Subject: NEW: Breadcrumbs
Date: Tuesday, July 06, 1999

Title: Breadcrumbs (6 parts)
Authors: Vickie Moseley and Sally Bahnsen
Summary: Post ep for 'E. B. E.' Mulder was limping at the end,
and still didn't know where the E.B.E. went to. Do you think we
could leave it at that?
Spoilers: First season up to and including E.B.E.
Category: S MT UST S/A
Rating: PG-13 for use of words unbecoming old married ladies
Disclaimer: Forgive me, Chris for I have sinned. And to make
matters worse, I have dragged someone else in on it. I do not
infringe on your copyright, but face it, you have all the neat toys.
The least you can do is share. We'll play nice and give them baths
and hand them over unscathed (well, except for Mulder ;) when
we're done.
Archive: yes
Finished July 6, 1999
Author's notes: See what sending feedback can get you? Sally has
been lurking for some time and sending me great feedback. So
when she asked for a post ep on E.B.E., because there has never
been a post ep for E.B.E. that we could find, I picked up the
challenge. But I got stuck. Enter Sally again, and after much
pleading on my part, she picked up the gauntlet (nervously, at first)
and came up with all the really great stuff. This story would be
nothing without her. Thanks tons, Sally!
Author's notes, Sally: This is my first attempt at fan fiction
and trust me I had absolutely no intentions of ever writing.
It's just that I wanted a post EBE story so bad that when
Vickie suggested rather strongly that I help I was too afraid not
to in case it didn't happen.<G> And BTW I was the one doing
the pleading for her to write it. Vickie's encouragement and
help go way beyond the call of duty so many thanks and cyber
roses to her! Sally.
Thanks to Susan, J. Nelson, and Shannara for beta, you guys are
terrific! And fast <G>
Comments: Sending them to both of us (that wonderful CC line in
the header) would save tremendously on bandwidth and get you two
return messages for the price of one! vmoseley@fgi.net and
bahnsen@alphalink.com.au

Breadcrumbs (1 of 6)
by Vickie Moseley
and Sally Bahnsen
vmoseley@fgi.net
bahnsen@alphalink.com.au
disclaimer in part one

Mattewa Power and Light Plant 2
Mattewa, Washington
12:05 am

Fox Mulder stood transfixed to the tarmac, and watched the tall
form of a man retreating into the fog. He heard footsteps behind
him, and recognized his partner's gait, but didn't turn. He was still
working on the last question he had asked of the disappearing
man, a question that remained unanswered. Which lie was he
supposed to believe?

Scully looked at him, her eyes questioning. Mulder looked
at her for a moment, then turned his attention to the man
disappearing in the fog and the mist.

"Mulder?" When he hadn't acknowledged her, Dana Scully grew
worried. "Mulder, are you all right?"

Mulder smirked at the inquiry. Together, they had just chased a
fallen UFO and quite possibly, a captured extraterrestrial
biological entity across the North American continent, been tricked
more than once, had even been held at gunpoint, just because they
wanted to see what the military was trying so hard to conceal--but
his partner's first thought was of his health. Well, he was almost
getting used to having a guardian angel, he mused and turned to
her. "I'm fine, Scully," he lied.

He wasn't fine. He was angry, he felt deceived, betrayed.
He had trusted that man he could no longer see, had trusted him
like no other, save the woman standing next to him. And the man,
who still remained nameless, had repaid that trust by lying to them,
by trying to lead them down the wrong path, and by acting so
contrite when he had completed his deceit. At that moment, Fox
Mulder was anything but fine, and his right leg was killing him.
But there was no way he was going to let that out.

She gave him a dubious look that he could see even in the pale light
of the security lamps and the fog. Then, with a resigned sigh, she
tugged at his sleeve.

"C'mon. It's cold out here, and I'm getting wet. Let's go
back to the motel and get some sleep. We'll have to head back
home first thing in the morning." She let her hand touch his
shoulder before she turned and started walking toward the parking
lot where they'd left their rental car.

After a few steps, Scully realized she was still alone. She turned
back and saw her partner, silhouetted by the lamplight, fog swirling
at his feet and around his body. "Mulder," she called out, trying to
keep the concern out of her voice. "Are you coming or not?"

His lack of answer worried her even more. "Mulder," she
continued, taking a few steps toward him, "Come on. You didn't
see anything because there was nothing to see. I doubt there ever
was an EBE --" she stopped, then added hastily "--here, in the first
place."

His face was turned away from her so she couldn't see the smile
that tugged at his mouth. She would never believe in UFO's and
EBE's -- not until she'd been given proof -- a proof that Mulder
wondered if they'd ever find. But that didn't stop her from
empathizing with her partner's need to keep searching, and feeling
for his failures when the proof was concealed again.

Heaving a sigh, and one last look at the building they'd just been
escorted out of, Mulder took a couple of limping steps then
stopped dead in his tracks. Scully was beside him in a minute.

"You hurt your leg. Let me see it," she ordered, stooping down to
feel down his leg from knee to ankle.

"You're right, Scully," he said, a determined look coming to his
face that she was missing in her examination.

"I don't think it's broken, but we should swing past an ER, just to
be safe. You probably twisted the knee. Might have torn a
ligament," she rattled on, but he wasn't listening.

"No, not the leg," he said impatiently. "You were right about the
EBE."

She looked up at him from her crouched position, pity evident on
her face. "Mulder, all I meant--"

"Don't apologize, Scully!" he cut her off. "I'm not totally agreeing
with you here. I'm just saying, I think you're on to something. I
don't think the EBE is here. It might have been, but not now.
Maybe it never was here."

She straightened, all thought of his leg forgotten for the moment.
"Mulder, what about the guards?"

"Precisely, Scully," he replied, grinning. "If there really was an
EBE in that facility, don't you think they would have shot first and
asked questions later? I should be in a body bag right now." He
chose to ignore the shudder that he could see run through his
partner's shoulders.

Scully still wasn't convinced. "But what about the reports of the
sightings? NICAP, MUFON? What about the people we met in
the park? They said they'd seen lights around the 'power plant' for
the last couple of nights? What was all that? And don't think I'm
taking 'swamp gas' for an answer," she added, a twinkle in her eye.

He grinned more broadly at that, facing her now. "We weren't the
only ones they were trying to throw off the chase, Scully. We just
happened to be the ones on the ground." He stuck an index finger
into the air above his head and wiggled his eyebrows.

"So what are you saying? That the EBE is still alive? That they
didn't destroy it?" He realized she must have heard what Deep
Throat had said to him. Or maybe she just guessed.

"I'm saying that was a great cover story. It sure ended my search,
for a while. But think about it, Scully. Do you really think that if
they found an alien life form, they'd just kill it and destroy all
evidence? Would that make any sense at all -- scientifically
speaking?"

Scully pursed her lips and stared off into the fog. "No, that would
be the exact opposite of a scientific inquiry. If anything, that sort of
thinking belongs to the Middle Ages."

"Precisely," Mulder said with a satisfied smirk. "It's somewhere,
Scully. And I'm betting, it's alive." He took a step and stumbled,
catching himself before he hit the ground.

"Aah," he said, more to himself than to his partner.

"Mulder !"

"It's OK, Scully. I banged my knee earlier. I tripped on the stairs".

"Same knee as last time?" she asked, going over to take his arm.
She braced herself as he leaned on her.

"Yep," he replied, biting both lips between his teeth. She'd seen
him do that before, just before he'd pass out from pain.

"We're going to the hospital," she informed him and pulled him
along beside her toward the car.

"No way, Scully I'm fine, really." He looked her in the eye hoping to
convince her. She stared back trying to read his expression and
figure out how much he wasn't telling her. Mulder knew this look
and felt himself wilting under her scrutiny. "Look, let's go back to
the motel and I promise to rest up. Honestly I'll be fine by
morning."

Scully continued her examination but decided to give him the
benefit of the doubt. "Okay Mulder, but if it gets worse you tell
me."

"Don't I always?"

"Hmmmm...Come on, Mulder." She took his arm and helped him to
the car.

Rest and Save
Mattewa, Washington
12.45am

"The plane leaves at 10. Want to go to breakfast about 8:15 then
head to the airport?"

He nodded and she noticed how tired he looked. "We could leave
later," she offered.

"Nah, Scully. It would just prolong the inevitable. The shit will hit
the fan over this one as it is. We might as well face the music."

"Don't be so optimistic, Mulder. You might break something," she
grinned at him and his expression softened to a tired smile.
"If you need anything--" she let the sentence trail off. Her eyes
conveyed the rest of the message--she'd be there, even if he just
wanted to talk.

"I know," he replied quickly. "Night." He was inside his room, the
door closed and she was left standing on the little sidewalk. She
chanced a look out at the evening, now turning darker with the
lifting of the fog. A million stars twinkled in the night sky, but the
moon had set, leaving her to feel like she was standing in a sparkling
cave.

"Night, Mulder," she whispered, and turned to unlock her own
door and collapse on the bed.

Once alone in his room Mulder slumped against the door, relieved
that he no longer had to put on a brave front. His knee was
throbbing and it seemed his head had decided to go out in
sympathy. He hobbled to his bed and eased himself down. "Why
am I always doing these things to myself," he wondered as he
pulled up his trouser leg up. His leg was red and beginning to
bruise where it had impacted with the railing,and already on the
way to a decent sized swelling.

"Shit," he muttered under his breath. Well, not much I can do about
it but take my own advice, he added silently. Might as well take a
shower and try to get some sleep.

He must have turned in his sleep, because little snatches of riding in
an ambulance, being carried on a gurney into an operating room,
Scully's tired and worried face as she touched his cheek just before
the door closed, blocking her from view all came to him with a
return of the pain in his knee. When he heard a steady bleating, he
almost thought it was the heart monitor next to his bed. But it
sounded different, and was enough to wake him up. It was his cell
phone, laying on the nightstand next to his bed. He grabbed for it
sleepily.

"Mulder," he said into the mouthpiece.

"Ah, shucks, we were trying to reach Tom Braidwood," came a
familiar voice on the other end of the line.

"Langly? What the hell--" came Mulder's cursing reply.

"Byers was getting worried. We didn't hear back from you
and wondered if the MIBies got ya," Langly answered.

"No such luck," Mulder growled, lowering himself back onto
the pillows.

"Find anything--news worthy?" Langly asked hopefully.

"Nothing for publication and nothing of any worth--period,"
Mulder sighed dejectedly.

"Well, from what we're hearing, the night is still young," came the
chuckling voice.

"What do you mean?" Mulder demanded.

"Hang on, I'll put Frohike on the line." In a few seconds, Mulder
heard some scuffling and finally another voice filled his ears.

"Is Agent Scully there with you?"

"Frohike, it's the middle of the night here. She's in her room,
asleep."

"Rats," the gnomelike man uttered. "I was hoping at least one of us
could score," he said under his breath. "Well, anyway, we're
getting all kinds of sighting reports, Mulder. Figured you might
want to check them out."

That got Mulder's attention. "Where?"

"You still at the power plant?" Frohike asked.

"About five miles northeast of there," Mulder said mentally
calculating their location.

"There's a little bump in the road called Royal City. About 45 miles
away. You can find it on the map if you look real hard--it's
northeast of your location. About fifty people have spotted lights in
the sky over the town. Some said the trees were glowing in the
forest just north of the city limits."

"Forest?"

"You're in high timber country, Mulder," Frohike reminded him.

"Yeah, you're right. Good place to hide something you don't want
found."

"Our thoughts exactly. The chase is still on, Old Friend," Frohike
misquoted.

"Thanks, guys. I'll call later."

"Make sure you do," Frohike warned, and the line went dead.
Mulder swung his legs out of bed and stood up. "AAAh FUCK!" he
yelled and promptly sat back down again, gripping his knee in an
attempt to relieve the sharp pain that was shooting up and down his
leg.

As the pain eased and his mind cleared he was wondering how the
hell he was going to go anywhere feeling like this. He sighed and
hobbled awkwardly to his suitcase lying open on the other bed.
Mulder rummaged around and found an old tattered pack of extra
strength Tylenol. He read the expiration date on the package.
"Only 6 months past the date," he mumbled to himself. Still, it's
better than nothing, he thought, although his little voice told him his
partner probably wouldn't agree.

He made his way to the bathroom and swallowed 3 pills down with
some water. As he moved around getting dressed his knee started
to loosen up a bit and he figured once the pain pills kicked in he'd
be as good as new, if he didn't put his full weight on it.

He grabbed his gun and badge off the nightstand and as an
afterthought, his flashlight out of his bag. He was out the door
within minutes of the call. Without thinking, he reached for the car
door, patting down his pants pockets for the keys. He heard a
noise behind him that sounded like a throat being cleared. He
closed his eyes and winced.

"Looking for these?" He opened his eyes and saw the sought after
keys dangling from two small well manicured fingers right in front
of his face.

end of part one

*****

Breadcrumbs (2 of 6)
by Vickie Moseley
and Sally Bahnsen
vmoseley@fgi.net
bahnsen@alphalink.com.au
disclaimer in part one

Rest and Save
3:06 am

"Uh, Scully, . . . let me explain . . ." He mustered enough courage
to face her. The look on her face was even more angry than his
imagination had provided. She was standing there, hair mussed
from her pillow, her trench coat buttoned up to conceal her
pajamas, he figured. The look in her eyes would have melted steel.

"Where in the hell do you think you're going?" she seethed.

"Scully, let me explain--the guys called . . ."

"Those brain dead wackos you call friends? Why doesn't that
surprise me?" she growled low and menacing. "What did they
want?"

"They said there have been more sightings," he said, tense and
quiet, trying hard not to bounce on the balls of his feet. Especially
not the one foot connected to the aching knee.

"And I suppose you thought you'd run right out there and check it
out?" Scully replied, her eyes narrowed and her arms across her
chest.

"Scully, please," he said, hoping his voice didn't sound as
much like a whine as he thought it did. "We've come this far--"

"You're not supposed to be on your feet, Mulder," she reminded
him. "And if we're a day late getting home, our asses are grass!"

"I'm pretty sure that's already the case, Scully. Word travels fast
among the military-industrial complex," Mulder said, his mind
going a mile a minute. She was still talking. She hadn't dragged
him back into the room and drugged him to the gills. There was
hope. He just had to keep talking.

"Scully, we've traveled all the way across the damned continent.
We only have to drive 60 miles to check this out. You can't tell me
you're going to go back into that room and go to sleep when we're
this close." Then he looked at her for a moment, the realization
hitting him like a load of bricks. "Besides, you couldn't sleep
thinking about that EBE--could you?" he accused.

It was her turn to look like a deer caught in the headlights
of an oncoming car. "I couldn't sleep . . . because . . . that's not the
point, Mulder! You are injured, you are in no shape to go running
around some small town looking for a little gray man! Were you
born with any sense at all?"

He looked at her, long and hard. He squared his shoulders and
drew in a deep breath. Then, he held out his hand to her.

"Help me, Scully. Come with me. We can find this thing, I know
we can. I just need your help."

All time stopped. Neither of them breathed for an eternity. Scully's
eyes betrayed her emotions: astonishment over his confession and
request, mixed with anger over his stubbornness. But there was
something else, something bright and just on the edges. He saw the
curiosity, the unquenchable thirst for what they might find, shining
from her eyes. A heartbeat later, she spoke.

"I drive," she said, snatching the keys back into her pocket. "And
you'll wait inside while I get dressed."

Royal City Sheriff's Department
Royal City, Washington
4:45 am

Scully put the car in park and looked out at the small concrete
building housing the local sheriff's office. "Not much to look at,"
she commented.

Mulder had been dozing for much of the ride and he stretched
his arms and yawned. "Early Cuban Missile Crisis architecture,
Scully. It's was meant to withstand a nuclear device, but doesn't
lend itself to blending in with the majesty surrounding it." He
nodded to the east, where the faintest tintings of deep purple were
coloring the night sky above the Cascade Mountain range. "Let's
see what the good sheriff has to say about the sightings.

They had phoned ahead, and had already been informed that the
sheriff's department had been deluged with reports between the
hours of midnight and 3 in the morning. The calls had kept coming,
but the deputy at the desk hoped they would taper off as the sun
came up and 'people sobered up a bit', as he put it.

Scully was out of the car and up the one step as Mulder was
getting out of his seat. She stopped and looked back at him, her
hands on her hips. He waved her off.

"I'm fine. Just a little stiff," he answered her glare.

"I bet you say that a lot, Mulder," she responded and twirled
toward the door before he could make a reply. He shook his head
and followed after her.

Inside the building, it was brightly lit and fairly active given the
time of day. At a desk near the front door sat a young man in a
gray uniform and silver badge. He looked up from the paper he
was reading as they entered the room.

"You with the FBI?" he asked, rising up out of his chair.

"Agent Mulder, Agent Scully," Mulder informed him motioning
respectively between them. "Is Sheriff Jakes in?"

The young man snorted a short laugh. "He's in, but he ain't happy.
Damnedest night we've had in a long time. If I didn't know some of
these people calling personally, I'd say we were having a remake of
'War of the Worlds'." He started toward the back of the station.
"Sheriff's back this way. He said to show you right in."

Sheriff Elliot Jakes was a large man, wind-burned and ruggedly
handsome for 50 plus years of age. His once jet black hair was
graying at the fringes, and Mulder noticed his partner giving the
man an appraising once over. He shook his head ruefully before
extending his hand. "Sheriff Jakes, I'm Agent Mulder--"

"And this little missy must be Agent Scully," Jakes said with a
smile. Mulder couldn't keep the grin off his face as Scully turned
three shades of red at the greeting. So much for the appeal of older
men.

"Sheriff, it's our understanding that you've received several reports
of 'lights in the sky' tonight," Mulder said, covering for his partner's
silent treatment of the local law enforcement officer.

"Several--we hit fifty about 3:30 and we've had about 15 more
since then," Jakes huffed. He handed Mulder a sheet of paper
listing names and addresses of the callers. "Those aren't your usual
nutcases, either, Agent Mulder. That one," he said, pointing to the
top of the list, "is the Methodist minister. And that one right there
is the principal of the elementary school. Not the kind of people
who make prank phone calls to the Sheriff. Besides, I know both
of them personally and I'd never let them hear the end of it if they
were trying to pull my leg."

"There was a report of 'glowing trees'," Scully said after glancing at
the report and deciding she'd better speak up or risk becoming
invisible to the two men.

"Oh, yeah, out near the camp. Logging camp's about 5 miles north
of town. It's been deserted for a year, the company had some
trouble with the Department of the Interior or some such. Anyway,
I sent a deputy out to check on it, but he didn't find much. Thought
it might be foxfire."

Mulder snorted, then swallowed at Scully's piercing glare. "Do you
mind if we go have a look, sir? We might find something the
deputy missed."

Jakes just shrugged. "Wha'ja drivin'?" he drawled, making a quick
sketch of the road and the turn off to the logging camp.

"Ford Taurus, a rental," Scully informed him.

Jakes screwed up his face. "That won't get ya far. Need
four-wheel drive where you're goin'. You can take my Bronco. It's
been rode hard, but it'll get you there." He held up his hand in a
gesture for them to wait, then left the room, returning in a few
minutes with a thermos and a brown sack.

"The missus packed me some ham sandwiches when the phone
calls started coming in. There's coffee in here. Not much, but it
might end up being breakfast," he said, offering the items to Scully.
She looked at them for a moment, then relented and smiled her
thanks. "There are blankets in the back of the truck, just in case.
No telling what you might find up there."

Mulder was anxious to leave. "Thanks for your help, Sheriff." He
handed the older man a business card. "That's my cell phone
number, if you need to reach us. We'll keep in touch."

"Do that. I'd hate to have to rustle up a rescue party," Jakes said in
mock seriousness. "You'll be fine, I'm sure. Don't 'spect you'll find
much in the light of day. These things tend to take on a life of their
own, till the sun shines."

"And people have a chance to sober up," Scully said under her
breath, but Mulder shot her a look that told her he'd heard every
word.

Scully made a quick trip to the rental to get her daypack, then
joined Mulder in the Bronco.

"If that's carrying a curling iron and hair spray, you're walking,"
Mulder growled with twinkling eyes.

"No, actually Mulder, it's my first aid kit and a couple of extra tee
shirts. And two rain ponchos."

"My partner, the Girl Scout," Mulder smiled in admiration, then
settled in as Scully put the car in drive and started off up the road.

The road to the logging camp was in an advanced state of
disintegration. The road was pockmarked with potholes, some of
them big enough to tip the Bronco if Scully hadn't been skillful at
avoiding them.

"Gives you an idea of what 'riding a log wagon' really means,"
Mulder said as he was slammed against the door by another rough
stretch of road.

"How's your knee? Is this jarring it too much?" Scully asked,
barely keeping hold of the steering wheel.

"This roller coaster is jarring my _teeth_ too much," Mulder shot
back. At her continued stare, which took her eyes off the important
task of looking for the potholes, he added, "my knee is fine. Just
watch the road."

She sighed and went back to her task.

The sun was just topping the mountains, casting it's light on the
abandoned camp when they arrived. Scully pulled the Bronco into
a parking position just outside the door of the main building, which
appeared to be an office and a bunkhouse. Mulder climbed out,
wincing when his right foot hit the packed dirt of the driveway.

Scully tried the door of the cabin and found it open. Inside there
were a couple of tables, an odd assortment of wooden chairs and
office furniture and ten wooden bunks built into the walls. It was
obvious that no one had been there for quite some time. The agents'
footprints left an easy to see trail through the building.

"Well, they didn't bring it here," Scully remarked casually, trailing
her index finger through the quarter inch of dust on one of the
tables.

"Unless they did a really good job of covering their tracks," Mulder
agreed. "Still, it might be useful, if we end up staying out here
longer than expected."

Scully shot him a sour look. "Mulder, I'm sleeping in a bed tonight,
with a real mattress and a real pillow and sheets and a bedspread, or
I'm gonna know _why_," she warned him, low and threatening.

"Hey, Scully," he said defensively. "I said _if_. It's not my plan. I
just know how these things happen sometimes."

"Well, let's make sure they don't happen this time," Scully
concluded. "Come on. We should see what's out here so we can
get back to town."

"It's daylight Scully. I swear we'll be back in a nice comfy motel by
midnight. Scouts honor," he added, holding up the requisite Boy
Scout salute.

She glared at him through narrowed eyes. "One of these days, I
demand to see evidence of your scouting experiences, Mulder," she
growled. But in the end, she knew she couldn't stop him and she
really didn't want to. "Let's get a move on."

1:15 pm

It had been smooth sailing at first. There was a well worn
path, and Scully had been lulled into a false sense of security. It
was too good to be true, and soon proved much rougher going.

Using the coordinates the Gunmen had given him, and a compass
Scully had provided from her pack, they were quickly approaching
the site that had been reported to NICAP and MUFON.

Scully shaded her eyes against the sun. They had been under the
canopy of trees for most of the morning and it had provided
more than enough shade. But now, even with trees surrounding
them, the sun was bearing down fiercely. A quick look up gave
them the answer--the canopy looked like it had been sliced away.
The trees, mostly stately pines, were burned, charred and broken at
the top.

Mulder stopped dead in his tracks and peered up at the trees.
"Remind you of anything Scully?" He turned to face her, his
expression hopeful.

"Mulder I know what it looks like but..."

"We've seen this before. Scully, it proves that the EBE was still
alive, they sent it back. Why would they do that?"

"Mulder, it proves nothing. Yet," she added not wanting to deflate
him any further.

"Scully, what if I was wrong. What if they weren't trying to throw
the aliens off the track but had intended on handing it back all
along? This would be the perfect place to hand over the EBE
without any one knowing."

"You said it yourself Mulder, Why would they do that?"

"I don't know , and I'm not going to know anything standing here.
Come on Scully, let's go take a closer look." Mulder took off
towards the charred area, his limp more noticeable now than when
they had first started walking. Scully watched his retreating form.

She shook her head in frustration and followed him at a slow jog.
When Scully caught up to Mulder he was wandering around in
investigation mode.

"Scully! Take a look at this." He was standing in the middle of
burnt and charred debris gesturing to the surrounding area with his
hand. On closer inspection Scully could see that the burnt area was
in a shape. Three circular shapes to be exact.

"What do you think it is, Mulder?" she asked, knowing very well
that she wasn't going to like his theory.

"Put it this way, Scully, we ain't gonna find our EBE on this planet.
Not now."

Mulder made his way over to a fallen log and sat down, his head in
his hands. "Why Scully, why would he continue to lie to me over
and over. I trusted him. I know in the past he has only given me
pieces of the puzzle but as far as I know he has never deliberately
deceived me." He paused, then more quietly, "or played me for the
fool."

Scully looked down at her despondent partner and her heart ached
for him. "Mulder you are not a fool and I'm sure this man doesn't
think so either. Maybe this time you were just too close for your
own good and this was his way of protecting you. Perhaps he had
no choice but to throw you off the track. If he hadn't, maybe you
would be in that body bag." Just like before, the mental image
brought a shudder to Dana Scully.

Mulder let his hands down and stared at the ground. "Maybe
Scully, but it's really pissing me off. Every time I get close, the
evidence is whipped away before I get there."

Scully sat beside him and put her hand on his arm. "Mulder we are
getting closer all the time. We WILL find the truth. So we suffered
a setback this time, it's no reason to give up."

"I'm not giving up Scully, it just gets hard to find the motivation to
keep going." He lifted his head and looked at her, seeing friendship
and loyalty in her eyes, but something more as well. Confidence,
and a belief in him.

He gave her a tight smile, "Thanks, Scully."

"Come on partner we want to get back to the cabin before night
fall." Scully looked up at the sky and noticed that the brilliant
sunshine of earlier had been replaced by dark clouds. Scully stood
and offered Mulder a hand. He took it and stood but as soon as he
put weight on his right leg it gave out under him and he collapsed
to the ground.

end of part two

******

Breadcrumbs (3 of 6)
by Vickie Moseley
and Sally Bahnsen
vmoseley@fgi.net
bahnsen@alphalink.com.au
disclaimer in part one

"Mulder, your knee!" Scully was all concern as she reached down to
help him.

"I'm fine, Scully, I guess I'm a bit stiff from all that walking."

Scully noted the light sheen of perspiration on his brow and the
lines around his eyes. "You don't look fine, Mulder," she said while
moving towards his leg to take a look.

"Stop, Scully. I AM fine, just help me up and give me a minute."
Mulder realized his tone was harsher than he intended, but the pain
was making him irritable.

Mulder struggled to his feet, one hand leaning on the log they had
been sitting on earlier. He was holding his leg off the ground and
flexing his knee. After a minute he tried to put some weight on it.
While it still caused some discomfort it wasn't the sudden shooting
pain he'd felt before. After a couple of tentative steps he turned to
Scully smiling sheepishly, "See, good as new."

Scully watched him, hands on hips, face frozen in a concerned
frown. Well, if he wants to be the big macho man I'll play along for
awhile, she thought to herself.

"OK, Mulder. Let's head off then."

By the time they started to walk back to the cabin the sun had
begun its descent behind the trees, giving off an eerie glow to the
back drop of dark clouds that were filling the sky. As the sun fell
so did the temperature and both agents pulled their coats tightly
around themselves.

After a couple of miles Mulder noticed that the earlier exercise that
had loosened his stiff knee was now beginning to make it worse.
Each step caused a searing pain through the joint every time he bent
his knee. He found that by keeping his leg relatively straight it
wasn't so bad. Unfortunately his limp was more pronounced and he
was having a hard time keeping up with Scully.

Scully was well aware of her partners dilemma but had decided not
to say anything. Eventually he was going to have to admit he was
in pain.

Mulder struggled on for a while longer but the pain was
accelerating into agony with each step he took. I can't tell Scully,
I'll never hear the end of it, he thought. Each step was like a knife
twisting in his knee and he wasn't sure how long he could put up
with it. Just when he'd decided he'd have to give up his manly
bravado and admit to Scully how much he was hurting his foot
slipped on a loose rock.

His mind was on his knee and he was too slow to react and regain
his footing. His left leg slipped out from under him and he felt
himself sliding down the edge of an incline by the side of the path.
Mulder rolled once and landed with a thump at the bottom. His
right knee taking the brunt of the fall as it hit a large rock
protruding out of the ground.

"Oh shit, shit, shit!" Mulder curled in on himself, grasping his knee
and writhing in agony. The shock and pain prevented him from
even calling out. All he could do was roll on the ground, eyes
tightly shut, biting down hard on his lip.

"Please, God let me pass out, let me pass out," he whimpered to
himself. As the roaring in his ears began to subside he thought he
could hear a voice.

"Mulder, breathe slowly, Mulder! You're going to hyperventilate. I
know you're in pain but it WILL ease in a minute. Come on partner,
normal breaths, in and out, in and out, that's it nice and easy."

He thought he knew that voice, he didn't really care if he did or not,
he couldn't stop from obeying what it was saying. He slowed his
breathing and the roaring lessened even more. As his head began to
clear he recognized the soothing voice of his partner.

"Oh God, Scully it hurts!"

Scully was worried now. He must still be in horrible pain if he was
prepared to admit it. "I know, Mulder. I know it hurts. I want you
to try and relax okay. Nice slow breaths." As she spoke she
stumbled down the washout and reached for his hands trying to
release the vice like hold he had on his knee.

"Come on Mulder, I'm just going to move your hands so I can have
a look. It's okay." Scully continued to talk to him hoping to get
him to relax enough so she could examine his leg. She glanced at
his face, his eyes were squeezed shut and even in the fading light
she could make out his pale complexion. Scully ran gentle hands
up his leg to his knee. As she touched the knee she heard him gasp
and noticed his lip clenched firmly between his teeth.

"Mulder, I'm just going to straighten your leg so I can get a better
look. I'll take it real easy okay?" Slowly Scully straightened out his
injured leg. She was half way there when he screamed out.

"Scully, stop! Stop! Oh fuck, oh shit, stop!" he sobbed as he
attempted to push himself away with his good leg.

"I'm sorry Mulder, I'm sorry. We'll just rest a bit and let you get
your breath back."

"S'okay, Scully," he panted. "Just give me a minute." Mulder tried
to stifle a moan as the throbbing in his leg felt like it would never
end.

Scully sat back, frowning at him in worry. She'd never seen him
react to pain like this. Even when he'd been shot, he was unconscious
most of the time and unaware of what was happening. This
frightened her, her usually stoic partner was suffering and she
wasn't sure what she could do for him out here.

Mulder's breathing returned to normal. "Mulder you with me? I'm
just going to finish straightening your leg. Are you ready?"

"Go, Scully," he replied hoarsely.

She managed to get his leg straight without causing him too much
pain. Scully gently pulled his trouser leg up to get a better look at
his knee but the denim was too tight and wouldn't go past his calf.

"Shit!" She cursed to her self and stood up reaching for the
backpack still hanging from her shoulders. She searched around
until she found the medical kit . Thank God I threw this in, she
thought to herself, but just once it would be nice not to have to use
it.

Scully pulled out the scissors. "How are you going there G-man?"
she asked.

"Better." But a look at his eyes showed her he was lying through
his teeth.

"I can't get your jeans up to have a look and I really need to see
what you have done. I'm going to cut the leg of your pants up to
your knee, OK?"

"Uh huh, OK."

Scully looked at his face . His eyes were still closed and he had one
arm now draped across his forehead. What, no lewd remark,
Mulder, she mused. Now, I'm really worried. She cut his jeans
without incident. Even as a doctor Scully was amazed at how
swollen his knee was in such a short time. I knew it was worse
than what he was letting on, she told herself.

The joint was red and inflamed and she could see bruising on either
side of his knee. "Well Mulder you've certainly done a job on
yourself," she muttered.

All through her examination Mulder had been moaning quietly to
himself. Scully sat back on her haunches and looked up to the path
where Mulder had fallen. The little ravine wasn't too deep, about 5
foot down. It seemed to be a run off for rainwater and a pool had
gathered at the bottom, not far from where Mulder was lying. Still,
it was going to cause problems getting him up the washout. She
decided to deal with that later.

Scully searched through the first aid kit and found a triangular
bandage. Ripping the plastic open with her teeth she shuffled over
to the water and wet the bandage.

"Mulder we need to get the swelling down. This will be cold when I
put it on your leg."

Mulder hissed quietly when Scully applied the soaked cloth to his
knee. She wasn't sure how successful it would be, they really
needed ice, but for now it would have to do. The cold penetrated
his aching knee increasing the throbbing to new heights. He gritted
his teeth to stop from crying out. Scully could see his distress.

"I know this hurts Mulder, but we need to apply this for at least 10
minutes." She reached into the medical kit and pulled out some
tylenol. Shaking 2 pills out she handed them to him with a bottle
of water. "Mulder here, take these and see if it helps."

Mulder propped himself up on one elbow and gratefully accepted
the pills, relieved that Scully had offered and he didn't have to ask.
Mulder laid back down and waited for the pain killers to work.
They stayed like that for the next 10 minutes, Scully periodically
dipping the cloth into the icy puddle of water and re applying it to
Mulder's injured knee.

"Scully I'm sorry about this. I should never have dragged you on
this wild goose chase."

"Mulder don't apologize. I make my own choices. I came with you
because I wanted to. Someone's gotta keep you out of trouble.
Although by the look of things you were already in trouble before
we left." Her voice was calm, but her eyes were accusing.

"I didn't lie to you Scully."

"No, no, you didn't lie. You just didn't tell me the whole truth did
you?" She was glaring at him, daring him to defend his actions.

"Well, it wasn't too bad when we left." This he said with a definite
pout.

Scully wondered how many times he'd given his mother that look to
get himself out of trouble when he was a kid. She shook her head
to clear the vision of him, with that look on his face, and a hand
defiantly caught in a cookie jar.

"Right now, none of that really matters. What does matter is how
we are going to get you out of here."

"I feel pretty good right now. I think the pain meds are starting to
work."

She eyed him critically, but he seemed to be honest on that point.
"OK, then. I'm going to wrap your knee before you try and move.
We'll see if that helps."

Scully wrapped Mulder's knee firmly in an ace bandage, checking to
make sure the circulation wasn't affected. That done she pulled
what was left of his jean's leg down over the top. I hope these
weren't your favorite pair, she thought.

"Come on, Mulder, let's see if you can put some weight on that
leg."

Mulder slowly pushed himself to his feet favoring his right leg.
Scully supported him around the waist as he draped one arm over
her shoulders. Carefully he put his foot to the ground. Pain shot
through the joint.

"SHIT!" He lifted his leg breathing heavily as he broke out in a
cold sweat.

"Mulder?" Scully held him tight as he fought to stay upright.

"I'm okay, I'm okay." He tried again. The pain was still there but he
was expecting it this time and found he could cope.

"Are you going to be able to make it Mulder?" she asked anxiously.

It was a couple of deep breaths before he could answer. "Yeah, I
think so."

Scully looked up and then around. The first thing they needed to
do was get out of the ditch. Mulder reached up to the side . Taking
all his weight on his arms he heaved himself up being careful of his
bad leg. Scully was under him, pushing with her hands firmly on his
backside. Even under these circumstances she couldn't help notice
how muscular he felt under the denim. Stop it Dana. This is not the
time for those thoughts, she admonished herself.

Once Mulder was safely up on the path Scully scrambled up after
him. He was lying half on his side breathing heavily and eyeing
Scully as she came towards him.

"How are you doing, Mulder?"

"I'd say I was fine but I don't think I'm going to get away with that
line this time. It hurts Scully, but I think I can do this."

"Thank you for your honesty," she smirked at him while reaching
down to help him up.

Cascade Mountains
4:45 pm

The duo had been traveling at a slow pace. Scully half carrying
Mulder. At first Mulder was bearing some weight on his leg but the
further they went the more he was depending on Scully for support.
Scully could feel her partner leaning on her more heavily. Trying to
hold up his 6 foot frame was becoming increasingly difficult. She
chanced a look at him taking in his pinched features and eyes at half
mast.

"Mulder, I need to stop a minute." No response. "Mulder?" She
stood still to get a closer look at him. As she did so she felt his
body slide down hers in a dead faint.

"Oh God." Scully gripped him under the arms in attempt to break
his fall and prevent his head from hitting the ground, but his weight
and size dragged her down as well and Mulder's head connected
with the ground with a sickening WHACK.

Someone was trying to cut off his leg, but he couldn't decide if it
was above his knee or below. Or were they just cutting straight
through his knee? The pain was everywhere! He had to make them
stop. Didn't they realize he was awake? He could FEEL it. He
opened his eyes but everything was blur. He could make out some
creatures towering above him, they were green.

Oh God, they've got me, where's Scully? Mulder was panicking.
He didn't know where he was. Slowly the creatures became clearer
as his eyes focused. Not creatures. Doctors! In scrubs and
wielding big knives.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" He had to let them know he was awake, but
he couldn't move. There was something heavy on his shoulders
stopping him. "Scuuullleeeeee!"

"Mulder, Mulder can you here me? It's Scully."

Ever so slowly Fox Mulder came back to the real world. I was
dreaming. Another nightmare, he thought. Except the pain was still
there and his leg felt like it was going to explode.

"Scully?" A hoarse whisper.

"Hey, Mulder. Welcome back. Are you all right, now?"

Mulder looked up at the worried face of his partner. "My leg
hurts."

"I know Mulder. You passed out on me." She paused searching his
face to gauge just how bad he really was. "Mulder I want to check
your knee. If you're in this much pain you've done more than just
bang it up."

Once again Mulder found himself in the care of his partner. At this
point he was happy to surrender himself to her ministrations. His
knee was killing him and he just wanted the pain to go away.

Scully eased up his jean's leg over his knee and carefully unwrapped
the bandage. Even with the wrapping it had swelled to nearly twice
its normal size. She was beginning to suspect a fracture.

As Scully tended his leg Mulder could only lie there, eyes squeezed
shut as the throbbing increased its tempo. Even though he was flat
on his back he could feel his head start to swim, just like those
nights in college when he'd over indulged with his buddies. All of a
sudden this thought reached his stomach and he struggled to roll on
his side.

Scully noticed his distress. Leaving his leg and moving to his head
and shoulders, she held him on his side as he heaved onto the gravel
he'd been laying on. When he was finished losing everything he'd
eaten, which amounted to the ham sandwiches and some coffee,
Scully gently moved him away from the mess he'd just made. She
reached into the pack, found the water and helped him rinse his
mouth out.

"You okay Mulder?"

"Yeah, I think so."

Scully smoothed his hair back off his forehead and noticed how
cool and clammy his skin felt. Almost on cue he started to shiver
uncontrollably. Shock, she surmised immediately. What the hell's
going on here, Mulder? Scully was more convinced now that he'd
fractured a bone. She moved back to continue her examination of
his knee. She placed her hand lightly on the swollen area and felt
heat radiating off it. Although gentle, this contact evoked a yelp
from Mulder followed by a litany of cursing under his breath.

"Sorry, Mulder." Scully rubbed his arm in a gesture of reassurance
and comfort. She leaned back and regarded the whole picture. It
was so obvious now that she felt like a fool. The shock, the pain,
the swelling, she had one more thing to check and then the
diagnosis would be complete.

"Mulder, I'm going to try and manipulate your ankle. I promise not
to touch your knee, OK? But I have to do something to be sure.
Just relax as much as possible and if I hurt you, I'm sorry."

He was biting both the top and bottom lips against the pain, but
solemnly nodded his head. God, the trust he had in her completely
floored her. Gently, she put her left hand under the ankle,
supporting the heel of the foot and with the right hand on the toes,
turned the foot to the left and the right. Mulder threw his head
back and stifled a scream.

Scully swallowed hard, then rested the foot on her lap, and placed
her right hand ever so gently on his swollen knee. She moved the
ankle again, this time just a fraction of the range she'd moved it
before. He didn't bother to hold back this time. He let out a full
blown, definitely not girlish, scream.

end of part three

******

Breadcrumbs (4 of 6)
by Vickie Moseley
and Sally Bahnsen
vmoseley@fgi.net
bahnsen@alphalink.com.au
disclaimer in part one

She waited until he was breathing again, struggling to stay
conscious, before she lowered the foot from her lap and crawled up
to be closer to his head.

"I felt it that time, Mulder. You've broken something. My guess is
your patella. Possibly with some other fractures in there, stress
fractures from walking on it. I don't know if you did this last night
or just now. Either way, we need to get you to a hospital."

Mulder had paled even more and was sweating enough to form
little streams which coursed down his face and looked almost like
tears. "I'm open . . . to suggestions," he gasped out weakly. His
eyes finished the rest of the sentence.

Scully followed his gaze and saw what he meant. The cabin was
still quite a ways off and they had nothing with them to rig a travois
or a make-shift stretcher. No, there was no suitable solution
coming to mind. But in the meantime, while she let her mind work
on the problem of getting back to the sheriff's car, she could let her
hands stabilize the knee.

"Mulder, do you have your Buck knife?" she asked, sizing up some
of the fallen branches nearby. He grunted and then fished down
into his pocket, producing the four inch knife. She snatched it from
him and used it to cut small branches from a three inch diameter
limb she'd found with oak leaves adorning the end. She placed it
on the ground against a boulder and snapped it in half. "There, not
too bad, given the available resources," she said aloud, but mostly
to herself.

She laid both pieces of wood on either side of his knee. Mulder
raised an eyebrow and glared at her suspiciously. "If this is gonna
hurt, I'd like to cast my vote 'against' any action," he said warily.

She smiled at him. "It will hurt much less than what I just did to
you, and after I'm done, it should hurt less in general. I'm not
going to try and manipulate the break, Mulder. Just stabilize it.
Once it's stable, it will hurt less, automatically. Now, can I stabilize
it, please?"

He sighed and then nodded. She regarded the ace bandage, she
would need more strips than it afforded her. She smiled again and
dug through her day pack, coming up with a tee shirt. She opened
the Buck knife and proceeded to rip the soft cotton into three inch
wide strips.

"I have a feeling I'm going to owe you a tee shirt after today," he
muttered, allowing his head to fall back onto the soft moss behind
him.

"No, you won't," she grinned. "I stole this one from you ages
ago." When she had the whole shirt in pieces, she gathered them
and the ace bandage, moving closer to him and lifting the two
pieces of wood to place them where she wanted them on the top and
bottom of the knee. She could see Mulder tense and she hadn't even
really touched him.

"So, you said something last night about the military 'giving it
back'? You really think the military would just hand over an
Extraterrestrial Biological Entity? Just like that?" she asked, and
smiled inwardly as Mulder's forehead furrowed. She could almost
see the little hamster wheel in his head start to spin.

"I don't know, Scully. It's pure conjecture at this point. I mean,
Deep Throat gave me this line of cock and bull about how we've
found others, how he killed one and how he didn't know if they just
didn't show fear or couldn't understand what he was doing. But I
don't buy it. I think they had one last night, I really do. They had
those little medical facilities all ready, and the one I saw in the
power plant had obviously been used. But there was no _body_.
Why set up the facility if they weren't going to examine the body?
If they decided to 'put it down' as he said the world order has
agreed, wouldn't somebody want to study it? There's a lot more
here than meets the eye."

"Maybe they moved the body before we got there," Scully
suggested.

"Possible. But why all the guards around the empty hangar?"

"Subterfuge," Scully responded. "Diversion. Knowing you like
they do, they would expect you to try and ram through a division of
armed guards, while they quietly moved the body in an unguarded
panel truck."

"Am I _that_ predictable," Mulder asked, offended.

Scully smiled at him and lightly padded his leg. "Let's just say
sometimes, you're really easy to understand." She pointed to his
encased knee and smiled again.

He stared in amazement at his bandaged knee. She'd gotten him to
talking and he completely missed her actions while she bandaged it.
And it hadn't hurt a bit. He leveled her with his stare. "Gee, I'm
happy I'm so easy." He struggled to get up, but fell back when he
realized how awkward it was to get from a prone position with two
tree limbs attached to his leg. "Don't look so smug. Help me up."

A little searching produced a forked limb about five and a half feet
long and strong enough to support his weight. Scully helped him
adjust his weight and try a few steps with the 'crutch'. When she
was satisfied that it would work, they headed off down the path
again.

The trail was a rougher on the way back. Scully soon discovered
they'd been going downhill all the way out to the site and now the
return trip was uphill and more treacherous. She was in constant
terror that Mulder would lose his purchase in the loose rocks of the
trail and fall. Not to mention that he was now leaning heavily on
her and the limb for support. She knew he wasn't going to last too
much longer.

"Maybe you should just let me rest here, and you go on to the
sheriff's," he suggested for the fourth or fifth time.

"Mulder, I am not leaving you here." This time, she said it through
gritted teeth. She did condescend to go a little way up the path
before trying her cell phone again.

"Still no signal," he said with a sigh. She closed her eyes and
nodded.

"Look, I think we're really close to the cabin," she said, trying to
brighten the desolate expression on her partner's face. "I'm pretty
sure I remember those big pines just ahead and the path is wider
now. Let's rest a minute and then we'll start again."

The sat in silence for a moment. Scully took the time to check
Mulder's bandage, making sure it wasn't slipping or rubbing against
the skin. All seemed in order. When she sat back, he looked at her
seriously.

"Are you tired of it yet, Scully?" he asked, and the tone of his
voice, like a lost little boy, startled her.

"No, Mulder. It's not that bad. The trail really isn't bad, if you
have both knees working . . ."

He cut her off. "I'm not talking about the trail, Scully," he said, his
eyes misting over so that he forced his gaze to the trees
surrounding them. "I meant . . . tired. Of this."

She furrowed her forehead in confusion. "Tired of what, Mulder?
I don't understand?"

He swallowed and took a deep breath, struggling to keep his
emotions in check. "Tired of these cross country wild goose
chases. Tired of hiding, of being bugged, of constantly looking
over our shoulders. Tired of . . . me."

She shook her head slowly, but he wasn't watching. He had
situated his face so he didn't dare look at her. He was so
infuriating, sometimes. She was ready to strangle him just two
nights before, when he'd been so hell bent certain that the photo his
informant had given him was genuine. If there was ever a time that
she'd considered walking away, that night might have been it.

But in the end, after she'd spent a sleepless night wondering if she'd
have a partner in the morning, he'd gone ahead and done exactly
what she'd wanted him to do. He questioned, he examined. He put
the picture to the test of science rather than accepting it on face
value. And he came to the same conclusion she'd reached. That it
was indeed a fake, meant to divert them from the path to the truth
about the downed craft.

Could she really fault him for taking a little longer to come to the
same point she had come to? And above all else, didn't it count
that he had, even in his anger, listened to what she had to say?

How could she walk away from that? But she knew that wasn't all
he was asking. Yes, it was frightening to realize their conversations
were being monitored. And she'd felt downright foolish when
she'd played the shell game getting a ticket to fly across country.
And to be honest, she'd never really liked James Bond movies that
much as a teenager.

But at the same time, it was exhilarating. It was a total rush to plan
and devise a strategy that would lose any possible tails. Even
breaking into the military blockade of the power plant using fake
identities had left her with a tingle deep in her stomach.

In the back of her mind, all the while, it had been an elaborate game
of hide and seek, a game she'd excelled at as a child. The stakes
were a little higher, but the effect on her psyche had been the same.
Dare she tell him, as he sat there injured and suffering from their
exploits, that she'd gotten a kick out of the whole exercise? She
wasn't sure she could even fully admit that to herself!

She realized he was growing more nervous as it took her longer
and longer to answer. Finally, she gave him her best smile, bright
as daylight in the darkening gloom of the forest around them. "No,
Mulder. I'm not tired of any of it. Or of you. Why? Are you tired
of me?"

His eyes widened to saucers and he shook his head with vigor. "No
way, Scully! Never! I just meant . . . I mean, you didn't sign on
for . . . well, all this stuff and . . ."

She put her finger to his lips to silence him. "I signed on to be your
partner. I don't remember exactly, but I'm pretty sure that includes
the standard 'other duties as assigned'." She then winked at him
and he returned her grin.

"We could test that provision, sometime," he said with a devilish
look to his eye.

"In your dreams, Mulder," she said back, her voice smooth as silk.
"But now, it's starting to get dark and we really need to get back to
the cabin."

He nodded and accepted her hand as she helped him to his feet.
Together, they continued the climb up the trail.

"I see it," she announced about an hour later. The sky had
gradually darkened to black and above the tree tops, she could
make out a blanket of stars.

"Thank God," he murmured. Mulder sagged against the limb now,
and his breathing sounded more labored. He was on the verge of
collapse and she was happy they'd finally made it to their
destination.

"Just a little bit further, Mulder. C'mon, partner, you can do it,"
she encouraged and took more of his weight onto herself as she all
but dragged him toward the cabin. When she reached the building,
she lowered him to one of the little benches lined against the
outside wall. "I'll get the car and pull it around. See if you can
raise the sheriff on the cell phone. We're on higher ground here."

He nodded tiredly and was punching numbers as she trotted off.

When she opened the door, she knew something was wrong. The
old battered Bronco looked like it had seen better times on the
outside, but inside, she had marveled at how well-cared for it had
appeared. That's why it struck her as funny when the dome light
didn't go on, nor did the car 'ding' at her when she put the keys in
the ignition even though she'd left the door open. She turned the
key.

Nothing happened.

She turned the key again. Again, silence greeted her. "Damn it,"
she muttered as she tried the key one more time. "The battery's
dead."

Reluctantly, she climbed back out of the truck and went back
around to tell her partner the bad news.

"I hope you got hold of Sheriff Jakes, Mulder, because we must
have left the lights on when we got here this morning. The
battery's dead," she said loudly as she rounded the corner of the
building.

There was the distinct click of a round being chambered in a gun
behind her.

"That's not the only thing that's going to be dead in the near future,
Agent Scully," said a voice behind her and she felt the muzzle of a
gun poke her none too gently in the back.

end of part four

*****

Breadcrumbs (5 of 6)
by Vickie Moseley
and Sally Bahnsen
vmoseley@fgi.net
bahnsen@alphalink.com.au
disclaimer in part one

Scully froze, then slowly raised her hands, not wanting to panic
anyone, especially the soldier she could see with a gun aimed
straight at Mulder's head.

"You can turn around Agent Scully I have no need or desire to
disguise my identity." Even before she turned her head recognition
came floating back to her. The unmistakable arrogance of the man.
Colonel Colin Henderson. The same man that had given them such
a hard time during the Max Fenig case.

Scully looked up into his cold gray eyes. She could almost feel his
gaze piercing a hole in her as if he could stare right through her.
She shivered as a bad feeling made its home in her stomach.

"Colonel Henderson, we meet again, sir. Is there a problem here?"
Scully swallowed in an attempt to steady her voice. She cast a
nervous glance at Mulder who was still sitting on the bench she had
placed him on earlier. His bad leg was stretched in front of him,
prevented from bending because of her makeshift splint. His other
leg was bent at the knee and he had his hands braced on either side
of him as he tried to sit up straighter.

He stared at her and she noticed the lines around his eyes were
expressing not only pain but fear as well. But for whom? Himself?
Not likely, she decided. Could he be afraid for me, she wondered.
Then she recalled the time they'd been tracking Lucas Henry and
how he had lain in hospital creating havoc with the staff and
refusing to take his meds until he knew she was safe.

It came to her then like a revelation, the depth of their partnership
and friendship. In that fleeting second Scully saw how much he
cared for her. She locked eyes with him, telling him in no
uncertain terms that she was fine and not to worry. Mulder visibly
relaxed and returned her message with a slight nod of his head,
letting her know he understood.

Scully was brought back to herself by the Colonel's reply. "Is there
a problem? Well, Agent Scully, that depends on just how much
trouble you and your partner are going to be." As he finished
speaking Scully could hear the sound of a generator starting up.

Moments later another armed soldier rounded the opposite corner
of the cabin, he reached in through the open door and switched on a
light before taking up a position on the other side of Mulder. He
stood at ease, his weapon held across his chest, the muzzle resting
comfortably in his left hand.

"Get them inside!" Came the order from the colonel. The two
soldiers grabbed Mulder under the arms and moved him towards
the door. Colonel Henderson indicated to Scully to get moving
with a nod towards the cabin. As Scully followed the soldiers
Henderson kept the gun trained on her all the way.

As they entered the cabin Mulder was shoved inside, the soldiers
releasing their hold on him. Scully watched in horror as Mulder
sprawled on the hard wooden floor. He choked back a scream
as he landed awkwardly. The fall jarring his knee and sending
shards of pain up his leg. He buried his face into the unforgiving
floor, both hands clutching at his leg just above his injured knee.

Scully stood by helplessly as Colonel Henderson held her back with
a vice like grip on her arm. She could see Mulder's shoulders
hitching as the realization hit her that he was crying quietly.

This was too much for Scully and she shook herself free from
Henderson's grip, making her way towards Mulder. On a signal
from the Colonel both soldiers moved to block her way. Scully
turned on Henderson then and drawing herself to her full height,
eyes blazing she let the Colonel have the unedited version of
Scully's wrath.

"This man is badly injured, you son of a bitch, and needs to be in a
hospital, _now_!"

The colonel, unmoved by this outburst, just stood, glaring at her,
his face devoid of all emotion.

"Doctor Scully," the words dripped with sarcasm. "I don't give a
damn in hell about Agent Mulder's health. If he chooses to stick his
nose in places that are no concern of his then he had better be
willing to accept the consequences."

"Colonel Henderson," Scully volleyed back with equal amounts of
sarcasm, "right now I don't give a damn about your precious affairs.
My partner needs help and I intend to give it to him."

Scully pushed past the soldiers that were blocking her way and
moved towards Mulder.

"RESTRAIN HER NOW !" The soldiers grabbed her and moved
her to a chair in the corner. They pulled her hands behind her back
and secured them there with duct tape, produced by the colonel.

Henderson strode towards Mulder, hands clasped behind his back.
The picture of a man used to being in charge, getting his own way.
He reached down and hauled Mulder up by the lapels of his jacket.
By now Mulder was too far gone in his world of pain to bother
putting on a brave front. As Colonel Henderson threw him onto
the nearby cot he let out an almighty wail just as the darkness
closed in on him releasing him from his torment.

Scully was seething. She could feel the hot tears of anger and
frustration welling in her eyes.

"You touch him again and I'll kill you myself you BASTARD!" she
spat through clenched teeth.

"I have my orders Agent Scully and I will carry them out any way I
see fit. Now I suggest you tell me what you and Agent Mulder are
doing up here poking around where you have no business being."

Scully held the man's gaze refusing to let him see her fear. "Unless
I'm mistaken Colonel this is National Forest land, not a military
base. Since when has trail hiking been a military offence?" She had
no idea why this man was involved and she had no intention of
giving him anything until she knew what the hell she was dealing
with. Her only concern was for her partner and how he was faring.
She desperately wanted to check the splint, fearful that the rough
handling had further damaged his knee.

"Don't play games with me Agent Scully. You know damn well
what I am talking about. My men and I have been tracking you for
days now just waiting for you two to do something foolish like this.
Now tell me what you were doing up here?"

Scully sighed, afraid that if she angered him further he would
take it out on Mulder. Finally she decided to come clean, what the
hell, if it was true and he was the one that had been listening to
them all along then he probably knew everything anyway.

"We had received reports of strange activity in the area. Bright
lights in the sky and we were investigating those reports. It's what
we do Colonel, it's our job."

"I know somebody has been feeding Mulder information,"
Henderson spat out, eyes narrowed. "Somebody who seems to
have little regard for the greater project. I plan to put a stop to
Agent Mulder's meddling, and right now seems like a good time to
do that."

"Agent Mulder and I found nothing, Colonel. We didn't even make
it to the area where the lights were seen. As you can see for your
self, Agent Mulder fell, injuring his knee. I suspect he's broken
something which is why we had to turn back. He _needs_ to be in a
hospital." Scully hoped the colonel would buy this story and let her
treat Mulder. After all it was half true, they hadn't actually seen
anything, had they?

Scully was distracted from her thoughts by a sound coming from
the cot. Mulder was stirring, issuing soft moans as he headed back
to consciousness. Suddenly the moans became strangled and she
could see his stomach start to heave.

"Mulder! Colonel Henderson, he's going to be sick. Please turn
him on his side or he'll choke!" Scully struggled to free her hands
desperate to get to her partner's side.

"Cut her free. I have no intention of getting myself or you men
messed up by Agent Mulder."

She was at her partner's side in an instant. Gently placing her hand
under his back and rolling him to the side, face towards the floor.
As Murder's stomach tried to empty its contents Scully continued
to rub soothing circles on his back, speaking softly into his ear so
only he could hear. They hadn't eaten since the sandwiches at
breakfast. All Mulder managed to bring up was a mouthful of
yellow bile. She knew this had to be hurting him, his stomach
straining to rid itself of something that just wasn't there.

When he'd finished, Scully laid him back on the cot. She looked
down at his face and saw how pale he was. "It's okay Mulder. I'm
here now, just lie back and rest." She turned to face Henderson.
Too tired to be angry anymore and wanting only to make Mulder
more comfortable she asked Henderson if she could have her back
pack.

The colonel who had been pacing impatiently while Mulder was
sick, stopped to regard her incredulously. "He's going to die
anyway, Agent Scully. Do you think I am going to allow the
two of you to just walk away from here?"

"And may I remind you Colonel Henderson that we are agents with
the Federal Bureau of Investigation! You don't think we'd be
missed?" It was Scully's turn to stare at him in disbelief. She was
beginning to think that this man was not altogether there. "There
are people who know where we are. Who are expecting us to call
them. You will not get away with outright murder no matter who
you work for."

All through this encounter the other two soldiers had been standing
quietly in the background. So far she had yet to hear them utter a
word. Perhaps they're androids and don't speak she mused to
herself, but then she saw one sneak a quick glance at the other.

She saw something there. Was it doubt? Were these men
beginning to think like her? That maybe the Colonel had lost it.
What would it do to their careers if they were involved in the murder
of two FBI agents? Scully's heart leapt in her chest as she
considered that perhaps these young soldiers could be her allies.

"Agent Scully, _I_ don't have to answer for my actions. My job is
to ensure the security of this country and I will do whatever it takes
to succeed."

This was getting nowhere fast. The man was a zealot and no
amount of arguing was going to change his attitude. In the
meantime Mulder needed her and she was going to do her best
to keep him safe. She slid down the end of the cot, careful not to
jostle Mulder's damaged knee any further. The back pack with the
medical kit in it was laying just inside the front door where it had
been discarded by the soldiers.

Scully stood up and walking towards the pack, informed the
colonel, "Well, Colonel, while you are ensuring the security of the
country I am going to ensure the well being of my partner. So if
you don't mind I am going to retrieve the medical kit from my pack
and examine his leg."

The colonel just looked at her and shrugged, "Do what you will
Agent Scully, it's not going to do him any good in the long run."
With that he turned on his heel and headed for the door.

Pausing at the entrance he spoke to his men. "I want one of you to
come with me and scout the area. We wouldn't want any
unexpected surprises by Agent Scully's 'friends'. You," this to the
other soldier, "stand guard outside. Any false moves, you know
what to do."

"Yes Sir!"

Ah, so the android speaks, noted Scully as she turned towards her
partner, relieved at last to be able to do something for him.

As soon as they were alone, Scully moved over to her partner as
quickly as she could without running to his side. His eyes were
clenched tight against the pain in both his leg and his stomach and
she could now see an angry bruise forming across his left cheek.

"Caught you with a right, did he?" she asked gently, not really
expecting an answer.

"I really have to learn to look both ways before I cross the street,"
Mulder said with a lopsided grin that turned almost immediately
into a grimace. He was using his tongue to examine the inside of
his left cheek. "That's _two_ fillings that bastard owes me," he
said angrily.

"Just be glad that's all he owes you," Scully said with a forced
smile. She chewed on her lip and looked down at his knee.
"Mulder, I really need to look at this."

He didn't say anything, just looked at her for a moment. Their eyes
locked and suddenly, she could see it. Trust. He was gladly
handing over his torn and battered body for her to take care of him.
He knew she would do whatever she needed to and he wasn't about
to argue or try and second guess her. He trusted her. His own
private little spy and yet, he trusted her with his life.

She had to swallow down a truckload of emotions before she could
turn her attention back to the matter at hand. "It might hurt, but I
have to . . ."

"Scully, save me the detailed description. Just do what you have
to. I understand." She didn't trust herself to look at him again, not
like she had just a moment before. She was sure she'd start
blubbering all over him. So she just glanced up quickly with a nod
and went back to her work, hiding her face behind the curtain of her
hair.

It didn't take long to unwrap the makeshift bandage. What she
found made even her seasoned stomach churn. The area around the
knee was swollen and dark with blood underneath the skin. She
knew the cause without thinking about it. He'd torn an artery or a
vein, possibly on a jagged piece of bone. It was bleeding heavily.
She swallowed down the bile rising in her throat and touched the skin
lightly with her hand, palm down. The whole knee was angry with
heat. It confirmed her previous suspicion. She calmly wrapped the
knee again, this time more loosely to allow for the swelling.

"And the diagnosis, Dr. Quinn?" Mulder joked but she could hear
the tension in his voice. Just laying the strips of shirt across his skin
was agony to him.

"Sully better hurry the hell up with the cavalry," she answered back,
this time risking another glance at his face.

"It's just a knee, Scully. I'll be all right," he assured her and put his
hand on her cheek so that she'd look at his face again.

"You're bleeding, Mulder," she said through clenched teeth.
"Whether it's from a ruptured spleen or a fractured patella, you are
losing blood! And these . . . _animals_ have no medical equipment
here. Not to mention hearts not big enough to just let me get you
to a hospital," she hissed angrily. She caught herself. "I'm sorry.
I'm not angry at you . . ."

"Whew, that's good. You had me scared there for a moment,
Scully," he said with another crooked grin. He sighed, more of a
moan and let his head drop back against the wall. "If you see a
chance . . ."

"Don't _even_ think it, Mulder," she growled. "I'm not leaving
you here with that maniac. We'll think of another way."

He looked at her with a faint smile, and a great deal of respect.
"See, I knew I had no authority in this partnership," he deadpanned
and she had to struggle to keep the grin off her face.

"Well, one thing we can do is keep the leg elevated. That might
slow the bleeding a bit," she said, swiftly and subtly changing the
subject away from any possible escape plans.

"You know, Scully, this might all be for naught. If Henderson is
out there talking over contingencies, they might be drawing straws
for who gets to shoot us in the head," he said, the calm belying the
tension she could feel in his shoulders.

"Mulder, we are not going to die," she told him firmly as she
continued to search the room.

"May I quote you on that?" he asked, through gritted teeth.

"Anytime," came the clipped response. After considering her
options, she brought over one of the wooden chairs from the table.

"This is gonna look weird, but it will work," she said placing the
chair face down on the bed, so that the chair back was under
Mulder's thigh and the chair leg was supporting his calf.

"They did _not_ teach you this in medical school," he said with a
touch of awe.

She grinned. "Nope. Girl Scout Handbook," she said lightly.

Before he could make a reply, the door opened with a bang and
Henderson and his men strolled in.

"Somehow I knew the two of you would end up together in bed,"
he growled lecherously.

"Leave her alone, Henderson. I'm the one . . ."

"Oh, please, Agent Mulder," Henderson whined impatiently. "Save
me the 'I'm the one you're after' speech. Your little bitch here is
just as dangerous as you are, and we all know that. Nobody is
gonna rest until both of you are out of our hair. And you know
what? Your little escapade has given me the perfect opportunity
to do just that. You aren't sitting in the Hoover Building right
now, mister. You are in the mountains. Nice, deep ravines. Nice,
sheer drop-offs. And you know, it's real easy to lose a body or two
out here."

"The sheriff knows . . ."

Henderson cut off Scully's interruption with a wave of his hand. "The
sheriff knows you came up here, looking around after some
suspicious activity. _If_ they do find your bodies, there'll be an
investigation, oh, I have no doubt of that. But do you honestly
believe, Agent Scully," he sneered, "that they will find enough
evidence to _arrest_ anyone?" He laughed at the thought, his face
twisting evilly. "I think we're pretty safe, don't you, men?"

No one said a word, but two men Scully didn't recognize from
before cocked their rifles and hoisted them to their shoulders,
pointing the barrels directly at the agents' heads.

Scully reached over and grabbed for Mulder's hand, feeling the
reassurance flowing through the connection of their skin.

"Can I use that quote now, Scully?" he whispered just loud enough
for her ears. There was a loud sudden noise, the report of the rifles
and then a blinding white light . . .

end of part five

*****

Breadcrumbs (6 of 6)
by Vickie Moseley
and Sally Bahnsen
vmoseley@fgi.net
bahnsen@alphalink.com.au
disclaimer in part one

Logging camp, Washington State
7 or 8 hours later

A large hand was shaking her shoulder, roughly. She hadn't heard
the alarm. Had she overslept? "Just a minute, Mom. I'm up, I'm
up," she said with a deep sigh.

A low chuckle greeted her response. "Agent Scully, . . . ma'am,"
came the voice in a gentle tone. "I think it'd be best if you woke
up, ma'am. We need to get your partner to the hospital and the
paramedics want a word with you."

Mulder! Her eyes shot open and she searched around her. They
were still in the cabin. She touched her hairline quickly, trying
to find the bullet holes from the rifle shots. Nothing.

Then she was up on her feet, running out to the parked ambulance.
Mulder was lying on a gurney, a saline IV in his arm and an oxygen
mask over his face.

"Has he come around?" she asked anxiously.

"Not yet, ma'am. We were concerned about the blood loss. Base
is asking for his blood type."

"AB negative," she replied. "He tends to go hypovolemic quickly.
Start him on blood substitutes until you get him to the hospital."

The paramedic looked at her like she'd just grown a new head.
"Um, ma'am, I can't do anything unless it's okayed by . . ."

She shook her head in frustration and pulled out her ID. "I'm an
FBI agent, but I'm also a medical doctor. I'm a pathologist. And
unless you want this man to be needing my services in the very near
future, you will do as I say," she intoned.

There was some mumbling from under the oxygen mask. Scully
leaned over and could just see the sliver of hazel and white under
the slits of her partner's eyes. She pulled the mask down to hear
what he was saying.

" . . . better listen, if you know what's good for you," Mulder said
to the paramedic in a raspy whisper. Then he caught Scully's hand.
"We didn't die, Scully."

Tears were falling down her cheeks and she was just as happy that
his eyes were closing again so he couldn't see them. "I know,
Mulder. I know."

Cascades Medical Center
36 hours later

A bright white light flashed all around her and Scully threw her arm
up to protect her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Dana. I just needed to get his temp," apologized the
startled nurse as she stepped around the bed. "This side of the
hospital is always so dark, even during the daytime. Sorry if I woke
you up."

Scully blinked the sleep from her eyes and looked up. The
overhead florescent bulbs gave off their usual cool light and almost
inaudible hum. She sighed in relief.

"That's OK, Jan, I think I fell asleep for a little while," Scully said
casually, trying to hide her own startle reflex at something so simple
as a light going on.

"His vitals look good," Jan said with a smile. "Fever's down from
last night and his calf and thigh are looking better. Swelling around
that knee even looks to be going down a little."

Scully nodded, that had been her own assessment before had she
fallen prey to her exhaustion just a few hours before.

Jan was eyeing Scully critically. "You could use a good meal. But
since you're stuck here, you at least need to go down to the
cafeteria and get something to eat," she teased lightly. "It's
Thursday. That's pizza day in these parts. Now, scoot. I just gave
him another shot and I don't expect him to wake up for a while."

When she started to protest, Jan put a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"He's going to be fine," she assured her. "And at the first sign of
him waking up, I'll page you," she promised.

At just that moment, Scully's middle let out an earthshattering
rumble. "See, I'm not alone in this opinion," Jan chuckled. "Now,
go feed that thing before it attacks someone," she added with mock
severity and left the room still giggling under her breath.

Scully knew when she was licked. She reached down to pick up
her purse, then leaned over her partner, allowing her hand to stray
to his upper arm. She gave it a light squeeze and headed out the
door.

The cafeteria was bright and sunny after the lowered lighting of the
patient rooms. Scully went through the line, taking a chef salad and
resisting the pepperoni pizza that really did look tempting. She
knew she'd be seeing more than her share of pizza in the next few
weeks. When Mulder had been shot in North Carolina, he'd lived
on take-out pizza for weeks during his in-home recovery. And
since he'd been climbing the walls with boredom, six nights out of
seven, she'd been pressed into coming over and keeping him
company while he ate. She didn't think the trend would reverse
itself this time.

She found a table and sat down, lost in thought of how she was
going to get a nearly immobile Mulder on a plane in a week. She
didn't notice the shadow that fell over the table.

"Mind if I sit down, Agent Scully," came a deep voice. She jerked
her head up. She had to calm down, people were going to start
calling _her_ 'Spooky'.

"Of course, Sheriff, have a seat," she offered with a wave of her
fork. She put the utensil down, but the Sheriff shook his head.

"Please, go on and eat. I know you've had a rough couple 'a days.
You need the energy."

She smiled her thanks and picked up the fork again, digging deep
into the salad bowl. "So, Sheriff, what did you find?"

Sheriff Jakes pulled out a notepad from his pocket and flipped a
few pages. "Well, the cabin was completely deserted, no sign of
any activity, save some torn strips of a tee shirt and your
footprints."

She dropped her fork in astonishment. "But Sheriff, I can swear
there were five, maybe six other people in that cabin besides myself
and Agent Mulder. Col. Henderson and . . .''

Jakes stopped her with an upraised index finger. "About that Col.
Henderson," he said slowly, licking his bottom lip. "I checked with
the base. They don't have a 'Col. Henderson' attached to this post,
or to any other post in the Army. To be real honest, they said
there's a 'Captain' Henderson, Gillian, stationed at Fort Bragg, but
she's been laid up the last week with some kind of flu and her
whereabouts are well documented."

Scully's eyes narrowed and her chewing slowed considerably.
"And the area around the cabin?" she asked, her voice calm, but her
face showing her disdain.

"There was some burn damage to the tree line, some of the pines
must have caught fire in that lightning storm we had the other night,"
Jakes said, flipping the notepad closed.

Scully closed her eyes. After a few minutes of silence, she knew
she should say something. She swallowed her disappointment at
the details of his report and forced herself to smile. "Well, thank
you for all your help, Sheriff. Especially for coming to our rescue.
I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't gone up
there to check on us. Mulder was in pretty bad shape when we got
him to the ER. He might not have made it if we'd had to wait
much longer."

Jakes was standing, picking up his hat and running the brim through
his hands. "Think nothin' of it, Ma'am," he said with a bright
smile. "I'd like to talk to your partner, when he's feeling up to it."

"I'm sure he'd like to talk to you, too, Sheriff. I'll call the office
when Mulder's awake and not so drugged."

Scully sat there for several minutes, fuming silently. Her salad sat
half-eaten and wilting in a vinegar and oil soup, so she picked it up
and tossed it in the nearest trash.

All the evidence, gone. The Colonel and his men, all perfectly
willing to kill her and her partner, vanished like thieves in the night.
And the burned treetops were a bigger mystery, but even she had a
hard time swallowing the 'lightning storm' theory.

She remembered her own fear when Mulder and she had
experienced the bright flash on the road, how she'd been certain
that they'd had a close encounter. Of course, she could never
admit that to Mulder.

She remembered the moments in the cabin quite plainly, since she
was positive they were going to be her last. She heard the two men
fire their rifles. They were less than 20 feet from the two agents,
there was no possibility of a miss. She put a finger absently to her
forehead, as if the bullet hole might magically appear now over a day
later. It made no sense.

She noticed the clock on the wall and decided an hour was as long
as she dared stay away from her partner. Even unconscious, there
was no telling the trouble he could get into.

Scully pushed open the door to Mulder's room. She made her way
on tiptoe over to the chair by the bed, and slowly lowered herself
into the seat.

"Have a good lunch?"

She'd been concentrating on the monitors, and her partner's voice
scared her enough to make her jump.

"Jeez, Mulder, you scared me," she breathed. She took a moment
to calm her heart, she was awfully jumpy all of a sudden. But then,
working with Spooky Mulder could do that to a person, she had
decided months before.

"How long am I in for?" he asked, reaching to the tray table and
almost knocking off the box of tissues in a failed attempt to
apprehend a cup of water.

Scully picked up the cup, added a straw and held it within his reach.
He sipped greedily and then handed it back. "Basically, that
depends on how good you are," she told him.

"OK, warden, assuming one day off for each day of 'good time',
when can I get paroled?" he said, nestling back into the pillow.

"About 6 days, 10 at the most," she said, over his loud groan.
"And you'll be in a cast for six weeks. You might need some
physical therapy after the cast is removed."

"Thrills," he sighed, his arm draped across his eyes in a picture of
disheartenment.

"Mulder, we could be dead right now," she reminded him.

"Yeah," he said, lowering his arm to give her a good look. "And
don't take this the wrong way, Scully, but _why_ aren't we dead
right now?"

Scully swallowed hard and chewed on her lip. "Mulder, what do
you last remember?"

He closed his eyes, and furrowed his brow, obviously trying to
remember. "Um, I remember you splinting my knee . . ."

"Yeah, but after that, Mulder. In the cabin," she prodded.

"We made it to the cabin?" he asked, confusion evident on his face.

"Yes, Mulder," she growled in exasperation. "Remember, we got
to the cabin and I was going to start the Sheriff's car and bring it
around. But when I tried, the engine was dead and I came back to
tell you but that jerk, Col. Henderson had you with a gun to your
head and his men took us in the cabin and they were going to kill us
and then . . ." She stopped abruptly at that point, because her
partner was giving her a totally perplexed look.

"I don't know, Scully. Maybe it was the pain. I really don't
remember much of anything except wanting to gnaw my leg off to
stop the pain, and the chills I kept having from the shock. I don't
even remember getting back to the cabin."

She stared at him, wide-eyed. "You don't remember quoting me?"

"I quoted you? What did you say that was so noteworthy?" he
asked in some amusement.

She crossed her arms and glared at him. "You don't remember,"
she accused.

"Scully, honest, I haven't got the foggiest notion of what went
down from the time I fell down that ravine," he said apologetically
with a half a shrug. "Now, what were you talking about? What
_did_ I miss?"

She stared at him, open-mouthed. There was no way she could
substantiate anything that had happened, there was no evidence of
Col. Henderson or the bright flash that apparently saved their lives.
Not to mention, it would only feed Mulder's already overactive
imagination.

He was still looking at her, expecting an answer. Finally, she gave
him one.

"Nothing, Mulder. You honestly didn't miss a thing."

the end.

Vickie

Come visit my web page, brought to you by the fabulous Shirley Smiley!

http://geocities.datacellar.net/Area51/Dimension/5821/index.html

"When you start, you make certain choices, and those choices accumulate and
create a number of [other] choices. The story starts to tell itself, and
that's been very exciting in a way. There's so much that has come and been
told that you are, in a way, a slave to the facts you've created, and it's a
really fun way to tell stories. That's not to say it's simplified. In fact,
it becomes complicated, but it all starts to make sense, and that's been a
really wonderful thing."

Quote from Chris Carter on development of The X Files