A quick knock on the door, and Assistant Director Walter Skinner opened it and stepped into the basement office of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully.

"Agents," he announced into the room.

"In here, sir." A voice called out from the smaller attached space.

Skinner walked over to meet them. "I wanted to give you both a head's up, in case you don't know, that it's getting pretty nasty outside. I know you've been cooped up down here all day and wasn't sure if you were aware of it. They've already closed a couple of major roadways and the prediction is we could get another two feet of snow on top of the twelve inches we've already gotten today. I'm leaving here shortly myself. The decision's yours, of course, but anything you're doing now can wait till tomorrow I would assume."

Mulder grunted. "Thanks for the warning, sir, but I…we're… making good progress on this and I'd like to finish it up."

Skinner tipped his head and raised his eyebrows. "Okay then. Just…be careful when you go out…and ah….Agents, I'll see you Monday." Skinner left the office, closing the door behind him.

Mulder turned to his partner. "You know, Scully, you can leave if you like. I can go through the rest of these myself."

"No, Mulder. It's fine. We're close to being done, right? Let's just finish and then we can get going."

They continued their work, looking over the files stacked in neat piles in front of them. The agents had been back on the x files for almost three months now, but they hadn't spent much time sorting through the mass that had accumulated in their thirteen-plus year absence. The pair had spent the better part of the last four days reading, classifying, organizing, and determining which cases seemed worth pursuing, and filing the others back into the cabinets. So far, they had accumulated enough material to keep them busy for years. They worked for another hour and the pile dwindled down to approximately a dozen files remaining on the table.

'You know, we could just split these up and take them home with us." Scully stated.

"Yes, we could." Mulder replied. "Or, I could just take them all home with me. I don't have any plans for tonight. How about yourself?"

"Actually, I'm supposed to have dinner with Bill and Tara, but if it's getting as bad as Skinner said, we may be canceling that. Anyway, how are you getting home? Didn't you ride in with Agent Marcos today?"

Mulder sucked in his breath. "I did…I did. How am I getting home? Exactly. Damn. How could I have forgotten that?"

Scully chuckled. "Well, Mulder, I'd be glad to give you a ride. But, if that's the case, then we really had better be going."

Mulder picked up the remaining files and put them into two briefcases. The agents donned coats and hats, and Scully changed out of her pumps into a pair of snow boots. They made their way up to the front doors where they met Devon, one of the night watchmen.

"Agents!" He exclaimed. I didn't know you were still here."

"Yeah," Mulder smirked, "no one ever knows we're here…down in that basement."

"Are you going far? You know all the major roadways are closed down, don't you? You're not going to get out of the city."

"Damn!" Mulder cried. "Scully, where did you park?"

"Actually, I was lucky today. About halfway down aisle A."

Mulder headed towards the door. "Throw me your keys, I'm going to go out and assess the situation. If it looks alright I'll drive up to the door and pick you up."

"But Devon just said we can't get out of the city."

"Scully, really? They are a myriad of ways to get out of this city. You should know that by now."

Mulder left and Scully sat down on a nearby bench to wait. She wasn't as optimistic about this as her partner seemed to be and was already mentally resigning herself to the fact that she would be probably be spending the night exactly where she was.

Sure enough, about fifteen minutes later, Mulder was back…minus the car. He entered the building stomping his feet, rubbing his hands briskly together… and cussing.

"My god, Mulder," Scully exclaimed. "Your hands and face are red as beets! What the hell happened?"

"Yeah, well I couldn't find a snow brush…"

"It's in the trunk!" Scully interrupted.

"Anyway," Mulder continued, "I tried using my hands and finally succeeded in getting most of the foot, at least, of snow off of the windows and lights, but Scully, there's just too much of that cursed white stuff out there. I managed to get about three feet from your parking spot before I, ah…got stuck. Sorry, but it looks like we are going to be stuck here for the night ourselves. Unless you want to try hoofing it to a hotel."

"Damn it," she said, and looked towards Devon who only shot her back an "I told you so" look. "Well," she sighed, "come on. I'm not interested in trudging through snow up to my ass looking for a hotel. We better get you warmed up before those lobster claws of yours give you trouble. I guess it's back to the basement for us."

They returned to the office and Scully took control of the situation.

"Here, take off your coat, socks, and pants. Don't argue, just do it; they're soaked. And it's not like I haven't seen all… that anyway."

"Do you miss it?'

Scully couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, Mulder…Mulder. Here, take my coat. You can use it as a blanket. I'll hang your wet things near the heater. And put my gloves on for a while. I'm going out into the hallway and get the settee and you can curl up on that. Are you hungry? I guess we'll have to settle for a dinner of cheese crackers, candy bars, and soda."

"Sounds like a party, Scully. And, eh…I have a video or two around here we could watch."

Scully rolled her eyes. "I bet you do. I'll be back in a minute."

Scully went to get the settee which she dragged back into the room

"I could have helped you with that you know." Mulder scolded.

"I'm fine. You just…behave yourself. Now, I'm going to go find us something to eat. I wish the cafeteria was still open. Maybe there's a sandwich or two in a machine somewhere."

"None for me thank you. Those things are nasty. I'll take a bag of Doritos and a Coke. Oh, and a Milky Way. If you can find those things."

Scully smiled. "I'll see what I can do."

During Scully's absence, Mulder grabbed one of the briefcases and pulled another file to look over while sitting on the settee, wrapped in his partners coat. This one was centered on an alleged serial killer who was leaving his victims' bodies in an Oregon forest.

…and here we go…

His mind was racing. Has it...has it really been twenty three years since Scully and I went traipsing around those northern Oregon woods, chased out by a terrified, misguided father?

It hardly seemed possible. And look where they had been in the ensuing two-plus decades. So much horror, so much pain…so many lies. But, undeniably, the greatest discovery of his life was Dana Scully herself. And that had brought more warmth, and caring, and love than he ever could have dared hope for. True, things were not always…pleasant between them, and there had been many bumps, wedges, difficulties, and plenty of hurt along the way, but the respect, value, and reverence they both placed on their relationship was outranked only by the deep, true, abiding love. Except maybe my blatant lust!

Whether they were actually cohabiting or not…he knew he simply couldn't exist and be truly happy without having some sort of relationship with her. Time and circumstance would never completely ruin or destroy them.

Scully returned holding up two bags.

"Score," she said, triumphantly, and put one bag down, and deposited the contents of the other on the desk. "Five bags of Doritos, three Milky Ways, two packs each of cheesy and peanut butter crackers, two honey buns, one bag of pretzels…and one bag of sunflower seeds, already hulled though…sorry. And…in this bag," and she indicated the other bag on the floor, "three cans of Coke, three of ginger ale, two waters, and two cans of orange juice. Dinner is served and you're welcome."

"Wow, good job, Scully. At least we won't starve."

"I highly doubt we would have, Mulder."

Mulder guffawed. "Party pooper. Go over to that small, black file cabinet in the corner. In the bottom drawer, behind the last file…the one marked 'non-essential' in neon green highlighter…is an 'E'ssential, emergency bottle of Grey Goose. Might come in handy this evening. Mixed with some of that OJ. That'd be screwdrivers for desert, Scully. Sker….ooo drivers."

Scully rolled her eyes and inwardly groaned, but walked over to the cabinet.

"And dare I even ask why you have a bottle of sauce hidden behind such a blatantly ridiculous folder? Don't answer that," she said as she pulled the bottle out of its hiding place. "And…an FYI…my intended purpose for the juice was to be our breakfast in the morning…in the unfortunate event that we are still here, that is… along with the honeybuns. But…whatever, I suppose you're right. This night might call for some fortification."