Longstreet Motel

Washington, D.C.

"I may not have the X-Files, Scully, but I still have my work," Mulder said, standing up and walking around the small table to plug in his headphones. "And I still have you."

She looked at him, shocked by the words he had spoken so bravely. He did not look at her, his focus on his task, and she wondered what he was thinking.

"And I still have myself," he said as he walked back and sat down with a sigh.

She could not look at him, too many thoughts suddenly crowding in her mind.

"For all that it's worth," he said quietly and bitterly and then she did look at him.

"Mulder-" she began, but he cut her off.

"I know what I saw. I know what happened."

"I know you do."

"It was there. I know it was."

"Mulder-"

"I'm gonna go get some coffee," he said, standing up so suddenly, she pulled back in surprise. "I'll… I just need..."

He walked out without finishing his sentence and Scully sat in the silence of the small room. She let out a deep breath as she rose from the chair and sat in the one he had vacated.

She stared at the reel he had been so intent on bringing back to show the proof recorded upon it. But there was nothing, only hissing silence.

"Oh… what if it's…"

She quickly put the reel back on, a thought suddenly occurring to her. Starting at the ending of the tape instead of the beginning, she listened closely and waited, her heart thumping in anticipation of the possibility there could be something on it.

When it made noise, she jumped back placing a hand on her chest.

"Shit," she breathed, glancing at the tape and then the door, wondering if she should find Mulder or let it play through before she told him. She did not want to get his hopes up, so she decided to see what she discovered first.

High pitched screeching forced her to turn down the volume as she stared at the reel and then covered her ears. It only lasted a few seconds and then it was silent again, allowing her to uncover her ears.

Then words began to be spoken, garbled and backwards, the pitch low and then high-as though someone or something was messing with the speed of it. She heard… Bach? Was that right? It was a short snippet and she leaned closer to hear more.

"Scully."

She jumped back, looking at the door expecting to see him standing there and ready to tell him what she had found, but he was not there. She frowned, confused as to what she had heard, before it was said again.

"Scully."

Her name. Coming from the reel in Mulder's voice.

It was not backwards and it was clearer than anything else she had heard. She drew in a breath as she leaned forward again.

"I don't know what to make of all of this. To explain what happened to Jorge. I don't know and you're not here to help me with figuring it out. You're gone. They took you from me."

Scully exhaled as her mouth dropped open and she felt tears stinging her eyes.

"I don't know how to explain what I've seen. There's something…"

She leaned forward further when she heard his voice grow distant, as though he had walked away from the recorder.

"I feel it in the air. Something thick and heavy. Like a… like a storm is coming, but it's not a storm. I can't explain it."

Bach began to play again, backwards and at a faster speed than she knew it to be and she leaned back, confused.

"Scully," Mulder said on the reel, clear as day, cutting through the music and closer than he had been before. "Scully, I…" He sighed and she leaned in, wanting to capture every word. "I feel like I'm far away, not just in distance but… away. Something is coming and I don't know what it is. If it's like what happened to Jorge…"

There was a scuffling noise and then he was breathing softly.

"He's still covered in goosebumps. I don't know how to explain it. I need to… make a report. To document it all."

Screeching again and she quickly covered her ears, breathing heavily. It lasted only seconds and then fell silent.

"If I don't make it, if I…" Mulder said, close again, so close and Scully uncovered her ears to listen. "I may not get another chance to say this… but I want you to know, Scully. I want you to know how much you have meant to me. You're faith in me. Your friendship. I want you to know that I… I haven't had anyone in my corner in a long time and you… Thank you, Scully."

"GREETINGS ON BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE OF OUR PLANET," the tape suddenly shouted, high pitched and not backwards like everything but Mulder's voice had been and she called out in surprise, her hands on her ears again.

Tears fell as she heard garbled words, Bach, and Mulder crying out as machines whirred and then silence so loud, she would swear she could hear her heart beating.

Breathing heavily, she slowly uncovered her ears and wiped her wet cheeks. The tape was nearly finished and just as she was going to shut it off, sure that it was done, she heard Mulder say her name one last time.

"Scully," he said softly and then the tape ran out, silence falling once again.

"Okay, I got you a coffee too, but that doesn't mean you have to stay," Mulder said as he opened the door, carefully holding the two cups. "Trust me, you're not going to want to be here once I start the surveillance. It's some of the most disturbing conversations you've ever heard."

She watched him as he set the cups down and then looked at her with a forced smile that turned into a frown when he saw her face.

"Scully? You look like you've seen a ghost. What's wrong? Did you accidentally listen to them talking?" He looked at his headphones and then the volume button, frowning again. "Scully?"

"Mulder… you need…" she said, wiping her eyes and sniffling. "You need to hear this. It's… there is something on the tape."

"Scully…"

"No! There is. I just heard it."

"What?" he asked, not sounding convinced. She nodded as she set it up with shaking hands. "How did you…"

"I tried playing it backwards," she explained, turning it back on as he stood beside her waiting to hear it. "It just takes a few seconds. It's loud at first, so you might want to cover your ears."

"Scully, there's nothing on there. We would have heard it no matter how it was played."

"It was here, Mulder. I heard it. I wouldn't make that up. You just have to wait. It's almost there. Just wait…" She was breathing hard again, the wait becoming too much. "I don't understand. I just heard it." She looked at him and she saw sadness in his eyes. "I swear to you that I heard it."

"I'm sure you did," he said softly. "But was it here?" He touched her ear and then her head, just as she had done to him. "Or here?"

"I heard it," she said, shaking her head. "Heard it with my ears. There was Bach playing. And loud voices and machines whining. And you." She looked at him, remembering his words. "I heard you."

"What did I say?"

"You said…" She drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes.

They took you from me.

"You thanked me for being in your corner," she said, opening her eyes. He breathed in sharply and stood to his full height. "Do you remember saying that?"

"I do. But I said it into my personal recorder. Not into anything that would be on this tape." He looked at her and then at the reel still running silently. "There's nothing there."

"Then how did I hear it?" she whispered, also looking at the reel.

"I don't know," he answered, staring at her. "How did you understand it if it was being played backwards?"

"It wasn't playing backwards when you were speaking. I could understand you perfectly."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"No," she said softly. "No, it doesn't. Maybe I thought I heard it. Maybe I… maybe I heard what I wanted to hear." But she knew that was not true. She had heard something.

"What else did you hear?"

"Your worry. That something was coming. I heard your fear that you would die like Jorge."

"How is it possible?" he whispered, shaking his head as he once again looked at the silent reel. "It's blank."

"I don't know how to explain it, but I heard it. I know I did." She stared at him almost defiantly, daring him to contradict her.

"When I was there, it played back what I had spoken into the recorder. Like an echo. A slow, creepy echo."

"It was you. Clear as I can hear you talking to me right now."

They stared at each other as the tape ran out and then he sighed as he shook his head.

"I need to get back to the surveillance," he said quietly.

"Mulder…" she said and he shook his head again.

"Gotta take my medicine," he said bitterly and she sighed. "I'm lucky I wasn't fired."

She stood up and let him have his chair back. Picking up the cup of dark coffee, she handed it to him. She took the other one with her as she sat back down on the chair.

"I can stay here for awhile," she said when he looked over at her.

"You might change your mind once I turn on the audio," he warned and she gave him a small smile.

He flipped it on and watched her face as a conversation began about lap dances versus table dances. She exhaled deeply, closing her eyes briefly as he shook his head.

She reached over and covered his hand with hers, squeezing gently and he squeezed back.

"I don't know how you heard it, but I meant what I said," he told her quietly, grasping her hand as she had attempted to let go. "Every word of it. Thank you for being in my corner." He squeezed her hand once more and then released it.

"You're welcome," she replied and he nodded.

He glanced at the reel and then at her.

"One more time? Just to be sure?"

She nodded, taking a sip of her coffee as he readied the reel, hoping that this time he would hear something.