Her heels clicked against the floor as she made her journey to the elevator. Inhaling a sharp breath, she passed the threshold and turned slowly. Her hand cautiously floated to the button. With all her courage, she pressed it. Holding in all her exposed vulnerability, she exhaled slowly. As the elevator made its descent, she fidgeted with her blouse. I can do this. She assured herself.

At the chime, the door opened letting in all of Scully's fears that threatened to knock her over. Biting her lip; she reached up and pulled back her locks. Stepping out into the hallway, she trudged on to their office. The rustling of papers emanated out in to the hallway. Pushing aside all fears inside her, she crossed the boundary and entered the office.

"Hey Scully, how did the meeting go. I thought it was going to be shorter." He asked her in an intangible "things are back to normal" kind of way.

"I...um...had some things...I...I had to do." She assured him, nervously.

Mulder stopped what he was doing and looked up at her, "Are you okay Scully?"

She nodded hastily, "I'm fine Mulder."

"That tends to be the same song and dance for you, Scully. Your always fine." He stated accusingly as he went back to his prior paper rustling.

All of Karen's words came seeping back. Taking a deep breath, "Your right Mulder. I think we need to talk..."

Mulder grabbed all his papers and stuffed them into a folder before coming towards her. With all seriousness, "Your right, Scully. We do need to talk. But listen, I have a prior engagement this weekend that I just can't miss. But hey, I'll be back, bright and early, on Monday and we can talk then, okay?"

"But, Mulder?" She asked, suddenly angry.

"Look, Scully. I know this is important to us. But I can assure you, this is just as important." He searched her eyes for any kind of understanding.

Whispering, "I promise we'll talk about this when I get back."

She bit her tongue and just nodded. He swiftly bent down and kissed her lightly on the cheek, before exiting the office. He ditched her, again. She just stood there like an ass before she finally turned on heel and left for the evening, exhausted.

She roughly jerked her body to the side again. Staring into the gray darkness, she sighed. The clock read 3:23am. She hadn't been able to fall asleep yet. It was early Sunday morning and she hadn't been able to sleep Friday night either. Knowing Mulder was keeping her in the dark again, was killing her. She knew she had the resources to find out where he went off to, but decided to respect his privacy and not snoop. Although it did take all her strength not to. Tossing once more onto her back, she closed her eyes.

Just as sleep was about to take over, her phone rang. Without looking she slammed her hand onto the receiver and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Agent Scully?"

She immediately turned over and flicked the lamp on. She knew who it was instantly, "Sir? What's wrong?"

"I wanted to reach Agent Mulder with this information but he was unavailable so I am coming to you."

"What it is?"

"A call just came in. A woman who claims to have been abducted was supposedly returned tonight and was admitted to St. Catherine's Hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina. She mentioned Agent Mulder's name, said that he knew her... And that she needed to see him..."

Scully walked into the hospital as the sun peaked out. Reaching into her coat for her badge she walked over to the nurse's desk. Flashing her badge, "I'm Agent Scully and I'm here to see a patient by the name of Susannah Harper. I'd also like to see her medical files."

The nurse looked at her with uncertainty.

"Look, I'm a medical doctor."

The nurse nodded her head. She thumbed through the patients list, "Harper...Harper..."

As the nurse continued to look, a loud buzz came from down the hallway. A doctor rushed by calling to her, "Nurse! Hurry we need a crash cart!"

The nurse handed the clipboard to Scully hastily as she started to take off, "Here. Take a look for yourself!" She turned and rushed off.

Frustrated, Scully sighed heavily as she began to graze all of the names, "Polluy...Banks...Gutier...McLean...Grames..." She groaned. Why was she here so early?

"Fouten...Ramey...Smith...Gilnitz...Mulder...Mulder!" Gasping softly, she nearly dropped the clipboard. She read the list again. His name was still there: Mulder, Fox W.

TBC...