On the way to the hospital

"Scully, do you know what fen fires are?" Mulder inquired.

"I read it's probably gas that comes out of the moor and somehow go ignited," she replied.

"Yeah, but did you know some people believe it's the lost souls of children?" her partner informed her enthusiastically.

Scully gave Mulder one of her famous looks. "Mulderrrrr...," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "And what good does it do them to lure innocent people to their deaths?"

Mulder shrugged. "Others say it's the souls of suicide and homicide victims as well as murderers," he added gloomily.

"Oh, and the latter have reason to still go on a killing spree?" Scully's tone took on a mocking note. Mulder looked hurt.

"Look, Mulder," Scully spoke, "it's probably natural causes for the lights and those people were just unfortunate to get lost in the moor."

Mulder looked at her sticking his lips out, pouting. Then he shook his head. "No, Scully, I can feel it's nothing of that sort."

"Feel? Which mark on the Mulder-scale?," she laughed.

From his reaction she could tell it home. "Mulder, I'm sorry. I shouldn't've..."

"It's okay, Scully. I'm used to this – just not from you." He thought about sulking but he knew inside she really hadn't meant it like that. So he gave her a conciliable smile.

"So... what is it that makes you have that feeling, Mulder?" Scully asked then to make up for her faux-pas.

"Well... the officer said that Jarryd Spencer claims that whatever attacked him wasn't an animal. Adding to that, what creatures live in a moor that can attack people?" It was obviously meant as a challenge for her.

"Err...," she was thinking. "I don't really know, birds? Rodents?" She felt a bit lost. Animals and their habitat were not really her piece of cake.

"Birds, insects, horses...," Mulder started, "lizards, adders, cattle and sheep. Dragonflies, rodents, sometimes foxes and owls, fish and frogs," he finished his list. "Anything sound to you like they can let people disappear or leave wounds as officer Hayes described?"

"Not really," Scully mused. "Maybe adders, or foxes," she grinned.

"Adders usually don't get much bigger than 60cm of length, and foxes, well, only if they have rabies, but as you might be aware, the UK is rabies-free."

Scully was thinking. Mulder smiled and then continued. "I only forgot to mention one other animal," Scully looked at him expectantly. "Hounds," Mulder said with an eerie tone in his voice.

"Hounds?" Scully repeated with a frown.

"Yes, Scully... never heard of the Hound of the Baskervilles? That was right here," Mulder tried to hide his smirk.

Scully had been gaping at him open-mouthed but when he mentioned the Baskervilles, she closed her mouth, blowing up her cheeks and then letting the air out noisily.

"Mulder, if I want to have my leg pulled, I'll do it myself." Mulder snorted with laughter.

"Gotcha, Scully." He offered a lopsided grin.

"No you didn't."

"Oh yes, I did."

Scully decided to leave him his opinion. She was going to get him back - sometime later, and it would be goooood, that she promised herself.

In the meantime they had arrived at the hospital and walked to the information desk to find out where they could find Jarryd Spencer.

They had to climb up to the second level and knocked at his door.

TBC