From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 15:57:55 -0500 Subject: From the light comes the painful Truth by Pandoras Kiss Source: direct Reply To: saskiasghost@hotmail.com Title: Case File X203032-The light of Truth. Author: Pandora's Kiss (aka Little_Laura_Mulder) Email-saskiasghost@hotmail.com Disclaimer-Mulder and Scully are not mine. THey belong to Saint Chris of Carter and Fox Productions. Summary- Be careful what you wish for.....! Rating-X File MA/SA June 12 2000 Gainesville, Florida Even in death they were beautiful, alive.....! The woman stared at her children, playing happily in her garden, one pushing the other on their swing, laughing loudly like any other brother and sister.. The woman felt her broken heart begin to mend as she watched them as she had done all those years ago...! "Push me higher, Sandy!" the little girl yelled, her dark hair blowing gently in the summer breeze, as her older brother made her go higher and higher.....faster and faster. "Ill send you to Heaven, Valerie" he giggled. Ill send you to Heaven.....! The words hit the old lady like a bullet in the chest...as she remembered what came next. "No please...." she begged, "I only wanted to remember them the way I saw them last!" Tears welled up in her eyes, crystal tears, falling like rain onto the ground below her. Below her.....like Hell. The lady was in Hell. She remembered it like it were yesterday, the events leading up to the deaths of her children. How she had wished she could go back to those days, to see what had happened, to see if she could have prevented it, and one day, her wish had been granted. The voice in the caves had told her not to question it, not to wonder why, and not to be afraid, and now her children were with her, and they were reliving their last days on Earth. He came from the woodland behind their back yard, snaking through the bushes like a reptile, head to foot in black. He himself was black, in clothing and in soul, and he showed no mercy as he opened fire on the two innocents playing happily before him. "NOOOOOO!" the woman yelled, cursing whatever God had granted her wish to be with them again, only to let the Devil show her the events which had haunted her for so long. Suffering them once was unbearable, but twice was unthinkable. She fell to her knees, clutching her newly mended heart as it was torn apart once again, as the killer of her children laughed maniacally in the shadows. But, at 65 years old, her heart could not stand the pain again, it felt as thought something was tearing right through it, and the lady was sucked into death, along with her ghost-children, and away from whatever life had in store for her. FBI Headquarters June 16th 2000 It was quiet this time of the morning. No rush hour traffic, no angry horns blowing, cluttering the streets with noise. Instead of the sounds of automobile technology,. The birds sang their early morning overtures, as the leaves gently rustling in the cool breeze. It was a beautiful time, the world preparing itself silently for the forthcoming rush of energy that would last the whole daythrough. This was the time when Mother Nature had her way, and the Earth was her own again. A small, red haired woman made her way to the large, elegantly decorated building amidst the quiet and the calm. She noticed the beauty of the morning which she hadnt seen in such a long time, and decided that today was going to be a good day, a tranquil day. That was, however, until she reached the office. "Mulder, what are you doing here?" Scully had gotten to the basement earlier than usual, she had some filing to do and wanted to get it out of the way before Mulder came in, but, at 7am, here he was already, yawning, hair going west, tie going east, expensive jacket folded up on the desk, forming a pillow. He awoke with a start. "Scully....what time is it?" he yawned. "Its 7am, Mulder, did you sleep here?" she said, knowing it was an obvious question, but wanting it to sound like a concerned statement. Mulder stretched, scratched a little and shook his head. "I dont even remember being tired...I was working on this case! " Uh-oh...she'd seen this before. Mulder had this routine...he'd get a case sent down when all other areas had been exhausted (she could almost hear the words coming fromupstairs- "This one's a no hoper-give it to Spooky Mulder!") and if it stirred something inside that vast, intellectual mind of his, well...that would be it. "Mulder, I know you, you get a surge of adrelanine and it keeps you going for days, then BOOM! Exhaustion. Know when to stop, partner! Enjoy the break!" Mulder smiled at her knowingly. His partner, his doctor, his replacement parent! "Scully, I got it all under control, Doc'!" The case was an odd one. An unexplainable one. An X File. Scully raised an eyebrow like she always did, her sceptical nature taking over, contrasting her patrners believe-all attitude. "Five mysterious deaths......four unexplainable disappearences, all in the same area, Scully" he said, challenging her to question him. He raised his eyebrow, smiling his knowing smile, daring her. Scully frowned. She knew better than to humour him. It was like a game. He called it red, she called it blue. He'd call it amazing, she'd call it a camera trick.! "Rampant serial killer stroke kidnapper?" Mulder shook his head. There was more to it than that. "All of the forementioned encountered a supposed 'good spirit' in a cave located nearby in the forest. The cave is a notorious spot for supernatural activity, Scully. Go look through my files and see how many reported incidents have occured there." She could hear the excitement in his rapid voice...feel his enthusiasm clearly. It was as if all the seratonin had rushed to his brain in an imbalanced frenzy, and he was experiencing the mania of a manic-depressive. "Mass hysteria?" Mulder was getting frustrated, she could see it in his eyes. He was onto something, or so he thought, and she was ruining his illusions as usual. "No....No, Scully, thats not all." Not all? How much more could there be? "The 'good spirit', for lack of a better word, called upon these people because they had lost their faith, had a worry or fear which burned into their lives, or had something in their pasts which they could not explain. Some traumatic event that they buried so deep that the truth became distorted." Uh-oh...it's a personal one! "The good spirit allowed them to let go of these worries, took away these fears, allowed them to relive their moment of pain so that they could have their closure! It gave them their one wish.....But in every case, there has been tragic consequences!" "What? Did they relive the time they slept with the class geek and end up committing suicide?" Scully joked. "Mirium Furnell.." he said, plonking a picture along with a file in front of her, coveredin drool from where he had fallen asleep "65 years old....widowed. Her children were murdered 35 years ago by a mysterious gunman. He was never found. Neighbours have reported seeing two children, matching the description of her murdered children, playing in her back yard, and Mirium herself seeming positively elated. Gunshots were reported at around noon yesterday, and her body was found a few minutes later." Scully looked confused. "She'd been shot by a spook?" "No, she died from a strange wound to the heart, and no bullets were found. No children were anywhere nearby either. It appears they just...disappeared." This really WAS a strange one. Ghosts coming back from the dead, gunmen spectres and dead old ladies? Yes, this was right up Agent Mulder's alley. "Ive booked us a flight to Florida, we leave at 3.30. I gotta check out this cave, and theres still the fact that people are missing!" Scully double taked., "Wait a second, Mulder, you are just going to drop everything and go gallavanting off to Florida to look for things that go bump in the garden?" "IN case you havent noticed, Scully, we're hardly run off our feet!" Yes, it was true. Cases had been few and far between lately, which is why Scully had been getting some long overdue filing out of the way in her spare time. They'd been onto a couple of hoaxes, which Scully had great pleasure in debunking, but apart from that....nothing! She gave up, there was no way she could talk him out of this one, and he needed someone to watch his back. "Im warning you, Mulder, this had better be good..." Thats my G-woman, he smiled to himself. Delta Airline-Destination Sanford International 3pm It was as vivid as anything she had ever experienced. A cave, dark and vast, grey clouds looming over her head as if about to strike her down. Something was inside-she felt it. Felt its presence drawing her closer...and closer, it's powerful force taking her under like an ocean wave. She was drowning in the powerful entity. She wandered further...and further, all the time feeling it more intensely, knowing that it was nearby. Until she saw it....a ray of light in the middle of a huge, gaping hole in the center of the cave. But it wasnt just any light, it was astonishing. The colours changed, yet didnt. The size grew, yet remained the same. But the intensity never dimmed, never faded. And it spoke to her, yet only in her mind. Anybody accompanying her at this time wouldnt have heard the strong voice, it spoke only to her. 'I can show you what you need to see' it said, and the woman knew. 'I can show you where she is...!" it continued. Tears welled in the womans eyes as she remembered her. Her baby. Emily. 'Is she safe?' she asked, voice trembling with emotion, her heart aching at the memory of her only child, the child she never got to konw, the child 'they' took from her. 'Do not be afraid, Dana, and do not question what Im about to show you.' She stood, transfixed, as the entity opened her eyes to another world, and showed her the child she had longed to see. Since Emily's death, Scully had questioned her faith. Was she happy? Was she in a better place? Was God taking care of her in death as he never did in life? 'Look beyond the light' it said to her, and she did. Picture a world of brightness, a world where children who suffered in life were contented, painless and full of energy. This is the vision Dana Scully was presented with. Emily ran around with all of the other children, smiling, dancing, laughing out loud. She wasnt sick, she wasnt afraid. She didnt have the shadow of death hanging over her. She was free. Scully smiled, tears falling freely now. Emily was finally safe. She looked down at her hands, and shock hit her. They were oozing green, the green she had seen before coming from her daughter, from the hybrids, all of them, and her face of beautiful relief became a mask of terror. ''You cannot see the afterlife and hope to live to tell the tale'' it whispered sinisterly, its voice as it had been when promising her the world. She looked into its light and saw her partner, her beautiful partner, laying flowers on her grave, crying mercilessly, shouting to the Heavens that life wasnt fair....she saw him, lying in a pool of his own blood, ghastly gashes running the lengths of his arms, the note next to him saying that he simply couldnt go on....she felt the life ebbing away from her.....she felt the swallow of death sucking her down, down...as she crashed down on the ground! "Scully!" The voice was loud, clear, alive, as she came to consciousness with an abrupt jolt, as the plane landed down on the ground. "Scully whats wrong? Were you dreaming?" her partner enquired, concern in his voice. It had been a dream, a very intense dream. "Im fine Mulder, Im fine!" she replied, her heart and respiration returning to normal as she breathed deeply...and deeply....and deeply. Had her dream been a warning not to get too involved in the case? Could it all be real? If it was, she had to keep a close eye on her wayward partner. "One of the missing is a man called Alex Hawke, aged 26, lived with his parents after his wife was murdered last year. " Mulder said, as the approached the small, white house in their hired car. Scully noted the garden. Neat, well kept, colourful in the flowers which grew there. Beautiful blue flowers. Full of life. "His mother said that his behaviour just pror to his disappearance was strange. He'd been suffering from clinical depression, but he suddenly just...snapped out of it. Just like that." Scully switched to doctor mode. "Spontanious recovery from depression is not unheard of, Mulder. It's a natural occurence." She didnt know who she was trying to convince more, herself or Mulder. The image of Enily had been just too vivid. "She said he was also showing signs of delusions of his dead wife, that she was with him, and that she was alive again", he continued, "but get this, Scully. She said she saw him leave the house on yesterday with a woman who looked just like her." Mrs Hawke was a fragile woman, around 50 years old and with a calm nature about her. She had also been widowed for five years, her husband succombing to cancer after a long battle. She had been left to raise their three children alone. The house was well kept, no signs of the disorganised clutter often left by a schizophrenic (which Scully hoped Alex had been) and a homely atmosphere to the place. Mrs Hawke led them into the living room and passed them a photograph of her son and his wife. "This was taken on their wedding day" she smiled. The picture showed a blushing bride and her handsome husband, the image of happiness showing clearly on their faces. "They'd been childhood sweethearts. Alex had told me that Alyssa was the girl he wanted to marry when he was twelve years old...!" Scully smiled to herself and reminisced to the time she herself was twelve years old. She'd told her mom she was going to marry Jimmy Emmett, because 'he had a guitar', but look at her....years later and STILL no sign of wedding bells. "She died...tragically!" The womans voice shook with emotion, and it sounded frighteningly near to breaking. "They were celebrating. Alyssa had been feeling a little under the weather, so she'd been to see her doctor, who'd confirmed that she was...." the woman could barely go on..."three months pregnant!" This poor woman had lost everything. A son, a daughter in law, and a grandchild. She didnt even have her partner to help her out of such a tough spot, only her children, but by the looks of things, they werent around too much either. Mulder rubbed her arm and willed her silently to continue, "The police say it was a random attack, no motive. She was...kidnapped...taken into the woods and....shot at close range in the back of the head. They found her body the next day. She died instantly, the coroners say, felt no pain. It was Alex who suffered more. He was left to live with no hope, no wife, no child......all he had left was a garden of forget-me-nots in memory of his family on the other side!" It was here that the tears came. Scully could feel this womans pain. "We dont have to go on if you dont want to, Mrs Hawke" she said, trying to sound at her most sincere, trying to ease this womans pain. "No, no, if it brings me any closer to the truth, its worth all of the pain!" Mulder shifted in his seat. Those words had been through his mind constantly since Samantha had disappeared. If times had got tough, he'd justify them by telling himself that it was worth it, that if he could just find out what had happened to her, he'd get through them. Of course, he never did find her, and his suffering continued. His mother had told him to 'lay her to rest' to 'let go'. But how could he lay her to rest when she was out there somewhere? "Can you tell me what happened on the day of his disappearence?" he asked confidently. Mrs Hawke nodded. "He came home the night before smiling. Now you have to undertand, my boy hadnt smiled in so long, and it took me by surprise. He looked as though a giant weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He looked like my Alex again." Mulder nodded in understanding, trying to encourage the woman before him, trying to let her know that it was alright. "But he was saying the strangest things." A frown played upon her forehead as she tried to shake out the memories, wring them out from her long suffering mind. "He was telling me that they'd let her come back to him for a little while...so that he could say goodbye. My poor, sweet boy. I thought he'd lost his mind. He'd gone to bed smiling, and I was out of my mind. I thought that enough was enough,and that Id get him help tomorrow." What a decision for a mother to have to make about her child. "I heard him leave the house early the next morning, and I was frantic. I ran to my bedroom window see if I could see where he was going, and...there she was. Bright as day, as real as you are now, holding his hand. Alyssa was with him. Now how can I explain that?" The two young agents looked at each other solemnly, then at this poor woman whos life had been taken away from her by fate so cruelly. She deserved the truth. "Mrs Hawke, did you son ever go out walking alone in the woods near Gypsies Creek?" Mulder asked. The woman nodded. "Yes. He told me he went there to think, to clear his head. He'd been going there alot since Alyssa's death. Her body had been found nearby..." She looked confused. "Has this got something to do with those other deaths Agents? " Mulder remained in thoughtful mode. "Thank you for coming, Agents. Please let me know if you find anything...!" the woman said politely. "We will, Mrs Hawke. Thank you for your time" The door closed gently behind them. Scully was curious, yet suspicious of her partner. "What is it, Mulder?" she asked, her voice monotonous, in a kind of sing song rythm. Mulder looked at her as though she had missed out on the most obvious clue in a crossword puzzle. "Think about it, Scully. Dont you see a pattern here? THe old lady...tortured by the loss of her children, then all of a sudden, she is the picture of happiness, watching children identical to her own playing in the back yard, then BOOM! Shes dead on the ground. Mysterious heart wounds not unlike those from gunshots. This guy...wife disappears then found dead. She returns to him, he's happy, and BOOM. He disappears. I bet you 10 bucks they find his body within the next few hours in the EXACT spot his wife was found after HER disappearence." Scully frowned. It was true, there was a pattern forming. But how could she believe something so damned insane? Answer? Because it came from the mouth of her insane partner, Fox Mulder. Poor crazy Fox who, in this crazy world, always seemed to be right! " Lets go check out this Gypsys Creek, huh? Lets see what we can find out there. Maybe there'll be some kind of clue so we can lay that lady's demons to rest for her!" And your own, Mulder. Mulder knew one of the reasons he followed this kind of case so intently. Yes, it was personal, the disappearence of Samantha always on his mind, and yes, she was the reason he went on. But since Fox Mulder was a child, he vowed that, if it were in his power to prevent it, he would never let anyone suffer the way he did all those years ago. This was the boy Sammy had looked up to. He had protected her many times in his life. Now that she wasnt there anymore, he would protect those who needed him to, he would be their saviour. THe drive to Gypsy's Creek was short, and they drove in relative silence. Scully played her dream over and over in her head, the green liquid oozing from every orifice as it had done Emily, the feelings of terror which had overwhelmed her. She didnt want to be near that place, thats for sure. She didnt want her dream to become a reality. SHe was not ready to meet Emily in the afterlife yet. Shuddering at the thought, she pulled her jacket close to her chin. She'd see her when the time was right, she was sure of it. There was noise, activity buzzing around the area of Gypsys Creek, and the area of woodland which surrounded it. "Bingo!" Mulder exclaimed. "Authorised personell only, sir" a police officer with a Fernando style beard said, seeing this smartly dressed pair approach. They both produced their badges for him to see. "FBI". The police shook his head. "The damndest thing I ever saw. The body of a young guy, someone found it whilst walking their dog. He has a hole THIS BIG in his head, but there isnt any blood. Just brains splattered all over the ground!" "THANK you, officer!" Scully said, voice filled with disgust at his apparent disrespect. This guy was dead, the least he could do was show a little discretion. "Im a medical doctor, is it ok if I take a look? " she enquired. "Knock yourself out!" he replied. "And dont take that literally, Agent Scully, the last thing we need is a trip to the ER!" Scully smiled in sarcastic fashion. Their amount of trips to the ER since they became partners had became a bit of a running joke. Scully didnt take the bait! "Only for you, G-Man! ONly for you!" "Im gonna go take a look round, maybe find that cave. Catch me up when your done, right?" A chill went down her spine. "Sure!" she said. "But be careful!" Scully watched her partner leave. She should tell him about her dream, but it was meant to be HIM who was the crazy one. He'd probably laugh it off and tell her to go read some more science books, because she was slipping! Deep down, she knew he was right. But she couldnt shake off the feeling of something not being right. The body was not too far away. Sprawled out on a grass verge, surrounded by tiny little blue flowers. They're pretty, Scully thought, then shook the idea. Why the hell was she looking at the flowers when this guy was dead? Was she desensitising to these strange occurences? Was she losing her touch as a sceptic? Looking down, she nearly lost her breath. Although there was a hole the size of a lemon in his temple, there was no mistaking the staring, lifeless form of Alex Hawke. Then, in another breathless moment, she remembered the flowers in his garden. Pretty little blue flowers planted in small circles here and there. She'd forgotten what they were called. Planted in memory of his 'family on the other side'. Planted also in the spot she had been found? She realised that his body was in the same spot where his wife had died. Just as Mulder had predicted. "Mulder?" she yelled after her partner. Something was in that cave, and she didnt want her vulnerable partner to find out what. It was beautiful, mystical, the walls adorned with a marble-like stone, shining in colours of the rainbow. Mulder looked on in awe at the spectacular monument which nature had built for herself, erected in memory of all of her forgotten caves, her destructed natural wonders...this one remained intact. A small well of water could be heard around one of it's many twists and turns, and Mulder immediately remembered the childhood caverns he used to dream up in order to escape from the harsh words of his mother and father. THese places in his mind had given him peace....just as this cave gave him serenity. It was stunning. Mulder thought of Alex Hawke. Was he at peace now? Was he in a better place? Was he living somewhere amongst the beautiful walls of this underground paradise? It was then that he heard her voice, echoing off the walls. "Fox......Fox? Its your move, Fox." It was the voice of his sister. Years without her had never faded the audio memory he had stored, able to call it up any time he felt afraid, any time he felt alone. No mistaking it, it was her voice. "Hurry up, Buttmunch, I have to go to bed soon!" Tears welled in his hazel eyes until finally the voice stopped. "Samantha?" he called. "Samantha, can you hear me?" NO. Not again. He was tortured by the memory, brainwashed by the voice. He didnt care what it took, he had to have his sister back. "Where are you? Are you there?" THe light appeared without warning, calling him, whispering his name as he walked blindly into it. "You can have it all, Fox. You can see her again!" It was a beautiful, hypnotic light. Once he looked into it, he couldnt look away. He looked deeper...and deeper....and deeper into the beautiful colours, the warm glow bouncing from the walls, escaping through the tiny hole in the roof of the cave. Was this where it was coming from? He saw his sister in front of him. Eight years old, black braids hanging down on her shoulders, swinging as she walked towards him. "Fox, are you going to just stand there? Arent you going to tickle me?" He couldnt believe what he was seeing. She was there, solid. He could touch her , and he knew she wouldnt disappear. "Samantha!" he smiled, tears of joy falling from his eyes as he was with her again. "Dont leave, Samantha!" "Dont question it, Fox, just believe it!" He felt as thought God had finally answered his prayer...Until he heard a bang. A door flying open, a strange white light. Except there were no aliens. No spaceship like his memories had told him there was. He felt terror well up inside him, as he had done all those years ago, like he did every night in his dreams. It was all the same....sheer anxiety turning to fear, and making his heart stop beating. "No. I dont want to see any more. Make it stop! Make it stop!" He was breaking.....his fear feeding the entity as it watched him suffer, knowing that his lifetime fear was about to replayed before his eyes once again, that he was going to lose the closest thing he had ever know after he had been given her again! The voice remained calm. "To know the truth, you must feel the truth, Fox. See it all again and you will be free!" He looked beyond the light and saw him. He was much younger than he knew him as, but it was him all right. Smoke rings and all, fuzzy in the clouded haze he always wore. "Fox, look! It's Uncle Smoky!" Samantha cried, running to the man she had given such an affectionate name to. "Do the smoke rings for me, Uncle Smoky. Do them now!!!" Mulder shook his head. This cant have been what happened. He shook his head as the men came towards him, held him down forcefully, covered his mouth and injected him in his temple. It rendered him powerless, unable to move. Unable to cry out like he so wanted to.....to cry for Samantha, and to the men that were taking her. TO cry for them to let her go. "Fox? Fox? " Samantha yelled, in the same voice which haunted him day in day out. "FOX!!!!!" She didnt scream it out of fear for herself, she screamed it out of fear for her big brother, and of anger at the men who were hurting him. "Its ok, Sammy!" cancer man soothed her. "He's sick. Theyre making him well again. Theyre taking away his pain!" Mulder was engulfed by the light now, succombing to it's haunting glare, kicking himself internally for being so wrong in all of his memories. There were no EBE's, no ET's, no aliens. Yes, the things which took his sister were inhuman, but they were not from another plantet. They were not the little green men he had been seeking all his life. He closed his eyes, no longer able to stand the bright light, and let the unconsciousness take him to a place where he could be safe! Scully was lost in the maze of cave, frantically hoping it wasnt too late for her partner. She had banished all thoughts of Emily from her mind, knowing that if this entity were real, it fed from insecurities and faithlessness. She just hoped it had not picked up any vibes from Mulder. "Mulder? Can you hear me?" she yelled. THere was no reply. She was beginning to panic, thoughts of him lying in a pool of blood somewhere fleeting in and out of her mind. No, no, she mustnt think like that. It took her by surprise, the sight of a fading light directly ahead of her. She ran as fast as her tiny legs would take her until she found its origin. And her partner. He was lying helplessly on the ground, as white as a sheet, completely motionless. Scully went into doctor mode, as she checked his vitals. His breathing was laboured, heart rate substantially decreased, and he appeared to be in a state of shock. He seemed.....drugged! But he was alive, which was the main thing. "Looks like we're gonna get that trip to the ER after all, partner!" she smiled, stroking his long-ish, dark hair away from his feverish forehead. She looked up, and saw the hole in the top of the cave. Somewhere in the distant sky, she saw a light. A tiny light, getting further and further away. Higher and higher it rose, until it was completely out of sight. Was that tiny light what had caused all of these deaths? Georgetown Memorial Medical Centre Washington. I am aware of things around me, but somehow, I cannot awaken. I hear Scully's voice in my sleep, willing me to wake up, begging me to brush off this darkness and return to the world of the living. I dont think it is safe yet. My mind is still reliving the events of Gypsy's Creek, and I am unable to face the world until I come to terms with what has happened! Im not dead...I know that. This gives me hope to keep on going, hope not to give up my search for my sister. 3 weeks later Scully ran down the hallway quickly to her partners room in the I.C.U. After she'd found him, he'd been admitted to hospital, traces of a muscle relaxant mysteriously being found in his bloodstream. He'd been in an unexplained coma for three weeks, all of his vital organs working for themselves, just seeming to relish the sleep and the rest, as if he just didnt want to wake up. It was just as it had been when his sister had disappeared. She'd got a call from the hospital early that morning to say that Agent Mulder had woken up,and had been asking for her. She'd left without even hanging up the phone. He was sitting up when she saw him, still attached to an IV, heart monitors still in place, but he was awake, and he was smiling at her knowingly. "What happened out there Mulder? What did you see?" Mulder exhaled gently, and gathered his thoughts. "She isnt dead, Scully. I know that now. If she were dead, I would have been taken to join her!" Scully looked confused. "What are you talking about? Are you talking about Samantha?" He nodded. "It showed me what really happened. It told me that the only way I could be free was if I knew. Dont you see Scully? Thats what it told all of the others,and they died. In the same way their loved ones died. But I didnt. Im still here. I saw what happened, Scully. I wasnt paralysed, they drugged me so I couldnt move!" Scully nodded. "Traces of a muscle relaxant used in surgery were found in your bloodstream when you were admitted, Mulder!" "It was him, Scully. She called him Uncle Smoky. He took her, and he left me behind. Im not dead because she is still alive." Scully felt a tear fall from her eyes, as she heard the belief in his voice. "The body was identified as Alex Hawkes, aged 24. Died from mysterious head wounds not unlike bullet injuries, but...no signs of a shooting were evidence. The coroner's report was inconclusive!" Mulder smiled. "Ten bucks, Scully!" She took his hand in hers, and smiled. "Dont ever leave me like that again, Mulder, promise me you wont." He kissed her forhead, brushed the tears away from her tired eyes. "I promise, Scully." The case was left open for further investigation, but Scully wanted her partner to recover fully before allowing him to take another crack at it. Right now, she was glad to have him back. Glad that he had found his faith. Fox Mulder slept peacefully that night, his nightmares which had plagued him for years giving him peace...at least for the time being. He knew she was out there somewhere, and he was even more determined now that he was going to find her...!