PART 15

As Mulder sat in his apartment constantly trying to get in touch with Scully he finally began to panic. She'd asked him not to get in touch with her, but he couldn't even get through to her mother. He was running out of ideas and he wasn't getting any calmer as the hours passed. He tried to get some sleep to start his search for her the next day, but he couldn't relax. He'd never been this worried about her before. He'd had plenty of reasons to worry before of course, they had after all been through so much together, but for some reason his worry went deeper this time. He was desperate to see her, to see her in all her glory. He needed her.

CSM led Scully and Krycek into an old shed of some sort. It was in the middle of a forest and was miles away from any other kind of civilisation. CSM sat down and lit a cigarette; Krycek stayed standing and pushed Scully down into a chair. The silence was eerie and because it was so quiet the smallest sound came across ten times louder.

"We should only need to spend two nights here at the most."

Scully ignored him; she was fed up of listening to their constant talk of plans and ideas. Apart from being worried, she was bored.

"And then what?"

"Then we are being met by Diana and we can finish off. Tidy up. Hide our tracks."

"And then that's it? It's over?"

"No Alex. Then it can begin. It can finally become a reality, a reality that should have

happened a long time ago."

As the silence again enveloped them, Scully waited for them to get tired. And eventually they fell asleep, as she'd hoped. CSM and Krycek both lay on a couch and were out for the count. Scully gave them half an hour and made her move. Her hands were still cuffed, but that was all they'd done to keep her secure. She was free to move how she pleaded

apart from her hands. So she made her dash for freedom. And she got a hell of a lot further than she thought she would. But she could've got further if it wasn't for her interruption.

The following day Mulder entered the FBI building and went straight to Skinner's office. Kim was gone from her desk, so he went straight in. He didn't even consider being hesitant. He had to see him, and he had to see him now.

"Agent Mulder? What are you doing here?"

"Well, from what I can recall I work here sir."

"Very funny Mulder. Where is my assistant?"

"I don't know, she's gone from her desk. Sir I need to talk to you."

"Can't it wait? I have important things to do this morning Mulder."

"Sir I understand that you're a busy man, but I really need your help."

"My help? With what?"

"Agent Scully has gone missing."

"Not again. As far as I know she's still undercover."

"What? She left that days ago. I've spoken with her since then."

"I don't understand. What's happened?"

"I spoke with her two days ago, and she then called me to say she was taking a break with her mother. I couldn't get in touch with either her or her mother until this morning."

"And?"

"And Mrs Scully has no idea where she is. There was no break arranged, and she hasn't heard from Scully in some time."

"Well how was she when you last saw her?"

"She was, different. We arranged to do some...research into a project outside of the bureau, and then she backed out the next day. And she called me Fox. She hasn't done that for years."

"And you suspect something is wrong?"

"Yes. Her behaviour was far from normal, and if I didn't know better I'd say...I'd say that

the person I last saw wasn't really her."

Skinner stood up from his desk and walked over to Mulder. He looked at him and showed concern, but he also looked like he knew something he was keeping back. Something that Mulder was un aware of. He made sure his office door was closed and he then sat Mulder down and sat himself beside him. Skinner's sudden kindness and thought for him worried Mulder. He realised that he was not going to like what he heard. But at the end of the day if he wanted Scully back, he had to listen to what Skinner had to say.