*~*~*~*~*~*
Connected
by Lovesfox
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lovesfox@rogers.com

Headers in Part 1

***
Part 2 of 12

Unknown Location
Unknown Date & Time

Scully winced as she heard Mulder grunt again, in what had 
to be pain.  Once it had been discovered that the door they 
had found was not locked but still would not open, he had 
insisted on attempting to ram it by himself.  His supposition 
was that it was being blocked by something on the other side, 
in an effort to stall them further.  For an as yet unknown 
reason.

"Mulder, let me help," she tried to reason.  For the third 
or fourth time.  Her partner was nothing if not stubborn.  
"Two of us are a lot stronger than one."

He was breathing heavily, clearly winded, and possibly
injured from his several attempts.  But she knew he hated 
to admit defeat.

Surprisingly, he capitulated, though he had to joke about it 
first.  "What?  You don't like my manly display here, Scully?" 

Shaking her head to herself as Mulder could not see her, she 
declined to answer, and a moment later he murmured, "Come 
here, Scully."

It didn't occur to her then, but even with the total darkness 
of the room, she found his outstretched hand easily.

Mulder positioned her beside him, so that she would have been 
staring at his back if she had been able to see, telling her 
to lean in with her shoulder.  "On the count of three," he 
said, "Rush the door with me."

"Got it," she said, and took a few deep breaths to ready 
herself.  Her headache had mostly disappeared, but she still 
felt off -- like her head was stuffed with cotton.  Thick, 
and fuzzy, with a steady buzzing noise like a low hum.

Mulder started counting, and on three, Scully moved forward, 
sensing her partner doing the same.

THUD.

Pain was like a starburst in her shoulder, radiating down 
her arm and through her chest.  No wonder Mulder had been 
grunting.  Using one's shoulder to force a door open hurt!  
She couldn't help stopping and bending, cradling her arm by 
cupping her elbow with her other hand.  Blinking back the 
tears that had sprung to her eyes.

CRACK.

Mulder had obviously not stopped.  After a few more thuds, 
she heard splintering sounds and then felt a rush of air as 
the door finally burst open.

Extremely weak, hazy light filled the space beyond the room 
they had been held in.

Slowly letting go of her elbow, she brought her hand up to 
shade her eyes, once again blinking rapidly.  Adjusting to 
the light, as scant as it was, after utter blackness.

A shadowy blur that she knew to be Mulder stepped over the 
threshold and out of their prison.  "Careful, Scully," he 
said, and held out his hand to her.

Taking a step forward, she slipped her fingers into his, 
gripping his hand tightly, and walked out of the room.  
Releasing her hold once free of the door frame, she turned 
around to study the area.

Their teamwork had been successful.

She was too sore to gloat, and knew it would only make the 
going rougher with him pouting, or arguing that he had 
weakened it with all his previous attempts.  And who knows, 
maybe he had.

"Let's get the hell out of here, Scully," Mulder said,
pulling her from her musings.

She wondered where 'here' was.  

What light there was came from holes in the floor above, 
and tiny casement windows high up near the ceiling.  Looking 
around, it appeared they were in a warehouse of some sort.  
There was a feel of disuse about the place, and of 
abandonment.  Not to mention the obvious signs of clutter 
and debris.  Broken wooden pallets were piled in several 
spots, covered with dust and grime, probably years worth.

They found a staircase, dilapidated and rickety, at one end.  
The lack of significant windows had led them to assume they
were in the basement of the building -- again -- and that 
they had no choice but to risk the stairs.

Mulder insisted on going first.  He took hold of the railing 
and shook it, ensuring it was secure, before taking his first 
step.  Scully watched nervously as he climbed, placing his 
feet carefully, testing each stair by bouncing his weight 
slightly.

She exhaled noisily when his voice floated down to her.  
"Clear, Scully.  Stick to the inside like I did."

It was difficult not to hurry up the stairs, both from nerves 
and eagerness to be out of the basement and the building 
itself.  Though there was still the unknown beyond -- they 
had no idea where they might have been brought, whether they 
were in D.C, or elsewhere.

Once they had walked several feet it was clear they were now 
on the ground floor.  There were more signs that it was an 
abandoned building, though less debris lay about.  

The windows were black and gray with grime, but some sun 
shone through regardless, letting them know it was still 
daytime.

Scully looked at her watch.  Not quite three in the afternoon. 
But which afternoon?  "Mulder, does your watch give the date 
as well?"

Her partner had been poking around a smaller room off the 
wide hallway they were walking along.  He came out saying, 
"It's still Monday, so we only lost a few hours, as opposed 
to a day.  Or more."

Only a few hours.  How comforting.

"Anything in there?" she asked, nodding her head towards the 
'office' he had just checked out.

"Busted chair in one corner, lotta dust and some animal 
droppings that scared me with their size."

Scully rolled her eyes, fighting a smile - more at the 
crooked grin he wore than his words.  Knowing that her 
partner was merely attempting to lighten the situation 
any way he could.

She had been hoping for some hint or clue as to where they 
were -- the few attempts at looking through broken windows 
had shown only a rather hilly but barren landscape, with no 
signs of life beyond the odd stand of trees or bush.  It 
seemed very unlikely they were going to find anything.

Mulder's next words eerily echoed her thoughts. "I don't 
think we're going to learn anything here, Scully.  We'll 
have to use our G-man and G-woman wits."

This time she did smile, in agreement and acknowledgement 
of his repartee, and nodded her head.  "After you."

"Onward, ho," was his response, before starting off 
towards what they believed was an exit.

***

Once outside, and once they had adjusted to the bright 
sunlight, Scully asked him to lift his shirt.

Mulder couldn't resist a tease.  Waggling his eyebrows, he 
said, "Note to self.  Imprisonment makes Scully frisky."

Her huff of irritation was only partly real, he knew.  
Grinning, he pushed his jacket aside and yanked his shirt 
out of his waistband, on the side where he had been 
'pinched'.

Scully stood to his left and bent slightly at the waist, 
tilting her head to the side.  This placed her just inches 
from his groin, which had him biting his tongue on a much 
cruder comment.  He crossed many lines with her all the 
time, but hadn't yet gone that far.

Cool fingers touched his skin then as she tucked them 
inside, and he startled.  She pulled the waistband of his 
pants down further and took his boxers along for the ride.

"Ticklish?" she queried semi-absently, now much closer to 
him.  So close that her breath rose a rash of goosebumps 
over his skin.

"Uh...yeah," he answered, fighting a shiver.  Let her think 
that was the reason, it was safer that way.

"Damn it!" she exclaimed suddenly.  One finger lightly 
traced a spot just above his hip, and he sucked in his next 
breath in reaction.  "That's definitely an injection site."

Straightening, she matter-of-factly untucked her shirt on 
her right side and pulled the band of her pants down.  
Baring her shapely hip and the spaghetti-thin strap of her 
panties.

Thong, if he was not mistaken.

Swallowing noisily, he managed to quip, "Frohike's gonna be 
soooo jealous."

"No, he isn't," she stated in a warning tone of voice,
eyebrow arched high.  

"Just kidding, Scully."  He stepped closer and bent as she 
had, peering at her smooth, soft-looking skin.  With the 
afternoon shadows, it was hard to make out any imperfections, 
and he had to lean in even closer.   

A faint redness caught his eye, and he brought his hand up, 
index finger touching lightly.  And there it was -- a small 
white dot in the midst of a slightly larger reddened circle 
of flesh.

Mulder let his thumb rub the spot briefly, before 
straightening and moving back, meeting her gaze.  "Why 
aren't I surprised, Scully?"

There was no need for her to reply.  After she had righted 
her clothes, he suggested that they check the perimeter of 
the building.

Doing so confirmed that the structure, almost certainly a 
warehouse, was indeed abandoned, and actually falling down 
in some places.  They had also discovered that there was no 
sign of any other buildings for as far as their eyes could 
see.

It looked like they had quite the hike in front of them. 
And a good portion of it downhill, as the warehouse was 
located atop a significant rise in the landscape.  Amidst 
other hills. 

"Hope you wore your hikin' shoes, partner," he remarked 
with mock-enthusiasm.  Standing a few feet from the torn-up 
blacktop they were about to follow, Mulder frowned as he 
scanned the area.  Rough terrain, neither of them were in 
top form, and the sun would be setting in a few short hours.  
Not to mention the fact that his partner was wearing two-inch 
heels. "We'd better start out, Scully."

He turned and watched Scully heave herself off of the wood 
pile she had sat down on for a brief rest.  After brushing 
her pants off, she met his gaze, her face calm, but her eyes 
showed her disquiet.

"We can do it, Scully," he said quietly, and wrangled a very 
small smile from her.

Her chin lifted as she moved to stand beside him, shoulders 
squared.  "Piece of cake," she replied staunchly, attempting 
to match his confidence.

Those were two of the many traits he had always admired 
about Scully -- her stoicism and her determination.  He 
depended on those traits, had been bolstered by them on 
countless occasions.

Rubbing his belly, he playfully groaned, "Why did you have 
to go and mention food?"  Now that the effects of the gas 
seemed to have worn off, he was feeling rather hungry.  
Though his head had yet to clear.

Her smile widened, seemed more natural.  "Come on, Mulder, 
let's move."  With that, she started off.

Smiling himself, he followed her.

They hiked roughly a mile or so in silence, until Scully 
nearly turned an ankle when she stepped on a loose piece 
of road.  Cursing, his partner hobbled to the side, sitting 
down on a convenient boulder.

Mulder hustled to her side and crouched in front of her, 
watching her rub her ankle.  "You okay, Scully?" he asked 
anxiously.  "It's not broken, is it?"  

In his mind he was running through their options if her 
ankle was broken -- her staying behind while he continued 
on to get help or him carrying her the whole way.  Neither 
was appealing, but there was no chance he would leave her 
alone.

"No," she sighed, looking at him woefully.  "It's not 
broken.  I just turned it on a chunk of pavement."  
Stretching her leg out in front of her, she rotated her 
foot, wincing a little.  "Give me a couple minutes."

"Sure, Scully," Mulder said, and got to his feet.  Turning, 
he surveyed the brush to their left, hoping to spot a 
suitable-sized branch she might be able to use as a walking 
stick.  Nothing.  He crossed the road, looking down into 
the small gully on the right side, and spied a couple of
likely candidates.  

"Be right back, Scully," he called, and made his way down 
into the depression.

Picking up the first branch, he found looks could definitely 
be deceiving.  After testing it by leaning his weight on it 
and having it snap, he discarded it and moved on.  

A few minutes later he found one that was a good four inches 
thick, and cautiously leaned into it.  When it held firm, he 
quickly stripped the tiny off-shoots from the branch and 
brushed away the dirt and leaves that had been clinging to 
it.

He used it to climb the small hill back to the road.  
Glancing at Scully he saw she was putting her shoe back 
on, a grimace on her face.  Nearly slipping on a patch of 
loose gravel, he looked down as he caught his balance.

<<blisters>>

At the top, and on reasonably solid terra firma in the 
shape of pavement, he glanced at Scully again.  He hadn't 
caught all of her last statement.  "What did you say, 
Scully?" he asked as he walked across the road to her 
boulder.

"Hmmm?" she murmured, looking up at him, a puzzled look on 
her face.  "I didn't say anything."

Mulder frowned.  "You said something about blisters," he 
stated semi-confidently.

She blinked and her mouth opened, but no sound emerged.  
After a few seconds she spoke. "I didn't say anything, 
Mulder," she repeated.  "I had been thinking to myself 
that I wished I hadn't worn my new shoes this morning 
because they're giving me blisters."

He would swear she had said it out loud and that he just 
hadn't been paying attention.  Scully had that obstinate 
look on her face, the one that said there was no way in 
hell she was changing her mind.  Rather than start an 
argument -- as it would be a very long walk in silence if 
he did -- he acquiesced, shrugging his shoulders.

Still, he couldn't resist mumbling, "Maybe you didn't 
realize you said it out loud."

"Mulder-"

"Never mind," he said quickly, thrusting the improvised 
walking stick at her.  "Here.  You can use this branch to 
help you navigate."

The perturbed look faded away, to be replaced by one of 
gratitude.  "Thank-you, Mulder," she said softly.

"No sweat," he told her, and held out his hand to help 
her up.

He didn't let go until he was sure she was steady on her 
feet, wincing at her frown when she first put weight on 
her injured foot.  "Set?" he asked.

"Set," she confirmed, and they resumed their hike, Scully 
using her walking stick.

***
End Part 2 of 12