Sunday 10am

Pasteles

When Reyes got to the bakery Isabella asked to meet in, the other woman was already seated. Isabella looked up and gave her a bright smile; it did not put her at ease.

"You should try una totra." Isabella advised her.

Reyes' stomach rebelled at the thought of eating cake so early. "If it's all the same to you, I think I'll just have un chocolate caliente. I'm not very hungry, but I miss those."

She was referring to the bitter version of hot chocolate that was rarely found in the US due to its near lack of sugar.

"Maybe when you go home to the states you'll have to bring some back with you."

"I don't know, it'd go bad pretty fast." Reyes pictured carting a thermos through customs.

Isabella grinned and slapped the table. "Not made, Nina. A new company is offering it in powered form, just like those loco commercials with the bunny you have."

The thought of powered chocolate caliente startled Reyes. Things had changed a lot since she moved away from Mexico. "You said you found a file?"

"Yes. I think it's on you." Isabella reached into a canvas bag at her side and pulled out a cheap cardboard folder. "Unfortunately, the original was blurry on one of the lines." She gave Reyes an apologetic shrug.

Reyes' hands trembled as she took the sheets of paper from the other woman. There in black and white was the name of the woman she'd been looking for. "Debra Jacey." She whispered.

The name so captivated her that it took her a moment to even realize that there were other words on the page. Three of those words were "Robert Jacey – Deceased." She blinked in shock. Up until she'd read the name listed beside "father" she hadn't given the man a second's thought.

"My father is dead."

Isabella nodded sympathetically. " Before you were born. It's very sad."

"But it does explain a little why my mom gave me up." Reyes said, but she wasn't sure she meant it. Raising a baby alone was hard, but it seemed manageable if you had friends and family. Scully had been doing ok until...She shook her head. She didn't want to think about Scully.

"And she was young." Isabella pointed to the woman's date of birth. It was barely twenty years before Reyes' own.

Reyes nodded absently, but her eyes were drinking in the printing on the document before her. When she got to the blurred line, her heart skipped a beat. It said " Address: 207 Quinn street, dy, Texas." And there was no zip code.

She stared at dy, willing it to become a name, but there was no way to read it. It looked like someone had once spilled water on it, and the water had leeched the ink away.

Isabella looked sad. "I looked through the other papers too, for another address, but there's nothing. I'm sorry."

Staring at the woman's worried face, Reyes felt a pang of guilt. The woman had nothing to apologize for, she'd been so helpful...she bravely pasted a smile to her face. " You've been such a help, I don't know how I can ever repay you. "

"You just take good care of your baby." Her tone was oddly urgent.

All of the sudden she got the impression that she knew why Isabella had helped her. For a fraction of a second she could clearly see a little girl of six or eight cowering away from an upraised hand, the child's dark eyes filled with fear... Maybe there were worse things than not knowing who your parents were. She was suddenly certain there were.

"I will, believe me. My husband and I are thrilled that we're having twins. Both little girls. We plan to love them to pieces."

Isabella seemed to relax a little. " I'm sure you will."

"Thanks again for giving this to me. There can't be many towns in Texas that end in 'dy' so I'm sure that I'll find my mother soon."

"You will, I can feel it." Isabella smiled just a little.

Reyes picked up her bag and pawed through it until she found a pen and a small notebook. "Here. Write down your address. I'll send you pictures of the babies, and let you know what happens when I find her."

Isabella looked touched. They said good-bye, and Isabella departed a couple of minutes later. Looking at the haunted woman's slightly slumped shoulders, she didn't blame her mother at all if she thought she couldn't take care of her.

The following day (Monday)

Washington DC

"Are they back yet?" Folmer's demanding voice crackled over the phone line.

Frowning, Kersh resisted the urge to hang up on him. "No sir."

"Well, you can call them back any time now. The problem has been contained." Folmer had lost five men in the process, but the evolved pathogen had ultimately been captured and destroyed. The loss of the men was regretful, but it could have been much worse.

Kersh nodded, then remembered he was on the phone. "The thing is, Sir, that their case has turned out to be an actual x-file. Since I told them to stay up there until it's solved..."

"That's fine. They can say up there as long as you like. Keeps them out of my hair." Folmer said with a chuckle.

"As you wish."

Kersh gave the phone a disgusted look as he hung up. Folmer might not care that the case was tying up his agents, but what the hell were they tracking in Vermont?