Diclaimer: I don't own and disavow all profits from Fringe and the X-Files.

Author's note: The great thing about Fringe fanfiction is no matter how AU it is, it can still be considered cannon, since the show is about alternate universes to begin with, you can just say that's how it all went down in another universe. For that matter, all works of fiction can be considered crossovers with Scenes from a Multiverse. As for the X-Files, I've been missing the first five seasons lately, and offer this as an explanation for the drastic change in tone between Season 5 and Season 6.

Chapter 1

FBI Agent Olivia Dunham was the last to arrive in the conference room. Broyles, Nina Sharp, the two Bishops, and Agent Farnsworth were already waiting. She took her seat next to Peter. "So what's this new case?"

"It's about the Magpie," Broyles began.

"What Magpie?" Walter asked.

"The private spaceship launched in Nevada yesterday, named the Magpie. It's been all over the news," Astrid prompted.

"It's not really a spaceship; it's a suborbital manned space capsule," Peter corrected her. "It holds two people and launches using combined electromagnetic and rocket propulsion, perfect for space tourism on a budget. The design is brilliant, really."

"Ah, fascinating."

Broyles continued. "There's something the news hasn't been reporting. The engineer who designed the Magpie, Dr. Wang Qiming, disappeared shortly after the launch."

"Since they called us in I take it this doesn't look like the weekend-in-Vegas kind of disappeared," said Peter.

"Unfortunately not. He disappeared while he and the rest of the launch team were retrieving the capsule after the landing. Taylor Anderson understandably wanted to keep the situation out of the news until his engineer's whereabouts can be determined."

"To avoid scaring off investors," Peter remarked.

"Or to prevent attempts by unscrupulous parties to find him first," Nina said, speaking up for the first time in the meeting. "Dr. Wang is brilliant, and he has top security clearance for his work on some highly classified projects."

"For what country?" Olivia inquired.

"Massive Dynamic."

"Oh," Peter nodded.

"So what exactly happened?" Astrid asked. "He was with a group of people. Someone must have seen something."

"The Magpie's test pilot," Broyles said, "LaJana Conroy, claims there was a ball of light that followed the capsule as it reentered the atmosphere. She lost sight of the object when the parachute deployed, but saw it approach the landing site before moving east, toward where Dr. Wang's ATV was discovered abandoned less than a kilometer away. Other than those of the searchers, there were no tracks leading to or away from Dr. Wang's ATV."

"So let me get this straight: are we seriously considering the idea that an engineer was abducted by aliens?" Peter asked.

"We've seen stranger things," Astrid said.

"Have we? Have you ever considered the literally astronomical distances that separate our solar system from anywhere else in the universe that could possibly support life? Even traveling at the speed of light it would take years to get from the nearest star to Earth. And if a civilization capable of traveling at the speed of light is coming to our little planet and doing secret tests on people, I want to meet them to ask them why they bothered."

"It would not be our prerogative to assume we could divine anything about the motives of such intelligences," Walter opined.

"You may have a point, but how do you explain that no investigation into UFO or alien sightings have ever turned up any solid evidence?"

"I don't know," Astrid said. "Have you read a book by José Chung called From Outer Space?"

"The supposedly non-fiction science fiction about two FBI agents investigating an alien abduction? Yeah, I've read it. Saying the names and details were changed to protect the privacy of the people involved was an especially nice touch," Peter replied.

"Ah, so you haven't told them," Nina said, giving Broyles a look.

Olivia glanced at her and then Broyles. "Told us what?"

Broyles cleared his throat. "That book is based on an actual investigation. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Before there was a Fringe Division, even before there was a Department of Homeland Security, the FBI had a small department devoted to reviewing cases that had been dismissed as unsolvable, informally known as the X-files, and investigating reports of paranormal occurrences all over the country. The agents assigned to it were a medical doctor named Agent Dana Scully, and a criminal profiler named Agent Fox Mulder. Most of the cases they investigated proved to be hoaxes, mis-identifications, or otherwise explicable, but they did investigate several events that were not so easily dismissed, including several early Pattern events, although they weren't recognized as such at the time. They also concluded there was substance to several of the UFO reports they investigated, though the evidence they were able to produce was...equivocal."

"What happened to it?" Olivia asked.

"The project was plagued with political resistance from the start. It was shut down in 1998, and the office where the X-files were kept was the victim of a quite likely intentional fire."

"And I take it there weren't digital backups of those files?" Peter asked gloomily.

"For the older cases, no. It was a simpler time."

"Then can we bring in Agents Scully and Mulder?" Olivia inquired. "If this case does involve some kind of UFO they may have some insight."

"Agent Mulder has been in a hospital, in a coma, since October 13th, 1998, the same night Agent Scully disappeared."

"A coma? Due to what?" Walter asked.

"A gunshot to the head. He was found in the street near his apartment. The shooter was never found. And since Agent Scully hasn't been seen since, she is considered a suspect. Word is, they didn't always see eye to eye."

"Long way from not seeing eye to eye to shooting your partner," Astrid noted.

"Not according to some of the other agents who have had the pleasure of working with Fox Mulder," Broyles said. "At any rate, we do have the reports Agents Scully and Mulder made for their own investigations, which may prove valuable in finding Dr. Wang. It's a shame that they aren't around to help, as this case would be right up their alley."

"So this Fox fellow has been in a coma for fifteen years?" asked Walter.

"Yes, unfortunately."

"Fantastic. Let's wake him up, shall we?