Author's Note: Hello again, here is that next chapter I promised. If you think I should quit while I'm ahead and just stick to reading fics†go ahead and tell me so. Try to be nice.

Chapter Two

Scully loathed planes. The thought of the flight ahead made her feel ill. She tried to control her emotion and focus on the case ahead. She failed dismally at the task. It was like trying to tell herself not to think of pink elephants†impossible. Mulder noticed her pale complexion and quick breathing and, knowing of her fear, put his hand, reassuringly, on her shoulder. She turned and smiled at him, thankful for the gesture. She didn't mention that having his hand on her shoulder only made her heart beat even faster

Dr. Anna Ramone sat at her desk in her quarters near the dig site. She missed her family and dreamed of being back at home for Christmas. She missed the traditions they had about Christmas morning and the thought of waking up to see the snow fall steadily past her bedroom window. At least there was snow here she mused. She was only truly happy about one thing. The recent discovery of an idol had given her confidence. She knew she was on her way to the top. If there was a magazine called Archeological Enquirer, she had no doubt that she'd be on the cover. Her dreams of a spot in National Geographic would soon be coming true. A reporter had called her from their branch in South Africa, wanting desperately to do an interview. She had obliged and the reporter had agreed to fly out. He was arriving on the first flight from Johannesburg, along with another surprise. When Anna had received the call from the FBI, she had panicked, assuming that the call was about the mysterious deaths of the five members of the entry team. All her nerves were calmed when they informed her that it was merely a phone call to make sure she was aware of the imminent arrival of agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully†Dana Scully, a name she hadn't heard since high school. Memories of their years spent together were full of laughs and she was surprised to hear she was working for the FBI. A career in medicine had always been her dream. She also wondered about this mysterious agent, Fox Mulder. She knew one thing, he had cruel parents; anyone who would sentence their child to a life of being called Fox had to be cruel.

"Dr. Ramone?" a tall, well-built man with warm brown eyes and dark hair entered her tent.

"Yes Dr. Baschelli?" she replied, coming quickly out of deep thought.

"Please, call me Franco," he said, casually, "I just wanted to know if you thought an evening trip to the dig would be all right, I just wanted to get some more photos." Dr. Franco Baschelli was a professor of archaeology at work in Moshi in the neighboring country of Tanzania. Upon hearing of the idol's discovery he was eager to photograph it and its resting-place for the archives in Venice where he was head of antiquities. He was a sweet man, with an incredible sense of humour. He kept the entire team in stitches. It was a welcomed release after the death of five of the original workers who helped in the removal of the idol.

"Of course. That should be fine, you can go in with the night team, they go down to check on the dig, see if there are any treasure-seekers," she smiled a sweet smile at the tanned Italian.

"Excellent!" he said leaving, after a moment he popped his head in again, "Bongani said you were expecting visitors, anybody important that I should try to impress?" he asked with a slight smile.

"Maybe," she said smiling as well, "There's a reporter coming in from the National Geographic to do an article on the dig. I'm expecting two FBI agents as well."

"FBI? Anything serious?" his smiled changed to a frown of concern.

"Probably about the deaths of those poor workers, I'm not sure though, I was just informed of their arrival," she replied. "One of them is a friend of mine from high school, it'll be nice to see her again."

"Do you want me to be around when they arrive?" he was still concerned.

"It might be nice," she said, not believing that she was flirting with a guy who lived a couple of hundred miles away. He winked at her and ducked out again.

The flight to Johannesburg had been hell. The turbulence over the Atlantic had been heavy and Scully had spent most of her time hoping, yet again, for a quick death. Mulder had taken her hand in a particularly bad patch and she had calmed a bit. Only because she was no longer thinking of the plane at all†When they arrived at Johannesburg International, she was glad to have her feet back on the ground. The ground hostesses were friendly and the atmosphere at the airport was relaxed and comfortable. As they entered the terminal building, Scully's heart sighed. Families greeted each other after long periods of being apart and once again, she thought of Christmas. She would be spending it working, in a country she had no idea about. She had only one consolation, Mulder would be there, right beside her.

After checking in at The Holiday Inn, a nearby hotel for passengers in transit, Mulder found himself wishing he hadn't dragged Scully along. It was Christmas, after all, and no doubt she would rather be elsewhere than in Africa. He sat staring at the television, he decided that, since she was already there, he would make it as bearable as possible. He looked at his watch, only seven thirtyâ€He got up and knocked on the door to Scully's room. She answered it looking somewhat bored. She was almost surprised to see him.

"Mulder, what's up?" she asked, a little concerned.

"You wouldn't be interested in a little sight-seeing, would you?" She was a little suspicious and answered carefully,

"What did you have in mind?"

"I don't know, I just thought it might be nice to get out of the hotel," he sounded innocent enough.

"Ok, sure. Just let me clean up and I'm all yours," she closed the door and Mulder went back to his room. Her last comment had made his heart jump. He didn't know why, he knew what she had meant, but it was nice to think of the alternative. He did some cleaning up of his own and went to inquire about where exactly one would go in a city like Johannesburg. Several things were suggested, a township Shebeen, apparently a traditional bar, very popular with tourists†A couple of strip clubs were mentioned and it made Mulder wonder just what kind of hotel they had running here. He casually mentioned that he was bringing a lady friend along and the destinations stepped up a class or three. He thanked the desk clerk. There was a decision between an all night museum on the history of the Apartheid government and a romantic, little restaurant in a place known as Melrose Arch, a city within a city. The romance aside, Mulder decided on the latter, since their intention in leaving was to entertain themselves, not to fall asleep in a public place

The sun set very quickly as Dr. Baschelli and the night team trudged through the snow. They had been assured that it was a climatic problem that wasn't serious, but Dr. Baschelli had his doubts, knowing full well the story of "The Idol of the Leopard", as it had been named by the workers. The entrance to the cave was dark and the men had to light lanterns to see. All around lay equipment from the dig: shovels, brushes and rope, demarcating the area the site covered. As they entered the hollow where the idol was found, Baschelli began to snap photos. Some ceramic pots were being restored in one corner and other household items remained to be moved and sorted. Two men stood guard at the cave entrance, nobody was taking any chances when it came to the myth of the "Leopardmen". Lives had already been lost and the workers were anxious. As the other two men with him finished their search of the cave, Baschelli finished up his photo shoot. He was just picking up some of his equipment when a hysterical scream came from the mouth of the cave followed by gunfire. He looked to the other men and ran to the source. The guards were dead, ripped to shreds by what seemed to be an animal. Baschelli looked quickly around to see if the offending creature was still in view. He could see nothing in the darkness. He looked back towards the other two men, they were white with fear. That's when he noticed the words on the wall. Scrawled on the rock with the blood of the deceased, a menacing message greeted the light of his lantern, "Beware all who enter here. The wrath of Lekanzi is being unleashed on the desecraters of this place. She will surely come for those who enter here."

Scully sat, looking at herself in the mirror. She wasn't sure what to make of Mulder's sudden desire to see the city. At first she had been happy to go, but more and more she questioned her motives at saying, "Yes," to him. She was afraid of him, afraid of herself, actually. She had never been this way with him, before he had always been Mulder, her partner and friend. Now, he was something else to her, a dream, a†she couldn't put her finger on it. She stared at her reflection and thought quietly to her self, "You're lying to yourself, Dana. You know what it is, you're just too stubborn to admit it," she looked away from the mirror, "You know that you're in love with him, you're just too cowardly to confess it to him," she got up and moved away from the mirror and her accusing reflection. She ran away from her own thoughts. She knew it was true, but she wouldn't allow herself to be won over by her weakness; she had told herself that he was off limits, a friend and someone she worked with.

When he went up to fetch Scully, Mulder felt himself getting nervous. Something he'd never felt around her. He knocked gently on her door, almost hoping she wouldn't hear him. She answered it, but there was something different about her, he could feel a hesitance,

"You ready?" he asked.

"I uh†just" he stopped her.

"You all right?" he was concerned.

"Just tired, that's all, the flight took a lot out of me," she said finding her tongue.

"You want to stay here?" he asked, cursing himself for hoping.

"You don't mind?" she answered after a short while.

"No," she could see the disappointment in his eyes and she wanted, so badly, to take back what she had said, "not at all. You want to chill and do something here?" he asked, still hoping.

"I think I should just get some sleep, I'm a little apprehensive about tomorrow's flight," she hated her self for the half-truths, she felt false and cheap, she owed him more than this.

"Sure," he said, trying to be a sport about it. He turned to leave and go back to his room, pausing briefly as she shut the door behind him. He felt foolish over his nervousness, he knew now that what he had felt was an apprehension of falling for her. He knew that it was silly, because he was already in love with her and she had denied him

Scully stood for a moment behind the closed door and leant against it. She began to cry, feeling as if she'd betrayed his trust, and her soul. She had denied herself by lying to him, the very thing she had sworn never to do. She stifled a sob, with little luck.

Mulder heard her as he promised never to make himself vulnerable to her again. The promise was immediately irrelevant as he realized what she had tried to do. He was sorry for his childish anger and hurt. She had been brave at fighting something that should never be between partners and he had been weak in his hope that it would. He glanced once more at the closed door, before returning to his room.

Scully woke the next morning where she had collapsed into bed. She had a pounding headache as a result of crying herself to sleep. She couldn't explain how guilty she felt about the previous night. She should have told Mulder the truth, but it probably would have hurt him more. She quietly packed the little she had unpacked during their brief stay and thought only of what could have been. She knew she shouldn't, but she allowed herself to dream. She only hoped that he wasn't angry with her.

Mulder had found it difficult to sleep, he thought of his stupidity. He couldn't believe that he had been so selfish. He got up and took a shower, aware that the plane left in a couple of hours. He dressed in some comfortable jeans, a warm shirt and a sweater in preparation for the weather in Kenya. He went down stairs to wait for Scully, hoping that the episode the previous night hadn't injured their friendship.

When she did come down, she was frowning, obviously in thought. Mulder stood to greet her and tried to speak casually,

"Hey, you feeling better about today's flight?" Wrong, shouldn't remind her of the conversation we had last night

"Uh, yeah," she stopped; the awkwardness was unbearable.

"We should go," he said to kill the silence, "the plane is leaving soon." She made no reply and instead smiled slightly in agreement. She was kicking herself inside, we couldn't she just speak to him? There was one thing worse than being angry with one another, trying not to

The flight was shorter than the previous one, but the turbulence was worse. They had been fine on take-off, but as soon as they entered Kenyan air space, there was no peace. The change in weather was obviously having an effect on air traffic in and out of the country. Neither Scully nor Mulder said half a word to the other. Mulder kept himself busy thinking of the case. Scully wasn't worried about the turbulence at all, well the air turbulence. She kept thinking this was her fault, that he was angry with her. She tortured herself with the things she could have done instead of throwing him out. Near the end of the flight, Mulder decided that the awkward silence was madness, "Why are you so quiet?" Scully decided that now was the time to clear the air,

"I feel guilty about last night," she said.

"Forget it," he said, "it's not worth being like this over." She nodded.

"Friends?" he asked extending his hand.

"Friends," she said shaking it.

The trip to Nairobi was long, but with Dr. Baschelli around, none of the occupants in the car were bored. He kept them entertained with jokes, trying not to think of the events of the previous night. The writing on the wall had aroused his worst fears, the "Leopardmen" were after their quarry. Anna was also afraid of what the message had meant, but her fear was of a different kind. To her it meant that there were men who were doing the killing and her excavation team was the only group of people for miles from the site. The only other residents of the area were rare gazelles and other animals. She feared what these events would do to her trip on the train of success. Once in Nairobi, all were anxious about the arrival of the two agents, they were bound to suspect one of the team members.

The journalist was the first through the terminal gates, ready to do the interview immediately. Anna managed to persuade him to wait. The moment she saw Dana coming through the gates, she recognized her. She ran straight up to her and gave her a huge hug.

"Braceface?" she began," is that really you?" Scully smiled at the old nickname.

"I'm afraid so" she replied, "Wow, look at you! You're all grown up, doing what you always dreamed of. "

"Yeah," she looked over at Mulder who was hanging back, waiting to be introduced, she smiled a sweet smile and said, "You must be agent Mulder."

"Yes, Scully and I work together," he replied.

"Apparently, at the FBI?" she asked.

"Yeah," Scully ended their charming conversation.

"Hey, why don't you two come and meet some of my team," Anna said walking over to the little crowd gathered by the door.

"Braceface?" Mulder asked, smiling.

"Hey, at least it was only through high school, Spooky," she whispered before walking after her friend. Mulder followed, shaking his head.

Dr. Baschelli looked over to where Anna had run. He noticed a tall, dark haired man with soft eyes, sad. There was someone else, a woman: a charming redhead with a smile to dazzle the stars. Against his etiquette training, he stared at her. The way she spoke, with animation, yet, refined.

She was not what he had expected from a female agent. He expected someone harder, although he never doubted that she was strong when she needed to be. She dumbfounded him and he hadn't even uttered a word to her. Anna turned and moved back towards the group, he watched as the other woman muttered something to her partner, he smiled and shook his head. The two then followed Anna. As they arrived, introductions were made.

"Everyone, these are agents Mulder and Scully," Anna said, obviously excited about seeing her old friend, "Agents, this is everyone. This is Mr. Jack Joubert from National Geographic, he's doing an article on the expedition," a tallish man with glasses and a notebook smiled to them in greeting. "Bongani," she pointed to a small African man who bowed his head slightly in greeting, "Henry," another African man who smiled wide and bowed his head in a similar manner, "and this, is Dr. Franco Baschelli of Venice University." He smiled a charming smile and extended his hand in greeting. Scully took it and instead of the shake she had expected, he kissed her hand lightly. Mulder noticed with sudden interest†so did Anna, "He's a real charmer," she added lightly.

The trip back to the dig was filled with stories from Scully's high school years. Everyone laughed heartily at the interesting tales, except Mulder, he was somewhat uneasy with Dr. Baschelli. He put it down to jealousy at first, but later he decided it had to be something else. Something about the apparently charming Italian was unsettling. The man glanced up at Mulder during the drive and they tried to size each other up, neither knew what the other was thinking, they just imagined. Suddenly, Anna interrupted the laughter and stated, "We have to make a quick stop at Magadi for some supplies."

"All right," said Scully, "but tell me, what exactly has been going on at that dig of yours?"

"I'm not sure," answered Anna, "there have been some pretty strange weather conditions," she pointed to the snow outside.

"There have also been some unexplained deaths," added Baschelli.

"You think they were anything more than animal attacks?" Scully asked. A quick glance passed between Anna and Baschelli and he continued,

"Well, there have been rumors about the myth of the idol," a glare in rearview mirror silenced him. Mulder wondered why they were so wary of them. What was such a secret that it couldn't be shared?

"What do you think Dr. Baschelli?" Scully asked a little too sweetly for Mulder's taste.

"Well, it's all just hearsay, really, nothing to be worried about, at least I don't think so," he replied.

"Well, we'll see," said Scully, glancing up at Mulder. He turned his head and sank further into his chair. She frowned, was he still angry, despite what he had said on the plane? When they arrived at Magadi, Anna and the two African men hopped out of the car to go and get the supplies. Dr. Baschelli went over to an antiques dealer and entered. The journalist who had said very little during the trip dared to speak when he was alone with the agents,

"I didn't know the FBI were on this," he spoke with a crisp British accent.

"This?" Mulder asked.

"This case, you know, Dr" he said no more as Anna returned with Bongani and Henry, each heavily laden with supplies. Mulder leaned back; he had a feeling as to which name came after the Dr†Scully looked at him via the rearview mirror. Both were wondering who this, supposedly South African, journalist was. They waited a while for Baschelli and when he got back into the car all were curious about his excursion. No questions were asked, they all simply continued their previous conversation about expedition. A particular vibe filled the car, everybody talked, but nobody actually said anything. There were secrets hiding in this camp and Mulder was determined to find out what they were. He would start with Dr. Baschelli.

Author's Note: The end of another chapter, is it mysterious enough? Please R&R and let me know what you think.