There be Monsters
An X Files Fanfic By FlameInMyHeart.
Spoilers: Anything and everything up to season 6. This story takes place at the beginning of that season somewhere between Drive and Dreamland.
Authors Notes: As far as I'm aware the Bear lake monster is kind of a real folktale and so I have based my story around this, however it has to be noted that I have never been to Bear Lake, nor have I even been to Utah! As it happens I'm from England and I have tried my best to imagine what it might be like out there- so if some of the facts about the area don't ring true- don't shoot me! I must plead ignorance! I am a massive fan of the show and have been for many years. This is my first Fanfiction story, but I hope my portrayal of these characters does them justice.
It was 8am on a cold and bleak December morning when Dana Scully pulled her car into the FBI Headquarters parking lot. She felt extra tired after driving home from her mom's house the following evening in a blistering snow storm. She'd spent the weekend up there to celebrate her brother Charlie's birthday, and while she'd enjoyed spending time with her family, the strain of driving in the horrendous weather had left her feeling drained.
She walked down the hallway towards the open plan office she now shared with other agents as well as her partner, doing
routine background checks for the terrorist division. She wasn't late; in fact she had arrived early to avoid the morning rush in the harsh weather, but when she got to her desk she realised Mulder wasn't at his own computer as he usually was. It was a strange thing for Mulder not to be there before her, but she suspected that this was probably due to his lack of enthusiasm for their current assignment under A.D Kirsch.
Later that morning, Scully glanced up at the clock in the office- 9.35am and still no sign of Mulder. She plucked her cell phone from the inside pocket of her suit jacket and dialled Mulder's cell phone. After about a dozen rings, the call went to voicemail, so she left a message for Mulder asking him to give her a call as soon as possible. Where could he be? thought Scully...it wasn't like him not to inform her if he was going to be off sick.
At the end of the day, Scully decided to drop by Mulder's apartment and check if he was OK. Maybe he was too sick to get to the phone she thought, as a sudden rush of panic swept through her. Upon her arrival at his place and after using her key to get in, it was clear to her that he hadn't been home in some time, maybe even a few days. Mulder's apartment was CLEAN! No left over take away boxes on the table, the bed was neatly made, and there were no books and tapes strewn about his living room as normal. The fish tank in the corner cast a soft blue green glow about the room as the light began to fade outside, so Scully flicked the desk lamp on. In doing so she noticed a note on the desk with her name on it.
Scully
I've gone away for a few days, maybe even a few weeks as something important has come up that I just can't 's just say "there be monsters" Scully, and at this point I really can't say anything more. Don't worry about me; I've taken the time off as leave so that should keep Kirsch off both our backs for the time being.
I'll be in touch
Mulder (P.S Please feed my fish-Thanks)
Scully began to get that familiar sinking feeling in her stomach when she knew Mulder was going to get himself into some sort of trouble. What was so important that he couldn't even spare the time for a phone call to let her know what was happening and for that matter, where the hell he was going to be for so long!
Back at her own apartment she sat down to the meal she had just prepared for herself and was just about to open a bottle of red, when a knock came to her door. She jumped up and more or less ran to the door half expecting to see Mulder standing before her with a sheepish grin on his face...but when she looked through the spy hole she saw Jeffrey Spender's weasel like face staring back at her. "What the hell does that little runt want?" she thought removing the security chain and unlocking the door...
"Spender wha..." she was cut off mid sentence as Spender pushed his way into her apartment.
"Agent Scully do you know the whereabouts of your partner" he turned to face her with his hands on his hips.
"Just what business is it of yours where Mulder is? How dare you push your way in here!" She said in a low growl, making it clear to Spender that she was clearly unimpressed, and getting angrier by the second. Just the sight of his snivelling face put her in a foul mood at the best of times.
"Agent Scully I am acting on information I have received to suggest that Agent Mulder has gone on a wild goose chase with my partner..something to do with an X File!" Spender saw the emotion on Scully's face quickly turn from anger to shock in a split second
"Your partner, you mean Agent Fowley?"
"Well who else could I be referring to Scully, my partner on the X Files..Diana Fowley. Mulder's ex as I understand"
He left the statement hanging in the air as Scully tried to process what he was saying to her..Mulder had ditched her..to go looking for monsters... to god knows where..with Diana Fowley.
"You must be mistaken Agent Spender, now would you please leave.."
"No way Agent, not until you tell me where Mulder is, or I will personally ensure A.D Kirsch knows about this new little stunt of his!"
Scully hesitated beginning to realise that this situation could turn ugly very quickly, if Spender told Kirsch that Mulder was on an X File, deliberately betraying orders , then he might end up suspended or worse, he'd break up there partnership for good.
"You said you were acting on information, where did you hear that Mulder was missing" She could see Spender weighing up in his mind if Scully was now cooperating with him, or whether she was going to start lying to him to protect Mulder.
"Let's just say it comes from higher up the ladder than A.D Kirsch"
"Oh I see, so you're not just Kirsch's whipping boy..." Scully said with a sneer.
"Agent Scully, this is my reputation on the line too, I need to know where Mulder and Agent Fowley are!"
"Look Spender, I am in the dark just as much as you are; now I suggest that you get the hell out of my apartment, before I pop a bullet in your scrawny ass!" Spender's face turned a violent shade of red before turning toward the door..
"This isn't over Agent Scully, you get Mulder back her in 48 hours or I'm gonna be singing like a canary to Kirsch!"
Scully banged her fist hard on the huge metal door to the Lone Gunmen's apartment. It was 11pm and she desperately wanted to find out the truth as to where Mulder was, ignoring the little niggling feeling at the back of her mind that Mulder didn't want to be found, and that being with Diana and not her, was what he really wanted. Frohike finally finished unlocking the many deadbolts and chains on the door and opened it to find a shivering Scully stood on the porch. Shivering with the cold, or with anger, Frohike couldn't decide as she steamed past him into the room.
"Well good evening Agent Scully, have you finally succumbed to..." he was going to make some crack about his potent sexual magnetism when Scully cut him off in his tracks
"Frohike have you any idea where Mulder is?"
"Mulder..no. What's wrong Scully, has Mulder gone missing?" Scully looking him straight in the eye, finally deciding that this wasn't an act and that he too had no idea where Mulder was.
"Frohike, I'm worried... I found a note in Mulder's apartment saying he was leaving, to look for some sort of monster I think..." and then after a brief pause "then I had Jeffrey Spender threatening to tell Kirsch all about it, if I didn't tell him where he and Agent Fowley were"
"Wait a minute, do you mean Diana Fowley and Mulder have eloped on a monster hunting love fest?" said Frohike raising his eyebrows at the thought.
"No Frohike, I didn't say eloped, or love fest for that matter...I think they may have gone after an X File."
Frohike was struck dumb, when suddenly a voice popped up from the back of the room. It was Byers, dressed in a pair of Superman pyjamas and a long red dressing gown.
"They're in Utah" Scully stared at him for a second, before answering him with a puzzled look
"Utah?"
"Yes, err... he was going after the Bear Lake Monster...acting on a tip off from Diana Fowley"
"Bear Lake Monster, what the hell are you talking about?" said Scully walking up to him as he stood with his toothbrush in hand obviously getting ready for bed.
"The Bear Lake Monster is kind of a famous folk tale, or local legend up in those parts. It's a 90 foot long snake with little legs that kind of scurry along on land, but in the water, is as fast as a bullet train and is a lethal killing machine. Some say it has eaten fishermen right out of their boats and..."
Scully held up her hand to shut him up "90 foot long...scurrying on land...why would Mulder pack up and leave over a goddamn mythical snake?" Scully pondered this statement for a second, coming to the conclusion...hell Mulder would sell his own grandmother for a sighting of a 90ft long mythical snake...it was an X File and that was all that mattered to him.
Byers continued "Mulder told me that Diana had come to his apartment last week with information that had turned up in her office regarding some missing people. Five people in total, and the common denominator is that they all live in the area surrounding Bear Lake. Then a body turned up on the shore with both legs missing...and you get the idea"
"But why did Diana tell Mulder about this, surely it was for her and Spender to investigate?" Scully asked Byers who just shrugged his shoulders in return.
"I don't know maybe it was the old carrot and stick approach, dangling the case in front of Mulder's nose. Maybe she thinks that one way to get to him is though the X Files, it is his life's work after all"
Scully took a step away from Byers and as she spoke tried not to let the hurt she was feeling come across in her voice
"Get to Mulder, you mean in a romantic sense... or to try and get him back on the X Files?"
"I don't know Scully maybe both" answered Frohike coming up beside her and Byers. "She was Mulder's chick-a-dee for a long time you know..." he gave her an almost apologetic smile as Scully's eyes quickly darted between the two of them.
"What was your involvement in all this Byers, why did Mulder tell you all about the case?"
"Well, to be honest he wanted to borrow some of my equipment, cameras, night vision goggles, satellite navigation..."
"Hang on a just minute dickwad!" yelled Frohike as he bounced up to Byers "those were MY night vision goggles, you told me you lost them on that recognisance mission to Area 51 a month ago!" and slapped Byers round the back of the head
Scully stepped between the two of them "Boys, cool down this isn't helping the situation! Have you any way of contacting Mulder?" "I've called a dozen times but his cell phone is just going straight to voicemail."
Byers shook his head slowly "sorry Scully, he told me he would be unreachable for the duration...he really is intent on finding this snake."
'Goddamn it!' thought Scully as she turned to leave the apartment. "I've gotta go, there's nothing more I can do on this. Mulder obviously doesn't want or need me to go chasing after him...if Spender tells Kirsch then that's his lookout."
As Scully left, the two Gunmen turned to look at each other "Do you really think Scully will give up on him?" Byers asked Frohike
"who knows, but I think Mulder has defiantly crossed the line with this one..."
At two in the morning Scully tossed and turned in bed, her mind going crazy with thoughts of Mulder and Diana Fowley together in Utah. What were they doing right now? She tried to push these thoughts and the unmistakable pang of jealously she felt to the back of her mind. Just then Scully's cell phone rang on her bedside table; she quickly snatched it up and put it to her ear "Scully..." she said. "Scully...#crackle# its Mulder...I need your help...please" and the line went dead...
"MULDER!" she shouted down the phone and jumped out of bed at the same time pressing all the buttons to call Mulder back...but there was no dial tone. Scully's mind raced with all the possible scenarios behind Mulder's plea for help, but all she knew was that he was in danger and she had no idea what could have happened, or where he was. Where was Diana Fowley for that matter? Had something happened to her too? It was no good...she had to get to Bear Lake, Utah and find Mulder.
It was almost 10 hours later when Scully finally touched down in Salt Lake City; she hired a car and set off for the nearest town to Bear Lake, called Garden City. She had no idea if Mulder had even been there, but it was the best place she could think of to start looking. Maybe someone had seen Mulder and Diana before they set off on their quest for the Bear Lake Monster...
Scully rang the bell in the lobby of the Pavilion Hotel in Garden City. She had been stood in reception for 5 minutes and was becoming more and more inpatient as the seconds ticked by..."Come on, come on..." she chanted under her breath. Finally an elderly and frail looking woman came out from the room at the back of the reception area.
"Oh I'm sorry dear, I hope you haven't been waiting long?"
"Err well no its ok, I'm not wanting a room actually I'm just wondering if you could help me. I'm Special Agent Dana Scully from the FBI, and I'm looking for this man" she held up a picture of Mulder that had been taken only a couple of months ago at Frohike's birthday party. He had been dressed in casual clothes, a pair of jeans and a grey t-shirt and was standing with his arm around Frohike's shoulders with a beer in the other hand, smiling straight at the camera. Scully pointed to Mulder on the picture as she handed it to the old lady.
"He's Special Agent Fox Mulder and was travelling with a female agent, Diana Fowley..."
"Oh my, he's a handsome young man isn't he...come to think of it, he does look familiar" said the lady as she adjusted the glasses that were hanging on the end of her nose, as she brought the picture up close to her face
"Yes that's right, I think he and his lady friend came here to book a room a couple of days ago. It was my daughter who spoke to them, but I was sitting in the room behind reception and I saw them come in and heard them talking. The gentleman wanted to stay for a couple of nights but my daughter had to turn them away...we are fully booked you see, we only have 4 rooms in the whole hotel"
"Did your daughter advise them to try another hotel in the area?" asked Scully relieved that she was at least making some headway with the woman
"No, I remember the man said that it was OK and they would just have to camp out under the stars" "I remembered that, because I was thinking how cold it would be to go camping at this time of year".
Scully's mind flashed with images of Mulder and Diana sharing a tent, snuggled up in a sleeping bag, together. She took a step back away from the counter, and began to think about what her next move should be.
"Err m'am is there a store around here that would maybe sell outdoor equipment, tents and such like?"
"Why yes there is dear, there's a store called Henderson's Hiking on main street...I'm sure they will be able to help
you."
"Thank you for your help, could you maybe point me in that direction..."
Thirty minutes later, Scully emerged from Henderson's Hiking carrying a large rucksack on her back. She had nearly cleaned out the store buying all the equipment she might need on her quest to find Mulder. A small collapsible tent was rolled inside the bag and she had also bought a sleeping bag and cooking equipment. She had shown the store assistant the picture of Mulder and if he could remember selling him anything recently, but he'd drawn a blank. The reality of the situation was beginning to sink in for Scully...she had jumped on the first plane racing to get to him, when the fact of the matter was that she hadn't the first clue where to even start looking for him. She was unfamiliar with the area and every time she tried to call him, the line was just dead. She tried to shake then dread that was slowing creeping upon her, and she knew she wouldn't be free of this feeling until she knew that Mulder was safe.
The lake itself set low in a valley surrounded by mountains and steep hills covered in dense woodland. The rocky and harsh terrain was not the only thing that worried Scully, it was the weather too. There was a cold biting wind that sent a chill to her very core, and the snow and ice that covered the ground made her worry about whether Mulder was adequately equipped to deal with the freezing temperatures. Whatever had possessed him to go looking for a monster in the middle of winter anyway? With renewed vigour, Scully tucked her woollen scarf under her chin and zipped up her fleece jacket as she prepared to set off for the hiking trail on Bear Lake.
She had decided the best plan of action would be to follow the paths closest to the shoreline of the lake. Surely Mulder would want to be near the water if he had wanted to catch a glimpse of this huge snake creature thing that Byers had told her about.
But after nearly 3 hours of walking she had not seen a soul. She set down her rucksack and pulled out her water bottle, she was just taking a mouth full of water when she felt a humming vibration in her jacket pocket...her phone was ringing...
She grabbed for the phone, sending out a silent prayer that Mulder was on the end of the line. "Hello!" she yelled trying to make out the voice that was breaking through the torrent of static. "SCULLY! Its Muld...battery is dying...please...Bear lake" Scully felt the panic again begin to sweep over, with a tingling fear that started at her feet and was rising rapidly thorough her body
"Mulder, can you hear me?" "I'm at Bear Lake, where are you?" She was answered by a rush of buzzing and static
"MULDER!"...
No answer then "SCUL...SOUTHERN RIM...PIKES PEAK!" Then the line went completely silent. Scully jammed the phone back into her pocket and grabbed her map from the ground where she had laid it down a moment ago. Pike's Peak...Southern Rim?
Then she spotted it, on the map there was a series of hills surrounded by forest roughly 3 miles from the southern side of the lake, and one of these hills was named Pike's Peak.
"Oh thank God" she thought to herself as she gathered up her rucksack and set off. It was going to take hours to reach him from her current position, but at least she had something to go on. At least she knew he was alive...for now.
Sometime later, Scully looked at her watch. The light was fading fast, and the temperature was dropping rapidly. She knew realistically that she would have to stop soon, but her heart was telling her to keep going even if it meant stumbling through the dark. She clicked on her torch light to the small compass she had been holding in her hand for hours. She was still heading south, but as the light diminished she was beginning to lose her bearings. The trail she was on had now left the lake and she was heading on a steady incline towards a more densely wooded area she could see in the distance.
The wind whipped up suddenly around her ears sending the hood of her jacket flying off her head. She regretted not buying a hat at the hiking store as light flakes of snow began to fall, landing softly on her hair. Her legs were tired now, and the rucksack on her back felt heavier than when she had started on the trail.
It was now completely dark as she entered the forest. Thick pine and spruce trees loomed like giants all around her, blocking out any light from the moon. Her mind began to wander as she listened to the sounds of the night, the wind howling, the rustling of the leaves and an owl screeching that sounded too much like a scream. Any thought of bears and mountain lions that hadn't even entered her mind when she had been walking during the day, now prevailed as she imagined them to be stalking her silently, following her through the trees wanting to make her their prey.
She checked her watch again, it was 2.30am. Any thoughts of stopping for a rest were pushed aside as she replayed the words that Mulder had said to her on the phone only a few hours ago. Scully...battery dying...please... she tried to pick up the pace.
Abruptly she became aware of how much steeper the incline had become and the ground more uneven and rocky. Through the trees she could now see what looked like a hillside or cliff face ahead.
Suddenly Scully lost her footing and tripped over a loose rock. She fell to the floor as the weariness took over, her legs feeling like lead. Scully rolled onto her side trying to pick herself back up, when she caught sight of something lying on the ground just two feet away from where she now lay. She got up onto her knees and crawled towards it. She clicked on her torch and pointed the beam at the object, it was a dark blue sleeveless jacket with a red collar...it couldn't be...Mulder had one exactly like this! Scully's heart began to race in her chest as she grabbed the jacket and shouted at the top of her lungs "MULDER! MULDER!"
A bird flew noisily from a tree behind her as she spun around almost frantic with worry "MULDER WHERE ARE YOU!" Her voice cracking, and breathing hard she cried again "MULDER!"
Just then she heard it. Somewhere in the distance a voice travelled back to her. It was so quite at first she thought she had imagined it "Scully!"
She turned back to her right and broke into a run heading towards the cliff face ahead, and then there it was again but even clearer "SCULLY!"
"MULDER! MULDER!" She whirled around on the spot straining to hear for another response to her calls, but all was quiet again. Scully was about to call out again, but then she heard his voice somewhere over to her left
"Scully...SCULLY!" She sprang forward, running and holding her torch in front of her, careful to avoid the large stones and boulders that were lying at the bottom of the cliff. "MULDER WHERE ARE YOU?" She then noticed how high the path she was running on had gotten, and to her left there was now a steep rocky slope from the path down into the forest below.
"SCULLY!" His voice sounded even closer now, he had to be nearby.
She stopped and shone the torch all around her...nothing. It was just so dark; she could barely see the hand in front of her face. "MULDER!"...She tried again. For a split second she thought about breaking into another run, when all of a sudden she heard him, "SCULLY I'M HERE!" She swung the torch beam downwards and over the edge of the path, and there he was. Mulder was lying on his side about six or seven feet down the slope, resting on a rocky out crop. He had what looked like a ground sheet or tarpaulin wrapped around his body, but his hair was wet and was clinging to his head, and even in the dim torchlight it looked to Scully that his lips were tinged with blue. "Oh my God, Mulder," Scully said as she immediately got down on her knees attempting to get to him.
"Scully, I think my ankle is broken. The ground is too slippery, you won't be able to get to me" he said through chattering teeth. The relief she had felt upon finding her partner, suddenly drained away from her. Mulder was injured and possibly suffering from exposure or the start of hypothermia, and they were miles away from any kind of medical assistance.
"Mulder, we have to get you out of here, just hold on". Scully dropped her rucksack and began to root around in it, pulling things out to reach the bottom. "Ah ha, the rope I knew this would come in handy" she said aloud as she pulled a length of coiled rope that she had purchased from the store back at Garden City. She jumped back to her feet and spun around looking for a suitable tree in which to tie it to. In front of her there was a huge spruce with a sturdy looking trunk. Scully ran over to it and began to loop the rope around the trunk, and then tied and secured it into a knot. She then ran back over to the ledge.
"Mulder if I throw this rope down to you, can you pull yourself up?"
"I don't know, but I'll try," he answered as the rope was then thrown down to him. He grabbed it and with shaking hands attempted to get a good grip. With huge effort he slowly began to lift himself and edge his way up towards Scully.
"Arrggh Jesus, my ankle!" he cried in pain as his left leg was dragged weakly against the side of the slope hitting some of the small jagged rocks along the way.
"Just a bit further Mulder" encouraged Scully as Mulder heaved his way towards her. Finally he was within arm's reach, so she leant over and held out her hand to him.
"Mulder, grab my hand I'll help you."
Mulder looked up, and leaving one hand on the rope he made a grab for Scully. She felt his freezing cold hand wrap around her own and with all the strength she could muster, pulled backwards. Mulder made the most of this boost and managed to get enough leverage to pull his right knee up onto the ledge. He pulled himself up and over onto the path.
He let go of Scully's hand and rolled onto his back, beads of sweat were tricking down from his forehead and down onto his cheeks. Scully leant down and touched his face; he was freezing cold and looked exhausted.
"Mulder how did this happen?"
"It's a long story, but let me tell you it's not just the bears, wolves and mountain lions wanting to chow down on some man flesh around here..." He said with a pained expression on his face.
Scully bent down again to inspect his injuries, thinking to herself that maybe he had also taken a hefty blow to the head...there was no way in hell that snake was real. She began to undo the laces of his walking boot ready to assess the possible break to his ankle.
"Arrrggghh Scully not so rough..!" He winced as she tried removing his boot.
"Sorry Mulder but I need to check if it is a fracture"
As gently as possible, she slipped the boot off and began to roll the sock over his foot. Instantly she saw how swollen and puffy it was, and she noted with a grimace the dark purple bruising all the way down to his toes.
"To be honest Mulder it doesn't look good, this amount of swelling alone indicates to me that its most probably fractured, but I can't say for sure without an X ray"
She stood up and began to rummage in her rucksack again looking for a tubular bandage from the little first aid kit she'd also bought at the store. At last she found one and went back to Mulder and began rolling this over his ankle, also replacing his sock and boot.
As Mulder watched her, a slight smile began to tug at the corners of his lips. "Scully, I can't believe you came...I
didn't think..."
Scully cut him off and stood up abruptly with her hands on her hips "No you didn't think Mulder! What the hell were you doing coming out here in this weather and looking for what? A goddamn snake with legs?"
Mulder pulled himself up into a sitting position and turned towards her, "Scully, that's what I have been trying to tell you.. the goddamn snake with legs, it's real. I saw it and it attacked me."
"Wha..?" was the only sound to come out of her mouth as she struggled to get her head around what he was saying, but then her incredulous look was replaced by one of sudden realisation. Mulder was alone.
"Where's Agent Fowley? Jeffrey Spender said you came out here with her."
Mulder looked at her face and stared into her eyes. He saw the anger and disbelief, and then for a brief second saw a flicker of something else...hurt?
"Scully, I'm so sorry. Let's just say that I quickly came to the realisation that the Bear Lake monster wasn't the only giant snake in the grass around here. Diana isn't my ally anymore, she's isn't interested in the X Files, not really. She's only after one thing..."
He stopped to look at Scully, but she had turned her face away from him. He was trying to think about what to say next, but she was now searching through her coat pockets.
"Mulder, is your cell phone still working? I thought that if I could just get to you and bring you back to Washington then everything would work out OK, but you're injured and there's no way I can get you back to Garden City like this. We have to get help"
Mulder sat up and reached for the phone in his pocket and tried it. It wasn't working.
"No the batteries dead Scully" he looked at her again as she was pulling out her own phone
"Scully, what do you mean, if you could just get me back to D.C everything would be OK?"
Scully stopped what she was doing and turned again to face him again. "Mulder how do you think I found out about this in the first place? Spender came to my apartment and told me that you and Diana Fowley had disappeared. Something to do with an X File. He then threatened to tell Kirsch unless I found you and Fowley and brought you back." "But I have to try and get help, even if it means that Kirsch finds out. What other option do I have?"
Mulder bit down on his lower lip and stole another glance at her, she looked so upset. God what an asshole, he'd been. He knew what she was saying to him. If Kirsch finds out about this now, it might mean the end for their partnership.
Scully hit the power button on her cell and to her relief, the screen lit up. She dialled 911, and lifted the phone to her ear but there was nothing, there was no signal.
"It's no use Mulder there's no signal out here. What are we going to do?"
"Scully, look...I think the only thing we can do is wait till the sun comes up, there's no way I can go anywhere right now it's too dark. Maybe we can set off at first light, we might stumble upon some hikers on the trail."
She was reluctant to agree with him...after all it was freezing cold, wet and Mulder's ankle must be absolute agony, but she knew he was right.
With a sigh she put her phone back into her pocket and once again knelt by Mulder's side.
"I've got a small pop up tent and a sleeping bag. If we can get down from this slope on to flatter ground, I'll put the tent up there." Mulder didn't argue instead he struggled to get onto his feet. Scully flung the rucksack back over her shoulders and quickly stepped close to him, taking his arm and putting it over her shoulder too.
"Lean on Me Mulder, don't try to put any weight on that injured ankle..."
Ten minutes later they had made it down from the steepest part of the ridge and were heading back down the trail towards the lake. Scully stole a glance at Mulder, he looked pale and tired with obvious pain etched all over his face.
"I think this is far enough Mulder, let's stop here." Scully helped him to sit down on a fallen tree stump that was lying at the side of the path. It was damp and had a fresh covering of snow, much like the rest of the ground not shaded by the big trees. She took out the tent and looked for a suitable spot to pitch it...
The soft snow flurries swirled and began to settle on the little red tent, as its walls billowed and swayed in the freezing cold wind. Scully's silver torch illuminated the inside of the tent where Mulder and Scully were huddled together, with the sleeping bag wrapped around both of their bodies. Scully was silently cursing herself for not buying a ground sheet in that store, or for that matter grabbing the tarpaulin Mulder had been clutching on that slope. Jagged little rocks were sticking in their sides and the ground was so hard and cold that it was practically unbearable. Scully glanced at Mulder who had his eyes closed, but his teeth were chattering and she could feel him shivering violently.
She reached up and tenderly brushed a wet strand of hair away from his forehead, noting that he still felt freezing to the touch. His eyes snapped open and they stared at one another for a long time, Mulder noticed with some relief that the anger seemed to be gone from Scully's own stare as she appeared to be studying him intently.
"Wha what..is..it Scully?" he shivered "Is being so close to my manly man musk turning you on?" He said this with a weak grin on his face, but he knew it was a lame attempt at humour
"Yeah Mulder, I can barely contain myself.." she retorted with a straight face, but he felt her move closer to him as she took one of his bare hands in one of her own gloved ones. She began to idly rub his fingers and once again looked up at his face
''Seriously though, I was thinking about all the times we've ended up like this.."
"Like what Scully, being stranded in the middle of no where...me ditching you, or you once again saving my sorry ass?.."
A little laugh escaped her throat as she answered honestly "Yeah, maybe..." She let go of his fingers and moved back slightly so she could see him clearly "Mulder, I may come to regret asking this.. but what happened out here? What attacked you?"
Mulder was silent for a second as he contemplated her question, he had been going over and over that same question in his own mind for what seemed like days now...What did he really see? Was it the Bear Lake Monster, or did he just want it to be that badly, the truth didn't really matter anymore?
He looked at Scully who had her eyebrows raised and had an expectant look on her face, and once again he was struck with strong feelings of guilt and shame, "Monster Boy Strikes again" he thought fleetingly as he prepared to tell his story...
"Well of course you know by now that me and Diana had been up here trying to track that snake. We had been looking around the shore line of the lake and came across some markings in the dirt and reeds that suggested something big had slid out of the water and had somehow made its way up into the forest" He glanced at Scully who nodded her head, indicating for him to go on.
"So we tracked it for a while, and noticed that this thing, whatever it was..had made its way up here onto higher ground. We made it to the cliffs and that's where the trail ended. There were no markings in the snow and the ground wasn't disturbed, it looked to me like it had just disappeared."
"So anyway, it started snowing even harder and Diana suggested we made camp for the night, so I put up the tent under the cliffs.."
End of Part one.
Please leave feedback! As I mentioned at the start, this is my first X Files fanfic and would really love to hear your
thoughts on the tale so far. Is it worth carrying on or should I ditch it?!
Thank u xxxx