CHAPTER 4: I CAN STILL HEAR YOU SAYING YOU WOULD NEVER BREAK THE CHAIN.

The service was short for no one could talk for too long without the consequence of breaking into tears. Fox Mulder was sitting in the front row staring solemnly at Father McCue who had called for the pallbearers to take the casket away. He had not spoken for four days, ever since that day at the airport. The casket, though beautifully tailored, was empty except for a gold cross that they had found caught on the emergency exit handle in the demolished airplane. They just did not have the time to continue searching and figured that those that were missing off the plane would perhaps wash up later. He was informed that there was no way she could have survived the crash, for even if she had managed to exit the airplane, the water had tipped to 37 degrees making it so that hypothermia was indeed inevitable. If hypothermia was not the cause, the pure shock would have prevented her from having the use of her limbs.

Mulder stood up and walked to the casket, along with Bill Scully, Walter Skinner, Father McCue, and two men that Mulder had never met before. Bill stood in front of Mulder as they began the procession to the hearse.

The only exchange made between the two was Bill's choked voice muttering, "This is your fault, and you know it."

In normal circumstances, Mulder might have replied, told him to leave him alone, to shut up, or something nastier, but instead he stared straight ahead. Everything had been a blur. It was as if everyday tasks had become chores, he even had to remind himself to breathe. He solely found peace when, if, he slept at night in his dreams where Scully would often appear. Sometimes her hair colour would change slightly, sometimes she would wear a tee shirt instead of her suit, but she was there, always. She always told him that it was alright, that everything would be alright, that she knew that he had not cried. It was ok to grieve she had told him. Tears were too tired to come to his eyes. He had panicked the day before because he came to the realization that he had indeed forgotten how to cry.

They had gotten to the hearse, put the casket in, and on the way to the car, Mulder got sick without warning. Everyone gave him semi-odd looks, but then knowingly glanced at each other remembering that he was "Spooky" Mulder, and anyone with the nickname "Spooky" must do strange things. Not even bothering to wipe his mouth, Mulder got into Skinner's Taurus and looked out the window.

"Mulder, are you alright?" Skinner looked worriedly over at his companion. Mulder did not respond and continued to look out the window as Margaret, Bill and Tara Scully got into the limo behind the hearse. Bill took one last look over his shoulder at Mulder as if to say, "See, this is where her real family is," and closed the door behind him.

As they drove down the interstate, the scenery reminded Mulder of a song he had once heard. There were blue-green colours flashing as they passed several mile markers. They finally arrived at the cemetary, the same cemetary that Captain William Scully was buried in. Margaret paused for a moment by his grave as Mulder and the rest of the pallbearers brought the casket to the already dug black hole. Mulder wished he could jump in and yell at the diggers to just bury him along with Scully. He could think of worse deaths than suffocation. He had thought of a lot of ways to die recently and had almost attempted some of them, but realized that nothing would have pissed Scully off more would have been if he had killed himself after her death. Besides, he had more important things to do. Dead or alive, he would find her. This had become Fox Mulder's new mission.

CHAPTER 5 COMING SOON!