After this one, Mulder swore to himself, he would be done. All of the leads he followed concerning Scully's death answered nothing. The official police reported stated that Special Agent Dana Scully was shot with a sniper rifle, and based from the trajectory, it came from the apartment across the street. The bullet ripped through her body, nicking a major artery, causing near instant death.

The inhabitant of the apartment across the street had a solid alibi. On the night of Scully's death, he stayed at a motel, nearly 30 miles away, for personal reasons. He would not divulge what those reasons were but he did have the receipts and the witnesses to prove his innocence.

What the witnesses and the receipts failed to reveal, however, was the fact that the man was bribed that afternoon to hand over the keys to his apartment for an undisclosed reason. The briber casually handed over a wad of hundred dollar bills to the man, indicating that he wanted use of the apartment for the night. The occupant of the apartment willingly complied; always glad to have extra funds.

But Mulder knew none of this, and nearly six months after Scully's death, were swore to himself that the search would be over. The leads were dying down and Mulder admitted to himself that he needed to move on. He was not abandoning Scully, but he needed to get on with life. Everyone around him noted that his spark was gone. What was the point of anything? Even if Scully's death mystery could be solved, what would that bring him? Scully would still be gone and Mulder would still be alone.

So this was the last straw. The meeting place of choice did not help ease Mulder's apprehensions. Though he visited the cemetery frequently enough, Mulder could never get over the chills of being near Scully's grave. He glanced at his watch, taking note of the time. It was still early.

"I hope you forgive me, Scully. I know I'm giving up, but it's not like before. I can't get you back."

Mulder crouched down and ran his fingers over the lettering on the headstone. This was all that was left of her. This was her mark on the world – a headstone.

Mulder was reminiscing his last days with Scully when and sudden onslaught of lights blinded him. A car with no disregard to the nearby graves pulled up. A man emerged from it, carrying two shovels.

"Agent Mulder, I thought we could use a bit of a head start. This might take awhile."

Mulder stared in disbelief. His hand accepted the shovel that was given to him, but when the man began digging, Mulder nearly lost it.

"What are you doing?"

"What am I doing? What are you not doing? This will go faster if we both pitch in Agent Mulder. Six feet is mighty deep."

Mulder grabbed the man's hand, forcing him to stop.

"What are you doing?"

The man looked Mulder in the eye. There was something familiar about this look that troubled Mulder.

"First tell me who are you."

The man leaned on his shovel.

"Forgive me. I was under the impression that you wanted answers to Agent Scully's death."

"What? I do, but what does digging up her grave have to do with it?"

"It has everything to do with it."

"Tell me who you are."

"I am the Red Mole."

"What? I saw the Red Mole. You're not him."

"That's where you're wrong Agent Mulder. That man you saw nearly a year ago was a follower of mine, willing to risk his life for my safety. I knew that they were after me, but I also knew that they did not know how I looked. When I received a copy of that disk, I sent my follower, Simon, to deliver it to you.

Our enemies mistook him for me, and he had his instructions. Simon played his role well. He fooled everyone. I took his death as an opportunity to freely explore some leads. I discovered, as you did, that the disk was a fake, filled with information that can be easily found on any website.

What surprised me the most, Agent Mulder, was that this ploy ran so deep. You and Agent Scully were, in a sense, destined to meet Butch and his cohorts. But you were fated to survive the pain. Believe me when I say that Butch could have easily killed both of you on the spot.

But that would have ruined the plan. They needed Agent Scully alive."

The Red Mole fished through his pockets until he found what he wanted.

"That's …"

"Agent Scully's chip."

"What?"

Mulder was confused. He wanted answers but all he was getting were more questions.

"Agent Scully is apart of a test group, chosen primarily because of her rank and involvement in the conspiracy."

"Test group for what?"

"A new chip."

"But Scully is dead. How can she be part of the test if she's dead?"

"That's why we're digging, Agent Mulder. Now I suggest you stop asking questions and start digging. I'm not as young as I used to be and you certainly appear to have degenerated a bit."

The Red Mole dug his shovel into the dirt, heaving the unwanted earth to the side. Mulder watched for a few moments, trying to absorb all that he was told. He took another glance at this watch. 11:46. He began to dig.

In about two hour's time, the Red Mole's shovel struck upon the lid to Scully's coffin. Twenty minutes later, the two men managed to clear away the rest of the dirt and skillfully pulled the coffin out of the ground. Mulder stared at the box, breathing heavily, afraid of the Red Mole's reasons.

The old man had no reservations, however. As he lifted the lid off the coffin, Mulder prepared himself for the smell, but mostly for the shock. He had seen exhumed bodies before, but it was never someone he knew.

The lid was off and Mulder instinctively turned away. But there was no smell. The August air was not strong enough to blow away the repugnance. Mulder turned back around to see why, but it was what he did not see that surprised him the most.

Scully's coffin was empty.