.Chapter one – Announcement

Skinner was walking to the office of The X-Files, where he could hear Mulder and Scully talking, but could not quite make out the words of what they were saying.

Suddenly out of all the quietness, he could hear Scully's laugh. He wondered to himself what could they possibly be talking about. As he walked up to their door, he knocked loudly but not too loudly to disturb them.

"Come in" Scully said in a quite stern voice, so in walked Skinner to find Scully sitting in Mulder spot with her feet on the table and Mulder sitting on a chair that was quite uncomfortable, just staring at him

"Well," Skinner says as he takes a short pause and breathes in very slowly, not sure how the two of them were going to take the news of what he was about to say to them. "As of next week, I will be assigning a new member to the team to work alongside you. Her name is Freya Williamson, she has asked to work with you and I granted her permission to do so. She is very bright, and everything checks out" Skinner closes the door not giving them time to argue the matter.

"Well, Scully" Said Mulder, her puzzled face seemed to match his. His eyes glanced over her; with her hair just reflecting of the light coming from the skylight as the sun was going down. He thought to himself how beautiful she was, but dared not say anything to her. "It seems someone is joining us down here" he smiled. Scully on the other hand did not look amused at all, not in the slightest.

"Mulder, this is no laughing matter" she said. As she looked at Mulder with his ruffled hair, it wasn't neat but nor was it messy either. It quite suited him, she thought to herself. "What if..."

"Scully!" he interrupted, "It doesn't really matter if she doesn't like it, she will properly be in and out of here in no time" he looked at her to try and comfort her, as he threw her a smile. She was sitting there wearing her normal suit, it fitted her quite nicely: it showed all the curves in all the right places.

"Okay," she felt insecure about the whole thing, as all her bad thoughts about herself came rushing through her mind at once. She was getting older, she couldn't do some of the things her younger self could have done. If they retired, would they spend time together? Would he be there for her emotionally and physically? What if he liked this younger woman more? Even though her and Mulder shared a closeness, sometimes it didn't help with her feeling of self-doubt.

Looking at Mulder trying to get the negative thoughts out of her head, a half smile crept along her face, but it soon turned into a full smile when she saw his clean-cut suit, yet a little tight around the arms. he must have been working out, she thought to herself.

Mulder could see how unhappy she was, so he stood up, walked around his desk to give her a quick hug, embracing how warm she was and how he missed her being so close to him.

"I think we should go home now, it's getting late and everybody else has left"

"Okay Mulder, let me just grab my coat" so she did, still feeling unhappy about this whole situation.

And so, as they were walking to their cars, Scully barely said a word to him. Mulder knew she was still unhappy

"Do you want to come to the house tonight" he said softly and quietly. "I will stay on the couch, and you can have the bed" hoping she would take him up on the offer. He knew it would make her feel better than staying in her empty apartment building.

"Yes, please Mulder. I would appreciate that very much, thank you."