Chapter Four: They Are Quite The Pair

September 13th, 2016.

12:02 p.m.

Washington D.C.

Jeffersonian Institution.

After Temperance gave Scully her advice, the conversation stuck mainly to previous cases the two women had worked on. Scully found that she rather liked the forensic anthropologist. It was impressive how someone could completely change career paths, and start working with the F.B.I. to solve murder cases. Dana could relate to Dr. Brennan's career change, though Scully's came much earlier in life than Temperance's did. But, Scully's career change is something she did not regret. The secrets she had helped uncover, and the lives she had saved due to her work on the X-Files were worth every second she spent in that basement. She also would not trade a minute of working with Mulder for the world, something she hoped he knew.

Scully knew she did not vocalize how much Mulder meant to her enough. Maybe, she thought, that's one of the reasons she no longer slept next to him every night. Scully admitted it was both of their faults why they were not together anymore. It had been almost a year and a half since Dana left Mulder, but she knew it was the right thing to do. Mulder had started to go down a dark hole that not even she could pull him out of. In the end she had to leave, if only to make him realize that he needed to pull himself out of the dark place he had fallen into. Since they had started working on The X-Files again, Dana realized how much she missed being around him. She longed for Mulder to hold her in his arms again, and she knew he wanted her to come home.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Temperance asked interrupting Dana's train of thought.

"Yes," Scully answered as she covered the body with a white sheet, "and also no." Dana peeled off her gloves and gown before throwing them into a waste bin. "I need to talk to Mulder."

Temperance nodded knowing Scully would not tell her what she found until after she talked with her partner. The redhead stayed behind as Brennan went into her office, where Booth and Mulder sat chatting on the couch. Bones noticed both men smiling as she entered,

"Agent Mulder, your partner would like to speak with you."

Mulder got up,

"Thanks," he looked back at Booth. "We will continue this conversation later."

Booth smiled and gave him a thumbs up as Mulder left the room to find his partner.

"Seems the two of you were getting along well," Bones stated.

"Ya," he replied running a hand through his hair, "he is not what I expected at all. I mean, the whole I believe in aliens thing is bizarre, but he's not a bad guy." Booth stood crossing the room to stand in front of his wife, "What about Agent Scully? What do you think of her?"

"She is quite fascinating actually, and much smarter than I previously thought. From what I can tell her and Mulder have nothing in common, but that doesn't seem to affect their partnership in the slightest."

Booth tilted his head,

"From what I have heard about them, their ability to solve cases rivals our own."

"Is that so?" Bones said raising an eyebrow.

"I was curious about their closure rate, so while Mulder was looking around the lab I looked it up on the F.B.I. database," he paused.

"And?" Bones urged him to finish.

"Since they started working together in '93, their closure rate averages just above 80%," Booth concluded.

"That's higher than ours," Bones said in a shocked tone.

"I know. I couldn't believe it," Booth exclaimed raising his hands in the air, "Those two are nothing like I was led to think at the bureau."

"They are quite the pair," Bones agreed. "In more ways than one," she added.

"You caught onto that too?" Booth asked.

"Of course," Bones said knowingly. "We both know how observant I am. I'm just surprised you caught on as well."

"Why wouldn't you think I'd catch that?" He said in a slightly defensive tone.

"Because, you are usually so focused on a case that you sometimes overlook small details," Bones said with a shrug. "Plus, you are not one to pry into other people's personal lives."

"Well, that is true," Booth said about the latter. "But, who could miss the way those two make googly eyes at each other." They both laughed,

"You mean the way we used to make googly eyes at each other," she smiled.

"Exactly same way we looked at each other," Booth replied closing the space between them. He wrapped one arm around his wife's waist, pulling Bones close against him as he kissed her sweetly on the lips. After a moment they pulled away from each other slightly,

"The same way we still look at each other," She corrected, and leaned in for another kiss.

The Autopsy Room.

Mulder entered the room and found Scully leaning against the sink in the back of the room.

"What did you find, Scully?" Scully stared back at him with a look that told Mulder, he wasn't about to hear what he wanted,

"He's not what you think," she said pointing to the body that was just autopsied. "That man is completely human. We never should have thought otherwise."

"Why is that?" Mulder inquired.

"Because, if this person really was part of the alien resistance," she let out a sigh, "he would have disintegrated into a puddle of green goo. We were so quick to jump on this case we overlooked that detail."

Mulder hung his head, kicking himself mentally for not picking up on that detail before,

"Guess we are still a little rusty. I wouldn't have over looked that detail fifteen years ago."

"I missed it too, Mulder," she moved over and placed a reassuring hand on his arm. "But, the burning and the facial mutilation do coincide with the alien resistance. So, we do have an X-File on our hands."

"And," Mulder added, "There is still a little grey alien locked up in a freezer in this facility." Scully looked up at him and nodded,

"Yes, there is."