Scully couldn't remember the last time she walked into the main cafeteria of the Hoover building, probably during her induction week. It's not that the food was bad, or overpriced, or even that there was no discount for government employees. It was more the fact that it reminded her of her high school cafeteria; she never fit in there either. She was always too smart for the 'beautiful girl table' and too beautiful for the 'smart girl table'. The X-files division didn't fit in the FBI, let alone in the FBI cafeteria. The truth was a shared sandwich fighting over the existence of life on other planets was far more appealing to her these days. She took a moment at the threshold to roll that around in her head. The large seated dining area was full and humming with people. She scanned the faces, looking for Ethan and falling instead on Dolly who was staring straight at her. Dolly nudged the woman sitting next to her whose head snapped up and then straight in Scully's direction. Smiling politely she continued looking for Ethan while subconsciously trying to map a course through the sea of tables and diners. A few more eyes were sitting in her direction as she made her way past each table and chair "Excuse me" "Thank you" she said a few times before giving up on being polite and pushing through instead. Finally reaching a small clearing off to the side of the line of people waiting to purchase their meal, she blew on her forehead trying to cool the warm drops of perspiration that lined her brow. She looked around again for Ethan and realised she now held a captive audience of probably over 50 fellow FBI colleagues. She hoped at least some of them were Doggett's well-wishers.

Distracted by the crowd she didn't hear him sneak up behind her. Didn't realise someone was coming until large male hands grabbed her hips and pulled her back towards his front. He gave her such a fright she almost went into 'self-defence' mode and flipped him over her shoulder. Luckily for him, she recognised his voice when he spoke in her ear "Hey Dana."

She felt herself shrink a little against him and in front of all of these people. How dare he think he had the right to grab her like that. At least this was successfully getting her point across she conceded. She put her hands over his on her hips and pushed away slightly from him to try and stop him from moving his palms to her stomach. Her hands weren't quick or strong enough though and he felt the swell instantly. She felt him freeze when he realised, her eyes closed and her tongue swept the corner of her mouth nervously as she spun around and away from his embrace. "Ethan."

He stood looking down at her shocked, his palm slowly extended. Both he and Scully watched his hand make contact with her bump and the chatter in the large dining hall calmed to a quiet roar. His thumb moved her blouse over the tight skin lying beneath it and they both stared at it in wonder. He lifted his eyes to hers and she gave him a 'yeah about that' kind of look.

"Dana, look at you." His palm stayed on her baby bump.

"Yeah" She answered nervously, shuffling on her feet, this was incredibly uncomfortable. No-one had touched her like this yet, not even her mother, not even Mulder. She cleared her throat, hoping he would take the hint.

Luckily he did, clearing his own throat he dropped his hand, burying it in his pocket and took a small step back "I guess we aren't having lunch." He laughed nervously unable to look her in the eye. His intentions, his hopes, his future crumbled and she hadn't even said more than two words. She took his free hand suddenly realising she had broken his heart, as he had done once to her, and it strangely wasn't very satisfying. Suddenly her audience was forgotten, she needed to let him down softly "I'm sorry Ethan, but I did say I had moved on".

Their eyes met again and for a moment both were taken back to an intimate time in their lives when holding hands came naturally. Ethan did recall her saying that. He was just too stubborn and egocentric to take her word for it. They had been standing outside the mansion of the Police Commissioner, she had introduced him to her partner. An awkward exchange where he had felt surprisingly a little threatened. And that's when the penny dropped. "Well, if we can't have lunch do you think this little one's daddy will give me an interview as compensation?"

She made a half laughing noise and smiled "Probably not."

He nodded and licked his dry lips; she just told him all he needed to know. "Will he kick my arse if I kissed you good-bye then."

"Probably"

"Can I do it anyway?"

She nodded slightly, not really wanting him too but feeling like she owed him some form of closure, even though he never gave her the same courtesy when he left her all those years ago. She dropped his hand when he leant down and softly kissed the corner of her mouth. He lingered trying to savour the moment unwilling to accept this would be the last time their lips met.

She pulled away first "Let me walk you to your car, Ethan."

She followed him out leaving the whispers and nosey secretaries to their own assumptions and conclusions. Looking over her shoulder she caught Agent Doggett standing at the door watching them leave. She wondered how much he had seen and hoped it was enough to keep him off her back.

Mulder kicked his shoes off as he entered the apartment and then, remembering whose apartment he was in picked them up and sat them neatly beside the door. "Hello?" he called into the quiet room loosening his tie and unbuttoning the tight collar of his shirt. He was tempted to undo his belt buckle and fly too, but again realised this wasn't the right apartment.

"In here." Scully's voice wafted down from her bedroom, he followed its path to find her lying on her bed reading. Files and books were scattered around the floor along with her laptop, an empty pizza box and the dregs of a spiced apple iced tea. Well at least there was evidence she had actually done some work today a complete contradiction to what she was doing now which was frantically scanning her eyes back and forth across the pages of a non-work book. Her bottom lip was held tight between her teeth. Whatever she was reading it was good enough to not even notice him enter the room. Mulder squinted a little to make out the illustration on the cover of the book. It was a man with giant shoulders wearing nothing but a kilt and a blond maiden that was draped around his waist. He couldn't make out the full title but the words 'celtic' and 'heat' had been capitalised in bold gold lettering to highlight their significance. She was lying on her back head slightly raised on a pillow, hair spilled messily over it. Her knees were drawn up and the book was resting on them in front of her. Her eyes continued to volley over the pages quickly. Whatever she was reading it was obviously more interesting than him walking in to see her.

"Scully?" he tried.

She didn't skip a beat "shhh just let me finish this chapter."

He wasn't a patient man and her wearing her glasses had sparked the memory from earlier today. Like an indignant child who was being ignored by his Mommy he launched himself forward and belly flopped right next to her on the bed. She bounced violently but didn't appear to miss a word of the story stopping only to flick to the next page. He blew out an exaggerated breath to try and win her attention and she responded by flicking another page over, her lip returned to between her teeth. Rolling on his side he traced his finger over her arm, which got him a sharp snap on the wrist. Now he was very curious as to what held her attention so intensely so started to read a few sentences from the pages of her book. His eyebrows hit his hair line; Mr Celtic man was showing the fair maiden a thing or two about heat and was apparently generating a fairly warm response inside of her. Suddenly Scully slammed the book shut, she smiled and closed her eyes making a sound that fell somewhere between contentment and satisfaction. Mulder let her gather her bearings, watching her slightly amused. When she had gathered her thoughts again she threw the book with her glasses on the bedside table and rolled to face him.

"Hi, you're back."

He laughed "You noticed. What on Earth were you reading Scully?"

She tinkered with the collar of his shirt and began pulling the knot open in his tie. "I'd had enough of researching the 'factual' and mythological reports and fables of mermaids, Mulder. There really isn't a whole lot to your case, but I've highlighted some points for you." She pulled the now loose tie from his collar and threw it on the bed behind him. "I made a few calls and gathered a bit more information about the men who died on the boat." She looked back up at him. "I'm sorry to disappoint you but I don't think you are going to find any mermaids, Mulder." She finished matter of factly. "I needed a mental break from my laptop screen."

Smiling he started to recite and re-enact the final paragraph of her chapter. His narrative tone was laced with sarcasm and exaggerated expression, "He laced his fingers through her golden locks, the fragile, shimmering strands getting caught slightly through the deep creases of his palms that had grown rough from years in the harsh plains of the North." He pushed his fingers through her hair as he spoke. She smirked, a little embarrassmed that he had seen what she had been reading. Not noticing or caring he grabbed her hips and rolled her so she came to be sitting astride him, her smirk changed to a smile as he carried on with his narrative. "Taking her roughly into his strong arms he pulled her astride him, placing her firmly down so she could feel the size of his man hood between her quivering thighs. She moaned into the night air…" He paused his story and gave her a questioning stare expecting her too act her part out in his little play. Instead of 'moaning,' however, she raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him. Disappointed, he decided to carry on anyway, 'He ran his hands over her trembling thighs and up her back pulling her down so she could whisper softly in his ear." True to his word he carried out the actions of the story pulling Scully down over him until her lips brushed his ear, hoping she would play along and finish the 'fair maidens' line of the story. "Her breath was heavy, her voice a whisper when she spoke….." he prompted.

Scully kissed the shell of his ear gently then whispered seductively "Make dinner for me….". Then she buried her face into the crook of his neck and laughed silently.

He scoffed throwing his hands off her and onto the mattress "You're no fun. That was not the line in your story! And how can you be hungry you just ate a whole pizza."

Her belly had become too big to stay comfortably in this position; it was pushing painfully into him so she pushed herself back into a sitting position, using his shoulders as leverage. He watched her sitting astride him ironing out the creases in her muscles over her expanding waist line with the heels of her hands. He felt a nervous surge of adrenaline pump through his body, slight panic arising. When did that happen? When did 'hey Scully's pregnant' turn into 'hey look at that, there is actually a real live little person growing in there.'

She saved him from his little moment of panic. "I think you'd look pretty cute in a kilt." Pushing with her legs she levered herself up and off of him. "That pizza was afternoon tea and that was at least three hours ago." She gathered her notes and computer from the floor and started walking down towards the kitchen.

Mulder got up grabbed the book she had left behind and followed her into the kitchen. "Well, ordering pizza is the only dinner I really know how to cook." He left the book next to the things she had put down on her table and jumped to sit on her kitchen bench. He watched her open her fridge and start to pull out a few containers and plates of left overs neatly wrapped in cling film. A bottle of mineral water flew out at him and he caught it, just before it hit him in the chest. "Got a beer instead?"

Rolling her eyes she snatched the water back and replaced it with a cold Shiner Bock. She reluctantly let go of the cold brew. "Argh I've been staring at that all week. You have no idea how much I've been craving that beer."

He spun the top off and flicked it into the sink. She watched him enviously as he drank thirstily from the bottle. "Aaaaah" his satisfaction greatly exaggerated for her benefit. He nudged his chin gesturing for her to come over to him. She took three slow cautious steps that landed her between his open knees. Tilting her chin with his index finger he pressed an open mouth kiss on her lips, lingering so she could taste the malty hops of the beer.

His lips were ice cold and the taste of the beer still lined the edges of his mouth. Her shoulders slumped "mmmmmm" she ploughed into his mouth, tongue, lips, teeth nothing was held back. He braced his hand behind himself before she managed to push him off completely and held on for the ride. Finally she stood back, eyes closed, licking her lips like a cat that got the cream. "Mmmm, that was so good."

He laughed at her. "I might save the rest for later."

Dinner consisted of picking at left overs and fighting over mythical sea creatures and marine biology. It had felt like old times and now he was lying in the dark staring at her roof listening to the light traffic and wind outside her window, sounds only drowned out by her breathing that had become more laboured recently while she slept. Tonight when they made love for the first time he felt this baby. The thing they never talked about had literally, physically manifested itself between them. He had struggled to concentrate despite her reassurances that he wasn't hurting her he could feel this thing literally growing between their bodies. Every time his straining abdominals clashed with her round belly he was forced to think about what it really was growing within her. He studied her face and marvelled at the colour of her hair, her eyes. The way the tendons in her slight neck tensed then relaxed as her chest rose and fell. Her arms were so slight and yet so powerful. She was beautiful; she was everything. What the hell was wrong with him? It was too much pressure so he had rolled to lay behind her, spooning her back close against his front, he had entered her from behind finishing in this position where his mind and body could block out the panic that was starting to take up a permanent residence in his psyche. As they lay there still connected breathless in the aftermath, he could sense the hurt and confusion within her. He was desperate to make it better but words just didn't seem enough and as usual failed him "Scully, I.." He breathed into her ear.

"It's fine Mulder." She said unconvincingly. "I'm tired. It's been a big week; let's just get some sleep ok." She had tapped the hand that still gripped her hip and subtly moved away from him.

Great, that's what every man wants to hear from the woman he just made love to. The intense chill that ran over the front of his body amplified the distance between them as she disconnected from him. 'I'm an arse, I'm an arse, I'm such a gigantic arse!' Was the mantra repeating in his mind before he finally went off to sleep. When he woke his hand had drifted to her swollen stomach. Before he realised he was awake and what was happening, he had felt the baby move. It was the first time he had laid a hand on her belly since the pregnancy had become obvious and now all he could do was stare as something rolled and pushed against his palm. Not just something, a baby. A tiny human that shared his DNA and meant so much to her. Instead of feeling wondrous by it though, all he could feel was that panic, heart pumping, chest tightening fear. He had faced his own mortality over and over. Come up against monsters found only in your worst nightmares and nothing scared him more than what lay beneath his sweating palm. And now he was staring at her ceiling, his instincts telling him to run. The devil on his shoulder told him she and this child were better off without him anyway. The angel maintained the martyr 'you're an arse, you're an arse you're an arse.' Not even his subconscious was on his side.

His cell phone offered a reprieve, vibrating on the table next to the bed. Scully stirred but didn't wake, rolling over onto her back. He slipped his boxers on and grabbed the phone leaving to take the call without disturbing her. 'Hello' He answered quietly retreating to her kitchen he held the phone in the crock of his neck as he pulled the fridge open and cracked the lid on one of those mineral waters.

'Is this, Agent Fox Mulder?'

He wiped his mouth on his wrist "That depends who's asking". He didn't recognise the female voice on the other end of the phone and no-one called him at 3am to talk about something good.

'I'm sorry my name is Dr Catherine Stevens. I'm a biologist calling from Sunset Bay. I have been called to look at some evidence in the murder of two sailors in the area; I believe you were sent the case to review by the sheriff here.'

"Yes,"

'Well the bodies washed up tonight and' she paused sounding awkward, her tone changed when she picked up her sentence. "I understand you're division of the FBI deals with cases that have' she paused, treading delicately, 'Unusual or unexplainable evidence.'

"I guess you could say that. What have you got?"

'Well, I'd much rather show you. Is there any chance you could meet me. Come and look for yourself?'

He looked down towards the bedroom where Scully lay asleep. "When?"

'How soon can you get here?'

He was still looking down toward the bedroom. 'You're an arse, you're an arse, you're an arse.' Could he leave now? Would she forgive him again? He needed to take some time to think, this could be an opportunity to face his demons. He closed his eyes disgusted with himself. "Let me pack a bag. I can be there in a few hours."

'Great thanks. I'll see you when you get here.'

He didn't say goodbye when he disconnected the call and Scully never woke when he kissed her and left.

Ironically Mulder arrived at Sunset Bay right on Sunrise. It wasn't lost on him. He is, after all, the king of contradiction. He could easily see where the town got its name from though. If sunset was anything like sunrise this town might just be the most beautiful place he had ever seen. The kaleidoscope of colour reflecting off the water was breath-taking; the perfect mirror image of more red, orange and yellow combinations than he had ever seen in his life. On the opposite side of the road the houses were just as impressive. He could tell instantly you needed to have money to live in this area. The tall fences, polished wood and uniform dull colouring suggest aristocrat money, old money. Not young, rich and famous actors but perhaps scholars, Doctors, lawyers and such. His head hurt already thinking about it. He looked down at the makeshift map he had scribbled on her 'things to do' pad that sat magnetised to her fridge. The directions were relatively simple. Sunset Bay was apparently a small community. That thought made his head hurt even more. A sleeping town was a good town to be entering when you were driving a rental car and wearing an FBI badge. The less people who knew the feds were in town on a case like this the better. He was driving slow enough to navigate his phone menu as well as the road so he decided to give Dr Stevens a call and let her know he wasn't far away. She answered on the fifth ring, sounding just as exhausted as him.

"Dr Stevens?" He put on his FBI voice this time.

'Hi, yes. Good morning Agent Mulder, please call me Cat.' She sounded a lot more casual.

"I'm just pulling into town. You should see me within the next ten minutes."

'Great, you made good time. The morgue is out the back of the medical centre. The building is unmarked but easy enough to find.'

He disconnected the call without the farewell pleasantries normal, friendly people exchanged at the end of a phone call. Ten minutes later he was turning into the back of Sunset Bay Medical that consisted of a medical clinic, x-ray, laboratory and physical therapy centre. The only building not marked was obviously the morgue and judging by the size, not needed very often. As he pulled next to the only car in the deserted car park he decided to make the adult decision to call his partner. After all, he was likely to need to send her these bodies and despite the last twelve hours and the stack of unresolved personal discussions he left sitting on the shelf in her bedroom, they had a job to do. It was still very early and he knew her alarm wouldn't have gone off yet, so wasn't surprised it took many rings before she answered. He pictured her waking up and realising she was alone, probably ditched again. He wondered if once she discovered he was no longer there whether she looked at the ringing phone and actually debated whether or not to answer it. When the call connected he was met with only silence, he waited a beat, expecting the usual 'Scully.' When it didn't come he suspected he had guessed right, she knew who was on the other end. "Scully?" he feigned ignorance.

"Where are you?"

The coldness of her voice almost froze the phone to his hand. This wasn't starting well. "Sunset Bay." He tried to sound a bit warmer in the hope of defrosting her a little. The only response he got was a large sigh. "I got a call from a Biologist early this morning, the bodies of our missing sailors washed up on the beach and she wanted our expertise," he was careful to emphasize the word 'our'. "She needed me to see the bodies before the town woke up and started asking questions."

She had her Special Agent voice on. "Why us?"

"There's something unusual about the bodies."

"Unusual? What was so unusual?"

He started to panic a little. This conversation was on a one way spiral down the drain "Um, I'm not exactly sure yet." He no-longer sounded confident.

"Well did she see any evidence of your mermaids?"

"Well she, um, she mentioned that, um, well." He stumbled "No, she didn't mention Mermaids." He could feel himself starting to sweat.

"She?"

"Yes, Dr Catherine Stevens"

"Catherine Stevens" She repeated the words carefully like she was swirling something new and salty in her mouth.

"Cat." He clarified and then cursed himself for it. The urge to punch himself in the leg was strong and almost as painful as the silence on the other end of the phone as his partner absorbed that piece of useless information.

"Her name is Cat Stevens?"

Mulder decided there was no safe way to proceed so he chose silence instead.

"Where did she get called in from?"

"I don't know."

"Is she FBI?"

"I don't know."

"Do you know what kind of speciality she has in the biology field?"

Gurgle,gurgle, gurgle. Down the drain he was going. He pushed his fingers into his eyes "No."

The silence on the other end of the line gave him time to formulate a valid argument for leaving her bed in the middle of the night without waking her and telling her where he was going. He was going to start with, 'I haven't ditched you Scully'. He considered throwing in an apology and then argue things like 'professional courtesy' and the responsibility he held to follow leads of what clearly was an X-File. "Look, I know this doesn't make much sense yet Scully, but.."

"No. Actually. It makes perfect sense, Mulder." Her response was calm, too calm. Agreeable was not her style. He was most certainly in trouble.

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle.

He inhaled deeply trying to ward off the headache that would no doubt be with him for the remainder of this case. Despite their crumbling personal relationship they had an obligation to maintain a professional one. After all they still had a job to d; a case to solve. That devil on his shoulder whispered into his ear and his words flicked back to business "I'm sorry I woke you, I just thought you should know I have accepted the responsibility of solving this case, Agent Scully. And that any evidence, including the bodies I am about to inspect will be sent back to you for analysis. I hope I can count on your scientific expertise and assistance on this case." Why did that devil want to hurt her so? 'You're an arse' the angel whispered in his other ear. She'd given up trying to save him years ago.

"Well, Agent Mulder in my expert opinion, I would suggest you establish we actually have a case to investigate first. I start at nine. You know where to reach me."

Continued in part 3