Ready or not

Dana stared at the old office as Monica Reyes ran her fingers through the dust on her old desk.

"They could have cleaned the place up." Doggett huffed from his wheelchair. Dana folded her arms. She hated to think of her daughter walking into the room, knowing the dust would trigger Lucy's asthma. Mulder remained quiet, knowing that both women were thinking about all the sacrifices they had made over the years.

"I am not cleaning this office. I might do a smudging, get rid of the bad vibes here." Monica walked over to Scully's old desk. "Hey! They kept the poster."

"I want to believe." Doggett shook his head. "Still the case, Mulder?"

Mulder shrugged his shoulders. He knew what his friend was teasing him for. It had been his quest, his passion that had led them all into danger. Now his friend was paralysed from the hips down and Mulder couldn't help but think if he'd never become involved in the Xfiles he wouldn't have been shot.

"I want to believe we can make a difference. I'm not as naive as I once was." Mulder looked up, rolling his eyes as he realised a dozen pencils were still embedded in the ceiling. Dana smirked as she realised what he was looking at. None of them realised Walter Skinner was stood in the doorway.

"This place hasn't been touched since the X-Files were closed." He stated firmly. "I was reassigned for years; it's only with the current administration that I'm back as AD. It wasn't just you that was affected by the fall out."

"Yet we are all back here." Mulder paused. Skinner nodded.

"The unexplained." Skinner stated. "There's more phenomena out there than ever."

"Conspiracy theories." Scully closed her eyes. "There's always some wild conspiracy theory. Some wild goose chase to follow, time lost, alien abduction." She shook her head.

"Agent Scully." Skinner started

"Doctor." She corrected him. "It's been a while since I was Agent Scully."

Mulder stared at his old desk as Monica folded her arms across her chest as Doggett nodded.

"You want us back? Who's pulling the strings?"

"No one."

"Sir." Scully turned to him. "There's always someone." She walked out of the room as the others fell silent. Mulder shoved his hands in his pockets.

"We're back."

Ccccc