This is a fiction story based on the characters created by Chris Carter. No infringement of copyrights held by 10/13 Productions, Twentieth Century Productions, or Fox Broadcasting is intended. All unrecognised characters and plot-lines belong to me. Names, characters, and places exist solely within my imagination, or are used fictitiously. No connection to any person, living or dead, is intended, and any resemblance is entirely coincidental. Feel free to distribute, but please keep me as the author. Rating - PG Danielle Culverson. Abductee. The peace and quiet of the corridors of Washington psychiatric hospital was shattered by the sound of screaming. A man in his late thirties, dark-haired, bare-footed, wearing a hospital gown, flailed down a corridor, wavering slightly from side to side as he searched the doors he passed for possible exits, escape routes, or hiding places. The white tiles underfoot were cold as he ran, and everywhere was bright, white, and smelling of disinfectant. Two male nurses ran after him, one still clutching the case clip-board in his left hand. Rupert Cocker darted through the t.v. lounge, where seven patients sat watching, or not watching, the silent television. He rounded a corner, and came face to face with a well-built hospital orderly. He turned, and fled back the way he had come, turning into a dead-end corridor as he tried to escape the three men now chasing him. Realising his mistake, Cocker pulled a scalpel from inside his hospital gown, and held it in front of him as he faced off the now slowly approaching men. A nurse came out of a private room, smiling. Her ginger curls bobbed below her nurse's cap. She had her back to Cocker, and didn't realise he was behind her until he grabbed her by the back of her uniform, and held the scalpel against her neck. She was too surprised to scream. The approaching men halted. The nurse, Sarah Jacobs, pleaded with her eyes for them to help her. Cocker began to move forward out of the corridor, pushing Jacobs in front of him as he went. A door banged behind Cocker. He turned, distracted, and Jacobs dived towards the three men who had been chasing her captor. Just as she thought she had got away, she felt the scalpel slice into her bare arm. A moment later the orderly and one of the male nurses had restrained Cocker. The other male nurse helped Jacobs to a chair, and found a doctor to check her wound. It was to be expected really. Cocker's delusions had always caused him to become violent. * * * The multi-storey car park was almost empty. A chill wind drifted between the cars and concrete pillars, causing the small pieces of litter to blow across the surface of the second storey level. The smell of oil and exhaust filled the air. A man stood alone at the edge of the second storey level, looking out across the city. His brown hair blew with the wind. His hands were thrust deep into the pockets of his charcoal grey suit. The sound of heeled shoes on concrete echoed around the car park. The sound clicked and tapped louder and louder, and stopped a few metres behind the man. "Hello Scully." Fox Mulder greeted his partner, without turning around. "I thought I'd find you here." Scully said quietly, "Today." Mulder nodded silently. Scully walked forward to stand alongside him, and they surveyed the city together. Scully embraced herself to stop herself shivering. Her long overcoat flapped in the breeze. She too had chosen to wear dark grey for this solemn anniversary. "It doesn't seem like a year." she said finally. Mulder shook his head in agreement. "No." he sighed, then paused, "We're lucky that someone chose to replace him. We still have friends in the Bureau." "It's strange," Scully said slowly, "I only really met him at the end, and yet I feel I knew him well. At the same time, I feel I didn't know him at all. He risked so much for us, our work..." "The X-files." Mulder agreed quietly. They were both silent for a while, thinking about the man they had known only as "Deepthroat", who in the end had lost his life because he had tried to go against the wishes of the people Mulder had labeled, the "shadow government". Mulder and Scully were FBI agents. They handled the cases which did not fall into other areas of the Bureau's investigations. Cases which at first seemed to have no rational explanations. Cases dealing with aliens, telepathy, pyrakinesis, and other "paranormal" occurrences. The cases filed under "X". Some people in the "shadow government" thought the partners should not be allowed to get too close to certain hidden truths, and so the department had been closed once, and threatened with closure many times. Mulder knew he and his partner were walking a fine line, and any false step could have severe consequences. More than once "They" had tried to disgrace him and have him removed. More than once "They" had tried to kill him. And Scully. To stop them discovering the truth. Scully spoke again, "Actually, Skinner sent me to find you." she told her partner. "Oh?" "He wants you to go and talk to a man called Rupert Cocker. He's delusional. A patient in Washington Psychiatric Hospital. he stabbed a nurse with a scalpel trying to escape. It shouldn't take long." "Why me?" Mulder asked. "Cocker's delusions involve alien abductions. Skinner thought you might have the best knowledge to deal with that." "Skinner thinks too much." Mulder muttered, and turned to leave with his partner. * * * Scully's final words rang in Mulder's ears as he entered the cell-like room where Cocker was being held. "Remember Mulder, this man is not an abductee. He's delusional." Yes, Mulder thought to himself as he looked at the scared man who sat on the floor in the far corner of the room. This is just an ordinary case, only with weird stuff; aliens, monsters, and UFOs need not apply. Scully's and his private joke. He sat down by the wall near the door, not going to close to the man. Not pushing him. The scared face lifted, and the haunted eyes slowly took Mulder in. "What do you want?" The voice was hoarse. According to the nurse, Cocker had been crying and screaming for a long time after he had been re-captured. "I don't want anything. I thought you might want someone to talk to." Mulder replied quietly, "Someone who might understand." "You?" Cocker sounded sceptical, "What do you know about what's happened to me?" "Only what I've been told by other people." "Who?" "Other abductees." Mulder answered. In his head he could almost hear Scully's sigh of disbelief. It was something he was used to hearing. Cocker said nothing. "Tell me about it." Mulder encouraged, "Tell me what happens to you." There was no response. "Do they take you to their ship? Do they take you against your will? Hurt you?" Still no response. "You're not the only one, Rupert. You're not alone. It's happened to many people. I've spoken to them. They tell me about the ship, the strange tall beings that they see, what they do to them... Why don't you tell me what it was like for you? Tell me what they did." "You don't know anything about it!" Cocker yelled suddenly, scrambling to his feet, "Don't patronise me! You're a liar! You're all liars! One day you'll get what's coming to you. One day you'll understand, and then you'll be sorry you didn't believe!" * * * The apartment bedroom was silent and warm. Sodium yellow light flooded through the thin curtains, bringing strange shadows and faint outlines alive in the room. An electric alarm clock showed the time to be 1.50am. Mulder lay asleep on the bed, his back to the alarm clock. His breathing was quiet and even, and his side lifted the sheet slightly with each inhalation. Mulder jerked awake. He stayed on his side, back to the alarm clock, barely breathing as he listened to the silence. He was not alone. Someone was behind him, watching him. Mulder held his breath, trying to hear his mysterious visitor breathing. He heard something else. It was the sound of a gun being cocked. His gun. He instinctively knew it was aimed at him. "Good morning, Agent Mulder." a hoarse voice said, "Although I imagine you usually rise slightly later than this." Mulder turned over slowly, and glimpsed a dark figure in the corner of the room. The light flicked on, it's brightness causing him to squint, and raise a hand to shade his eyes. "You're going to regret what you did earlier, Agent Mulder." Cocker said, "I told you that you'd get what's coming to you. I'm going to show you what it's really like to be abducted. This time I won't face them alone." * * * Scully paced up and down the basement office of the J. Edgar Hoover building, her mobile phone in one hand. The phone at the other end of the line rang once, followed by a click, then, "This is Fox Mulder, leave a message please." The answering machine again. Scully called her partner's name, wondering if he had fallen asleep in front of the television, and knowing the answering machine was next to the couch. There was still no answer. She switched off her phone, put it away, and picked up her coat. She never knew where she was with Mulder, but it still wasn't like him to be so late. Ten minutes later she was outside Mulder's apartment. She produced a key from her purse, and opened the door. The light in the main room was off. She switched it on and looked around. There was no sign of anything wrong. The bedroom light was on. The bed had been slept in, and looked hurriedly gotten out of. The wardrobe door was open, and there was a hanger on the floor just inside, as though knocked off the rail by the violent removal of the item of clothing it had recently held. There was an indentation on the near side of the bed, as though someone had sat there. Scully looked around the room, taking in the usual general mess, and these few, slightly unusual features. Then she turned, and went back into the main room to check the answering machine. All she heard were her own increasingly anxious messages. * * * Mulder lay on the back seat of his car, sliding slightly from side to side as the car moved along. Cocker had taken the car as he had none of his own. Mulder's hands were handcuffed behind him with his own handcuffs, which Cocker had found in his apartment. He couldn't see his watch, but estimated the time to be about 9am. They had been driving for hours. Barely a word had passed between them. The car sped along. Mulder could see a little through the windows, but only by lifting his head, and doing that for long periods of time made his neck ache. He was beginning to lose track of where they were. The car bumped over something in the road, and Mulder nearly fell from the seat. His head connected painfully with the side of the car. He groaned. "Not the most comfortable of rides, eh, Agent Mulder?" Cocker laughed, glancing at his captive in the rear view mirror, "You'll have worse, I'll guarantee you that." He paused, and then muttered, "Much worse." more to himself than to the FBI agent. "Where are we going?" Mulder asked. "Somewhere no-one will come looking for you." Cocker answered grimly, keeping his eyes on the road, and clenching the steering wheel between his fingers. "But how will they find you then? If you want to show me what it's like, they'll have to be able to find us." "They'll find me the way they always do." Cocker replied, "The devices." He paused, "I wonder if your disappearance has been discovered yet?" "I expect so." Mulder answered dully. "Do you think anyone will miss you?" Cocker asked sarcastically, "Maybe your partner will be upset?" Mulder didn't answer. They drove on in silence. * * * Scully sat at her desk in the X-files office. She held a pen in one hand, and tapped it on the desk absently as she gazed across at her partner's empty chair. Nothing here was any different to how it should be. Except Mulder. She couldn't think what had happened to her partner. The room was in silence, and Scully could hear the creaks, and muffled murmur caused by other people in the building, and the distant whir of the elevators. The phone on Scully's desk rang, startling her. She grabbed for it, picking it up before it rang twice, although even as she did, she knew it couldn't be Mulder. He always called her on her cellular, - not as easy to tap. "Scully." "Ah, Agent Scully. This is Dr. Harris from Washington Psychiatric Hospital. I've been trying to contact you. The patient you saw yesterday, whom Agent Mulder interviewed..." "Rupert Cocker?" "Yes. He escaped from the hospital during the night. We're not sure exactly how or when, - only that it was at some point between 11.30pm and 1am. I don't think he's dangerous unless anyone tries to confine him, but I am a but concerned as he was very distressed last night, - about what occurred during the interview. - He kept talking about making people understand, taking them on his "abductions". It may be possible that he will try to contact you or your partner." "I think maybe he already has." Scully said, half to herself. "Pardon?" "Dr. Harris, Agent Mulder didn't show up for work this morning. The reason you couldn't contact me earlier was that I was at his apartment. - There's no-one there. - He appears to be... missing." * * * Scully waited outside Skinner's office for the secretary to tell her to go in. She kept checking her watch, terribly aware that if Mulder was with Cocker, they were probably already eight hours ahead of her. The intercom on the secretary's desk beeped. Scully looked up anxiously. She watched the secretary converse quickly with Skinner on the intercom, and then sign her to go in. She entered the inner office through the connecting door. The room was familiar to Scully, with it's large wooden desk, and large conference table, the venetian blinds at the windows, and the filing cabinet behind the desk. Assistant Director Skinner sat at the desk, his bald patch, - which now covered most of his head, - reflecting the light of the overhead fluorescent lights. Scully approached the desk quickly, and waited to be invited to sit down. Skinner was reading some papers, but he lifted one hand, and motioned that she should sit, without even looking up to see who was there. It seemed an eternity before he put the papers on one side, and looked up. "So, Agent Scully. An unexpected pleasure." he greeted her, "What's the problem?" "Sir, Agent Mulder didn't show up this morning." Scully began, "I went round to his apartment, but there was nobody there. I just received a phone call from Dr. Harris at Washington Psychiatric Hospital. He told me that the man Mulder interviewed yesterday, Rupert Cocker, escaped last night. He said, before he knew of Mulder's disappearance, that he suspected Cocker may try to contact him." she paused, "I think he may already have done so." "Contacted him? For what purpose?" "Sir, when Agent Mulder tried to interview Cocker, the man would not respond to any of Agent Mulder's questions. Cocker told Agent Mulder that one day he "would get what was coming to him", and that one day he "would understand", and then he'd "be sorry". I suspect he may have tried to contact Agent Mulder to make Agent Mulder "understand"." "Hmm." Skinner nodded slowly, and clasped his hands, which were resting on the desk in front of him. "Do you have any idea where Cocker may have gone?" "Dr. Harris told me that Cocker had been talking of showing Agent Mulder what it is "really like to be abducted". It is possible he will try to avoid capture, so that he can have Agent Mulder abducted." Skinner smiled slightly, "Mulder's probably on top of the world, maybe literally." He frowned, and grew serious again, "Do you think Cocker will be successful?" "Sir, Cocker is delusional. I don't believe that, at least in his case, there is any truth in what he is saying." Skinner nodded slowly, "So what do you propose to do now?" "Initiate a search for Agent Mulder." Scully replied immediately. "Agent Scully, you know a search can't be initiated until a person has been missing 24 hours." "In cases where the missing person is in danger..." "Agent Mulder isn't in any danger. We don't even know that he's been kidnapped. - And if he has, Cocker isn't a serious threat to him." "But Sir, abduction..." "I thought you said Cocker was delusional?" Skinner cut her off suddenly. Scully shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "I always thought you had more sense than your partner when it comes to things like that." Scully looked down in embarrassment, and pretended to examine her nails. Skinner watched her for a moment, and then spoke again, gently. "You're worried about Mulder." Scully nodded, a faint blush coming to her cheeks. "I suppose, unofficially, you could begin a search. However I can't release anyone else until the 24 hours have passed." Skinner smiled, "Mulder will probably be devastated if you find him before he gets the chance to be abducted." * * The car stopped. Mulder lay still and silent on the back seat. Cocker had blindfolded him a few hours earlier, with the result that he now didn't have any idea where he was. He heard Cocker switch the engine off, and take the keys from the ignition. A door opened, and closed, and then another opened. Strong hands took hold of Mulder under the shoulders, and pulled him from the car, helping him to a standing position. Then Cocker took firm hold of Mulder's left arm, and pushed him along in front of him. They entered some sort of building. Mulder felt the ground beneath him change, and the sound his feet made began to echo. Cocker pushed him to the ground violently, and Mulder landed in the corner of the room, banging his head against the wall as he fell. He sat up, and leaned against the wall. There was the click of his gun being cocked, close by. Then Cocker removed the blindfold. They were in what appeared to be a small wooden hut. The ceiling above them slanted, so Mulder assumed there was only one level. He could see the door they had entered through, and another door, leading to another room at the back. The hut was sparsely furnished, with faded net at the windows, and a table and two chairs on the far side of the room, where Cocker was now sitting. A bare light bulb hung from the ceiling. The floor, also wooden, was uncovered and dirty. Cocker sat watching Mulder for some time, saying nothing. Mulder, having taken in his surroundings, watched his captor. He shifted uncomfortably. The handcuffs dug into his flesh. "Why did you do it, Agent Mulder?" Cocker asked finally. Mulder frowned, not understanding. "Why did you come to me, to "give me someone to talk to"?" "I was sent." Mulder replied, "By my boss." "Why you?" "Because I have experience with cases like yours." "Violent delusionals?" "Abductees." Mulder corrected. "Liar!" Cocker screamed, "You don't know anything about it!" "Not from personal experience." Mulder agreed, "But I've spoken to many people like you, who say they've been abducted by aliens. Some of them are delusional, some are lying, but some," Mulder emphasised, "are telling the truth." "If you know so much, how come you didn't know how they find me?" "I did. I was checking that you were a genuine abductee." "I don't believe you." Cocker said, looking away. "No? They implant tracking devices in your body. Most often they are placed in the abdomen, gums, sinus cavities, feet. They implant the first time they take you, and then they take you again and again. Where did they put the devices in you, Rupert? How many did they put in you?" "Two." Cocker replied absently, staring towards the net covered window. Then he started, "What am I telling you for? You just follow other people's orders, and pretend to understand things you don't." Mulder frowned, - he never did anything just because he had been ordered to do so. When he had first met Cocker, he had believed the man was delusional, but he was no longer convinced. If only the man would talk more about his experiences, then it would be certain. * * * Scully was immensely grateful that her mobile phone was linked to Mulder's, and she could use it to track him. She drove along, following the signal, using almost the same route as Cocker had ten hours earlier. She had already been driving for three hours, and was growing increasingly anxious for Mulder's safety. She told herself there was nothing to worry about, but it didn't stop her worrying. A large tanker pulled out of a truck stop ahead of her, and moved along slowly. Scully fought a strong urge to blast her horn, and concentrated on finding an opening in the oncoming traffic so that she could get past the slow-moving vehicle. The traffic now was surely worse than it had been when Cocker had been traveling, she realised, and every minute Mulder's life could be in danger. * * * Cocker stood up, and crossed the small room to where Mulder was sitting. He crouched down on his heels, and looked at the agent's face carefully, and into his eyes. Mulder met the man's gaze. "You're afraid of me." Cocker said, with a slight smile. "No," Mulder shook his head, "not you. I'm afraid of them, because I know what they do." "You know what they do? You don't know anything!" Cocker yelled, "How can you know what it's like to be taken by them against your will? What do you know about what I've gone through?" "I've spoken to other people who've made similar claims to yours..." "I suppose they're delusional too." Cocker remarked sarcastically. He pushed Mulder backwards suddenly, so that the agent's head slammed against the wall behind him, and then put one hand around Mulder's throat. He leaned forward towards the agent, until their faces were almost touching. "You don't really believe I was abducted at all. I'll take you with me the next time, then you'll believe. - Unless you'd rather call yourself delusional." "I believe you now." Mulder said quietly. Cocker shook his head, and said scornfully, "You don't know anything. Why should you believe?" "I have a sister," Mulder said quietly, "called Samantha. They took her when she was eight years old. I was twelve at the time. I saw it happen." He paused, and looked down towards the floor before looking back at Cocker again, "You're lucky. They never brought Samantha back." "So what happened?" Cocker asked, his voice low. "The police said she must have run away from home, or been kidnapped. They searched for her. For a while. I told them what had happened, what I had seen, but I was only a boy. They didn't believe me." Cocker shook his head in sympathy, "When a child talks of aliens, they pass it off as imagination." "When an adult does the same, they call it delusion." Mulder added. Both men were silent, considering what had just passed between them. Then Cocker spoke again. "They started taking me three years ago. The first time, like you said, they put in the devices. Then they just came, every so often. I didn't believe it was happening myself at first. Then when I believed, I didn't dare tell anyone. Finally when I did tell someone, I got locked up in that hospital. They've still been taking me. That's why I kept trying to escape." "You can escape the hospital, but you can't escape them." Mulder reminded him. "No, but at least out here I can live. No-one can stop them taking me, so why should I give up my life?" There was the sound of a car pulling up outside. The engine shut off. A car door slammed. Footsteps outside. Cocker looked at Mulder. "That'll be Scully," he smiled, "my partner." The door flew open under the force of a swift kick, and Scully entered, gun in hand. She saw Mulder, relief in her eyes, and turned her gun on Cocker, who was still crouching just in front of him. Cocker raised his hands, and moved away. Scully went over to her partner. "Are you alright?" she asked, and then saw the handcuffs. "Keys." she ordered, turning to Cocker. He pointed to the table, where Mulder's key ring was lying. She picked them up, and released her partner. "I'm fine." he assured her, and turned to Cocker, "I'm afraid my partner won't believe your story." "Mulder, you're not saying you believe he..." "I do." he agreed. Scully rolled her eyes in disgust. "Skinner told me you'd be devastated if I got here before you had your chance to get abducted." she said. "How did you find us?" Cocker asked. "The phone." both Mulder and Scully said together. "In the car." Mulder explained. Cocker nodded. "Good thing we'd sorted out our differences." "Sorted out..?" Scully was surprised, "Mulder nay have believed anything you told him, - like he usually does, - but you still had him handcuffed." "I just hadn't got around to undoing them." Cocker shrugged, "We were having a discussion." "About aliens?" "About Samantha." Mulder corrected. Scully nodded. "I think you can put that away." he pointed to her gun, which was still trained on Cocker. Scully slipped it back into it's holster. "So what happens now?" Cocker asked nervously, "You turn me in?" "He doesn't want to go back to the hospital." Mulder explained to his partner. "After what he's done, he'll be going to jail." Scully replied, a note of anger in her voice. "He hasn't done anything." Mulder said quietly. Scully looked at him for a moment, and then nodded. "No, I suppose he hadn't. You're missing, but no-one knows where, or why. He could simply disappear." "I wish." Cocker muttered. He sat down at the table. "Well, we can all sleep on it." Scully decided, "None of us are fit for doing anything right now." * * * It had been a long, tough day, and they all slept well. Too well. They awoke late, to the sound of a loudspeaker outside the hut. "Rupert Cocker!" a sentorian voice announced, "The building is surrounded by armed FBI agents. Release Agents Mulder and Scully, and then come out with your hands up. I repeat, the building is surrounded. Come out with your hands up." Cocker looked at the two agents with wide, scared eyes. They looked at each other, uncertain. "We'll go out, like they said." Mulder told Cocker, "We'll explain that you weren't holding us as hostages, and that you haven't done anything wrong. They'll tell you when to come out." Mulder stood up, and helped Scully up. - They had all slept on the floor as there was no bed, or even a couch, in Cocker's hide-out. - They brushed the dirt from their clothing, and opened the door a crack. "Agents Mulder and Scully coming out. Hold you fire!" Mulder yelled. The order was repeated a moment later over the loudspeaker. Mulder opened the door slowly, glanced back at the wide-eyed Cocker, and then stepped out into the sunlight, with Scully right behind him. Seven new cars had arrived, and the guns and rifles of FBI agents poked over the roofs and bonnets. Mulder led his partner across the empty semi-circle between the hut and the cars, until they reached the man with the loudspeaker. "What are you doing?" Mulder demanded, "You're acting like Agent Scully and I had been taken hostage or something." "You mean Cocker wasn't holding you prisoner?" the man asked, confused. "No, of course not." Mulder replied scornfully, "He called me after he got out of the hospital. He said he wanted to talk to me, - because I knew about what he had been through. - We drove out here for some peace. I forgot the time, and Agent Scully worried about me, so she came after me. We were all tired from the journey, so we stayed the night. What's the..?" A shot rang out from the back of the hut. Mulder and Scully both turned, and in an instant Mulder was running around to the back of the hut, yelling, "Hold your fire! Hold your..." He saw the body, less than ten metres from the hut. One shot had been fatal. Scully reached his side a moment later. They stood in silence, disbelieving. Then Scully touched Mulder's arm. "Time to go." she said quietly. He nodded, still looking at the body. "What did he run for?" he muttered angrily, "I could have kept him out of the hospital." "At least now they'll never abduct him again." Scully reminded her partner. He smiled sadly. "No. He won that battle." * * * Mulder sat alone in the basement office, looking at a picture of a young girl which stood on his desk. "What about you?" he asked in an undertone, "Do they still have you, Samantha?" Mulder sighed, and closed his report on the Rupert Cocker case. How many people were there like Cocker? Like his sister? He had met quite a few during his career at the Bureau. How many more were out there? The faint sound of high heels approaching. The door opened to admit Scully. She looked at her partner's solemn face. "Don't dwell on the past." she said briskly, "You can't change it, and it's not good for you." Scully sat down at her desk, which was significantly neater than Mulder's, and looked across at him. He was staring at the closed file. "X-file for your thoughts?" she suggested. Mulder grinned, "I wish. I was just wondering how many people have been... you know." "Affected by severe delusions?" Scully smiled, "Like you?" "Scully, I'm just a normal person, only with weird stuff." "Aliens, monsters, and UFOs need not apply." she smiled. "Still tacked to my forehead." he told her. Then he lifted the file, and dropped it onto his "Out" pile. The End. I'd greatly appreciate any comments or constructive criticism from fellow X-Philes. Email me at . Danielle Culverson. This is a fiction story based on the characters created by Chris Carter. No infringement of copyrights held by 10/13 Productions, Twentieth Century Productions, or Fox Broadcasting is intended. All unrecognised characters and plot-lines belong to me. Names, characters, and places exist solely within my imagination, or are used fictitiously. No connection to any person, living or dead, is intended, and any resemblance is entirely coincidental. Feel free to distribute, but please keep me as the author. Rating - PG Danielle Culverson. Abductee. The peace and quiet of the corridors of Washington psychiatric hospital was shattered by the sound of screaming. A man in his late thirties, dark-haired, bare-footed, wearing a hospital gown, flailed down a corridor, wavering slightly from side to side as he searched the doors he passed for possible exits, escape routes, or hiding places. The white tiles underfoot were cold as he ran, and everywhere was bright, white, and smelling of disinfectant. Two male nurses ran after him, one still clutching the case clip-board in his left hand. Rupert Cocker darted through the t.v. lounge, where seven patients sat watching, or not watching, the silent television. He rounded a corner, and came face to face with a well-built hospital orderly. He turned, and fled back the way he had come, turning into a dead-end corridor as he tried to escape the three men now chasing him. Realising his mistake, Cocker pulled a scalpel from inside his hospital gown, and held it in front of him as he faced off the now slowly approaching men. A nurse came out of a private room, smiling. Her ginger curls bobbed below her nurse's cap. She had her back to Cocker, and didn't realise he was behind her until he grabbed her by the back of her uniform, and held the scalpel against her neck. She was too surprised to scream. The approaching men halted. The nurse, Sarah Jacobs, pleaded with her eyes for them to help her. Cocker began to move forward out of the corridor, pushing Jacobs in front of him as he went. A door banged behind Cocker. He turned, distracted, and Jacobs dived towards the three men who had been chasing her captor. Just as she thought she had got away, she felt the scalpel slice into her bare arm. A moment later the orderly and one of the male nurses had restrained Cocker. The other male nurse helped Jacobs to a chair, and found a doctor to check her wound. It was to be expected really. Cocker's delusions had always caused him to become violent. * * * The multi-storey car park was almost empty. A chill wind drifted between the cars and concrete pillars, causing the small pieces of litter to blow across the surface of the second storey level. The smell of oil and exhaust filled the air. A man stood alone at the edge of the second storey level, looking out across the city. His brown hair blew with the wind. His hands were thrust deep into the pockets of his charcoal grey suit. The sound of heeled shoes on concrete echoed around the car park. The sound clicked and tapped louder and louder, and stopped a few metres behind the man. "Hello Scully." Fox Mulder greeted his partner, without turning around. "I thought I'd find you here." Scully said quietly, "Today." Mulder nodded silently. Scully walked forward to stand alongside him, and they surveyed the city together. Scully embraced herself to stop herself shivering. Her long overcoat flapped in the breeze. She too had chosen to wear dark grey for this solemn anniversary. "It doesn't seem like a year." she said finally. Mulder shook his head in agreement. "No." he sighed, then paused, "We're lucky that someone chose to replace him. We still have friends in the Bureau." "It's strange," Scully said slowly, "I only really met him at the end, and yet I feel I knew him well. At the same time, I feel I didn't know him at all. He risked so much for us, our work..." "The X-files." Mulder agreed quietly. They were both silent for a while, thinking about the man they had known only as "Deepthroat", who in the end had lost his life because he had tried to go against the wishes of the people Mulder had labeled, the "shadow government". Mulder and Scully were FBI agents. They handled the cases which did not fall into other areas of the Bureau's investigations. Cases which at first seemed to have no rational explanations. Cases dealing with aliens, telepathy, pyrakinesis, and other "paranormal" occurrences. The cases filed under "X". Some people in the "shadow government" thought the partners should not be allowed to get too close to certain hidden truths, and so the department had been closed once, and threatened with closure many times. Mulder knew he and his partner were walking a fine line, and any false step could have severe consequences. More than once "They" had tried to disgrace him and have him removed. More than once "They" had tried to kill him. And Scully. To stop them discovering the truth. Scully spoke again, "Actually, Skinner sent me to find you." she told her partner. "Oh?" "He wants you to go and talk to a man called Rupert Cocker. He's delusional. A patient in Washington Psychiatric Hospital. he stabbed a nurse with a scalpel trying to escape. It shouldn't take long." "Why me?" Mulder asked. "Cocker's delusions involve alien abductions. Skinner thought you might have the best knowledge to deal with that." "Skinner thinks too much." Mulder muttered, and turned to leave with his partner. * * * Scully's final words rang in Mulder's ears as he entered the cell-like room where Cocker was being held. "Remember Mulder, this man is not an abductee. He's delusional." Yes, Mulder thought to himself as he looked at the scared man who sat on the floor in the far corner of the room. This is just an ordinary case, only with weird stuff; aliens, monsters, and UFOs need not apply. Scully's and his private joke. He sat down by the wall near the door, not going to close to the man. Not pushing him. The scared face lifted, and the haunted eyes slowly took Mulder in. "What do you want?" The voice was hoarse. According to the nurse, Cocker had been crying and screaming for a long time after he had been re-captured. "I don't want anything. I thought you might want someone to talk to." Mulder replied quietly, "Someone who might understand." "You?" Cocker sounded sceptical, "What do you know about what's happened to me?" "Only what I've been told by other people." "Who?" "Other abductees." Mulder answered. In his head he could almost hear Scully's sigh of disbelief. It was something he was used to hearing. Cocker said nothing. "Tell me about it." Mulder encouraged, "Tell me what happens to you." There was no response. "Do they take you to their ship? Do they take you against your will? Hurt you?" Still no response. "You're not the only one, Rupert. You're not alone. It's happened to many people. I've spoken to them. They tell me about the ship, the strange tall beings that they see, what they do to them... Why don't you tell me what it was like for you? Tell me what they did." "You don't know anything about it!" Cocker yelled suddenly, scrambling to his feet, "Don't patronise me! You're a liar! You're all liars! One day you'll get what's coming to you. One day you'll understand, and then you'll be sorry you didn't believe!" * * * The apartment bedroom was silent and warm. Sodium yellow light flooded through the thin curtains, bringing strange shadows and faint outlines alive in the room. An electric alarm clock showed the time to be 1.50am. Mulder lay asleep on the bed, his back to the alarm clock. His breathing was quiet and even, and his side lifted the sheet slightly with each inhalation. Mulder jerked awake. He stayed on his side, back to the alarm clock, barely breathing as he listened to the silence. He was not alone. Someone was behind him, watching him. Mulder held his breath, trying to hear his mysterious visitor breathing. He heard something else. It was the sound of a gun being cocked. His gun. He instinctively knew it was aimed at him. "Good morning, Agent Mulder." a hoarse voice said, "Although I imagine you usually rise slightly later than this." Mulder turned over slowly, and glimpsed a dark figure in the corner of the room. The light flicked on, it's brightness causing him to squint, and raise a hand to shade his eyes. "You're going to regret what you did earlier, Agent Mulder." Cocker said, "I told you that you'd get what's coming to you. I'm going to show you what it's really like to be abducted. This time I won't face them alone." * * * Scully paced up and down the basement office of the J. Edgar Hoover building, her mobile phone in one hand. The phone at the other end of the line rang once, followed by a click, then, "This is Fox Mulder, leave a message please." The answering machine again. Scully called her partner's name, wondering if he had fallen asleep in front of the television, and knowing the answering machine was next to the couch. There was still no answer. She switched off her phone, put it away, and picked up her coat. She never knew where she was with Mulder, but it still wasn't like him to be so late. Ten minutes later she was outside Mulder's apartment. She produced a key from her purse, and opened the door. The light in the main room was off. She switched it on and looked around. There was no sign of anything wrong. The bedroom light was on. The bed had been slept in, and looked hurriedly gotten out of. The wardrobe door was open, and there was a hanger on the floor just inside, as though knocked off the rail by the violent removal of the item of clothing it had recently held. There was an indentation on the near side of the bed, as though someone had sat there. Scully looked around the room, taking in the usual general mess, and these few, slightly unusual features. Then she turned, and went back into the main room to check the answering machine. All she heard were her own increasingly anxious messages. * * * Mulder lay on the back seat of his car, sliding slightly from side to side as the car moved along. Cocker had taken the car as he had none of his own. Mulder's hands were handcuffed behind him with his own handcuffs, which Cocker had found in his apartment. He couldn't see his watch, but estimated the time to be about 9am. They had been driving for hours. Barely a word had passed between them. The car sped along. Mulder could see a little through the windows, but only by lifting his head, and doing that for long periods of time made his neck ache. He was beginning to lose track of where they were. The car bumped over something in the road, and Mulder nearly fell from the seat. His head connected painfully with the side of the car. He groaned. "Not the most comfortable of rides, eh, Agent Mulder?" Cocker laughed, glancing at his captive in the rear view mirror, "You'll have worse, I'll guarantee you that." He paused, and then muttered, "Much worse." more to himself than to the FBI agent. "Where are we going?" Mulder asked. "Somewhere no-one will come looking for you." Cocker answered grimly, keeping his eyes on the road, and clenching the steering wheel between his fingers. "But how will they find you then? If you want to show me what it's like, they'll have to be able to find us." "They'll find me the way they always do." Cocker replied, "The devices." He paused, "I wonder if your disappearance has been discovered yet?" "I expect so." Mulder answered dully. "Do you think anyone will miss you?" Cocker asked sarcastically, "Maybe your partner will be upset?" Mulder didn't answer. They drove on in silence. * * * Scully sat at her desk in the X-files office. She held a pen in one hand, and tapped it on the desk absently as she gazed across at her partner's empty chair. Nothing here was any different to how it should be. Except Mulder. She couldn't think what had happened to her partner. The room was in silence, and Scully could hear the creaks, and muffled murmur caused by other people in the building, and the distant whir of the elevators. The phone on Scully's desk rang, startling her. She grabbed for it, picking it up before it rang twice, although even as she did, she knew it couldn't be Mulder. He always called her on her cellular, - not as easy to tap. "Scully." "Ah, Agent Scully. This is Dr. Harris from Washington Psychiatric Hospital. I've been trying to contact you. The patient you saw yesterday, whom Agent Mulder interviewed..." "Rupert Cocker?" "Yes. He escaped from the hospital during the night. We're not sure exactly how or when, - only that it was at some point between 11.30pm and 1am. I don't think he's dangerous unless anyone tries to confine him, but I am a but concerned as he was very distressed last night, - about what occurred during the interview. - He kept talking about making people understand, taking them on his "abductions". It may be possible that he will try to contact you or your partner." "I think maybe he already has." Scully said, half to herself. "Pardon?" "Dr. Harris, Agent Mulder didn't show up for work this morning. The reason you couldn't contact me earlier was that I was at his apartment. - There's no-one there. - He appears to be... missing." * * * Scully waited outside Skinner's office for the secretary to tell her to go in. She kept checking her watch, terribly aware that if Mulder was with Cocker, they were probably already eight hours ahead of her. The intercom on the secretary's desk beeped. Scully looked up anxiously. She watched the secretary converse quickly with Skinner on the intercom, and then sign her to go in. She entered the inner office through the connecting door. The room was familiar to Scully, with it's large wooden desk, and large conference table, the venetian blinds at the windows, and the filing cabinet behind the desk. Assistant Director Skinner sat at the desk, his bald patch, - which now covered most of his head, - reflecting the light of the overhead fluorescent lights. Scully approached the desk quickly, and waited to be invited to sit down. Skinner was reading some papers, but he lifted one hand, and motioned that she should sit, without even looking up to see who was there. It seemed an eternity before he put the papers on one side, and looked up. "So, Agent Scully. An unexpected pleasure." he greeted her, "What's the problem?" "Sir, Agent Mulder didn't show up this morning." Scully began, "I went round to his apartment, but there was nobody there. I just received a phone call from Dr. Harris at Washington Psychiatric Hospital. He told me that the man Mulder interviewed yesterday, Rupert Cocker, escaped last night. He said, before he knew of Mulder's disappearance, that he suspected Cocker may try to contact him." she paused, "I think he may already have done so." "Contacted him? For what purpose?" "Sir, when Agent Mulder tried to interview Cocker, the man would not respond to any of Agent Mulder's questions. Cocker told Agent Mulder that one day he "would get what was coming to him", and that one day he "would understand", and then he'd "be sorry". I suspect he may have tried to contact Agent Mulder to make Agent Mulder "understand"." "Hmm." Skinner nodded slowly, and clasped his hands, which were resting on the desk in front of him. "Do you have any idea where Cocker may have gone?" "Dr. Harris told me that Cocker had been talking of showing Agent Mulder what it is "really like to be abducted". It is possible he will try to avoid capture, so that he can have Agent Mulder abducted." Skinner smiled slightly, "Mulder's probably on top of the world, maybe literally." He frowned, and grew serious again, "Do you think Cocker will be successful?" "Sir, Cocker is delusional. I don't believe that, at least in his case, there is any truth in what he is saying." Skinner nodded slowly, "So what do you propose to do now?" "Initiate a search for Agent Mulder." Scully replied immediately. "Agent Scully, you know a search can't be initiated until a person has been missing 24 hours." "In cases where the missing person is in danger..." "Agent Mulder isn't in any danger. We don't even know that he's been kidnapped. - And if he has, Cocker isn't a serious threat to him." "But Sir, abduction..." "I thought you said Cocker was delusional?" Skinner cut her off suddenly. Scully shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "I always thought you had more sense than your partner when it comes to things like that." Scully looked down in embarrassment, and pretended to examine her nails. Skinner watched her for a moment, and then spoke again, gently. "You're worried about Mulder." Scully nodded, a faint blush coming to her cheeks. "I suppose, unofficially, you could begin a search. However I can't release anyone else until the 24 hours have passed." Skinner smiled, "Mulder will probably be devastated if you find him before he gets the chance to be abducted." * * The car stopped. Mulder lay still and silent on the back seat. Cocker had blindfolded him a few hours earlier, with the result that he now didn't have any idea where he was. He heard Cocker switch the engine off, and take the keys from the ignition. A door opened, and closed, and then another opened. Strong hands took hold of Mulder under the shoulders, and pulled him from the car, helping him to a standing position. Then Cocker took firm hold of Mulder's left arm, and pushed him along in front of him. They entered some sort of building. Mulder felt the ground beneath him change, and the sound his feet made began to echo. Cocker pushed him to the ground violently, and Mulder landed in the corner of the room, banging his head against the wall as he fell. He sat up, and leaned against the wall. There was the click of his gun being cocked, close by. Then Cocker removed the blindfold. They were in what appeared to be a small wooden hut. The ceiling above them slanted, so Mulder assumed there was only one level. He could see the door they had entered through, and another door, leading to another room at the back. The hut was sparsely furnished, with faded net at the windows, and a table and two chairs on the far side of the room, where Cocker was now sitting. A bare light bulb hung from the ceiling. The floor, also wooden, was uncovered and dirty. Cocker sat watching Mulder for some time, saying nothing. Mulder, having taken in his surroundings, watched his captor. He shifted uncomfortably. The handcuffs dug into his flesh. "Why did you do it, Agent Mulder?" Cocker asked finally. Mulder frowned, not understanding. "Why did you come to me, to "give me someone to talk to"?" "I was sent." Mulder replied, "By my boss." "Why you?" "Because I have experience with cases like yours." "Violent delusionals?" "Abductees." Mulder corrected. "Liar!" Cocker screamed, "You don't know anything about it!" "Not from personal experience." Mulder agreed, "But I've spoken to many people like you, who say they've been abducted by aliens. Some of them are delusional, some are lying, but some," Mulder emphasised, "are telling the truth." "If you know so much, how come you didn't know how they find me?" "I did. I was checking that you were a genuine abductee." "I don't believe you." Cocker said, looking away. "No? They implant tracking devices in your body. Most often they are placed in the abdomen, gums, sinus cavities, feet. They implant the first time they take you, and then they take you again and again. Where did they put the devices in you, Rupert? How many did they put in you?" "Two." Cocker replied absently, staring towards the net covered window. Then he started, "What am I telling you for? You just follow other people's orders, and pretend to understand things you don't." Mulder frowned, - he never did anything just because he had been ordered to do so. When he had first met Cocker, he had believed the man was delusional, but he was no longer convinced. If only the man would talk more about his experiences, then it would be certain. * * * Scully was immensely grateful that her mobile phone was linked to Mulder's, and she could use it to track him. She drove along, following the signal, using almost the same route as Cocker had ten hours earlier. She had already been driving for three hours, and was growing increasingly anxious for Mulder's safety. She told herself there was nothing to worry about, but it didn't stop her worrying. A large tanker pulled out of a truck stop ahead of her, and moved along slowly. Scully fought a strong urge to blast her horn, and concentrated on finding an opening in the oncoming traffic so that she could get past the slow-moving vehicle. The traffic now was surely worse than it had been when Cocker had been traveling, she realised, and every minute Mulder's life could be in danger. * * * Cocker stood up, and crossed the small room to where Mulder was sitting. He crouched down on his heels, and looked at the agent's face carefully, and into his eyes. Mulder met the man's gaze. "You're afraid of me." Cocker said, with a slight smile. "No," Mulder shook his head, "not you. I'm afraid of them, because I know what they do." "You know what they do? You don't know anything!" Cocker yelled, "How can you know what it's like to be taken by them against your will? What do you know about what I've gone through?" "I've spoken to other people who've made similar claims to yours..." "I suppose they're delusional too." Cocker remarked sarcastically. He pushed Mulder backwards suddenly, so that the agent's head slammed against the wall behind him, and then put one hand around Mulder's throat. He leaned forward towards the agent, until their faces were almost touching. "You don't really believe I was abducted at all. I'll take you with me the next time, then you'll believe. - Unless you'd rather call yourself delusional." "I believe you now." Mulder said quietly. Cocker shook his head, and said scornfully, "You don't know anything. Why should you believe?" "I have a sister," Mulder said quietly, "called Samantha. They took her when she was eight years old. I was twelve at the time. I saw it happen." He paused, and looked down towards the floor before looking back at Cocker again, "You're lucky. They never brought Samantha back." "So what happened?" Cocker asked, his voice low. "The police said she must have run away from home, or been kidnapped. They searched for her. For a while. I told them what had happened, what I had seen, but I was only a boy. They didn't believe me." Cocker shook his head in sympathy, "When a child talks of aliens, they pass it off as imagination." "When an adult does the same, they call it delusion." Mulder added. Both men were silent, considering what had just passed between them. Then Cocker spoke again. "They started taking me three years ago. The first time, like you said, they put in the devices. Then they just came, every so often. I didn't believe it was happening myself at first. Then when I believed, I didn't dare tell anyone. Finally when I did tell someone, I got locked up in that hospital. They've still been taking me. That's why I kept trying to escape." "You can escape the hospital, but you can't escape them." Mulder reminded him. "No, but at least out here I can live. No-one can stop them taking me, so why should I give up my life?" There was the sound of a car pulling up outside. The engine shut off. A car door slammed. Footsteps outside. Cocker looked at Mulder. "That'll be Scully," he smiled, "my partner." The door flew open under the force of a swift kick, and Scully entered, gun in hand. She saw Mulder, relief in her eyes, and turned her gun on Cocker, who was still crouching just in front of him. Cocker raised his hands, and moved away. Scully went over to her partner. "Are you alright?" she asked, and then saw the handcuffs. "Keys." she ordered, turning to Cocker. He pointed to the table, where Mulder's key ring was lying. She picked them up, and released her partner. "I'm fine." he assured her, and turned to Cocker, "I'm afraid my partner won't believe your story." "Mulder, you're not saying you believe he..." "I do." he agreed. Scully rolled her eyes in disgust. "Skinner told me you'd be devastated if I got here before you had your chance to get abducted." she said. "How did you find us?" Cocker asked. "The phone." both Mulder and Scully said together. "In the car." Mulder explained. Cocker nodded. "Good thing we'd sorted out our differences." "Sorted out..?" Scully was surprised, "Mulder nay have believed anything you told him, - like he usually does, - but you still had him handcuffed." "I just hadn't got around to undoing them." Cocker shrugged, "We were having a discussion." "About aliens?" "About Samantha." Mulder corrected. Scully nodded. "I think you can put that away." he pointed to her gun, which was still trained on Cocker. Scully slipped it back into it's holster. "So what happens now?" Cocker asked nervously, "You turn me in?" "He doesn't want to go back to the hospital." Mulder explained to his partner. "After what he's done, he'll be going to jail." Scully replied, a note of anger in her voice. "He hasn't done anything." Mulder said quietly. Scully looked at him for a moment, and then nodded. "No, I suppose he hadn't. You're missing, but no-one knows where, or why. He could simply disappear." "I wish." Cocker muttered. He sat down at the table. "Well, we can all sleep on it." Scully decided, "None of us are fit for doing anything right now." * * * It had been a long, tough day, and they all slept well. Too well. They awoke late, to the sound of a loudspeaker outside the hut. "Rupert Cocker!" a sentorian voice announced, "The building is surrounded by armed FBI agents. Release Agents Mulder and Scully, and then come out with your hands up. I repeat, the building is surrounded. Come out with your hands up." Cocker looked at the two agents with wide, scared eyes. They looked at each other, uncertain. "We'll go out, like they said." Mulder told Cocker, "We'll explain that you weren't holding us as hostages, and that you haven't done anything wrong. They'll tell you when to come out." Mulder stood up, and helped Scully up. - They had all slept on the floor as there was no bed, or even a couch, in Cocker's hide-out. - They brushed the dirt from their clothing, and opened the door a crack. "Agents Mulder and Scully coming out. Hold you fire!" Mulder yelled. The order was repeated a moment later over the loudspeaker. Mulder opened the door slowly, glanced back at the wide-eyed Cocker, and then stepped out into the sunlight, with Scully right behind him. Seven new cars had arrived, and the guns and rifles of FBI agents poked over the roofs and bonnets. Mulder led his partner across the empty semi-circle between the hut and the cars, until they reached the man with the loudspeaker. "What are you doing?" Mulder demanded, "You're acting like Agent Scully and I had been taken hostage or something." "You mean Cocker wasn't holding you prisoner?" the man asked, confused. "No, of course not." Mulder replied scornfully, "He called me after he got out of the hospital. He said he wanted to talk to me, - because I knew about what he had been through. - We drove out here for some peace. I forgot the time, and Agent Scully worried about me, so she came after me. We were all tired from the journey, so we stayed the night. What's the..?" A shot rang out from the back of the hut. Mulder and Scully both turned, and in an instant Mulder was running around to the back of the hut, yelling, "Hold your fire! Hold your..." He saw the body, less than ten metres from the hut. One shot had been fatal. Scully reached his side a moment later. They stood in silence, disbelieving. Then Scully touched Mulder's arm. "Time to go." she said quietly. He nodded, still looking at the body. "What did he run for?" he muttered angrily, "I could have kept him out of the hospital." "At least now they'll never abduct him again." Scully reminded her partner. He smiled sadly. "No. He won that battle." * * * Mulder sat alone in the basement office, looking at a picture of a young girl which stood on his desk. "What about you?" he asked in an undertone, "Do they still have you, Samantha?" Mulder sighed, and closed his report on the Rupert Cocker case. How many people were there like Cocker? Like his sister? He had met quite a few during his career at the Bureau. How many more were out there? The faint sound of high heels approaching. The door opened to admit Scully. She looked at her partner's solemn face. "Don't dwell on the past." she said briskly, "You can't change it, and it's not good for you." Scully sat down at her desk, which was significantly neater than Mulder's, and looked across at him. He was staring at the closed file. "X-file for your thoughts?" she suggested. Mulder grinned, "I wish. I was just wondering how many people have been... you know." "Affected by severe delusions?" Scully smiled, "Like you?" "Scully, I'm just a normal person, only with weird stuff." "Aliens, monsters, and UFOs need not apply." she smiled. "Still tacked to my forehead." he told her. Then he lifted the file, and dropped it onto his "Out" pile. The End. I'd greatly appreciate any comments or constructive criticism from fellow X-Philes. Email me at . Danielle Culverson.