Sanctuary
Athens, Greece
1:10 PM

"Well, well... we've got visitors," Milo whispered, already whistling.

"Milo... manners," Camus rolled his eyes.

Saga and Aiolia smirked. The moment they'd spotted the petite redhead they'd predicted Milo's antics and Camus' inevitable scolding. Saga sighed. – Same old...

"Milo, don't start. That woman already looks spooked enough, you better keep your comments to yourself," Saga warned, though he couldn't quite hide his amusement.

"Yeah, Milo. Keep your hands to yourself, too," Aiolia added, pretending to be serious.

At the overlook, Shura had begun introducing the arriving Saints, but Mulder and Scully weren't paying much attention. Scully was too busy gaping at everything, while Mulder… well, he was starting to genuinelyloathethis place.

"¡Hola! Thought you'd never stop for lunch…"Shura greeted the others."We've got visitors, as you can see."Turning to the agents, he continued the introductions:"The tall one is Saga, Gemini's Gold Saint. The scowling one next to him is Aiolia, Leo's Gold Saint. Camus, Aquarius' Saint, beside him, and Milo, Scorpio's Saint."

The four approached, shaking Mulder's hand. Each did the same with Scully – though Camus, ever the Frenchman, delicately kissed hers. Scully blinked. Normally, she'd bristle at such a gesture, but here? She didn't even try.

"Gentlemen, this is Agent Fox Mulder, and this is Agent Dana Scully. They're with the American FBI," Shura completed the introductions, noting – of course – that his French friend had certainly caught the redhead's attention.

"It's a pleasure to welcome you, though I must say I'm surprised… we don't often get visitors." Saga's tone was kind, but still carried an air of authority.

"Yeah, we weren't expecting to wake up in a place like this either. But I have to admit, it's a lot better than where we were before."

Mulder immediately took a liking to the Gemini Saint. He was the only one not blatantly flirting with Scully and seemed like a serious guy.

"Definitely better," was all Scully managed to say aloud.

"Well..." Saori brought the attention back to herself. "Shall we head down? We can talk more over lunch."

As they descended toward the dining hall, Scully walked silently beside Mulder. Saori led the way with Shaka and Mu, while Shura and the others trailed behind.

"Camus… you shameless bastard." Milo muttered, glaring.

"Pourquoi?" Camus replied, nonchalant.

"You were all over me, telling me not to flirt with the lady – then bam! There's a smug Frenchman laying on the charm just like that!"

"I merely greeted miss Scully the way I deemed appropriate, Milo." Camus didn't seem even slightly bothered.

"Miss? How do you know that? Didn't you see the look on her partner's face? I bet he'd happily eat your heart for lunch..." Milo snapped back.

"I'll give you that, Camus. The guy did look ready to kill you the second you kissed her hand," Aiolia added with a chuckle.

"Yeah, like you when I helped Marin with that trainee last week…" Saga dropped his serious tone for just a moment to poke fun.

Aiolia, already bristling at the memory, didn't even respond.

Up ahead, Mulder brooded. So far, they'd met more and more of these… people? Saints? They clearly had powers, so 'normal' didn't apply. As far as he could tell, there were still five more they hadn't met. He glanced at Scully. What was she thinking – was she thinking? This wasn't the Scully he knew. He hated how petty he felt, but damn it, these men were ridiculously handsome. If roles were reversed – if twelve stunning women kept appearing – how would he react? He should empathize. So why couldn't he?

Before he knew it, they had arrived at the dining hall, where they could finally sit and talk. The round table made it easy for everyone to gather without fuss.

Mulder wasted no time sitting right next to Scully – only to realize the French Saint had done the same.

He felt absurd for caring so much, so he quickly jumped into conversation. He couldn't even think about the possibility that he was jealous.

"Miss Kido, before we came down here, you were telling us about being the reincarnation of the Goddess Athena, right?" Mulder paused briefly, noting that all the Saints around the table seemed completely at ease with this conversation. "So, I'm inclined to believe you must have some kind of... power. Am I right?"

"Power?" Saori repeated, smiling.

"Yes. Like Mu's power," Mulder glanced toward the Aries Saint, who nodded. "He managed to save me and my partner and brought us here through teleportation. That's not exactly a common ability, is it?"

"You're right to think that, Agent Mulder," Saori answered graciously. "Everyone here has one or more abilities that aren't exactly ordinary. But I don't believe I possess powers in the same way."

"Agent Mulder," Saga picked up on Saori's subtle request for help and stepped in. "Let's just say that as the reincarnation of Athena, Saori's very presence is already incredibly significant."

"But Mu mentioned that you knew we were in some kind of danger, and that we should stay here. How do you know that? Is it some kind of telepathic power..."

"Mulder..." Scully cut in, gently. "That's rude. Don't turn these people into subjects of your paranormal research, please."

"But Scully, I need to–"

"It's alright, Agent Scully," Saori reassured her. "It's only natural to be full of doubts. We're quite intrigued by whatever you've been through as well."

She turned back to Mulder.

"Agent Mulder, I don't know if telepathy is the right word for how I sense things. I'd say it's more like intuition, though some intuitions are sharper than others. First, I sensed a massive surge of Cosmo. Then Mu brought you both here. He found you at the exact location where that energy had just erupted."

"In short, I know there are people who want to control that Cosmo. And I don't know if its source is human, divine... or even something we can comprehend. Do you understand my concern? If you were both there – and had contact with whatever that was – there will be people who want you dead."

This time, Saori's expression was much more serious.

Mulder was absolutely floored by the certainty in her words. He hadn't really believed they might die because of what they saw at the South Pole. He imagined something less extreme – like their office being torched, or getting fired from the FBI. But death? That had never felt like a real possibility.

Until now.

What Saori just said made it terrifyingly real. They could be killed – actually killed – because of his personal crusade. He looked at Scully beside him and felt fear like never before for her life.

"Agent Mulder," Saga noticed the fear in his face and decided to reassure him, "You're safe here. And we have the means to make sure that Cosmo never falls into the wrong hands. That's our primary mission."

"And what happens now?" Scully asked, uneasily.

"Now, you're in the best place you could be," Milo said, smiling as if he found the situation slightly amusing. "You'll be kept informed about that... thing you were investigating, which we're investigating too, by the way. And you'll be protected. The outside world has no access to the Sanctuary."

"Whoever's after you probably doesn't even know we exist. But we can learn everything about them."

Milo gave her a quick wink, and Scully couldn't help smiling at the laid-back Greek's tone.

"Now, there's something we really need to know." Camus set down his utensils and turned to face both agents. "How did you end up in Antarctica – and right at that spot? What were you investigating?"

Mulder sighed, and Scully shifted in her chair to get comfortable.

Now it was their turn to tell a very long story.

TO BE CONTINUED...