Scully rested her head against the wall of the plane and looked out at the clouds below.  She wasn't a great fan of flying but since working on the X-Files hardly a week went by when she didn't find herself flying somewhere.  Mulder sat next to her his head back against the headrest and a pair of earphones in.  As usual he could sleep through the flights leaving her to battle silently with her discomfort.  Closing her eyes she kept her hands on her seatbelt and tried to calm down knowing there was at least another hour left on the flight.

            Mulder listened to the tapes of his deductions from Ohio and let the plane's gentle rocking soothe his aching back.  Having spent the whole weekend camping in dark field waiting for more crop circles, what little he had slept he seemed to find the rockiest part of the field to do it on. 

Scully never would have agreed to camp out, he thought and then felt her elbow jerk against him as the plane shook a little harder.  He knew she didn't like to fly but he never brought it up, also knowing how she would think it a sign of weakness.  He supposed the fact that they were going to New York to investigate an air disaster didn't help the situation so he opened his eyes and turned to face her deciding to keep her distracted so she could forget where they were.

"Scully, what do you really think about crop circles?" he asked pulling his earphones out and slipping them into the pocket in the seat in front of him.

"It was proven that they were a prank, method, timing and ability-," she began without looking up.

"Oh come on Scully, the sheer magnitude and scale of an operation like that would be impossible to organise let alone the skill it would take to perform the mathematical correct angles and designs is beyond human ability."

"You saw it being done by a human, how can you not believe it?" she asked annoyed by his pure dismissal of fact.

"I saw one pattern taking 8 hours, by an old guy from England, not 12 patterns a night all over the world," he argued.

"Why couldn't there be 12 guys all over the world that did one each?"

"Simultaneously? Different patterns? I don't think so."

"Of course that would be too hard to believe.  It's much more probable that aliens came down and somehow managed to implement these crop circles leaving them as markers for a possible point for invasion."

"That's what I've been trying to say," he said loving how her voice would lilt when she got frustrated and her eyebrows both arched in the middle.

"Oh God Mulder," she shook her head and resumed her stare out the window.  Her smile finally broke through and she turned to see him smiling too.

"It's getting easier and easier to reel you in Scully!"

"Okay, okay that one was an easy one but you wait.  I'll get you back."

"Promises, promises Scully!"

            They sat in companionable silence for the rest of the journey and he waited by the luggage carousel while she went to collect the car.  Finally out on the road he fumbled with the map as she followed the road signs for NY City hoping they'd find Chelsea from there.

"Did you book a hotel?" Mulder asked not looking up from the mass of paper he held out on the dashboard as he tried to figure out where they were going.

"No," she turned onto the freeway crossing three lanes to get into the fastest clearest one. "I thought we'd get one when we got here."

"What time are we meeting Dr Campbell?"

"Tomorrow morning, and I've been trying to contact Sally Ryan, Williams guardian, but I can't seem to reach her."

            Mulder grabbed hold of the dashboard as Scully weaved in and out between the cars, remembering now why he usually drove.

"Well how about we go and find a hotel and try later?" he suggested throwing the map into the back seat and watching the road carefully.

"Did you give the NY field office a call?"

"Yeah, they want us to call in tomorrow morning for verification."

"Now all we need to do is find a hotel," she said speeding up and undertaking a few more cars.

"I know this lovely place just outside the city…"

"No Mulder a nice place, no roaches, dodgy showers, paper thin walls and defiantly nowhere that charges by the hour."

"There you go Scully with that lack of a sense of adventure!"

"Anyway the rule is whomever drives gets to pick the hotel," she said.

"Wait, I don't remember that rule," he said laughing.

"It's always been the rule," she replied ignoring his playful gaze and watching the road. 

            It was just past seven pm when she pulled into a small hotel car park and delighted to see the vacancy sign she parked near the office and switched the engine off.

"Liberty Inn?" he said cautiously, reading the green neon sign.

"Yes the Liberty Inn looks wonderful."

"That's one word," he muttered just loud enough for her to hear as he followed her towards the reception.

"Come on Mulder, look," she said pointing to a sign in the office window, "free cable!"

"Cant be all that bad then can it?"

            The tinny ding from the doorway bell spoke volumes to them as they approached the tall desk with a young man sitting behind it.  He jumped up from his seat and turned to them with a leering smile.

"Hello, My name is Rory, what can I do for you?"

"We'd like two rooms, please Rory," Mulder said leaning on the counter with both arms.

"Two rooms?" the attendant said looking from Scully to Mulder.

"Yes, two rooms, connecting if possible," he added.

"Okay," Rory pulled at the pages from the sign in book, "will you be staying for the whole night?"

"Yes, in fact we'll be here for two or three nights," Mulder said calmly, trying not to look at Scully knowing he'd laugh after her comment about places that charged by the hour.

"Okay well we have a large suite with double rooms and a connecting door.  Numbers 213 and 214."

            Rory handed them the keys and moved the book over for them to sign.  Mulder took the pen and signed for both rooms while Rory put his credit card through the machine.

"Have a good night," he called after them as they went back to the car to collect their luggage.

"Oh, we will!" Mulder said matching Rory's leer with one of his own.

            Scully opened the door to her room and was pleasantly surprised to see a large king sized bed waiting for her attention.  The room was tastefully decorated and a TV stood in the corner beside a mini bar that held alcohol and soft drinks.  A soft knock at the connecting door drew her attention as Mulder opened it and stepped through.  She noticed he had already changed into a pair of jeans and a grey long-sleeved top and wondered how he could do it so quickly.

"I guess it's not as bad as all that," he said crawling across her bed, kicking off his shoes and lying face down in the pillows.

"It's lovely," she said sternly, as she took off her suit jacket and rummaged through her bag for something more comfortable to wear. 

"If I was going to go for a hotel for an hour or so I suppose this place would do," he said turning his head in time to see her pull her shoes off one by one.

"What do you mean if Mulder?" she called over her shoulder as she carried her change of clothes into the bathroom. 

            He smiled at her comment and wondered when she had started to get to cheekily vocal.  She never used to throw retorts at him like that but it seemed like lately he was under a constant barrage of smart comments and even an innuendo or two.  He couldn't say he didn't like it and the fact that she had relaxed so much in his company was a joy to him.  He rolled over on to his side and reached for the remote control noticing that she had left the bathroom door open as she changed. 

            From the angle of the mirror he could see her bare back as she stretched her arms high into the air before pulling a black t-shirt on.  Her hair had darkened recently he realised and had become much straighter.  He always noticed when she came in with new clothes or new hair do's but asides from the usual comments of how nice it looked he rarely let her know how much he would study her for the rest of the day as if memorising the new look.

            Feeling embarrassed at watching her so covertly he looked away and switched the TV on.  He was flicking through the channels when she returned wearing her t-shirt and a light grey pair of linen trousers.  She folded the clothes she had flown in and placed them over the chair by the bed.

"So we got the evening to ourselves Scully!" he said in his best seductive voice as he patted the bed beside him, but he decided it was out of practice when she snorted at him and reached for her files.

"Have a read of this Mulder," she said handing him a case file.

            He sat up against the headrest and opened the file reading about William Ryan's history.  She sat at the foot of the bed one of the legs bent beneath her the other stretched out in front of her.  After reading through all the files and bantering through their options for three hours Mulder slapped the file shut and closed his eyes.  She glanced up at him but he had rested his head back and was taking deep breaths.  Continuing with her work she bowed her head again and didn't look up until she felt something brush against the sole of her foot.

"Hey," she said pulling her foot away but he was still lying back against the wall with his eyes closed.  She ignored him and started to read again but this time she was ready when his hand snaked out stealthily to grab her foot she moved it before he could touch her.

"Alright Mulder, I get it, you're bored and hungry."

            She slipped off the bed and looked for her shoes.  As she sat into a chair to tie them he stood up and stretched moaning and holding the base of his back as if he had twisted it.

"Hurt your back?" she asked.

"Bad sleeping conditions over the weekend."

"You camped out didn't you?"

"Yes, and boy am I paying for it now."

"Do you want me to take a look at it?" she offered but he shook his head as he put his sneakers back on.

"No, it's fine. Right," he said standing up beside her trying not to wince at the pain that tightened round his back muscles, "lets go get some food."

***

            Sally watched as Billy's body lay unmoving in the hospital bed.  Wires and tubes surrounded him and she had to turn away afraid to look anymore.  She crossed the small corridor to the waiting room and slunk low into a chair.  When she heard footsteps coming up the hallway she looked up to see Dr Niamh Campbell stepping into the room.

"Sally, I came as soon as I could."

"They had to sedate him, he wouldn't stop crying," she said through a shaky tear filled breath. 

"I understand that he was drawing more pictures, did you bring them for me?" Niamh asked taking the seat next to her and placing a friendly hand on her lap.

"Yeah, but I still don't understand why you wanted to see them," Sally replied as she pulled two folded pages from her pocket and handed them to her.

            Niamh opened up both pages and saw the pictures of a plane flying through a clear blue sky.  Again over the plane she saw the short hand written clearly. 

"You see this?" she said pointing it out to Sally, "This is a form of short hand used to transcribe interviews."

"What does it say?" Sally asked confused.

"It says New Orleans, 221 20:50."

"What does that mean?"

"The last drawings that Billy was doing when he had an episode had the same writings, flight numbers and destinations and a train number and destination, both of which crashed and killed over 300 people."

"What?" Sally couldn't believe what she was hearing.  "What does that mean?"

"Billy drew the pictures before the accidents occurred.  I don't know what it means but I think I know someone who can help us.  She's an FBI Agent."

"FBI?" Sally jumped up from the chair. "Jesus Niamh are they going to take him away from me?"

"No, it's not like that," she said trying to calm her down.  "She works with unexplained cases and I faxed her through some of Billy's drawings.  She wants to help."

"Help me lose him," Sally shouted.

"Sally, you know Billy is very sick, he needs help, more than you can give him."

"He's already lost his parents and he's been living with me for the past four months.  You can't take him away from me now."

"We all want what's best for Billy."

            Their argument was halted by the sounds of alarms coming from his room and they both ran out to see a team of medical staff rushing in to treat him.  Niamh had to hold her back as Sally struggled to get in to be by his side.  Finally the room cleared and a doctor came out to greet them.

"He had a seizure.  Has he ever had one before?"

"Not since he's been in my care." Sally said staring at Billy's form.

"With the heavy sedation he is under there shouldn't be enough brain activity to induce a seizure, I'm afraid we'll have to keep him in for a while to run some tests, do a CT and blood work."

            Slowly Sally nodded her head, grateful for the comforting arm Niamh had reached around her shoulders and followed the doctor to sign the consent forms.  Niamh stayed with Billy sitting by his side and looking at the pictures he had drawn.  She'd have to call Dana with this new information and tell her about the flight to New Orleans.  Hopefully with all her experience in the unexplained she would be able to help.  Looking down at Billy she wiped the sheen of sweat from his forehead and held his hand.  She could feel his pulse beating rapidly in his small wrist and see some REM behind his lids.

"Hey Billy, you're going to be okay.  Just you wait and see, we'll have you out chasing fireflies before the summer is out."

** Again I had to repost, and in case you read the first version you'll notice that I changed the doctors name from Marian to Niamh…It was just bugging me.  Sorry if this caused any confusion.  And now, on with the show…**