DISCLAIMER: I didn't create the X-files or any of the characters there in.
All rights of the said TV series belong to Chris Carter, Fox, and 1013
Productions. Special Kudos to DD and GA for their wonderful portrayal of
Mulder and Scully, without which I would have zero inspiration. Ya-da ya-da
ya-da. The X-files and all related materials and characters are the sole
property of Ten-Thirteen Productions. No infringement intended, on either
the show or Merril Bainbridge's song 'Power Of One' or Phil Collins'
'You'll Be in My Heart'.
How will it End: Power Of One
Scully's Apartment Tuesday 9:03pm
It had been a long day. A very long day indeed, in fact, too long. The current case she and Mulder were working on was touching on the boundaries of personal attachment for both of them. It had made Scully think about the death of her sister, how the bullet was originally meant for her, and how that had impacted on her life. 'Missy' as she liked to call her, had been not only her sister, but also her friend whom she could confide in. Missy had helped her overcome her worries about going to The FBI Academy at Quantico, and helped her through the discovery of the implant in Scully's neck. She would also listen to Scully continually complain about her offbeat partner, Fox Mulder and his quest to find his missing sister. There was a big gap left in Scully's life after the death of Missy, a gap that could never again be filled. The current case had Mulder thinking about his sister as well. Just thinking about how things could have been, the 'if onlys' and 'what ifs' were flooding through his head, causing much guilt to rise. Which is how he ended up at her apartment at this hour of the night.
She had been reading Edith Wharton's 'The Story of Mirth' when she heard the knocking at her door. She wasn't surprised to see that it was Mulder. "Come in" was all she said to him. He took up the offer. As he brushed past her and into the lounge, she smelt his familiar sweet sweat smell, but it was tinged with something else. Cigarette smoke?
"Scully I want to explain about today", he began, "it was wrong of me to yell at you the way I did, very wrong and I want to apologise for that. I've been selfish to think that this case was only affecting me, not you, but now I can see that it is also affecting you". He sat down on her couch and buried his head in his hands.
She sat next to him and placed her hand on his. She wasn't quite sure what to say or how to react, all these years and she still had no idea how to take his moods and then their apologies. Nothing had changed, it never would. "Mulder I.understand, but you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. I've learned to just let your outbursts pass, but today, what you said, it really hurt. I can understand how you feel, but you have to take me into consideration as well sometimes".
Earlier that day, she and Mulder were again disputing about an aspect of a case. This one was involving a missing 12-year-old girl. She had made a passing comment about how Mulder had become too involved personally with the case and that she thought he should take a holiday and relax a bit, just get away and clear out his head. The return comment went something along the lines of 'well unlike you Dr. Scully, I can't just forget I ever had a sister, I still hold onto her because I care, because I want to care and because I want to remember her, I need to remember her'. Scully did care . She cared a lot. What Mulder didn't know about were the many nights after Missy's death when Scully would cry herself to sleep or would just sit at home and look through photo albums to help keep her sister alive.
"I went over to the D.C Club before, I found myself sitting and thinking about things in general", he replied.
That would explain the smoke, she thought. "Did the thinking help you at all?", she asked.
"Not one bit". He removed his face from his hands. "I just found myself working out what I would do if Samantha came walking back into my life. What I would do, how I would deal with it. Where it left you".
She ever so much wanted to ask him what would happen to her, but the unknown answer was what stopped her. What would he say? Did it really matter? "Mulder, you know as well as I do, Samantha isn't going to come walking back into your life, not now, not after all that has happened, what we've found out". An uneasy silence settled in the room. It blanketed the air like an avalanche. Scully knew that this was one of those moments they had shared many times before when words wouldn't do anything to help out. For 8 years they had been working together and there where moments when Scully found herself with a total stranger as a partner.
"I'd leave you", he finally said.
"I beg your pardon?".
"I know you wanna know where you and I would stand if Samantha ever came back. You don't need to ask, because I know you inside out. You don't want to ask because you are afraid of the answer". When he received no reply, he continued. "I don't care what we were doing, what we were in the middle of, no matter how big the case was, I'd drop it all on you and walk off into the sunset with Samantha. I'd leave the country with her and keep her from those who have been so damn annoying in the past. Who knows, perhaps you would never hear from me again".
A chill ran down her spine. Life without Mulder, what would it be like? "You'd just leave me with the case? With the X-files, to do it all myself?".
"Yeah, the X-files managed by a skeptic that would be interesting". He turned and smiled at her and saw the worry in her eyes. "Hey no need to worry Scully, it ain't gonna happen, right?".
She nodded, but deep inside her mind, that comment was playing havoc with her mental state.
FBI Headquarters Wednesday 8am
"So you're telling me that she came back last night for how long? Three minutes and then left again?". Dana Scully had just entered the basement office that she shared with Mulder. He had just informed her that the missing girl had returned, only to be taken again. The part she couldn't swallow was the so-called 'alien input' on the matter.
"Think about it Scully. Would your science explain how and why she returned last night for such a short time only to leave again?".
"It could just have been to let her parents know she was okay", she replied.
"The only way that could happen, would have to involve some kind of alien abduction scenario, nothing in this world could move her so quickly and with so much efficiency", he reasoned with her.
She folded her hands over her chest and sighed. "What we talked about last night didn't sink in at all, did it?", she asked.
"What's that got to do with this?".
"Never mind, let's just get over to the Goldsome Residence before they leave", she huffed.
Goldsome Residence Wednesday 8:42am
"We, my husband and other daughter, were just sitting here, watching television. Neither of us heard the front door open, but she had to have entered the house from somewhere, people don't just appear then disappear", Rachael Goldsome answered. She had opened her front door to two FBI Agents only moments ago and already one of them was beginning to annoy her. It was the tall stubborn one, he just wouldn't shut up. He kept going on about alien abduction and bright lights. But his partner...was it Scaily?...seemed out to it, Rachael could tell her mind was elsewhere.
"Miss Goldsome, it is not the first time something like this has happened in Washington, in fact, it happens right across the country. It even happened to me when I was 12, a light that I can't explain swallowed my sister. To come to the conclusion that I have is nothing to be ashamed of, it's actually quite possible", he informed her.
"Based on what? Stuff that just comes out of the imagination? And I'm a Mrs. not a miss", she scoffed.
"When will we be able to speak to your husband Mrs. Goldsome?", the female agent asked.
"Who Nick? Oh he won't be home until later tonight, he does an honest job he does. He fixes up old cars". The front door opened and a young teenage girl walked in.
"Rebecca?", Mulder asked.
"No!", she yelled, "why does everyone always call me Rebecca? Am I the missing one? No, so then I'm not Rebecca am I?". She shook her head and stormed off into her room. The door slammed shut.
"That is Rebecca's older sister Veronica. She's 16 next week. Either she is short for her age or Rebecca is above normal height for a 12-year-old", Rachael replied.
"Veronica was with you last night when Rebecca came home?", Scully asked. She watched as the woman stiffened.
"Yes she was", was all that Rachael said.
"Would you mind if I went up and asked her a few questions?".
"She won't tell you anything you don't already know. She won't tell you something I can't", the woman called out as the FBI Agent headed upstairs in search of the older girl.
As Scully neared the girl's room, she could hear a loud stereo booming out Sarah McLachlan's "Black". Scully knocked and entered the room. Veronica was staring out her window and down the street. Scully walked across to the stereo and turned down the volume. "You like Sarah McLachlan?", she asked.
"What do you care?", Veronica snarled, "you wouldn't have the slightest idea how I feel at the moment".
The Agent walked across and sat down next to the girl. "Actually I do. And so does my partner downstairs. We have both lost our sister. I lost mine 5 years ago, a man who wanted to kill me shot her. As for my partner, he lost his sister exactly the same way you have, only he was 12 when it happened. That is why we want to help you and your parents find your sister".
"I don't know where she is, if that's what you want to know. I don't even know why she left, but I know why I would leave. Sure feels like a good idea at the moment".
"Why do you say that?", Scully asked. She saw Veronica hesitate before speaking.
"Just stuff, nothing you'd find important".
"Try me, I might surprise you".
"Lately things have been happening, strange things. My sister would wake up in the night and come in here and wake me up. She was having nightmares, bad ones, but she never told me what they were about. Then I started to have dreams as well, they scare me, really scare me. Sometimes I try to move or try to wake up, but I can't". She stopped. "I don't want to talk about it".
"Then can you just answer me one thing?", Scully asked, "do you think Rebecca would have deliberately run away from home?".
Veronica laughed. "No, I don't think she would ever do that, she's too much of a mommy's girl. For Rebecca to leave home, things would have to be really bad. I mean like extreme".
"Would she have left because of the dreams?".
"I don't know. It's kinda unlikely, she tells me stuff that's real serious. If the dreams were really bad, she would have told me. We share every thing. We're like best friends".
Scully smiled at that comment. She could understand the relationship Rebecca and Veronica Goldsome shared. "Ok, well I'll leave you alone now. If there is anything you think might help us find Rebecca, call me. Or if you just want to talk, here's my number". She handed Veronica a card with her cell phone number on it. Without a word she left the girl to herself. When Scully returned downstairs, she found Mrs. Goldsome and Mulder disagreeing over the 'abduction' theory.
"Mulder, drop it, let's leave while you still have your cool". She pulled Mulder by the arm and led him to the door, before she opened it, she turned to Mrs. Goldsome. "Thank-you for your time, we may need to call again. If we do, I'll make sure my partner is on his best behavior".
"You do that. People with his type of mind should be locked up, not defending the city".
FBI Headquarters Wednesday 11:26am
The ride back to Headquarters was a long one. The traffic was held up for over an hour because of an accident involving a ford falcon and the local school bus. Thankfully, nobody was injured. To add to that, Scully was stuck behind a learner driver who was going well below the speed limit. The ride had also been a silent one. Neither Mulder nor Scully said a word. Scully's mind was racing, something was really wrong with Mulder, he never had an argument with the family of a victim, he always believed that the relationship should be kept casual, but never hostile. She had to admit, Mrs. Goldsome didn't strike her as the friendly sort, but that was beside the point. She had turned the radio on in the car only to discover a song she didn't want to hear. "He opens up my mind, in a way nobody else has ever, he opens up my dreams, now the life I see is so much brighter....". Merril Bainbridge was haunting her. She turned the radio off. They had been sitting in their basement office for a little over half an hour when AD Skinner walked in.
"Agents", he said, "I know how this case may be affecting you both mentally and emotionally, but it doesn't excuse the problem behind the phone call I just received. Mrs. Goldsome just rang and filed a complaint. She tells me that Agent Mulder is a mad man and that he should be locked up. Dare I ask why she thinks that?".
Scully sat silent, this was something she couldn't explain, she wasn't in the room when this must have taken place. As she looked across to Mulder, he opened his mouth. "Sir, at this stage on the case, and taking into consideration the circumstances of it, no solid theory on how the girl returned then left again has been put forward. All I did was run a theory of my own by Mrs. Goldsome, that is all".
"She says, and I quote: 'That Agent is crazy. He was ranting and raving about little green men and their spaceship taking my daughter. If you ask me, that is not acceptable'. Would you care to run your theory by me Agent Mulder?".
"No Sir I wouldn't. Like she says, I was ranting and raving about little green men", he replied.
Skinner looked at him suspiciously. "You aren't going to argue with me?".
"No Sir".
Scully could tell Skinner was taken back by this, Mulder always put up a fight when his theories were in question, it was like second nature. She rose from her seat. "Sir can I have a word with you out in the hall?".
"Yes you may Agent Scully, you may indeed". He followed her out of the office and into the basement hallway. He closed the door behind them. "Would you like to explain to me what is going on here. Is he feeling all right?".
Scully took a deep breath, "I can't tell you what happened at the Goldsome house between Mulder and Mrs. Goldsome because I was upstairs with the other daughter. But, I can bring some light onto Agent Mulder's, shall we say, mood. This case has been bringing up bad memories, not only for agent Mulder but me as well. Now I know this doesn't excuse his behavior, but you do have to understand, this case is really getting to him. It's late November, the anniversary of his sister's disappearance is in two days. It's not exactly the best time for him to handle this".
"Well he should take some time off work. It can't be that bad, otherwise he would have done that already".
She shook her head. "I suggested that to him yesterday, he doesn't want time off, he doesn't want sympathy, all he wants is to help these people find their daughter".
Skinner nodded. "I can see that, but if his emotions are getting in the way of his work, not only could he jeopardise his own safety, but others as well".
"I know Sir. I will talk to him".
"When you have Agent Scully, please let me know what is going on. I know I'm sounding like I'm beginning to care, but I'm only concerned about his job. He keeps getting complaints, he'll lose it all". With that he turned and left Scully standing alone. She turned and went back into the office. Mulder was exactly where he was when she left the office. "Mulder would you like to tell me what is bothering you? It's not like you to not give Skinner a non-argumentative answer". She sat down on the side of his desk, "you're beginning to worry me".
He just shook his head. "There is no need to be worried about me, I'm a big boy now, I can look after myself".
"Damn it Mulder! You can't, not at the moment. I know this is a hard time for you, I can understand that, but nobody else will. You take your anguish out on me, on Mrs. Goldsome, how long will it be before it's Skinner or someone else who has the power to take away your job. You lose your job, they'll take it all". She cursed herself, there was no need to yell like she did. "Sorry, it's none of my business, I just think you should stop for a little while, that's all".
"I've been saying sorrys my entire life, where has it got me?", he replied. A silence settled in the office.
Scully went over to her desk and picked up her coat. "I'm going to get some lunch, do you want to come with me?".
He sat silent, obviously thinking the offer over, but then nodded his head. "Ok I guess I am a little hungry". He stood up and picked up his coat. He hesitated, had he forgotten something?
"What's wrong?", Scully asked.
"I don't know, nothing, it's probably nothing", he walked out of the office door. In the elevator, again he felt as though he had left something behind. "Scully, did we lock the office?".
"No, because we never lock the office. Why?".
"Nothing, it's okay, doesn't matter". They walked out of the lobby and down the street. Seconds later a woman walked up to the front desk, asking for an Agent Mulder.
Wednesday 1:09pm
"Oh come on, you have to admit, it was good food", Scully mused. She and Mulder had just finished lunch and were heading back to Headquarters.
"Okay, okay, it was all right", he moaned.
"Just all right? Healthy food is not 'just all right' because healthy food is the essence of life", she replied. He gave her a confused look. "So I read one too many posters while I was waiting for our meal. Hey, don't complain, I paid for it, I didn't see you offer to pay a cent", she cried.
"That's because you offered to pay. And those posters, they lie". The hour- long lunch had been somewhat disturbing. Sure, he had Scully for company but he felt that something wasn't right, something was missing. He had asked Scully numerous times if they had closed the office windows, turned off the lamp and if they had closed the door. Each time she would reassure him that it had been done or that they didn't need to worry about it.
"You still feeling funny?", she asked.
"A little. But getting back to lunch, what exactly do you expect to get out of these healthy meals?".
"A nutritious diet, and a healthy body".
He looked at her and burst out laughing. "You seriously need to cut back on that text book wisdom Scully, it does nothing and ruins the fun of a nice, greasy hamburger". He reached forward and opened one of the main entrance doors to the FBI lobby. As they walked towards the elevator, someone called out his name. They both turned around. One of the receptionists was waving her hand. She again called him over. And so, he went, Scully following behind.
"Agent Mulder there was a message left for you", she informed him.
"Who from?", he asked.
"I don't know, she didn't leave a name, she only gave me this to pass on to you". She handed him an envelope.
"Oh, okay then, thank-you". He walked away, this puzzled him.
"Well what does it say? Is it important?", Scully asked.
"I have no idea". He tore open the envelope, inside was a piece of paper with a hand written message on it.
"Well.....", she prodded, "what does it say?".
"Not much at all. It says; 'Perhaps things may have been different, but this was meant to be. I'll always be with you Fox, no matter what happens, I only wish I could have been with you in person. This must be what they call fate, because I had no idea it would end this way. Please don't forget me'. That's all it says, no name or nothing".
"Do you have any idea who it was? It has to be someone you know, it wouldn't be a stranger". She looked at him with concern, his face showed no emotion. "Look, Mulder, I really think you should go home and get some rest".
He looked at her blankly. "You know what? That sounds like a good idea".
FBI Headquarters Wednesday 8am
Dana Scully had just entered the basement office that she shared with Mulder. He stood up and informed her that the missing girl had returned, only to be taken again. The part she couldn't swallow was the so-called 'alien input' on the matter. "So you are telling me that aliens took this girl?".
"Think about it Scully. Would your science explain how and why she returned last night for such a short time only to leave again?".
"It could just have been to let her parents know she was ok", she replied.
"The only way that could happen, would have to involve some kind of alien abduction scenario, nothing in this world could move her so quickly and with so much efficacy", he reasoned with her.
She folded her hands over her chest and sighed. "What we talked about last night didn't sink in at all, did it?", she asked, "I bet you didn't listen to a word I said".
"What's that got to do with this?".
"Never mind, let's just get over to the Goldsome Residence before they leave and begin their day", she huffed.
Goldsome Residence Wednesday 8:42am
"We were just sitting here, just watching television. None of us heard the front door open, but Rebecca had to have entered the house from somewhere, people don't just appear then disappear", Rachael Goldsome answered. She had opened her front door to two FBI Agents only a minute ago and already one of them was beginning to annoy her. It was the tall stubborn one, he just wouldn't shut his trap. He kept going on about alien abduction and bright lights. But his partner...was it Scaily?...seemed elsewhere, Rachael could tell her mind was not here on the case, probably her love life was her problem.
"Miss Goldsome, it is not the first time this has happened in Washington, in fact, it happens right across this country, and others. It even happened to me when I was 12, a light that I can't explain took my sister. To believe that this is what has happened to her, is not all that out of the ordinary".
"Based on what? Stuff that just comes out of the imagination? And I'm a Mrs. not a miss", she scoffed.
"When will we be able to speak to your husband Mrs. Goldsome?", the female agent asked.
"Who Nick? He won't be home until later tonight, he does a job, a good one at that. He fixes up old cars". The front door opened and a young teenage girl carrying a bag over her shoulder walked in.
"Rebecca? Is that you", Mulder asked.
"No!", she yelled, "why does everyone always call me Rebecca? Am I the missing one? No, so then I'm not Rebecca am I?". She shook her head and stormed off into her room. The door slammed shut.
"That is Rebecca's older sister Veronica. She's 16 next week. Either she is short for her age or Rebecca is above normal height for a 12-year-old", Rachael replied.
"Veronica was with you last night when Rebecca came home?", Scully asked. She watched as the woman stiffened.
"Yes she was", was all that Rachael said.
"Would you mind if I went up and asked her a few questions?".
"She won't tell you anything you don't already know. She won't tell you something I can't", the woman called out as the FBI Agent headed upstairs in search of the older girl.
As Scully neared the girl's room, she could hear a loud stereo booming out Merril Bainbridge's "Power of One". Scully knocked and entered the room. Veronica was staring out her window and down the street. Scully walked across to the stereo and turned down the volume. "You like Merril Bainbridge?", she asked.
"What do you care?", Veronica snarled. The song still continued in the background. "What makes it so...one can touch another, in such a way...we underestimate the beauty and the power, of one........"
The Agent walked across and sat down next to the girl. "Actually I do. And so does my partner downstairs. That is why we want to help you and your parents find your sister".
"I don't know where she is, if that's what you want to know, but she's lucky, she's outta here".
"Why do you say that?", Scully asked. She saw Veronica hesitate before speaking.
"Just stuff, nothing you'd find important".
"Try me, I might surprise you".
"Lately strange things have been happening. My sister would wake up in the night and come in here and wake me up. She was having nightmares. Then I started to have dreams as well, they scare me, really scare me. Sometimes I try to move or try to wake up, but I can't". She stopped. "I don't want to talk about it".
"Then can you just answer me one thing?", Scully asked, "do you think Rebecca would have deliberately run away from home?".
Veronica laughed. "No, I don't think she would ever do that, she's too much of a mommy's girl. For Rebecca to leave home, things would have to be really bad. I mean like extreme".
"Would she have left because of the dreams?".
"I don't know. It's kinda unlikely. If the dreams were really bad, she would have told me. We share every thing. We're like best friends".
Scully smiled at that comment. She could understand the relationship Rebecca and Veronica Goldsome shared. "Ok, well I'll leave you alone now. If there is anything you think might help us find Rebecca, call me. Or if you just want to talk, here's my number". She handed Veronica a card with her cell phone number on it. Without a word she left . When Scully returned downstairs, she found Mrs. Goldsome and Mulder arguing over the 'abduction' theory.
"Mulder, drop it, let's leave while you still have your cool". She pulled Mulder by the arm and led him to the door, before she opened it, she turned to Mrs. Goldsome. "Thank-you for your time, we may need to call again. If we do, I'll make sure my partner is on his best behavior".
"You do that. People with his type of mind should be locked up, not defending the city".
FBI Headquarters Wednesday 11:26am
The ride back to Headquarters was a long one. The traffic was held up for over an hour because of an accident involving a four-wheel drive and the local baker's truck. Thankfully, nobody was injured. To add to that, Scully was stuck behind a learner driver who was going well below the speed limit. The ride had also been a silent one. Neither Mulder nor Scully said a word. Scully's mind was racing, something was really wrong with Mulder, he never had an argument with the family of a victim, he always believed that the relationship should be kept casual, but never hostile. She had to admit, Mrs. Goldsome didn't strike her as the friendly sort, but that was beside the point. They had been sitting in their basement office for a little over half an hour when AD Skinner walked in.
"Agents", he said, "I know how this case may be affecting you both, but it doesn't excuse the problem behind the phone call I just received. Mrs. Goldsome just rang and filed a complaint. She tells me that Agent Mulder is a mad man that he should be locked up. Dare I ask why she thinks that?".
"Sir, that's not a good idea at the moment", Scully said, "now is not a good time".
"Well then, perhaps you would like to give me your version", He answered.
"I can't do that. I wasn't in the room when this incident took place. I was upstairs with the older sister.".
"Agent Mulder would you care to explain what this is about, why I had to get this phone call".
"Okay so I made a mistake, we all do", Mulder replied.
Skinner didn't know what to say, that wasn't the response he was expecting. "Agent Scully can I have a word with you in the hall?"
"Certainly Sir". She rose from her seat and followed Skinner out of the office. He stopped and waited for her.
Scully took a deep breath, "I can't tell you what happened at the Goldsome house between Mulder and Mrs. Goldsome. But, I can bring some light onto Agent Mulder's mood. This case has been bringing up bad memories, not only for Agent Mulder but me as well. Now I know this doesn't excuse his behavior, but you do have to understand, this case is really getting to him. It's late November, the anniversary of his sister's disappearance is in two days. It's not exactly the best time for him to handle this".
"Well he should take some time off work".
She shook her head. "He doesn't want time off, he doesn't want sympathy, all he wants is to help these people find their daughter".
Skinner nodded. "I can see that, but if his emotions are getting in the way of work, not only could he jeopardise his own safety, but others as well".
"I know Sir. I will talk to him".
"You do that Agent Scully, you do that". He turned and walked away. The footsteps faded.
Scully couldn't bring herself to go back into the office. "I'm going to go and get and early lunch", she thought. Entering the office, she went over to her desk and picked up her coat. "I'm going to get some lunch, do you want to come with me?".
He sat silent, obviously thinking the offer over, but then shook his head. " No, it's okay I'm not hungry". He just sat there and stared at the wall.
She looked at him. "Mulder would you like to tell me what is bothering you? You're beginning to worry me".
He just shook his head. "There is no need to be worried about me, I'm a big boy now, I can look after myself".
"Damn it Mulder! You can't, not at the moment. I know this is a hard time for you, I can understand that, but nobody else will. You take your anguish out on me, on Mrs. Goldsome, how long will it be before it's Skinner or someone else who has the power to take away your job. You lose your job, they'll take it all". She cursed herself, there was no need to yell like she did. "Sorry, it's none of my business, I just think you should stop for a little while, that's all".
He gave her no reply.
"Well I'm going, you sure you don't want anything?".
"Yes, I'm fine", he mumbled.
She left him there. As she left the FBI Lobby, a voice called out her name. "Agent Scully". She turned around. It was one of the receptionists, she was coming over to Scully.
"Agent Scully, I'm glad I caught you. Is Agent Mulder in the office?".
"Yes he is, why?". "Oh just someone is here to see him, I'll send them down. Thank -you". She left Scully standing there. The Agent turned and headed out the door, boy it was a weird day. The street was crowded more than usual, so she decided to give the health bar a miss and went into the small cafe` situated on the corner. All the food was greasy but once in a while it didn't hurt to change your diet. "Can I help you ma'am?", the man behind the counter asked.
"Yes can I have one of your fish burgers..". She thought of Mulder, "and a hamburger with the lot".
"Sure, that's $4.10, should be ready in a jiffy".
She went and sat along the wall. Her head was spinning, she had a headache. In what seemed like hours, she was finally given her order. "Thank-you", she said. The walk back to Headquarters was quicker, but not by much.
When she entered the FBI lobby, it was empty. The elevator was empty and so were the offices. As Scully stepped out of the elevator in the basement, she noticed their office door was closed, she hadn't closed it. Opening the door, she went in. "I know you said you weren't hungry but I brought you a hambur...ger". She stopped. In the office sat Mulder, opposite him sat a youngish woman with curly hair. He had a big grin on his face, he was beaming.
"Scully, you're not gonna believe this. Look who just showed up". The unfamiliar woman turned around and looked at her. "Scully, it's Samantha, she's back", Mulder concluded.
Suddenly dread ran through Scully. Visions of the night before flashed in her eyes, Mulder's voice echoed in her mind over and over again. "I'd leave you. I don't care what we were doing, what we were in the middle of, no matter how big the case was, I'd drop it all on you and walk off into the sunset with Samantha. I'd leave the country with her and keep her from those who have been so damn annoying in the past. Who knows, perhaps you would never hear from me again". She turned and left the office, closing the door behind her, and leaning back on it. A tear feel from her eye and ran down her cheek. The hall was cool, beginning to chill her. She walked into the elevator and pressed the up button.
When the doors opened on the ground floor, again she was greeted with a verse from Merril Bainbridge. "We weren't meant to be alone, though alone this life we leave and enter....in existence of the flesh, we all need to feel a hand that's tender, one hand one heart can affect another, in such a way....we underestimate the beauty and the power, of one of one of one". She stomped her foot, "damn that song!", she cried. Scully walked around to the back entrance of Headquarters and went out into the FBI gardens. She looked up. On the far side was a park bench, the same one she and Mulder had shared many of their conversations on. The one that stuck out the most was the one that took place when they returned from Antarctica. "If I quit now, they win", she had said. Slowly, Scully wandered over to the bench, sat down and began to cry.
------------------------------
Back in the office, Mulder and Samantha continued to talk. "Is your partner all right?", she asked.
"Yeah, don't worry about Scully, she can look after herself, she'll be back, she just needs to get over the shock of seeing you, it's cool", he replied.
"Fox, I need you to help me, people are going to come looking for me, they'll try to kill me. That's why I've come back to you. You're my brother, I know you'll help".
"You bet I will. Look, I'll finish up this case now, Scully will take over, she'll take the load and then we'll.". He stopped, he now understood why Scully had left in a hurry. His words from last night echoed in his mind, "I don't care what we were doing, what we were in the middle of, no matter how big the case was, I'd drop it all on you and walk off into the sunset with Samantha. I'd leave the country with her and keep her from those who have been so damn annoying in the past. Who knows, perhaps you would never hear from me again". He stood up, "shit!", he muttered.
"What? What's wrong?", Samantha asked.
"Stay here, I just made the biggest piss ass mistake of my life", he cried as he fled out the office. When he was in the elevator, he realised he had no idea where Scully would have gone. The doors opened and he was greeted with a verse from Phil Collins, "When destiny calls you, you must be strong, I may not be with you, but you've got to hold on...they'll see in time, I know, we'll show them together....." Those words...he knew where she was. Out the back entrance and into the FBI Gardens, his guess was proven right. There, on a park bench on the far side of the gardens, sat Scully, her head in her hands.
--------------------------
"We weren't meant to be alone, though alone this life we leave and enter....in existence of the flesh, we all need to feel a hand that's tender, one hand one heart can affect another, in such a way....we underestimate the beauty and the power, of one of one of one". She was going insane, that song, it was driving her crazy, over and over in her mind. Her hands were wet, her eyes sore, head aching. And then she felt something on her shoulder, a hand. She looked up, and through the blurred vision in her tears, she saw Mulder.
He felt uncomfortable, he didn't really know what to say to her. "Scully I....". He stopped and sat down beside her, putting his arm around her shoulder. "Scully she wants me to help her, people are after her. I'm going to take her away from here, I need to leave".
Scully closed her eyes, it wasn't what she wanted to hear. She didn't want him to go, she...she loved him, but how could she tell him that?
"I'm leaving with her now, but I don't know when I'll be back. I just want to you know....".
She cut him off, "I don't want to know anything, just go, leave me alone! I wish I had never met you, I hate you! Go away!", she yelled, tears streaming down her face.
"Scully please let me explain. I.".
"Go away!!".
--------------------------------
He sat bolt upright in his bed. The window rattled in the wind, lightning flashed across the sky. He was sweating all over, his heart was pounding in his chest like a drum. Mulder ran his hand over his face. He looked at the clock, it was 4am Wednesday morning. He had left Scully's apartment only 7 hours ago, it was only a dream. The room was cold on his body. He took several deep breaths and got out of bed to close the window. His mind was racing, he had to call Scully, but it was too early, she would be still sleeping, it would have to wait until he saw her at work.
FBI Headquarters Wednesday 1:04pm
It was after lunch before Mulder had worked up the courage to confront Scully. They had gone out for lunch, to the local health bar. It was just another place where he knew it was more than daja vu`. When they had returned to Headquarters, there was a message for him, just like he expected there would be. He took the envelope and proceeded to the basement.
"Aren't you going to open it?", Scully asked. She was holding a bag containing drinks for later on that Mulder had brought, she had no idea what sort they were.
"I know what it says", he replied, "I should explain myself. Sit down".
When they were in the office he closed the door and Scully sat down, she placed the drinks on her desk.
"Before I start, I want to take back what I said last night, about walking off into the sunset with Samantha if she ever came back, I'd never do that, I'd never leave you in the middle of a case". He too sat down, as he did he noticed the worried and puzzled look on her face. "Do you believe in fate Scully? You know, that a single answer can change our life dramatically?".
"I guess so, well I sort of do. What is this all about?".
"Last night, I had two dreams. It was because of what I said last night, I think that's what made me have them. It was like I was seeing today, but twice. Everything that happened today, the traffic, my disagreement with Mrs. Goldsome, you asking me if I wanted lunch, it was all there, in my dream. The first time, I did go with you to lunch, when we got back, there was a message that's why I haven't opened this one, because I know what it says. It's from Samantha".
She went to say something, but he held his hand up, "let me finish". She nodded. "Then the second dream was exactly the same, the day happened the same way, but this time I didn't go with you for lunch. Samantha came to see me. When you came back, things went wrong, you left the office crying because you had remembered what I said to you last night. I found you out in the gardens, sitting on our park bench, you didn't want to talk to me, you said you hated me. I worked out that my life today depended on my answer to lunch. If I said yes, I would live my life with you, just get the message from Samantha. If I said no, I'd find Samantha and leave the country with her, maybe never seeing you again". He swallowed a lump in his throat. "Open the envelope, I can tell you word for word what it says", he whispered as he handed it to her.
She opened it and read what it said in her mind. "Okay, tell me what you think it says", she said.
"Perhaps things may have been different, but this was meant to be. I'll always be with you Fox, no matter what happens, I only wish I could have been with you in person. This must be what they call fate, because I had no idea it would end this way. Please don't forget me", he replied.
She just looked at him. "You got it, word for word". She looked back at the message, she couldn't believe this, could he have really seen what today was going to be like in his dreams? Did he really make the choice between her and Samantha? "If you knew the day would turn out this way, why didn't you stay behind when I went to get lunch? You could have had your sister back".
He said nothing, just looked at her.
She understood. "You chose me over your sister? Why? You could have filled that gap in your life, you could have for filled your dream of having Samantha back".
"How long have I been looking for her Scully? How long have you known me? In the past 8 years, you have been there for me, helping me, caring for me. All that time you were with me, helping me with something only I could benefit from, not you. We've seen so many clones of Samantha, why would this one be any different?".
"She may have been the real one Mulder, she may have been it".
He dipped his head, "that was a chance I was willing to take".
Scully just stared at him, "you gave that up for me?".
Mulder nodded.
"Mulder I, I don't know what to say". This was far from what she expected him to answer.
He walked over to her desk. "Do you remember when we were working the Tooms case, when we were sitting in the car, waiting for him?".
"Yes I do, why?".
"When I said to you , 'if there was an iced tea in the bag it could be love' , you answered me by saying 'must be fate Mulder, it's root beer'. I thought about that. Today I learned that I can change my fate by the decisions I make". He stopped and opened the bag on Scully 's desk, "therefore I can choose my path in life". He pulled out a bottle of iced tea and held it out to Scully.
She smiled sadly at him and took the bottle. "It must be love", she whispered. Tears were forming in her eyes.
"It must", he replied softly. She stood up and hugged him, he never was going to let her go. They stood there crying, knowing how a single word could have changed their lives forever...................
THE END
How will it End: Power Of One
Scully's Apartment Tuesday 9:03pm
It had been a long day. A very long day indeed, in fact, too long. The current case she and Mulder were working on was touching on the boundaries of personal attachment for both of them. It had made Scully think about the death of her sister, how the bullet was originally meant for her, and how that had impacted on her life. 'Missy' as she liked to call her, had been not only her sister, but also her friend whom she could confide in. Missy had helped her overcome her worries about going to The FBI Academy at Quantico, and helped her through the discovery of the implant in Scully's neck. She would also listen to Scully continually complain about her offbeat partner, Fox Mulder and his quest to find his missing sister. There was a big gap left in Scully's life after the death of Missy, a gap that could never again be filled. The current case had Mulder thinking about his sister as well. Just thinking about how things could have been, the 'if onlys' and 'what ifs' were flooding through his head, causing much guilt to rise. Which is how he ended up at her apartment at this hour of the night.
She had been reading Edith Wharton's 'The Story of Mirth' when she heard the knocking at her door. She wasn't surprised to see that it was Mulder. "Come in" was all she said to him. He took up the offer. As he brushed past her and into the lounge, she smelt his familiar sweet sweat smell, but it was tinged with something else. Cigarette smoke?
"Scully I want to explain about today", he began, "it was wrong of me to yell at you the way I did, very wrong and I want to apologise for that. I've been selfish to think that this case was only affecting me, not you, but now I can see that it is also affecting you". He sat down on her couch and buried his head in his hands.
She sat next to him and placed her hand on his. She wasn't quite sure what to say or how to react, all these years and she still had no idea how to take his moods and then their apologies. Nothing had changed, it never would. "Mulder I.understand, but you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. I've learned to just let your outbursts pass, but today, what you said, it really hurt. I can understand how you feel, but you have to take me into consideration as well sometimes".
Earlier that day, she and Mulder were again disputing about an aspect of a case. This one was involving a missing 12-year-old girl. She had made a passing comment about how Mulder had become too involved personally with the case and that she thought he should take a holiday and relax a bit, just get away and clear out his head. The return comment went something along the lines of 'well unlike you Dr. Scully, I can't just forget I ever had a sister, I still hold onto her because I care, because I want to care and because I want to remember her, I need to remember her'. Scully did care . She cared a lot. What Mulder didn't know about were the many nights after Missy's death when Scully would cry herself to sleep or would just sit at home and look through photo albums to help keep her sister alive.
"I went over to the D.C Club before, I found myself sitting and thinking about things in general", he replied.
That would explain the smoke, she thought. "Did the thinking help you at all?", she asked.
"Not one bit". He removed his face from his hands. "I just found myself working out what I would do if Samantha came walking back into my life. What I would do, how I would deal with it. Where it left you".
She ever so much wanted to ask him what would happen to her, but the unknown answer was what stopped her. What would he say? Did it really matter? "Mulder, you know as well as I do, Samantha isn't going to come walking back into your life, not now, not after all that has happened, what we've found out". An uneasy silence settled in the room. It blanketed the air like an avalanche. Scully knew that this was one of those moments they had shared many times before when words wouldn't do anything to help out. For 8 years they had been working together and there where moments when Scully found herself with a total stranger as a partner.
"I'd leave you", he finally said.
"I beg your pardon?".
"I know you wanna know where you and I would stand if Samantha ever came back. You don't need to ask, because I know you inside out. You don't want to ask because you are afraid of the answer". When he received no reply, he continued. "I don't care what we were doing, what we were in the middle of, no matter how big the case was, I'd drop it all on you and walk off into the sunset with Samantha. I'd leave the country with her and keep her from those who have been so damn annoying in the past. Who knows, perhaps you would never hear from me again".
A chill ran down her spine. Life without Mulder, what would it be like? "You'd just leave me with the case? With the X-files, to do it all myself?".
"Yeah, the X-files managed by a skeptic that would be interesting". He turned and smiled at her and saw the worry in her eyes. "Hey no need to worry Scully, it ain't gonna happen, right?".
She nodded, but deep inside her mind, that comment was playing havoc with her mental state.
FBI Headquarters Wednesday 8am
"So you're telling me that she came back last night for how long? Three minutes and then left again?". Dana Scully had just entered the basement office that she shared with Mulder. He had just informed her that the missing girl had returned, only to be taken again. The part she couldn't swallow was the so-called 'alien input' on the matter.
"Think about it Scully. Would your science explain how and why she returned last night for such a short time only to leave again?".
"It could just have been to let her parents know she was okay", she replied.
"The only way that could happen, would have to involve some kind of alien abduction scenario, nothing in this world could move her so quickly and with so much efficiency", he reasoned with her.
She folded her hands over her chest and sighed. "What we talked about last night didn't sink in at all, did it?", she asked.
"What's that got to do with this?".
"Never mind, let's just get over to the Goldsome Residence before they leave", she huffed.
Goldsome Residence Wednesday 8:42am
"We, my husband and other daughter, were just sitting here, watching television. Neither of us heard the front door open, but she had to have entered the house from somewhere, people don't just appear then disappear", Rachael Goldsome answered. She had opened her front door to two FBI Agents only moments ago and already one of them was beginning to annoy her. It was the tall stubborn one, he just wouldn't shut up. He kept going on about alien abduction and bright lights. But his partner...was it Scaily?...seemed out to it, Rachael could tell her mind was elsewhere.
"Miss Goldsome, it is not the first time something like this has happened in Washington, in fact, it happens right across the country. It even happened to me when I was 12, a light that I can't explain swallowed my sister. To come to the conclusion that I have is nothing to be ashamed of, it's actually quite possible", he informed her.
"Based on what? Stuff that just comes out of the imagination? And I'm a Mrs. not a miss", she scoffed.
"When will we be able to speak to your husband Mrs. Goldsome?", the female agent asked.
"Who Nick? Oh he won't be home until later tonight, he does an honest job he does. He fixes up old cars". The front door opened and a young teenage girl walked in.
"Rebecca?", Mulder asked.
"No!", she yelled, "why does everyone always call me Rebecca? Am I the missing one? No, so then I'm not Rebecca am I?". She shook her head and stormed off into her room. The door slammed shut.
"That is Rebecca's older sister Veronica. She's 16 next week. Either she is short for her age or Rebecca is above normal height for a 12-year-old", Rachael replied.
"Veronica was with you last night when Rebecca came home?", Scully asked. She watched as the woman stiffened.
"Yes she was", was all that Rachael said.
"Would you mind if I went up and asked her a few questions?".
"She won't tell you anything you don't already know. She won't tell you something I can't", the woman called out as the FBI Agent headed upstairs in search of the older girl.
As Scully neared the girl's room, she could hear a loud stereo booming out Sarah McLachlan's "Black". Scully knocked and entered the room. Veronica was staring out her window and down the street. Scully walked across to the stereo and turned down the volume. "You like Sarah McLachlan?", she asked.
"What do you care?", Veronica snarled, "you wouldn't have the slightest idea how I feel at the moment".
The Agent walked across and sat down next to the girl. "Actually I do. And so does my partner downstairs. We have both lost our sister. I lost mine 5 years ago, a man who wanted to kill me shot her. As for my partner, he lost his sister exactly the same way you have, only he was 12 when it happened. That is why we want to help you and your parents find your sister".
"I don't know where she is, if that's what you want to know. I don't even know why she left, but I know why I would leave. Sure feels like a good idea at the moment".
"Why do you say that?", Scully asked. She saw Veronica hesitate before speaking.
"Just stuff, nothing you'd find important".
"Try me, I might surprise you".
"Lately things have been happening, strange things. My sister would wake up in the night and come in here and wake me up. She was having nightmares, bad ones, but she never told me what they were about. Then I started to have dreams as well, they scare me, really scare me. Sometimes I try to move or try to wake up, but I can't". She stopped. "I don't want to talk about it".
"Then can you just answer me one thing?", Scully asked, "do you think Rebecca would have deliberately run away from home?".
Veronica laughed. "No, I don't think she would ever do that, she's too much of a mommy's girl. For Rebecca to leave home, things would have to be really bad. I mean like extreme".
"Would she have left because of the dreams?".
"I don't know. It's kinda unlikely, she tells me stuff that's real serious. If the dreams were really bad, she would have told me. We share every thing. We're like best friends".
Scully smiled at that comment. She could understand the relationship Rebecca and Veronica Goldsome shared. "Ok, well I'll leave you alone now. If there is anything you think might help us find Rebecca, call me. Or if you just want to talk, here's my number". She handed Veronica a card with her cell phone number on it. Without a word she left the girl to herself. When Scully returned downstairs, she found Mrs. Goldsome and Mulder disagreeing over the 'abduction' theory.
"Mulder, drop it, let's leave while you still have your cool". She pulled Mulder by the arm and led him to the door, before she opened it, she turned to Mrs. Goldsome. "Thank-you for your time, we may need to call again. If we do, I'll make sure my partner is on his best behavior".
"You do that. People with his type of mind should be locked up, not defending the city".
FBI Headquarters Wednesday 11:26am
The ride back to Headquarters was a long one. The traffic was held up for over an hour because of an accident involving a ford falcon and the local school bus. Thankfully, nobody was injured. To add to that, Scully was stuck behind a learner driver who was going well below the speed limit. The ride had also been a silent one. Neither Mulder nor Scully said a word. Scully's mind was racing, something was really wrong with Mulder, he never had an argument with the family of a victim, he always believed that the relationship should be kept casual, but never hostile. She had to admit, Mrs. Goldsome didn't strike her as the friendly sort, but that was beside the point. She had turned the radio on in the car only to discover a song she didn't want to hear. "He opens up my mind, in a way nobody else has ever, he opens up my dreams, now the life I see is so much brighter....". Merril Bainbridge was haunting her. She turned the radio off. They had been sitting in their basement office for a little over half an hour when AD Skinner walked in.
"Agents", he said, "I know how this case may be affecting you both mentally and emotionally, but it doesn't excuse the problem behind the phone call I just received. Mrs. Goldsome just rang and filed a complaint. She tells me that Agent Mulder is a mad man and that he should be locked up. Dare I ask why she thinks that?".
Scully sat silent, this was something she couldn't explain, she wasn't in the room when this must have taken place. As she looked across to Mulder, he opened his mouth. "Sir, at this stage on the case, and taking into consideration the circumstances of it, no solid theory on how the girl returned then left again has been put forward. All I did was run a theory of my own by Mrs. Goldsome, that is all".
"She says, and I quote: 'That Agent is crazy. He was ranting and raving about little green men and their spaceship taking my daughter. If you ask me, that is not acceptable'. Would you care to run your theory by me Agent Mulder?".
"No Sir I wouldn't. Like she says, I was ranting and raving about little green men", he replied.
Skinner looked at him suspiciously. "You aren't going to argue with me?".
"No Sir".
Scully could tell Skinner was taken back by this, Mulder always put up a fight when his theories were in question, it was like second nature. She rose from her seat. "Sir can I have a word with you out in the hall?".
"Yes you may Agent Scully, you may indeed". He followed her out of the office and into the basement hallway. He closed the door behind them. "Would you like to explain to me what is going on here. Is he feeling all right?".
Scully took a deep breath, "I can't tell you what happened at the Goldsome house between Mulder and Mrs. Goldsome because I was upstairs with the other daughter. But, I can bring some light onto Agent Mulder's, shall we say, mood. This case has been bringing up bad memories, not only for agent Mulder but me as well. Now I know this doesn't excuse his behavior, but you do have to understand, this case is really getting to him. It's late November, the anniversary of his sister's disappearance is in two days. It's not exactly the best time for him to handle this".
"Well he should take some time off work. It can't be that bad, otherwise he would have done that already".
She shook her head. "I suggested that to him yesterday, he doesn't want time off, he doesn't want sympathy, all he wants is to help these people find their daughter".
Skinner nodded. "I can see that, but if his emotions are getting in the way of his work, not only could he jeopardise his own safety, but others as well".
"I know Sir. I will talk to him".
"When you have Agent Scully, please let me know what is going on. I know I'm sounding like I'm beginning to care, but I'm only concerned about his job. He keeps getting complaints, he'll lose it all". With that he turned and left Scully standing alone. She turned and went back into the office. Mulder was exactly where he was when she left the office. "Mulder would you like to tell me what is bothering you? It's not like you to not give Skinner a non-argumentative answer". She sat down on the side of his desk, "you're beginning to worry me".
He just shook his head. "There is no need to be worried about me, I'm a big boy now, I can look after myself".
"Damn it Mulder! You can't, not at the moment. I know this is a hard time for you, I can understand that, but nobody else will. You take your anguish out on me, on Mrs. Goldsome, how long will it be before it's Skinner or someone else who has the power to take away your job. You lose your job, they'll take it all". She cursed herself, there was no need to yell like she did. "Sorry, it's none of my business, I just think you should stop for a little while, that's all".
"I've been saying sorrys my entire life, where has it got me?", he replied. A silence settled in the office.
Scully went over to her desk and picked up her coat. "I'm going to get some lunch, do you want to come with me?".
He sat silent, obviously thinking the offer over, but then nodded his head. "Ok I guess I am a little hungry". He stood up and picked up his coat. He hesitated, had he forgotten something?
"What's wrong?", Scully asked.
"I don't know, nothing, it's probably nothing", he walked out of the office door. In the elevator, again he felt as though he had left something behind. "Scully, did we lock the office?".
"No, because we never lock the office. Why?".
"Nothing, it's okay, doesn't matter". They walked out of the lobby and down the street. Seconds later a woman walked up to the front desk, asking for an Agent Mulder.
Wednesday 1:09pm
"Oh come on, you have to admit, it was good food", Scully mused. She and Mulder had just finished lunch and were heading back to Headquarters.
"Okay, okay, it was all right", he moaned.
"Just all right? Healthy food is not 'just all right' because healthy food is the essence of life", she replied. He gave her a confused look. "So I read one too many posters while I was waiting for our meal. Hey, don't complain, I paid for it, I didn't see you offer to pay a cent", she cried.
"That's because you offered to pay. And those posters, they lie". The hour- long lunch had been somewhat disturbing. Sure, he had Scully for company but he felt that something wasn't right, something was missing. He had asked Scully numerous times if they had closed the office windows, turned off the lamp and if they had closed the door. Each time she would reassure him that it had been done or that they didn't need to worry about it.
"You still feeling funny?", she asked.
"A little. But getting back to lunch, what exactly do you expect to get out of these healthy meals?".
"A nutritious diet, and a healthy body".
He looked at her and burst out laughing. "You seriously need to cut back on that text book wisdom Scully, it does nothing and ruins the fun of a nice, greasy hamburger". He reached forward and opened one of the main entrance doors to the FBI lobby. As they walked towards the elevator, someone called out his name. They both turned around. One of the receptionists was waving her hand. She again called him over. And so, he went, Scully following behind.
"Agent Mulder there was a message left for you", she informed him.
"Who from?", he asked.
"I don't know, she didn't leave a name, she only gave me this to pass on to you". She handed him an envelope.
"Oh, okay then, thank-you". He walked away, this puzzled him.
"Well what does it say? Is it important?", Scully asked.
"I have no idea". He tore open the envelope, inside was a piece of paper with a hand written message on it.
"Well.....", she prodded, "what does it say?".
"Not much at all. It says; 'Perhaps things may have been different, but this was meant to be. I'll always be with you Fox, no matter what happens, I only wish I could have been with you in person. This must be what they call fate, because I had no idea it would end this way. Please don't forget me'. That's all it says, no name or nothing".
"Do you have any idea who it was? It has to be someone you know, it wouldn't be a stranger". She looked at him with concern, his face showed no emotion. "Look, Mulder, I really think you should go home and get some rest".
He looked at her blankly. "You know what? That sounds like a good idea".
FBI Headquarters Wednesday 8am
Dana Scully had just entered the basement office that she shared with Mulder. He stood up and informed her that the missing girl had returned, only to be taken again. The part she couldn't swallow was the so-called 'alien input' on the matter. "So you are telling me that aliens took this girl?".
"Think about it Scully. Would your science explain how and why she returned last night for such a short time only to leave again?".
"It could just have been to let her parents know she was ok", she replied.
"The only way that could happen, would have to involve some kind of alien abduction scenario, nothing in this world could move her so quickly and with so much efficacy", he reasoned with her.
She folded her hands over her chest and sighed. "What we talked about last night didn't sink in at all, did it?", she asked, "I bet you didn't listen to a word I said".
"What's that got to do with this?".
"Never mind, let's just get over to the Goldsome Residence before they leave and begin their day", she huffed.
Goldsome Residence Wednesday 8:42am
"We were just sitting here, just watching television. None of us heard the front door open, but Rebecca had to have entered the house from somewhere, people don't just appear then disappear", Rachael Goldsome answered. She had opened her front door to two FBI Agents only a minute ago and already one of them was beginning to annoy her. It was the tall stubborn one, he just wouldn't shut his trap. He kept going on about alien abduction and bright lights. But his partner...was it Scaily?...seemed elsewhere, Rachael could tell her mind was not here on the case, probably her love life was her problem.
"Miss Goldsome, it is not the first time this has happened in Washington, in fact, it happens right across this country, and others. It even happened to me when I was 12, a light that I can't explain took my sister. To believe that this is what has happened to her, is not all that out of the ordinary".
"Based on what? Stuff that just comes out of the imagination? And I'm a Mrs. not a miss", she scoffed.
"When will we be able to speak to your husband Mrs. Goldsome?", the female agent asked.
"Who Nick? He won't be home until later tonight, he does a job, a good one at that. He fixes up old cars". The front door opened and a young teenage girl carrying a bag over her shoulder walked in.
"Rebecca? Is that you", Mulder asked.
"No!", she yelled, "why does everyone always call me Rebecca? Am I the missing one? No, so then I'm not Rebecca am I?". She shook her head and stormed off into her room. The door slammed shut.
"That is Rebecca's older sister Veronica. She's 16 next week. Either she is short for her age or Rebecca is above normal height for a 12-year-old", Rachael replied.
"Veronica was with you last night when Rebecca came home?", Scully asked. She watched as the woman stiffened.
"Yes she was", was all that Rachael said.
"Would you mind if I went up and asked her a few questions?".
"She won't tell you anything you don't already know. She won't tell you something I can't", the woman called out as the FBI Agent headed upstairs in search of the older girl.
As Scully neared the girl's room, she could hear a loud stereo booming out Merril Bainbridge's "Power of One". Scully knocked and entered the room. Veronica was staring out her window and down the street. Scully walked across to the stereo and turned down the volume. "You like Merril Bainbridge?", she asked.
"What do you care?", Veronica snarled. The song still continued in the background. "What makes it so...one can touch another, in such a way...we underestimate the beauty and the power, of one........"
The Agent walked across and sat down next to the girl. "Actually I do. And so does my partner downstairs. That is why we want to help you and your parents find your sister".
"I don't know where she is, if that's what you want to know, but she's lucky, she's outta here".
"Why do you say that?", Scully asked. She saw Veronica hesitate before speaking.
"Just stuff, nothing you'd find important".
"Try me, I might surprise you".
"Lately strange things have been happening. My sister would wake up in the night and come in here and wake me up. She was having nightmares. Then I started to have dreams as well, they scare me, really scare me. Sometimes I try to move or try to wake up, but I can't". She stopped. "I don't want to talk about it".
"Then can you just answer me one thing?", Scully asked, "do you think Rebecca would have deliberately run away from home?".
Veronica laughed. "No, I don't think she would ever do that, she's too much of a mommy's girl. For Rebecca to leave home, things would have to be really bad. I mean like extreme".
"Would she have left because of the dreams?".
"I don't know. It's kinda unlikely. If the dreams were really bad, she would have told me. We share every thing. We're like best friends".
Scully smiled at that comment. She could understand the relationship Rebecca and Veronica Goldsome shared. "Ok, well I'll leave you alone now. If there is anything you think might help us find Rebecca, call me. Or if you just want to talk, here's my number". She handed Veronica a card with her cell phone number on it. Without a word she left . When Scully returned downstairs, she found Mrs. Goldsome and Mulder arguing over the 'abduction' theory.
"Mulder, drop it, let's leave while you still have your cool". She pulled Mulder by the arm and led him to the door, before she opened it, she turned to Mrs. Goldsome. "Thank-you for your time, we may need to call again. If we do, I'll make sure my partner is on his best behavior".
"You do that. People with his type of mind should be locked up, not defending the city".
FBI Headquarters Wednesday 11:26am
The ride back to Headquarters was a long one. The traffic was held up for over an hour because of an accident involving a four-wheel drive and the local baker's truck. Thankfully, nobody was injured. To add to that, Scully was stuck behind a learner driver who was going well below the speed limit. The ride had also been a silent one. Neither Mulder nor Scully said a word. Scully's mind was racing, something was really wrong with Mulder, he never had an argument with the family of a victim, he always believed that the relationship should be kept casual, but never hostile. She had to admit, Mrs. Goldsome didn't strike her as the friendly sort, but that was beside the point. They had been sitting in their basement office for a little over half an hour when AD Skinner walked in.
"Agents", he said, "I know how this case may be affecting you both, but it doesn't excuse the problem behind the phone call I just received. Mrs. Goldsome just rang and filed a complaint. She tells me that Agent Mulder is a mad man that he should be locked up. Dare I ask why she thinks that?".
"Sir, that's not a good idea at the moment", Scully said, "now is not a good time".
"Well then, perhaps you would like to give me your version", He answered.
"I can't do that. I wasn't in the room when this incident took place. I was upstairs with the older sister.".
"Agent Mulder would you care to explain what this is about, why I had to get this phone call".
"Okay so I made a mistake, we all do", Mulder replied.
Skinner didn't know what to say, that wasn't the response he was expecting. "Agent Scully can I have a word with you in the hall?"
"Certainly Sir". She rose from her seat and followed Skinner out of the office. He stopped and waited for her.
Scully took a deep breath, "I can't tell you what happened at the Goldsome house between Mulder and Mrs. Goldsome. But, I can bring some light onto Agent Mulder's mood. This case has been bringing up bad memories, not only for Agent Mulder but me as well. Now I know this doesn't excuse his behavior, but you do have to understand, this case is really getting to him. It's late November, the anniversary of his sister's disappearance is in two days. It's not exactly the best time for him to handle this".
"Well he should take some time off work".
She shook her head. "He doesn't want time off, he doesn't want sympathy, all he wants is to help these people find their daughter".
Skinner nodded. "I can see that, but if his emotions are getting in the way of work, not only could he jeopardise his own safety, but others as well".
"I know Sir. I will talk to him".
"You do that Agent Scully, you do that". He turned and walked away. The footsteps faded.
Scully couldn't bring herself to go back into the office. "I'm going to go and get and early lunch", she thought. Entering the office, she went over to her desk and picked up her coat. "I'm going to get some lunch, do you want to come with me?".
He sat silent, obviously thinking the offer over, but then shook his head. " No, it's okay I'm not hungry". He just sat there and stared at the wall.
She looked at him. "Mulder would you like to tell me what is bothering you? You're beginning to worry me".
He just shook his head. "There is no need to be worried about me, I'm a big boy now, I can look after myself".
"Damn it Mulder! You can't, not at the moment. I know this is a hard time for you, I can understand that, but nobody else will. You take your anguish out on me, on Mrs. Goldsome, how long will it be before it's Skinner or someone else who has the power to take away your job. You lose your job, they'll take it all". She cursed herself, there was no need to yell like she did. "Sorry, it's none of my business, I just think you should stop for a little while, that's all".
He gave her no reply.
"Well I'm going, you sure you don't want anything?".
"Yes, I'm fine", he mumbled.
She left him there. As she left the FBI Lobby, a voice called out her name. "Agent Scully". She turned around. It was one of the receptionists, she was coming over to Scully.
"Agent Scully, I'm glad I caught you. Is Agent Mulder in the office?".
"Yes he is, why?". "Oh just someone is here to see him, I'll send them down. Thank -you". She left Scully standing there. The Agent turned and headed out the door, boy it was a weird day. The street was crowded more than usual, so she decided to give the health bar a miss and went into the small cafe` situated on the corner. All the food was greasy but once in a while it didn't hurt to change your diet. "Can I help you ma'am?", the man behind the counter asked.
"Yes can I have one of your fish burgers..". She thought of Mulder, "and a hamburger with the lot".
"Sure, that's $4.10, should be ready in a jiffy".
She went and sat along the wall. Her head was spinning, she had a headache. In what seemed like hours, she was finally given her order. "Thank-you", she said. The walk back to Headquarters was quicker, but not by much.
When she entered the FBI lobby, it was empty. The elevator was empty and so were the offices. As Scully stepped out of the elevator in the basement, she noticed their office door was closed, she hadn't closed it. Opening the door, she went in. "I know you said you weren't hungry but I brought you a hambur...ger". She stopped. In the office sat Mulder, opposite him sat a youngish woman with curly hair. He had a big grin on his face, he was beaming.
"Scully, you're not gonna believe this. Look who just showed up". The unfamiliar woman turned around and looked at her. "Scully, it's Samantha, she's back", Mulder concluded.
Suddenly dread ran through Scully. Visions of the night before flashed in her eyes, Mulder's voice echoed in her mind over and over again. "I'd leave you. I don't care what we were doing, what we were in the middle of, no matter how big the case was, I'd drop it all on you and walk off into the sunset with Samantha. I'd leave the country with her and keep her from those who have been so damn annoying in the past. Who knows, perhaps you would never hear from me again". She turned and left the office, closing the door behind her, and leaning back on it. A tear feel from her eye and ran down her cheek. The hall was cool, beginning to chill her. She walked into the elevator and pressed the up button.
When the doors opened on the ground floor, again she was greeted with a verse from Merril Bainbridge. "We weren't meant to be alone, though alone this life we leave and enter....in existence of the flesh, we all need to feel a hand that's tender, one hand one heart can affect another, in such a way....we underestimate the beauty and the power, of one of one of one". She stomped her foot, "damn that song!", she cried. Scully walked around to the back entrance of Headquarters and went out into the FBI gardens. She looked up. On the far side was a park bench, the same one she and Mulder had shared many of their conversations on. The one that stuck out the most was the one that took place when they returned from Antarctica. "If I quit now, they win", she had said. Slowly, Scully wandered over to the bench, sat down and began to cry.
------------------------------
Back in the office, Mulder and Samantha continued to talk. "Is your partner all right?", she asked.
"Yeah, don't worry about Scully, she can look after herself, she'll be back, she just needs to get over the shock of seeing you, it's cool", he replied.
"Fox, I need you to help me, people are going to come looking for me, they'll try to kill me. That's why I've come back to you. You're my brother, I know you'll help".
"You bet I will. Look, I'll finish up this case now, Scully will take over, she'll take the load and then we'll.". He stopped, he now understood why Scully had left in a hurry. His words from last night echoed in his mind, "I don't care what we were doing, what we were in the middle of, no matter how big the case was, I'd drop it all on you and walk off into the sunset with Samantha. I'd leave the country with her and keep her from those who have been so damn annoying in the past. Who knows, perhaps you would never hear from me again". He stood up, "shit!", he muttered.
"What? What's wrong?", Samantha asked.
"Stay here, I just made the biggest piss ass mistake of my life", he cried as he fled out the office. When he was in the elevator, he realised he had no idea where Scully would have gone. The doors opened and he was greeted with a verse from Phil Collins, "When destiny calls you, you must be strong, I may not be with you, but you've got to hold on...they'll see in time, I know, we'll show them together....." Those words...he knew where she was. Out the back entrance and into the FBI Gardens, his guess was proven right. There, on a park bench on the far side of the gardens, sat Scully, her head in her hands.
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"We weren't meant to be alone, though alone this life we leave and enter....in existence of the flesh, we all need to feel a hand that's tender, one hand one heart can affect another, in such a way....we underestimate the beauty and the power, of one of one of one". She was going insane, that song, it was driving her crazy, over and over in her mind. Her hands were wet, her eyes sore, head aching. And then she felt something on her shoulder, a hand. She looked up, and through the blurred vision in her tears, she saw Mulder.
He felt uncomfortable, he didn't really know what to say to her. "Scully I....". He stopped and sat down beside her, putting his arm around her shoulder. "Scully she wants me to help her, people are after her. I'm going to take her away from here, I need to leave".
Scully closed her eyes, it wasn't what she wanted to hear. She didn't want him to go, she...she loved him, but how could she tell him that?
"I'm leaving with her now, but I don't know when I'll be back. I just want to you know....".
She cut him off, "I don't want to know anything, just go, leave me alone! I wish I had never met you, I hate you! Go away!", she yelled, tears streaming down her face.
"Scully please let me explain. I.".
"Go away!!".
--------------------------------
He sat bolt upright in his bed. The window rattled in the wind, lightning flashed across the sky. He was sweating all over, his heart was pounding in his chest like a drum. Mulder ran his hand over his face. He looked at the clock, it was 4am Wednesday morning. He had left Scully's apartment only 7 hours ago, it was only a dream. The room was cold on his body. He took several deep breaths and got out of bed to close the window. His mind was racing, he had to call Scully, but it was too early, she would be still sleeping, it would have to wait until he saw her at work.
FBI Headquarters Wednesday 1:04pm
It was after lunch before Mulder had worked up the courage to confront Scully. They had gone out for lunch, to the local health bar. It was just another place where he knew it was more than daja vu`. When they had returned to Headquarters, there was a message for him, just like he expected there would be. He took the envelope and proceeded to the basement.
"Aren't you going to open it?", Scully asked. She was holding a bag containing drinks for later on that Mulder had brought, she had no idea what sort they were.
"I know what it says", he replied, "I should explain myself. Sit down".
When they were in the office he closed the door and Scully sat down, she placed the drinks on her desk.
"Before I start, I want to take back what I said last night, about walking off into the sunset with Samantha if she ever came back, I'd never do that, I'd never leave you in the middle of a case". He too sat down, as he did he noticed the worried and puzzled look on her face. "Do you believe in fate Scully? You know, that a single answer can change our life dramatically?".
"I guess so, well I sort of do. What is this all about?".
"Last night, I had two dreams. It was because of what I said last night, I think that's what made me have them. It was like I was seeing today, but twice. Everything that happened today, the traffic, my disagreement with Mrs. Goldsome, you asking me if I wanted lunch, it was all there, in my dream. The first time, I did go with you to lunch, when we got back, there was a message that's why I haven't opened this one, because I know what it says. It's from Samantha".
She went to say something, but he held his hand up, "let me finish". She nodded. "Then the second dream was exactly the same, the day happened the same way, but this time I didn't go with you for lunch. Samantha came to see me. When you came back, things went wrong, you left the office crying because you had remembered what I said to you last night. I found you out in the gardens, sitting on our park bench, you didn't want to talk to me, you said you hated me. I worked out that my life today depended on my answer to lunch. If I said yes, I would live my life with you, just get the message from Samantha. If I said no, I'd find Samantha and leave the country with her, maybe never seeing you again". He swallowed a lump in his throat. "Open the envelope, I can tell you word for word what it says", he whispered as he handed it to her.
She opened it and read what it said in her mind. "Okay, tell me what you think it says", she said.
"Perhaps things may have been different, but this was meant to be. I'll always be with you Fox, no matter what happens, I only wish I could have been with you in person. This must be what they call fate, because I had no idea it would end this way. Please don't forget me", he replied.
She just looked at him. "You got it, word for word". She looked back at the message, she couldn't believe this, could he have really seen what today was going to be like in his dreams? Did he really make the choice between her and Samantha? "If you knew the day would turn out this way, why didn't you stay behind when I went to get lunch? You could have had your sister back".
He said nothing, just looked at her.
She understood. "You chose me over your sister? Why? You could have filled that gap in your life, you could have for filled your dream of having Samantha back".
"How long have I been looking for her Scully? How long have you known me? In the past 8 years, you have been there for me, helping me, caring for me. All that time you were with me, helping me with something only I could benefit from, not you. We've seen so many clones of Samantha, why would this one be any different?".
"She may have been the real one Mulder, she may have been it".
He dipped his head, "that was a chance I was willing to take".
Scully just stared at him, "you gave that up for me?".
Mulder nodded.
"Mulder I, I don't know what to say". This was far from what she expected him to answer.
He walked over to her desk. "Do you remember when we were working the Tooms case, when we were sitting in the car, waiting for him?".
"Yes I do, why?".
"When I said to you , 'if there was an iced tea in the bag it could be love' , you answered me by saying 'must be fate Mulder, it's root beer'. I thought about that. Today I learned that I can change my fate by the decisions I make". He stopped and opened the bag on Scully 's desk, "therefore I can choose my path in life". He pulled out a bottle of iced tea and held it out to Scully.
She smiled sadly at him and took the bottle. "It must be love", she whispered. Tears were forming in her eyes.
"It must", he replied softly. She stood up and hugged him, he never was going to let her go. They stood there crying, knowing how a single word could have changed their lives forever...................
THE END