Disclaimer: No infringement intended … despite that I've only used one X file character in this chapter.

A/N Wow …. Thank you all for the great reviews! It really makes it easier to update when you have a little motivation. In the spirit of the ole time Westerns: Meanwhile back at the ranch…..

Chapter 18

Bunker Hill Golf Course

4:43 pm

The stillness of the surrounding space and the pressure on her legs were the first sensations that assaulted Scully as she opened her eyes. She was covered in dirt, grass and mud. She took a couple of deep breaths and made a mental assessment of her condition… checking for broken bones and bleeding before she moved around and crawled from beneath the rubble.

Scully looked at her surroundings and reached in her blazer pocket for her flashlight. They had fallen into what appeared to be a small cavern with tunnels branching off from it to the east and the north. The lead mines, she thought as she illuminated the sides of the cavern and the hole above to check for stability and then stepped around the pile of dirt to reach Nester.

He was laying face down on the ground, covered in dirt and debris. She felt his neck for a pulse and put her fingertips in front of his mouth to check for breathing. After a second, she craned her neck upward again and decided she needed to get him away from the hole before any more of it fell on top of them.

"Nester," she called gently in his ear as she shook his shoulders. He didn't move. She tried again, shaking a little more firmly this time. There was no response. Scully ran the flashlight beam the length of his body and starting clearing the dirt and grass from his torso. When she had most of it cleared away, she rolled him over and then attempted to drag him free of the opening.

After a couple of minutes of tugging, digging and pulling, Scully had gotten Nester free of the fault zone and into a relatively safe area in the one of the tunnels. She sat back on her haunches for a moment to catch her breath and wrapped her arm around her ribs and chest. The area on her ribs that was injured from the car accident was tender and aching slightly. It's a good thing I wore the wrap to work today, she thought as she re-directed her focus on her unconscious partner.

"Nester," she called to him again, shaking his shoulders. She checked his pupils for reaction with her flashlight and shook his shoulders again. When there was still no response, she ran her knuckles up his sternum and put pressure on a spot in the middle of his chest. "Nester!" she yelled into his ear as she knuckled his chest. His reflex was immediate.

Scully watched his eyelids flutter and felt his pulse quicken slightly. That's a good sign, she thought as she knuckled his chest again. "Nester! Can you hear me?"

"Owww…..yeah," he mumbled as his eyes finally fluttered opened and he looked straight up at her. "Geezus," he took a couple of breaths and waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. "Where are we?"

Scully ran the beam from her flashlight around the cavern, illuminating the walls for Nester to see. "Well, from the looks of it, I think we fell into one of the old mining shafts."

"The what?" Nester exclaimed breathlessly as he lifted his head up to make his own assessment of the cavern.

"The lead mines," Scully repeated and noticed the perplexed expression on his face. "The whole downtown area is covered with them. It was the main industry in the 1800's."

"How do you know that?" Nester questioned, his tone filled with annoyance as he rolled his head back to the ground.

"I read a book on the history of the area last night at the Inn," she replied. She could see the disbelief on his face. Okay, yeah, it sounds stupid. I read that book yesterday and today we're trapped in a mine.

"Just last night you read that?" Nester retorted as he tried to sit up. He put pressure on his right arm and winced in pain.

"Yeah, just last night," she replied sarcastically. "Mulder and I were having a night cap in front of the fireplace."

Nester made a gagging reflex and then looked at her, shaking his head. "Ughhh, romantic couples make me sick. First Jeff and Amy... now you and Mulder." He pretended to shudder at the thought of it.

"Don't be a hater. Maybe if you displayed a romantic side, women would be more receptive to you," Scully said flatly.

"I have no problems with the ladies. They like me just the way I am," he retorted, and tried to push off the ground with his left arm. "Aggghhhh!" He screamed in pain.

"What? What's wrong?" Scully asked quickly.

"Aghh, my arm," he cried out. "I think it's broken."

Scully moved closer to examine it. She ran her fingers across the sleeve of his coat and nodded her head in agreement. "Yep, it's broken."

"Great. So much for my attempt to climb the wall to get out of here," Nester mumbled as he clutched the arm.

"I can set it, but it's going to hurt like hell," she said flatly, resting her hands on her knees.

"What's my alternative?" he gasped, cradling his arm against his chest.

"Well, I could fashion a sling out of your shirt, but you won't be able to move it much and …."

"It will hurt like hell?" he growled and looked up at her. "Go ahead and set it." He nodded his head at her.

She helped Nester removed his overcoat, blazer and dress shirt. As she did so, she ran through the steps of what she needed to do in her head. Once he was settled against the tunnel wall, she looked around for something to splint the arm with. When she saw nothing, she decided to use her chest wrap. She started to take her blazer off and unbutton her shirt.

Nester caught the movement out of the corner of his eye. "Whoa, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to use my chest wrap to splint your arm," Scully replied calmly. "Don't worry, I have a camisole on under the wrap," she added when she noticed his bewildered expression.

"Okaay," he replied slowly. "You had me worried for a second."

Scully smirked and shook her head. Mind is always in the gutter, she mused as she removed the wrap and buttoned her shirt. She stepped over to and squatted in front of him.

"Okay, grab your elbow with your right hand and brace yourself," she instructed him coolly. "I'm going to pull on your wrist and move the bones back into place." She hesitated a moment and ran her tongue across her lips. "Don't let go … its going to …"

"Hurt like hell, yeah, I got it," Nester said as he grabbed his left elbow and pushed himself against the wall harder.

Scully pursed her lips and grabbed hold of Nester's left wrist. She yanked firmly on the wrist and felt the bones slide back into place. Nester yelped in pain as she worked, and she winced at the sound. It was over in a second.

"Okay, I think I got it," she remarked calmly. Still holding on to his wrist, she looked up at him. "Can you move your fingers?"

"Yeah," Nester moaned and wiggled his fingers to show her.

"Good," she replied and went to work to splint the arm with her chest wrap. She worked quickly to try to minimize the pain for him. Nester groaned in pain and bit his lip in an attempt to stifle any unmanly cries.

Nester watched Scully fashion a sling out of his dress shirt and secure it around his neck. "You're a regular MacGyver," he remarked as she eased his arm into it.

"One of my many talents," she stated with a slight laugh. "Does it hurt?"

Nester stared down at his arm and made a wise-crack about her question. "Does a duck have a bill? Of course it hurts."

Scully walked over to where she had laid her blazer down and fished a packet of Tylenol out of the pocket. "Here," she said as she handed him the packet. "Sorry, I don't have any water."

"Water is for wimps," he replied smartly. He ripped open the packet and dumped to two white pills into his hand. He hesitated a minute before popping them into his mouth. "You do know CPR in case I choke?"

"CPR … yeah … I might be a little rusty since most of my patients are already dead," she smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "You could always just chew them."

"Ughh, that's disgusting….I'll just take my chances," Nester replied, making a face. He tossed the pills into his mouth and then swallowed them.

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Lead Mine under Bunker Hill Golf Course

6:00 pm

After yelling for help fruitlessly for over an hour and a failed attempt to climb out of the hole, Nester and Scully had resigned themselves to being trapped in the mine until daybreak. Scully was sitting on the floor, resting her arms on her knees, staring into oblivion. Nester had been staring at the hole that led to the golf course for several minutes. He finally stood, walking to the edge of the cave-in and inspected it with his flashlight. He looked at it from three angles and then swept the light back towards Scully.

"I think I can get a hand and foothold here and crawl up," Nester said as he swung the light back at the wall.

Scully rolled her eyes and leaned back against the wall. "You can't do that with one arm," she replied flatly. She had already made an attempt to scale the wall and just ended up on the cavern floor on her butt.

"Just because you couldn't do it, doesn't mean that I can't," he replied, a little too sarcastically for Scully's tastes.

Okay Mr. Arrogant, go ahead and try if you must, she thought as she looked at him. She wanted to see him fall on his ass, but knew that the aftermath would be worse than his boasts. "How … Nester, how are you going to brace yourself if you can't put any pressure on your left arm?"

"My arm doesn't hurt right now," he replied in an "I told you so" tone. "I'll be fine."

"Your arm doesn't hurt right now because you just took two extra strength Tylenols!" she sighed exasperated. "That doesn't mean it isn't going to hurt when you brace all 185 pounds of your body weight on it!" Idiot! Why are men so stupid sometimes? She stared at him and rolled her eyes again. She stood up from the wall and walked away from him down the tunnel. Geezus, I can't believe I'm stuck down here with him!

Nester watched her walked away and looked back up at the hole. What does she know? he thought as he eyed the hand holds again. I'll have the last laugh when I'm the one to get us out of here. He stuck the flash light in his mouth and slipped his arm out of the sling.

Nester put his foot into a small crevice and reached up for the first handhold. When he was sure his hold was firm, he pushed off the foothold and climbed up the wall, bracing himself as he went with his left elbow, upper arm and shoulder, and then his right hand. He continued to climb upward until he was at the spot where he needed to brace himself against the wall in order to push through the break in the ceiling. He hesitated for a second, feeling pain throbbing in his left side. Frick, my arm is killing me, guess Scully was right, he thought as he took a deep breath. Can't think about that now, I'll apologize when we get out of here.

Nester bit down on the flashlight and put his weight on his shoulder and elbow as he pushed himself upward through the hole to the shelf between the cavern and the golf course floor. He cried out in agony as the pain from his injury swept through his body. For a moment he thought he was going to lose his grip and felt his body slip from its hold. At the last second he flung his leg and arm through the crevice and onto the safety of the shelf.

Nester dropped the flashlight in the dirt and lay on the shelf panting, trying to control the pain that emanated from his left arm. The arm was numb, his fingers were tingling and he felt a burning sensation at his shoulder. That was dumb, he thought as he closed his eyes and moaned from the searing pain. After a few seconds he opened his eyes and padded his right hand around in the dirt searching for the flashlight. Once he found it he began to survey his surroundings. As he directed his focus away from his body, he realized Scully was yelling at him.

"Nester! God dammit, answer me!"

"Aghh, I'm okay … I guess," He stammered, having difficulty speaking. He realized that he was trembling. "I can't feel my arm."

"Can you move your fingers?" Scully yelled up at him, silently cursing his earlier arrogance.

"A little," he answered breathlessly. "They're tingling, and I feel a burning sensation in my shoulder."

"Okay," she replied as she scanned the ground with the flashlight looking for his shirt. "Do you have the sling?"

"Yeah," Nester replied as he lifted his head up slightly.

"Okay …. try to sit up and put your arm back in the sling. Keep the wrist elevated," she called. Dammit! she cursed. There was silence between the two of them for several minutes.

"Scully," Nester called out after a few minutes had elapsed.

"Yeah?"

"We aren't getting out of here by ourselves," he said, his tone dejected. He illuminated the space between the shelf and the golf course again. Scully could see the light beam as she peered up from the cavern.

"Don't give up Nester … you've already proven me wrong by making it up there," Scully replied, trying to be positive.

"No … it's not that …" he paused for a moment. "There is nothing up here… I mean, from this shelf to where we fell in... It's all gone. It's all hollowed out."

Scully furrowed her brow in confusion. "What do you mean it's all hollowed out?"

Nester flashed the light up to the hole again. "The hole is about 15 feet wide…from where we were standing when it collapsed to the green … It's all caved in. I'm staring at the sky and sitting on the dirt."

Scully ran her tongue over her lips and felt tears in her eyes for the first time since they gotten into this predicament. She had been holding her breath that Nester would have been able to crawl out somehow. She attempted to steady herself before trying to talk to Nester again. She didn't want to appear weak to him … since he was less than the sensitive type. When she was sure she could talk without her voice cracking, she called back up to him.

"Are you ah…. are you going to stay up there or what?" She looked down as she felt her hands trembling.

"No, I'm coming down," he replied as he shuffled back toward the hole. He hung his legs over the edge and looked down at her. "Stand back, I'm going to jump." He slid his arm out of the sling again and then half climbed, half jumped back into the cavern. He landed on his knee and rolled over on his side, crying out in pain again.

Scully went to him immediately and shone the flashlight in his face. He waved her away. "I'm all right," he panted. "Just let me lie here and remember why I thought it was so important to do that." He cracked a small smile at her to try to lighten the mood. He could see the concern on her face and tears brimming in her eyes. What would Mulder and Driscoll do in times like these? He thought quickly, trying to figure out how to make her feel better. Well, that's easily answered...neither Mulder nor Dris would have made an ass out of themselves trying to be the hero to begin with.

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Bunker Hill Golf Course

7:10 p.m.

"Five Five Charlie to Central."

"Go ahead Five Five Charlie."

"Run a license plate check on Illinois tag, Nora, XRay, Zero, One, NX 01. Vehicle is parked in the main lot at Bunker Hill."

"Five Five Charlie, vehicle is registered to Archer Chrysler Jeep, Galena IL on a Black Jeep Grand Cherokee, 1999."

"10-4 Central. Log that as a suspicious vehicle. I'll check back later to see if it's still here."

"10-4 Five Five Charlie."

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Lead Mine under Bunker Hill Golf Course

7:50 p.m.

Scully jerked her head up and peered around at the darkness of the cavern. When did I fall asleep? she wondered as she rubbed her shoulders. Her last memory was of she and Nester talking about the case, brainstorming theories and forming hypotheses. She felt a chill in the air and sat up, looking for her blazer. Geezus, why did I leave my coat in the car? she thought as she pulled on the blazer. She wiggled her toes in her boots, encouraging blood flow, thankful that for once she had decided to go with warm and practical sweater, blazer and boots look as opposed to the "cutesy, get Mulder's attention" blouse, blazer and high heeled dress shoes look that was her normal attire. She turned her flashlight on and swept the area looking for Nester. She found him slumped against the wall, sound asleep.

The air temperature had dropped slightly, but it was still relatively warm. She decided to let Nester sleep while she explored a little, knowing that later neither of them would be getting any sleep. She started walking away from the golf course, in the direction she believed was east. She looked at her watch and decided that she would walk for no more than 10 minutes and then come back.

She had been following the mining shaft for ten minutes when she came to a fork in the shaft. The left side seemed to slant downward slightly and continue on into the darkness. The right fork remained level but was filled in about 20 feet into the shaft. Scully shrugged her shoulders and started to head back to the opening. She was halfway back when she ran into Nester.

"Geezus, there you are," he exclaimed when he saw her coming toward him. "You scared the crap out of me."

"Like I could go somewhere?" she retorted. "I was just trying to see if we could get out through the tunnels." She pointed behind her shoulder with her thumb.

Nester shone his light over her shoulder, "And?"

"Maybe … it forks off. One side is a dead end, the other slopes down and away…I didn't go any farther," she sighed.

"Let's go look together," he replied optimistically, and walked past her. She followed behind reluctantly. "Turn your light off to conserve the battery," he barked over his shoulder.

They made their way back to the fork, and headed down the left branch. The shaft sloped gently at first, and then became steeper. Scully walked with her hand along the wall for support. Nester stopped abruptly and swept his light from the left to the right in front of him.

"Watch yourself. It's a drop-off," he muttered as he peered over the edge. Scully stepped next to him and looked too, turning her flashlight back on. It was at least a 20 foot drop to the ground. The cavern below was dark, but appeared to branch out into three different tunnels.

Nester shook his head and looked over at Scully. "I don't know about you, but I've had enough rock climbing for one day."

"Agreed," she answered flatly. They turned to make their way back to the cave in.

As they were walking back, Scully's stomach started to growl. At first she could feel it, but it wasn't audible. Within a minute or two, it was loud enough for Nester to hear.

"Was that your stomach?" he asked looking back at her.

"Yeah," Scully replied sheepishly.

Nester laughed as it growled again. "Guess you should have the Big Mac instead of the yogurt parfait."

'Don't be an "I told you so" ... it could very well be your stomach that's growling," Scully retorted as she started to realize how hungry she really was. The last full meal she had had was at breakfast, when Driscoll's Uncle had whipped together a veggie omelet for her. She thought about the meal, the fluffy three egg omelet, crisp veggies, and a croissant roll with strawberry jam, fresh squeezed orange juice and hot caramel truffle coffee. She could taste the flavors as she thought about them and felt her mouth began to water.

"Dana!"

The tone of Nester's voice and his use of her first name surprised her. She felt like she had just been scolded by her older brother Bill. She looked up at him with a curious expression. "What?"

"Don't be zoning out on me! I asked if you wanted a Power Bar," Nester repeated. "I have a couple in my coat pocket."

She nodded and followed him back to the opening. He dug around in the pocket of his overcoat and pulled out his cell phone and two power bars.

"You have your cell phone with you?" She asked with excitement in her voice.

"Don't get all excited. No signal," he replied flatly. "I tried it down here and when I was lying on the shelf."

"Great," she replied scrunching her lips to the side. The futility of their situation was becoming more real as the minutes past by.

"Here," Nester said as he handed her the energy bar. "It's peanut butter flavor."

She took the bar and looked at it for a moment. "Do you want to share it?" Scully offered.

"I'm not hungry right now. I have two more for later. You obviously need it more than I do," Nester replied.

Scully was immediately defensive. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Nester tilted his head and stared at her. "Are you serious? Let me count off the reasons … 1. Your stomach is growling. 2. Your concentration is off and 3. You're getting bitchy … all signs of food deprivation. So don't argue and just eat it." He walked over to the wall and slid down into a seating position.

Scully stared at him, feeling the urge to argue, but finally just gave in. I hardly think I'm getting bitchy. She tore open the wrapper and took a bite of the bar. The consistency was thick and very chewy and tasted mildly like over-processed peanut butter. It reminded her of chewing on a thick piece of beef jerky, and just the thought of what she had in her mouth made her feel like gagging. She started to cough uncontrollably.

"Ughh, this thing is disgusting," Scully coughed as she made several attempts to swallow what was in her mouth.

Nester looked over at her in surprise. "What? Are you serious? Peanut Butter is my favorite flavor."

"Whatever," she replied as she stared at the bar in the darkness. The thought of taking another bite of it was making her stomach turn. "You actually eat these things?"

"I love them."

"Ugh," she moaned as she sniffed the bar. She rolled her eyes. "I don't know if I can eat it."

"Well, I don't think you have much choice. I don't see anything else available," Nester replied smartly. "You haven't eaten anything all day. That bar is good for you. It's chock full of vitamins to sustain you. Stop being so picky! Buck up!"

"I ate breakfast," Scully retorted.

"Yeah, when was that …" He looked at his watch. "Twelve hours ago?"

Scully scowled and forced herself to eat the rest of the bar. She ate it slowly and was thankful that he couldn't see her face as she choked it down. He was right about her need to eat it … although she would never admit it. No reason to give him any more ammo to gloat over. She glanced at her watch and noted the time, 8:32. Shit, we've only been down here four hours? It's going to be a long night.

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Lead Mine under Bunker Hill Golf Course

11:30 p.m.

"Scully, wake up," Nester called softly as he shook her gently. She was lying on her side on the cavern floor covered in his suit coat.

She swatted his hand away and moaned slightly. Nester smirked at her response and tried again. "Scully, come on, wake up."

"Noo…. Just five more minutes," she mumbled incoherently. "pleasse, Bill?"

Bill? Nester thought, who the frick is Bill? Is he going to keep her warm when she's frozen solid? Nester shook his head and decided he needed to be a little more forceful this time. Her face and hands were cold to the touch. She needed to get up and start moving around.

"Scully!" he called sternly. He pulled the coat away and shook her shoulder more forcefully. He watched her eyelids flutter open and he pulled her upper arm toward him until she was in a sitting position.

'What?" She whined, struggling to keep her eyes open.

"Come on, get up. It's too cold for you to be sitting still. You keep falling asleep," Nester said. He wasn't sure if he was even registering with her because she seemed too out of it. Nester pulled Scully into the cradle of his right knee and held her in an upright position with his right arm. He reached into his pant pocket and pulled out a packet of Power Gel. It was a liquid version of the Power Bar, full of carbohydrates, electrolytes and caffeine. He held the packet in his left hand and ripped the seal off with his teeth.

Scully was slumped against his leg, her head rolled back on his thigh, mouth gaped open. Nester gently pulled her jaw down to open her mouth farther and squirted the strawberry flavored liquid into it.

"Scully, swallow that," he said to her as he gently pushed her mouth closed.

"Strawberry ice cream," she whispered after she swallowed.

Nester rolled his eyes, "Yeah, right. Why am I stuck down here with her? I'm not good at this sensitive shit", he muttered under his breath. "Come on, get up." He pushed her forward and stood up behind her. He pulled her up and wrapped his arm around her torso.

"Come on Dana. You need to walk," he repeated sternly.

"I can't, Nester. I'm tired," she cried as she stumbled forward.

"You can and you will… That's an order Agent!" Nester yelled, finally grabbing her attention.

She gasped for breath and rocked her head to the side. "You can't give me orders," she remarked trying to get her bearings.

"I can if it means the difference between you being bitchy or freezing to death," he replied flatly. "Come on, let's walk…..you'll thank me for this later."

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Lead Mine under Bunker Hill Golf Course

12:05 a.m.

"Do you still have that other Power Bar?"

"I thought you said they were gross."

Scully pursed her lips. "Yeah, well, when you're starving you can't be choosy," she arched her eyebrows at him. She could barely see him in the darkness, but it gave her some silent satisfaction to react to his comments.

"Its banana flavored," Nester said as he handed it to her.

"It that a bad thing?"

"No, it's my other favorite flavor," he replied. "It's actually better than the peanut butter."

"Really?" She tapped the bar on the palm of her hand before opening it. "Want to share it?" She tore the wrapper open and offered part of it to him.

"Do you have any more Tylenol?" Nester asked her as he took a bite of the bar.

"Yeah," she slipped her hand in her blazer pocket and pulled out another packet. "Shit," she mumbled and began to pat her other blazer pockets.

"What's wrong?" Nester asked, mildly concerned.

"Where is my ID?" she asked no one in particular.

"Like I know? Where did you have it last?" Nester said savoring his Power Bar.

"I thought I had it in my ..." she mumbled as she padded her blazer placket. "Oh, wait, it's in my coat pocket."

"At the office?"

"No it's in the rental," she replied with a hint of irritation in her voice.

"Your coat is the in rental?" Nester asked her.

"Yes," Scully replied. Didn't I just say that? she thought. Now that she had some carbs in her, she was feeling a bit more punchy.

"Did you lock the doors when you got out of the car?" Nester asked her.

"No, didn't you? You had the remote," Scully scoffed. "Why?"

"If I was a police officer in this city … and drove into the golf course parking lot tonight …. I'd find it odd that a truck was parked in the lot in the middle of winter," Nester replied flicking on the flashlight. "Maybe a curious officer will find your coat and ID and call Poppa D." He pointed the light in her general direction and caught her rolling her eyes.

"Doubtful," she remarked and shrugged her shoulders. "You're talking about a police department that didn't put the city's name on the crime report for an unidentified dead body or take any pictures of the crime scene!" She threw her hands up in frustration, raising her voice slightly. "What makes you think they would find our rental car parked in a golf course parking lot in the middle of winter suspicious?"

Nester was silent for a moment, and then walked away from her. He wasn't in the mood to argue…he had a headache, his arm was throbbing and he was dying for a glass of water. He leaned against the wall and tilted his head to the side, deep in thought.

"How many clips do you have with you?" he asked.

"One."

"The one in your gun?"

"Yes …. Planning on some target practice?" she asked with a sarcastic tone.

"I was just thinking … I have two clips. With your one... that's 36 bullets,' Nester remarked as Scully looked at him perplexed. "We could start shooting out the hole, like once every fifteen minutes or so. Eventually someone would have to hear it and call the police. Then, in theory, they would find us when they investigate."

Scully pondered it for a moment and then began to laugh hysterically at how stupid it sounded. "Oh my god, I think the Power Bar has gone to your head," she choked out trying to catch her breath.

"What? It's a reasonable idea," Nester replied defensively.

Scully starting laughing again and took a breath to steady her voice. "In theory maybe," she paused and sighed. "Nester … in the same way that the cops won't find it slightly suspicious that our car is parked at a golf course in the middle of winter … shooting all of our bullets out of the hole is not going to entice the police to come looking for us. Oh, okay … let's say someone does report shots fired in the neighborhood. What cop is going to get out of his car in the middle of the night and traipse around a golf course when it is fricken freezing out? At best all they're going to do is drive down the street and swing their spot light around … which does us absolutely no good because the line of sight from the green to the street is obstructed by the trees. Which is why, as you stated earlier, the killer dumped the body here!"

Nester considered her argument for a moment and started laughing himself. After he and Scully shared a laughing attack, he sighed and took several ragged breaths. "I'm really glad you talked me out of that," he gasped. "You know how much paperwork that would be trying to explain why I had to discharge my weapon?"

Scully stared at him and started laughing again.

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Bunker Hill Golf Course parking lot

1:17 am

"Five Five Adam to Central."

"Go ahead Five Five Adam."

"Run a license plate check on Illinois tag, Nora, XRay, Zero, One. Vehicle is parked at Bunker Hill."

"Five Five Adam, that vehicle was logged by Five Five Charlie on Third Watch, registered to Archer Chrysler Jeep Galena IL on a Black 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee."

"Ten four. Make a note in the log to contact the dealer in the morning and find out what it's doing over here. It's 28 degrees out … not like anyone is out on the course tonight."

"Ten four Five Five Adam."

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Lead Mine under Bunker Hill Golf Course

2:01 am

Nester jogged in place, shaking his arm to keep the blood circulating in an effort to get his body temperature back to normal. He and Scully had been alternating between jogging and walking the past couple of hours to stay warm and fend off any frostbite. The temperature in the tunnels had dropped considerably in the last couple of hours, although he was sure that it was significantly warmer than the surface temperature.

He watched Scully wander mindlessly up the north tunnel. He was worried about her. The early stages of hypothermia were starting to show. She was lethargic, stumbled as she walked, and shivered uncontrollably at times. Nester had given her his suit jacket to wear over her own blazer and sweater, but it wasn't much protection from the cold. Her lack of nourishment probably wasn't helping much either…. the little food that she had eaten throughout the day wasn't fueling her body. The Power Bars had helped, but her metabolism had slowed and he feared that her systems were starting to shut down to conserve heat.

He looked down at his watch as she made her way back toward him. It was just after two a.m. He sighed and started to move down the east tunnel.

"Nester, can I ask you something," Scully called to him.

"Yeah?" Nester replied, his voice a little ragged. He turned back toward her voice and jogged in place while waiting for the question.

"Why do guys … say stupid things during sex?" Scully asked bluntly.

The question hit him from left field and caught him completely off guard. They had talked about a variety of topics throughout the night, but sex wasn't one of them. In fact, Scully never talked about 'that' type of stuff with him, and the question was making him a little uneasy. "Define stupid things," he replied as he jogged back to where she was standing. .

"Like …." she paused for a moment trying to think of one besides the one Cramer had used on her. "Who's your Daddy"?

Nester chuckled as he slowed his breathing. "Oh, those stupid things … well, some women think that's a turn on."

"What woman would find that a turn on?" Scully retorted.

"Some do," he replied shrugging his shoulders.

"Like who? Tramps?" she growled under her breath.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say that …. I guess I would describe them as uninhibited."

"Do you say those things?"

Nester hesitated a minute. "Are we talking about me specifically or men in general?" He flicked the flashlight on her trying to figure out her motive.

Scully just rolled her eyes. "I'm just trying to figure out why anyone would think that would be a turn on."

Nester took a deep breath. "It's more like… guys think that women find it a turn on," Nester explained, hoping he was making some sense.

"Why do guys think that?"

Where is she going with this? he wondered as he formulated his answer. "Because they watch porn and women on porn dig that kind of thing…so they think that real women get into that as well," Nester replied.

Scully didn't reply and the silence between the two was deafening. Nester shifted his weight on his feet nervously and leaned back against the tunnel wall, still trying to figure out why she'd brought it up.

"Do you say that stuff to your women?" she repeated.

"That's kinda personal," he replied, still trying to dodge the question.

"Just answer the question," she replied flatly.

"Sometimes," he replied slowly. "like I said, some women like it."

'Well how do you know if they like it?" Scully asked, still trying to understand.

"Sometimes they'll give me a sign by saying things to me or I just test the waters…if I don't get slapped, then I figure it's okay," he replied and then asked his own question. "Why are you bringing this up? Mulder say something you didn't like?"

"We aren't talking about Mulder," Scully snapped. "I just wanted to know, that's all."

"No… you didn't just want to know … you had your reasons," Nester replied shaking his head. You aren't getting off the hook that easy, he thought. "If it's not Mulder, then I'm guessing it had to do with your boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend," she replied and walked away from him. "Just drop it … forget I asked."

Nester followed her down the tunnel. "Ughhh uhh, you aren't getting off that easy. Ok, he's not your boyfriend anymore because you dumped him on the phone in the john at Stillman's. I get that," Nester called after her. "What I'd like to know is why? What happened? One minute you're flaunting your relationship around the office and then suddenly it's over? It doesn't make sense."

"I don't want to talk about it," Scully said over her shoulder, and continued to walk down the mining shaft.

Nester took two steps and caught her by the elbow. He backed her up against the wall and put the full court press on her. "I don't believe that. You say you don't want to talk about it … but I think you do. You throw just enough line out there to get us interested, but then you get cold feet and retreat."

Scully tried to walk away from him, but he caught her by the arm again. "Why are you afraid to talk about it with me? Because you know I'm just going to give you an unbiased straight answer and not tippytoe around the issue?" He pointed the flashlight at her face and her expression said it all. "I hit the nail on the head, didn't I?" he smiled smugly at her.

Scully pulled her arm away from him. She tried to walk away again but he blocked her with his body. He kept the flashlight on her face and stared her down, forcing her to face the demons rumbling inside her. She needs to talk this out once and for all, otherwise she's going to have a major melt down… I can deal with her angry, but crying? Not, Nester thought as he forced her to look him in the eye. She held his stare for a moment and then looked away into the darkness.

"What do you want to know?" she muttered softly.

"What happened?" Nester asked as he backed off her.

"He fucked me," she replied flatly.

Right … I find that hard to believe, Nester pondered her response for a second. Cramer doesn't seem to be the violent type, and you could kick my ass if you had some food in ya. "What do you mean by that exactly? Did it just not go the way you wanted or did something else happen?"

Scully paused before answering and then took a deep breath. "It just didn't go the way I wanted it."

"Okay … now we're getting somewhere…So, start over, from the beginning. From after you got your orders from Kirsch?"

"Rick gave me a ride home from work and stayed at my apartment to 'have lunch' with me … at least his version of lunch," she chuckled at how stupid she sounded. Nester said nothing. He just stood there and listened to her story.

"I was in the bedroom packing and he … came in … and we started kissing. I wasn't really in the mood for 'it' because I didn't have a lot of time. He was persistent. I tried to get into it. It didn't work. Before I knew it, he was on top of me ….." she choked out a sob and took a breath to steady her voice. "It was over before it started. Then he made one of those stupid comments and I asked him to leave."

Nester crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "Was that the first time you had sex with him?"

"That's kinda personal isn't it?" Scully replied, not wanting to answer.

Nester chuckled. "Just answer the question."

"Yes."

"Well, that explains a lot," Nester replied nodding his head. "You do understand that when men don't get 'it' often … they can't last very long. It doesn't matter how many times they jerk off at home … getting the real thing is just different. Hot, tight, wet … you just lose control very quickly," Nester replied calmly. He looked at her and noticed her body posture was still rigid. The silence between them was a little uncomfortable, and he felt like he needed to say something else.

"It makes perfect sense why "it" didn't go the way you wanted, especially for your first time with him," Nester continued. "We all want the movie sex that's perfectly choreographed where everyone is satisfied … but… ummm… it doesn't work that way. I'm sure he was embarrassed about it... shit, I'm embarrassed for him just hearing it." Nester sighed and suddenly remembered Dris and Mulder's "mission". Frick! They are going to kick the crap out of the guy for nothing now, he thought as he reached in his pocket for his cell phone. He smirked when he remembered that he couldn't do a damn thing about it anyway. Oh..yeah, no signal, he thought as he started laughing.

Scully was quiet for a minute. "Yeah, well it doesn't excuse it," Scully said, still looking down at the ground.

"The comment that he made or lack of performance?" He looked over at her and caught her eye and acknowledgement in the light beam. "What did he say, anyway?"

She hesitated and then looked up at the top of the cavern. "Something about how he would tell our sons how great I was in the sack," she replied, avoiding eye contact with Nester.

"Ouch! Yeah, that was tasteless," Nester replied nodding.

"In more ways than one," Scully muttered under her breath feeling her body trembling again.

"What do you mean?"

She bit her lip and hesitated again. "I can't have children," she blurted out and then took another breath to steady herself.

"Hmmm, did Cramer know that?" Nester quizzed her. He watched her shake her head. "Well, I'm sure if he had, he wouldn't have said it. Like I said, guys like Cramer watch a lot of porn, and they think that's what women want to hear. He probably thought he was being romantic in an odd way, or maybe he was trying to compensate for his inadequacies. I'm sure it wasn't one of his more stellar moments either."

Scully said nothing in reply. Nester could see her trembling and saw the tears sliding down her face. He felt like he needed to do something. "So … that's why you don't want to talk to the guy anymore?" He watched her nod again but could tell that something else was bothering her.

"Okaay," he replied slowly trying to figure out what was wrong. "That is hardly a reason to hate the guy." He watched her expression and flashed the light toward her face. Her expression told the real story of why she was upset. "Its not him that you're mad at, is it?"

Scully shook her head. "I did nothing to stop it," she whispered barely audible.

"I don't think you had a lot of opportunity to," he offered.

"I just gave in and let him …" She ran her tongue over her lip and tried to steady her voice.

Ughh, it's that sensitive shit again! Nester scowled and tried to think of something to say. "Look … you're over-thinking it," Nester stammered, trying to redirect the conversation. I'm sure Mulder and Dris totally bought that victim song and dance from her, he thought quickly.

"You didn't give in and he didn't take advantage of you … what you are feeling is REGRET! Don't tell me this is the first time you've screwed someone and regretted it later!" Nester fired back at her.

"You don't know!" she screamed back at him. "You weren't there."

"You just said that you tried to get into it. So are you saying now that he dragged you over to the bed, forced himself on you, that you lay there and did nothing?" Nester yelled back at her, baiting her anger. God, I feel like I'm interrogating a prisoner, not one of my closest friends. he thought. She isn't going to win this argument with me.

"NO!" she retorted. "When I couldn't get into it, I gave in."

"And at what point was that exactly?"

"What?"

"When did you decide you weren't into it? Before you started the naked pretzel act or after?" Nester inquired. Their voices were still raised and echoing in the tunnel.

"What does that have to do with it?"

Nester chuckled already knowing the answer. Geezus, she's a horrible poker player! "Because if it was before you crawled between the sheets ... then I would have to agree with your statement that you were fucked. But if it was after, then …."

"THEN WHAT?" Scully retorted totally annoyed with him.

Nester paused a moment and lowered his tone to a normal conversational level. "Then I'm right and all you are feeling is regret!" he replied flatly, gloating on the inside. Ha! So there!

He watched Scully's reaction to his comment. Her face flushed and tears were brimming in her eyes again. He could see that she was totally pissed off because he didn't buy the victim story. She turned away from him quickly and retreated down the east tunnel. Nester watched her walk away and smiled smugly to himself. Sorry if the truth hurts, he thought triumphantly. He walked the other direction, heading back toward the fault zone and started to jog again.

Nester gave her the space she needed for a while, but finally went looking for her after an hour when she didn't come back to fault zone. He found her sitting near the cliff at the end of the east tunnel. As he approached, he heard a choking-gurgling sound coming from her body and could see her body shaking. Concern shot across his face and he quickened his pace toward her. He stepped behind her and realized she wasn't choking.

"Are you laughing?" he asked her, feeling relief and surprise all at the same time.

"Maybe," she replied looking up at him. She turned around on the ground and started to stand up. Nester watched her struggle for a second and put his hand out to help her.

"Anything you want to share?"

She stared at him for a second and shook her head. "Why do you have to be an ass?" she replied as she leaned against the wall.

"Cuz I'm good at it," he replied smugly. "You needed to get that out, don't deny it." He could tell she was still mad about something though. "So do you feel better?"

"No," she relied curtly.

"Now what?"

"I'm still mad that I gave into him. I had held him off about having sex for weeks," Scully said as she stuck her hands under her armpits.

"Don't waste your energy on that … give-ins are a fact of life. You've given in to me about eight times today," Nester grumbled as he started jumping around, trying to get the blood flowing again.

"I have not," Scully retorted staring at him.

"Yes, you have," he replied. "You gave in to me by letting me drive, at McDonalds, walking on the golf course when you nearly fell on the ice, down here when I gave you the Power Bar, running sprints, having this conversation with me …"

"Aghh, all right … enough," she waved her hand. "You've made your point." She pulled the blazer closer to her body and ran her hands across her upper arms. "I'm freezing," she mumbled as her teeth chattered.

Nester stopped jumping and looked over at her. The temperature was probably in the 30's in the shaft by this point. He could see his breath as he exhaled. Nester stepped over to her, wrapped his arm around her and ran his hand across her neck and down her back. "Don't think I'm trying to come on to you … I'm just trying to warm you up. Geezus, you're an icicle," he exclaimed as her cold body collided with his slightly warm one. "Come on, you need to start moving again." He turned her around and started walking with her up the shaft.

They made their way up the shaft and then turned and walked back. As Scully stopped shivering, Nester ran his hand over the back her neck again, checking her body temperature. She was starting to feel warmer. .

"Can I ask you a question?" Nester asked as he felt her relax.

"For my unbiased opinion?" Scully quipped.

"Yeah, something like that … why did you start dating Cramer in the first place?"

"Ummmm… I was …." Scully stammered.

"Jealous?" Nester finished the sentence for her.

"Yeah."

"Yeah, well, you had that completely wrong. He isn't interested in her like that," Nester replied trying to minimize Mulder's connection with "the fowl". "But why Bug Man? Why not Manders or Tyson ….. or even Pender? They are all good looking, normal guys. What made you think that 'Buggie' was the one?"

Scully laughed. "I don't know," she replied. "I guess he just asked at the right time."

"Hmmmm, interesting," Nester said looking at her quizzically. "Did he ever show you his bug collection?" he asked getting one more jab in.

Scully gave him a disgusted look. "Just drop it, okay? Enough with the smart ass act."

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Lead Mine under Bunker Hill Golf Course

4:35 am

Scully rubbed her hands together and steepled her fingers in front of her face. "I'm not going to make it, Nester," she stated as her whole body trembled uncontrollably. She was certain her toes were frozen and thought she could feel her blood running cold in her veins.

"What? You're kidding, right?" Nester said looking at her in disbelief. "We've been down here 12 hours. The sun will rise in less than three … and you're admitting defeat? The worst is over, baby."

"Nester, just because the sun is going to rise doesn't mean we're going to be rescued."

"Yes it does … There's a lot better chance than in the middle of the night," Nester replied as they walked around the cavern.

"How do you figure?" Scully mumbled.

"Because at some point this morning, Poppa D is going to arrive in the office and wonder where the frick we are. He will ask Agent Jasper, who hopefully will tell him when he last saw us and where we were going. Then they'll find us."

"You hope," Scully replied as she gasped for a breath.

"Well, if no one shows up by 8:02, I'm going to shoot out the hole," he replied, chuckling sadistically.

"I'll write up the report for you," Scully quipped. They walked a few more steps in silence until Scully's stomach growled.

"You hungry again?" Nester asked her.

"Again? I never stopped being hungry," Scully answered.

Nester dug into his coat pocket and handed her a packet of Power Gel. "Here," he handed it to her.

"What's this?" she looked at him quizzically.

"Power Gel, it's the liquid form of a Power Bar," Nester replied matter-of-factly.

Scully stopped walking and looked at the packet in the flashlight beam. The packet contained a syrupy white liquid. "Do you know what this looks like?"

"Huh?"

"Nester!"

"What? I gave you some earlier when you were delusional … the strawberry stuff. You said it tasted like strawberry ice cream."

"I thought I had dreamt that," Scully said staring at the packet. "This looks like…semen."

"Whatever," Nester retorted. "Don't act like you've never swallowed it."

Scully started laughing and tried to gag.

"Don't worry," Nester replied sarcastically. "It's good for you."

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Lead Mine under Bunker Hill Golf Course

5:07 am

Nester walked the length of the mine shaft for what seemed like the 1000th time that night. He had his arm around Scully, leading her through the motions, trying to keep her warm. It was his duty as her friend to do this. He felt obligated to do this because if he let anything happen to her … Mulder would kill him. Of course dying at Mulder's hand would probably beat freezing to death any day, he mused as he pulled his arm from Scully's shoulders and shoved his hand in his pocket. He ran his fingers across the hem of the pocket and felt a hard square object stuck within the folds. He fingered it gingerly and then carefully pulled it from the hiding place.

"What the …." he muttered as he pulled the object from him pocket. He looked down at his palm and stopped walking. "Fuck me."

Scully stopped walking a couple of steps in front of him and turned around to face him. She turned the flashlight and saw the bewildered expression on his face.

"What?" she asked.

He opened his palm. "I have lighter…it was stuck in the liner of my coat."

Scully looked at him as tears brimmed in her eyes. It was better than winning the lottery … a lighter was the key to warmth, and right now, that was all she really cared about. She knew inside that she should have been mad at him. Maybe she would have been mad at him if he would have produced it at 8 or 9 o'clock last night, but right this second it was the difference between life and dying a slow, horribly cold death.

Scully grabbed his hand and starting pulling him toward the fault zone at the cave-in. "Let's find something to burn," she whispered breathlessly.

TBC