Mulder sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the freshly pressed suit that hung before him.
He sighed deeply.
It had been so long since the X-Files; so long since that crisp white shirt had touched his skin. He questioned whether he was ready to go back to it all.
Scully pushed through the bedroom door. She was already suited and booted in her old faithful tight skirt and blazer. She looked stunning as ever. He'd missed that look.
"Feels strange to be going back, doesn't it" She said fixing her earrings in the mirror.
"I haven't worn this suit since the late nineties" Mulder pointed out.
He took the shirt off the hanger easing it onto his shoulders. He'd been through a lot of white shirts in his time.
"Ready for this?" She asked.
"Ready as I'll ever be" He placed a soft kiss on her lips, and together they left their countryside home to head to DC.
…..
Navigating the corridors of the J. Edgar Hoover building, the place had transformed in the years of their absence.
Their footsteps echoed as they proceeded to the conference room. Here they would establish the terms of reopening the X-files, a notion that had been branded 'imperative to National security'.
The Bureau's one familiarity was the smell of the hardwood upholstery. It sank deep into the heart of both agents bringing back the nostalgia of their past lives working on paranormal phenomenon.
They'd begun their careers here a laughing stock. Assigned to the dumping ground for UFO's and Big Foot sightings, but now they were returning as credible agents.
Mulder felt uncomfortable towards this newfound respect regarding their work. After all, he'd been a wanted man in their books for the past decade. Only now, when the world was slowly falling apart did the FBI want the pair to return.
Mulder noted the many eyes following them as they entered the conference room. He was sure there had been much rumours floating around the office. That, for one, had not changed.
Both he and Scully had always been at the centre of gossip. First surrounding the on-going saga of their potential romance. Where they, weren't they fucking one another? Then again when Scully developed cancer, and when he disappeared for many months during his abduction. And of course, when Scully turned up to work with a noticeable pregnancy bump; he was sure the white collars upstairs were placing bets on whether he was the one who'd 'knocked her up'.
Here they were again being called to the heads, only this time not to answer for an explosion that had cost multi-millions worth of damage, or to defend themselves for murder accusations. They were instead here to save the world.
…..
"Agent Scully, Mulder" Skinner shook their hands enthusiastically.
The smile on his face he'd tried hard to conceal reminded them of better times. Through the wall of professionalism the agents knew their friend was pleased they'd be reuniting.
"It's good to see you, Walter" Mulder returned the gesture. He'd missed that bald-headed man over the years.
"Dana!" Reyes appeared from the opposite end of the room. Doggett was not far behind. They'd probably come together, perhaps they were even romantically involved now, Mulder speculated.
"How're you doing, Mulder" Doggett asked, taking his hand firmly.
Mulder couldn't help but feel some harsh feelings towards the man. Call it a clash of personalities. Still, he had saved his arse on more than one occasion.
"It's nice to no longer be black marked by the Bureau" He joked.
…..
The meeting was called to order and the delegates took their seats.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I trust you have all been briefed as to why you are here. The fact of the matter is that we, as a nation are under threat. Colonisation has begun. We are effectively at war with a concealed force. Now, as it stands, citizens have not been informed. We intend to keep it this way for as long as feasibly possible for obvious reasons. Continents across the globe are taking appropriate and immediate action"
The head clicked the projector remote and a screen illuminated on the white surfaced table at which they were seated around.
"This, Ladies and Gentlemen, is our action plan for colonisation. We call in 'The Ark'. So named after the ark Noah built to endure the great flood. We are not up against a wall of water, be we are fighting an apocalyptic force far worse"
He moved around the table as individuals studied the plans laid out before them. The block red 'Top Secret' printed across the header. It felt like a James Bond movie.
"The Ark lays out a protocol for colonisation. The first notable mass abduction occurred in Oregon a few years ago. Right now, we are experiencing mass abductions in areas across Nome, Alaska, and down through parts of Canada"
The screen flashed spreadsheets and contamination maps highlighting affected regions.
"Inclinations suggest that the first targets are in notable abduction hotspots. This is good from a containment perspective as we have been able to cover these up more efficiently based on their reputation. But, one thing is clear, this will spread, and at an unperceivable rate"
Uncomfortable shuffling erupted throughout the room. Perhaps as it had dawned upon people the urgency of the matter. This was really happening.
It was incredibly strange for the agents to be sat amongst the scientists and scholars who at one stage in time, they would have been fighting to reveal. Mulder was certain they had bumped into one of the many individuals before on some research base heist to uncover illegal genetics experimentation. What a bizarre way things had panned out. His former self would not have known whether to laugh or cry.
"The men and women sat in this room, the people amongst you now are a small portion of our nation's prevention capabilities. You, and the others involved are the United States, and the world's best hope at fighting this. Military personnel, Genetics researchers and scientists alike; you will all play a vital part in the survival of our planet"
…..
Discourse broke out across the room as people began to discuss the strategies.
Mulder glanced across at Scully, his wife, as of recent occurrences. Her face was expressionless, much the same as that of Doggett, Reyes, and Skinner. All who had been involved in the X-files had seen this coming from years ago. Now it was finally happening, no one really knew what to make of it.
"Settle down, Ladies and Gentlemen, please"
The disputes immediately quietened, all except a tall man in a black suit who rose to make his point heard.
"How do we even know what we are up against? No one really knows the capabilities of these beings. Just how hostile are they?"
The chorus of debate threatened to arise again, interrupted quickly by the head.
"It's true, despite the research, the wreckage salvage and DNA we have had to work with, in over fifty years we still know very little about these creatures. However, there is one man in this room that can give us an insight. Agent Mulder was abducted and returned by the colonists. He has worked closely with abductees in his line of work, and has studied them right the way back to Roswell"
Mulder was caught off guard, feeling like a student pulled up by his teacher.
"Agent Mulder, if you please, share with us your knowledge"
…..
Mulder stood, his hands feeling clammy as he clenched them tight. He cleared his throat, staring across at his awaiting audience.
"These beings, the Grey's as they are referred to, are extremely hostile"
Mulder made eye contact with the tall man in black, emphasising his point.
"They are capable of negotiation. This is suggested by the covenants made back in the sixties by our government and the colonists. Ultimately, however, they are very dangerous, and appear to be hell bent on destroying us. They abduct victims in a seemingly extraneous manner. There are no correlations as to who they take, although it appears that a person who has experienced an encounter will likely experience multiple abductions following"
He hesitated, burdened by the memories of Scully's absence and then battle with cancer.
"Both myself, and my partner Scully have experienced abductions, and statistically it is probable any one of you may have also had an encounter. They wipe our memories. This is why there are not more registered reports on the matter. I, through hypno-regression means, have the ability to recall my recent abduction"
He cleared his throat once more, struggling with having to relive the horror.
"They are medieval in their testing, closer to torture methods than anything else. They appear to be using us for study, to find out about our functionality. They will typically take children from a young age and revise them right through puberty and into adulthood. Some of them they kill. I'm not sure if this is a purposeful notion or if they are just trying to find our weaknesses and succeeding"
Mulder observed the fear-ridden faces amongst the room. Shocked at the exposure of truth.
"Agent Scully can probably tell you more about the medical side of things. She helped bring me back from the dead, to 'not-so-metaphorically' put it"
Mulder nodded to the head and returned to his seat. Scully was next to stand and begin her medical jargon. The head pulled up photographs of autopsies of suspected abductees. A few more people looked uneasy at the gory footage. Working with Scully in the field had somewhat acclimatised him to such imagery.
"… In Layman's terms, for the benefit of anyone without a medical background…"
Mulder smiled as Scully then proceeded to continue her medical jargon, confusing the hell out of half the audience.
"The bottom line is this; all recently occurring mass abductions have failed to be tracked. It would appear that the individuals taken are not being returned"
…..
The meeting ended long into the afternoon. Delegates left with further instruction pending. The X-files would be reopened, and that was just a small section of the attempts made towards resistance. Mulder and Scully would head it up, with the coalition of Doggett, Reyes, and Skinner; the old team back together again.
They left with a lot of planning to undertake, and questions and logistics to address.
Mulder pushed open the basement office door as the key clicked itself into place. It swung open with a creak, and they walked in with boxes under their arms. A thick layer or dust had laid itself on most of the surfaces.
He dumped a box on the desk and cleared a patch of dust to make way for his picture frame of Samantha.
"You know, they've given us a whole department floor upstairs," Doggett pointed out.
Mulder totally ignored him as he pinned the 'I want to believe' poster to the far wall.
"Home sweet home" He murmured under his breath.
Scully took his hand in hers as they both admired the handy work. They were right where they were meant to be, in that leaky basement office.