Scully woke the next morning to the smell of fresh coffee, and smiled sleepily to herself. As she sluggishly got out of bed, she went to grab her robe, but thought against it, after her recent late night revelation. She fixed her slightly disheveled appearance, and a smirk appeared on her face at the sight of her flannel pajama pants and her tight fitting tank top, sans bra.

As she made her way into the main living room and kitchen area, Mulder's back was to her, and she slowly crept up behind him. She stretched up on her tip toes, and leaned into his back to see what he was cooking. He stiffened and startled at first, before relaxing into the contact, a smile touching his lips.

"I thought we already established that I have the ability to cook, Scully?" He said jokingly, still not turning to face her.

"I think it's going to surprise me every time." She teased as she hopped up on the counter next to where he was standing at the stove. She stole a piece of fruit from the bowl and he finally turned to playfully glare at her. His eyes widened slightly as he took a subtle glance at her outfit and he swallowed the lump in his throat. She smirked into her coffee cup, reveling in the effect she had on him.

"Well maybe you should get used to it." He said in a small voice, realizing the possible implications of his words. She slowed her chewing, and mulled over the thoughts bouncing around in her mind. If they fell into this comfortable routine in just one morning, who's to say they couldn't always do this? They both knew they were avoiding the confrontation of their feelings, but enjoying the lightness between them.

"I, uh, thanks for making breakfast again." She said as she cleared her throat.

"Oh, you thought this was for you? I mean, I guess I could make you some, too." He said as she playfully hit his arm.

"Shut up, Mulder." She said before catching her breath at the realization of their close proximity. She didn't know how they moved so close together, but his mouth was lingering just before hers. Just as both of their mouths opened slightly to each other, the ringing of the phone caused him to close his eyes and exhale deeply in defeat.

"Yeah, Mulder." He answered annoyed at the moment being lost.

"Oh, sorry, I thought I was calling Dana's phone. There's been a development, the latest victim strangled herself just an hour ago after they made their morning rounds. She figured out the switch off schedule, and found her opportunity. Whatever drug was in these people's system is stronger than we thought." Reid explained exhaustedly.

"Do you need us to meet you up there at the hospital, or are you heading back here then?"

"I was actually hoping Day could head to the lab right away and get whatever she can find from the blood samples. We need to figure this drug out and where it's coming from if we are going to stop it. Can I speak with her for a moment?"

"Oh, right, sure." Mulder said slightly flustered, not realizing he had even picked up Scully's phone on accident. He handed the phone to her sheepishly, and she gave him a puzzled look.

"Scully."

"I really hope that him answering your phone means it got mixed up last night while you two finished your evening." Reid teased into the phone. Color instantly tinged her cheeks and she bowed her head, turning slightly away from Mulder.

"What can I help you with, Sheriff Coleman?" She said pointedly, trying to mask the embarrassment in her voice. He knew her better than that, calling her bluff.

"So I was interrupting something, oh do tell."

"Would you stop? God, some things never change." She said as she shook her head. "What do you want?"

"Well I already briefed your boyfriend on the newest developments, so he can fill you in on the details, amongst other things, I'm sure." He leered into the phone. "Basically the lady, even though insane out of her mind, was brilliant enough to figure out rounds and switch off schedules to strangle herself earlier this morning. I need you to use these skills you claim to have and find something magical in her blood."

"Geez, this drug must be incredibly powerful. She was being flushed with fluids for almost 24 hours, and she still managed to kill herself. I'll get ready and head over the lab, are you meeting us back here then?"

"Yeah, I mean, if that's not intruding on your date or something." He teased.

"Thanks for the information, Sheriff Coleman. My partner and I will see you soon." She said mocking the formalities of her statement. She smiled as she hung up the phone, it fading from her lips as she noticed the annoyed look on Mulder's face. He was moving his food around on his plate, appetite lost already.

"After breakfast we can head down to the precinct. Reid filled you in on the newest information?" She asked cautiously.

"Yeah, somehow I don't think I got the fun breakdown you did though." He unintentionally spat at her. He gritted his teeth, not even an ounce of apology running through his mind.

"He's my friend, I'm not going to apologize for that. I've known him for years, so yeah, things are different with us." She said defensively.

"I just thought you'd be able to maintain a professional demeanor while we're working an active case. I never pegged you for one to let your personal relationships affect the way you behave at work." He said through a clenched jaw. He could feel her glare burning through the top of his head, his gaze facing towards his plate, avoiding her eyes.

"How dare you. I never -" She stopped her words, exasperated with the man before her. "Maybe you're right, maybe I just make things personal all the time." She threw her fork on her plate and got up from her seat angrily, stalking to her room and slamming the door behind her.

He remained sitting at the table, cradling his head in his hands, eyes closed. He knew he was being a hypocrite, letting his own personal feelings get in the way of how he was acting towards her recently. He wanted to apologize, but knew it was hopeless because he would lose his mind at the next Reid interaction. He cleaned up the kitchen and was startled by the knocking at the door.

"Reid, you got here fast." He said monotone, already agitated by his presence.

"Yeah, I was already heading back when I called. Dana called and asked for a ride to the precinct, she said you were going to check in on something else?" Reid asked with genuine interest. He could tell she was upset on the phone, but she wasn't giving up any information, not that he expected her to right away.

"Oh, I wasn't aware there was a change of plans." Mulder said, trying to hide the pain in his voice.

"There is. I'm going to have Reid take me to the lab, why don't you wait here for the mail. You should be receiving the package today, so call us when it arrives and we can go from there." She said sternly as she walked into their conversation, leaving no room for argument.

Mulder and Scully glared at each other, having a silent, intense discussion with their eyes. He gritted his teeth as she pursed her lips, and she stalked past him out the front door. Reid could feel the tension in the room, and just followed her wordlessly.

"So, we going to talk about it?" Reid asked cautiously as they got into the car.

"Nope." She said with finality, knowing that wasn't really the end of the conversation. She knew it was almost a 10 minute car ride, and Reid would use every second to pull it out of her any way he could until reaching success. She let out a heavy sigh of concession, knowing she was already going to lose this battle. "I might as well just tell you, you won't leave me alone until I do."

"Ah, see, you are still smart after all. What happened? It was like I had walked into a battlefield of emotions back there."

"He's just so-" She growled in frustration. "He has been nothing but a tenacious jerk this entire trip. I don't know what's got into him, but I can't handle it anymore. He accused me of making things personal, but it seems to me that he's letting whatever the hell is wrong with him cloud his behavior." She scoffed as everything came flowing out of her.

"Do you want my opinion?"

"Do I even have a choice?"

"Yeah, you're right. It's just up to you to listen to it. Day, the only reason he's acting that way is because he's insanely jealous. He wants to be the one to make you smile, and laugh, and be the only guy in your life that can do that. I'll admit, I've been pushing him just to watch him react, but it's only proving my point."

"It's not like that with us. That's not-"

"Okay, for the advice thing to work, you're going to have to be honest with yourself first. I knew the minute you walked into my office that I never had a chance. You two have this crazy connection that no one could ever come between."

"No one except busty brunettes of his past." She mumbled under her breath.

"Ah, so there's more to the story then."

"It's just-" She said with a heavy sigh of resignation, knowing she needed to talk to someone about it. "He had this woman come back into his life unexpectedly, and they had a - past. My gut told me that I couldn't trust her, but he insisted at following her down whatever rabbit hole she led him to. When I confronted him about her, with facts, he accused me of making it personal. I was livid that he would even have the audacity to question that." She let out in one breath.

"Day, I love you, but you've got it bad. You're both being hypocritical about your feelings, because that exact situation is happening to him right now. Someone from the past, coming back and making him feel like an outsider. Sound familiar?"

"You know, I think I'm going to go back to ignoring your opinions." She said as she crossed her arms annoyed.

"Stop running from how you feel, and oh I don't know, try actually having a conversation with him." He teased at her. She smirked at his playfulness and glanced towards him.

"As much as I don't like you right now, thank you. I don't think I realized how much I needed to talk to someone. I've missed you." She said in a hushed voice as she reached over to gently squeeze his hand.

"Anytime, Day. But I will say, I'm giving him one more chance to not completely screw this up, and then I'm turning on the full charm to make you fall madly in love with me." He leered at her.

She playfully hit him on the arm, ignoring his sentiments and playing them off as a joke. She knew how he felt about her, and while she was here, thought about how easy it could be between them. But that's not what she wanted. She's known what she wanted since she found herself laying on Mulder's bed in Oregon while he poured his heart out to her on their first case.

"I think he's just as scared as I am to do anything about how we feel. I've pushed aside my own personal feelings to make sure that our work always came first. I never wanted to ruin what we had, or jeopardize our friendship. That's why I was so agitated and hurt when he accused me of making this personal." She said in a small voice.

"Well then maybe you're the one who needs to make the first move."

"I can't do that. I don't know how to even fathom the thought of throwing myself at him."

"Oh, I think you know exactly how to do that. Maybe you should take some notes from 17-year-old Dana Scully." He teased, stealing causal glances to watch the realization hit her face.

"Oh god! I can't believe you even remember that. I was so mortified. I still completely blame you for that, by the way. You intentionally got me drunk, and sent me to Marcus' house at midnight." She said as she buried her head in her hands.

"You just needed some liquid courage. His face was priceless when you flashed him through his bedroom window though. That is, before his dog woke up his entire household. I almost wish I would have recorded all of that from my view in the getaway car." He said as he chuckled at the memory. She groaned at the details, smiling as she remembered her past.

"I barely made it to the car with my shirt buttoned back up before his parents came running outside at the noise. I was so embarrassed."

"Why? It worked out, if I remember correctly, you got the guy." He said with a genuine sincerity in his voice. "Let me know if you need that kind of courage again, I'd be glad to see what present day Dana Scully is like with some liquid courage." He said as he playfully winked at her. She shook her head at him, somewhat relieved as they finally pulled up to the precinct.

"Alright, Doc. I'll leave you to the lab. I'll check in with Mulder and see if he received anything in the mail yet. Call up if you find anything, as much as I love spending time with you, I really want this to be over."

"Sounds good, be nice." She said with a point of her finger at him. He feigned being hurt by her warning, and she jokingly glared her eyes at him.

She had been in the lab for several hours, running tests on the blood work and examining the latest victim's body that had arrived shortly after she did. There was nothing in the scans, but she knew the drug was some sort of hallucinogen. Their main focus was finding how it was ingested, but there was no residue on any of the contents on either victim's packets. An idea popped into her head, and she inspected the inside of the victim's nose, swabbing it for residue. Her eyes widened as she found a sticky substance just on the inside of the nasal cavity. She immediately sent the new evidence to the lab for testing, and called Mulder right away.

"Mulder."

"Hey, it's me. I think I found something." She said excitedly about the potential break in the case. "There was some kind of substance in her nasal cavity. It looks like a liquid of some sort, so I don't know how it would have been inhaled."

"I don't know, I received my package today, but there was nothing suspicious about it when I opened it." He said distractedly.

"Wait, you already opened it? Mulder, that could be dangerous to you! We need to get you to a hospital right away, or at least come here so I can examine you." She said frustrated and worried for what danger he was potentially putting himself in. She turned at the sound of Reid making his entrance into the lab, and gave him a small smile.

"Yeah, uh, I'll head down there as soon as I'm done with this online registration thing. I wanted to make sure I followed all the instructions the other victims did."

"Mulder, please hurry. I'm, I - uh, I'm just worried." She stammered out.

"Come on, Scully. Have a little faith in me. I've dealt with some mind control before, and didn't pull the trigger on myself then." He scoffed out bitterly.

"That's not funny, Mulder. Please, just hurry up. I can send Reid to come pick you up."

"No offense, but I'd rather not. I'm leaving now, I'll meet you soon." He said as he disconnected the call. She slammed her phone shut, completely exasperated with him already.

"I was coming to check and see if there's an update, but I can tell you've definitely got some great news." Reid said sarcastically as he walked over towards her. He pulled her in for a hug, and she willingly relaxed into his embrace.

"He's just so-" She said as she growled into his chest.

"So you've said before. Wanna talk about it?"

"No..." She said with a heavy sigh. "He just pulls these stunts, and he's so reckless sometimes. I'm just worried that he's putting himself at an unnecessary risk."

"Well it's a good thing he's got you to have his back then. I couldn't think of a better person for the job. He's a lucky son of a bitch." He said as he rubbed her back for comfort. She chuckled into his chest, enjoying the moment. They didn't realize how long they were embracing until they heard the scoff come from the entrance of the lab.

"Sorry for interrupting, I can see you guys are really hard at work here." Mulder said as he clenched his jaw and turned on his heels to leave. She immediately distanced herself from Reid's embrace, running after Mulder.

"Would you stop, please?" She said as she caught up to him while he waited at the elevator.

"I didn't mean to bother you two in your important work. I can come back later." He growled at her.

"Mulder, please. I need to examine you and make sure you weren't exposed to the drug. I don't think I can handle it if you try to-" She paused, catching her breath in her throat at the thought of him killing himself, of losing him. She licked her lips and fought back the tears in her eyes. He could instantly see the shift in her demeanor, and walked towards her on instinct.

"Hey, nothing's going to happen to me. I think I've proven by now I'm pretty indestructible." He said as he shakily reached over to tuck a stray hair behind her ear.

"That mentality is what worries me the most." She said as she huffed out a small laugh. "Please, just let me check on you to at least ease my worries."

"Okay, sure." He said as he nodded in agreement. She led him back to the lab and caught Reid's gleam in his eyes.

"The lab report was just faxed over. Whoever is doing this is using some hell of a drug." Reid said as he walked towards Scully. She instructed Mulder to sit on one of the tables, and then turned her attention back towards Reid.

"They finally found a trace of it? From what, I sent over a few things." She said as she scanned through the reports.

"From the nasal cavity. Looks like the science whiz is as good as she says she is. Nice catch, kid." He leered at her and she flashed him a mocking glare.

"Mulder, do you remember ever touching your face when you opened the package?" She said turning her attention back towards him sitting on the table.

"Uh, no. Wait...when I opened it, I sneezed and covered my face I guess. But there was no residue on my fingers or hands." He said puzzled by her questioning.

She slapped on her gloves and walked towards him with the swab in her hand. She situated herself directly in front of him, practically between his legs. She leaned in closely to examine his nasal cavity, her face lingering just before his. They exchanged a few glances, both hiding the smile beginning to touch their lips. Reid watched in amusement, knowing they were hopefully somewhat moving in a positive direction.

"Mulder..." She said basically into his agape mouth. She wet her lips nervously and moved away from their close proximity. "I think you inhaled the drug. There's a residue on the swab. Somehow, they've liquified it, and when you sneezed and covered your face, you were exposed. We need to get you to the hospital to see if we can flush it out of your system before it's too late." She said in a small voice.

"So they're drugging people, but where does the mind control come into play. Why is this specific trip making people suicidal?" Reid asked exasperated with the lack of answers.

"Wait, you said you went online right after, correct?" Scully asked Mulder.

"Yeah, there's instructions for a special registration. There wasn't anything to it though, other than asking a bunch of semi-depressing questions that make recovering alcoholics really think about their life choices. It was actually worse than the original dating profile." He said nonchalantly.

"Maybe, mixed with the drug, there's some kind of mental game it's playing. We need to find out who's operating the site, and have it shut down immediately. Without the combination, you should just come off the trip normally." Scully said excited with the newest epiphany.

"I'll get my team on doing the back office dirty work. I'll meet you guys at the hospital in a bit." Reid said as he picked up his phone and dismissed himself.

"Come on, you're going to the hospital until this drug is completely out of your system, even if I have to restrain you." She said with a rise of her eyebrow.

"Oh, Scully. I didn't know you liked to play rough." He leered at her. She missed the innuendos, they were rare these past few months.

"Well maybe if you survive this one, I'll let you find out firsthand." She said with a mischievous smirk touching her lips. She cleaned up the rest of the lab, and took off her temporary sterile gown she threw on over her clothes. She gathered her things and glanced back at Mulder as she stopped at the entrance. "Do I need to drag you out of here?"

"Wh - no. I'm, uh, coming. Sorry." He stammered out. He was so completely shocked that she was actually playing back at his innuendos, it caught him off guard. He loved it.

They made their way to the hospital, and she situated Mulder into a room. She made him change and get comfortable, not leaving any opening for him to argue with her about this plan. As stubborn as he was, he loved when she took care of him.

"I'm putting you on a mix of a few antibiotics, and fluids. Mulder, this could get difficult. You're going to have to go through a major withdrawal." She said sympathetically.

"I think I'm at least pretty safe here."

"Yeah, well that's what we thought about the last victim." She scoffed in a small voice. Her fear about the situation was rising, and she was worried for him.

"Scully, hey...I'm not going anywhere." He said as he reached for her hand. She moved over to his side, and grasped onto it. They exchanged small smiles at each other, reassuring them both that they would make it out of this one, too.

"Me either. I'm going to be right here, until I know you're clear of all of this. I'm not letting you die on me, not yet." She said with strength in her voice, more so to convince herself to believe her own words.

"Nah, don't think you can get rid of me that easily." He teased as she chuckled at his attempt to mask the situation with humor.

"Yeah I know, trust me, I've tried a few times." She teased back. Reid made his presence known by clearing his throat, not wanting to break up their little moment, but needing to relay important information.

"Sorry, we caught the guy who runs the site. It took a few firewalls to break down, but we found the main IP address. He admitted to everything, but said he didn't know how many packages have been sent out. He's a recovering alcoholic himself, and also a brilliant chemist. We shut down the website, but he said the hallucinogen depresses the brain, making every doubt become extreme enough to commit suicide, with or without the website. That was more of an enhancer." Reid explained carefully.

"Did he say how long the drug will take to run its course, if they don't, uh-" She stammered, not wanting to say it.

"He said it could take anywhere from 2-4 days. Hopefully with the fluids in his body, we can speed up the process." Reid said sympathetically. "It's going to get nasty though, he was rambling about the drugs he mixed and liquified, and there's a lot mixing in the system right now. We sent out a warning to the entire manifest of subscribers, hopefully with enough time for them to prepare."

"Okay, thank you." She said in a small voice, turning her attention back to Mulder. "We're going to get through this." She said with a promise in her voice. He relished in the word 'we,' knowing she would always be by his side.

"I'll leave you two alone, I just wanted to fill you in." Reid said as he turned to leave. Scully excused herself momentarily and followed him out into the main hall, standing in the window, Mulder watching them closely.

"Thank you, for everything. I'm glad we were able to end this. We all make a pretty good team." She said lightly as she bumped his arm with hers.

"I think I'll feel better when I know he makes it out of this, too. But you're right, we did good work. I'd like to think it was my charm that motivated you, but I can clearly see that things are progressing with you two." He teased at her.

"I don't know. It's always like this with us. We're close when it's a life or death situation, but we can somehow never move that into our time away from work. I suppose that would be carrying it over into our personal lives, which he isn't a fan of." She scoffed as she crossed her arms in a protective stance.

"Don't sell him so short yet, give him a chance to prove that that's what he wants, too. I can tell you both are just as stubborn when it comes to your feelings, so it might take you a minute to get there, but he's a good guy. I can tell you I never have to worry about him not protecting you, he watches you like a dog." He said as he subtly gestured towards the gaze staring at them through the window.

"We work well together, our partnership is strong." She said in a small voice as a smirk touched her lips at the truths being thrown around.

"Yeah, you might be good at other things together, too." He leered at her. Her eyes widened and she playfully swatted at his chest. He grabbed her arm and pulled her in closer. He planted a chaste kiss on her lips, lingering there a little longer than he did the first time.

"Reid..." She whispered into his mouth, not pulling away yet.

"I just figured that was my last chance to do that. The minute he breaks out of this joint, I don't stand a chance." He flashed the charming grin at her that he knew so well. She let her mouth curve upwards, shaking her head at him.

She was broken from the moment at the beeping of the monitors coming from Mulder's room. She ran inside to check what happened, fear rising at the sight before her. She had never seen him so angry, fury burning through his eyes. He was moaning and cradling his head in his hands, heart rate increasing.

"Mulder, hey, calm down. It's me, I'm here." She attempted to mutter reassuring sentiments standing at the foot of his bed. He turned his attention to her, and her breath caught in her throat at the look in his eyes. She had never seen him look at her with so much...hatred. She fought back the tears that stung her eyes, and moved in closer to him.

"Dana, he could hurt you, he's absolutely crazy right now." Reid said as the doctors came running in to try to control him.

"No, I'm not leaving him. He needs me. I'm not afraid of him." She said more convincing herself than anyone else listening. She slowly approached the head of his bed, and reached to grab onto his hand. They had managed to restrain him, and she took that advantage to maintain the contact.

"Are you his next of kin?" The doctor asked hurriedly.

"Yes, I am. I'm also his doctor. How do we control this?" She asked with authority in her voice.

"We were briefed on his case, and we've been thinking the best solution is to put him in a medically induced coma. It'll give him the appropriate time for the drug to run its course, and it'll reduce the chance for danger to him, or anyone else." He explained carefully.

"You - you want to put him in a coma? What if, what if he doesn't wake up? What if that, mixed with the drug, causes the coma to be permanent?" She began to ask sporadically. Her mind was whirling and she couldn't think of an alternate answer.

"Day, think about it. It could be the best solution for him right now. He's more of a harm to himself awake, do you want to take that chance?" Reid asked sympathetically.

"No...just do it." She said in a small voice. The doctor instructed for them to bring in what they needed for the process. She let a small tear escape as she conceded to their plan. She knew she may not get a chance to tell him how she felt, and needed him to know while he was semi-conscious.

"Mulder, I know a lot of things don't make sense right now, and something put enough doubt in your mind to cause this outburst, but I need you to know, that I'm not going anywhere. I will always be here, right by your side." She let out a heavy sigh, increasing the grip on his hand. She could see them administering the drug, and him calming as it surged through his body. She leaned forward, watching him fight the drowsiness taking over him. She ran her fingers softly through his hair, stroking his hairline with feather light grazes. Just as his eyes were fluttering closed and his breathing was evening out, she leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on his temple.

"I love you." She whispered into his ear just as he drifted off to unconsciousness.