I initially wrote this story for an English project, but a couple of friends (Lindsay and Janie) told me I should post it. Here goes nothing! It does not fit in with the timeline of X-files episodes, so bear with me. Please E-mail me what you think at Micky1dthr@aol.com. Please don't sugar coat it. I need to know if it is good enough for me to attempt another story. Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, Walter Skinner, Cancer Man, Margaret Scully, and the mentioned Melissa Scully belong to the wonderful Chris Carter, Ten-Thirteen productions and Fox Broadcasting. The also mentioned Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman belong to ABC and DC Comics. I am using them without permission and I apologize sincerely. Now, on with the show...... Again by Micky1dthr@aol.com October 10, 1995 11:11p.m. "Hello?" "Scully, its me." "Mulder? What is going on? What happened?" "Nothing's wrong, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I tried calling earlier." Lately Fox Mulder had become quite protective of Dana Scully. Both had come close to death many times and with Scully's sister, Melissa, having been killed it heightened their awareness of how short life could be. Special Agents Mulder and Scully worked in a division of the FBI called the X-files. They investigated cases that had to do with the paranormal such as UFOs, ghosts, and the occasional psychic. Mulder and Scully had acquired many allies, but they had made twice as many enemies. Scully was initially sent to spy on Mulder. She was to investigate the cases also and write field reports on the validity of the cases. Neither had trusted each other in the beginning, but over time they had come to trust each other with their lives and their ideas and mind. They had become best-friends. Many officials were unhappy with their friendship. "Are you checking on me now?" Scully inquired. "Yeah," Mulder replied simply. "Mulder, come on." "Okay, I'll see you at work tomorrow morning bright and early. Good night, Scully. Don't let the bed bugs bite." Scully put the phone on its cradle and shook her head, auburn hair flying in her face. She then returned to typing in her journal on her laptop computer. Exactly ten minutes after Mulder had called to check on Scully her lights flickered out. She was then engulfed in a bright white light and the walls began to shake. She eyed her phone and considered calling Mulder. She was then lifted and suspended in the air. Scully fell unconscious. In a second, Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully was gone. Again. Basement of the J. Edgar Hoover Building October 11,1995 7:37a.m. Agent Mulder laid his black trench coat on a chair and wondered were Scully was. She was not in a meeting since her coat was not there. "Scully's never late to work," he thought. He decided a phone call to her house would be a good idea, just to make sure she was all right. As he dialed the memorized number his fears escalated and a terrible feeling emerged in the pit of his stomach. "The last time I had the feeling of a knot," Mulder reminisced, "was when that bastard Duane Barry took her." Duane Barry was certain that he had been kidnapped by aliens several times. He also believed the military were helping the extraterrestrials. He thought that it was someone else's turn to be taken. Dana Scully was his choice. When both Scully's home and cellular phones went unanswered he began to fear the worst. Oh God, not again. Mulder grabbed his coat and hurried out the door as fast as humanly possible. Scully's Apartment 8:07 p.m. "Shit", Mulder thought, she is not here. Just then Scully's cordless phone rang. On the other end was Margaret Scully, Dana's mother. "Hello?" "Hello? Dana? Who is this? Fox?" "Yes, Mrs. Scully it's me, Fox." "Dana. Where is Dana?" "I...," Mulder hesitated, unsure what to tell the worried mother. "She's gone again, isn't she? I had that dream where Dana is being taken away again." "Yes, she isn't here and no one is answering her cell phone." "I'll be right there." *** Dana Scully awoke to find herself not in her bed where she last remembered being, but in a gleaming white room. There were strange, tall individuals walking around. They were tending to other humans laying on flat, cool, metal surfaces similar to her own. All of a sudden three of the unusual looking individuals came up and looked down at Dana. Another man suddenly appeared. He was human, Japanese most likely, Scully thought. They then fiddled with a monitor and backed away. A sharp looking object suddenly emerged from a panel above her head and spiraled down. *** 11:53a.m. Mulder dodged the many FBI agents and police officers that swarmed Dana Scully's apartment. He had never seen so many black suits and plain ties in one room. After a few minutes of getting in the way, he decided he needed some fresh air. When he finally reached the door and freedom he noticed Margaret Scully, sitting Indian style in the grass, with her head bowed in silence. "She must be feeling very lonely," Mulder thought. With Mrs. Scully loosing Captain Scully last year from a heart attack, and Melissa from a shot in the head. And now Dana... "How are you Mrs. Scully?" Mulder asked with the strongest voice he could find. "Margaret, please call me Margaret. I can't believe Dana is gone." "We'll find her. I promise." Mulder stated, not knowing who he was trying to convince, Scully's mother or himself. "I know you will." The grieving mother stated simply as she closed her hand over Mulder's hand reassuringly. *** The basement of the J. Edgar Hoover building 2:22p.m. Mulder sat at his extremely cluttered desk staring off into space. He was trying to get some much needed paperwork done, but Mulder could not keep his mind off Scully. He could not see how they expected him to be able to work with Scully gone and not knowing where she is. That brought up the memory, or lack thereof, his sister's disappearance. Mulder was twelve and Samantha eight. They were home alone, November 27,1973, playing Stratego and about to watch "The Magician" when the lights shorted out. The pictures began to rattle as if they were in the midst of an earthquake. Bright colorful lights poured through the windows and door cracks and he heard a loud buzzing sound. Mulder reached for his father's gun and turned around to find Samantha suspended in the air. The door opened and a lanky person appeared in the door. He will never the last word Samantha shrieked at him. "Fox!" It was that memory that drove him by day. It also woke him at night sweating, and screaming. Just then a young agent appeared at his open door and told him Assistant Director Walter Skinner requested to see him. *** Assistant Director Walter Skinner's office 2:31p.m. "Agent Mulder, won't you please come in?" Assistant Director Skinner showed Mulder in and offered him a chair in front of his desk. Mulder refused. "Mulder, I know that Agent Scully means a lot to you. The bureau is doing everything we can to find Scully, but..." Skinner began, but was unsure how to finish. "There are no clues to where she is," Mulder finish for the Assistant Director. "No, I'm sorry. I talked to Mrs. Scully today and she is very optimistic about Agent Scully's safe return. Margaret said she has a feeling Dana will come back soon," It was the first time Skinner had said Scully's first name but under the present conditions it felt right to both of them. With that Mulder walked out if the Assistant Director's office. He decided that he did not want to return to the basement and all his memories of Scully. It only reminded him how much he already missed her. As he was walking down the hall, lost in his own thoughts, Cancer Man walked by, on his way to Skinner's office. Cancer Man was a chain-smoking man who was one of the major enemies Mulder and Scully had made. He was also one of the most dangerous. He had tried to kill Scully over the digital tape that Mulder received that confirmed the existence of extraterrestrial life and the government's cover up of it. He had also tried to destroy Mulder's world by having someone kill his father and making it appear as if Mulder had committed the murder. Cancer Man marched into Skinner's office without knocking or asking the receptionist. As he walked in Skinner stood up and immediately started an interrogation. "Did you have something to do with Agent Scully's unusual disappearance?" Skinner asked, attempting to remain calm. Skinner did not underestimate Cancer Man or his associate's power as some did. They could make a plane crash, a person to have a heart attack, or make a person disappear. All because they may feel that that person does not benefit The Group. "No," Cancer Man quietly and simply replied. "If I find out that you had anything to do with Agent Scully's disappearance..." Skinner said, his voice raising word by word. "You should watch what you say, Assistant Director Skinner," Cancer Man muttered as he drew his cigarette to his mouth. "GO TO HELL! You're the one who should watch what you say, unless you want the contents of that tape on newspaper headlines across America. I think you need to tell me what you know," Skinner yelled no longer afraid what happened to him. After what seemed like hours of consideration the cigarette smoking man replied, "I know that our group had nothing to do with Agent Scully's disappearance." For some reason Skinner believed him and allowed Cancer Man to leave. Same day 11:18 P.M. Mulder's Apartment #42 Fox Mulder was lying listlessly on his black leather couch watching "Night of the Creeps" on cable television. There was a soft rap on his door. He forced himself to get up and answer. It was Frohike, a member of the Lone Gunman, who also has an obvious crush on Scully. The Lone Gunman were a trio of men: Langly, Byers, and Frohike. They publish a magazine that deals with the government and its secrets. Scully regarded these individuals as extremely paranoid, but also respected them. They had given Mulder and Scully many leads in their cases. "I heard about Dana's disappearance. I thought that I should come," Frohike stated. "Thanks," Mulder opened the door wider to allow the older man in. Frohike entered Mulder's dark, dirty apartment where the only other light was coming from a fish tank in the corner. Frohike sat in a chair near the couch and glanced at the movie wondering how anyone could watch that crap. "So..." Frohike shifted in the uncomfortable chair, "What are the Feds saying happened to her?" "They don't know," Mulder replied, "they think it is just an elaborate kidnapping. No fingerprints. No clues at all." "What do you think happened to her?" Frohike inquired. "I just don't know. All I know is that I need to know what happened to her, I want her back. I need her back." October 13 10:17 P.M. Assistant Director Skinner's office "So, what leads have we gotten on Agent Scully's disappearance?" Skinner inquired to a large group of agents. Mulder was among them, slumped in his chair thinking about his birthday. How Scully and Samantha were going to miss another of his birthdays. His dad had also been dead for four months now and the only family he had was his mother, who lives in Massachusetts. A tall, large man whose badge read "Agent Olsen" decided he would be the spokesman for the large group surrounding Skinner's circular table. "Well..." Agent Olsen replied, "We are currently following every call that pertains to where Agent Scully may be. People have claimed they have seen a woman fitting her description in restaurants, grocery stores, rest stops." "How many of the sightings have lead to something more?" Skinner asked, glancing at Mulder to make sure he was still there. He had remained silent so far. Everyone around the table fell silent until another agent, Agent Cain, finally spoke up. "No, they have not provided any more leads." With that news Mulder slumped deeper in his chair and swiveled around a few times. Skinner noticed Mulder's disappointment and comforted him with, "We will use every available agent to follow up these calls. We will find her." These words offered no comfort to him, but Mulder nodded his head in approval anyway. That night Mulder phoned Margaret Scully to inform her of what was said at the day's meeting. The news also offered no consolation to her. Neither knew where Scully was, but they both knew the FBI would not find her. She would find them. Dana Scully's Apartment Same Day 11:58 p.m. After two days of restless nights of sleep, dreaming about Scully, and a birthday filled with more setbacks than he wanted to face, he went to Scully's apartment to sleep. The day went with more calls that lead to more dead ends. Not even a call from his mother. He had come to hate his birthday. As he entered Scully's apartment he looked around and considered the fact that this was how it looked when she disappeared. He also thought about laying down on her bed to get some much needed sleep. He decided that it was an invasion of her privacy. The couch looked just as comfortable, in addition the TV was in front of it. He grabbed the remote and laid down on her beige couch and covered himself with an afghan. Twenty minutes after Mulder fell asleep a bright white light enveloped Dana Scully's apartment, again. The room shook, but Fox Mulder remained sleeping, lost in his nightmares. Then as soon as it came, it left, leaving only a few keepsakes on the hard wood floor. Then a few seconds later Mulder awoke to find himself staring up at his partner. He closed his eyes, trying to erase a picture he suspected was an element of his dream. He had been dreaming about Dana for the past two nights and he was convinced he was still dreaming about her, until he opened his eyes. She was standing over him, looking like an angel. "Scully?" Mulder asked, still unsure if he was talking to a figment of his imagination. "Who are you? Who am I? Where am I?" The younger woman shot out questions faster than Mulder could answer. He became fearful of where his partner had been, and what they had done to her in the last three days. Thousands of thoughts raced through his head. "Please, stay here while I call someone who will know what to do." Mulder hurried to the phone and dialed Margaret Scully's phone number. When she answered Mulder noticed the time and felt a twinge of guilt enter his mind. He then proceeded to tell Mrs. Scully the circumstances under which Scully returned. "She's back?! Are you positive?" Margaret Scully interrupted frantically. "Yes, but something's wrong..." Mulder said hoping he was not worrying her mother further, "She doesn't know who I am or even who she is." "I'll be right there." *** Twenty minutes later Mrs. Scully arrived looking as if Mulder had pulled her out of a restless sleep. Her brown hair was frazzled and her clothes were wrinkled, as if she had plucked them off the floor. When she entered Mulder informed her that he had taken the liberty of telling Scully a few things about herself. He told Dana she was an FBI agent and that he was her partner. He also told her about her unusual disappearance for the past three days. After a mostly one sided conversation Mrs. Scully and Mulder decided that Scully needed to see a doctor. She also needed to be questioned to find out if she had any memory of her disappearance. *** "Well Agent Mulder, it appears as if Ms. Scully is suffering from amnesia," Dr. Daly diagnosed as he flipped a page in Scully's extensive medical record. Dr. Daly was the physician who treated Dana when she was comatose last November. "Amnesia!" Mulder said in bewilderment, "What caused this?" "Because we don't know where she has been for the last three days, I'm at a loss. Some kind of emotional or physical trauma, I would assume." "Will she regain her memory?" Margaret Scully spoke up from the couch in the back of the office. "She will regain her memory, just give it time. Bring her to places that would be familiar. Work, home, your place Mrs. Scully. All of these things combined will help her regain her memory. Just be patient with her," Dr. Daly replied, trying to comfort the worried mother and Agent Mulder. *** For the next couple of days Mulder brought Scully to work, hoping it would spark a memory. She sat at his desk, but felt like an outsider. She knew all these things were important to her, but she did not know why. Mulder had told her stories, of when they met and the many cases they had investigated. It had been hard on Mulder also. He had been very supportive. He had given his days and nights to Scully and what he hoped would be the return of her memories. He had done everything he could think of, to no avail. The phone rang, ripping both the agents out of their thoughts. "Hello?" Mulder stared at Scully, who had by then returned to her thoughts. "Fox? Is Dana there? I would like to take her to Missy's grave," Mrs. Scully requested. "Mom?," Scully questioned, after Mulder handed her the telephone. It felt awkward to call someone a name and not remember them. "Dana, would you like to come with me to visit your sister's grave?" Mrs. Scully inquired. Margaret Scully did not think she would ever forget the feeling when Dana asked where her dad was and if she had any siblings. Mulder had been the one to tell her that Melissa and Bill were dead. "Yes, I would." *** "This is your sister's grave, Dana," Margaret Scully mentioned to her youngest daughter, as Margaret held back tears. Melissa had only been dead for a month, therefore, the grass was still fresh. "Where is my father's grave?" Scully asked as she noticed tears welling in her mother's eyes. "He..." Mrs. Scully choked on tears, "He was cremated and his remains were spread into the ocean." "It's..." Tears now welling in Scully's own eyes, much to her surprise, "It's so hard. I want to remember them. I need to remember." The older woman saw the red-headed woman's tears and held her arms out to embrace her. They both held each other as tightly as humanly possible. Margaret Scully offered soothing words to comfort both of them. "I don't even know Mulder. I know we are friends and this is hurting him so much," Scully emerged from the embrace with tears dried on her face. "You will remember. Just don't give up. We won't give up either," Margaret knelt down and laid a bouquet of red carnations in front of Melissa's headstone, both for Missy and for her husband. Dana Scully's apartment October 15 7:38p.m. Scully laid down on her couch and flipped on the television set. A man in electric blue tights and a red cape flew on the screen. Scully immediately recognized him as Superman. She wondered if she liked this show. Scully then heard a familiar knock. Mulder let himself in and saw Scully curled up in a fetal position on her couch. "What are you watching, Scully?" Mulder asked as he sat on the unoccupied end of the couch. "I think it is called "Lois and Clark." It's not that bad. At times it can be a little cheesy, but that Superman is pretty attractive," Scully commented as she sat up next to Mulder. "Yeah, I've watched it once or twice. We are usually on assignment somewhere, getting in trouble. It can be as cheesy as cheddar," Mulder added. After a moments pause he continued, "I talked to your mother today. She said you went to your sister's grave." "It's so hard, Mulder," Scully said after pausing a few seconds. "I want to remember you, Mom, and Missy so much. It's quite depressing." "Don't give up. We need you back..." Mulder hesitated, unsure if he should say what else was on his mind. "I need you back." This statement evoked silence between Mulder and Scully. "Mulder...were we ever more than friends?" Scully asked, hoping he knew what she meant. "No," Mulder answered quickly and a bit nervously, "no, we are just friends." *** Scully continued to work with Mulder every day, spending nights with her mother. No memories were returning, though. Everyone was becoming more and more discouraged, because it had been two weeks. Mulder had been to see Dr. Daly again, questioning why Scully still had no memory. All the doctor could tell him was to be patient with Dana. Fox Mulder's apartment October 27 7:05 p.m. Mulder was standing at his stove cooking spaghetti when he heard a light tap on his door. He opened the door to reveal his partner. "Scully? What's the matter?" Mulder said as he noticed the tears welling in her hazel eyes. "I think I remembered something," A lone tear escaping from her eye. "What did you remember?" Mulder asked as he opened the door wider for Scully. "My father's death and funeral. He died of a heart attack. We cremated him and spread his ashes in the ocean. "Beyond the Sea" was playing at my parent's wedding and also at his funeral," Scully continued to tell Mulder about her father's life and death. Mulder was amazed that she had finally remembered. He thought this day would never come. "It's true, all of it," he said. Scully's tears were falling faster now. They were for her parents, for Missy, and for the agony she put Mulder through. Mulder noticed her tears were falling faster down her checks. He allowed her to lean up against his body. He then wrapped his strong arms around her small body and held her tight. She continued to cry, feeling the safest she was sure she had felt in a long time. She was going to remember everything and Mulder would be there for her. She would never feel alone again. end.