Title: Christmas in (Haven) Maine
Authors: Neoxphile & Faerax
Category: crossover X-Files/Haven; Christmas; challenge fic

Series: A Sleepy Little Town (X-Files) & currently unnamed series (Haven)
-Follows Neoxphile's X-Files only fics "Staged Duplicity" and "Recovering Gemini"
-Also follows Faerax's Haven only fic "The Orange Kitten"

Spoilers: X-Files seasons 8-9 and IWTB; Haven season 1
Setting: Post- X-Files: I Want To Believe (AKA "movie 2"); Haven post-season 1
Disclaimer: Duke, Audrey, and Nathan belong to Steven King/the Syfy channel. Mulder, Scully and William belong to Chris Carter and 1013 productions.

Summary: Mulder and Scully's family takes a pre-Christmas vacation to Haven, Maine just in time to be stranded in an island hotel with Duke, Audrey, and Nathan after a massive ice storm. It soon becomes clear something else is also trapped on the island...something picking guests off, one by one.

Authors' notes:

i. Written for the Bump In the Night archive's Scary Christmas challenge. We didn't think it was right that Haven got passed over for the Syfy Christmas 2010 episodes, so we decided that this challenge made for a good way to remedy that.

ii. Some of the dialogue in Haven suggests that season one took place in 2008 despite airing in 2010, so we're going with that. Therefore, this story takes place the winter following season one.

iii. X-files fans: If you've never seen Haven, perhaps the introduction to the characters (with photos) and summary of season one's plots found on my website will help you get your bearings - you can find my homepage listed at the top of my profile, once there look for the entry under series called "A Sleepy Little Town" for this Haven primer.

iv. Haven fans: If you didn't follow The X-Files, but are minimally familiar with the show - Mulder and Scully investigated the paranormal together and had a child before both left the FBI - you should still be able to follow 98% of this fic even without reading the two earlier stories... all except knowing why they still have William and where the extra kid came from, and understanding the final scene of this fic, which ties back into the 8th chapter (here on ffnet) of "Recovering Gemini" and becomes relevant in the next story.


Duke:

The Grey Gull
Haven, Maine
December 11th, 2008

Audrey looked around the Grey Gull, searching for something. I rather hoped it might have been me, and I really hoped it wasn't the contraband I had stored in the basement. I took a moment to mix her a Shirley Temple - she had that On-Duty look that would mean she would refuse anything harder - and sidled up to her.

"How's my favorite cop today?" I threw my best charming smile at her, hoping she would notice me and not for anything that would involve jail. I wouldn't mind the cuffs though… I clamped down on the thought before it could reach my face and handed her the drink.

"Morning, Duke." She smiled as she took the drink, pulled the little umbrella out of it and closed it. "Don't you know it's bad luck to open an umbrella inside? I thought you sailors were a superstitious lot." She canted her head while talking to me, grinning. Oh yeah, she was here for me.

"It's only a little umbrella. It can't cause much bad luck. And any day you are here without Nathan is a good day in my books." I reached out, and she put handcuffs on my wrist before I could touch her. "Huh, I didn't know you liked it that way," I said lasciviously. "I'm game to try it if you are."

Audrey rolled her eyes at me, laughing silently. "Duke Crocker, you are under arrest for assaulting a police officer." She went on reciting the Miranda rights as she took my other arm and placed it firmly behind my back.

"Aw, come on, it was only a love tap, I'm sure it barely bruised him. Besides, he insulted my boat! Now you won't stand for him insulting a lady such as yourself, right?" I tried to pull off little boy charming, and I could see Audrey melting. I was not going to tell her that Nathan had at the time been trying to scare me away from my goal of dating his new partner. It certainly wouldn't help the best man (me) win Audrey.

"Duke, your boat is not a lady, and Nathan has a rather spectacular black eye from your 'love tap.' I swear, you two fight more than brothers do - Hey, you don't think you are brothers, do you?"

I shuddered. "Related to Nathan? The gods would not be so cruel to the worst sinner. Audrey, no, we aren't related. And my boat is a lady. All boats are female. And this is not helping me come to any type of trust of authority figures. I mean, here you are arresting me in my own restaurant!"

"Duke, no one is here but you and me. The storm's coming in and everyone with a lick of sense has gone home. And you parked your boat here so I had to come here. It's rather inconvenient of you. It would have been much easier to arrest you at the pier. I wouldn't have had to have driven."

"My boat's here because the fishermen need the space at the dock. You can't be expecting them to ride the storm at sea, not with the ice. The Gull's on the leaward side of the cove, so I docked my boat here for safety. And if you are complaining about driving here, how do you think I'll feel when I have to drive back out here again after I'm bailed out?"

"Stay in town for the night. Better yet, stay in jail." A tall man, the only one in Maine not to wear flannel, stalked into my restaurant. Ah yes, he did have a spectacular black eye. I do do nice work.

"Nathan, my brother by a different mother! You really are taking this too seriously." Charm had never helped me deal with Nathan in the past, but it wasn't going to stop me from trying now.

"Can it, Duke." Nathan scowled at me.

"Audrey, before we go, can you walk me over to the register?" I asked.

Wearing an adorable puzzled expression on her face, she took my arm and walked me to the register. I managed to open the drawer with my hands behind my back, and took out several worn bills. I turned, and was confronted with Nathan, who was looking like he would like to murder me. I turned back around and took a few more bills out of the register and hit it with hip to close it.

"Bribing and officer of the law? Please do. That will get you serious jail time," Nathan growled. I hoped to ignore him so completely he disappeared. No such luck. He continued to actually growl at me while I turned to Audrey.

"Audrey, you have one and only one chance at reclaiming my friendship. And it's only because I like you as a person that I'm willing to overlook your descent into being a cop. In my hand is money to pay my bail. Will you please bail me out when the paperwork is processed?"

Audrey looked up into my face, and glanced at Nathan. "Did you really insult his boat, Nathan?"

"I described it for what it was, a rusting wreck fit only for piracy and pirates, and as likely to sink into depravity as its owner." Nathan remained stoic, a true New Englander to the end.

Audrey sighed. "Yes, Duke, I'll bail you out. But only because us 'ladies' need to sick together."

"And you'll feed my cat if this takes a while?"

"Don't push it," she growled, but I thought she'd do it anyway.

Happily I followed Audrey out the door, grinning at Nathan the whole time.


Scully:

Carpenter's Knot
Haven, Maine
December 11th, 2008
Later That Afternoon

I wish Tara had told me about the boat. She'd glossed over that when she suggested the "perfect place for a vacation" over Thanksgiving dinner, a town called Haven where she and my brother Bill had spent a couple of weeks this summer. Maybe failing to mention the boat was revenge for my having burned some of the dinner rolls.

William and Joey were thrilled by the boat ride, but I was more than sick of boats by the time we hit the island. Mulder didn't look like he cared one way or the other, but I was feeling seasick, maybe because the rough waves brought back unpleasant memories of the night we spent in the dark after grounding a small rented craft on rocks. And, I had to admit that although picturesque, this tiny island in Maine wasn't nearly as lovely as the island we'd visited over the summer, but it's hard to compete with a tropical paradise.

The point of our trip was to visit several small towns in both Maine and New Hampshire to explore the possibility of moving to one of them in a few months since we needed to change, and Mulder still liked to think about the good parts of his New England childhood. I liked the Bangor area, but Mulder thought that the town of Ballyguest was more our style... We were in Haven for a breather rather than to look at houses there. Our plan was to spend a few days in Haven, and then explore more towns in the northeast before heading to Bill and Tara's for Christmas Day.

"Mom, there's the hotel!" Joey called, pointing just after the ferry left us standing on a dock. It gave me a warm feeling to hear "Mom" from him, because it was yet another sign that all was finally well with our prodigal son. After a year and a half I felt as though all four of us had really moved past the sadness we'd felt about his having lived with another family the first six years of his life.

"It's no Overlook," Mulder told me, and I smiled - this rambling white hotel wasn't nearly as elegant as either movie version of The Shining. Nor as creepy. Looking up at the windows didn't make me wince and wonder if I'd see a pale specter looking down at me in return.

Both of the boys gave their father puzzled looks, but he was in no hurry to explain his comment to them. If they didn't ask, I was content to let them figure it out on their own when they began to read Stephen King in a few years.

It didn't take much coaxing to herd the kids up the path to the hotel. In fact, they reached the hotel several seconds before Mulder and I did. We had to keep them from charging in, reminding them that even though we were on vacation we still expected them to act like civilized human beings. They looked sheepish for a moment, but then became excited again. Kids.

The sign in front of the building stated "now open under new ownership" and it was clear that I wasn't the only one who noticed, because Mulder leaned down and whispered, "There's a story there." No doubt he was right, but most stories turned out to be rather dull, so I wasn't really interested in that particular one.

Bells chimed merrily as the boys raced in ahead of us again, and they barely noticed when we told them not to run. At the front desk a clerk around my mother's age was thumbing through a magazine with a snowman on the cover, but she looked up with a smile when she noticed us. "You must be the Mulders," she said.

William gawked at her. "How did you know that?"

The woman, whose name tag simply said "Janice," smirked. "There aren't that many people staying here right now, young man, so it was easy for me to guess."

"Oh." Joey looked thoughtful. "That was still a pretty neat trick, though."

"Thanks." Janice looked like she would like nothing more than to get back to her magazine, and I got the strange sense that she was just humoring us by answering questions.

"Why is that?" I asked, making her look at me instead; being humored or not, I wanted information. "Is it because it's the off season?"

"Actually, no. We get a fair amount of business this time of year. Overflow from people coming up to ski," she told me, reminding me of all of the brochures for ski resorts that we had seen while hitting a rest stop on the way up. "The problem with this week is that people are afraid of the storm."

Mulder and I looked at each other. "Storm?"

Nodding, Janice reached for a remote control she'd stashed under the counter, and clicked on the TV that hung on the wall. A frazzled looking meteorologist was talking about how there was going to be a huge storm heading towards New England in just a few hours. She then pointed at the TV. "It's shaping up to be a bad one."

"Oh..." Beside me, Mulder muttered something about how maybe we ought to have listened to the radio instead of CDs, so we could have heard the weather forecast.

I must have looked a little green, because Janice shot me a reassuring look. "Don't worry, honey. We've got a big generator out back, and a few cords of wood stashed in the out buildings. It might get a little wild tonight, but we'll be snug here."

"As bugs in rugs?" William asked with a grin.

"Exactly so," she agreed.

Joey, on the other hand, looked a lot less reassured. "I don't like the wind," he said quietly to his father and me.

I wasn't surprised to hear about this new fear: he had a photo album of where he had lived in Wyoming when he was very small, and the lack of trees on the farm to break the wind had probably led to some pretty scary nights.

Mulder gave him a hug. "I don't like wind either. We'll be okay, though."

"Yeah..."

"You said 'there aren't many people' staying here," I said. "I take it means that there are others, then?"

"Oh, sure. Not as many as there used to be because the place has been renovated to mostly two-room suites like yours and a big section is still uninhabitable, but there are a few other people staying with us. Besides myself there's Drew Welsh and his daughter Olivia-"

"How old is she?" William asked, looking interested. The talk about the storm didn't faze him at all, but now he was curious.

"Ten," Janice told him before looking back at me. "Then there are the Greens, they don't have children." She paused, looking down at my disappointed sons. "A folk band booked with us, but they decided to cancel their reservations so they could take rooms closer to their show which is probably a good idea. Oh, the owner is spending the night as well, since it's not safe to spend the night on his boat."

"The owner?" Mulder asked.

Just then I realized that I'd heard the bell on the door chime as he spoke, so I wasn't startled when a voice behind us said, "That's me."

I turned, and was surprised to see a young man. He was about Mulder's height, had dark hair and a bit of fuzz on his chin, and he was decades younger than I would have guessed the owner of a hotel would be. Apparently the same thing occurred to Mulder, because he said, "You're doing well for someone as young as you are."

The man smirked. "Well, I'm in my thirties, and this investment sort of fell into my lap." Over at the desk Janice snorted, which made her cap of gray curls bounce merrily. "I'm Duke Crocker."

Mulder shook his hand, and then I did. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise, but you folks picked a helluva day to arrive. What brings you to Haven?"

To my surprise, it was Joey who spoke up. "We're up this a-ways to look at places to live, 'cause we're going to move after me and him finish the school year." He helpfully pointed at his brother. "We're in the second grade."

Duke smiled. "You two must be twins, huh?"

Both boys nodded. By this point we were used to people making the assumption, and people weren't entirely wrong - they did in fact come from the same set of eggs, but were four days apart in age and carried to term by different women. "How did you know we're twins?" William asked.

"Well, besides the hair-" William had Mulder's dark brown, and Joey had my red, "-you look an awful lot alike."

"Yeah, everyone says that."

Duke looked up at us with a professional smile. "It was nice meeting you folks. I hope you enjoy your stay, impending storm not withstanding."

"I'm sure we will," I murmured, but I couldn't help but listen to the TV weather person gleefully predicting Armageddon.


The waves gently rocked the battle-scarred boat on calm seas. The storm darkened waves caressed the hull, softly, briefly touching the old boat before racing into the sea's depths. The boat, aptly named the Valkyrie, was registered out of Haven ME, according to the faded paint on her stern. Along her decks were strewn lobster pots and fishing nets, an armor made from and for the fishing trades. It had not been enough to protect her crew.

The decks were washed with blood. A lone figure lay out on the deck, pale and shaking in the late autumn's cold. Around the body were the ravaged remains of crew, no body left intact, and most eaten down to the bone. Lobster traps, once neatly stacked on the decking were loose, and scattered over the decking. Netting was hung like a shroud from the long metal poles that were used to trawl the catch. The derelict boat continued to drift, caught in a current. Overhead the clouds thickened and promised rain, and the wind began to rise. The gentle motion of the boat picked up and became a more playful tumble. Gentle caresses became playful slaps, and white-caps began to show on waves. A storm was coming.

The roughing motion of the boat stirred the lone man from his stupor, and he scuttled up to his knees, looking around in horror at the carnage around him. His captain's head stared sightlessly at the sea through one of the scuppers, then rolled across the deck to be caught by his own ribcage as the boat swayed in the waves. Of his other crewmates, one was reduced a torso caught in the netting. Dripping red and purple entrails draped down the netting and marked where the remainder of his flesh had been; his legs had been stripped down the bone. The death grimace left little doubt as to whether he had been alive or not when the flesh was ripped from his body. A yellow rain coat marked a second crewmate, but no trace of his face remained. The bones of his skull told a story of claws ripping and tearing at a face that no longer was present. This body had the most damage to it, and was little more than bones and cartilage. Of the last crewmember, there was only one hand jammed into winch. No other trace of the body remained.

Shaking the lone living member of the crew limped to the helm, and began to restart the engines. Slowly the boat woke from the shock of having her crew killed, and unwillingly headed back to port under her new master. The waves had grown enough to wash the decks of blood, and as the seas grew, the ocean greedily took what was left of the crew's bodies.


Audrey:

Haven Police Station
Haven, Maine
December 11th, 2008

I'd been listening to Nathan lecture me for the past hour and a half about the evils of bailing Duke out of jail when the call came in. Normally the staties kept to themselves, and the government trusted the people of Maine to act in their own best self interest. However, the storm that was coming in was even worse than had been predicted. The reports from just south of us indicated the storm wasn't going to be snow and hail as had been originally forecasted, but was now thought to be mostly freezing rain.

We'd had freezing rain in Ohio, and I didn't think too much of it. A winter storm was a winter storm. We got snow off the lake, and it was frequently colder than it was so far in Maine. However, as we drove through Haven, I saw lots of boats being removed from the harbor. Anything that could be trailered away was being taken out of the water it if it wasn't already winterized. Some of the really large boats were going to try to head out to sea to avoid the storm entirely. Those left on the docks suddenly sprouted tires running from bow to stern in an attempt to protect the boats from being smashed into the docks. The Mainiacs were taking the storm seriously, and that caused me to wonder what they knew that I didn't.

When the weather service in Grey, Maine gave the warning that thick ice accumulation was expected, we got the call from the staties to try to get the folks on the outlying islands back on the mainland before the storm hit. There was no guarantee of rescue after the storm, and if the electricity went out on the islands, the residents could die of the cold before anyone could get to them.

Unsurprisingly, Nathan made arrangements with the harbormaster to take a boat out on the water so that we could go to Carpenter's Knot, and was still complaining about Duke being the spawn of Satan - this time because he has taken ownership of the Hotel. I'd swear they must have been brothers…


Scully:

Carpenter's Knot
Haven, Maine

An early dinner turned out to be more entertaining than I thought it would be, mostly because my sons took a shine to little Olivia, and the owner of the hotel took it upon himself to entertain. Since there weren't many guests that night, everyone, except for Drew who said he didn't feel well, ate at one long table rather than at the smaller ones that dotted the dinning room. We had Olivia sit with our boys so she'd feel less lonely without her father there.

"So," Mulder asked the owner after he poured drinks for all three kids, "Have you lived in Maine long?"

"All my life."

"Really. I lived in Massachusetts as a kid myself, but I don't recall there ever being such dire predictions about the weather back then. Must be global warming."

Duke shot him a look, obviously uncertain about whether or not he was joking, but he recovered quickly. "I don't think I've ever heard them getting this wound up, either."

"It's probably just hype," I said, hoping to move the conversation off of the weather. Everyone's nerves were already beginning to fray, and it was barely drizzling out yet. "So, Mr. Crocker-"

"Please, call me Duke."

"Okay, Duke. Have you been in the hotel business long?" I asked, unsurprised that he was uncomfortable with formalities.

"No, just a couple of months. I'm actually in the importing business."

Joey looked up just then, obviously having been paying at least a little attention to the adults' conversation. "Like Pier One? Some of your Christmas decorations look like Pier One stuff."

I glanced over at the gaudy Tuscany colored reindeer sitting by the window, and privately agreed with him. You could pretty much tell that no woman had helped pick out the decorations, though who knew if one had tried to steer him away from such ugly ones.

"My friend Audrey gave me those deer. And you know, I think she did pick them up at Pier One," Duke told him. So much for women having better taste. "But no, I import things that are a little different from that."

"Like what?" Mulder asked casually, but I could tell that he was more intent on knowing the answer than his voice betrayed.

Duke shrugged. "I specialize in rare and high end objects. I spend a lot of time paying customs fees so people can get their specialty foods and fine china."

"You must have a boat then," I said, thinking of how we'd seen so many being pulled out of the water as the ferry brought us to the island. Now their removal made sense, but I hadn't given it much thought at the time.

"I do, but she's back in town," he said, and I recalled then that Janice had said as much. That bit of information had escaped me after all the talk about the storm began.

"Then how did you get here?" William asked, and I knew he was thinking of helicopters because he looked disappointed when Duke answered.

"It's not so far, so I used my row boat."

"You rowed all the way here?"

"Nope, I used the outboard motor. I guess I could row it, but if you don't have to..." He shrugged.

I didn't blame him. I'd wanted a rowboat when I was a little girl, but back then I'd had no idea how much work rowing a long distance would be.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, what do you folks do?"

Mulder answered for the both of us. "The last few years I've done social work and she's a doctor in a Catholic hospital that she's thoroughly sick of."

Fact was, my being sick of the hospital was the reason we were considering relocating to the northeast in the first place. I was glad that Christian had gotten better after the experimental treatment I insisted on, but the hospital had become a very uncomfortable place for me since then. I didn't know how much longer I could put up with it.

Duke looked up sharply for some reason. I thought perhaps he was the sort of person who liked to collect information on anyone they met, just in case it proved to be useful. "Just the last few years?"

"We're retired from the FBI," I explained. "That's how we met, actually, way back in '92. We left when these guys were a year old." William and Joey looked up when they realized I'd talked about them, but soon returned to chattering with Olivia - for some reason I got the impression they were talking about hamsters.

"Your job must have been interesting."

You have no idea, I thought, but didn't say. "It had its ups and downs."

"And towards the end the downs gained on us," Mulder said lightly. "I can't say that we miss it much." We'd both agreed after helping out on a case earlier in the year that we were not interested in ever returning officially.

"So, were you agents Mulder and Mulder towards the end?" Duke asked. "That could get confusing."

"I was agent Scully the whole time," I said. "We didn't marry until after leaving the FBI."

"Oh, right." Duke looked a little embarrassed for having made me confess that I'd only married after having kids, and I let him stew. Maybe he'd learn not to jump to conclusions in the future.

"How about you, Duke?" Mulder asked. "Married?"

Duke looked away for a moment before giving a self-deprecating smile. "I'm still working on finding a woman foolish enough to stick with me for the long haul."

I thought about asking if there were any contenders, but his expression clearly telegraphed that he had one in mind. I wondered where she was, if not in the hotel with us.


There was a terrific splash as the anchor hit the water, and the chain hissed as it fled the wheel where it has been imprisoned. The Valkyrie's dinghy splashed into the water and her crewman climbed into the little boat. He argued with the oarlocks for a moment before finding the proper placement and then began rowing to the small platform dock, seeking shelter in the large white hotel on Carpenter's Knot. The Valkyrie shuddered with relief that the crewman was gone, and slowly sank below the waves. The birds of Gull's Sorrow Island were the only ones to mourn her.


Duke:

Carpenter's Knot
Haven, Maine
December 11th, 2008

I knew trouble was coming when I saw the Habormaster's ship pull up to the hotel's small slip. I quickly made a mental run through the caches I had on the island, and could think of nothing that the harbormaster could know about that'd be worth coming out here to discuss my imports and exports. Then I nearly had an apoplexy when I saw Nathan and Audrey get off the boat with Ken, the new harbormaster. Nathan looked more upset than normal. I thought about it again, and still couldn't think of anything that would interest the two officers of the law.

Maybe it was Mike? Mike Harnon had rowed here earlier, claiming that the boat he was on had grounded on a sand bar out on Governor's Point, about 3 miles away on the windward side of the isthmus. He'd smelled of fish guts and the ocean, and I just wanted him out of my lobby before the guests got wind of him, literally. I didn't pay too much attention to him, other than to hear him say that he'd been out trying to get one more run in before the season ended. I sent him off to my rooms to take a shower and gave him some clothes. Maybe he called for a ride, and Nathan decided that today was a good day for busting my chops as he already had Audrey bust me for the black eye.

I don't know how Nathan could look menacing and happy all at the same moment, but he was. He bounced down the gangway and greeted me in his usual garrulous manner.

"Mandatory evacuation order for the islands surrounding the storm watch area. You and all of your guests are ordered to leave." The bastard actually smiled as he handed me a paper that confirmed he wasn't making it up. The storm was going to be a helluva big one then.

"Fine," I said before turning to the object of my affections instead. "Audrey, would you like some hot chocolate? Janice makes it with real cocoa and milk. Way better than that powdered stuff I saw at your place. She'll even put in marshmallows that aren't freeze-dried if you want. It's gonna take a while to get the guests up and moving."

Audrey smiled at me and for a moment my heart stopped; she was so beautiful and I didn't care what her name was or where she came from. I'd call her Aphrodite and worship her all of her days if she would just lose Nathan, preferably out in George's Bank, without a boat. Hmm… Maybe I should use that line on her. Nah, she liked Nathan for some odd reason.

She walked by me and up to the hotel, turning to look back over her shoulder and said "I'd love some." I motioned for Nathan to proceed me, envisioned burying a knife in his back, and trudged back up to the hotel.

When we got to the hotel, Janice and I knocked on the doors to the occupied rooms, and I grabbed Mike from my room. Nathan explained the evacuation order and I apologized for the weather and offered them all a free stay during more clement weather. It took about an hour for everyone to repack their belongings, gather their assorted kids, and come back down to the lobby. In that time I got the Gator from its garage and attached the dump cart so we could get the luggage down to the slip. Since Mike came in, the wind had really picked up and was blowing pretty hard. I parked the Gator by the doors and went back in.

In the hotel, Janice was serving hot cocoa to everyone in the lobby, and had indeed found the marshmallows. Nathan and Audrey were talking to the Mulders. Both kids looked scared, and had velcroed themselves to their parent of choice. William was firmly attached to Mr. Mulder, while Joey was glommed on to Mrs. Mulder. Momentarily distracted, I idly wondered why one boy went by a nickname and the other didn't.

Shaking my head to clear it, I walked over and knelt down to get closer to eye level to them. "It'll be OK, you'll see. If you're going to move up here, you are going to see a lot more ice and snow." The fact that the family currently lived in Virginia had come up in conversation over dinner. "We usually get a few feet of snow a year. Ice is a little more rare, so they are just being very careful and making sure that everyone's OK."

Nathan finished talking to Mr. Mulder, and also knelt down, the copy cat. "Duke's right. There's nothing to fear. The main land's more accessible. If you stay out here, it might be a little bit until the boats can come and pick everyone up." He stood up again and turned to Mr. And Mrs. Mulder. "Any help you could give would be appreciated."

"They used to be Feds, I don't think you have to coddle them," I said, taking satisfaction that he looked shocked that I knew something that he didn't. Apparently being troubled didn't grant ole Nathan the power to read minds. To be fair, though, looking at Mrs. Mulder you could see why he did a double take. Her husband was a foot taller than her, and she was small-boned besides. At first glance, it was hard to imagine a woman a couple inches shorter than Audrey taking down a bad guy.

"You were FBI?" Nathan asked. "So was my partner before she relocated here." I scowled, knowing that his possessive emphasis on the word "my" had been for my benefit. This was proven a moment later when he went on to say, "I bet you folks could tell us some great tales about the crimes you helped solve, like smuggling, blackmail, all sorts of things." Nathan looked positively beatific.

Mr. Mulder looked uncomfortable. "We didn't really deal with those sorts of crimes."

Great, that was just what I needed, Nathan pestering the paying guests as well as me. I was going to take him outback and strangle him with his own intestines when the Mulders left.

Everyone once again in the lobby, we herded them like ducks with Mr. Mulder, Mrs. Mulder, Nathan, Audrey and myself keeping them in line. Everyone's luggage and the kids were loaded into the dump cart and the gator, and I drove to the dock. The wind was racing through the pines on the island with a force by then. The first drops of rain were just starting to fall.

Just as Nathan, followed closely by Mike, got to the dock, there came an ominous cracking and a tortured groan. A series of sharp cracks was the only warning we had that the tree was coming down. I put the brakes on the gator and looked frantically. There, the ground was lifting up. I yelled, "It's the big pine by the dock! Get away from the BOAT!"

Nathan grabbed Mike's raincoat and dove with him into the icy water. The tree came down with a vengeance as though trying to smash Nathan and Mike flat. It slammed into the boat, and the boat held for a few moments. It was long enough for Nathan to swim under the gangplank with Mike under his arm in a rescue carry and get clear of the tree. The fiberglass hull had withstood all it could and gave way with a crash. The tree and the stern of the boat sunk into the water.

I told the children to stay in the gator, grabbed a guest and told him to watch the kids and ran to the water's edge. I cursed Nathan with every thing I knew and invented a few new curses on the spot specifically to place on his head. He surfaced and swam with Mike to the shore and I hauled him up and out of the water, grateful my arch nemesis was still alive. I didn't want to win Audrey by his death.

I got back to the gator and saw Mr. Mulder with the kids, and we got Nathan and Mike stuffed into the gator. Mike had to sit on Nathan's lap, and it was a good thing the Mulder's kids were small or they wouldn't have all fit. Nathan was probably glad that Mike was small too, or he would have been squished.

We weren't leaving the island tonight on that boat, and the island's rowboat wouldn't carry everyone in this weather. Mike and Nathan were sent to my rooms to take a shower to get warmed up before they became hypothermic and Mrs. Mulder went with them, stating she was a doctor and wanted to ensure they weren't hurt. Mr. Mulder walked over to me.

"How long would it take them to send someone out for us?"

"They won't, not in this weather. It'll be a day or so depending on how bad the mainland's hit. First they're going to have to de-ice the boats, then they are going to go out to the islands furthest out. We'll be one of the last because it's known we have a generator and plenty of gas, and the pantry's well stocked."

Outside the rain started falling in earnest, freezing everything it touched. Already, in the time it took to get everyone back in, reassigned their rooms, get rooms for Nathan, Audrey, and Ken, and generally calm people down a thin glaze of ice had started to form on the trees. Mike and I would have to room together because the hotel wasn't currently designed to hold a large number of people, but mostly redesigned to be a bed and breakfast. The arrangements arose in part because Audrey didn't trust that Nathan and I could spend the night together and not kill each other without getting really, really drunk in order to tolerate each other. Come to think of it she was probably right.