In the Light of the Frozen Moon (11/?)
by Decoyly

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

Rating: PG-13

Classification: MSR

Author's Notes: I just want to thank everyone who wrote to let
me know that I still had a few readers! It really means a lot,
and I promise not to keep you hanging so long from now on! :P

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"Is that blood?"

Everyone was looking at Agent Stern as he stood up, wiping
the back of his hand across his mouth.  From Cook's position,
she could see that yes, it was indeed blood.  She didn't have
to be a doctor to know that coughing up blood was not a good
sign.

"Agent Winkley?" 

He came over to investigate, running Stern through a series of
questions as Cook surveyed the rest of her agents.  Thankfully
no one else was hurt.

"What *was* that?" Agent Dekker was the first to ask.  

No one had an answer, and there seemed to be an uneasy consensus
that they should really go find Agents Mulder and Scully.  If
anyone had a theory, it would be them.  At this point, Cook was
willing to take whatever she could get.

"Nothing about this case is making any sense," another agent
said tiredly, and it was clear he wasn't the only one reaching
the end of his rope.  Everyone had been worn down physically by
the blizzard and emotionally by things they just couldn't wrap
their minds around.  No one wanted to admit it out loud, but
they were starting to realize why Kaya's father had requested
Mulder's presence on this case to begin with.  Too bad it had
taken the powers that be so long to finally agree to it.

A gust of wind rattled the heavy wooden front door, reminding
them all that the blizzard was getting worse.  If Aunt Claire
was out there, they needed to find her.  Now.

~*~*~

 They'd walked far enough now that the sound of the alarm was
more of an afterthought--something to be felt more than heard
in the slight vibration of the surrounding tunnel walls.  The
water hadn't come either, making Mulder wonder where it had
gone.  Scully was managing on her own, but Mulder had to fight
the urge to ask how she was doing every five minutes.  In their
dark and narrow surroundings it was impossible not to notice her
labored breathing.  He knew her well enough not to ask if she
needed a break, but he was worried.  Really worried.

"Mr. Mulder?" Kaya asked, startling him out of his thoughts.
Her tone told him she was picking up on his tension and he
forced himself to relax.  "You can put me down if you want.
I'll be okay and you can help Miss Scully."

The kind innocence of the child brought a sad smile to his
lips and before he could answer, Scully said, "Thanks Kaya,
but I'm okay now."  He heard the smile on her face when she
added, "Plus I don't think Agent Mulder would have very much
fun carrying me."

Mulder had been playing a game with Kaya to help keep her
mind off the dark and the danger--a game where she would
trace a picture on his chest and he'd try and guess what it
was.  So far he'd gotten dog, house, flower, and a banana.
He'd pretended to miss monkey, guessing himself, and Kaya had
gotten quite a kick out of that, though she'd politely tried
her best not to laugh at first.

Scully tried to stifle a cough behind him and Mulder really
wished there was something, anything, he could do to help her.
Even if they had somewhere dry and not near freezing it would
help.  The temperature had been dropping the further on they'd
walked and Mulder had long ago given Kaya his socks, wishing
he'd had some shoes for her too.  At least her feet were small
enough for his socks to triple up in folds.

"Do you need a shot?" Kaya suddenly asked out of nowhere and
Mulder wasn't quite sure what she was asking.

Carefully, he said, "A shot?" 

"The masked man gave the other coughing people a shot to help."
She paused a second then sadly added a soft, "Some of them."

Mulder decided now would be as good a time as any to take a
break.  He warned Scully that he was stopping so she wouldn't
run into him and set Kaya down for a second, tugging up one of
the socks that had started to fall off.

"Do you mean a shot like medicine?" His eyes had adjusted to
the dark at least enough to make out the outline of her nod.

Next to him, Scully carefully asked Kaya, "Did they give you
a shot?"

"No," the little girl answered in a small voice.  She seemed
to shrink back into Mulder's coat as she said, "They said I
didn't need one, but that they needed my blood instead.  To 
help make the medicine."

Mulder and Scully stood very still for a moment.  Was this the
reason Kaya had been kidnapped to begin with?  Were these
mysterious Masked Men using her blood to make some sort of
vaccine?  Looking at the tiny little girl bundled in his coat,
socks falling off again, Mulder felt a surge of anger at the
men who'd taken her, experimented on her.  Who knew how much
blood she'd lost over the last few days?  And for what?  What
were they doing down here?

~*~*~

Scully swallowed hard, wishing she could pull Kaya into her
arms and take away everything the brave little girl had had 
to go through in this horrible place.  She was only six years
old, what had she had to see to know that the coughing people
had been given shots by the Masked Men?  There was something
else they needed to know.

Kneeling down to Kaya's level, Scully gently asked, "Were a
lot of people sick?"

Kaya nodded, but she was looking at the floor now.  "Some of 
them..." her voice caught and Scully knew she was trying not
to cry.

"It's okay," she said quickly, pulling Kaya into a hug. "It's
okay, you don't have to tell me."

Kaya's arms wrapped around Scully's neck, the sleeves of
Mulder's coat hanging long past her hands as she tried so 
hard not to cry.

"You won't die, will you Miss Scully?"

"No, no, sweetie, I'm going to be fine.  I promise everything's
going to be okay."  Silently Scully prayed that it was a promise
she could keep.

~*~*~

Back into the white nightmare they went, SAC Cook leading the way.
She was already sweating from the too many layers of winter
weather gear she was wearing, and couldn't see her own hand
held out in front of her face.  To avoid losing anyone else
this time they were using a rope system.  Everyone was connected.
No one would get lost.  The plan was to set up two lines in
opposite directions from the Inn to the shed and hopefully find
Agents Mulder and Scully in the process.  Considering the weather, 
and knowing Aunt Claire had lived here her whole life, Cook was
more and more convinced that she had never ventured outside,
but they still had to look.

The radios were erratic, the flashlights useless.  Agent Winkley 
had stayed behind with Stern and Dekker--the latter insisted on
at least searching the Inn if he wasn't going to be allowed
outside.  Agent Stern had demanded Winkley find him some drugs,
run whatever tests he could--anything to keep him from ending up
like his partner.  Since no one knew what he'd been exposed to,
the best they could do was dump him in a bathtub of ice and hope
for the best.  Cook couldn't deny that she was glad to have the
man out of her hair for a while.

Hunkered down against the biting snow, the team trudged onward.
The agent who had reported seeing the shed explode insisted that
it wasn't some trick of the weather, though how he had seen it
in such terrible visibility, she wasn't sure.  Even an explosion
could be easily hidden in this mess.

"Agent Mulder?  Agent Scully?" Cook tried into her radio again.
Nothing.  Her thoughts drifted to her husband and son.  Billy
would be turning ten next week and she'd promised him she would
be there in time for cake.  It was looking less and less likely
that she'd be able to keep her word.

Thinking she heard someone call her name, Cook turned her head
to get a better look.  At the same time, her right foot hit
against something solid, and the next thing she knew, she was
falling.

~*~*~

Mulder caught Scully as another violent coughing fit brought
her to her knees, and even Kaya moved forward like she wanted
to help.  Hating how helpless he felt, Mulder cradled his
partner against his chest, moving to sit against the wall 
once she was finally able to breathe again.  Maybe Kaya was 
right.  Maybe the shot was their only hope.

As he sat trying to think of something comforting to say,
Kaya gently laid her hand on his leg.  He'd forgotten about
his injury until she quietly brought it up.

"You are hurt."

"It's just a scratch," he assured, but he didn't have to see
her face to know she wasn't buying it.  She was remarkably
grown up in so many ways--ways that made his heart ache.

"You both need medicine," Kaya said so softly he almost didn't
hear her.

There was a loud thunk like something throwing itself hard
against the other side of the wall and all three of them
jumped, turning to look down the dark void of their
surroundings.

Mulder and Scully were close enough to exchange a glance
in the dark, and finally came to an unspoken agreement.
Like it or not, they were going to have to find this
medicine.

Mulder turned to ask Kaya if she knew where it was and
how many Masked Men there were but froze.  She wasn't
at his side anymore.

"Kaya?"  The only thing holding back his panic was the
fact that they were in total darkness.  He stretched out 
his hand, trying to keep his voice normal when he asked,
"You still there?" 

~*~*~

Fear momentarily overrode the feeling that her lungs were
on fire, and Scully forced herself up, pushing off of
Mulder's chest to ask, "Kaya?"

Mulder squeezed her arm to let her know that he was
standing up, and she watched  him walk a few feet then
disappear into the dark.  She could hear his footsteps
as he walked one way, then came back to walk down the 
way they'd come, quietly calling for the little girl 
as he went.

By the time he rejoined her, Scully could hear the defeat
in his voice when he said, "She's gone."

Scully struggled to her feet, using the wall for help.
"She can't have gone far, she was just here."

"That's just it Scully, there's nowhere else she could
have gone.  Even if she ran we'd have heard her."

"She couldn't have just disappeared."

"We have to find her."

Scully couldn't agree more.  "Go.  It's okay, I'll be
fine."

"Scully, I'm not leaving you here."

As much as she wished it weren't the case, "I'll only
slow you down."

"Scully--"

"Mulder, we can't just let her go back by herself.  If
she went for the medicine and they find her again,
there's no knowing what they'll do to her."

~*~*~

He knew she was right, but he just couldn't bring
himself to leave his partner, coughing, possibly dying,
in this bleak cold nothingness.  He'd almost lost her
too many times before to trust their luck.  There was
no way he was leaving Kaya down here either.

"Come on," he said, putting Scully's arm around his
neck, his around her waist.

"Mulder--"

"Don't make me pick you up, Scully."  He knew she knew
he would do it too.

There was a moment of silence before he heard her sigh,
then say, "I think I'm okay to walk now."

He let her drop her arm but took her hand.  She said
nothing and he didn't let go.  

Mulder was not about to lose Scully like he'd lost Kaya.
Guilt washed over him so heavy he had to close his eyes.
It was the story of his life.  Just like Samantha, like
Ivy and so many others, he'd let Kaya down.  She'd trusted
him, believed in him, and he'd lost her.  She was right
there, not even two feet away, and then she just...wasn't.

As if reading his mind, Scully squeezed his hand. "We'll
find her Mulder."

He wanted to believe her so badly it hurt.  With a
sudden renewed determination, Mulder vowed that whoever
the Masked Men were, they were going to pay for what
they'd done.  Even if it was the last thing he ever did.


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Thanks for reading! To be continued soon... :)