Margaret Scully could not believe what she was hearing. Her daughter was gone – missing again but this time Fox was gone as well. She nearly collapsed to the floor after hanging up the phone but luckily, Bill was standing nearby and caught his mother. He led her into the living room and sat her down on a sofa. After getting a glass of water, he asked what was wrong.

Though eager to share in the news, Margaret Scully knew of her son's disdain towards his sister's partner. The smallest mention of Fox Mulder could easily send Bill into a tirade of why the FBI was not the proper place for his sister. But she needed to tell him; after all, it was the holidays.

"Dana … is missing."

"What?"

"She's missing. She's no where to be found Bill."

Bill was in disbelief. His immediate reaction was exactly what Mrs. Scully expected.

"It's that partner's fault. I know it. I can …"

"It's not Fox's fault Bill. He's gone too."

"Then he's the one who took her."

"Bill!"

He looked at his mother in the eyes, something that he hadn't done since childhood. Bill tried to convey earnest concern for Dana while working with Mulder but Mrs. Scully did not believe it.

"He cares for her Bill."

Hearing it from his mother only confirmed his worst fears. To be honest, Bill Scully could never really pinpoint the true reason of why he hated Fox Mulder so much. He knew that nearly everything bad that happened to his family in recent years was attributed to him, but he also knew that his mother and sister, both alive and departed, had faith in him – and for them, it was enough.

Mrs. Scully excused herself and went up into her room. The closed the door behind her and she automatically picked up the phone and dialed Dana's number. She needed to be sure.

"Hi. You've reached Dana Scully. I'm not in right now …"

She hung up and dialed the number again and again and again. Mrs. Scully didn't want to believe that her daughter was missing, but there was a part of her that acknowledged the truth long before she received the phone call from Skinner. She could feel it within her, a part that was missing, but she ignored it because it was the holidays and she had been wrong before.

Mrs. Scully stretched herself out on her bed. It was going to be a long day.

December 23rd passed slowly. Bill manned the fort, so to speak, dealing with holiday well wishers that stopped by his mother's house. At nightfall, Bill hurried off to the airport to pick up Charlie and Tara. He informed them of the situation and readied them for what to expect.

Mrs. Scully had emerged from her room by the time they arrived. She was cooking, preparing for the annual Scully Christmas Eve dinner. They tried to pry her away from the kitchen, but Mrs. Scully refused, claiming that the dinner was expected and she couldn't let their relatives down. Tara managed to coax her mother-in-law to wait till the next day.

Christmas Eve rolled around. Mrs. Scully returned to the kitchen and her children helped. They passed the day in silence, trying to keep occupied with their given task. At eight in the evening, relatives and friends began pouring in. Mrs. Scully dismissed Dana's absence to work, not wanting to dampen everyone's spirits. The dinner went of with a hitch. The tree was trimmed and presents were exchanged but not opened. Many stayed after midnight, wanting to ring in Christmas the New Year's way.

And then the phone rang. Mrs. Scully ran to answer it hoping that it was what she was hoping for. It was. She listened impatiently to the man on the other end then promptly hung up. Mrs. Scully grabbed her coat and whispered the news to her children. Together they excused themselves from the celebration and drove off to Maryland State Hospital.

Mrs. Scully jumped out while Bill and the rest of the family went to park the car. She stormed through the emergency room, acting the complete opposite of her usual self. Each nurse she questioned knew nothing of a Dana Scully or Fox Mulder. Every doctor stared at her but refused to help.

Finally, a man who both recognized her and heard her pleas came.

"Mrs. Scully, I'm not sure if you remember me but I'm Assistant Director Walter Skinner. Dana and Fox work under me."

Mrs. Scully nodded, trying to hasten his introduction.

"Where are they? Where is she? Where's my baby?"

Skinner guided Mrs. Scully through the emergency room, passing the sick and the dying, before arriving at large double doors with the word TRAUMA written across. She looked at him with apprehension; she was afraid of what she would find.

"The doctors are working on them. They were brought in a little over an hour ago."

She nodded once more, bracing herself. Before she stepped through the doors, Skinner added one more caution.

"Mrs. Scully, it doesn't look good."

She walked slowly through the double doors and was greeted by chaos. Doctors and nurses ran passed her, oblivious of Mrs. Scully's presence. She looked to her left and saw nothing; she looked to her right and saw a flash of red hair peaking out behind a curtain.

"Dana?"

Mrs. Scully made her way over to the trauma station and nearly collided into a doctor.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry. We can't have anyone back here right now."

"No. She's … I'm …"

"Ma'am, are you family?"

She could only nod.

"Okay. You can stay but only for a few minutes."

The world around her suddenly vanished as her walked towards Dana. There was blood everywhere, there were machines everywhere, there were tubes everywhere.

"Where are her clothes?"

"She was brought in like this."

The doctor introduced himself to be Michael Stratford.

"Dana?"

Mrs. Scully reached over for her daughter's hand. It was cold – too cold.

"What happened?"

"I don't know ma'am. Hopefully she'll be able to tell us."

"How bad is she?"

"So far? Her right leg is broken in at least three places. She's got broken ribs, contusions all over, her back is riddled with small puncture marks, there's this cut that you can see here, running the length of her body, but it appears to be the least of our concerns. We're pretty sure that there's internal bleeding and there's also her exposure to the cold to deal with."

"Dana …"

Mrs. Scully bent down to kiss her daughter on the forehead. She still couldn't believe this was happening.

"There was a man who should have been with her. Where is he?"

"He's right next …"

Before Dr. Stratford could continue, he was interrupted by a nurse.

"Doctor! She's not breathing!"

"I'm sorry ma'am, but you need to leave now."

Mrs. Scully slowly inched backwards, not wanting to leave the only daughter she had left. The doctors and nurses seemed to be moving in slow motion, in fact, the entire world seemed to slow down. All Mrs. Scully could do was focus on Dana. She watched as the doctor administered CPR. She watched as it failed and Dana's heart beat started to die down and it eventually stopped.