May 23rd

The three men stood in companionable silence for what they hoped would be the last time. It wasn't if the cop, the FBI agent or the cyptozoologist disliked each other, it's just that they hoped that this would be the night that they solved the case so they could all go home.

Insects buzzed. Then a louder sound broke the night air.

"Muffy! Muffy! Where are you?" A plaintive voice cried out.

The caller jumped s foot when a hand shot out and grabbed him, dragging him into the dim light of a flashlight pointed at the ground.

"Be quiet!" Doggett hissed. The young man shook with fear as the three glowering people surrounded him, but he did as he was told. "What are you doing out here at this time of might? We're trying to track the thing that been killing cattle around here."

"Oh..." The man moaned. "I have to find Muffy, I just have to."

"Look, I know you're worried about your dog or cat, but this thing isn't after pets, so maybe you should just go home-"Davies suggested.

"You don't understand." The man protested. "I'm not worried about Muffy being eaten, I'm worried that Muffy is going to be doing the eating. Again."

"How's that?" Barry asked, his mind still on a cat or dog, a killer house pet.

"What exactly is Muffy?" Doggett demanded to know.

"A bear. I raised her from a cub." The man admitted. "She got loose months ago, and I've been trying to find her ever since. I never meant for any of this to happen."

Barry gave the man a puzzled look. " Even if you did find a cub and raised it, black bears don't go after anything as big as cows. They prefer fish and berries."

The stranger continued to look miserable. "I didn't find her, I bought her from a breeder out west. She's not a black bear."

"What kind of bear is she then?" Davies asked.

"A hybrid. Black bear and...grizzly."

"What?" Barry squawked. "You brought something like that up here, and let it get loose? With all the dairy farms up here?"

Davies gave the man a stern look. " It's against the law to introduce species into non-native habitat."

"I'm lost." Doggett confessed. " What's one bear type verses another?"

Barry explained. "Black bears are more or less harmless, unless you bother their cubs. They paw through dumpsters, but that's about all the damage they ever cause, and you can avoid it by locking trash up. Grizzlies, on the other hand, go after sheep and cattle. It's so common that there are set rates to reimburse ranchers who have proof of bears killing their stock."

"But no one ever considered a bear part grizzly being responsible for the damage since grizzlies aren't found in this part of the country." Doggett summarized.

"Exactly. Part grizzlies aren't even supposed to exist, never mind be in New England," Barry agreed. "What does this 'Muffy' of yours look like?"

"I don't see why I should tell you." The man answered sullenly." You're going to arrest me either way." He added, noticing the handcuffs officer Davies was holding.

"It might go easier on you if you cooperate." Davies pointed out. "Shows a willingness to assist in it's capture so less damage is done in the long run."

Sighing, the man nodded. "She looks like a black bear, but bigger. Sharp claws. Much stronger than a black bear her size."

Doggett pulled out his walkie-talkie and radioed to Mulder and Scully to tell them what they were looking for.

"Why Muffy? That's a pathetic name for something capable of killing a full grown cow." Barry remarked as Davies snapped on the cuffs.

"I didn't name her, the breeder did."

"Sure." Davies snickered.

May 24th, 1pm

Train Station (DC)

Driving very carefully, Gibson pulled up to the curb, where Reyes was already waiting with her bag. As soon as he parked the car, he hopped out and grabbed her bag.

She was about to tell him that he didn't have to, and she could manage it herself, but it was a pointless protest, he was only being nice. "Thanks." She was so tired she didn't really feel like arguing. She'd expected the train ride to take less than a day, but there'd been no direct trains from Texas to DC, so she'd had to spend another, unexpected, night in a hotel while she waited for a connecting train in a charming town with a sparse train schedule.

He slammed the trunk shut and grinned at her. "I'm really glad you're home."

"I thought you were old enough to stay by yourself." She said archly. "Were you scared?"

"No, it's not that. It was just...lonely without you and John there."

"I'm sorry." Reyes made her first apology of the day knowing full well it wouldn't be her last.

"It's good practice." Gibson replied. "For school, I mean." He added when she looked blank. " I'll have to be used to it in a year or so."

"You don't have to be used to it. You could commute."

"I could, but..."

"You can do whatever you want once you graduate from high school. Just as long as you know that you'll always have a home to come back to when you want to."

Gibson smiled at her. "I always know that. You and John are good to me."

"You're a great kid. More people should have been good to you while you were growing up." Reyes insisted.

"I guess sometimes the family you make is better to you than the one you're born into." He said, making her nod in agreement, even though she never got the chance to find out what the family she was born to would have been like.

"Oh!" Gibson exclaimed. "John called this morning. They solved their case last night, so they'll be home tonight."

"I'm so glad. Was it bigfoot?" She asked, trying to bury her apprehension about seeing Doggett. She could only hope his happiness to see her would over-rule his dismay that she'd been gone for weeks without consulting him about it.

"Not exactly..."

May 24th, 4pm

Airport (VT)

"So, Doggett called us, and told us that they caught someone out looking for a bear hybrid he'd been in illegal possession of, before the thing escaped. He'd been hoping to recapture her before someone else did." Scully said, covering one ear to hear the reply in the busy airport. "The lab results had come back inconclusive, since until now no one had actually cross-bred these two bears before."

"And you caught it?" Skinner asked.

"Yes sir, we did. It actually showed up on the farm Mulder and I were staking out, and Doggett stopped off at a vet's for the doctor and some tranquilizers. We brought her down before she had the chance to kill another cow."

"Was the bear...destroyed?"

"No sir. As I mentioned, up until now cross-breeding of bears was theoretical rather than proven fact. As soon as we reported what we found calls poured in from scientists wanting to study her. At the moment she's in a cage while they decide where her new home is going to be."

"Speaking of home, I'm sure you're all anxious to be home yourselves."

"You better believe it." Scully replied reverently.

"See you next Monday." Skinner said, dismissing her and hanging up.

Scully went back to join Doggett and Mulder, who were saying good-bye to Barry and Davies. Scully said good-bye too, but she was so glad she was going home.

(article about the possibility of bear crossbreeding )