trouble to hide this place, 
Scully," Mulder said, staring at the glowing walls.  
"Electromagnetic power, hydroelectric power.  It's 
a gold mine of alternative energy." 

"The algae," Scully suddenly said, sitting back to 
look at him.

"Hmm?" 

"Something's been bugging me ever since Agent 
Michaels was killed, and I suddenly remembered 
that he was glowing."  She glanced up to look at 
the ceiling.  "It wasn't the water that killed him, it 
was the algae."

"Mulder," Scully swallowed hard and he knew 
what she was going to say next.  "This is the second 
time we've been exposed to it, and you were in that 
water a lot longer than I was." 

Seeing the fear in Scully's eyes, Mulder tried his 
best to smile. "There's nothing we can do about it 
now Scully.  Except, you might want to back away 
before I start glowing." 

~*~*~

Scully wasn't amused.  Giving him The Look, she 
crawled into his lap to save their backs from the 
odd twist they'd been in before, and pulled Mulder 
back into her arms.

"Scully--"

"Mulder I'm not letting you freeze to death, so 
don't even think about trying to push me off."  

Mulder chuckled softly and wrapped his arms 
back around her.  "Scully did anyone ever tell 
you your stubbornness could get you into trouble?" 

"All the time," Scully said, hugging him tighter.  
"But don't bring my mother into this now Mulder, 
right now we've got enough to worry about."  

Mulder laughed and finally settled his chin back on 
her head. They'd have to get moving soon, have to 
really start worrying about that algae, but for now 
he was content to focus on not freezing to death.  
Like his mother, and no doubt Scully's, had always 
said, one problem at a time.  Mulder lifted his legs 
to trap more of the warmth around his partner.  
For now, it was the best they could do. 

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I live for feedback. ;) ~Decoyly~