Scully was shaking when she got home. It was anger that she was riddled with and she hated it. She hated that she had lost her temper and she couldn't stand the fact that there were so many people who spent their lives telling her about her own life and what would and wouldn't happen to her and the people she loved. She put William to bed and sat watching him as he relaxed and drifted off to sleep. She could see his body physically let go of the tension he had picked up on all night and she felt like such a bad mother because of it. What kind of mother drags her three-year-old son around DC at two am and expects him to live his life that way? And she was going to bring a second child into the world, why? What could shepossible give to any child that they wouldn't be better off without her for?

William slept soundly enough now, but what did he dream about? Was it about normal childhood things, or was it about his parents and the only people he was used to having in his life and their pain and arguing? All the thoughts running through her mind made her feel like a terrible mother and certainly not one worthy of having another child. Something had to change, a lot of things were going to have to change, she wasn't prepared to just step through life without a plan anymore, they needed to decide what they really wanted, and if all of these battles are unavoidable then why spend countless nights and days trying to figure out how to avoid something that would come with or without their interference?

As all of these thoughts were running through her mind she wished she had been writing them down so that she could use them as ammunition with Mulder, no more would she sit back and let him make all the important decisions. So when there was a knock on the door and she realised the Mulder had no key to get in she quickly got up to let him in so he didn't wake William, and so that she could talk with him before she forgot what she wanted to say.

Scully opened the door without asking who it was or looking through the peep hole and she was horrified at what she saw standing on the other side of the door, but there was nothing she could do about it as everything went black around her and the last thing she heard was William crying for her from his bed as someone else walked into his room whilst Scully was restrained and knocked unconscious.

Mulder felt terrible, he really did feel like the worst guy on the planet. He always put aliens and government conspiracies before his family. Well not anymore. He was going home and he was going to tell Scully that it was over, that he was out of the bureau and that if needs be they'd leave DC. He couldn't take anymore of this crap either, he just wanted a family and for his family to be safe. Reyes had gone home with Doggett, and they had agreed to wait until daylight to talk about this again and make a definitive decision. So Mulder got home and was willing to do whatever it

took to get Scully to forgive him. But when he got to the apartment to find the door wide open he called out her name and received no reply.

Mulder was sitting in William's room holding onto one of his trains. He just sat staring at his boy's bed, empty, and wanted so badly for the last three hours to not have happened. It had been an hour since he arrived home and now the apartment was riddled with FBI agents and there was nothing he could do to help because he didn't feel like an FBI agent, he felt like a man who had just lost his whole world.

Reyes and Doggett had been the first to arrive at the apartment with upset and worry, they weren't much used to the FBI's plan to find Scully and William and bring them home safe. Doggett was doing what he could, he found himself getting dizzy as he repeatedly checked on the silent Mulder, Reyes as she sat crying by the window, and Skinner who was running the hunt for the popular red head and her son. There was so much to take in and in so little time. This had gone beyond anybody's theories and ideas now, this was personal, this wasn't just about the x-files or the government, it was a hit at Mulder and his family.

When Reyes walked into William's bedroom she allowed her gaze to move past Mulder because she had expected to see him there, but her eyes were hurt to see her nephew's empty bed and the toys lying around that she had gotten so used to seeing him play with, and often she had played with him, but what now? She stood in the doorway for a while and then moved further into the room. As she got nearer to Mulder she could hear him crying. And when she was stood directly next to him he reached up his hand to her and she crouched down beside him as he moved close and cried onto her shoulder.

Reyes cried with him but she held Mulder close trying to ease his pain before even thinking about how she was feeling. She had wanted a family and to feel close to those that she loved, but her half brother losing his family wasn't how she had hoped she would be made to realise how important these people had become in her life.

Never in a million years did Mulder think he would be crying on his sister's shoulder over the disappearance on his fiancé and his son. He almost wanted to laugh at the whole situation, but somehow the fact that those that he loved most were missing and probably afraid for their lives was enough to keep the seriousness of the matter close to his heart. As he cried on Reyes' shoulder he was glad she was there and he knew that there would come a day when his family would be together and they would all be safe. After everything that he had been through over the past eleven years he felt that he deserved it.

Doggett walked into the room and waited for Reyes to notice his arrival rather than interrupting her and Mulder. When she saw him she stood up and walked out of the room with him without Mulder even noticing she had gone.

"Tell me we've got something John, please."

"We got something. Dana's car has been found abandoned about twenty miles from here, we're going to check it out now."

"I'm coming with you."

"Monica..."

"Don't argue with me John."

"You should stay with him. He shouldn't be left alone." Reyes paused and then held Doggett's hands in her own.

"I have to do something John, you of all people should know how that feels." He nodded his head slowly and then kissed Reyes. They left together to go and see Scully's car, leaving Mulder alone in William's room, still holding the train, still praying this was all a bad dream.