Title: The Fox and the Hound
Author: MissAnnThropic
E-Mail: miss_annthropic@yahoo.com
Spoilers: set in season 8
Summary: Skinner and Doggett find Mulder in Bellefleur.
Disclaimer: I own nasing! Really, I don't. All you see here (that you recognize, anyway) is the creation of someone else. I take no credit.

****

Assistant Director Walter Skinner had never really thought about it before, nor did he suspect anyone else had either... it had been the least of their problems, to put it bluntly. Finding Mulder... that had been the main mission... the prime directive. Beyond that, not much else had come into consideration. Everything surrounding and involving it was only a means to an end... anything that could be done to finally bring Fox Mulder back to them... back to Dana Scully, who needed him so much.

Walter shifted in the seat slightly, a little uneased by the fact that this unheard of complication would eventually have to be dealt with now. The complication, of course, being Scully's new partner, John Doggett.

Agent Doggett, assigned officially to the X Files after Mulder's disappearance to aid Scully in her investigations, had adjusted as well as could have been expected for someone in his position. Scully did her best to adjust as well... the truth was they were all a little on edge and tense.

Skinner remembered talking to her once, off the record in a private conversation of course, about her new partner. It was shortly after they returned from Arizona, having been so close to finding Mulder. He had asked her, "How do you think Agent Doggett's going to work out?" He'd meant it as much as a question as an apology... communicating that this assignment was not his idea. Scully had considered it a moment, trying to give him a fair and just report not ruled completely by her feelings. For a pregnant woman, that might have been quite a request. In the end she had said bluntly, "He's a cop. I don't know... I guess he'll do fine, but he's not..." Scully had trailed off, but Skinner had not needed her to finish to know what she was going to say. He wasn't Mulder. No, he wasn't.

Skinner, at the thought, looked over at the seat next to him. Agent John Doggett was staring out the small window at the clouds as they seemed to hover on the horizon below them. Definitely not Mulder. Agent Mulder had had a fire, a spunk to him that no agent had been able to duplicate. Scully came close, but certainly Doggett came no where near.

Scully had kept up a good front, but always she was merely a port waiting to welcome Mulder's return. Doggett seemed to get the idea she was just waiting... no ships were to put into port near her dock while she held a vigil for only one vessel.

Skinner had to give Doggett credit for keeping his distance from her. He was formal, polite, but not quite what anyone would consider friendly... which was good, friendly was the last thing Scully wanted. Hell, if he gave her friendly she would have been likely to go off. Skinner had to admit, Scully had been a little short-tempered lately. Blame the hormones, or maybe the frustrated grief of someone who'd lost their partner.

It had been three and a half months since Mulder's disappearance when an anonymous tip came... that a man fitting Mulder's description had been spotted within the woods of Oregon.

At the time, Scully been gone for a day, she had just disappeared. Doggett had become a little frantic... concerned, but Skinner was not worried. He'd received a business card in his mailbox early that morning, right before he checked his messages and discovered Scully's absence. It was a card, completely empty expect for a black image of a bullet on it. The Magic Bullet... the Lone Gunmen. Scully was most obviously with them, and they would look after her, whatever they had gotten themselves into.

Doggett had not seemed assuaged by Skinner's reassurances, but one hard glare from the A.D. and the implication that he'd pull rank had shut the agent up, though he obviously didn't like it. Skinner couldn't really fault him for trying to keep an eye on his partner though... hell, Scully had picked up some of Mulder's habits, and in that light she needed someone watching her back. But she had six eyes on her back right now... hypothetically it was the ideal situation for her at the moment. He assumed the Lone Gunmen believed they'd found a lead, and it was preferable Scully follow it... this tip in Oregon could well be a hoax, and in that case it was good they were investigating all avenues.

Skinner had thought of worming his way through unofficial channels to get in touch with her about the tip, but he decided last minute not to. If this was indeed a dead end, no need to get her excited just to have her disappointed again. It was just as logical that it be checked out before she was told anything had happened, if in fact it turned out to be nothing.

So, without alerting anyone to their intentions or destination, Skinner and Doggett had gathered a few personal belongings (clothes and toiletries), met at the airport, and booked a flight back to Portland, from where they would rent a car and drive to Bellefleur.

The flight so far had been quiet, neither talking to each other. Skinner's only words to Doggett had been to ask Doggett when the drink cart came around if he wanted anything.

Skinner settled back in his seat, suddenly plagued by a multitude of thoughts. Currently, his thoughts were on Scully, choosing to try not to linger on 'what if's' concerning Mulder's reappearance if this was just a trick.

He had to admit to himself, he'd considered this sudden pregnancy more than he should have... more than any other superior would of his agents, but Skinner had justified it with the fact he was closer personally to his agents than other superiors... at least to Agents Mulder and Scully. Hell, he sometimes considered them friends, and outside of old 'Nam buddies, he didn't have 'friends'.

Scully had never told him who the father was... she'd never told him outright it was Mulder's. He knew it was, though. There was no doubt in his mind about that. He knew Scully, she was rational and logical about everything in her life... if she didn't know whose baby it was or knew it was in fact someone else's or someTHING else's she would have aborted it. Previously thought sterile or not, Scully was too much a person who thought with her head to let her heart override that kind of judgment. The only baby she would keep would be Mulder's... ergo the child was Mulder's.

Scully had slowly started to show. Skinner didn't know if others around the office noticed, but he knew what to look for and he had just started to. Her looser shirts had kept it hidden quite well for a while, but it was starting to not be enough. Skinner wondered when the agent was actually going to admit to the world she was with child and stop trying to sneak it around. He understood the reasoning behind her discreteness, though. Mulder and Scully, in their own rights, had both become high profile to a lot of people. Imagine the child of these two conspicuous agents. It would be like the Pope and the U.S. president having a kid together... suddenly the whole world with eyes turned to such a small life... some eyes not so friendly.

It wouldn't be long before she had no choice in the matter, though. He knew it was coming quickly... he'd even overheard a few agents talking in the hall once, commenting on how Agent Scully had put on some weight. Skinner had frozen up a moment, wondering if the secret was about to be deduced before him, but luckily a female agent nearby who'd lost a husband (an army colonel) in a training accident commented that she'd gained ten pounds when she lost Tom. 'Burying your grief in chocolate' she'd called it. Skinner had sighed relief... close one, but soon it would not be questionable. Agent Scully would be obviously pregnant to anyone with eyes.

And Doggett... when was HE going to find out? Scully had insisted on keeping it a secret, even from her new partner, but how long could she keep it from him? Doggett saw her almost every single day... he would be bound to notice sooner or later. He might be a little standoffish and abrasive, but he wasn't dense. Doggett would of course, at that time, assume the child's father was Agent Fox Mulder... at least then he and Skinner would be in the same boat.

And the biggest problem on his mind (aside from the bigger picture problems that he was not ready to mentally tackle yet) was how things would go over between the two men... Fox Mulder and John Doggett... what would their repertoire be? Officially, at the moment, the X Files department had two heads... Mulder and then Scully, with Doggett now occupying Scully's old spot. Scully would not be hesitant about stepping down and relinquishing the title back to its rightful owner when Mulder resurfaced, but where would that leave Doggett? Not having had the resolve to remove Fox Mulder from the payroll and records, Skinner had left Mulder on as the X Files department head, and if paperwork got nasty or higher-ups started pulling strings, there would be three people on the X Files.

Clearly, for an 'outside the bureau mainstream' project, more than necessary for the department. And then Skinner remembered the whole Scully-pregnant thing. Would she resign to take care of the baby? Hell, would Mulder and Scully get MARRIED?! If so (which was a fate he'd much prefer for his continually and unjustly jaded agents), that would leave the X Files team being Mulder and Doggett. Skinner mentally cringed... he didn't quite see that working out well.

Mulder was a very territorial man, and when it came to the X Files he was an outright badger. Scully had worked out, but that was more the exception than the norm... the two agents had just happened to click together, a chemistry that worked out due to pure luck and chance. Doggett and Mulder... he could see that getting ugly.

Doggett was a man with a set mind... almost as much so as Mulder, but in the opposite extreme. Both were defensive, wary... in a sense too much like each other in opposite corners that confrontations were likely... and not only likely, but bound to be nasty.

Where Scully had been an opposing view that bettered Mulder's work, Skinner's only conception of Doggett's opposition would be fighting. He would hope that two grown men would be beyond fighting, but he KNEW Mulder. Mulder, ESPECIALLY to strangers, did not give ground, and Doggett would push his offensive line to try and gain it, even if only for the soul purpose of obtaining something denied him.

Skinner's head was starting to hurt thinking about it. He'd never considered before the pain it would cause when Mulder showed back up. Still, Skinner prayed for the first time in years that this was not a hoax in Oregon... that they could finally bring Mulder home.

Doggett's voice startled him, breaking into his thoughts with that faint New York accent, "Sir, you know something about Agent Scully, don't you?"

Skinner went on the defensive, looking over critically at Agent Doggett a moment, meeting his blue eyes in confrontation a minute, then asked, "Meaning what, Agent?"

Doggett studied Skinner, "I mean you know where she is... you weren't at all worried about her when she up and disappeared like that."

Skinner felt himself relax somewhat. Skinner looked straight ahead, "No... I don't know where she is, but I know who she's with."

Doggett frowned, "And that's good enough for you?"

Skinner answered, "I know it's where she's safe, so that is plenty enough for me." Skinner looked over at him, "She's a big girl, Agent Doggett, she can fend for herself."

Doggett didn't seem to like this rebuff, but he said no more on the matter and glanced back out the window.

Without warning, Doggett stated bluntly, "Agent Scully is pregnant, isn't she?"

Skinner felt himself stutter, startled off guard by the proclamation. His eyes shot over to Doggett, who was gauging his reaction with sharp investigative eyes.

Skinner fought to maintain his cool, stony outward appearance. He looked critically at Doggett a moment, then asked, "Is that something Scully told you?"

Doggett shook his head, "Nah... Agent Scully didn't say a thing... though I think she should have."

Skinner eyed him, "So you actually think she's pregnant?"

Doggett smirked, more pleasantly challenged by Skinner's evasive question that deflated. Doggett retorted, "Well, isn't she? I might not know her THAT well, but even I can see she's put on a considerable number of pounds in the last few months. I've also been around pregnant women before, sir... if she's not, then she's the only one along with all the pregnant women in the world who eat pickles and peanut butter... TOGETHER."

Skinner fought a faint smile... Mulder would have been proud of Scully for that... finally eating more like he did.

Skinner said nothing, though... not about to willingly admitted Scully's secret to a man who might as yet still be undecided.

"Some people have strange tastes, Agent Doggett... Mulder used to eat... EATS mayonnaise on his hamburgers."

Doggett sat still a moment, then asked in a more gentle voice, "She misses him, sir... doesn't she?"

Skinner frowned at this. God yes, she misses him. Was he blind or was this another test?

Skinner nodded, "Yes, Agent... she misses him. You presume to be observant to the point of claiming Scully pregnant but you can't see something as obvious as that?"

Doggett smiled, almost a little cunningly, "She's a very strong, guarded person, sir... surely you must know that."

Skinner knew she well COULD be, had been in the very beginning with him as much as Mulder had, but not for a long time had she been completely closed off to him as she was now to Doggett. Skinner replied with, "I'm aware she's capable of it, yes."

"But she's not like that with you?"

"Agent Doggett," Skinner turned his full attention to John, starting to get a little aggravated with him, "my personal relationship with Scully is different than yours, okay? She's seen things and been though things you could only imagine, so you can understand how for a long time new people are enemies to her until loyalties proven."

Doggett nodded, retorting, "As I'm to understand Mulder is."

Skinner nodded, "That is right, Agent Doggett. Mulder is one paranoid, untrusting, jumpy man... you'd be best to keep that in mind when you meet him."

"If we meet him," Doggett muttered.

"WHEN you meet him," Skinner reiterated, looking directly at Doggett.

Doggett returned the look Skinner gave him, finally nodding relent. Skinner studiously stared a moment at Doggett. For all his challenging mannerisms, he had never actually proven himself a man of low moral integrity. Quite the opposite, actually, his concern for Scully a clear example. She was withdrawn from him, sometimes curt and short, but yet he took the duties of a partner to heart and insisted on looking out for her. Maybe he and Mulder could find that in common enough to break the ice of what was sure to be a frigid confrontation.

Doggett suddenly asked, "Sir... you said I'd be best to keep in mind that Mulder's a jumpy, paranoid man..."

"Yes."

"Is that to insinuate him as dangerous?"

Skinner glanced at Doggett, noting the almost sharp look in his eyes. He considered this a moment, hesitating to answer. It would be so easy to deny that claim, but Mulder had had his moments. He had a definite lack of respect for authority, but how much about that did Doggett know without letting on?

"I seem to recall," Doggett began, "in his personal file during the original investigation that he once attacked you in the hallway."

Skinner's hackles secretly bristled, "That incident, Agent Doggett, was not Mulder's fault. Unbeknown to the rest of us, he was being adversely affected by an amphetamine drug rigged into the water supply servicing his apartment building."

"Why would they do that, sir?"

Skinner sighed in aggravation, turning to Doggett, "Look Agent, there's obviously something you're trying to get at here... why don't you cut the BS and get to it?"

Doggett studied Skinner a long time, then nodded, "All right... I think that Agent Mulder is wanted by a lot of people, else wise all this cloak and dagger stuff surrounding him would be unnecessary and I would pass it off as paranoia as you said were it not for your own indulgence in the conspiracy. I also think that Agent Scully is indeed pregnant and with Agent Mulder's child, placing the baby in some kind of danger from these same people who want Agent Mulder, and that Agent Scully's been keeping this from everyone with some notion that she can protect her unborn from whoever it is that would want it. Now, why Agent Mulder would be sought by so many people I can't say... I suspect that's a question for you to answer, sir, or for that matter what they would want with a baby, and I don't understand why I would be left out of the loop in all of this when my lack of knowledge could well lead to endangering my fellow agent's life."

Skinner studied Doggett a long time, eying him in scrutiny. The stand-off continued for a good minute. Finally, Skinner said, "The answer to your last question, Agent Doggett, is easy. No one knows if you can be trusted. As I said, Agent Scully as well as Agent Mulder have been through so much that they've learned above all else that a stranger can be synonymous with an enemy."

"And this trust debate concerning me," Doggett pressed, "is this an issue of your own?"

Skinner sat silently a moment, knowing full well broaching this subject with Agent Doggett could well put an added strain on their working together, and when the main objective was to find Mulder any complication could be costly. Still, he would not claim confidence where it did not lie.

Skinner stated flatly, "There are questions to your loyalty in my own mind... yes."

Doggett seemed a little put off, but if he was at all upset or angered he did not show it. He simply nodded, looked back out the window, then asked, "And what exactly is it going to take to prove to all of you I'm not the enemy?"

Skinner sat a long moment on this question... it being a good one. For a long time Skinner was quiet trying to think of how to put into actual words the extent of integrity proven it would take to establish trust. Finally, Skinner asked Doggett, "Agent Doggett... would you turn your back to me, unarmed, if I held a weapon trained on you?"

Doggett's eyebrows rose, taken off guard by the question. "Turn my back on you because you ordered me to?"

"No... not ordered... just asked as a show of faith."

Doggett thought a moment, "Well... no sir, I wouldn't, quite honestly."

Skinner nodded, "Whatever it would take for you to turn your back to my trained weapon is the same thing it will take for you to be absolved in our eyes."

Doggett nodding, a reserved understanding coming to his face. Standoffish, indeed; dense, not in the least.

After a long silence Doggett asked a little more neutrally (no longer challenging or testing), "And the other questions, sir?"

Skinner considered the others on the plane who might hear. "In due time," he answered.



****



The arrival at the airport, renting of a car, and most of the drive to Bellefleur went without complications, no further tests or accusations following from Doggett's fiasco on the plane. Skinner couldn't really blame Doggett for wanting to know what was going on and becoming frustrated when he was continually brushed back into the darkness, though. He'd been there before... and it was the small shows of loyalty to his two underdog agents that finally earned him the coveted spot he now had in their opinions. He wasn't disillusioned about it, though. He knew full well it would take a mild infraction on his part to hurl him ten steps back. From each other they could take betrayals of colossal proportions and forgive, from anyone else and that third party was quickly excised from their circle. That was just the way Mulder and Scully worked, and Skinner was all too aware he was not beyond being cast aside should he give them any evidence that his loyalties lay elsewhere.

The Lone Gunmen, who now were looking after Scully while at the same time furthering the search for Mulder, were a perfect example. Mulder and Scully, aside from each other, trusted those three little weirdoes the most, and with obvious just cause. They were fiercely loyal to their constituents and any one of them would lay down in traffic for Mulder or Scully. Hell, in Frohike's case forget lay down in traffic, he'd STOP traffic for either agent. They were allotted more serious forgivable misconduct... even to the point of luring Scully out to Vegas under false pretenses, but yet Mulder and Scully returned to the Lone Gunmen for help again and again... they were the most devoted team of the X Files supporters. And for that, they were shown trust by the two agents.

That got Skinner wondering... how far did Doggett take his devotion to duty? He'd been pretty steadfastly clung to his agent duties as partner and federal employee, but when push came to shove, would he even step off the curb?

That was the big difference between everyone else and Mulder and Scully. Mulder would throw himself against traffic for Scully... if Scully didn't do the same for him first. Their own life and limb took second seat to the safety of the other. The trained weapon scenario Skinner had presented to Doggett was not a metaphor for them... they'd lived it out. Scully had turned an unarmed back to Mulder, he'd done the same for her... they trusted their lives with each other. In fact, oftentimes it seemed Mulder and Scully looked to the other to protect them against themselves.

In the car, away from the prying ears of others, Doggett took the chance to finally ask, "Is Agent Scully all right?"

"What?" Skinner looked briefly at Doggett, not having expected him to talk.

Doggett, silent a long time, asked, "She's okay... right? I mean, all this sneaking around and secrecy... she's not IN DANGER... is she?"

Skinner felt a little bad for having judged so harshly Doggett's intent. He really did try... it was just that when it came to the X Files, effort was not enough.

"John... they're always in danger... but she's as safe as she can be right now. I don't know if that's any consolation."

Doggett frowned, "Not really, sir... who would want to hurt her?"

Skinner wondered how to word it, then said, "There are bigger things going on here... more than you could imagine, Agent Doggett... hell, half the time I can't believe that I believe it... but I've heard and seen and know too much not to fear it. I would be stupid not to fear it."

"Fear what, sir?"

Skinner slowly answered, "There are global... INTERPLANETARY forces at war around us, Agent Doggett..."

Doggett huffed, "That alien thing again? Sir... I don't mean to be a spoil-sport here, but I just don't believe in aliens."

Skinner glanced at Doggett, "I'm not asking that you believe, Agent... I'm only asking that you fear it... for you should."

Doggett considered Skinner's words a long moment. Was there something there? Skinner seemed so sure that there was something to be afraid of... something dangerous out there. And Scully... she seemed just as adamant that whatever shadowy mission it was she hid from him, it was something to be terrified of. She was logical scientist, a woman of reason, and still he could see the deeper drive, a hidden seriousness and apprehension in her eyes. Something must be out there... but surely it couldn't be what they all CLAIMED it was.

Skinner drove past a large blue and white sign, a representation of a sailboat resting above the wooden, white letters that spelled out 'Bellefleur'.

Doggett glanced at the sign, then asked, "Sir... if I'm to believe that there are in fact cataclysmic possibilities waiting in the wings, is it entirely wise to bring Agent Mulder's whereabouts to the surface?"

Walter Skinner was floored by this. Not once had this occurred to him the entire he was seeking Mulder so fervently. He shot a shocked, almost stupefied look at Agent Doggett.

John continued, "If in fact there's even a chance of what you imply... why are we doing this?"

That answer was easy.

"For Scully... that's why we're doing this."

Doggett nodded, quoting solemnly, "Because she misses him."

"Yes," on that Skinner could answer honestly, "because she misses him. And, wherever Agent Mulder is, he misses her just as much. I know... I know that you don't know either agents Mulder or Scully, Agent Doggett, but I do... and they deserve this."



****



Skinner and Doggett stepped into the hotel main lobby, moving to the desk. Interesting enough, it had been the receptionist at this particular hotel that had claimed the sighting of Agent Mulder in the first place.

The bright woman at the desk greeted them, "Hi... can I get you two rooms? We have a special for the next two days on the customer dinners if you're interested in dining with us."

Skinner withdrew his badge, brandishing it briefly for the woman, "We're with the FBI, are you Megan Toler?"

"Why, yes I am... am I in trouble for something? FBI?"

Skinner shook his head, "No, ma'am, no trouble... we understand you reported sighting a missing person lately?"

Megan cocked her head, indicating she wasn't quite sure what they were talking about but not wanting to seem difficult or contradictory.

Skinner withdrew from his pocket a picture of Fox Mulder, holding it up to the woman, "Have you seen this man?"

The woman's eyes flashed recognition at the picture, "Oh, yeah... that guy in the woods. Saw him a few days ago... out by old woman Grettie's house."

"Old woman Grettie?" Doggett stepped up to inquire.

"Yeah, some old spinster who lives up there. She doesn't come down into town much... prefers to live out in the woods by herself. I saw that man out and about there."

"Did he look coherent?"

Megan looked quizzically at Doggett's question, answering with her own, "You mean was he stumbling around and stuff? No... no... he looked fine to me. Well, more than fine if you ask me; he is way too young for Grettie."

Skinner felt like sneering, instead asking, "Could you give us directions to this woman Grettie's house?"

"Yeah, sure... let me draw you a map and you two can shuffle right on out there."



****



Doggett stopped in his step, looking up above him at the canopy of trees. He didn't like it, the foliage was thick this time of year and made finding the sun difficult. Call him old fashioned, but Doggett trusted the best navigation to the sun. When he'd been in the Gulf War, he'd looked to the sun for direction before his instruments... suppose it was just his ways.

Doggett huffed, looking down at Skinner, who was moving up beside him with his face buried in the sketched map, "Sir, are you sure this is a good idea? We have no idea where we are... is there a compass rose on that map?" Doggett reached for the paper.

Skinner pulled it out of Doggett's reach, insisting politely, "We're headed due southeast, Agent Doggett... if in fact we get lost I trust between the two of us we could find northwest."

Doggett frowned, "How do you suggest we figure a reciprocal reading with this foliage coverage? We couldn't find our way out of here if our lives depended on it, and that ain't a good feeling, sir."

Skinner glowered to himself, "Agent Doggett, please... I think we're almost there. If we just head in that direction..." Skinner looked up, pointing to his right.

As he did so he froze, staring into the trees. Doggett caught Skinner's attentive stance and stood still, eyes scanning for what had caught his attention.

"You there!" Skinner called out, "Identify yourself!"

Then Doggett saw it... a movement in the distance... a figure moving among the trees.

Skinner placed the map quickly in his pocket, moving forward, "We're with the FBI, I want to talk to you."

The person in the shadows moved, paused... then took off running.

Within an instant both Doggett and Skinner were in pursuit, running quickly through the woods after the evader.

Rushing quickly through the brush, dodging trees and bushes, Doggett and A.D. Skinner moved quickly through the forest, the dark figure always just in their line of vision.

Suddenly they lost sight of him.

Skinner pulled up, looking around in urgency.

Doggett came up beside Skinner, finding that he too had lost visual of the person they pursued. He stood still only a moment, then noticed a disheveled patch of leaves to their left, "I think he went this way," and took off in that direction.

Skinner stood back a moment, eyes scanning the forest a second or two, then he moved after Doggett.

Doggett was charging in the direction of the disrupted trail when it hit him... well, literally HE hit him.

From behind a tree, unexpectedly, a man lunged at him. Taken off guard, Doggett was toppled. Skidding to the leaf-littered ground, he soon felt the weight of someone on top of him. At first, before Doggett could even pull his face up from the ground, he thought the attacker meant to pin him, the weight of the stranger pushing down on him with practiced ease. He quickly felt large hands test his waist, finding with deft accuracy his holster and withdrawing the clipped weapon before the downed agent had a chance to make a counter offense... this guy was good... this guy knew what he was doing.

The man, having taken Doggett's weapon, jumped away from him, leaving him sprawled on the forest floor.

Doggett lifted himself up from the ground, looking up to find his attacker, who now was armed. He looked up to find himself looking over the barrel of a gun... looking over the barrel of his own gun not to a stranger, but to none other than Fox Mulder.

At least, it LOOKED like Mulder... after the little incident in Arizona, however, he was not so quick to be certain. Instead, Doggett slid back slightly from the aimed weapon, calling out over his shoulder, "SIR! OVER HERE!"

Doggett looked back up at the man that APPEARED to be Mulder, staring a long time at his own weapon, trained on him. He almost hoped he wasn't actually Mulder... he wasn't feeling good about the idea that a man with FBI trained marksmanship was aiming right at him.

The man's hazel eyes, locked on Doggett suspiciously, were glaring warily at him. Doggett could see the question burning in his mind, 'who are you?' The man before him did not look EXACTLY like Fox Mulder... at least none of the recent pictures he'd seen. His hair was longer... looking more like the two year-old images of Fox Mulder at the time of his abduction... he was thinner... unless Fox Mulder just happened to carry 180 more thinly appearanced than typical, and he looked like he'd not shaven in three days.

The Mulder look-a-like's eyes jerked up when a nearby sound caught his attention. Seconds later Walter Skinner came into view.

Skinner jerked to a stop when he saw Mulder, eyes widening in surprise and gun falling to his side. Skinner stood a moment, catching his breath, then asking, "Mulder?"

"Sir?" The voice of the man responding was not a voice of malice... it was one of weak disbelief. Doggett looked over at Mulder... the gun had dipped lower, no longer trained on his head, as the man stared in obvious shock at the A.D.

A moment of silence passed, then suspicion seemed to jump into both parties instantaneously.

Both raised their weapons to each other quickly.

"Doggett!" Skinner called, "Back out of there!"

Doggett checked with the man in front of him, taking an experimental move backward, then quickly got onto his hands and knees and shuffled out of range when the gun was not turned on him at the motion.

Skinner, despite having his gun trained on what seemed to be Mulder with malicious intent, asked hopefully, "Mulder... is that really you?"

Doggett stood, moving beside Skinner.

The man opposite them was quiet a moment, then asked, "Is that YOU, sir?"

Doggett could see hope in both men's eyes... each wanting desperately believe it was truly the other... neither trusting their guts enough to lower their weapons. These guys really were spooked by something... but after Arizona, he couldn't say he blamed either of them. He'd seemed to have met Mulder before, but this man's apparent lack or recognition of who he was only furthered Scully's crazy theory at that time. That he'd met this man without actually meeting Mulder.

Skinner finally asked, seeming to know Mulder wouldn't willingly lower his weapon when suspicion aroused, "God, Mulder... if that's you, prove it."

Mulder nodded hesitantly, clearly wanting to believe it as much as Skinner did.

Keeping the weapon trained on Skinner with one hand, he moved the other away from his gun and toward his throat. He reached into his shirt, pulling out something that was looped on a gold chain around his neck. Doggett took a moment to see it, but the very moment Mulder had started to withdraw the object Skinner's stance had loosened.

Mulder proffered toward Skinner, held taunt with his thumb, a small gold cross. He spoke finally, "It's Scully's... she gave it to me before I left D.C... she said she couldn't let me go alone."

Skinner's gun faltered further, dipping lower.

Mulder returned his hand to the gun (though lacking the resolve to actually fire), asking in a voice weakened by sheer hope, "Prove it's really you, sir."

Skinner nodded and after a careful moment lowered the gun further, then finally stooped to the forest floor and dropped his weapon. He stood, watching Mulder, then stepped over the gun and toward Mulder... distancing himself from the weapon and standing unarmed before Mulder while he still held a gun on him. Doggett couldn't believe this. 'So that's what it takes,' he thought.

At the show of trust (which was obviously enough for the strange man), he lowered his weapon immediately.

Skinner sighed, "Jesus, Mulder... where on earth have you been?"

Mulder laughed, finally taking a step closer, "THAT, sir, is exactly where I haven't been." Mulder, setting the safety on the gun, dropped it to the ground and moved toward Skinner. Skinner stepped quickly closer to the recovered Agent Mulder.

Skinner and Mulder met, standing before one another a moment before throwing their arms around each other in a hug.

Doggett was confused, lost, and at the same time filled with a relief that he had finished a job. He'd found Mulder. And that thought alone sent a next one shooting through his mind, 'this is going to make Scully so happy.'

Mulder pulled back from Skinner, smiling in relief at him, then his eyes moved over to Doggett standing in silence nearby. Mulder's eyes darkened in wariness again.

"Who's that, sir?"

Skinner looked back at Agent Doggett. Doggett stepped closer, finally figuring it was safe if, by now, the stranger had not attacked the unarmed assistant director (though a certain wariness was in his gaze upon Mulder after the recent incident of being aimed at).

"This is Agent John Doggett, head of the task force formulated to search for you... Doggett, this is Fox Mulder," Skinner introduced.

Mulder looked over Doggett, studying him. Doggett didn't notice, for he was doing the same to Mulder. They were sizing each other up, considering one another warily... maybe even with a hint of territorial unease. This was exactly what Skinner feared.

Mulder quickly looked again at Skinner, suddenly forgetting anything else as he asked urgently, concern flooding his features, "Scully? Is she all right?"

Skinner nodded, "Scully's fine... she's okay... she's with the Gunmen... following up a lead on you."

Mulder breathed a quick exhalation of relief (Doggett noted that, apparently for Mulder as well, knowing WHO she was with was enough for him), then he asked, "Was she okay while I was gone?"

Skinner knew he meant how had she handled the disappearance... god knows Mulder had not fared hers well. Skinner couldn't lie to Mulder... Mulder would see right through it anyway, but his favorite agent deserved more than reassuring white lies.

Skinner nodded, "She was... all right... as well as could be expected... she missed you, Mulder, she STILL misses you."

Mulder nodded, eyes dropping, "I know, sir, I know... I miss her too... you have no idea how much..."

Skinner nodded, touching Mulder's arm, "It's all right... I do."

Mulder nodded faintly, trying to keep from choking up... fighting back tears he had no doubt fought for so long in his absence.

Skinner studied his lost agent a moment, then asked, "Do you have any idea how long you were gone?"

Mulder looked up at the forest, as if the trees would provide an answer, "Grettie said it was early March... that's almost four months... I'm assuming it IS the year 2001, right?"

Skinner scoffed a faint laugh, "Yeah... it's been three and a half months. Grettie?"

Mulder looked up at his boss, "Yeah... she found us... she's been looking out for us."

"Us?" Doggett interjected.

Mulder looked over at Doggett, becoming pensive and quiet as he studied the stranger. Doggett returned the look, staring at Mulder as long as he wanted this little test to go on. The fact that the strange man seemed ready for a stand-off only served to further heighten Mulder's unfriendly regard, though he seemed content for now to not deal with the so-called Agent Doggett.

Mulder glowered faintly at him, turning his attention back to Skinner, "Me, Teresa Hoese, and her husband... we all came back together and Grettie found us... she took us to her house and has been looking out for us... she said she's been helping..." Mulder glanced at Doggett once more before continuing, "abductees for years."

Doggett resisted the urge to roll his eyes, exasperated. He would admit that someone had taken Agent Mulder and held him against his will, but if he really expected him to believe it was aliens... that was a whole other subject entirely. And did he just call himself an 'abductee'? Oh brother. Maybe it could be chalked up to post-traumatic stress cooping mechanisms... because it was most certainly not ALIENS.

Skinner was stunned, "Teresa is back?"

Mulder nodded.

Skinner looked over at Doggett, "Agent... could you retrieve my weapon?"

Doggett, glancing warily at Mulder as the strange man seemed to tense at the idea of this unknown man suddenly armed, turned to walk back and pick up Skinner's discarded service weapon.

Skinner brought Mulder's attention back with requesting, "Come back with us."

Mulder's eyes jerked immediately to Skinner, "NO!"

Doggett stopped short and turned to look at Mulder at the outburst, Skinner obviously taken aback as well, "Mulder... what's wrong?"

Mulder regathered, then said, "I mean... I can't leave yet, sir... I couldn't... not now."

Skinner asked incredulously, "Why not? Do you have any idea what Scully's been going through without you?"

Mulder stepped back, moving away a foot from his boss, taking a blow at the mention of Scully and the implication he was further hurting her, "I know exactly what Scully is going through, sir... I went through it too, remember?"

Doggett was confused, standing over Skinner's weapon, brow furrowed by all he heard.

Skinner glowered, shaking his head, "You didn't go through it quite like she is, Agent Mulder... trust me on that."

Mulder studied Walter a moment, genuinely wondering a moment, then he shook his head, "I can't leave yet, sir... not yet. Not long and I can, I think... but not right now."

Skinner looked back at Doggett, wondering if this made the least bit of sense to him, then looked back at Mulder, "Agent Mulder... you're not making any sense. Why can't you come home?"

Mulder seemed to deflate, resolve shaken at that word... 'home.' Mulder swallowed, fighting back his desire to just say yes and rush home to Scully. "Sir... I... I would leave right now if I could, you know that... but it's not safe."

Doggett returned to the two, handing Skinner his weapon as he stated, "Agent Scully has been searching relentlessly for you for months, Agent Mulder... the least you could do is give her peace of mind."

Mulder stared at Doggett, wariness back in his eyes, as he slowly asked, "How exactly is it that you know Scully?"

Doggett responded with a second thought, "I'm her partner."

Skinner's eyes shot up just as the fiery rage popped into Mulder's eyes. Skinner instantly held up his hands, "Whoa! No, TEMPORARY partner! Just until you got back, Mulder... her TEMPORARY partner."

Mulder didn't seem too eased by the assurance, and all it really accomplished was riling up Agent Doggett. TEMPORARY? Since when had he been a filler? The way Skinner talked, it was as if he'd merely been there to fill a hole... not to actually aid in the investigations, like he hadn't been a productive member of the team... that he hadn't done his job as an FBI agent. "Excuse me, sir, but I don't recall ever being officially referred to as a temporary partner before."

Skinner looked quickly at Doggett. Oh shit, now HE was riled up, Mulder (not really mentally prepared at the moment for all of this) was royally pissed and getting madder... yeah, this was great.

Mulder eyed Doggett, glare burning into him. Doggett, sensing Mulder's look, returned the challenging stare. He could understand Mulder defensive about his personal relationship with Scully, but Doggett could barely get a friendly word out of the woman... THIS was certainly out of line; there was certainly NOTHING here for him to be defensive over. What, exactly, did this Mulder guy have to get so pissed off at him about?

Skinner tried fervently to dose the growing flames, hoping to stop it before it erupted into an all out bonfire, "Agents... please, let's not get into this now. Doggett, you knew full well even without being OFFICIALLY told that Agent Mulder would resume his duties at the bureau and on the X Files upon return, and Mulder... relax... you know Scully."

Mulder seemed considerably calmed at this last assurance, which only served to infuriate Doggett more, though he said nothing of it. So this guy was so certain that Scully would readily brush him off that that small proclamation was enough to put all his worries to rest? Was he THAT bad of an agent, or did Mulder just ASSUME he was?

Skinner, trying to let the bad feelings simmer down a moment, paused before asking, "Mulder... why can't you leave?"

Mulder, forgetting his anger at the question, turned back to Skinner and opened his mouth. He seemed tongue-tied a moment, then spoke, "They're still watching us, sir... Me, Teresa, Ray Hoese; we can't get away from them just yet, they're not ready to let us loose."

Doggett asked, though he knew what the answer would ridiculously be, "They?"

Mulder glanced guardedly at Doggett, then glanced upward, through the canopy to the sky, "Them," he reiterated.

For Skinner, that seemed answer enough... Doggett was only further put-off. As if there was actual PROOF of this.

Skinner asked, "You can't evade them?"

Mulder shook his head, looking like he'd gone a shade or two paler. "No sir," he said faintly, turning around and bringing his hand up to the back of his neck. He indicated a spot just below the gold clasp of Scully's necklace... a faint scar at the base of his neck.

Doggett frowned in confusion, but Skinner seemed to stagger a moment as he muttered, "Oh, fuck... Jesus, Mulder."

Mulder turned back to Skinner, hands dropping to his sides. Doggett looked between the men, asking, "Am I missing something here?"

Mulder looked stonily at Doggett a moment, then asked, "Have you ever seen the back of Scully's neck?"

Doggett nodded, recalling having to actually CUT INTO it once. Mulder seemed to bristle a little that Doggett had seen the back of Scully neck, but he ignored it and asked, "You don't happen to recall an identical mark on hers?"

Doggett stopped a moment, thinking back. Well damn, he was right. Doggett nodded, "Yeah, in fact I do... what are you saying that is?"

Mulder stated bluntly, "It's where they implant a chip... a microchip. A device that serves as a tracking device, as well as a homing beacon of sorts."

Doggett couldn't help a scoff, "You mean to tell me that both you AND Agent Scully have little pieces of alien technology in your necks?"

"That's what I am telling you, though Scully's had hers longer than I have," Mulder retorted.

Doggett frowned, thinking, then asked, "If that's true, and I'm not about to accept that it is, why wouldn't she have a foreign object removed?"

Mulder's face blanched again, his lips growing thin, "She DIDN'T, did she?! Sir?!"

Skinner shook his head, "No, Mulder... she didn't do that again... I promise, calm down... she's all right."

Mulder sighed heavily, then shot a glare at Doggett for causing him to worry. Doggett glowered... what did HE do?

Mulder finally answered, "Removal of the chip, at least in Scully's case, results in a... medical condition... a terminal one."

Doggett eyed Mulder, happening to remember that in the medical records he and Scully had recovered, Mulder was suffering from one of his own at the time of his disappearance. Doggett asked, "Is that what you're suffering from?"

Mulder seemed taken aback, "W...what?"

Skinner remembered all too clearly now the medical records, "Mulder... we found your medical records... we found the tombstone..."

Mulder staggered back a step, overwhelming emotion threatening, "Oh no... Scully... is she...?"

Doggett answered, "She was frightened half to death, Agent Mulder. How could you do that to her?"

Mulder dropped his eyes, his vision catching the gold of the cross on his neck, "I... I didn't want her to worry... there was nothing she could have done."

Skinner was shocked, asking faintly, "So it's true... you're... dying."

Mulder corrected, "I was dying."

"Was?" Doggett questioned.

Mulder looked up, finally regathering himself, "The chip, sir... the same way it saved Scully's life, it's saved mine. That was... the reason for taking us, the ones they did. They knew the programing had hit a glitch... they didn't want to sacrifice the stock... they were treating us, correcting the problem."

Skinner looked at Mulder, "You're... not dying?"

Mulder shook his head, a faint smile pulling at his lips, "Not anymore... I guess one good thing came out of this."

Skinner nodded, thought a moment, then asked, "Mulder... what else can this chip do?"

Mulder frowned, "Why do you ask, sir?"

"I'm just wondering... is the purpose of the chip to regulate the health and biological functioning of 'the stock' as you call it?"

Mulder nodded, "As far as I know, yes... as well as keeping track of them. Why?"

Skinner shook his head, eyes clouded in preoccupation as he thought to himself.

Mulder watched Skinner, buried in thought, a moment, then spoke, "Come on... let's go back to Grettie's... I'm sure there's more questions that maybe we could all deduce the answers to."



****



Grettie's house was a small cabin in the woods, conveniently tucked away. As soon as the three men approached a woman appeared at the doorway, an old woman in worn jeans and a T shirt, her graying hair pulled back in a ponytail. She caught sight of the three men and waved warmly, "FOX!"

Mulder waved back at the woman, smiling kindly as they drew near.

The woman stepped out of the house, moving quickly toward Mulder and his guests.

Upon nearing them, Grettie spoke, "I do wish you wouldn't wander so much, Fox... you're the worst I've ever had to look out for."

Mulder smiled gently, "I'm sorry, Grettie... I don't know what to say," he shrugged, "it's in my nature."

Skinner spoke up warmly, "Now THAT is true."

Grettie stopped, looking at Skinner and Doggett. "Who are your friends, Fox?"

Mulder turned back to his two guests, "This is Walter Skinner and John Doggett... they're from the same building in Washington where I work."

Grettie's eyes opened in surprise, looking at Fox, "What on earth are they doing here?"

Mulder smirked, "Looking for me."

Grettie looked a little protectively over Walter and John, eying them then saying, "I'm surprised to see anyone here so soon."

"What's that, ma'am?" Doggett asked.

Grettie smiled faintly, "Oh... just... usually people don't start showing up looking for anyone for a week or two... at least not until they're able to leave."

Skinner was the one to answer, "We're here on behalf of a friend of Mulder's... someone who's been looking for him for a long time."

Mulder dropped his head, once again overcome with grief. Grettie, seeing the forlorn dip of Mulder's head, stepped closer to him and asked faintly, "Dana?"

Mulder nodded.

Grettie smiled warmly, touching his arm, "Soon, Fox... soon and you can go home to her."

Mulder nodded, biting his lip softly.

Grettie frowned in concern, then looked up at the two new men, "I'm pleased to meet both of you... are you stock too?"

Doggett looked at Skinner, who shook his head, "No... we're just friends."

Grettie looked at Mulder, who had recovered enough to clarify, "They're normal... Scully was... is... not them, though."

Grettie nodded, "Oh... well, come on in... the more the merrier."



****



Skinner and Doggett, upon entering the house, had met Teresa and Ray Hoese, who seemed just as surprised that someone from the outside had come for one of them so soon. Interrogations had started in an attempt to discover what exactly had happened to Mulder, and in the process Mulder had slipped from the cabin and disappeared. It had unsettled Skinner at first, fearing he'd lost the agent once again and further let down Scully, but Grettie had just shaken her head and said, "That Fox... what a wanderer... he does this all the time, don't worry."

It was not until later that evening that Mulder's figure remerged from the woods, idling around the house... moving back and forth... rather like a slightly agitated zoo animal in a cage. Skinner had been standing at the window, watching his agent seem to move uneasily around in the growing darkness when Grettie stepped up beside him.

"Is he always like that, Walter? Ever since he came with the others, he's been restless... I must say it's worried me some."

Doggett, who had been sitting on the couch near the Hoese's, could hear the conversation and was listening intently.

Skinner sighed, "Agent Mulder has always had a restless nature, ma'am... being confined like he so obviously is now only makes it worse."

Grettie nodded, commenting, "Being away from Dana can't be helping, can it?"

Skinner was silent a moment, then answered vaguely, "If she were here, he'd gladly stand still."

Doggett stood from the couch, moving toward the front door. Skinner stopped him, "Agent Doggett?"

Doggett looked over at Skinner, answering, "Sir... I'm just as uneasy seeing him wandering out there alone as you are. I might not be his best friend like you are, but I did make a promise to Agent Scully I would find him and bring him back, and now that we have him I'm not about to let him walk off and therein cause me to break my promise to her."

Skinner regarded Doggett earnestly a moment, then nodded... an actual look of camaraderie on his face.

Grettie stopped Doggett, placing a hand on his arm, "Oh... wait a moment, John. I'll make both of you some cocoa and you can take it out to him."

Doggett relented to waiting a few more minutes, moving beside Skinner to watch Mulder through the window as the A.D. did.

Mulder was moving uneasily through the forest, coming in and out of sight. He even LOOKED restless from this distance, stopping every so often to look around the dark forest, sometimes turning his eyes upward to the obscured skies.

When Grettie returned with the cocoa, Doggett thanked her and stepped outside.

Mulder looked over quickly at Doggett when he heard a figure moving toward him.

"Agent Mulder," Doggett warned him of his identity and presence, "Grettie thought you'd like some cocoa." Reaching Mulder, Doggett carefully offered the cup the Mulder.

Mulder took it after a pause, eying Doggett cautiously. Even in complete silence and thick visual darkness, a tension nonetheless lingered noticeably between the two men... a tension that had been present from the first moment they'd met.

Doggett stood back a pace, having no idea where to go from there. Mulder studied Doggett, warily watching him, as the other agent took a sip of the cocoa. The heavy silence carried on for a minute or two, neither daring to speak first... tension heavy in the air between them.

Slowly, Mulder offered, "There's a log over there by the house... care to sit?"

Doggett glanced over his shoulder at the spot indicated, finding it without much trouble. It was clearly meant to be a campfire type set up, though no fire burned in front of the logs serving as benches. Doggett grunted a nod, moving toward the indicated location.

Reaching the logs, Doggett sat down on one, Mulder sitting on the other that rested at a 90 degree angle to Doggett's.

For a long time, the agents sat in silence, which seemed to be more than acceptable to Mulder. Fox Mulder sipping tentatively at his drink, spending most of his time staring out pensively into the dark night, oftentimes turning his eyes to the sky, catching faint glimpses of stars through the tree cover, perhaps finding some kind of comfort there.

Doggett studied Mulder... considering him. He was not quite what he'd imagined during their search. He expected someone more like Agent Scully, actually... someone more volatile and vehement... quicker to jump verbally upon another in ideological attack. He had pictured someone so tight and wound up that not for a second could he rest. He imagined someone more like himself, actually. This man was different than any image he'd had of the famous Fox Mulder. He expected a man who screamed at the top of his lungs that they were not alone, someone who was (for lack of a better description) a little psychologically unstable.

Mulder suddenly broke the silence with, "You're not what I expected, either, Agent Doggett."

Doggett startled, not having even noticed or suspected that what had appeared to be a lost-in-thought quiet man had actually been studying him as well.

Doggett took a sip from his cup, asking after a pause, "How's that, Agent Mulder?"

Mulder looked directly at Doggett, seeming to stare at him in scrutiny a moment, then remarked, "I thought you'd be taller."

Doggett let out a short, sincere laugh. He'd definitely not expected this dry, witty sense of humor from the fabled agent, either.

Doggett looked out at the forest, stopping to let his critical study of Mulder slack enough to actually see what was in front of him. He saw the trees for the forest, so to say. Surprisingly, he suddenly saw it how Mulder must (considering his intent absorption in the sight earlier). It was a black, warm, peaceful nothing. It was right in front of him the entire time, but only now was he seeing it.

Doggett paused a moment in unexpected but pleasant surprise, then glanced at Mulder and commented, "Teresa Hoese and her husband informed us of the so-called FORCE FIELD that's keeping you here."

Mulder spoke a little tensely, "You don't believe that, I take it?"

Doggett shook his head, "No, Agent Mulder... point in fact, I don't."

"Why not?"

Doggett frowned, glaring at Mulder a moment as if to ask him if he was serious, then spoke, "Well... Director Skinner and I had no trouble getting in here to find you... finding you quite contently in hiding, I might add."

Mulder frowned, glowering faintly at Doggett, "What's that to insinuate?"

Doggett shrugged, "Ah... you know... maybe you're afraid to face Agent Scully and would just as much rather stay here and avoid the confrontation."

Mulder, even in the darkness, visibly bristled. His anger was felt in the air as clearly as if he'd thrown the cup of cocoa at Doggett, though it still sat in his tightening hand. "Why, exactly, would I be afraid to face my partner, Agent Doggett?"

Doggett knew Mulder was getting mad, but this was a question, for Scully's sake, that deserved an answer, "Because you lied to her. You lied when you covered up your illness, and you don't know how she's going to handle that."

Mulder set his jaw, holding back harsh words, then answered, "What it comes down to, Agent Doggett, is that you don't know Scully... I do."

Doggett held up a casual hand, "Now that I'll concede, but I still think you're afraid to face her. Why else would you have made no attempt to contact her when you got back?"

Mulder's next words were hot and angry, Doggett having obviously set Mulder off, "Why didn't I?! WHY didn't I contact her?!"

Doggett nodded, "That's what I'm asking, Agent Mulder."

Mulder glared a long time at Doggett, seemingly burning holes into his head, "You're not too bright, Agent Doggett."

Doggett's hackles moved and stood on end at this. First he was questioning his honor, now insulting his intelligence?

Mulder glowered at Doggett, speaking, "You don't think I would have done that first thing when I came to if I could have? You don't think my first question when I regained my speech was to ask for her?"

"Was it?"

Mulder's cup suddenly flew from his hand, hurling into the darkness and throwing hot cocoa across the forest floor surrounding them, "FUCK YOU!"

Doggett, keeping his cool though he wanted to get into a brawl just as much as Mulder at this point, responded coolly, "I just don't see the devotion here, Agent Mulder... having a hard time coming to terms with this when you're sitting here, having made no attempt whatsoever to even talk to her."

Mulder stood, moving quickly toward Doggett. Abandoning his cup, Doggett jerked to his feet, ready to fight.

Mulder stood mere inches from Doggett, hot and angry breath on his face as Mulder looked down at him and growled, "I've wanted to talk to Scully for even just one second every day I've been here that it's killing me, you bastard! The only thing that's kept me from screaming her name at the top of my lungs EVERY DAY is knowing I can't put her in danger."

Doggett, considering this a moment, couldn't fault Mulder for wanting to protect Scully, but protect her from what?

"How exactly would that endanger her, Agent Mulder?"

Mulder took a step back... probably not because he was calming down but knowing that if he didn't move away he couldn't contain himself and the two men would come to blows. Mulder glared at Doggett, as if daring him NOT to see it. "Agent Scully, if you'll so ASTUTELY recall, is fitted with a chip not unlike my own. That FORCE FIELD you refuse to believe, Agent Doggett, detects mine should I try to leave just as it would detect hers if she tried to come in."

Doggett crossed his arms, "And that prevents you from at least calling?"

Mulder laughed mockingly, asking in more of a statement, "You really DON'T know Scully, do you?"

Doggett frowned, "What exactly is that to mean?"

Mulder asked in retaliation, "If I called Scully and I told her I was back, what would she do?"

Doggett paused a moment, realization dawning on him. She'd find him... she'd track him down and go to him. Even if he was discrete in the conversation about his location, Scully would find the resources to locate him if she had to sell her soul, and she would find him... and nothing would stop her from going to her partner.

Doggett answered slowly, "She'd come to you."

"Exactly," Mulder spoke. After a moment, Mulder's voice returned with less force, "I don't... know what would happen to her if she tried to come through the force field... I'm not sure it would do anything to her, but I can't risk that. I couldn't... live with myself, if she got hurt and it was my fault."

Doggett was quiet a long time, considering what he'd discovered about Agent Mulder in the last two minutes. He'd thought the missing agent was afraid of reaching Scully for his sake... he was afraid of reaching Scully for HER sake. In a second, Doggett had seen more drive and emotion from this man than he'd seen in anyone in a long time... discounting the pain and grief hidden in Agent Scully's eyes, of course.

Mulder spoke to interrupt his thoughts once more, "As far as lying to her, Agent Doggett, about my illness... I did it because I couldn't bare to hurt her myself like that."

Doggett asked a little monotone, "Is that right?"

Mulder snapped at Doggett a quick look, then continued, "If there's only one thing I know, it's what it feels like to watch someone you... watch someone you love... dying. I couldn't let her go through that... not when I knew how much it would kill her, too."

Doggett responded more gently, "But surely you knew that, in time, you wouldn't be able to hide it from her anymore?"

Mulder dropped his head, sighing heavily, "Of course I did... which only further supported my decision not to tell her about it when I first learned of my illness. Why ask her to suffer longer than necessary? She's had to watch me fight off death too many times to ask her to do it again... this time in a situation with such finality."

"Did it ever occur to you that she'd want to know? That she'd want to be there to support you? You say you know pain, Agent Mulder... we all know pain; it's how we define our happiness. I may not know Agent Scully, as you've pointed out, but I do think she would not have regretted you telling her."

Mulder sagged down, sitting once more on the log he'd so recently abandoned for a defensive stance.

Doggett, hesitantly, reclaimed his own seat, watching Mulder carefully. DEFINITELY not what he'd expected of Dana Scully's long-lost partner.

Suddenly, Mulder laughed.

Doggett sat back, surprised, then asked, "What's so funny?"

Mulder chuckled, saying faintly, "I know what Scully would say if she were here right now... 'Damnit, Mulder, why do you have to be such a fucking gentleman?'"

Doggett blinked, could clearly imagine those exact words coming out of Scully's mouth, and he too began to laugh.

Mulder wiped tears from his eyes, sighing sadly and looking out again at the forest. Doggett soon followed suit, even chancing to glance up as Mulder had repeatedly done to find a most provocative sight. The heavens in their unfurled glory hanging overhead, yet obscured and reduced to a small range of vision by the crowded canopy of leafy treetops. Doggett remembered once Scully talking about how she wished and strained, without success in her eyes, to see the world as Fox Mulder did. For the first time, Doggett sat there looking up at the stars and wondered what Mulder saw when he looked upon the same sight. What would the night forest and midnight sky look like through Fox Mulder's eyes? For the first time, Doggett was willing to concede it might be more drastically different from his own than he had previously thought.

Doggett looked down at Mulder. The agent was bent over, elbows resting on his legs and hands clasped together in silence. He looked almost haunted; it caused Doggett to wonder if the agent's bureau nicknamed 'Spooky' wouldn't be more rightful and fitting if it was 'Spooked' instead. The night was uncommonly quiet, almost deathly silent.

"Quiet out here," Doggett muttered.

Mulder responded in a matter-of-fact confidence, "Animals sense the electrical field composing the parameters of the covered area," then looked directly at Doggett, "but since you don't believe that I'm sure you can explain why all the insects are gone."

Doggett frowned faintly at Mulder, about to argue again, but thinking back to the recent conversation wherein Mulder had succeeded in beating himself up, he remained silent, not seeing the need in further bashing Mulder when he'd done it so well on his own.

Doggett was silent a moment, a tense question hanging on his lips, then asked, "Ray and Teresa also mentioned, though I'm not bringing it up as a confession that I believe their claim, that THEY will be coming back before the three of you are let go."

Mulder nodded, "That's right."

Doggett studied Mulder as he sat quietly, eyes locked on his entwined fingers, then questioned, "Well... if in fact the same FORCE that kidnapped you in the first place is predicted to return, what are you doing remaining here?"

Mulder looked up at Doggett, regarding him sincerely for a moment, the challenge gone from him eyes. Mulder was quiet a long time, then said, "It's not an option... running from them, that is. They could find me no matter where I went, and the only way they're going to lift the force field holding us here and let us go is once they're sure we're adapting to earth conditions once more without complications."

"So... you're just going to sit here and let them come back for you?"

Mulder smirked, a distant look in his eyes as he asked rhetorically, "Have you ever had something that was so important to you that you'd do anything?" Mulder looked back down at Doggett, watching as the man made the connection to what Mulder was talking about and said in an actual response, "No... I'm not going to run."

Doggett shook his head, "Well, Mulder... you're either one brave man or one stupid SOB."

Mulder chuckled lightly, shaking his head, commenting idly, "I get the feeling Bill would take to you like a duck to water."

Doggett didn't know who Bill was, but from their recent exchanges it was most certainly an old acquaintance of Mulder's whom did NOT like the man. Doggett could imagine that easily... he couldn't exactly say he had become fond of the man in the short time he'd known him personally... he came across much different in real life than he had in his records and files, a man which Doggett had been prepared for through the ongoing investigation. Meeting the man in the flesh had thrown him for a loop, forcing him to deal with a person he was not at all prepared to face.

From the records and comments of those who had worked with Mulder in the past (excluding Agent Scully of course), Fox Mulder sounded like a man with both feet planted firmly in insanity. Naturally, Doggett had not believed these claims wholeheartedly, imagining some of it must be exaggeration, but now that he had met Mulder..... he got the distinct sense that, while the man might not have both feet in an insane world, he certainly had a good foothold with one.

Mulder was looking up at the stars again, eyes intent upon them in a pensive gaze. Without a word of warning, he stood and began to move around, walking away from Doggett.

Doggett startled and jumped up, moving slowly after Mulder... keeping him in sight, not about to let him leave alone.

Mulder heard Doggett following him and stopped, turning to give the agent a hard glare (giving Doggett yet another insight that Fox Mulder was a man who clearly valued his time alone), a look that did not to deter Doggett from his post as Mulder-watchman.

Mulder frowned, obviously put on edge by the uninvited escort, then moved off further into the woods.

Doggett followed a short distance then stopped, frustrated with Mulder's testing, and calling out, "Agent Mulder, it would put to ease all of us if you could stay in sight."

Mulder turned, eyes glinting a challenge as he asked, "Where exactly do you think I'm going to go?"

Doggett sighed, leveling Mulder with yet another hard, pinning glare, "Look, Mulder... in all honestly I couldn't care less if you bounded off on your own and got lost out there. Personally, it's no skin off my nose, but it was my assignment to find you."

Mulder shrugged then crossed his arms over his chest, "You've done that, Agent Doggett."

Doggett spoke again, not moving to step after Mulder and follow him further in his resistance as he continued, "But I also made a personal promise to Agent Scully that I'd bring you back to her... now, for whatever reason it is that she is so attached to you is none of my concern, but I'm not about to let your defiance cause me to break my word to a fellow agent... least of all Agent Scully."

Mulder was quiet a long time, the testing glare gone from his eyes as he considered Agent Doggett. Without a word, Mulder dropped his hands to his sides and moved toward Doggett, withdrawing from the retreat he'd begun into the forest.

Doggett, when Mulder reached him, said shortly, "Thank you."

Mulder paused in his step a moment, saying, "Just understand your honor is not what I'm concerned in saving... Scully doesn't deserve another broken promise."



****



Grettie looked up as John and Fox came back into the cabin, both wearing at first glance an ill-content look on their faces. Fox looked up and cast a friendly, puppy dog expression at Grettie. Grettie smiled, scolding teasingly from where she sat on the couch, "Don't you give me that look, Fox, I know you had every intention of wandering about again."

Mulder smiled kindly at her, looking at Skinner who sat nearby. "Where's Teresa and Ray?"

"In bed," Grettie answered, "where you should be, young man."

Mulder blinked, "Wow... no one's called me THAT in a while... but I think I'll take your advice..."

"For once," Grettie's warm eyes regarded him almost in a motherly look.

Mulder smirked, "Good night, Grettie... Sir, could I see you a minute?"

Skinner nodded, getting off the couch and excusing himself from Grettie's company to follow Mulder into the darker recesses of the house.

John watched after them, thoroughly frustrated by the whole situation. Fox Mulder, as it turns out, was a completely bullheaded, impulsive, testing character who didn't seem to ooze friendship or even cordial politeness, and yet all those involved in the case in the last four months had complete faith and trust in Mulder regardless, and yet they all viewed HIM as the enemy.

Grettie's calm voice interrupted his thoughts, "You look like you have a lot on your mind, John."

Doggett looked down at Grettie, not having expected her to speak. He had to admit, she had an air to her that was, contrary to Mulder's, friendly and warm. She had those soft, understanding eyes that his grandmother used to have. It was good to hear his first name, he had to admit. It seemed like it had been forever since anyone had just called him 'John'... there was a formal tension at work where he was just 'Agent Doggett', and while on assignment in the field or on off time Agent Scully seemed to insist on keeping her distance by refusing to use his first name... and then this whole last-name holdover Mulder and Scully had with each other... it was like it hadn't occurred to anyone that he might prefer his first name to his last. If they were 'Doggett' would they want people to call them that? He didn't call Mulder 'Fox', did he? The principal was almost exactly the same.

Doggett moved closer to the coffee table, standing across from where Grettie sat and sighed, "It's just this case... I mean, finding Agent Mulder... the whole thing."

Grettie smiled softly, "You don't know what to think of it, do you?"

Doggett sighed, shoving his hands in his pocket and glancing in the direction the A.D. and Mulder had left... no doubt talking about 'that shady character Doggett' in hushed and suspicious tones.

Doggett shook his head, "How is it you can believe any of this? I gather from your acceptance of all this that you do."

Grettie sighed, "Yes... I do believe... sit down, John."

Doggett hesitated a moment, then moved over to the couch and sat down a foot or two from Grettie. She regarded him a moment, then said, "Honestly, I didn't believe in any of this stuff for a very long time... certainly never in my younger years. I thought it was ridiculous... utter nonsense."

Doggett nodded. Now THAT made sense to him... first thing all day that had.

"But... I've heard too much and seen too much after all these years to deny it any longer."

Doggett sighed... there SHE started now.

Grettie patted his leg, "It's all right, John... I know how frustrating it is, how much it doesn't make sense to you right now. When the evidence starts to compile so convincingly that you can't deny it any longer, it will just dawn on you how true it is... or maybe you'll never come around; some people just might not be meant to understand this."

Doggett thought a moment, then asked, "How did you find Mulder?"

Grettie looked back, as if checking to see if Mulder was standing within listening distance. "Well... I've found many of them over the years. I was outside when I saw the lights," she looked kindly at Doggett, "I used to think they were military aircraft, before I believed, but I'd heard the story so many times by so many good, honest people... I came to believe it as they did. Anyway, I saw the craft, and I knew they had probably dropped someone off. I don't know, I guess I can't stand the idea of someone out there left on their own, no idea where they are in the middle of the night... I usually go out and look for them when I see the lights. I found Teresa and Ray, huddled against a tree holding each other... shaking like leaves, completely naked. I tell you, the least those beastly creatures could do is give them the dignity of being clothed... anyway, I'd picked up Teresa and Ray before... Ray more often than Teresa, but I knew them both. They recognized me when I came into sight, and though they were shaken they looked all right... sometimes the most awful things are done to them. They were collected enough to tell me there was someone else with them, a man who'd come to with a start and taken off, seeming very dazed and confused.

"I went looking for this third man. They usually bring people back in pairs, so I was wondering in the back of my mind if there was another person out here too aside from the missing young man. I think sending them in pairs is their one attempt at doing it gently... you know, giving them someone of their own kind to turn to in the wake of being returned.

"I found Fox a short distance away, naked as a jay bird and skittish as a deer. As soon as he saw me he jumped away... backed off like I was going to kill him soon as look at him. I tried to coax him out, convince him that I wasn't going to hurt him and to follow me, but he just kept demanding to see someone named Scully. I hated to leave him, but I couldn't get within ten feet of him, so I turned back to guide Teresa and Ray back to the house. Fox followed me at a distance, like he was afraid to let another human out of his sight completely, distrustful of me though he was. Every time I stopped and turned to try to coax him closer he would move away even further, so I just walked back to where I'd left Teresa and Ray, Fox following behind at a good fifteen or twenty feet.

"When I got to Teresa and Ray they were ready to go, knowing the routine. Fox obviously recognized Teresa and Ray, and when he saw them with me and their trust in me he'd come a little closer... still wouldn't get within ten feet, though. He followed us at a distance all the way back to the cabin. Teresa knew him... told me he was an FBI agent named Fox Mulder that had tried to help her seven years ago and just recently before their latest abduction... that he was taken the same time she was.

"We got back to the cabin and Teresa and Ray knew where to go... they were so tired they went right in and to bed. I stayed out and tried to get Fox to come closer. It was like trying to get a beaten dog to take food from me, John, I swear, he was the most jumpy man I'd ever met, and I've come across my fair share of shaken people in these woods. He wouldn't get closer than seven or eight feet from the house; the only thing he'd say to me was to continually ask me if I knew Dana Scully. I eventually gave up, realizing he needed time and that I was making him uncomfortable. I set a blanket and some clothes on the porch and went to bed.

"In the morning the clothes and blanket were gone... I found him sleeping on the ground a short distance from the cabin, wrapped up in the blanket. When Teresa and Ray woke up, Teresa was able to walk up to him and she explained who I was and what was going on. He came around after that, finally coming up to the house."

Doggett listened closely. Mulder hadn't been lying out there... his first question had indeed been to inquire about Scully. In fact, from the story Grettie told, it seemed his only concern. The man, though fearful he was surrounded by enemies, could not resist asking about his partner, asking FOR her really.

Grettie studied Doggett a moment, the warm cozy sensation filling the small house making her action to pull a throw-blanket around her unnecessary. Grettie finally asked in a kind voice, "Are you a friend of Fox's?"

Doggett blinked, asking, "Me? No... I've never met Mulder before until now. I was the agent assigned with heading the team sent out to look for him. I work currently with Agent Scully in the department Mulder used to head."

Grettie's eyes sparkled, "Really? You know Dana?"

Doggett hesitantly nodded... in a sense, yes he did.

Grettie scooted closer to Doggett, asking wistfully like a child begging for a bedtime story, "What's she like?"

"Who, Agent Scully?"

Grettie nodded, "Yes... I know Fox thinks the world of her, but he doesn't like to talk about it..... it makes him so sad."

Doggett looked at Grettie, trying to imagine the forlorn man she described, then said, "Well... Scully's an excellent agent, very devoted to her work with a moral code even stricter than the ten commandments. I have to confess to not knowing her much better than I do her old partner in there," Doggett pointed a thumb over his shoulder toward the direction in which Mulder had disappeared. "She's... stubborn as Mulder and hard as nails."

Grettie laughed, bringing a softer expression to Doggett's face as he continued, "She keeps pretty much to herself... she don't talk much, but you'd be wrong to let that fool you; she's very smart. She's a medical doctor... forensic pathologist, although that's not a very nice bedtime story, is it?" Doggett found himself actually smiling.

Grettie smiled in kind, settling further into the couch, "It's perfect, John... go on."

Doggett sighed in thought a moment, then said, "Well... honestly, Grettie, all I know about her pretty much amounts to that," Doggett looked down at Grettie, "that not a minute goes by that she doesn't think about finding Mulder."

Grettie smiled gently at this.

Doggett gave her a quizzical look, "Why you want to know about Scully, anyway?"

Grettie sat up a little straighter, "Oh... I wonder what kind of life Fox has waiting for him... he has such a good heart..."

Doggett scoffed before he could stop it.

Grettie frowned, "You don't think so?"

Doggett stuttered a moment, "Uh... well... I don't know him; I just met him today."

"But you don't like him already?"

Doggett was silent a moment, then answered, "He wasn't what I expected, I can honestly say that much. I think he's... moody."

Grettie chuckled, "Well I'd agree to that much... you think that's a bad thing?"

"I think it can make a person unpredictable... unpredictability can coincide with being dangerous."

Grettie was smirking. Doggett asked, "What?"

Grettie sighed, "Nothing, John... I just see Fox much the same way you do, but I interpret it in such a different way... I just thought it was funny, that's all."

"Well, how do YOU interpret it?"

Grettie pulled her legs up to the couch cushion and tucked them under her body, "I think he's a gentle soul, a man who has a tendency to think with his heart. I think he has good instincts, and that he trusts them over what he sees and hears. I suppose, in a way, he goes on not what he hears and sees in the world, but what he hears and sees in his heart."

Doggett pondered her words a moment, then asked, "I take that you find that a good thing?"

Grettie nodded, "I think it makes him unique... so many of us lose that when we get older... Fox still has the heart of a child, but the experience of a man. Anyway," she moved back a little on the couch and waved a hand, "that's what I think."

A silence followed, each lost in thought, before Doggett said a little dryly, "You've taken a liking to him."

Grettie nodded, "Yes, I have, John. It encourages me I guess... warms my heart, so to say."

"What does?"

"That Fox can be through all he has, but that he hasn't turned bitter and angry. He might have a lot of misgivings on the outside, but I know a good person is still in there... I've seen it scratch the surface when he talks briefly of Dana. He's been through so much, but still he loves."

Doggett was silent, unable to make any kind of comment on the matter. He'd seen SOMETHING in Agent Mulder out there, but if he would call it 'love' in the sense that he'd always understood it, he couldn't say. Most of all, he supposed, the actual man had turned out to be much more confusing and complex than the simplistic workaholic ufo-nut seen on all the papers within the bureau... THAT man in text had been one Doggett could at least half-way understand (even to the point of proclaiming so to Scully, what a fool she must think him now that he looked back on that), though not necessarily agree with. The actual Fox Mulder, however... Doggett had still failed to adopt a single notion on the man that wasn't changed in the next second by Mulder's actions or words. The only thing that remained a constant, it seemed, was a prevailing resistance and distrust on the part of Agent Mulder (which Doggett could not deny a certain insult at, for he had been trying to locate the agent for some time... certainly not for his own benefit). Unpredictability which, once again, set Doggett on edge. Apprehension was slowly solidifying into what he could only define as genuine dislike for the man.

Grettie sighed heavily, as if recounting some enchanting fairy tale, then asked, "Is Dana pretty?"

Doggett was taken off-guard. "Excuse me?"

"Is she pretty... what does she look like?"

Doggett frowned, "I guess she is. She's not really my type, but I certainly wouldn't call her homely. She's about 5'3", red hair cut short, vivid blue eyes... yeah, she's pretty."

Grettie nodded, asking gently with a slight apprehension in her voice, "I hate to pry like this, but do you know if they're together? Her and Fox... are they a couple?"

Doggett was taken aback, "Uh... well, I haven't inquired about their personal lives, being it's none of my business; but, yeah, I'd just assumed they were... I mean, all things considered..."

Grettie cocked her head, "What things?"

Doggett shifted, starting to get uncomfortable, "Well... uh... there's kind of a... situation with Scully, not that anyone's taken the effort to actually let me in on it, though there's no real denying it at this point... though I could well be wrong."

"What?"

Doggett paused, "Well, um... Mulder didn't say anything about this; the nature of his relationship with Scully?"

"No... he hasn't spoken much of Dana except to say she's his partner and best friend... even went so far one time as to admit openly that he misses her," Grettie studied Doggett long and hard, then stated flatly, "She's pregnant, isn't she, John?"

Doggett was stunned to silence, feeling incredibly guilty all of a sudden. He felt like some teenage snitch who'd spilled a vow-of-silence oathed secret to an absolute stranger... he had no right to even insinuate anything to this woman concerning the private lives of either Mulder or Scully. Especially when he didn't know anything for certain. Maybe Scully WASN'T actually pregnant... or maybe she was, but not with Mulder's baby. Maybe he had figured all this terribly wrong.

"Ah... uh... well, I don't know, actually. Like I said, they don't tell me much, and I tend not to ask."

Grettie nodded, then prodded, "But you suspect it, don't you?"

Doggett sagged, "That's MY suspicion, yes, but I'm not certain of anything... I could have made a mistake."

Grettie nodded, mused aloud a moment, "I don't suspect Fox knows or he'd have made some mention of being more than a friend to Dana," then directed her comment at Doggett, "we'll keep this between us, then... if they want to have their little secret club let them... they can assume us none the wiser."

Doggett sighed, "Yeah... good plan."



****



Mulder turned to Skinner after leading him a good distance from Doggett in the living room. Skinner saw that look in Mulder's eye... he was fishing for background knowledge... Skinner just wished he had something solid to give him, an actual item that would conclusively declare Doggett's currently ambiguous allegiance.

"Sir...," Mulder whispered harshly, "who is that guy?"

Skinner stepped closer, dropping his own voice to a conspiring whisper, "I'm not sure... after your disappearance Kersh assigned him the agent in charge of the task force to find you."

"Kersh appointed him?" Mulder sent a sharp glare down the direction of the hallway, "Is he a spy... you know, a mole?"

Skinner shook his head, "I don't think so, not from anything I've been able to find... I've checked his records... through official and unofficial channels... I didn't come up with anything that would cast him in a suspicious light."

Mulder pondered a moment, "What DID you come up with?"

"Born in New York and lived most of his life there... married once, but now divorced. He was a Marine, served in the Gulf War in Saudi Arabia for almost seven months where he worked on intelligence and experimental weaponry... returned to the U.S. and later became a police officer in Maryland before instating into the bureau and becoming an agent, shortly after being assigned with finding you."

Mulder asked a little harsher than intended the next question, "Why the hell was he partnered with Scully?"

Skinner shook his head, "I don't know... that wasn't my doing... word came down from higher up of the assignment. Trust me, Mulder, that wasn't my idea; if it had been up to me I would have assigned Scully some desk monkey in background checking who could be replaced and discarded on a whim."

Mulder nodded, resignation in his voice as he assured his boss, "I know, sir... I don't blame you."

Skinner was silent a moment, replaying in his head the times Doggett and Scully had worked together, then said faintly, "He does take care of her, Mulder."

Mulder looked back at Skinner at the proclamation, "What?"

Skinner sighed, "I'm not sure what to think of Doggett as a person, but as an agent he's exemplary, and proven so in his position on the X Files team... and he's kept an eye on Scully. A good one... he takes care of her like..." Skinner looked up at Mulder, "like you would have told him to."

Mulder was quiet a long time, obviously restocking how he saw Agent Doggett on the simple report of how he treated his partner, then asked with more of an emotional voice, "Is she... all right, sir? Scully... is she really okay?"

Skinner wasn't sure how to answer that (aware that Mulder did not know about the pregnancy, and Skinner assumed Scully would prefer to be the one to tell him), but he tried to answer as best he could, knowing above all else that Mulder really needed to hear this. "She's doing... fine. I wouldn't say good... she'll run herself into the ground searching for you if she's not careful, not that Doggett lets her." Skinner scoffed, "Agent Doggett's lack of similar enthusiasm to locate you has probably been to the benefit of Scully's health, actually."

"When I left, she'd been feeling ill... she came to me complaining of dizziness and cold chills, I even thought of calling her a doctor... I was worried about her and tried to send her home, but she wouldn't go."

Skinner held up a hand, "That was nothing, Mulder... don't worry... it wasn't the cancer coming back."

Mulder sighed a deep breath of relief, pausing a long time in tension before asking once again, "But she's all right... right?" Mulder's voice was searching... seeking.

Skinner's brow furrowed, picking up the deeper, hidden tones in Mulder's voice and becoming wary... a little suspicious as he asked, "Are you looking for me to say something, Agent Mulder?"

Mulder stopped, quiet a moment before confessing, "I'm not sure, to tell you the truth, sir... I just... I don't know... I just have this feeling."

Skinner wasn't sure if he could believe what he was hearing. "A feeling?"

Mulder shrugged, as if trying to discard whatever sensation it was that had come over him, "Yeah... just a feeling... about Scully... I just... need to know she's really okay."

Skinner nodded, "She's fine, Mulder... better than fine I'd hazard to guess, but she's not going to be 'good' until we get you to her... you know that."

Mulder nodded, "yeah", then got real quiet and dropped his head. When he spoke again it was much more tentative, "Sir... has Agent Scully said anything to you in the time I've been gone concerning... our working relationship prior to my abduction?"

Skinner felt his heart clutch a little (knowing full well what was coming) and eyed Mulder, asking cautiously, "Is this a conversation that needs to be off the record?"

Mulder just nodded.

Skinner glanced over his shoulder, then asked in a fainter whisper, "What is it, Mulder?"

Mulder was quiet a long time, then answered, "I think you should know that for some time before I was abducted we'd been... violating bureau recommendations concerning personal relationships between work partners. I'm not even sure if Scully would want me telling you, but I think it might be important that you know... in case anything happens... if someone in the OPR catches wind of it once I'm back and... I just don't want you to be caught off-guard, sir... you've done too much for us and our cause over the years for me to do that to you... spring that kind of news, I mean."

Skinner nodded, "I appreciate the heads up, but I must admit I've suspected the more... personal nature of your relationship with Agent Scully strongly for some time now."

"Some time being..." Mulder asked.

"About four months," Skinner said gently in a half-confession, "I think losing you shook Scully up and after which she... dropped hints concerning you and her romantically, let's leave it at that. She never told me outright like you did... but she may as well have... I think after you were gone she just felt like she needed to tell someone."

Mulder nodded, quiet a moment (obviously feeling relieved at having gotten that off his chest to one of their few common allies), then asked, "Sir... what's your personal opinion of Agent Doggett?"

Skinner frowned, "I don't know, Mulder... I've been rolling him over in my head for months, and I'm still not quite sure what to make of him. I think... I think he's a guy that doesn't like being screwed around with, which makes me wonder about his ability to remain loyal in the work we often come up against."

Mulder smirked, "It does screw with your head, doesn't it?"

Skinner nodded, not saying more.

"I don't like him," Mulder stated bluntly. Skinner cringed secretly... he'd suspected Mulder wouldn't, had even agonized some time over what would come to pass when the two agents were face to face with one another. He'd seen it earlier in the woods, and it was just as he'd predicted... ugly.

Skinner nodded, then diverted the conversation with, "Look... there's nothing we can do tonight, why don't we all get some sleep and we can discuss things further in the morning?"

Mulder nodded, mind preoccupied with thoughts concerning the stranger in their midst, even as the idea of sleep began to appeal to his tired body. Who exactly was this Doggett character?



****



John Doggett stirred, then started, eyes opening and looking around him and in an attempt to orient himself. At first, his surroundings looked completely foreign (the events of the day before having yet to return to him in the early hours), and instantly he was put on the defensive. It was like waking up during Desert Storm... if it wasn't the canvas roof of the troop tent he saw overhead upon waking he was up and alert in seconds... it could mean life or death. The groggy did not live long in the field, and he'd learned his lessons well during his term of service in the armed forces. He still did that to this day, jerk to immediate action/ready status the moment he awoke to find himself in some place unfamiliar (he sometimes even did it at home, though those times were becoming rarer and rarer). He'd made no effort whatsoever over the years to break himself of the habit... he figured it could well save his life again one day.

He jerked nearly upright, eyes scanning his surroundings quickly. Upon the sight of the old wood walls of the forest cottage-type house yesterday returned to him.

He lay in the bed of one of many of Grettie's guest rooms. The heavy comforter still draped over him, where he lay in his white undershirt and boxers. His suit was carefully folded and placed on the long dresser across the length of the room from where he lay. His shoes were on the floor before the piece of furniture, militaristically aligned and presented as he'd been taught in the Marines.

Doggett sighed, rubbing a hand over his face then studying his environment a moment in more detail.

The light from the window (whose curtains were so thin and worn they may as well not be there) was faint... it was early dawn. From the relative position of the sun derived from illumination level, he'd hazard to guess about 5:15 am.

Doggett reached to the nightstand near him, grabbing his watch and looking at it. 5:07.

He did not smirk or let himself bask in the accomplishment of determining so astutely the relative hour... it was just a tactical tool... nothing in his mind to be proud of. A survival technique but little else. One did not pride themselves for being able to breathe, did they?

Doggett, as long as he already had his watch handy, strapped it to his wrist. Pushing aside the covers, he stepped out of bed, turning to carefully make the bed... putting it in immaculate order... even smoothing into the top of the blanket the four inch crease fold-over and smoothing out the pillow cases. He was a guest in the old woman's house, after all... no reason to take advantage of that by being a slob.

Having put his sleeping area in order, he turned to the dresser and moved toward his clothes.

He stopped before reaching for his pants. Grettie had told him that there was always some old clothes in the drawers... left side men's clothes, right side women's (she never knew who or what manner of guests she would find herself graced with). He would normally not have even considered indulging in anyone's hospitality so freely, but once he woke up a little more he might benefit from a jog. He'd not exercised in a long time, it seemed... the X Files always seemed to have something pop up and shatter any kind of schedule he might have had.

Doggett frowned at this fact as he moved to the left drawers of the dresser, digging through as he fumed to himself about yet ANOTHER aspect of this job. Whereas many departments in the FBI would have some form of schedule and time structure, the X Files had no such system. At any given moment, anything could come up... and even when it didn't the day did not revolve around any kind of program. He didn't like that either. Though there couldn't be a strict regiment as he might prefer, ANY form of systematic time structure would be refreshing. Any sense of methodical reasoning and repetition... at least on the days when they did nothing, and the persistent fact that there was none annoyed him daily. Hell, their lunch hours were not even set. Scully pretty much wandered in and out whenever she felt like it (though Doggett had assigned his own set lunch hour... between 11:20 and 12 noon sharp).

Of course, the fact that most of the time he was preoccupied with always wondering what was coming next had kept him from having to think too long and hard on this whole Agent Mulder situation. Now, however, lack of schedules or not, he had no choice but to face the music... and Fox Mulder. He wasn't a person who avoided confrontation, but he'd just as soon avoid Mulder all together. What Scully saw in him was beyond Doggett. Scully, as long as Doggett had known her personally, was someone who did not tolerate any deviations from polite, formal behavior. Hell, he wasn't even allowed to address her sans the 'agent' unless he wanted to get a wary and dirty look from her. This Fox Mulder, however, turned out to be the antithesis of formal and proper. Doggett hadn't known him in the flesh very long, but it didn't take long for him to figure out that Agent Mulder was a man who didn't play by the rules... he was one who made up his own. What in god's name would endear him to Scully when she presented such abhor to anything outside of professional courtesies?

Doggett, beginning to feel increasingly agitated and disquietedly flustered by all this thought on Fox Mulder, dug out a pair of sweat pants and socks. The far closet, which he'd been informed was stashed with some different size tennis shoes, dug out a pair that would do for the time being. He grimaced as he put on the strange clothes and footwear, wishing he had his suitcase with him. He didn't want to sneer at Grettie's hospitality, but he didn't think it unreasonable to wish he had his own clothes.

After dressing, the clock then reading a mere 5:13 am, Doggett slipped out of the room he'd been loaned out for the night.

The house was quiet, and the lights dim as he slid through the cabin silently. He took care not to wake anyone, reaching the front door with some each and easing himself out in the early morning.



****



Doggett had been jogging easily through the woods for about twenty minutes. Doggett did not carry a compass with him, but he had an unusually good sense of direction, making an internal map of the area in his head as best he could, since it was clear from the day before that solar navigating was made unlikely due to the foliage coverage.

Doggett sidestepped a log, breathing lightly, then caught a motion out of the corner of his eye.

He glanced over to his left, seeing through the trees a sweats-clad Fox Mulder running through the woods as well. Doggett was a little surprised, not thinking he and this aloof agent would have shared anything, not even an early more exercise regime.

Mulder ran alongside him, almost twenty-five feet away with thickets of trees obscuring his vision of him intermittently. It seemed, to Doggett, that Mulder was unaware of the other agent's presence.

Even so, Doggett found the other man's pace a challenge to keep up with. Doggett increased his pace, matching Fox Mulder's stride, not entirely sure why he did so, but doing it nonetheless.

Doggett followed alongside the recently recovered agent for about three minutes, Mulder's pace never slacking. Doggett was surprised and a little bristled to find that Agent Mulder's natural running pace was just that... a run. Doggett met plenty of people who 'jogged', and he'd usually found his own slightly quicker pace enough to overtake them easily. This agent, though, did not jog... he ran. Doggett's determination set and he picked his own pace up some more. He'd be damned if this man's easy canter would outdistance him. Although, it still seemed that Agent Mulder had no knowledge of Doggett's presence in the woods. The battle of stamina, it seemed, was known only to one party.

Mulder's pace grew faster, his strides lengthening. Without much effort, he started to pull ahead of Doggett.

Doggett glowered to himself and sped up, keeping even pace with the agent a good distance away. Doggett was not about to let him just breeze past him so easily.

Mulder kept pace evenly a moment, then moved even quicker through the forest.

Doggett clenched his hands into tighter fists, summoning up the extra effort to speed up as well and match Mulder's pace. The agent, though breathing audibly even from this distance, did not seem overly uncomfortable.

Doggett couldn't imagine how anyone could keep up such a vigorous pace for any extended amount of time, but Agent Mulder showed no signs of slacking.

And then, to Doggett's chagrin, the distant agent began moving even faster, plowing through the woods with what seemed almost the pace of a wild deer, nearly a dead full-tilt run.

Doggett, though exhausted, pushed himself to match pace. Doggett was not looking to concede much to this incompatible agent, but he had to admit this. Agent Fox Mulder was fast. Agent Scully once had hinted at it, though the actual meaning had been lost on Doggett at the time. They'd been in pursuit once of a fugitive in the streets... someone Doggett figured must have had track experience with the ease with which he sped away from them.

When they had pulled up to cease chase, Scully had looked disgusted with their failure, then muttered, "Mulder would have caught him." At the time, Doggett thought that was meant to say that Agent Mulder would have gotten to the perpetrator quicker, would have discovered his identity sooner. Now, though, he understood what Agent Scully had meant. She'd meant that, indeed, Fox Mulder would have had no trouble overtaking the man through sheer foot speed alone.

Doggett, taking the chance to pull his eyes from the forest floor he was flying over, glanced over at his unknowing opponent. One thing was for sure... from his performance now no one would guess Fox Mulder was a man pushing forty years old.

At Doggett's glance toward the other agent he was surprised to find Mulder, as easily and casually as if he'd known Doggett there the entire time, glance over at him. Doggett blinked, and then he realized... Mulder HAD known he was there the entire time! He'd been well aware of Doggett taking up the unspoken challenge.

And a look in Mulder's eye offered a challenge even greater. Doggett felt his hackles rise (metaphorically), not about to back down from this agent.

And with that, and very little warning, Agent Mulder took off. Doggett would not have believed that their pace before was not Mulder's top speed, but it was clearly not. The agent pulled quickly and easily away from Doggett, a swiftness that even Doggett would admit to being shocked by. Shocked, but not intimidated. Gathering every ounce of strength and power in him, he plunged forward after Mulder as fast as his legs would carry him.

Mulder had moved through the trees toward the relatively bare stretch that Doggett had been running on, and by the time Doggett caught up to Mulder's heels, he was on just that... Mulder's heels.

Two paces behind Mulder, Doggett fought and pushed to gain those two extra strides that would put him abreast with Agent Mulder. He knew full well that he could not outrun the man (experience from the last ten minutes told him that), but he would not lose. If anything, he would settle only for a tie.

Doggett wasn't sure how he managed it, but he slowly started pulling up beside Mulder, it being a fierce battle for gain all the way. The other agent caught the closing adversary out of the corner of his eye and ran faster. Both men were breathing hard, lungs burning and leg muscles feeling on the point of tearing.

Doggett gritted his teeth and lurched forward. Mulder's pace did not slacken.

And then, with Doggett a mere half-stride away from being right alongside Agent Mulder, both men seemed to reach the limits of the physical endurance. Or, perhaps, they somehow agreed upon an end. Without a word but at the same time, both agents pulled up. Strides shortened and paces dwindled.

Before long, both were walking to a stop, Mulder a short distance away from Doggett when both halted.

Doggett rested his hands on his knees and nearly doubled over, fighting for even, steady breaths. He was at least pleased to see that Mulder had not come out of the race unscathed. He too, was gulping down air, but not as desperately as Doggett secretly was. Of course, it was obvious that this was more Mulder's natural pace than it was Doggett's comparatively wimpy 'jog'.

Mulder heaved, breaths quick, then he walked over to where Doggett stood (in a sense, 'hunkered' was probably more the correct term).

Unwilling to meet the agent in a lowered crouch, Doggett gathered his strength and stood up straight to meet Agent Mulder.

Mulder was looking at him from three paces away, studying him a moment. Then, causing considerable shock to Agent Doggett, the corners of Mulder's mouth twitch in a near smile and he commented between breaths, "Not bad, Agent Doggett."

With those single words, Mulder turned and started walking back the way they'd come.

Though he wasn't sure why, Doggett turned and trotted, catching up with Mulder and settling into the same even walk the man had set alongside him. Neither spoke a word, and therefore Doggett couldn't be sure... but he thought he felt the beginning of some form of nonhostile camaraderie bridge between them. No doubt a bridge under construction that would need careful consideration and nursing... but the start of a bridge nonetheless.

The entire walk back, they said nothing, but neither stepped away from the comfortable distance between them... and neither sought to out step the other.



****



Skinner tried not to worry... he didn't want to seem like an overbearing mother-hen. Hell, these were two grown men; he was being ridiculous being worried.

But he was.

He'd woken up not long after Doggett left unnoticed, moving through the house quietly and, as people began to filter in and out of the kitchen after stirring, Skinner figured out that Agents Mulder and Doggett were not in the cabin.

Grettie didn't seem concerned, but then again, SHE hadn't seen the angry sparks fly between the two men, and nor did she know the kind of hostility both men were capable of if forced to. Skinner could almost imagine, a little too clearly, Mulder passing a note to Doggett saying '6 o'clock, the big tree, be there' and Doggett jumping at the challenge like any brainless ten-year-old.

It was all stupid, but the two agents involved simply did not seem to see that. There was a definite dominance struggle, a fight for alpha position, and neither was going to back down until they had it, whether they were aware of this power struggle or not.

Grettie walked up to Skinner, smiling and very nearly chuckling at him, "Calm down, Walter. The boys are fine."

Skinner scowled lightly, fighting the urge to tell her just HOW wrong it was likely she was. Skinner felt an indignant anger ruffle in him, 'I swear to god,' he thought, 'if they both come back with black eyes I'm going to put them BOTH on suspension.'

Then Skinner brought his hand to his face and fought a groan. Shit, NOW he was talking about putting the two in time out! This was not what he needed to be worrying about.

'Actually,' he thought to himself as he moved toward the cabin's front window, 'I SHOULD be worrying about one of them ending up worse than with a black eye.'

Skinner stared out the window, searching the forest without reward for one or both of the MIA agents. After all, Doggett was a trained Marine... those guys didn't mess around. Even when he was in the Marines himself, Walter Skinner had not ever thought to take on another Marine. Of course, Doggett didn't quite fit the profile of a normal Marine... he wasn't built like a bear like a lot of those guys were (as Skinner himself was). But no doubt he was trained in hand-to-hand combat. Then again, no one could claim initiative and pugnaciousness as Agent Mulder could. If he got it in his mind to rip the agent's arms out... well, he wouldn't be satisfied until he had at least one appendage freed.

And the worse part was, from the way they'd seemed to get along earlier, it didn't seem too out there to think they may have gotten into a brawl while not supervised. To add to the probability of that was the fact that Agent Mulder was worn thin with his captivity and Agent Doggett was pushed to his limits with being forced to listen to all this 'gibberish' concerning aliens. Both men were on edge, probably to the point of being easily pushed into a fight. It was like putting a long-caged tiger and a taunted lion in a ring together. It spelled trouble.

And there was the Scully situation. Agent John Doggett, for the time being, was technically Scully's partner. Mulder did NOT like that, Mulder didn't HAVE to say anything to that effect for Skinner to know it was explicitly true. If there was only one thing Agent Mulder was more protective and defensive over than the X Files, it was Agent Scully. If Doggett foolishly decided to bring up the female agent... Mulder was not likely to hold back his impulses. Skinner had seen Mulder do far worse to people for far less when it came to his partner.

When it came to matters concerning Agent Scully, one saw just how short Agent Mulder's temper could be. Doggett, though, was not aware of this... at least not fully. Should he bring it up, if he TRIED to rile Mulder up with talk of Agent Scully... well, Skinner wondered how hard it would be to carry one of the men out when it was deemed time to leave.

Grettie joined Skinner at the window, taking her own turn to glance around outside, then turned to Skinner, "Walter... you need to not worry about them so much... they'll be fine."

Skinner's doubtful sentiments must have been clear on his face. Grettie's certainty faltered and she asked a little concerned, "Won't they?"

Skinner huffed a breath, "They don't get along the best... but I hope you're right."

Grettie frowned, then said a little carefully, "Fox never... he doesn't seem like a... I can't imagine him doing anything... rash."

Skinner couldn't help the short laugh that escaped him, then he caught Grettie's worried look at his outburst, then quickly said, "You don't know Agent Mulder like I do, Ma'am. He's... been known to have his moments. More than most are allotted, it seems."

Grettie glanced with worry out the window, "What are you afraid he'll do?"

Skinner sighed, "The worst I think would be him and Agent Doggett getting into a fistfight. I don't think either are armed at the moment."

Grettie's eyes opened wide and she looked up at Skinner, mention of firearms obviously appraising her of the possible severity of the situation... and Skinner had only been partially joking. Grettie returned her attention to the talk of a fight, asking, "You think they would?"

Skinner nodded slowly, hesitating, "Conditions are not optimal between them. Agent Doggett, during Agent Mulder's absence, was assigned to Agent Scully as her partner... Scully is Mulder's partner, and Agent Mulder... doesn't take lightly to people trying to come between him and her." Skinner stopped a moment, "Actually, neither does Agent Scully."

Grettie nodded, "John mentioned something about that... about Dana not particularly liking him."

Skinner was a little surprised, "Agent Doggett talked to you about Agent Scully?"

Grettie nodded, "Well, I asked him about her... he said she keeps to herself and comes off as 'stubborn'."

Skinner smirked. He nodded, then said, "I'm not sure it's so much that she doesn't like him... it's just that... Agent Mulder and Scully have a very special, close friendship; they don't want anyone in their little circle. They're bound to reject anyone thrown in their little world, regardless of who that person is."

Grettie nodded, smiling faintly, "John said something to that effect."

Skinner was a little surprised, though pleasantly. It was refreshing to hear that Doggett knew full and well that both agents disliked his presence in their small circle, and perhaps he understood it was nothing to do with him as a person so much as the circumstances.

Grettie's voice suddenly interrupted Skinner's thoughts, her voice coming out with the layers of relief she felt, "THERE they are!"

Skinner looked quickly out the window, indeed seeing the two agents returning to the cabin. Both were wearing sweats, dark spots of perspiration discoloring their clothes... maybe the after-effects of the exertions of a fight. Their manner, however, caused him to pause and suspiciously watch them. They were walking side by side, by choice it seemed, and neither bore bruises or cuts... neither limped or seemed to wince. They looked, well... amiable.

Grettie commented, "They look unscathed."

Skinner nodded, still unsure if he should believe his eyes, then moved toward the front door to go out and meet the agents... though he didn't know for the life of him what he intended to say.



****



Doggett and Mulder strode easily toward the cabin, still not a word spoken between them. Doggett glanced briefly at Mulder, finding the agent's face had been overtaken by a hesitant, troubled look.

Doggett ignored it, content to let Mulder's mood roll of his back (before it started to annoy him as they had before), but before he could divert his attention elsewhere, Mulder spoke. "Agent Doggett." His tone was different... not challenging or threatening... rather calm and plain, actually.

Doggett stopped, as did Mulder, and he turned to face the other agent. He hoped his willingness to give Agent Mulder his full attention improved the shaky grounds they stood on. He might not particularly LIKE Fox Mulder, but he understood that dissension would get little done, if not complicate matters. Being non combative acquaintances, if that was possible, would be enough for him if it was for Agent Mulder.

Mulder seemed to grasp for words, or perhaps the courage to say them, then looked Doggett in the eye, his voice not biting or threatening, "A.D. Skinner told me that you... that you've taken care of Scully while I was... missing."

Doggett felt a defense mechanism in him turn on, ready for some kind of onslaught, for it had taken only the short time he'd known Mulder personally to understand that the man took matters concerning Agent Scully most seriously; that anything surrounding his partner set the missing agent on a very short fuse.

Mulder continued speaking, no threat in his posture, "And I wanted to thank you."

Doggett felt his muscles relax, a small sigh emitted from his previously tight lungs. Doggett nodded, seeing the dead sincerity in Mulder's face. Doggett debated on whether to speak back or not, then said carefully, "She misses you, Agent Mulder."

Mulder's face twisted, a pain coming to his features that Doggett had seen fleetingly before but never so clearly. Perhaps the semi-truce they'd made earlier was enough for Mulder to drop his guard around Doggett just enough for the man to see Mulder's pain. Mulder nodded, "I know... I miss her, too."

"Agents!" Skinner's nearing voice interrupted them.

Both men looked up to find A.D. Skinner moving swiftly toward them. Upon reaching the two agents, however, their non combative and nonchalant looks concerning each other's company made his rushed concern seem ridiculous.

Skinner glanced at both, seeing that indeed neither looked injured or even mentally whipped. Heaven forbid, but they looked like they were, to some small degree, getting along.

Doggett was the first to speak, "Sir?"

Skinner blinked out of his surprise at finding the two men in voluntary company with one another, then realized that they thought he wanted something of them, "Uhh... I'd appreciate it if both of you would inform me before disappearing like that. Especially you, Mulder."

Skinner's eyes turned to Mulder and the man in question looked back as Skinner said earnestly, "We've looked too hard for you to lose you now."

Mulder nodded, "Understood."

Doggett nodded, "Understood, sir. If that's all, I'll be taking my leave of you both."

Skinner nodded and Doggett moved toward the cabin, casting to Mulder before he left a quick and neutral glance that was clearly meant to be a farewell bid, though certainly not a warm one. Mulder returned the slight look, eyes riveting back to his superior officer as Doggett moved swiftly and without a backward glance toward the house.

Skinner, still reeling from the extreme change in manner the two agents had shown, looked behind him at Doggett's retreat, then back at Mulder, "Did you drug him?"

Mulder forced a smirk, understanding the A.D. had been attempting to lighten the mood with a joke. Mulder shifted his weight from one foot to the other, "We... declared an armistice... sort of."

Skinner, though he knew full well the response was also in jest, could not deny an overwhelming sense of relief.

Mulder started walking toward the house, Skinner falling in step beside him as Mulder commented, "I thought about what you told me last night... about Agent Doggett looking out for Scully..." Mulder paused, speaking his partner's name seeming to pain him. Skinner nodded, not about to interrupt while Mulder regathered himself. Mulder continued, "and it occurred to me that... he can't be ALL bad... and that in a way, I owe him some debt of gratitude."

Skinner mused silently to himself a moment, then commented, "No one says he's not a great agent and a decent person, Agent Mulder. It is just a question of whether or not he can take in stride all that the X Files entails."

Mulder looked up at the house, obviously thinking, then stated bluntly, "I still don't trust him, but I'm not convinced as I had once been that his intentions are wholly misguided."

Skinner nodded, shaking his head as he muttered faintly, "With you, Mulder, that's as much of a start as anyone can ask for."

Mulder glanced over at Skinner, having heard the comment, and remained silent as he was unable to decide if that had been an insult or a compliment.



****



Doggett had jumped in and out of the shower in record time, even for his military days. Truce made with Mulder or not, he still felt this was not the place to be caught off-guard, and the shower was a perfect moment to take advantage of an opponent. With such in mind, Doggett was cleaned and dressed once more in his suit from yesterday in ten minutes. He didn't need to be squeaky clean anyway... just enough to knock off the cobwebs and sweat from his morning race with Mulder.

Drying the rest of his damp hair best he could with the thin towel provided Grettie's house guests, Doggett neatly tossed it into the clothes hamper and departed the bathroom, feeling ignited. Sometimes a cold shower was just what the doctor ordered, he felt as thought he'd just woken up from a good night's sleep... refreshed and alert. He was sure it might be needed.



****



Mulder startled visibly at seeing Doggett emerge from the depths of the house clean and dressed once more in his suit. Mulder had only been in the house five minutes, as well as Skinner before leaving two minutes ago to talk outside with Grettie. Hardly enough time to have finished an entire shower. One thing Mulder could give this Doggett character for, he obviously didn't waste time.

Teresa Hoese was on the couch in the living room, an odd stare in her eyes as she seemed to gaze blankly out the front house window. There was nothing to hold her visual interest, but her eyes held in a glued stare just the same.

Doggett seemed relatively nonplused about it (figuring anyone who believed they were taken by aliens had to have a few issues in the first place), but something in her disturbed look seemed to unsettle Mulder, who was all too aware of something preoccupying Teresa's mind.

"Teresa?" Mulder moved from the kitchen toward her as she made no response at first.

Teresa finally blinked at her name, her anxious expression growing heavier. Whatever it was on her mind, it was bothering her even as Mulder tried to get her attention.

"Can you feel it?" she whispered when Mulder neared her in what she seemed to believe by the infliction of her tone was a rhetorical question.

Mulder stopped and knelt a few feet from her, watching her face as he asked softly (a slight hesitance and hitch in his voice), "Feel what?"

Doggett frowned. A look had come across Agent Mulder's face, too. Doggett had the feeling that, whatever it was Teresa professed to feeling and to which Mulder questioned, that Agent Mulder felt it too.

Teresa brought one leg up to the couch cushion, wrapping her arms around it and pulling it closer to her chest as she muttered, eyes still distant and glazed, "The energy, they're raising the shield in preparation for contact... aren't your hairs on end?"

Doggett tucked his arms behind his back, cursing himself for letting Teresa's spooky tone do its work on him and cause the hairs of his arm to bristle. It was only a delusion, and he was feeding into it. It had nothing to do with any energy Teresa claimed was at work. It was all in Doggett's head.

Mulder asked seriously, "What does it mean?"

Ray Hoese's voice answered, a haunted but accepting pitch to his nearly deadpan words from where he'd emerged out of the hallway and stood by the kitchen doorway, "It means they're coming."

Mulder's face blanched, but his lips held in a firm, tight line, and his eyes flashed nothing. No fear... though the skin of his arm prickled with goose bumps.

Doggett fought off a shudder, refusing to give in to the mood of these three UFO nuts, and asked loudly to anyone in the room who would listen and care to answer, "Who's coming?"

Ray turned his eyes to Doggett, a quick distrust sharpening there. With Ray Hoese, however, Doggett wasn't sure if it was the dissension between abductee and disbeliever of the sometimes old rivalry between FBI and cops. If he let himself imagine it was the latter, maybe he could give this guy the benefit of the doubt and for a moment take him seriously, until...

Ray answered flatly, "The aliens... they'll be coming soon."

Mulder stood nervously, crossing his arms over his chest and stepping away. His face was worried, almost so blankly that he possibly wasn't even aware of his reaction... like he'd managed to somehow disassociate it from him.

Teresa's eyes finally turned to Mulder, who was beginning to act like a caged animal again, and she spoke gently, "It's a good thing, Agent Mulder... it means we'll be able to go home soon."

Mulder seemed to pause at this, coming back to himself at the idea, but it wasn't long before that apprehension came back to his face.

Doggett didn't want to, and he tried to fight it, but the more he watched Mulder grow more and more uneasy, he could no longer really deny it. He was starting to worry about Agent Mulder.

He was still far from proclaiming concern to Mulder on his person, but rather still to his outstanding promise to Scully to have her partner back safe and sound. In any case, Mulder's growing anxiousness was starting to get to Doggett.

Mulder had been moving nervously from the kitchen to the living room and back again when Doggett stepped in his path, "Agent Mulder?"

Mulder stopped short, gaze darting up at Doggett. His eyes flashed that same old anger and distrust, the vehemence that had nearly given Doggett a lapful of hot chocolate the first night, but unusually quickly the fire in his eyes dissipated.

Obviously (and to Doggett's relief), Mulder's called truce was a sincere one. Mulder was standing before him no longer tensed for a fight but rather more of an impatient waiting to hear whatever it was Doggett wanted to say. At least he was listening now, regardless of how impatiently that was... it was still an improvement.

Not to waste the opportunity, Doggett spoke, "A.D. Skinner's out front with Grettie, perhaps we should appraise him of the... situation?" Doggett's real intention with the suggestion was much different (for, naturally, he didn't believe any of this alien mumbo jumbo). He wanted to give Mulder something to focus on, to take his mind away from the uneasy moving about he'd taken up. Anything, even reporting to his superior, had to be better than the uneasy waiting he'd been doing.

Amazingly, however, this ulterior motive seemed lost on Mulder. The recently missing agent nodded, then moved toward the door as he spoke, "Good idea, Agent Doggett."

Agent Doggett sighed inwardly to himself, then followed Mulder as he headed for the front door.



****



Skinner's attention to approaching persons was not by his own methods, but Grettie's indications. He'd been talking to her at length about the other abductees she'd found over the years, when her att