Part 2. *X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X* Same Place Same Day 8:45 p.m. They went to get some food after they had checked in at their gate. They passed by many different stores while searching for a place to eat. They passed by a children's store in which they sold coloring books and packs of crayons, tacky sunglasses, and other assorted toys and items to keep children busy on the plane ride. They ended up in a shoddy little restaurant that served coffee, which they both needed, and sandwiches. They ate tiredly, with Scully eating the most. She seemed to be having trouble taking each bite. Her eyes were droopy, and she was starting to become rather pale. "Have you been sleeping well, Scully?" She looked up at him lifting her eyebrow questioningly. "Well, you don't seem to be very awake, and I just got a bit worried. You look really tired." Mulder sincerely said. "I'm fine, Mulder. I've just been a bit tired lately." Scully said as she squeezed his hand reassuringly. *X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X* The Plane Same Day 9:12 p.m. They had just gotten settled in on the plane and were sitting down in their extremely comfy first class seats, awaiting the take off. Scully was basically conked out in her seat. Mulder was getting a little worried. Sometimes his mind could get away from him and jump to conclusions. So he settled back into his seat and closed his eyes for a bit. Scully did the same. *X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X* Same Place Same Date 11:21 p.m. Scully was tired, and bored. Mulder was asleep; there was no one to talk to, nothing to read, and nothing to do in general. She was mad, too. When she had woken up, she had gone to the bathroom to splash some water on her face, and when she had come back, the flight attendant had been flirting with Mulder. Thankfully, Mulder hadn't been interested in the least, and had ignored her. That still didn't make her feel good though. She was tired, but wanted to stay up so Mulder wouldn't think anything was wrong. She had been having nightmares and hadn't had much sleep in the last few days. It seemed so appealing now... *X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X* Same Place Thursday, August 29, 1999 1:57 AM Scully had definitely crashed, for she wouldn't be slumping on Mulder's shoulder (actually whole left side to be precise) happily dreaming away. No, she most certainly would not be doing that if she were awake. Mulder had been surprised to say the least when she had said: "Mulder..." *X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X* Scully's head Same date About the same time She was sitting on porch swing with Emily, and a little red headed girl. There was a small boy, about 3 or 4,out with a man in the yard. The man was tall, lanky, and had dark hair. She couldn't see his face, but seemed familiar. The she realized it-The man was Mulder! "Mulder...!" she had said, trying to get his attention. Maybe he knew who the two kids were. Maybe they were hers! She thought silently. Mulder came up the steps to her and came up to her. "What is it Dana? Are you ok?" he asked sincerely "I, I guess I'm fine. Where am I Mulder?" "You're at the house, with your 3 kids, Katie, Emily, and William. And of course, your wonderful husband." he smiled and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. "Ok. So where do we live?" "Are you ok Dana? Seriously." "Yeah...I'm fine, but where do we live?" and then the dream ended with just blackness... *X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X* The Airport Same date 4:03 AM They had been waiting over an hour for their luggage now, and they were sitting (Scully pacing) in the "waiting room" of the office for whatever department took care of lost baggage. "Miss Scully and Mr. Mulder?" "Yes?" They said in unison. "We have found your things. We don't know where they were, but we found them. Sorry for the hassle and the wait." the man said as he brought out their bags. "Thanks." Mulder said boardly. So they took their bags and went out the door, into the crowded airport. *X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X* Rent-A-Car Center Thursday, August 29, 1999 4:17 a.m. Mulder and Scully wearily carried their bags to the car rental building. Scully sat down in a gray, uncomfortable, plastic chair with their bags at her feet while Mulder went to counter to rent the car. "I'd like to rent a car for two weeks, please." Said Mulder. "Sure," the lady replied, "your wife seems pretty tired. Where did you fly from?" Too tired to explain that he and Scully aren't married, he just replied "From Washington DC, we're on vacation here. Could you give us directions to the Holiday Inn Express near Busch Gardens?" She gave him a map along with the keys to the car and told him "Sorry, I'm not good at giving directions, I just rent out cars." "Ok, thanks anyway." Mulder said as he paid for the rental. "Scully, I got the car, let's get out of here and get ourselves checked into the hotel." She just grumbled an answer and got up with her bags and followed Mulder to the car. *X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X* Car on highway Same Date 4:44 a.m. When Scully didn't answer Mulder's question, he looked over at her to see what was wrong. He saw her asleep in the passenger seat, with her coat draped over her shoulders. He reached to the back seat, took his coat, and placed it over her shoulders. Then Mulder turned his attention back to the road and continued driving. *X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X* Holiday Inn Express Parking Lot Same Date 5:00 a.m. Mulder pulled into the parking lot and saw that Scully was still sleeping. He didn't have the heart to wake her so he went to check them both into the hotel and then go from there. "Good morning, welcome to Holiday Inn Express." "Yeah, I'd like to get the keys to the rooms I reserved." "And what rooms would that be, sir?" "A room for Dana Scully and a room for Fox Mulder." The man checks the computer to confirm these reservations and finds that there is only a room reserved for Dana Scully. "I'm sorry sir, but there is only a room reserved for Dana Scully, we don't have any record of a reservation for a Fox Mulder." "But I made the reservations myself! I reserved two rooms! A room for Dana Scully and a room for myself!" "I'm sorry sir, but there is only one reservation." "Ok, then, is there a different room I can rent?" "I'm sorry sir, but we do not have any vacancies at this time. You could come back tomorrow and check again, but as of right now, that is the only room available." "Sure, fine, whatever." Mulder said as he took the key and went back to the car. When he got to the car he saw that Scully was still asleep and he realized how tired she really was. He decided to take all their luggage up to the room first and then check if Scully was asleep when he got back. After ten minutes, he had carried all of their bags and suitcases up to the room and went back downstairs to the car to check on Scully. He wasn't surprised to see that she still slept soundly. Instead of waking her, he decided to carry her up to the room, so she could get a full nights sleep before they went to the parks later that day. Scully was awakened from her peaceful slumber by the sensation that she was moving. She slowly opened her eyes to find herself in Mulder's arms. She deduced that she had fallen asleep in the car and he was now carrying her to her hotel room. She feigned sleep in order to savor the sensation of being carried by Mulder. When Mulder got to the door of the room, he had some trouble unlocking and opening the door. It took him a few minutes, but he finally did it. He closed the door behind him and gently and carefully placed Scully on the bed. He took her shoes off and placed them by the bed. Then he covered her in the bed sheets so she wouldn't get cold and wake up. He then looked around the room. It had two beds, a couch facing a large screened TV, a mini-kitchen, and a bathroom. He bent down and kissed Scully on the cheek as he said good night, and then retired to the other bed. *X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X* Holiday Inn Express Room 1121 Thursday, August 29, 1999 9:00 a.m. Mulder awoke and checked his watch. It was only 9 am. Still two hours until the park opened. He decided to go get himself some of the free continental breakfast that the hotel was serving. As he was walking towards the lobby, he saw all these kids that appeared to be high school students. "Hey, why aren't you all in school?" Mulder asked one of the kids. "We're here on a field trip with our high school. They have a special field trip for the student who got straight "A"s throughout all of last school year." The kid told him. "Oh, all right." Mulder said and continued walking. As Mulder opened the door to the lobby, a group of teenagers covered with milk and cereal ran out the doors yelling, screaming, and laughing. Cautiously, Mulder walked into the lobby and saw that it too was covered with milk and cereal. It looked like a miniature hurricane hit the lobby and spewed all the breakfast contents all over the furniture and all of the unfortunate bystanders of this disastrous food fight. He walked around inspecting all of the food laying on the floor, and after confirming his suspicions that none of the food is edible, he turned around, walked out of the lobby, and went back up to the hotel room. *X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X* Holiday Inn Express Room 1121 Same Day 9:32 a.m. When Mulder got back to the room Scully was already awake. She had just gotten out of the shower and was dressed in tight fitting jeans and a plain, sleeveless, blue shirt. Her hair was still wrapped in a towel and she was sitting on the bed trying to open her suitcase. "Mulder, can you help me open my suitcase? I think the zipper is broken. I forgot to get my hairbrush out of it before I took a shower and now I cant get the suitcase to open." "Sure Scully, move over and let me try." *X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X* Ten Minutes Later "Damnit! Why wont this freaking suitcase open?!?!?" "I told you the zipper was broken, Mulder!" "Yeah, but you asked me to try and open it!" "Well, I wasn't sure if it was broken! I just wanted to make sure. Here, let me try again." And sure enough, the zipper opened with ease. "See, that wasn't so hard Mulder." Scully said with a smirk. Mulder just rolled his eyes and said, "Hurry up! The park is going to open without us!" So Scully went back into the bathroom and did her hair while Mulder sat and waited for her impatiently. *X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X* Busch Gardens Same Day 10:59 a.m. After stopping at IHOP to get breakfast, they drove to Busch Gardens, in hopes of beating the long lines onto the rides. As they stood in line to buy tickets into the theme park, they heard a Weird Al Yankovic song playing from the speakers inside the park. "Hey! I love this song!" Mulder said excitedly. "Really? I've never heard it before." Scully replied. They stood in comfortable silence for the rest of the time they waited to buy their tickets. Once they bought the tickets and got into the theme park, Mulder said, "Scully! Let's go on the new roller coaster Gwazi!!" "I don't know Mulder, I don't really like roller coasters that much." "Please Scully?? It'll be fun! And you can choose the next ride we go on. Please?" "Oh, all right. Fine. But next we're going on the River Rapids." "Ok. Come on Scully! I don't want to have to wait in the really really long lines." *X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X* Same Place Same day 2:46 p.m. They came off of the River Rapid ride soaking wet so they decided to go on the rest of the water rides while they were at it. It was an unusually chilly day in Central Florida although it was the end of August, one of the hottest months there. Scully shivered and Mulder wrapped his arms her trying to keep her warm. Scully made no move to extract herself from his embrace. They walked through the park holding each other until they came upon a particular area of the park. It was the equivalent of a food court in a mall. In every direction there was a food stand, a vendor, or a restaurant to eat at. "You hungry Scully?" "Yeah, actually. I'm famished." "That's not surprising considering the fact that we both haven't eaten anything since we stopped for breakfast." "Ok, then lets get something to eat and then head back to the hotel. I'm kinda tired from walking around all day." "Sure. Sounds like a plan." *X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X* Room 1121 Same Day 4:24 p.m. They arrived at the hotel and decided to relax for a while. They sat on the sofa and turned on the TV. They flipped through the channels and agreed upon watching Nickelodeon, after a heated debate. As the cartoon started, Mulder pulled Scully closer to him so her head was resting on his chest and his arm was wrapped around her stomach. She contentedly sighed, and soon fell asleep. When the cartoon was over, Mulder looked down at Scully and saw that she was asleep. He kissed the crown of her head, took the remote, and flipped though the channels. Upon realizing that there was nothing on TV, she turned off the television, and went to sleep, still holding Scully in his arms. *X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X* When Mulder next awoke it was almost 10 p.m. He had slept soundly and peacefully for approximately five and a half-hours without nightmares or any other troubles. He then realized that Scully was still asleep. Gently, he picked her up and carried her over to the bed. He carefully put her down and covered her with the blankets. Then Mulder stood watching her pondering whether he could join her in the bed. After a few minutes of speculation, he decided that he would accompany her in the bed. He got under the covers and pulled Scully back against him. He found sleep a few seconds later. *X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X* Room 1121 Friday, August 30, 1999 10:13 a.m. When Scully woke up Mulder was no longer in bed. He had pulled up a chair and was sitting watching her sleep. "Hey, Mulder" Scully said sleepily. "Good morning. You want me to get you some breakfast while you get ready to head back to the park?" "Sure, that sounds good, Mulder." And with that, Mulder left the room leaving Scully to get ready and to silently contemplate her changing relationship with Mulder. *X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X* Busch Gardens Same date 11:31 Mulder had came back with her breakfast, which she took and ate silently. She was still thinking about their relationship and what was going on between them. When she had finished, they made their way to the car in relative silence. Thus, they arrived at the park and entered, continuing on the route they started yesterday. *X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X*~*X* Same Place Same Date 3:56 p.m. They stopped for a late lunch at one of the restaurants in the park. They sat next to each other in a booth with Mulder's arm around Scully. She scooted closer to Mulder and rested her head on his shoulder. They sat in comfortable silence until the waitress came. "Are you ready to order?" She asked perkily. They ordered their food and the waitress left in a hurry. Scully picked her head up off of Mulder's shoulder and opened the map of the park. "Ok. We've been through four different sections of the park. Can we leave the last two for tomorrow? We can go back to the hotel after we finish eating and go swimming." "Sounds like a plan to me." Mulder replied. Mulder's thoughts abruptly stopped as their food arrived. End part 2.