" So what are we going to do?" Frohike asked, while he was driving the old VW bus.

" Go to Scully's apartment first to fetch some of her clothes and toiletry."

Mulder shifted in the backseat and tried to hold on to the cat which was eager to explore the car. It protested with a loud meow when he pulled it back into his lap.
" C'mon Scully, stay put. Just for a little while."

" You can't keep calling her Scully." Byers said. " If they are after you, you should at least cover up a bit." The two other Gunmen agreed.

" What am I supposed to call her then?"

" You can always go with 'cat' !" Frohike suggested, but Langley grimaced.
" Don't be silly. Who calls their cat 'cat' ?"

They all fell silent trying to come up with a name. The cat meowed unhappily and started to scratch at Mulder's hands again.
" Ouch, stop being feisty."

" That would be a cool name." Langley suggested. But Mulder shook his head.

" I'm not going to call her Feisty."

" Just call her 'cat'." Frohike rolled his eyes and stopped the car infront of Scully's appartment building. They all got out and into Scully's appartment. Mulder was relieved to be able to let the cat run around freely for awhile and went to get some of Scully's clothes.

" I can help you, Mulder." Frohike suggested but Mulder just glanced angrily at him he so he gave that idea up quickly.
" Just look after the cat, will you?"

The little man nodded, sighed deepely and went after the cat who was stretching against the wall scratching at the wallpaper.
" Stop it, Scully will kill you. Hold on, that would mean you would commit suicide. Oh, this is really starting to grow over my head." He mumbled and tried to get the cat's attention by noisely shaking a pack of TicTacs.

Meanwhile Mulder had put some of Scully's clothes and underwear in a bag and went to the bathroom to fetch her toiletry bag, which he knew was under the sink.

He quickly returned to find Byers and Langley hovering above a huge map discussing possible destinations. They both looked up and beckoned him to look at it as well.
" Where do you think we should go?"

" Well, at first we have to figure out what to do about this whole mess. I hope this guy calls again and tells us what to do next. Meanwhile we might just head West, what do you think?"

They nodded not because they necessarily agreed but they had no better idea.

" And we need something to put the cat in, otherwise we'll all look like war survivors pretty soon."

" We can stop at a pet shop and get one of those transport boxes."

" Scully will surely kill us for that one."

" I don't care as long as we don't end up like Frohike." Langley nodded at his friend who held the fighting cat in his arms. His face was covered with scratches.

" Just as stubborn as her human self." He mumbled and tightly held on to the furry orange bundle.

An hour later they had left DC and went on the highway.

The cat had curled up inside of the transport box and seemed to be asleep. Mulder felt bad for putting his partner in that position, but he knew it was the best for all of them.

He felt desperate and checked his cellphone every few minutes. But the secret informant hadn't called again.

" We'll figure something out, Mulder." Byers said sympathetically but he couldn't lift Mulder's spirits.
The agent had no clue on what to do, he didn't even know who exactly they were up against. He hated feeling helpless. He was longing to talk to Scully, just to hear her voice, to listen to her suggestions or at least to just look at her face. He missed her so much it hurt. But he had to consider a possible future without her. Maybe there was no way to turn things back. Maybe it would be like this for the rest of their lifes. No! He mentally slapped himself. You can't think that way. Things have always worked out in the end, why should it be different that time? He felt even more depressed. Because she's not here with you.

" I need to contact Skinner." He suddenly said and wondered why he hadn't thought about that earlier.

Langley, who was driving, looked in the rear view mirror and their eyes met.
" Yeah, maybe he can figure something out. He probably has connections. Or knows somebody who does."

Byers nodded.
" You should contact him as soon as we stop somewhere. But we have to figure out a safe way to do it."

Mulder nodded and they all fell into silence again. Not much longer and the sun would set, he thought, staring at the beautiful countryside along the highway. The sun will set. A weird feeling was creeping up his back.

- TBC -

Another short chapter, sorry, but I know where I'm heading ;)