Falling Chapter 25 Disclosures in Previous Chapters:I make no money from this and the obvious characters are certainly not mine! See previous stories... would be helpful, but not necessary: Quantum The Road Less Traveled Falling For those of you that have stuck this out, thanks! I apologize for the long times between chapters, since that is really uncharacteristic of me! My last surgery was last week, so I am on the mend and ready to write! Thanks again and enjoy! **************************************************** Chapter Twenty-Five Scully continued to bounce on her toes, hoping to force the blood to churn throughout her body as she stood outside of the lone filling station. The snow was falling heavily now and the inside provided little respite from the freezing temperatures. "I think my pee came out frozen." Mulder choffed as he bounded off of the sidewalk towards Scully, a black dot on the white landscape. "I think that classifies as too much information." She said quickly, ducking her lips out of her scarf for literally the length of time she needed to spit the words out. They were waiting to meet their hospital "contact" at the station, the scary dracularian hospital looming in the gray distance of the landscape. If the temperatures weren't enough to cause shivers to dance down Scully's spine, the fortress that spread out before them would certainly do the trick. "You know, at least standing in the store would keep you out of the wetness." Mulder said half-heartedly as he nodded toward the dank building, the stoner behind the counter bundled tighter than the agents in the parking lot. Scully just raised her eyebrows in question. Their motorcycle crossed into Czech territory directly after 8am, the knot that formed in Scully's stomach as they reached the boarder's patrol guards becoming palpable. But, as Mulder did not hesitate to point out, their passports were a breeze and they were granted instant access. Though she refused to admit it to Mulder, the fact that they weren't shackeled in a Czech prison yet did not do much to settle her nerves. "When is your contact showing, Mulder?" she whined for the tenth time. Mulder cut his eyes at her in slight annoyance as he fumbled with a sunflower seed with his bubbled, gloved right hand. He may love her with his entire being, but he could no more control the temp- erature than she could and it wasn't exactly like he vacationed in the north of Germany often. Just as he began to speak, headlights broke through the murky grey blanket and a diesel engine made it's prescence known. Mulder slid her a quick smile as he walked to the edge of the gas station lot to get a better look at the first passers by since they arrived at the station over an hour ago. The headlights belonged to a navy Bronco, obviously imported and was followed by a shiny, much newer red diesel hauling truck. Both trucks filed into the parking lot and SCully began to make her way to Mulder's side, her gloved hand sliding underneath her North Face to the butt of the .357 Magnum at her waist. She made quick eye contact with Mulder and with a slight nod, he told her to keep her distance... to cover him in case this went wrong in any way. The wind continued to howl around them, that white noise that accompanied snow drifts causing Scully to hear nothing. She saw a tall, well built younger man jump out of the diesel truck, straight into the snow and saw a slighter figure slide out of the driver's side of the Bronco. Mulder walked out of her line of sight, towards the side of the Bronco and heard some laughs and talking over the wind. Scully started to edge towards the vehciles, Mulder's name on her lips when he popped back out from behind the truck looking for her. "Come on, Scully. It's fine." he yelled, holding his hand out to her in invitation. As she rounded the huge grate of the Bronco, her stomach dropped and her eyes widened. Mulder was strongly and warmly hugging a tall, thin, young brunette in perfect snow bunny attire. Scully instantly felt like a gummy bear in earmuffs. "Scully! This is Ava and Brian!" Mulder said with jubilation as he released the female and pulled the man from the diesel truck into an embrace. Scully watched the exchange and smiled self-consciously, her hand still resting on her gun. She noted the warm hug shared by the two men.. and how Ava's eyes drifted lazily over Mulder's backside as he strode away. 'Super.' Scully thought as she went to shove her hands back into her down pockets. Ava caught Scully's eyes as she drug them away from Mulder's form, the two women locking gazes for the briefest of moments. Scully, refusing to feel inferior to this statuesque female with an obvious link to Mulder, she held Ava's gaze a little longer than necessary and quirked an eyebrow in question. Ava looked down first. Scully didn't even realize Mulder had walked back over to her until she felt his breath puffing onto her frozen ear and his arm around her down covered back. "Brian has a loft about two kilometers from the hospital. We can go there and defrost, get prepped for showtime." Mulder half spoke, half yelled into her ear over the wind. Scully nodded to him, trying to catch his eye, to run the currents of information that supported their entire communication system, but he was already heading back to Brian, loudly talking and laughing as if with a brother or old friend. "Ava, you women lead the way." Brian yelled as he motioned to the two trucks and patted Mulder towards his red truck. Ava nodded and eyed Scully again as she turned to hop back into the driver's seat of the Bronco. "See ya in a minute." Mulder said as he squeezed her arm. Scully caught his hand as he headed away from her. "Mulder? We are seperating?" Scully asked, panic evident in her voice. "Scully...." Mulder whined. "It's dieselll." he finished like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He raised his eyebrows in silent question as she tried to search his expression for some kind of reassurance. She released his hand as he bounded over to the truck to climb up. She was still standing in the headlights of the Bronco as she watched the red truck swerve around to retrieve Mulder's BMW speed bike from the parking space near the store. A quick "Beep" brought her out of her reviere as Scully realized Ava was waiting on her before she could leave. Scully sprang to motion and made her way to the passenger side of the lifted truck, squashing the brief embarassement she felt flitter into her stomach at her having to hop in order to reach the floorboard. As she slammed the door shut, the heat blasting in the cab made her smile slightly and exhale finally. "So, how long you have you been dating Fox?" Ava's clipped british accent filtered into the silent truck. The accent, the accusation and the use of Mulder's name sent Scully into overdrive, causing her to sit up a little staighter and her eyes to narrow in challenge. 'Bring it on." Scully thought.