"Dad's on a hunting trip...and he hasn't been home in a few days."
Sam Winchester froze. Each word that Dean spoke were branded in Sam's mind.
Jess stood beside Sam, he could feel each breath that Jess had taken; steady as always. His chest felt heavy, all those years of hunting with Dad and Dean came crashing down on him like a sudden storm.
"Jess," Sam finally began, "excuse us. We have to go outside." Sam forced himself to appear unaffected by the news. This was not going to happen, not now. Life was everything he wanted it to be, without them.
Scully scoffed silently to herself. She had walked into Mulder's office like always, like clockwork. Every morning was the same, only this time Mulder had the projector set up. That would be normal, considering that there was a painting of a woman in white. Scully kept her eyes on the projection, it was too normal, but she knew it was anything but.
Mulder, even from the doorway, exuded an abnormal amount of pride. "Good morning, Scully."
It was yet another build up to a supposed X-File. Scully held her breath, his half smile had always pulled her in. His smile and the look in his eyes only stood for one thing. She took the few steps into his office, though it seemed so far away, his challenge was accepted. Scully found her place on a stool that had been placed in front of his desk, behind the projector. A front row seat to the grand presentation of: Fox Mulder, the ignorant quest to find the truth.
"Mulder," Scully cleared her throat, "you do realize that Skinner wants our report that you said would be done this afternoon... for Monday."
Mulder smirked and let out what seemed to be a laugh, but it was rather short and carried a hint of embarrassment. "Report..."
Scully sighed and looked away, only to look back into his bemused eyes. "Mulder, it is also Saturday. We agreed, this time, you do the report. You owe me."
Mulder and Scully had come back home to his office in the basement, which was far away from the FBI world. Everything normal, warm, and not to mention logical. The case was Scully's dream come true, it was not an X-File. Just a standard case of too much rohypnol and a man pretending to be E.T. It was like another episode of "Scooby Doo," only the man forgot to say: "If it weren't for you meddling kids..."
"Scully," Mulder motioned to his presentation somehow maintaining his previous zealousness, "I worked so hard. These presentations are not for me, they're for you."
Scully rolled her eyes, "I had a bath running, and..." She came to a stop. Anything she could, and would have said would only be confronted with the painting that was lit before her.
Priorities.
The slide changed to another older painting of a different woman, but she was still dressed in white. The slides kept on changing, while Mulder kept his gaze on Scully's consistent expression. It was empty, not even the hint of assessment.
"She is called, 'Woman in White'"
Scully raised her eyebrows, the words 'no shit' emanated from her expression.
"There have been countless reports of seeing this woman, all over the world. This woman appears on the side of the road, posing as a hitchhiker. Of course, her story has slight changes to fit the circumstances in each local history. She is an apparition nonetheless. The woman is a restless spirit who has lost her children, she is said to be the vengeful kind. Men are usually the ones who pick her up. She is said to ask to be brought home, and usually speaks of nothing else then vanishes when 'home' is near."
Scully pursed her lips. Plot twist was on the horizon.
The slide changed to a stranded car on a bridge. There was blood on the windshield, and the windows, and just on everything else.
"Troy Squire. His car had been abandoned on this bridge, locals have not been able to locate the body and have no leads, or suspects." Mulder smirked, staring at his presentation. Seemingly pleased.
Scully took a deep breath, "He was obviously murdered Mulder. The killer could have just taken the body and done God knows what with it."
"Mr. Squire has been reported to be one of many men to spontaneously disappear." Mulder countered, he seemed to have thought of every argument possible with Scully.
"Okay," Scully arose from the stool, "so maybe it is a woman murdering these men. Mulder, how many times have we seen this before. This woman could have abducted these men and killed them, her motives are endless. Mental illness, schizophrenia, an angel of the Lord could have miraculously appeared and told her to do it."
Mulder looked down at Scully's chest. The small golden cross that hung from her neck seemed to have not agreed with her last point.
Scully sheepishly covered it with her hand once she noticed where Mulder was looking. "Look, Mulder, it is just plain murder. This is not an X-File."
"Well, you can tell me when we come back from Jericho." Mulder turned off the projector and walked towards his desk obtaining his suit jacket as well as a folder.
Scully was stunned, "Jericho..." It took her a few seconds to process the word. It was certainly a place, somewhere that she had no intentions of going, "Mulder, the report!"
Mulder smiled carefree again, "The Sheriff already knows were coming Scully."