Chapter 3

Plans and Preparations

Mulder grinned, taking in the sight of the snarky, smiling blonde seated in his office chair. On his desk were what appeared to be two cartons of Chinese takeout. "How nice of you to finally show up," he drawled.

Rose rolled her eyes. "I'm a very busy woman, mister," she teased. "Forgive me if I can't show up and be your mother every five minutes. I'm trying to help you on top of myself. We both have problems that'll require quite a bit of work to solve, you know."

Mulder raised an eyebrow, crossed over to the desk. "Out of respect, I won't ask. But, uh...any leads?"

She shook her head. "Nothing since the UFO that was shot down by that jet this spring. I managed to get a look at it, but by the time I did, the wreckage had been picked clean. Nothing was there that could give me any clues about the alien species, and there was no way to know for sure if any humans had been taken." Rose sighed. "'M sorry about...that friend of yours. Your contact. I found out what happened to him."

"Who, Deep Throat?" Mulder asked. When she nodded, he sighed and continued. "Yeah, he was...actually not all that bad, to be honest with you. Although his last words were a little...alarming."

Rose's eyes widened and she tilted her head, curious. "What were they?"

"Trust no one," he replied, then picked up the carton of takeout closest to him. "You read my mind, by the way. How about I fill you in on everything else that's happened while we eat?"

He pulled out a chair, sat down across from her, and told her about every case he'd worked since he'd last seen her- he'd gotten a brief glimpse of her at the UFO wreckage site. He told her of the faith healer, the werewolf. The insect swarm and Eugene Tooms. Roland Fuller and Arthur Grable, the alien DNA samples. Deep Throat's death, the X-Files' shutdown, and the tape containing the signals from space. Rose nearly recoiled when he told her of the half man, half liver fluke that lived in the sewers.

And then there was the story of Scully's abduction. He recounted- in painful detail- Duane Barry's insanity, Alex Krycek's betrayal, the disappearance of Scully and Barry's subsequent death. The way she miraculously reappeared in a Georgetown hospital three months later.

Rose held onto his hand and squeezed it reassuringly when he described Scully being taken. She didn't let go of him until he sighed and moved away from her. "But now, Scully's okay. The only thing that I don't understand is, a man apparently rescued her and then proceeded to show her his face. And Scully won't tell me a thing about who he was- I know that she knows, no matter what she says. I'm worried someone might be threatening her into keeping it secret."

Rose sighed and gave him a sympathetic look. "I don't blame you for wanting to protect her- we all have a friend that has a habit of almost dying. But I don't think you'll be able to make her tell you."

Mulder nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, I know. I just don't want her to go the way of Deep Throat, or anything similar."

"I can understand that," she replied, smiling. "And I do have a bit of good news. Well, it's kind of a mix of good and bad news, but anyway, it's something you need to know."

Mulder gave her an inquiring look. "Go ahead and spill, then."

"Well, I know that a lot of the roadblocks we've been encountering are put in place by someone in the FBI. Someone higher up, who can supervise your division if he or she wants to."

Mulder nodded. "Yeah, I know who it is. I don't know his name, but I always called him the Smoking Man. Because he smokes like a damn chimney. All the time. And I know he's behind a lot of the obstacles, but I can't prove it."

Rose gave him a wry smirk. "Perhaps not, but I could. Seeing as I've gained access to all sorts of tech over the years, I can document things very discreetly. I have cameras the size of a pinhead that go completely undetected by metal detectors. Microphones that can fit beneath your fingernail. I'm prepared."

Mulder looked very impressed at that. "So you're going to give me some of this stuff so I can spy on our chain-smoking friend?"

She shook her head. "No. You see, Fox, you need someone on your side. Someone who can talk their way out of anything and weasel their way around rules and systems and data and spies. You need another partner."

"I don't under-"

She raised an eyebrow at him and grinned. "I'm going undercover. A few days from now, you'll have a new Special Agent working with you on the X-Files."

His mouth fell open. "You're kidding. You're kidding me, right?"

Rose shook her head. "Nope. See, I have some friends that are very good at what they do- namely, the location, creation, spreading, or hiding of information. They've just finished creating a very elaborate paper trail for me. In the eyes of the law, Rose Marion Tyler was born in London in 1967, moved to America eighteen years later and became a legal citizen, and graduated from Harvard at the top of her class with a bachelor's degree in criminology in 1990. I have all the skills and more that come with that degree, don't worry. I-"

"I know that, Rose," Mulder said, smirking. "You're a natural detective- you once solved a homicide in five minutes. And you can talk the skin off a cat in more languages than I've heard of. You're excellent at hand-to-hand combat. Remember the time you kicked the crap out of that mugger that held the both of us at gunpoint when I was sixteen? He probably still has nightmares about it. And if I didn't know any better, I'd say you actually did study criminology, or at least some kind of forensics."

Rose grinned and rolled her eyes. "Flattery will get you nowhere. Now, as I was saying, I graduated on paper in 1990. Was recruited out of uni into the FBI Academy and worked as an intelligence analyst. Very recently, however, I underwent additional training and became a special agent. Tomorrow, I receive new credentials and get assigned to work with you. The only minor problem might be I don't actually have my current credentials on me, but I'll think of something." She underscored that statement with a sly wink.

Mulder's eyes widened, impressed. "That's elaborate. Hopefully you've done your homework."

"Oh, I have," she replied. "I've been alive for over three centuries, Mulder. Tha's plenty of time to 'do my homework', as it were. Relax."

He chuckled. "I am relaxed. One thing's for sure- our, ah, friend won't stand a chance against you."

Rose nodded, still grinning slyly. "You don't mess with the Bad Wolf."

Scully watched, wide-eyed, as the Doctor stepped away from the TARDIS and moved closer to her. When he took note of her expression, he smirked. "You, uh...you all right there, Scully?"

She blinked, then nodded slowly. "I'm fine. It's just...a lot to take in."

He chuckled. "Scully, you haven't seen anything yet. Wait till I show you what's inside."

Scully raised an eyebrow. "Think we'll both be able to fit in there?" she said sarcastically.

"Scully, Scully, Scully..." he murmured, sighing. "Don't you remember what I told you?" She opened her mouth to reply, but he waved his hand dismissively before she could say anything. "Ah, don't worry about it. I'll just show you."

Grinning, he beckoned for her to follow him. "Come along, Scully. Oh, I like that," he said, half to himself as they walked back towards the TARDIS. She rolled her eyes.

Then the Doctor opened the TARDIS' front door, and Scully's jaw dropped. He chuckled, pulling her inside. "Come on, I'll show you around."

Once they were in, he turned around and pushed the door shut. Scully said nothing, just continued to look around the room, wide-eyed. She walked around the console room in a slow circle and stopped at the center, taking in the details.

Stark, clean walls with tiny lights embedded in them. Several sets of staircases going up and spiraling. One going down below the glass-like floor she was standing on. An odd sort of "table" that Scully assumed was a control console, covered in buttons and levers. A small screen was attached to a disk overhead. A light glowed in the center of the tube that stuck out of the center of the console.

"Wow..." she finally got out, turning back around to face the Doctor. "This place...it's bigger on the inside. Just like you said."

He nodded, grinning. "Oh, yes. Love it when they say that!"

Scully tilted her head in confusion. "I'm sorry...'they'?" In response, the Doctor smirked. "Scully, I've been alive for a long time. Over twelve hundred years. I've traveled with a lot of people. Men, women, aliens...even a little robotic dog that liked to call me 'Master'. And all of them, while being very different from one another, have said the same thing: 'It's bigger on the inside'. Hearing that never gets old."

That stunned her into silence for a moment, then she raised her eyebrow, asking "A robotic dog? What, was that your pet or something?"

He laughed softly. "You know what, Dana Scully? I like you. You ask all the questions I never expected to be asked. It's nice." He cleared his throat. "But, yes, I built a robotic dog. Called him K9. Anyway-"

"-How does it work?" Scully asked, cutting him off. "The whole 'bigger on the inside' thing." Before he could answer, she said, "Is it some sort of technology? Or another dimension?"

The Doctor raised his eyebrows at her in surprise. "Yes to both of those questions. Wow, that's clever. Yeah, it's what's called transdimensional technology. Pretty basic, where I come from. It's a sort of...pocket dimension. The interior is in another dimension as opposed to the exterior."

Scully nodded, a small smile appearing on her face to show that she understood. "I like it," she finally said, glancing around the room once more. "Interesting design."

Suddenly, a low hum sounded throughout the room, and the Doctor laughed. "She likes you too, Scully."

"She?" Scully echoed, turning around to study the console. She heard the Doctor coming closer, and he stopped right next to her.

"Yeah. She's sentient. Thinks. I can talk to and for her, because I can understand her. I hear her up here," he said, smiling and tapping his forehead with an index finger. "Telepathy."

"That's...pretty cool," she said slowly, and he nodded. "That it is."

Scully glanced up at the ceiling. "Um...hi. I'm assuming you can hear me."

There was another hum, and the light closest to her flickered. The Doctor laughed again, a look of delight on his face. "She says hello. And wants me to let you know you're the first person besides me to talk to her in about three hundred years. She appreciates it."

Scully smiled, looking back at him. That was when she got a good look at him for the first time since she was a little kid- she hadn't paid that much mind in the hospital, considering she had been fairly out of it. "Nice outfit," she said sarcastically, raising a brow when her eyes landed on his bow tie. "Do all members of your species dress like they're pretending to be professors?"

He rolled his eyes. "Very funny, Scully. Bow ties are cool." In response, she shrugged halfheartedly, smirking. "If you don't mind me asking...what species are you? What's your, ah...race called?"

"Time Lord," he replied, and she scoffed. Her voice radiated sarcasm as she said, "Totally not pompous at all."

The Doctor chuckled. "Oi, I didn't make the rules, alright?" he said in a soft voice. "Broke a lot of them, though. I've got a bit of a rebellious streak." Then he clapped his hands together. "Right. Now, as I told you when you were little, the Old Girl here can travel through both time and space. I could go to Pluto five thousand years in the future and come back here five minutes later. Someone comes with me, I do my best to make sure they aren't missed." He paused, clearing his throat. "I haven't got anyone else traveling with me right now, and I'm rubbish on my own. So..." the Doctor grinned at her. "You still haven't given me your answer."

Scully sighed, shrugged. "People talk about once-in-a-lifetime opportunities and tell you not to waste them. But I doubt they have traveling through time and space with an alien in mind when they say that, even though it would go on that list." Then she chuckled. "I always thought there was no such thing as extraterrestrials. But you proved me wrong." She paused for a brief moment. "I think I'd like to know what else I'm wrong about," she concluded, smiling up at him. "Wouldn't hurt anyone."

The Doctor grinned in response. "Well, that settles it, then. Oh, except for one thing. You have to pick a destination."He paused, drew in a breath. Scully saw the mischief dancing in his eyes as he asked, smiling, "All of time and space, everything that's ever happened or ever will...where do you wanna start?"

She laughed as she thought about his question. There were so many places she was curious about, historical periods she had always wanted to visit...and now, she could. It would be impossible to decide...

Finally, though, she said, "How about the future?"

(A/N: Sorry this took so long! I had a bit of a mental block to work through. I finally made myself sit down and write it all out, and this was the result. Hope you liked it, and leave a review if you did!)