Mulder fumbled with the keys and stumbled intohis apartment. Skinner had forced him to go home after finding Mulder curled into a ball in the basement office. He promised to keep Mulder informed of any new leads.

It was night in the city and the apartment was dark. Mulder made no effort to turn on the lights. He stripped as he walked through the halls, dumping his jacket and tie on the floor. When he reached the bathroom, Mulder finally turned on the light. It blinded him until his eyes finally adjusted to the brightness.

He turned the water on, placing a hand underneath the flow until it reached the right temperature. Mulder stepped into the shower and let the force of the water message his sore muscles.

He wondered where she was. What if she was right under his nose? Hidden in plain sight.

Mulder stepped out of the shower when he was finished, toweled off, and dressed. He heard his cell phone rang and ran to answer it.

"Mulder."

He was hopeful.

"It' Skinner. They found the car."

Mulder's heart raced.

"Is she there?"

"No. But she was. A trucker spotted the car on the side of the road. It was abandoned so he called the cops. The deputy came out and noticed that it matched the description of the APB we put out. They've searched the car, dusted for fingerprints, and have come up with nothing. All they found was hair."

"Scully's."

"Exactly."

Mulder's heart deflated. Nothing. Dead ends all around.

"I'm sorry."

Skinner hung up. Mulder walked over to the sofa and sat down. He never wanted to hold Scully so badly before. Where are you? He lay down on the sofa, not wanting to spend the night in their bedroom. It was hard enough to spend it in their home. Where are you?

Mulder woke up with a fact on his mind. Scully had been missing for two days. He got up from the sofa and went into the kitchen to make some coffee. It would be another long day. While the coffee maker was doing it's work, Mulder headed to the bedroom for a fresh change of clothes. On the way, he almost tripped on his jacket. He had forgotten that it was there. When he picked up the jacket, something fell from the pocket.

Mulder bent to pick it up. It was a ring. The ring Scully received three days ago. He had forgotten about it. He remembered her reaction towards the object and wondered if it had anything to do with her disappearance. The idea seemed far-fetched, but he was willing to work with anything.

As soon as he arrived at work, Mulder had the ring checked for prints. As expected, nothing turned up. His phone rang.

"Mulder."

"Fox."

It was Mrs. Scully. He had been avoiding contact with her, not sure what he would say when they talked.

"Mrs. Scully. Hi."

"Have you come up with anything?"

She cut straight to the chase.

"Nothing …"

Wait. Maybe, just maybe …

"Fox?"

"Actually, Mrs. Scully, I have something I would like you to take a look at."

"Anything to help. I'm free all day."

Mulder drove to Mrs. Scully's house. She waited for him, prepared tea for his arrival, and greeted him cordially when he arrived. After brief hellos, Mulder pulled the ring out of his pocket and she nearly fainted.

Mulder caught her and sat Mrs. Scully down. He waited patiently for his future mother-in-law to regain composure before he pressed on. The ring was important.

"Fox." Mrs. Scully looked at him in the eyes, not quite wanting to divulge parts of Scully's past that she so desperately wanted to forget. "There are parts of Dana's past that she wants to forget. Things that are too horrible to remember."

Mulder nodded. He understood.

"She was young. She was only nineteen when Dana first met him."

"Who?"

"Edward Blake. They dated for a while when Dana was at Berkeley. He seemed nice. He was wonderful, very loving. They broke up a little before we moved to Maryland and Dana transferred to the University here."

Mulder looked puzzled. How did this man figure in with Scully's disappearance? Mrs. Scully saw Mulder's expression and explained.

"Edward was a bit overprotective of Dana. I remember she told me once that she was afraid that Edward loved her too much, almost to the point of insanity."

The color on Mulder's face darkened. Mrs. Scully almost described him to a tee. She chuckled.

"He's different than you Fox. The different between you and Edward is that Dana loves you. With Edward she felt … pressured to love him. When she heard that her father was being transferred to Maryland, she jumped at the chance for a new beginning – life without Edward. At the University of Maryland, Dana met Randy. Randy Moss."

The name struck a chord.

"Randy?"

He moved closer to her. Scully's breathing became heavy and tears swelled her eyes. Her hand reached for the man.

"Scully?"

Mulder's voice broke her concentration. She turned her head to look at him and when she turned back the man was gone.

"Where he'd go?"

"Where did who go?"

"There was a man, standing in front of me. Now he's gone."

"Scully, there was nobody there. I think that maybe you're just exhausted. You need some rest."

"Mulder, I know what I saw. Randy was just there!"

"Who's Randy?"

"No one," Scully sighed. "No one."

"I know that name. I think Scully saw him the day before she disappeared."

There was a look of confusion.

"That's impossible. Randy is dead."

"What?"

Mrs. Scully took a deep breath. She saw that she needed to start from the beginning.

"They were engaged. The ring you showed me was the engagement ring."