FBI Headquarters,

Washington DC 11:30am

"Let me get this straight," Special Agent John Doggett said skeptically as he sat at Mulder's old desk in the X Files office later that day. "You saw a ghost last night in your house, and you want us to what, investigate what could have been a dream you had?" Doggett asked. "Yep ," Mulder replied from his seat opposite Doggett. It felt good to be back in the X Files office again. It had been a year since he was last here. Some things had changed, for example, the calendar he used to have on the wall was taken away and replaced by a UFO one, and there were more space in the office now that Doggett had tidied up the files. It looked more organized, and Mulder found himself missing the old clutter and mountains of paperwork that he used to work with when he was in the office.

He fondly remembered Scully lecturing him many times to tidy up the office so they can work, and each time Mulder had some excuse about not having any time and solving cases are more important than tidying an office. The office had changed in places. Mulder fiddled absent mindedly with his FBI visitor's pass as he listened to Doggett. "That's about the gist of it," Mulder told him. "So can you tell me what ghost I saw?" He asked.

"A Banshee," a female voice said from the other side of the office. "Excuse me?" Mulder asked. A brunette was standing by the X Files cabinet, and she turned to face Mulder with a file in her hand. "You were visited by a Banshee, or sometimes known as a Succubus," the woman said. The woman was Special Agent Monica Reyes, Agent Doggett's partner and who was now assigned with Agent Doggett to the X Files unit.

She was a believer, like Mulder. The two didn't work much together before, but Mulder thought she was okay. "A Banshee, huh?" Mulder asked. "What's that when it's at home?" He asked. Agent Reyes sat at the other desk, reading from the file. "A Banshee is a kind of jealous ghost, a jealous female ghost who visits men in their sleep during the night, gaurding them from any females that they are close to," she explained. "This kind of ghost has a mournful wail as she is showing you she is a sign of misfortune," she said. "An omen?" Mulder asked. Reyes nodded. "An omen of bad luck. You've got to be careful, Mulder," she said.

"Come on, Monica," Doggett said with a roll of his eyes. "You're not suggesting that Mulder saw an actual manifestation of a omen of misfortune, are you?" He asked. Reyes nodded. Mulder thought for a moment. "So, does this mean that, because I saw the ghost, I'm going to have bad luck?" He asked. Reyes nodded again. "It would appear so," she said. "After all, DD Skinner went through the same thing, didn't he?" She asked. "Instead the woman ghost was protecting him. Maybe you could have a word with Skinner and ask him whether or not the ghost is there to warn or protect you?" She suggested. Mulder nodded. "OK. I'll book an appointment with the Skinman. Thanks for your help, guys," he said.

As Mulder got up to leave, he remembered something. "Oh," he said, turning back round to face them. "Can I ask you a favour? Please don't tell Scully I asked you to look into this. She thinks it's a waste of time," he said. Reyes and Doggett grinned at each other. "Trouble in paradise, Mulder?" He asked. "There will be if you tell Scully," Mulder said, pleading them.

"It's okay, Mulder," Reyes told him with a smile. "We won't tell her. Will we, John?" She asked her partner with a meaningful look. Sometimes Doggett and Mulder didn't see eye to eye with things, as Mulder believed whereas Doggett didn't. "Are you asking us to lie to her?" Doggett asked in disbelief.

"No, not lie," Mulder protested. "Just... don't say anything. Please. I'll tell her when it's all sorted," he said. Doggett shook his head and sighed. "Still sounds like lying to me," he said. Reyes stood up and saw Mulder to the door. "OK. I don't know if she told you yet, but we're due to meet Scully for lunch next week. Just make sure it's sorted out by then, okay?" She asked him.

Mulder looked at her in surprise. "She asked to meet you guys for lunch?" He asked. Reyes nodded. "Well, I kind of made the call first. I rang her this morning. We kind of... miss her. So we thought we'd catch up. You're welcome to come to, if you like," she suggested.

Mulder nodded. "OK. I'll check my calendar and let you know," he said. With a nod, Reyes opened the door for him. "Thanks for coming, Mulder," she said. "Good luck with the ghost," she added. Mulder grinned. "Thanks, guys," he said. "Yeah, yeah," Doggett called sarcastically as Mulder left.

As soon as Mulder left, Reyes turned round and shot Doggett an annoyed look. "What?" Doggett asked. "Why do you have to be so mean to Mulder at times?" She demanded, her arms folded across her chest. "Are you jealous of him, is that it?" She asked. Doggett scoffed as he leant back casually in his chair. "Jealous? What do I have to be jealous about? I just hate the fact that he swans in here when he likes, gets you to drop everything and then asks us to lie to Dr Scully. I just don't get why we can't just see Dana next week," he said.

"Mulder's a friend, he's Scully's husband. He has a right to know about the lunch and we have every reason to help him," Reyes told Doggett sternly. Doggett sighed. "OK, OK," he said, giving in. "I'll help him. If he needs us, he knows where we are," he said. Reyes smiled gratefully at him and went over to sit at her desk. "Thank you, John," she said. "That means a lot."