From: phileyx@yahoo.com
Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 13:53:20 -0000
Subject: xfc: NEW! Man without a face (Part one of four)
Source: xfc

Title:  Man without a face (Part one of four)
Author: PhileyX 
E-Mail: phileyx@yahoo.com <mailto:phileyx@yahoo.com> 
Web-site: http://www.angelfire.com/id/phileyx 
Rating: PG
Category: MSR or rather DSR (No, D does not stand for Doggert)
Spoilers: Up to the end of Season 7
Disclaimer: All characters mentioned in this story are well paid in 
real life and so is the network that represent them. Thus the latter 
should not feel anyway cheated or offended seeing their creations in 
this story. In fact, they should be proud. 
Intro: Okay I'll be the first to admit that this story is way out 
there, along with all the mind-boggling plots in the X-files series 
itself. Just play along and let your imagination take you beyond the 
realms of normality. Wear Mulder's shoes for a few minutes.....
Summary: After nearly two years since Mulder's disappearance, Scully 
is challenged to believe in the extraordinary again. Will she listen 
to her heart or her head?

XXXXXXXXXX
Leon County - Tom's Wheels
6pm

"Dole, quitting time!" Mike yelled and waved at his tall, dark-haired 
colleague across the garage. The latter smiled and threw his oil-
stained cloth on the floor with an air of finality. It was six 
o'clock and wild horses couldn't drag him to stay a minute longer. 

It wasn't as if he hated his job. He just felt that he could do more. 
The sense of restlessness nibbled deep within him like a bad tune in 
a head. But if his records said he was a mechanic then that what he 
must be. 

He walked towards the only bathroom and began washing his hands with 
factory detergent and water. As the black smudges on his palms began 
to dissolve, his mind began wondering again. It's no wonder that his 
friends and work-mates call him a dreamer. 

His brain was an ever-imaginative world of it's own. It was like 
having a TV tube stuck in his head and the only thing on was the Sci-
Fi channel. Bright lights, monsters and men in dark suits took turns 
to intrigue him. Mike used to tease him, telling him that he should 
write it down and pitch it to the TV agents in the Fox network. 

"Hey Dole, you ready?" Mike poked his head in and startled him. 

"Uh, yeah." He hastily turned off the water and grabbed a handful of 
paper towels.

Mike recognized the look. His friend was dreaming again. Shaking his 
head, he asked. "What was it this time?"

Dole looked at him sheepishly. "Nothing." He led the way out and his 
friend followed behind him out of the garage and towards the Mike's 
pickup.

"Are you seeing Liz tonight?"

"Yeah."

"So are you guys serious yet?" 

He hesitated at first then shook his head. 

Mike persisted. "How long have you been going out?"

"2 months."

Mike unlocked the door, got in and leaned over to release the lock 
for the co-driver's seat. "Any particular reason you wanna wait?"

"She doesn't like non-fat tofutti rice dreamsicle." Mike turned to 
give him a look to which Dole told him. "Don't ask."

"I'm beginning to wonder if it's really amnesia that you're suffering 
from."

His pal's reply was a grunt and then silence. Mike turned to look at 
him and almost groaned. The preoccupied countenance told him that 
Dole was in fantasyland again. 

His mind flew back to half a year ago when Dole mysteriously appeared 
in his life. There had been a bad accident just outside the 
interstate and the fire department needed to borrow some heavy 
machinery to pry open the badly mashed up car. Inside, a man was 
trapped. 

When the cops returned the machinery two days later, they told him 
that the man was suffering from amnesia. The only clues he had were a 
driver's license and a previous health insurance record dating back 
to 1996. 

A month later, John Dole walked into Tom's Wheels to ask for a job. 
Mike recognized him almost immediately and persuaded Tom to give him 
the job. The man needed a refresher's course and at times Mike 
wondered if he was really a mechanic before at all. But soon, Dole 
caught on and they had been good friends since.

XXXXXXXXXX
FBI Headquarters DC, X-files division 
6.45pm


`It figures! Of all the days....' Dana Scully groaned. 

Her partner looked up from his file. "What?"

"Will's birthday."

"Dana, we can't miss this one. We already missed last year's because 
of your pregnancy."

"Well, I'm not going to miss my son's first birthday!"

Doggert sighed and got up to his feet. Snatching the calendar from 
her table, he studied the dates carefully. "I know. We'll skip the 
last day, drive like a maniac and be in time for 2 hours left of 
Will's birthday."

Dana glared at him. 

Flinging his hands in the air, he conceded in misery. "All right, you 
win. We'll go for the boring alternative this weekend." He rolled his 
eyes. "I can't believe we're going for the FBI Pathological 
Convention again!"

She smiled at him gratefully. "It wasn't so bad last year."

"I don't really know. I believe I was in a comatose state most of the 
time."

"So you would rather go for the unbearable sweet `we-can-achieve-
anything-as-long-as-we-work-together' convention."

"It's a great place to pick up chicks. Plus three days later, you 
never have to see them again."

Dana rolled her eyes. "Call Kim and tell her we're going this 
weekend." She looked at her watch. "Damn, I'm late. I've gotta pick 
Mom up." She grabbed her bag and stuffed in a few files from her 
desk. As she got up to leave, the phone began to ring.

"Da...." Doggert began to pass the phone over but she waved it away.

"I left." She whispered and hurriedly walked out the door.

Her partner shook his head and replaced the phone to his ear, with an 
excuse ready.


XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Leon County - Tom's Wheels
9.30am


"Why not?"

"She was wearing a night gown."

"And...." Mike drawled.

"I'm more of a silk pajama kind of person."

"This coming from a man that lives on porn."

"Did you know she gets sea-sick?"

"And you don't want your children to inherit the genes?"

"No!" He waved the point away and gave another. "She watches 
wrestling and she adores Caddyshack."

"You love wrestling and you watched Caddyshack like a billion times!"

"That's exactly my point."

"That makes no point what so ever!"

"Don't you get it? She's not the one!" 

Mike looked at him for a while and frowned as a nagging suspicion 
popped up. "Sounds like you know exactly what you want." 

"What do you mean?"

"You tell me."

He squirmed slightly at the challenge. "Okay, there's this girl in my 
dreams...."

His friend began to groan. "Oh for crying out...."

Dole interrupted him. "She's not like the other girls." Mike looked 
at him dubiously. "She's real." 

Mike saw that he was serious and suggested. "Maybe you already met 
her?"

Dole blinked. "I have?"

"I don't know. You're the one that's absolutely sure what she likes 
and what she doesn't like."

"You mean, I met her from my past?"

"Well, there's still a lot unaccounted for between the years of 1996 
till now."

He looked thoughtful. "Maybe you're right."

"Yeah. Maybe you were seeing this girl for years and you had this 
**great** big fight. Upset, you got into your car and drove to 
another state. Then, you got into an accident and .... here you are."

Dole glared at him.

He shrugged. "What? It's possible."

Dole sighed and turned to the Pajero in front of him. "Anyway, I 
broke up with Liz last night."

"Really?"

"Yeah, the hair was the last blow."

"The hair?"

"Yeah, she told me that she's a natural blonde."

Mike's eyes widened. "No way!"

Dole nodded. "She was until 2 years ago."

"It's all that...Clairol and Loreal treatments we see on TV. Damn it, I 
think we men deserve the right to know the colour of our date's hair!"


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Leon County - outside Tom's Wheels 
2pm


"Moth-men?" Doggert waved at the greenery outside. "In these woods? 
You're kidding?"

"Nope, same town." Dana shook her head as she turned off the engine 
of the car. 

"Good old Mulder."

"Hey I saw it too!" She defended her ex-partner and got out.

Her present partner followed her and pointed towards the garage 
nearby, signaling the way. "You said there were two of them and you 
killed one, did you ever find the other?"

"No. But there were no other similar reports in the area after that 
so we closed the case."

"Vanished into thin air, a registered and trademarked X-files 
ending." He expected her to laugh. When she didn't, he turned to look 
at her. She was looking at the ground with frown that told him that 
his words hit too close to home. He gently touched her hand and she 
looked up at him. "We'll find him."

She slowly shook her head. "Sometimes I don't know anymore."

"We'll have to find him. I'm making it a personal quest." He put his 
arm around and squeezed her gently. "It's the only way Skinner will 
let me get a new partner, I've been begging him for months now."

She glared at him.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Dole froze when he saw her. The resemblance was exact! This was the 
woman that haunted his dreams. 

Mike perked up when he saw the duo enter. "Can I help you?"

The man stepped forward. "Yeah, there's this loud tinkling noise 
that's been driving us crazy for the past 2 hours. Could you check 
that out?"

"Sure. Let me take a look." 

"Dana?"

Not wanting to go out in the heat, she told her partner. "I'll just 
stay here."

"Okay." And he followed Mike out the door.

Dana looked around the garage. Catching sight of a revolving fan 
nearby, she walked towards it for relief. It was only then did she 
realize that she was being watched. 

She gave him a slight smile and looked away. After carefully taking 
in the roomful of automobiles, she turned back and found that he was 
still staring at her. Coolly, she ignored him and browsed through a 
few magazines nearby. 

Dole was hardly comfortable. Who was she? Did he know her from 
somewhere in his past? But if he did, surely she would recognize him? 
He glanced at his reflection on a nearby car window. His face was 
smudged with brake fluid and grease. At this moment, his own mother 
(whoever she might be) would probably not recognize him. Consciously, 
he began to rub off the stains with a clean rag from his pocket.

Dana shifted nervously as the mechanic from across the room began 
sprucing up his appearance. He was still staring at her and she was a 
little disconcerted. The man was in his late thirties, dark hair and 
chiseled looks. Too good-looking to be desperate and yet he was 
looking at her like she was the first woman that he had ever seen in 
his entire life. When he took a step towards her, she decided that 
she would brave the heat outside and walked out to find her partner.

Doggert looked up when she stood beside him. "The carburetor's in its 
final moments of the living. We're lucky we stopped to check it out. 
It'll be ready in the morning."

She groaned. "What about the Convention?"

"So we'll miss half a day." He grinned. "Maybe if I borrowed a 
crowbar, I could cause enough damage for us to stay here for a few 
days. Skinner will never know. And if he does find out, we'll have a 
good reason."

She rolled her eyes at him.

"Sir, I'll need you to sign in the car with us. Don't worry. Like I 
said, it'll be good as new in the morning." Mike told him and left 
them.

"Ice cream!" Doggert pointed excitedly at the shop across the 
road. "Dana, do you mind signing it in?"

She whined. "Oh come on, I don't wanna go in there alone."

He looked at her in surprise. "Why not?"

She looked slightly embarrassed as she told him. "The guy was staring 
at me."

"Mike?"

"No, the other guy."

He raised an eyebrow. "He's not bad looking." She gave him an 
incredulous look. "Hey I have 4 sisters. And I grew up with them 
bugging me to describe all my newly made guy friends. I now tend to 
naturally scale both men and women within 3 seconds in sight."

She shook her head and muttered to herself. "I'm jinxed with weird 
partners." 

"I'm serious. The guy is a fox. My sisters will make a play at him 
any day."

"Doggert...." She warned.

"Look Mike is in there too. And if he still makes a move, show him 
your Sig. Do you want one too?"

She looked slightly confused and then realized that he meant the ice 
cream. "Only if they have the non-fat tofutti rice types."

He shuddered at the thought. "Ugh!" And with that, he started walking 
briskly across the road. 

 Dana drew in a deep breath and headed for the garage. When she 
entered, she saw that Mike was nowhere in sight and Doggert's `fox' 
was standing at the cash register filling in what she supposed was 
their check in form. She composed herself and walked up to him, her 
clicking heels alerting her arrival.

"I'm here to fill up a form?"

He was staring at her again. She cleared her throat on purpose and he 
jumped slightly. "Yeah, of course. I thought your husband was going 
to do it."

This time she was momentarily stunned. His voice.... it sounded exactly 
like .... Mulder's.  And when she looked into his hazel eyes, she was 
reminded of another feature that was so alike his. 

As she stared at him, Dole's heart started beating faster. Was she 
was beginning recognize him? 

 Mike walked out of the washroom and saw them. He looked away and did 
a double take. Dole and the lady were gazing into each other's eyes 
like some lovesick couple! What the hell was going on? Deciding to 
break this up before her husband walked in, he coughed loudly. They 
both started. 

Dole was the first to find his voice. "Your husband's name please?"

"He's not my husband. He's my ... he's a colleague." She laughed 
nervously, slightly bewildered that she had acted so unprofessionally 
a few seconds ago. What was wrong with her? He doesn't sound anything 
like Mulder. Well, maybe a little.

"Oh."

"Just write it under my name, Dana."

"Okay." He scribbled her name down and passed the clipboard for her 
to sign it. "Here you go."

She calmly took the board and signed her name. Suddenly, two things 
struck her. One, the form was filled in with her full name `Dana 
Scully' and secondly, his writing was exactly the same as Mulder's? 
Her head snapped up. "How did you know my last name?"

He looked confused. "I don't know." Then, he shrugged and nervously 
looked away. "I think your colleague mentioned it. Where else would I 
have gotten it from?" 

She studied him suspiciously as her brain searched for a reference on 
his face. But nothing registered. She was quite sure she had never 
seen him before. 

Squirming under her scrutiny, he asked her impatiently. "You done 
with that?" She gave up and passed the board back to him. As she 
walked out, she wondered if the heat was making her hallucinate.

XXXXXXXXXXXX
Leon County - `Water Hole'
9.11pm


"It was **her**."

"Dole, I'm trying to be supportive here but did you see her suit?" He 
gave a low whistle and elaborated. "She's not your type, man. 
Besides, she too short for you."

"I know."

"She may not be married to that guy with her but that doesn't mean 
she's single." 

Dole scowled at him. "Gee, thanks a lot."

"Anytime buddy." Mike grinned and then frowned. "Speaking of the 
angel..."

Dole turned to see Doggert and Dana walk into the bar. 

"And the devil..."

Following them, Liz made her way in and took up a seat at one of the 
tables. 

"Should I go over?"

"I think you're a bit too late." Mike pointed his chin towards 
Doggert who was walking towards Liz's table. Within minutes, he had 
seated himself comfortably beside her and ordered himself a drink.

"Is she doing this on purpose?"

"Judging by the fact she had already stolen more than a half dozen 
glances at you, I'd say yes."

Dole growled. "Well two can play at that game."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Miss Scully?"

Dana froze as she heard her name being called exactly the way she had 
missed for the past two years. Well, at least it would be exact if 
she ignored the `Miss' part. She turned and the guy from the garage 
stood next to her.

Dole watched her as the panic look she had on a few seconds ago began 
to fade away. At least she didn't correct him when he called 
her `Miss'. It was a good start. "Are you all right? You look a 
little pale."

"I'm fine." She smiled a little as she remembered how Mulder used to 
hate it when she told him that. "You remind me of someone." She found 
herself admitting it to him.

"You too."

She laughed softly. "I didn't mean it as a pick-up line."

"Neither did I."

He was serious and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "So how's 
my car?"

"You'll be on your way tomorrow."

"Good."

He tried to break the ice further. "So what do you do for a living?"

Dana hesitated, glancing over at Doggert and damning him to hell for 
abandoning her. "I..." She sighed and decided to be honest. "Look ..., 
I'm sorry I don't know you name."

"John Dole."

"Doe as D-O-E?"

He shook his head at the common perception. "Close." He often 
wondered the irony of his name in relation with his condition. "D-O-L-
E."

She nodded, mentally resolving to check him out with the Gunmen. "Mr. 
Dole, I don't mean to be rude. I'm just not comfortable right now. I 
would really appreciate it if you left."

Dole frowned. He had no doubt that she was uneasy. But that 
fascinated him; he was curious why she was so disconcerted with his 
presence. Was she pretending not to know him for some reason? He 
decided to play another card up his sleeve. He nodded towards 
Liz. "The girl with your colleague?"

"Yeah?"

"We broke up yesterday."

She understood his meaning and laughed. "And here I was feeling 
flattered and everything....."

He laughed too. "Well, I was acting like a dork this afternoon so I 
think you still have the right to feel flattered."

She blushed slightly and was glad that it was too dark for him to see 
it. "What happened?"

"She wasn't the one."

She looked amused and prayed to God that he wasn't about to get corny 
and tell her that she was. When he didn't say anything, she 
asked. "How did you know?"

"Lots of little things."

"Like?"

He hesitated and changed the subject. "You never told me what you did 
for a living?"

She wondered if he would be intimidated if she did and then decided 
that it would be good if he were. Maybe then he'd leave her 
alone. "I'm an FBI agent."

He looked surprised and then thoughtful. "I had an impression you 
were a doctor."

Now she was surprised. "I am. After I graduated, I became an agent."

"Hmmm." He frowned and mumbled. "Pissed off your dad."

She looked at him suspiciously. Part of her tried to justify his 
words; any father would be upset when his child gives up medicine. 
Another part of her felt as if John Dole was reading her like a book. 
Slightly breathless, she excused herself. "It's late. I should go."

He stopped her with a slight touch, which she gently moved away 
from. "Was it something I said?"

"No. I have a long drive tomorrow. Good night."

As she turned to go, he wished her. "G'nite, Scully."

The sound of his voice froze her for just a few seconds before she 
forced herself to move and get out of there as fast as she could. 

XXXXXXXXXXXX


(End of Part one of four)

Man without a face (Part two of four)


Leon County - Greenside Motel
2.56am

Dana was on the verge to nodding off when she heard a rustling noise 
across the far end of her room. She instinctively reached out for her 
gun and waited. Silence. 

She took the same room as before, not really knowing why. Maybe she 
wanted to relive the past, back when Mulder was around. She peered 
hard into the darkness and listened hard. Still nothing. 

Shaking her head, she replaced her gun and tried to make herself 
comfortable but gave up half a minute later. She got out of bed and 
sat in front of the fan, letting the wind caress her face. She 
glanced out of the window and her eye caught a figure in the 
moonlight. 

He was standing across the street, leaning against a pickup. His hand 
moved from his mouth to a bag beside him every few seconds. There was 
something familiar about him. 

A minute later, she knew what it was and she snapped. Impulsively she 
grabbed her gun, wore her trench coat over her pajama and stepped out 
of her room.

Dole's eyes widened as she strode towards him. What the hell was
she 
doing up at this time of the night? And she sure didn't look too 
happy to see him.

Dana stopped a few stepped away from him. "Mr. Dole, may I ask
what 
are you doing here?"

"I live around here." He answered her quietly, his mind
racing to 
find an excuse.

"It's three o'clock in the morning."

"Have I broken a law?"

"No. I just find it rather strange that you're out here, in
front of 
my motel room, in the middle of the night."

"I couldn't sleep." He bit his lip and elaborated. "I
don't sleep too 
well."

She almost rolled her eyes. "Of course." And muttered under a 
breath. "An insomniac."

He caught her words and wondered at the tone of her voice. When she 
remained silent, he held out his brown paper-bag. "You want
some?"

She looked at it and stared, her voice turned into a whisper.
"Let me 
guess, sunflower seeds."

He was surprised that she was right. "Not many people like them 
around here."

Suddenly, her head snapped up fiercely. "Listen, I don't know
what 
kind of game you're playing. I don't care if you're
psychic or you 
swapped bodies with the devil in the middle of a cosmic event 
horizon, you're not getting to me. I'm leaving in the morning
and I'm 
assuming that I'll never see you again." She turned around
and walked 
back to the motel.

Dole strode after her. "Scully wait! You seem to know me and yet
you 
don't recognize my face. Who do I remind you of?"

"Dole, I'm warning you. Stay away from me!"

"Who do I remind you of?" He asked again.

"It doesn't matter. He's gone and you're not him."

"But don't you get it? Maybe I am!"

She stopped and turned to face. "You're not."

"I lost my memory six months ago. And all I know is my name but 
besides that there's not much to go on. No trace of any family or 
friends."

"You're not him. You may have his height, his voice and his
eyes but 
you don't have his face."

"But I think I have his memories." He took a step closer to
her. "I 
remember you. I remember everything about you." His eyes lowered
to 
her lavender pajama peeking out of the top of her trench coat. 
Cautiously, he touched the collar of her silk top. "Silk
pajamas...."

She backed away quickly and stared at him as if he was crazy. 
Realizing what he had just done justified her look; he grimaced 
apologetically. Suddenly a shout broke the eerie silence, making them 
both jump. They both turned towards the sound, in the direction of 
the motel. Dana froze. It sounded like Doggert!

They ran for his room and she led the way. The door was locked and 
Dana wished that her present partner were more like her ex. Mulder 
never locked his door. She took out her gun, shot the lock and barged 
through the door. 

Dole switched on the lights behind her. Doggert was gone! As she 
cautiously checked the room and the bathroom with her gun, he noticed 
that there was blood on the window still. "Scully?"

She ignored the familiar feelings that triggered with the sound of 
his voice calling her name and looked at him. He pointed towards the 
broken window. She walked to it and peered outside, into the dark 
forest. Then a thought struck her and she knelt down to study the 
floor. Sure enough, there were tracks. She looked up at Dole, who 
frowned as a word popped in his head. He told her softly.
"Moth-men."

She smiled thinly and again, resisted the urge to delve into the 
Mulder issue. `One thing at a time, Dana.' She told herself. 

"What **is** that thing?" He asked her, still looking at the 
prints. "The weight distri..."

She interrupted him. "Balls of the feet, I know, Indian Chief.
"
 
He gave her a look and she ignored him, picking up the phone instead. 
But another shout outside caught her attention. 

Dole climbed through the window. "Come on." He told her.

"Dole wait! We gotta get help!"

"There's no time! We'll lose him." And he left her
alone in the room.

Dana cursed under her breath. The man was practically a reincarnation 
of Fox Mulder in every aspect, including ditching her. "I just
know 
I'll regret this later." She muttered and began to trail
behind him. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Stay close, Dole. These things are smart."

He nodded. "Divide and conquer."

She nodded back, finding herself slowly beginning to accept his 
ability to quote her previous conversations with Mulder. "Do you
have 
anything to protect yourself with?" She asked him.

"A stick."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, that'll do it."

He sighed. "Fine then you go in front." He stopped until she
overtook 
him. 

She wondered aloud. "What I don't get is, after all this
time, why 
now?"

"Hibernation?" 

It was more like a question so she explained. "Similar incidents 
years ago suggest that these creatures hibernate, awakening every few 
years to gather and store food."

"Mike and I camp out here often and we haven't seen any
creatures 
resembling a cross between moth and man. It's also too
coincidental 
that it timed its winter food collection with your arrival." 

She frowned. "My ex-partner had a theory that it would pursue
anyone 
that violated its territory. Maybe it was after me."

A scene played in his mind. "You shot its mate." He muttered
absently.

She looked at him. "Yes, you're thinking revenge?"

"You came with Doggert and it took him. Maybe it thinks he's
your 
mate. "

"No. It came for me. I heard it in my room. But then I went out
to 
talk to you." 

"So it decided to take Doggert to draw you out."

"More like draw me into the forest." 

A rustle nearby distracted them and they froze. Dole slowly turned, 
watching the darkness carefully for any sign or movement. Nothing. 

"Dol..." Dana suddenly screamed as she felt herself being
pulled under. 

Dole turned around and she was gone! "Scully!"

"Dole!" Her voice was not far off. And he ran towards it,
gripping 
the stick in his hand tighter. 

"Scully?"

A shot rang out and echoed throughout the forest. Dole ran faster 
towards it. Then he stumbled over something. To his relief, it was 
Dana. "Scully? Are you all right?"

She blinked as the pain seared all the way through her right 
arm. "I'm fine."

"I've always hated it when you said that." He muttered
and inspected 
the wound. "It's not that bad." 

"It moved too fast. I didn't get it."

"It's okay. We'll just have to wait till dawn."

"Doggert may not survive that long."

"Well you're hurt so we're not taking anymore
chances." He then 
gently scooped her up and carried her to an opening. Slowly, he put 
her down and rested her head against a tree. 

She flinched as she held out her arm slightly. "The gun." He
took it 
from her. "You know how to use it?"

"No." He shook his head and hesitated. "At least, I
don't think so."

She smiled thinly. "Just point and pull the trigger." 

He slipped it into his jacket pocket and sat next to her.
"Cold?"

Before she could answer, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and 
brought her close to him. "Dole..." She began to protest.

"You need to get warm, Scully."

Knowing that if he were really anything like Mulder, it would be 
useless to argue with him. So she gave up the fight and her body 
willingly molded with his warmth. She took a deep breath and memories 
filled her again. "God, you even smell like him." She
muttered.

"Who was he?" He asked her in a whisper.

She whispered back. "My ex-partner."

Dole was disappointed. He was expecting him to be more than 
that. "I've held you before."

"Dole.."

"I can't explain it. I don't know when or how. But I
know, I held you 
like this before."

She sighed. "Dole, if I wasn't in shock and freezing my ass
off..."

He interrupted her. "Fine, I'll drop it." They remained
in silence 
and something popped in to his head. "If only it rained sleeping 
bags...." He trailed off.

"You're not that lucky." She told him and he smiled.

And as the delicious feel of his arms brought her back in time, she 
thought to herself. `Neither am I.'

She drifted off to sleep while he kept watch. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When she woke up, he was humming the tune she once sang to Mulder in 
the forest. Amazed, she asked him. "Do you remember as you go
along 
or are these memories already in your head?"

Slightly startled that she was finally awake, he answered her.
"As I 
go along." She nodded and slowly removed herself from his arms.
"How 
do you feel?"

"It doesn't hurt so much now. It just ...." She stopped
when he grabbed 
her hand and squeezed it hard. Turning around slowly to where he was 
staring. The creature was huddled 500 metres away from them. Seconds 
later, it disappeared. 

"Where did it go?" Dana glanced about nervously.

Dole removed the gun from his pocket. "I don't know. But we
should 
get out of here."

"Not without Doggert."

"We have to get help."

She rolled her eyes at him. How come when the words came out from her 
mouth last night, it was totally inconceivable to him? "That will 
take hours to fix up. And we've lost too much time already. The 
longer we wait, the lesser his chances are." He still looked
unmoved 
so she insisted. "Look, I'm not about to lose another
partner." 

He sighed. "All right, let's go." They started walking
towards where 
the creature was. Dole knelt down and studied the ground. "The
tracks 
seem to lead that way." 

So they walked on silently, listening to the sounds of the forest. 
When the noises stopped, Dana told him. "It's gone quiet. It
must be 
nearby." 

He nodded and raised the gun higher. Too preoccupied with his 
surroundings, he suddenly stepped into a deep cavity in the ground. 
The gap proved to be larger than it looked like and he found himself 
slipping deeper into the soggy earth.

"Dole!" Dana grabbed him, forgetting her hurt right arm. As
she 
gasped in pain, she tried clutching him with the other arm instead. 
But it was too late and his whole body glided down and disappeared 
into the blackness in front of her. She heard him fall with a large 
thud. "Dole!"

"Yeah." He answered her with a moan.

"Are you all right?" Silence and then she heard two gunshots.
"Dole!" 
Still nothing. "Damn it Dole, answer me!"

He suddenly did. "It's dead!" And she let out a breath
she didn't 
know she was keeping. 

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah. I found Doggert."

"Is he alive?"

"Yeah. But I think it's a good time to get help now."

She sighed in relief. At least this time she found her partner.
"I 
don't know how to get out of this forest." She admitted to
him. 

"I do. But you'll have to get me out first." He called
out from below.

She peered into the darkness and judged his distance. "Do you
have 
anything to stack up to get out of there?"

"Sorry Scully. No office furniture and only one body." 

She frowned. "Give me directions then." 

"Go north. You should come to the motel. Takes about roughly half
an 
hour, judging from how far we walked yesterday."

"All right. Meanwhile, hang on to that gun and this." She
dropped her 
cell-phone down to him. 

"It won't be much use down here, Scully!"

"Just keep it on. If I can't lead help to you, we'll use
a RF 
detector to track you down."

`Smart is sexy.' He suddenly thought and smiled. "Hey
Scully?"

"What?"

"Be careful."

Her thoughts flew to Mulder but she forced herself to think of her 
present partner instead. "Keep Doggert warm."

"With what?" He asked incredulously.

"Body heat, Dole." She grinned when he groaned.
"Don't discriminate 
your own sex!"

"Very funny!"

"I'll be back soon." She promised and set off on her
journey.

XXXXXXXXXXXX
Leon County - ER
4.33pm


Dole tapped his feet impatiently on the hospital floor as he glanced 
at the door for the tenth time. When she finally walked though it, he 
got up to meet her. She saw him and unconsciously stiffened slightly. 
He frowned, not liking the reaction.

She stood in front of him and greeted him. He pointed at her slinged 
arm. "Does it still hurt?" She shook her head and he asked
her 
again. "How's Doggert?"

"He'll be fine. He's even strong enough to be transferred
over to 
DC." 

"So..." He hesitated, suddenly unsure of what to say.
"What now?"

She looked up at him, not really knowing how to tell him that she 
wasn't really interested in his claims on being Mulder. Finally,
she 
just said. "I'm sorry."

He understood her meaning. "I'm never going to see you again,
am I?" 

She shifted uncomfortably and shook her head. 

He looked down and told her softly. "Goodbye Scully."

"Goodbye, Dole." She touched his arm gently and left him.

Dana's heart was heavy as she walked away. She just couldn't
explain 
the feelings that that man aroused. His whole presence was so Mulder-
like that it was scary! And she was desperate to get away from him. 

Her cell-phone burred softly in her pocket and she fished it 
out. "Scully."

"Agent Scully, it's Byers."

"Did you find out anything?"

"Yeah, it's pretty weird. He seemed to have some records
about his 
childhood and a little after that but absolutely nothing from '96 
until his reappearance. He's an orphan, never adopted and grew up
in 
a shelter all his childhood. It was closed down fifteen years ago so 
that's a dead end. No mention of any home addresses, phone
numbers, 
nothing. The last workshop he was attached to burned down a year 
after he left and the owner passed away soon after that. Once again, 
nothing to go on."

She mumbled thoughtfully. "It's all a little too convenient,
isn't 
it?"

"Yeah that's what we think too."

"Thanks Byers."

"What's this about anyway?"

"Nothing." She lied. "It's nothing important.
Bye!" And she hung up. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXX


(End of Part two of four)

Man without a face (Part three of four)


XXXXXXXXXX
2 months later 
DC Memorial Site 
4.11pm

It was a lovely evening. The birds and the smell of the grass filled 
the air and lifted her drooping spirits. She glanced at her usually 
hyperactive son who was surprisingly quiet; noticing that he was 
preoccupied with watching a little butterfly perched on the
Missy's 
gravestone.

Dana's mother broke her thoughts. "My only regret was we
never buried 
her with your father."

Her daughter smiled at the thought. "Mom, they would drive each
other 
nuts."

Maggie laughed. "You're right. I forgot about that." She
looked up, 
past the scores of tombstones in front of her as some memories of 
heated family squabbles flashed in her mind. While Dana was always 
her husband's favourite, Missy was always the rebel and caused 
trouble every chance she got. 

It was almost a refreshing breath of fresh air when her youngest 
decided to join in Missy's parent-agonizing-quest and quit
medicine. 
Her late spouse never quite understood why she did it. Missy on the 
other hand was trilled. For once, she was left alone to her choices 
as he obsessed over Dana's.

As Maggie came back to the present, she noticed a young man standing 
about 200 meters away from them. He seemed to be watching 
them. "Dana?" Maggie called out softly to her daughter.

Dana lifted up her head and looked at where her mother was looking 
at. `Dole?' She thought in surprise. He caught her gaze and
nodded at 
her. Although somewhat disconcerted, she handed Will to her mother 
and explained that she would only be away for a few minutes.

"What are doing here?" She asked him softly, not wanting her
mother 
to hear their conversation.

Hesitantly, he admitted. "I don't know." He looked at
Will and back 
at her. "Is that your son?"

She ignored his question. "I told you I didn't want to see
you again."

"Well, I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"Don't give me that, Dole." She hissed. "Have you
been following me?"

He shook his head quickly. "No, I haven't." He paused for
a second 
and explained. "When I woke this morning, I suddenly felt I
needed to 
be somewhere. This date meant something and the feeling led me
here."

She frowned and shook her head, clearly not believing him.
"You're 
telling me that a feeling led you to this cemetery, miles away from 
your home?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

She gave a half laugh. "Well you certainly have Mulder's
talent of 
coming up with the most ridiculous stories."

He ignored her scarsam. "So that's his name. Mulder.." He
pronounced 
it softly to himself. He then nodded behind her. "Who's grave
is it?"

"Don't you know? I thought you knew everything?" She gave
him a 
dubious look.

He glared at her. "Damn it Scully, I'm trying to find out who
I am."

"I suggest you look elsewhere." She told him with an air of
finality 
that told him that she was ending the conversation and turned to walk 
away.

Dole was frustrated. Every since she met Dana Scully, his dreams had 
been more frequent and more confusing. And he was desperate to figure 
them out. He took two long strides and caught her arm.

"Scully."

"Let me go, Dole!" She protested in a harsh whisper, mostly
worried 
about how it would look like to her mother.

He pleaded with her. "I need your help. You're the only one
that can."

"You need professional help, that's what you need!" She
tried to 
shake her arm free but he pulled her closer to face him.

"He wasn't just your partner. He was more than that." She
blinked at 
him. "I remember." She struggled again to break away from his
grasp 
but he held on. "Mulder is your son's father, isn't
he?"

Dana's mind was racing. She was perfectly capable of physically 
forcing him to release her. But she knew if she did, her mother would 
be alarmed. She stole a glance behind her, noting that she was 
already half way there. "Dole for God's sakes, this is not
the time 
or the place and especially not with the present company!"

He looked behind her, at Maggie's worried look and understood
what 
she meant. He let her go.

She sighed in relief and composed herself. "Thank you."

"I'm sorry." He looked slightly embarrassed. 

She tried to walk away again when he told her softly. "You keep 
searching for him. What if ..... you already found him but
don't know 
it?" 

She hesitated. Taking the opportunity, he gently slipped something in 
her hand and walked away. 

She looked at the matchbox in her hand. It came from a motel not far 
away and assumed it was where he was staying. She looked up at her 
visibly curious mother and started walking in her direction. Mentally 
preparing herself for an interrogation, she toyed with the box in her 
hand. Soon, she realized that its contents weren't exactly what
she 
expected. She looked at it in surprise. Instead of matchsticks, there 
were a couple of sunflower seeds in it. She almost smiled and a 
strange feeling of deja vu crept over her. It felt familiar. She 
thought hard but somehow she just couldn't seem to place the
moment 
when Mulder poured a handful of seeds in her palm a few years ago. 
But she was certain it happened in the same sentiment of despair. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXX
DC - Willson's Point
11.50pm

He opened the door and almost breathed a sigh of relief. It was 
almost midnight and he was beginning to give up on her. He stood 
aside to let her in. She hesitated, clearly unsure if it was the 
right thing to do. He waited and she finally made her decision. 

Walking in, she sized up the room with a quick glance. A frown told 
him her disapproval of his choice in motels but he ignored it and 
remained silent. Knowing that he was treading on every thin ice, he 
wanted her to break the ice and lay down the ground rules of their 
liaison. 

Dana took a deep breath to calm herself down. She could hardly 
believe that she was here. How on earth did she allow herself to be 
persuaded? She wondered. Then again, Mulder had always managed to 
talk her into anything and considering that this man was claiming to 
be him... 

She looked up at him nervously and took the opportunity she never 
took before to study him at close range. His face looked nothing like 
her ex-partner. However, she could detect some similarities in the 
overall face structure. 

Her gaze trailed to the rest of his body and confirmed her previous 
impressions. He had the same height, frame and physique; okay maybe 
this man was slightly thinner. Then there was the way he stood and 
walked. His voice, his touch, his arms that once held her a few 
months ago and his distinct Mulder scent.....  

She shook herself slightly and cursed silently. `What was wrong
with 
her?' She had to stop feeling and start thinking. There has to be
a 
rationale explanation for all this. Maybe she had finally gone out of 
her mind. Maybe her obsession of finding Mulder had spilled into her 
unconsciousness making her so vulnerable that she had begun to 
believe that this man was him. After all, all the signs she had 
recognized so far were only vague senses of familiarity and nothing 
else. Nothing really concrete. 

As for the fact that this man could replay certain events that took 
place in her life with Mulder, any psychic could do that; well at 
least theoretically they could. The truth was she didn't trust
him. 
She needed more proof. But what? 

After a brief silence, she told him softly. "Take off your
shirt." 

He was stunned, certainly not expecting her words. "Why?"

"Mulder had been shot a couple of times." She explained.

Surprise filled his face and the doubts of his identity began to 
vanish. He did have scars; he just never knew what they were until 
now. Slowly, he removed his T-shirt. 

Her face paled when she saw them. When her breathing resumed, she 
stepped forward to take a closer look at his right shoulder where she 
shot him once upon a time ago. She reached out to touch it as if 
seeing was not sufficient.

She touched him. It was real and it was exactly the same scar Mulder 
had. She knew it well. She used to fall asleep in his arms while 
fingering the smooth texture of the wound. It reminded her of how 
much they had been through for each other to the point of taking such 
drastic action to hurt and yet protect him.

Dole stood still. Her cool fingers brought him back through time and 
flashes of them together rushed through his blood. His dreams were 
only dreams until this moment. Now everything was real, he was 
feeling his visions now. From mere nothingness, they become existent. 
She had made them real with a simple touch. He now trusted her.....
he 
now loved her. 

He looked into her blue, searching eyes and felt her confusion. He 
saw that she was still trying to hold on to reason, at least whatever 
was left of it. And Dole had no intention of giving her a chance to 
retreat in the name of common sense. What was happening between them 
was beyond any realm of logic. It should be set apart on a different 
scale altogether, like a special metric system of life.

Slowly, he slipped his hand behind her neck. She jumped slightly at 
his touch but froze when he gently fingered the chip at the base of 
her neck. She gasped and closed her eyes tightly. 

With her eyes shut, reality became a blur and drifted away. Her 
senses were suddenly alive and she began to be aware of the pair of 
hands that touched her. They seemed to belong on her skin, the very 
same pair that could only be Mulder's.

The scientist in her protested wildly, screaming in her to wake up 
from this dangerous oblivion. She ignored her and willingly let 
herself believe. For once, she wanted so much to believe. The thought 
made her smile. `Oh how proud Mulder would be, just knowing
that.' 
And her eyes filled up with tears, falling freely. 

He touched her face, feeling the wetness of her cheek and immediately 
began to feel guilty. He had made her cry and he didn't mean too.
He 
just wanted to know the truth although he could sense that it 
wouldn't be an easy truth to discover. Wishing to console and
soothe 
her emotions, he softly kissed her forehead. Then unable to help 
himself, he leaned lower to kiss her mouth.

When his lips gently descended on hers, she physically started. The 
impact of the contact shook her to the core. `Mulder' was the
first 
word that came to her mind. `Oh God! Mulder!'

He felt her reaction and he paused. Lifting his head slightly, he 
whispered in her ear. "Remember?"

She took a while to respond. And when she did, she could only nod. It 
was encouragement enough; he now kissed her thoroughly. Someway in 
between, she murmured his name against his lips. "Mulder..."
But he 
gave her no more chance to do so for a while.

When his lips left hers and trailed to other features on her face, he 
waited for her to say something. She remained quiet and he soon 
understood why. "You keep your eyes closed because you're
afraid I'll 
disappear when you open them."

A fresh tear glided down her cheek. "You do." She whispered
back.

He frowned, not knowing how to feel. Part of him wanted to be the man 
she calls Mulder. Another part of him knew that he wasn't. At
least, 
not yet. There was still so much more to figure out. So many memories 
that he did not understand. 

And although he had wanted her to believe in the possibility, he knew 
he couldn't mislead her. She needed to know what she was getting 
herself into. Cupping her chin, he firmly told her. "Open your
eyes, 
Scully."

Reluctantly, she did. And the look of disappointment on her face was 
unmistakenable. His heart fell. They were both silent for a while.

Disappointed was too mild a word. Dana was devastated. She could hear 
the scientist in her head laughing hysterically at her and repeating 
I-told-you-so in a singsong like fashion. Cursing herself for being 
so silly, she wondered what exactly did she expect? Did she think he 
would morph into Mulder or something? He did in a way, as long as she 
kept her eyes closed.....

She tried pulling away from him but he held on firmly to her hand. 
And she took note of a slight bone deformity on one of his fingers, 
exactly the same spot where Mulder's finger was once broken by a 
terrorist. It cheered her up a little; at least she found one more 
justifiable indication of his identity. She soon thought of another 
and ran her other hand through his hair, feeling the side of his head.

Slightly irritated and still not forgiving her for her previous 
crushed look she had on, he asked sarcastically. "Still looking
for 
gunshot wounds? Why bother? I still don't have his face."

She raised an eyebrow at the tone of his voice but did not answer. 
When she felt a slight rough abrasion on his scalp, she told 
him. "I'm a scientist, I gather evidence."

"How much more proof do you need, Scully? Fingerprints? A blood 
sample?"

She shook her head. "We can try but `they' would have
taken care of 
it. Remember, with your amnesia, the police would have ran your 
fingerprints for matches. Since they didn't find any, it could
only 
mean that all of Mulder's fingerprint records and blood samples
have 
probably been replaced with fake ones."

He frowned at her. "They?"

She shook her head in amusement. The man that stood before her 
certainly did not have Mulder's paranoia, maybe because he
hadn't 
lived his memories. It made her think of the age-old question of what 
makes a person; one's genetic makeup or one's childhood?

Sighing, she backed away from him a little and asked. "How much
do 
you know about him?"

"Just bits and pieces." He admitted. "When did he
disappear?"

"Nearly two years ago." She flinched slightly as the memory
pained 
her.

"How?"

"He just disappeared." She hesitated. "The theory was he
was 
abducted."

He raised an eyebrow at the choice of her words. "You mean
kidnapped?"

She looked at him, nearly smiling. "No, abducted. The men and
women 
that disappeared with him were former abductees."

He gaped slightly. "Abductees as in .... a..li..ens
abductees?"

She nodded, trying to keep a straight face as his face contorted in 
horror.

He asked her again. "Aliens from outer space took Mulder?"

"Somehow when you put it that way..." 

"Is this some kind of sick joke?" He interrupted her. 

She glared at him. "I'm not really in the mood for jokes at
this 
moment, Mulder."

"It's Dole." He told her crisply.

She looked surprised. "Oh, now it's Dole? You sure
conveniently 
change your identity to suit the mood, don't you?"

"Hey, at least I'm not delusional. You're talking about
aliens, for 
God's sakes? And you're the scientist!"

Dana rolled her eyes heavenward. `The irony of this is just 
hysterical!' She thought but asked him patiently. "Do you
have 
flashes of melting creatures in glass pods or something? Lots of 
smoke? Ice maybe?"

He froze and stared at her. "Yeah." He answered her in a
whisper.

"Well, that's what he told me he saw in Antarctica. I never
believed 
him. But I believed that he believed he saw them. I'm not the 
delusional one, Dole." He shifted uncomfortably. 

She added. "Mulder spent his whole life on the paranormal. He was 
like a walking, talking encyclopedia of the occult and any race of 
mythological history known to man. **He** was the believer and I was 
...." She drifted off and added in softly "I was his
touchstone."

Various scenes with her incredulous looks at him darted across his 
memory. He began to piece some fragments in his mind and soon 
understood what she had meant. No doubt her looks were in response to 
some of his ridiculous beliefs she described. He almost smiled, 
recalling that he liked her reaction too much and most of the time 
sprouted science fiction on purpose just to catch her endearing 
raised eyebrow.

Her character was now more defined in his heart. And he suddenly 
realized the amount of courage it took for her to come to him 
tonight. She went against her beloved science and took a chance on 
him.

He asked her in a whisper. "Was he?" She frowned and he 
elaborated. "Was he really taken by aliens?"

"I don't know." She took a step towards him. "What I
do know is that 
you are almost him."

"Except for the face."

She reached out and touched it gently. "Whoever did this, did a
great 
job."

"Plastic surgery?"

"If it was, it was one major face lift."

"I guess the next question would be why?" She nodded in
agreement.

Suddenly Dole was afraid of knowing more. He slowly caught her hand 
from his face and let it go. Turning his back on her, he walked to 
the edge of the room and stared out of the window into the darkness. 
All of a sudden, he just wanted to go home, back to his simple life 
as a mechanic. He now knew what Mike meant before he left home.
`Be 
careful what you wished for!' How right he was!

She watched him and understood his feelings. She smiled tightly, not 
blaming him for having second thoughts. Mulder's life was
certainly 
not an easy one to accept in someone else much less to accept it as 
your own.

Slowly she walked towards him and clasped his hand. He looked at her, 
like he did years ago outside the FBI building right after their 
adventure in Antarctica. She told him. "If you quit
now....." She 
drifted off and waited for his reply.

He cocked his head to one side and slowly finished the 
sentence. "'They' win." She nodded. He was silent for a
while and 
then whined in confusion. "Scully, who the hell are
`they'?"

She laughed but sobered up quickly. "I guess `they' would
be the ones 
that took your sister, Samantha away from you. That marked the 
beginning of your fight against `them'."

He frowned. "They tried taking you away too."

She lifted her face closer to his. "But you found me."

He could vaguely make out what she meant, recalling images of 
dragging themselves out of a really cold sewer-like tunnel, was it in 
Antarctica as she said? He shook his head slightly and pulled her 
closer to him, taking comfort in one constant - the redhead that 
accompanied him in every dream. 

If she was uncomfortable, it lasted only for a minute as the 
familiarity of Mulder's presence swept over her. Dole had once
again 
transformed into Mulder. So she closed her arms around his and 
reveled in the illusion.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX


(End of Part three of four)

Man without a face (Part four of four)


XXXXXXXXXX
DC - Willson's Point
8.11am

A loud rap on the door woke her up. Groaning, she glanced her watch 
in irritation. 'Good, it was still too early to be nice.' She thought 
and mentally resolved to murder the person behind the door.

Only then did she realize than Dole was missing from the bed. She 
frowned and looked about the room, wondering if he was in the 
bathroom. She got up from the bed and looked about for her blouse. 

Another insistent rap made her jump and she cursed under her 
breath. "Who is it?" She yelled at the door.
 
"Room service." She made out from the muffled voice.

Giving up the search, she grabbed Dole's shirt from the floor and 
slipped it on. Thankfully it was long enough to decently cover her. 
Running her hand through her messy hair, she started to make her way 
towards the door. 

Then she froze. 'What was she thinking? There's no room service in 
this dump!' She took her gun from the nightstand and walked to the 
entrance. Tiptoeing, she looked through the peephole. 'Doggert?' She 
blinked in surprise and unlocked the door.

Her partner's grinning countenance greeted her. "Good morning."

"What are you doing here?" She hissed at him and glanced at the 
bathroom. The door was open and it was obviously empty. Dole must 
have gone out.

Doggert ignored her question, took a downward look at her attire and 
clucked his tongue in disgust. "You think you know someone..." He 
trailed off.

She rolled her eyes. "Did you follow me?"

He finally decided to answer her. "Yes." 

"Why?"

"Because your mom called me. Told me about a guy harassing you in the 
cemetery yesterday. She was worried."

Dana sighed. "Great!" 

"So come on partner, tell Uncle Doggert every teensy weensy, 
intimate, kinky detail." He waggled his eyebrows at her.

"Why are all my partners perverts?"

"Hey, I tell you everything."

She frowned at him. "No, you don't."

He looked hurt. "Well, I would if you asked me."

She rubbed her forehead in frustration. "Doggert!"

"Okay okay. She called last night after you left. She managed to 
catch the name of the motel on the matchbox you were playing with all 
throughout dinner; and guessed you'd be here. I found your car 
outside and waited and waited and waited but you didn't come out. So, 
I checked out with registration, flashed my badge and found a 
familiar name - John Dole." He paused and raised an eyebrow. "Told 
you he was a fox."

She glared at him so he continued. "Anyway, I didn't want to disturb 
anything historically eventful (considering that fact that you 
haven't had sex since Mulder disappeared) so I went back to my car 
for a nap. Woke up this morning, waited until he left the room and 
dropped by to see if you were all right. That's my story."

She scowled. How the hell did he know she hadn't had sex since then 
anyway? Not that he wasn't right.

He disregarded her look and demanded her side of the story. "Now, 
it's your turn." 

She stepped back in surprise. It never occurred to her that she would 
have to offer an explanation until now. Flustered, she bit her lip, 
not knowing what to tell him. 

Doggert tapped his foot impatiently on the floor and grinned. It 
wasn't often that Dana Scully was put in a spot and he loved every 
moment of it.

She soon gave up. "You know it's really none of your business!"

His grin grew. "Fine. But a word of advice, you might want to let 
your mother in on your sexual exploits. She was really worried."

Dana grabbed at his sleeve. "Look my mom is never going to know about 
this. As far as she's concerned, we were out on a case."

"She'll never buy that! She called me to look for you."

"I'll tell her that I called you just after she did and then we met 
up. And you're sticking to that story."

"Dana, you're a big girl now. It's not like we're in high school..."

"Damn it, Doggert! Just play along." She whined.

He sighed. "All right, although I still don't see what the big deal 
is." 

"Thank you." She told him, clearly dismissing him.

He took the hint. As he turned to leave, he asked her. "Hey, are you 
all right?" She looked at him in surprise and he sheepishly 
added. "This is just not something you do. It's something **I** would 
do but not you."

"Maybe I'm taking your advice." She shrugged. "You told me once to 
move on with my life."

He raised an eyebrow. "Since when have you started listening to 
**my** advice?" 

She smiled. 

"You're not serious with guy, are you?"

"I don't know." She answered him honestly. "Maybe."

He was visibly shocked. "Dana, he's from Leon County and he works in 
a garage."

"So?"

"He's just not ...... boyfriend material." He checked himself. "I 
mean, you're a doctor and .. oh you know what I mean."

She looked amused and suddenly realized that Doggert was right. If 
they did decide to further their relationship in public, it would 
certainly cause quite an uproar in the FBI rumour mill. Not that she 
cared but her mom and Skinner would be harder to convince. "Don't 
worry about me, okay? Like you said, I'm a big girl."

He smiled and accepted her words gracefully. Leaning down, he kissed 
her forehead. "Call me if you need me." He told her softly and walked 
out the door, closing it behind him.

Dana stared absently at the closed door. He was so different from 
Mulder. Her ex-partner would have interrogated her and gave her hell 
if she was ever caught in a situation like this. But then he was in 
love with her so... 

She thought about last night and how it happened so naturally. At 
first she was somewhat surprised at herself for allowing it. Then she 
realized that it could only be because she believed and consequently 
took her faith to the next level. 

Somewhere in between proving Dole wrong, she had proved him right. 
She had recognized Mulder in him in too many ways to care about his 
missing face. He was still essentially the man she loved. Every fibre 
in her body was telling her so.

She smiled. 'Hadn't it always been the case with Mulder?' He had the 
knack of always being right. The harder she worked at proving his 
theories false, the more humble pie she had to swallow.

She was awakened from her thoughts when she heard the doorknob rattle 
and Dole walked through the door. "Morning." He greeted her, a little 
shyly at first. She too felt a little self-conscious and started 
picking up her clothes to hide a blush. 

Dole placed the coffee and cookies on the table and began to help 
her. He handed out her blouse to her. She took it without looking at 
him. He caught her hand and thus forced her to. "Scully, last 
night..." 

She interrupted him. "Yeah, I know."

He smiled at her. "You didn't let me finish."

She blushed further and changed the topic. "Doggert came by."

He was stunned. "Did you call him?"

"No." She waved away the explanation as if it wasn't important.

"Does he know?"

She shook her head. "I didn't tell him. He wouldn't understand." She 
hesitated. "He'll just think I'm crazy or something."

"You know Mulder the best. If you say I'm him then I'm him. I'm sure 
he'll believe you."

She looked away. "When Mulder disappeared, I went into depression. If 
it weren't for Will's sake, I probably would never have gotten out of 
it."

He understood what she was trying to say. "He'll think you've gone 
over the edge."

She nodded and looked up at him. "I think we should keep this to 
ourselves. Besides, it'll give you time to figure yourself out as 
well."

He was quiet for a while and then voiced a nagging doubt. "You're 
sure I'm him?"

"I'm positive, **especially** after last night."

He looked at her questioningly, not sure what she was implying. She 
grinned mischievously and he soon followed suite, beginning to 
understand exactly which part of last night that had convinced her.

She suddenly realized that they hadn't talked about Will yet. And she 
wondered how he felt about fatherhood. Mulder would have been 
trilled; terrified first but eventually trilled. The feat would hold 
a special significance for them both; that they had at least won in 
one battle and brought a child out of her previously barren womb.

"There's someone I think you should meet soon."

He guessed. "Your son?"

She corrected him. "**Our** son."

He nodded and frowned. Catching his nervousness, she almost smiled, 
thinking maybe he wasn't that far away from being Mulder after all.

"I don't remember him."

She understood his unspoken question and told him. "I didn't know I 
was pregnant until he disappeared." She laughed softly. "I didn't 
even think it was possible."

He didn't understand her last sentence but decided not to ask, as she 
seemed pained by it. "What about your mother? What will you tell her?"

She looked thoughtful for a while and suggested. "Well, you're a 
mechanic and my car badly needs tuning. Maybe you could come check it 
out? And there's no harm introducing you to Will then." 

He got the idea and nodded thoughtfully.

She continued. "We could start with a purely professional 
relationship and..." Shrugging, she added. "..... work our way from 
there." 

He raised an eyebrow, thinking about what Mike had said about not 
being her type. "I don't know, Scully. Is that even possible in real 
life?"

She understood where he was going with this and insisted. "We'll make 
it possible."

He shook her head. "It's just that ..... you deserve better."

She frowned at his vehemence. "You not gonna disappear on me again 
are you?"

"No." He sighed. "If I were an FBI agent, like Mulder was, it 
wouldn't be that bad. But I'm not."

"Why did you choose to work with cars anyway?"

"I just followed the clues left behind from what I thought was my 
past." He laughed. "Come to think of it, now I know why I initially 
sucked at it."

She laughed too. "Well technically, you should still have Mulder's 
talents, traits and know-how. It's somewhere in your brain." Taking 
his hand in hers, she told him. "The thing is, I don't care what you 
do. I just don't want to lose you again. And even if it convinces 
everyone I'm crazy, I still want to be with you. I want Will to know 
you. I want us to be a family."

He looked into her blue eyes and smiled. "It's what you always 
wanted, isn't it? A shot at a normal life?"

"Hopefully, although I have to say it's beginning is far from 
conventional. A wretched start but I'm willing to take the risk." She 
looked up at him intently. "The question is, are you?"

He only hesitated for a second. "Yes, I am." He told her and copied 
the mischievous grin she previously used on him. "**Especially** 
after last night." 

She smiled, pulled him closer and kissed him. 

In between, he asked her softly. "Scully, were we lovers for long?"

She frowned, trying to recall and respond to his touch at the same 
time. "Not really. We resisted the temptation for years."

"Mmmm...that would explain the intense unresolved sexual tension in 
most of my memories." He mumbled softly against her lips. "Explain my 
frequent self indulgences as well."

She laughed. "6 years of forbearance and 2 years of your 
disappearance. We certainly have a lot to catch up for, don't we? "

"Well let's get it on, Honeybunch." 

"Dole. Call me that again and you'll be left again to your own 
devices." 

"Oh?" He challenged and began convincing her that there was no way 
she would allow herself to act on her threat. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Outside DC - Sunbreeze Motel 
3pm

Marita looked up from her papers when he entered the room. He looked 
perturbed, a little more than usual. Instead of asking, she waited 
for him to tell her. Krycek was never the one to beat around the bush.

"She found him." He finally told her.

She frowned, trying to make sense of his words. 

He smiled a little and added a hint. "Your ex-boyfriend....."

Her eyes widened in shock as she realized who he meant. "How?" She 
demanded.

He shrugged as if it wasn't important, hesitated and then decided to 
tell her anyway. "As ironic as it sounds, an X-file brought them 
together." Taking the chair facing her, he sat down and stretched 
himself out comfortably. "I have to admit that Mulder is one lucky 
son-of-a-bitch!"

Marita leaned back in her seat and thought of the consequences of 
such a development. It was still beyond her how Agent Scully 
identified him. The surgery was a complete success. Even she thought 
she had gone into the wrong recovery room when the bandages came off.

She didn't say anything so he told her more. "They first met more 
than a month ago but they parted without any signs of recognition. I 
thought the procedure was a complete success. But then he arrived in 
DC yesterday and contacted her. She's with him now in a cheesy 
motel." He looked around the room and wrinkled his nose in 
disgust. "Kinda like this one."

She glared at him accusingly. "You screwed up!"

"We both knew that the procedure was experimental." He answered her 
flippantly. "Brain-washing is not exactly like stripping paint off a 
sidewalk, you know."

"How can you be so calm? 'They' are not going to be happy about 
this...."

He interrupted her. "Actually, I don't give a shit what 'they' 
think. 'They' only let us in because 'they' needed someone to clean 
up 'their' messes."

 "'They' still need him. It's the only reason why we went to so much 
trouble to make him a 'nobody'. Now that she's found him, it will be 
hard to take him again."

"A 'nobody' is hard to find, Marita." He smiled. "But now we know 
exactly where to find him when we need him." She looked at him 
questioningly and his smile grew. "He has a little boy now. He's not 
going anywhere."

She caught the gleefulness in his voice and felt slightly sick. "The 
boy has nothing to do with this, Krycek. Leave him out of it."

He raised an eyebrow. "Everybody has something to do with this. It's 
**life** we're talking about. Besides, his very existence is almost a 
divine intervention. His father should be ever willing to be taken. 
Sort of a gesture of gratefulness to the higher beings."

She frowned at him. "You're a sick man."

He looked at her with a mock wounded look. "My my, aren't we getting 
a little protective over Mr. Mulder's affairs...." Slowly pushing 
back the chair, he got up and walked towards the door.

"Are you telling 'them'?" She asked him just before he reached the 
doorway.

He turned and looked thoughtful for a moment. "Depends....." Taking 
out his sunglasses from him pocket, he blew away the dust and settled 
it gently on his nose. "You were the one that suggested Leon County, 
weren't you?"

She tried to look nonchalant. "Maybe I did, I don't remember..."

"I do. I suggested miles and miles away from DC but you insisted..." 
He trailed off and gave her knowing look. "Do you want me to 
tell 'them'?"

She pursed her lips and glared at him, knowing that he knew. She 
meekly offered a soft explanation. "After all this time, maybe they 
deserve this."

He shook his head at her slowly and mocked her. "You're getting soft, 
Marita."

"You were once on his side." She reminded him.

He contradicted her. "I'm on nobody's side but my own. Never forget 
that." He paused and then walked out the door, closing it behind him.

Marita sighed sadly. Mulder was never going to be safe. She 
wished 'they' would leave him alone. Biting her lip, she muttered to 
herself. "I wish 'they'd' leave **me** alone too."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Man without a face (End of Part four of four)

Show me one person that hates feedback and I'll say that person is as 
paranoid as Mulder. And nobody can be that paranoid.
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