Margaret Scully watched her two daughters warily. She could sense the argument brewing.

"Mom, what is the point in unpacking? I mean we're going to move in a few months anyway. I don't even know why we bother." Her youngest daughter, Dana said as she flopped dejectedly on the couch. She played with the braid that flopped over her shoulder. "And besides, who has ever heard of Chilmark?"

"Dana, you know none of us wanted to move again, but Dad got orders. Heaven knows that I didn't want to move in the middle of my senior year, but do you see me complaining?" Melissa snapped.

Maggie decided to cut the argument off before Charles got into it. "All right that's enough. Are you two done unpacking?" Both of her daughters nodded sullenly. "Good. Dana, I need you to run to the store. Missy, I need you to ride herd over your brother. I assume that you can handle these tasks." Dana sighed and got up. Maggie handed Dana a shopping list and money. Melissa got up and went upstairs.

'It's so unfair. Why do we always have to move when we just start to make friends?' Dana thought. She walked up to the store and opened the door. She grabbed a cart and started throwing stuff in it. She wandered down an aisle, not really paying attention to where she was going, until she smacked into another cart.

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." She looked up into the most wonderful pair of hazel eyes and lost her train of thought. A smile later, she almost forgot how to breathe.

"That's ok. Are you new to town?" Dana nodded.

"Dana Scully."

"Fox Mulder." He shook her outstretched hand. The two talked for a minute, until a voice interrupted them.

"Fox?"

"Yes, Mom?"

"Come on, we have to go."

"Oh, Mom, this is Dana Scully. Her family just moved here."

"Hello. Welcome to Chilmark. I'm sorry to drag him away, but we have to go."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Mulder, Fox." Dana turned the cart around and went in search of ice cream.

Dana propped the door open with her hip and walked into the house. She put the groceries down on the table and started to put them away. After she was finished, she kicked her shoes off and laid down on the couch.

"Did you put the groceries away?"

"Yes." Maggie crouched down and brushed a hand over Dana's hair.

"Why don't you go upstairs and go to bed? You have to go to school tomorrow."

"All right. G'night, Mom."

"Good night."

Dana's alarm clock went off at 6:30 the next morning. She looked up at the ceiling and rolled her eyes. She thought that it was too bad that Fox was probably out of school. She could use the sight of a friendly face. She rolled out of bed and changed into the clothes that she set out last night. She pulled her hair back and braided it. She looked at her reflection and sighed. Dana came down the stairs slowly, trying to mentally run through her day. Her mom had already gotten Charles his breakfast. She wandered over to the toaster and grabbed a piece of toast.

"Dana, time to go." Since both of them were in high school, Dana and Melissa decided to walk together.

Just outside the high school, their eyes met and both of them sighed. They walked through the front doors together and found the office. They got their schedules and went their separate ways. Dana wandered down row after row of lockers, looking for hers.

"Let's see...1119...1120...1121, here it is." She spun the combination and tried to pull it open. It seemed like it was stuck. She was about to try again when a hand pounded on the locker making it open. Dana spun around, searching for her helper. She almost had a heart attack when she caught sight of Fox Mulder.

"God, you scared me half to death."

"Sorry about that. I had that locker last year. I was wondering who the lucky recipient would be." He smiled.

"Well, you're looking at her."

"Indeed I am. So what's your schedule?"

"Have a look." She handed the card to him. She noticed the look of complete shock cross his face. "What?"

"You and I have almost every single class together."

"You're joking."

"Nope." He shook his head. "Well, come on, Mrs. Grey is really strict."

"Oh, boy." She said in her most sarcastic voice.

"You got it." She grabbed a pencil and a notebook and followed Fox.

At lunch, they sat at the same table. Dana told him about her family and Fox filled her in on the gossip. When she asked about his family, he grew strangely quiet.

"What?"

"Well, my family is 180 degrees from yours. We're extremely dysfunctional."

"Come on, no one's family is more dysfunctional than mine."

"Well, mine is." He stared at his food for a second, then looked up sharply at Dana. "Can I trust you?"

"Yes."

"I did have a sister, but she's gone. One night, she was abducted. I tried to run for my dad's gun, but all of a sudden, I was paralyzed by fear. I wasn't able to help her."

"And there are no clues about who abducted her?"

"None. No note, no phone call. It finally tore the family apart two years ago. My dad lives down in Martha's Vineyard."

"Ouch. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I knew that it was coming, so it wasn't very traumatic."

She got the conversation back onto a happier track for the rest of lunch.

"Dana, how was school today?"

"Good."

"Would you care to elaborate?"

"Okay, I've already made a friend. I met him yesterday at the grocery store and it turns out that we have almost every class together."

"What's his name?"

"Fox Mulder." Melissa jumped into the conversation.

"Fox Mulder? I heard some rumors about him today."

"Like what?"

"Well, they call him 'Spooky'. They say that he believes in UFO's and all that other junk."

"So?"

"Dana, Melissa. Don't start. Are we ever going to meet him?"

"He's coming over tonight to help me with my homework."

"Okay."

Fox took a deep breath and knocked on the Scully's door. He could hear running for the door. Dana opened it up.

"Hi. Come on in." She held the door open wide and motioned for him to come in.

"Thanks." He looked around. "Wow. Nice place." His gaze focused on the woman coming from the kitchen. the resemblance between her and Dana was striking.

"Mom, this is Fox Mulder. Fox, my mom."

"Hi Mrs. Scully."

"Hello Fox." Dana rolled her eyes.

"Come on. All my stuff is in the den."

Three months later, William Scully told his family that they were being transferred again. The others took it in stride, but Dana started to cry. She hurriedly excused herself and ran up the stairs. Maggie came up a few minutes later to console her daughter. Sure she put up arguments every time they moved, but this seemed to be the worst time. She sat down on Dana's bed and stroked her hair until she calmed down.

"It's n-not f-fair," she said, hiccuping.

"I know, honey."

"I want to stay here. I actually have a friend here. Why do we always have to move?"

"I don't know, honey." After a few minutes, Dana seemed to fall asleep, so Maggie tucked her in and turned out the light. As soon as the door shut, Dana's eyes flew open. She picked up the phone and dialed Fox's number. He answered on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Fox, we need to talk. Meet me at our place at 8."

"Okay."

Dana hung up and started planning how she would sneak out of the house.

At 8 o'clock, Dana paced nervously in one of the many fields around town. Fox had taken her here about two months ago to look at the stars. They stayed out here until midnight, when Dana had to sneak back into her house. They came out here an average of two nights a week, just to talk about anything.

"Dana, what's wrong?" She spun towards the voice.

"Fox, I got some bad news tonight."

"What?"

"Daddy's being transferred again." She started to cry again and Fox hugged her close.

"Shhh. It'll be ok."

"No, it won't. I'll never forget you. I'll always wonder if you're ok, if..."

"Dana, calm down. I promise everything will be fine." The moon reflected off his eyes and Dana could see them clearly.

"When are you leaving?"

"At the end of the week. I don't want to go, I want to stay here."

"I want you to stay, too. I'll tell you what, the night before you leave, come back out here. I'll have a surprise waiting for you." He kissed her on her forehead, something that he had done before, but it didn't lose its impact. He turned and walked back to his house and she did the same. She climbed the tree that was right next to her bedroom window. Even though she had seen 'Pollyanna' three times, it didn't deter her. She just paid very close attention to what she was doing. She got back into bed and wondered what Fox was planning.

On Friday night, Dana claimed that she was tired and went to bed early. Maggie didn't argue with her, since she was taking the move hard.

A little before eight, Dana opened her window and climbed down the tree. She ran towards the field as fast as she could go. She got there a few minutes later. Fox had beat her there. He had already spread the blanket out on the ground.

"Fox?"

"Dana? Good, you're here. I thought that you weren't coming."

"I had a little trouble coming up with an excuse to get to bed."

"Come on." He held out his hand and led her over to the blanket. They laid there for a few minutes in silence.

"Dana?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you like me?"

"Of course I do, you're my best friend."

"I mean do you like me besides as a friend?" Dana thought for a second. 'What the hell? You'll probably never see him again.'

"Yeah. I guess that I always have, ever since you smiled at me for the first time." He rose up on one arm and looked in her eyes. She looked back into his. His face came down and he kissed her softly on the lips. She kissed him back and after a few minutes they came up for air. They looked into each other's eyes for the truth. Fox smiled and kissed her again. Dana knew where this was headed, and knew that they shouldn't, but she didn't care.

While she was climbing up the tree back to her room, the moon hit Fox's class ring on her finger. As soon as she was back in her room, she smiled and twirled it around on her finger. Her body was still humming with pleasure as she went to sleep.

The next morning she woke up with the sun. Her good mood plummeted when she realized that she had to leave today.

They were fixing to leave when Fox came up to her house. She ran up to him and threw her arms around him.

"I'll miss you, Dana."

"I'll miss you, too, Fox."

"Take care of yourself." He was trying to hold back tears. Dana hugged him again.

"I'll never forget you."

"It's impossible to forget you. Bye."

"Bye, Fox." Dana got into the car and left.

There was a knock on the door to the X-Files office. Fox Mulder looked up from the files he was digging in.

"Come in." The junior agent poked his head in nervously. Telling 'Spooky' Mulder that he was getting a partner was not high on his to-do list.

"Um, here, sir." He held out a piece of paper.

"Just set it on the desk." The agent did as he was told, then high-tailed it out. Mulder got up a few minutes later and looked at the letter. 'Great,' he thought. 'I don't need a partner, I'm doing fine on my own.'

At the same time, Dana Scully was being interviewed by Section Chief Blevins.

"I see that you've been with us for just over two years."

"Yes, sir." Her gaze drifted to the man smoking a cigarette. "I was recruited right out of medical school."

"I see. Are you familiar with an agent named Fox Mulder?" Her internal shock did not show on her face.

"Yes sir."

"How so?"

"By reputation. He's an Oxford-educated psychologist. Did a monograph on serial killers and the occult. Helped to capture Monty Props in 1988. He had a nickname at the Academy. 'Spooky' Mulder."

"Are you familiar with the so-called X-Files?"

"I believe that they have to deal with unexplained phenomena."

"You are correct. We want you to assist Agent Mulder and write field reports on the validity of the X-Files."

"Am I under the understanding that you want me to debunk the X-Files sir?"

"We trust that you'll make the proper scientific decisions. We look forward to your reports." Scully grabbed her file off Blevin's desk and walked out. She took the elevator down to the basement. She looked around to make sure that no one was looking, then slipped Fox's ring out of her pocket and put it on her finger. She walked towards the office door and knocked on it.

"Sorry, nobody down except the FBI's most unwanted." She shook her head and pushed the door open. 'He hasn't changed.' She crept up behind him and put her hand in front of his face. He focused on the ring and a shudder ran through his body.

"Dana?"

"I'm here, Fox. I never forgot you." He whirled around and picked her up in a hug. He kissed her.

"You always did taste good." he said before she could protest. He was rewarded with one of her precious smiles. "I kept up with you. I even have your thesis."

"I kept up with you, too. I have your monograph." He set her down for a minute, went over to the door and locked it.

"Fox, what are you doing?"

"We have a lot to catch up on." She grasped the double meaning instantly. Coupled with his smile, she knew what they'd be doing for a long time.

THE END