she said. She took another bite and waited for herself to swallow.
"I can't remember the last time I had a toasted marshmallow...I must have been 14!" she said, reminiscing again.
Mulder nodded. "Yeah, I think I must have been the same age." They ate away in silence for a few more minutes, when they'd both finished their marshmallows and went for more.
"So have you ever been camping, Mulder?" she asked, taking another two marshmallows from the bag.
"Yeah, I went a few times with my family. Some place in Pennsylvania," he said.
"You have any fond camping memories?" she asked.
He thought for a moment. "Yeah, actually, I do," he smiled, thinking about it.
"Do tell!" she said, listening intently as her marshmallows heated up.
"Well, when Sam was 6 and I was 10, she brought along her make-up kit. Our plan was to make my dad up when he was asleep and have him wake up with make up all over his face!"
Scully laughed. "Did it work?" she asked.
"Nope. Sam had fallen asleep with the make-up kit under her arm. I had to pull it out of her hands and then get up. I had the lipstick out and ready to go, but Mom heard me figeting."
"Did she know what you were up to?"
"I'm not sure, but I don't think she did. She just told me to go back to sleep." He then strung two more marshmallows on his stick and held them above the fire.
"Do you have any fond camping memories?" he asked, turning to look at her.
"Hmmmm...well, there was this one time me and my dad were canoeing on a lake not far from here. I was only 9 years old, yet my dad expected me to row with incredible strength that I just didn't have. He was yelling at me to row, over and over an dover." She pulled her marshmallows out of the fire and then continued telling her story.
"Anyhow, at one point, it just got to be too much, and I refused to row. I don't know exactly *what* happened next, but I found myself suspended in the air, watching my father below me. I guess our weight wasn't balanced or something. Anyhow, I fell out of the canoe and into the cold water, along with my dad. The water was shallow, though, so I'm lucky." She then pulled the top marshmallow off the stick with her teeth.
"Dad made me take a hot shower after that, but I ended up getting pneumonia a few days later, anyway." Mulder smiled at her, picturing his tiny Scully falling into the water as a young girl.
They ate many more marshmallows, eating and talking the night away, until Scully realized she had to go to the bathrom.
"Hey, Mulder, I've gotta use the bathroom. Will you go with me?"
"Sure." Scully reached back into the tent and grabbed the flashlight and then walked with Mulder down the path that got even more familiar with each passing.
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Back at the tent once again, Mulder stretched his arms up to the sky and yawned a deep yawn.
"I am...*so* tired," he said.
"Yeah, we should get to sleep now," she agreed.
"Is it safe to leave the fire burning?" he asked. Scully thought for a moment, sizing up the situation.
"Well, I think our tent is far enough from the fire. The only way we could move it right into the fire was if we," she paused (but just for a second), thinking of the right thing to say, "if we had extremely wild sex."
"Besides, the stakes are holding it in the ground, she added.
Mulder smiled and laughed along with Scully. He couldn't even remember the last time they laughed together, *really* laughed.
"Jeez, Scully!" he said, shaking his head.
"You like that one, huh?" she asked, still smiling. He just simply kept on smiling and laughing.
"Well, come on now. Let's hit the bricks!" she said, unzipping the entrance to their tent. Mulder lead the way into the tent, followed by Scully, who zipped the tent from the inside.
The fire outside was still burning strong. It would provide the two campers with enough light, should they need it.
"Oh, shoot, Mulder, I just about forgot...you think you could wait outside a few more minutes so I can change into my PJ's?"
"Of course," he said, unzipping the tent and crawling out. He made himself at home and sat down where he'd toasted marshmallows not so long ago. He looked into the fire and then back at the tent full of movement.
he thought, Just then, he heard a snapping noise.
he thought.
came that inner, self-hating voice of his. If he were talented enough, he would have kicked his own ass. He knew he shouldn't have been having those thoughts about his partner, but he just couldn't help it. In all of his 37 years, of all the women he'd seen, he'd never seen one more beautiful than Dana. She was his weakness. He loved her deeply.
Just then, he heard the tent unzip, and Scully stood at the entrance, holding the flap open for him to climb in.
"Go ahead and change in there. I'll wait out here," she said. But before she could walk away, he touched her wrist.
"No need. All I have to do is strip down to my boxers. I won't be changing anything until tomorrow," he said.
"Oh, ok. Thanks, Mulder," she said as he helped her back into the tent. And even though he wasn't changing out of anything, she turned her back to give him a little privacy.
"All done," he said after he'd unchanged. He put his dirty clothes in the same plastic bag where Scully was keeping hers and then turned to her, ready for some sleep.
"Goodnight, Scully," he said, placing his hands lightly on her head to give her a goodnight kiss on the forehead. Closing her eyes, she leaned forward and rested her head on his shoulder, burying her nose in his neck. He wrapped her tightly in his arms for a hug. They stayed that way for a moment, until they both came collapsing down on top of their sleeping bags. They stayed in that very same position, not caring whom's body was on who's sleeping bag, or whom's head was on whom's pillow. They stayed that way, not tossing and turning at all until they awoke, much later the next morning.
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Scully woke late the next morning. It sure did feel good to sleep in! She got up slowly and poked her head out through the tent's opening and looked up at the sun. Judging by its position, it was probably somewhere around 10 a.m. She looked down at her watch, which read 9:45.
she thought, ducking back into the tent. She zipped it back up and then looked at Mulder, who was still sleeping peacefully.
She waddled over to him on her knees and knelt by his side. She reached out and ran her fingers slowly through his hair and talked to him in a soothing tone.
"Mulder, time to get up!" she said.
When he fluttered open his eyelids and looked up at her, she smiled.
"Looks like you and I slept in a little bit late!"
"What time is it?" he asked, sitting up.
"Almost 10 o'clock."
"And you consider *that* late?" he asked.
"Yeah, kind of!" she said. "Look, we need to have breakfast. What kind of cereal do you want?"
"What kind of cereal did we bring?" he asked.
"Rice Chex, Total, Cheerios, Golden Grahams, and Oreo O's."
"Oooh, give me the Oreos, definitely!" he said.
"Well, we should get dressed first..." she said.
"Okay, I'll go outside and let you change first," he volunteered.
"Sounds good to me," she said, reaching for her bag. She reached in, selected an outfit, and started undressing once Mulder was out of the tent.
As she put on her deoderant, she wondered what the day would be like. She silently prayed that her nose wouldn't bleed and that her and Mulder would be able to enjoy a nice day in each other's company.
When all she had left to do was put on her socks and shoes, she called Mulder back into the tent. She didn't want him standing out there for too long in his boxers.
She grabbed the box of Rice Chex and crawled out of the tent.
"I'm going to eat out here. When you're done changing, just bring the box of Oreos out."
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Their second day of camping was much like the first. They ate breakfast, lunch, cooked hotdogs over the fire for dinner, and toasted marshmallows in the nighttime. They also went on their long walk. But the day was long, and for a good part of it, there was nothing to do. Needless to say, they were both bored out of their minds. So they decided to leave their tent and go to the local strip mall. There, they saw a movie at the theater and went inside just about every store just to check things out.
Their firewood lasted until the third day. It would absolutely burn no more. So Scully sent out Mulder to find some brand new wood. He had picked up all the dead twigs and branches that were lying on the ground the last time, so this time, he had to actually chop down some branches from trees, set them down on a wide tree stump, and cut them into smaller pieces. And boy, was it gruelling work! The last and only time he had done it was when he was a teenager. By the time he was done chopping up all the wood, his back hurt terribly. He told Scully about it, to which she joked, "You wuss!" He'd smiled, of course, hoping that the pain would ease itself away over the course of the day. But unfortunately for him, it didn't. He didn't really know why he'd brought it up to her again, but he did. This time, Scully took things a little more seriously.
"You really must have hurt yourself out there! I bet you pulled a muscle or two."
"Maybe," he said, still not sure what he'd done.
"Let me give you a massage. That will help!"
"Oh, Scully, you don't have to. I'm sure I'll feel better - "
"Haven't you learned in these past six years we've spent together *never* to say no to me?" she joked. She continued, pointing to the tent.
"Come on! Trust me, you'll be feeling much better tomorrow morning. Now go in there and lie on your sleeping bag."
Smiling resignedly, Mulder climbed inside the almost pitch-black tent. It was well into the night, and the moon was high in the sky. He fumbled for the flashlight, and then turned it on, illuminating the whole tent. Just then, Scully crawled in.
"Okay, Mulder, lie on your stomach, allright?" He did so, and then waited for her next direction.
"No, wait...you should take your shirt off, first."
He then sat up, with his back to her. In the pale orangish light, he took of his shirt, flexing and unflexing the muscles in his back as he did so. Scully's breath caught in her throat, in awe as she watched him. There were butterflies swimming around in her stomach, and her mind was spinning with...rather *pleasant* thoughts. She didn't realize her lips were parted until he turned around and said, "Now what?"
Still in that magical trance he'd unknowingly put her in, it took her a second to recover and answer his question.
"Oh, um...just lie down on your stomach again."
"Okay," he said, doing so.
Scully's eyes scanned up and down his back, taking in every detail, even the tiny birthmark just below his right shoulderblade. Making sure she didn't stare *too* long, she quickly positioned herself over Mulder.
"Close your legs just a little more..." she asked of him. She kneeled down then, his legs seperating hers. She then stretched out her fingers and touched the tips gently to the area between his shoulderblades. Her touch was electric; as soon as she'd touched him, they'd both shiverd, involuntarily. She pressed her fingers a little bit harder into his skin and then massaged it with the palms of her hands.
"Mmmmm..." Mulder muttered, smiling. He then turned his head to the side and closed his eyes.
Sensing that he liked what she was doing, she kept on using the same method all over his back, but mostly on his shoulderblades.
To anyone else looking at their shadows from the outside of the tent, it would have looked like an incredibly erotic...*activity.* And the way Mulder moaned made things seem that way even more.
Scully thought,
With each massaging movement of her fingers, Mulder got more and more turned-on. He felt himself getting an erection and was glad he was laying face down!
Scully was getting very turned on. Unlike Mulder, being a woman, she didn't have any physical 'clues' for Mulder to detect, but her thighs were burning *so much*, and she found herself in a rocking motion as she reached up and down on his back.
Hitting a sensitive spot, Mulder moaned even more, which pleased Scully greatly. She knew he was absolutely loving it, just as she was. If his back were a canvas, she was Picasso, creating a masterpiece upon it. She got into the massage so much that it took her a while to notice that he was no longer making noise. She stopped then, and looked at his face. His eyes were closed, indicating he was asleep.
She called his name softly. "MUlder?"
No answer. And it wasn't like him to play games, especially with her. So she knew he definitely *was* asleep.
she pondered. She studied his face once again. Judging by the slight smile on his face, she knew it was definitely a good thing.
Not making any effort to get up from where she was, she picked up the flashlight and flicked it off. She then leaned forward and placed her head lovingly on his back, her hands on his outstretched arms.
"Goodnight, my love," she whispered to her sleeping confidante. She kissed the skin on his back, and then closed her eyes.
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The next two days of camping went exactly the same as the others...Mulder and Scully would wake up, eat breakfast, drive into town for something to do, eat lunch, hike, roast marshmallows while sharing stories, and then curl up together in their tent to tall asleep. But by the sixth day, they had once again used up all of their firewood. Mulder had volunteered to go out again, but this time, Scully wouldn't let him. It was just starting to rain out there, and it was cold, very cold. It made absolutely no sense for Scully to go out there - if she even so much as got a cold, it would be that much easier for her to die. But she had insisted upon going, saying that she'd get back to the tent before the rain did any damage to her, and that since Mulder's back had been giving him so much trouble, it would only be fair for her to go. And, not wanting to ruin the bond that they'd created while being together, he'd let her go.
Scully started cautiously down the hill behind their tent. There were many stones sticking out of the dirt, and everything was wet from the rainfall that was steadily increasing. She went down the hill step, by step, by step. Just then, she felt herself lose her footing. She fell to the ground and started rolling down the hill, trying desperately to stop, but found herself unable to. When she finally reached the bottom of the hill, she was met by a tree. It smacked her on the forehead and cut it open, instantly knocking her out. Her head slipped down the tree and met the cold, hard floor of the forest.
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Mulder sat on the floor of the tent with his knees drawn up to his chin, rocking back and forth. It had taken him an hour to chop up firewood, and Scully had promised it would only take her half the time.
When she had been gone for 45 minutes, he had begun to worry.
he wondered.
He looked at his watch. 1 hour and 10 minutes.
He then took notice of how the forest was so quiet. The only sound he could hear was the sound of the falling rain. It scared him too much. He knew that he should have heard the sound of chopping wood somewhere in the distance. But he didn't. It was then that he decided to abandon the tent to go look for Scully.
He sprang out of the tent and walked to the top of the hill. He scanned it up and down, until he found her lying face down on a stone.
Thinking only of her, and nothing else, he went down the hill as fast as he could and finally reached her side. Quickly, he turned her over, to find her face covered with bloody smears. He felt the bile come up into his throat, but he quickly swallowed it back down.
He noticed that the tree standing there had a smear on it, too, and so did the rock, where her head was resting a few moments ago.
Before doing anything else, Mulder checked for a heartbeat. She still had one, and it was still pretty strong. Next, he listened to see if she was still breathing. She was still breathing.
He then found the spot on her forehead where all the blood was coming from. She had a small wound above her left eyebrow. He lightly slapped her cheeks and shook her, trying to wake her up, but to no avail. The rain suddenly poured down with a vengeance, hitting Scully's face, mixing with her blood.
Knowing that he had to get her to the hospital, he picked her up and held her in his arms like a baby. He charged up the hill with amazing speed and agility and didn't stop until he'd reached the car. His legs were on fire and his lungs were in pain that he'd never felt before. He had amazed even himself at how quickly he'd been able to get there.
He threw open the door to the back seat and put Scully back there, stretching her out on the seat. He shut the door and was just about to run across and hop into the driver's seat, when he realized he would never be able to make it to the hospital safely in that kind of weather. He didn't even know where the hell they were, so he couldn't call an ambulance on his cell phone. The rain was now practically coming down in sheets. It was then that he stood in the pouring rain, realizing that they were stranded.
He looked up at the sky and threw his hands up into the air like a madman. "Why me?" he asked in a whisper. And then, not knowing exactly why he did what he did next, he screamed at the top of his lungs,
"WHY ME?!?!"
He stood there, motionless, waiting for an answer. But the only sound he heard was the rain battering down on the car. It was then that he remembered why he was there and what he was supposed to be doing.
He sprang into action and was about to open the trunk, but then he remembered that Scully had the keys for the trunk in the pocket of her hooded sweatshirt.
He dashed back to the door and opened it. Once he was in, he pulled the door shut, harshly. He had to keep the temperature in the car as warm as possible. If she caught a cold...it would be *that* much easier for her to die. It was then that he realized he had been with her for nearly a month. Her time was almost up. He knew he would have to deal with it, and also, prepare himself for it, but he had no idea how he'd do either.
Focusing on the task at hand, he reached into her pocket and pulled out her key ring. Jingling the keys in his hand, he pushed open the door and forced himself back out into the rain.
He seleted the first key on the key ring and tried it. Didn't work. No big deal, eh? So he tried the second key. Then the third one. Then the fourth, and so on. He stood out there in the harsh rain, letting it practically weather him down as he tried to open the trunk, key after key, after key. It wasn't until he used the very last key, did the trunk open.
he thought sarcastically.
He threw the trunk open and rummaged through it until he found a nice, thick blanket.
Quickly, he ran back to the back seat and threw the blanket inside. He followed after it and immediately shut the door behind him.
He went over to Scully and felt her forehead. No sign of a fever - that was good. He tried waking her up, but to no avail. He gently peeled back her eyelids...thank God everything was all right! She was simply unconscious, and by the way she was shivering, he knew he had to get her warm somehow, and fast! He moved her so that she was sitting up, and situated himself so he was sitting under her. He spread his legs outward, and then positioned her so that she was laying on top of him, facing away from him.
He then the slightly rain-dampened blanket from the floor and spread it out on him and Scully, resting his head on the window. Though cold at first, he got used to it. He kept a close watch on Scully, and tried not to nod off. But the warmth of Scully's body against his, and the sound of the rain falling outside lulled him to sleep.
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A few hours later, Scully was stirred out of her unconscious state, and awoke. At first, she panicked, not knowing where she was. But then she realized that she was in Mulder's arms - she could tell by his scent...that wonderful MulderScent that was his, and truly was unique - and they were in her car, avoiding the rain.
It was then that she remembered that her tent was out there, not exactly avoiding the rain. Oh well. She wasn't going to worry about it. She was going to just relax into Mulder's embrace and drift off to sleep. And that's exactly what she did.
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The pleasant sound of birds singing fell upon Mulder's ears the very next morning, awakening him from his deep sleep. He fluttered open his eyes, to see Scully's tuft of red hair, illuminated by golden sunlight, just below his chin.
Curious of the time, he raised up his arm to check his watch. 10:13 in the morning.
He decided it would be a good time to wake up Scully, that is, if she were really just sleeping.
He took his head off the back of the window to lean forward, but as soon as he did, he felt a surge of pain in the back of his neck. He knew he would pay for sleeping so oddly-positioned. Oh well.
"Scully? Wake up, Scully."
Her eyes slowly fluttered open, and she yawned a long yawn. She was conscious, after all!
"Hey, Scully! How are you feeling?" he asked.
She put her hand to her forehead and came across the wound she'd incurred the night previous.
"Weak, Mulder. Weak."
"You, um...lost quite a bit of blood last night," he told her.
"That's allright," she said. "The head contains a lot of blood. I'm sure the blood I lost last night was minimal."
Mulder nodded. And for a few minutes, nothing was said.
"Up for some breakfast?" he asked. She slowly got up and turned around to face him.
"Not really, Mulder. My stomach hurts."
Mulder noticed that the normal color that was in Scully's face most of the time was now replaced with pallor. And he knew then that last night had taken a few days out of her, and that she needed to get home and rest immediately.
"I think we should go home," he said, fnally.
"I think so, too," Scully said, trying desperately to keep her emotions in check.
"Okay. Tell 'ya what, Scully. I'll let you rest back here in the car. I'm going out there to gather up our things."
"All right," Scully said, sitting up.
Mulder slowly got up and stepped out of the car. He took a moment to stretch, and then walked over to their waterlogged tent.
He paused for a moment, taking a deep breath to survey the damage. He hoped the sleeping bags and everything else in the tent were okay.
Kneeling down in front of the tent, he pulled down the zipper to reveal a waterlogged world.
No, seriously, it wasn't *that* bad. The sleeping bags were soaked, and there was a few centimeters of rain on the floor. There suitcases, duffel bags, bag of dirty clothes, and cooler were sitting right in it.
Sighing, Mulder pulled out his sleeping bag and started rolling it up as he pulled it out. When he was done rolling it back up as compactly as he could, he walked back to the car with it. He repeated the process with the other sleeping bag and stuffed it in the trunk along with all their other belongings. By the time he was donw, his shirt and pants were soaked. It would just have to dry some time between when they left the campsite and when they got home.
Slamming the trunk shut, Mulder walked around to the driver's seat door, to find Scully awake, sitting in the passender's seat. He climbed in, shut the door, and put the key in the ignition, asking, "Ready to go?"
Scully reached over and put her hand on his arm.
"Actually, Mulder, there's something I have to do first."
"What is it?" he asked, taking the key back out of the ignition.
"The last time me and my father came here," she said, staring off into the distance, " we climbed to the very top of that hill over there. He picked out the tallest tree up there, took out his carving knife, and carved out 'Ahab and Starbuck's Tree' on it. I...need to go back there one last time."
"Okay. We'll do that." With that, Mulder pocketed the keys to the car and stepped out. Locking the doors, he met Scully on the other side and followed her toward the hill.
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Within 25 minutes, Mulder and Scully made it to the top of the steep hill. Along the way, they had to stop 3 times for Scully. Her mind and body were slowly weakening, and it was now starting to show.
Once Scully found the tree, Mulder walked on a little further, enabling her to some privacy. He walked to the edge of a cliff, overlooking a lake. He leaned over the guard rail, his mind an absolute blank, his face, taut with worry.
Several minutes later, Scully slowly approached Mulder, arms folded, and put her hand on his arm gently.
"I'm reado to go now, Mulder."
He turned to face her, with that concerned look on his face. His eyes met hers, and in their own silent communication, they started down the hill.
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Mulder and Scully ended up getting home around 1:45 p.m. Both of them were extremely tired from teh long ride home, and the first thing they did when they got in the door was collapse on the bed. They had a nice, restful sleep, and woke up a few hours later. Again, Scully didn't feel like cooking, so this time, they ordered out for a pizza. They ate on paper plates on the coffee table in the living room, but avoided talking, or even looking at each other sometimes.
After they were both done eating, Scully excused herself to the bathroom to take a look at the cut on her forehead. The cut was big, but just small enough that she didn't need stitches. She cleaned it and dressed it with a butterfly-shaped bandage.
While alone in the bathroom, looking in the mirror, she was reminded of her mortality. She was almost prepared to die, and had accepted the fact that she would die soon, but she knew Mulder hadn't. She knew it from the look in his eyes he'd had that morning, and from the way he was barely speaking to her. And it was then that she realized she needed to go out there and face him.
Walking out of the bathroom, she softly called his name.
"Mulder?"
Hearing his name, he turned his head.
"Yeah?"
"I think we need to talk."
"About what?" he asked.
"Just come here, sit down with me on the couch, and 'll tell you," she said.
Obeying, Mulder got up from the floor and sat on the couch next to her. For a minute, nothing was said. Scully was composing in her head what she was going to say to him. Finally, she spoke.
"Mulder, we both know that I am going to die soon," she started out. "But there are some things you must know before I do," she said, making eye contact with him. He sat there silently, waiting for her to continue.
"I know how much of a self-blaming person you are. And I can tell that you blame yourself for my condition. I know that I can't stop you from doing it. But you have to know what I do not, never have, and never will blame you for my cancer."
"Scully..." he started out, "let's face it. If you hadn't been assigned to work with me, you would be much better off..."
"See?! There you go with that self-blaming stuff again!
"Mulder, I am happy with the way my life has turned out. I wouldn't have it any other way. I could *never* blame you for my cancer. I blame the men who did this to me, but not you. No, not ever you." She grasped his hand and held it in her own, making eye contact with him.
"I...*love* you," she said, pausing before the 'love' to add meaning to it. "And I could *never* hold it against you!" she added.
There was another momentary silence. But then, Scully heard the faintest sounds. She looked over at Mulder to see that he was crying.
"What is it?" she asked, touching his knee.
Sniffling back the tears, he looked up at her. "Everything and everyone I love has been taken away from me! My sister, my father, and now, you!"
She moved in closer to him and put an arm around him.
"Mulder, I don't know exactly what you believe, but I *know* that you and I will be together again someday, somehow. I know it will be extremely hard for you without me, but you can survive it. But I will wait for you up there, for as long as it takes, and you and I *will* be together again!"
"Are you sure?" Mulder asked.
"Very sure," she said. "But there is one thing I need for you to promise me."
"what is it?" he asked.
"When I'm gone, promise me you'll continue our work. You can't let Them win."
He nodded his head, his cheeks still tear-streaked. "I'll do my best," he promised.
"Ok," Scully whispered. "that's it, then." After a minute passed, she went over to him and asked, "Want a hug?"
"Yeah," he breathed.
She moved gracefully into his arms and buried her nose into his neck, the way she'd been doing recently. They stayed clinging on to each other for a long time, tears falling every now and then. When they were close to falling asleep, they got up from the couch and walked hand-in-hand to the bedroom for sleep.
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The next ten days were mostly spent at home for Mulder and Scully. Just about everything they did, they did together, except for shopping, cooking, and cleaning. Scully had finally come to her senses and let Mulder do the brunt of the work.
In the morning, they would sit at the kitchen table reading the newspaper and sipping their coffee. Sometimes, they'd stay in the living room and watch TV.
In the afternoons, they'd find a game to play, and on Scully's more energetic days, they'd go to a theater and watch a new movie.
In the evenings, they'd enjoy a nice meal together, curl up on the couch with each other and watch a movie, and at the very last part of the evening, before going to bed, Scully would call her mother on the phone.
And at the end of the day, they'd cuddle up next to each other in bed. It was a great way to keep warm, and after all the time they'd spent together, they'd come to depend on it.
In fact, the more time they spent together, the greater their bond became. They were so lost in their own joyous world of love, caring, and trust, that they were oblivious to just about everything on the outside.
But 12 days after they came home from ca
"I can't remember the last time I had a toasted marshmallow...I must have been 14!" she said, reminiscing again.
Mulder nodded. "Yeah, I think I must have been the same age." They ate away in silence for a few more minutes, when they'd both finished their marshmallows and went for more.
"So have you ever been camping, Mulder?" she asked, taking another two marshmallows from the bag.
"Yeah, I went a few times with my family. Some place in Pennsylvania," he said.
"You have any fond camping memories?" she asked.
He thought for a moment. "Yeah, actually, I do," he smiled, thinking about it.
"Do tell!" she said, listening intently as her marshmallows heated up.
"Well, when Sam was 6 and I was 10, she brought along her make-up kit. Our plan was to make my dad up when he was asleep and have him wake up with make up all over his face!"
Scully laughed. "Did it work?" she asked.
"Nope. Sam had fallen asleep with the make-up kit under her arm. I had to pull it out of her hands and then get up. I had the lipstick out and ready to go, but Mom heard me figeting."
"Did she know what you were up to?"
"I'm not sure, but I don't think she did. She just told me to go back to sleep." He then strung two more marshmallows on his stick and held them above the fire.
"Do you have any fond camping memories?" he asked, turning to look at her.
"Hmmmm...well, there was this one time me and my dad were canoeing on a lake not far from here. I was only 9 years old, yet my dad expected me to row with incredible strength that I just didn't have. He was yelling at me to row, over and over an dover." She pulled her marshmallows out of the fire and then continued telling her story.
"Anyhow, at one point, it just got to be too much, and I refused to row. I don't know exactly *what* happened next, but I found myself suspended in the air, watching my father below me. I guess our weight wasn't balanced or something. Anyhow, I fell out of the canoe and into the cold water, along with my dad. The water was shallow, though, so I'm lucky." She then pulled the top marshmallow off the stick with her teeth.
"Dad made me take a hot shower after that, but I ended up getting pneumonia a few days later, anyway." Mulder smiled at her, picturing his tiny Scully falling into the water as a young girl.
They ate many more marshmallows, eating and talking the night away, until Scully realized she had to go to the bathrom.
"Hey, Mulder, I've gotta use the bathroom. Will you go with me?"
"Sure." Scully reached back into the tent and grabbed the flashlight and then walked with Mulder down the path that got even more familiar with each passing.
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Back at the tent once again, Mulder stretched his arms up to the sky and yawned a deep yawn.
"I am...*so* tired," he said.
"Yeah, we should get to sleep now," she agreed.
"Is it safe to leave the fire burning?" he asked. Scully thought for a moment, sizing up the situation.
"Well, I think our tent is far enough from the fire. The only way we could move it right into the fire was if we," she paused (but just for a second), thinking of the right thing to say, "if we had extremely wild sex."
"Besides, the stakes are holding it in the ground, she added.
Mulder smiled and laughed along with Scully. He couldn't even remember the last time they laughed together, *really* laughed.
"Jeez, Scully!" he said, shaking his head.
"You like that one, huh?" she asked, still smiling. He just simply kept on smiling and laughing.
"Well, come on now. Let's hit the bricks!" she said, unzipping the entrance to their tent. Mulder lead the way into the tent, followed by Scully, who zipped the tent from the inside.
The fire outside was still burning strong. It would provide the two campers with enough light, should they need it.
"Oh, shoot, Mulder, I just about forgot...you think you could wait outside a few more minutes so I can change into my PJ's?"
"Of course," he said, unzipping the tent and crawling out. He made himself at home and sat down where he'd toasted marshmallows not so long ago. He looked into the fire and then back at the tent full of movement.
Just then, he heard the tent unzip, and Scully stood at the entrance, holding the flap open for him to climb in.
"Go ahead and change in there. I'll wait out here," she said. But before she could walk away, he touched her wrist.
"No need. All I have to do is strip down to my boxers. I won't be changing anything until tomorrow," he said.
"Oh, ok. Thanks, Mulder," she said as he helped her back into the tent. And even though he wasn't changing out of anything, she turned her back to give him a little privacy.
"All done," he said after he'd unchanged. He put his dirty clothes in the same plastic bag where Scully was keeping hers and then turned to her, ready for some sleep.
"Goodnight, Scully," he said, placing his hands lightly on her head to give her a goodnight kiss on the forehead. Closing her eyes, she leaned forward and rested her head on his shoulder, burying her nose in his neck. He wrapped her tightly in his arms for a hug. They stayed that way for a moment, until they both came collapsing down on top of their sleeping bags. They stayed in that very same position, not caring whom's body was on who's sleeping bag, or whom's head was on whom's pillow. They stayed that way, not tossing and turning at all until they awoke, much later the next morning.
Scully woke late the next morning. It sure did feel good to sleep in! She got up slowly and poked her head out through the tent's opening and looked up at the sun. Judging by its position, it was probably somewhere around 10 a.m. She looked down at her watch, which read 9:45.
She waddled over to him on her knees and knelt by his side. She reached out and ran her fingers slowly through his hair and talked to him in a soothing tone.
"Mulder, time to get up!" she said.
When he fluttered open his eyelids and looked up at her, she smiled.
"Looks like you and I slept in a little bit late!"
"What time is it?" he asked, sitting up.
"Almost 10 o'clock."
"And you consider *that* late?" he asked.
"Yeah, kind of!" she said. "Look, we need to have breakfast. What kind of cereal do you want?"
"What kind of cereal did we bring?" he asked.
"Rice Chex, Total, Cheerios, Golden Grahams, and Oreo O's."
"Oooh, give me the Oreos, definitely!" he said.
"Well, we should get dressed first..." she said.
"Okay, I'll go outside and let you change first," he volunteered.
"Sounds good to me," she said, reaching for her bag. She reached in, selected an outfit, and started undressing once Mulder was out of the tent.
As she put on her deoderant, she wondered what the day would be like. She silently prayed that her nose wouldn't bleed and that her and Mulder would be able to enjoy a nice day in each other's company.
When all she had left to do was put on her socks and shoes, she called Mulder back into the tent. She didn't want him standing out there for too long in his boxers.
She grabbed the box of Rice Chex and crawled out of the tent.
"I'm going to eat out here. When you're done changing, just bring the box of Oreos out."
Their second day of camping was much like the first. They ate breakfast, lunch, cooked hotdogs over the fire for dinner, and toasted marshmallows in the nighttime. They also went on their long walk. But the day was long, and for a good part of it, there was nothing to do. Needless to say, they were both bored out of their minds. So they decided to leave their tent and go to the local strip mall. There, they saw a movie at the theater and went inside just about every store just to check things out.
Their firewood lasted until the third day. It would absolutely burn no more. So Scully sent out Mulder to find some brand new wood. He had picked up all the dead twigs and branches that were lying on the ground the last time, so this time, he had to actually chop down some branches from trees, set them down on a wide tree stump, and cut them into smaller pieces. And boy, was it gruelling work! The last and only time he had done it was when he was a teenager. By the time he was done chopping up all the wood, his back hurt terribly. He told Scully about it, to which she joked, "You wuss!" He'd smiled, of course, hoping that the pain would ease itself away over the course of the day. But unfortunately for him, it didn't. He didn't really know why he'd brought it up to her again, but he did. This time, Scully took things a little more seriously.
"You really must have hurt yourself out there! I bet you pulled a muscle or two."
"Maybe," he said, still not sure what he'd done.
"Let me give you a massage. That will help!"
"Oh, Scully, you don't have to. I'm sure I'll feel better - "
"Haven't you learned in these past six years we've spent together *never* to say no to me?" she joked. She continued, pointing to the tent.
"Come on! Trust me, you'll be feeling much better tomorrow morning. Now go in there and lie on your sleeping bag."
Smiling resignedly, Mulder climbed inside the almost pitch-black tent. It was well into the night, and the moon was high in the sky. He fumbled for the flashlight, and then turned it on, illuminating the whole tent. Just then, Scully crawled in.
"Okay, Mulder, lie on your stomach, allright?" He did so, and then waited for her next direction.
"No, wait...you should take your shirt off, first."
He then sat up, with his back to her. In the pale orangish light, he took of his shirt, flexing and unflexing the muscles in his back as he did so. Scully's breath caught in her throat, in awe as she watched him. There were butterflies swimming around in her stomach, and her mind was spinning with...rather *pleasant* thoughts. She didn't realize her lips were parted until he turned around and said, "Now what?"
Still in that magical trance he'd unknowingly put her in, it took her a second to recover and answer his question.
"Oh, um...just lie down on your stomach again."
"Okay," he said, doing so.
Scully's eyes scanned up and down his back, taking in every detail, even the tiny birthmark just below his right shoulderblade. Making sure she didn't stare *too* long, she quickly positioned herself over Mulder.
"Close your legs just a little more..." she asked of him. She kneeled down then, his legs seperating hers. She then stretched out her fingers and touched the tips gently to the area between his shoulderblades. Her touch was electric; as soon as she'd touched him, they'd both shiverd, involuntarily. She pressed her fingers a little bit harder into his skin and then massaged it with the palms of her hands.
"Mmmmm..." Mulder muttered, smiling. He then turned his head to the side and closed his eyes.
Sensing that he liked what she was doing, she kept on using the same method all over his back, but mostly on his shoulderblades.
To anyone else looking at their shadows from the outside of the tent, it would have looked like an incredibly erotic...*activity.* And the way Mulder moaned made things seem that way even more.
With each massaging movement of her fingers, Mulder got more and more turned-on. He felt himself getting an erection and was glad he was laying face down!
Scully was getting very turned on. Unlike Mulder, being a woman, she didn't have any physical 'clues' for Mulder to detect, but her thighs were burning *so much*, and she found herself in a rocking motion as she reached up and down on his back.
Hitting a sensitive spot, Mulder moaned even more, which pleased Scully greatly. She knew he was absolutely loving it, just as she was. If his back were a canvas, she was Picasso, creating a masterpiece upon it. She got into the massage so much that it took her a while to notice that he was no longer making noise. She stopped then, and looked at his face. His eyes were closed, indicating he was asleep.
She called his name softly. "MUlder?"
No answer. And it wasn't like him to play games, especially with her. So she knew he definitely *was* asleep.
Not making any effort to get up from where she was, she picked up the flashlight and flicked it off. She then leaned forward and placed her head lovingly on his back, her hands on his outstretched arms.
"Goodnight, my love," she whispered to her sleeping confidante. She kissed the skin on his back, and then closed her eyes.
The next two days of camping went exactly the same as the others...Mulder and Scully would wake up, eat breakfast, drive into town for something to do, eat lunch, hike, roast marshmallows while sharing stories, and then curl up together in their tent to tall asleep. But by the sixth day, they had once again used up all of their firewood. Mulder had volunteered to go out again, but this time, Scully wouldn't let him. It was just starting to rain out there, and it was cold, very cold. It made absolutely no sense for Scully to go out there - if she even so much as got a cold, it would be that much easier for her to die. But she had insisted upon going, saying that she'd get back to the tent before the rain did any damage to her, and that since Mulder's back had been giving him so much trouble, it would only be fair for her to go. And, not wanting to ruin the bond that they'd created while being together, he'd let her go.
Scully started cautiously down the hill behind their tent. There were many stones sticking out of the dirt, and everything was wet from the rainfall that was steadily increasing. She went down the hill step, by step, by step. Just then, she felt herself lose her footing. She fell to the ground and started rolling down the hill, trying desperately to stop, but found herself unable to. When she finally reached the bottom of the hill, she was met by a tree. It smacked her on the forehead and cut it open, instantly knocking her out. Her head slipped down the tree and met the cold, hard floor of the forest.
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Mulder sat on the floor of the tent with his knees drawn up to his chin, rocking back and forth. It had taken him an hour to chop up firewood, and Scully had promised it would only take her half the time.
When she had been gone for 45 minutes, he had begun to worry.
He looked at his watch. 1 hour and 10 minutes.
He then took notice of how the forest was so quiet. The only sound he could hear was the sound of the falling rain. It scared him too much. He knew that he should have heard the sound of chopping wood somewhere in the distance. But he didn't. It was then that he decided to abandon the tent to go look for Scully.
He sprang out of the tent and walked to the top of the hill. He scanned it up and down, until he found her lying face down on a stone.
Thinking only of her, and nothing else, he went down the hill as fast as he could and finally reached her side. Quickly, he turned her over, to find her face covered with bloody smears. He felt the bile come up into his throat, but he quickly swallowed it back down.
He noticed that the tree standing there had a smear on it, too, and so did the rock, where her head was resting a few moments ago.
Before doing anything else, Mulder checked for a heartbeat. She still had one, and it was still pretty strong. Next, he listened to see if she was still breathing. She was still breathing.
He then found the spot on her forehead where all the blood was coming from. She had a small wound above her left eyebrow. He lightly slapped her cheeks and shook her, trying to wake her up, but to no avail. The rain suddenly poured down with a vengeance, hitting Scully's face, mixing with her blood.
Knowing that he had to get her to the hospital, he picked her up and held her in his arms like a baby. He charged up the hill with amazing speed and agility and didn't stop until he'd reached the car. His legs were on fire and his lungs were in pain that he'd never felt before. He had amazed even himself at how quickly he'd been able to get there.
He threw open the door to the back seat and put Scully back there, stretching her out on the seat. He shut the door and was just about to run across and hop into the driver's seat, when he realized he would never be able to make it to the hospital safely in that kind of weather. He didn't even know where the hell they were, so he couldn't call an ambulance on his cell phone. The rain was now practically coming down in sheets. It was then that he stood in the pouring rain, realizing that they were stranded.
He looked up at the sky and threw his hands up into the air like a madman. "Why me?" he asked in a whisper. And then, not knowing exactly why he did what he did next, he screamed at the top of his lungs,
"WHY ME?!?!"
He stood there, motionless, waiting for an answer. But the only sound he heard was the rain battering down on the car. It was then that he remembered why he was there and what he was supposed to be doing.
He sprang into action and was about to open the trunk, but then he remembered that Scully had the keys for the trunk in the pocket of her hooded sweatshirt.
He dashed back to the door and opened it. Once he was in, he pulled the door shut, harshly. He had to keep the temperature in the car as warm as possible. If she caught a cold...it would be *that* much easier for her to die. It was then that he realized he had been with her for nearly a month. Her time was almost up. He knew he would have to deal with it, and also, prepare himself for it, but he had no idea how he'd do either.
Focusing on the task at hand, he reached into her pocket and pulled out her key ring. Jingling the keys in his hand, he pushed open the door and forced himself back out into the rain.
He seleted the first key on the key ring and tried it. Didn't work. No big deal, eh? So he tried the second key. Then the third one. Then the fourth, and so on. He stood out there in the harsh rain, letting it practically weather him down as he tried to open the trunk, key after key, after key. It wasn't until he used the very last key, did the trunk open.
He threw the trunk open and rummaged through it until he found a nice, thick blanket.
Quickly, he ran back to the back seat and threw the blanket inside. He followed after it and immediately shut the door behind him.
He went over to Scully and felt her forehead. No sign of a fever - that was good. He tried waking her up, but to no avail. He gently peeled back her eyelids...thank God everything was all right! She was simply unconscious, and by the way she was shivering, he knew he had to get her warm somehow, and fast! He moved her so that she was sitting up, and situated himself so he was sitting under her. He spread his legs outward, and then positioned her so that she was laying on top of him, facing away from him.
He then the slightly rain-dampened blanket from the floor and spread it out on him and Scully, resting his head on the window. Though cold at first, he got used to it. He kept a close watch on Scully, and tried not to nod off. But the warmth of Scully's body against his, and the sound of the rain falling outside lulled him to sleep.
A few hours later, Scully was stirred out of her unconscious state, and awoke. At first, she panicked, not knowing where she was. But then she realized that she was in Mulder's arms - she could tell by his scent...that wonderful MulderScent that was his, and truly was unique - and they were in her car, avoiding the rain.
It was then that she remembered that her tent was out there, not exactly avoiding the rain. Oh well. She wasn't going to worry about it. She was going to just relax into Mulder's embrace and drift off to sleep. And that's exactly what she did.
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The pleasant sound of birds singing fell upon Mulder's ears the very next morning, awakening him from his deep sleep. He fluttered open his eyes, to see Scully's tuft of red hair, illuminated by golden sunlight, just below his chin.
Curious of the time, he raised up his arm to check his watch. 10:13 in the morning.
He decided it would be a good time to wake up Scully, that is, if she were really just sleeping.
He took his head off the back of the window to lean forward, but as soon as he did, he felt a surge of pain in the back of his neck. He knew he would pay for sleeping so oddly-positioned. Oh well.
"Scully? Wake up, Scully."
Her eyes slowly fluttered open, and she yawned a long yawn. She was conscious, after all!
"Hey, Scully! How are you feeling?" he asked.
She put her hand to her forehead and came across the wound she'd incurred the night previous.
"Weak, Mulder. Weak."
"You, um...lost quite a bit of blood last night," he told her.
"That's allright," she said. "The head contains a lot of blood. I'm sure the blood I lost last night was minimal."
Mulder nodded. And for a few minutes, nothing was said.
"Up for some breakfast?" he asked. She slowly got up and turned around to face him.
"Not really, Mulder. My stomach hurts."
Mulder noticed that the normal color that was in Scully's face most of the time was now replaced with pallor. And he knew then that last night had taken a few days out of her, and that she needed to get home and rest immediately.
"I think we should go home," he said, fnally.
"I think so, too," Scully said, trying desperately to keep her emotions in check.
"Okay. Tell 'ya what, Scully. I'll let you rest back here in the car. I'm going out there to gather up our things."
"All right," Scully said, sitting up.
Mulder slowly got up and stepped out of the car. He took a moment to stretch, and then walked over to their waterlogged tent.
He paused for a moment, taking a deep breath to survey the damage. He hoped the sleeping bags and everything else in the tent were okay.
Kneeling down in front of the tent, he pulled down the zipper to reveal a waterlogged world.
No, seriously, it wasn't *that* bad. The sleeping bags were soaked, and there was a few centimeters of rain on the floor. There suitcases, duffel bags, bag of dirty clothes, and cooler were sitting right in it.
Sighing, Mulder pulled out his sleeping bag and started rolling it up as he pulled it out. When he was done rolling it back up as compactly as he could, he walked back to the car with it. He repeated the process with the other sleeping bag and stuffed it in the trunk along with all their other belongings. By the time he was donw, his shirt and pants were soaked. It would just have to dry some time between when they left the campsite and when they got home.
Slamming the trunk shut, Mulder walked around to the driver's seat door, to find Scully awake, sitting in the passender's seat. He climbed in, shut the door, and put the key in the ignition, asking, "Ready to go?"
Scully reached over and put her hand on his arm.
"Actually, Mulder, there's something I have to do first."
"What is it?" he asked, taking the key back out of the ignition.
"The last time me and my father came here," she said, staring off into the distance, " we climbed to the very top of that hill over there. He picked out the tallest tree up there, took out his carving knife, and carved out 'Ahab and Starbuck's Tree' on it. I...need to go back there one last time."
"Okay. We'll do that." With that, Mulder pocketed the keys to the car and stepped out. Locking the doors, he met Scully on the other side and followed her toward the hill.
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Within 25 minutes, Mulder and Scully made it to the top of the steep hill. Along the way, they had to stop 3 times for Scully. Her mind and body were slowly weakening, and it was now starting to show.
Once Scully found the tree, Mulder walked on a little further, enabling her to some privacy. He walked to the edge of a cliff, overlooking a lake. He leaned over the guard rail, his mind an absolute blank, his face, taut with worry.
Several minutes later, Scully slowly approached Mulder, arms folded, and put her hand on his arm gently.
"I'm reado to go now, Mulder."
He turned to face her, with that concerned look on his face. His eyes met hers, and in their own silent communication, they started down the hill.
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Mulder and Scully ended up getting home around 1:45 p.m. Both of them were extremely tired from teh long ride home, and the first thing they did when they got in the door was collapse on the bed. They had a nice, restful sleep, and woke up a few hours later. Again, Scully didn't feel like cooking, so this time, they ordered out for a pizza. They ate on paper plates on the coffee table in the living room, but avoided talking, or even looking at each other sometimes.
After they were both done eating, Scully excused herself to the bathroom to take a look at the cut on her forehead. The cut was big, but just small enough that she didn't need stitches. She cleaned it and dressed it with a butterfly-shaped bandage.
While alone in the bathroom, looking in the mirror, she was reminded of her mortality. She was almost prepared to die, and had accepted the fact that she would die soon, but she knew Mulder hadn't. She knew it from the look in his eyes he'd had that morning, and from the way he was barely speaking to her. And it was then that she realized she needed to go out there and face him.
Walking out of the bathroom, she softly called his name.
"Mulder?"
Hearing his name, he turned his head.
"Yeah?"
"I think we need to talk."
"About what?" he asked.
"Just come here, sit down with me on the couch, and 'll tell you," she said.
Obeying, Mulder got up from the floor and sat on the couch next to her. For a minute, nothing was said. Scully was composing in her head what she was going to say to him. Finally, she spoke.
"Mulder, we both know that I am going to die soon," she started out. "But there are some things you must know before I do," she said, making eye contact with him. He sat there silently, waiting for her to continue.
"I know how much of a self-blaming person you are. And I can tell that you blame yourself for my condition. I know that I can't stop you from doing it. But you have to know what I do not, never have, and never will blame you for my cancer."
"Scully..." he started out, "let's face it. If you hadn't been assigned to work with me, you would be much better off..."
"See?! There you go with that self-blaming stuff again!
"Mulder, I am happy with the way my life has turned out. I wouldn't have it any other way. I could *never* blame you for my cancer. I blame the men who did this to me, but not you. No, not ever you." She grasped his hand and held it in her own, making eye contact with him.
"I...*love* you," she said, pausing before the 'love' to add meaning to it. "And I could *never* hold it against you!" she added.
There was another momentary silence. But then, Scully heard the faintest sounds. She looked over at Mulder to see that he was crying.
"What is it?" she asked, touching his knee.
Sniffling back the tears, he looked up at her. "Everything and everyone I love has been taken away from me! My sister, my father, and now, you!"
She moved in closer to him and put an arm around him.
"Mulder, I don't know exactly what you believe, but I *know* that you and I will be together again someday, somehow. I know it will be extremely hard for you without me, but you can survive it. But I will wait for you up there, for as long as it takes, and you and I *will* be together again!"
"Are you sure?" Mulder asked.
"Very sure," she said. "But there is one thing I need for you to promise me."
"what is it?" he asked.
"When I'm gone, promise me you'll continue our work. You can't let Them win."
He nodded his head, his cheeks still tear-streaked. "I'll do my best," he promised.
"Ok," Scully whispered. "that's it, then." After a minute passed, she went over to him and asked, "Want a hug?"
"Yeah," he breathed.
She moved gracefully into his arms and buried her nose into his neck, the way she'd been doing recently. They stayed clinging on to each other for a long time, tears falling every now and then. When they were close to falling asleep, they got up from the couch and walked hand-in-hand to the bedroom for sleep.
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The next ten days were mostly spent at home for Mulder and Scully. Just about everything they did, they did together, except for shopping, cooking, and cleaning. Scully had finally come to her senses and let Mulder do the brunt of the work.
In the morning, they would sit at the kitchen table reading the newspaper and sipping their coffee. Sometimes, they'd stay in the living room and watch TV.
In the afternoons, they'd find a game to play, and on Scully's more energetic days, they'd go to a theater and watch a new movie.
In the evenings, they'd enjoy a nice meal together, curl up on the couch with each other and watch a movie, and at the very last part of the evening, before going to bed, Scully would call her mother on the phone.
And at the end of the day, they'd cuddle up next to each other in bed. It was a great way to keep warm, and after all the time they'd spent together, they'd come to depend on it.
In fact, the more time they spent together, the greater their bond became. They were so lost in their own joyous world of love, caring, and trust, that they were oblivious to just about everything on the outside.
But 12 days after they came home from ca