DISCLAIMER: Don't own, don't claim them….blah blah blah. Spoilers for One Son.

CHAPTER 8

She drove, fast and furious. Cassandra was probably still at Fort Marlene and as long as there was breath in her body, she would do everything she could to get to her friend.

Even if she had to break into the maximum security military installation.

"How the hell am I going to do that?" she thought to herself. For a second, she considered calling Langly and asking him to hack her some credentials into the base, but then she dismissed it. This was getting out of hand and someone was going to get hurt.

At this particular moment, Scully didn't fear for herself as much as she did her friends.

"Cassandra," she kept telling herself. "I have to get to Cassandra."

She was frowning so hard she was beginning to give herself a headache. She was so worried for the older woman who had already been put through so much. All she wanted to do was make her safe.

She checked her rearview mirror to be sure that she wasn't being followed.

"God, you're really paranoid now, Dana," she thought to herself, grimacing. "You can thank Mulder for that."

She shook her head. She knew she shouldn't blame him for the tragic events of her life, she never had before. But she was angry now and the anger in her conscious was the culprit behind that voice. That voice, which sounded an awful like her brother, Bill's.

But the thought did tug at her. She was doing this alone and she hated it. This was uncharted territory for her. But what choice did she have? If she failed to act, Cassandra would certainly die.

And if Cassandra died, she really felt she would have nothing left to lose. She would make "them" pay. For Cassandra, for Melissa, for Emily, for Samantha, for Gibson, for herself. Even if it killed her.

The chirp of her cell phone pulled her out of her reverie. Out of habit, she thought it would be Mulder, but then she realized the way things were left, he would have no reason to call. He wasn't one to apologize.

She pressed the talk button.

"Scully."

A frantic voice surprised her.

"Agent Scully, it's Jeffrey Spender. I need your help."

Scully almost laughed. Almost.

"Oh really? With what?"

The tension in his voice alarmed her. Instinctively, she knew this time, there was no trick. Spender was in trouble.

"It's my mother, someone has to get to her before it's too late."

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Mulder sat in the chair tossing around everything CGB had told him as Diana hurriedly through a few things into a small duffle bag.

All that information in such a short period of time was a lot to digest, but time was not on their side. He had come here looking for answers, and boy oh boy, if that isn't what he got….sort of.

He sat there wondering why he wasn't more alarmed to find Cancerman making himself at home in Diana's apartment. Perhaps it was the severity of the situation. Everything was a matter of survival. He felt Diana's hand caress his shoulder and he looked up at her from his sitting position.

"Let's go, Fox." She said, half smiling as she reached down and wiped a smudge of her lipstick off of the corner of his mouth.

He nodded and stood. This was it, it all came down to life and death. He and Diana were going to live through the invasion…..many, many others would probably die.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell. Diana looked at him quizzically taking his other hand in hers.

"Who are you calling," she quiered.

Mulder pushed the speed dial button one and lifted the phone to his ear.

Her phone rang in her hand before she even had time to make her call. Fortunately, the voice on the other end belonged to the person she needed to talk to. She quickly began asking questions.

"I'm with Diana," he said.

She flinched. "I'm coming to get you."

"No, we're coming to get you." She flinched again at the term "we're." She had to get control on this situation. She explained to him about Cassandra and Spender's call and the need to get to the rail yard.

But it was his response that would burn her more than any test, any bullet ever would.

"It's useless."

She caught her breath in disbelief. She was not hearing this. It was impossible. It had to be.

But in her soul, she knew he was serious.

He was giving up. The fight still needed to be fought, and he was throwing in the towel? This wasn't happening. She wasn't going to let it happen. Desperately, she tried one last thing, praying that it would work.

"I'm going whether you're coming with me or not."

After a brief pause, he acknowledged her insistence and came back to reality. As she drove to pick him up, however, the fear and betrayal she felt in her mind spread through her body and soul. This was not something that would be erased lightly.

Even after he was in the car, as they chased the train carrying Cassandra, tried everything they could to stop it, she felt as if she were living someone else's life.

The train didn't stop, it just mowed right through Scully's car and kept going. It was over. As they stood in the chill air, waiting for Skinner to arrive, Mulder kept talking about El Rico Air Force Base and the Syndicate, but Scully only half-listened.

She was so numb inside. She tried to get her mind around all that was happening but it was to no avail. It was as if reality and become one big ocean and she was stuck in the middle on a liferaft that was sinking fast.

Days later, while she and Mulder sat in Kirsh's Office and listened as Spender demanded their reinstatement to the X-Files, she was still unfocused. Her mind kept going back to the same thing:

"It's useless."

His statement was forever etched into her memory and she felt herself pull farther and farther away from her partner. Not that he was reaching out to her. In fact, the distance between them was more than noticeable.

At Skinner's insistence, Kirsh finally reinstated them to the X-Files. As they left his office, Mulder stayed behind to talk with Skinner. She didn't wait for him. She walked toward the elevator and pushed the button.

Everything was off. Weeks ago, she would have given anything to be back on the X-Files but this seemed so wrong…..she had to leave, clear her head. As the doors to the elevator opened, she heard him call her name from down the hallway.

"Not now," she thought to herself as she got on the elevator without acknowledging him. "I need to breathe." She turned and pushed the button, watching him approach at a fast rate. He didn't make it in time. The doors closed as the two agents stared helplessly at each other.