CHAPTER ONE

One Month Later

Scully walked into her apartment, switching on the light. She could not believe what she had done. She killed possibly the only link to Hannah and her disappearance. She didn't believe a word of Trevor's claim that aliens took her. He had killed her and dumped her body somewhere.

Hannah's dead. The thought tumbled around in Scully's mind as she sat down on the couch. She didn't want to believe in it but she knew she had to face reality.

Hannah was never going to come back.

And it was then when Scully finally let the tears fall.

Why did I leave that night? Scully asked herself for about the hundredth time. Hannah's abduction had occurred only a few minutes after Scully left, so that meant the bastard had been inside the apartment at the same time Scully was with Hannah. If Scully hadn't left, none of this would have happened.

You couldn't have known what was going to happen. Mulder had once reminded her but this gave little comfort.

Nothing much will, unless Hannah is found. Scully thought.

Scully dozed off for a while and was startled awake by her cell phone.

" Hello?"

" Scully, it's me."

" Oh, hi Mulder." Scully sat up groggily.

" You have to get over here." Mulder sounded urgent.

" Why? What's wrong…where are you?"

" At Washington DC Hospital. Scully…Hannah's been found."

There was a long pause.

" Scully?"

Scully asked Mulder a barrage of questions.

" Slow down, Scully." Mulder interrupted, " I don't know who found her. All I know is that she's unconscious in the hospital. Skinner called me from there."

" Why didn't he call me first?"

" I don't know. Are you coming?"

" I'll be right there." Scully broke the speeding limit getting to the hospital. Luckily, she wasn't pulled over.

She barged into the hospital. Mulder was waiting near the reception desk, " Hold on Scully-"

" Mulder, I want to see her." She snapped, " Where is she?"

Mulder lead her to the ICU. Scully paused in the doorway. Hannah was lying in bed with the usual machines surrounding her. Her face was very bruised, pale and she looked thin.

Mulder stayed respectfully outside as Scully neared the bed. Hannah wasn't breathing on her own and was hooked up to a ventilator. Scully sat down and gently brushed a lock of greasy hair from her forehead.

" Where have you been?" she whispered to the unconscious form. A shadow loomed over them and she looked up. It was Skinner.

" She was found outside the hospital. Nobody knows who brought her here. They've done some tests. She has no internal injuries but she does have a concussion and bruising. The doctor said she'd wake up in her own time." Skinner explained.

" Who called you? I mean how did you know she was even found?"

" Someone called me on my cell. I already tried to do a trace but the call was made from a payphone."

" It obviously wasn't from Trevor Sands. He's dead." Scully paused, " But he did take her and dumped her somewhere until someone found her. I refuse to believe his abduction story."

" So the call could just be some random person who stumbled across Hannah." Skinner mused.

Scully nodded, " Look at what Trevor did to her. I'd kill him again if I had the chance."

Skinner didn't argue with that. He'd the exact same thing if he had been there that day. Why hadn't he been there that day?

" Look, she's here now and she's alive. The most important thing we need to find out is what happened to her."

" And why." Scully added. She took Hannah's cold, frail hand in hers and squeezed it gently. The two fell silent, listening to the relentless being of the heart monitor.