Shameful.

Glasgow, Kentucky.

May 23, 2010.

She woke up on a couch, blankets tucked around her body. She was in a living room, with men lounging in chairs on either side of her. Mulder was flipping through the channels on an old TV, and Gene was writing something in a journal. She felt dazed, but otherwise unharmed. She shifted around to grope at her back, finding smooth skin rather than a gaping wound.

Mulder looked up when she moved, a cute smile on his face. He sunk from his chair to the side of the couch, taking her hand and kissing the back of it. "How do you feel?"

"Confused," she responded croakily.

"You had a run in with our ghosts. It tends to be confusing."

"I was… I was stabbed. What happened to the wound?"

"It was…" Mulder glanced at Gene, cringing at his own words. "Paranormal in nature."

"So I wasn't stabbed?"

"You were, but it was just a cruel joke on their part. It was all in your head."

She dug her fingers into her back, feeling a knot in her flesh. It was responding to a wound it thought she had received. Just thinking of it made her shiver.

"I think I know what happened to you." Mulder put his hand over hers, his fingers smoothing over the previous sight of her wound. "I think… I think we lived out the last conversation our ghosts had. Pieces of it, anyway." He rested his chin over his hand for a moment, and then sat back on his knees. "Gene dug up the story on them while you were out."

Scully looked at the scientist, having lost most of her loathing for him. He seemed chummy enough with Mulder, and he had made up for leaving him by coming back to get him. He still seemed a little flighty, but she was lying on his couch at the moment. She had to be diplomatic.

"Tell me the story," she said quietly.

"Well, now that we know, er, roughly how the girl died, I was able to ask better questions. I don't have names or anything, but I contacted John and got in touch with the local tribe leaders. They let me interview some of their elders."

"Elders are responsible for the passing on of oral history," Mulder said. He stroked her hair back, though his mind seemed to be far away.

Gene glanced at him, and then went on. "I spoke to one in particular – the only one who didn't hang up on me, actually – who heard a story by chance in his youth, from another tribe."

"Get to the ghosts, please," Scully said.

Mulder spoke quietly, ominously. "They withheld most of the details, but the story is pretty straightforward. We know the ghosts lived in a cabin by a meadow, with a river passing behind it. We know that they were siblings – the elder provided that part – and that they died in a shameful way. Based on what we experienced earlier, I think the brother may have killed the sister, perhaps to keep her from leaving. Either someone killed him, or he killed himself."

"I don't see how that helps us free them."

"The elders told me where the bodies were buried," Gene cut in. He grimaced a little. "I was threatened with the wrath of nature if I dare disturb them, but at least I know where they are."

"Gene here took one for the team," Mulder said. He stood up, holding out his hand for her. "Come on. We're going on a body hunt."

She stared at his hand, unsure. "Are you sure I should go?"

"You didn't really get stabbed. Man up."

She twisted her lips, glad for his childish humor. It was nice to see him back to his old self. "I mean, are you sure you don't want to go alone and howl at the moon?"

He crouched down again, suddenly in her face. He pressed a quick kiss to her lips, giving her an adorable look, successfully blending seriousness and playfulness. "I need you to be my partner again, Scully. I'm helpless without you."

She took his hand, smiling, and stood up. She felt sore, like there was still a knife wiggling around in her back, but she had to convince herself there was nothing there. Mulder led her to the front door, leaning into the frame for a moment, gazing at the van, before he called over to Gene. "Can I have the keys to the spy wagon?"

Gene joined them by the door, the keys locked securely in his hand. "I have to drive. Government property. Sort of."

Scully followed them, glancing around at the neighborhood. She could remember what had happened clearly – the images of trees, the young man staring back at her from the cabin. She he no solid way to explain it.

"Hey, we're going to desecrate a body," Mulder said from the passenger's seat, smiling at her. "Just like old times, huh?"