From: char@chaffin.com   
      
   ROCKY MOUNTAIN INTERLUDE, Chapter Three   
   By Char Chaffin and Tess   
   MSR, Casefile, AU   
   Rating:  Strong R   
   Spoilers:  FTF, Most of Season Seven   
   Feedback:  to Tnv099@aol.com; char@chaffin.com   
      
   Headers and summary, see Part 1   
      
      
   Chapter Three   
   Millersburg Mine   
   Rocky Mountain Foothills   
      
      
   They spent the remainder of the day hidden from view in the shadows   
   just inside the mouth of the cave.  As the afternoon waned, Mulder's   
   panic and confusion gave way to a tiny niggling of excitement.  In   
   contrast, he could feel the tension pouring from Scully in nearly   
   palpable waves.  She sat on the dirt floor with her knees drawn   
   tightly to her chest.  She had barely said a word in the time since   
   he had proffered the idea that they might have traveled back in time.   
   He knew from years of partnership that Scully would not eagerly   
   embrace this experience and that it would take some time before her   
   natural curiosity asserted itself.  While he fairly itched to leave   
   the shelter of the cave and poke around the unfamiliar surroundings,   
   he knew that they should take the very first opportunity to try to   
   get back to where they belonged.  He had promised her a relaxing   
   vacation and judging by the barely perceptible way she was rocking   
   back and forth, he was sure that this did not qualify as relaxing.   
      
   "Look at your watch!" she hissed. He jumped as her voice broke the   
   heavy silence that had settled between them.  He leaned into a stray   
   beam of sunlight that had penetrated the vegetation hanging over the   
   cave opening and peered at his watch.   
      
   "What am I looking for?"   
      
   "I don't know," she whispered.  "Maybe we're missing time. It might   
   explain what's going on."  She flicked a hand toward the bustling   
   activity of the miners mere yards from where they were hiding.   
      
   Mulder's eyes widened in astonishment and he lowered his mouth to   
   her ear. "Since when do you believe in lost time?"   
      
   She jerked her head away from him.  "If my options are lost time or   
   time travel..." She shrugged bad-temperedly.   
      
   Mulder stifled a sigh and rubbed his hand soothingly over her back.   
   "I didn't look at the time when we came into the cave," he told her.   
   "But judging by the angle of the sun, I think my watch is correct."   
      
   She tapped her forehead rhythmically against her upraised knees.  "I   
   knew you were going to say that."   
      
   "Look," he began, "it'll be dark soon and things should quiet down   
   around here.  As soon as we can, we'll try to find some answers.   
   Okay?"   
      
   She nodded and inched closer to him.  "Sorry," she muttered.  "I   
   don't mean to take it out on you."   
      
   He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and dropped a kiss onto the   
   top of her head.  "It's okay," he soothed.  "We'll figure it out.  We   
   always do."   
      
   She peered up at him doubtfully.   
      
   "Well," he admitted, "we almost always figure it out."   
      
   Scully huffed out a sarcastic laugh and leaned her head against his   
   shoulder.   
      
   "Sometimes," he amended.  "Sometimes we almost always figure it out."   
      
   She turned her cheek against his shirt and inhaled his familiar   
   scent.  Sometimes, she repeated silently.  She didn't like the odds.   
      
   **************   
      
   A shrill whistle startled them out of an uneasy doze.  The sun was   
   quickly sinking behind the mountains, bathing the sky in an ever-   
   darkening purple.  The fading light couldn't penetrate the shadows   
   where they'd hidden themselves and they crawled even closer to the   
   mouth of the cave, watching as man after man streamed out of the mine.   
      
   "End of the shift."  Mulder's voice was barely audible.  Scully   
   nodded silently, her eyes following the men as they dropped their   
   shovels and picks into a large pile before they trudged down the   
   hillside, presumably toward their homes.   
      
   They sat quietly and listened to the sounds of the men's voices   
   fading away and   waited an interminable length of time, straining   
   their ears for any sounds of activity.   
      
   Scully tugged on Mulder's hand.  "Let's go," she breathed softly.   
   He nodded and they eased out of the cave.  The rising moon was bright   
   overhead and the stars were brilliant against the midnight blue sky.   
   They paused just outside of the cave entrance and looked around for   
   any sign of movement.  They scanned the area, trying to get their   
   bearings.   
      
   "I think we left the Jeep down there," Scully pointed.  Mulder's   
   head bobbed in agreement and clasping her hand tightly in his, they   
   began to pick their way down the uneven ground of the hillside.  They   
   reached the bottom of the hill and found no sign of the Jeep.  No   
   tire tracks to indicate that anyone had driven it away or indeed to   
   prove that the Jeep had ever been there in the first place.  The pot-   
   holed road they had driven along to reach the cave was little more   
   than a narrow, crude path that showed only the heavy tracks of wagon   
   wheels and booted feet.   
      
   "This isn't possible," Scully whispered angrily. She stalked down   
   the path toward the place where the road had changed to blacktop but   
   there was no paved road.  No telephone poles or planes flying   
   overhead.  No sign of modern day civilization at all.   
      
   Mulder slowly followed her down the path, allowing Scully to work   
   out the reality of their situation on her own.   
      
   "This isn't possible," she repeated as he stopped in front of her.   
   She dropped her forehead against his chest and twisted her fingers   
   into his shirt, grounding herself in him.   
      
   Knowing that it was important that she regain her composure on her   
   own, he quietly offered his support.  He rubbed his jaw against her   
   hair and looped his arms around her waist, hugging her gently.  He   
   felt the warm exhalation of her breath as she blew out a sigh against   
   his shirt.   
      
   "Okay."  She stepped out of his arms.  "Let's think about this.   
   What were we doing when everything went black?"   
      
   He shrugged.  "We were looking at the cave drawings, weren't we?"   
      
   Scully's eyes rounded.  "We were touching them..." She bit her lip   
   and searched her memory.  "We were touching them," she repeated in a   
   murmur, "and then suddenly it felt like all the air had been sucked   
   out of the cave."  She looked up.  "Was that the way it felt to you?"   
      
   He dipped his head in agreement.  "Yeah.  My head started pounding   
   and there was this buzzing noise and then all of a sudden..."   
      
   "All of a sudden, it was too hard to stay on your feet?"   
      
   "Yeah."   
      
   Scully looked over his shoulder at the cave nestled in the hillside.   
      
   "Let's go."  She bolted past him, her booted feet pounding against   
   the rocks as she raced up the hillside.  Mulder took off after her,   
   his longer stride allowing him to catch up with her quickly.  Her   
   feet skidded on some loose gravel and he clamped a hand around her   
   upper arm to steady her.   
      
   "Careful," he warned.  "The situation is bad enough."   
      
   She recovered her balance and slowed down.  She was reminded of the   
   high altitude as her lungs burned with the exertion of her headlong   
   sprint up the hill.  They climbed the last few yards in a silence   
   broken only by the sound of their heavy breathing.   
      
   They reached the cave and instinctively recoiled at the unrelenting   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)