This piece is the prequel to my untitled series, and it's also untitled. I'm sorry about that. However, this piece also works as a stand-alone, so if you only read this, don't worry, you won't get lost. Again, any suggestions for a title will be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for reading!!! Disclaimer: Mulder, Scully, and the X-Files, as well as various other characters, all belong to 1013 Productions and Chris Carter. Don't sue me, because all you'll end up with is a finisky computer and some useless stuff. Unless Mr. Carter has returned to college. : ) Prequel to Untitled Series Shit. Shit...SHIT. I stare at the two little lines in utter disbelief. How could this happen? How? There is no logical, rational way that I could be...oh God, I can’t even think the word...I mean, I’ve suspected this for almost two weeks, but I couldn’t bring myself to take a test, or even try to believe... Don’t get me wrong- this is something I thought I would never get the chance to have, and it took a really long time for me, but I resigned myself to that fact. Now it seems that I am being given my chance, after all. But how do I tell my partner that we’re going to be parents? We only slept together once, but, as the old adage goes, once is all it takes, even though I’m clinically infertile. We were investigating a murder in a sleepy little North Dakota town, and since the case was done quickly, we had some time to ourselves. The night before we left, we got to talking over some wine, and that was that. One kiss from him and I was gone. Our relationship has undergone serious changes since that night. Though still as serious and deep as it has always been on the inside, our friendship now has a cool, professional exterior that it has always seemed to lack. We’ve never spoken about what happened, and it seems that we both have deemed it a mistake, although I will never truly see it that way, especially now. In fact, we rarely speak to each other at all, except about business. And we can’t even look each other in the eye. At first, all I wanted was some acknowledgment about what we’ve done. Now I take his cue and ignore the fact that we let it happen at all. But it’s no longer acceptable to ignore this, if it ever was. I sit down with my head in my hands and try to think it all through. X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X One Week Later J. Edgar Hoover Building Basement Office X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X Looking through this boring new case file, I feel a sudden wave of nausea overtake me. I drop the file and make a mad dash for the ladies room. I’m getting all too used to this morning sickness, but it’s never happened at work before, or in the afternoon, for that matter. As I rush by, Mulder actually looks up from his copy of the file. I get to the bathroom in time, but only just. As I heave up my lunch until there is nothing left in my stomach, my mind reels. I haven’t told him yet, and I know I have to soon, but I haven’t been able to find a way. I’m afraid that he won’t be supportive, and I’m afraid that our friendship is over with, though I haven’t let *that* fear bother me until recently. I go to the sink and rinse my mouth out, then look myself over to make sure I’m still presentable. I slowly make my way back to the office, which has become increasingly hard to work in, and find Mulder standing in the hallway, looking as if he might actually be getting ready to follow me. “You okay?” He asks, a concerned frown furrowing his brow. “Yeah. I think I have a touch of flu or something...” /*or something...*/ The words echo in my head. He looks as if he doesn’t really believe me, but what can I say? I’m not ready to tell him yet, and besides, how would he ever be able to guess what’s really wrong? “Well...okay...” he replies. I walk past him, and suddenly, he grabs my hand and spins me around to face him. “Scully...I...” “What is it, Mulder?” “I...I think we need to talk.” “What is there to talk about?” “Dammit, Scully...you know what we need to talk about.” Frustration clouds his face. Of course I know, but a little part of me wants to royally piss him off. He shoves his hands in his pockets and studies my face. “How about it. Dinner tonight?” I sigh and look down. “I guess you’re right. Dinner sounds fine.” We make plans to meet at a nearby restaurant around 8. I excuse myself and leave the office for the evening. I feel even more sick to my stomach as I realize that I must tell him tonight. Things are moving far beyond my control, and I really hate that... X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X Napoli’s Italian Restaurant Washington, D.C. 8 PM X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X I pull into a parking space and cut the engine. My stomach is doing flips and I feel like maybe I should just turn around and leave. Why are we even discussing this in a restaurant? I don’t want all these other people hearing what we have to say. I heave a great sigh, get out of the car, lock up, and head inside. As I enter this tiny place, I wonder what, exactly, made Mulder choose it. Then I begin to notice the small details...it looks almost like an old-fashioned Italian family’s dining room, with nice, homey touches here and there, low lighting, and light music playing in the background. There is an immediate aura of calm as I walk towards the desk. I go to the host and tell him that I am meeting Mulder. He gives me a nod and leads me off to a small, private dining area. Mulder is already here, waiting for me, and I sit down across from him. “Hey.” “Hi.” I offer him a small, nervous smile, and feel rewarded when I get one in return. The waiter hands me a menu and offers the wine list, but I decline that, and since I already know what I can and can’t eat lately, I ask Mulder if he knows what he wants and he nods. I tell the waiter that we’re ready to order. After he takes down what we want, he leaves us alone in the small, candle-lit room to begin our talk. He sighs and leans forward, rubbing his temples. “I don’t even know where we should begin.” “Well...how about this? Why’d we let it happen?” /That's right, Dana. Get right to the point.../ He looks up sharply, eyes flashing, and I can see that it must have come out sounding rather harsh, so I take a deep breath, and try again. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it to sound like that.” He nods, so I continue. “What I mean is, why did it happen? Was it pure boredom? Was there something else? Why?” “I don’t know, Scully. I really don’t know. But I honestly think that there was something more behind this than boredom. A lot more.” He looks at me sideways. I feel a light blush come creeping up my cheeks, and look down at my hands, which are folded tightly over my still-flat stomach. I am a bit bewildered at my own protective gesture as I see what is coming. “Well, Mulder...what else do you think it was?” “I’ve laid my feelings out for you before. I know you didn’t believe me then, but believe me now.” I look up, surprised at what he is saying. I could have sworn he wouldn’t remember that time in the Triangle, and as I think back to my own reaction, I realize that I knew he wasn’t delirious, but I booked it out of there anyway. I couldn’t deal with it then, and I’m not sure I can deal with it now. I’ve always felt the same way for him, but not acknowledging it out in the open like that has always made me feel safer, less vulnerable. But I realize that I need to stop thinking for myself, and start thinking for someone else. Because now I *am* vulnerable. “You know I feel the same way, Mulder,” I say quietly. “Yes. I do. So what are we going to do about it?” “I think we’ve already done something about it.” Again, that look of frustration. “Scully, you aren’t making this any easier.” “I know, I know. That’s because it isn’t easy at all. And there’s something else that’s just going to make it all the more complicated, Mulder.” I take another deep breath and look him straight in the eye. Confusion, mixed with a small amount of fear is present there. “Mulder, I’m...*oh God*...I’m-pregnant.” There. I said it, albeit in the smallest voice known to man, but I said it. My hands are shaking as I release that pent-up knowledge that I’ve held on to for a week now. “You’re what?” he asks in a choked voice. Then he blinks, as if he can't see me clearly, and sort of smiles. He is trying to maintain his composure as much as I’m trying to hang onto mine. “You heard me. Pregnant. What are we going to do about *that*?” “But...But...how? I thought...?” Now he's just plain confused, and do I detect a small amount of fear in his voice? “So did I. But it happened, all the same.” At that moment, the waiter comes in with our food. I don’t think either of us are very hungry after I decided to drop the bomb like that. We thank the waiter, who leaves us to continue with our 'talking'. Mulder just stares at his food, and I know he’s trying to think about what I just told him and attempting to figure it all out. I give him time to think it over. About five minutes pass. Then he looks up. I give him a questioning look. Then I say, “Mulder, before you say anything, I just want you to know that I’m okay with whatever you decide. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, really...it was just a...a freak of nature...?” He waits a few seconds, tilts his head slightly, then: “Scully, you shouldn’t talk about our baby like that...” Now *I’m* frustrated. “Mulder, I wasn’t talking about the baby like that, I’m talking about how...” I trail off as I realize that he’s poking fun and trying to get a rise out of me, as usual. And he said *our* baby. The realization glides over me like a wave. “So you’re okay with this?” “Scully, what did I just tell you before? You know how I feel. I’m with you in whatever you decide.” He stands up and walks over to me, then grabs my hands and stands me up to face him. “You know I love you.” He smiles and kisses me tenderly. This is not what I expected at all, but I feel so much better. Then I wonder how I could ever think he would not be supportive of me, and I realize that I have been walking around in my own little cloud of selfishness and doubt for a couple of weeks. He wraps me in a tight hug and I feel relieved beyond belief. “I guess I should make an honest G-woman out of you, then, huh,” he jokes. “Mulder, we don’t have to get married just because...” “Yes we do. What would your mother say?” He smiles. “Besides, I want to.” “So do I. I love you too.” He kisses me again, and I feel so complete. When was the last time I felt this happy? I can’t even remember. But it doesn’t matter. It only matters that our baby is going to have two parents who absolutely adore it because it is a total miracle in the first place. “How long have you known? And have you been to the doctor yet?” “I’ve only really known for about a week, though I've sort of suspected for awhile, so I haven’t gone yet. I made an appointment for tomorrow, during lunch.” “Okay. Do you want me to go with you?” I nod, and offer him a slow smile. “Yeah. I’d like that.” “Good.” We decide to take our dinner to go, since there’s no real reason for us to stay and talk here any longer. We agree to go back to my apartment, then we pay our bill, and leave. X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X Two Months Later Mulder and Scully’s Apartment X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X I can’t even remember when it was that I first fell in love with Dana Katherine Scully. I didn’t realize it until it was almost too late, but now I have a chance to redeem myself. I don’t think I’ll make the best of husbands, and I’ve told her this, but she doesn’t care. She’s taken me as I am, wild theories and all, and for this I love her more than anything. She has never once tried to change me. But now I want to change, for her sake and for the sake of our son. It is important to me that they are safe, and that I am here to protect them always. Now I watch as my wife, still in her white dress, wanders about our new apartment with her mother. Squeals of delight come from the latter as she sees what her daughter has done with what will be the baby’s room. I follow them inside and wrap my arms around Scully, who turns, smiles, and kisses me. Her mother is looking in every corner, every cabinet and drawer, absolutely glowing with pride and happiness. The room is beautiful, and I think about how much work my Scully has put into it. I helped whenever I could, or rather, whenever she would let me, with her claiming that she wanted to do it herself and have it be a surprise. I rest my chin down on her shoulder, kiss her again, and bring my hands down to rest on the gentle swell of her stomach. There is a slight flutter, as if a thousand butterflies are beating their wings, and she turns, a look of utter amazement on her beautiful face. I’m sure the same surprise is written all over mine. “Oh, mom...I think the baby just moved...” “Really?” Mrs. Scully comes racing over and places her hand on her daughter’s stomach. The light fluttery feeling comes once more, and her mother hugs us both at the same time, saying “Oh, I’m so happy for the both of you!” I can’t help but smile at her mother’s enthusiasm. Tears are streaming down her cheeks. Sometimes I think she’s even more excited than we are, if that’s possible. Scully looks up and we exchange a secret, knowing smile. Her mother excuses herself and goes to dry her eyes in the bathroom, as my wife and I stand gazing at one another. “I love you,” she whispers. “I love you too...” I lower my lips to her’s and we share a passionate kiss. It’s late, our reception is over, and all I want now is to share this night with her. I think her mother understands this because when she comes back, she announces that she’s tired, and that she thinks its time to head back to her hotel room. She gives us a knowing grin, and Scully looks down and smiles, a rosy blush creeping up her face. My own cheeks feel hot. Mrs. Scully leans in, gives us both a kiss, and we walk her to the door. “Bye, mom.” “Good bye, Hun...take good care of my daughter.” Scully kisses her mother again, and her mother wraps her in a hug and whispers something in her ear. Scully nods, and her mother bids us goodbye, closing the door gently behind her. “What was that?” “She told me to tell you that if I don’t take care of myself, she’ll make sure you do.” I laugh at that, knowing that Scully is responsible, but that she likes to push her limits. No one needs to tell her mother that, though. I guess she’s making it clear that she won’t allow for it. We sit down on the couch, our arms around each other, and she rests her head against my chest. “It was so nice to see everyone there,” she says. “Yeah. I was surprised to see so many people from work, too.” “Me too. But most of them told me they were wondering when we were going to get together.” She giggles a little. “I guess everyone could see it but us.” I smile. “Yeah. Skinner clapped me on the shoulder and said exactly the same. ‘We were all wondering when you two would get your acts together!’” She laughs at that. I laugh, too, remembering the AD’s look when we informed him of our wedding. I kiss the top of her head, so proud to finally be able to call her my wife. She looks up, and we kiss again. This time its longer, more passionate, and I realize that I want her more than ever. Under the advice of her priest, we haven’t made love in well over three weeks. He said that it would make our wedding night more special, and I have to say that I think he was right. As hard as it was, Scully kept me in check, and now I believe that we desire each other even more so than we ever did. The passion grows as she reaches her arms around me and runs her fingers through my hair. I want nothing more than to take her right now, but at the same time, I want this to last. So I lift her up, kissing her tenderly all the way, and carry her into our bedroom. “I love you,” she murmurs between kisses. “And I love you.” We make slow, passionate love all night. It feels like the first time. I love this woman so much that I can’t get enough of her. The whole month that went by where we weren’t speaking was hell for me, and I know it was the same for her. To see this grow out of a most uncomfortable situation is payback enough for me, and I know that it couldn’t have happened any other way. X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X Five Months Later Mulder and Scully’s Apartment X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X “Have you got him alright?” The worried voice comes from my mother, who is standing right over me as I lift my son into my arms. His little face has started to pucker, and already I know that he’s about to start wailing. Days old, and he can scream louder than I ever could. “Yes, mom.” “Well, okay...I was just making sure.” Just then, Mulder comes in carrying the rest of the things I brought with me to the hospital. He drops them in the hallway and walks over to us. “Hey.” He leans down and gives me a kiss. “How’s he doing?” “Oh, just crying for his dad, I’ll bet.” “Here, let me take him for a few minutes while you get settled.” “Okay.” I hand William over to his father, who holds him tenderly up to his shoulder. The baby’s whimpering tapers off, and I watch for a few moments. They make the sweetest picture together, and my mother stands there looking as if she’s about to burst into tears. She smiles wanly at me and follows me into the bedroom, carrying one of the suitcases. “Dana...I’m so proud...he’s beautiful.” “I know...thanks, mom. I’m glad you were here for the whole thing.” “You know I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.” We start unpacking my things as well as Mulder’s. “Hun, are you still leaving the Bureau?” “Yeah. I think so. I don’t want to leave Mulder there on the X-Files by himself, but we’re worried about the baby, mom.” “Why?” “Because of our work. There are a lot of people after us who are willing to do *anything* to get to us, up to and including harming an innocent child. I wouldn’t be able to leave William at day care or anything like that and feel safe, and I know Mulder wouldn’t be able to, either.” I don’t add the fact that Mulder has begun a dangerous project that could get us all into major trouble. “I understand. Maybe it’s for the best.” “I think so.” X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X About two hours later, my mother decides it’s time to go. I guess she can see the exhaustion in my eyes, as well as in Mulder’s. He hasn’t said anything, but I know he’s tired. She holds the baby one more time, kisses all of us, and leaves, promising to call sometime the next day. As the door shuts behind her, I heave a great sigh and walk over to where Mulder is standing, the baby back in his arms. “You think it’s time to put him to bed?” I nod. “Yeah. He’s starting to doze off.” Our baby’s eyes are half closed, and his thumb is corked in his perfect little mouth. We walk into the nursery and lay William down in his bassinet. Mulder lays a blanket over his tiny body, and I lean down and kiss his cheek. “Goodnight, baby.” When we’re sure he’s asleep, we tiptoe out of the room and collapse on our bed. It’s been a long day and we’re both exhausted as we lay in each other’s arms. We drift off to sleep ourselves, not even bothering to change out of our clothes. X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X Four Hours Later X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X I groan and turn over. It feels so good to lie on my stomach again. But before I can get comfortable, I hear the beginnings of a full-blown scream-fest and I sit up. Mulder’s beaten me to it, however, and he’s already walking out the door towards the nursery. I hear him speaking softly, and then, after a few minutes, he comes in again, carrying our son in his arms. “Someone wants his mommy.” I smile. “Thanks...you beat me to him.” He grins, hands William over, and comes back to bed. By now the baby’s crying has stopped and I lean back into the pillows, laying him across my stomach and chest. Mulder’s strong arm comes around to encircle us both, and I sigh, as much with exhaustion as with content. Who ever thought that one night could lead to this much happiness and perfection? We’ve both been through so much pain and sorrow that it is right and just that we have this moment. My husband and our child, who, through the fault of power-hungry men should never have been here, drift off to sleep as I contemplate these things. A new thought pricks at my consciousness, though. Mulder recently began something dangerous. He is desperate to overthrow this secret agency and publicize their wrong-doings against the people of this country, as well as himself, me, and our families. I want to help him, and at the same time I want him to stop. Together we’ve agreed that it is best for me to stay behind the scenes, at home with William, and stay safe. I have a responsibility towards the protection of our new family, and even though Mulder accepts his own part of that responsibility, his quest calls for him to continue. I understand, but I am scared. I am so scared. Every day becomes increasingly dangerous, and it is well known that with Mulder out of the way, their plans can continue unhindered. Perhaps it is this thought that frightens me the most. I can’t bear the thought of losing him, when we have only just begun a new stage in our lives together. I need him, even if I’m not always so sure that he needs me. Troubled by this, but feeling sleepier by the second, my hand absently trails down to caress my baby’s head, then further down to my husband’s hand. This I clasp tightly in mine, and drift off to sleep. X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X Four hours later, the sun comes streaming in through the window, which we forgot to close the night before. Mulder and William are not here when I wake up, so I stretch luxuriously and get up to see what they’re up to. I throw on a bathrobe, run my fingers through my hair, and make my way down the hall, toward the sound of Mulder’s voice, coming from the nursery. I tiptoe in, and lean in the doorway, completely moved by the picture in front of me. Mulder is sitting in the rocking chair with William in his arms, softly reading to him. This goes on for about five minutes before he realizes that I’m standing there, and he looks up sheepishly. I smile broadly and go to them, kissing Mulder good morning. “What’re we reading?” He holds up the book. “The 60 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time.” I sigh. Only Mulder. Even so, William is completely content and relaxed, even though it’s way past breakfast time for him. “Come on. Time for breakfast.” Mulder smiles slyly and asks innocently, “Do I get breakfast too?” I take the baby in one arm, and put one hand to my hip. “I don’t think you want this breakfast.” “Well, maybe not, but I want this one...” and with that, he stands up, folds his arms gently around us, and kisses me fervently. Then he wraps his arm around my shoulders, and we head to the kitchen, my head leaning against his shoulder. The End. Author's Note: Hello, all. I would just like to say that this is the longest piece I have ever written, so far, and that I'm still working on it. I believe it is about 70 pages long at the moment. If you take the time to read it, I just want to say thank you so much! I've been breaking it up into smaller parts so it's easier to read and keep your place. I haven't submitted to Gossamer as yet because I can't think of a title, so if you have any ideas, please e-mail me at theagents1013@yahoo.com with any suggestions. I would also like to take the time to point out that this fic has a little bit of everything in it. That includes: MSR Mulder/Scully married Character death Alternate Universe possible Scully/other Now, with all that aside, I don't think I'm so eloquent a person as to move a person to tears with my writing, but keep tissues handy if you're a sensitive person. Thanks again for reading. Disclaimer: Mulder, Scully, and the X-Files, among other various characters, belong to 1013 Productions and Chris Carter. I don't own them. I wish I did. UNTITLED PART I The man stood in the corner of a darkened room, facing a window. A cloud of grey smoke streamed from his mouth before he slowly turned around and spoke. “Is he dead?” The other man, much younger, nodded his head. “Everything was done according to the plan? What did you get out of him?” “Nothing, except that she is alive and well. His last words were to her.” “What about the child? What did he say about him?” He hesitated. “He was delirious...it sounded like he thought he was talking to them both.” The cigarette-smoking man contemplated this for a minute. “That doesn’t do much for us at all...you’ve failed me, Alex.” He looked up, crushed his cigarette out on the carpet, and lit another. “That’s NOT true!” The younger man slammed his fist down on the desk. “You can find her and stop all this before it starts!” “We don’t know where she is...she went into hiding long ago, and we’ve never seen her since...” “Oh, bullshit. You know exactly where she is, or you at least have the means to find her...even if you didn't, maybe she’ll show up at the funeral. I doubt she’d miss it...” A hopeful note came into his voice. “No...they’d never risk that...but I want you there, just in case...perhaps you can redeem yourself yet.” He stubbed out his newly lit cigarette and walked out of the room, leaving a bewildered Alex Krycek behind. ***************************************************** She was incredibly quiet. He didn’t know what to do, and it made him afraid. She had begun to withdraw from everything and everyone since the funeral. She was the strong one - the one who knew what to do in every situation. He relied on that strength. Of course, he didn’t how know to put these things into words. He only sensed it. Now he felt alone and scared. He sat beside her, on the floor next to her chair, since that was the closest he could get to her. She didn’t even glance down. Drawing his knees up to his chest, he watched the shadow of the petite, red-haired woman sitting next to him. When she started to cry, something she always tried not to do in front of him, he grew agitated, as small children tend to do. “Mommy? Are you okay?” “Yes, honey...I’m trying to be okay. How about you?” She tried to compose herself, and shakily succeeded. “I miss Daddy.” “So do I, Hon...so do I...” She reached down and ruffled his hair. “I’m sorry...I’m so sorry...” And with that, her fragile composure crumbled and she began to weep again. William stood up and climbed into his mother’s lap. “Mommy, why did he leave us like that?” “He had too...the bad men were after us and he wanted us to be safe,” she whispered, touching her lips to his hair. He buried his face in her neck. “Who are the bad men? Did they hurt him?” “Honey, you’re too little to understand everything. When you’re older, and when I can, I’ll tell you all about it.” She sighed. William was only 4 and a half years old, but he was an intelligent, inquisitive child. It wouldn’t be long before he started to learn things for himself. In the past two years, since Mulder had sent them into hiding, he had rarely seen the boy. Or her. He called as often as he could, always making sure of a secured line, and many times cutting the calls short when he grew suspicious. The visits were a little better, though he could sometimes only stay for a few hours, no more. They had only come out once, to attend his funeral, and to say their last good-byes. Now they were back in the safety of their hidden home, courtesy of Frohike, who made sure they arrived without being followed, and returned the same way. Even though Scully had never allowed herself to consider the possibility of Mulder’s death, he had made sure there was a plan if he himself was not able to complete their silent war. Now she found herself putting her son to bed, awaiting the call that she knew would come. *************************************************** It was 2 AM before the only phone in the house, her cell-phone, rang. She tensed when she heard the shrill sound, hoping that William hadn’t woken up from it. He had hardly slept during the past four days, and often woke up crying. She managed to pick up in the middle of the second ring. “Hello, Skinner.” “Scully. I’m sure you knew that I’d be contacting you within 24 hours of your return.” “Yes.” “I’m so sorry about Mulder. He was one of my best friends, a wonderful person, and a good father.” “Yes. He was.” /And all three of those reasons are why he’s lying in the cold ground right now./ “Scully, I’m going to get right to the point. Mulder has prepared everyone for this, and everyone has a part to play. Do you have any idea what your part is?” “No. You know I never considered that plan of action,” she replied dully. “That’s understandable, Scully. But you must understand that your role is crucial. You are to take over where Mulder himself left off.” Her stomach dropped. “Skinner, no...I can’t do that...what about my son...? I can’t leave him...he is all I have left, and I am all he has left. Am I required to take this assignment?” “Scully, you are beyond my control as far as assignments go. But you have to know that Mulder knew what he was doing up until the last minute of his life. You are the best choice, the most logical one, and we need you...Mulder needs you, as does your son. If you don’t take this assignment, Scully, we will lose, and the entire plan will be jeopardized. We have no one else to take over.” She hesitated. Mulder needed her to continue his quest. But what would happen to William? “Skinner, if I take this on, what happens to William?” “It’s all taken care of. All you have to do is accept, and Frohike will be there with the details. William will be safe. Mulder thought of everything, and it’s my duty to make sure it all happens the way he wanted it to.” “Give me a few minutes to think this over.” “Of course.” She put the phone down momentarily and thought about everything that had happened. From the time she had discovered her pregnancy, and told him, up until he had sent them into hiding, Mulder had grown increasingly suspicious as his courses of action became more and more dangerous and involved. Leaning with her head cupped in her hand, she realized that, indeed, Mulder knew what he was doing, and that she would have to trust him even now. She picked the phone up again. “Alright, then...I accept. I trust Mulder’s judgment. When will Frohike be here?” “Any minute. He’s been waiting around for the message.” /Faithful Frohike.../“Okay. Good-bye, Skinner.” “Good-bye, Scully. Welcome back to the team.” Shakily, trying to breathe, she hung up her phone and sat down to think. When she looked up again, William was standing in the doorway. “Mommy. Who was that on the phone?” Scully’s heart sank as she went and lifted her son into her arms, wondering how she was supposed to tell him that she had to leave him for a little while. “That was Walter. Now, Frohike is coming over for a little while, and he and I have to talk about some things, so I need you to go back to bed. Come on, I’ll tuck you in, okay?” She set him back on the floor. The child nodded and took his mother’s hand. He allowed himself to be tucked in, but he didn’t think he’d sleep. “Mommy, will you wake me up before you go anywhere?” Startled, she stared down into his small face, trying to figure out what he might have overheard. “Honey, I won’t be going anywhere tonight, but if I do, I promise I’ll wake you up. Now go to sleep, okay?” "Okay." The child closed his eyes, and Scully gently kissed his forehead, stood up and walked quietly out of his room, shutting the door behind her. She stood, leaning against the wall, and closed her eyes briefly. Then she began to wait. Frohike arrived 15 minutes later. She heard the sharp rap at the door, and stood up to answer it. She glanced at the small TV screen that was connected to a camera poised at the front entrance, hit the intercom button, and waited for him to say the right word. She had always laughed at the idea of a password, but now she realized its total importance in her life. Mulder really had thought of everything when it came to the safety of his family. She walked up the stairs, opened the door after slowly undoing all the locks that were on it, typed the code into the alarm, and Frohike briskly walked in. The night was cold, much colder than it had been a few weeks before. He gave her a brief, awkward hug. “Scully. How are you doing?” He had been the one to give her the horrible news of Mulder, and she was glad that of all people, it had been him. “Hello, Frohike. I guess I’m doing alright.” “I’m sure this was expected, wasn’t it?” She took a deep breath. “No, it wasn’t, actually. I never looked over or listened to any plans that involved Mulder’s...death. I guess I should have.” “Well, it doesn’t matter now. It only matters that you’ve accepted. We need you.” He patted her arm and smiled gently. She offered him a small smile in return. “Skinner told me that it was crucial.” He handed her a thick manila envelope, and they both sat down on the couch. “He wasn't exaggerating. Here is your assignment. It explains everything, and there is also a letter from Mulder in there, to you, in the event of this.” She shut her eyes briefly. “A...A letter? Was he that prepared?” “Yes, he was. Nothing has been overlooked. Go on, look everything over.” She opened the envelope and removed the top item, another envelope, this one white, and legal-sized. It was addressed to her, in Mulder’s strong, clear handwriting. She opened up the envelope and began to read: /Dear Scully, By now, you must know that I can’t be with you any longer, at least, not in this life. But remember that even though I’m not with you in body, I am with you always in spirit. I know you don’t believe in those things, but I promise you, I am watching you every moment. I need you to take on this assignment and finish my work. You are the only one who can do it. You know everything about me, what I wanted, how I wanted things done. You need to be strong for William and for my memory, and you must go on. I love you, Scully. I want you to know that everything I have done, I have done for you and for our son, a miracle in of himself. Never let him forget that, and make sure he knows how much I love him. Instructions are included with this letter. Follow them completely, and William will be provided for. You are going to be in a dangerous situation, Scully. I won’t lie to you. It is deadly, as you already must know, and you must be careful. I can’t impress upon you enough the importance of that. I know you will do all these things and keep our son safe from harm. Exercise caution in everything you do, and _trust no one._ I love you, Mulder/ It took her a few minutes to realize that the small drops of water pelting the paper were her own tears. She looked up through damp lashes to see Frohike looking down at his hands. /Stop this, Dana. Finish going through the package and have yourself a good cry later./ She took a deep breath, set down the letter, and read the next thing in the envelope-a typed pack of instructions. She skimmed the beginning and found the paragraph that told her what to do with William. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw what it said: ‘William: Pack adequate clothing, toiletries, etc. for several days. He may only bring what will fit into a small suitcase. He will be taken by a round-a-bout route by the Gunmen to the home of Margaret Scully and cared for there until you can return for him.’ So her mother would care for him. That fact alone made everything a little bit easier. She had not been able to speak to her mother in person for the entire time she’d been hiding, but Mulder had made sure letters were taken to and from mother and daughter the whole time. They had only seen each other briefly at the funeral, and had not been able to talk for long. Her mother had hugged her tight and whispered /“Be strong”/ in her ear, even as her own tears began to stream down her cheeks... She read over the rest of the instructions carefully. She didn’t want to miss a single detail. There were many different things to be remembered, such as how she was to leave the hidden place that had been her home for two years, and how she would get to Walter Skinner’s office without being seen. Of course, eventually, they would know where she was because she would be re-entering the FBI, but she needed to buy some time. It would be a difficult journey, but Frohike was there to help her and William escape to safety. Even if she chose not to continue the work, their lives were still in danger. People would come looking for them, and this time, there was no Mulder to keep them safe and hidden away. She sighed deeply. ************************************************* While the former Agent Scully was reading Mulder’s last instructions for her, Walter Skinner stood pacing his office. No one but a select few knew that the Assistant Director by day was now a key element in the plan to overthrow the secret government that corrupted the United States, as well as the rest of the world. His burden weighed heavily on his shoulders, aging him more than his years. These past few days he had been feeling that burden even more heavily. This whole thing had once rested entirely on Mulder; he had been the sole executor to the plan. He had taken Skinner into his confidence when Scully had extended her maternity leave to something a little more permanent. After she had resigned, Mulder told Skinner that she was worried for the child’s safety, and that it was because he, Mulder, had begun something that could put the whole world at risk. On the other hand, he felt that if he did nothing, the world would be destroyed anyway. Skinner could recall that conversation in vivid detail... /“Sir...?” “Yes, Agent Mulder, what is it?” Skinner looked up from the file opened on his desk, not at all surprised to see Fox Mulder standing in his office. It was a familiar scene. ”Sir, I was wondering if I could talk to you about something. Strictly off the record.” “Shut the door, Agent, and have a seat.” He waited as Mulder did so, then closed the file and looked the other man squarely in the face. “Now, what’s going on? Agent Scully is well, I presume?” “Yes sir, she’s fine.” “The new baby? How is he?” “He’s just fine, too. However, because of the nature of the work that Agent Scully and I have been a part of, we are worried for his safety. That’s why she resigned.” “Agent Mulder, correct me if I’m wrong, but could this have anything to do with your ‘work' beyond the Bureau?” Mulder smiled slowly. “I figured you knew all about that, sir. That’s sort of what I wanted to talk to you about. Scully and I know we can trust you with anything, and we know that we can always rely on your help. And we need you now.” “I have always done my best for you two. Please know that you will always be able to rely on me. Now, what’s on your mind?” “Well, sir...this is a huge secret that could cost many lives if it is found out at the wrong time...my family’s lives and my own, as well. As you know, I took on the X-Files mainly to locate my sister, to try and bring her home. Along the way, I have encountered many strange things which never made sense until the day I pieced it all together. Since then, Scully and I have been trying to uncover enough proof of a global conspiracy. We are both sure that there has been a huge cover-up to prevent the world from knowing about extraterrestrial life. Not only of it’s existence, but also of the fact that we have been at risk of an invasion several times, and will continue to be.”/ Mulder had then launched into detailed explanations and stories of his and Scully’s encounters. Everything from her abduction to his actual viewing of these life forms to the extent of their knowledge about a secret government had Skinner’s mind reeling. He had known about Mulder’s “wild theories” and how the whole FBI referred to him as “Spooky”, and he had also been painfully aware that Scully had been missing for several months. However, even after reading the reports that the two agents had presented for each case, there were some things that were just too hard to believe. Mulder continued, throwing in some details that had not been reported in case files, as well as things he and Scully had seen and done outside of the FBI’s jurisdiction. /“Sir...?” Skinner closed his mouth with an audible snap. He then drew a deep breath and attempted to organize everything he had heard into rational thoughts. “Mulder...that’s quite a bit of information. I’m assuming you have some physical evidence?” “Yes, I do. But sir, what I need from you right now is your understanding and cooperation. I need access to every bit of technology we have here, and I need you to make me a promise. I want to do this thing on my own with as much help from Scully as possible, but if I should be unable to continue my work, I need you to take over. I need you to keep my family safe until the truth is revealed.” “Mulder...I will grant you access within the limits of reason...you must know that we could both lose our jobs if anything was to be found out. As for your family, you know that I will always be of any assistance I can be, no matter what the circumstances or situation.” “Thank you, sir. You don’t know how much that means to me...”/ Skinner sighed again. In the years that had followed, Mulder’s situation had grown precarious, and he had sent his family into hiding. He had also prepared a full-scale operation to finish his work, if he was unable to do it himself. Everyone Mulder had trusted now had a part to play. Skinner’s long-ago promise had been fulfilled, and Scully was on her way. He felt terrible, knowing that her grief was deeper than his own, and still having her start this so soon. But it needed to be done. There was no choice now. ************************************************** The phone in the booth rang sharply, resounding through the silent darkness of the night. Krycek immediately picked it up. He had been waiting for this call. The man on the other line breathed in deeply as if inhaling cigarette smoke. “Well?” “Well what? I went to the funeral.” “And?” “And it was a lovely service. Really. You should have been there.” “Dammit Krycek, this is no time for your childish jokes. Was she there?” “Of course. I told you she wouldn’t miss it. And, as an added bonus, she brought the kid.” “Were you able to follow them?” “No, that damned little troll had them covered the whole time. He can spot surveillance from miles away. I wasn’t taking any chances. But they headed west...I was able to follow them for a little while, but they lost me after a few miles.” “That really doesn’t help me at all. I’m beginning to wonder just how much help you are to me, after all, Alex.” “Now, listen...” The younger man’s voice had an edge of panic to it. “No, I think you’d better listen. If you don’t get me something solid within a week, there’s going to be another funeral. Although the turnout to this one is questionable.” Alex winced. “Alright, alright. I’ll find them.” “You’d better.” ************************************************* It was time. A week and a half had passed since Scully had accepted her new duties. William’s single suitcase was packed with his clothing and a few of his favorite belongings. She would be provided for when she arrived at Skinner’s office. “William, honey?” “Yes, Mommy?” The child looked up at her, his father’s eyes staring out at her. “It’s time, now. Frohike is here with the car to take you to Grandma’s.” “Mommy...do I have to go?” “Yes, Hon...please don’t make this hard for either of us...please. Be brave. You’ll have fun at Grandma’s. I promise I will come back for you. And if I can, I’ll even visit sometimes, like Daddy did, okay? Now, be good. I love you.” “Okay. I love you too.” The child looked up at his mother and decided it was safe to believe her. Scully bent down, hugged and kissed him, and Frohike took his hand. He was led out to a car and buckled into the backseat. She saw that Byers and Langley were in the front, with Byers driving. She smiled briefly and waved. They waved back. Her son turned and waved, too. She waved back to him, blew him a kiss, and the car started away. Frohike turned to her. “Are you ready, Scully? We should get going now.” “Yeah. I guess we should.” She stood with her arms crossed over her chest, looking like a lost little kid. She stared after the car carrying her son, and then shook herself as if from a dream. “Come on, let’s go.” UNTITLED PART II The trees swept by as the dark, non-descript car drove on towards Washington, DC. Scully drifted in and out of sleep and thought. Although she knew that the work was dangerous, she couldn’t still the stirrings of excitement she felt. The only thing that quelled them was the thought of Mulder and what had happened to him. She wondered how she was supposed to tell her son that his father had been murdered in cold blood. Scully still didn’t know all the details, but she knew enough of these people to understand that it had all been made to look like senseless, random violence. But she knew. Skinner knew. It had been them. The Syndicate, the Consortium, whatever they were called, they had killed him. And she wouldn’t ever forget that. The day had grown dark and forbidding. Steely-grey clouds streaked the overcast sky. “How far are we from the office, Frohike?” “Only about twenty minutes or so.” “Okay.” She looked up at the sky again, and blinked as a zigzag of lightning sliced the dark apart. Twenty minutes and her new life would begin. They had been driving for well over four hours now, and she longed to stretch her limbs. She would have the opportunity soon enough, however. The J. Edgar Hoover building looked much the same as she remembered it. Frohike handed her a pass and clipped one onto his own front pocket. They passed through the metal detectors at the front entrance and walked down the hall to the elevators. Scully looked all around her. There were many familiar faces, but also some new. Several people stopped to offer her their condolences and to say hello, with the unspoken questions in their eyes and hovering on their lips. She accepted it all quietly and allowed herself to feel nothing as they spoke. The exchanges took several minutes, but they finally arrived at Skinner’s office. His secretary had left for the day, and Skinner himself was the one standing in the doorway to greet them. “Scully. Welcome back.” He gave her a brief hug, and closed the door. The three of them sat down in the office. “Thank you.” “Now. Where should we begin...ah, yes, here we are...” He reached inside his desk drawer and pulled out several items. Among them was Scully’s service revolver, her badge, and assorted documents, credit cards, and other things any agent would need in the field. She was to re-enter the FBI as a special agent in the newest section dealing with spies and espionage. /How ironic,/ she thought. /I’m going to be hunting for the very people I’ll be working with.../ It was a strange thought. Her mission was to help these people, or at least the ones who were on Mulder’s side, and assist them with evading capture so that Mulder’s plans were easily carried out. It was a dangerous job. The sentences for treason were harsh, even in the U.S., so she knew that caution was of the utmost importance. Skinner had briefed her on her new official duties and her off-the-record duties as well. There would be times when she would have to be the one sneaking in and out of federal buildings, herself, but for the most part, she’d only be relaying messages and gathering or providing information. No one would know she was using all of them to over-throw the Syndicate’s rotten plans for their world. They went over everything in detail, until there was only one more thing to discuss. “Skinner...am I to be assigned a partner?” “I’m trying to avoid that at all costs, because of the sensitivity of your situation, but it’s a real possibility. There are already several agents in this section who have requested partners with your capabilities. I’m only telling you this to prepare you. And, unfortunately, we may have to go along with this to avoid suspicions and the like.” She sighed quietly and nodded. She just hoped that there was no partner to deal with. “Skinner, there are several things that I want to know, still. It’s hard for me to even ask, but I want to know the details of Mulder’s death.” “Scully...are you sure you want to know? It was a very hard case just for me to go over. Because he was one of my own agents, the only thing I was allowed to do was see the file. I can’t imagine the pain it will cause you. I think you should wait a little longer.” “Skinner, the worst pain I have ever felt in my life has already been dealt to me. There is nothing worse than that, unless it would be, God forbid, losing William. I truly want to know how my husband died.” Skinner closed his eyes for a second. Then, slowly, he began to speak. “According to autopsy reports, Mulder died on September 23rd. The exact time is unknown, but we believe it to be close around 11:30 that night. He was on his way back to your old apartment. He had been doing some on-the-side reconnaissance work after leaving his office around 6 PM. According to what he told me before he left, he had received some exciting information from one of his sources and only the Lone Gunmen and I knew where he was going - back into the depths of the Pentagon. The Gunmen were going to get him back in there, but something didn’t go quite right and Mulder had to get the hell out of there. He did, and he only just made it. He had a bullet graze on his side, just above the left hip, but otherwise, he was fine when I last spoke to him. That’s what fucked up my head so bad when we couldn’t find him,” he mumbled. He stopped and rubbed his temples. “By that time, it was only around 10 PM. Somewhere between 10 PM and 1 AM, Mulder had disappeared without a trace. No one knew where he was. It wasn’t completely unusual, so I wasn’t too worried. You know how he always did that. But after 12, I started to wonder a little bit. He usually took off without saying anything, but he always called sometime after he left to fill me in on everything. No call came. I finally went to the apartment to check everything out. I passed the dumpsters and there was such a...a stench, that my eyes watered. I didn’t know what was causing the smell, but something wasn't quite right, so I wrapped a handkerchief around my nose and looked inside.” He looked up and saw how white she had become. “Scully...maybe I shouldn’t tell you any more...” “No,” she whispered. “I want to know how they killed my husband.” She gripped the handles of her chair, knuckles turning white, leaned forward, and spoke through clenched teeth. “Tell me.” Skinner sighed deeply. He was trying to be detached and accurate, as he knew she wanted him to be, but he was just too close to this case. Mulder had been like Skinner’s own child, just as Scully seemed, and it churned up so many emotions to tell this terrible story. He glanced up to see Frohike, his face troubled and saddened as he listened, the tear tracks on his cheeks clearly visible. “I looked inside, and there he was.” His voice broke and wavered, but he took a deep breath and continued with strength. “Those bastards made it look like a random shooting, but I knew. I called out the police and the bureau people, and ordered an immediate autopsy be performed, as soon as he was declared dead. It was just as I thought. There was some chemical on the body to make it seem as if he had died a long time ago, advanced decomposition...and that was what caused the stench. After he was thought to be dead, whoever it was shot him several times to complete the scene. The toxicology, however, reports that there was a poisonous substance present in the blood...and the autopsy shows an injection sight...the chemical they poured on him didn’t get all over his body. These people knew what they were doing, Scully. They weren’t messing around. The warning signs that this was not simple robbery are that his wallet was still on him, complete with cash, credit cards, and ID. His wedding ring was still on...nothing had been taken. The poison indicates that the murderer acted with knowledge, both of Mulder, as well as of his work, and Mulder’s short disappearance completes the picture. All this paired with what we already know about the Syndicate, as well as the suggestions we’ve been given through various sources, tells me that Mulder was on to something huge. He got way too close.” Scully closed her eyes to compose herself and gather her thoughts. “But I thought that they were scared to kill him...” “They were, but they almost killed him once before. The smoking-man has no fear except of his secrets being discovered. One man’s religion can become another man’s crusade. Mulder is that man, his work is that religion, and that rotten smoking bastard now has a crusade on his hands.” Skinner looked up from his clenched fists. “Agent Scully, it is now our duty to Mulder and his memory to make sure this man is brought to his knees. Along with anyone who works for him.” Scully set her jaw and nodded. The burning, raging fire that used to urge her on to finding the truth was back. She had new purpose to fight: she wanted to do her best for Mulder, to make him proud, and to avenge his death. ***************** One Week Later ***************** She awoke to her alarm clock radio blasting in her ear. She smacked the off button and climbed out of bed. She went through her old morning routine - shower, brush teeth, get dressed, put on make-up, fix her hair, and leave her apartment. She even stopped for coffee on the way to work, almost ordering the second one that she always had. It was so much like old times that she felt a stab of grief as she remembered that it would never be that way again. Scully finally arrived at the huge building where it had all started. She began walking up the steps, when she glanced at her watch. Seeing that she was fairly early, she stopped, turned around, and walked to the reflecting pool that she and Mulder had shared several moments by. She sat on their bench and closed her eyes, allowing herself to be absorbed by her memories... /“Is this seat taken?” She looked up and what she saw made her gasp slightly. “Mulder...?!” He sat on the park bench next to her, taking her hands in his. “Scully...I know you’re nervous and that this is going to be a hard day for you, but I promise that it’ll get easier.” “Oh, Mulder...I never thought I’d have to do this without you...” Tears sprang into her eyes and she fought to keep them under control. He smiled gently and brushed the ones that escaped off of her cheeks. “Be strong, Scully. I told you I’d be here, watching out for you. I won’t leave you until it’s time for me to go...” “When will that be?” A note of fear and slight panic came into her voice. “When you and William are safe and when the work is finished. Then it will be time.” She relaxed slightly. “Will you tell me when?” “Of course. I could never keep anything from you, even if it meant eternal damnation.” He smiled at her. “Mulder, I miss you so much...we hardly got to see each other these last two years...but I never felt that I was without your love.” “I missed you, too. But now we have a little while to make up for that lost time." He drew her close to him, and closed his mouth down on hers./ He faded from her grasp as she slowly came back to reality. When she opened her eyes, she was greeted by the sunny, but chilly day. She looked at her watch and was relieved to see that she still had some time left before she was to report to Skinner’s office. She began to walk, strengthened by Mulder’s presence, even though she thought she must have been dreaming. He was right, she didn’t believe in those things. But if that was the way she got to be with him, however short the time, then she would do her best to believe. UNTITLED, PART III Scully arrived at the J. Edgar Hoover building at five to eight. She went straight to Skinner’s office, knowing that he was waiting for her. She was right. He stood directly in the doorway, leaning against the frame, arms crossed. “Agent Scully.” “Good morning, Sir.” “Have a seat.” They walked into his office. Skinner shut the door and they both sat down. “Scully, I hate to tell you this, but the bureau is trying you out with a partner.” At her look of surprise, he held up his hand. “Scully...I did everything I possibly could. I reminded them that you had just lost your husband...I tried everything. They wouldn’t hear anything I said. You have the strong capabilities that many others are looking for in a partner. The bureau feels that it would be a great loss for you to work alone. I’m sorry.” He looked down at his desk and waited for her to speak. “Who will it be?” she asked quietly. He looked up to see her staring straight into his face. When he didn’t answer right away, she lifted an eyebrow and waited. “His name is Jared Crighton. He’s 30 years old, originally from New York State, and he’s been with the bureau since late ‘99. He showed up shortly before you left. I believe you may have met him once.” “So he’s fairly new to the bureau.” “Yes, but he’s a remarkable agent. You’ve got to be careful, Scully. He’s sharp, a quick thinker. You’ll always have to be two steps ahead of him, provided you and he stay partners.” When she didn’t say anything he spoke again: “Scully, I understand that this will be very, very hard. You’ll have to go against every single thing you’ve ever been taught here. You have to win your partner’s trust, but be sure to breach it surreptitiously so that you keep it. It won’t be an easy job.” “When do I meet him?” “Right away.” Her mind was racing. Why would Skinner allow her to be paired up with someone who could be dangerous to her situation? More, there were plenty of agents who worked without partners. Why couldn’t she be one of them? She was about to ask him these things, but realized it was too late as they arrived at Agent Crighton’s office. The young man stood up when AD Skinner stopped next to his desk. “Sir.” “Agent Crighton. You requested a partner a few weeks ago, correct?” “Yes, sir.” “Then I’d like you to meet Special Agent Dana Scully. You’ll be working together on a case, and we’ll see how it goes from there.” Crighton held out his hand. Scully grasped it and they shook. “Nice to meet you, Agent Scully.” “Likewise.” He was a handsome man, she noticed, tall, slightly built, fair hair, but deeply tanned skin. And light blue eyes to match. He gave her an appraising look. Everyone knew Agent Scully’s past history, and he thought it would be interesting to get to know the infamous Ice Queen, and maybe a little more about the one man who’d finally won her over. “Well, Agents. Get to know one another, and I’ll see about that new case.” Skinner took his leave and left them to initiate their first conversation. Crighton nodded, and he and Scully sat down. He looked up at her. She stared coolly back at him. “Well. What did you do before you left the bureau, Agent Scully?” “Please. Call me Dana. I worked on the section known as the X-Files. What are you doing now? I know that we’re going to be assigned to a case in the new Espionage section.” “The files never closed, and they were definitely interesting...frightening, too, sometimes...when I left the bureau, my husband, who was also my partner, continued by himself. Now, there is no one left to do the work. I don’t know if they’ll close them down.” “I’m very sorry about your loss. He was an acquaintance of mine, though I didn’t know him too well. I won’t ask you to talk about it, if you don’t want to.” “No...not just yet. It’s all so recent, but life goes on.” She looked up from her hands then and gave him a wane smile. He smiled back. Perhaps the Ice Queen had melted a little bit since she had settled down. Just then, Skinner called them down to his office. They walked out of the small office and down the hall. Scully could have sworn she felt the pressure of a hand at the small of her back. She looked around her, alarmed. But Jared’s hands were hanging at his sides, nowhere near her. She smiled gently, then, knowing whose hand it must be. *********************************************** She arrived home around five in the evening. She almost laughed, realizing that she would never have been on time when she was still on the X-Files. She was lucky if she’d ever gotten home before 9. They had been assigned to their very first case. It wasn’t too big or important, at least outwardly, but it was a good start. Supposedly, some information had leaked out of the president’s office, and it was their job to clear it up and find the source inside the White House. No big deal. And it would give her the opportunity to find out who was working there, too. She began to think about William. She’d only been able to call him once, on the old cell phone, which she kept specifically for that purpose. Frohike had already arrived to do his first search of her mother’s house. He always checked for bugs and any other signs of tampering or of the household being watched. It was fairly routine, and Scully was put at ease by the fact that they were still being taken care of. William absolutely adored Frohike, and his weekly visits made William’s adjustment a whole lot easier. She remembered how he had been so excited to hear from her, and the thought of his little smile made her smile, as well. He had babbled on and on about how her mother had had cookies waiting for him, and how she let him help cook dinner. Her mother must be enjoying the company, too, Scully thought, especially after two whole years of not seeing her grandson. Just then the main phone rang, breaking into her thoughts. She picked it up, wondering who would be calling her so soon. “Hello?” “Dana...hi, it’s Jared. Sorry to be calling already, but I just wanted to let you know that the list of employees at the White House and their histories came in a little while ago. I just got the call.” “So soon? That’s great.” “Would you care to come and look them over with me? I know it’s your first day back, but this case looks interesting, and I’m anxious to get started.” Scully almost laughed. She recalled so many times that Mulder would call her up and ask the same thing. “Sure, that sounds great. Where would you like to meet?” “Well, we could meet at the office, if you’d like. I can pick up some dinner, too.” “Okay, I’ll see you there in about half an hour, then.” They briefly discussed dinner, and then hung up. UNTITLED, PART IV It was around 7 o’clock when she arrived at the J. Edgar Hoover building. The old times were back, and she felt right at home. She started thinking about how nice Jared was turning out to be, and it worried her to think that she would have to betray him on a regular basis. Perhaps one day, if she were ever able to trust him, she would include him in the plan. It all depended on what happened in the next few months. She got out of her car and made her way into the building. She was surprised at how many people stayed after hours to work on tough cases among other items. She stepped onto the elevator and punched the button that would take her to the floor her new office was on. She and Jared would share it for the duration that they were partners. She arrived on the floor and walked into the office, noting that she already had a desk. It struck her as a bit funny that she was working with someone who was so different from Mulder. But maybe that was a good thing. She could focus on the work if there was no constant reminder of him by her side every day. Jared was already sitting at his desk, poring over the thick stack of typed pages and files. She automatically sat at her desk, which faced his, and took the ones he had already looked at. He looked up and smiled. “Hey. Dinner is over there.” He pointed in the direction of a table in the corner, near the window. “Great. Thanks for picking it up. How much do I owe you?” He waved his hand as if brushing away her question. “Don’t worry about it. It’s on me. Sort of a ‘welcome back’.” He smiled again. “Thanks again. That was thoughtful of you.” She smiled back at him and glanced over the master list. “Wow. I never realized just how many people worked at the White House. This covers everyone, even the gardeners and cooks.” “I know. Unfortunately, your medical expertise won’t be needed too much on this.” She nodded, wondering just how much he knew about her. “It’s just as well, though. I can concentrate a little better on other things this way.” He scanned a few more files before looking up again. “Hey, we’d better eat before it gets cold, huh?” “Sure. I’m getting a little hungry.” They got up from their desks and went over to the table. As they sat down and ate, they talked a little more about things. Some of it was about the case, but they kept the rest of the conversation light and more personal. Jared asked the first question, careful to stay close on the surface and not get too personal. “So, tell me a little bit more about the X-Files, if you will. So many people know about the work, but not much about what it’s all really about.” Scully immediately felt at ease. New conversation intimidated her sometimes, and she had had no idea what he would ask her. This was something that she could definitely talk about. “Well, there was so much involved in the files. Its immediate purpose was to hold information on reported cases of extraterrestrials and UFO sightings, among other cases that reported anything paranormal, but there were so many other things.” “Like what?” “Well, let’s see...for example, there was the infamous case of the Fluke man. I still don’t know exactly what to think about that one. To this day, it’s the one that sticks out most in my mind. There was a body that had been found in the sewers of New York City. It had been so badly decomposed that it was impossible to identify it by physical characteristics. So, Mulder had been sent up there to check it out. At first, he was really angry about the case because the X-Files had been closed, we had been separated as partners, and he thought he was being sent to do the bureau’s dirty work. On the outside, it was a case that really never should have been sent to the FBI, but then things got a little weird. We finally identified the body, and it turns out that the man had been a sailor on a Russian ship, and had disappeared. Mulder asked me to perform the autopsy. There was a huge bite mark, and I found this nasty-looking little worm, which was identified as a fluke worm, in the body’s liver.” She noticed that her new partner was looking a little green, so she stopped. “I’m sorry, I just realized that we’re eating...it’s just that I’ve seen so much that this stuff just doesn’t bother me anymore.” “No, no, it’s alright. Keep going. It sounds like it was a crazy case.” “It was. So, the next thing that happened was that a sanitation worker had also been attacked in the sewer, and he had the same huge bite mark on his back. He was released from his doctor, and later on, he died, but Mulder and I eventually came across the cause of the attacks...it was a giant worm. Except this fluke worm wasn’t just a worm - it was half worm, half man. A mutation. We finally theorized that this thing had been created courtesy of Chernobyl and came across the ocean in the Russian vessel’s pipe work somehow. We even captured the Fluke man for a short time, and then he escaped. It was the strangest, most disgusting thing I have seen in a long time. Nothing really compares. Mulder was actually the one to kill it, and as far as we know, that was the end of the Fluke man.” She stopped and looked up from her salad. Jared was totally absorbed in her story. “Wow. That’s amazing. I sort of wish I had been along to see all this stuff.” “Trust me, it wasn’t all fun and games. The amount of trouble we got into was ridiculous. I can’t even count all the times either, or both of us ended up in the hospital, or abducted, or lost. We even shot each other a couple of times.” She smiled faintly at the memories. He looked a bit shocked, which made it all seem a little funnier. “What about you? What was it like working in VCS? Mulder had originally been there as a profiler, but I was assigned directly to the X-Files, so I didn’t know too much about it.” “A profiler? That has got to be a lot more interesting than what I did. The cases there are very basic. Just anything that local law enforcement can’t solve with their resources. I mean, murder isn’t a pretty business, and I’m sure you saw your fair share of it in the X-Files, but there were very few interesting or tough cases that came along.” “What do you think Espionage will be like?” “I think this is going to be an interesting section. There is so much that we just don’t see going on behind the scenes, even within our own government, you know?” Oh yes. She knew. “Well, it should be fairly exciting work, at any rate.” They had both finished eating. “Should we get started over there?” “Oh, right! I almost forgot that we have a case to work on...” They went back to their desks and looked over some more files. “Well, Dana, where do you think we should start? There are so many areas that people work in.” “Hmmm...well, I guess first we should check out the files and make sure that they’re organized according to the area they work in. Then we should start the background checks and look for anything that seems a bit out of the ordinary.” “Good call. Okay, well, the files I went through seem to be pretty well organized, so I guess we can fix whatever needs it as we go along.” “Okay, sounds good. Let’s split the files up according to the areas. I’ll start with the aides who work closest with the president.” He nodded in agreement and picked up a different pile. They continued in silence for a while, until Jared announced that he found something a little strange. He pointed to two files he had laid open on his desk, side by side. “Look, they have the same address and phone number. I know that that could mean that they’re just roommates or something, but that really stuck out at me...and look at this...” The two men both worked as phone operators within the White House. They both had similar backgrounds, as well, and had both been released from the same company prior to their employment in D.C. “Well,” said Scully, “one quick phone call will definitely provide some more information.” It seemed as if these two men had a little too much in common, but it could also mean that the computer had made a mistake, though the White House people were usually right on top of those things. Jared picked up the phone and dialed the previous company’s number. “Yes, this is Special Agent Jared Crighton, FBI. I need to talk with someone who could give me some information on two past employees. Thanks.” He placed his hand over the mouthpiece and looked at Scully. “They’re connecting me with their night manager...Hello? Hi, this is Special Agent Jared Crighton, with the FBI. I need as much information as you can give me on two of your past employees...” Scully sat down and looked at the two files again. It would be excellent if they could get this case taken care of within a couple of days of receiving it. But then, this was a pretty easy case, compared to some others. She waited patiently until Jared ended the phone call. He had been taking notes the entire time among several “Uh-huh”s and “Okay”s. After he thanked the manager and had hung up, he sat down on top of his desk, facing Scully, and started telling her everything, much as if he were briefing her. She found it a bit amusing, but also a very thorough way of keeping one’s partner informed. “Well. It seems as if our two friends here have a couple of very interesting backgrounds. They were both fired for selling telephone numbers to Internet companies, among other places. The information was never made public, and this particular phone company, due to union rules, was only allowed to say that the two had been let go because of personal conflicts. So, the White House people didn’t know all the real reasons. And selling lists to companies is the only offense. They are, indeed, roommates, and there were always rumors going around that they had a secret sort of business going on. Hacking and bugging phones through computers, and that sort of thing. There was never any hard evidence of these things, but both men bragged about it several times to co-workers.” “What about the list-selling? Isn’t that illegal if it’s done privately like that for personal gain?” “Yes, but since Harvey Breaker and Glen Wallace didn’t cause too much trouble at work, and they left without a fuss, the phone company didn’t pursue it. The main thing that the manager told me is that these two weren’t well liked at all by coworkers. In fact, they were only kept on because they were such experts in their field. The manager also said that practically the whole company jumped for joy when they got fired. People were just itching to get rid of them, and this was a golden opportunity.” “Well, this is a good lead we have. In the morning, we can let Skinner know that we have a break, and then we can set up some interviews with operators in the White House, as well as Breaker and Wallace themselves. Just simple questioning, nothing major.” “That sounds like a good idea. Okay, then...I guess we should go home and get some sleep. I can’t wait to tell Skinner about this.” “Me neither. He’ll be very pleased, I think.” They closed up the office and started toward the parking lot. Again, Scully felt a hand at the small of her back, and again, she surreptitiously glanced around her. Jared was walking next to her, and again, his arms were swinging at his sides. A ghost of a smile crept across her lips. Jared walked her to her car, and then walked across the parking lot to his own. He had been thinking quite a bit about his new partner, and realized that he was already forming a friendly affection for her. The kind that often eventually grew to something deeper. He wondered if this is what Fox Mulder had felt the first time he met her, but guessed he would never know. He sighed and got into his car. Thinking this way about his new partner and her only recently late husband was making him feel guilty. He headed home, thinking that there was so much about Dana that he could only hope to learn. She sat down in her car with a sigh of relief. As good as it felt to be on the way to solving the very first case already, the day had been exhausting. She drove to her apartment in peace and quiet, and once she arrived there, she collapsed into bed after throwing on some pajamas, and fell asleep almost immediately. /Sometime around 2 am, she was startled awake. There was a hand gently caressing her back, and when she turned over and reached for her revolver, her hand was stopped in midair. “Scully, don’t you think you’ve shot me enough times already?” She smiled instantly and turned to face him. “Mulder, you frightened me.” “I’m sorry. You’re just so beautiful, Scully. I miss being with you. Nighttimes were very lonely for me until I realized that even though you were far away, our love was far to strong for me to feel alone. The thought of you and William always comforted me.” “Mulder, you know I will always love you...” He was silent at this, then suddenly, “Scully, I want to make love to you.” She was surprised at this. “How is that possible? Mulder, you’re...you’re...” “Dead? Not among the living? That’s not entirely true. I’m just not physically a part of this world anymore. But look, I’m still here.” He became something almost solid, and as his state seemed to change, he reached for her hand. He felt solid and real to her as she touched him. “I kissed you before, didn’t I?”,br> “Yes, but that was different, and you left before it felt like a kiss.” “How is it different, Scully? What is sex, anyway? It is pure emotion and something spiritual. It’s an expression of joy and love, and though some of it is physical, the essence of it remains within my world. You can feel me, can’t you? I’m here...right here...” he murmured. He leaned over her and pressed his lips to hers. With equal passion, she returned the kiss and moaned softly as he slid her pajamas down her hips and legs and lifted the top over her head. He was right...he was still very real, and their emotional ties were stronger than ever. She was his connection to the physical world, as he was her connection to the spiritual one. “Mulder...” she whispered. “How do I...do I...?” Knowing what she meant, he slowly removed his own clothing and climbed over her. He felt light as air but still so solid and real that she couldn’t believe what they were doing. She wrapped her legs around him. “Mulder...make love to me...” He slid inside her slowly and gently and they began to move together. She still couldn’t believe that it was his hands on her, running over her breasts, that it was he who was inside of her...this wasn’t supposed to be, and yet it was happening. How? “Scully...don’t question it...just let it happen...” She brought herself back to the reality of him as they continued making love. It was the sweetest, most exquisite thing, and the happiness she felt took over her confusion and changed it into acceptance. Her breathing grew heavy and ragged as she neared release. Her hands ran through his hair as he gripped her bottom and pulled her tighter while she climaxed. Spent, she relaxed into his arms as he rolled over so that she could lie on top of him. This situation was so familiar to her, minus one thing...while she lay on top of his chest, she couldn’t feel his breathing... nor hear his heartbeat. Anger momentarily clouded her ecstasy as she realized again how much she had lost. But the anger was quickly replaced as she realized who was in her arms and what they had just done. She breathed a sigh of relief. Even though the time they had left was short, she wanted to enjoy every moment she had with him. “Mulder?” “Hmmm?” “Why were you able to come back to me?” “I don’t know Scully. All I know is that something is telling me not to follow the light just yet. Something is telling me that there is something much bigger coming that I shouldn’t miss. Perhaps we’re being granted some extra time to replace what we were denied for the past two years. I just don’t know. But I’m glad that I have this time. Like I said...I’ve missed you so much...” “Your last letter to me made me cry. After I read it, everything sort of sank in. I knew what I had lost then. Mulder, I will never love anyone again.” He kissed the top of her head, a frown creasing his brow. “Scully, you still have a long life ahead of you. Don’t make any promises that you may not want to keep later. We will always love each other, and when you can finally join me as I walk the afterlife waiting for you, then we will be together again. But while you are here on earth, you’ll be lonely after I leave. I don’t want that.” She sighed. “Mulder, I don’t want you to be right, but I’m afraid that you might be. I want to stay with you. I don’t want you to leave me, and I don’t want to love anyone else.” A sob escaped her throat. “Please don’t leave again...” “Scully, shhhhh...eventually I’ll have to. It’ll be okay. Everything has to change sometime. You know that. But I will always be with you, in your heart and in William. No matter what. And, as I said, when you are able to join me, we’ll be together forever. I promise. And for now, let’s enjoy what time we have.” He kissed her again, as she drifted toward asleep./ UNTITLED PART V The sun streaming through the windows was what woke her, long before her alarm went off. She stretched comfortably after a long, deep sleep, and suddenly remembered that Mulder had been with her the night before. Had it all been a dream? She couldn’t quite believe that. The feel of him had been too real. And she remembered drifting off to sleep in his arms. But still...she had been exhausted. She shoved back the covers, sat up, and promptly realized that she wasn’t wearing anything. Her pajamas were crumpled up in a small heap on the floor. He had been here, or else she had had a very vivid dream. She preferred the former to the latter, so that’s what she decided to dwell on as she headed to the shower. She finished getting ready and left for work. As she drove into D.C., she remembered that she and Jared had to report to Skinner and give him their update on the case. She practically flew up to their office and nearly slammed into Jared, who was opening the door for her when he saw her coming. “Good morning. Are you ready to go see Skinner?” she asked. Jared chuckled softly. “Good morning to you. We have to wait for about an hour. For now, let’s go look through the rest of the files and see if we can find any more potential leads. Just in case these aren’t our men. I already scheduled our interviews with some people at the White House.” She sat down at her desk and immediately opened up one of the files. “Okay, since we have to wait anyway.” They spent the hour searching, but nothing seemed so blatantly out of the ordinary as Breaker and Wallace. When it was time for them to go, Scully smoothed her hair and Jared straightened his tie. They walked down the hall together and waited for the elevator, armed with copies of the files. They arrived at Skinner’s office, and Kimberley, his secretary, ushered them in. Jared held the door for Scully, and followed her inside. They took their seats in front of the AD’s desk. “Agents, I hear that you may have found a break in the case. Congratulations.” “Thank you, sir,” they replied in unison. Skinner looked up, a bit surprised. Then he smiled. Jared handed over the file copies, and Skinner began flipping through them. “So, tell me what you have so far.” Jared looked at Scully and nodded, a silent way of telling her she could start. “Well, sir, we decided to get an early start on the case and to see what we could find that looked a bit out of the ordinary. These two men, Wallace and Breaker, are the two that stood out. While we were waiting for our meeting with you, we looked through most of the other files, and everything seems okay with them.” Skinner nodded, and Scully continued. “When we came across these two, Agent Crighton called the company that they had previously worked for, and we obtained some information on them that gave us some insight into their personalities, as well as their behaviors.” Jared picked up here. “I called up the company, and spoke with their night manager. I was told that these men are roommates, which is why they have the same address, and also that they had been fired from their jobs. The main reason for this was that they had been illegally selling phone numbers to Internet companies, among others. However, the company was not at liberty to provide details of their expulsion to any future or potential employers due to union rules and regulations. They merely told the White House that Wallace and Breaker had been let go due to internal conflicts. What he told me is that these men were not well liked, and often bragged about how they had a secret business to bug phones and spy on people through computers, not to mention hacking...things of that nature. There was never any hard evidence of this, but because of the rumors and the mere fact that they were not well liked, people were itching to get rid of them. When their activities were found out, they were fired. No criminal charges were brought up because the two men left without a fuss, and they were never big on major trouble making. These seem to be the most likely suspects for a leak in a government office.” Scully broke in. “We have several interviews lined up today with current co-workers at the White House as well as with Breaker and Wallace. If we don’t get any breaks there, our next stop is their previous place of employment.” “Excellent work, agents. I expect your full report on the interviews by tomorrow at noon. However, if there is any need for an extension, please don’t hesitate to request it. You’re already ahead of schedule.” “Yes, sir. Thank you.” The Agents stood up and took their leave. Just as Scully reached the door, Skinner called out to her. “Scully, a word?” “Yes, sir. Jared, I’ll catch up with you.” “Okay. I’ll go double check those interviews.” Scully walked back into the office and closed the door behind her. “I haven’t had a chance to see how everything is working out yet. Although this is a premature guess, it appears that you and Agent Crighton work very well together.” “Yes, we do. He is a very smart person, and I find it amazing that our first case is going so well.” “Do you think you’ll stay paired up?” “I think so. But, Skinner, I can’t help wondering why he hasn’t been involved with Mulder’s work. He is so capable, and I feel that he would be an asset.” “Scully, that young man has no disillusions about his government as yet. I had very few until Mulder confronted me with his knowledge. When the time is right, IF the time is right, then perhaps you can involve him.” “Sir, I already feel as if I have known him for a very long time, and I believe we are already starting to trust one another. It’s going to be hard going if I am to continually betray his trust.” “Scully, at the risk of sounding harsh, you knew what to expect when you became involved with this. Everything will work out.” “Alright. I trust your judgment.” “Good. Now go catch up with him, and keep up your hard work. Congratulations again. The higher-ups will be pleased to hear about this.” She smiled, said goodbye, and headed back up to the office. Jared was waiting for her when she arrived. He held out her coat as she wrapped herself in it, thanking him as she did so. They locked up the office and decided that they would take Scully’s car. The drive over to the White House was pleasant. They exchanged small talk, as well as expressing their excitement over furthering their first investigation. When they arrived, Jared flashed his badge at the secret service agent and gave their names. The Agent waved them through, saying that they had been expected. They parked in visitor parking and were ushered through a door into the huge white mansion. After being scanned with metal detectors and walked through larger ones, they were sent up to talk with the first person on their list - the president’s public relations official. They arrived on the second floor and were sent straight into Ms. Rita Antone’s office by her secretary. She was waiting for them at her desk, and she gestured to two chairs as they walked in. She was a petite woman with dark hair and large round glasses. Jared introduced them. “Ms. Antone, I’m Special Agent Jared Crighton, and this is my partner, Special Agent Dana Scully. I contacted you earlier in regards to the security breach.” At the mention of Scully’s name, the woman’s interest seemed to perk up. “Yes, welcome. Perhaps I’m not the one you should speak with, however. The information that was leaked had to do with a government file that the president had been discussing with a naval officer. The information is not of national security proportions, but the public should not know anything until the right time. My job is to make sure that the public doesn’t hear too much about it, and to make sure that the information doesn’t fall onto the wrong ears.” “Whom should we be speaking with, then?”“Well, I suppose you could start with me, and then I’ll direct you to anyone else who should know.” “Alright, then. Ms. Antone, as we can see, you are aware that there has been a leak. Are you aware, however, that the leak is thought to be internal?” Scully asked her directly, cutting all corners, as was her way. “Yes, I am aware that this is internal. Have you found any leads in the case?” “We’ve found one very likely lead, but we need as much help and cooperation from everyone as we can get in order to gain evidence against these people.” “Agent Scully, I can assure you that you will receive as much help and cooperation as is necessary.” The woman looked hard at her, as if sizing her up. It made Scully a little nervous, and very uncomfortable. “That’s good to know. We believe the leak is coming from two of your phone operators...” Scully launched into everything she and Jared knew so far. Ms. Antone looked a bit shocked. “This information fits in very well with the scenario. The President and the Naval officer were speaking on the phone, rather than in person when the information was overheard.” Scully and Jared looked at each other. This was something they needed. Jared spoke up next. “We have several interviews lined up with most of your phone operators, the suspects included. We’d like to keep that bit of information to ourselves until we have a better sense of this case, and until we gather some information.” “That’s understandable. I’ll show you the way to the phone center.” Then, as they began walking, “I’m sure you know already that we have 15 operators employed here, including the foreman. He’s the one that all the other operators report to, and he then reports to someone else. The system is much the same as it is in the FBI. Here we are. The foreman’s name is Michael Readington. He’ll be able to pick up from here.” She then proceeded to show them into Mr. Readington’s office. After she had introduced them, she took her leave and left the agents with Michael. “Good Afternoon, Agents.” “Good afternoon,” Jared said. “Thank you again for your cooperation and haste.” “Well, we want this matter cleared up as soon as possible. We’re relieved to hear that you already have some likely suspects.” “Yes. In fact, we’ll be interviewing them along with several other operators who are employed here. However, no one is to know that these two are the potential suspects until we gather some hard evidence, hopefully enough to make an arrest.” “Am I to know who these men or women are?” Scully glanced at Jared. The look told him to use his own judgment. “Well, since you’ll be a key figure in this investigation, and we are going to be relying on your help, I’m sure it’s alright to let you know. We believe the two suspects to be Harvey Breaker and Glen Wallace.” “Well, Agents. If I had had to guess, then I would definitely be in agreement with you.” “Is that so, Mr. Readington? What makes you say that?” asked Scully. “Well, Agent Scully, when you meet these two men, you’ll see exactly what I mean. They have bad attitudes in general, believing themselves to be superior in everything. One would think that they’d be a little bit careful about what they said around a place like the White House, but no. They brag every once in awhile to whoever will listen about how they used to be expert hackers, and how they know how to bug phones from computers. Things like that. Not enough to make someone believe they were serious, but enough to make a person suspicious. We’ve been looking for a way to get them out of here, and so far can’t come up with anything solid.” “Mr. Readington, it might interest you to know why they were released from their previous job. It seems that they were despised by their co-workers, and they ended up getting caught doing something very stupid - they were selling phone numbers to Internet companies. This gave the company the opening they needed to get rid of them.” “This is news to me. But if they turn out to be the one’s responsible, it’s all the better for us. No one here will be sad to see them go. Shall we get started?” “Of course. Jared, who would you like to start with?” “Well, I guess I’ll start with Breaker. I suggest that you start with someone other than Wallace just for appearances.” “That sounds like a good idea. Alright, I’ll go hunt someone else up. When we’re finished with round one, I think we should compare notes.” He smiled. “Sounds good to me.” Ten minutes later, they had both begun their interviews. Jared’s, Scully thought, was going to be tricky. She was interviewing a woman named Alice Jorgen, and decided to use the foreman’s office to provide a little privacy for the employees with whom she’d be speaking. “Hello, Alice. I’m Special Agent Dana Scully, with the FBI. I have a few questions I’d like to ask you.” “Oh, that’s fine,” replied Alice. The woman had a sort of nasal quality to her voice, and something resembling a southern accent. “What about?” “How well do you know your co-workers?”,br> “Well, it depends on which co-workers you mean. For instance, I know Ron and Jenn pretty well. We hang out after work sometimes.” “How about Harvey Breaker and Glen Wallace?” “Oh, those two...I don’t know them well at all, personally speaking. In fact, they make me a little nervous.” “Why is that?” “Well, the way they act. Like, they keep to themselves for the most part, unless they’re trying to show off for some girl or something. One time, Harvey was telling a few people that he was interested in me, and then he started talking to me.” “What did he talk about?” “He told me that he could bug anyone’s phone, even the president’s, and that all he needed was a computer with some software that he created. Then he told me that he could do all sorts of things, like hack into computer files, and even videotape people without them realizing it. You know, real crazy stuff designed to make me think he was real smart, a really great guy.” “And what did you do with all this information?” “Well, I went straight to Mike, first of all because I didn’t want Harvey talking to me, and second because everything Harvey said sounded a little fishy.” “Did Harvey ever show you how he did these things?” “He tried, but I didn’t want to go to his house, especially because he lives with Glen. Oh, yeah...he told me that Glen was involved with all this stuff, too. But one time, he picked up the phone that he keeps at his desk and he held it to my ear. I could hear the president talking...it scared me so much...I never told anybody about that.” “Why didn’t you tell anyone? And did he use a phone from here?” “No, it was a cell phone. And I never said anything because I was afraid of what could happen, and I didn’t want to stir up any trouble. But, I mean, that was the president. We have the capabilities to break into any line in the House anytime we need to, but we are strictly prohibited from doing so, unless we have permission, like, in the case of an emergency. But Harvey was using a little old cell-phone...not one of our’s.” “Okay, Alice. Please don’t speak to anyone about what we discussed. If anyone asks you, just say that the FBI is questioning some people who might know something about a case. No need to mention that we talked about your co-workers, okay?” Alice nodded. “Will you need to speak with me again?” “We might need you to tell someone else everything you just told me. Will that be okay?” “Sure.” “For now, I’d just like for you to fill out a formalized witness statement for me.” The woman took the statement, and when she had signed and completed it, she handed it back to Scully. Scully shook the woman’s hand, thanked her, and went to find Jared. He was just completing his own interview with Breaker. Breaker looked angry and ill at ease, something she never liked to see in a potential suspect. It made them dangerous. Scully pulled Jared aside, throwing a worried glance in Breaker’s direction. “What happened?” “I have no idea what went wrong, but it wasn’t good. I asked him if he knew anything about the leak in the presidential office, and he got mad. Not just a little mad, either. I really thought he was going to haul off and hit me, and then I guess he realized that no one had accused him of anything and he settled down and answered my questions with ‘no’s and ‘I don’t knows’s. I got nothing out of him, and when he left, he started muttering something about stupid feds prying into the common man’s business.” “I really don’t like the sound of that, Jared. And with all this, compared with what I got from Alice, we may really have a case building up here.” “Well, tell me about it. What did she say?” “Among other incriminating things, that Harvey once picked up his personal cell phone and held it up to her ear...she heard the president’s voice on the phone.” “Are you kidding? That could be the major break we need.” “Yes, but we still need solid proof against them. Let’s finish up the rest of these interviews, then we can come up with something.” “Alright. Do you want to continue with Wallace?” “Sure. That’ll be fine.” As the two agents were conducting the rest of their interviews, Rita Antone left alone to take her lunch break. No one took any notice; Rita usually liked to have lunch by herself, outside of the White House. She had just driven through the gates when her cell phone rang. “Hello?” A young man’s voice greeted her at the other end of the line. “Ms. Antone. I’ll be expecting you to meet me at Sire’s Deli in ten minutes. Do you have the information that I need?” “Do you have my ‘reimbursement’?” “What do you think?” “I’ll see you shortly, then.” She folded her phone up and took a left turn instead of a right one, heading towards the Maryland border. No one noticed that Ms. Antone never came back to her office that day until much later. They were finally done with the interviewing. Scully’s talk with Wallace had yielded similar results to Jared’s with Breaker. Except his demeanor radiated total calm, even patience. This man could be the more dangerous one by far. He wasn’t a hothead; he was a cold, calculating individual. Scully disliked him instantly, and saw for the first time that the men they were dealing with weren’t the unintelligent hooligans she had pictured them as. Except when it came to women, obviously. Then they forgot discretion in an attempt to impress. And that could have been their big mistake. Jared walked out of the room with the last person on their list. This one had been Ron, the man that Alice had spoken about earlier. Apparently, the interview had gone well, because Jared looked pleased, and so did Ron, for that matter. Were Breaker and Wallace really that impossible to work with? It seemed as if that was the case. No one could wait to get rid of them. Jared shook the man’s hand and waited for Scully to join him. They said their goodbyes and thank you’s to the foreman and walked out, after telling him that they would contact him shortly about their next plan of action. “Well,” Scully noted as they climbed into the car, “you looked pleased about that one.” “I am, I am. It seems that Ron was pretty angry when Harvey started hitting on Alice.”“Angry enough to confirm everything she said?” “You got it. It looks like we may have enough evidence to get a search warrant. Reasonable suspicion based on witness statements.” Scully beamed. “Well, one less thing. But let’s just hope that we can find enough physical evidence to arrest them on suspicion. Who knows what else they may have heard?” “Let’s go report back to Skinner. We’ve made more than enough progress in this area of the case for one day, and I’d like to get that search out of the way before those two decide to go clean up the place.” “That sounds good. I have a formalized statement from Alice and her friend Jenn.” “Great, I have one from Ron, as well as from Mike. We’re all set with this, then.”They arrived back at the J. Edgar Hoover building within fifteen minutes, and then headed up to Skinner’s office. He greeted them at the door. “Agents, you may have a small problem on your hands.” “What is it, sir?” asked Scully. She was immediately concerned. She and Jared took their seats in front of Skinner’s desk as he shut the door behind them. “It seems as if your two suspects have gotten into a rather heated argument at work, and one of them took off.” “How long ago was this?” Jared leaned forward in his chair, already as on-edge as Scully was feeling. “About two minutes before you arrived in my office, Mike Readington called me and asked me to inform you both.” “What was the argument about?” “According to Mr. Readington, they were yelling about your visit today. Several incriminating things were overheard.” Scully glanced at Jared. “Sir, after interviewing the two men, I got the distinct impression that they should be considered dangerous. I believe Agent Crighton felt the same way.” “Yes, sir. I did. What do you suggest we do?” “First, I want you both to go to their residence. The local police have already been called in to try and head him off, and Secret Service is holding the other at the White House.” “Which one left?” Jared asked.“Breaker took off.” Scully nodded. “That’s exactly what I thought. When Agent Crighton interviewed Breaker, he was the one who lost his temper. Wallace was too calm in my opinion. Sir, I also believe that we might have enough information to make an arrest on suspicion.” “Agents, I trust your judgment. If you feel that you are able to make an arrest, then do so. I assume you also have enough evidence to conduct a search warrant?” “Yes sir. I feel that, considering the circumstances, the physical evidence can be sought out after the two are in custody.” Jared nodded in agreement and the AD continued. “Good. Then I will speak with you when you return. In the meantime, I’ll send word to the Secret Service that they may detain Wallace and place him under arrest.” Scully and Jared took off down the hallway and hurried to the car. On the way, they decided that Jared would drive while Scully made calls to the police chief and other investigative officials who were already involved. They hopped in the car and Jared screeched out of the lot. Just as Scully was about to place her first call, her cell phone rang. “Scully!” “Agent Scully, this is Police Chief Johnson. AD Skinner just informed me that you are on your way...” “Yes, we are. Has the suspect been located yet?” “According to the officers who are on his tail, he headed for his home, and has barricaded himself inside.” /Shit,/ Scully thought. “We’re on our way right now...is he armed?” “That information is not available to us just yet, but go into this assuming that he is. We’ll be there before you arrive.” “Thank you, Chief Johnson. Is there a number we can reach you at, if necessary?” The Chief proceeded to give her the number, and then hung up saying that he would see them when they arrived at the suspects’ home. “Well?” asked Jared. “Breaker has barricaded himself inside the house. We’re to go in there assuming that he is armed.” “Alright. Ready for some action?” She smiled briefly. “As always.” UNTITLED, PART VI They parked at the end of the street and jogged up to the chief’s car. Jared was momentarily amazed that she could run so well in pumps, then shook himself back to the scene in front of them. There were several police cars parked in front of the small house with their lights flashing. Several officers were barricaded behind the cars with guns drawn and aimed. They stopped to speak with one of the officers and learned that they had been ordered not to shoot unless they were being shot at, but that the chief wanted them to be prepared. The young officer directed the two agents to a tall, well-built man who was directing a few more officers to their positions. When he had dismissed them, he turned and held out his hand. Scully took it as he said “Welcome, Agents.” He then proceeded to shake Jared’s hand, and began to fill them in as to what had taken place within the past few minutes. “Right now, we still don’t know if he is armed, but we’re playing it safe.” “Has anyone been in contact with him yet?” “No, Agent Scully. We thought we’d wait on that until you and Agent Crighton arrived.” “We have the phone number to the house right here.” Scully picked up her cell phone and dialed the number. A frightened man’s voice answered the phone. “Hello?” “This is Agent Scully with the FBI. Who am I speaking with?” “This is Harvey Breaker. Call everyone off, and no one will get hurt.” “Listen to me, Harvey. You don’t have to go through all this. Threats are not necessary. If you just come out with your hands up, no one will hurt you. There is no reason for you to run.” “No way, man. I am NOT coming out of this house until you call everyone off. I have a gun, too.” “Harvey, please. This is not the best thing for you to do. Just put your gun down and slowly walk to the front door. I’ll make sure that the officers out here don’t point their guns at you. We just want everyone to be safe.” She gestured to the officers to point their weapons downward. The sharp shooters who were positioned in strategic locations were the only ones who were allowed to hold guns on Breaker. They were under the same orders that they were not to shoot unless the suspect came out firing a weapon. “Now, Harvey, are you still there?” “Yes.” “I want you to do something. Look out the window.” There was silence on the other end for a moment, then she saw the softest flicker of a window shade from the front of the house. “What do you see?” “Lots of officers around.” “Yes, but are any of them aiming their guns?” There was another flicker of the shade. “No.” “Then what are you waiting for? Come out with your hands up and no weapon, and I promise you, no one will hurt you. As long as you aren’t threatening us, we won’t threaten you.” There was a hesitation at the other end. “Harvey, by holding out like this, you’re just making things worse for yourself and your roommate. Really. Just come out, and you’ll be alright.” “Promise?” “Yes, I promise.” “Okay, then. I’m going to put down my gun...” She heard a small thud as he dropped something onto the floor. “And I’m going to come out with my hands up.” “Okay. Now, Harvey, just come out nice and slow.” She gestured again to the door and to the officers and sharp shooters. Everyone was very tense; it wasn’t certain if this was going to end the way everyone hoped it would. Just then, the door swung open. A foot kicked it the rest of the way, and Harvey Breaker came out with his hands on his head, looking nervously all around him. There was a shout as he reached the first step, and the sharp shooters surrounded him and handcuffed his hands behind his back. Scully breathed a sigh of relief as she realized she’d been holding her breath in anticipation. They turned him over to three of the officers who were waiting with one of the squad cars. As they walked him over, they read his rights, and soon he was on his way to the station. Jared walked over and placed his hand on her shoulder. “You okay?” he asked. She nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be alright.” “You’re white as a sheet. Why don’t you sit down for a minute?” He looked concerned, realizing that this was the first time she had been confronted with this sort of thing since she had resigned. He walked her over to the car and opened a door. She sat on the edge with her feet touching the pavement and took several deep breaths. Jared put his hand on her shoulder and leaned over her. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” “Yeah. I had just forgotten how intense these situations get. I mean, just waiting to see if you’re going to be shot at, or if the suspect is going to give up quietly...it’s so dependent on the situation.” “Well, if it’s any consolation to you, you did a wonderful job out there.” He smiled gently. “I’ve never seen anyone coaxed out so easily or willingly. He did everything exactly as you told him to.” She smiled wanly back at him. “It must be that maternal thing kicking in. Thanks. I needed to hear that.” He grinned and then helped her up. “Up to filling out some incident reports with me?” “Oh sure. I’m always up for that.” *************************************************** They returned to the bureau office around four o’clock. Skinner had been waiting for them up at his office, and as soon as the agents arrived, they were given the message. They stopped at their office long enough to take off their trench coats and grab the papers they would need, and hurried to the elevator. Kimberley sent them straight inside, and for the third time that day they took their seats. Skinner looked pleased. “Well done. I am very pleased to see that everything went so well. Now all you need to do is set up the search warrants which, I’m sure, will provide what physical evidence we need to prosecute.” “Thank you, sir,” replied Crighton. “We’re actually ready to take out a search warrant right now.” He handed the papers to Skinner, who looked them over and put them to the side. “Wonderful. These will be processed immediately. You should have your warrant within the hour.” He smiled. It relieved him to see Scully adjusting so quickly to the aftermath of Mulder’s death, and he was glad that the results of her coming back were doing her such credit. It made the other work a little bit easier for him to dish out. “I’ve already spoken to several of my superiors, and they are incredibly pleased with the concentration and effort you have both placed upon this case. The fact that it has only been open for a few days and is almost taken care of is overwhelming. I think we should start discussing your future as partners.” Scully and Jared glanced at each other. Jared spoke up first. “Well, I don’t know about Agent Scully, but I enjoy working with her a great deal, and I would be honored to become her official partner.” Scully looked up. “I feel the same way about that. Jared and I work very well together, and my adjustment into the bureau has been made all the easier for working with him.” She looked over at him and smiled. “I think it’s in the bureau’s best interest, not to mention our own, if we continue working together.” Skinner beamed at them. “I’m glad to hear that. Very glad. I’d like to keep both of you in Espionage, since you seem so cut out for the work. And you’re doing a damned good job, too.” “Well, sir, since we’re all in agreement, let’s get the rest of this case taken care of,” said Scully briskly. Jared nodded. “I’m anxious to get it finished, as well.” “Of course. I’ll have that warrant sent down as soon as possible.” ************************************************* Krycek stood impatiently outside of the phone booth, alternately smoking a cigarette and pacing back and forth. Damn it...why wasn't the phone ringing yet? He had finally gotten the information that the smoking man desired. Just in the nick of time, too. Unfortunately, he had just added one more murder to his ever-growing list. Rita Antone had been too easy for his tastes. An offer of money in exchange for information was all it took, and since they met in a secluded spot behind the deli, her murder had been an easy one to perform. She had told him what he needed, and then he had slit her throat, poured chemicals on the body, tossed her in the dumpster, and left the scene quickly and without being seen. No big deal. It had taken him less than 20 minutes. It was perfect. No one had seen them meet, no one had seen the murder, and no one had seen him leave. Then why was he so anxious to get the hell out of the area? The phone’s shrill ring cut into his ruminations. He picked it up before it could ring again. “Alex.” It was a statement, not a question. “Yeah. I have the information you need.” What he didn’t reveal just yet was that he hadn’t been able to locate the kid. “Where is she?” “Hey, hey now...not so fast. I seem to recall a certain threat of my funeral.” “I don’t negotiate, Alex. Tell me what I requested, and you won’t die. Yet.” “And that’s supposed to encourage me? What if I can use this information for myself?” “All the more reason for me to kill you. And then I’ll find out for myself.” Either way, Krycek was screwed. “Alright. Where should I meet you, then?” “Nevermind that. Just tell me. Right now.” “Fine. She’s been reinstated at the Bureau. Working with a guy named Crighton. They report to AD Skinner, and now work in the Espionage section. They are about to complete their first case.” “And what about the boy?” Krycek winced. “I wasn’t able to locate him. I figured that she was more important right now.” “Well. Why am I not surprised?” “Look...a week isn’t exactly a hell of a lot of time. And I have to take off now. I’ll be looking forward to our next lovely little chat. Contact me the usual way.” He hung up with the smoking man, feeling even more suspicious than usual. At least he had located Scully. There was that. ************************************************** Scully sat down at her desk and sighed deeply. Jared followed suit and relaxed into his chair. They had a little time to kill before they got a copy of the search warrant, and they decided to go grab something to eat since they had both missed lunch. It was looking as if they’d be missing dinner, too. When they arrived back at the bureau, the warrant was all ready to go, so they got their things together and left for the suspects’ house once more. “So, what do you think about us being partners, Dana?” They hadn’t spoken much throughout their meal because it had been a hurried one. “Honestly, I enjoy working with you already, Jared. I think we work really well together.” “I feel the same way. We’re going to make one hell of a team. I’ve always hoped for a partner that would enable our team to be an asset to the bureau, and I think I’ve found that person.” “I’m flattered. Thank you.” “I should be the flattered one. I’m glad I’ve been able to make your adjustment an easy one.” She smiled. She never thought she’d find a partner who worked as well with her as Mulder had. Except this man worked well with her in a different way. That was good, but new to her. They drove in silence for the remainder of the time. When they finally arrived at the small house, there were already two cruisers parked outside. Some officers and the chief were both there to help carry out the search. They got out of their car and walked over to the little group. Scully began briefing the officers on what they were looking for, and the search began. Two hours later, they had gathered more then enough evidence against Breaker and Wallace. Among the evidence were several taped recordings of confidential conversations, floppy disks holding transcripts of most of those, as well as a videotape of Breaker and Wallace showing how they bugged phones and hacked into computer files. Both Jared and Scully, though neither voiced their opinion, thought that these guys must be real idiots to have done all this. There were also several pieces of equipment lying around their computer-room. Everything was then bagged up neatly and numbered. “What about the computers?” asked Jared. “Well, maybe we should wait on those until we can get a technician in here to make copies of the hard-drives and go through all the files.” “Alright. Let me go call someone in.” She nodded as he went off to make the call. While he did so, she walked into the living room to see two of the cops writing out their observation forms and talking about the events of their day. Just then, Police Chief Johnson took her aside to let her know that he had to leave right away. “Of course. We’re pretty much done here, anyway. What’s going on?” “A White House employee was found in a garbage dumpster with her throat slit...I need to go take care of this right away.” “Who was it? Not one of our witnesses?” “No, it was the president’s public relations officer, Rita Antone. She never came back from lunch today, but no one realized until it was punch-out time. Several people called her home number and her cell phone, but there was no answer. Then, about ten minutes ago, an employee of a little deli near the Maryland border was taking out the day’s trash...it was impossible for him to miss the body...the stench was horrible. That’s the odd part...she hasn’t been dead for more than 10 hours, and the rate of decomposition is amazing. Hey, Agent Scully...are you alright?” She had turned white as a sheet. The chief placed a hand on her shoulder, but all she could do was nod. “I’m fine, thank you.” She knew she wasn’t fine, but what else could she say? Oh, officer, that’s just the way they killed my husband. Except they didn’t slit his throat, they poisoned him and then shot his body full of holes...Her head was spinning and she felt that if she didn’t sit down right away she would collapse. The chief saw her color fade even more and it worried him. His concern was evident on his face as he led her over to a sofa and made her sit down while he ran to find her partner. “Crighton...Hey, Crighton, get over here!” he called. Jared appeared around a corner, hanging up his cell phone as he finished his call. “What’s wrong?” The slightly panicked note in the chief’s voice made him feel uneasy. “I think your partner is sick...” “Why? What do you mean?” He pushed past the chief and hurried down the hall. Chief Johnson struggled to catch up with him. “I don’t know...I was telling her how I had to leave because a missing White House employee had just been found murdered...she asked who it was, so I told her, and I also told her about what had happened. Then she just turned white as a sheet and looked like she was about to faint. I made her sit down and then I went to get you.” “Thank you for telling me so quickly.” Jared saw Scully sitting on the edge of the sofa, her head in her hands, trying to compose herself. The police chief motioned that he really had to get going, so Jared nodded and went to his partner. “Dana?” He sat down next to her. “Are you alright?” “Yes, I’m fine,” she said. “Are you sure? Maybe you shouldn’t be working so hard so soon...” “I’m fine,” she insisted. “Really.” She straightened up and offered him a wane smile. He just stared for a second, searching her face, then offered her a small smile in return. But he was still concerned over how shaken she was. “Do you want to head back to the bureau?” “Sure. Skinner should still be there, waiting for our findings here.” “Yes, I spoke with him when I requested the computer technician.” He looked up to see the cops standing around outside, smoking cigarettes. “They’re supposed to wait here while the tech guy works on the computers. Hang on a sec, let me go tell them.” He went outside, filled the cops in on what still needed to be done, and went back inside to get Scully. The drive back to the FBI was nearly silent as Scully grappled with her thoughts and Jared grappled with his worries. All during the ride, he kept glancing over at her to make certain she was all right, but couldn’t make himself believe that she was. Whatever Johnson had told her, it had certainly upset her a great deal. Neither of them noticed the dark, compact car that followed them. UNTITLED, PART VII When they arrived at the bureau offices, Scully got out of the car and silently waited for Jared. She was still very white, but she seemed to have calmed down a bit. They entered Skinner’s office and found that he was, indeed, waiting on their arrival. The evidence that they had gathered at the house had already been sent to him and he had already finished going over it. All that was left was for them to give him their official reports on the case. The case was just about done, and a new one wasn’t far behind. “Agents, I have to say that you did an excellent job. Congratulations again.” Both agents smiled briefly, and Skinner continued. “I hope that you can have your full report ready by tomorrow, because this case is just about finished as far as the bureau is concerned. There is enough evidence to hold your two suspects in custody without bail until a trial date is set.” Jared spoke up. “I’m sure our report will be done by tomorrow.” Scully agreed, and Skinner released them. It was late, and all three were exhausted. Scully lingered and asked both men if she could speak to Skinner privately. Jared conceded and left immediately, saying he would meet Scully back at their office. She smiled her thanks and sat down again in front of Skinner’s desk. “Scully, are you alright? I noticed you seemed like you were feeling ill...” “Sir, today at the search, I was told by Chief Johnson that there has been a murder. One of the White House employees, Rita Antone, was found in much the same way that Mulder had been...” “I know...I just received word not more than a few minutes before you walked in the door. One of our contacts let me know what had happened, and there is reason to believe that you may be in danger.” “They know where I am.” She spoke the words quietly, not really asking. “They know where you are. We knew that it was just a matter of time, but I had no idea that it would happen so soon.” “What about William? Do they know where he is yet?” “No, and they won’t find him. Your mother moved to a low profile town specifically for this purpose. They’re safe.” She breathed a sigh of relief. “Skinner, is there any way for the bureau to get involved with this latest murder? I want to do an analysis of that chemical...” “We can get involved, but you won’t be able to work on the case from Espionage. It’ll be going straight to VCS. It’s being treated strictly as a homicide.” “I can imagine that it would be. But what about calling me in as a medical technician, or even working ‘off the record’? Can’t I work on it that way?” “Scully, I’d rather you didn’t.” She was about to protest, but he continued, cutting her off. “I’m not saying no because I’m your direct superior, I’m saying no because according to the contact, this woman went to meet someone to tell him or her that she had spotted you and spoken with you, and to give what information she knew about you. You are in danger, and I don’t want you out in the field like that if this person is targeting you.” “Why are they looking for me? Do they know that I’m in Mulder’s place now? Or do they just want to get rid of the next person who knows too much?” “Scully, they’ve been looking for you since you went into hiding...they were making plans even before that. Why do you think Mulder sent you there? He was so afraid for your life and for William’s.” “What do I do now, then?” “I’m going to send Frohike to your apartment. He’ll check the whole thing over again. If you don’t mind, I’d really like for the Lone Gunmen to stay there, at least overnight, for surveillance.” Scully sighed. The boys meant well, but to have all three overnight? And she hated being taken care of like this when she knew that she could watch out for herself. Then again, she was a little nervous. Their presence in her house would make her feel better. “Okay,” she agreed. “Good. I’ll send them over immediately.” He picked up the phone, made the call, hung up, and smiled. “There now. All set.” “Thanks, Skinner.” “It makes me feel better knowing that they’ll be there if anything should happen.” “Well, I guess I shouldn’t keep Jared waiting too much longer. I’m sure he’s just as tired as I am.” “Of course. One more thing, Scully...Mulder knew Jared fairly well once. Before he died, he had intended to make Jared his protégé, but wanted to take more time to get to know him.” “In the bureau’s work or his own?” “Both. He recognized Jared as someone who might eventually help him.” “Why didn’t you tell me this before? I thought you were against Jared being included in this.” “I wanted to give you time to make that decision for yourself, without the bias of my opinion. And now, I realize that you may need to rely on someone sooner than I thought. Your partner is the most likely person. It’ll be too hard for you to hide things from him, as he already is concerned for your safety and well-being...” Scully took a few minutes to mull this over. “Of course, Scully, you’ll have to make the decision yourself as to when you feel he can be included. Do you trust him?” “I really think that I can, but I’m not sure yet. I think I need a few more weeks with him to be really positive.” Skinner nodded, Scully said goodnight, and started down to her office. The hallway seemed ominously darker than it had been when she first went into Skinner’s office. She figured it was because the last of the daylight had left and Skinner had also had bright lights on in his office, so she kept walking. As she arrived at the elevator, she was about to press the button when she suddenly was overcome with a chill and an intense sense of impending danger. Hand shaking, she drew her weapon, checked around her carefully, and made her way slowly back to Skinner’s office, walking backwards so that she faced the elevator. She stopped outside the AD’s door and hissed “Skinner!” He looked up, saw that she had her weapon drawn, and hurried from his desk, drawing his own gun as he did so. In a low voice he asked her what was wrong. “I don’t know...I was just about to press the elevator button and something made me stop. I got this awful chill and then just a...a hunch that I really shouldn’t call down that elevator...” “Did you see anything unusual, hear anything, even?” “No...call it intuition, call it instinct, whatever...but there’s something dangerous on that elevator...” “Alright...let’s slowly go back into my office...alright, now lock the door. I’m going to call Jared and tell him to do the same up there, and then I’m going to call in security...” He grabbed the phone as Scully bolted the door to the outer office as well as the doors in Skinner’s. “Hello, Agent Crighton? It’s AD Skinner...listen to me carefully and go quickly...are you alone in your office? Good...lock all the locks on your door and stay put until Agent Scully or I contact you again... I’m not sure, exactly, but it looks like we may have a breach in security, and I want all agents in this building to be safe. Yes, I’m calling them now...yes, Scully is just fine. No need to worry...alright... I’ll speak with you soon.” Scully smiled slightly at her partner’s concern, but worry creased her brow as Skinner called the security office and filled them in. He hung up then, and turned around to face her. Just as he did, Scully’s cell phone rang. “Scully.” She waited a few seconds, hearing nothing except heavy breathing. “Hello?” She was about to hang up when the person on the other line spoke. “Agent Scully. So good to hear from you. It’s been a long time...I'm sorry you didn't care to have a little face-to-face chat with me.” “Who is this?” she demanded. She motioned to Skinner to call for a trace. He picked up his line and immediately placed the call. “Scully, I’m hurt. How could you not remember your dear old pal Alex Krycek?” She almost dropped her gun in shock. “What do you want?” “We know where you are, Scully...if you really enjoy life and value your son’s, I think you’d better cooperate with what we have in mind. After all, wouldn’t want you ending up like at least two other people I can think of.” His voice had a note of pure malice to it. He meant to do her harm, she knew that, but why did they want William so badly? “Are you threatening me? You goddamn bastard, are you actually threatening me?” She spat it out with the same amount of malice in her voice. Skinner held up two fingers to let her know that she had to stay on the line for at least two more minutes with Krycek. “Oh, such harsh language. Threatening you? Why would I ever threaten you?” “You tell me.” “Well, in short, you have something we want. Several things, actually. And we’ll kill to get them. Do you understand me?” “What do you want from me, Krycek?” She was feeling ill again, speaking to the very man who had killed people she cared about. “We want the kid. And we want every piece of information Mulder gathered against us.” Her stomach dropped. /They don’t know where William is./ It strengthened her. “You killed my sister, and you killed my husband. Why in hell do you think I’ll cooperate with you?” She was on the verge of yelling, but she still had a minute to go, so she tried to calm herself down. “I really don’t have the time to argue with you, Scully. Just tell me where the kid is, or el...FUCK!” Scully heard the gunshot, shouting, and then a clatter as the phone he had been holding dropped to the ground. There was the sound of a struggle in the background, and then a breathless man picked up the phone. “Hello?” “Hello? Who is this?” “This is Agent Crighton...” “Jared? It’s Dana.” “Dana? Are you alright?” “Yes...what are you doing there?” By now Skinner had hung up the phone. When he heard Scully talking to Jared, his brow furrowed. He waited until she had hung up with him, and then spoke up. “Agent Scully, what was that all about?” “Do you want the whole thing, or just the last part?” “The whole thing.” She told him everything that Alex Krycek had said to her and then continued on to the part about Jared. “Well, sir, it appears that he went off with security when they stopped at our office to check it over...he told me quite a story...they found Krycek, somehow, standing on top of the elevator car...I think that once he got me on the phone, he didn’t bother replacing the door in the ceiling, knowing that I wouldn’t be on the elevator...anyway, they managed to open the doors one floor up. Krycek heard the racket from the doors opening, jumped into the elevator car, and Jared saw him, took aim, and shot him in the arm. Krycek dropped the phone and was reaching for his own weapon when Jared jumped in, pinned him, and handcuffed him.” “Not the best way to go about things, considering that Krycek hadn’t drawn his weapon yet, and I’m not happy that he violated orders, but still, I’m glad he did it. Do you think you can trust him now?” Scully nodded. “I think it’s time we asked him to join us.” Skinner nodded. They talked a bit more about the current situation. It set her at ease to know that Krycek was in custody, though they didn’t know for how long. But he had been caught breaking into a government building. Hands down, it was a federal offense. While Scully and Skinner were discussing Jared’s inclusion, Jared himself had just finished up with Alex Krycek, and was heading down to the AD’s office, armed with an apology. He really shouldn’t have left the office against orders, but where he was needed, he would be to help. That started him thinking about Dana Scully. Why on earth would a man like Alex Krycek be on the phone threatening her of all people? Of course, there was always the possibility that he was just some random nut hunting down equally random FBI agents, but there had been something too familiar in the way he spoke to her, from the small bit he had caught. Pondering this, he knocked on Skinner’s door and walked in. “Sir, I’d like to apologize for going directly against your orders...it was wrong of me, but I thought I might be of some help.” “And you were, Agent. No need to apologize.” Jared smiled and looked up to see Dana beaming up at him. He smiled back at her. “Agent Crighton, would you mind closing the door and taking a seat? Scully and I would like to discuss something with you.” UNTITLED, PART VIII With one raised eyebrow, Jared did as he was asked and sat back, wondering what this was all about. “Scully, would you like to begin?” Skinner shot her a glance and she nodded, turning toward Jared. “Jared, you know that I was involved with the FBI before, as I told you. However, the X-Files was not the only thing my hus...Mulder worked on.” “You told me he had been involved in VCS. From what I personally know of Mulder, he never went back to that section...he stayed with the X-Files, right?” “Yes...but the other work he did was strictly off the record. I told you about what the X-Files were made for - they contained unsolved, open-but-inactive cases involving UFOs, extraterrestrial life, and a government cover-up to conceal this knowledge. I’m sure you’ve heard the story of Mulder’s sister, Samantha?” Jared nodded, and Scully continued. “Mulder made it his personal quest to find his sister, and find and expose the men who had taken her. That has been the driving force behind this whole thing for all these years. Only he found a hell of a lot more than he bargained for, and set out to get proof of everything we've seen and experienced, if only to gain leverage against the ones responsible for her abduction. Over the years, Alex Krycek has also been involved, only on the other side. He works for what is known as the Syndicate...a secret government that absolutely runs the world. No one knows about it, except for a select few, although many suspect. It has roots in FEMA. However, nothing is left of this group, really, except one man -we once found out his name, but we’ve always referred to him as the cigarette-smoking man. Krycek works for him, although he is by no means a trust-worthy person.” She took a deep breath. “The syndicate’s main job was to prevent an alien invasion that has been plotted since before cavemen walked the earth. The group almost didn’t succeed a few times, but in reality, all they were doing was postponing invasion, not preventing it. Eventually, the deal was that they had to supply one member from each of their families to be taken. They were given an alien fetus to use for genetic experiments, but instead, they began working on a vaccine against a substance that affects anyone it attacks, a black, oily material...if the aliens used this against us, which they will when they invade, the entire human race, or those chosen to be exposed to it, will become virtual incubators for the alien progeny. I myself fell victim to this virus...” She stopped again. “My god, there’s so much we need to tell you...” Jared looked at his hands, completely bewildered. He believed in aliens and the like, but what the hell was going on? He decided to wait until they had finished talking with him and see what they had in store. “Anyway,” she continued, sighing as she swallowed back her tears, “Alex Krycek is also the man who killed my sister and my husband, as well as that White House employee.” She looked down for a second, tears beginning to streak down her face in salty tracks. He stared blankly at her. “He is? Can we prosecute him for that?” She shook her head no. “There was never any evidence against him or anyone else at any of the scenes. Because of Mulder’s work, and because his father had originally been one of the Syndicate, they were afraid to kill him at first. He has too many silent allies who were willing, sometimes grudgingly, to help him when he needed it. To get back at him, however, many times the Syndicate lashed out and hurt someone close to him, or when he got too close to uncovering the truth, they didn’t hesitate to kill to keep it a secret. I was one of those people, and I still am. Early on, about a year after I joined Mulder on the X-Files, I was abducted for a month, maybe more. Not by aliens, as he originally thought, but by this secret government. When I came back, and woke up in a hospital, no one knew what sort of medical problems I had, or would have later. I found a computer chip implanted in the base of my neck, and after I had it removed, I developed a cancerous tumor that was inoperable. I thought I would eventually die from it. When Mulder found another chip, he explained to me that that was what had caused the cancer in the first place, and I had to have it re-implanted, which sent the cancer into remission. Later on, it was discovered that I was infertile...we theorized that while I had been abducted, I had been subject to a series of procedures where they harvested all of my ova save a few. And I was not the only woman who this happened to. There are so many more...but Mulder soon found out that the ova were being used to create clones. We had no idea why that was at first until he shot a man, and almost died from exposure to his blood. This led to a series of events where we found that the clones were being used to try and create alien/human hybrids. Alien blood is toxic to humans...or so we’ve seen. The hybrid experiments were the alien race's requirement of the Syndicate. As soon as a hybrid was created, invasion would begin.” Skinner took over from there. “Do you understand anything we’ve told you so far?” “I think so. Basically you’re telling me that the government isn’t really the government and that this secret government is hurting the people for it’s own ends when it is supposed to be saving us? And that we're at risk of an alien invasion.” Skinner sighed. Jared's tone of voice understandably held incredulity and confusion. “I know that it’s all hard to accept. The original idea of the Syndicate is not necessarily evil, and Mulder’s father was the one who suggested that they take their time creating hybrids so that they could work on a vaccine. However, some of these men became obsessed with their power, and used it to their advantage. This is the reason why we are fighting them. Mulder's quest shifted from just finding his sister to seeking and destroying the powers that have harmed so many, especially Scully. There is so much more to tell, but we’ll have to save that for another time. I can tell you, however, that Agent Scully was assigned to the X-Files originally to debunk Mulder’s work. Scully used to be a total scientist and a skeptic,” he said with a small, sad smile. “I still am a scientist, Skinner. I just believe in a lot more than I used to.” “So, basically what Agent Scully and I want to ask you for is your help. Before Mulder died, he made an elaborate plan to continue his work. Scully is now in his place, and she’s in danger.” “In danger how?” “The syndicate knows where I am. Mulder sent me and our son into hiding two years ago when his situation became increasingly precarious. We were to stay until he had completed his work, but...that didn't happen yet. They know that I have some sort of idea of what Mulder has gathered so far against them, although they don’t know that I’m the one they need to fear most right now. Worse, they want my child. I’m not sure why, but I imagine for leverage against me, as well as the fact that he was born even after they stole my ova and Mulder and I were exposed to so many extraterrestrial viruses....if they take him, I’m not sure what they’ll do to him...” Her voice broke and wavered slightly. Skinner took her hand across his desk. “Scully, we aren’t going to let that happen. Right now, William is safe, and we’re all working to make sure he stays that way.” She smiled gratefully, and then Skinner turned toward Jared. “Jared, I’m not sure you knew this, but Mulder singled you out a long time ago as his potential protégé. He saw in you someone who might eventually help him. Are you willing to try and fight this? It’s a silent, dangerous war and you will be in a position where you will constantly have to lie to your superiors and basically live two separate lives. It’s not an easy job, and it's most definintely a dangerous one, but if Mulder felt you could do it, then so do we.” Jared looked dumbstruck for a second, then he sat back and rubbed his temples. He was in awe of these people and their story, and how much Mulder meant to them, both as a friend, and to Dana as a husband, but also as a commander. Even though he was gone, his opinions still mattered a great deal to them, and they were determined to carry out his plan until it was done. Now they wanted him to become a key figure... “I don’t know what to say...to tell you that I am in absolute awe is a serious understatement. I’m honored that Mulder thought of me like this, and I want you to know that I’m more than willing to undertake this and do whatever I can.” “Are you sure, Jared? The whole reason that I’m in Espionage is so that I can help the people on Mulder’s side escape capture. Had Skinner not told me about Mulder’s ideas, I too would have had to lie to you and challenge your trust all the time. It’s very, very dangerous. And you could lose your life...this is incredibly serious.” “Dana, you need as much help as you can get... you’re my partner, and in being so, we’re required to help each other and be there for each other. I don’t care if it’s FBI work or this work...I’m here to help you.” Scully sighed deeply. “Thank you. Skinner was saying earlier how he wanted to make sure there was someone close who I could rely on, and we decided that you were that person, especially after you went after Krycek.” Skinner stood up and shook Jared’s hand. “Welcome to the team, Jared. Right now, I want you to follow Scully home and make sure the Lone Gunmen are there before you leave. Scully, please brief him on what he’ll need to know.” Scully nodded. “Lone Gunmen?” asked Jared. “I’ll explain on the way to the parking lot...Goodnight, Skinner. And thank you again for your help.” He smiled. “That’s my job, Scully. I’ll see you both on Monday morning.” He already felt that she was safer, and watched them go. Then he decided he should call the Gunmen and let them know about the delay. Frohike, especially, would be worried. When he was finished making the call, he straightened up his office, locked up, and headed home. The two agents made their way slowly to their office, not wanting to take the elevator after the latest fiasco. They finally arrived, talking all the way about what had happened, but careful to not discuss any of the secret work until they were alone. They grabbed their coats and keys, and left. The parking lot was well lit, but even so, Scully offered to drive Jared down to where his own car was parked. He agreed and they started toward Scully’s car. Suddenly both agents hit the ground, Jared shoving Scully down and covering her, as a single gunshot was fired. They stayed down and struggled to get behind the car to use it as a blockade as several more shots were fired after them. Chips of blacktop went flying as Jared drew his gun and shot around the side of the car. Scully followed suit and drew her gun as well, firing her entire clip. Whoever was shooting at them decided it was time to get out of there, and a seemingly parked car sped out of the lot, tires squealing. "Shit!" Jared exclaimed, as he drew his hand back and clutched it to his chest. She crawled over to him in time to see the blood begin running down his wrist. "Here," she all but yelled over the screaming of the tires, "Let me see." She reached for his hand and slowly, carefully, extended it. He groaned as hot, jagged pain worked its way up his arm. "There's...there's a handkerchief in my front pocket..." he gasped out. Scully threw back his overcoat, reached for the piece of cloth in his front pocket, and began cleaning some of the blood off the wound. It was then she saw the sharp piece of blacktop sticking out of the deep cut in his palm. "Hang on...this is probably going to hurt a hell of a lot..." She gritted her teeth, grasped the rock, and yanked it out quickly and cleanly. His only reaction was a tensing of his body at the sharp pain. "Thanks," he replied weakly. "Just be thankful it wasn't a bullet wound, Jared...I think you should come back to my place so I can stitch you up, if it needs it." She wrapped the handkerchief tightly around his hand and looked around. They got slowly to their feet and surveyed the damage done. It wasn’t as bad as she thought; there was only one bullet hole in the bumper of Scully’s car. The rest had gone over and into the blacktop. “Shit,” was all Jared had to say. “Are you okay?” Scully shot him a look that seemed to say “Told you.” “Yeah, I’m alright. How about you, other than the hand?” “I’m okay. Maybe we should go in one car. This way one of us can look out to see if we’re being tailed.” “Good idea. I don't think you should drive for a little while anyway. I can have one of the Gunmen take you back to your place, or even back here to pick up your car and drive you home.” “Alright, doc. Let’s do that, then.” Neither of them wanted to admit how much the incident had frightened them. Scully opened her door, unlocked his, and sat down with a sigh. “That was a little too close.” “Yeah, it was,” he agreed as he sat down and buckled up. “But it seemed like they were missing us on purpose...like, sort of a warning or something.” She nodded and started the car. On the way to her apartment, they talked about everything he would need to know and do. When she mentioned Frohike doing a weekly check of his apartment, car, and the office for bugs, he smiled and said, “You guys don’t miss a thing, do you?” She gave him a half-smile. “I wish we didn’t have to take so many precautions. But it’s necessary. We can’t live our lives in fear, but we have to take extreme caution. They could pick us off anytime they feel like it. Tonight was a prime example, and it’s going to intensify, which is why we need to work fast. Skinner will contact you privately from time to time with extra things. Like, he may need you to do a stake-out one night for one of their people, or he may just need to fill you in on some new information he received from one of the contacts.” “So, we’re not actively, physically involved in this?” “From time to time we’ll have to be. I believe Skinner needs us to go back into the Pentagon, which was Mulder's last plan of action before he...before he died. But right now, our purpose is to carry and relay information and to keep control of the whole situation. It’s not a lot at the moment, but it’s the most important and crucial. Also, it’s hard to be so completely involved in this and keep our positions in the FBI as well.” “That’s true. What will I need to know? And what sort of information will I be a party to?” “Everything that I know will eventually be passed on to you. And anything that we come across is made known to us first, then we decide who needs to know what. There was a Native American man named Albert Hostein. A few years ago, Mulder was given a file taken straight from the Department of Defense. It contained the entire file dealing with everything from Roswell to the present day. The man who passed it on was eventually murdered. What we didn’t realize was that the file had been encrypted in ancient Navaho. Mulder flipped out because he thought someone was pulling a major prank, but I calmed him and eventually found someone who could read it. That person was Albert. He had been an original coder during the Second World War because Navaho was the only language that the Nazi forces couldn’t break. Then came Roswell, and the beginning of this file. Albert memorized the whole thing while it was in our possession, and in the tradition of his people, he passed it on to several other men in his tribe. He still worked with us as well, before he passed on, especially when we needed information from those files. He translated as much as he could for us before he slipped into a coma, and now we work with one of the other men whom he passed the files on to. Eventually, when we’ve gathered enough, we’ll go public with as much of it as we feel is necessary, kill or silence the smoking man and anyone who works for him, and vaccinate the public against the black oil, hopefully, without their knowledge. And, of course, prepare against the Invasion. These are our major goals.” “But how do you place a man like him in custody? He must be the most powerful man in the world, and yet he remains nameless. Not to mention that it seems most of his actions are government-sanctioned.” “I know. It’s difficult to understand at first, but the more you think, the more sense it makes. There are still some key pieces that I don't understand. Skinner was right when he said I was a skeptic. I still have trouble believing half of this, and yet, here it all is...right under my nose.” They arrived at Scully’s, only to find the huge VW bus taking up three parking spaces and an anxious Frohike waiting outside. “Scully...finally!” He raced down the steps and hugged her tight. “I was so worried.” “Hello, Frohike. This is Jared Crighton. Jared, Frohike.” The two men shook hands. “Did Skinner fill you in?” “Yes, we’ve all heard. Welcome to our world, Jared.” Jared looked confused, but he smiled anyway, and they made their way into Scully’s apartment. “We ran into a little trouble on the way over,” Scully informed Frohike. Immediately concerned, Frohike asked, “What sort of trouble?” “Skinner told you about that piece of shit excuse for a human being.” Her eyes flared with blue fire. Frohike nodded, amazed that Scully had uttered anything close to an expletive. Jared was equally surprised, but then remembered that she was speaking of the man who had murdered her husband. Without thinking, he placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and smiled, much to Frohike’s amusement. “Anyway, Jared was walking me to my car, when someone started shooting at us...we ducked behind my car and started shooting back, but they got away.” “Just as well,” muttered Frohike. “Are you alright? Both of you?” “We’re fine, don’t worry. Just a little shaken up, I guess. Jared got his hand injured, though, so I need to get my medical bag.” “I’m glad that the rat-boy is in custody...I’ll call Skinner to let him know you’re here, and what happened.” Scully handed him her cell phone, and he placed the call immediately. Needless to say, Skinner was concerned, but relieved that they were safe and being watched over. They arrived at the apartment and saw that Langley was already making himself quite at home with the TV on and a glass of something in his hand while Byers paced nervously from one end of the living room to the other. Scully smiled at the sight as Langley just finished saying that he was sure they were alright, and could Byers please stop pacing now. They both looked up as the three of them walked in. “Scully!” Byers cried. “What took so long?” “It’s a long story...I’ll tell you all about it later. Thanks for staying, guys.” Byers walked over and gave her a quick hug, then blushed. “It’s no problem. We just want to make sure you stay safe.” She smiled. “Oh! This is my partner, Jared. Jared, this is John Byers, and Langley.” Byers shook his hand lightly, seeing the bandage, and welcomed him, and Langley waved and said hello from the couch. “Well, how was the apartment? Anything out of the ordinary?” “Nope. Everything’s right as rain.” She breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at Jared. They exchanged a smile, then she excused herself to find her medical bag. "So, now you've gotten to see all the sides of Scully..." Frohike laughed. "I'm a little worried about this stitching thing..." "Nah, don't worry...she's gentle as a lamb." At that moment, Scully returned, black bag in hand. She led him over to the dining room table, laid out a clean cloth, rolled up his sleeve and stretched out his hand. "Do you want Novacaine, or should I just get right to work?" "Um..." He hesitated and winced as she removed the makeshift bandage and began cleaning the wound, gently checking for any more debris.. "Trust me, you want the Novacaine..." Frohike was hanging over his shoulder, ready to watch the whole thing. Before he could reply, Scully was already loading up a syringe. His knees felt watery, but he nodded and waited patiently as she gently swabbed an area around the wound and administered the painkiller. She then set to work, and before he realized it, she was finished. He looked down at his hand, amazed at how precise and perfect the stitches were, still feeling her gentle hands on his. "Thanks." It was all he could manage, and somehow, it was enough. She smiled at him. "You're more than welcome. It's the least I could have done..." She sent him into the living room as she cleaned up the mess on her table, and joined the four men a few minutes later, carrying five glasses and a bottle of wine. They settled in and began discussing what news there was, as well as filling Jared in on a few details that Scully had missed. By the time they were finished it had gotten late. Langley was snoring on the couch and Frohike looked like he was ready to collapse. Even Byers was yawning heavily. Scully and Jared exchanged a glance. How was he going to get back to his car? “I can call a cab...its no big deal.” “Oh no. Not after what happened tonight. It’s not much, but you can stay here. I have a guest room with two beds and the couch pulls out, and Skinner wants these three to stay here anyway.” “Are you sure? I mean...I don’t want to impose or anything...” “Of course I’m sure! Jared, in the past couple of days, you’ve been my rock. It’s the least I can do, and besides, I never thanked you for before. You very possibly saved my life while we were being shot at...” “You’d have done the same for me...” he said, blushing slightly. They left the Gunmen in the living room and went into the kitchen. “At first, I was worried about having a partner because of all the illegal things I’d have to be doing. Now I’m glad that I have one...” She smiled at him. “I’m glad, too,” he said. “I never in a million years thought I’d be involved in something like this. Wow. When I said that I wanted something new and exciting to do, I never thought I’d get more than I bargained for.” “It’s going to be really rough going. Just based on what I did earlier in my career, I know that this is going to be tough work. But I think we can handle it...if I could just get past the whole feeling I have of newness. I’ve never been so nervous in my life...” “Well, it’s only to be expected. You haven’t done this in a while. You’ll get back into the whole routine soon enough. And I have to say, you’re awesome with a gun.” She laughed. “Thanks...I guess my reflexes kicked in a little late back there, but I’m glad I could be of some help.” “Always.” Scully finished up in the kitchen and they walked down the hallway toward the guest room. On the way, hanging on the wall, was a picture of Mulder, Scully and William when he was about two years old. Jared stopped to look at it. “And I guess that that’s William?” “Yup. My angel.” “He looks like a great kid. How old is he now?” “He’ll be five in May.” “Ahhh, kindergarten time soon.” She smiled. “Yeah. He’s getting so big. I only get to talk with him about once a week now, but he’s adjusting to my mother’s house really well. And Frohike goes out there once a week to check for bugs and stuff like that. William adores Frohike.” “I remember seeing him just once when he was really little, a bit younger than that photo, even. You must’ve brought the little guy down for a visit. Mulder was toting him around with such a proud grin on his face...” He stopped short when he saw her eyes brimming with tears. “Oh my god, Dana, I’m sorry. I totally was not thinking...” She covered her mouth with her hand and shakily composed herself. She took a deep breath before she spoke. “No, no, it’s alright...I really have to start getting over all this. I just keep thinking that if I throw myself into my work that everything will be alright and I won’t have to think about anything...but that’s not exactly true...it just doesn’t work like that...” Her voice broke and she was dangerously close to losing it all over again, so he just pulled her into his arms in a tight hug. He never knew what to do when someone cried, but he figured that she needed a friendly touch. He was right, for she hugged him back fiercely, burying her face into his chest and trying very hard not to let her emotions win her over this time. He stroked her hair and just let her hang on for dear life until she felt better and had a handle on herself. Finally she pulled away and smiled up at him, brushing away the stray tears. “Thanks. I needed that.” “No problem. I’m always here for you.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek, then led him to the guest room. “With luck, you’ll end up with Byers in here. He’s the most thoughtful, quiet person I know. But the boys have to duke it out and see who gets what. Some things will never change,” she said with a sigh. She could already hear the arguing starting in her living room. Thank goodness they didn’t get physical or else she’d have a real problem. It was finally decided that Byers would share the guest room, Langley would get the pullout couch, and Frohike was stuck with the shorter one. “Sorry, man...you’re the shortest...” “Shut up, you long-haired freak...” “Yeah, yeah, yeah...narc.” “Could you guys PLEASE stop it? It’s already done! Who cares?” Byers did his best, but there was no overpowering the other two. He shot Scully a glance that said, “You see what I have to live with?” Scully rolled her eyes and laughed, then announced that she thought it would be in everyone’s best interest if they made up the beds and went to sleep. It was almost 3 am, and she found herself thanking whoever was listening that it was a Friday night. After they got the beds all made up, they all went around checking every window to make sure they were all locked, and then Scully went and double-checked her front door, too, just to make sure. Then they all said goodnight and went off to their rooms. Scully closed and locked her door with a deep sigh, slightly embarrassed that she had almost broken down in front of Jared. She hated doing that more than anything, and now the poor guy would probably be overly careful about what he said whenever they talked. She changed into her pajamas and slid under her covers, too tired to move. This was far different from the past two years. There were days when she was close to going stir-crazy for lack of something to do. William had helped her through some of that, though. She became so busy finding new things for him to do that she often forgot her own boredom. And there were times where Mulder needed her help with a file or something medical, and that had helped, too. Now she was just plain exhausted. She felt out of the loop, which drove her crazy, but she knew it would be only a matter of weeks before she was pure FBI again. Well, not so pure, but she didn’t want to think about that at the moment. What she wanted most was sleep, and because she knew Mulder wouldn’t come to her that night, she finally drifted off. UNTITLED, PART IX Jared lay awake in his bed in the guest room, arms folded under his head. In the dim light, he could faintly make out the pattern that had been carved out in the ceiling. It was late -about 3 am, and he just couldn’t sleep. Not with so much happening to him all at once. He was faced with all the decisions and thoughts that Scully had been faced with when she accepted her pre-ordained position. The only difference was that Dana harbored a deep, subconscious hatred for the government, and this hatred had been acquired over the years. And no wonder. She had been through so much, only to be thrust back into a job where she would have to fight for a country that had tried to annihilate her more than once. He had never heard so much about corruption and crime in his own government before this night, and never had he heard it from so reliable a source. His heart had been moved, and he found himself questioning the real motives that drove him to accept their offer. He sighed. His partner was like no other person he knew. In a matter of days, he had developed a strong attachment to her, and his feelings of affection had grown deeper. He felt a stab of guilt at this last revelation. She had only lost Mulder a little over a month ago, and probably wouldn’t ever be able to move on to someone new, so why was he letting himself even entertain the thought? He yawned, suddenly aware of how tired he was, and decided to try for some sleep after all. It was better than thinking about something that could never happen. *************************************************** /Some time later, he awoke to the sound of floorboards creaking gently. He opened his eyes slowly, and looked sideways. What he saw made his heart leap. Bathed in glowing moonlight stood a man with his hands clasped behind his back, facing the window. He quickly glanced over at the other bed in the room, only to see Byers sleeping peacefully. Jared could only just make out the man’s profile, and he gasped when he realized that it could be none other than Mulder himself. At the small sound, Mulder’s image turned and faced the bed. “Jared Crighton. We meet again.” Jared sat bolt upright. “How...how...?” “How am I here? I’m here because my Scully is still here. She and William are my connection to the living world.” “Well...well...then, why are you in this room? Oh my god...why am I asking? I’m dreaming, right?” “No, Jared, you’re not dreaming. I’m here, in this room, because I need to talk with you. It’s about the work.” “What about it?” “I know that Scully and Skinner have asked you to join them. I’m pleased with their decision, because I suppose you know now that I wanted to involve you a short time ago.” “Yes. Thank you for your confidence in me...” Jared, still half asleep, still wondered if he was dreaming. But Mulder seemed so real...it was impossible to tell. He decided to go along with it as if the other man were really there. “You’re more than welcome. I actually want to thank you for all your help. And for keeping her safe...I can rest at ease now that I know you’ll be protecting her and William. I appreciate it a great deal.” Jared looked at him, then looked down, still feeling guilty over his newest realizations. “It was nothing...she’s a wonderful person and I know she’d do the same for anyone, including me.” “She would. My Scully has a big heart, and I see that she already cares for you.” Jared glanced up. “She cares for a lot of people.” Mulder tilted his head in thought for a moment. “Don’t worry, Jared.” He smiled wryly. “I’m not going to haunt the rest of your days because you care for my wife. If anything, I’m grateful. She means so much to me, and I don’t want her to be lonely when I have to leave. I will always love her, and I know she’ll always love me, but she has a lot of time left here, and it will be hard for her sometimes. I know this all too well. The work is dangerous, and you must be careful. However, nothing else will ever teach you so much patience and care. Keep Scully and my son safe for me...please...from everything...” Jared looked down again, and said softly, “I will...I promise.” When he looked up again, Mulder had faded away into air again. He looked all around, knowing that he was awake, and yet still not really believing that he hadn’t been dreaming. He drifted off again, pondering what Mulder had said to him./ *************************************************** The morning sun woke him up. He glanced at the alarm clock next to him, and was surprised to see that it was almost 10 AM. He rarely slept in, and almost always went for a morning jog, but after last night, he was happy to get the extra hours in. Thank goodness it was a Saturday. Glancing over at the other bed, he realized that Byers was already up, since it was unoccupied. He sat up, thinking again about how he had spoken with Mulder’s spirit the night before, and though he wasn’t certain it had really happened at all, he still felt shaken. He stood in front of the mirror, yanked his shirt on, ran his fingers through his hair, and made his way into the living room of Dana’s apartment. The Gunmen were watching the morning news, and Dana was in the kitchen, cooking. “Well, well,” said Frohike, “Look who finally decided to get up!” Jared blushed. “How much later did I sleep?” “Just kidding. We all only woke up about ten minutes ago.” “Oh, okay...” He walked into the kitchen to greet Dana and say to good morning. “Hey. Good Morning.” “Good morning to you...did you sleep okay? And how's your hand?” “My hand's okay, just a little stiff. I slept like a rock. Thanks again for having me stay.” He was dying to ask her about Mulder’s visit the night before, but remembering what had happened earlier in the hallway, he was afraid to mention it. “Umm...would you like some help cooking?” “Sure, if you want. It’s just eggs and bacon.” “Cool. I used to cook with my mom all the time.” “Yeah. William loves ‘helping’ with the meals. Last time I talked with him, he was all excited because he gets to help my mother make dinner some nights. It’s the funniest thing to hear him talk about it.” “Yeah. Kids are funny like that.” She smiled, even though she heard something in his voice that made her a little uneasy. He sounded like he wanted to be paying attention, but his mind was miles away. Maybe he just wasn’t a morning person... “Are you okay?” “Yeah, I’m alright. Yesterday still has me a little shaken up, is all.” He didn’t mention what else had shaken him up during the night. “Oh. I understand.” She was quiet for a few moments, then ventured to dig a little deeper. “Are you sure? I mean, if you’re not okay with all of this, you can still back out...” He looked up, walked over to her, clasped his hands tightly around her arms, looked deep into her eyes, and said, “I never, ever go back on my word.” It came out close to a low growl. She gazed at him for a long moment, trying to figure out if he was angry with her or just getting his point across. “I...I’m sorry...” she stammered out, not knowing what else to say. “Don’t be. I just want to make it clear to you that I’m not leaving you to finish this by yourself.” He relaxed his grip on her arms and stalked off in search of the bathroom. She stared after him, not sure what to think about what had just taken place. He made his way into the guest bathroom and shut himself in, then stood leaning against the sink, staring into the mirror, and wondering what he had hoped to accomplish by startling her like that. He sighed deeply. It was only that Mulder’s visit had made him more than a little nervous. He was also more aware than ever about what he had to do now, and he wasn’t sure how to handle that. Life had never been so complicated before, and now, all of a sudden, he had no idea what to do or who to turn to. No...that wasn’t quite true...he had Dana and AD Skinner, as well as the Gunmen. The thought strengthened him, and by the time he had cleaned up a bit, he felt much better. He walked back into the kitchen, where Scully was finishing up breakfast. When she heard him enter, she turned and smiled briefly, then went back to what she was doing. “Dana...” “Yeah?” She didn’t turn around. “I’m sorry for before...I’m just still a little freaked out, I guess. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you...” She turned to face him. “Hey, it’s okay. I understand. I’m still not sure I *want* to do this, but I have to. You have a choice, and it’s a tough one, but it’s still a choice.” She smiled again. He nodded, even though his involvement was only a small part of what was making him anxious. “Anyway. Before that whole ordeal with Krycek, I had been speaking with Skinner. As you know, these people know where I am now. That means we have to act quickly. There isn’t much time for us to finish this.” “What are we supposed to do? I was under the impression that everything was going to work itself out.” “It still is, but our people are going to be working twice as hard to track the smoking man and his allies. We’re also going to try and get as much out of Krycek as we can, since we have him in custody.” Jared started setting out plates and anything else they would need for breakfast as she continued. The Gunmen wandered in, sat down, and they began discussing what would be happening within the next few weeks. Before she set breakfast out, Scully picked up her cell phone and dialed Skinner’s number to get the most recent news from him. As she hung up with the AD, she turned to face the four men in front of her and began briefing them. “Okay. According to Skinner, Krycek is being held in maximum security, and under his instructions, no one is to visit or speak with him except those he has authorized. That would be Jared, himself, and me. Skinner spoke with him this morning, but gained no information. Krycek isn’t talking. Skinner believes that Krycek thinks his life is in danger, so the less he says the better. Saving his own skin, as usual.” By this time, Jared had already dished out breakfast for all of them, so they began eating as Scully finished up. “What we need to do is go see him as soon as possible while the Gunmen find out the latest information from our sources. I know it’s a Saturday, but is that alright with everyone?” “You said it, boss-lady, so we do it.” This came from Frohike, and all the others nodded in agreement. They quickly finished breakfast, and everyone left to begin their various activities, the Gunmen taking Jared back to his car. Before they left, Scully stopped them. “Remember, Jared, meet me back here in an hour, and I’ll see the rest of you guys here at 6 PM.” After everyone left, Scully sat back and relaxed for a few moments before she cleaned up the breakfast dishes. When she was done, she stretched and slowly made her way to the bathroom, slowly getting herself worked up into excitement over their first real assignment. The only thing that stopped her from enjoying the feeling was the fact that her first assignment was to question Mulder’s murderer. The thought made her stomach feel like a chunk of lead, and she ran the rest of the way to the bathroom, thinking she would be sick. When she relaxed her nerves enough to will herself from vomiting, she took a deep breath and stood herself back up, then hopped in the shower and finished getting ready in the small amount of time she had left. By the time she had finished, Jared was already waiting in his car in the parking lot. Donning a pair of sunglasses, she allowed herself a few moments to admire him from a distance. As she did so, she wondered where his previous reaction had come from, when she told him he didn’t have to take all this on. Maybe he had truly been offended. She decided not to mention it again. “Hey,” he greeted her, as she walked toward his car. The day was unusually warm compared to the earlier coldness the previous weeks had held, and his windows were rolled down. “Hey yourself. Ready?” She climbed into the car and buckled up as he turned out of the lot and headed toward the prison. “Yeah. Are you going to be okay with this?” “I think so. It will do me some good to confront him, even though there’s no solid proof against him.” “Just remember that I’m here for you. If you feel like you can’t do it, I’ll talk to him.” She smiled gratefully. “Thanks. I appreciate that a lot.” “No problem.” They drove the rest of the way in silence as she thought about the challenge ahead of her. She didn’t want to do this, but she knew she had to. It was time to start getting used to the idea that Mulder simply wasn’t here in his earthly form anymore. He’d be leaving her soon; she felt that strongly, and she needed to be okay when it was time. End, Part IX.