Fox Mulder's day at the FBI was officially boring by the time he walked into the Bureau. He knew it at the moment he saw an enormous amount of paperwork at his desk. Cursing under his breath, he walked to his chair and prompted down, ruffling his hair. Yep. Long day. After two hours of mind-blowingly boring paperwork, his phone started ringing. His eyes filled with hope, expecting this to be a new case or Scully asking him to pick William at the daycare. Unluckily, it was Skinner.

"Hi, Sir." He said along with a sigh, letting his superior know he wanted to be anywhere but here. "Mulder, I know that you're busy right now... but Ed Warren is about to give a conference talk at the Conferences' room to the rookies agents about crimes and demons, in case you wanted to go and check."

Mulder thought about it for a moment. It wouldn't hurt to hear yet another conference. Maybe he could even just go home after it was over.

Wait a moment... "Ed Warren?" he asked into the phone, frowning a little.

"Yes, Mulder. A well-known demonologist," they told him.

Agent Fox Mulder knew Warren. They had been high school mates and they had lost touch with each other long ago. The FBI agent hadn't heard from him in a long, long time.

He was in the conference room before Skinner could say "See you", waiting impatiently for the conference to start.

Ed Warren was nervous. It was the first time he'd be speaking to FBI Agents. They could be skeptical. And he was used to that. But after finishing the biggest case of Lorraine's and his life and taking a break of two years, he felt the need to go back to work.

Now, back on the road, he felt a little nervous. He walked into the conference room, carrying his suitcase. Many agents were already there but there was this tall brown-haired green-eyed one that caught his attention.

Realization hitting him, he smiled and waved to Mulder, signaling him to come meet him. After a brief hug, both men smiled "It's been so long, Fox."

He said smiling at the other man "I know Ed! I don't wanna sound like a pussy, but it did suck to be in college without you."

Warren chuckled softly and ruffled Mulder's hair like he used to when they were younger. "How have you been? I will never admit it but it did suck to be in college without you, too, but hey! I never told you that."

"Of course not," Mulder joked, rolling his eyes. "I have been very well, working hard and enjoying the perks of being an FBI agent." The shorter man paused for a moment. "Not really, I enjoy life with my family and work is really killing me with how bored it is. So slow…" he said, shaking his head.

"I got married and I have a beautiful little girl," Ed said, smiling and taking off his wallet, where he kept a picture of his family. "My wife, Lorraine, who usually comes to give these kind of conferences with me. She's not here today because she's a bit sick so she stayed at home. And, our little angel, Judy."

Mulder smiled at the picture and took out his family's from his wallet. "My better half, Agent Dana Scully and our son, William."

"Oh hey, our girls look a terrible lot alike!" Ed laughed, pointing both pictures.

"Well, Scully is not coming to work at the moment because she's finishing her Neuro Pediatrical residency, so she took this year off... What's wrong with your wife?" He asked curiously.

Mulder and Warren were really close at high school. And both had paranormal experiences together, trying to get as much information as they could.

"She got an awful cold," Ed said, dismissing it. "She will be fine in a few days, it's nothing serious."

Mulder smiled and nodded. "Well, whenever she gets better, I trust you are coming to my place for dinner, Ed? We certainly have a lot to catch up on."

"I'd be honored, Fox," he replied, beaming. "I really want you to meet my family and I look forward to meeting yours, as well."

Nodding, Mulder smiled "Here's my card, so you can give me a call whenever you can pass by when she's okay." Handing him the little piece of paper with his name, email address and phone number "We'll be honored to have you and your family as our guests." Mulder patted his friend's arm and Ed smiled "Well, I'd love to continue talking to you, but I have to start with this conference. Are you staying?" He asked smiling.

"Of course, I certainly wouldn't miss it."

The FBI Agent hugged his friend briefly again and walked off the little stage, sitting down where he was before.

The conference started pretty well. Ed introduced himself and excused in behalf of her wife for not being able to attend. The topic for the conference was 'Unexplainable death and connection to spirits and demons.'

"For all of us studying demons and anything paranormal, it's common to think that demonic presences can drain energy out of human beings, as well as take it from whatever electronic device they can find; so when we study a paranormal haunting, our first hint that something is going on is batteries dying, electronic devices shutting off and many other little things like that. The same happens with human beings. Demons tend to take energy out of them, making the possessed feel weak and eventually killing them. But the process takes a long time…"

Ed continued to talk for what seemed forever. The FBI Agents, except for Mulder, were all about to fall asleep on their seats, finding what the demonologist was saying really stupid and pointless. Ed was well aware that they were utterly bored but he didn't seem to care. He had dealt with extremely skeptical people before and he was used to hear snoring among the audience. Nothing new.

Feeling his phone vibrating, Mulder stood up silently and walked towards the back of the room. "Mulder," he answered in his monotonous voice.

"Hey Mulder, it's me," his wife's voice resounded in his ear.

"Don't tell me that I'm late to pick up William," he said, looking at his watch.

"No… N-Not at all… but, uhm, Mulder…"

Her voice sounded upset, or worried about something. Not many times had he heard her like that and he had to admit it scared him. "Scully, what's wrong?" He had his eyebrows furrowed, pacing absentmindly back and forth.

"I… I kind of need you to come to the Hospital… there is this kid that says that he sees ghosts."