Title: Zoe

Author: Smurf

E-mail: [email protected]

Rating: PG/ R

Category: Romance

Spoilers: Christmas Carol/ Emily

Keywords: MSR

Summary: Mulder and Scully are brought together by a young girl with extraordinary powers.

Disclaimer: They aren’t mine. They aren’t mine. They aren’t mine! Sadly, I’m not quite intelligent or brilliant enough to have created these characters. I only put them into my own situation. Well, I created some of the characters, but the following are the ones I used and/or mentioned but did not create:

Special Agent Fox Mulder

Special Agent Dana Scully

Assistant Director Walter Skinner

Scully’s late daughter Emily

Alex Krychek

The Cigarette Smoking Man (and his other names)

Quequegg

Scully’s late sister Melissa and brother Bill

Mulder’s sister Samantha

Okay, I hope that’s everyone. All of the other people I made up, especially the delightful little Zoe.

The characters I did not create were created by Chris Carter, 1013 Productions, The Fox Network, and all the other important people I can’t think of off the top of my head. I do not intend to make money off this story without the proper legal contracts;

blah, blah, blah. No legal infringement necessary.

The songs in this were either written and/or sang by other people. I didn’t write them, and I don’t take credit for them.

This story is dedicated to just about everyone I know. All my friends and family who supported my story and read it. For the boundless compliments I was given (even when I needed critiquing rather than praise). Especially for my grandmother, Pat and my friend and fellow X-phile, Briehan. Briehan, thanks for all the mythology facts you helped me with, this story couldn’t have been complete without you. Mommom, this is for you, just because. Oh yeah, I also have to thank Chris Carter, Tenthirteen Productions, and all those other important people. CC, the great mind behind The X-Files, thanks. Last, (but certainly not least) David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson for bringing their characters to life and giving them soul.

-Smurf, Oh and Heidi for my nickname

"Doctor Hutchins to the OR, Doctor Hutchins to the OR." The nurses hurried all around the hospital halls. Occasionally, the tinny vice of the head nurse boomed throughout the intercom, paging a doctor. Patients admitted in and checked out. Visitors wandered aimlessly for the right room. It was a normal day at a hospital.

This average hustle and bustle escaped Dana’s eyes and ears. As she walked down the hall way, she smiled. Her heart was at peace. Her mind was at ease. Her plain blue hospital gown and robe rustled about her ankles as she walked. She knew she was not supposed to be up, but that didn’t concern her.

Dana took a turn down the hall to another hall that was lined with benches. Two large glass windows on one side looked out into the nursery. A handful of new dads looked in at their babies. They were all laughing, bragging, and making goofy faces into the window.

Dana looked into the nearest window and saw her. A small baby lay sleeping soundly in her crib. The name placard on the front of the crib read: MULDER, ZOE SAMANTHA. Dana gazed at the child and placed her hand on the glass. My baby, she thought. How she longed to hold her daughter.

Again, Dana looked over at the group of fathers. This time, she saw another man walking past the group. He was tall and lanky, wearing plain jeans and a tee-shirt. It was a figure she knew all too well.

She left the glass and walked slowly toward the man. As she approached him, he smiled, hazel eyes twinkling. At the same time, he seemed surprised to see her. She smiled a warm smile in return as he came nearer. When they met, they embraced each other tightly.

Dana stood up on tiptoe and kissed him on the forehead. Then, she whispered: "I love you, Fox."

Fox smiled and, then pulled his wife in closer and kissed her. Then...

BZZZZZZ!! Dana Scully’s eyes flashed open. She was jerked from her sleep by the disturbing buzzing of her alarm clock. After her heart stopped pounding and her breathing slowed down, she pounded down the snooze button and rolled back over. She still felt so tired. Maybe she could still get ten more minutes of sleep.

Dana closed her eyes and sighed. After a few minutes she reopened them and turned onto her back. She just couldn’t get back to sleep. That dream stuck in her mind. Scully’s mind rolled and twisted the dream, trying in desperation to wring out the meaning like a wet washcloth. What did that dream mean? Did it mean anything at all? I’ve seen too many happy-ending movies. All that came up was questions. More and more questions, with no answers.

As the everlasting scientific side of her brain finally settled down, her meeker emotional side started. She thought about the little baby in her dream. Her daughter with her blue eyes and Mulder’s dark hair. She would never have her own baby. A woman’s gift of bearing children had been stolen from her. Abruptly taken by the faceless enemies she and Mulder aimlessly chased. A single tear overflowed and rolled down the side of her cheek. She remembered Emily, her only daughter. The daughter she didn’t even know she had until shortly before she died. My dear, sweet Emily, she thought sadly. After Emily had passed away, her apparitions haunted Scully for the longest time. More tears spilled down her cheeks. This whole dream, with her baby and her husband... Mulder -- it seemed to mock and laugh at her. She had never felt so lonely in her life. But, this is how it always was; crying alone, in the dark.

She pushed these saddening thoughts and memories far away, to the far reaches of her mind. Scully sat up, took a deep breath and switched on her bedside lamp. Those saddening thoughts tried to sneak up into her conscious mind. Her brain wouldn’t let go.

Finally, she got up off the bed and went to her bathroom. She hoped a nice, hot shower would ease her mind. After she started the hot water, Dana turned and looked into the mirror. There she saw the reflection of a tired, lonely woman. Her blue-green eyes looked so miserable, rimmed with unwept tears.

She undressed and stepped into the steaming shower. Her tears were beginning to fall again.

Angel

Spend all your time waiting for that second chance

For a break that would make it okay

There’s always some reason to feel not good enough

And it’s hard at the end of the day

I need some distraction

Oh a beautiful release

Memories seep from my veins

And may be empty

Oh and weightless and maybe

Find some peace tonight

In the arms of the angel

Fly away from here

From this dark cold hotel room

And the endlessness that you fear

You are pulled from the wreckage

Of your silent reverie

You’re in the arms of the angel

May you find some comfort here

So tired of the straight line

And everywhere you turn

There’s vultures and thieves at your back

Stone keeps on twisting

Keep on building the lies that you make up for all that you lack

Don’t make no difference escaping one last time

It’s easier to believe

In this sweet madness

Oh this glorious sadness

That brings me to my knees

In the arms of the angel

Fly away from here

From this dark cold hotel room

And the endlessness that you fear

You are pulled from the wreckage

Of your silent revere

You’re in the arms of the angel

May you find some comfort here

You’re in the arms of the angel

May you find some comfort here

* * * * * * *

J. Edgar Hoover Building

Washington DC

7:10 a.m.

Fox Mulder sat behind his paper covered desk, bored as ever. He was happy that he and Scully had been reassigned to the X-files, but it was just a slow week. Lately, he had been reorganizing everything and updating files. After a while, that got kind of boring, so Mulder was taking a break from it.

He glanced at his watch; 7:10. Where is Scully? he thought. She was ten minutes late. Like ten minutes was really that late. Mulder was always bored when Scully wasn’t around. Just seeing her bright blue eyes, porcelain face, and fiery red hair; always gave him something to do. Whether it was joking around with her or just having her to talk to. The two of them had been partnered on the X-files five years ago. Actually, Scully was assigned to him to debunk his work into the paranormal. She didn’t share his beliefs in the paranormal, she was a true scientist to the core. If there was no proof, if she couldn’t analyze it, or if it wasn’t written in the Bible; she didn’t believe it. At first, Mulder thought she was a spy. She had been, but now, she was probably the only person he could trust. She was also his best friend.

Mulder sifted through the stacks of papers on his desk, waiting for something to jump out at him. When he didn’t find anything, he sat back and sighed.

Then, much to Mulder’s delight, in came his partner. As she walked to the other side of the office, to her desk, he grinned at her.

"Good morning, Scully." He greeted cheerily.

Scully glanced down at Mulder’s grinning face and tried to smile back. Somehow, she didn’t even seem to convince herself.

Then she tried a cheery reply: "Morning," that didn’t seem very real either.

Mulder watched Scully place her briefcase on her desktop and then slide into her chair. He knew that the smile and greeting were both fake. He continued to watch her pull the papers out of her briefcase and place them on her desk. She looked very tired, and from what he could see, something was bugging her.

Scully leafed through the stack of papers on her desk. They were all X-files. Some solved and needing to be updated and some unsolved and remaining mysteries. After they had returned to the X-files, Mulder had insisted that they look over and reorganize everything to his liking. Agent Spender, who had taken their place for awhile, had changed everything around.

Scully sat back in her chair and sighed. Even after her shower, her mind was still not at peace with that dream. Still, a thousand unanswered questions poured through her head. Except now, it wasn’t the baby she was thinking about -- it was Mulder. Why had Mulder been her husband in her dream? Was it a sign of things to come?

Actually, Scully enjoyed playing with this fantasy. Mulder’s kiss replayed over and over in her mind. Quite a few times they had come close to the kiss they both desired. But, neither ever dared to take the plunge. True, Mulder loved to tease her and make his smart comments. Sometimes though, he could be so sweet. Scully always succumbed to those hazel, puppy eyes of his. He was her best friend, all she had. This dream was now causing Scully to fully realize that which she usually denied: She loved Fox Mulder.

Whoa, Dana! She commanded herself. It is only platonic, right? Maybe so, but deep down, Dana wished her relationship with Mulder was more.

While Scully thought about her current relationship with him, Mulder looked up from his papers at her. He saw her blankly staring straight at him, and he couldn’t resist: "Hey, Scully. Are you fantasizing about me again?"

When Scully realized that she had been caught, she looked down at her hands. She felt the color climbing into her cheeks. But, she couldn’t let Mulder have the upper hand. Scully looked up, straight into Mulder’s eyes and retaliated with : "You wish," Then she offered him a wise smirk.

Mulder snickered and returned to his paperwork. He smiled to himself thinking, Yes I do wish. He had come to the realization that Scully was just accepting long ago. He did love her. He even confessed it a couple of times. The first was in his apartment hallway. He had told her that she made him a whole person. The second time was after he had gotten off the ghost ship. He told Scully flat out that he loved her. She didn’t seem to believe him, and it kind of hurt.

Ever since what happened in his hallway and the dreadful incident in Antarctica, Mulder had begun to think about Scully more. He always wondered what was really between them, or rather, what wasn’t. He also wished there was more.

Mulder and Scully both worked in virtual silence until noon. At noon, many of the agents had their lunch break, including Mulder and Scully.

Mulder switched off his computer and stood up. He grabbed his jacket and turned to wait for Scully.

"Scully," He began, "Do you have any plans for lunch?"

She was also turning off her computer when she responded with mock surprise: "Why, Mulder, are you asking me out to lunch?"

"Yep," He replied, looking at the floor.

"Good, because I’m accepting."

On the way out of the bustling office building, Mulder placed his hand on the small of Scully’s back, guiding her through the crowd. He did that a lot in crowded places, and she liked it.

"So, where exactly are we going?" Scully asked when they got out of the building.

"There’s a little carry-out cafe on Fourth Street. It’s called Susan’s Cafe, I think. I figured we could go there and then down to the Mall to eat."

"Susan’s Cafe, then eating in the park. Sounds nice." Scully replied. "Are we walking?"

"I don’t see why not. It’s only like four of five blocks. And if we get back late, it’s not like we’ll miss something."

Scully nodded, agreeing. With that, they took a left and headed down the four blocks of Pennsylvania Avenue to Fourth Street.

* * * * * * * * * *

Susan’s Cafe

Washington DC

12:30 p.m.

The inside of Susan’s was brightly lit, and smelled of hamburgers and coffee. There were two tables to the front, which were occupied. There were also six stools at the counter, also taken. A waitress in a light peach uniform smiled politely when Mulder came in. She looked him up and down, admiring his attractive features.

Scully caught these actions and rolled her eyes. She then followed Mulder to the counter. He had insisted on paying, so she let him. He had been particularly sweet today.

The waitress that had been checking Mulder out came up to them to get their orders. This waitress had very light bleach-blonde hair and smooth, young features. She was probably in her early thirties. Scully noticed that she wore a little too much make-up, and her uniform was a little too tight. The word ‘slut’ came to mind.

"Can I help you?" The waitress asked, staring at Mulder.

Mulder studied her for a minute, looking at the name on the name tag; Miriam, it read. "Yes," He finally replied, "I’ll have the fish filet sandwich."

The waitress jotted this down and then looked to Scully.

"Umm, grilled chicken sandwich, please." She said as nicely as possible. She had noticed Mulder’s antics. She knew he wasn’t just staring at the name tag. Men, she thought with a little sigh.

The waitress nodded, looked at Mulder again and smiled sweetly. Then she turned to walk back to the kitchen-- using a lot of hip swaying in the process.

It drew Mulder’s attention.

Scully looked up at Mulder’s face and saw where his eyes were directed. Calmly, and subtlety, she raised her elbow and jammed it into his ribs. That diverted his attention.

Soon, the flirtatious waitress came back with their food in a brown paper bag. Mulder gave her the pay and waited for the receipt. The waitress brought the receipt and grinned at Mulder.

There was a phone number and message on the back. He looked at it and shook his head. Then he pocketed the receipt and led Scully out of the cafe.

Have You Ever

Have you ever loved somebody so much

It makes you cry

Have you ever needed something so bad

You can’t sleep at night

Have you ever tried to find the words

But they don’t come out right

Have you ever, have you ever

Have you ever been in love

Been in love so bad

You’d do anything to make them understand

Have you ever had someone steal your heart away

You’d give anything to make them feel the same

Have you ever searched for words to get you in their heart

But you don’t know what to say

And you don’t know where to start

Have you ever loved somebody so much

It makes you cry

Have you ever needed something so bad

You can’t sleep at night

Have you ever tried to find the words

But they don’t come out right

Have you ever, have you ever

Have you ever found the one

You’ve dreamed of all your life

You’d do anything to look into their eyes

Have you finally found the one you’ve given your heart to

Only to find that one won’t give their heart to you

Have you ever closed your eyes and

Dreamed that they were there

And all you can do is wait for the day when they will care

What do I gotta do to get you in my arms baby

What do I gotta do to get to your heart

To make you understand how I need you next to me

Gotta get you in my world

‘Coz baby I can’t sleep

* * * * * * * *

For awhile, Mulder and Scully kept up with small talk while walking down Fourth Street. Soon though, they fell silent. Sometimes they just didn’t need to talk. There was a connection between them. And sometimes, there was nothing to talk about.

To Scully, it seemed as though there were more people out with children today. All the cute, tiny babies and toddlers; with their mothers chasing after them or playing with them. Usually, Scully didn’t let it bother her, but today it just made her miserable again. Her child-envy was resurfacing. She had started to cheer up today, when her dream came crashing back.

Mulder watched Scully as they walked. Ever time a child would pass, Scully would stare at them. Sometimes she would smile a little, sometimes she would frown. Mulder still had that feeling that something was on her mind. She had always been good at keeping her emotions hidden. It was hard for him to read her.

Once they reached the huge government park known as the Mall, Mulder and Scully found an empty bench in the sun. Today was especially warm and pleasant. Everyone was out; biking, jogging, or just plain walking.

Mulder, who had been carrying their lunch, took out Scully’s sandwich and his own. They both ate in silence, just watching the people go by.

Scully watched all the children laughing and playing. Her dream and the vision of her daughter remained in her head. The mocking dream had wrapped its claws into her brain and wasn’t going to let go. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes. But, she wouldn’t lose control-- not here, not now. She blinked back the tears and took a deep, shaky breath.

While eating his sandwich, Mulder continued to watch Scully. Usually, he let her decide whether to open up to him or not. This time, he didn’t think she was going to tell him anything.

He studied her for a few more minutes, finishing his sandwich. Then, Mulder brushed the crumbs off his hands and threw his trash into the nearby can. "Scully," He began, trying to think of how to get her to open up. "Something is obviously on your mind. It’s bothering you pretty bad, too. Care to tell?"

Scully looked over at him, and deeply into his eyes. This was one of the few times he had ever discovered something was wrong. She wanted, no needed to tell, but she didn’t know where to start.

Mulder saw her pained eyes and moved over closer to her. "Come on, tell me." He persuaded.

Scully nodded and began: "I had this dream, it was so weird, and so real." She paused and looked at Mulder. His eyes told her to continue. "When it started out, I was walking down a hospital hallway. I was wearing a robe and gown, I had been staying there." She paused again, now letting her dream sweep over her. "I came to the nursery and looked in. There was a baby there, that I recognized. She was my baby... err... ours. Her name was Zoe Samantha Mulder."

Mulder looked startled at the mention of their baby and his name. He looked at Scully again, and saw that a few tears had now begun to trail down her cheeks. He reached up and gently brushed them away. Then, he took her hand and spoke: "You don’t have to go on, if you don’t want to."

Scully nodded and wiped the remaining tears from her face. She couldn’t go on about their meeting. Perhaps she would later, but now was not the time. Now that she had gotten some of the stress and miseries of her dream off her chest, she felt a little better. Yet, there was still so much she wanted to tell Mulder.

Mulder didn’t exactly know what to make of the dream he’d just been told about. He knew how much Scully had been hurt over the last few years. So many of her loved ones had been taken from her. Scully herself had been abducted and unknown tests had been performed on her. Emily, the abduction; it all added up to the wild chases and theories that he had. Because of his beliefs, Scully had lost her daughter, her sister, and her hope to ever start a ‘normal’ life. It was all because she didn’t want to leave him. Hell, she could be in Utah doing normal investigations, or being a doctor like she’d always wanted to. But, she stayed because of him-- and he kicked himself again and again when he saw her like this. He just couldn’t let her go.

Now, the same questions that had been plaguing Scully all morning now began to rear their ugly heads in Mulder’s mind. Was that a dream a sign of things to come? Mulder had always taken dreams seriously, as visions of the future, twisted or not. Obviously, I was married to Dana; her baby with my last name. Am I destined to be with her?

While Mulder pondered the relentless questions of destiny, Scully continued to watch the people. Suddenly, one particular little girl caught her attention. She was about five years old, and all alone. Her jeans were torn at the knee, and her hair was tangled and dirty. She didn’t look as happy and gleeful as the other children.

"Mulder, look at that little girl over there." Scully finally stated, gesturing toward the child.

Mulder glanced at her. "Hmm. Maybe she got separated from a field trip or something."

"Let’s go find out if she’s lost." Scully suggested.

Mulder nodded as they stood up.

As they approached the girl, she froze in her tracks. She looked warily up at Mulder and Scully, but she didn’t run.

When Scully and Mulder reached the girl, they stooped down to her height-- to seem less intimidating.

"Hi," Scully greeted, "Are you lost?"

The child glared at her and frowned. "You are strangers. I am not supposed to talk to strangers."

Mulder looked at Scully and smiled. Then he reached in his coat pocket. The girl stepped back, afraid of what might happen next. Mulder just smiled again and revealed to her his badge. "We’re not strangers. We’re FBI agents." He explained.

The girl took the badge from his hands and studied it. She murmured, "FBI. . ." In quiet awe. Then she looked from Mulder’s picture to him and back again. "Special Agent Fox Mulder. Heehee, Fox is a funny name." She said, snickering. "Where’d you get that name?"

Mulder took his badge back, grinning sarcastically. "From my mom. What’s your name?"

"Zoe Samantha--"

Scully’s eyes widened. Her mind spilled out Coincidence, coincidence, coincidence.

Zoe glanced at her before continuing: "Hawkins."

"Well, Zoe, this is my partner Dana and you already know my name." Mulder then looked at a bewildered Scully and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Now that we’re not strangers, will you talk to us?"

"Okay," Zoe said, eyes still fixated on Scully.

"Are you lost?" Mulder asked again.

Zoe looked around. Then she responded: "No, I’m not lost, I’m at the Mall."

"Are you supposed to be with a school field trip?"

She shook her head.

"Where are your parents?"

"With God." She replied quietly. "They died."

Zoe then dropped her chin slightly and frowned. Her lip trembled a little, but she was strong. She wouldn’t let herself cry. It reminded Mulder of someone.

Then, Scully asked the obvious question: "Are you here all by yourself?"

Zoe nodded.

Scully knitted her eyebrows and looked at Mulder. In unison, they stood up to converse.

"Mulder, we can’t just leave her here. What are we going to do with her?"

"Well, we ought to take her to Bethesda and have her checked out. Then we can contact social services."

"Sounds like a plan." In truth it was a good plan, but Scully didn’t really like the ‘social services’ part. Here was a girl who needed her help, she had no one in the world right now. Scully looked at Zoe, thinking: She’s so cute, too. She felt like a kid staring at puppies in a pet store, wanting to take the cutest one home. "Zoe," She said, "Why don’t you come with us?"

"Am I in trouble?" Zoe questioned, cautiously.

"No, we want to help you."

"Okay."

Scully held out her hand to Zoe and smiled. Zoe placed her tiny hand in Scully’s and grinned back. Then, the tree of them began walking back to the FBI building. As they walked Mulder again took Scully’s hand, as a kind of reassurance. He knew what she was thinking about keeping Zoe. This would be hard if Scully fell in love.

* * * * * * * * * *

J. Edgar Hoover Building

Washington DC

1:30 p.m.

Upon arriving at the FBI building; Mulder, Scully, and Zoe headed towards the parking garage. On the way, passing agents stared at them. Two agents with a dirty five- year- old. It was "Spooky" Mulder and "Mrs. Spooky" nonetheless.

Finally, they located Mulder’s dark blue Ford Taurus. Mulder went to the passenger’s side and helped Zoe get in and buckled up. Meanwhile, Scully slipped into the front seat. When Zoe was situated, Mulder went around to the driver’s side and also got in. Then, he started the car and pulled out of the garage.

The short drive to Bethesda Naval Hospital was fairly silent. Small talk was not a common occurrence between Mulder and Scully. They didn’t exactly want to talk about Zoe right in front of her, so they kept quiet.

Mulder constantly glanced in the rear- view mirror at Zoe. There was something about their conversation with her that seemed strange to him. Whenever he or Scully asked her a question, she paused and studied them before answering. It seemed as though her answers were pre-meditated. Also, her eyes remained locked with the person’s she was talking to. It might just be good conversation skills, but Mulder had a feeling it was something else.

In the back, Zoe was drifting off. She was so tired. She hadn’t slept for the past four days, since her parents died. Now that she felt safe and comfortable, she dozed with ease.

Scully turned and looked at Zoe. She saw Zoe was sleeping and smiled. It felt so weird to her, having a child sleeping in the back of Mulder’s car. "Mulder, where do you think Zoe came from?" She asked finally.

Mulder looked at her, puzzled. "Well, Scully, when a man and a woman love each other very much--"

"Oh, you’re funny. I don’t mean that." She interrupted. "I know all about that. What I mean is, it’s not every day you find a child alone in the park who says her parents died. Shouldn’t she be in the custody of social services or another guardian by now?"

"She could have run away." Mulder stated with a shrug.

"Mulder, teenagers run away, dogs run away; not normal five-year-old girls. They are too dependent on their parents."

Mulder glanced at her again. "What if she’s not normal."

"I don’t want to hear this right now."

"No, seriously, what if she’s. . . different."

"Please. Not now."

Finally, Mulder was silent, but he still had a feeling that he was right.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Bethesda Naval Hospital

Bethesda, Maryland

1:52 p.m.

Once they arrived at Bethesda, Zoe was taken to the children’s ward. She needed to have some tests and have all her papers checked. Zoe was also given a bath and some new clothes. Now she, Mulder, and Scully sat in a doctor’s office, awaiting the return of Doctor Daniel Slane.

The room smelled like antiseptic and paper. It all made Zoe uncomfortable. She had seen too many doctor’s and been in too many offices in her lifetime. Just being in the hospital brought back memories she didn’t care to remember.

Within a few minutes, the doctor came back to the office. Mulder and Scully looked to the doctor, awaiting the news.

"Well," He began, "All of the tests came back okay. As far as we can tell, Zoe is fine. Other than slight malnutrition and temporary hypoglycemia, of course. With good, regular meals, she should be healthy in a few weeks. However, we did find something-- or rather, we didn’t."

"What’s that?" Scully asked.

"We couldn’t find any of Zoe’s papers."

"What do you mean?"

"Zoe lived at Dupont Circle. She was born here. We have a file on her. When I went to pull her immunization records and medical charts, all I found was a copy of her birth certificate. Everything else is gone."

Mulder and Scully looked at each other, then back to the doctor.

"It’s kind of inconvenient," He continued. "Zoe will have to take some more tests since her records aren’t here. She’ll also have to take her childhood shots again. Measles, mumps and rubella, smallpox, things like that. Allergy tests as well."

"Okay," Scully agreed.

"So, if Zoe will once again come with me, we’ll be done in about thirty minutes." The doctor said as he held out his hand. Zoe hopped off the table and went with him.

Once they left, Mulder turned to Scully. "Why aren’t any of Zoe’s files here?"

"I don’t know. It’s strange, but someone probably just misplaced them."

"Well, I’m going to go get some coffee and a little toy or something for Zoe. Wanna come?"

"No, I’ll wait here."

While walking down the hospital corridor, Mulder heard a quiet voice beckon him: "Psst, hey. Over here."

Mulder looked around and saw him. He was a young man, Mulder couldn’t really see him, he was partly obscured by boxes. He gestured for Mulder to follow him. Mulder looked around, and casually followed the man.

He was led into a large storage room. It housed empty fluid bags, stands, gowns, and other typical hospital supplies.

"Who are you?" Mulder asked warily.

"Shh! You want us found out?" The man whispered harshly.

"Who are you?" Mulder asked again, this time whispering.

"A friend. Listen, that girl, she’s not what you think. She’s--"

"What do you mean?" Mulder interrupted. He studied the man. He was about Mulder’s age, with thick brown hair and amber-colored eyes. He spoke in a deep, and frighteningly serious voice.

"Just listen. This girl, Zoe, is a result of top-secret genetic experiments. Her father worked for a secret government agency aimed at making a more intelligent human being. He volunteered himself and Zoe’s mother as donors."

"Of..."

"Of reproductive organs. The gene therapy and altering was performed on babies, or fetuses. Zoe was one of few successes. Now, she’s sort of. . . superhuman."

"This project, who was it run by?"

"Who do you think?"

"The conspiracy."

"Yes, this project was an early one. Its main goal was to create a small race of these super humans to stop the colonization. Of course, once Bill Mulder thought of the vaccine idea, the project was supposed to be abandoned. But, no one came to destroy it. So, the small group of scientists kept working, right under everyone else’s noses. Zoe was born and raised a normal child."

"My father knew of this?"

"Of course, but he didn’t exactly like it, so I’ve heard."

"So, what happened?" Mulder was beginning to understand Zoe now, he just kept thinking: I should have known.

"Well, somehow the main group of men found out. They came to the lab and destroyed everything. Project ALPHA- HUMAN was destroyed, as were most of the scientists. The conspiracy’s hit men hunted down the scientists and killed them, in cold blood. Zoe was also supposed to be ‘disposed of’. But, she escaped."

"What abilities does she have, as a ‘superhuman’?"

"She has tremendous psychic abilities, far greater then ever recorded. So great, that when she’s older, the scientists wouldn’t even know they’re extent. She may also have telekinesis. She can access any mind like a computer, just by thinking about it. Unlike most psychics; she feels other’s emotions; reads memories-- even the ones you don’t remember. If your brain knows something, she knows it. Even if you don’t know you know it."

"Okay. . ."

"Another thing, she is in grave danger. The men are still out for her. The group’s best men are looking for her as we speak."

"How do you know this stuff?"

"That’s not important, I have to leave now." The man turned to leave, but Mulder stopped him.

"How can I contact you?" He asked.

"You can’t, I’ll contact you shortly."

"What should I call you?"

"Max." With that, Max turned and disappeared out into the hospital.

Mulder remained for a second, absorbing all the information he’d just received. He was bewildered and mildly surprised. Finally, he left to go tell Scully what had happened. She’s really not going to believe this, he thought.

He was right. Once he returned to Doctor Dan’s office, he explained everything to Scully. She just stood there, shaking her head. She didn’t know whether to believe this or not. Currently, she was leaning towards not. The story had holes and lacked proof. "Mulder, did you really expect me to believe this?"

"Not really. But after all we’ve seen, these guys could be capable of anything."

"Gene therapy leading to psychic abilities and telekinesis? Being able to read minds like point and click on a computer? It’s not exactly scientifically possible."

"Maybe not as far as we know. But I had a feeling Zoe was different. Like you said, five-year-olds are too dependent upon their parents to run away, but what if she’s intelligent enough to be independent. Did you see the way she looks at people when she talks to them? It’s like she’s reading us, like she knows something we don’t."

"A lot of children look straight at people when they talk. It’s taught by their parents, it’s called honesty. And if she has these abilities, why doesn’t she show them?"

"Scully, it was a secret project, she was probably taught not to be different. To hide her abilities."

Scully crossed her arms and sighed. She really couldn’t believe this. The ALPHA-HUMAN Project? A race of ‘super humans’? God, what had Mulder pulled her into now?

A few minutes later, Doctor Dan returned with Zoe. Zoe looked tired and overworked. "Well," Dan began, "Zoe did very well with all of her tests and shots. She checks out okay and can go home now."

Scully smiled and looked down at Zoe. "Doctor Dan, could we borrow your office for a moment, please?"

"Sure," Doctor Dan then stepped out.

"Zoe, Fox would like to ask you a few questions okay?"

"All right,"

Scully gestured toward her partner and stepped back.

Mulder knelt down in front of Zoe and looked into her bright sky-blue eyes. "Zoe, do you know things, that I don’t?"

"Yes, I know what you know. I know what your mind won’t accept. I feel your feelings. I see what you’ve seen."

Mulder looked up at Scully. Scully raised her eyebrow and looked down at Zoe. "You have psychic abilities?"

"I’m not supposed to tell people that, but someone already told you. So yes, I do."

"What am I thinking right now?" Mulder asked quizzically.

"Consciously, or unconsciously.?"

"Both."

"Consciously, you think this is very interesting. You believe most definitely. Congratulations, your hunch was right. You don’t want me to say what else you’re thinking."

Scully just shook her head, disbelieving. Zoe looked up at her. "You believe, too. You just won’t accept it. I can prove myself, but you don’t want me to do that. You’re afraid of what I might say."

"No, I don’t believe this. You could have made this up. Or presented it by interpretation only."

Zoe sighed with frustration. "Fox, I can make her believe, but she doesn’t want you to hear. Will you step out?"

Mulder nodded and did just that.

"All right," Scully began once Mulder had left. "What do you want to tell me?"

"This’ll be hard, but just listen. I know you love Mulder, don’t tell me otherwise, you would only be lying to yourself. You’ve truly loved him for awhile, but you’re just now starting to accept it. You really should talk to him. I know that it’s hard for you to tell him your feelings. You’re closed off."

Scully didn’t reply, she didn’t know how.

"I feel your emotions and his. He loves you, too. People have always mistaken you two for a couple. Why do you think that is? There’s a connection there. All I can say now is: Take a hint."

"How do you know these things? You barely know us."

Zoe smiled and tapped her temple. "Now, you’re not going to take me to social services, are you? I don’t want to go there. They’ll find me there. I don’t have anywhere to go, but can’t I just stay with you for now? I leave soon."

"I don’t know, Zoe. I can’t just keep you."

"They think I’m dead, it’ll work out."

"I don’t know. Well, c’mon, let’s get out of this place."

Then Scully and Zoe left Doctor Dan’s office and rejoined Mulder. On the way, Mulder looked to see if Max was still around. He was no where to be seen.

* * * * * * * * * * *

J. Edgar Hoover Building

Washington DC

3:00 p.m.

After returning to the FBI building, Mulder and Scully took Zoe and went downstairs to their office. On the way, Mulder got some snacks and drinks from a vending machine. Now, Scully was at her desk doing a search on Zoe’s family. Zoe sat on the floor, ravenously eating her snack. Mulder was searching through current police reports over the internet.

Zoe finished up her snack and remained on the floor. She was bored now. Normally, she would be content reading what people were thinking, but Mulder and Scully were totally absorbed in work, and that was boring. This place was strange and there was nothing to do. Finally, she stood up and went over to Dana. "Do you have any crayons, by any chance?" She asked politely.

Scully thought for a moment, then she replied. "As a matter of fact, I think I do." She opened her bottom desk drawer and pulled out her purse. Then, she opened that and rummaged around in it before revealing a small box of Crayola Crayons. "Here you go. Here some scrap computer paper, too."

Zoe grinned and settled back down on the floor with the paper and crayons.

"Scully, I couldn’t help but notice that you carry around crayons in your purse. Do you have a hobby or something I should know about?"

Scully glared at him. "No I don’t have a hobby you should know about. I think Bill’s daughter put them in there."

"Who’s Bill?" Zoe cut in.

Instead of directly telling her who Bill was, Scully decided to humor her. "Guess," She answered.

Zoe glanced up at Scully in mild amusement. "Bill Scully. He’s your older brother. He loves you very much, but he can’t stand your partner."

Scully nodded and turned back to her computer search. She had been looking up information on Zoe in the ING--the Intelligence Network Gateway. So far, all she had found was name, parents, and an address.

"Zoe, what were your parents’ names?"

"Matthew and Robin Hawkins."

Scully typed ‘Hawkins, Matthew’ under the search category. She left the database as civilian. Then she clicked ‘search’. After a few seconds, a list of Matthew Hawkins’s came up. With slight name variations and different addresses, of course. Then, Scully narrowed her search to the DC area. This time, a file came up. There was a picture, an address, and a small bit of background information. The picture showed a young man in his early thirties. He had dirty blonde hair and gray- blue eyes. He was attractive by any standards. The short paragraph below Mr. Hawkins’s picture was about his education and family life. Nothing on his career.

"This is strange." Scully stated. "There’s absolutely nothing on his career."

"Of course not, Scully. He worked for a secret government agency." Mulder replied.

Scully shook her head. "Well, there would at least be something, and there is nothing."

Right after she said this, Scully got an idea. She again searched for Matthew, only this time, she lumped him in with the ‘government’ category. After a few seconds, a huge mass of information scrolled up the screen faster than Scully could read it. Then, the computer beeped twice and a large flashing box appeared. Blinking red and white, it stated:

RESTRICTED! RESTRICTED

"Damn," Scully mumbled under her breath.

"What happened?" Mulder asked.

"It’s restricted." Scully then tried hitting the escape key, in small hopes that the box would just go away. Instead, the computer let out one long beep and the file crashed. The screen flashed back to the search database. "Damn." Scully muttered once more. She sat back and sighed. This was going no where, fast.

"Bingo!" Mulder suddenly exclaimed. "Scully come look, I think I found what we’ve been looking for."

Scully was already out of her seat and leaning over Mulder’s shoulder. He had found a short police report on the ‘open-and-shut’ case on Dupont Circle:

Scully scanned this information quickly. Then she looked down at Mulder, one eyebrow raised in a thoughtful expression.

"The rest of this is forensics, who was involved in the investigation, and in-depth details." Mulder stated.

"They actually found the child’s body?"

"So they say. What do you think? An impostor?"

"Hmm. I don’t know. Zoe’s here. She’s obviously not dead. Perhaps we should take a look at the body." Scully suggested.

"Good idea."

Scully turned to return to her desk when Mulder’s phone rang. He picked it up and answered: "Hello," There was a brief pause. "Yes, sir. Yes, she’s here, too." Another pause. "I understand, sir. We’ll be right up."

Scully looked at Mulder, ready for his explanation.

"That was Skinner. Someone told him we had small child with us in a government building. He wants to see us and get an explanation of this case."

Scully nodded, thinking Great.

Then she quickly went back to the first file she found on Matthew Hawkins. She turned on the printer and clicked ‘print’. Meanwhile, Mulder was printing out the police report. Zoe knew what was going on and was cleaning up her crayons. She picked up the picture she’d been working on and laid it on Scully’s desk.

After what little information they had was printed out and shoved into an empty file folder, Mulder escorted Scully and Zoe to the elevator.

Assistant Director Walter Skinner looked over the bits of information that the two agents had handed him. They sat patiently before him awaiting his response. He had called them up here because another agent had reported seeing them with a small child. Since neither of the two of them had any children, he decided to see what was up. But, this information didn’t tell him what their case was. "I don’t understand," He stated,

"This seems to be a full and complete police report."

Mulder sat forward some. "The child described in that report, the dead one, well that’s her." He said as he gestured toward the blonde child seated on the other chair.

"Agent Mulder, are you trying to tell me she came back from the dead?"

"No, what Agent Mulder is trying to say is, she’s not dead. The police must have found another body. We’d like to find out what happened, why there was another Zoe Hawkins and what happened to her parents."

"Basically you’d like to reopen this investigation."

"Yes, sir." They replied in unison.

"Are you certain she’s Zoe Hawkins?"

"Well," Mulder answered, "She matches the photo in the ING file. And, why would she lie about who she is?"

"I still suggest having a lie test performed."

Scully nodded.

"Also, I want to be kept in the loop here. I’m not exactly sure how much merit this case has. I want to make sure you two aren’t wasting time."

Mulder and Scully agreed and were excused.

Then, they escaped back down to their basement office.

"So, morgue tomorrow to check out those bodies?" Mulder asked once they got there.

"Yes, and we ought to check out the apartment, too."

Then, Mulder glanced at his watch; 4:47. He sighed and went to his desk. There, he grabbed his jacket and briefcase and shut down his computer. "Well, I better be going. I’ve gotta go home and pack. See you two tomorrow."

"Wait, Mulder, why do you have to go home and pack?"

"Because I have to get a hotel room for the night."

"Why?. . ."

"Because, my building is being fumigated for cockroaches and I have to be out by six."

"Eww. . ."Zoe groaned. "Roaches are gross."

"Yeah, especially when they’re the really big ones and you find them scuttling around in your kitchen." Mulder teased.

"Eww!" Zoe cried, giggling.

"I’m not surprised you found them in your kitchen. Judging by how clean you keep the place." Scully stated. She thought for a second, then began to say something she couldn’t believe she was going to say. "Mulder, you don’t have to stay at a hotel. You can stay at my place for the night."

Mulder looked at her. "Really, Scully?"

"Yes, really. You get the sofa, Zoe gets the guest room."

"Oh, I thought I’d get to share the bed with you." Mulder cracked, his casual, lopsided grin crossing his face.

Scully just shook her head and switched off her computer. She would not even give Mulder the pleasure of saying "In your dreams." Although, it wasn’t such a bad proposal. . . Shut up, Dana! She commanded herself.

"Well, I still have to go home and pack. Should we meet at your place?"

"No. How about Pizza Hut, for dinner?"

"Fine by me."

"Do you like pizza, Zoe?"

"You bet!"

Scully got her briefcase and purse. Then, she took Zoe’s hand and led her out of the office. They waited by the elevator as Mulder locked up the office.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Pizza Hut

Georgetown, Washington DC

5:12 p.m.

After leaving the FBI headquarters, Scully and Zoe drove to Georgetown where Scully lives. There, they went to a K-Mart to buy Zoe a few things. Even if Scully wasn’t keeping Zoe, the poor child still didn’t have anything but the donated clothes on her back. So, Scully bought her some more outfits and other things.

Now, they waited outside the restaurant for Mulder. Suddenly, that familiar lanky figure approached them. Scully smiled as he walked towards them and Zoe ran up to greet him. Then, they went inside.

Inside, the restaurant smelled like pepperonis and tomato sauce. The room was decorated in traditional red and white checked tablecloths. A small, round hearth was in the center of the room. The lighting was dim with a very warm, homey atmosphere. Almost all of the tables and booths were filled with families enjoying a nice dinner together. Waitresses scurried to and fro, filling out orders.

Mulder, Scully, and Zoe waited for a hostess to seat them. Finally, a young brunette woman greeted them as the hostess who would seat them now. She looked tired and stressed out, but she tried to have a cheery composure. "Smoking, or non?" She asked while grabbing two menus.

"Non, please." Mulder answered.

"Would you like a coloring sheet?" The hostess asked next, attention directed toward Zoe.

"Yes, please." Zoe answered politely.

The hostess grabbed a blank coloring sheet and a cup of broken crayons. Then, she led the trio to a vacant corner booth. Zoe slid in first, then Mulder, and finally, Scully. The hostess handed them their menus and left.

Zoe set right to work on her coloring sheet. Mulder watched her for a minute, then picked up a crayon.

"Can I color, too?" He asked childishly.

Zoe giggled and slid the paper towards him some.

Scully thought this was the first time she’d ever seen Mulder coloring a dinosaur blue.

A few minutes later, a waitress walked up to their table. "Hi, my name is Briehan and I’ll be your server this evening. Can I start you out with some drinks or appetizers?"

"Actually, I think we’re ready to order, too." Scully replied.

"Okay,"

"I think we’ll have a large pizza with everything on it, but anchovies."

"And mushrooms." Mulder added.

"And sausage." Zoe requested.

"Okay," Scully said impatiently. "One large pizza. Hold the mushrooms, anchovies, and sausage. Extra cheese, stuffed crust."

Briehan nodded and jotted this down. "Drinks?" She asked next.

"Sprite." Zoe replied quickly.

Mulder put the crayon down and pondered for a moment. "Do you have Miller Lite?"

"Yes, we do."

"You know what, that sounds good. I’ll have a Miller Lite, too." Scully added.

Briehan wrote the drinks down and smiled. Then she turned and headed to the kitchen to place the orders.

Until the food came, Mulder and Scully just talked a little. It was kind of awkward though, there wasn’t really anything to talk about.

Zoe sat coloring her paper, silently reading the unspoken words. She understood the amount of sexual tension between the two. She found it very interesting how they would think one thing, then say something totally different. She noted the care they took not to blurt something that they were feeling. The problem was some sort of miscommunication. They had such a respect for each other, neither really spoke of their feelings about each other for the fear of the other's opinion. Mulder expressed his feelings, but he disguised them in sarcastic comments and witty retorts. Scully took the sarcasm and witty remarks at face value, as jokes. Scully hid her feelings all together. She was closed off. Zoe came to one conclusion about her new friends. These two needed to be together, but they were going to need her help. To push them into that metaphorical relationship pool.

After a while, Briehan the waitress came back with their pizza. Mulder served everyone a piece and they all dug in. "Wait a minute," He suddenly stated, interrupting the meal. Once he had their attention, he continued: "We’re eating this pizza backwards. It’s stuffed crust, you’re supposed to eat it like this." Mulder then turned his slice of pizza around, eating it crust first. Zoe snickered and did the same. Scully rolled her eyes, but she turned her pizza around too.

The rest of dinner was spent laughing and enjoying the pizza. The three of them talked about different things. Mulder and Zoe together were a regular couple of comedians. Whenever Mulder made a smart comment, Zoe was right there with a wiser retort. After they had finished, Mulder asked for the check. Once Briehan had come back, Mulder left a tip on the table and went to the register to pay.

"Mulder, I got it." Scully said, snatching the check from him.

"No, it’s customary for the gentleman to handle the check." He remarked, taking it back.

Scully threw her hands up in surrender and joined Zoe by the door. After Mulder had paid for dinner, they all went out to the cars. This time Zoe opted to ride with Mulder.

* * * * * * * * * * *

The drive from the Pizza Hut to Scully’s apartment was short. However, it was just enough time for Zoe to talk to Mulder. "Fox, you believe I read minds, right?"

"Why do you ask questions when you can find out the answer?"

"Okay. You also know that to me, your mind is like a computer. I can access any thought, emotion, or memory, just by thinking about it." Zoe paused. She glanced at Mulder. He seemed to be intently watching the road, but she knew he was listening. "Also, I’ve been studying psychology and neurology books for a year and a half. Well, one of your emotions is very strong. Love. Love for Dana, and lots of it. You admit, once in a while. Only at certain times though. Sometimes it’s the wrong time. You have to talk to her, soon. That dream she had, it’s still fresh in her mind. It’s making her accept the fact that she loves you more than just in a platonic way. She’s a closed off person. You have to start the conversation before something changes her mind." Zoe looked over at Mulder again. This time, he was smiling and shaking his head slightly.

"I can’t believe I’m getting relationship advice from a five year old."

"Who else is going to give it to you? Who else would you listen to?"

Mulder just shook his head again. He could not lie and deny his love for his partner like he did with everyone else. For, there are no secrets kept from Zoe Hawkins.

Zoe also remained quiet for the remainder of the trip. She needed to let her advice sink in.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Scully’s Apartment

Georgetown, Washington DC

7:45 p.m.

After a long, strenuous day of running to and fro around town; Mulder, Scully, and Zoe just sat around the living room. A normal day for Mulder and Scully usually consisted of a lot of going from place to place. Today was no exception. The relaxation at the end of the day was always the best part.

Zoe sat on the floor, holding the doll Scully had bought her. She had fittingly named it Polly. She was totally absorbed in the movie that Scully had popped into the VCR. The movie was Lethal Weapon Four. It wasn’t really a video for ordinary five-year-olds, but then, Zoe was no ordinary five-year-old.

Scully had never seen a child watching a Lethal Weapon with such enthrallment. She had been a little wary of letting her watch it, but she had insisted. It was a movie she herself enjoyed, but there were more important matters at hand.

Mulder loved this movie. Actually he loved all movies that had fake cops, FBI agents, or other law enforcement people in it. He just liked to make fun of how wrong they were. Scully was seated next to him on the couch. She leaned over and whispered to him: "Mulder, I think now may be a good time to find out exactly what happened the night Zoe’s parents were killed. It’s vital information. We need to know if her father murdered her mother then committed suicide or not."

Mulder nodded and looked over towards Zoe. Then he cleared his throat and spoke: "Zoe, come here for a second. We need to talk to you."

Zoe got up off the floor as Scully stopped the tape. She calmly approached Mulder and Scully. Mulder gently lifted her up onto his lap. Zoe’s eyes flicked back and forth between Mulder and Scully.

"I know what this is about. My parents." Zoe said quietly. Her eyes dropped to the floor and she took a deep breath. She knew this was going to happen sooner or later. "I watched my parents killed in cold blood. I remember it liked it happened yesterday.

I was in my room playing. My dad had just gotten home from work and my mom was working on dinner. All of the sudden, I heard this pounding on the door. So, I opened my bedroom door a crack and peeked out. My dad let a man in. He was wearing all black; black gloves, black hat, even black sunglasses. He said there had been some strange people around and he wanted to ask Mommy and Daddy some questions. He was lying, he was the only strange thing around. Anyway, Mom asked if he wanted something to drink, he declined. Daddy offered him to sit down, he just said, "That won’t be necessary." Then, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled a gun." Zoe stopped. Tears had begun to flow now. She took a deep, shaky breath and continued. "He shot Mommy first, in the back of her head. Then, he. . . shot. . . Daddy!" Zoe’s words were separated by sobs, but she pressed on. "I was. . . so scared. He started. . . coming towards my room. I went. . . out. . . the window, down. . . the. . . fire escape. I knew. . . su. . . something. . . was wrong. I could have warned them. It’s. . . my fault. . . they’re dead." She trailed off sobbing harder. She starting shaking all over, from trying to hold back those sobs.

Mulder wrapped his arms around the girl and held her tightly. Zoe continued shaking, but cried more openly. She missed her parents so much, and she blamed herself. Scully watched as Mulder rocked Zoe gently, telling her: "Shh, it’s okay, it’s okay." Mulder was very paternal about it all. He would make a good dad, some day.

After Zoe’s sobs quieted down a little, Scully got up and led Mulder who was carrying Zoe to the guest room. Zoe was laid into the bed and tucked snugly in. Mulder then left Scully alone with Zoe. Zoe was already falling asleep. Scully sat by her on the bed, gently stroking her head. She bent down and kissed the girl on her hot forehead. She was falling in love. Zoe was a daughter without her mother, Scully was a mother without her daughter. Giving her over to Social Services was going to be so difficult.

"You’re very good with her." Scully noted quietly when she came out of ‘Zoe’s room’. She plopped back down on the couch next to Mulder.

"It’s a knack." Mulder replied with a shrug. "Wanna finish the movie?"

"Actually, I think I’m going to take a bath and go to bed." Scully stood up and started for her bedroom.

"You want company?" Mulder teased.

"Not tonight."

"Is that an open invitation?"

Scully turned around and grinned provocatively, yet jokingly. "Maybe." Then, she turned and walked into her room.

Mulder sat for a minute, smiling. He knew Scully had been joking, but he wished it weren’t so. After a few minutes, he got up and went over to his suitcase. There, he got out a pair of blue silk boxers and other toiletries. Then he headed to the guest bathroom that was next to the guest bedroom.

Meanwhile, Scully had already filled the tub and gotten in. This was the only time she’d had to stop and think today. She kind of wished Mulder was with her, but she also wanted to be alone, to think. Zoe had told her she needed to talk to Mulder, she wasn’t sure when or how to got about doing that. For now, she wanted her mind to be a blank, so she could relax. But, too many thoughts swirled around in her head.

* * * * * * * * * *

After Scully had finished her bath, she put on a tee-shirt and boxers for pajamas. Then, she set her alarm and climbed into bed.

That was half an hour ago. Though she was tired, Scully couldn’t sleep. Her conscious just wasn’t settled. She wasn’t sure if it was because of the child in her guest bedroom or Mulder in her living room. It was probably the latter. While laying there for a few more minutes, she convinced herself she was thirsty. Scully got up and went out to the kitchen.

When she got there, she lit a small lamp that didn’t give off to much light. Scully was pouring a glass of water when she noticed the dim light emanating from the living room. She looked over and saw that Mulder was watching the rest of Lethal Weapon Four. She decided to join him, since he wasn’t sleeping either.

"Can’t sleep either?" Scully asked quietly.

"Not really."

Together, they watched the movie. For the next half hour, Scully managed to stay pretty much awake. After a while though, her eyes felt heavy and she couldn’t stop yawning. But she wanted to stay with Mulder.

Mulder noticed Scully’s falling asleep. He didn’t say anything however, he didn’t want her to leave. Instead, he twisted around, pulling the back cushions off the sofa. Then, lay down, pulling her down next to him. Now, they could watch the rest of the movie, and Scully could fall asleep comfortably.

Scully was surprised by Mulder’s actions, but she didn’t object like normal. She was so tired. At first, his touch sent chills down her spine, then it comforted her. She didn’t want to get up, and she loved having Mulder’s warmth around her.

Once the movie was over, Mulder turned off the television. Scully had been asleep for most of the movie, since she came out. So, he didn’t disturb her. He just slipped his arm around her waist and shut his eyes,

In reality, Scully was only half asleep. She felt Mulder’s arm slip around her waist and mumbled a sarcastic warning. "Your hand better not move up or down all night, or I’ll break it."

Mulder snickered at this. His breath tickled the back of Scully’s neck, she shivered in his arms, but not with cold. Within a few more minutes, they both settled in each other’s arms and slept.

Elsewhere

I love the time and in between

The calm inside me

In the space where I can breathe

I believe there is a distance I have wandered

To touch upon the years of

Reaching out and reaching in

I believe this is heaven to no one else but me

And I’ll defend it so long as I can be left here

To linger in silence if I choose to

Would you try to understand

I know this love is passing time

Passing through like liquid

I am drunk in my desire

But I love the way you smile at me

I love the way your hands reach out and hold me near

I believe...

I believe this is heaven to no one else but me

And I’ll defend it long as

I can be left here to linger

In silence if I choose to

Would you try to understand

Oh the quiet child awaits the day

When she can break free

The mold that clings like desperation

Mother can’t you see I’ve got

To live my life the way I feel is right for me

I believe...

I believe this is heaven to no one else but me

And I’ll defend it long as

I can be left here to linger

In silence if I choose to

Would you try to understand

I would like to linger here in silence

If I choose to

Would you try to understand. . .

That night, Mulder also had a dream. It was very real, and very familiar:

He was walking down a hallway. The hall was brightly lit and people rushed by in colored blurs. He had received a phone call from someone claiming that his wife was giving birth. However, he was out-of-state, on a case. So, it took him two hours to drive home, he had only been in Pennsylvania. Now, he knew he was late but maybe not too late.

He marched down the corridor, one thing on his mind: his wife. Mulder took a sharp turn down the hall, leading to the nursery. He hoped he hadn’t missed the birth, some labors took a long time. As he walked past a group of other new dads, he saw a familiar woman. She was by herself, and it was unmistakable who she was. That brilliant red hair, her small frame, and the way her arms were crossed across her chest. She turned and spotted him. Slowly, she stepped toward him. He smiled when he reached her and opened his arms to her. They embraced tightly. She shouldn’t have been out of bed, but he loved having her in his arms once more. He had missed the birth, but she seemed to understand.

She stood up on tiptoe and kissed him on the forehead. Then she whispered: "I love you, Fox."

He smiled warmly at her and pulled her in close. Then he kissed her deeply. "Dana, I love you, too."

Mulder awoke with a start. He was in a covered in a cold sweat, but not from fear. The dream itself wasn’t frightening, the similarity between it and Scully’s was the frightening part. He breathed heavily, trying to think more clearly.

This heaving disturbed Scully. She awoke slowly, not realizing what had happened. Groggily, with her eyes still shut, she mumbled, "Mulder it’s early, go back to sleep." Then, she realized that he was in a light, cold sweat. This wasn’t the first time Mulder had had a bad dream. "Mulder, what’s wrong, did you have a bad dream?"

Mulder looked over at her, shaking his head. "No, not exactly. Scully, do you think it’s possible for two people to have to same dream, only from different perspectives?"

"I don’t know. Why?"

"I just had the same dream you had last night, only from my point of view. I mean, you were there, by the nursery like you described. It was so real."

"Mulder, I just think that your mind remembered how I told it to you, and twisted it to your perspective. It’s a fairly common occurrence."

". . ." Mulder didn’t know what to say, now he was certain that that dream was a sign.

"Now, go back to sleep." Scully hugged Mulder and kissed him tenderly on the forehead, like in the dream. Then, she rolled over so her back was to him and closed her eyes. She said it was nothing, but the similarity scared her, too. What if it is a sign? When will we know? She fell back into an uneasy, disturbed sleep.

Zoe awoke around six a.m., a typical time for a child on a weekday. For the first time in four days, since her parents died, Zoe felt refreshed. Partially because she had spent the last couple of nights on door stoops, benches, or cardboard boxes. Those few nights had been cold, lonely, and miserable. Last night, she had come to face her parents deaths. She had been deeply upset by the painful memories, but she found comfort in the arms of new found friends. Crying, and saddened, she had been rocked to sleep by people whom she barely knew. But, they cared about her in a way only parents could. In the warmth and security of those friends, Zoe found her inner strength once again. She would need that strength, too. Soon, she would have to venture back to that place of death, her apartment.

For now, Zoe was content with watching early morning cartoons. Dana and Fox still slept on the sofa. It wasn’t a sound sleep, both of them were obviously plagued by dreams and inner thoughts. Neither snored, but they weren’t exactly silent sleepers either. Quiet groans and muffled mumbles commonly escaped them. Both Fox and Dana seemed totally engrossed in certain. . . types of dreams.

Gross is right, Zoe thought to herself. She had allowed herself to read parts of the dreams. They involved things Zoe didn’t care much to think about. Hot showers, beaches, beds; things like that. If I ever dream about stuff like that, or about other people like that, someone please kill me. She silently told herself with a grimace.

Zoe would have let them sleep longer, but hunger was getting the best of her. She decided it was time for them to get up. Boldly, she crept up to the sofa. She tapped Mulder’s arm, the one around Scully’s shoulders and hanging off the edge of the couch. He grunted and slowly opened one eye. When he saw what had disturbed his slumber, he slowly opened the other. Then he grunted again, something that sounded like, "Hmm?" meaning "What?" It was a male thing.

"Fox, I’m hungry." Zoe whispered.

Mulder nodded and rubbed his eyes. He glanced at the VCR clock, 6:45. He wasn’t too shocked to find that they’d slept in. They had stayed up awfully late.

Now, to wake up Scully. He looked over at her sleeping figure. She had one tight grip around him. Over the course of the night, the two of them had changed positions a lot. Now, Mulder was on his back, one arm around Scully’s shoulders. Scully was on her side, one arm flopped around his waist. Her head was resting on his chest. One of her legs was over both of his. Basically, she was using him as a full body pillow. He gently brushed a piece of hair from her cheek. She looked so peaceful. He did not want to disturb her.

After a few minutes, Mulder tried to slide out of Scully’s embrace. Her grip only tightened. He would have to be careful and gentle when he woke he up. Scully’s fisted hand was just above a very, very tender spot. If he shook her, he could risk surprising her. Thus bringing an immense amount of pain to himself. Finally, he made a move.

First, Mulder tentatively touched her jaw. Then, he traced the slender line of her jaw bone up behind her ear. She shifted a little, and smiled in her sleep. Mulder did it again, this time beginning behind her ear and going down. Scully dreamily mumbled, "Stop it, Fox, that tickles." Still, he persisted. He knew very well what this was doing to her, besides waking her up. He made a mental note to remember this.

This time, Scully opened her eyes a slit. At first, she thought the chin tickling was part of the dream she’d been having. Scully expected to wake up and see a lonely, empty bed. Then, she realized her (strangely very warm) pillow was breathing. Her eyes opened all the way to reveal what was actually Mulder’s bare chest. The idea that she had slept with ( not slept with, so to say) delighted and almost frightened her. Dana, what did you do? She thought. Then another, calmer voice popped up into her mind, Chill out! Nothing happened. I fell asleep. I already know I love him. No harm done! Slowly, Dana lifted her head and looked at Mulder.

He smiled. "Morning."

"Good morning." She replied. She sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Then, she rolled her neck, wincing in pain. This stupid couch always hurt her back, no matter who she slept on.

Mulder sat up and rubbed her shoulders. He knew how she felt, although he could sleep on just about anything.

"Better?" He asked.

"Yeah." Scully answered. She leaned in, thoroughly enjoying this.

After a few minutes, Mulder stopped the shoulder massage and got up. Scully also got up and headed to her room. She began getting her clothes ready for the day. A thousand thoughts ran into her head. Suddenly, one dominate on burst through the others: What if I talked in my sleep again? Those dreams, what if I blabbed? For a minute, Scully panicked. She didn’t want Mulder to find out through her dreams. Then, she forgot about her clothes and went back out to the kitchen.

Mulder was pouring a bowl of cereal for Zoe. Zoe smiled as Scully approached.

"Hi," She said.

"Morning," Scully replied casually. She noticed Mulder was still clad in nothing but his boxers. Oh great, she thought, He prefers to run around my apartment in his underwear. Not that she truly minded, in fact, she had to bite her lip to keep from blurting "Ooh baby."

Scully sat down at the table and poured herself a bowl of cereal. Between bites, she thought of how to ask Mulder if he heard her talking. "Mulder, I didn’t happen to. . . umm. . . talk in my sleep last night, did I?"

"Not that I heard, why?"

"Because, I’ve been told that I do that sometimes and I just wanted to make sure I didn’t wake you up or something."

"Okay. . ."

Breakfast that morning was fairly quiet and as normal as it could be. Except for an episode when Mulder lost track of how old he really was and threw a piece of cereal at Zoe. Zoe, of course, retaliated by throwing some back. Scully was going to threaten spanking, but she thought Mulder would enjoy that too much, so she just made him clean it up. Sometimes, it felt like instead of one cute little five-year-old running around her apartment, she had two. Yippee.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Somewhere in Maryland

7:13 a.m.

As Alex entered the small, dim office; he was enveloped by the acrid aroma of cigarette smoke. He approached the heavy wooden desk and from within the haze, a gruff voice commanded him:

"Have a seat, Mr. Krychek."

Alex casually sat down. The Cigarette Smoking Man breathed in another puff on his cigarette. Then, he blew smoke in Alex’s direction. Alex just stared at him easily, he wasn’t intimidated by him anymore. And, Alex had learned not to cough or sputter, it only amused the old bastard.

"I heard about your successes with the ALPHA-HUMAN Project. And, your failure."

Alex merely nodded.

"When the police were through, the furniture and things in the apartment were properly disposed of?"

"Yes."

"Was the leak found?"

"No. So far we know he is using the alias ‘Max’. Also, he was one of the central members. A close colleague with Matthew Hawkins. I have men out searching for leads as we speak."

CSM sucked on his Morley cigarette for a few more minutes. Then, he snuffed it out in the already overflowing ashtray. "It is vital we find this leak, before he squeals too much. Now, have you found the girl?"

"No, I know who she found though."

"Mulder."

Krychek nodded. "The scientists strongly advised you against seeing the girl, but you insisted."

"She is stronger and more intelligent than I thought."

"Yes, she will be located, though."

"Do anything you have to, but get her. Anything you need, is at your disposal. If you can, I want you to see that perhaps Mulder and his partner forget they even saw her."

At this time, Alex rose to leave. He was on his way out the door when CSM spoke again, "Alex, get her alive. She may still be of some use to us."

* * * * * * * * * * *

Scully’s Apartment

7:30 a.m.

Scully now sat on Zoe’s bed, Zoe in front of her. Scully was brushing the night’s tangles out of Zoe’s light blonde hair.

After they had eaten, all three of them had gotten dressed. Now there were some last few things to tend to, and they would leave.

Dana lifted Zoe’s waist length hair to brush the underside when she noticed something. On the nape of Zoe’s neck, near her hairline, was a small mark. Scully panicked, visions of her daughter’s fatal cyst filling her head. Emily’s death was partially due to a small cyst on the nape of her neck. She regained control and studied it closer. No, not a cyst, but a tattoo. She rubbed it with her thumb. Yes, a tattoo

"Zoe, what is this?"

"It’s a tattoo from the AHP. Daddy used to call it an ID tag."

It was very interesting to behold. Drawn in black ink, it was about three-quarters of an inch tall. The ink was slightly blurred with age. It showed the symbol for a female--the circle with the plus base--with the letters AH in the center. Beneath it were the numbers 0015.

"It means ‘ALPHA-HUMAN Female, number 15’. I was the first success out of fifteen."

"Fifteen people? What happened to the failures?" Scully asked this, afraid of what the answer might be.

"Babies, fifteen in-utero fetuses and embryos. If the pregnancy was still early, and they detected problems, it was aborted. If it was too late, the baby was born and ‘disposed of’. The failures were generally mentally incapable or mutations so bizarre. . ." Zoe trailed off, noticing the horrified look on Scully’s face. By this time, Mulder had come in and picked up what Zoe was talking about. He too saw Scully’s expression and sat down by her, taking her hand. Zoe had long since accepted the reality, but it still pained her some. She had seen how they disposed of those children. Then, she continued, "I was technically my mother’s fifth child. Her other four died. One aborted, two miscarried, one disposed of. All orders from the central guys."

Mulder shook his head. He wasn’t really astounded, but he still thought this was something of the worst they had done.

"The gene program only worked with some mixtures of some genes. They started tinkering during the first week of pregnancy."

"Did they only use in-utero babies?" Scully asked.

"No, they did use test tube babies. They tried three, all failures."

"Where did they get the donor ovum and sperm?"

"Well, some of the scientists volunteered their genes and their spouses’. They needed as much of a variety as possible, to mix and match. They went to sperm banks, too. But, the central men had their ways. All I know is that they were bad ways, against people’s wills. I could only get the most information from my daddy and a few other scientists."

Scully again looked astounded. Mulder squeezed her hand a little. He knew what she was thinking. About three years ago, Scully had been abducted. It remains unknown where she was taken to and who took her. All that was known was that there had been tests. Horrible tests. In one of those tests, all of her ovum had been removed. That is why she can’t have children. Scully thought that if these people had access to that ovum, they could be using them in all kinds of experiments. Emily’s birth had been a mystery as well. She was born sometime during Scully’s abduction. But, X-rays showed that Scully had never given birth.

Zoe sat in silence for a minute, absorbing Mulder and Scully’s memories. Then, she decided it was time to change the subject. "Hey, I’ve got another one of those tattoo things. Wanna see?"

Then, without waiting for an answer, Zoe pulled her sock off her right foot. She held the bottom of her bare foot up for Mulder and Scully to see. Sure enough, just on the instep of her foot was another tattoo. This one was smaller and slightly more blurred. It depicted an abbreviation in bold black letters, TR15. A smaller X was below and to the right of it.

"It stands for ‘Tracker number fifteen’."

"A tracker!" Mulder exclaimed.

"Chill out. Not anymore. It was a little chip under the X. After they found out about the project, my dad took it out. He didn’t want them to find me if I escaped. But, I have a feeling they’re looking for me. They’re close, too."

Scully shook her head, clearing her thoughts. Then she changed the subject again, "Okay, now go get your shoes on. We’re late."

Zoe hopped down onto the floor and pulled her sneakers on.

"You are okay with going back to your apartment, right?"

"I think so. . ."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

K. Vogel Luxury Apartments

Dupont Circle, Washington DC

9:00 a.m.

K. Vogel was one of the finer apartment complexes off Dupont Circle. Technically, the complex was really on Sixteenth Street, but some of the building faced Dupont Circle. So, it was denoted Dupont Circle, it made the place sound better.

Luckily, the building didn’t have a buzzer system. So; Mulder, Scully, and Zoe could go in without a problem. Zoe reminded them of the apartment number, thirty-six.

When they reached the apartment, Mulder tried to open the door, but it was locked. Thinking someone else had moved in, he knocked. No one answered. He pulled out his lock pick and discreetly picked the lock. Finally, the door opened.

They cautiously entered the apartment. Scully felt around the wall for a nearby light switch. She found one and flicked it on. What they saw next surprised them all. The room was bare. There was no furniture, no appliances, nothing. There wasn’t even a refrigerator in the kitchen. The throw rugs were even gone. All that was left was the original scuffed hard wood floors.

Zoe scanned the room in a daze. Then, she ran from room to room, switching on lights, searching for anything. All that she knew, all her memories, were gone. The mantle pictures of her family, albums, and scrapbooks. Finally, she went into a room across from the door and sat on the floor. It used to be her room, where the bed was.

Scully let her be, she figured Zoe might want to be left alone. For now, she focused on the most important thing at hand: Evidence.

"From the police report, Matthew would have been here." Mulder pointed to a spot approximately seven feet from the door. In the center of what used to be the living room. "Robin would have been here." Now he gestured toward a place by the kitchen entrance. "Zoe, here." The final spot, by the door Zoe had disappeared into.

Mulder got down on his hands and knees to inspect the spot. He took an evidence case from his coat pocket. Then, he snapped on a pair of prophylactic gloves and pulled out a small, sharp tool, resembling a scalpel. He used this to start picking at the floor.

Scully watched nonchalantly.

"Aha," He said after a moment of scraping the floor boards. "Dried blood, between the boards."

"Good, we can have it tested to see if it matches Zoe’s. And that body’s." Then, from in the room, Mulder and Scully heard a sound. They fell very quiet, listening. It was singing. The voice was very soft and sweet, a child’s voice. Some of the syllables were separated by sobs. Scully peered into the room Zoe went into and looked at her. She was singing. Scully slowly walked in and looked down at her. The words were more clear now:

"A-a-mazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a-a wretch li-i-ke me. I once wa-as lost, bu-ut now am found, was blind bu-ut now I see. ‘Twas grace tha-at taught my heart to fear, and grace my-y fears re-e-lieved. How pre-cious did th-at grace ap-pear the hour I-i first be-lieved." Zoe kept repeating the song over and over in her soft voice. She had her arms wrapped around her knees and she was rocking back and forth. A few tears streamed down her face.

She sat down by the girl and embraced her. Zoe looked up into Scully’s eyes. Her expression was both hurt and confused. "My mom used to sing that to me. Now, everything I knew is gone. So are all my memories.

"That’s not true." Scully replied comfortingly. "You still have what’s up here." She tapped Zoe’s head. "And in here." She tapped Zoe’s chest, near her heart.

Zoe smiled a little. "Oh wait!" She exclaimed. Then, she crawled over to corner of the room, explaining on the way. "I found this when I was little. I put all my really important stuff in here. I hope they didn’t find it."

Zoe reached the spot she wanted. She banged on the fake wood wall boards a few times before finding what she wanted. She slid one of the boards off to the side to reveal a secret compartment. Inside was a small metal box. Zoe pulled this out and opened it. It was filled with pictures. There was also a necklace. Zoe picked that up, first. "This is my locket. My mom gave it to me. It used to be my great grandma’s." Zoe handed it to Scully for her to see. It was a very polished gold. On one side was a large amethyst gem, on the other was an intricate carving of Pisces, the fish. "All the women in my family are Pisces. Some are early Marches, some are late February. I’m late February."

"Late February. I’m Pisces, too. February 23. What’s your birthday?"

"The twenty-fifth." Zoe shuffled through the pictures. Some were very old, some were newer. "These are pictures of my family, Mommy let me have them. These are my memories."

Scully smiled sweetly down at the girl, then took her by the hand and led her out of the room.

"Mulder, what did you find?"

"Just the blood, everything else is clean. A little too clean, actually."

Suddenly, a soft sound came from the kitchen; Mmroww.

The three looked toward the kitchen as two cats came trotting through the entrance. One was an enormous, muscular, yellow cat. The other was smaller with peculiar black and brown spots.

"DJ! Pepper!" Zoe exclaimed, running to the cats. "Come here kitties. I missed you guy so much." Zoe knelt down and the cats ran up to her. "These are my cats, DJ and Pepper. They go in and out of the kitchen window, so no one found them!"

"Do they scratch?" Mulder asked cautiously.

"Only Pepper when she doesn’t get her way. She’s too spoiled. We call her Princess Peppy. But DJ won’t hurt you. He’s a big teddy bear."

Mulder bent down and petted DJ. The cat seemed to like him. Mulder scooped the cat up and held him, scratching his head. DJ purred loudly.

Then, the inevitable question came up. "Dana, can we keep them? They’ve got nothing here to eat. And they’re all I have left." Zoe asked.

"Yeah, Dana, can we keep them?" Mulder asked also. They sweetened the plead with puppy faces.

Scully looked at the two of them and rolled her eyes. She was always a sucker for puppy faces. "All right. But if they break something in my apartment, they’ll live with Mulder."

Zoe grinned brightly and high-fived Mulder. Well, it was more of a low-five for Mulder. Then, she lifted up Pepper and followed Mulder and Scully out of the apartment.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Scully’s Apartment

Georgetown, Washington DC

10:12 a.m.

Back at Scully’s apartment, the two cats were being settled into their new home. On the way there they stopped at a store for cat food and other necessities.

"Can we leave them here alone?" Scully asked Zoe.

"Sure. What are you going to put the food and water in?"

"Old dog dishes."

"You had a dog?"

"Yeah, I’ll tell you about him sometime." Scully walked into the kitchen and took two plastic dishes out of the cupboard. In one she poured some water, in the other she put some cat food. At the sound of food hitting plastic, the cats came running.

"Oh, you know what we forgot?"

"Litter pans. Don’t worry about it. They scratch on the windows when they need to go out."

"So they just wander around the city and come back when they feel like it?" Mulder questioned.

"Yeah, they have licenses. And they can find their way back. They’re not dumb."

"Okay, so we have to leave a window open when we leave? Not a good idea."

"It wouldn’t really matter. If someone really wanted to get in here, they’d just break the window."

Scully sighed, surrendering. If these cats got lost, or run over, or something else; she would not be sent on a guilt trip. If they wrecked her place, Mulder would pay. "All right, Pepper and DJ are fine, I guess. Let’s go."

* * * * * * * * * * *

Bethesda Naval Hospital, Morgue

Bethesda, Maryland

10:38 a.m.

The morgue attendant shuffled her feet as the two agents approached. She’d seen them here before. Only this time, the woman had a small blonde girl tagging along with her. "Good morning." She greeted politely.

The two agents showed their badges to her and the man spoke up. "We were told that the Hawkins’s bodies were here. We need to see the girl’s."

"Okay," The morgue attendant said. "Children can’t go in though. Health code."

"Have the medical examiner come out here and meet us, please."

"She’s really busy."

"Then we’ll take Zoe in there to meet her. She won’t touch anything, I promise."

"But. . ." The attendant began, but Mulder and Scully were already on their way in. She pressed the intercom button, "Dr. Tripp, two agents are on their way in,"

The only sound on the other end was an exasperated sigh.

The room smelled like antiseptic and formaldehyde. A metallic taste hung in the air. The steel body cabinets lined two parallel walls. A row of medical examining tables lined one end of the room. Some of them had a sheet covered mound on them. Off to the rear right corner was a small office separated from the main room by a large glass window.

From this office came the medical examiner. She was a tall, slender woman. She had grayish-blonde hair and piercing green eyes. When she spotted Zoe, she frowned. "I’m sorry, children are not permitted in here." As she came closer, and saw Zoe more clearly, she froze. Her jaw dropped open and her eyes widened like she’d seen a ghost. "Oh my God, she-she looks just like her. That poor little child. Is she her twin?"

"No," Scully replied.

The ME shook her head, regaining her bearings, and her manners. "Oh, I’m sorry, I’m Dr. Tripp." She offered her hand and Mulder and Scully shook it. "Which body do you need to examine? They’ve all been autopsied. It was very obvious, what killed them, I mean. One gunshot wound to the head, instant death. They were to be transported to a funeral home tomorrow."

"Who’s paying for the burial?" Mulder asked.

"I’m not sure. They have no living family, so I guess some coworkers."

"We just need to see the child." Scully continued.

Doctor Tripp walked over to the cabinets and scanned the labels. She found the right one and opened it up. She looked inside and stepped back. "Umm..."

"What?" Scully stepped over to Dr. Tripp.

"It’s empty."

"Are you sure this is the right cabinet?"

"Yes,"

"When was the last time you saw the body?"

"This morning, I was wrapping it for transport."

"So no one could have come and picked it up early?"

"Not that I know of."

"Do you have the crime scene or autopsy photos?" Questioned Mulder.

"Yes," Dr. Tripp replied, already walking toward the filing cabinets. She opened up the drawer, flipped through the files, then shook her head. "I can’t believe this, it’s gone! The two adults’ files are here."

Scully turned to Mulder. Her expression said We’re too late, they got here first. He nodded. "Let’s go." He said. Then, he took Zoe’s hand.

Walking down the hallway, Scully spoke in a mildly irritated and hopeless tone. "That’s it. Mulder we have no more leads. The body is gone, all records of it even being here are gone."

"We still have Max." Mulder contradicted.

"Max. This man who we don’t even know, who for all we know could be a total nut case who made all of that up."

"What about Zoe’s accounts?"

"That’s all we have, and it’s just not enough."

"We found her too late, Scully. They were already searching for her when we found her in the park. Now, they know we have her. They know that we know about the project."

"Great, So now what do we do?"

Mulder shook his head and shrugged.

"Well, let’s go home and check the databases again."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Scully’s Apartment

Georgetown, Washington DC

11:40 a.m.

Now Mulder and Scully were stumped. All their leads were gone. Even those reports in the databases were gone. Any and all information on the Hawkins was gone.

Scully sat on the sofa, Pepper curled up in her lap. Pepper had taken a liking to her as much as DJ had taken a liking to Mulder.

Mulder was on the floor, playing with DJ. Mulder would sway his hand in front of the cat’s face, until he got his attention. Then, he would push DJ over and wrestle him with his hand. DJ would wrap his monstrous paws around Mulder’s wrist. He never used his claws and he didn’t bite hard. This cat chased anything that moved; feet, hands, shadows, etc.

For a moment, Mulder stopped playing with the cat and turned to Scully. "Hey Scully, you wanna get out of here? Get our minds off the case for awhile?"

"Get out of here and go where?"

"Well," He began, a sly smirk crossing his face. "We could go to the Y. Go swimming, play a little basketball. . ."

"Mulder, you want Zoe and I to come swimming and shoot hoops with you?"

"Sure, why not?"

"I thought you were fiercely competitive with that stuff. But, okay."

"Well, I finally convinced you to play basketball with me." Mulder remarked.

But, Scully was already heading to her room to change.

"Swimming!" Zoe exclaimed.

"Yeah, go get your swimsuit on. Dana did get you one, right?"

"Yes she did." Zoe ran to her room and shut the door.

Scully was in her room, changing out of her normal day’s suit. She couldn’t believe she was going swimming when she was supposed to be working. Although, seeing Mulder in his little red Speedo wouldn’t be too bad. Suddenly, two words popped into her mind: String bikini. Then, her rational side came in: No way! Too skimpy, Mulder would enjoy that too much. Hmm...

Finally, she decided. Then she pulled on a pair of warm-up pants and a Nike tee-shirt. She slipped on her sneakers, grabbed a towel, and went back out.

Mulder was already in shorts and a Maryland Terrapins jersey. Zoe was waiting by the door, in an outfit similar to Scully’s. She was eager to go.

Scully grabbed her purse and started for the door saying, "Let’s go."

* * * * * * * * * * *

YMCA

Washington, DC

12:30 p.m.

Surprisingly, the gym was deserted. Usually around this time of day, tons of guys on their lunch break would be here. Now, only four or five guys played on one half of the court.

Suddenly, a big black man in a Terps jersey called to Mulder, "Hey, Mulder! Wassup homes?!"

"Not much, wassup with you?"

"Ahh, we got a game next week. Your boys against mine. We are gonna whoop yo asses!"

"Keep dreaming JC, keep dreaming!"

Mulder led Scully and Zoe to the other end of the court. They put their stuff against the wall.

"All right, rules are the norm. Since we don’t have a clock, first to twenty wins. Scully, you and Zoe on me. Okay?"

Scully nodded and whispered something to Zoe.

"Ladies have the ball first."

Then, no sooner had Mulder reached out with the ball when Scully snatched it away. She dribbled it over to the foul line and passed it to Zoe. The ball itself was bigger than Zoe’s head, but she handled it well enough. Once she got close enough to the basket, she heaved the ball up with all her might.

Mulder could easily have snatched it out of the air, but he let it go. Two points, Scully and Zoe. Instead, Mulder rebounded and dribbled out past the three- point line, clearing the ball for his possession. Then, he shot, right from the three-point line. Nothing but net.

It continued this way for awhile. Every shot Scully or Zoe would make, Mulder would get the rebound. Then he would shoot it up over their heads. Finally, Scully called a time-out to talk to Zoe. "Zoe this height disadvantage is killing us."

"What do we do?"

Scully raised her eyebrows and smiled slyly. "Rules can be. . . bent." She said nothing more and Zoe knew what to do.

Mulder had the ball. He dribbled around past the three point line and set up for his shot. Only this time, Scully ran up and grabbed him from the side. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him on the cheek. While he stood there, stunned, she snatched the ball away. She dribbled around the three-point line and to the basket for and easy lay-up. Zoe caught the rebound and shot another two points, which was also an illegal move. The ball was technically in Mulder’s possession.

Meanwhile, Mulder realized what had just happened and was shaking his head. "Foul!" He called.

"Sucker! No it’s not." Scully stated, grinning broadly. "I’ve never heard of kissing the opponent as a foul."

Mulder sighed glared sarcastically at her. She retorted by sticking out her tongue. Then, she looked at Zoe and yelled, "Game!"

Mulder shook his head and pulled his shirt off. It was soaked with sweat. He grabbed his bag and went up to Zoe. Then, he lifted her up onto his shoulders and led the way to the pool.

Like the gym, the pool was pretty empty, too. Again, there were some working people there on a break. There was also a small class of children getting swimming lessons at the shallow end of the pool.

They found some chairs along the wall and placed their towels on them. Zoe kicked off her shoes and took off her pants and shirt to reveal a little pink swimsuit.

"I guess we should have asked this before we came, but you can swim, can’t you Zoe?" Mulder asked while untying his shoes.

"Of course." With that, Zoe ran over to the edge of the pool and jumped right into the water

Mulder pulled off his shorts to reveal that red Speedo Scully loved so much. Then, he too walked over and jumped in the water.

The pool’s water was cool, but not cold. It had that feel of regulated indoor pool water. Mulder surfaced in just enough time to see Scully shucking off her warm-up pants. Then, she pulled her tee-shirt off over head. She was left in a dark blue bikini. String bikini.

Scully had decided on the string bikini after all. She told herself it was only because she couldn’t find the other one. But, it was really to tease Mulder.

Scully turned away from the chair and started walking toward the ladder. Mulder caught himself staring at her in a way he normally did not, at her chest. He realized what he had been doing and dove under the water. Even with the coolness of the water surrounding him, he still felt the heat creeping into his face. More, new thoughts began sneaking into his brain. Years of watching pornography exploded into his imagination. Then, he found himself wondering what she looked like without the bikini on at all. What have I done? If she catches me looking at her like that, the teasing will never cease! He surfaced again, still watching her. His mind calmed down a bit as he remembered an old saying: ‘You never stop looking until you go blind or die.’ Finally, he decided to ignore it, for now.

Instead, he swam over to Zoe. Once he got close enough, he grabbed her by the waist and lifted her out of the water. She started laughing and screaming. Then, he lightly threw her back into the water.

Scully watched in mild amusement. She continued to watch Zoe splash around, pretending to be a dolphin. She preferred to relax rather than horse-around. Suddenly, she felt the sensation of being lifted up out of the water. She looked down and saw that Mulder had swum under her and lifted her up onto his shoulders. "Whoa! Mulder put me down!" She demanded.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, put me down!"

"Okay. . ."

Scully realized what was going to happen and tried to stop it. "No, wait! Mulder! Mulder, no! MUL--"

Too late, Mulder had already flipped her of his shoulders into the water. He waited for her to come back up before he started laughing. "Have fun?"

"Oh Mulder, you are going to pay so bad! But, not until you least expect it!"

"Ooh, I’m scared. I can’t wait to see your revenge."

They decided to swim for another half an hour before it was time to go.

In the car, on the way back to Scully’s apartment, they discussed what to do for the rest of the day.

"Oh, Mulder, how much longer do you have to stay out of your apartment?"

"Trying to get rid of me Scully? I’m hurt."

"No. . ."

"I called my landlord this morning and he said they fumigated and all, but something went wrong and they didn’t kill them all or something. He said maybe one more night if they can get it right this time. That okay?"

"Sure."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Scully’s Apartment

Georgetown, Washington DC

2:42 p.m.

"Mulder, I’m starting to think we should drop this case until more information comes up." Scully stated wearily. Once they had returned from the YMCA, Scully had looked over the evidence they had gathered so far. Zoe’s accounts of what happened; a small vial of dried blood, owner unknown; some report from a guy that calls himself Max; and that was it. "The only evidence we do have is by word of mouth. That isn’t enough."

"We still have the blood."

"That doesn’t necessarily mean anything. I mean, if the blood does match Zoe’s, who know how long it’s been there. Children get hurt and bleed all the time. Who’s to say she didn’t fall and bleed there a long time ago. What we need is the body to match the blood to. But, like you said, they got there first and they know we’re hunting for the truth."

"Max said he would contact me. This isn’t over yet."

"Again with the Max thing. No more about Max." Scully sighed and looked away. When she spoke again, her voice was quiet and calm. "Mulder you once told me that we all have our beliefs, and yours is in the truth. Tell me, what truth are you hoping to find? They’ve buried this, again. Any truth we had access to is gone. Now it’s time to think about Zoe’s safety. You told me yourself that she’s in danger. She should be placed in the care of Social Services; given a new identity and taken far away from here."

". . ."

"And this can’t be connected with Samantha. What are you hoping to find in this case?"

By now, Mulder had stood up from his seat on the sofa. He was starting to get a little perturbed. No, this wasn’t about Sam, his sister. She had been abducted when she was eight. Mulder’s life’s work was to locate his long missing sister. "The truth I want to find is exactly what happened to this little girl. The reason they had another project. I want to know how this connects to the aliens, the colonization. I want to know who killed her parents."

Scully was silent, she just stared at him.

"Tell me the truth: Do you really want to give Zoe to Social Services? Don’t you want to know who killed her parents, who disrupted her life? I’ve seen the way you look at her. Hell, I look at her the same way. We’ve known her for two days. I already love her like my own daughter, and I’ve never had a daughter. If we give her up, no matter where she goes, they’ll hunt her down like some kind of animal."

Scully still remained quiet. She was afraid the if she spoke, she would cry. She didn’t want to cry. No, she didn’t want to give up Zoe. She fell in love with Zoe when she first saw her. But, she was at a dead end. She didn’t know what to do now.

During this time, Zoe had been playing in her room with her cats. When she heard the quite heated disagreement between Mulder and Scully, she became curious. She peeked out through a crack in the door until they quieted some. They were arguing over her. "You don’t have to argue anymore." She claimed as she walked over to the sofa and sat next to Scully. "Please don’t give me to Social Services. They will find me. You’re the only two that can help me. The only two who believe... I don’t want to leave you guys. You can be my new parents."

Mulder ignored her plea and changed the subject: "Zoe do you know anything else that could help us out?"

Zoe cocked her head a little, thinking. "I don’t think there are any others like me. I’m not sure. There’s a slim chance my dad might not have known about them. Most of the other babies were failures."

"By any chance, do you happen to know you the Smoking Man is?"

Zoe’s eyes widened a little. "Yes, I know of him. I--"

"Wait a second," Scully interrupted, "Do you know of him from your memories, or someone else’s?"

"Mine. When I was younger, like two, he came to see me. It was just after he found out that the project was still going. My dad’s only chance for them to let the project continue further, was for the main men to meet me. They wanted them to see how far they’d come, in the tests. Anyway, he came to our apartment. He didn’t ask me any questions. He just watched me. My mom asked me a few questions, but I was too intrigued by what his mind was full of to give good answers. Well, he didn’t think I was smart enough. But I was only two."

"You did read his mind?"

"Yes. Some of the stuff I don’t remember, but I read it. The thing I remember most was all the coldness, the evil, and the hatred. His brain was rotted out by darkness. I remember you, he had a lot of thoughts about the both of you. In fact I remembered all of the stuff about you being his enemies. After what happened to my parents, I didn’t know where to go. Then, I remembered you. I was coming to find you, when you found me."

Mulder looked at Scully, and a moment of agreement passed between them. A joint epiphany.

The rest of the day was spent doing next to nothing. Mulder was content with watching television for a little while. Scully watched too, until she fell asleep. She was still recovering from going to sleep so late last night, and from all the activity from today. Mulder carried her to her room and let her sleep. Meanwhile, he and Zoe spent the next few hours being bored.

8:45 p.m.

After dinner; Mulder, Scully, and Zoe had again watched a movie: Die Hard. Then, at eight-thirty Zoe went to bed, leaving Mulder and Scully to watch TV alone.

Scully had been thinking about what Zoe had said to her the day before. About her needing to talk to Mulder. She had been too tired to talk last night, but tonight was different. She looked over at him trying to think of what to say or how to start. She hoped that perhaps he would start the conversation.

Mulder also was thinking about what Zoe had said. He needed to be totally honest and sincere with her. There were some things he had never told her, that perhaps he should. "Scully, you remember earlier when you asked me what truth I was hoping to get out of this case?"

"Yeah,"

"Well, there was something I didn’t tell you. I want to find out what they did to you when you were abducted. After hearing about the babies and where they got the genes, do you think. . . maybe. . ."

"There could be more of my children I don’t know about."

Mulder nodded.

"I hope to God that there aren’t. After what happened to Emily. . ." Scully trailed off. It pained her to think about it. "Why, is what I want to know, why did they do this stuff to me? To us."

"Us?"

"Yeah, I don’t know why I just. . ." Said that. Scully looked at the floor, trying to pass the awkward moment. "Zoe told me we’re closed off, we don’t communicate enough. I guess we should have gone to that conference after all." She stated, referring to a communication conference in Florida that Mulder had taken a detour off of.

"They wouldn’t have taught us anything important that we don’t already know." Mulder was quiet for a moment before continuing. "It’s kind of hard to believe she really understands what she’s talking about. I mean, did she learn relationship advice from reading college textbooks, or reading people’s minds?"

"You find something hard to believe?"

"Very funny."

"She barely know us and it seems like she’s trying to push us together."

"Yes, but there’s only so much she can do."

"You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink." Scully mumbled. She understood what Mulder was getting at. "Zoe also told me that I find it hard to express my feelings to people. Especially you. I suppose it’s true. I guess it’s because I’ve always thought I had to be strong. When I first joined the Bureau, I had to be independent to distinguish myself. I guess I took that too far."

Mulder gazed over at her. "It’s not too late, you know. You can still tell what your feeling. You don’t have to be strong all the time. I’m here, your here, and I’m listening."

Scully just stared at him. She clenched her jaw to keep from crying. This is what she’d always wanted, always needed to hear from him. She so desired to tell him that she loved him, that she needed him; but she didn’t know how.

Mulder placed his hand over hers. "Just tell me what you’re feeling, right now."

Dana closed her eyes and spoke: "My dream, do you think it’s a sign? A sign for us? I didn’t know after my dream. But after you had the same dream. . ."

"Dana, you know I’ve always believed that dreams are the answers to questions we haven’t yet figured out how to ask. So, I do believe it’s a sign. The question is: Do you?"

"Yes," She replied quietly. A single tear escaped her control and rolled down her cheek. She breathed heavily, trying to hold back her sobs.

Mulder wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in close. She didn’t ask him to hold her, but her pleading eyes betrayed her. "Dana, you know how I feel about you. I don’t know how to get you to say the same." At this point, Mulder’s voice softened. "But I know that I’ll always love you."

Scully gazed into his eyes. She knew what she had to say. "I love you, too. I don’t know why I never really told you before. I guess I was afraid. . ."

"It’s okay." Mulder replied. He put his hands on her shoulders, near her neck. He cradled her head, gently stroking her cheeks, wiping away the silent tears. His head dipped down, drawing closer to hers. She moved up nearer to him. He hoped against hope that this one wasn’t cursed, that it was meant to be.

Dana gazed still into his open hazel eyes. They were clear and sparkled with anticipation, like in her dream. She was way beyond common sense now, her heart had taken over.

As the tension in the room flared, they drew closer. Their lips touched, and locked. Scully laced her hands around Mulder’s neck, moving still closer. Eventually, Mulder leaned back, into a laying position. Now, Scully was on top of him.

Gradually she pulled away, for breath, and thinking space. What am I doing? He’s my best friend! This is crazy! Then, her own words rung into her head : Sometimes the best relationships are based on friendship. Her mind didn’t want to do this, but her heart and hormones were stronger. We’re moving too fast. . . her inner voice pleaded from the back of her mind. She hadn’t been with a man for a long time. So, her heart told her brain to take a hike, a long one. Scully’s hand was pressed against Mulder’s chest, his heart was pounding beneath her palm. She was certain she felt her heart skip a beat, or two. They both knew what was going to happen next, and they didn’t want to stop it.

Mulder looked up at her. Then he quietly breathed, "Is my invitation still open for that bath?"

"I have a better idea." She purred into his ear. She slid off him and took him by the hand. She led him down the hall to the bedroom. Scully knew this was what was supposed to happen, a fate they dare not change or even question. She preferred not to think of as a desperation, but that is what it amounted down to. A desperation to fight the loneliness.

"Scully are you sure about this?" Mulder asked. She didn’t answer. Instead she just wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him deeply.

The time that night passed like liquid. Every moment was like a blissful eternity. They delighted merely in each other’s presence.

Possession

Listen as the wind blows from across the great divide

Voices trapped in yearning

Memories trapped in time

The night is my companion

And solitude my guide

Would I spend forever here and not be satisfied

And I would be the one to hold you down, kiss you so hard

I’ll take your breath away

And after I’d wipe away the tears

Just close your eyes dear

Through this world I’ve stumbled

So many times betrayed

Trying to find an honest word

To find the truth enslaved

Oh you speak to me in riddles and you speak to me in rhyme

My body aches to breath your breath

Your words keep me alive

And I would be the one to hold you down, kiss you so hard

I’ll take your breath away

And after I’d wipe away the tears

Just close your eyes dear

Into this night I wander it’s morning that I dread

Another day of knowing the path I fear to tread

Oh into the sea of waking dreams

I follow without pride

Nothing stands between us here and I won’t be denied

And I would be the one to hold you down, kiss you so hard

I’ll take your breath away

And after I’d wipe away the tears

Just close your eyes...

* * * * * * * * * *

8:00 a.m.

Scully awoke slowly and dreamily. She was greeted by the soft, warm sunlight shining through her venetian blinds. It took her a moment to realize where she was. The room had its familiarity, but at the same time, it was different. She glanced down at herself, she was still naked. Instinctively, she tugged the sheets up higher. Being still half unconscious, she didn’t remember what went on the night before. Until she heard the soft, steady breathing of the sleeping person beside her. Then she remembered. Normally, she would awake to a lonely, empty bed. Not this morning. Just the mere thought of having her best friend beside her comforted her. She smiled to herself and turned over. Mulder was sleeping on his back. She moved over close to him and nestled her head on his chest. Then, she closed her eyes once more, wanting to live in this moment forever.

After another half an hour, Scully had fallen asleep again. Not a deep sleep, but a peaceful one. All of the sudden, she felt something brushing against her cheek. Thinking it was Mulder, she ignored it. Then, something heavy dropped onto her belly with a Whumph! She awoke with start, a dull throbbing arising around her stomach. Her open eyes revealed the culprit; DJ. He had been the one tickling her cheek. He must have jumped on her for attention. She grabbed the cat and pulled him next to her. He tried to squirm away, but she held onto the little menace. "Jeez you’re heavy. No, you’re not going anywhere. You scared the hell out of me." She said softly.

Mulder had felt Scully’s abrupt awakening and was jerked from his own sleep. He sat up and looked over at Scully. When he saw the mischievous yellow cat, he sighed with relief. "How’d he get in here?" He asked, scratching DJ’s head.

"I don’t know, he must have sneaked in yesterday."

"He was probably hiding under the bed."

"Mulder, last night, he could have been sitting in that chair and we wouldn’t have noticed him." She gestured toward the high backed chair next to the bed. Then she scooped up the cat and stood up herself. "Here," She said, handing him off to Mulder, "Put him out in the living room. I’m taking a shower."

"Want me to wash your back?"

Scully sighed. "You’re not going to stop asking that until I give in, are you?"

"Probably not."

"Well, the answer’s still no."

"That’s not what you said last night."

Scully glared at him and disappeared in to the bathroom. Mulder was left snickering to himself and staring at the closed bathroom door. The remark will probably cost him, so he let Scully be. He found his boxers amidst the scattered clothes on the floor and pulled them on. Then, as a second thought, he gathered up those clothes and dropped them in the hamper. He grabbed the cat and went into the living room.

Zoe was on the couch, watching cartoons. She looked bored and lonely.

"Hey, Zoe."

Zoe turned and looked up at Mulder. "Good morning."

"Do you want some breakfast or something?"

"Who are you trying to kid? I know you can’t cook."

"Oh, well then. . ." Mulder instead walked around joined her on the sofa.

Zoe had been watching cartoons since seven. She knew what went on last night. You would have to be stupid not to know. The dreamy look on Mulder’s face said enough. Zoe was happy she succeeded in bringing them together. Then, she remembered some of the things she heard last night and had to make a remark. "Fox, a piece of advice: Apartment walls are very thin."

Mulder looked at the girl, she smiled. He burst out laughing.

It wasn’t until nearly nine o’clock that Scully finally appeared out of her bedroom. By then, Mulder had already gone into the guest bathroom to take his shower. She was wearing one of Mulder’s tee-shirts, it came almost down to her knees. Obviously, she didn’t plan on going anywhere today.

Zoe still sat on the couch watching TV. Saturday morning cartoons would be on until ten.

Scully moved Pepper off the sofa and sat down by Zoe. She wrapped her arm around the girl and kissed her on the top of the head. "Good morning." She greeted with a sweet smile.

Zoe looked up at her and grinned. "You’re in a good mood."

Scully shrugged and nodded a bit. "Yeah, why shouldn’t I be? Do you want something to eat?"

"Sure." Zoe hopped off the couch and walked to the kitchen. Scully got up and followed her there.

In the kitchen, Zoe reached up and pulled the cat food off the counter. She poured some of it into one of the dishes. As usual, the cats came bounding in to that familiar sound. Next, Zoe picked up the water dish to be refilled with fresh water. She stepped up to the sink, and turned on the water. She filled the dish nearly to the brim, and placed it back down by the food.

Then, she looked over at Scully, who was starting scrambled eggs. "Where was DJ last night? Usually they both sleep with me, but I couldn’t find him."

Without turning around, Scully answered: "He was in my room. We didn’t even notice him until this morning."

"Was he causing trouble?"

"Not until this morning. He jumped on me, it felt like having a ton of bricks dropped onto my stomach."

Zoe chuckled. "He is really heavy." She stepped out into the living room and looked around. "Where’s Fox? He can’t still be taking a shower."

Scully yawned and replied. "He’s probably shaving. I don’t know."

Then, as if on cue, Mulder appeared out of the bathroom. He had on jeans, and that was it. He sneaked up behind Zoe and scooped her up in an awkward fireman’s carry. He carried her laughing and yelling into the kitchen. Mulder plopped her down into a chair and turned to Scully. She was still working on the eggs. He came up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist. Then, he kissed her on the cheek and put his chin on her shoulder.

She glanced sideways at him and smiled. She then reached out, switched off the stove, and picked up the frying pan.

Mulder let her go as she divided the eggs between three plates.

"I thought you didn’t cook." He remarked.

"I don’t. This is about the extent of my capabilities."

After the eggs were served, they all sat down to eat. The meal was fairly quiet. That is, until Zoe started snickering. Mulder and Scully looked at each other, then at her. They were confused.

"Zoe, did we miss something?" Mulder questioned, puzzled.

"No. . . not at all." She replied, trying to hold back her laughter.

"Then what’s so funny?" Scully asked next.

Zoe looked at Mulder. "He doesn’t want me to say."

Scully looked to Mulder, eyes demanding an explanation. "Mulder?"

A look of realization crossed his face. He looked down at his unfinished eggs. "I’ll tell you later." He replied, smirking.

Scully rolled her eyes and shook her head.

Zoe giggled again.

Soon after breakfast was finished, the phone began to ring. Mulder was the nearest to it, so he picked it up:

"Hello?"

"Mulder," A deep voice answered, not asking for him, but addressing him.

"Yes? Who is this?"

"I have some important information for you."

Mulder recognized the voice after a second, Max. "How did you get this number? How did you know I was here?"

"That’s not important. I said I would contact you, I did. I have some answers, and something to show you. Meet me at 4021 Hager’s Street, Dundalk. Two hours."

Before Mulder even had a chance to reply, the other end clicked, leaving him with a dial tone.

"Dundalk?" He asked himself. Then, he immediately sprang into action. He headed to Scully’s room, to get dressed and tell her what happened.

"Who was on the phone?" She asked when he came in. She was in the process of making the bed.

"Max, he says he has answers. He wants us in Dundalk in two hours."

"Dundalk, two hours. For what?"

"He didn’t say. But, I have a hunch it’s something big."

"A hunch?"

"Get dressed, Scully."

Scully sighed. A hunch, she thought, Great.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

4021 Hager’s Street

Dundalk, Maryland

11:35 a.m.

"Mulder, are you sure this is the place?" Scully walked over to her partner. He seemed confused, yet determined.

The mysterious Max had led them to a huge, abandoned warehouse. The place reeked of rust, dirt, and rot. The only things vacating the building were a few rusty barrels and the decaying skeleton of an ancient car.

Zoe was with them, scanning the building in disgust.

Mulder wandered around, looking for anything of importance. Scully just stood there, completely frustrated. Suddenly, Mulder saw something: An odd shape outlined on the floor. He stepped up closer to it. It was a door. It had been made to look like the floorboards. He discovered it because a dim, cold light filtered through the cracks. "Hey, Scully, I think I found something." He called.

Mulder knelt down and brushed the dirt and grime from the handle. There had been a padlock keeping it shut, but that had been cut off. He grabbed the handle and pulled. Surprisingly, the door opened easily, hinges whining. Looking down, Mulder saw that the door led down to an impeccably clean, steel staircase.

Mulder glanced at Scully, and reached for his flashlight. Scully pulled hers, too. The next thing she noticed was Mulder disappearing down the stairwell. She took Zoe’s hand and followed him down.

The stairs revealed a narrow hallway, ending in a gray door. Mulder walked up to this door, and cautiously opened it. Scully wasn’t far behind him.

This door was one of many that lined a much wider hallway. Mulder stopped in the middle of this hall and looked around. The other doors had small glass windows on them. They were mostly dark, except for the lonely emergency lighting.

As Zoe entered the hall, her eyes widened. Her jaw fell agape in wonder and recognition. "I know this place." She said finally.

Mulder and Scully looked down, surprised, at her.

"This is it," She explained walking slowly around. Memories of her own past flooded her brain. "This is the lab."

Scully was stunned. Mulder was also, but this was his hunch. One question still remained: Where is Max?

Zoe walked to the door to the right of their entrance. "This room is where they kept the records. All the files on every baby born, destroyed, or otherwise. Every gene used, the medical history of donors, everything."

Mulder started for that door, but Zoe stopped him. "Don’t even try. The computer files were the first things destroyed. We’ll be lucky if they still have the written files."

Meanwhile, Scully had wandered to another door, across from their entrance door. "Do I want to know what they did in this room?"

Zoe and Mulder joined her looking in. There was a large steel oven taking up half the room. Three metal tables sat on the opposite side. "You can bet they didn’t make pizza." Mulder replied.

"No, this was where they burned the bodies. Like during the holocaust. Don’t go in there, either. It smells like the dead. I remember when they tried using some kind of air freshener, it made the room smell like lemon-fresh burned bodies." She crinkled her nose, remembering the stench. "You’ve never smelled a stink until you’ve smelled burning bodies."

"Thanks." Scully replied, grimacing in disgust.

"Is there a room where the tests were performed? A main lab, perhaps?" Mulder asked.

"Yes, there is." Zoe replied. Then, she turned and walked to the far end of the hallway, to two double doors. Mulder and Scully followed her. Zoe heaved open one of the doors and stepped into the room. Mulder entered behind her, followed by Scully.

The room was very large. Perhaps the length and width of a standard basketball court, with a regular low ceiling. It was impeccably clean and sterile white. There was only one emergency light, so it made the atmosphere of the room very dark and foreboding. It was the kind of place Mulder was used to snooping around in. Mulder clicked on his flashlight and veered off to the left. Where he was heading, there was a small, office- like room, filled with filing cabinets. Scully and Zoe remained in the main laboratory room.

Along both sides of the room, was a row off lab tables. Like in a science classroom. Each table had its separate stools and cabinets. Within both length walls, were refrigeration units. Large steel and glass windowed cabinets. Each had a red label above it stating: Keep Door Closed, Cold Storage. Scully scanned this room with ever growing interest. The rows of beakers and flasks on the tables, the refrigerators, this is where she could find some evidence. She began on the nearest refrigerator.

Just behind the glass doors of the refrigerators was a steel cabinet with two large, stacked doors. Each refrigerator had something similar. Scully flicked on her flashlight and proceeded to open the door. She was blasted by the cold, biting air of the cold storage. A small thermometer beside the door told Scully that these refrigerators were kept just below freezing. She instinctively snapped on a pair of latex gloves before touching the doors. She slowly pulled open the heavy door and saw three small wire shelves. They too, pulled out. Scully pulled out the higher one. Each small divider contained a little vial. Upon picking up and examining one of these vials, Scully saw that they all had names on them. Inside the vial was a milky-whitish, almost gel-like substance. She didn’t recognize it at first. Thinking about where she was, what went on here, and the woman’s name on the label, she realized what she was holding: Human ovum. She replaced the vial and shut the drawer. Then, she noticed the small engraved label on the drawer that she didn’t see before. It said: Female Genes A through D. Another label in between the drawers said: Unfertilized. Scully stepped back and let the refrigerator door swing shut. "Zoe," She called. Zoe responded:

"Yeah,"

"Look at the other cabinets, what to the engraved labels say on them?"

Scully heard the sound of Zoe opening a refrigerator on the opposite side of the room. "They say, fertilized. The drawers say, female genes, A through D."

Scully walked along the ‘unfertilized’ cold storage units. She quickly glanced in each, reading the letters and labels. Finally, she came to unfertilized, female genes, Q through S.

Meanwhile, Mulder had ventured into the filing room. One long row of perhaps fifteen separate filing cabinets stretched down the narrow room. Each one had letters, A through C, D through F, and so on. Mulder wandered down to H and opened the drawer. He fingered through the files and found Hawkins, Zoe. He pulled the file and opened it up. Most of the information had been blacked out. The most that was left was:

"Damn," Mulder murmured to no one. Again, all of the important information had been mysteriously blacked out. Everything on the tests performed to the experiments used. Then, remembering what he had thought of and partially discussed with Scully, he wandered down to the file drawer labeled: S. He kept Zoe’s file with him, to show Scully. When he reached the drawer, he pulled it open. Then, he leafed through the files until he found the one he hoped he wouldn’t. Scully, Dana Katherine. Scully’s file contained much of the same information that Zoe’s did. There were also a few blacked out parts. The only things that weren’t blacked out were thing Mulder already knew. This included just about everything, but the blank time during Scully’s abduction. That information had been omitted. "Scully!" He began calling, walking out to the main lab.

Scully had just pulled out a small vial in the S drawer. She was breathing heavily, heart racing. She turned the vial around so she could lead the label, sure enough, it said what she had hoped. Scully, Dana. It was a small vial of the unfertilized ovum, her ovum. She held on to the vial and let the refrigerator door swing shut.

Mulder appeared out of the small office to the side of the room. He was carrying two folders, which he waved about, showing them. Scully briskly approached him. He held out the folders for her to see. She took them from his hands and opened the one labeled to Zoe. She skimmed the information and closed it. When she looked at the label on the other folder, she frowned. After she skimmed the information in her own file, she raised an eyebrow and looked up at Mulder.

"I imagine there’s a file on every experimental person or donor in there. Mysteriously, the information in yours and Zoe’s has been deleted. Someone was here before us." Mulder stated.

Scully sighed and held up the vial. Mulder took it from her and examined it. He read the label and studied the contents. He stared down at Scully, eyes questioning. "Do you know what that is?" She asked, voice slightly shaky.

"I think I do."

"My ovum. Some of them at least, probably all they have left."

Mulder nodded, he really didn’t know what to say. Scully’s ovum. Perhaps her chance for that normal life had returned. Oh, God how he hoped so. For her, for them.

Suddenly, Zoe-- who had been looking through cabinets-- stood up and yelled: "Someone’s coming! Through the big doors!"

Mulder and Scully snapped their attention to the double doors that they had entered through. Just outside of the door, a dark figure was moving to open the door. Mulder spun toward the door and shone his flashlight onto the oncoming person. Scully reached into her coat for her gun. The man saw the two and raised his hands up in peace. As he neared them, Mulder recognized him, Max. "Max," He greeted casually.

Max nodded a reply and walked toward Zoe. Zoe gawked up at him. He smiled down at her and stooped down to hug her. She embraced his shoulders and spoke, "Chris! Chris I thought they got you, too! Where have you been?"

"In hiding. It’s actually extremely dangerous for me to be here, but I just had to let you two see this place."

"You knew this stuff was here?" Scully asked, almost with an untrusting tone.

"Yes, I found out who the two of you were, and contacted Mulder. I didn’t tell you about this place at first because I wasn’t completely sure if you believed me."

Scully almost began laughing, Mulder believed just about everything, but that would be very unprofessional of her. "What else is there to show us besides what you obviously let us find ourselves?" She asked seriously.

"The others."

"Others?" Scully asked skeptically.

"Yes, there are four other children of the AHP. Children Zoe’s father didn’t know about. There’s also a computer room, that was purposely hidden. It was added and concealed from the prying eyes of our bosses. Since we knew the day would come when they found out and eventually destroyed us, Matt suggested we store the files on one separate computer. It has a password entry and it runs on mini-discs. All the files are saved on the disc. I want you to see the files, and take them." By now, Zoe’s eyes had widened to big, wonder-filled saucers. Just the idea of there being other children like her, excited and enthralled her.

"More children? Are these things in two different places?" Mulder queried.

"Yes,"

"Then, let’s split up, get what we need to out of the rooms, and meet back here."

"Okay," Chris agreed. "Zoe you and Agent Scully go to the computer, because you know computers and Mulder and I will go get the others."

Scully and Zoe nodded. "What’s the password?" Zoe then asked.

Chris stared at her almost scolding. "You know it, you just read it while I was explaining where to go."

"You know when she reads your mind?" Mulder asked.

"No, I just know who she is and how she works."

After that, Chris began to leave the room, followed by Mulder. On the way he called, "Zoe, do you know where the computer room is?"

"Yeah!" She replied.

Then, she took Scully’s hand and led her to a single door in the back of the room. The door entered out into a landing between ascending and descending stairs. Zoe turned left and went down the stairs. It was a long and narrow staircase, made of steel rungs. Their shoes clinked on the metal as they made their descent. It grew darker and darker as they went down. Scully eventually led down, relying completely on her flashlight for vision.

From what the thin beam the flashlight showed, the stairs ended in a narrow, concrete hallway. Scully waved the beam around, looking for a light switch. "No lights?" She asked, partly to herself.

"Not in the hall, it’s to discourage ‘explorers’. I think there’s a light in the room, but the electricity might be out."

Scully continued slowly down the hall, Zoe holding onto her hand as if for dear life. There was one wooden door at the end of the hall. It was painted black, and for some reason in white lettering were the words "Authorized Personnel Only". To Scully, this seemed kind of redundant. If someone came down here, they would probably be personnel.

Anyway, she reached out and turned the rusting knob, it turned easily and the door creaked open. She shined the flashlight about, and saw a thin chain to a light hanging from the ceiling. She grabbed it and pulled, nothing happened. She pulled it a few more times, with no results. Finally, she shrugged and turned to the small desk in the center of the room. Using her flashlight, she found the switch on the back of the computer that sat on the desk. Obviously, the electricity was not out, because after a few seconds the computer turned on. "All right," Scully began, pointing Zoe to the computer. "Ma. . . err. . . Chris said you knew computers and the password, go to it."

Zoe bent over the keyboard, there was no chair and began typing in commands. After a few minutes, she came to a virtually blank screen with one word in the upper left corner: Password. She typed five key strokes, the word showed on the screen as asterisks. She pressed enter and waited for the files to boot up. "This’ll take a few minutes, there’s a lot of information and the computer hasn’t been run for awhile."

At the same time, Mulder and Chris were creeping down another narrow hallway. This one was also below the main lab. However, instead of being dark and intimidating, it was very well lighted and sterile. It still made Mulder nervous. This hall had may doors lined on both sides. After a while of walking, Chris stopped at a door opened it.

The room was dark, but Chris quickly found a light and switched it on. "What the hell--" He stated. Behold, four children were bound back to back. They sat near the rear of the room. Four adult men in black clothing surrounded them. Another man approached a stunned Mulder and Chris. This man was in a pair of black jeans and his signature, black leather jacket. He had jet black hair and rough, lean features. Mulder recognized him immediately. He frowned with hatred and resent. "Krychek." He growled through gritted teeth.

Krychek grinned nastily. "Mulder. Long time, no see." Then, he turned to the four other men in the room. "Well boys, it seems we’ve found our leak." He glared directly at Chris. Chris backed up a step. Krychek pulled a handgun out of his coat. "Don’t move anymore, or I’ll kill you. Doctor Christopher Myers. Good to see you Doctor Myers. The men upstairs are very upset at your performance. So they gave me one order to accomplish when I saw you." Krychek cocked the hammer on his gun and empty three shots into the doctor’s chest. The shots rang into the stillness of the room with three resonating booms. Chris fell back against the wall with a thud and slid down to the floor, leaving a trail of blood. One of the children in the room began to wail in frightened sobs. Mulder watched it all in horror. The horror turned to anger. He lunged toward Krychek, but Krychek turned the gun on him. Mulder froze in his tracks, yet Krychek still cocked the hammer. "I’ve been told before not to, but I will kill you Mulder."

In the other hall, Zoe skimmed through the booted files. She found the one on herself and stopped at it. It had the same chart that the written file had, but the background information was not blotted out. Zoe began to read it, but Scully stopped her. "Don’t read it now, we don’t have time. Just look for mine now. We’ll download everything on a disc."

Out in the hall, a dark figure crept toward them. He was carrying a gun, and no flashlight. He relied purely on his sense of direction of sound. Slowly, he raised the gun as he neared the room.

Zoe was typing when she heard a sound. Since her hearing was more acute than Scully’s, Scully didn’t hear it. She abruptly stopped typing and quieted down, motioning for Scully to do the same. "What?" Scully whispered harshly. Zoe listened and opened her mouth to speak. But, before she could utter a word, the assailant jumped into the room behind Scully.

Scully turned to face her attacker when she felt a sharp thump to the back of her head. Her vision blurred for a second, then cleared. She turned around some more, reaching for her gun, when she was met by another blow, this one harder. This time, the room before her eyes swam, and she sank to the floor. Her head pounded, and she couldn’t see right. She reached back and touched her head where she’d been hit, her hand came back wet with blood. She looked over in the direction where Zoe last was. The assailant had moved to her. He had covered her mouth and was yelling at her. His voice sounded muffled and far away, but she understood "Tell me the password." Apparently, Zoe had hit the escape key, returning the screen to the password menu. She saw the fear in Zoe’s eyes for a moment, then all went black.

Back where Mulder was, he and Krychek were having a stand-off. Krychek still held a gun on Mulder, but Mulder had managed to distract him long enough to pull his own. It was a regular, only eyes stand-off. The rules were, whichever one moved so much as his eyes away from the other, that one died. The room was perfectly still and silent, except for the muffled sobs of one of the children. Those other children ranged in age from probably two to six or seven. Zoe had said she was the first of fifteen, so the older child was probably her age. As they stood, glaring at each other, daring the opposite to move; a sound came from the hallway. Footsteps.

Behind Mulder, a man entered the door. In front of him, he pushed Zoe along with the muzzle of his gun. He carried Scully over his shoulder. When he reached the edge of the room, out of the cross fire, he put Scully down. But, not exactly gently. Zoe glanced around the room, examining each person. She stopped at Krychek. Her eyes widened, and her face twisted with pure hate. The man who had attacked them didn’t have a good enough grip on her. She lunged toward Krychek, yelling, "It was you, you did it. You killed them!" Krychek turned the gun on Zoe. Mulder held his on Krychek. Zoe froze. Then, she spoke again, in a tone and manner Mulder had never heard from her before. "You won’t shoot me. You still need me. If you gunned me down here, you’d have Mulder’s bullet in your head. And if that didn’t happen, you’d have his bullet in your head. Not to mention your other arm cut off." His, referring to none other than the Cigarette Smoking Man.

"No," Krychek said, "I won’t kill you. But if you’re not more careful, you may just come out of here wishing you were dead. I would start your suffering by ending Agent Scully’s misery. And you wouldn’t want that, now would you?" Then, he gestured toward the girl at one of his men, who apprehended her.

"Okay, Krychek, put the gun down." Mulder stated boldly, while adjusting his stance. He tried to stare harshly at Krychek, but he kept nervously glancing at Scully. She wasn’t moving at all. Either she had been hit really hard or she was. . . gulp. . . dead.

Krychek rolled his head and glared at Mulder. "I don’t think so." He said finally. Then, signaled by an unspoken cue, yet another man jumped through the door behind Mulder. He had already pulled out a flashlight, and banged it over Mulder’s head. Mulder shrank to his knees, holding his aching head. He looked back up at Krychek, but his vision swam in drunken-like daze. The last thing he saw was Zoe’s crying and screaming face as she and the other children were carried out of the back door. He wanted to run after them, to yell to Zoe that it was going to be okay, but he couldn’t. He fell to his side and the room fell dark.

Somewhere in his near-deep unconsciousness, Mulder heard some voices. They sounded airy and far off, but he understood them:

"Thirty minutes and counting."

"Are the children loaded?"

"Yes. What about those two?"

"Leave them."

He didn’t quite comprehend what was going on, and he didn’t try. He just let himself slip into oblivion, hoping the pain would go away.

Almost two hours after he’d been knocked out, and fifteen after he’d last sank into a painful unconsciousness, Mulder slowly opened his eyes. His head still pounded from the single, sharp blow. He winced in pain and utter confusion as he pulled himself up to a sitting position. Eventually, he managed to stand up on his two shaking legs. He frowned and looked around. For some reason, the lights in the room had been turned off. He fumbled around the nearest wall for a light switch before turning to his flashlight. He clicked it on and scanned the room for Scully. She was no where to be found.

Mulder then turned to the door to go look for her. There, on the corridor wall, across from the door, was a small clock. It was in a refined looking little gray box. The numbers were digital and a bright, warning red. It quickly counted down from tenths of seconds to minutes. When Mulder saw it, he saw this number: 14:34:09. Then, he noticed the thin wire stretching down the hall. He knew precisely what it was, and that he had to find Scully, NOW! He had less than fifteen minutes to search God only knows how many rooms, before this whole building went up. After one, bewildered second, Mulder jumped into action. He ran down the hall, opening doors and looking into rooms as he ran. He saw no sign of Scully.

After checking nearly every room in the narrow hallway, he bolted through the door, back to the main corridor. There, on the double doors to the main laboratory was another timer. It now stated: 09:23:01. He began to pick up speed as he rushed through the lab doors. He quickly glanced behind all the lab tables before ducking into the filing room. He started yelling Scully’s name, in case she got up. "Scully! SCULLY!" Then, he glanced down the stairwell to the back of the room with no avail. Finally, he left the room and dashed down the main corridor, glancing in windows to the other rooms.

Last, he looked into the furnace room. As he continued on he realized that he saw something. He backtracked and looked harder into the room. Sure enough, there was a small mound on the floor. It looked like a pile of rags, but Mulder was certain it wasn’t. He yanked open the door and stepped inside. He was met by an odor so putrid, it made him nauseous. It smelled much like burning hair and skin. But other scents lingered, too. Rotting flesh, like a burning mound of compost. Also the scents that aren’t smelled, rather, they are felt: Death being the most dominant, followed closely by hatred, and fear. Mulder shook his head, trying to clear his senses, as he approached the lump.

Just as he thought, the lump was Scully. He touched her neck, feeling for a pulse. It was there, faint but otherwise normal. He shook her a little, trying to help her regain consciousness. Her eyes fluttered open. He gently pulled her to her feet. She swayed some, and nearly fell back down. He helped her begin to walk out of the room. As she got further, and eventually left the furnace room and the stench, she walked better. Mulder held onto her hand, urging her to run. He quickly glanced back to the clock: 02:57:04. Then, he tugged Scully along faster.

They sprinted down the rest of the hall, to the door they had entered through. Mulder pulled it open and started for the metal staircase, tailed closely by Scully. He bolted up the steps and out the door. Then he turned and helped Scully. One last burst of adrenaline carried them out of the sour warehouse. Outside, the sky had grayed and it was beginning to rain. They got twenty feet away, then thirty. Then, quicker than Mulder could shout, "BOOM!!" that is what happened. The building exploded in a ball of flames. As the dull roar grew louder, Mulder pushed Scully to the wet ground, protecting her body with his. Flaming metal pieces and burning wood whizzed past their heads. Fortunately, none hit them.

After the explosion had stopped and remained a fire on the rubble, Mulder and Scully finally rose to their feet. Scully turned and faced the building, heart and head still pounding. Mulder joined her. When he looked down at her rain-soaked face, one word formed on her lips: Zoe.

"She wasn’t in there." He breathed quietly.

Suddenly, from just behind the remains of the facility, a helicopter took off. The roaring blades blotted out the frightened screams of the children within. The chopper lifted high and flew off over Mulder and Scully’s heads.

Without saying anything, they both knew who was in there. Scully let out one ragged breath, and nearly sank to the ground. Mulder caught her in his arms. Hot tears mixed with the rainwater that poured down her face. She was too much in shock to even sob. Mulder just scooped her up in his embrace and held her near. He stroked her wet hair and kissed her on the head. He gently touched the back of her head where she’d been hit. There was dried blood caked on her hair. What kind of person would hit a woman, and steal a child? Precisely the kind he had to deal with. They had to get Zoe back. But it was a battle surely to be fought in vain.

* * * * * * * * * * *

J. Edgar Hoover Building

Washington, DC

4:00 p.m.

After they had gotten out of the building, the fire department and ambulances had shown up within minutes. Mulder and Scully were both admitted into the hospital with minor concussions. Mulder stayed overnight, only to be safe. Really, all he needed was a pack of ice. He made a point about it being good sometimes to have a hard head. Scully, however, had to stay for two nights. Also to be on the safe side, but also, the doctors were worried that her almost catatonic state was due to a form of brain damage. Mulder had assured them it was a broken heart, not a broken head. She was released the next day under secret conditions that were kept from her and given to Mulder. Those conditions were, that he would keep an eye on her emotional strength.

That had been Monday that she was released. Today was Friday. After returning to work, Mulder and Scully had set straight to work, relentlessly searching for Zoe. The search was, of course in vain. But at first, both of them refused to accept it. After a while, it was ironically, Mulder who realized that they weren’t going to find the girl.

Scully was now in the office, looking through recent missing persons reports via the internet. Mulder had decided that it was time to stop her. He approached her desk casually, and bent over behind her, as if reading the screen. When she turned to look at him, he stood up. "Scully, I need to talk to you. For five days now, we’ve been searching for Zoe. You and I both know that we’re not going to find her. I know giving in sounds strange coming from me, but that’s what we need to do. Just step back, and take a breather."

At first, Scully wanted to laugh. Mulder never gave in to his goals. He had a stubborn, never-say-die attitude, most of the time. Then, she saw the seriousness in his eyes, and stood up. "Mulder, is this some kind of joke? You never give up. Remember? If I quit now they win? We can’t give up."

"Scully, look around. Usually, we have at least something to fall on. It may not be the hard evidence you strive for, but it was something. They’ve buried this. Completely, six feet under."

". . ."

"They blew up the lab, there’s nothing left. All the evidence is gone. Even the blood sample was stolen from the crime lab. We just need to step back, and wait for something to come up."

Scully absolutely couldn’t believe this. She suddenly became angry; angry at Mulder for not wanting to keep going; angry at them for taking Zoe in the first place. And most of all, angry at herself for not being stronger about this.

Mulder continued, "This is obviously taking an enormous emotional toll on you. And I know you hate it when I do this, but I’m worried about you. You’re usually the strong on here." He said, faking a chuckle. "I know this is really going to make you mad, but I don’t care. I’m going to have to say, that if you don’t drop this case, I’m going to order you to. I’m just looking out for you."

Scully tried her fiercest glare on him. But her eyes betrayed her once more. She felt like slapping him, but she couldn’t. For in her heart she knew he was right.

Mulder reached out and touched her face. He stroked her cheek and cradled her chin. She pulled away. "It’s not permanent. As soon as something, anything comes up, we’ll pick this case right up again."

Now, Scully couldn’t handle this anymore. All through this conversation she’d been holding back tears and trying to swallow the lump in her throat. She sank down to her chair. Then, she buried her face in her hands and began to cry. Right there in front of Mulder. He lifted her back up, into his arms, where she could cry on his shoulder. Quietly, he whispered, "I think it’ll do us both some good to take a day off. The rest of today and tomorrow. Emotionally, to sort things out."

Scully just nodded her head, totally agreeing. "Fox, stay with me tonight." She finally whispered quietly. She never called him Fox, except when something truly upset her, and she needed someone there for her. Which was never.

They remained standing there, Mulder enveloping Scully in his arms for comfort, and his own reassurance. Even as the elevator slid to a halt just down the hall. A.D. Skinner stepped out of the elevator and purposefully marched to the agents’ office. He was very near to the office, and glanced in. He noticed the two agents wrapped in an embrace and remained by the door. After a few minutes, Skinner rapped lightly on the door frame. Both agents quickly resumed a more professional posture. Mulder cleared his throat and called, "Come in."

Skinner proceeded through the door and looked around. He noticed the excessive amount of papers lying around. He glanced at Scully and saw the tear streaks running down her cheeks, the ones she tried to wipe away. "Agent Mulder, Agent Scully," He greeted.

"Is something wrong, sir?"

"Not really. I’ve received some reports claiming how much you two were emotionally attached to your witness. I wanted to tell you in person that I need a report on your case. Also, I’d like to see you in my office for re-evaluation. In thirty minutes if possible."

"Yes, sir." Mulder said, nodding. "Thirty minutes."

Skinner nodded and turned to leave. He glanced behind himself once more and headed down the hall to the elevator. Mulder gazed over at Scully, her eyes were still moist and rimmed with tears. She was looking down at her desk. Mulder walked back over to her desk and looked down. Underneath the pile of endless reports, was the corner of one particularly colorful paper. Mulder pulled the corner and exposed the drawing Zoe had done the day she was in their office. Just looking at it made Mulder want to die. Scully just stared at it, unresponsive. Mulder put his arm around her and kissed her head. He examined the picture further. It showed three stick figures. The tall one wore a tie, the next one wore a navy-blue work dress, the smallest had light blonde hair and ragged jeans. They were labeled: Fox, Dana, and Me-- under their respective pictures. The three were walking down Fourth Street, holding hands.

A half an hour later, Mulder and Scully were seated in Skinner’s office. He had the file Mulder had put together on Zoe. All they had was the short report Mulder had typed about the death of her parents, what happened to Zoe and her ability. There was also a photo of her and a description of what she looked like, leaving out the tattoos, of course. Skinner skimmed over the information once more and looked up at Mulder and Scully. Mulder stared calmly back at him, but Scully seemed in a different universe all together. She looked all right now, not like she’d been crying. "Is this all the information and evidence you have?"

Mulder let out a tired sigh and answered, "Yes, sir. All of our hard evidence was taken. Most of what we had to begin with was by word of mouth."

"Taken? What did you have?"

"We had a police report on the murder that was reported as a double murder/ suicide. But we had reason to believe it was only a double murder, like we’ve already explained." Mulder said, glancing at Scully.

"Zoe was also a part of some genetic experiments, that made her a superhuman. She had enhanced vision, hearing, and intellect. As well as tremendous psychic abilities." Mulder explained. Scully cringed as Mulder talked about Zoe in past- tense.

"Let me guess, a secret government agency?"

Mulder looked down at the floor.

"What else did you have?"

"We had a mysterious blood sample, the owner was not known. The sample was at the crime lab awaiting testing when it was stolen two days ago. Sir, most of this is explained in the report."

Skinner nodded, staring at a spaced-out Scully. He looked back to Mulder and handed him the folder. "Agent Mulder, may I speak to you in private for a minute?"

Mulder nodded and Scully rose from her chair. She exited through the side door into the secretary’s office. "What’s this about?" Mulder asked once she was gone.

"I want to know just how attached you and Agent Scully were to that girl."

Mulder sighed, "Very, I guess. We only knew her for a few days, but. . ." We loved her like a daughter. It even hurt Mulder to be using past-tense.

"All right, I have reason to believe you are too emotionally involved in this case. What do you think you should do about that?"

"I’ve already discussed that with Scully and we’re going to drop the case. Until more evidence comes up."

"She seems very distraught, I suggest some counseling for her."

"Actually, we were planning on taking the rest of today and tomorrow off. To sort things out."

"Okay, you have my permission. Excused."

Mulder got up and stepped out of the office. Scully was standing in the center of the office, waiting patiently. He walked up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, she seemed pretty much cried out. Then he turned and led her out of the room.

Downstairs, they packed up their work things, put the papers in a relatively organized way, and locked up the office. They went back up to the parking garage and to Mulder’s car. Since Mulder would be staying with Scully for the night (or more), he would just drive her home in her car and leave his car at the office. From there, they drove straight to Scully’s apartment. The car ride was a saddening and uncomfortable silence.

I’m Your Angel

No mountain’s too high for you to climb

All you have to do his have some climbing faith (oh yeah)

No river’s too wide for you to make it across

All you have to do is believe it when you pray

And then you will see the morning will come

And everyday will be bright as the sun

All of your fears cast them on me

I just want you to see

I’ll be your cloud up in the sky

I’ll be your shoulder when you cry

I’ll hear your voices when you’re calling

I am your angel

And when all hope is gone I’m here

No matter how far you are I’m near

It makes no difference who you are

I am your angel

I’m your angel

I saw the teardrops and I heard you cry

All you need is time

Seek me and you shall find

You have everything and you’re still lonely

It don't have to be this way

Let me show you a better day

And then you will see the morning will come

And all of your days will be bright as the sun

So all of your fears just cast them on me

How can I make you see

I’ll be your cloud up in the sky

I’ll be your shoulder when you cry

I’ll hear your voices when you’re calling

I am your angel

And when all hope is gone I’m here

No matter how far you are I’m near

It makes no difference who you are

I am your angel

I’m your angel

And when it’s time to face the storm

I’ll be there by your side

This place will keep us safe and warm

and I know we will survive

And when it seems as if the end is drawing near

Don’t you dare give up the fight

Just put your trust beyond the sky

I’ll be your cloud up in the sky

I’ll be your shoulder when you cry

I’ll hear your voices when you’re calling

I am your angel

And when all hope is gone I’m here

No matter how far you are I’m near

It makes no difference who your are

I am your angel

I’m your angel

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Scully’s Apartment

Georgetown, Washington DC

6:56 p.m.

After they had arrived at Scully’s apartment, Mulder and Scully ate a quick dinner. Scully didn’t fell much like eating, she basically just picked at it and nibbled here and there. She was very quiet and in a depressed sort of state. Since the catatonic state of shock and the never-say-die stage had passed, the stage of utter acceptance had set in. In this stage Scully was very quiet and apathetic about everything. She was grieving as she would (and did) for a dead child.

After dinner, Scully just wandered into Zoe’s room like she was lost. Mulder let her be for a few minutes before following her in. She was looking out the window, her back to the door. He crept up to her and slipped his arms around her waist. He looked down at her face and saw a tear rolling down her face. Apparently she wasn’t all cried out. He turned her towards him and touched her cheek. Then, he wiped away her tears and held her near once again. In her arms she held onto Zoe’s doll, Polly. When Mulder hugged her tighter, she dropped the doll and threw her arms around his neck.

"Thank you," She whispered into his ear.

"For what?"

"Being there for me."

"It’s the least I can do. I can’t count the number of times you’ve done the same for me."

Scully sniffled and nuzzled his neck.

"We’ll get through this. We’ve been through worse."

Scully pulled away some. "No, we haven’t. This is probably the worst experience I’ve ever had. Emily died and that was hard. I feel like I’ve lost another daughter. This one I knew a little better. I wasn’t really completely over Emily’s death and then this happened."

"I know, I didn’t mean it that way."

"It’s okay. Right now, I just feel like there’s a hole in my heart. It can only be filled by a child. When we found Zoe, this little girl who needed me, that hole got filled. Every time a child gets taken away from me, the hole gets a little bigger."

Mulder didn’t know how to reply to that. He felt the same way, only different. He never had a yearning for a child like Scully did. It was probably a maternal thing. But now, he’d had a taste of fatherhood, and boy did it taste good. Now that Zoe was gone, a hole was being bored into his heart as well.

Scully turned around, Mulder’s arms still around her. Now, she faced the window once again. Outside, a steady rain pounded against the glass. It had been raining for the past couple of days. Another clap of thunder roared overhead, and Scully cringed. Mulder embraced her tighter and put his chin on her shoulder. "Mulder, have you ever just stepped out of yourself, and taken a look at your life?"

"Yeah."

"What did you see?"

"Well, usually I only do it when something happens. I usually look away and think ‘What the hell am I doing here?’"

"You said something to me once. About what our lives are as normal. I said that we keep driving, through where people are living their lives. You still think our lives are normal?"

"No. I mean, how many people do you know who’ve met two psychic kids in one lifetime?"

"Do you still not want to settle down anytime in your life?"

"Truthfully, I do someday. I know, I’m not getting any younger, that’s what my mom says. Someday, I want to live in a house, far away from this godforsaken city. I want to have children running around after a big dog. And, of course, my wife by my side. I hope you’d want to be there, too. Watching those children."

". . ." Scully was dumbfounded. How was she supposed to respond to that? Mulder had basically just told her that someday he wanted to be married to her. So, she didn’t talk, she just put her hand on his and gave it a little squeeze.

"But, at this stage in my life, I think I still like chasing my goals." He didn’t want to mention that he probably wouldn’t settle down until he knew exactly where and how safe Samantha was.

"When I look at my life, I see how it could have been. If we’d never been partnered together."

"What do you see?"

"I think I probably would’ve gotten bored with normal investigations. And without someone holding me there, I probably would have resigned." Mulder cringed at the thought of him holding her there. The way she worded it, made her sound like a prisoner. In truth, he couldn’t make her stay, she chose to. She couldn’t bare the thought of him not being in her life. "Where do you think you’d be, if we hadn’t met?"

"Dead." And that was the God’s honest truth. With Mulder’s risks and his usual emotional instability, he would be dead. He probably would have put the barrel of a gun in his mouth long ago, and without a reason to live, would’ve pulled the trigger.

"I think we will get through this. I just hope to God that they don’t hurt that child. And I hope something comes up soon that we can go on. She has to be so afraid."

"She’s a strong girl. We will find her." Now, Mulder was remembering the fun times he’d had with Zoe. He was realizing how much he truly missed the child. He had been supporting Scully so much, he hadn’t had his own time to grieve. Standing there thinking, he felt hot tears welling up into his eyes.

Scully turned to face him once more and saw a tear sliding down his cheek. He reached up and wiped it away himself. Scully now remembered that she was usually the one there for him, not vice-versa. He had been dealing with this in silence. She reached up and rubbed his cheek. Then she kissed him tenderly on the lips. He rested his forehead down on her shoulder, but he didn’t sob. She laced her hands about his neck and held him tightly.

After a few minutes, Mulder lifted his head up again. He looked past Scully. out the window, thinking. Suddenly, he remembered something. He left Scully, telling her to "Wait here." He walked out to his jacket that was hanging on the coat hook. He reached into the pocket and pulled something out which he enclosed in his fist. Then, he returned to Scully in the guest room. He held up his fist and opened it slowly. There, in his palm, lay the small vial from the laboratory.

Scully’s mouth fell agape as she took the vial and examined it. It had her name on the label. She placed her hand on her chest, breathing hard from surprise. Mulder put his arm around her shoulder and they sat down on the bed. She gazed up at him with boundless gratitude. "I found it in my coat pocket. Who knows how it got there." He whispered.

Scully suddenly began to cry. She cried from immense happiness that it may still be possible for her to have her own children. Mulder hugged her once more and kissed her deeply. She was speechless. They sat there on the bed, held in each other’s embrace. No longer were they lonely and closed off, but now a new goal had been set forth to them: To find the child who had brought them together.