Date: Sat, 11 Sep 1999 02:50:10 AST
Subject: Once Upon A Memory. By January.
Source: direct

Title:             Once Upon A Memory (1/1). By: January.
Author:            January. <a_11january@hotmail.com>
Category:          Story. Passionate friendship.
Rating:            PG-13 to R.

Distribution:      Please, every where. With my name/ e-mail.
Feed back:         Oh yes. Flood me. It's the best part of it.
Spoilers:          Very little of Patient X.
Disclaimer:        FM, DS, WS and all belong to CC, 1013 and 
                   Fox. I own non-of them. I mean no 
                   infringement and I'm not making money of 
                   this.

Timeline:          Picks up right where The End leaves.
Dedication:        To the City of Birmingham. It knows why.

Summery:           Every time I take a few steps forward I 
                   get hit in the face by an invisible glass 
                   wall that takes me right back to square 
                   one. Scully, are you still there? Scully?


                         MSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSM



ONCE UPON A MEMORY.


SCULLY RESIDENCE,
06:45AM. Tuesday.

        In the dark bedroom, the alarm clock went off. Special 
Agent Dana Scully reached out and turned it off. She stayed 
in her bed for a moment, then dragged her self out of it. She 
grabbed a towel from her word-robe and took a shower. She got 
out, dried her hair then started getting dressed to go to 
work. She casually checked out her mail while drinking a cup 
of black coffee. Nothing was interesting. Scully picked up 
her keys then ran to the door and left the apartment.
        
        It was 07:48AM when she arrived at the Bureau. She 
climbed down the stairs to the basement. And when she opened 
the office door, she was surprised to see her partner, 
Special Agent Fox Mulder, already there. He was sitting at 
his desk, leaning back in his chair with both legs on the 
table, watching a video. He looked tired and distraught. She 
greeted him:
 - "Good morning."
 - "Morning."
 - "You're early today?"
He just nodded his head, agreeing. She took off her trench 
coat saying:
 - "You don't look well, Mulder. Is every thing OK?"
 - "Couldn't sleep last night."
 - "Why couldn't you?"
 - "Take a look your self."

Mulder said that and started to rewind the videotape he was 
watching, using the remote control. Scully walked towards the 
TV set to take a close look. When the video finally started 
playing, she saw two old men wearing suits standing in a 
parking lot. They appeared arguing. One of them was holding a 
little boy's hand. Scully felt the boy's face was familiar, 
so she took a closer look and was horrified when she 
recognized him:
 - "That's Gibson Prais." 
 - "I know. And it gets better."
 - "What do you mean?"
 - "Take a look at the man with the boy."
Scully leaned forward and took a good look at him. She 
recognized him. She was completely surprised:
 - "That's Cigarette Smoking Man."
 - "(Very seriously): Yes."
She shook her head, not believing:
 - "This video must've been taken at least a year ago."
 - "That's what you'd think."
She shot him a look over her shoulder:
 - "What do you mean?"
 -"This man had been living a quiet life in the Lauriant 
Mountains in Quebec, Canada for the last past year. His death 
was staged. We've been deceived, Scully. Once again we've 
been lied to." 
 - "But that's impossible. He was shot through his window. He 
was dead. He IS dead."
 - "Do you have a proof? No. I thought so."

He said that and jumped out of his chair, as though he had 
suddenly regained all his energy. He walked a few fast steps 
towards the television and pointed at the other man, pausing 
the picture at the same time, again, using the remote control 
in his hand. He said, with a dry and husky voice:
 - "And do you know who this other man is? He's another son 
of a bitch. Another liar. Another one of the conspirators. 
Another one of the people who work in the dark, thinking they 
have the right to judge what the rest of the world need or 
need not know."
 - "Yes. I know him. I met him at your father's funeral." 
 - "They have the boy, Scully. Once again they're hiding the 
evidence and censoring the truth."
He lifted his hand, scratching his forehead nervously:
 - "I got sick of this crap."
But Scully was more worried about the little boy:
 - "Where, and when did this take place?"
 - (Controlling his temper): "In a parking lot, New York 
City. One day after Gibson was kidnapped from the motel 
room."
 - "That's almost three weeks now. Do you think he's still 
alive?"
 - "I think they want him alive. They need him alive. Other 
wise they could've just shot him dead in that motel room."

Scully thought for a second, wetted her lower lip and asked 
him suspiciously:
 - "Where did you get this video, Mulder?"
Mulder's expression changed, and he moved away, trying to 
avoid the argument he'd been dreading with his partner. He 
sat at his desk and pretended to be studying a few files on 
it. He briefly said:
 - "After publishing a "Have you seen me" photo of the boy, 
the parking lot security man came forward with it. The 
security camera taped the whole thing."
 - "He came forward to whom?"
 - "NYPD."
 - "And how did you get it from them?"
He drew a deep breath, trying to control his temper. He then 
said:
 - "I asked a friend of mine to make me a copy."
Scully folded her arms and tightened her lips:
 - "So this isn't official."
After exhausting all his patience, Mulder stood up from his 
desk, and shouted at her:
 - "Of course this isn't official. What would you think? That 
the government wants me to catch those people? That they want 
the truth to be known?" 
She said, not losing her coolness: 
 - "What can you do Mulder? How are you gonna pursue this 
case?" 
 - "I'm not gonna let go of it, if that's what you are 
implying."
She said softly: 
 - "You have to. Mulder listen to me. Pursuing this case in 
the first place caused the X files to shut down, our office 
burned to the ground, and us facing reassignments. Continuing 
to do so may cost us our jobs or even our lives."
He looked away and couldn't say a word as a thousand 
teardrops formed a painful lump in his throat.

She took one step closer: 
 - "Mulder they don't want the truth to be known, and they're 
gonna exceed the limits to make sure it doesn't."
 - "You think I don't know that already?"
 - "So you are willing to take the risk!?"
 - "Not exactly."
He said that and moved towards his desk. He opened a drawer 
and took a sheet of paper from it, and handed it to Scully 
saying:
 - "This is a copy of the letter that I sent Senator Matheson 
after the X files shut down, requesting it reopened."
 - "What makes you think he's gonna do it?"
 - "Because he's always been a great help for me." 
He paused for a moment, and continued: 
 - "And because he's my last chance now."
 - "What if he didn't? Or couldn't?"
 - "That is not an option, Scully."
He said that and took his jacket off the coat hanger and 
disappeared through the door. 

Scully breathed out. They've always had this kind of 
discussions. He and his irrational pursuit of the truth, 
through the X files project. And she, trying to hold him back 
for his own sake. Why can't he just see and fear the danger 
just like every one else in the world? Why doesn't he draw 
the line where he should?
She finally shook her head, trying to stop her thoughts. She 
saw the remote control that Mulder had left beside the TV set 
which was still on "Pause". She took it and pressed "Play". 
She saw CSM talking to the other man for a while, and then he 
handed him the boy, whom he took to a waiting car. He placed 
him in the back seat, then he took the passenger seat for 
himself, talked briefly to the driver and the car took off. 
Scully rewind the tape a few times to try and get the car 
plate number, but it wasn't clearly visible, then she 
wondered if she could identify the driver as well. She took a 
good long look at him, and although the picture was degraded, 
his face seemed so familiar, but she couldn't pin point 
exactly who he was. So she decided to get some help. She sat 
down at Mulder's desk, picked up the phone and dialed 0:

 - "Switch board. How may I direct your call?"
 - "Yes, Photo Analysis department please."
 - "Just a moment please."
She waited for a second, and then a male voice came through:
 - "Photo Analysis, Danny."
 - "Danny, Hi. It's Scully. I need your help on something."
 - "Sure. What is it?"
 - "I have this smudged video, and I need the identity of one 
of the people on it. As soon as possible."
 - "Absolutely. Just send me the video and I'll give you a 
call as soon as I finish."
 - "Thanks, Danny."
Scully hung up the phone, grabbed the video and ran through 
the door.

                        MSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSM

EAST 46TH STREET,
New York City,
09:16AM.

In one of New York's skyscrapers, in a high, well-furnished 
apartment, a small group of old men in dark suits were 
discussing the world's future. Their thoughts were dark, and 
their voices were cold. They think they have the right to 
judge what the rest of the world need or need not know. Among 
them was the Well Manicured Man, who appeared on the 
videotape with CSM. A knock on the door interrupted their 
small conference. A younger man, WMM's personal assistance, 
answered the door. And CSM came in to the room, with a lit 
cigarette between his fingers:
 - "Good morning every one."
It was obvious non-of the group was happy to see him. It was 
WMM who finally talked to him with his distinguished accent:
 - "Why do you always insist on attending our meetings if you 
always insist on missing most of them by coming late?"
Taking a deep breath through his cigarette, CSM said: 
 - "But I'm only 45 minutes late!"
 - "Why don't you come 45 minutes even later, after this 
meeting is up, and make every body here a little happier?"

CSM lowered his head and smiled. Apparently, he found that 
comment amusing. He then looked at his associate and said: 
 - "I tell you what. I have another idea. Why don't I sit 
down here, in this comfortable armchair (acting accordingly), 
and make you, especially you, a very very happy person."
WMM looked dubiously at him as the mucking smile disappeared 
off his face, and a serious, very serious look shadowed his 
face. He started to explain, slowly, with a low toned voice:
 - "Do you want to know why I was late? I'm gonna tell you. I 
was late because I received a phone call, informing me that 
you and I, and the little boy, where caught together on 
candid camera."
WMM abandoned his chair angrily and took one step closer to 
his colleague, who said:
 - "How is that for an excuse? Beats the traffic, huh?"
 - "You fool. How could you let some thing like this happen?"
 - "Why is it me who's the fool? You also appeared with me 
crystal clear."

A thick voice came from the dark:
 - "Patience every one. This is no time to turn on each 
other. Do you know who has the tape?"
 - "New York Police Department."
 - (Relaxing): "That shouldn't be a problem, our man there 
can handle the situation. Any body else?"
 - "Yes. Fox Mulder."
 - (WMM): "God Dammit."
 - "That shouldn't be a problem too. Our man at the FBI can 
steal the video and bring it back to us."
 - (CSM): "And if he couldn't?"
 - "If he couldn't, we'll find a way to stop Mulder from 
using it against us."
 - (WMM): "Yes, we'll kill him."
 - We all know very well that we can't kill him. It draws 
unnecessary attention to our work. So let's get past this."
 - (WMM): "Then, we'll kill Agent Scully. He can't survive 
long with out her."
 - (CSM, laughing): "Look at you. You are acting like a 
frightened chicken."
 - (WMM): "You shut up. If it wasn't your fault."
 -(Thick Voice): "If we kill Agent Scully, Mulder will fight 
like a soldier who has nothing to lose. (Stepping into the 
light) So we'll just threaten her life.

                        MSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSM

WASHINGTON DC,
05:37PM.

        Agent Scully was in her car, on her way home, when her 
cellular phone rang:
 - "Scully?"
 - "Agent Scully, its Danny. You'd, umm... You'd asked me to 
take a look at the videotape this morning."
 - "Yeah?"
 - "Well, I have some good news, and some bad news."
 - "You couldn't identify the man?"
 - "Actually I could. I did identify him. I froze the 
picture, magnified it, and toned it down a little bit, so I 
had a nice shot of him. I entered his picture to the NCIC 
database, and I had a name."
 - "What's his name?"
 - "I think its Russian or some thing! Kry...kry..."
 - "Alex Krycek?"
 - (Surprised): "Yes, his first name is Alex. Do you know 
him?"
 -(Almost talking to her self): "The hell I do." (Back to 
him): "So what's the bad news?"
 - "Agent Scully I'm so sorry but I've lost the videotape you 
gave me. I don't know how it happened. I put it in my desk 
drawer, and after lunch, I just couldn't find it. As if it 
had just disappeared. I'm so sorry."
 - "It's OK. Don't worry, it's not your fault. Thank you for 
your time Danny."
 - "Any time."  

Scully hung up the phone. She was so angry she couldn't 
concentrate on driving, so she stopped the car.
 - "Bastards."
She muttered. She knew very well that it really wasn't 
Danny's fault to lose the tape. It must've been taken from 
him. From them. So she came to the conclusion that they must 
know Mulder has the tape. So she dialed his cellular number 
to warn him, but her call couldn't be connected. She dialed 
his home number and his voice came through:
 - "This is Fox Mulder. I'm not here. Leave a message 
please."
 - "Mulder, it's me. I came across some important information 
concerning what you're working on. Call me as soon as you get 
in. And Mulder, watch your back. I have a reason to believe 
that they're watching your moves."
Scully hung up the phone, started her car and drove off. As 
soon as she arrived home, she tried once again to contact him 
on his cell; once again it was out of service. She took off 
her coat and started to sort out some groceries she'd picked 
on her way. Twenty minutes later, she tried again to no 
avail.

It wasn't until 11:21PM that her telephone rang. She picked 
it up almost instantly:
 - "Hello?"
 - "Hey, Scully, it's me. I got your message."
Scully exploded and screamed down the phone: 
 - "Where the hell have you been Mulder? I've been trying to 
reach you for over six hours. Why on earth did you turn your 
phone off?"
 - "Woe, woe. Scully, settle down. What's the matter?"
 - "Mulder they know you have the tape. I asked Danny to run 
the car driver through the NCIC, and then the tape was gone."
 - (Thinking): "Was it gone before or after he could identify 
him?"
Scully couldn't believe what she was hearing:
 - "Are you listening to what I'm saying here? Do you see a 
pattern here? Mulder they know you have the tape. They sent 
some one to take it because they don't want the truth to be 
known. And if they feel that you are threatening their secret 
they'll kill you." 
 - "They're not gonna kill me, Scully. They don't wonna kill 
me. If they'd wanted I wouldn't be here talking to you right 
now. May be it's a game rule or something, I don't know. So 
tell me now who's the driver?"
 - (Giving up): "It's Alex krycek."
 - "Krycek? He seems overly active lately. Certainly for an 
amputee." 
 - "Mulder this is not a joke. You're way out of line and..."
 - "Scully I want you to come tomorrow to the bureau bright 
and early. Meet me at Skinner's office, wearing your best 
suit, to congratulate me."
 -"On what?"
 - "Tomorrow is "Winsday", right? The day I win."
Scully couldn't understand a word he was saying, and he 
answered her unspoken question:
 - "I had a meeting today with Senator Matheson, and he 
assured me that every thing is going according to plan. 
Tomorrow Skinner is letting us know."
 - "But the FBI isn't under the senates' jurisdiction."
 - "No...no. It's the people he'd talked to who are going to 
allow the X files project to continue. Now see you tomorrow, 
Scully. Bright and early."
Mulder hung up the phone. Scully breathed out heavily and 
said:
 - "Sweet dreams, Mulder."

                        MSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSM

FBI Headquarters,
07:38AM.

Agent Scully exited the elevator and headed towards Assistant 
Director Skinner's office. She looked through the glass 
window and found Agent Mulder sitting in the waiting area. He 
was all dressed up, ready for his big day. When their eyes 
met, he smiled a huge smile at her. She honestly wanted to 
return the smile, but she just wasn't as optimistic as he 
was. Mulder felt his partner wasn't quite all right, so he 
walked towards her and stood closely:
 - "Scully, what's wrong?"
She looked up at him and pleaded:
 - "Mulder, I want you to listen to me. I think you put too 
much hope and faith in this Senator Matheson. After all, he's 
just a senator."
He said with that smile already returning to his face: 
 - "Scully...Where's that drop-dead-red suit I asked you to 
wear?"
 - "He has no authority on the FBI or in making such a 
decision..."
 - "Scully, I told you, I know. It's his connections that..."
 - "I just want you to acknowledge what I'm saying, and to 
keep it in mind as you enter Skinner's office, because I 
don't want to see you hurt or harmed in any way in there."
Mulder looked deeply in her huge, ice blue eyes for a long 
moment. He opened his lips for a second before softly saying:
 - "Scully, I think you're being a little paranoid here."
Scully breathed out. 
He put his hand on the small of her back, and walked her to 
the secretary area saying:
 - "Now I want you to sit back, relax and enjoy the 
victory."
He then said to the AD's secretary: 
 - "Would you please inform A.D. Skinner that we're here?"
 - "Certainly." (On the phone's speaker): "Mr. Skinner, 
Agents Mulder and Scully are ready to meet you."
 - "Let them right through."
Mulder looked at Scully and winked in excitement. He led her 
in front of him and they entered the office. Skinner was 
standing behind his desk. 

He greeted them:
 - "Agents Mulder and Scully Good morning. Please have a 
seat."
After all had been seated, A.D. Skinner thought carefully 
before approaching the subject. He knew how hard this would 
be on Mulder:
 - "As your immediate superior, it is my duty to inform you 
the final decision about the X file project." 
He waited for a second before adding: 
 - "I'm afraid it's not what you've been hoping for."
He looked at Mulder's face. He was hurting, and hurting a 
lot. Skinner remembered seeing him in this kind of pain once, 
when they met out side Scully's ICU room in the hospital, and 
she was dying of cancer. Skinner tried to concentrate. He 
unfolded a sheet of paper on his desk and said:
 - "I'll just read the letter as it came to..."
 - "(Mulder, interrupting): "Just...say it...please."
Skinner took a deep breath before saying:
 - "Your request to reopen the X files has been denied. And 
the Attorney General has given specific orders about your 
reassignments. 
Agent Scully you're being reassigned to work on the 
mainstream line of work, here at the DC headquarters. And 
Agent Mulder, you're being transferred to Salt Lake City. 
Both orders effective Monday."
 - "Is that final sir?"
 - "The only thing I could do is to advise, on bases of your 
expertise, that your talent shouldn't be wasted in some small 
field Office, and to recommend that you be transferred to one 
of the main offices. One close to DC. But I can't reopen the 
X files if that's what you're after." 

With out a word, Agent Mulder abandoned his chair and left 
the room. Agent Scully excused her self and left as well. 
A.D. Skinner couldn't help but hate him self.

 - "Mulder..."
Scully was hurrying down the hallway trying to reach him:
 -"Mulder... Mulder, stop."
She had to grab his arm to make him stop. He turned and, with 
out thinking, pushed her back with all his might. She hardly 
managed to keep her balance. He looked at her, half-crying, 
half-dying, and then he just turned his face and disappeared 
down the hallway. 
At the same moment A.D. Skinner stepped out of his office, 
then walked towards Scully, when he saw her shaking:
 - "Agent Scully, are you all right?"
She said with a voice as solid as rock: 
 - "I would like to speak with you, sir. Right now."
 - "Come into my office."
He led her through into his office, then he closed the door 
behind them. She said:
 - "I request to speak off the record, sir."
 - "You're off the record."
 - "A couple of days ago, Agent Mulder came across some 
evidence, linking CSM to the kidnapping of Gibson Prais, the 
boy who's in the case that led to the X files shut down."
 - "CSM? But he's been dead for over a year now."
 - "That's another thing, sir. He's not dead. When he 
disappeared he was living quietly in Canada. Agent Mulder and 
I saw a video tape in which he hands Gibson over to another 
man. This video was shot one day after the boy had 
disappeared. Alex Krycek also appeared in the video as the 
driver of the car, which took off with the boy and the other 
man."
 - "Then I'd like to see this video."
 - "I'm afraid this is not possible, sir."
 - "Why not?"
 - "Because the videotape had been taken from us. To hide the 
evidence."
 - "So what do you want me to do?"

Scully looked up at him for a second, then she slowly said:
 - "I want you to help Mulder, to protect him, because he's 
not gonna give up chasing those people even though we all 
know they're gonna kill him if he became a threat to them."
Skinner inhaled a breath, to tell her that this is not the 
first time Agent Mulder digs him self a deep hole and throws 
him self, and some times even others, in it. That he will 
have to grow up and face the consequences for his actions. 
But when he looked into her eyes, he saw a hidden secret in 
them. So he thought for a second, exhaled, forced a little 
smile, and just said a small quiet:
 - "OK."
 - "Thank you, sir. I'll call you as soon as I find out what 
we could do."
She said that and ran out the door. Skinner stood there, 
thinking about this enigmatic, twisted partnership. 

                        MSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSM

Scully residence,
12:28AM. Thursday.

Scully was in her bed, trying hopelessly to sleep. A lot of 
things were on her mind. The sudden career change. Her 
personal life and where it's heading...She lost her train of 
thoughts when she heard the phone, She turned on the night 
light, and answered it:
 - "Hello? Hello? Is any body there?" 
A few moments passed before she could hear an answer. It was 
Mulder. His voice was weak and fragile.
 - "It's me."
 - "Where are you, Mulder?"
 - "In my apartment."
 - "Why haven't you returned my calls?"
 -...
 - "Mulder, are you still there?"
 - "Scully, why are they doing this to me? What did I do? Why 
do they want to keep my head under the water?"
 - "Because you're not keeping it in the sand. Because you're 
not afraid of them. Because you want something they don't."
 - "The truth."
 - "Yes." 
A moment of silence passed before Scully touched on the 
subject: 
 -"Did you have the time to think about what Skinner had to 
say to day?"
 - "I don't wanna talk about it, Scully."
 -"Mulder, you can except his offer and be transferred to a 
near by office, or even to teach Criminal Psychology at 
Quantico here in DC..."
 - (Interrupting): "Scully, You were right. I shouldn't have 
trusted Senator Matheson. He lied to me. I'm gonna kill that 
son of a bitch."
 - "Or may be he didn't lie to you. May be he honestly tried 
to help you, and was lied to, just like us. Wouldn't you 
think so?"
 - (Taking a deep breath): "Wouldn't I think so? I don't 
know.  May be you're right. I don't know what to think any 
more any way." 

A moment of silence passed before he continued:
 - "Do you remember, Scully, do you know the Fun House that's 
full of mirrors and glass walls and illusion doors, that we 
used to play at fair grounds?"
 - "Yes?"
 - "When I was a kid, I used to go in it time and time again. 
I used to spend the whole day in there. My mother would beg 
me to stop and enjoy the rest of the fair ground, and my 
father would get so worried about me getting so worked up, 
but I would still keep on playing it. Not because it was fun, 
or that I enjoyed it; I did it because I wanted to get to the 
bottom of it. I wanted to break its code, know its secret. I 
feel now that I'm still trapped in that house, Scully. I 
don't know where to go, or which door to open. And every time 
I take a few steps forward I get hit in the face by an 
invisible glass wall that takes me right back to square one." 
He waited for her to say something, but she didn't say 
anything.
 - "Scully? Scully, are you still there?"
 - "Mulder, get dressed. I'm coming to pick you up."
 - "To go where?"
 - "I'm taking you to my apartment. I'll fix you some thing 
to eat, and make sure you spend the night safe and sound."
 - "You don't have to do this, to go through all that 
trouble. I'll be OK. I know I sounded a little freaky, but..." 
 - "Mulder. I am coming to pick you up."
 - "OK. But don't drive all the way down here. I'll take a 
cab."
 - "Are you sure?"
 - "Yeah."
She hung up the phone and started to make some sandwiches. 

When Scully was a little girl, she asked to have a pet animal 
for her seventh birthday, so her father got her a small, 
white rabbit. She called it Snow-white, and she loved it more 
then any thing in the world. Once, her brother, Bill, wanted 
to pick on her. He told her that he was going to kill the 
rabbit and cook it. She believed him. She got so frightened 
she hid the animal in her lunch box, in the basement, for 
five days. And when she finally went to take it out, it was 
already dead and desiccated. She cried for a week. She blamed 
her brother, and hated him for it. But he said that she loved 
the rabbit too much, and that's why it died. 
From that day on, Dana got so afraid of emotional attachments 
that she never allowed her self to get too close to people. 
As much as she was brave and courageous in facing criminals 
and psychos on the out side world, she was never brave enough 
to look inside her heart. That's why she could never admit to 
her self, or others, that what she holds for her partner is 
some thing more passionate than just pure friendship. Even as 
she invited him to her apartment, she was honestly convinced 
that she did so only because she was worried about him. A 
friend in need. Nothing more than that.

She was in the kitchen washing her hands when she heard the 
knock on the door. She dried her hands and opened the door. 
It was Mulder.
 - "Hi." 
 - "Hi. Come on in."
 - "Thanks." 
He took off his black leather jacket, and put it on the coat 
hanger. Scully said, on her way to the kitchen, with out 
looking at him:
 - "How are you feeling now?"
 - "Better, I think."
 - "I've prepared some sandwiches. Are you hungry?"
 - "Sure."(Laughs).
 - "Why are you laughing?"
 - "You reminded me of my mother. "I've prepared some 
sandwiches, are you hungry?" These are the exact words I 
used to hear when I came back from school every day."
He sat down at the kitchen table, and checked the inside of 
the bread, saying: 
 - "What kind of sandwich is it? Peanut butter?" 
 - (Smiling): "Smoked turkey. Sorry. What would you like to 
drink?"
 -(Mockingly): "My mother used to serve me Vodka with her 
sandwiches!"
Scully raised an eyebrow:
 - "Well, I'm not your mother, Mulder; I'm only your partner, 
so I can only offer you soda."
Scully brought the two drinks to the table, sat down, and 
they started to eat. 

Mulder took a bite then said: 
 - "My sister Samantha was allergic to peanuts. She had 
cheese sandwiches instead. I mean she had cheese sandwiches 
every day, day in, day out."
The memory brought a little smile to his face, as he 
continued:
 - "I got so fed up with her and her cheese sandwiches that I 
once told her that one-day, she was going to turn into a 
cow."
 - (Having a bite of her sandwich): "Did she believe you?"
 - "I actually don't know. She just said that she'd rather 
turn in to a cow that eats and moos than turn in to a 
peanut."
Scully laughed. Mulder smiled, drawing a tear.
 
- "Did you ever wish, Dana, that you could time-travel to 
your childhood and live it all over again?"
 - (Thinking): "I don't know, Mulder. I've never thought of 
it before." 
 - (In disbelief): "you've never thought of it before?"
 - "Why would I? Time-travel is still a science fiction 
theory. There is no evidence to support it. Nothing. So why 
would I create an impossible theory and build a whole dream 
on its shaky foundation? Besides, you'd have to go through 
all that trouble growing up all over again, so what's the 
point?"
Mulder was looking at her, listening in amazement. She 
continued to eat, until she finally felt his looks fixed on 
her. 
She stopped chewing:
 - "What?"
 - "Nothing. I just wish I had your life. You have this 
prospective of life that makes you know exactly what you want 
and what you believe in. Your life is so focussed, so 
organized. I mean, look at your kitchen; it's so tidied up. 
Every thing is in its place. I bet you have all the cups in 
one cupboard and all the plates in another. And never the 
twain shall meet."
Scully smiled and said:
 - "Careful what you wish for." 
 - "What do you mean?"
Scully looked at him:
 - "Mulder if your father was worried about you in that fun 
house, my father never allowed me in, in the first place. You 
know. He was a navy captain who never took his rank off, not 
even at home."
Mulder listened as she continued: 
 - "I was brought up to be focussed and organized. To think 
things thoroughly before making any decision. That's why my 
father was so disappointed when I suddenly diverted 180 
degrees and decided to leave medicine and join the FBI." 
 - "What did your mother say?"
 - (Taking away the empty plates): "She tried to convince my 
dad that it wasn't that bad to have a daughter at the FBI, 
either. But I know that deep down she was also worried I was 
making the wrong decision."
 - (Concerned): "So how did you convince them?"
 - "I didn't. I just... enrolled in the FBI. Would you like 
some coffee?"
 -  "Yeah, please. Or, Amm... on a second thought, can I have 
some hot chocolate, instead?" 
 - (Putting the kettle on): "Sure."
 - "It's for remembering our childhood." 

Scully opened an upper cupboard to get the hot chocolate jar. 
She reached up her arm trying to get it, but she wasn't tall 
enough. She was still trying when Mulder saw her and moved to 
help her. He was right behind her when she sensed him. She 
was startled and turned around facing him. He just leaned 
forwards, with his left hand over her right shoulder to keep 
his balance, and reaching out his other arm over her other 
shoulder to get the jar. Scully could feel his sweet fresh 
breath over her face and ear. She felt powerless, maybe 
drowning inwardly. But he just took the jar and handed it 
over to her, with a beautiful smile on his face. 

Scully felt her face burning hot. She swallowed hard and took 
the jar and moved away with out looking at him, or even 
thanking him. She just went on autopilot and started making 
the drinks.
A minute later, Mulder said, wandering around in the kitchen:
 - "The hot chocolate aroma takes me right back to my 
childhood. To Martha's Vineyard, to our summerhouse. Sam and 
I used to drink hot chocolate in the middle of the summer. 
Can you imagine that?"

With the drinks in her hand, Scully left the kitchen, saying:
 - "Come on, Mulder. Let's sit down."
Mulder followed her. He was walking towards the sofa when he 
saw some thing interesting. He went to the bookshelf and took 
it:
 - "Is this your family album?"
 - (Horrified): "Don't touch that."
 - (Opening it any way): "Oh, come on, Scully. I wanna see 
what you looked like when you were a little."
He sat beside her on the sofa, looking at the first photo. A 
photo of a small baby. He asked her:
 - "Is this you?"
 - "No. It's Malissa, at about eight months old."
 - "And who's this?"
 - "That's my younger brother, Charlie."
 - "I can hardly remember you have another brother, Scully?"
 - "He's an engineer. He once went to Italy for a conference, 
fell in love with a woman there, married her, and never came 
back."
 - "Looks like you all rebel in some point in your lives."
 - "Yeah, I guess so. But maybe not Bill. He became a Navy 
captain; just like my father wanted him to be." 
 - "What about Melissa? Did she rebel too?"
 - "Actually, she was the first. She dropped out of college 
and wandered up and down the South Coast, to "explore her 
inner self"."
 - "That must've been hard on your dad."
 - "It was hard on every one."
 - (Looking at another picture): "Who's this."
 - "That's me. I must've been about three years old."
He looked closely at the photo, saying:
 - "You look so cute." 
Then he looked at her: 
 - "You were a beautiful child, Scully."
Scully just smiled, looking at her picture. 
They kept leafing through the photos until Mulder saw a 
picture of a teenager.
 - "Is this Bill?"
 - "Mulder! This is me!"
 - "Naaah."
 - Why the hell not?"
 - "Look at him. This can't be you!"
 - "I know because of the braces..."
Mulder suddenly burst into a huge laugh. She could hardly 
understand him as he tried to catch his breaths and say:
 - "The braces, the spots, the nose, every thing. I can't 
believe you were so ugly." 
She started laughing with him as well: 
 - "Shut up, Mulder."
 - "Look at your haircut."
She wanted to kill him: 
 - "OK. Now give me that."
 -"No, nononono. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I won't 
laugh at you, I promise. I mean at least not out loud."
He said that and started laughing again, so she gave up and 
joined him. 

Some more photos came through. Then a large picture of Scully 
came by. She was wearing a graduation robe. 
 - "Graduating from med. school?"
 - "Yeah."
A photo of her graduating class was next.
 - "Your graduating class?"
 - "Yes."
He looked up from the photo, and asked her:
 - "Which one of them was your boy friend?"
A moment of silence passed by, before she slowly replied.
 - "The one on my left. Jason Shaw."
She flipped the page over, to reveal a large picture of her 
self and Jason. He was standing behind her, smiling happily 
and looking at the camera through his round, metal glasses, 
and wrapping his arms around his redhead girlfriend. And she 
was giving out a big laugh, with her eyes shut tight, as if 
he was tickling her mercilessly.  

 - "He's the closest thing I've ever had to a boy friend."
Mulder looked at her, with an encouraging smile. She kept on 
telling him.
 - "The first time we laid eyes on each other was around a 
dead body that we shared in Anatomy class. I was a little 
squeamish, and to help me go through with it he said "Don't 
worry, it's just the body of a dead human being".
Mulder laughed, looking warmly at his partner, who continued:
 - "We shared every thing. Books, notes..." 
 - "Dead bodies."
 - (Smiling): "Yeah. I remember I was once sick on a Sunday. 
I didn't have any medication to relieve me, and we were 
having a final coming up the next day, so I phoned him. He 
didn't have a car at the time and didn't want to wait for a 
cab, so he ran the two miles between us to bring me some 
pills. Then he read aloud three whole chapters from next 
day's subject, to MAKE me study. It took him over seven hours 
to do so. Next morning I had a "B", and he had a sore 
throat." 
 - "So what happened next?"

She was still looking at the photo when she said in a-matter-
of-fact voice:
 - "Nine days after this photo was taken, he died. He was 
involved in a car accident and died instantly."
Mulder touched her hand to try and comfort her. To tell her 
she didn't have to continue. But she withdrew her hand, 
saying:
 - "The hardest thing, in his funeral his sister came to me. 
She gave me a small box and said she believed it belonged to 
me. I opened it and I saw a wedding ring, bearing a large, 
heart-shaped piece of diamond. She said they've found it with 
Jason's belongings, and thought he must have bought it for 
me."
She lifted her eyes to his. He could see her breathing deep 
and fast as she continued:  
 - "I couldn't accept the ring, Mulder. I just couldn't take 
it. I felt so guilty."
Mulder leaned a little closer and ran his hand down her hair, 
then down her cold cheek, saying softly: 
 - "You shouldn't have felt like that. It wasn't your fault."
She moved his hand off her shoulder, saying with a dry voice:
 - "That was a long time ago, Mulder. I got over it."
 - "Would you have married him?"
She looked at him for a long moment, as if was taken by a 
surprise, she then said:
 - "No, I wouldn't have." 
Looking at the still opened picture of Jason and her self, 
laughing together, she continued:
 - "It's not like I've ever loved him or anything. He was 
just...a good... friend of mine." 
Mulder looked at her, not under standing:
 - "But I thought..."
 - "Don't think. OK?"
She was so harsh to him, he thought there must be something 
wrong:
 - "Scully, what's wrong? It's OK. You can tell me." 
 - "Mulder let's just...drop it."
He was almost whispering now:
 - "I once told you, Scully. I don't want you to think that 
you have to hide things from me."
She was almost crying now:
 - "Mulder, for God's sake..."
He looked into her eyes and saw the shattering pain, so he 
didn't push it further:
 - "OK." 
He said that softly, then continued to look at the photos in 
his hands silently. He saw Jason's pictures every where, 
pictures of him alone, with friends, with Scully...who looked 
at her wristwatch and said:
 - "Mulder, Its almost three. Let's get some sleep."
 - "I'll be right there."

Scully went to her bedroom. And with out him asking, or her 
giving it a second thought, Mulder followed in. She opened 
her closet and took a blue, silk pajama then went to the 
bathroom and changed into it. When she came back to the 
bedroom, Mulder was already half a sleep in the bed. She 
casually drew back the covers, slipped her self in, and then 
covered her self up. She switched off the nightlight saying:
 - "Good night, Mulder."

                        MSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSM
 
06:45AM.

        In the still dark bedroom, the alarm clock once again 
went off. And yet once again Agent Scully reached out to turn 
it off. It took her a moment to remember that Mulder had 
spent the night with her. But when she looked beside her on 
the bed, he wasn't there. She went to the bathroom and 
knocked on the door:
 - "Mulder?"
There was no answer. She opened the door and no body was 
there. Scully thought he must have gone home to get ready to 
work; so she started to get ready her self.
She arrived early at the Bureau, climbed down the stairs to 
what used to be her office. Now, her office is up stairs, 
right there with the others, and Mulder's office is in the 
middle of no where.
Scully started to finish some incomplete files, before she 
could pack her things and transfer them to her new desk. Two 
hours later, Mulder still hasn't showed up. 
Scully started to get worried, and called his home, but no 
body was there. She called his cellular phone but it was out 
of service. Scully feared the worst. What if he'd dug him 
self in some trouble? What if he's found a new lead on the 
boy and is pursuing it alone, ditching her. He's done this 
before. She'd better act quickly. No time to waist. She ran 
up the stairs to Skinner's office and spoke to his secretary:
 - "I'd like to speak with A.D. Skinner immediately."
 - "I'll see if he's available."
She talked to Skinner on the speakers: 
 - "Mr. Skinner, Agent Scully is here requesting to speak 
with you."
 - (Skinner): "Let her through."

Scully went straight in. Skinner was sitting at his desk 
working on some files. When she came in he left his work and 
asked:
 - "Agent Scully, is some thing that I can help you?"
 - "Thank you for seeing me on such a short notice, sir, but 
I'm afraid something has happened to Agent Mulder."
Skinner left his desk and moved around it towards her.
 - "What do you mean exactly?"
 - "I don't know. He just hasn't showed up yet, he's not at 
home, and he's not answering his mobile phone. And yesterday 
he was..." 
 - "Slow down, Agent Scully. You don't know?
She lifted her eyes and opened her lips for a second before 
saying:
 - "Don't know what?"
 - "Agent Mulder is in Washington Memorial Hospital, visiting 
Agent Fawly. Late last night she regained consciousness, and 
requested to see him. So I called him on his cell."
Scully was shocked. She felt so stupid and humiliated. She 
swallowed hard, and apologized: 
 - "Agent Mulder didn't inform me about that."
 - "Probably because he didn't have the time. It happened 
about 04:00 am this..."
 - "I'm sorry to bother you."
She interrupted him then turned and exited the office. 
Skinner just shook his head, and returned back to his work.

                        MSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSM

MEMORIAL HOSPITAL,
WASHINGTON DC.
05:35 AM. Thursday.

        It was still dark and relevantly quiet when Agent 
Mulder ran in through the hospital doors. He was still 
wearing his black leather jacket and his pair of jeans he was 
wearing the night before. He ran straight to the nurses' 
desk:
 - "ICU please."
 - "Sir, there is no visiting at this time."
 - "Look, I have no time for this. I'm an FBI officer and I 
want to go to ICU. Now you either tell me where it is or I 
can go look for it my self."
 - "Excuse me."
A middle aged doctor approached, offering to help.
 - "I'm doctor Peterson. I work at the ICU. Can I help you?"
 - "I'm here to see Diana Fowly. She's been admitted to this 
hospital three weeks ago."
 - "Diana, yes. Are you...Fox?"
 - "Yes, I'm Fox Mulder."
 - "Is she gonna be glad to see you. She's been calling out 
you name even before she completely woke up."
 - "How is she doing now?"
 - "She's definitely better. But I'll have to go back to her 
medical file to give you an accurate opinion on her status. 
Why don't I meet you in the ICU in a little while?"
 - "Where is that?"
 - "Second floor, on your right."
 - "Thank you."

Mulder hurried to the elevator, then speeded down the long 
ICU corridor. He burst in to Diana's room to find her sound a 
sleep. He walked slowly towards her bed, and stood quietly 
beside her. She looked so pale and fragile. He lifted his 
hand and ever so lightly touched down her hair, then her 
face. He held her cold thin hand in his. By now she appeared 
to be starting to respond. She moved her head a little, then 
opened her eyes. Mulder's face broke in to a big smile, he 
whispered:
 - "Hey, Diana."
Diana gave a weak smile. 
 - "Fox..."
 - "Shhh... don't say any thing. I want you to save all your 
energy to get better."
He said that looking softly in her brown eyes, with a smile 
on his face. He then ran his fingers through her dark hair.
 - "I thought I'd lost you forever this time." 

There was a knock on the door. Then Dr. Peterson came in, 
holding Diana's file in his hand.
 - "Hello, Diana. How are we doing to day?"
 - "I feel better."
 - "Having the people we love around us definitely makes us 
feel better. Any way I'm not gonna take much of your time. As 
you both know, when Diana was admitted to the hospital three 
weeks ago, She was unconscious with very weak vitals. She had 
a hole in her left lung, due to a gun shot wound, and had 
lost a lot of blood. We gave her five units of blood, 
operated on her, then put her under constant supervision, and 
to day we're happy to have her back."
 - (Holding Mulder's hand): "It's good to be back."
 - "When will Diana be discharged?" 
 - "Well, if she keeps on this rate of progress, I would say 
not more than a week from now."
 - "Great." 
 - "Any other questions?"
 - "Thank you."
 - "I can be bleeped if you need to reach me."
Mulder watched Dr. Peterson move to the side table, put the 
medical file on it, then leave the room. What he didn't see, 
was that when he put the file on the table, he attached a 
small bugging device under its rim. It was to transmit their 
talks to a certain East 46th Street apartment in New York 
City. They were listening.

Mulder smiled at Diana, when she suddenly said:
 - "Did you find the boy, Fox?"
 - "No. And it doesn't matter now. Diana I want you to stop 
thinking about these things and concentrate on getting 
better."
 - "Do you have a lead on him?"
 - "We only have names. Nothing more than that."
 - "Fox, I know the man who took the boy. I've seen him 
before."
 - "How is that?"
 - "After he shot me, he came in to the room to take the boy, 
I hadn't lost consciousness yet, and I recognized him."
 - "Recognized him from where?" 
 - "About six months ago, there was a suspicion that there 
were some terrorist activities in Russia, and I was assigned 
to go there and investigate under the United Nations agenda, 
and I saw him there."
 - "Do you know his name, or how to find him?"
 - "No. But he was working with an amputee who has an 
artificial arm."
 - "That's Alex krycek again. What were they doing there?"
 - "I don't know, but saw them together talking to the 
Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United 
Nations."
 - "You saw them talk to Marita? You saw Krycek talk to 
Marita?"
 - "Do you know her?"
 - "Yes. But apparently not well enough."
 - "Then may be she knows him and can help you find him. Fox 
we can follow this lead up, and catch those people."
 - "But, Diana, the X file's been shut down."
 - "...So?"
Mulder looked at her and smiled:
 - "You haven't changed, Diana."
 - "No. And nor should you."
             
                        MSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSM


MARITA CAVAROUBIAS
RESIDENCE,
07:15AM.

        The S.R.S.G. of the UN. Miss Marita Cavaroubias was 
putting on her coat to go to work, when her telephone rang.
 - "Cavaroubias?"
A male voice came through:
 - "Miss Cavaroubias, I have a message for you."
She recognized his voice. It was WMM's personal assistant.
 - "Yes?"
 - "Some one will contact you this morning; he'll be needing 
your help. Give him what he wants, reassure him, and earn his 
trust. That's all I have for you."
He said that and hung up the phone. And before Marita could 
down the message in, she heard a knock on the door. She knew 
this must be the person that message was about. She took a 
deep breath then went to open the door:
 - "Agent Mulder? What brings you here?"
 - "I want to ask you something."
 - "I'm already late for work."
 - (Angrily): "I don't ... care."

Mulder was so upset and angry that she didn't have a choice 
but to let him in, so she opened the door a little wider. He 
came in and she closed the door behind him.
 - "So what did you want to ask me?"
 - "Do you know a man called Alex Krycek?"
 - "Alex Krycek? Yes I know him. Why?"
 - "Know him from where?"
 - "I met him once in one of my missions in Russia."
 - "Why didn't you tell me?"
 - "Agent Mulder, I know more people around the world than 
the population of this city."
 - "This man killed my father, helped in abducting my partner 
then killed her sister. And three weeks ago his associates 
kidnapped a 10-year old boy, shooting down an FBI Agent on 
the way. Marita, do you want me to go on?"
 - "I don't mean to be insensitive, Agent Mulder, but what 
does it have to do with me?"
 - "You knew him. You were seen talking to him."
 - "Agent Mulder what exactly are you implying here?" 
Mulder didn't say anything. 
 - "Listen to me Agent Mulder, I've always been a great help 
for you in the last two years, and I can help you more in the 
fu..."
 - "Now. I need your help now."
 - "What exactly do you need?"
 - "I want his address."
 - "How do you expect me to..."
 - "You said you could help me, Marita, now prove it."

Marita took a deep breath, looked at her wristwatch, then 
said:
 - "I'll see what I can do. Please wait here."
She said that and went to her bedroom, where her computer 
was. She switched it on then typed down this message: "He's 
here. He wants krycek's address. Please advise", then sent it 
by e. mail. A minute later, she received the answer: "Give 
him what he wants. We'll be waiting". Marita switched off her 
PC then went to Mulder:
 - "East 46th street New York City. That's all I have."
 - "Thank you. And sorry for keeping you behind."
Mulder said that then ran to the door.

                        MSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSM

EAST 46TH STREET,
NEW YORK CITY,
01:45PM. 

        Agent Mulder entered the building looking behind his 
back. He had this feeling that he's close to some thing, but 
didn't exactly now what it was. He took the elevator to the 
specific apartment, and with a nervous hand, rang the 
doorbell. Then the door was opened. 
        - "Yes?"
He didn't expect Krycek to open the door, but he certainly 
didn't expect this. It was a woman, an ugly woman, still in 
her pajamas, wearing a kitchen's apron and a hair net. 
Children's voices were coming from the inside.
 - "Yes? How may I help you?"
 - "Amm... Is this Alex Krycek's apartment?"
 - "Alex who? No, it's not."
The woman turned her back, and wanted to shut the door, but 
Mulder held it open.
 - "Are you sure? 'Cause I've been told that he lived here."
 - "May be he did. I don't know. I've moved in only four 
months a go, and I know nothing about the previous tenants."
Once again she tried to close the door, and yet once again 
Mulder held it open. He presented her with his badge, saying 
firmly:
 - "Ma'am, if I may. I'm an officer with the FBI. And I'd 
like to have a look inside the apartment."
The woman looked at him in disgust, saying in a no-nonsense 
manner:
 - "Listen you... who ever you are. My baby was running a fever 
last night and I only had two hours sleep. And now I'm 
looking after three children under the age of five, I have 
some thing on the stove, and it's laundry day. So unless you 
are the president of the United States of America, don't you 
even try to come back."

She said that and slammed the door to Mulder's face. He had 
no other option but to draw back. After closing the door, the 
woman breathed out. She called:
 - "OK. You can come out now."
A door was opened and a few men in dark suits came in to the 
hall. One of them, WMM, said:
 - "I still can't believe this had just happed. This is too 
dangerous."
 - "Why wasn't this accounted for?"
 - "Mulder is now getting too close. We have to do some 
thing."
 - (A thick voice): "we'll execute plan B. Where is Krycek?"

                        MSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSM
           
FBI HEADQUARTERS,
WASHINGTON DC,
03:13PM.

        Agent Scully was clearing up her office, packing her 
things and getting them ready to go to her new office. Her 
cellular phone rang. She checked the caller's number on the 
screen and it was Mulder's cellular number. Her face took an 
angry expression, and she answered with an ice- cold voice:
 - "Scully."
 - "Scully, it's me. Where are you?"
 - "I'm at the Bureau."
 - "Listen, Scully, I'm in New York airport, and I'm catching 
flight 549 to DC. Do you think you can pick me when I 
arrive?"
 - "Sure. Why not?"
 - "Thanks Scully. I have a lot to tell you about on the 
way."
Then he hung up the phone. Scully tried to concentrate on her 
work, but couldn't, so she left every thing as it is on the 
desk and left to the airport."

It was 05:20PM when Mulder came out of the plain and met 
Scully:
 - "Hi. Thanks for coming."
 - "No problem." 
She said that and with out another word led the way out of 
the terminal, then to the open-air car park. Mulder was 
following her to the car. Still quiet, she unlocked the doors 
and they both got in. She finally said, while igniting the 
car:
 - "Where to?"
 - "My apartment. God, Scully, I feel so tired. I only had 
two hours sleep in the last 36 hours, and I haven't showered 
or changed in two days."
Scully ignored him and just started the car and took off. 
Mulder took a comfortable position in the passenger seat, and 
appeared to be trying to sleep. Scully concentrated on the 
long high way in front of her. Five minutes later Mulder 
opened his eyes and turned to her:
 - "Are you OK, Scully?"
 - "I'm fine."
Mulder kept looking at her for a moment, wondering, then went 
back to his comfortable position. He then said:
 - "By the way, can we stop by at a burger bar or some 
thing?"
 - "OK."
 - "I feel like I'm gonna just drop dead if I don't increase 
my blood sugar in the next minute or so."

For the next ten minutes, Scully continued to drive, 
exceeding the speed limit for probably the second time in her 
life. And Mulder appeared to be catching on some much-needed 
sleep. Then she noticed a diner off the road, so she turned 
right.
 - "Are you eating in or taking away?"
 - "We'll eat in. I need to stretch my legs a bit." 
She then screeched to a halt, stopping the car in the car 
park. The force of the sudden stop threw Mulder forward a 
little. He looked at Scully, fully awake now, and watched her 
unbuckle her seat belt, get out of the car, slam it's door, 
and head towards the restaurant with out even looking at him. 
He couldn't under stand why she was acting like this, so he 
just did the same then ran after her.
 - "Scully...Scully..."
She didn't want to answer and didn't want to stop. And when 
he finally reached her, he had to grab her arm to make her 
stop and look at him:
 - "Now are you gonna talk about it or what?"
Clenching her teeth, she said:
 - "I said I was fine."
 - "You're lying. I know you better than that."
He said that very pointedly, looking straight into her eyes. 
She looked straight back at him.
 - "Mulder don't push it."
 - "I wanna know what's wrong, and I deserve that. You owe me 
that."
 - "You wanna know what's wrong? I'll tell you what's wrong. 
You leave my apartment at four o'clock in the morning with 
out a single word, to visit your back-from-the-dead ex-
girlfriend. I wake up the next day to find that you have 
enigmatically disappeared, into thin air, with out a trace, 
and I think that you went to execute one of your plans from 
hell. So I run like crazy, with the shit scared out of me, 
and plead with Skinner to save your sorry ass from the devils 
and the demons of the seventh ground, only for him to tell me 
Scully you are so damn stupid."

Scully was screaming at him. She was breathing fast, and her 
heart was racing. Mulder opened his mouth to say some thing, 
any thing, but she just turned and walked away saying:
 - "Just save it."
He went after her and caught her arm:
 - "Scully I'm sorry. I realize now that I should've left a 
note. It just didn't appear to me that way."
 - "You know what hell you put me through?"
 - "Yes, I do."
 - "No you don't."
 - "It's the same one I've been through my self, when you had 
cancer, and I thought I was losing you." 
Scully looked up at him.
 - "Scully I am sorry. I didn't mean for all this to happen, 
and you know that. Please, Scully, we're both tired and 
distressed, so let's just take a break, OK?  Please? For our 
own sake?"
Scully breathed out heavily. Mulder smiled at her, then took 
her hand and led her to the diner's. She suddenly asked, out 
of curiosity:
 - "But why did you switch your cellular off?"
 - "I was in the ICU. I had to."
 - "Ah... yeah."

In the restaurant, Mulder gave the orders and then sat on the 
table with Scully, who asked:
 - "How is Diana?"
 - "She's pulling through. She'll be discharged in a week or 
so." 
 - "Is she coming back to the Bureau?"
 - "I actually don't know. I didn't ask her. But she told me 
she knew her shooter, she knew the man who took Gibson."
 - "Who?"
 - "Our G. man is a friend of Alex Krycek, and she gave me a 
lead on him, which took me straight to a funny apartment in 
NY. And when I knocked on the door, some freak woman answered 
and said some thing about this being a bad time for her, and 
about me not returning back unless I become the president of 
the US of A. and you know what I said to her?"
 - "What did you say to her?"
 - "Nothing. She slammed the door to my face."
Scully and Mulder shared a little laugh together. He looked 
at her compassionately then said:
 - "You have a beautiful smile, Scully. You should laugh more 
often."
Scully was thinking of some thing to say, when he said:
 - "I'll go bring the orders."
They had their meal together. And when they'd left the 
restaurant it was already dark. So she dropped him off at his 
apartment, then went home.

                        MSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSM

FBI HEADQUARTERS,
WASHINGTON DC,
12:33PM. FRIDAY.

        Scully has almost finished packing her things to be 
transferred to the new office. She also completed the 
unfinished files and threw away the unneeded notes and 
papers. And after four hours of work, she was ready for her 
lunch hour. Mulder wouldn't be joining her to day; he's taken 
the day off to visit Diana in the hospital. 
She went down to her car and drove to the nearest fast food 
out let to grab a burger. She entered the restaurant and got 
in the line. 
She was still waiting when she noticed the man second in 
line. She couldn't believe that, against all odds, it was 
Krycek. So she carefully left the line and hid behind an 
artificial tree. She saw him order a child's meal, a fizzy 
drink and a donut. He then took the order and left. Scully 
didn't think twice, she left as well and followed him.
Krycek entered his car and took off. Scully, waited for a 
second then did the same. She made sure there was a car or 
two separating them. She took the opportunity of a red 
traffic light and picked up her cellular phone, and dialed 
the Bureau' number.
 - "Federal Bureau of Investigation?"
 - "Skinner's office, please."
 - "Just a moment, please."
Scully waited for what seemed like ages, then Skinner's 
secretary answered:
 - "A.D. Skinner's office."
 - "This is Agent Scully. I have an emergency situation and I 
need to speak with A.D. Skinner immediately."
 - "Sure."
A moment later, she heard Skinner's voice come through:
 - "Skinner."
 - "Sir, its Scully. I've located Krycek, and I have a reason 
to believe he's going to where the boy is." 
 - "Where are you?"
 - "I'm in my car now, following him. He appears to be 
heading south towards the A 90 road."
 - "Agent Scully I want you to keep your distance. And do 
not, under any circumstance, take any action until I arrive 
with the back up.  Do not endanger your self." 
 - "Yes, sir."
 - "And you keep me informed Scully."

They hung up the line. Skinner immediately started to 
assemble the back up team, and Scully kept following her 
target very discretely. Twenty minutes later, Krycek took a 
right turn, in to a small side road that was stretched 
between two lines of trees. Scully didn't follow now. It 
would be too foolish to do so. But she could see, from her 
car, that there was a small log cabin in the end of that 
short side road. She saw Krycek go in to the cabin with the 
meal in his hand, and she knew, with out a doubt, that Gibson 
was held captive in there. Once again she picked up her 
cellular phone, and dialed Skinner's. He answered from a 
police car running down the road.
 - "Skinner?"
 - "It's Scully again, sir."
 - "What happened?"
 - "Krycek has stopped at a small house at the end of a side 
road off the A 90.I think he has the boy in there."
 - "I'm already on my way."
Scully hung up the phone and waited in her car. 

A few minutes later, she saw Krycek exiting the cabin, and 
leaving in front of her with his car. She thought for a 
second, then decided to check around the house. So she 
started her car and drove to a discrete spot and hid her car, 
then she walked her way down to the cabin, which was 
surrounded by some small bushes. 
It was so quiet and eerie she could feel and hear the dry 
leaves breaking under her feet. She slowly proceeded to a 
glass window to look in side the house, and she viewed an 
empty kitchen. The next window revealed no indication of the 
boy as well. And when she peered through the third window, 
she saw Gibson. His hands were cuffed, and his mouth was 
gagged with a masking tape. He appeared ill and distressed.

Scully didn't think twice about going in to help him. 
She drew her gun, and carefully, opened the front door. It 
was a little dark inside the house, so she had to wait for a 
while for her eyes to be adjusted to the dim light. Then she 
started to walk to the room where Gibson was held, but she 
froze when she heard a gun being loaded just behind her ear. 
 - "Blink and you're dead."

She recognized Krycek's voice. After all, they've worked 
together for quite some time only three years ago.
 - "Now I want you to put your gun down, very slowly, on the 
floor.
Scully did as told. She didn't have much choice."
 - "Good girl. Now I want you to walk to your left, and put 
your hands against the wall where I can see them."
Again Scully did what he said. He then searched her body for 
hidden firearms, but he only found her cellular phone. He 
threw it against the wall and smashed it into a hundred 
pieces, saying:
 - "Did you really think you could just call this Mulder of 
yours, and get him to give you a ride home? Huh? Did you? 
Sorry. Not this time, Agent Scully."
 - "OK. Now you have me Krycek. Let go of the boy."
 - "Oh...? Are you asking or threatening?"
 - "The boy has no consequence to you. Now let him go."
 - "Amm... I will if you say please."
 - "Where are you going with this any way, Krycek?"
Krycek looked at her for a moment, then he said, walking 
closer to her:
 - "You know what, Dana; I'm really disappointed in you. When 
they came up with this "Trap" for you, I told them that you 
were better than this. Smarter than this. But, "sigh", you're 
standing here, right now, to prove me wrong."
 - "And you know what, Alex, that cellular phone of mine 
you've just thrown away? The last call I made through it was 
to inform the FBI of my where about. Skinner is on his way to 
give me a ride home. He'll be knocking on the door any minute 
now, with a hundred firearms pointed directly at your head."
He shouted at her:
 - "You're lying."
 - "Am I?"
She'd hardly finished her words when Krycek's fist crushed 
her nose. She fell to the ground and blood started to flow 
uncontrollably, staining her face and white shirt.
Oblivious to her, Krycek started to breathe faster, pacing 
the room. <Dammit>, he thought, how could he be so stupid? 

He weighed his situation quickly and found that the best 
thing to do now was to evacuate the house, and to go to an 
unknown address. So he pointed the gun at her and dragged her 
by her arm to the other room:
 - "C'mon you bitch." 
There, he pushed her towards Gibson and ordered her to untie 
him. Gibson's face lit with delight as he was saw Scully, the 
first familiar face in over three weeks. She wiped the 
streaming blood away from her mouth, using her sleeve as a 
tissue, to talk to Gibson with a shaky voice:
 - "Do you remember me, Gibson?"
 - "Yes. And I remember your promise as well."
 - "Shut up, both of you."

Scully freed Gibson from his cuffs, and then Krycek led them 
both in front of him to his car, under the threat of the gun. 
As soon as they got out of the house, they faced Skinner's 
gun:
 - "Drop your weapon, Krycek. You're under arrest."
Krycek thought quickly, grabbed the boy and pointed the gun 
directly to his head, shouting back:
 - "I'll kill him. I'll kill him if you don't let me go."
 - "Listen to me you son of a bitch, I have a professional 
shooter, who can pierce your ear from 200 yards away, 
pointing a bullet at your head, right now, as we speak. He's 
just waiting for my signal to take his shot. And I have more 
than a good reason, both personal and professional, to give 
him that signal. So I'm gonna count to three, and unless 
Agent Scully and the boy are ..."
 - "OK, OK. I'm letting them go."

Krycek dropped the gun and kept his hands up. As soon as he 
did that, a gun was fired, striking little Gibson in the 
chest. Skinner shouted:
 - "Hold your fire. What the hell happened? I said hold your 
fire."
His assistant said:
 - "It wasn't one of us, sir. It came from the opposite 
direction."
Krycek was still on his spot, with his hands in the air. He 
looked to the other direction and knew instantly what had 
happened, and knew that it was his turn to be shot. He 
screamed, looking at the bushes behind him:
 - "Noooo..."
But a merciless bullet was fired to his head, killing him 
instantly.

Scully, who was leaning over the boy to try and resuscitate 
him, called for help:
 - "I'm losing him. Dammit. Call the paramedics." 
She kept working on him until the EMTs arrived 10 minutes 
later. Then they relieved her and took over. 
Skinner approached Scully, who was now wrapped up in a 
blanket, and taken to an ambulance her self, to be checked 
over:
 - "Are you OK now, Agent Scully?"
 - "Yes, I guess so."
 - "What the hell happened back there?"
 -"They sent some one to invalidate an evidence of their 
work, and to kill our witness against them."
 - "They feared Krycek was gonna testify against them?"
 - "Yes, sir. So they killed him."
Skinner waited for a second then said:
 - "After more than thirty minutes flat-line, the paramedics 
gave up on Gibson."
 - "And I promised him that I wasn't gonna let any thing 
happen to him." 
 - "Don't blame your self, you did the right thing and you 
endangered your life to do so. Now you need to go home and 
rest. I'll drop you off my self." 

It was all ready dark when Skinner helped Scully to the back 
seat of his car, where she slept all the way to her home. 
When they arrived, Skinner took her keys, opened the door, 
helped her in, and then closed the door on his way out.

                        MSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSM

SCULLY RESIDSNCE,
12:23PM, SATERDAY.

        Scully was a sleep when she suddenly felt something 
cool and wet on her forehead. She slowly opened her eyes and 
saw Mulder drying his hands off after placing the damp cloth 
on her forehead. She then closed her eyes and rested again.
 - "What time is it?"
Mulder was very happy to hear her voice. He dragged a chair 
close to her bed and sat on it, with a little smile on his 
face:
 - "It's almost 12:30 in the after noon. How are you 
feeling?"
Scully opened her eyes a little and asked:
 - "What are you doing here?"
 - "Skinner told me that you had a long day yesterday, so I 
came by to see how you're doing. And when you didn't answer 
the door I let my self in and I found you hot and sweating.  
You're running a fever of about a hundred." 
 - "How long have you been here?"
 - "About an hour now. I made you chicken soup."
Scully shook her head:
 - "I'm not hungry."
 - "I know you are. I'll bring you some."

Scully watched him walk away to the kitchen, then she closed 
her eyes. She remembered she must be hungry, after all, she 
was about to have lunch 24 hours ago when she found Krycek 
and followed him. A moment later, he came back with the bowl 
of hot soup in his hands. He put it on the side table, took 
away the cloth from her forehead then helped her to sit up 
right. She was feeling a lot better now.
 - "Thanks."
 - "You're well come." 
 - "How did you know I was hungry?"
 - "I didn't, I just guessed."

Scully took the bowl in her hand and had a spoonful. She was 
surprised. She looked at him:
 - "You never cease to surprise me, Mulder. It actually IS 
delicious."
 - "No, it's not. You're just too hungry to know."   
Scully smiled to him, then to her self, as she felt this soft 
feeling of being a helpless princess, who's being saved from 
all evil, in the arms of her handsome Knight. She felt so 
grateful to Mulder, so secure with him, so...close to him. 
Scully's body was weak, her immune system was down, and for 
the first time she can't fight this strong, over-powering, 
over-whelming feeling that's immerging to the surface. Not 
any more.

 - "Scully, I made that decision. You know, about my work?"
Scully looked at him, not liking the tone in his voice.
 - "I decided to accept Skinners offer and be transferred to 
a better branch."
Scully felt relieved.
 - "Which branch are you planning on? South Virginia?"
 - "One a little further actually. Seattle."
 - "SEATTLE? Why the hell Seattle?"
 - "Because they have a big center for UFO watch over there, 
so I can continue pursuing my faith from that starting 
point."
 - "But that's..."
 - "And because Diana likes it there."
Scully opened her mouth, but no words came out.
 - "We're moving back in together."
He explained, with a smile.

                        MSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSM

FBI HEADQUARTERS,
11:21AM, FRIDAY.
A WEEK LATER.

        Scully was on her new desk up stairs, trying to 
concentrate on doing the work she's doing. She couldn't. She 
was enduring a nervous stomach, a dry bitter taste in her 
throat, and suffocating. It was Mulder's last day at the 
Bureau. 
Her phone rang. She checked the caller and it was him. She 
took a deep nervous breath before answering:
 - "Scully."
 - "Scully, it's me. Where are you?"
 - "I'm in my office."
 - "Could you come down here to the basement and give me a 
hand packing? The work here seems endless, and I'm miles 
behind schedule all ready."
<Mulder, I can't. Please...>, she thought. 
 - "Mulder..."
 - "After packing, like, three hundred files, a hundred 
books, countless bits and pieces and a poster, I'll have to 
meet Skinner for some last minute paper work. Then I'll have 
to take all my insane nonsense to my flooded apartment and 
start throwing my expensive suits and favorite boxers in 
SUITCASES. I can't believe I'm gonna have to do that! And, 
oh, Scully did I mention the car dealer? Or the travel 
agency? Or..."
 - "OK, Mulder, I'm coming down."
She could feel his smile coming through to her as he said:
 - "Thanks, Scully. I knew you wouldn't wanna ditch me."

They hung up the phone. Scully took a big breath, left her 
desk and took the stairs. 
She was debating whither or not it's a good idea to go to the 
basement, to the X files office, and help Mulder on his work, 
just like the old times, but she came into the room any way. 
It was full of empty boxes, full boxes, and piles of books 
and sheets of paper. Mulder saw the look of astonishment on 
her face:
 - "See what I mean?"
 - "Mulder you can't possibly finish the work in here on 
time. Not before this weekend any way. You have no time."
 - "I have no choice, Scully. My flight is leaving at nine 
O'clock tonight, and it's not gonna wait for me."
Scully thought for a moment, then said: 
 - "Then why don't you buy some time and let me take care of 
this, while you go and finish your paper work with Skinner."
 - "Are you sure?"
 - "Yes. I'll be fine."

Mulder did as told and left the basement. 
Scully started to take Mulder's books and files and put them 
away in empty cardboard boxes. These were the books that she 
and Mulder had read together, as partners, once upon a 
memory. And these were the files they had spent hours on end 
studying, and some times, arguing about. All these books 
she's packing away, all these files, and all those memories 
of the times they had spent together working, discussing, 
arguing, agreeing, laughing, talking, crying, they all seemed 
so... endless. Just like the work in here. Just like this pain 
and hurt that's tearing her apart quietly right now. This " I 
can't breathe" feeling in her chest. 

She went to Mulder's desk, to pack away all his belongings 
from it. This desk holds all the essence of their 
partnership, their passionate friendship, all the happiness 
of their victories together, and all the bitterness of her 
loss. 
She packed the penholder, the sticking tape, the stapler, and 
a tear shaped paperweight. And along with them, she packed 
pieces of her shattered heart, and the remains of her dreams. 

Thirty minutes later, Scully had finished packing, and Mulder 
came in and asked her:
 - "What are you doing?"
 - "Writing the contents of the boxes on their exterior." 
 - "What for?"
Scully looked at him, not believing he doesn't know:
 - "To make it easier for you to unpack."
 - (Amazed): "I KNEW you were so organized."
 - "Every thing is ready now. You just have to load them in 
your car."
 - "That's another thing, Scully. My car is already at the 
car dealer's. Can you drop me off at my apartment?"
 - "Now?"
 - "Yeah."
Mulder didn't wait for her to answer. He just carried a large 
box and went through the door. Scully had no other option but 
to carry two small boxes and follow him.

They arrived at the apartment. Scully opened the door using 
the key that Mulder gave her almost five years ago. She 
entered the apartment and Mulder followed her carrying that 
large box. Scully placed the boxes she was carrying along 
with some others already there. She took a look around the 
apartment, and saw Mulder's things. His black couch, his 
desk, his aquarium... every thing seemed so familiar, but with 
a new painful black shade draped on it. 

Scully walked to the desk and saw a few books sitting on it, 
waiting to be thrown away. She remembered reading one of them 
when she was twelve.
 - "Mulder, can I borrow "Great expectations"?"
 - "Ahh... Yeah."
 - "Did you read it?"
 - (Distractedly): "What?"
Scully looked over her shoulder at him. He was busy, 
literally throwing all his clothes in a large, wide-open 
suitcase. He was so happy and excited that he wasn't even 
noticing her. So she looked back at the book, took it and 
headed for the door:
 - "OK, Mulder. I gotta go now."
 - "OK. Don't forget your spare keys. They're on the desk."

Scully took her keys. She was almost at the door when Mulder 
suddenly turned and called her:
 - "Oh, Scully, wait. Can you do me one more favor?"
She stopped and turned to face him, not knowing what to say:
 - "Can you stop at the travel agent on your way to the 
Bureau and pick up my tickets for me?"
She pleaded with him:
 - "Mulder... my lunch hour is almost up; I have to be at the 
Bureau in less than ten minutes. And after work I have other 
plans, so I won't be able to hand them to you on time."
 - "You can give them to me at the party this afternoon at 
the Bureau."
Scully gathered all her courage, then said:
 - "That's another thing, Mulder. I'm not coming to the 
party."
Mulder looked at her, not knowing what to expect:
 - "Why not?"
She blurted out the reason she'd memorized earlier: 
 - "Because I promised my mother that I'd visit her."

In two giant steps, Mulder was standing right in front of 
her, only few centimeters away from her, holding her 
shoulders and pleading with her:
 - "Scully, what are you saying?"
Scully drowned inwardly, closing her eyes: <Mulder, please 
don't do this to me... please don't touch me like this...I 
can't...>
 - "Scully, tell me. Talk to me."
Mulder interrupted her unspoken pleas.
Scully tried not to look into his eyes:
 - "It's just that I promised her before I knew..."
 - "Scully you can visit her at some other time. Call her, 
I'm sure she would understand."
She shook her head. 
 - "For God's sake Scully, this is my engagement party we're 
talking about here."
She looked up at him, as he continued, not noticing how his 
words affected her:
 - "How could you do this to me? Scully, I want you to be 
there for me. I need you to be there."
 - "Mulder..."
 - "Scully, please...for old times' sake?" 
Scully looked in his eyes and saw how passionately he cared 
about her. How genuinely he wanted her to be there with him 
on his big day. He really loved her, but in a slightly 
different way. She just couldn't say "No", and gave up.
 - "OK. What travel agent issued the tickets?"
 - "Forget the tickets, just say that you'll be there."
 - "OK, Mulder. I'll be there."

Mulder smiled at her. He took one step closer, wanting to 
hold her in his arms, but she just held back a little and 
gently pulled away:
 - "I gotta go now. I'll see you later."
She said that not looking at him, then she took her way 
towards the door and left.

                        MSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSM

FBI HEADQUARTERS,
03:17PM.

        Scully was still in the staircase when the happy voices 
and laughter of the partyers reached her. She knew she was 
late, and she knew she had to be there. She owes it to Mulder 
to be there for him. She walked slowly towards the room and 
looked through the glass window, and saw Mulder. He was 
standing next to Diana, looking perfectly happy. She never 
saw him like this before; talking to his colleagues carefree, 
laughing out loud with his fellow agents, smiling...she never 
saw this sheer peace and happiness in his eyes before. 

She was watching when he leaned towards his fiancée, stroked 
her hand and whispered some thing in her ear, some thing that 
made her blush. Scully closed her eyes. Even though she knew 
Mulder would be so disappointed, and won't forgive her for a 
long time, she decided she can't do this, and decided to 
leave. She turned around and walked one step back towards the 
elevator, to see that Skinner was standing out side his next 
door office, watching her, while putting his jacket on. He 
said:
 - "Agent Scully, you know you don't have to go in if you 
don't want to."
 - "I want to go in. I...I was just on my way in."
Skinner looked at her for a moment, then smiled a faint 
smile: 
 - "Then let me have the pleasure of walking you in."

He said that and put his hand on her shoulder, and led her 
through the door. As soon as they were in, he excused himself 
to meet someone.

Before she could sit on a near by chair, she heard Mulder 
calling her name:
 - "Scully."
She looked up and saw him heading towards her, smiling:
 - "Scully."
 - "Hi Mulder."
 - "You're so late; I got afraid you'd changed your mind."
 - "No, I just ran a little late, that's all. Congratulations 
Mulder."
A voice interrupted them. A colleague asked Mulder:
 - "Now that Dana's finally here, can we cut the cake now 
Mulder?"
 - "Yeah. Bring it up."
Then he looked at her again:
 - "Thanks for coming." 
 - "Hey."
They both looked at their caller. It was Danny holding a 
camera, and taking a picture of them together by a surprise. 
Mulder asked him jokingly:
 - "Didn't they ever teach you at Quantico to count to three 
before you take a picture?"
 - "Actually, no. Dead bodies don't move that much you know."
 - "Danny, we're still live and kicking if you haven't 
noticed." 
He said that while wrapping his arm around Scully's waist, 
posing appropriately for a picture with her. He looked at her 
and saw her face, then pulled her a little closer:
 - "Smile, Scully."
She turned her face away, forced a blank smile, and then the 
picture was taken. 
Some fellow agent came in with the cake, calling out:
 - "OK, every one. Who wants to cut the cake?"
 - "This is my engagement party, butthead. I'm gonna cut the 
cake."
Mulder said that and left Scully to look for Diana in the 
crowd.

Scully took a good long last look at her former partner, who 
was cutting the cake with his fiancée, and drew her self 
quietly out of the room, with Skinner watching her silently 
from the back of the crowd.

                        MSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSM

Mrs.SCULLY RESIDENCE,
05:09PM.

        Mrs. Scully went to answer the door. It was her 
daughter, Dana. She looked so tired.
 - "Hi, Mum."
 - "Hi, Dana. Come on in."
Scully walked through the door, took off her trench coat and 
sat on the sofa. Her mother noticed how worn down her 
daughter was:
 - "Busy day, Huh?"
 - "Yeah." 
 - "I had a busy day to. I went shopping to day and guess who 
I ran into?"
 -...
 - "Mrs. Johansen. Remember our neighbors from the naval 
base?"
 - "Johansen?
 - "Yes. You went to college with their children, Albert and 
Sylvia."
 - "Ah, yeah. I remember them. How are they doing?"
 - "Well, Sylvia got married last summer, and Albert passed 
away a few years a go."
 - "I heard about him, yeah."

Mrs. Scully looked at her daughter carefully:
 - "Dana, are you OK?"
Dana almost jumped off the sofa:
 - "Yes. Why?"
 - "I don't know, but you seem a little distracted."
She took a breath:
 - "Yeah. I just have a few things on my mind."
 - "What things?"
 - "You know, stuff going at work."
 - "What stuff?"
 - "Nothing."
 - "Dana what are you not telling me?"
 - "Nothing."
 - "Dana..."
Dana tried to sound casual:
 - "You know that I'm now reassigned to a different section, 
and I'm trying to adjust to it. That's it.
 - "Oh, yeah. But tell me, what about the X files project?"
 - "It's been... canceled."
 - "So is Fox reassigned to the same section as you?"
 - "No. He's been reassigned to Seattle. He's getting married 
there."
This came down on her as a worst kind of news:
 - "Getting married? To whom?"
 - "To his ex-girlfriend. An FBI agent."
 - "How long have this been going on?"
 - "Not too long. His flight takes off at 9 PM tonight."
Mrs. Scully thought for a moment, then chose her words 
carefully:
 - "Dana there's some thing that I wanted to ask you for a 
long time now. Amm...You're, you're not attached to Fox, I mean 
romantically, are you?"
Scully felt naked. Her face turned red, her pulse raced and 
she started hyper-breathing:
 - "Mum? How could you say some thing like this?"
 - "Are you?"
 - "Mum, for God's sake, it's Mulder we're talking about 
here."
 - "Exactly. And that's why I'm asking you."
 - "Mulder is a good friend of mine. And that's the extent of 
it."
 - "Well, I always thought..."
 - "Don't think. He's just... a good friend of mine."

Mrs. Scully wasn't stupid, but she knew her daughter and she 
knew what she had to do. So she smiled and said: 
 - "Now am I happy to hear that. By the way, I made you your 
favorite salad, are you hungry?"
 - "Sure, mum. Thanks." 
 - "I'll bring you some."
Mrs. Scully said that then went to the kitchen, tears mounted 
in her eyes, while Dana dropped her head to the back and 
closed her eyes, trying to stop her self from crying.

It was about 9:30 when Scully left her mother's and headed 
home. The streets were dark, and the sky was pouring she 
could hardly see. She arrived, parked her car then ran under 
the rain to her building. Non the less she was soaked wet 
when she entered the building.
She was headed to he apartment when she saw some one sitting 
on the floor, at her doorstep. She took a few steps towards 
him, then she finally recognized him as Mulder. She was so 
surprised to see him: 
 - "Mulder, what happened? You're supposed to be on your 
plane."
Mulder didn't even look at her. He just produced a book from 
his pocket and handed it to her:
 - "You forgot to take this."
She took it and it was Great Expectations. She looked at him:
 - "Mulder you didn't miss your flight to bring me this."
He winced.
 - "Why didn't you call before you came?"
Mulder looked up at her, she could see he was so angry and 
furious:
 - "And why the hell did you leave the Bureau today without 
even as much as a goodbye?"
Scully didn't know what to say. She didn't expect to have to 
answer this question so quickly. 
 - "Come inside, it's cold in here."
Mulder breathed out, looked at her; pale, cold and dripping 
wet. He then stood up and they went in together. 

As she was closing the door behind her, she asked him:
 - "Where is Diana?"
 - "After canceling the flight to night, we took a motel 
room. She actually wanted to come here with me, then she 
changed her mind and decided to get a good night's sleep 
before tomorrow morning's flight."
 - "She knows you're here?"
 - "Yeah."
He said that casually, while taking his black leather jacket 
off. Scully waited for a second, then apologized: 
 - "Mulder, I'm so sorry to have caused you all..."
 - "No, it's OK. I actually came now to think that it's 
better for us to say goodbye in privet."
He said that and sat down on the sofa. Scully took off her 
coat as well, then went to bring a towel to dry her hair. She 
came a moment later and asked:
 - "Would you like me to offer you some thing?"
Mulder thought for a moment then said with a smile:
 - "Yes. Your phone book."
 - "My phone book! Would you like some cream with it?"
He laughed and explained:
 - "I just want to order a pizza. How would you like yours?"
 - "Vegetarian. Green peppers and black olives."
So he picked up the phone and dialed. 

Scully was watching him with a faint smile on her face. She 
was so happy that he went through all that trouble, just to 
say good buy to her. Nothing else matters now. She now knows 
that he really loves her, but in a slightly different way. 
Best friends way.

Mulder put down the phone after placing the order, then 
turned to face her:
 - "Diana and I must have gone through a thousand pizzas 
during university years. We used to over eat whenever we had 
a final coming up."
 - "So did you first meet at university?"
 - "Yeah. Criminal Psychology class. It's funny, because in 
the beginning I hated her for always being the head of the 
class, I mean I wanted to be the head of the class my self. 
Then I came to admire her work and theories."
 - "She had theories?"
 - "She had plenty of theories. I mean you think I'm spooky?"
 - "Is that why you liked her? Because she was spookier than 
you were?"
 - "I guess that was the beginning, yeah. And after 
graduation, we decided to join the FBI. We'd worked together 
as a team for a few years when she suddenly said that our 
relationship was becoming too serious, and decided to leave 
to Europe. It broke my heart to see her leave."
 - "But she's back now."
 - Yeah. It took her almost seven years to realize that we 
were meant to each other. 
 - "And you knew that all along?"
 - "Yeah. Probably. Though there were times when I gave up on 
her, or wanted to give up on her. I got tired of waiting you 
know. It wore me down."
 - "How did you know that she's gonna come back?"
 - "I didn't. She just came back one day. And I wanted to 
have her back."
Mulder took a deep breath and started to explain: 
 - "Diana is a great source of strength for me. I mean it was 
only after she came back that I had the strength to liberate 
my self from the bureau and move on, to carry on a normal 
life, and to see life for what it really is for the first 
time since I was twelve.
 - "So are you saying now that the years you spent on the X 
files were a waste of time after all?"
He looked straight into her eyes and said:
 - "No, I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that they, 
within the FBI, weren't as fruitful as I thought them to be. 
And besides, I would have had to go through with them my self 
anyway, on in order to come to this conclusion. And most 
importantly, if I hadn't dug the X files out, we wouldn't 
have ever met Scully. And I wouldn't have missed that for the 
whole world." 

Mulder said that smiling and leaning closer to her, and she 
just smiled back. And before any one could say any thing 
else, the doorbell rang. Scully said: 
 - "Must be the deliveryman. I'll go and get it." 
Scully opened the door and took the pizza to the kitchen. She 
served the pizza on a dish then took it to where Mulder was 
sitting, and sat beside him on the sofa. 
 - "Do you have Parmesan cheese?"
 - "It's on the kitchen table."
Mulder went to the kitchen, brought the Parmesan cheese and 
two sodas, and they started eating.
 - "So tell me Scully, how is your new work?"
 - "I don't know yet. I'm still trying to adjust my self to 
be sitting at a desk from dawn to dusk."
 - "That's so boring." 
 - "Tell me about it. After chasing UFOs, and hunting for 
little green aliens, I feel now that I'm a cripple.
Mulder shook his head:
 - "You're not a cripple, Scully. You are just put in the 
wrong place. A place where you can't distinguish yourself or 
your capabilities in."
 - "That's why I've been thinking lately."
 - "Of what?"
 - "Quitting the FBI and pursuing my career as a doctor. It's 
a field I'm familiar with, and qualified for. I think my 
father was right after all. I guess I shouldn't have..."
 - "Don't say that, Scully. It tears me apart just hearing 
you say that. I know that on the X files we've been through 
five years of hell together, but at least we were together. I 
couldn't have done it with out you, Scully."
Scully started to take away the empty dishes, saying:
 - "What ever it was that we've been through together, 
Mulder, it's all over now. You and your wife-to-be now have a 
whole new life, waiting to unfold in a brand new city. As for 
me, I'm now a doctor- wonna-be. That's a whole new career. 
(Sitting down again) Actually a whole new life."
 -" But still, you were the best partner that I could've ever 
had." 

Mulder hesitated for a second then said:
 - "Scully can I confess some thing to you?"
 - "Yeah, sure."
He said, with a faint smile on his face:
 - "There were times when I thought, that, you and I were 
meant to each other. Times were I wanted to give absolutely 
any thing, just to be able to reach you. Scully, as much as I 
some times felt you so close to me, there were times when I 
felt that you wanted as much to shut me out. Tell me I'm 
right on this."
Scully, lowered her chin to her chest, wetted her upper lip 
and said, not looking at him:
 - "Mulder, we were meant to each other, but only as partners 
on the X files."
 -"Some times I felt that we were more than that. Scully look 
at me."
She lifted her head and looked right into his eyes, as he 
continued: 
 - "Scully, you can't deny that we had something going on 
between us at some point in the five years we've been working 
together, and that you let it slip away."
Scully looked away, and tried to concentrate on getting the 
line of discussion back from Personal to Professional:
 - "Mulder, don't confuse things. We were partners for five 
years. Every pair of partners have this..."
 - "Now you're doing it again, Scully. You're running away 
from me yet one more time. Scully, you know exactly what I'm 
talking about."
Scully pleaded with him:
 - "Mulder, you and Diana are meant to each other for life. I 
mean, Mulder, you were so happy today, I've never seen you so 
happy before. I guess you owe her a lot."
 - "Yeah. I know I do. But sometimes I can't help but to 
wonder, what things would've been like if you have given me 
the chance to trespass beyond your skin, to your inner self, 
Dana."

A few moments passed in silence. He was looking in her eyes, 
drawing circles on the back of her hand with the tip of his 
finger, and she was having a multi million emotions and 
thoughts rampaging in her mind and soul.

<I can't do this>, she thought as she fled away from him and 
stood by the window side to catch her breath. She pleaded 
with herself to pull herself together. <He came here merely 
to say good buy to a dear friend. He's not implying any 
thing. Mulder is just wondering>.  

Mulder left the sofa and stood behind her and watched the 
rain pouring through the window. 
He said softly:
 -  "Penny for your thoughts?"
Scully looked at his face, at his faint smile, and tried to 
smile back, drawing a tear. 
 - "Come here."
He pulled her close and took her in his arms, and this time 
she gave in, to all the emotions, all the memories, and all 
the tears. She wrapped her arms tight around him, held him 
close and closed her eyes. She listened to his breathing 
rhythm, inhaled his body scent, and let her dreams take over. 
She dreamed of taking him to a world where there is no end to 
their passionate embrace, and no limits to their partnership 
or friendship or relationship.

Seconds, or years, passed, no one knows, and they had to 
part. 
 - "It's time for me to go now."
But Scully didn't let go of him. 
 - "Don't go."

He looked at her, half-crying, half-dying. 

He lifted her chin, then cupped her face with both his hands, 
looking in her eyes, with the tears streaming down her face. 
He wiped a tear away then touched her lips. He then opened 
his lips, trying to say some thing he longed to say to her, 
but once again, she didn't give him the chance. Scully closed 
her eyes, and said with a weak, barely perceptible voice:
 - "Mulder, please don't do this to me. Please just... just 
go."

Mulder was torn apart by her words. He swallowed hard, then 
left her side towards the door, closing it behind him. 

Scully watched him through the window as he walked under the 
rain to his car, got in, then took off with a wonder still 
persisting in his mind.

Scully took her partner's black leather jacket, smelt him in 
it, put it on, and then went to sleep on his side of the bed. 
She drew the covers back, slipped her self in, then covered 
her self and fell in to a thousand pieces.
                                
                           MSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMSMS


End Note:
Praise me. flame me. e-mail me.
All will be answered personally
by the author.
A_11january@hotmail.com.