Disclaimer: I do not own LOK or The X-Files

Prompt: Makorra Week: Day Four-Crossover

IMPORTANT NOTE: So I haven't written fanfiction in ages *cringes* Hopefully this goes well eh? I don't know how many have seen/have an understanding of the X-Files, but I promise the episode segments I picked out are easy to follow, and do not require X-Files knowledge to enjoyably read. Although I promise a small explanation at the end. ALSO: I'm tired, and my mind is foggy, this is unedited in my haste to get this posted today (I leave for a mini vacation in like 8 hours), so I apologize for any and all errors.

The Truth is Out There

i. trust no one

"Look, I know you aren't thrilled, but given your current situation this is the best I can do for you."

"Really? Sending me down to the dregs of the FBI? Keeping me out of the way, out of sight? Do you really expect me to believe that will actually work?"

"No."

Chaos. Complete and utter chaos is what greeted Mako as he entered the basement office of the FBI's "Most Unwanted.". Papers strewn everywhere-on the single desk, flooding out of the file cabinets (why even bother with them?), tacked to the walls, organization seemed to be an outdated tool down here. Books were haphazardly stacked on their selves, a wobbly projector was stashed in a dark corner, and, most curiously, a collection of pencils decorated the tiled ceiling above the desk.

And this clutter was just what was visible to the dismayed agent, as the office reached farther back into the bowels of this doomed place. Golden eyes surveyed the pictures tacked among the various newspaper clippings on the wall, depicting pictures of wanted felons, gruesome scenes, scans of cult paraphilia, sketches of strange beasts and most glaringly, a poster with a UFO on it declaring in bold print "I WANT TO BELIEVE."

How unsurprising, he sure had his work cut out for him.

"Agent Sanna?" Mako called, somewhat hopeful that he could put this meeting off for another day. He had heard many things about the eccentric agent, good and bad. He was willing to respect her work to some degree, her methods, even less, but the young agent was certainly not pleased to be delegated to the X-Files sector of the FBI (however menial it was).

His hopes were dashed as his call receive a muffled thump, followed by an impressive string of curses. Mako muffled a sigh and closed the door, wholly stepping into this domain of weirdness. From around errant file cabinet a woman appeared, about as young as he, carrying a large box of some sort of equipment. She did not acknowledge him as she carried it over to her shambolic desk, dropping it unceremoniously with a huff.

"Agent Korra Sanna," Mako decided to try again, "it's nice to meet you. I'm Agent Mako Zhu-Song, your new partner." He held out a hand for her to shake, somewhat relieved when she chose to glare at the appendage rather than return the gesture. FBI protocol didn't allow for gloves to be part of ones work suit, and he still felt naked and wary without them.

"You mean spy," she retorted, "Bei Fong's latest ploy to shut me down." As she leveled her glare at him, he was taken aback by the piercing cerulean that met his stoic gaze. Something about her heated gaze was particularly striking to him, and he scolded himself for being so moronically caught off guard.

"Actually," he swallowed, "I'm looking forward to working with you." And now he was lying through his teeth. The best that could come out of this situation was keeping his job. At this Korra shot him a skeptical look, arms crossed under a generous bosom (not that he was really looking, it was just a hard action to ignore), cocking one hip to the side.

"Oh really? Whatever did you do to deserve this honor?" Her attitude is pleasant enough, Mako thought wearily.

"Look, if my credentials aren't enough for you," Mako said, narrowing his gaze at the stubborn agent.

"I've heard plenty about you Agent Mako," Korra plopped down into her seat, idly grabbing an open file. "First in your class at Quantico, medical degree at 25, you teach self-defense at the Academy, quiet the underground kick boxer back in the day too apparently." Mako's features remained smooth, even as he inwardly froze at the casual mention of his not so hidden past.

"Double undergraduate in Psychology and Physics, your thesis was very interesting by the way, although what I deal in defies all laws of conventional sciences." One eyebrow quirked in amusement as those sharp blue eyes continue to cut into him, apparently confident she had him pegged from one file reading. At least she does her homework, Mako thought dryly.

"You read my thesis?" he asked. This he was slightly surprised with, as he assumed the topic wasn't one her interests dabbled in. Of course, she could just be mocking him, as the twist of her plush lips had him assuming.

"Of course," she abruptly pushed out of her chair, "unlike others, I do respect the work of my fellows." Korra proceeded to drag the projector out from its lonesome corner, setting it up without a single glance at her new partner. After popping her slides in she finally granted Mako her attention once more.

"Perhaps, Agent Mako, you can provide a medical opinion for this?" she breezed past him, her brown hair (pulled back in a high ponytail, with her bangs parted to either side and held in traditional Inuit hairclips), catching underneath his nose leaving a faint trace of apples and pool water. A curious combination. Korra flicked off the lights and began the show, clicking to a picture of a young woman's body left in a pile of leaves.

"Oregon female, age 23, no visible cause of death. Went missing two weeks ago after going on a morning jog. Autopsy shows nothing, zip, nada, zilch," she clicked again, shuttering to a close up shot of the victims back. "However, examination did reveal two distinct marks on her lower back. Can you provide us with some identification, Doctor Mako?"

Mako moved closer to the projector screen, brows narrowed as he observed the picture. Korra's sarcasm rankled him, but he refused to rise to her level. Let her be as derisive as she pleased, he wasn't the one with a reputation for being the FBI nut job. From a distance the marks appeared to be moles, nothing out of the ordinary. Closer inspection showed there was indeed something off about the markings.

"Needle punctures, bug bites perhaps?" he mused, leaning in closer. There were two, the flesh round, raised, and redden , not easily identifiable. "Electrocution of some kind?"

"How did you fair in chemistry? Recognize this?" Korra clicked again, a scan of the toxicology report replaced the picture. Mako frowned, this reading made no sense. The chemical was organic, but he had never seen anything like it.

"That a no? That was retrieved from the surrounding area of the marks, no one has been able to identify that either, including myself." She clicked again, another body, this time male. "The same quandary was seen Little Rock, South Dakota, in Marlstown Colorado, and again in upper California." Click, click, click, each slide revealed another body with the marks.

"So then, what are your theories?" Mako turned to her, genuinely curious what her thoughts were. Mako placed his faith in science, in reality, life had taught him to rely on anything less than substantial was a fool's choice. Yet he couldn't help but be intrigued, by this case, by the dark skinned woman standing before him, so cocky and brazen, with low regard for rules and formality, if her persistent use of his first name was anything to go by. He had anticipated this to be a rather stiff and distant partnership.

"I certainly have a few," Korra gnawed on her lower lip, a rather distracting movement, "but why don't you explain to me why the FBI takes on these cases, labels them unexplainable, and then stows them away till the grow colder than a bear's balls in Alaska?" She stood toe-to-toe with him now, glaring up at him with no amusement at her non sequitur. The dark haired agent noticed with bemusement that he was easily a head taller than her, even with the added height of her wedge shoes.

Ignoring his uncomfortable shuffle to her close presence, Korra daringly leaned in closer, crystalline blue peering up beneath make-up free lashes. In a mocking whisper she asked, "Agent Mako, do you believe in the existence of ex-tra-ter-rest-rials?" She enunciated the word slowly, as if his scientific mind would be unable to absorb such a heretical word. Mako huffed in exasperation; of course it wouldn't take long for this topic to come up.

"Logically no, the physics alone for space travel is enough to debunk the alien abduction phenomena," Mako rolled his eyes, unable to resist the childish habit. His brother once commented something was wrong if Mako went a day with glancing heavenwards in vexation.

"Yes that is some deep wisdom Doctor," Korra said, "but, the female victim is the fourth of her graduating class to experience this 'phenoma." Now she was busting out the air-quotes, Mako didn't even notice when his teeth began to grind. "And yet convention hasn't given us any answers! Why not look to the supernatural as a plausible explanation?" She demanded.

"Do you seriously hear yourself? The supernatural as a plausible explanation," he mimicked. "How in the world can you say that is a logical process?"

"Narrowing your mind merely narrows you options," Korra pointed out. "Surely Detective 101 taught you thinking outside the box is just as fruitful as following the textbook, if not more likely to give you desirable results."

"I don't think asking an Ouija board for answers is likely to solve a case," he retorted. This girl is crazy, he thought. And her smug expression is downright irritating. How can she be so sure she's right, when she's completely off her rocker?

The doctor realized arguing with his partner on the first day wasn't conducive to a favorable working relationship, if the stress she's putting me through doesn't lead to my resignation first. Taking a deep calming breath, he turned back to the slideshow and away from the blatant challenge in her eyes. Those were certainly destined to doom him, he thought ruefully.

"Look, obviously she died from something," he ignored her unlady-like snort, thanks Captain Obvious, "if it was natural causes, then something was missed in the initial examination. If she was murdered, then a more thorough investigation is warranted, or that they were just, again, sloppy" he concluded. "What I fail to understand is how any answers that can be gleaned for this case is how they fall beyond the realm of science."

"The answers, Agent Korra, are there. You simply just have to look," he finished smugly, smirking at her stony, but not yet defeated, features.

"Very well, Doctor Mako, thank goodness I now have you to clear these things up for me," Korra said. She strode over to her desk once more, a mischievous shine in her eyes as she glanced backwards. "I suppose you'll be of some assistance after all. Tomorrow, eight o'clock we're headed out to Oregon. Hope you're up for a little UFO chasing."

That he knew was just to irk him, if her smug grin and the lazy lean against her desk was anything to go by. Insufferable woman, he glared. Knowing a dismissal when he was handed one, huffed and headed towards the door.

"Oh and partner?" Warily Mako turned back, golden eyes lazily reviewing this oddity before him in a new light.

"Welcome to the X-Files."

"I take it you've heard…things about Agent Korra?"

"She's basically a prodigy: top marks in her graduating Oxford class, fluent in four languages, a champion for social justice before the occult caught her eye…at the Academy she was known as Kooky Korra."

"Korra, you need to trust me!" Mako ran a frustrated hand through his mussed hair. He was tired, unbearably hot (thank you, fluctuating generator), unbelievably strung out, and utterly desperate. His diminutive yet feisty partner unflinchingly met his exhausted gaze, her sallow complexion and tired bruised eyes a mirror imagine of his own haggard state.

"Mako I do trust you," she swallowed reflexively, hating how her voice cracked, like she was ready to cry. And maybe she was, just a little, but damned if Mako knew that. She knew they were both relying on Mako to be the collected one, but her breaking down wouldn't help either.

Though there was only so much stress one could endure when threatened by parasitic ice worms.

"It's them I can't trust," she spat vehemently, flinging one arm at the door. "One of them is the infected! I can't trust them to examine me and not skew the results to compromise me! Don't you get that!"

He breathed heavily through his nose, seeing the logic in her concerns but mostly trying to taper down the anxious urge to trust her unerringly, his irrational brilliant partner who was the only one he could trust in this Arctic hell hole. But…

"Then let me examine you," he said softly, "help me prove them wrong so we can fix this and get the hell out of here." Korra's mouth twisted, this wasn't exactly the response she wanted.

"Fine," she agreed, "but in here. Only you." Mako nodded, hating how his heart accelerated in dread of what he may fine, in fear of what he may have to do to her.

Korra whirled around, bending her head forward and tugging her ponytail to the side. Mako cautiously tugged down the back of her shirt collar, revealing satiny brown skin. Without any hesitation his fingers roamed the back of her neck and down the knobs of her spine, hoping to not feel or see the tell-tale sign of a creature squirming beneath her skin. He repeated this action a few times, fingers firmly running up and down, revealing that the flesh remained smooth, that the heat radiating beneath his tips was not fever induced. The sigh that pushed past his lips was heavier than expected.

"You're clear," he said, swiping his face, as if the action could wipe away all the anxiety. He turned to the door of her prison, "now to convince them." He stuttered when Korra's strong grip seized his shoulder, freezing him in place. She's not infected, she's clean, he thought frantically, memory flashing to the violent outburst of their pilot.

"Your turn," Korra said shortly, pushing down his shirt collar without preamble. He stood rigidly as his partner swept his fingers up and down his neck, leaving a trial of gooseflesh in their wake. Mako resisted the urge to shudder, know that even if Korra would misinterpret it, he still didn't care to explain his volatile reaction to her touch. Sometimes, he couldn't explain it to himself. Instead he distracted himself with her image, how she was probably standing on her tiptoes to reach his neck, the furrow of her slim brows, the adorable protrusion of her lower lip in thought. Not exactly an appropriate thought, given the situation, but anything was welcome from the fear of being unknowingly infected.

"Your clean too Mr. Hat Trick," she breathed. Mako faced his partner, amazed by how calm she suddenly looked just knowing she definitely had her partner on her side. So she had come to rely on him that much too…?

"Told you I was fine," Korra stuck out her tongue, a typical childish mood that elicited Mako's responding eye roll.

"Yes, yes, You're right, and I'm an idiot," he said dryly.

"Don't forget Mako, both are always true," she grinned haughtily.

His lips quirked into a small rare grin; that sentence, it seemed, would forever haunt him.

"Now," she cracked her knuckles decisively, "let's deal with those two." He nodded in agreement, and lead her out the door.

"Yes, Agent Senna has been utilizing Bureau sources outside it's…typical mainstream. I'm sure you've heard of her work on unexplainable cases, those which deal with the 'supernatural.'"

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Mako, you have been assigned to assist Agent Senna with these cases."

"Seriously Korra, this has got to stop."

Great, Mako sounded tired and pissed, as if that was ever a fantastic blend. Korra pushed herself into a sitting position, a little difficult with her handcuffed hands looped behind her head, to face her irascible partner. He didn't look too worse for wear; his dress shirt was rumpled and mis-buttoned, a trouser leg tucked into a shoe, his jet black hair, standard FBI short cut and usually duck-styled, was flattened on one side of his head. So they called him in the middle of the night, and like a true mama bear fled to Wisconsin on a red-eye flight. She scoffed at his disheveled appearance, the man worried too much.

The dark skinned woman hopped off her bed (it was laughable to even call it that) and moved to the bars, sticking her hands through so her partner could uncuff her.

"But I'm really onto something here Mako! Why all this hush-hush over a simple wreckage?" She glanced closer at her handsome partner as he freed her hands. Stubble isn't a bad look on you, she thought, stifling a sly grin. Although he did look better clean cut, there wasn't much that could deter that strong jawline or those angular cheekbones. And yes, she was frustratingly, wholly attracted to her partner, but it wasn't her fault for finding the "tall, dark, and handsome" troupe so alluring.

"Korra," it was incredible how much frustration dripped off the utterance of her name, "the Chief is threatening to shut down the X-Files." This startled her out of her subtle leering, probably a much more effective tactic than a bucket of ice water.

"What? No they can't! Why would Bei Fong do that?" she denied. "A UFO crashed here, there's enough proof to blow this entire operation! I mean, clearly the military wants to hide something if they feel the need to arrest a federal officer," Korra said bitterly.

"The order didn't come from Bei Fong, it came from the Section Chief himself. You've really pushed them this time. The wreckage has been already identified as a downed Russian fighter jet, there's nothing for us to investigate here." Mako slid open her jail cell, glaring as his partner roughly pushed past him.

And here was the downside to her damnably good looking, intelligent, and talented partner, he was just so, so logical! Sometimes she appreciated his attempts to prevent her from running off half-cocked (so many times now he had saved her ass from a whole heap of trouble). Other times she found him to be irritatingly restrictive to her quest, a giant blockade to the answers she so desperately wanted.

"That's such a bullshit explanation Mako, you should know better," she sneered, snatching her gun and badge from the dull eyed attendant at the release station.

"Korra you have no grounds to be out here. This isn't our case," Mako argued.

"No, this is exactly what we're meant to investigate! To explore the unknown, to find answers not easily explained that our government doesn't want to be explained!" Korra stubbornly said. "Or are you really on their side after all Doctor?" She stomped outside, not caring if the car she was marching towards really was Mako's rental or not.

Gods he was so annoying! Constantly questioning and debating, not exactly ridiculing her, never actually, but getting him to agree with her theories was like pulling out teeth. Korra was sure he was on her side, he had proved that so many times already in the last year. Was it really so hard to believe in the unbelievable? To trust her gut? The answer was understandably yes. It also didn't help that Korra was so maddeningly attracted to him, and she was certain he felt the same way.

But that was another case to tackle altogether.

She never noticed when Mako caught up to her, those long strides made it so easy, but suddenly he was there by her side (where he's meant to be), grabbing her elbow and gently turning her towards him.

"No matter what you say, or how crazy you drive me, I'm always on your side," he said. "Trust me on that." She swallowed, unable to take the intensity of those strange amber eyes. They were so fascinating, and Korra found she wouldn't mind getting lost in that gaze sometime. The coloration did intrigue the nonromantic part of her too, but she wasn't ready to debate how his ancestry probably came from the 'fictitious' bending culture of thousands of years past.

Somehow they yet to get around to bending mythology.

"I wasn't the only one here you know," Korra said, not quite sure how to respond to such an emotional declaration from the usually tightly guarded man.

"So I was told," Mako said dully, guiding his partner towards the correct car. "Miss Joo Dee Sang. It took a bit of…forceful reassurance that you weren't part of NICAP."

"She's heard of my work! She also believes there's a cover-up here!"

"She also claimed to have been abducted, she could just be another person suffering from schizophrenic delusions," Mako retorted.

They had reached his car now, and Korra, though always up to challenge Mako's scientific counterargument, was much too tired and stiff to bother. It was doubtful she'd get a hold of Joo Dee anytime soon, not if the military still had her. Only her FBI credentials bailed Korra out of trouble this time.

"GET DOWN!"

A sudden disturbance diverted their attention to the neighboring woods, where a sudden bang and a flash of light briefly illuminated the tree line. It was daytime. Korra immediately stirred to action, ready to bolt into the woods. Her partner firmly grasped her strong bicep, using a good deal of strength to keep his headstrong partner by his side.

"Mako let go-!"

"No Korra, you're in enough trouble already. Leave it alone; let's go back to the hotel. The military can handle a slight electric malfunction."

"You think that's a simple malfunction? That's a couple of dunderheads destroying evidence, dangerous, crucial evidence!"

"Korra."

"Mako."

A standstill, blue met gold, one body stood firm while another struggle to break free. The yelling faded, and one suddenly relaxed.

"Ok, just this once," she swore. Mako sighed in relief, and opened her car door without a single word.

Unnoticed by everyone in the compound, the invisible occupant of the fallen UFO fled across the parking lot, through the electric fence, and into the outside world.

"We want conclusive field reports, observations of the work you will be doing. Bring us scientific conclusions that can satisfy the heads."

"You want me to debunk Agent Senna's work?"

"Just give us results, Agent."

AN: I have two other crossover ideas in my head (which I'm still tempted to write), but I could just not shake this idea. Maybe because an X-Files crossover is much more uncommon than a Harry Potter or Pokemon crossover (my other ideas aha). But sorry for those who don't know X-Files? Oh boy, so, epic explanation. The first segment was Mulder and Scully's first meeting from Pilot, obviously that's pretty crucial. It also seemed like a logical place to start. The second segment was taken from a stand-alone episode, Ice. I have found it to be one of the creeper episodes from season one, and also a great episode that demonstrates how close the two partners have grown (note Ice is only 8 of 24, but that examination scene? intense). The third was another mythology based episode, and a decent example of the two's warring views of the X-Files. I look at the M&S relationship and can't help but see how perfectly Makorra can be similar. I followed pretty closely how those scenes played out, but I did my best to NOT transcribe word-for-word, and keep the characters IC while following the Mulder and Scully roles (please let me know if I bombed). If people actually like this I actually want to do other seasons, maybe even make up my own scenes for those LOK fans who know jack about X-Files.

So please let me know what you think! For now though, this will be a one-shot :).

fyi: Korra's made-up last name is taken from the Inuit sea goddess Sedna; Mako's is a bs combination of Chinese surnames, which I'm sure is not correct either.