Chapter Eighteen

::after this, only two or three chapters to go!::

Scully woke up hot. In his sleep, Mulder had inadvertently kicked the blankets onto Scully's side of the bed. Mulder's arms draped around her waist did not help either. As Scully drifted in the state between slumber and awakening, she remembered that she was not wearing the tie. Clumsily, she leaned over the bed and ran her hand across the hardwood floors until grabbing her tie. Mulder, having been disturbed by the shifting in the bed, woke up with a loud yawn.

Mulder groggily sat up to kiss Scully's cheek before falling back onto the pillows. "Hey."

"I feel like an ass," Scully replied bluntly.

"Huh? Why?" he managed before another yawn escaped his lips.

"Look at me."

"Yeah? You look beautiful."

Scully raised her eyebrow from behind its hiding place under the tie. "I don't want to wear this tie anymore."

Mulder shifted on the bed, "Do you want to see if Dana Gordon eventually becomes you?"

Scully sighed, exasperated, "No. I want to be me without this!"

"I know," Mulder said as if she wanted a deceased loved one back.

"No really. I want to be me again without looking like an ass."

"Scully, I don't know how…"

"I do. I want to become blind," Scully stated matter-of-factly.

Mulder laughed at the absurdity of it, "Okaaay.."

"Can we have someone perform an operation to detach my retinas or something?"

"You mean, operate to cause blindness? I don't think that is in the Hippocratic Oath, Scully."

Scully sighed again, "Don't the Lone Gunmen have contacts with a doctor who won't ask questions?"

"Those kind of doctors aren't exactly one's I would recommend. Plus if he makes a mistake or the tools aren't sterile then your eyes could become infected and- "

"And what? I'll go blind?" Scully interrupted sarcastically.

Mulder opened his mouth to speak and shut it as quickly.

"Fine."

"Fine?" Scully asked.

"If that's what you want…."

"That's what I want."

"Then promise me this."

"What?"

"Don't go to Donald anymore. We don't need answers. Our problems are either fixed or unfixable. Knowing events surrounding them won't change that."

"No. But I'll compromise. I'll only go to Donald's church. He has a file room and I want to snoop."

"Why Scully, you want to snoop. Tsk. Tsk."

Scully laughed. "Okay?"

"Okay."

"I'm going to shower and go," Scully kissed him before walking to the bathroom.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Mulder bugged Dana Gordon and drove to Donald's church offices. He parked two blocks away and Dana stepped out of the car. She pulled William and his carrier out of the back seat. Mulder watched in silence as she walked away.

As the door closed behind Dana, Mulder turned to leave. He did not see the man with the cigarette follow her into the church.

~ *~ *~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~ *~

Mulder drove to the motel room to find Byers in front of a computer screen.

"Where are Frohike and Langly?" Mulder asked as he entered the room.

"Out for coffee."

"What has Dana been up to? Mulder said, studying the screen.

"Going through the file cabinets. Do you know what she's looking for?"

Mulder shook his head, "The truth, I guess."

"Which drawer should she start in?" Byers asked, ready to tell Dana what to do.

"S. Look for any files named 'Scully.'"

Dana did as Byers told her. As she came across a file called 'Scully, Dana G.'" Byers told her to pull it out. She put it in her baby bag.

"I thought Scully's middle name was Katherine," Byers remarked.

Mulder sat pondering. "I think it's Dana Gordon Scully. They must have combined her name. Have her look under M. I wonder if they have a file on Samantha."

"Dana, can you look under 'M'?" Byers asked.

Dana replied, "Uh, huh."

She flipped through all of the M files. As she reached the end of them, Mulder sighed. "No file under Mulder," Dana whispered.

Mulder took the microphone. "Can you look under S?"

Scully pulled out the drawer and shuffled through the files.

"Pull out that one." Mulder commanded as her fingers grazed across the "Spender" file. "Okay, why don't you come out, now Dana. Someone will pick you up behind the church."

"What would you like to know about me, Dana?" A voice from behind her asked. Dana spun around. Mulder studied the picture trying to figure out who was with Dana. The only thing he could decipher was the thin trail of smoke rising to the ceiling.

"Shit," Mulder swore under his breath.