By Katie Phillips
xfstories@yahoo.com
 

Disclaimer Info:  I know I shouldn't write about them without
permission, but I just can't seem to help myself.
Rating:  PG13.
Spoilers:  None really.
Feedback would make my day.  Please send it to
xfstories@yahoo.com.
Summary:  Scully loses her memory and Mulder finds himself
strangely attracted to the "new" Scully.
Archive:  Sure, just let me know where I can go visit.

This story has been sitting on the back burner for close to a year
now, thanks to sallie and her wonderful job as my beta, it is
finally seeing the light of day.

++++

Friday 4:45pm
Jorgensen Warehouse
Baltimore

"Tell me again Mulder why we're here," Scully asked as she donned
her bulletproof vest.  "I thought all VCU wanted from you was some
help on their profile."

Mulder shrugged on his FBI windbreaker over his own vest, and
smiled at his partner.  "Yeah, that's what they told me at first.
Apparently the profile did the trick, and now they think they've
got both Holt brothers bottled up in one of these warehouses.
They've called on every available agent to help smoke them out."

Scully checked her weapon and took a second to carefully observe
their surroundings.  Beyond the line of government-issued vehicles
stood dozens of warehouses, each looking remarkably like the next.

"Where do we start, Mulder?  There must be at least 25 warehouse
buildings on this dock alone."

"Twenty-seven to be precise."  Mulder took a deep breath and
closed his eyes.  Scully knew he was once again trying to tap into
the mind of the two serial killers they were pursuing.  "If I were
the Holt twins, I would be over..." Mulder glanced around and then
pointed. "There."  He pulled out his weapon and began to maneuver
towards the building.

"But everyone else is staked out over there."  Scully waved her
gun in the opposite direction.

"Exactly." Mulder turned and smiled at his partner.  "We're
playing a hunch."

"Great."  Scully hissed under her breath as they crept toward the
building.

They approached the door with caution after carefully peeking
through the windows on either side.  Seeing nothing, Scully held
up three fingers, indicating to her partner that they would enter
on the count of three.

Scully held up one finger, then two, when suddenly Mulder noticed
a small wire running under the door.  Wasting no time, he grabbed
Scully and quickly pulled her away from the building.  "We gotta
get out of here NOW..." was all he managed to shout before the
door exploded outward.

XXX

St Mary's Hospital
Baltimore
5:30pm

Mulder came to with the sounds of the emergency room filling his
ears.  He opened his eyes slowly, trying desperately to determine
exactly where he was and how he had gotten there.  His eyes were
barely open when Skinner's face appeared before him.

"You're in St. Mary's emergency room, Agent Mulder.  The blast at
the warehouse knocked both you and Agent Scully out cold."
Skinner put a reassuring hand on Mulder's shoulder when he tried
to sit up at the mention of Scully's name.  "She's going to be
fine, Mulder.  She took a pretty good blow to the head and has
some bumps and bruises, but other than that, she's just fine."

Mulder nodded and jerked his chin towards the glass of water
perched next to his bed.  "Could you hand me that, Sir?"  He voice
was hoarse but sounded better after he took a long drink.  "What
happened?"

Skinner waited until Mulder had finished the drink before
returning the now empty glass to the bedside table and taking a
seat.  "You were right about where the Holts were hiding.  They
apparently booby trapped the door."  Skinner paused a second,
taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes.  "How did you know?
By all rights, you and Scully should be dead right now."

"I saw a wire leading to the door and had a hunch that it might be
rigged."

Skinner gave a weak smile, amazed as always at how often Mulder's
hunches proved to be correct.  "We managed to nab Billy Holt as he
was trying to escape out the back, but Bobby got away."

Mulder lay back and closed his eyes, not wanting to think about
the fact that there was one very angry serial killer still roaming
around the greater DC area.  "When can I see Scully?"

"I just left her.  They have her pretty well sedated and they
don't anticipate her waking for a few more hours.  I suggest you
get some rest, and I'll tell the nurses to bring you into her room
as soon as she's awake."

Mulder was about to argue that he should be allowed to go in
immediately, but a wave of exhaustion swept over him.  He simply
nodded his agreement and went to sleep.

Mulder slept until morning and awoke feeling much better.  Almost
as soon as he opened his eyes, a cheery nurse arrived carrying his
breakfast tray.  "Good morning, Mr. Mulder. Glad to see you're up.
Would you like me to help you into the bathroom, or would you
rather use..."

"The bathroom would be great," Mulder interrupted, slowly trying
to get to his feet.  "I don't think I'll need any help though."
He stood up and was immediately dizzy. He sat down on the bed
abruptly.  "Well, maybe just a little."

The nurse smiled at him, and put down his breakfast before leading
him into the bathroom.  She granted him his privacy while speaking
through the partially shut door.  "If your vitals are still
stable, the doctors will let you go home later this morning."

Mulder staggered out of the bathroom.  "That's great.  What about
my partner?  When do I get to see her?"

The nurse got him situated on the bed with his breakfast before
answering.  "She was still sleeping ten minutes ago."  She smiled
when she saw the look of concern cross Mulder's face.  "Her vitals
are good and there doesn't seem to be any permanent damage.  From
what I can tell, you landed on top of her due to the force of the
explosion.  You, and the vest you were wearing took the brunt of
the flying debris. She hit her head pretty hard though."

Mulder didn't seem completely satisfied with her answer.  "I'll
tell you what Mr. Mulder, you finish up your breakfast and then
hit the 'call' button.  I'll bring you down to her room myself."

Mulder wasn't overly interested in his food, but agreed and
quickly ate most of his breakfast.  As soon as he had gulped down
the last of his orange juice, he hit the 'call' button.  A few
minutes later, the cheerful nurse reappeared and led him down to
Scully's room.

Scully looked totally at peace as she slept.  Mulder pulled a
chair by her bed and took her hand in his.  He rubbed his thumb
gently across the skin, hoping to awaken her.  She slept on and
soon Mulder began to doze in the chair, surprised to be gently
shaken awake some two hours later.

"Agent Mulder."  A young man in his twenties was shaking his
shoulder.  Mulder looked up at him and blinked.  "I'm Doctor
Kardon.  I admitted you both last night."  Mulder shook the hand
that was extended to him.  "I've gone over your chart and I see no
reason why you can't go home.  My only stipulation is that you
don't drive for at least the next 24 hours.

Mulder looked at his partner before responding.  "That should be
no problem, I'll call a cab.  What about Agent Scully?"

"We gave her a fairly strong sedative last night; she's just
sleeping it off.  I imagine by the time you go home, shower,
change and come back, she'll be awake and demanding her lunch."

Mulder smiled at the doctor's attempt at humor.  He didn't want to
leave Scully, but knew that he was still covered with dust and
grime from the explosion the night before.  "Has anyone called her
mother?"

"Your boss did last night.  Mrs. Scully came in briefly to check
on the pair of you, but at AD Skinner's urging, she went home to
get a good night's sleep.  I expect her back her sometime before
lunch."

Convinced that Scully would not wake up surrounded by only
strangers, Mulder agreed.  Within the hour he was in a taxi on his
way home.

XXX

St Mary's Hospital
1:25pm

Mulder found Maggie Scully sitting by her daughter's bed when he
returned to the hospital later that afternoon.  She rose at the
sight of him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm so glad to see you up and about, Fox.  You were really out of
it when I stopped by last night."

"I'm sorry about all of this, Mrs. Scully ..."

"I don't want to hear another word about it, Fox.  Dana is in a
job she loves and is perfectly aware of the danger she faces every
day. I wish she did something less reckless for a living, but you
know as well as I do that it's no use trying to dissuade Dana once
she has her mind set on something. I just thank God that you two
are all right."

Their conversation was cut short by the arrival of a nurse who,
unfortunately, was not as cheerful as the one on the morning
shift.  "If you don't mind, I'll have to ask you to leave the room
while I examine Ms. Scully.  Perhaps this would be a good time to
go down to the cafeteria for some coffee or even lunch?"

Maggie smiled at Mulder.  "Come on Fox, I know when we're not
wanted."

XXX

Thirty-five minutes later, Scully was sitting up in bed talking to
Dr. Kardon, when she saw two people stop in front of her door.
They obviously wanted to come in, but were waiting for permission
from the doctor to do so.

"Excuse me Doctor," Scully interrupted the doctor's lengthy
explanation of her condition. "Who are those two people?"

Dr. Kardon looked out in the hallway and back at Scully, his mouth
dropping open.  "You don't know them?"

"Never saw them before in my life."  Scully smiled and shrugged
before realizing that something seemed to be wrong.  "Why, should
I recognize them?"

Dr. Kardon ignored her question, frantically trying to remember if
he had addressed his patient by name.  He didn't think so.  "Can I
ask you a silly question?"

"Sure."  Scully smiled up at him.  "Why not?"

"What's your name?"

Scully chuckled at him.  "That *is* a silly question.  My name
is... " A frown started to crease her brow.  "My name is...I have
absolutely no idea."

XXX

Mulder was anxious to get into Scully's room and probably would
have barged in if Scully's mother hadn't been standing right next
to him.  Maggie placed a gentle hand on his arm.  "It's nice to
see she's awake."  Maggie smiled at Mulder, noting the raw emotion
in his eyes.  It warmed her heart to know that her daughter was so
well loved.

Mulder looked in at Scully and then down at her mother, forcing
himself to smile.  "She must be feeling pretty good, since she's
laughing."  Mulder watched as she responded to everything her
doctor said with a laugh or a smile.  If he hadn't been so
entranced by the way her face lit up when she laughed, he probably
would have been incredibly jealous.

"I guess you're right, Fox. Her doctor must be funnier than I
thought. I haven't seen Dana laugh like that in years."

Mulder looked at Scully again, his eyes narrowing as they focused
in on her.  Maggie was right-- it wasn't like Scully to laugh so
much.  His paranoid mind automatically began to wonder if there
was something amiss with his usually serious partner.

Finally, Dr. Kardon came out of the room and greeted them.
Instead of granting them passage into Scully's room, he gently
took Maggie's arm and led her into a quiet section of the hallway.

"What is it, Doctor?"  Maggie asked as soon as the doctor released
her arm.

Dr. Kardon looked from Maggie to Mulder, not quite sure where to
begin.  "Physically, Agent Scully seems to be doing quite well.
We've been monitoring the bump on her head and haven't noticed any
serious swelling."

"But?"  Mulder was growing impatient.

"There may be some minor swelling, however. I've ordered another
MRI to be on the safe side. This swelling appears to have led to
some hopefully temporary memory loss."
 
"Memory loss?" Maggie gripped Mulder's arm and looked up at him
frantically.

"To what extent?"  Mulder pushed down the panic he felt rising
inside him.

"It's very interesting, actually.  Agent Scully seems to have
retained her memory concerning her medical training, but cannot
remember being a pathologist.  She knows basic facts, like who is
President, but not her name.  We'll have to question her more
thoroughly, of course, but from what I can tell, it's the personal
aspects of her life she can't recall."

Maggie gasped and Mulder wrapped a supportive arm around her
shoulders.  "You say it's temporary?"

Dr. Kardon smiled reassuringly.  "Memory loss often accompanies
head trauma. As the swelling resolves, the memory usually
returns."  Mulder and Maggie exchanged glances.  "Why don't you go
introduce yourselves?  Feel free to talk about anything you like.
Something very mundane may be all it takes to bring everything
back to her.  In the meantime, I'll send up a social worker to go
over all of your options with you."

Mulder gave Maggie a squeeze before heading back to Scully's room.
They stood a bit sheepishly at the foot of the bed, but couldn't
help but return the bright smile Scully gave each of them.

"Hi, I'm sorry I don't remember who you are," Scully confessed,
looking somewhat embarrassed.

"I'm your mother, Dana."  Maggie stepped forward and without
hesitation kissed her daughter on the forehead.  "This is your
partner, Fox."

Scully smiled uncertainly at her mother and then looked at Mulder.
"So that's why you seem so familiar to me.  I know I should know
this, but how long have we been living together?"

Maggie suppressed a smile as Mulder's face turned slightly pink.
"We work together..." he hesitated a minute trying to decide how
to address her.  "Dana.  We're FBI agents; you're my partner."

Scully's mouth fell open.  She quickly looked at her mother for
confirmation and at Maggie's small nod, burst out laughing.  "I'm
an FBI agent?  Do I actually carry a gun and chase after bad guys?
I thought I was a doctor."

Maggie sat down and looked toward Mulder, eagerly awaiting his
explanation.  She was not pleased about her daughter's amnesia,
but had to admit to a certain perverse enjoyment at watching Fox
Mulder trying to explain their complex relationship to her
daughter.

Mulder, who under normal circumstances would have sat on Scully's
bed, remained standing, shifting his weight from one foot to
another.  Even as he responded to Scully's questions, his mind was
working to figure out how to return her memories.

"You're a pathologist, one of the best in the Bureau."  Mulder
began.

"Are you telling me I cut up dead people for a living?"  Scully
looked a bit green around the edges at the thought.

Mulder smiled at her reaction.  She looked like he did the first
time he witnessed her slice into a cadaver.  "Yeah, but you're
also a field agent.  That's how you ended up in here.  We were
working on a case."

Scully tried to stifle a yawn.  Her mother caught it and
immediately rose to her feet, kissing her daughter on top of her
head.  "We're tiring you out.  Why don't you get some sleep?"

"Will you come back later...uh, Mom?"  Maggie smiled and nodded.
"Good.  And what about you, Fox?  Will you come see me tomorrow? I
can't wait to hear more about what we do together."

Mulder stiffened a bit. He had planned on returning later that
day. "Sure, I just have to check in at work first."

XXX

St Mary's Hospital
Monday 2:34 pm

Mulder wasn't able to return to the hospital until well after
lunch the next day.  The Holt case was still open, and he spent
the majority of the morning working on a revised profile for Bobby
Holt.  Most of the agents on the case were of the belief that Holt
would have left the DC area and gone back to his home state of
Missouri.  Mulder wasn't so sure.  He had a hunch that Holt would
stay around until he could determine the fate of his brother.

His theory proved to be correct, and unbeknownst to him, he walked
right past Holt's parked car on the way into the hospital.  Holt
smiled to himself when he recognized the agent.  He would seek
revenge on him and his little red-headed partner, but he'd wait
until the time was right.  Rush now, and they might get away, and
he'd end up in a cell next to his brother.

XXX

Dr. Kardon stopped Mulder before he could enter Scully's room.
"Good afternoon, Agent Mulder."

Mulder gave the doctor a weak smile in greeting.  "Any change,
Doctor?"

"Physically, she's coming along very nicely.  I hope to be able to
release her to her mother's care either this evening or first
thing in the morning.  As far as her memory goes, she's a most
interesting case."  The doctor saw Mulder's puzzled expression and
smiled.  "For example, here we have a woman who does autopsies for
a living, unable to deal with undercooked meat.  She told the
nurse it was too gross, that she couldn't even look at it, let
alone eat it. Fascinating."

The doctor excused himself and Mulder braced himself to go into
Scully's room.  He was happy she was on the verge of being
released, but disappointed that she wouldn't be put in his care.
He had been hoping to have the opportunity to nurse her back to
health. Scully had done it for him so many times and he was eager
to repay her.  It had never occurred to him that she would go home
with her mother.

He stopped at her door and looked in, smiling despite himself, at
the sight of Scully openly flirting with Skinner.  He rapped
gently on the door and walked in.

"Hi, Dana."  Mulder walked to the foot of her bed.  "Sir."

"Hey."  Scully replied in such a way that it made Mulder turn his
head.  She had sounded 'normal' there for a second.  "Walter here
is trying to convince me that he's my boss.  Is that true?"

Mulder smiled at her.  "He's our boss, Dana.  I bet if you ask him
really nicely, he'll even show you his pistol."

Skinner shot Mulder a dirty look.  "Really?"  Scully scooted up in
bed a bit further.  "Are you really carrying a gun, Walter?"

Skinner smiled at her and shook his head.  Something about this
particular version of Dana Scully made him smile despite himself.
"Yes, I am. Fox carries one too."  He put special emphasis on the
word "Fox," since he knew Mulder hated to be called that.

"Can I see?"  Neither man moved.  "Please??"  In unison both men
unbuttoned their jackets and showed her their holsters.  "Do I get
to carry a gun too?"

Their conversation on guns was cut mercifully short by the
appearance of Maggie Scully, carrying a small overnight bag.  "Hi
Dana, Fox."  She turned to Skinner.  "Thank you for coming by
Walter, it means a lot to me."

"My pleasure, Mrs. Scully."  Skinner actually seemed to squirm in
response to Maggie's attention,  something that wasn't missed by
either Scully or Mulder.

"Call me Maggie, please."  Maggie then remembered the bag in her
hand and turned her attention back to her daughter.  "If your
vital signs are still good and if your headache is pretty much
gone, you can come home with me today, Dana."

"Really?"  Scully smiled and looked from one visitor to the next.
"I don't want you to take this the wrong way Mom, but I don't
still live with you, do I?"

Maggie laughed.  "No, you have your own beautiful apartment.  I
thought it would be a good idea for you to spend a day or two with
me before going home." She then dismissed the men telling them
that Scully had to get changed into her street clothes.  Maggie
saw them both to the door.  "Fox, I expect I'll see you sometime
tomorrow.  Come whenever you like."

Mulder nodded and walked toward the elevator with Skinner.  Scully
watched them for as long as she could.  "He's cute, Mom."

Maggie smiled at her and winked.  "They both are."
 

XXX

FBI Headquarters
Tuesday 9:45 am

Mulder was tempted to head over to Maggie's house as soon as he
finished breakfast, but instead he chose to go into the office to
check on the progress of the Holt case.  He still had a very bad
feeling about Holt being in the DC area.  Unfortunately, no one
else agreed with him, and they considered him too distraught over
Scully to give his opinions much heed.

"Sir, it makes no sense for Holt to head back to Missouri.  His
brother is still here, and in my opinion, he still has unfinished
business here."  Mulder paced around behind the conference table,
too frustrated to sit with the other agents.

"What kind of business, agent?"  Skinner looked down at the report
in front of him.  "There's been no sign of Holt since we
apprehended his brother.  The assumption being made is that Bobby
Holt can't function without Billy."

Mulder looked up at the ceiling and sighed, trying to gain his
composure.  It was all so clear to him that sometimes he forgot
that others had difficulty making the leaps of logic he did.  "The
Holt brothers always complete what they begin.  For every person
they've killed, they systematically removed a body part and made
sure to send it to a family member the day after the victim was
buried."

Agent Burrows, a younger agent who was eager to please Skinner,
spoke up.  "I don't understand what any of that has to do with the
current situation, Agent Mulder.  The last victim was found over a
week ago and buried two days ago. There's been no sign of any body
parts being sent through the mail."

Mulder smiled at the younger agent, and tried not to sound too
condescending.  "We interrupted their plans.  Most likely the body
part in question, it was the ring finger on the left hand I
believe, was destroyed in the explosion.  Bobby Holt will either
find another finger to finish off what he began or go after those
who got in his way."

His comments caused a minor bit of commotion, as all the agents
gathered around the table felt the need to express their opinions.
Skinner silenced them after a moment and turned to the SAC in
charge of the case.  "Andrews, this is your call."

Andrews, a long term agent who highly resented Fox Mulder, looked
the AD directly in the eye.  "I think we should move this case out
to the Missouri field office and run it from there, until such
time as there is evidence" he emphasized the word 'evidence,'
"that it should be centered here."  We thank you for your help,
Agent Mulder.  I would invite you to join us out there, but I'm
sure you would much rather be here aiding in your partner's
recovery."

Being duly dismissed, Mulder turned and walked out of the room.
After he closed the door, Skinner removed his glasses and rubbed
his eyes, thinking he could probably count on one hand the number
of times Mulder had been wrong in situations like this.  "I hope
you're right, Andrews."

Mulder wasn't sure what to expect when he arrived at Maggie
Scully's house.  He was definitely surprised by the woman he found
there.  Maggie had greeted Mulder and told him that Scully was in
the kitchen fixing a snack.

Mulder was surprised at this.  Scully rarely, if ever, ate between
meals.  What he found in the kitchen surprised him even more.
Scully was standing in front of the open freezer holding a pint of
Rocky Road ice cream in her hand, and digging into it with the
frenzy of a starving man.

At the sound of him entering the room Scully looked up, a bit
guilty at getting caught in the act. Then she shrugged and smiled
before taking a huge spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.  After
swallowing it, she put the ice cream back and casually threw the
spoon into the sink, totally ignoring the open dishwater.  "You
only live once, right?  Might as well enjoy it."

Scully walked over to Mulder and seeing his perplexed look,
frowned.  "Did I do something wrong, Fox?"

Mulder shook his head quickly to clear it and smiled at her.  "No,
it's just that normally you wouldn't be caught dead eating...
never mind, it doesn't matter."  He walked over to the coffee pot
and poured himself a cup.  "Your mother told me to help myself.
Would you like some?"

"No thanks, can't stand the stuff.  I only drink hot chocolate."

Mulder forced himself not to react to this statement.  The Scully
he knew would easily take the head off of even the fiercest
monster that stood between her and her morning coffee.

XXX

Mulder, Scully and her mother spent an enjoyable afternoon talking
and playing cards.  As much as he missed the Dana Scully that was
his partner, he found himself enjoying the company of the woman
sitting across from him at the card table very much.

Was this happy-go-lucky Scully buried somewhere within his serious
FBI partner?  The part of his brain used to profiling couldn't
help but ponder the reasons why Scully would bury this side of her
personality so deeply.  Once she regained her memory, would this
alter-ego disappear again?  Would he be able to help her retain
it?  Would she want to retain it?

Mulder pushed all these thoughts from his mind when he realized he
had missed a question Scully had asked him.  "Fox, are you
listening to me?"  She tapped him on the hand not holding his
cards.
 
"Uh no, sorry.  I was just trying to figure something out."

"You do that a lot, don't you?"  Scully said, sitting back and
studying Mulder.  Her mother had gone off to make them some iced
tea and she thought this would be the perfect opportunity to pick
his brain a bit.

"Do what Dana?"

"Think about things. Do you always pick everything apart into
little pieces to analyze it?"

Mulder couldn't help but smile at her accurate description of this
thought process. "I can't seem to help it. I guess that's why I'm
good at profiling."  Scully stared intently at him, obviously
wanting clarification.  "Sorry, let me explain..."

Mulder spent the next half hour explaining to Scully and Maggie,
who had returned to the room, exactly what a profiler did and how
it was important to solving a case.
 
Maggie, who had never really given this aspect of Mulder's job a
second thought, reached over and squeezed his hand.  "I don't know
how you do it and survive.  It would drive me mad to have to
relate so closely to someone so evil."

Mulder squeezed her hand back.  "That's exactly why I don't do it
much any more.  I would lose a little bit of myself in every
case.  Scully does her best to keep the VCU from using me unless
it's absolutely necessary."

"I did... I mean I do?  I'm glad."  Scully drank the last of her
iced tea and sat back in her chair.  "Fox, are you ever going to
tell me about the case we were working on when I had my accident?"

Mulder, who had been told by the doctors to expose Scully slowly
to the more violent aspects of her life, didn't answer, looking
instead at his watch.  "I'm sorry Dana, I'm going to be late for
my meeting with Skinner."  He wasn't being exactly honest, but he
knew he had to leave before Scully asked any more questions he
wasn't supposed to answer. "I'm going to have to run."
He picked up his iced tea glass and returned it to the kitchen
before wishing the two women a good evening.

"You'll come see me tomorrow, won't you Fox?"  Scully asked
sweetly, walking him to the door.

"Sure.  I have a ton of paperwork to do in the office so I
probably won't get here until sometime in the late afternoon
though."

Scully watched Mulder walk to his car before closing the door and
returning to the kitchen where her mother was loading the
dishwasher.

"Mom," she began "I don't know how I know this, but I know Fox was
just lying to me about the meeting with Skinner."

Maggie closed the dishwasher and reached for a towel to dry her
hands.  "You and Fox have always been able to read each other.
I'm glad to see you still can."

"Mom, what exactly is the relationship between the two of us?"

Maggie sighed.  She wasn't sure if she was capable of giving an
accurate answer to that question.  "Have a seat Dana," she pointed
towards the kitchen table. "This will probably take awhile."

XXX

Outside Maggie Scully's house, a small man sat in a dark sedan
watching Mulder exit the driveway.  He smiled to himself.  He knew
he could easily kill the man who had sent his brother away.  It
was on option, but not the most satisfying one.  This man had
disrupted his carefully laid plans and would have to pay for it
dearly.

Bobby Holt started his car, wondering to himself which body part
from the little red-head he would be sending to the interfering
FBI agent.
 

~~~
 

FBI Headquarters
Wednesday.

Mulder spent the following morning down in his basement office,
slowly working his way through the stacks of paperwork that sat on
his desk.  Skinner, sympathetic to his plight, had told him to
take his time on the reports and to also take as much time as he
needed to help Scully recover.
While he appreciated not having to rush through his reports,
Mulder had to admit that he was disappointed that Scully needed
very little from him.  She was settled in nicely at her mother's,
and there seemed to be very little anyone could do except to wait
and see if she regained her memory.
Since Scully had been injured in the line of duty, there were no
worries about money.  The Bureau would continue to give her full
pay until such time as they deemed her situation to be
irreversible.  Their only request was that she see a Bureau
counselor three times a week.
Mulder finished up one report and then instead of beginning on the
next, logged onto the internet and began researching amnesia.
Several hours later, his head spinning with the information he had
found, he decided to call it a day and head over to visit Scully.
Maggie Scully opened the door and smiled at him.  "Hello Fox, I'm
sorry but Dana isn't here."
Mulder forced himself not to panic.  "Where is she, Mrs. Scully?"
"She had an appointment at three with the Bureau trauma counselor.
She wanted some time alone so I wrote down directions and let her
use my car."  She frowned at him.  "Do you think that was a bad
idea?"

"No.  Not at all.  I'm a bit surprised, that's all."  Mulder
smiled in a way he hoped was reassuring.  "Do you have any idea
when Dana will be back?"
Maggie shrugged.  "Not really.  She was thinking about doing some
shopping or perhaps heading over to her apartment to check on it
and see if it spurred any memories.  She told me she was going to
call you, but I guess it slipped her mind."
Mulder chuckled at another example of how different Scully had
become.  Maggie Scully seemed to know what he was thinking.
"She's a lot more like Melissa now isn't she?"
"Excuse me?"
"Dana. She seems to be acting more like her sister than herself."
Maggie gave a weary smile at the thought of her eldest daughter.
"Actually Dana was a lot like this when she was a little girl,
before she understood the teasing of her brothers and began to
feel what she thought was the disapproval of her father."   She
sighed.  "For years, I missed my carefree little Dana.  Now I miss
the serious one."  She forced herself to smile.  "I'll see that
she calls you when she gets in, Fox."

XXX

Mulder returned home disappointed at not being able to see Scully,
but happy that she was exerting her independence more.  Perhaps
the old Scully was returning after all.
He went through the motions of cleaning his apartment, at least
stacking up all the material he was planning on reading, before
sitting down on his couch with his copy of the Holt file.  He was
off the case but that minor fact didn't keep him from going over
it step-by-step again, trying to see if he had missed something.
He was so involved with his reading that he had no idea how late
it had gotten until a light rapping on his door drew his
attention.  Mulder glanced out his window as he rose, and noticed
it was getting dark.  No wonder his stomach was growling so
loudly.
Mulder opened the door without hesitation and was pleased to find
Scully standing in front of him, holding a large pizza box and a
six pack of beer.
"Surprise!"  she said, smiling up at him.  "Mom told me that you
and I were the king and queen of takeout, so I thought I'd stop by
and see if it triggered any memories."  She began to walk into the
apartment and then stopped.  "Is that okay?  I'm not interrupting
anything, am I?"  It hadn't occurred to her until that very
moment, that her partner might have a girlfriend.
"Of course it's okay.  You're not interrupting a thing.  I was
about to call and order some food myself.  I'd much rather eat
with you than alone."  Mulder realized he was rambling a bit and
stopped talking.
He stood behind Scully, watching to see if she remembered his
apartment.  To his surprise, she moved around it as she had always
done, having no difficulty finding napkins, plates and silverware.
They sat next to each other on the couch and Mulder pulled two
beers out of their paper carrier.  He looked at them and tried not
to grimace.  Scully may have remembered where he kept his forks,
but she had obviously forgotten his taste in beer.
"Dana, do you realize that you knew exactly where everything was
in my kitchen?"  Mulder took a large bite of pizza and sat back
chewing happily.
"No, I didn't.  That's interesting, since I didn't get the beer
right, did I?"  Mulder's eyebrows went up and she continued.  "I
saw the look on your face when you saw it was Bud.  Sorry."
"Don't be.  This is fine.  Really."  Mulder took a long swig of
his beer to prove his point.
Scully said nothing but raised one eyebrow at Mulder - the first
time she had made the familiar gesture at him since before she was
injured
They spent the next two hours devouring the pizza and talking.
Scully told Mulder all about her attempts to negotiate DC traffic
with nothing more than her mother's meager map.  Her stories of
getting trapped in one particular traffic circle had Mulder
laughing out loud.  "It's not funny, Fox.  I was half an hour late
for my appointment at the Bureau."
Mulder composed himself.  "How did that go?  Any insight into your
condition?"
"A little.  I was asked a wide array of questions for well over an
hour.  Basically it seems I have retained most of my knowledge
about medicine, but can't remember ever doing an autopsy outside
of med school.  I remember most of my schooling, but not that my
parents dragged me all around the country as a kid while my father
was on active duty. I recall some early childhood memories but
didn't recognize my mother when I saw her at the hospital.  Do you
want to hear their theory?"
Mulder who had been listening intently, had his own theory.  "Let
me tell you mine first.  You're blocking out any association that
you have with your career at the Bureau."
Scully looked surprised and smiled.  "How did you know that?
According to them, I'm desperately trying to keep from becoming
Special Agent Dana Scully again. I have to meet with them every
morning now to see if we can figure out why."  She saw Mulder's
expression change to one filled with guilt.  "There is a bright
side to all of this you know."
"What's that?"  Mulder was trying hard not to ruin the evening by
burdening himself with guilt.  He would beat himself up after
Scully went home.
"My appointment is every morning at eleven.  I should be done in
time for lunch."  She took his hand.  "Would you mind meeting me
for lunch and maybe showing me around a bit?"
Mulder looked at her and felt himself being pulled into her deep
blue eyes.  "I'd like that very much, Scully."
"'Scully?' Is that what you usually call me?"  Scully tilted her
head and looked at him intently.
"Yeah, usually."  Mulder began to squirm under her gaze.
"Fox, I can only imagine the things you and I have been through
together.  Some of them must be pretty horrific if I'm going out
of my way to forget them."  Mulder noticed her edging closer to
him.  "Even so, I feel a certain closeness to you that I can't
explain...like there's something very special between the two of
us.  I want so desperately to remember what that is."
Scully leaned closer, and placing her hand at the back of Mulder's
head, pulled him toward her.  "Help me to remember."  She kissed
him then and was happy to feel him shiver in response, even though
her lips had barely touched his.  Her happiness was short-lived
however, as Mulder abruptly pulled away from her and bolted from
the couch.
Scully watched him pace back and forth a moment, gathering himself
together, before she spoke.  "I'm sorry, Fox.  I asked my mother
about our relationship, and from what she said, I assumed that..."
Mulder stopped his pacing and sat back down next to Scully, taking
her hand.  "What did you assume, Dana?"
"Mom said we were incredibly close--that we were always there for
each other and were lost when we were apart.  She didn't go into
any details about whether or not our relationship was a physical
one; I guess I had never told her whether or not it was.  I
assumed that we..."
Mulder shook his head.  "Sorry to disappoint you."
"Really?  Never? Not even a kiss?"
"Not before tonight."  Mulder looked down at her, his emotions
running wild.  How could he feel so drawn to this woman who
wasn't, yet was, the partner he adored so?
"I'm sorry.  I shouldn't have assumed that just because I feel
something for you, you also having feelings for me."
"I did...I mean I do..."  Mulder ran his hand through his hair,
trying to figure out how to put his feelings into words.  He
smiled weakly at her.  "You and I have never been good at
expressing what we feel, especially when it comes to each other.
We've been skating around the issue for years, both of us too
afraid to take the first step."
Scully nodded but was still frowning.  "Sounds like a waste of
time to me."  She edged closer to Mulder again.  "We could start
making up for lost time right now."  Mulder stopped her, this time
by placing his hand on her cheek, not allowing her to move any
closer.
"I can't."
"I don't understand.  Didn't you just tell me that you were
attracted to me but have been too afraid to act?"  Mulder nodded
and smiled at her.  "God Dana, there's nothing I can think of that
would be better than hauling you into my bedroom and exploring
each and every inch of that beautiful body of yours."
"So what's stopping you?"  Scully's tone sounded eerily similar to
the one she used when she was on a tear about one of his more
outlandish theories.
"I would feel like I was cheating."
"On whom?"  Scully felt her anger rising.  Perhaps Mulder did have
a girlfriend after all.
"On her, I mean you... forget it."
"I see," Scully responded, even though she wasn't quite sure she
saw at all.  "You're only in love with the person I was."
"No Dana, I love every aspect of you. The person you were, the
person you are now and everyone in between.  I only want to make
sure that when you regain your memories, and I have no doubt that
you will, that you don't take out your weapon and shoot me."
Scully snorted at this attempt at humor and rose to leave.  She
said nothing until he opened the door for her to leave.  "I'm
still Scully, Fox."  She reached up and pulled him down into a
kiss so passionate that he almost forgot everything he had just
said.  "Since you're so sure my memories will return, I want you
to compare that to our next kiss.  You may be sorry you waited."
She reached up and patted him on the cheek, before giving him her
most flirtatious look and heading toward the elevator.

Outside Mulder's Apartment
Wednesday 9:30 PM

Bobby Holt watched Scully get into her car and began to follow her
as she wound her way back to her apartment.  He parked about half
a block from where she pulled in and watched as she entered the
building.  A few moments later, a light came on in a window and
Holt knew exactly where she lived.

"Soon, very soon."  He started his car and pulled away.

XXX

Scully's Apartment
9:15 am

Scully looked at her watch and grimaced when she saw how late it
was.  She was due at the Bureau in a little more than an hour and
a half, and she wasn't nearly ready.  She scolded herself for
lying in bed an extra fifteen minutes that morning, wondering
briefly if her former self would have shown such a sign of
weakness.  She doubted it very much.

Scully was just adding a large dollop of Fluff to her hot
chocolate when the doorbell rang.  Sticking the spoon into the
cup, she hurried over to the door and pulled it open without even
thinking about checking to see who it was.

A small, rather good-looking man stood in front of her, with his
hands deep in his pockets.  He looked at her expectantly and
frowned when it was obvious Scully did not recognize him.  "Don't
you know who I am?"

"No, I'm afraid not.  Should I?"  Scully looked thoughtfully at
the man before her.  "You see, I took a bit of a blow to the head
during a case recently and I can't remember much of anything," she
said in explanation, as the look of surprise on the man's face
grew.

Bobby Holt could not believe his good luck.  This was going to be
pathetically easy.  "Oh Dana, I'm so sorry to hear that.  No
wonder you didn't call."

"Was I supposed to call you?"  Scully smiled weakly at him.

"We were going to have coffee this morning, at your favorite
coffee shop before you went into the office."  Holt's face took on
a look of concern.  "I was going to pick you up, have coffee with
you and then drop you off at the Bureau.  You said your partner
would be happy to drive you home tonight."

"I feel terrible."  Scully said sucking on her upper lip as she
tried to come up with a plan.  "I have to be at the Bureau at
eleven.  It's almost ten now.  Do you think we can still make a
quick stop on the way?"

"I don't see why not."

"Great.  Just let me grab my jacket and keys and we can go."
Scully smiled and ran back into her room to grab her things,
quickly rejoining Holt.

"After you."  Holt gestured towards the stairs.

XXX

FBI Headquarters
12:27 pm

Mulder sat at his desk, completely ignoring the report displayed
on the computer screen in front of him.  He couldn't help but
think about what had happened between him and Scully the night
before.  Had he actually told her that he was in love with both
the current and past versions of herself?  He snorted as he
wondered what the people who specialized in sorting out ethical
dilemmas would think of his.  They would probably have him locked
up.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone knocking
purposefully on his door.  He looked up and found AD Skinner
standing in the doorway.

Skinner didn't bother with pleasantries and got right to the
point. "Scully's counselor just called me wondering where she is.
I was hoping she was down here with you."

Mulder smirked at him.  "Scully probably couldn't find the way
down here if her life depended on it.  She was supposed to call me
when she was done with her session.  Are you saying she never
showed up?  She was pretty late yesterday, you know."

"I know, but her appointment was scheduled to begin at eleven."
Skinner began jerking his head at the clock on the wall.  "It's
well past noon."

"I'll call her mother and see what time she left."  Mulder picked
up the phone and began dialing.  His conversation with Maggie
Scully was brief and left him with a bad feeling in the pit of his
stomach.

"Scully spent last night in her own apartment.  She called her
mother when she arrived home last night to let her know she was
safe, and again this morning to let her know that she'd be over
for dinner tonight.  She's supposed to be carrying her cell
phone."  Mulder was already dialing her number. After a moment he
hung the phone up and looked up at Skinner.

"I have a very bad feeling about this, Sir."

Skinner swallowed hard.  So did he.

XXX

1:47 pm

Scully was beginning to understand why she had chosen to block out
the aspects of her life relating to the FBI, as Bobby Holt
systematically tied her to a chair. They were in a warehouse close
to where, he was kind enough to explain, she and her partner had
discovered him and his twin brother the week before.

He didn't tie her very tightly.  He wanted to see her squirm and
knew that the person seated in front of him was unlikely to make a
break for it.  She wouldn't have a clue how to find help. He also
didn't bother to gag her, at least not yet.  He wanted to enjoy
the sounds of her anguish when she began to comprehend exactly
what was going to happen to her.

"I'm sure you can understand now, Agent Scully, why I was so
surprised when you didn't recognize me.  You and that blasted
partner of yours were the ones who caused the break in the case
which led to the arrest of my brother."

Scully resisted the urge to scream and tried to ignore the tears
that were beginning to stream down her face.  "What are you going
to do with me?"

Holt walked all around the chair in which she sat, studying her
carefully.  "I'm not quite sure yet.  Usually, Billy and I would
torture our guests for a while before deciding which body part to
remove.  We'd remove that particular piece and watch our guest
slowly bleed to death.  Sometime we'd add a cut or two to the
stomach to speed things along a bit."

Scully paled at the image Holt was painting.  "This time, I may do
things a bit differently.  I want him to know I've got you, to
worry about you, knowing that I will kill you and that he's
helpless to do anything about it."  Holt grabbed a knife in one
hand and a chunk of Scully's hair in the other.  With a swift
swipe of the knife he cut off a large section of hair.  He smiled
at the clump of hair he held and checked to make sure his prisoner
was adequately tied.  "I think I'll send him this for starters."

XXX

4:14 pm

Mulder approached Scully's front door cautiously.  If she was
indeed inside, he didn't want to startle her.  If not, he didn't
want to disturb any possible evidence.  The door appeared to be in
perfect order, and after donning a pair of latex gloves, Mulder
knocked.  Once, then again.  Hearing no sound from inside, he
pulled out his key and carefully unlocked the door.

Scully's living room seemed to be in perfect order with the
exception of a couple of dishes that were still sitting on the
coffee table.  Mulder smiled when he saw them.  He found it
fascinating.  He could understand Scully wanting to block out all
memories of her time with the Bureau-he often wished he could do
the same thing - but he was surprised that she had also forgotten
her obsession about keeping everything in order.

If he wasn't so worried about her life, this whole experience
would make a very interesting paper.

Mulder walked slowly around the apartment, and besides spotting
other evidence of Scully's new-found casual approach to
housekeeping, everything appeared to be in order. He sighed as he
sat on the couch and pulled out his cell phone, once again trying
to reach Scully.

There was still no answer and the sinking feeling in Mulder's
stomach began to spread.  Something was wrong, very wrong, and he
knew it.  What he couldn't do was put his finger on what it was.
In the past, there had always been signs of struggle when the Holt
brothers had abducted one of their victims.  There was no such
evidence here. Whatever had gone on here, Scully had apparently
walked out of her apartment of her own free will.

"That's it!"  Mulder said out loud as the missing puzzle piece
fell into place in his mind.  He quickly called Skinner and
informed him of his theory.  Scully had gone with Holt because she
didn't recognize him.  She didn't know enough to be scared of him.

"Don't you see, Sir?"  Mulder locked Scully's door and walked
quickly down the stairs "If Holt was on to the fact that Scully
lost her memory, he could easily convince her that she already
knew him."

Mulder stopped talking for a moment or two as Skinner
unsuccessfully tried to shoot holes into his theory.  "There can't
be any other explanation, Sir.  Scully has no place... Damn!"
Mulder had arrived at his car and opened the door to find a small
Ziploc bag sitting on the front seat.

"Holt left me a present."  Mulder picked up one corner of the bag
containing the clump of hair gingerly, as if it might break into a
million pieces, and sat down. "I suggest you call Andrews back
from Missouri and gather together whoever is still around from
VCU.  I'll be there in twenty minutes."

XXX

5:30 pm

The woman sitting in front of him trying valiantly to be brave was
so different from the cold-hearted FBI agent he had been trailing
just two weeks ago, that Holt almost felt sorry for her.  Almost.

"By now Dana, your partner will have received my little present.
I can picture of all them, standing around the conference table in
their suits, trying to figure out what I'm going to do next."
Holt smiled at Scully as he sat down on an old wooden chair placed
directly in front of her.  "They will spend hours working on
figuring out exactly where you are.  They, of course, will be
wrong, and by the time they figure it all out, you'll be dead."

Scully suppressed the urge to cry.  "Not that I would know anyway,
but where are we?"

Holt smiled at her again.  There would be no harm in telling her.
She was right, she wouldn't know anyway.  "You and your partner
made a total mess of things when you raided us last week.  I had
no choice but to start over again."

Scully looked at him, clearly not understanding.  "I guess I have
to spell it out for you, my dear.  We are back at the warehouse
where we killed our first victim.  She sat in the same chair
you're sitting in right now."

Scully gasped in horror and silently prayed that Mulder really did
have the ability to get into people's heads.

XXX

FBI Headquarters
5:58 pm

Holt was right.  There were agents wearing suits gathered around
the conference table arguing about what to do next.  Skinner had
wisely chosen to proceed without waiting for Andrews and his team
to return from Missouri.  Even so, the agents assembled seemed
unable to agree on anything.

The only agent not actively engaged in the debate was Mulder.  He
sat in one corner, elbows on his knees, leaning forward with his
hand absently rubbing the stubble that had appeared on his chin.
He listened to the debate with one ear while he churned what he
knew about Holt over and over in his mind.

Holt had broken away from his pattern, Mulder knew that much.  All
he had to do was figure out what the next step would be before
Holt decided to kill Scully.  He looked up at the sound of
Skinner's voice booming above the din.

"Agents, if you would have a seat so we can discuss this in an
orderly fashion."  The chatter subsided and the room finally
quieted, as everyone took a seat around the table.  Skinner
glanced over at Mulder, and seeing that he was deep in thought,
decided to let him be.

"Phillips and his team have been all over the warehouses where
Agents Scully and Mulder were injured last week.  There is no sign
of Holt, but they're continuing their search."

"He won't be there."  The agents all turned at the sound of
Mulder's voice.  He had been sitting in the corner so quietly for
the last several hours, that many of them had forgotten he was in
the room.  "He won't be there. We disrupted his routine.  Holt
won't have liked that."  Mulder got up and approached the table.
Skinner couldn't help but notice how fatigued he looked.

Mulder walked to where Skinner was sitting and addressed his
comments to his superior.  "Holt and his brother never strayed
from their routine.  Every killing was done in exactly the same
fashion.  First they would follow their victim, learn her routine.
Then they would kidnap her, only in Scully's case was this done
without any violence.  They would bring their victim to a remote
location--they favored old warehouses--torture her, remove a body
part, kill her and the day after the victim's funeral, send the
body part to the family."

Mulder stared out into space for a moment or two gathering his
thoughts before continuing.  "The Holts killed their victims the
same day they kidnapped them.  The time of death was always
between 8 and 9 pm.

"That's right."  One of the agents spoke up.  "God, that's in only
two hours."

Mulder closed his eyes tightly, willing the last piece of the
puzzle to fall into place.  When he opened them, they held a look
of certainty.  Skinner knew he had just made one of his famous
leaps.  "Where was the site of the first murder?"

"A shipyard in Baltimore."  Skinner was already picking up the
phone.

Mulder turned and looked at him.  "That's where she is."

XXX

Baltimore Shipyards
7:34 pm

Bobby Holt walked around Scully looking at her, absently
scratching his nose with his gun.  He stopped after appearing to
come to some sort of decision.  "You know what, Dana?" he began
not really expecting an answer.  "I like you."  Scully frowned at
him and he chuckled.  "No, I really do.  You haven't giving me a
lick of trouble since we left your apartment and I really
appreciate it."

"My mother always told me to be a polite guest."

Holt laughed out loud at this.  "I'm sure you've made your mother
very proud, Dana."  He put down his gun on the chair where he had
been sitting and took out a small knife.  "Since you've lost your
memory, you probably have no idea how I normally handle
these...situations."

"None whatsoever."

"Billy and I always sent the families of our victims a token of
our regard."  He squatted down in front of Scully so his face was
directly in front of hers.  "A body part carefully chosen and
removed before we slowly took their lives."

Scully grew pale but said nothing.  "But I like you Dana.  And
because I do, I've decided not to torture you.  I'm going to shoot
you in the head and then slice off a piece of you to send to that
annoying partner of yours."

He straightened up and bent over her, quickly cutting the ropes
that bound her hands.  "In exchange for this act of mercy, I want
to make sure I chose just the right body part."  He stood behind
the chair and leaned on it, the knife swinging loosely between two
fingers.  "So, Dana, you're going to take off those clothes and
let me have a good look at you."

Scully's eyes grew huge at the thought and Holt smiled at her.
"Not to worry, I'm no rapist.  I only want to see what you look
like."  Scully hesitated and Holt's face grew dark.  "Surely, you
don't want me to undress you."

Scully shook her and slowly began to unbutton her shirt.  She was
almost done when she heard the sound of a gun being cocked.
Realizing she was about to die, she looked up into the eyes of her
killer.

"Federal agent, drop your weapon!"  Mulder's voice depicted a
confidence he didn't feel, as he tried to keep his focus on Holt
and not on his partially undressed partner.

"Agent Mulder, what took you so long?"  Holt spun around hitting
Mulder across the face with the chair on which he had been
leaning.  Mulder crumpled to the ground in a heap.  Holt smiled
when he realized that once again Mulder had approached him without
adequate backup.

He picked up the knife that had dropped to the floor by his feet
and strolled over to Mulder.  "I'm going to cut your throat, carve
up your chest and send your heart back to the FBI."

Mulder struggled to open his eyes and groped blindly for his gun,
sensing that Holt was coming for him.   Not able to feel his gun,
he struggled to his feet, hoping that he would have enough fight
left in him to give Scully a chance to escape, before Holt killed
him and turned his aggression towards her.

The sound of gunfire shocked Mulder, and it took him a moment or
two to recognize the fact that it wasn't he who had been shot but
Holt, who was lying next to him clutching his shoulder and
swearing like a sailor. Mulder stared at Holt for a second and
then at the door looking for the agent who fired the shot.  Seeing
no one, he closed his eyes and lay back, giving in to the pain in
his head.

He opened his eyes again slowly when he felt someone gently
probing the growing welt on his head. "Relax, it's me."  Mulder
closed his eyes, knowing then that everything would be all right.

XXX

"Let me make sure I've got this straight." Skinner stood in front
of Scully looking down at her as she sat on the front steps of the
warehouse.  "Holt was preparing to kill you when Agent Mulder
entered the room, weapon drawn.  Holt attacked him with the chair,
knocking him down and pretty much out.  Holt approached Mulder
holding a knife, threatening to cut his throat, when you shot him
in the shoulder."

"That sounds about right, Sir."  Scully sat up straight, looking
directly ahead of her.

"What I don't understand, Agent, is how you knew to shoot Holt in
the shoulder?"  Scully looked up into the confused face of her
boss.  "I thought you couldn't remember anything to do with the
FBI?"

"I couldn't, Sir.  Up until the moment that Holt went after Agent
Mulder, I stood frozen in fear.  As soon as I realized that Mulder
was in danger, I must have acted instinctively."

"You've got pretty good instincts, Agent Scully."  Skinner gave
her a weak smile.  "And your memory?"

"Seems to have come back with a vengeance, Sir."  Scully stood up
and wiped the dirt off her pants.  "Sir, if you're done with me,
I'd like to go check on Agent Mulder."

Skinner nodded and called to one of the other agents, asking for
an update on Mulder.  "Phillips rode with him to the ER. They
checked him over and sent him home."

"Shall I drop you there, Agent Scully?"  Skinner asked as they
walked towards his car.  Scully nodded, not quite sure how to
handle her reunion with her partner.

XXX

Mulder's Apartment
9:03 pm

Mulder's head hurt to high heaven, but other than that, he had
suffered no long-lasting ill effects from his encounter with Holt.
He woke up in the ambulance with Agent Phillips sitting next to
him, and was very surprised to hear it was Scully who had shot
Holt.

He wasn't surprised, though, when there was a small knock on his
door about an hour after he had gotten home.  Mulder knew that
Scully would stop by to check on him and was happy that he had at
least thrown on a pair of sweatpants and an old Knicks t-shirt.

As soon as he opened the door he knew something was different.
"Hey, Dana."  He stepped aside to let her through.  It seemed like
she was carrying herself a bit differently and there was an air of
sadness about her.  He assumed it was simply a result of what she
had just been through.

They sat down on the couch and Scully immediately reached over to
check his head.  "How's it feeling, Mulder?  Did they need to
stitch you up at all?"

Mulder flinched when she said his name.  That was the difference.
He took the hand that was gingerly examining his head and held it
until she looked at him.  "Welcome back, Scully."

Scully smiled weakly at him.  "I take this sudden wave of
recollection to mean that you would rather have a head full of
memories and me alive, than be rid of the X-files with me dead."
Mulder's feeble attempt at humor fell flat.

"Something like that."  Scully tried to pull her hand away but
Mulder held on fast.

"I'm glad you're back.  It was getting pretty lonely down in the
basement without you."  Mulder's voice was soft as his eyes
searched hers.

"You seemed to be managing okay."  Mulder heard a touch of
resentment in her voice.

"Only because I knew that you'd be back."  He stroked her hand
with his thumb.

"Funny, I thought you rather liked the light-hearted version of
Dana Scully."  Scully closed her eyes as a single tear ran down
her face.  "I know I did."

"I did, Scully.  Now that I know she's buried in there" he took
his other finger and gently poked her on the chest "I'm going to
try to get her to come out more often."

Scully smiled weakly at this.  "It's going to take me a while to
process all of this, both professionally and personally.  I think
I may have to make some changes."

Mulder's face darkened as he immediately assumed the worse.
"Don't worry Mulder, I'm not going anywhere.  It's only that
'Dana' and 'Fox' said things to each other that Scully and Mulder
have been avoiding for years...."  Mulder nodded in agreement.

"Now, though, you need to get some rest."  Scully pulled free from
Mulder's grasp and stood up.  "Skinner told us to take the rest of
the week off.  That should give you plenty of time to get the rest
you need."

She walked over to the door and stopped.  "Promise me you won't
sneak into work behind my back?"

Mulder stood and came up next to her, standing so close that she
had to crane her neck to look up at him.  "I have an idea, why
don't you come over tomorrow and make sure I behave myself."
Before Scully could answer, Mulder leaned down and kissed her
lightly on the lips.  "Or if you think I'm up to it, you could
make sure I don't behave myself."

Scully gave him a little smile. "I'll be over before lunch,
Mulder.  Get some rest. You'll need your strength tomorrow."

End of story