Lauren's A/N: So, by now you're probably all clammoring.. wondering WHY dear God in heaven WHY I can't get a &#&) chapter of IandB or WATOI out. Well, I'm wondering the same thing. For some reason the tag team writing works, though...I'm hoping that when the semester starts going (yes, my FINAL semester of college! Graduation in May, baby!) I'll relax a little. Oh, and this is for Les, who scares me. A lot. Even though I love her. She still scares me.

Leslie's A/N: Okay so my A/N: Guys, thanks for all of you who've reviewed. But it still makes me sad that there aren't more. I'm just so damn hard to please. Okay, that's a lie. I love Lauren, and... she should... have my babies... though that's... biologically impossible. I'm shutting up now.

Lauren's 2nd A/N: See what I said about being scary? Still love her... I guess... :shudder:.


Sara made her way into the DNA lab, two coffee mugs in hand. She paused at the door to watch as Greg quickly prepared a swab and put it through the machine. Against her will, a smile appeared on her lips, finding a similarity between herself and the younger man.

She cleared her throat and sauntered into the room. He paused and spun around in the swivel chair, regarding her tiredly. "Hey Sara, whatcha got?" He asked, fully expecting her to dump a load of work into his lap. Instead, she held out the coffee mug.

"No sugar, didn't think your system could deal with it." She stated, gesturing to the cup. He nodded in appreciation, ignoring the temperature of the caffeinated beverage and downing a few gulps. His eyes slipped shut and she sighed and smiled.

"Thanks Sara, I didn't think I'd have a chance to grab some before... well you know." He gestured to the backlog with his mug and took another few gulps, nearly finishing the coffee.

"I hate to ask this Greg," She said, leaning against the lab table and setting her mug down. "And you know I wouldn't unless this was a rush-"

"Or if you were playing me." He said in good nature.

"Yeah or that. She smiled at him, his heart fluttering just a little.

He continued. "Yeah well, that substance you sent in, nothing but standard Gak." He said, spinning back around to the lab bench to locate the paper. He shifted documents around until he came upon the one that he wanted. Triumphantly, he shot his fist into the air, then bringing the document down to his colleague's hand.

"Gak?" She inquired, looking over the chemical makeup, unable to discern what it meant. "Greg, what the hell is Gak?" She stuck her finger into her coffee, pulled it out and licked the liquid off of her finger.

"Gak, you know, from Nickelodeon." Sara clearly wasn't following his train of thought. She stared at him blankly, seemingly to prompt him on. Greg sighed and placed his mug down, giving Sara his full attention.

"Gak, popular in the mid 90's." Greg raised his eyebrows to ask if there was any sign that she was following him. "Okay, Nickelodeon?" She inquired, sure that she had heard of the television network. It was an institution with people his age, she's surely heard of it.

"No? Well, okay. Let me explain. Had such shows as 'Clarissa Explains It All', 'Rocko's Modern Life', 'Guts', 'Are You Afraid of the Dark', 'Wild and Crazy Kids'... I was on that once... 'Double Dare'? Come Sara! 'Legends of the Hidden Temple'? 'Pete and Pete'! 'The Secret World of Alex Mac' for Christ's sake!"

Sara's eyes lit up. "Yes! 'Are You Afraid of the Dark' with the Midnight Society and the scary stories... okay, I know what you're talking about." Greg didn't ask how, he simply wore an amused and impressed smile. "Now what about the gook?"

"The Gak." He corrected her. "Well, on a lot of shows, game shows... when the contestants would lose, they'd dump a load of it on their head. Then, it became so wildly popular, that Nickelodeon began to market it. From slime to thick goop, all different colors. I had this glow in the dark Gak thing... you could draw on a board and-"

"Greg!" She stopped, moving closer to him, close enough that he could smell her. "What about the Gak, is there any significance?"

"Well, I can tell you this. It stopped being produced four years ago. This stuff was fresh, like the can had never been opened. Maybe some back stocked Toys R' Us supplies?" He expectantly filled in as he finished his tepid coffee and turned back to his work.

"What the hell is going on?" The voice shouted angrily into the phone.

"Dude, I don't know, it's-"

"We came to you guys so this wouldn't happen!" The phone nearly shook with the intensity of the voice on the other end. The man on the latter held it away from his ear and chewed a pen between his teeth.

"I know, I know. We didn't anticipate this. But man..." He trailed off, not sure of how to break it to his comrade. "Hey! Wait! You aren't even supposed to be calling us!" He had caught him, the man on the other line huffing, surely upset at being called on such a petty mistake.

"That's not the point. They're investigating now. I don't want to blame you guys, you know I don't. You saved our ass, but... They're investigating us. They dig deep enough they'll see, they'll see we're not real." It was true, they weren't real. Their lives built on an incredibly elaborate and obtuse lie. "I thought anyone could disappear in Vegas." He concluded, allowing the phone to nearly fall from his shoulder.

"I don't know what to tell you right now. We'll do the best we can. But if we erase you completely, a red flag'll go up. We have to redefine our methods and find a new avenue. It might take a few days. But for now, just tell the truth." The man who said it nearly laughed, looking at his two colleagues who were begging to be let in on the conversation. They stood in front of him expectantly. He threw up his middle finger and turned around.

"I can't even explain to you how ironic that is. The 'truth.' Sounds cliché now doesn't it? Well, what do you suggest, besides the truth?" He asked, shifting the phone between ears.

"Other than, you know, tell the truth..." He took the pen out of his mouth and threw it on his desk. "Tell the truth and well, there's really nothing to do because they already suspect you. Just cooperate. And we'll contact you next time man. Are you insane? Don't call us again unless it's a real emergency."

The other man yelled into the phone. "How do you know this isn't a real emer-" The man hung up on him and tossed the phone down on the couch.

His two colleagues stared at him. "Finish dinner would you? We can't fight a conspiracy on an empty stomach."

"So what did they say?" Katherine asked her husband, watching him pace back and forth, staring at the phone. Their son gurgled in her arms.

"Tell the truth!" He laughed out, dropping to the couch, putting his head in his hands. She laughed a bit as well and shook her head, putting her baby down in his playpen and going to her husband, quietly sitting next to him and taking the phone from his hands. He looked up at her with a small smile, appreciating the show of support, and tipped his head to hers, their foreheads touching. "I think... I think we need to leave."

"What, just leave?" He nodded and she took his hand, playing with his much larger fingers. Her voice took on a sarcastic quality, but also held a levity that even she was shocked at. "We could do that, but we are up against the number two lab in the country- and as far as I can tell they're not a part of the conspiracy- just well run. So if we left, that means they would put a warrant out on us for questioning, and then we'd be wanted for two murders." She sighed and leaned into his embrace. "I'm sick of running. I've seen these people work. I've talked to Doctor Robbins about them. They're like us, Mulder. They only want the truth. We've been implicated because we're new in the neighborhood, but we didn't do anything wrong. They'll see that and we'll never hear about it again."

"You really think so?" He was reluctant to stay, his primal urge to flee and protect his family was strong, but he knew his wife was usually right. Sometimes. Ok, almost always. And she wanted to stay. So they would stay. He hugged her close. He pulled back and looked in his wife's eyes, dropping his guard for a moment to whisper the words as sacred to them as 'I love you,' "Alright, I trust you, Dana."

"Anything?" Sara asked, for the umpteenth time in fifteen minutes. Greg was beginning to think her questioning was no longer cute.

"There wasn't anything fifteen seconds ago, there's nothing now. You know Sara, a watched pot never boils." Greg threw out at her sarcastically, glancing briefly in her direction.

"Everything has a boiling point Greg, even me, and I'm just about there." She ground out, at a stalemate where the evidence was concerned. "So, we have... Gak... no hair or fibers for trace, just Gak. This is ridiculous." She threw her hands into the air and huffed out an angry sigh.

The printer beeped and a sheet of paper came sliding smoothly out. Sara made a grab for it, but Greg snatched it first, glaring at her. He held it between delicate fingers and dangled as he read. "What the-, okay so the prelim screening missed this." His brow was furrowed as he handed her the piece of paper.

Sara gazed over the information. "What's so strange about this? All I can see if 'unidentified substance'. Could be a glitch, run it again." Sara handed the printout back hastily and made to leave.

"No, no." Greg halted her. "The DNA has a fifth and sixth nucleotide Sara. This substance really... doesn't exist anywhere in nature." Greg's voice shook as he spoke, wondering about the implication his words held.

"You're telling me, that this substance... is... what?"

"Not natural, and not manufactured. It can't be created with any known technology or substance that we currently possess. It's, well, it's alien."

Sara was confused and intrigued. She snatched the printout back and looked back at Greg. "For the sake of science, I'm just going to pretend you didn't say that. It's unidentifiable Greggo. I think it's time to... redefine our search." She smiled at Greg, who smiled back and grabbed a batch of swabs that swing shift had logged in hours earlier.

"Good luck!" He called as she breezed from the room, making quick time getting to Grissom's office, entering without knocking. He sat up quickly in his chair, startled by the entrance.

"Sara." He said stoically, shutting his laptop, giving her his attention.

"We've got something, or, well, nothing. More specifically." She sputtered, not sure whether she should be excited or not. She handed him the paper in her hand and bounced on the balls of her feet.

"Fifth and sixth nucleotide?" Grissom pondered. "That's not possible. Unless, some rare species of plants found in the rainforest, but then how..." He was speculating out loud and it was beginning to get on Sara's nerve.

"Yeah, anyway. So I was thinking we redefine our search. Maybe run it through some of the other databases we have access to. CIA, FBI, CDC..." Sara trailed off, excited at the prospect of new avenues of scientific research. She waited for his response as he read over the contents of the analysis once more. He nodded and handed it back to her.

"Tell me if you find anything."

She spun on her heel and he watched as she retreated, once more catching a glimpse of black ink peeking out from her tank top.