Mulder drove along the road in an ever growing state of bewilderment. How the hell was this happening? He had no idea, and he was pretty sure that X wouldn't be all that forthcoming with an explanation when he met with him later. But he would deal with all of that later. First things first. He glanced at his watch. 12:15 pm. He had just under four hours before he had to be at the address X had given him. He had some time to kill.

He pulled over to the curb and parked his car. He needed to take a walk, clear his head and try to get it around everything that had happened in the past twenty four hours. He sat on a bench overlooking the waterfront, pulling his coat tighter around him as a blast of icy air straight off the sea hit him and went straight through to the bone. As he sat watching the waves lapping against the rocks his mind drifted to Scully. It suddenly occurred to him how much he missed having her around. It was a leaden, empty feeling in the pit of his stomach, the same feeling he'd had during the months she'd been missing four years ago.

He hoped to God everything X had told him would work, because he couldn't imagine going through the rest of his life without her; that notion was as alien to him as not breathing. In a way she was like oxygen to him; essential to his survival. He would be long dead by now had it not been for her. She had risked her career, her life even for him on countless occasions, defended him, supported him every step of the way. And she'd done so without question. She'd always been there for him, personally as well as professionally. And the possibility of failing now and losing her completely scared Mulder beyond belief. He shook his head slightly, reprimanding himself. Failure was not an option.

A crash, followed by a loud thump jolted him from his reverie. He looked up to see a cyclist peddling away furiously.

"Jerk." His gaze shifted downward as he heard this muttered comment. A girl was kneeling on the sidewalk, picking up the books and folder that the cyclist had obviously knocked from her grasp during the collision. Mulder noted that two books had landed by his foot and so bent to pick them up before slipping from the bench to help the girl. He glanced down at one of the books in his hand, noting the title. 'The House of Mirth'.

"Excuse me? I think this is yours." He offered the book toward her. She looked up and smiled at him. There was something familiar about her smile, the way she looked at him, but he shook it off.

"Thanks, I was worried it'd fallen in the water or something. That would've annoyed me even more." He returned her smile at the same time as the book.

"You like it?"

"Yeah," she replied, stuffing a few more of her scattered possessions in her rucksack. "It's my favorite book. I love it."

He smiled, offering her another book, a history text book. She took it gratefully, returning his smile as she zipped up her rucksack and rose to her feet. "Thanks for your help, but I really need to get back to school, otherwise I'll be late for my next class."

"How come you're off site?"

"I had a free period and my brother needed me to pick up some things for him."

"How far is the school from here?"

"Not that far, just down that street over there," she gestured with her arm. She smiled at him, holding his gaze for a moment before walking away.

"Thanks again for your help," she tossed over her shoulder as she crossed the street, making a beeline for the road she'd gestured to seconds earlier. He watched her go, watching the wind as it caught her mid length auburn hair and played with it, tossing it this way and that. He continued to watch till she disappeared from his view before resuming his position on the bench, his mind wandering back to their conversation, the way she'd looked straight into his eyes.

When he thought about it, everything about her had seemed familiar, yet he couldn't place her. With a sigh he rose to his feet, glancing at his watch. It was now 1:03, roughly three hours till show down. He just hoped things would go to plan.