"Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore," Mulder dead-panned.

"Mulder, what the hell just happened?" Scully's eyes were wide.

"I think I'm finally beginning to understand."

Mulder brushed the dust out of his hair and started walking towards the portal that was way off into the distance.

"You can't be serious." Scully said this more to herself than to Mulder as she watched him walk on ahead. She remained planted in the same spot, dazed and still unable to comprehend what had just happened.

"Coming, Scully?" Mulder turned his head to look at Scully behind him while he kept on walking.

She started to follow him and felt the strangest sensation with each new step. There was a weird energy exuding from this place, and she felt the back of her neck tingle. It was hard to tell where to walk or how far they would have to go to get to the portal. This space that they found themselves surrounded in was so white and there were no lines- floor, ceiling, walls, or otherwise- to give them any indication of structure or form. To Scully, it almost felt like walking on a cloud in heavy fog.

She finally caught up with Mulder. After too much silence, she decided that she just had to ask. "Mind telling me what it is that you are finally beginning to understand?"

Mulder stopped walking and turned to face her. He looked afraid to tell her. He took hold of her hands.

"Mulder, what? What is it?" She searched his eyes for the answer.

"We've both been here before." Mulder waited to say anything further to see if Scully could put the pieces together. When she still looked confused, he continued. "Only the last time we were on this ship, it was buried under the ice and snow. In Antarctica."

"No." Scully shook her head, certain that Mulder was wrong. "No, this place is different. It looks different." As she said this, she felt the back of her neck tingling once again. She wanted to reach back and touch the place where her chip was implanted, but Mulder still had a good hold of her hands.

"I think it will look more familiar once we go through that portal." Mulder motioned his head toward the doorway that glistened in the distance.

"How do you know? Why do you think this?"

Mulder let go of Scully's hands. He knew he had to be honest with her. "William showed me."

"William...I don't understand...Mulder! What the hell is going on? Oh God, William's not here, is he? You saw him?" Scully was overwhelmed with this new piece of information. She blinked back tears and finally reached her hand to the back of her neck to rub the skin over her implant to try and stop the tingling.

"No. He came to me in a dream, Scully." Mulder tried to speak calmly and slowly to settle down Scully's emotions. "He was an older boy leading me around the ship. But I knew it was William. I saw us behind the bars in the prison and he also showed me the capsules with all the people trapped and wired into the ship. They had aliens growing inside of them. Just like you would have when you were here the last time, but I had got there in time to give you the vaccine."

"No. No! Mulder stop! I can't hear any more of this!" The tingling in her neck was making her even more frustrated. She kept rubbing it.

"But you have to! There's no telling what we're going to face when we cross that portal. You have to believe, Scully. We have to stay ahead of the game in order to survive."

Scully could no longer ignore the strange sensation in her neck. She was rubbing it with both hands now, and Mulder finally recognized her discomfort.

"What is it? What's wrong?" He moved her elbow out of the way to look at the back of her neck.

"It's nothing. I'm fine." She broke away from his would-be inspection of her neck and started to walk ahead towards the portal. She thought she had gotten far enough away from him, but once again she felt his hand on her as he grabbed her arm in worried anger.

"Damn it, Scully! I thought we've moved passed the 'I'm fine' stage of our relationship. Why can't you be honest with me? It's the chip, isn't it?"

Scully stared at Mulder's strong hand that firmly had her arm in a grip that he refused to ease up on.

"Let go of me." Her voice was like ice but her tears were melting down her face.

"No." Mulder used his other hand to tenderly brush away her tears. "I can't let go of you." Mulder released his grip on her arm. "I will never let go of you."

Scully silently swallowed a sob that came up her throat. Her tears continued to fall as she watched Mulder's face crumble. How was it that this man who had a hard time expressing how he felt in words could display all his deepest emotions on his face with just one look. She saw love, fear, worry, and hurt all at the same time.

She reached up to graze his face with her delicate hands. He leaned into her touch and closed his eyes as her fingers made their way down to his lips, caressing the softness she felt there. And then she finally relented and swung her arms around his waist while burying her head in his chest. He held on to her tightly in return. He lowered his head down to kiss the top of her head.

"Come on. We've got to keep walking." They mutually left their embrace but held hands as they continued their way to the entrance of the portal.