Nobody knew what to say or what to do as emergency services flooded the scene. Even if they had wanted to, Mulder, Scully, and Doggett couldn't have got anywhere near the building or offered their services to anyone to help. But in all honesty, none of them had switched into FBI agent mode; they were all in grieving mode. There was no doubt about what any of this meant. Monica was dead. She was gone, it was no longer a case of waiting around and believing that she would wake from her comatose state, it was over.

Skinner had fled from them upon pulling up at the scene. No one had noticed him go, and nobody really looked for anyone in their desire for this to be a horrible nightmare. William clung tightly to Scully as he sensed the upset and heartache around him, he didn't like it one bit and he knew that it was all because of his bad dream. He wanted this to stop, he wanted to go to sleep again and try to make the dream go away so that people felt better around him.

Mulder and Scully still held tightly onto each other's hands. Of all the tragedies they had been through together, this one was right up there with the worst of them. How in the world were they supposed to get through this, what were they supposed to do for Doggett. Mulder turned to Scully and looked at her with tears in the back of his eyes. She hated it and she reached up to stroke his cheek. He appreciated the gesture and kissed her hand as she pulled it away.

"Mulder..."

"Not now. I'm going to ask you to do something you're not gonna want to do."

"What?"

"I'm gonna ask you to leave, to take William home."

"No Mulder."

"Scully..."

"I said no. This isn't like everything else, this is different. And just because I don't share blood with her it doesn't mean this doesn't matter to me. I'm not leaving."

"And William?"

"Give me your cell phone." He handed her his phone and she immediately dialled a number.

"Who are you calling?"

"My mom. She can get a taxi and take William to her place, he'll be better off there than stuck at home without us."

"I still think you should just leave until we know what the hell happened, I won't have you putting yourself in danger."

"You're not putting anyone in danger Mulder. Don't push me away. Not now." As her voice trailed off her mom answered and she handed William to Mulder as he fussed around in her arms. Mulder held his son close and let the stray tears that he had been holding back in front of Scully fall freely down his face. He'd lost another sister.

Half an hour later Mrs Scully had been and gone with William and Mulder and Scully were ready to become investigators. As they walked towards Doggett they held hands again. Doggett hadn't moved from the spot since they had arrived, and they both knew what he was going through after the countless times they had lost one another. But at least they were always given another chance.

"John..." As Scully started talking to him they all saw Skinner coming towards them. He looked serious and he was clearly taking his Assistant Director of the FBI position. Mulder was glad that someone they could trust would be able to look at this objectively.

"Sir."

"Agents, I've spoken with the agent in charge here, it was a bomb, detonated to go off about an hour ago. They're doing all they can to work through the wreckage, but it's going to be a painstaking process to identify all of the victims. Most aren't even bodies anymore." Scully let out a gasp and couldn't stop herself burying her face in Mulder's comforting frame as he held her tightly against him.

Doggett just stared ahead of him. Watching people working, lifting debris, trying to make this all seem repairable. Well it wasn't. None of this could be repaired. Not now and not ever.

It was hours before night fell and the search for victims slowed down as they prepared to accept there wasn't much anyone could do until light came again. Mulder and Scully took Doggett home with them, there was no way he was going to be alone tonight, they didn't care how many objections he threw at them. But when they told him to get in the car and that they wanted him to stay with them, he just did it without any word of argument. That was their first sign that this was an impossible situation.

William was spending the night with his grandma at her insistence, she had been watching the news all afternoon and knew all about Mulder and Reyes being brother and sister, and she knew about Doggett's relationship with Reyes, so she didn't think it would be a great environment for William to be in. She had plenty of spare clothes and toys that had been left there from previous visits. She instructed her daughter to take care of her big boy and not worry about her little one. So Scully sat with Mulder on their bed as he buried his head in his hands. At first she just watched him, and then he began to cry.

He was sobbing heavily and all she could do was take him into her arms and rock him as he let everything out. There was never going to be an end to their suffering, they knew that, but they didn't have to like it.

Doggett wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do or to say. He had called Reyes' parents upon arriving at Mulder and Scully's home, but there had been no answer at their hotel and he knew what that meant. They had been at the hospital with their daughter, where he should have been. If he had been there he would have been able to protect her, protect her from what he couldn't say. The truth was he knew he couldn't have done anything, but to die beside her, with her, would have eased his pain completely at being alive without her. There was no reason for him to continue living now, none whatsoever.

Scully came out of the bedroom and looked at Doggett as he sat staring out of the window. She had left Mulder trying to get some sleep, it had been a long day and his tears had encouraged a tiredness in him, which had urged Scully to help him undress and get into bed. So now she could try and salvage some kind of understanding from the day with Doggett. She could at least try.

"John, can I get you anything?"

"No."

"John..."

"Don't make me do this Dana."

"Do what?"

"Talk about it. Make some sense from it, rationalise it, all the things you're so good at. Just don't ask me to do that."

"I wasn't going to ask you to do anything."

"Good. I just need to be alone."

"Ok." She walked into the living room and sat down beside him. He didn't look at her but she heard him sigh and she wasn't about to let that make her move. After almost half an hour he broke the silence, but he still wouldn't look at her.

"I love her so much."

"I know."

"I don't wanna do this without her, I can't. I need her Dana, I need her back." Cue crying man number two. And as Doggett cried, Scully cried too. There was nothing else she could do for Doggett. There were no words. For all of them there was nothing.