Alexandria Apartment.

8.15PM

Sweat stripped him of any comfort as he lay on the damp sheets. Willing himself to move off the bed so he could change them was more effort then he thought he had left to spend but knowing that Scully would put him through the humiliation of changing his bed sheets for him when she got there was just enough.

Mulder pulled the soaking bed sheets off the bed and spread out the clean one. He barely managed to tuck the fitted corners around the mattress before collapsing wearily over it and pulling the quilt back over his shivering body. Sweating fiercely he had tossed his pyjamas off and across the room hours ago but soon found that the little barrier of his flannel PJ's was offering more warmth then nothing.

He drifted in and out of sleep for most of the afternoon wondering where Scully was when he was awake and dreaming of fiery hell when he slept. His chest still wheezed and coughed with any exertion and he dammed his body for turning on him so violently.

He woke with a start, confused by the twilight in his bedroom when he noticed the phone was ringing annoyingly in the living room. Sure that he wouldn't make it in time he listened to the monotonous drone of the announcing bell until it rang off and his apartment was again plunged into an eerie silence. His stomach growled with the insistence of being fed but Mulder chose to ignore it and instead rolled over and fell back into a deep slumber.

Seattle Airport.

11.20PM (local time)

"Yes sir." Scully spoke into the phone as she handed over her credit card to the car rental agency and signed the insurance form. "Sir I landed about twenty minutes ago. I have a lead and I wanted to follow it before it got cold."

"Thank you," the receptionist said as she handed her a set of keys and a small map of the car park indicating where her car would be. Scully nodded with a smile as she walked over to the airport door and out into the cold biting night wind.

"Sir I will call you back from the hotel, the reception here is terrible."

She switched off the phone and looked to her left where Gordon Dixon was pulling up the collar of his over coat. His cheeks were pale and his eyes red rimmed as he hunched his shoulders and pushed the heavy door open.

"Trouble?" he shouted over the roar of the snowy wind.

"Probably."

"Want to go back?" he taunted with a crooked smile.

"Not yet. No."

They both struggled on through the car park to the large family car and dumped their cases into the back. Climbing into the front Gordon spread out the map and found where they needed to go. He watched as Scully fixed the drivers chair comfortable then buckled her belt.

"Ready?" she asked him before gunning the engine.

"I've been ready for a long time!"

A light snow had started to dust the windshield but it was melting immediately and she hoped it would continue to do so. Driving through the airport traffic took all her concentration so it wasn't until they reached the highway that Scully had a chance to ask the questions that had been biting her tongue since he convinced her to board the plane to Seattle.

"How long has he been in the witness protection programme?"

"Nelson?" Dixon looked up from reading the map and glanced at her.

"Since 1981."

With a frown she risked a quick glance at him before pulling her eyes back to the road. "That's the year the murder took place."

"Yes."

"Do you really think it as an assassination set up by the FBI?"

"I know you probably think I'm a kook. But it's not like that. The evidence all fits." He argued turning towards her to see her fully.

"I'm used to wild theories Gordon, that's not what worries me."

"What is it then?"

"If you are right...if the FBI did set up the assassination of Judge Martin then it opens up doors I'm not sure should be opened."

"This case has already closed too many doors agent Scully. This has hurt too many people and I can't let it go." Gordon's voice lowered as he looked out to the flakes that were collecting over the wipers.

"Okay. But you need to know when to drop out. You need to know when its time to say quit." She argued seeing the grim determination in his eyes that she recognised in Mulder at the start of every case. Silently he nodded and turned back to the map.

Alexandria Apartment.

Washington

6.20AM (local Time)

The shadowy figure skulked across the hallway and into the bedroom where the still figure lay sprawled across the bed. He watched for a moment as his chest rose and fell in a rhythmic pattern with a shaky breath in and a loose rattle out. Bolder now he took a step closer in time to see Mulders eyes flutter open and the shock register. Too late and too weak to react Mulder could do nothing.

He pounced onto his weak body and held Mulder sprawled beneath him. Without the energy to fight back all he could do was wait. The intruder pressed a knee into the back of Mulders neck and pinned his arms out wide at awkward and twisted angles.

"Who are you?" he wheezed trying to arch his back up to give his lungs room to expand.

"A concerned citizen."

"What do you want?" Mulders cough shook the whole bed but the strangers grip only tightened.

"Where is Scully?"

The question shocked and horrified him more then he wanted to admit. Scully?

"I don't know." He answered honestly.

"Where is she? She left the office at seven but never arrived home. Has she called you?"

"Surveillance?"

"Concern. Where is she?" The intruder pulled on Mulders arm-twisting his shoulder socket into a white painful grip. Mulder held back his scream biting instead on his pillow.

"I don't know."

"In that case you better hope you find her before I do Agent Mulder."

Something blunt and heavy hit him on the back of the head as the weight was lifted of his back and his room spun in colourful swirls around him before plunging him into darkness.

Office of AD Skinner

7.40AM

"Where did she go?" Mulder burst through the main door of Skinners office ignoring Kim's hand on his arm as he pushed past her and into the large open room. Skinner looked up calmly from his desk and waited for him to cross the room. "Where is she?"

"Seattle."

"What?" Mulders outraged voice spasmed into a cough that doubled him over in pain. Kim rushed out to get a glass of water and returned as Skinner was easing him into a chair.

"Take it easy Mulder...calm down." Skinner ran nimble fingers down his coat opening up all the buttons and pulling Mulders collar loose.

"What is she doing in Seattle?" he wheezed and sipped the water from the cold glass.

"Following a lead."

"On her own?" Glancing up with anxious eyes Mulder tried hard not to cough, choking instead on the air.

"No. She is with Agent Gordon Dixon."

"Dixon?"

"He was working the case before she took it. She said she was going out to interview a witness then returning later on today."

"Well she's in more danger then she realises."

"What?" For the first time since Mulder bounded into his office Skinner looked worried. His calm demeanour remained but his eyes sparked with concern.

"I had a visitor this evening in my flat. A man about 6 foot 3. Broke into my apartment looking for Scully. He wasn't exactly friendly either," Mulder said as his hand reached up to the back of his head. Skinner looked around and saw a welt had rising up sore and angry.

"What did he say?"

"That I should find her before he does." Mulder said bluntly.

"Kim get the Seattle branch on the phone."

Sitting back in the chair while Skinner called the Seattle bureau Mulder tried to calm the twitching impulses of his lungs as they gasped for more air then his congested throat would allow. Sipping the water he was given he waited until Skinner was off the phone before standing and refastening the buttons on his coat.

"Where are you going?" Skinner asked already knowing the answer before he uttered the words.

"Seattle."

"Mulder you are not fit enough to travel again."

With a sneer Mulder turned away from the door and looked at skinner. "You know I'm going."

A/N: Sorry about the delay. But I'll up load another chapter right now!!!