Mulder sat on Mrs. Scully's sofa. He was expressionless. The blood on his face had gone away. The palest shade of white.
"I didn't know."
Mrs. Scully placed her hand on Mulder's. A motherly gesture.
"She would have told you. She just needed some time."
Mulder nodded and pretended he understood. Suddenly, something clicked.
"That day she was … taken. Dana said she was on the way to the cemetery …"
Mrs. Scully was perplexed. Mulder stared the elderly Scully in the eye.
"Randy."
They had come to the same conclusion. Scully was on the way to visit Randy's grave the day she was taken. At first Mulder thought it was strange, but everything began to make sense.
"Mrs. Scully, do you know if Dana had any contact with Edward since that incident?"
"I don't …"
She paused, trying to remember. Mulder was on the verge of a break through.
"She had feelings that he was around, always following her. Watching her. But they went away … when she met you."
"Mrs. Scully?"
"Yes?"
"Do you believe that Edward Blake has Dana?"
Mrs. Scully sighed and stared out the window. What had Dana done to deserve this? Nothing. She remembered seeing her daughter in the hospital all those years ago, scared, hurt, and heartbroken. Scully had stayed in the hospital for a few days but slumped into a deep depression after her release. She had taken time off school and when she returned, Scully plunged in head first, changing her priorities and left behind a career in medicine.
"Why?" Margaret Scully looked at her daughter and tried to avoid the fading scars on her face.
"I felt weak. I couldn't protect myself, mom. I let myself be used." Dana's voice was soft, almost afraid of what she was saying.
"But you can take self-defense classes. The FBI? Your father …"
"I need to do this. I have to do this."
"I have some old pictures … "
Mrs. Scully was avoiding the question. She stood up and went to retrieve a photo album on a nearby shelf.
"Here."
She flipped through the pages of Scully's life. Mulder had seen other pictures of Scully but these were new to him. Mrs. Scully pointed out a picture of Edward Blake. She said that she had forgotten that it was in there. It was almost insulting to have a picture of that man in the photo album. Mulder stared at the picture and noticed that Scully seemed uncomfortable around Edward. Her smile was a fake one and her posture was tense.
"That was taken near the end of their relationship. She would call, sometimes, almost crying because of that man."
Mrs. Scully continued to flip through the book until a picture of another man came up. Randy Moss. He was everything that Mulder didn't expect him to be. Rugged and yet intellectual. Tall. Handsome.
"She was so happy."
So this was the man who rightfully had Scully's heart. Mulder noticed that Scully was happier in this photo, much more relaxed and at ease in her surroundings. The pages of the photo album continued to turn. There were candid pictures of Dana and Randy preparing for their wedding. In the last pages there was even a wedding invitation. Mulder needed to break away from this past.
"Mrs. Scully, you never answered my question. Do you believe that Edward Blake has Dana?"
"I don't know."
"Given this man's history with Dana …"
"I know Fox. I just … "
They stood in silence. Mulder felt guilty about pressing Mrs. Scully but he had to know. He had to have something other than his own intuition to go on.
"Please just find her for me."
Mrs. Scully looked pleadingly into Mulder's eyes.
"I will."
Mulder thanked Mrs. Scully for her time and left with a spring in his step. As he entered his car, Mulder took out his cell phone and dialed Skinner's number.
"Skinner."
"Edward Blake."
"What?"
Mulder sighed in frustration.
"Edward Blake. That's who has Scully."
"Where are you getting this from?"
Skinner was excited but he knew better than to push Mulder. He had to ground him. He had to know where he came to this conclusion.
"I went to visit Scully's mother. She was engaged back in college and a jealous ex-boyfriend murdered her fiancé."
A chill went up Mulder's spine. Listening to Mrs. Scully was difficult enough, but he never expected that saying it would be harder.
"What?"
Skinner couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Edward Blake was the murderer then and he might be the murderer now."
"Mulder, you don't think …"
"I do. He hurt her once. He could do it again."
Something was missing from Mulder's story.
"He hurt her before? A broken heart?"
Mulder took in a deep breath. He imaged Scully lying in that hospital bed all those years ago. She should have had a different life.
"I don't know the specifics but I do know that she ended up in the hospital."
"Edward Blake?"
"That's the name."
"I'm on it."
Mulder was rejuvenated. He finally had a break.
Scully, I'm coming.