"I'm telling you, you need to check again," a woman was saying as they walked into the sheriff's station.

"Ashley, please calm down."

"No, I won't. My brother is missing and it seems like you are doing fuck all about it. There's been nothing new and it's been a week." She started crying and the man came from behind the counter, and pulled her in for a hug.

Scully glanced at Mulder and he nodded, watching the interaction between the two.

"I promise you that we're looking, Ashley," he said quietly and she cried harder. "I know you're worried about him, of course you are, but I assure you, we are trying to find him."

"I know," Ashley cried. "I know you are. I'm sorry…" She started sobbing and the man led her to a couch, sitting down beside her and continuing to speak in hushed tones.

"Can I help you?" another man asked softly and Scully and Mulder turned to look at him.

"Yeah," she said, taking out her badge as Mulder did the same. "Agents Scully and Mulder."

"Oh, yeah," he said with a nod at them and then the man sitting on the couch. "Ned said you'd be by today. I'm Lyle, deputy sheriff."

"Nice to meet you. Is there a place we could talk?" Scully asked, glancing toward Ned and Ashley, who's tears had started to slow as he handed her a tissue from a box beside the couch.

"Yeah, we could use Ned's office. Follow me."

They started toward the office, but made it no further than five steps before Ashley spoke to them.

"Wait! You're from the FBI?" she asked, standing up quickly from the couch and wiping her eyes on the tissue in her hand.

"We are, yes," Mulder said and Scully nodded.

"You're here about the missing men?"

"Yes."

"Oh," she said, sobbing in a breath. "Thank god. My brother… his name is Arthur Harvey and he's one of the ones who are missing. I don't know how or why this happened to him."

"Arthur Harvey. He disappeared a week ago?" Mulder asked and she nodded.

"You know about him?" she asked, looking hopeful.

"Yes. I read about his disappearance."

"That's not all that he is, just some man who disappeared," she said, angrily wiping at her eyes. "He's my brother and I…" She started crying again and Scully went to her, touching her gently on the back.

"Why don't you tell us more about him?" she said, smiling kindly at Ashley. She nodded and Scully met Lyle's eyes, silently asking for his help.

A cup of coffee was cooling as it sat on Ned's desk in front of Ashley. She had cried, using quite a few tissues, before she had been able to speak.

"Arthur and I are twins. He's older by four minutes and he's always lorded that over me," she said with a sad laugh, tracing her finger along the edge of the desk. "He teased me all the time, telling me I had to listen to him, because he was older and wiser."

Scully smiled and then glanced at Mulder. His eyes softened as he listened to Ashley and smiled as she took a sip of her coffee. She knew he had already warmed to Ashley, seeing Samantha in her and wanting to help in any way he could.

"He disappeared from the cemetery," Mulder stated and Ashley nodded with a loud sniff.

"We were there-"

"You both were?" Mulder asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Yes, us and about fifteen other people."

"Okay."

"We were there at about nine, maybe a little later. I don't remember exactly. He didn't really want to go, but…"

"You did," Scully said quietly and Ashley nodded as she looked down at the table.

"I'd gotten in a fight with my boyfriend and I wanted to forget about him for a little while. Have fun with some friends and just… God, if I had known…"

"But you didn't," Mulder said and she raised her head to look at him. He smiled softly and Ashley sniffled again. "It's not your fault."

"It feels like it," she whispered.

"I know," he whispered back and for what felt like the millionth time, Scully wished she could heal the pain he carried from losing Samantha.

"So what happened at the party?" Scully asked, redirecting the conversation. Ashley glanced at her and then sighed, picking up her cup and taking another sip, before returning it to the desk.

"We were drinking. Some people were…" She looked at Ned, who was sitting silently behind his desk. He nodded and she sighed. "There were drugs being passed around. I don't… I had a bad trip once and it turned me off to anything aside from pot."

"What about Arthur?"

"No. He didn't take drugs. Didn't really like drinking. He was the old man of the party even though we're only twenty two. There were older people there, but he just naturally fell into the role of watcher and protector. He always did… does…" Ashley started crying softly and Ned pushed the box of tissues closer to her. She took two and blew her nose as she cried and they waited.

"Two men disappeared that night. Arthur and Brent Hopkins," Ned said and Mulder and Scully nodded.

"Brent," Ashley spat out, shaking her head. "I don't care if you ever find him."

"Ashley," Ned admonished.

"I don't," she said, staring at him with angry eyes. "This is all his fault."

"How do you figure?" Mulder asked.

"Because he… he arranged these parties. He provided the alcohol and especially the drugs. He…"

She stopped speaking and they all knew she was thinking what they were thinking. Brent may have provided the entertainment, but they all were willing participants.

Unless they weren't, Scully thought.

"Did Brent force anyone to do anything they didn't want to do?" Scully asked and Ashley let out a deep breath as she shook her head.

"No. Not ever," she admitted. "He… he would say that it "enhanced the experience" but he never made anyone take anything they didn't want. I know it's not his fault, but…"

"You're understandably worried about your brother," Mulder said and she nodded.

"He drank though," Scully said and Ashley looked at her in confusion. "Arthur, I mean. He was drinking that night."

"Yeah. Like… maybe a beer or two. Maybe a couple shots. Maybe. He usually only stuck to beer, if he was drinking."

"When was the last time you saw him?" Mulder asked and she dropped her head back as she closed her eyes.

"Ten thirty? Maybe eleven?" she said, shaking her head as she brought it back up and looked at Mulder. "I was… I was pretty tipsy, having a great time and planning to join the planned seance at midnight. Arthur said he wasn't going to, but he'd wait for me in the car if I wanted to do that. I… waved him away with a laugh as someone handed me a joint and I took a hit. He shook his head but smiled at me as I started to dance and then I forgot all about him." She sniffled loudly and dabbed at her eyes as she shook her head. "I went to the car at about two and the door was open, but he wasn't there. Keys in the ignition, lights on… he was just gone."

Mulder looked at Scully as she breathed slowly, wondering what would have compelled him to leave the car.

"Maybe he had to pee?" Mulder suggested. "He got out and… got lost?"

"I don't think so."

"Agent Scully and I just came from the cemetery. Considering that it was night, it's plausible that he got lost or he-"

"No," Ashley said, shaking her head vehemently. "He wouldn't get lost."

"He'd been drinking," Scully said and Ashley frowned as she looked at her.

"What are you saying?"

"Alcohol lessens your cognitive abilities."

"But he wasn't drinking much, like I said. He never does. He wouldn't have had enough to make him abandon the car and disappear. To abandon me."

"Is it something you drank?" Scully asked and Ashley looked at her in confusion again. "I mean that he drank?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, her tone sharp.

"Could he have been drugged without his knowledge and it made him act out of character?"

"Drugged?"

"Yeah. You said there was quite the selection to choose from."

"You think… that someone would drug him?"

"I don't know. But is it possible?"

"I… I don't think it's impossible," Ashley said. "But why would they do that to Arthur? He's one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet."

"Because people are assholes," Mulder said with an edge to his voice. "And they would see drugging him as something funny to do, to see how he reacted under the influence."

"But that's… that's terrible," Ashley breathed and Mulder nodded as Scully's cell phone rang. She excused herself and left the room to answer it.

"Scully," she said, meeting Lyle's eyes as he smiled from his desk.

"Agent Scully? This is Doctor Huron at Pines Hospital, we met yesterday when you came to check on Peter."

"Yes, hello," she said, thinking of the older doctor that had told them of the first victim's condition and plan of care.

"I uh… I think you should get over here."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yes, surprisingly so," the doctor said with an incredulous chuckle. "Peter is awake, alert, and talking."

"Oh, that's great," she said, surprised at his quick recovery.

"Yes, it is great news. He asked for food and ate it ravenously," the doctor said and Scully nodded with a smile. He's also been incredibly insistent that he speak to your partner, Agent Scully."

"What?"

"Yeah, says he really needs to speak to him."

Scully's stomach dropped as she looked over at Ned's office and watched Mulder smile at Ashley as he nodded. She let out a deep breath and licked her lips.

"We'll be there in fifteen minutes," she said and heard the doctor thank her before saying goodbye and hanging up.

He was in a coma-like state yesterday. Completely unresponsive, she thought as she put her phone back into her pocket and walked back towards Ned's office. How in the hell did he know to ask for Mulder?