"You move one inch or make any sound I'll shoot you both!" A strange man stood in front of Mulder pointing a gun inches away from Scully's face. Instinctively, Mulder sprung at him. At the same time the man pulled the trigger.

"You son of a…"

BANG!

Mulder's head shot up nearly knocking him out of the chair he was in. He found himself next to Scully who was still in her hospital bed.

"I'm sorry, Agent Mulder, did I wake you?" Skinner had just walked through the door. "I didn't mean to let the door slam."

It was just a dream, he thought to himself. No, it was a nightmare. Something else happened that night. "I…I…was…" Mulder didn't finish his sentence.

Martha entered the room behind Skinner. "Can I speak to the both of you?" The two men walked to the other side of the room to stand by her. "The doctor has signed her discharge papers, but we can wait until she is awake and ready to go home. We've sent the rape kit results over to your lab. We all hope you catch the maniac who did this. Have you made arrangements for someone to stay with her?"

"I can," Mulder said.

"Weren't you with her tonight? I don't think that would be a wise decision."

What makes you the expert, he thought.

"I agree with you, ma'am," Skinner said. "Maybe we should call her mother."

"NO!"

They turned to look in the direction of the voice. Scully sat up quickly, "I don't want her to know. I don't want anybody to know!" They were the first words she had spoken since she laid down next to Mulder on his couch. That was nearly 8 hours ago.

Mulder dashed to her side. He tried taking her hand, but she winced and snatched it from his reach. "Scully, please forgive me." Mulder's eyes watered up awaiting a reaction indicating she did.

"I want to go home," was all she said. She laid back down facing away from Mulder, once again.

Mulder couldn't hold the tears back. Skinner went over to Mulder, placed his arms around his shoulders, and led him away from Scully.

Martha led them outside. "It's common for women to be afraid of any men around her after an ordeal like this. Give her some time." Turning to Mulder she said, "I suggest you seek some help as well." Martha returned to the nurses' station leaving them alone in the large hall. It was barely dawn and most of the patients were asleep so the staff kept themselves busy in paperwork.

"Mulder, we've pulled in another profiler to handle this case. You are too involved in it. He's given us some insights on the men who broke into your apartment. He says that they're normally petty thieves and have never come across someone being home during one of their invasions. He also said, the skinny man was the conspirator and got a rush out of his new surroundings. We're hoping this guy is a previous offender whose information is in our database. Maybe that rape kit will help us find him. Now, I'm sending you home. The cops were done a few hours ago and said you were free to return. Come to think of it, I recommend you go to a hotel. You need some rest."

"Sir, I don't want to leave Scully."

"I understand, but the best thing for both of you is to rest. I'm sending Scully home with a female agent who will take excellent care of her.

Scully's apartment. One hour later.

"Agent Scully, would you like something to eat? Or maybe a bath?" The woman who drove her home was slightly older than Scully. She was taller, too, but looked to be pretty athletic. Birch was her name.

Maybe she's into a lot of martial arts or something, she thought. "A bath would be nice, thank you." Scully sat on the edge of her bed starting to take off the clothes she had worn the night before. She had taken some time to decide what to wear for her "not too fancy" dinner. She chose a fitted purple t-shirt and her favorite pair of jeans. She didn't get to wear those very often and she suddenly had the urge to throw them in the fireplace.

Birch came out of the bathroom after running a bath for Scully. "I'll just be in the other room if you need anything."

Scully tried to smile her thanks, but only managed a slight nod. She walked into her bathroom and looked into the mirror. What she saw horrified her. Her eyes were swollen and red, a combination of no sleep and hours of crying. Her hair was messy and could use a good wash. She looked down to her hands that had red rings around them from the tie. Suddenly she saw herself kneeling on the floor of Mulder's apartment with a man pointing a gun at her and another tying her hands. "NO!" she cried out!

"Scully are you ok in there?" Birch called to her through the bathroom door.

"Yeah, I'm ok," she said shaking. Scully grasped the counter for support. She would have cried if there were any tears left. Slowly, she made her way to the tub and climbed in. She turned to this therapy after difficult cases or stressful days with Mulder. Now she turned to it for a different reason. She needed to rid her body of the filthiness she felt. It consumed her like a rash all over her body. She reached for her loufa, squeezed some soap onto it, and began scouring her body. No matter how hard she scrubbed she felt no liberation through her actions.

After some time she heard a quiet knock on the bathroom door. Birch had been listening from the living room. Until now she'd heard the sounds of water sloshing about and felt Scully was ok. It had gotten quiet and she decided to check on the unfortunate woman. "Agent Scully, are you alright?"

"Yes," she replied quietly. "I'm just drying off. I'll be out in a minute."

"Ok, I've made you some breakfast. You should eat something." Birch returned to the kitchen to prepare a plate of pancakes, eggs, and sausage. She had glasses of orange juice and milk. She'd decided against coffee, hoping Scully would sleep after eating.

Scully came in wearing pajamas and fuzzy slippers. Birch saw her examine to the front door. "Don't worry Scully, you're safe here." Scully sat at the table and glared at the food before her. It had been about 12 hours since she last ate. She knew it was time for her to eat, but her stomach didn't agree. She took a few sips of the orange juice and one or two bites of the eggs, but mostly pushed the food around.

When she finished eating she agreed with Birch about some sleep. Scully wanted nothing more than to forget about the events of last night. She took two of the sleeping pills that had been prescribed to her and climbed into bed. She was thankful they were working immediately.

Birch was reading a book on Scully's couch when she heard a gentle knock on the door. She reached for her pistol and peered through the peep hole. It was Mulder. Sighing, she unlatched the chain, flipped the lock back and opened the front door. "Agent Mulder, why are you here?" her tone was quiet in a worrisome way. She knew he had been ordered to get some rest, too.

He was holding a beautiful bouquet of wild flowers. "I need to see her. I need to know she's safe."

Birch allowed him through the door and put her finger to her lips to tell him to keep quiet. Whispering she said, "She is safe. Agent Scully went to sleep about an hour and a half ago. She needs to be left alone to rest which is something you need to be doing, as well."

"I couldn't," he whispered back. "I couldn't do anything but think about her. I tried, but I have to know she's ok."

She sighed again, "Fine, but you need to make it quick, keep it quiet, and don't wake her! Why don't you go find a vase for those flowers and take them to her room?"

He obeyed and slipped through the bedroom door. He'd left it open partially and Birch heard him from her place on the couch. "I'm sorry Scully! Please, please forgive me for not protecting you! I love you, and I always will. I'll be here when you're ready." He came back into the living room.

"Thank you for letting me see her," he said to Birch. Then he left.