Something jolts her awake and her heart is doing flip flops inside her chest when she opens her eyes. She doesn't know if it is because of whatever it was that woke her up or if it is due to the sight in front of her, due to how comfortable his hands feel on her side.

He opens his eyes just a few seconds after, an innocent smile showing up, giving her no time or chance to look away. She smiles back sheepishly, allowing him into her thoughts for just a couple of seconds. She looks down at his bottom lip and licks her own – a common and involuntary reaction she should really learn how to control. With her peripheral vision, she sees that his Adam's apple suddenly bobs up and down. She doesn't want to look him in the eye because she knows he caught her staring, and she doesn't know if she'll have enough willpower to just not do or say anything about it.

Mornings tend to do this to her, leave her more open to the possibilities just the night before she considered too out of her reach. Mornings make her do stupid things she doesn't know if she is prepared for.

She feels his hand move slowly up her side and she doesn't know if his movement is conscious or not. She feels warmth flooding into her heart and into her center. If things were to happen, it shouldn't be like this, and yet…

She is already considering raising her eyes to meet his gaze again when she hears a sound, one that she is now sure was the reason why she woke up with her heart ready to jump out of her chest: a very loud and very human scream.

They both stand up at once, grabbing and putting on their coats as they make their way to the door. There is no time to change if they want to save whoever screamed that way. She hopes her unpartnerly thoughts didn't contribute for it being too late already.

They step out in the freezing cold morning, fully alert, their eyes looking for any signs of what might be happening. The snowstorm seems to be gone now, but it's still too foggy to see anything. Scully looks around as she walks and almost wishes to hear another scream so she can follow it. A scream is good, she thinks. A scream means there is still time.

"See anything?"

She asks Mulder, but Mulder doesn't answer. She turns around and realizes Mulder is not there anymore. And nor is their cabin, for that matter. She just walked a few feet, how did it suddenly vanish like that?

She pushes away the thoughts that come to her mind. It's just the power of suggestion. She read the files too many times, that's it. What happened to the victims is certainly not the same thing that is happening right now.

She doesn't want to admit it, but she is starting to panic.

"Mulder!"

She shouts.

He can't have gone far, he was just here!

She hears another scream, a louder one this time. Somehow, she knows that whoever produced that scream used her last bit of strength to cry for help.

She follows the sound, feeling more and more frozen by the second. Frozen on the outside, frozen on the inside.

Keep moving, Dana, just keep moving.

And then she sees it.

A silhouette in the distance.

She tightens the grip on her gun as she approaches the… this is certainly not a man or a woman. No one could be that tall. She takes a few more steps, careful not to call attention to herself, while observing the creature in front of her raising its arms, as if preparing for a final blow. She has to do something before it's too late.

"Stop! FBI! I'm armed!"

This seems to stop the creature from doing whatever it was going to do, but it also…

It's turning around now, following the sound of her voice. She sees its face as clear as day and she wouldn't dare say it is just someone wearing a costume. This looks too real. Pointed, sharp teeth show up as the creature opens its mouth and starts running her way. The snow doesn't seem to be an obstacle or offer any kind of resistance. The creature is surprisingly fast coming at her.

Fuck!

She shoots the first time aiming for the head. Nothing happens.

With every breath she takes she is surer this isn't going to happen the way she wants it to. She doesn't know if the chills down her spine are just the cold or the fear creeping up on her, so fast she can't even think.

She shoots a second time, aiming for where she assumes its heart is located. She shoots once again and then again, praying this will be enough. She fires the last one of her bullets.

The creature falls to its knees and then down with his face on the snow.

She hears Mulder's voice just as she realizes that, whatever it was that she shot, isn't standing up anymore.

"Scully!"

"I'm here, Mulder!"

She shouts, looking in the direction the sound of his voice is coming from and, in no time, she sees him running and panting towards her.

"What happened?"

He asks.

"There was this... I shot it."

She points to where the creature fell, but what she sees there blows her mind. It is just a man.

As confusion takes over her, she realizes one other thing: the victim is a few feet away, lying on her back, the snow around her becoming red with blood.

Oh god, no!

She runs towards her and realizes that the woman is not breathing. She feels like crying. This is not supposed to end like this.

She tries the usual CPR steps and prays. Maybe it's not too late this time.

A few seconds later a smile breaks into her face as she realizes she is right. This time she wins. This time they catch the killer and save the victim.

Suddenly, there are more people around them and she doesn't know how long she has been sitting there with the woman in her arms. Apparently, their phones started working again at some point because Mulder has called for backup and the paramedics and the police are all over the place.

She stands up and lets the paramedics take over, looking around for the first time. The fog is not there anymore and there is still no creature around. Just a man with five shots across his chest and a bleeding ear, damage which was probably caused by the first bullet she fired.

But how can this be?

She saw it with her own eyes. Whatever tried to attack her wasn't human, it was…

She feels Mulder's hand on her shoulder bringing her back to reality. She sighs.

"Mulder, I don't know what happened here. I…"

He doesn't let her finish, just guides her away from the police and the others that came to gather evidence.

She only realizes she is shaking when he stops and raises her chin with his index finger.

"It's over now. You caught him. He isn't going to hurt anyone anymore."

"But Mulder, I…" It's hard to say this aloud, so she takes a deep breath before speaking. "I didn't shoot that man."

Mulder seems confused and she can see why.

"I shot a 12-foot-tall creature. And somehow that creature is actually a man. Maybe it's the lack of sleep and I'm seeing things, but…"

Mulder nods, understanding.

"You've just experienced an X-File, Scully. You should be used to that by now."

He smiles a little to make her comfortable, and she can't help smiling back, although weakly.

"Yes, Mulder, but usually you're the one seeing things, not me."

She chuckles, thinking about all the other times that she saw things but wouldn't admit it, not even to herself. She really has come a long way in the past seven years.

The sheriff comes their way and she is already rehearsing what she will say in order not to look like a lunatic. She isn't surprised that Mulder stays there with her all the way, filling in her story with some bits and pieces, like the good partner he is.

The sheriff takes his notes and then walks away, thanking them for having caught the guy and bringing back peace to their little beautiful town. Scully is glad that at least someone is at peace because she clearly isn't.

They walk back to their cabin in silence, leaving Scully to her thoughts of how she couldn't explain anything about this case. Maybe answers will start showing up now that the killer has been caught. For the first time in her life, she is eager to perform an autopsy.