Partners

Man Without A Face

Author: PhileyX
E-Mail: phileyxback@yahoo.com
Web-site: https://www.angelfire.com/id/phileyx
Rating: PG
Category: MSR or rather DSR (No, D does not stand for Doggett)
Spoilers: Up to the end of Season 7
Intro: Okay I'll be the first to admit that this story is way out there, along with all the mind-boggling plots in the X-files series itself. Just play along and let your imagination take you beyond the realms of normality. Wear Mulder's shoes for a few minutes…..
Disclaimer: All characters mentioned in this story are well paid in real life and so is the network that represent them. Thus the latter should not feel anyway cheated or offended seeing their creations in this story. In fact, they should be proud.

Summary: After nearly two years since Mulder's disappearance, Scully is challenged to believe in the extraordinary again. Will she listen to her heart or her head?

XXXXXXXXXX
Leon County - Tom's Wheels
6pm

Excerpts from the song 'Name' by The Goo Goo Dolls.

No violation of copyright intended.

"Dole, quitting time!" Mike yelled and waved at his tall, dark-haired colleague across the garage. The latter smiled and threw his oil-stained cloth on the floor with an air of finality. It was six o'clock and wild horses couldn't drag him to stay a minute longer.

It wasn't as if he hated his job. He just felt that he could do more. The sense of restlessness nibbled deep within him like a bad tune in a head. But if his records said he was a mechanic then that what he must be.

He walked towards the only bathroom and began washing his hands with factory detergent and water. As the black smudges on his palms began to dissolve, his mind began wondering again. It's no wonder that his friends and work-mates call him a dreamer.

His brain was an ever-imaginative world of it's own. It was like having a TV tube stuck in his head and the only thing on was the Sci-Fi channel. Bright lights, monsters and men in dark suits took turns to intrigue him. Mike used to tease him, telling him that he should write it down and pitch it to the TV agents in the Fox network.

"Hey Dole, you ready?" Mike poked his head in and startled him.

"Uh, yeah." He hastily turned off the water and grabbed a handful of paper towels.

Mike recognized the look. His friend was dreaming again. Shaking his head, he asked. "What was it this time?"

Dole looked at him sheepishly. "Nothing." He led the way out and his friend followed behind him out of the garage and towards the Mike's pickup.

"Are you seeing Liz tonight?"

"Yeah."

"So are you guys serious yet?"

He hesitated at first then shook his head.

Mike persisted. "How long have you been going out?"

"2 months."

Mike unlocked the door, got in and leaned over to release the lock for the co-driver's seat. "Any particular reason you wanna wait?"

"She doesn't like non-fat tofutti rice dreamsicle." Mike turned to give him a look to which Dole told him. "Don't ask."

"I'm beginning to wonder if it's really amnesia that you're suffering from."

His pal's reply was a grunt and then silence. Mike turned to look at him and almost groaned. The preoccupied countenance told him that Dole was in fantasyland again.

His mind flew back to half a year ago when Dole mysteriously appeared in his life. There had been a bad accident just outside the interstate and the fire department needed to borrow some heavy machinery to pry open the badly mashed up car. Inside, a man was trapped.

When the cops returned the machinery two days later, they told him that the man was suffering from amnesia. The only clues he had were a driver's license and a previous health insurance record dating back to 1996.

A month later, John Dole walked into Tom's Wheels to ask for a job. Mike recognized him almost immediately and persuaded Tom to give him the job. The man needed a refresher's course and at times Mike wondered if he was really a mechanic before at all. But soon, Dole caught on and they had been good friends since.

XXXXXXXXXX

FBI Headquarters DC, X-files division
6.45pm

<Cause all the dreams you'd never thought you'd lose
Get tossed along the way>

'It figures! Of all the days….' Dana Scully groaned.

Her partner looked up from his file. "What?"

"Will's birthday."

"Dana, we can't miss this one. We already missed last year's because of your pregnancy."

"Well, I'm not going to miss my son's first birthday!"

Doggett sighed and got up to his feet. Snatching the calendar from her table, he studied the dates carefully. "I know. We'll skip the last day, drive like a maniac and be in time for 2 hours left of Will's birthday."

Dana glared at him.

Flinging his hands in the air, he conceded in misery. "All right, you win. We'll go for the boring alternative this weekend." He rolled his eyes. "I can't believe we're going for the FBI Pathological Convention again!"

She smiled at him gratefully. "It wasn't so bad last year."

"I don't really know. I believe I was in a comatose state most of the time."

"So you would rather go for the unbearable sweet 'we-can-achieve-anything-as-long-as-we-work-together' convention."

"It's a great place to pick up chicks. Plus three days later, you never have to see them again."

Dana rolled her eyes. "Call Kim and tell her we're going this weekend." She looked at her watch. "Damn, I'm late. I've gotta pick Mom up." She grabbed her bag and stuffed in a few files from her desk. As she got up to leave, the phone began to ring.

"Da…." Doggett began to pass the phone over but she waved it away.

"I left." She whispered and hurriedly walked out the door.

Her partner shook his head and replaced the phone to his ear, with an excuse ready.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Leon County - Tom's Wheels
9.30am

"Why not?"

"She was wearing a night gown."

"And…." Mike drawled.

"I'm more of a silk pajama kind of person."

"This coming from a man that lives on porn."

"Did you know she gets sea-sick?"

"And you don't want your children to inherit the genes?"

"No!" He waved the point away and gave another. "She watches wrestling and she adores Caddyshack."

"You love wrestling and you watched Caddyshack like a billion times!"

"That's exactly my point."

"That makes no point what so ever!"

"Don't you get it? She's not the one!"

Mike looked at him for a while and frowned as a nagging suspicion popped up. "Sounds like you know exactly what you want."

"What do you mean?"

"You tell me."

He squirmed slightly at the challenge. "Okay, there's this girl in my dreams…."

His friend began to groan. "Oh for crying out…."

Dole interrupted him. "She's not like the other girls." Mike looked at him dubiously. "She's real."

Mike saw that he was serious and suggested. "Maybe you already met her?"

Dole blinked. "I have?"

"I don't know. You're the one that's absolutely sure what she likes and what she doesn't like."

"You mean, I met her from my past?"

"Well, there's still a lot unaccounted for between the years of 1996 till now."

He looked thoughtful. "Maybe you're right."

"Yeah. Maybe you were seeing this girl for years and you had this **great** big fight. Upset, you got into your car and drove to another state. Then, you got into an accident and …. here you are."

Dole glared at him.

He shrugged. "What? It's possible."

Dole sighed and turned to the Pajero in front of him. "Anyway, I broke up with Liz last night."

"Really?"

"Yeah, the hair was the last blow."

"The hair?"

"Yeah, she told me that she's a natural blonde."

Mike's eyes widened. "No way!"

Dole nodded. "She was until 2 years ago."

"It's all that…Clairol and Loreal treatments we see on TV. Damn it, I think we men deserve the right to know the colour of our date's hair!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Leon County - outside Tom's Wheels
2pm

<And I recalled all the things
I never knew their names
Don't belong to no one
That's a shame>

"Moth-men?" Doggett waved at the greenery outside. "In these woods? You're kidding?"

"Nope, same town." Dana shook her head as she turned off the engine of the car.

"Good old Mulder."

"Hey I saw it too!" She defended her ex-partner and got out.

Her present partner followed her and pointed towards the garage nearby, signaling the way. "You said there were two of them and you killed one, did you ever find the other?"

"No. But there were no other similar reports in the area after that so we closed the case."

"Vanished into thin air, a registered and trademarked X-files ending." He expected her to laugh. When she didn't, he turned to look at her. She was looking at the ground with frown that told him that his words hit too close to home. He gently touched her hand and she looked up at him. "We'll find him."

She slowly shook her head. "Sometimes I don't know anymore."

"We'll have to find him. I'm making it a personal quest." He put his arm around and squeezed her gently. "It's the only way Skinner will let me get a new partner, I've been begging him for months now."

She glared at him.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Dole froze when he saw her. The resemblance was exact! This was the woman that haunted his dreams.

Mike perked up when he saw the duo enter. "Can I help you?"

The man stepped forward. "Yeah, there's this loud tinkling noise that's been driving us crazy for the past 2 hours. Could you check that out?"

"Sure. Let me take a look."

"Dana?"

Not wanting to go out in the heat, she told her partner. "I'll just stay here."

"Okay." And he followed Mike out the door.

Dana looked around the garage. Catching sight of a revolving fan nearby, she walked towards it for relief. It was only then did she realize that she was being watched.

She gave him a slight smile and looked away. After carefully taking in the roomful of automobiles, she turned back and found that he was still staring at her. Coolly, she ignored him and browsed through a few magazines nearby.

Dole was hardly comfortable. Who was she? Did he know her from somewhere in his past? But if he did, surely she would recognize him? He glanced at his reflection on a nearby car window. His face was smudged with brake fluid and grease. At this moment, his own mother (whoever she might be) would probably not recognize him. Consciously, he began to rub off the stains with a clean rag from his pocket.

Dana shifted nervously as the mechanic from across the room began sprucing up his appearance. He was still staring at her and she was a little disconcerted. The man was in his late thirties, dark hair and chiseled looks. Too good-looking to be desperate and yet he was looking at her like she was the first woman that he had ever seen in his entire life. When he took a step towards her, she decided that she would brave the heat outside and walked out to find her partner.

Doggett looked up when she stood beside him. "The carburetor's in its final moments of the living. We're lucky we stopped to check it out. It'll be ready in the morning."

She groaned. "What about the Convention?"

"So we'll miss half a day." He grinned. "Maybe if I borrowed a crowbar, I could cause enough damage for us to stay here for a few days. Skinner will never know. And if he does find out, we'll have a good reason."

She rolled her eyes at him.

"Sir, I'll need you to sign in the car with us. Don't worry. Like I said, it'll be good as new in the morning." Mike told him and left them.

"Ice cream!" Doggett pointed excitedly at the shop across the road. "Dana, do you mind signing it in?"

She whined. "Oh come on, I don't wanna go in there alone."

He looked at her in surprise. "Why not?"

She looked slightly embarrassed as she told him. "The guy was staring at me."

"Mike?"

"No, the other guy."

He raised an eyebrow. "He's not bad looking." She gave him an incredulous look. "Hey I have 4 sisters. And I grew up with them bugging me to describe all my newly made guy friends. I now tend to naturally scale both men and women within 3 seconds in sight."

She shook her head and muttered to herself. "I'm jinxed with weird partners."

"I'm serious. The guy is a fox. My sisters will make a play at him any day."

"Doggett…." She warned.

"Look Mike is in there too. And if he still makes a move, show him your Sig. Do you want one too?"

She looked slightly confused and then realized that he meant the ice cream. "Only if they have the non-fat tofutti rice types."

He shuddered at the thought. "Ugh!" And with that, he started walking briskly across the road.

Dana drew in a deep breath and headed for the garage. When she entered, she saw that Mike was nowhere in sight and Doggett's 'fox' was standing at the cash register filling in what she supposed was their check in form. She composed herself and walked up to him, her clicking heels alerting her arrival.

"I'm here to fill up a form?"

He was staring at her again. She cleared her throat on purpose and he jumped slightly. "Yeah, of course. I thought your husband was going to do it."

This time she was momentarily stunned. His voice…. it sounded exactly like …. Mulder's. And when she looked into his hazel eyes, she was reminded of another feature that was so alike his.

As she stared at him, Dole's heart started beating faster. Was she was beginning recognize him?

Mike walked out of the washroom and saw them. He looked away and did a double take. Dole and the lady were gazing into each other's eyes like some lovesick couple! What the hell was going on? Deciding to break this up before her husband walked in, he coughed loudly. They both started.

Dole was the first to find his voice. "Your husband's name please?"

"He's not my husband. He's my … he's a colleague." She laughed nervously, slightly bewildered that she had acted so unprofessionally a few seconds ago. What was wrong with her? He doesn't sound anything like Mulder. Well, maybe a little.

"Oh."

"Just write it under my name, Dana."

"Okay." He scribbled her name down and passed the clipboard for her to sign it. "Here you go."

She calmly took the board and signed her name. Suddenly, two things struck her. One, the form was filled in with her full name 'Dana Scully' and secondly, his writing was exactly the same as Mulder's? Her head snapped up. "How did you know my last name?"

He looked confused. "I don't know." Then, he shrugged and nervously looked away. "I think your colleague mentioned it. Where else would I have gotten it from?"

She studied him suspiciously as her brain searched for a reference on his face. But nothing registered. She was quite sure she had never seen him before.

Squirming under her scrutiny, he asked her impatiently. "You done with that?" She gave up and passed the board back to him. As she walked out, she wondered if the heat was making her hallucinate.

XXXXXXXXXXXX
Leon County - 'Water Hole'
9.11pm

<Scars are souvenirs you'd never lose
The past is never far>

"It was **her**."

"Dole, I'm trying to be supportive here but did you see her suit?" He gave a low whistle and elaborated. "She's not your type, man. Besides, she too short for you."

"I know."

"She may not be married to that guy with her but that doesn't mean she's single."

Dole scowled at him. "Gee, thanks a lot."

"Anytime buddy." Mike grinned and then frowned. "Speaking of the angel…"

Dole turned to see Doggett and Dana walk into the bar.

"And the devil…"

Following them, Liz made her way in and took up a seat at one of the tables.

"Should I go over?"

"I think you're a bit too late." Mike pointed his chin towards Doggett who was walking towards Liz's table. Within minutes, he had seated himself comfortably beside her and ordered himself a drink.

"Is she doing this on purpose?"

"Judging by the fact she had already stolen more than a half dozen glances at you, I'd say yes."

Dole growled. "Well two can play at that game."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Miss Scully?"

Dana froze as she heard her name being called exactly the way she had missed for the past two years. Well, at least it would be exact if she ignored the 'Miss' part. She turned and the guy from the garage stood next to her.

Dole watched her as the panic look she had on a few seconds ago began to fade away. At least she didn't correct him when he called her 'Miss'. It was a good start. "Are you all right? You look a little pale."

"I'm fine." She smiled a little as she remembered how Mulder used to hate it when she told him that. "You remind me of someone." She found herself admitting it to him.

"You too."

She laughed softly. "I didn't mean it as a pick-up line."

"Neither did I."

He was serious and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "So how's my car?"

"You'll be on your way tomorrow."

"Good."

He tried to break the ice further. "So what do you do for a living?"

Dana hesitated, glancing over at Doggett and damning him to hell for abandoning her. "I…" She sighed and decided to be honest. "Look …, I'm sorry I don't know you name."

"John Dole."

"Doe as D-O-E?"

He shook his head at the common perception. "Close." He often wondered the irony of his name in relation with his condition. "D-O-L-E."

She nodded, mentally resolving to check him out with the Gunmen. "Mr. Dole, I don't mean to be rude. I'm just not comfortable right now. I would really appreciate it if you left."

Dole frowned. He had no doubt that she was uneasy. But that fascinated him; he was curious why she was so disconcerted with his presence. Was she pretending not to know him for some reason? He decided to play another card up his sleeve. He nodded towards Liz. "The girl with your colleague?"

"Yeah?"

"We broke up yesterday."

She understood his meaning and laughed. "And here I was feeling flattered and everything….."

He laughed too. "Well, I was acting like a dork this afternoon so I think you still have the right to feel flattered."

She blushed slightly and was glad that it was too dark for him to see it. "What happened?"

"She wasn't the one."

She looked amused and prayed to God that he wasn't about to get corny and tell her that she was. When he didn't say anything, she asked. "How did you know?"

"Lots of little things."

"Like?"

He hesitated and changed the subject. "You never told me what you did for a living?"

She wondered if he would be intimidated if she did and then decided that it would be good if he were. Maybe then he'd leave her alone. "I'm an FBI agent."

He looked surprised and then thoughtful. "I had an impression you were a doctor."

Now she was surprised. "I am. After I graduated, I became an agent."

"Hmmm." He frowned and mumbled. "Pissed off your dad."

She looked at him suspiciously. Part of her tried to justify his words; any father would be upset when his child gives up medicine. Another part of her felt as if John Dole was reading her like a book. Slightly breathless, she excused herself. "It's late. I should go."

He stopped her with a slight touch, which she gently moved away from. "Was it something I said?"

"No. I have a long drive tomorrow. Good night."

As she turned to go, he wished her. "G'nite, Scully."

The sound of his voice froze her for just a few seconds before she forced herself to move and get out of there as fast as she could.

XXXXXXXXXXXX
Leon County - Greenside Motel
2.56am

<Don't it make you sad to know that life
Is more than who we are>

Dana was on the verge to nodding off when she heard a rustling noise across the far end of her room. She instinctively reached out for her gun and waited. Silence.

She took the same room as before, not really knowing why. Maybe she wanted to relive the past, back when Mulder was around. She peered hard into the darkness and listened hard. Still nothing.

Shaking her head, she replaced her gun and tried to make herself comfortable but gave up half a minute later. She got out of bed and sat in front of the fan, letting the wind caress her face. She glanced out of the window and her eye caught a figure in the moonlight.

He was standing across the street, leaning against a pickup. His hand moved from his mouth to a bag beside him every few seconds. There was something familiar about him.

A minute later, she knew what it was and she snapped. Impulsively she grabbed her gun, wore her trench coat over her pajama and stepped out of her room.

Dole's eyes widened as she strode towards him. What the hell was she doing up at this time of the night? And she sure didn't look too happy to see him.

Dana stopped a few stepped away from him. "Mr. Dole, may I ask what are you doing here?"

"I live around here." He answered her quietly, his mind racing to find an excuse.

"It's three o'clock in the morning."

"Have I broken a law?"

"No. I just find it rather strange that you're out here, in front of my motel room, in the middle of the night."

"I couldn't sleep." He bit his lip and elaborated. "I don't sleep too well."

She almost rolled her eyes. "Of course." And muttered under a breath. "An insomniac."

He caught her words and wondered at the tone of her voice. When she remained silent, he held out his brown paper-bag. "You want some?"

She looked at it and stared, her voice turned into a whisper. "Let me guess, sunflower seeds."

He was surprised that she was right. "Not many people like them around here."

Suddenly, her head snapped up fiercely. "Listen, I don't know what kind of game you're playing. I don't care if you're psychic or you swapped bodies with the devil in the middle of a cosmic event horizon, you're not getting to me. I'm leaving in the morning and I'm assuming that I'll never see you again." She turned around and walked back to the motel.

Dole strode after her. "Scully wait! You seem to know me and yet you don't recognize my face. Who do I remind you of?"

"Dole, I'm warning you. Stay away from me!"

"Who do I remind you of?" He asked again.

"It doesn't matter. He's gone and you're not him."

"But don't you get it? Maybe I am!"

She stopped and turned to face. "You're not."

"I lost my memory six months ago. And all I know is my name but besides that there's not much to go on. No trace of any family or friends."

"You're not him. You may have his height, his voice and his eyes but you don't have his face."

"But I think I have his memories." He took a step closer to her. "I remember you. I remember everything about you." His eyes lowered to her lavender pajama peeking out of the top of her trench coat. Cautiously, he touched the collar of her silk top. "Silk pajamas…."

She backed away quickly and stared at him as if he was crazy. Realizing what he had just done justified her look; he grimaced apologetically. Suddenly a shout broke the eerie silence, making them both jump. They both turned towards the sound, in the direction of the motel. Dana froze. It sounded like Doggett!

They ran for his room and she led the way. The door was locked and Dana wished that her present partner were more like her ex. Mulder never locked his door. She took out her gun, shot the lock and barged through the door.

Dole switched on the lights behind her. Doggett was gone! As she cautiously checked the room and the bathroom with her gun, he noticed that there was blood on the window still. "Scully?"

She ignored the familiar feelings that triggered with the sound of his voice calling her name and looked at him. He pointed towards the broken window. She walked to it and peered outside, into the dark forest. Then a thought struck her and she knelt down to study the floor. Sure enough, there were tracks. She looked up at Dole, who frowned as a word popped in his head. He told her softly. "Moth-men."

She smiled thinly and again, resisted the urge to delve into the Mulder issue. 'One thing at a time, Dana.' She told herself.

"What **is** that thing?" He asked her, still looking at the prints. "The weight distri…"

She interrupted him. "Balls of the feet, I know, Indian Chief. "

He gave her a look and she ignored him, picking up the phone instead. But another shout outside caught her attention.

Dole climbed through the window. "Come on." He told her.

"Dole wait! We gotta get help!"

"There's no time! We'll lose him." And he left her alone in the room.

Dana cursed under her breath. The man was practically a reincarnation of Fox Mulder in every aspect, including ditching her. "I just know I'll regret this later." She muttered and began to trail behind him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Stay close, Dole. These things are smart."

He nodded. "Divide and conquer."

She nodded back, finding herself slowly beginning to accept his ability to quote her previous conversations with Mulder. "Do you have anything to protect yourself with?" She asked him.

"A stick."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, that'll do it."

He sighed. "Fine then you go in front." He stopped until she overtook him.

She wondered aloud. "What I don't get is, after all this time, why now?"

"Hibernation?"

It was more like a question so she explained. "Similar incidents years ago suggest that these creatures hibernate, awakening every few years to gather and store food."

"Mike and I camp out here often and we haven't seen any creatures resembling a cross between moth and man. It's also too coincidental that it timed its winter food collection with your arrival."

She frowned. "My ex-partner had a theory that it would pursue anyone that violated its territory. Maybe it was after me."

A scene played in his mind. "You shot its mate." He muttered absently.

She looked at him. "Yes, you're thinking revenge?"

"You came with Doggett and it took him. Maybe it thinks he's your mate. "

"No. It came for me. I heard it in my room. But then I went out to talk to you."

"So it decided to take Doggett to draw you out."

"More like draw me into the forest."

A rustle nearby distracted them and they froze. Dole slowly turned, watching the darkness carefully for any sign or movement. Nothing.

"Dol…" Dana suddenly screamed as she felt herself being pulled under.

Dole turned around and she was gone! "Scully!"

"Dole!" Her voice was not far off. And he ran towards it, gripping the stick in his hand tighter.

"Scully?"

A shot rang out and echoed throughout the forest. Dole ran faster towards it. Then he stumbled over something. To his relief, it was Dana. "Scully? Are you all right?"

She blinked as the pain seared all the way through her right arm. "I'm fine."

"I've always hated it when you said that." He muttered and inspected the wound. "It's not that bad."

"It moved too fast. I didn't get it."

"It's okay. We'll just have to wait till dawn."

"Doggett may not survive that long."

"Well you're hurt so we're not taking anymore chances." He then gently scooped her up and carried her to an opening. Slowly, he put her down and rested her head against a tree.

She flinched as she held out her arm slightly. "The gun." He took it from her. "You know how to use it?"

"No." He shook his head and hesitated. "At least, I don't think so."

She smiled thinly. "Just point and pull the trigger."

He slipped it into his jacket pocket and sat next to her. "Cold?"

Before she could answer, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and brought her close to him. "Dole…" She began to protest.

"You need to get warm, Scully."

Knowing that if he were really anything like Mulder, it would be useless to argue with him. So she gave up the fight and her body willingly molded with his warmth. She took a deep breath and memories filled her again. "God, you even smell like him." She muttered.

"Who was he?" He asked her in a whisper.

She whispered back. "My ex-partner."

Dole was disappointed. He was expecting him to be more than that. "I've held you before."

"Dole.."

"I can't explain it. I don't know when or how. But I know, I held you like this before."

She sighed. "Dole, if I wasn't in shock and freezing my ass off…"

He interrupted her. "Fine, I'll drop it." They remained in silence and something popped in to his head. "If only it rained sleeping bags…." He trailed off.

"You're not that lucky." She told him and he smiled.

And as the delicious feel of his arms brought her back in time, she thought to herself. 'Neither am I.'

She drifted off to sleep while he kept watch.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When she woke up, he was humming the tune she once sang to Mulder in the forest. Amazed, she asked him. "Do you remember as you go along or are these memories already in your head?"

Slightly startled that she was finally awake, he answered her. "As I go along." She nodded and slowly removed herself from his arms. "How do you feel?"

"It doesn't hurt so much now. It just …." She stopped when he grabbed her hand and squeezed it hard. Turning around slowly to where he was staring. The creature was huddled 500 metres away from them. Seconds later, it disappeared.

"Where did it go?" Dana glanced about nervously.

Dole removed the gun from his pocket. "I don't know. But we should get out of here."

"Not without Doggett."

"We have to get help."

She rolled her eyes at him. How come when the words came out from her mouth last night, it was totally inconceivable to him? "That will take hours to fix up. And we've lost too much time already. The longer we wait, the lesser his chances are." He still looked unmoved so she insisted. "Look, I'm not about to lose another partner."

He sighed. "All right, let's go." They started walking towards where the creature was. Dole knelt down and studied the ground. "The tracks seem to lead that way."

So they walked on silently, listening to the sounds of the forest. When the noises stopped, Dana told him. "It's gone quiet. It must be nearby."

He nodded and raised the gun higher. Too preoccupied with his surroundings, he suddenly stepped into a deep cavity in the ground. The gap proved to be larger than it looked like and he found himself slipping deeper into the soggy earth.

"Dole!" Dana grabbed him, forgetting her hurt right arm. As she gasped in pain, she tried clutching him with the other arm instead. But it was too late and his whole body glided down and disappeared into the blackness in front of her. She heard him fall with a large thud. "Dole!"

"Yeah." He answered her with a moan.

"Are you all right?" Silence and then she heard two gunshots. "Dole!" Still nothing. "Damn it Dole, answer me!"

He suddenly did. "It's dead!" And she let out a breath she didn't know she was keeping.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah. I found Doggett."

"Is he alive?"

"Yeah. But I think it's a good time to get help now."

She sighed in relief. At least this time she found her partner. "I don't know how to get out of this forest." She admitted to him.

"I do. But you'll have to get me out first." He called out from below.

She peered into the darkness and judged his distance. "Do you have anything to stack up to get out of there?"

"Sorry Scully. No office furniture and only one body."

She frowned. "Give me directions then."

"Go north. You should come to the motel. Takes about roughly half an hour, judging from how far we walked yesterday."

"All right. Meanwhile, hang on to that gun and this." She dropped her cell-phone down to him.

"It won't be much use down here, Scully!"

"Just keep it on. If I can't lead help to you, we'll use a RF detector to track you down."

'Smart is sexy.' He suddenly thought and smiled. "Hey Scully?"

"What?"

"Be careful."

Her thoughts flew to Mulder but she forced herself to think of her present partner instead. "Keep Doggett warm."

"With what?" He asked incredulously.

"Body heat, Dole." She grinned when he groaned. "Don't discriminate your own sex!"

"Very funny!"

"I'll be back soon." She promised and set off on her journey.

XXXXXXXXXXXX
Leon County - ER
4.33pm

<I won't tell your name
I won't tell your name>

Dole tapped his feet impatiently on the hospital floor as he glanced at the door for the tenth time. When she finally walked though it, he got up to meet her. She saw him and unconsciously stiffened slightly. He frowned, not liking the reaction.

She stood in front of him and greeted him. He pointed at her slinged arm. "Does it still hurt?" She shook her head and he asked her again. "How's Doggett?"

"He'll be fine. He's even strong enough to be transferred over to DC."

"So…" He hesitated, suddenly unsure of what to say. "What now?"

She looked up at him, not really knowing how to tell him that she wasn't really interested in his claims on being Mulder. Finally, she just said. "I'm sorry."

He understood her meaning. "I'm never going to see you again, am I?"

She shifted uncomfortably and shook her head.

He looked down and told her softly. "Goodbye Scully."

"Goodbye, Dole." She touched his arm gently and left him.

Dana's heart was heavy as she walked away. She just couldn't explain the feelings that that man aroused. His whole presence was so Mulder-like that it was scary! And she was desperate to get away from him.

Her cell-phone burred softly in her pocket and she fished it out. "Scully."

"Agent Scully, it's Byers."

"Did you find out anything?"

"Yeah, it's pretty weird. He seemed to have some records about his childhood and a little after that but absolutely nothing from '96 until his reappearance. He's an orphan, never adopted and grew up in a shelter all his childhood. It was closed down fifteen years ago so that's a dead end. No mention of any home addresses, phone numbers, nothing. The last workshop he was attached to burned down a year after he left and the owner passed away soon after that. Once again, nothing to go on."

She mumbled thoughtfully. "It's all a little too convenient, isn't it?"

"Yeah that's what we think too."

"Thanks Byers."

"What's this about anyway?"

"Nothing." She lied. "It's nothing important. Bye!" She hung up and walked briskly out the hospital. She eyed the rented car thoughtfully, wondering if she should risk driving with one hand. Common sense soon ruled and she chided herself for even considering the option. The lack of sleep must be affecting her judgment. The appearance of a Mulder wannabe did not help either, she thought.

Hailing a cab, she entered it and told the driver the name of the motel to go to. Then leaning back against the seat, she rubbed her tired, dusty face with her good hand.

As much as she tried not to think of him, John Dole filled her thoughts. She could almost hear Mulder's voice rebuking her, "After all you've seen, why won't you believe?" She was unable to answer the question and stared out the window absently.

Why was she so afraid to even consider the possibility? Why was she so reluctant to dig a little further? The Lone Gunmen was certainly capable of it but she just didn't want to know. Why?

The reality of her feelings dawned on her slowly. She was afraid. It has been two long years since his disappearance and her senses were beginning to forget him. His face, touch, smell and taste were beginning to fade away.

Meeting Dole and being unexplainably attracted him had shaken her to the core. What if the magnetism she felt had nothing to do with Mulder? What if she was just drawn to John Dole, plain and simple? Maybe her body and senses had decided that enough was enough and have decided to move on before her heart was willing? What if she was beginning to get over him?

'No!' She told herself firmly. 'I won't forget him. I can't.' And she softly muttered to herself. "I want him back whole. Complete. With his face."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX
2 months later
DC Memorial Site
4.11pm

It was a lovely evening. The birds and the smell of the grass filled the air and lifted her drooping spirits. She glanced at her usually hyperactive son who was surprisingly quiet; noticing that he was preoccupied with watching a little butterfly perched on the Missy's gravestone.

Dana's mother broke her thoughts. "My only regret was we never buried her with your father."

Her daughter smiled at the thought. "Mom, they would drive each other nuts."

Maggie laughed. "You're right. I forgot about that." She looked up, past the scores of tombstones in front of her as some memories of heated family squabbles flashed in her mind. While Dana was always her husband's favourite, Missy was always the rebel and caused trouble every chance she got.

It was almost a refreshing breath of fresh air when her youngest decided to join in Missy's parent-agonizing-quest and quit medicine. Her late spouse never quite understood why she did it. Missy on the other hand was trilled. For once, she was left alone to her choices as he obsessed over Dana's.

As Maggie came back to the present, she noticed a young man standing about 200 meters away from them. He seemed to be watching them. "Dana?" Maggie called out softly to her daughter.

Dana lifted up her head and looked at where her mother was looking at. 'Dole?' She thought in surprise. He caught her gaze and nodded at her. Although somewhat disconcerted, she handed Will to her mother and explained that she would only be away for a few minutes.

"What are doing here?" She asked him softly, not wanting her mother to hear their conversation.

Hesitantly, he admitted. "I don't know." He looked at Will and back at her. "Is that your son?"

She ignored his question. "I told you I didn't want to see you again."

"Well, I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"Don't give me that, Dole." She hissed. "Have you been following me?"

He shook his head quickly. "No, I haven't." He paused for a second and explained. "When I woke this morning, I suddenly felt I needed to be somewhere. This date meant something and the feeling led me here."

She frowned and shook her head, clearly not believing him. "You're telling me that a feeling led you to this cemetery, miles away from your home?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

She gave a half laugh. "Well you certainly have Mulder's talent of coming up with the most ridiculous stories."

He ignored her scarsam. "So that's his name. Mulder.." He pronounced it softly to himself. He then nodded behind her. "Who's grave is it?"

"Don't you know? I thought you knew everything?" She gave him a dubious look.

He glared at her. "Damn it Scully, I'm trying to find out who I am."

"I suggest you look elsewhere." She told him with an air of finality that told him that she was ending the conversation and turned to walk away.

Dole was frustrated. Every since she met Dana Scully, his dreams had been more frequent and more confusing. And he was desperate to figure them out. He took two long strides and caught her arm.

"Scully."

"Let me go, Dole!" She protested in a harsh whisper, mostly worried about how it would look like to her mother.

He pleaded with her. "I need your help. You're the only one that can."

"You need professional help, that's what you need!" She tried to shake her arm free but he pulled her closer to face him.

"He wasn't just your partner. He was more than that." She blinked at him. "I remember." She struggled again to break away from his grasp but he held on. "Mulder is your son's father, isn't he?"

Dana's mind was racing. She was perfectly capable of physically forcing him to release her. But she knew if she did, her mother would be alarmed. She stole a glance behind her, noting that she was already half way there. "Dole for God's sakes, this is not the time or the place and especially not with the present company!"

He looked behind her, at Maggie's worried look and understood what she meant. He let her go.

She sighed in relief and composed herself. "Thank you."

"I'm sorry." He looked slightly embarrassed.

She tried to walk away again when he told her softly. "You keep searching for him. What if ….. you already found him but don't know it?"

She hesitated. Taking the opportunity, he gently slipped something in her hand and walked away.

She looked at the matchbox in her hand. It came from a motel not far away and assumed it was where he was staying. She looked up at her visibly curious mother and started walking in her direction. Mentally preparing herself for an interrogation, she toyed with the box in her hand. Soon, she realized that its contents weren't exactly what she expected. She looked at it in surprise. Instead of matchsticks, there were a couple of sunflower seeds in it. She almost smiled and a strange feeling of deja vu crept over her. It felt familiar. She thought hard but somehow she just couldn't seem to place the moment when Mulder poured a handful of seeds in her palm a few years ago. But she was certain it happened in the same sentiment of despair.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX
DC - Willson's Point
11.50pm

<It's lonely where you are
Come back down>

He opened the door and almost breathed a sigh of relief. It was almost midnight and he was beginning to give up on her. He stood aside to let her in. She hesitated, clearly unsure if it was the right thing to do. He waited and she finally made her decision.

Walking in, she sized up the room with a quick glance. A frown told him her disapproval of his choice in motels but he ignored it and remained silent. Knowing that he was treading on every thin ice, he wanted her to down the ground rules of their liaison.

Dana took a deep breath to calm herself down. She could hardly believe that she was here. How on earth did she allow herself to be persuaded? She wondered. Then again, Mulder had always managed to talk her into anything and considering that this man was claiming to be him…

She looked up at him nervously and took the opportunity she never took before to study him at close range. His face looked nothing like her ex-partner. However, she could detect some similarities in the overall face structure.

Her gaze trailed to the rest of his body and confirmed her previous impressions. He had the same height, frame and physique; okay maybe this man was slightly thinner. Then there was the way he stood and walked. His voice, his touch, his arms that once held her a few months ago and his distinct Mulder scent…..

She shook herself slightly and cursed silently. 'What was wrong with her?' She had to stop feeling and start thinking. There has to be a rationale explanation for all this. Maybe she had finally gone out of her mind. Maybe her obsession of finding Mulder had spilled into her unconsciousness making her so vulnerable that she had begun to believe that this man was him. After all, all the signs she had recognized so far were only vague senses of familiarity and nothing else. Nothing really concrete.

As for the fact that this man could replay certain events that took place in her life with Mulder, any psychic could do that; well at least theoretically they could. The truth was she didn't trust him. She needed more proof. But what?

After a brief silence, she told him softly. "Take off your shirt."

He was stunned, certainly not expecting her words. "Why?"

"Mulder had been shot a couple of times." She explained.

Surprise filled his face and the doubts of his identity began to vanish. He did have scars; he just never knew what they were until now. Slowly, he removed his T-shirt.

Her face paled when she saw them. When her breathing resumed, she stepped forward to take a closer look at his right shoulder where she shot him once upon a time ago. She reached out to touch it as if seeing was not sufficient.

She touched him. It was real and it was exactly the same scar Mulder had. She knew it well. She used to fall asleep in his arms while fingering the smooth texture of the wound. It reminded her of how much they had been through for each other to the point of taking such drastic action to hurt and yet protect him.

Dole stood still. Her cool fingers brought him back through time and flashes of them together rushed through his blood. His dreams were only dreams until this moment. Now everything was real, he was feeling his visions now. From mere nothingness, they become existent. She had made them real with a simple touch. He now trusted her….. he now loved her.

He looked into her blue, searching eyes and felt her confusion. He saw that she was still trying to hold on to reason, at least whatever was left of it. And Dole had no intention of giving her a chance to retreat in the name of common sense. What was happening between them was beyond any realm of logic. It should be set apart on a different scale altogether, like a special metric system of life.

Slowly, he slipped his hand behind her neck. She jumped slightly at his touch but froze when he gently fingered the chip at the base of her neck. She gasped and closed her eyes tightly.

With her eyes shut, reality became a blur and drifted away. Her senses were suddenly alive and she began to be aware of the pair of hands that touched her. They seemed to belong on her skin, the very same pair that could only be Mulder's.

The scientist in her protested wildly, screaming in her to wake up from this dangerous oblivion. She ignored her and willingly let herself believe. For once, she wanted so much to believe. The thought made her smile. 'Oh how proud Mulder would be, just knowing that.' And her eyes filled up with tears, falling freely.

He touched her face, feeling the wetness of her cheek and immediately began to feel guilty. He had made her cry and he didn't mean too. He just wanted to know the truth although he could sense that it wouldn't be an easy truth to discover. Wishing to console and soothe her emotions, he softly kissed her forehead. Then unable to help himself, he leaned lower to kiss her mouth.

When his lips gently descended on hers, she physically started. The impact of the contact shook her to the core. 'Mulder' was the first word that came to her mind. 'Oh God! Mulder!'

He felt her reaction and he paused. Lifting his head slightly, he whispered in her ear. "Remember?"

She took a while to respond. And when she did, she could only nod. It was encouragement enough; he now kissed her thoroughly. Someway in between, she murmured his name against his lips. "Mulder…" But he gave her no more chance to do so for a while.

When his lips left hers and trailed to other features on her face, he waited for her to say something. She remained quiet and he soon understood why. "You keep your eyes closed because you're afraid I'll disappear when you open them."

A fresh tear glided down her cheek. "You do." She whispered back.

He frowned, not knowing how to feel. Part of him wanted to be the man she calls Mulder. Another part of him knew that he wasn't. At least, not yet. There was still so much more to figure out. So many memories that he did not understand.

And although he had wanted her to believe in the possibility, he knew he couldn't mislead her. She needed to know what she was getting herself into. Cupping her chin, he firmly told her. "Open your eyes, Scully."

Reluctantly, she did. And the look of disappointment on her face was unmistakenable. His heart fell. They were both silent for a while.

Disappointed was too mild a word. Dana was devastated. She could hear the scientist in her head laughing hysterically at her and repeating I-told-you-so in a singsong like fashion. Cursing herself for being so silly, she wondered what exactly did she expect? Did she think he would morph into Mulder or something? He did in a way, as long as she kept her eyes closed…..

She tried pulling away from him but he held on firmly to her hand. And she took note of a slight bone deformity on one of his fingers, exactly the same spot where Mulder's finger was once broken by a terrorist. It cheered her up a little; at least she found one more justifiable indication of his identity. She soon thought of another and ran her other hand through his hair, feeling the side of his head.

Slightly irritated and still not forgiving her for her previous crushed look she had on, he asked sarcastically. "Still looking for gunshot wounds? Why bother? I still don't have his face."

She raised an eyebrow at the tone of his voice but did not answer. When she felt a slight rough abrasion on his scalp, she told him. "I'm a scientist, I gather evidence."

"How much more proof do you need, Scully? Fingerprints? A blood sample?"

She shook her head. "We can try but 'they' would have taken care of it. Remember, with your amnesia, the police would have ran your fingerprints for matches. Since they didn't find any, it could only mean that all of Mulder's fingerprint records and blood samples have probably been replaced with fake ones."

He frowned at her. "They?"

She shook her head in amusement. The man that stood before her certainly did not have Mulder's paranoia, maybe because he hadn't lived his memories. It made her think of the age-old question of what makes a person; one's genetic makeup or one's childhood?

Sighing, she backed away from him a little and asked. "How much do you know about him?"

"Just bits and pieces." He admitted. "When did he disappear?"

"Nearly two years ago." She flinched slightly as the memory pained her.

"How?"

"He just disappeared." She hesitated. "The theory was he was abducted."

He raised an eyebrow at the choice of her words. "You mean kidnapped?"

She looked at him, nearly smiling. "No, abducted. The men and women that disappeared with him were former abductees."

He gaped slightly. "Abductees as in …. a..li..ens abductees?"

She nodded, trying to keep a straight face as his face contorted in horror.

He asked her again. "Aliens from outer space took Mulder?"

"Somehow when you put it that way…"

"Is this some kind of sick joke?" He interrupted her.

She glared at him. "I'm not really in the mood for jokes at this moment, Mulder."

"It's Dole." He told her crisply.

She looked surprised. "Oh, now it's Dole? You sure conveniently change your identity to suit the mood, don't you?"

"Hey, at least I'm not delusional. You're talking about aliens, for God's sakes? And you're the scientist!"

Dana rolled her eyes heavenward. 'The irony of this is just hysterical!' She thought but asked him patiently. "Do you have flashes of melting creatures in glass pods or something? Lots of smoke? Ice maybe?"

He froze and stared at her. "Yeah." He answered her in a whisper.

"Well, that's what he told me he saw in Antarctica. I never believed him. But I believed that he believed he saw them. I'm not the delusional one, Dole." He shifted uncomfortably.

She added. "Mulder spent his whole life on the paranormal. He was like a walking, talking encyclopedia of the occult and any race of mythological history known to man. **He** was the believer and I was …." She drifted off and added in softly "I was his touchstone."

Various scenes with her incredulous looks at him darted across his memory. He began to piece some fragments in his mind and soon understood what she had meant. No doubt her looks were in response to some of his ridiculous beliefs she described. He almost smiled, recalling that he liked her reaction too much and most of the time sprouted science fiction on purpose just to catch her endearing raised eyebrow.

Her character was now more defined in his heart. And he suddenly realized the amount of courage it took for her to come to him tonight. She went against her beloved science and took a chance on him.

He asked her in a whisper. "Was he?" She frowned and he elaborated. "Was he really taken by aliens?"

"I don't know." She took a step towards him. "What I do know is that you are almost him."

"Except for the face."

She reached out and touched it gently. "Whoever did this, did a great job."

"Plastic surgery?"

"If it was, it was one major face lift."

"I guess the next question would be why?" She nodded in agreement.

Suddenly Dole was afraid of knowing more. He slowly caught her hand from his face and let it go. Turning his back on her, he walked to the edge of the room and stared out of the window into the darkness. All of a sudden, he just wanted to go home, back to his simple life as a mechanic. He now knew what Mike meant before he left home. 'Be careful what you wished for!' How right he was!

She watched him and understood his feelings. She smiled tightly, not blaming him for having second thoughts. Mulder's life was certainly not an easy one to accept in someone else much less to accept it as your own.

Slowly she walked towards him and clasped his hand. He looked at her, like he did years ago outside the FBI building right after their adventure in Antarctica. She told him. "If you quit now….." She drifted off and waited for his reply.

He cocked his head to one side and slowly finished the sentence. "'They' win." She nodded. He was silent for a while and then whined in confusion. "Scully, who the hell are 'they'?"

She laughed but sobered up quickly. "I guess 'they' would be the ones that took your sister, Samantha away from you. That marked the beginning of your fight against 'them'."

He frowned. "They tried taking you away too."

She lifted her face closer to his. "But you found me."

He could vaguely make out what she meant, recalling images of dragging themselves out of a really cold sewer-like tunnel, was it in Antarctica as she said? He shook his head slightly and pulled her closer to him, taking comfort in one constant - the redhead that accompanied him in every dream.

If she was uncomfortable, it lasted only for a minute as the familiarity of Mulder's presence swept over her. Dole had once again transformed into Mulder. So she closed her arms around his and reveled in the illusion.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX
DC - Willson's Point
8.11am

<And I won't tell your name>

A loud rap on the door woke her up. Groaning, she glanced her watch in irritation. 'Good, it was still too early to be nice.' She thought and mentally resolved to murder the person behind the door.

Only then did she realize than Dole was missing from the bed. She frowned and looked about the room, wondering if he was in the bathroom. She got up from the bed and looked about for her blouse.

Another insistent rap made her jump and she cursed under her breath. "Who is it?" She yelled at the door.

"Room service." She made out from the muffled voice.

Giving up the search, she grabbed Dole's shirt from the floor and slipped it on. Thankfully it was long enough to decently cover her. Running her hand through her messy hair, she started to make her way towards the door.

Then she froze. 'What was she thinking? There's no room service in this dump!' She took her gun from the nightstand and walked to the entrance. Tiptoeing, she looked through the peephole. 'Doggett?' She blinked in surprise and unlocked the door.

Her partner's grinning countenance greeted her. "Good morning."

"What are you doing here?" She hissed at him and glanced at the bathroom. The door was open and it was obviously empty. Dole must have gone out.

Doggett ignored her question, took a downward look at her attire and clucked his tongue in disgust. "You think you know someone…" He trailed off.

She rolled her eyes. "Did you follow me?"

He finally decided to answer her. "Yes."

"Why?"

"Because your mom called me. Told me about a guy harassing you in the cemetery yesterday. She was worried."

Dana sighed. "Great!"

"So come on partner, tell Uncle Doggett every teensy weensy, intimate, kinky detail." He waggled his eyebrows at her.

"Why are all my partners perverts?"

"Hey, I tell you everything."

She frowned at him. "No, you don't."

He looked hurt. "Well, I would if you asked me."

She rubbed her forehead in frustration. "Doggett!"

"Okay okay. She called last night after you left. She managed to catch the name of the motel on the matchbox you were playing with all throughout dinner; and guessed you'd be here. I found your car outside and waited and waited and waited but you didn't come out. So, I checked out with registration, flashed my badge and found a familiar name - John Dole." He paused and raised an eyebrow. "Told you he was a fox."

She glared at him so he continued. "Anyway, I didn't want to disturb anything historically eventful (considering that fact that you haven't had sex since Mulder disappeared) so I went back to my car for a nap. Woke up this morning, waited until he left the room and dropped by to see if you were all right. That's my story."

She scowled. How the hell did he know she hadn't had sex since then anyway? Not that he wasn't right.

He disregarded her look and demanded her side of the story. "Now, it's your turn."

She stepped back in surprise. It never occurred to her that she would have to offer an explanation until now. Flustered, she bit her lip, not knowing what to tell him.

Doggett tapped his foot impatiently on the floor and grinned. It wasn't often that Dana Scully was put in a spot and he loved every moment of it.

She soon gave up. "You know it's really none of your business!"

His grin grew. "Fine. But a word of advice, you might want to let your mother in on your sexual exploits. She was really worried."

Dana grabbed at his sleeve. "Look my mom is never going to know about this. As far as she's concerned, we were out on a case."

"She'll never buy that! She called me to look for you."

"I'll tell her that I called you just after she did and then we met up. And you're sticking to that story."

"Dana, you're a big girl now. It's not like we're in high school…"

"Damn it, Doggett! Just play along." She whined.

He sighed. "All right, although I still don't see what the big deal is."

"Thank you." She told him, clearly dismissing him.

He took the hint. As he turned to leave, he asked her. "Hey, are you all right?" She looked at him in surprise and he sheepishly added. "This is just not something you do. It's something **I** would do but not you."

"Maybe I'm taking your advice." She shrugged. "You told me once to move on with my life."

He raised an eyebrow. "Since when have you started listening to **my** advice?"

She smiled.

"You're not serious with guy, are you?"

"I don't know." She answered him honestly. "Maybe."

He was visibly shocked. "Dana, he's from Leon County and he works in a garage."

"So?"

"He's just not …… boyfriend material." He checked himself. "I mean, you're a doctor and .. oh you know what I mean."

She looked amused and suddenly realized that Doggett was right. If they did decide to further their relationship in public, it would certainly cause quite an uproar in the FBI rumour mill. Not that she cared but her mom and Skinner would be harder to convince. "Don't worry about me, okay? Like you said, I'm a big girl."

He smiled and accepted her words gracefully. Leaning down, he kissed her forehead. "Call me if you need me." He told her softly and walked out the door, closing it behind him.

Dana stared absently at the closed door. He was so different from Mulder. Her ex-partner would have interrogated her and gave her hell if she was ever caught in a situation like this. But then he was in love with her so…

She thought about last night and how it happened so naturally. At first she was somewhat surprised at herself for allowing it. Then she realized that it could only be because she believed and consequently took her faith to the next level.

Somewhere in between proving Dole wrong, she had proved him right. She had recognized Mulder in him in too many ways to care about his missing face. He was still essentially the man she loved. Every fibre in her body was telling her so.

She smiled. 'Hadn't it always been the case with Mulder?' He had the knack of always being right. The harder she worked at proving his theories false, the more humble pie she had to swallow.

She was awakened from her thoughts when she heard the doorknob rattle and Dole walked through the door. "Morning." He greeted her, a little shyly at first. She too felt a little self-conscious and started picking up her clothes to hide a blush.

Dole placed the coffee and cookies on the table and began to help her. He handed out her blouse to her. She took it without looking at him. He caught her hand and thus forced her to. "Scully, last night…"

She interrupted him. "Yeah, I know."

He smiled at her. "You didn't let me finish."

She blushed further and changed the topic. "Doggett came by."

He was stunned. "Did you call him?"

"No." She waved away the explanation as if it wasn't important.

"Does he know?"

She shook her head. "I didn't tell him. He wouldn't understand." She hesitated. "He'll just think I'm crazy or something."

"You know Mulder the best. If you say I'm him then I'm him. I'm sure he'll believe you."

She looked away. "When Mulder disappeared, I went into depression. If it weren't for Will's sake, I probably would never have gotten out of it."

He understood what she was trying to say. "He'll think you've gone over the edge."

She nodded and looked up at him. "I think we should keep this to ourselves. Besides, it'll give you time to figure yourself out as well."

He was quiet for a while and then voiced a nagging doubt. "You're sure I'm him?"

"I'm positive, **especially** after last night."

He looked at her questioningly, not sure what she was implying. She grinned mischievously and he soon followed suite, beginning to understand exactly which part of last night that had convinced her.

She suddenly realized that they hadn't talked about Will yet. And she wondered how he felt about fatherhood. Mulder would have been trilled; terrified first but eventually trilled. The feat would hold a special significance for them both; that they had at least won in one battle and brought a child out of her previously barren womb.

"There's someone I think you should meet soon."

He guessed. "Your son?"

She corrected him. "**Our** son."

He nodded and frowned. Catching his nervousness, she almost smiled, thinking maybe he wasn't that far away from being Mulder after all.

"I don't remember him."

She understood his unspoken question and told him. "I didn't know I was pregnant until he disappeared." She laughed softly. "I didn't even think it was possible."

He didn't understand her last sentence but decided not to ask, as she seemed pained by it. "What about your mother? What will you tell her?"

She looked thoughtful for a while and suggested. "Well, you're a mechanic and my car badly needs tuning. Maybe you could come check it out? And there's no harm introducing you to Will then."

He got the idea and nodded thoughtfully.

She continued. "We could start with a purely professional relationship and…" Shrugging, she added. "….. work our way from there."

He raised an eyebrow, thinking about what Mike had said about not being her type. "I don't know, Scully. Is that even possible in real life?"

She understood where he was going with this and insisted. "We'll make it possible."

He shook her head. "It's just that ….. you deserve better."

She frowned at his vehemence. "You not gonna disappear on me again are you?"

"No." He sighed. "If I were an FBI agent, like Mulder was, it wouldn't be that bad. But I'm not."

"Why did you choose to work with cars anyway?"

"I just followed the clues left behind from what I thought was my past." He laughed. "Come to think of it, now I know why I initially sucked at it."

She laughed too. "Well technically, you should still have Mulder's talents, traits and know-how. It's somewhere in your brain." Taking his hand in hers, she told him. "The thing is, I don't care what you do. I just don't want to lose you again. And even if it convinces everyone I'm crazy, I still want to be with you. I want Will to know you. I want us to be a family."

He looked into her blue eyes and smiled. "It's what you always wanted, isn't it? A shot at a normal life?"

"Hopefully, although I have to say it's beginning is far from conventional. A wretched start but I'm willing to take the risk." She looked up at him intently. "The question is, are you?"

He only hesitated for a second. "Yes, I am." He told her and copied the mischievous grin she previously used on him. "**Especially** after last night."

She smiled, pulled him closer and kissed him.

In between, he asked her softly. "Scully, were we lovers for long?"

She frowned, trying to recall and respond to his touch at the same time. "Not really. We resisted the temptation for years."

"Mmmm…that would explain the intense unresolved sexual tension in most of my memories." He mumbled softly against her lips. "Explain my frequent self indulgences as well."

She laughed. "6 years of forbearance and 2 years of your disappearance. We certainly have a lot to catch up for, don't we? "

"Well let's get it on, Honeybunch."

"Dole. Call me that again and you'll be left again to your own devices."

"Oh?" He challenged and began convincing her that there was no way she would allow herself to act on her threat.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Outside DC - Sunbreeze Motel
3pm

Marita looked up from her papers when he entered the room. He looked perturbed, a little more than usual. Instead of asking, she waited for him to tell her. Krycek was never the one to beat around the bush.

"She found him." He finally told her.

She frowned, trying to make sense of his words.

He smiled a little and added a hint. "Your ex-boyfriend….."

Her eyes widened in shock as she realized who he meant. "How?" She demanded.

He shrugged as if it wasn't important, hesitated and then decided to tell her anyway. "As ironic as it sounds, an X-file brought them together." Taking the chair facing her, he sat down and stretched himself out comfortably. "I have to admit that Mulder is one lucky son-of-a-bitch!"

Marita leaned back in her seat and thought of the consequences of such a development. It was still beyond her how Agent Scully identified him. The surgery was a complete success. Even she thought she had gone into the wrong recovery room when the bandages came off.

She didn't say anything so he told her more. "They first met more than a month ago but they parted without any signs of recognition. I thought the procedure was a complete success. But then he arrived in DC yesterday and contacted her. She's with him now in a cheesy motel." He looked around the room and wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Kinda like this one."

She glared at him accusingly. "You screwed up!"

"We both knew that the procedure was experimental." He answered her flippantly. "Brain-washing is not exactly like stripping paint off a sidewalk, you know."

"How can you be so calm? 'They' are not going to be happy about this…."

He interrupted her. "Actually, I don't give a shit what 'they' think. 'They' only let us in because 'they' needed someone to clean up 'their' messes."

"'They' still need him. It's the only reason why we went to so much trouble to make him a 'nobody'. Now that she's found him, it will be hard to take him again."

"A 'nobody' is hard to find, Marita." He smiled. "But now we know exactly where to find him when we need him." She looked at him questioningly and his smile grew. "He has a little boy now. He's not going anywhere."

She caught the gleefulness in his voice and felt slightly sick. "The boy has nothing to do with this, Krycek. Leave him out of it."

He raised an eyebrow. "Everybody has something to do with this. It's **life** we're talking about. Besides, his very existence is almost a divine intervention. His father should be ever willing to be taken. Sort of a gesture of gratefulness to the higher beings."

She frowned at him. "You're a sick man."

He looked at her with a mock wounded look. "My my, aren't we getting a little protective over Mr. Mulder's affairs…." Slowly pushing back the chair, he got up and walked towards the door.

"Are you telling 'them'?" She asked him just before he reached the doorway.

He turned and looked thoughtful for a moment. "Depends….." Taking out his sunglasses from him pocket, he blew away the dust and settled it gently on his nose. "You were the one that suggested Leon County, weren't you?"

She tried to look nonchalant. "Maybe I did, I don't remember…"

"I do. I suggested miles and miles away from DC but you insisted…" He trailed off and gave her knowing look. "Do you want me to tell 'them'?"

She pursed her lips and glared at him, knowing that he knew. She meekly offered a soft explanation. "After all this time, maybe they deserve this."

He shook his head at her slowly and mocked her. "You're getting soft, Marita."

"You were once on his side." She reminded him.

He contradicted her. "I'm on nobody's side but my own. Never forget that." He paused and then walked out the door, closing it behind him.

Marita sighed sadly. Mulder was never going to be safe. She wished 'they' would leave him alone. Biting her lip, she muttered to herself. "I wish 'they'd' leave **me** alone too."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX
End of Man Without A Face

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