There were so many way's I might have written this, but I, I took the road less travelled by. I hope you enjoy and please remember the Review button at the bottom.

When they arrived at the warehouse, it looked abandoned. Darkness fell, overtaking the sinking sun on the drive from the hospital. Not a slither of light shone through the cracks in the rusted tin sheeting cladding. A lone van, parked haphazardly in the lot, the only sign someone might be inside the building. After Mulder cut the engine, silence greeted the two figures in the silver Taurus.

'Stay in the car, Dana,' Mulder unbuckled his seat belt and prepared to climb out. His instincts on high alert, Mulder knew, deep down, something big would go down in this warehouse.

'Mulder,' Scully sounded peeved at his by the book stance, her eyes rolling at his Machiavellian attitude, 'army reservist, remember.'

'Then stay behind me and out of trouble,' Mulder could tell from the look in her eye, leaving her behind would be a major error in judgement. He'd underestimated Dana Scully once today, not an error he intended to make again.

After her assault on the man tailing them at the convention centre, Mulder quickly realised Dana Scully had a mind, and methods, of her own. She wouldn't sit idly by while he made the arrest. The thought made him nervous. Unable to satisfactorily explain why he didn't want anything to happen to her, Mulder knew he couldn't allow Dana to get injured. Reggie's words echoed in his mind, secondary to his real reason for wanting to keep her safe. His conscious refused to admit the growing attraction.

'Good choice,' Scully teased, in an attempt to defuse some of the tension mounting between them.

She knew how this would play out if Mulder entered the building alone. Dana couldn't let that happen. Glad he gave in easily, she followed him. Finding an open side door, they looked at each other in the rising moon light. Reaching agreement, Mulder went first, weapon drawn and mind focused. The padlock had been cut clean through. A set of bolt cutters sat just inside the warehouse door. Immediately they heard voices.

'This is how they plan on distributing the gas,' a feminine voice explained. It had to be Modeski. Mulder listened intently to judge the distance and direction. 'It's asthma inhalers. This is their random test! Now I've got proof.'

Mulder realised Scully knew much more about this assignment than she'd told him. He'd given up asking, with the recognition she wouldn't divulge any more than she knew he needed to link the facts and make the connections she wanted. Giving him the clues, Modeski confirmed his current theory. For what ever reason, the FBI had this all wrong. Modeski's intention, to stop the distribution of a gas she'd helped create, didn't make sense. Still, Mulder had an arrest to make and he intended do his duty. He'd investigate these new facts with Modeski safely in custody.

Directing Scully with hand gestures, Mulder lead the way around a pile of boxes. The height of the stack hiding their presence until Mulder stepped out into the dim light. Scully remained safely in his shadow, deliberately unseen. She didn't want any of the future Gunmen giving away their previous association. The time to surprise Mulder would occur soon enough and she'd need that surprise to achieve her goal.

'Stay where you are,' Mulder shouted at the four people standing before him. Flashing his badge in one hand and carrying his weapon, carefully at his side in the other, he continued toward the group. 'Federal agent. Susanne Modeski, you are under arrest for the murders of four people at White Stone Army Base.'

Recognising two of the men, Mulder automatically brought his gun up. All three moved between him and his quarry, protecting the woman. Taking a step towards them but turning sideways so Mulder could ensure Dana's safety, shock covered his expression.

'Lower you weapon, Mulder,' Scully demanded from directly behind him. She'd already drawn the gun from the waist band of her jeans and removed the safety. It sounded overly loud in the quite, echoing warehouse. Directing the barrel at Mulder, she demanded, 'I'm not going to ask you again Mulder, lower your weapon.'

A memory of the time she shot him in the shoulder entered her mind. It might have been years ago, in her time, but Scully still felt the sickening horror. This scene reminded her of the confrontation with Krycheck outside Mulder's apartment building. Scully hopped this time Mulder would be smart enough to heed the warning in her tone and body language.

Without his lack of trust and paranoia, Mulder lowered his weapon to his side once again. Playing by the FBI rules, the fight left him. The look of desolation and betrayal at being so deceived showed, forcing him to ask, 'Why.'

'She didn't do it!' Byers join in the conversation. Recognizing Dana Scully as the person behind the federal agent, he moved to hold up the asthma inhaler as proof. He knew this moment to be the one she wanted to change. Not knowing the exact event which would cause her time line to diverge, Byers would do anything to stop them being exposed to the gas contained within the inhalers.

'She's innocent,' Frohike exclaimed at the same time.

'I believe you,' Scully declared into the sudden silence. 'That's why I'm here.'

Taking the weapon out of Mulder's limp hand, Scully tucked his gun into the waist band of her pants. Waving the revolver to her right, Scully ordered, 'step away from the consignment please Mulder.' Directing him, she pointed to the open box. 'You too Byers, Frohike. I don't want anyone exposed to that gas.'

Mulder eye's watched her every movement, attempting to decide how to play this situation. Stepping into the area Dana requested, he knew she held the only weapon and therefore the balance of power. The way she held the gun and his previous experience with this little spitfire ensured she knew both how and when to use it appropriately.

'There's more going on here than you suspect, Mulder,' Sully returned his frank gaze, understanding he wanted to get into her mind and understand why she'd betrayed him. Making her expression as neutral as possible, she continued in a soft tone, 'I know I'm asking a lot right now, but trust me. I told you earlier this evening, this is my world, science, and medicine. I know you don't understand, but this is what I've been sent here to do.'

Scully could tell he wanted to believe, to trust her, but she'd pushed his by the book attitude as far as she could. Attempting to make him believe, to understand might alienate him beyond her ability to ever build a trusting relationship between them. Brushing past Mulder, Dana offered him tight smile. Walking directly to Modeski, weapon still drawn, she ordered, 'exchange these inhalers for the doctored version,' as Scully took the three new boxes she checked out of the pharmacy half an hour ago from her bag.

'Why are you helping me?' Modeski asked, astonishment covering her features.

'You need proof if your story's to be believed,' Scully answered easily, her pleading look telling the other woman they didn't have much time. They made the switch. Repackaging the blue plastic tubes into their boxes, Modeski took them over to the cardboard container. Scully helped make the cut carton look like it'd been damaged in transit.

'I need you to listen to me,' Scully turned her attention to the three Gunman while she and Modeski worked, 'you need to protect this woman with you lives. She has information that will become invaluable to you in the future.'

Byers reacted first, 'what do you want us to do?' He'd seen too much to doubt Dana Scully's word or intention. If any good would come from this, he needed to do exactly as she said.

'You now have proof, and they won't detect the missing merchandise until it's too late,' Scully kept her attention focused on Byers. As the strongest link, she needed to convince him. 'If you go to the media and tell your story, it'll never be heard. Susanne, you know they control it. No one will believe you, even with these,' Scully held up one of the blue plastic tubes in her hand, 'they'll find every excuse under the sun not to print your story.'

'How am I suppose to get this information out to the public,' Modeski asked, astounded someone else understood her plight.

'Write an award winning science fiction novel and sell the rights to a movie company,' Scully suggested, her eyes finally meeting Mulder's. He hadn't moved a muscle, watching the events unfolding before him. Only through the years of association between them did Scully see his shock. This scene challenged his every concept with each new piece of information gathering in his mind. 'You'll reach more people that way. When you're a best selling author, you can produce your proof. People will believe you then. Better, they won't be able to make such a public figure disappear.'

In the distance foot steps could be heard rapidly approaching their location. Modeski pulled a weapon from the depths of her hand bag and pointed it towards the advancing figures. Dana identified the men on site and from the look on Modeski's face, she also knew them. The two men hadn't expected trouble. On seeing the group, they reached for their revolvers. Scully had to stop the words "Federal Agent" exiting her mouth before she reacted by letting off two very accurate rounds. Those words would give away her secret. Mulder's hazel eye's saw too much she'd be hard placed to explain. Shouting those words, he'd know Scully lied about the level of her FBI training.

'You have to go NOW,' Scully ordered, wiping her prints from Mr Normal's gun. Dropping it onto the hard concrete floor, Dana noticed the serial number and other identifying marks had been removed.

Waiting until the Gunmen and Modeski moved, Scully grabbed Mulder's hand and pulled him towards the door they'd used to enter the building. At first he resisted, until she looked back over her shoulder with a panicked expression. He heard the truck pulling up to the loading dock on the opposite side of the building. Realizing how this would look if they were caught, Mulder obeyed Scully's silent dictate. The look in his eye demanded an explanation and soon.

Modeski and the Gunmen overtook them in the race to the exit. Byers picked up the bolt cutters, ensuring no evidence tied him to the crime scene. Leaving the door open, they scrambled into the haphazardly parked van before gunning the engine. Tires screeching, they disappeared into the night without the aid of headlights. Scully watched the retreating tail lights, safe in the knowledge they gotten away without incident.

'Dana,' Mulder hissed.

He wanted answers and he wanted them now. Handing his weapon back, Scully took an instant to attempt the silent communication they shared so successfully in the future. When he returned her unspoken plea to get out of here first with a slight nod, Dana let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding. Re-holstering his revolver, his confused hazel eyes didn't quite believe the events he'd just witnessed.

Behind them, Scully heard a voice from her past. One she'd never forget. X's dulcet tone demanded, 'sanitize it.' Taking her que, she pushed Mulder through the exit and freedom. They made his car without incident. Watching the events unfolding, Dana made sure they hadn't been followed as Mulder steered the vehicle into a nearby ally.

'Mulder,' Scully started, unsure what to say and how to start this conversation she knew they had to have.

'No more BS and double talk,' he demanded, glaring at her as though he could force the truth from her, 'you've given me just enough to connect the dots in a way my mind will understand and accept but it's not the whole truth.'

His degree in psychology finally becoming useful, Mulder had time to analyse Dana's behaviour over the last seven hours while watching the events in the warehouse unfold. So much didn't make sense. Dr Dana Scully, so far, had answers to all his questions, allowing him to assume the answers. They'd seemed believable in the context. Taken together, Dana Scully was much more than she appeared. She knew too much, reacted too easily, inferred too accurately and knew him too well for her information to be gained from a file.

'I can't tell you the whole truth, Mulder, even if I wanted to,' Scully returned, her fear this moment might spell the end of their association turning her voice sharp. 'In this life, some things will forever remain a mystery.'

'What if that's not good enough?' Mulder returned. 'How can I work with someone who keeps information from me? How can I trust you completely?'

'Maybe you can't,' Scully uttered the words so quietly he almost didn't catch them.

At the look of incredulation on his face, Scully broke into a laugh. If only you knew, if only you could appreciate the irony of that statement, she felt the amusement take over. After the pressure of today, of stopping Mulder from a visit to a psychiatry ward, of seeing and talking to her dead sister and father, of finally stepping out of the bonds Daniel had bound her with, Scully needed the release. Tears sprang to her eyes. Not tears of sadness, just relief and happiness. It might be short lived, but for the moment, Dana Scully allowed the feeling to wash over her, too sooth her.

'I don't see what's so funny,' Mulder frowned. He watched the changing expressions flitter across her face, unable to understand them.

'No,' Scully retorted, finally able to stop her laughter, dulling it to a melancholy smile, 'no, I guess you don't.'

They sat in silence, eye's directed forward. The atmosphere in the car taught with friction towards and awareness of the other. Words failed both partner while the intimacy of their situation surrounded them. They observed the clean up operation without comment, each lost in their private thoughts. The vantage point didn't allow a view of the manoeuvres occurring inside the warehouse. After ten minutes, the convoy pulled out.

'Care to tell me what just happened,' Mulder asked sarcastically, not expecting an answer.

Handing Mulder the inhaler, Scully opened her mouth, not sure what to tell him, when his cell phone rang.