First off, thank you guys for the amazing reviews! You guys really motivate me to keep writing and updating this story. Y'all are the best! So things have definitely taken a turn for the worst for Mulder and Scully, so it's going to be getting interesting from here. After this chapter, things are going to be picking up and getting crazy, so stay tuned! :)


Scully was sitting, leaning against the tree. She felt completely overwhelmed by the situation that she and Mulder were in. As she was lost in thought, she was completely unaware of a hand, slowly inching nearer and nearer. If she could have seen it, it would have looked like an invisible hand floating in the air.

In an instant, the hand gripped her arm and violently jerked her backwards. She stood up to fight back and instinctively reached for the pocket knife in her pocket, but realized that this might be her only way to get into the Town. She planted her foot on the tree, and pulled out her cell phone. She pressed number 4 on her speed dial and dropped her phone by the tree. She continued to fight back, but slowly let the attacker pull her in.

It was like being dunked in ice cold water as her body was pulled through the invisible barrier. She faintly heard, "Hello? Hello?" coming from her phone, but she couldn't speak. Her arm was now through to the other side, completely invisible. She watched with amazement as the rest of her was pulled through until, finally, her head came through and she was face to face with her attacker.

When she was finally through, she seized her opportunity to fight back. She sent a hard left hook to the giant man's nose and felt a satisfying crunch as her fist made contact. The man flinched and released his grip on Scully's arm, leaving her totally free. She threw all her weight into a hard punch into the man's groin.

He let out a groan and dropped to the ground on his knees. Scully was just getting ready to send an uppercut his way, when she saw a figure laying in the grass not far ahead. A gasp escaped her lips, Mulder. She instantly realized her mistake and, before she had a chance to react, she felt a sharp sting as the giant man backhanded her, hard.

She crumpled to the ground and tasted blood as she felt herself being tied up and roughly heaved to her feet. The man held a firm grip on her arm and she looked up to see Mulder charging toward them, looking crazed. She looked past him and saw two other men who looked a little worse for wear, running toward Mulder. One of them roughly grabbed Mulders arms and pinned them to his side. The other came over and grabbed her from the giant man.

There was a split second where no one moved and Scully felt her stomach drop as she saw how badly her partner was injured. She could clearly tell that he had been beaten, but she could also see a red and angry mark on his right side, which looked like a severe burn. Other than that, she could see he was breathing sharply, which probably meant he had a broken or fractured rib. She felt anger suddenly well up inside her.

She watch with baited breath as the giant man quickly walked up to Mulder and punched him hard in his already injured ribcage.

"No!" She pulled against her captor, but his grip was strong.

Mulder was heaved to feet again just as the giant man sent another punch to his ribcage again.

"You son of a bitch!" Scully was now pulling with all her might. She had never had such an intense urge to hurt someone as she did with this giant man.

The man holding her started walking ahead, pushing her, toward what Scully assumed was the Town. She watched as the other man and the giant man each grabbed one of Mulder's arms and started dragging him in the same direction.

"Why are you doing this? What do you want?" She heard panic in her voice, but still felt anger more than anything. She glanced at Mulder with concern, he didn't seem to be unconscious, but looked close.

They finally arrived to the Town and stopped by a giant fire pit which was surrounded by people. Scully instantly recognized the old woman as Mulder was dropped on his back by her feet. She leaned over and smiled at him before she straightened and turned her attention to Scully.

"Well, this is a surprise." The old woman walked up to Scully, motioning to the man holding her.

Scully looked around, unsure, but was surprised when the man untied her.

"I really was hoping you wouldn't find a way here, though I am curious how you did. Your partner was all we wanted, not you."

Scully was confused at the woman's calm demeanor. For a moment, she almost felt safe and relaxed by her presence, until she looked at Mulder, who was now fully awake, watching the old woman through.

"W...why do you want my partner?" Scully slowly asked.

The old woman sighed and looked over at Mulder. "It's a long story, but I will tell you that it is because of justice. My son was taken too soon by one of yours, now were making it right. He has been through the trial and we have decided that he his to serve the remainder of his days as a slave to us."

Scully looked at the woman, unable to speakr, then down at Mulder. She was now truly scared.

"So this...this whole thing is about revenge? For what happened to your son? How can you think this is justice?" She was yelling now and motioned to Mulder. "My partner is innocent. He hasn't done anything wrong, so why should he suffer?"

Scully was really beginning to hate this old woman and her creepy smile.

Mulder croaked, "You can't change her mind, Scully, I've already been through that once." He tried to let out a laugh, but it turned into a groan.

Suddenly, the woman clapped her hands and the people around her started moving. Two of the women grabbed Scully and started dragging her away, toward one of the houses. Two men reached down and grabbed Mulder by the arms, roughly pulling him to his feet dragging him away also.

Mulder suddenly realized that they were pulling him in the opposite direction of Scully and he felt a burst of panic.

"Scully!" He managed to jerk free of one of the men. "Let go of me you sons of bitches. She has nothing to do with this! You people are si-" He felt a burst of pain in his back as he collapsed to the ground. His body exploded with pain as he continued to feel something hard hitting him.

Scully continued to be dragged away as she watch an infuriated Jud relentlessly hitting Mulder with what looked like a police baton.

"Dammit," She breathed under breath, aware that there was nothing she could do at this point. She watched as the giant man stopped and the men grabbed Mulder again, throwing him into a large, wooden structure that closely resembled a jail cell. He fell in a heap on the ground, his hands now untied, and Scully felt herself being dragged into one of the houses. Suddenly, she was thrown into a comfortable looking bedroom and the door slammed; she heard it being locked from the outside. She ran to the window, which had metal bars on it, and looked for Mulder. He still appeared to be unconscious and he looked so vulnerable; it made Scully uneasy. She noticed the old woman standing near Mulder's cell, watching him, and Scully felt anger rise up in her again.

"He needs medical attention!" She was yelling through the bars but the old woman was ignoring her. "I'm a doctor, at least...at least let me make sure he doesn't die!"

But the old woman turned and walked away, towards the biggest house in the circle.

Scully continued to stare out the window at Mulder, hoping that he would move, letting her know he was still alive. She didn't know how long she watched him but, finally, she saw him stir, moving and pushing himself onto his back. She breathed a sigh of relief.

He's okay, for now anyways.

She walked away from the window and sat on the edge of her bed, realizing how exhausted she was.

Now if Mulder can hold back his smart remarks from now on, we might be able to get out of this alive.

She let out an incredulous laugh as she laid on her back, staring at the ceiling, still trying to process how this was all even possible. Her head was swimming with ideas and plans of escape but, before she knew it, she had drifted into peaceful sleep.


Mr. Ackers was driving back to the tree, lunch in tow. He had made a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, grabbed some chips, and some bottled water. He pulled up to his original parking spot and was immediately aware that Scully was no where to be seen. He jumped out of the car and looked all over, but to no avail; she seemed to have disappeared. His worst fears were confirmed when he saw Scully's phone laying on the ground right next to the tree. He grabbed the open phone and saw there was a missed call from Walter Skinner.

He hit call and was surprised when someone picked up after the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Er, hello, is this Walter Skinner?" Mr. Ackers asked with uncertainty.

The voice slowly answered, but with authority. "Yes, who is this?"

"This is George Ackers. I'm calling you on Dana Scully's behalf. She's in trouble and I think she wanted me to call you."

"What happened and where are you?"

So Mr. Ackers went into a full explanation of the events that had unfolded. He left no detail out, no matter how crazy it sounded.

"So are you...are you a federal agent too? Can you do something to help them?" Mr. Ackers asked nervously.

He heard a sigh on the other end and he felt even more nervous. "I used to be their Assistant Director, but I'll come down there with a team right now. One way or another, we'll get them out of there."

Mr. Ackers let out a sigh of relief, at least he wasn't alone in this anymore. He could tell that Skinner probably didn't believe him, he probably thought he was a lunatic holding them captive himself. But it didn't matter, as long as they were coming to help, that's all he wanted, even though he wasn't sure how it was possible to rescue them.

He heard a click as their call was disconnected. He walked back to his car, unwrapped a sandwich, and waited, hoping that Scully and her partner were alright.