A/N: You may have noticed that I changed the rating from K to T. Well, I thought it was going to be K. But, the Scully in my head has other ideas. She's kinda pushy ;) No mature content in this chapter. I'll warn you ahead of time so, if you don't like that kind of stuff, you can skip over it. And if you do you can say something like, "Oh goody!" and rub your hands together in anticipation. Don't forget to review. Sometimes I respond to reviews...


Frohike and Langley immediately began making themselves at home. Byers, who actually had manners, entered more slowly and peered around.

"Where's Mulder?" Before I could answer, the still open doorway darkened and a shy voice said,

"I'm here." All of the men dropped what they were doing and stared at the man in the doorway. And then it was near pandemonium. I stood off the side, arms crossed in front me watching and feeling bemused. Mulder and the Gunmen's reunion was warm and enthusiastic with jokes and insults and laughs. Despite the awkward necessity of introducing themselves to a man they had known for ten years, the scene was one of the most beautiful displays of bro-mance I had ever seen.

Mulder smiled the broad smile he had given me when I first stepped into the hospital room. He was enjoying the display of manly affection as much as I was. At the knock that came next, I grabbed my wallet from the back of the couch and smiled at the pizza guy. The noise hadn't ceased and as I paid him and made the awkward exchanged of money for three large pizzas, the young man peered into my apartment. He gave me an up and down and remarked,

"Lucky group of guys. Have a good night," He glanced at the side of the top pizza box, "Miss Scully," he gave me a wink and walked back down the hallway. I couldn't decide if I was flattered or creeped out. But I was starving and nearly drooling on myself as I took in the delectable aroma of the pizzas I held. We all descended upon the cheesy goodness like a pack of wolves. Mulder was in heaven as I had predicted.

"It's your favorite," I told him as he was reaching for another slice.

"In that case, I have awesome taste in pizza," he smiled a broad grin at me and took a huge bite. Grease dripped down his chin and I caught it with my napkin.

"Slob," I said playfully.

"Okay you two, you're gonna make Frohike jealous, knock it off," Langley, who had been trying to monopolize Mulder's attention, brought us back to earth.

"Calm down, hippie, I'm about to earn a kiss," Frohike pulled the poster he had carried in out from under the table. "We're gonna need this table to lay these babies out on, but I can give you the run down while we eat." I was all ears, as was Mulder.

"What are these babies of yours?" Mulder asked with a nod at the tube. I was glad he was into this. It was like having no memory of past events didn't interfere with his usual interest or shenanigans. It was odd, but very comforting.

"These babies, Mulder, are satellite images from NASA, the FBI, and the NRO," Frohike and Langley looked entirely pleased with themselves. He continued, "each show similar anomalous activity in the same places at the same times over a period of 10 days. Sometimes it shows up as an imaging error, sometimes as a microburst."

"Do the anomalies show in right place for when Mulder was returned?" I asked anxiously.

"They sure do, G-woman. Where's my prize?"

I leaned over the corner of the table and planted a kiss on Frohike's cheek. He feigned being overwhelmed and I feigned disappointment.

"You didn't turn into a handsome prince," I pouted. That earned a laugh all around, even from Byers who didn't seem to have much to add. Mulder had questions, of course.

"How did you get these images? These programs deal in classified intelligence gathering."

I was shocked. Mulder knew about National Reconnaissance Organization, but didn't have a general idea of how the Gunmen got the information. That was really odd.

"Well, Mulder…" Frohike began what sounded to be a lengthy explanation of his skills and methods. Langley jumped in with his own contributions. And after only a short time of their back and forth I interjected.

"You both have amazing Kung Fu. But remember, you can't tell me, or I'll have to arrest you," I cocked an eyebrow at both of them and they quieted. Frohike said something under his breath about handcuffs as turned to clear the table and I heard Mulder snort and Byers gasp.

"Alright, let's spread these out and have a look then," Mulder said.

The images that were presented didn't make a lot of sense to me, but the guys didn't seem to have a problem reading them. Byers had carefully noted the latitude and longitude of each anomaly. After quite a while of staring at the images and discussing various theories of how and why they appeared the way they did rather than actually showing a UFO, I had a thought.

"With these coordinates, I can make a list of cities and towns where other abductees may be found. If they have symptoms like Mulder's they likely can't tell anyone who they are or where they belong." I instantly regretting saying, "where they belong," but there's no taking words back. I gave Mulder an apologetic glance, but he shook his head and the corner of his mouth turned up. He understood.

Frohike chimed in with enthusiasm, "we already thought of that, Scully. Byers put together some software to help you out with it." I looked over to Byers who was sitting away from the table, staring at the red residue left in his empty wine glass.

"Byers," I said, "you're awfully quiet. Is something…"

Langley immediately jumped in, "he thought he had a lead on his molar pulling princess, but it turned out to be a bust. He's been bummed all day."

So, Byers was still holding out hope that he would find Suzanne Modeski someday. Mulder looked up from his contemplation of an image of central Illinois.

"Molar pulling princess? This I gotta hear."

Frohike and Langley launched into the story of the mysterious and beautiful scientist and how the Lone Gunmen had met each other and Mulder. Byers got up from the table and grabbed a laptop. I followed him and we sat together on couch.

"I'll help you with this, Scully. It's not the best program I've written. I didn't have time to clean it up for user-friendliness." He was nearly forlorn looking. And I put a hand out to him and rested it on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Byers."

"It's okay, Scully. Just when I think I should give up, I'm given another false hope. It's time to put an end to it. She's likely dead and then men who took her are above the law." I took his other shoulder and turned him toward me. This poor man had his world yanked out from underneath him. I could relate. I put my hand to his cheek to make him look me in the eyes.

"Never give up on a miracle, Byers, never," I smiled at him and brushed a kiss on his forehead. We spent the next hour or so absorbed in listing cities and towns close to coordinates that had been plotted on the satellite images. I emailed the list to Agent Doggett with a brief explanation that "kidnap victims" may be found in hospitals in or around the places listed. I promised I would explain more in the morning, but that if he wanted to, he could get started putting out feelers tonight.

I leaned back from the keyboard and stretched out with my feet under the coffee table and my hands on top of head, leaning against the back of the couch. I was tired and said as much to Byers. I laughed a bit as I added, "Kung Fu spying is hard work." Byers finally smiled and gave a bit of a chuckled. He turned so that he was leaning on the arm of the couch and looked away from me, then back and said,

"Does Mulder know?"

I yawned and replied, "Know what?"

Byers narrowed his eyes and gave a pointed nod at my belly. I stiffened, sat up and croaked,

"How?... No, he doesn't. How the hell do you know?" A million thoughts of government databases, underground filing systems and suspicions toward Skinner and my OB raced through my mind. Byers scooted closer to me, but he looked scared.

"I… I may not be very good at talking to women, Scully. But, I pay attention. Not having a lot to say gives me time to take in a lot more than those two," he nodded toward the dining room. "You, uh, you…" he stammered, he really wasn't good at talking to women. "You look beautiful, Scully. I'm happy for you."

I smiled at him, "thanks Byers. You know what I said about never giving up on a miracle?" He nodded. "Mulder said that to me once. I had given up on having a baby of my own. He was right. Maybe your miracle is still waiting for you too."

"Maybe, Scully, I hope you're right." And with that, he went to join the boys in whatever geek-a-rific game they had spread over my table. I listened to the sounds of their amiable insults and gruff laughter. It was soothing to hear relaxed, fun voices again. I lay down on the couch and let the lullaby of men at play carry me off to sleep.

When I woke, Mulder was thumbing my hair behind my ear and whispering my name.

"Dana, wake up." He cupped my cheek in his big hand and drew a thumb across my eyebrow. I sighed and put my hand to his, turned my face into his hand and kissed his palm. I finally opened my eyes to see his hazel ones gone soft and inviting.

"It's late. You should lock up behind me, I'm gonna go." He leaned the few more inches necessary to brush his lips on my cheek. I turned my head again and our lips met. I felt him stiffen in surprise, but then he relaxed again and took my mouth with his. Warm desire spread through my body and pooled deep in my belly. I broke the kiss but held the back of his head and pressed our foreheads together.

"Don't go," I whispered. I knew the time wasn't right to quench the desires of my body, but I also didn't want to be alone, and I didn't think Mulder did either. He nuzzled his face i into my neck and whispered back,

"I'll never leave."

We spent that night chastely dressed, but in each other's arms warm and safe.


Next up... Doggett reports to Kersch & Scully's strategy yields results...