Return to Arcadia

By: EnigmaticDM
DreaminDM@aol.com


Disclaimer: Mulder and Scully don't belong to me, they belong together. Note
to the author who came up with that cute disclaimer: Drop me line cuz your
name escapes me but I think it's so cute and I'd like to give you credit for it.

Feedback: Accepted with open arms at: DreaminDM@aol.com

Summary: When a clan of witches start wreaking havoc in Arcadia Falls, Mulder
and Scully return to Arcadia and resume living the American Dream as Rob and
Laura Petrie.

Genre: General (There's some of everything just like the show ? )

Rating: PG

Time Line: Post Arcadia, Pre Requiem.

Categories: CF, UC, MSR.
Author's Note: I have very limited knowledge of Wicca. I only know what my
friend has told me. She's not exactly an expert either so if I messed up some
details I'm sorry. And I had to add in the Diana Fowley convo cuz I despise the
idea that Mulder would marry such sum.


Federal Building
Washington D.C.
8:09am

"Agent Scully, Agent Mulder, I have a new case assignment for you."
"What is it?" Scully asked.
"A witch coven is practicing-"
"A Witch Coven? Come on Skinner that's no X-File, that's just a few magic
tricks."
Mulder argued.
"I would appreciate it if you let me finish, Agent Mulder, A witch coven is
practicing in Arcadia Falls, we need to get people in there so-"
"So you call Rob and Laura." Scully finished.
"Yes. You've been there before, you get to move back."  Skinner said.
"So, do you want the case? I could always send myself in…" Skinner added.
"We'll take it." Mulder said.
"Is that all sir?" Scully asked.
"Yes, you had better get a move on it, you've got to be moved in by 5:30."

45 Falls Lane
Arcadia
5:00

"Hey! I remember you, the Petrie's right?"
Both Agents recognized the voice as Cami.
"Pee-Tree." Mulder said, Scully tried to keep from laughing.
"That's us, Rob and Laura. You're Cami, right?" Scully asked.
"Yea, you guys moved in yet?"
"Yes, we remember the 5:30 rule." Scully said.
"Good, Good. Well I have to go home so I'll see you tomorrow." Cami said.
"Sure. Bye-Bye Now." Mulder said with fake in enthusiasm.
"Still think there's a rule against a Basketball Net?" Mulder joked, Scully
laughed.
    They walked into the house and Scully sat down on the couch.
"Want somethin' to drink, Mrs. Petrie?"
"Scully, Mulder. And sure, I'll have a coke." She said.
"Well that's better then "Scully, Mulder. Goodnight." He thought.
    He came back a minute later with two cokes. She took one.
"You still have your wedding ring from last time?" She questioned, noticing the
ring.
"Yeah… Actually…I still have yours too…" He said, pulling one from his pocket
and handing it to her.
"You kept it?"
"Yeah…Kinda Stupid I know…"
"No, It's not stupid, it's sweet, Rob." She joked.
"Well thanks Laura, you know I met these Agents today, Mulder Something and  
Scully Scully, It seems she means everything to him." He said.
    She couldn't hear sarcasm in his tone so she studied his eyes, he was
serious.  
"Well I hear that Mulder guy ranks pretty high on her list too." She smiled.
"Pretty High?." He joked.
"Well yea, I hear Assistant Director Skinner is at the top…" She joked.
"Well then they may be investigating the murder of Skinner.." He laughed.
    He sat down next to her.
"Does having to pretend to be my wife make you uncomfortable?" He asked,
afraid it might.
"Skinner let me choose my partner." She mumbled.
"Say What??" Mulder asked smiling, he had heard but wanted to hear it again.
"Skinner let me choose. It was you, him, Dogett, Kersh, Langley, Frohickey or
Bayers."She said.
"And you choose me?" He said.
"Well don't be so shocked, Of course I choose you."
    He moved closer to her and was about to say something when the phone
rang. Scully went to answer it, but Mulder stopped her.
"Ignore it, C' mere."
She smiled and sat closer to Mulder.
"What's bothering you Scully?"
"Nothing."
"You always seem really hesitant around me."
"Kim told me you were…"
"Married to Fowley right?"
    She nodded.
"I wasn't. Actually she just kind of decided one day we would get married but I
broke it off. She wasn't right for me."
"Bambi…" She said.
"She's got nothing on you Scully, come we'll watch a movie…"

Arcadia Falls
7:08am

    The next morning Scully woke up, she looked around not recognizing
where she was at first but then realized she and Mulder had fallen asleep
watching "Steel Magnolias". She blinked a few times with out moving from her
position, then she saw someone standing behind the couch. This frightened her,
she knew her head was resting on Mulder's Shoulder and no one else was there,
but then she recognized the person.
"Sir." She said, suddenly becoming full alert and sitting up.
    Her movement woke up Mulder.
"What's the matter?" He asked with out fully waking up. He took her hand and
then realized there was someone else there.
"SIR?!" Mulder asked.
"Agent Mulder, Agent Scully, I don't know, nor do I care what happens here,
unless it interferes with your work, how is the investigation on the witches
going?"
"Well actually sir-" Mulder started.
"We have a good idea of who's creating the trouble." Scully said matter-of-
factly.
"Really?" Skinner asked.
"Yes, sir. We'll call you when we know for sure." She replied.
"Ok." Skinner left.
"You just lied to Skinner." Mulder said.
"I didn't *Lie* I willfully participated in the campaign to spread
misinformation."
She said, Mulder laughed.

One Week Later
Arcadia Falls
6:00pm

"Mulder, Skinner is going to have our heads if we don't wrap this up."
"I know, how do find witches anyway?"
"I don't know."
"Well we'll think about it while we play basketball."
"Mulder you know you  can't have a basketball hoop."
"I checked those CC&R's. There's no rule about having a basketball hoop
attached to the house."
"I don't know…"
"Come on Scully, I'll go easy on you."
"Well I hear Laura is pretty good."
    Mulder laughed. They walked outside and the hoop was neatly laid
against the  house.
"I thought you said-" Scully started.
"Rob! Laura!" Called Cami.
"Hi  Cami." Scully said.
"What's the deal with the hoops, there's no rule about it." Mulder asked.
"Yes, Page 50 I believe…"
    Mulder opened up the book, in plain black and white on the front page
was the rule.

NO OUTDOOR BASKETBALL HOOPS ARE PERMITED

"Oh, well thanks for telling us." Scully said.
"Welcome."
    Mulder and Scully walked back into the house.
"If you're sure the rule wasn't there before, then she must be the witch, case
closed. "  
"No, not case closed, we should stay and investigate more." Mulder protested.
"Wow. Admit it, you just want to play house!" Scully smiled.
"Can you blame me? This is the American Dream, mine at least…"'
"*This* is your American Dream?"
"I know it's not yours, I'm not at least."
"No, Mulder that's not what I meant…I meant it's all wrong except you."
"Really?"
"Geeze Mulder, what do you want it in writing?" She joked.
"What is your American Dream?" He asked.
"I want to live where I can keep my job."
"Like Washington? Like an Apartment? Like say…I don't know…Apartment 42…."
    She read his tone as only half joking.
"42 is a nice number." she  joked, he smiled.  
"Scully, I lo-"
    The phone rang.
"If that's Skinner…" Mulder threatened.  
    The answering machine came on.
"…Agent Mulder…Agent Scully…It's Assistant Director Skinner…I'll be over in ten
minutes to check your progress…"
"I hate Skinner!" Mulder said.
"I hate him too."
"How about we lock the door and watch a movie." Mulder suggested.
"He did get the machine, he doesn't know  we're home…"
    Mulder got up and locked the door, then put "Titanic".  Twenty Minutes
later Scully noticed a man looking in the window.
"Mulder …Skinner's looking in the window."
    She walked over toward the door.
"Don't open it." Mulder whined.
    But she didn't intend to. She walked right over to the window, waved
happily and Skinner and then pulled down the blinds, Mulder had to laugh.
    She went back and sat next to him. Mulder put his arms around her.
"Scully I lov-"
    Skinner walked in.
"Agent Mulder, Agent Scully, Remember this, If you have key, I have a key."
"With all due respect, sir, it is my belief that myself and Agent Mulder could
finish this case a lot faster if we were not constantly being interrupted."
"I am going to leave, I will return in one week, if this case isn't finished you
will
both have to answer to the board. But let me leave you with this, the bureau has
rules, and no matter what name you are responding to you are still Scully and
Mulder, you both have to abide by bureau rules, and there is a rule about Agents
becoming shall we say "involved." Skinner said harshly.
    They watched as Skinner left. Mulder closed the door behind him.
"There is a rule about Agents becoming shall we say "Involved." Mulder
mimicked, she laughed.
"He was serious Mulder, there are rules, and we do need to finish this
investigation, we can't be Rob and Laura Petrie forever."
"And how are we supposed to do that Scully? Go around asking people if their
witches???"
"I don't know how we're supposed to figure it out, but if we don't finish this
case
we'll both be looking for new jobs. He gave us this case to let us hang our
selves
with it."
"Fine. Tomorrow morning we'll start talking to people, finding out who it is.."
    She nodded.
"I'm going to go put my pajamas on." She said as she headed up the stairs.
    He sat down on the couch.
"Mulder?! Come here for a second."
    He walked up stairs and smirked, she looked at him questioningly and
then looked down to see that her shirt was unbuttoned. She rolled her eyes,
buttoned it and then pointed to a mirror.
"What? It's a mirror." He said.
"I knocked it over when I was taking my hair down. Look what I found."
    She took the mirror on the wall and on the back were a lot of wires, he
looked at the front, the frame work had what looked like glass but upon further
inspection he identified them as microphones. He ran downstairs and she
followed him.
"Mulder?!" Mulder what are you doing?!" She asked when she saw him moving
things haphazardly.
"Skinner must have done this! I thought it was a little weird that he kept
coming
in and interrupting, he came in because he could see we weren't talking about
the case! He bugged this Scully! Help me find the-"
    But he could see she had already started looking for the other cameras.
"I can't believe him! He's spying on us!" She yelled.
"There are laws against this. Invasion of Privacy!" Mulder argued.
"No, Mulder that wouldn't apply here. We're on assignment."
"He wasn't going to let us hang our selves! He was going to hang us!! How
would this look Scully?! Can't you just see him popping one of these tapes I for
the board! Forget Fiederman's movie! This is the real thing! We'll loose our
jobs!!"  
"Calm Down Mulder, We'll just destroy the tapes."
"So he can charge us with destroying evidence?!"
"If these tapes get out we'll get kicked out with out a doubt, if we destroy
them
we'll get suspended."
    Someone knocked at the door. Scully answered it.
"Cami?"
"Yes, um…we heard what sounded like a fight…"
"Oh, no, Pat, no…we…Rob had another seizure."
"Is he ok?"
"Yes, he's fine now, thanks for your concern."
"Ok, Good Night Laura, Night Rob."
    Scully closed the door behind her.
"I'll kill Skinner!" Mulder yelled.
"No, Mulder, I don't think it was him…"
"What do you mean?"
"That was Cami."
"So???"
"So the Shroeder's live three houses down, we weren't that loud. She must have
had another way to find out that we were yelling."
"You're saying she's the one with the camera?"
"I think so, maybe everyone's house is bugged. Maybe that's how she knew
about the Basketball Hoop before we got outside."
"But how does that make her a witch?"
"I don't know, but she must have a motive for bugging our house."

Arcadia Falls
Shroeder Home
7:00pm the Next Day

"Hey Cami, I had a question…" Laura asked.
"Yes?"
"Is everyone in this area of the same religious background?"
"No, Why?"
"Because Rob and I are Wiccan."
"You mean like witches?" Cami asked turning away.
"No, that's just a common misconception. Wicca is just as much a religion as
Catholicism, Protestantism or Buddhism." Laura clarified.
"I know, It's just weird. Actually Win and I are- were Wiccan."
"Were?" Rob asked.
"Yes, we turned away from it when things started getting weird around here."
"What do you mean?"
"The Whole Neighborhood made up a coven. But then certain people blew it out
of proportion, they started claiming to be psychic, swearing they saw ghosts."
    Mulder looked at Scully, she knew what he was thinking. They both pulled
out their badges.
"Cami, My real name is Dana Scully, this is Fox Mulder. We're Undercover with
the FBI."
    Cami hesitated for a long moment as if trying to process what she had
just heard.
"Wait. You two…You're not married?"
    Mulder and Scully exchanged surprised looks, they had just told this
women they were Undercover Agents and all she wants to know was if there
really married?!
"No, no we're not but we need your help-"
"You'd never know. I mean you seem a little different, you get along better then
any married couple I've seen. Are you guys going out-"
"Well  yea, but see you can't say-" Mulder started.
    Scully rolled her eyes and spoke:
"Cami that's really beside the point, the point is that we were put here to find
out who is causing all the problems, things not running properly, peoples'
property being destroyed…"
"Oh, I can help. Win and I will get our Coven back together, you guys can come
investigate…You guys really aren't married?"
"Let's go Mulder." Scully insisted.
"How's tonight at nine, for the coven?" Mulder asked.
"Sure." Cami answered.


Arcadia Falls
"Petrie" Residence
7:30pm

"So…ever been to a witch party before?"
"Wicca Ceremony." Scully corrected.
"How every politically correct, what a surprise, so what do I wear?"
"I'm not really sure, Wicca isn't the black cult you may think it is."
"Then what is it?"
"Wicca is a religion, it's followers believe that God can be seen in everything
in  
nature."
"Even Bees?"
"Yes Mulder, Even Bees."
"I hate bees." He said, she smiled.
"Anyway, some people who claim to be Wiccan aren't, they use Wicca as a cover
for their practicing black magic."
"Skeptical Dr. Scully believes in Black Magic?"
"I didn't say that…Most of the "Black Magic" has been disproved, attributed to
slide of hand, mesmerism or hypnotism."
"That is so you, that is so Scully." He said.
"You believe in Black Magic?"
"I believe that a dark force for whatever reason cursed me."
"How by sending me to debunk your work?"
"No, not at all, I mean by sending Skinner to ruin my career and have a key to
my social life." He said, she laughed.
"Get dressed, we have to be there by nine." Scully said.
    Mulder smiled and went upstairs to change.

Arcadia Falls
Shroeder Home
9:00pm

"We start by creating a circle on the floor, then someone has to purify it with
salt." Cami explained as she drew a circle, Pat purified it.
    Mulder glanced at Scully who rolled her eyes.
"Now each of us must say their goal for the year." Cami explained.
    Win started:
"I want to be more helpful."
    Then Cami:
"I want to be more accepting of people."
    Then Pat:
"I want to be more friendly."
    Then Dave Kline:
"I want to be more patient."
    Then Nancy Kline:
"I want to use my spare time more constructively."
    Then Scully, Mulder looked to see what she would say.
"I want to be less scientific and more trusting."
    Mulder smiled at her and then said his:
"I want to stop chasing what I've lost and concentrate on what I've found."
    She smiled, that was incredibly sweet. She thought.
    After the ceremony they all went home, on the way Mulder and Scully
talked to Nancy Kline.
"I wish that Cami would just shut up! Dave says, I wish she would disappear! He
says, Wicca was my religion and he doesn't like it to begin with, having Cami
lead our coven doesn't help." Nancy explained.
"You mean your husband doesn't like the Shroeder's?" Scully questioned.
"Well he's not exactly good friends with Win but he can't stand Cami."
"Do you anything about someone claiming to be Psychic?" Mulder asked.
"Cami does. But that's because she bugs peoples houses and then pretends to
obtain that information telepathically."
"Oh. Well Goodnight." Mulder said as Nancy, Mulder and Scully reached the
"Petrie" home.
"Goodnight." Nancy answered as she walked away.
    Mulder and Scully returned to their house. She was lying on the bed in her
room while Mulder sat down stairs on the couch with the TV on. Neither could
sleep. She heard Mulder turn the TV off and then Mulder's footsteps up the
stairs. A moment later he appeared in the doorway.
"Scully…"
"What's the matter Mulder?"
"Just have something on my mind…"
"What?" She asked sitting up. He walked over and sat next to her.
"Hang on a sec…"
    He got up, closed the door, pulled the drapes shut, pulled the wire out of
the telephone and then sat back down.
"Scully…This is so hard for me, pretending to be your husband, I feel like I
have
kept you back from do much…a normal life…normal relationships…neighbors…"
"Mulder I choose to stay with you…Skinner has told me a few times I don't have
to stay on the X-Files…but I do Mulder…I stay because I couldn't leave…I tried
once Mulder, I did, figured I'd pick up and leave, but I couldn't…"
"Don't leave me Scully…I love you…"  
"I love you too Mulder…"
    He leaned down and kissed her and for once she didn't feel weird. Being
with Mulder was right, perfect. And six years was a long time to hold back your
feelings, always afraid she's be just another trophy on his wall. But now she
knew the truth…She meant a lot to him. And she spent the night with Mulder.


Arcadia Falls
"Petrie" Residence
8:00am

    Mulder and Scully were in the kitchen eating breakfast when someone
knocked at the door. Mulder got up to answer it. A moment later when the voice
registered in Scully's head as Skinner she got up and walked over to them.
"We've seen this before huh?" Mulder said handing Scully a photo.
    She looked at the photo, the women in it was Cami Shroeder, with no
mouth. She handed the picture back to Mulder.
"Do you have any idea who did this?" Skinner asked.
"Some idea…" Mulder said.

Mulder & Scully's Office
Washington DC
6:00pm; One Week Later


    Mulder and Scully sat in their office playing basketball on Mulder's
portable hoop.
(Scully Voice Over)

"Records of witchcraft date back to prehistoric times. There is no single
description that applies to all of the societies that have believed in them. It
is
Agent Mulder's belief that Dave Kline is responsible for the unfortunate
circumstances that Cami Shroeder has found her self in, though there is no
concrete evidence to support this. I feel that it is necessary to note that it
is
people like Dave Kline, narrow minded people who refuse to acknowledge other
religions, that give Wicca a reputation, associating them with witches, warlocks
and other entities. This is not true, Wicca is a system of beliefs equal to that
of
Christianity or Hinduism. Since Cami's predicament can not be explained by
science this case -Number 8686090- will be listed here forward as "Unexplained."