Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Fox Mulder strolled into his basement office at the FBI, his spirits high, his motivation to work a little low, but happy to be there. It was one of those days where everything just felt like it was going to go right, and he was all set to enjoy it. 

Swinging himself down into his chair, Mulder threw his feet up on the desk and waited for his partner, Dana Scully, to arrive. She appeared right on time, and his mood got even better now that he had someone there to play with. 

“Happy Friday Scully! I hope you’re ready for a good one,” he greeted her, sitting up with a smile. 

Knowing all the kinds of things that would be likely to have Mulder looking so cheerful, a little flash of concern flickered over Scully’s face. “Oh no, what is it? We’re not taking off anywhere today are we? I really wanted to relax this weekend.” She gave him a hopeful look.

“Nope, rest assured, we are not going anywhere. Because tonight Scully, not only are the Knicks playing, they are also going to win, and I am going to be tuned in to watch them do it. And with that as an opener, this weekend can only be good!” 

Grabbing two pens, Mulder finished his announcement with a little drumroll on the edge of the desk. 

Scully smirked, amused to find him so energised. “They’re going to win? How do you happen to know this Mulder? Have your years investigating the paranormal now bestowed you with psychic powers?”

“I just know,” he said, leaning back and giving her a beatific smile. 

“Well, I’m glad to hear we’re staying put. Because I owe Skinner field reports, and so do you, and you also owe me lunch for doing those reports for you last month,” Scully reminded him, placing a little stack of manila folders on his desk with a graceful flourish. 

Mulder refused to have the wind taken from his sails. “The thing I like about reports is, they can always be done later,” he told her. “And the thing we have learned from the X-Files is…” - he pulled his desk drawer open, swept the folders into it and rolled it shut. “Sometimes things disappear.” 

Scully nodded in wry agreement, unable to deny this was true. 

Bouncing to his feet, Mulder went over to the TV in the corner. “Ok, now, come check this out. Someone posted me a tape of some recent UFO activity over Iceland. UFOs and the aurora borealis Scully! It looks amazing!”

His face was lit with excitement to share the video with her. Seeing that Mulder was undeterrable from having himself a fun day in the office, Scully sighed in resignation and settled in beside him to watch it. The little blinking “ships”, if that’s what they were, flitted around grainily against the majestically shifting backdrop of the Northern Lights, darting and swooping. It did look pretty.

Mulder held up his end of their bargain to take her to lunch, although his running commentary throughout on all the Knicks’ latest game stats and why they meant they were guaranteed a win that night was not quite the tasty side dish for Scully that it clearly was for him. 

She did manage to corral him into at least making a start on the field reports when they got back. As the last hour of the later afternoon was running down, Assistant Director Skinner appeared in the doorway of the basement office. Scully was glad he’d caught them actually working instead of watching UFO tapes. 

“Good afternoon, sir,” she greeted him. He gave her a nod. 

“Agent Scully. I’m going to need you to do an autopsy this evening. A body has been found in connection with a series of disappearances we’ve had reported in from a small town called Greenwood.”

“Is this an X-File, sir?” Mulder asked.

“I’m hoping Agent Scully’s autopsy will help decide that. So far we have almost nothing to go on. The local PD isn’t really co-operating with the investigation, which is odd in itself. And the reports concerning the three disappearances they’ve had so far are also somewhat light on detail.”

Opening the file Skinner passed over to her, Scully ran a practiced eye over the summary regarding the cadaver. “The body shows signs of being bitten? Human bitemarks?”

Mulder’s antennae popped up. She could nearly hear him thinking vampires - but the photos in the file were of actual bites, the flesh torn and tattered. Blood drinking did not appear to be the object here. 

“We’ll be looking for your verification on that, Agent Scully,” Skinner said. “Let me know your findings.”

Seeing Mulder was starting to gather up his things, Skinner turned towards him, his usual stern look becoming a little sterner. “I don’t think I dismissed you yet, agent.”

“Well, there's no need for me to be here is there sir? Scully can fill me in after she does the autopsy," Mulder said. He shifted from foot to foot, ready to get out the door. No way was he missing watching tonight's game. 

"Actually, you’ll be needed too. We’ve got a black market arms trade case that’s been picking up steam and the team running the surveillance detail has been short-staffed all week. They need an agent to help clear the backlog. I've been asked to pull in anyone I can," Skinner told him. 

Mulder kept his face polite and professional while silently putting intense pressure on every filling in his jaw. Surveillance! Not tonight!

"Oh no! All your plans," Scully said under her breath, making a mournful little face. 

Mulder glanced at her in surprise. He could see the laughter in her eyes. He supposed he deserved it after being so eager to take off while she'd just had a Friday-night autopsy dumped on her. 

"I'll uh... follow that up sir," he told Skinner. 

As soon as their boss had retreated far enough in the direction of the basement elevator, Scully grinned at him. 

"The preliminary work is all done here,” she said, waving the file.  “Ten to one I will have that autopsy done within two hours," she told him. "Maximum.”

Looking down, she played idly with the edge of her thumbnail, nonchalant. "I wonder if there's anything good on tonight..." 

"Scully, you wouldn't!” Mulder implored, eyes round and wounded. He'd assumed she would come help him with the surveillance backlog after the autopsy. 

"Wouldn't I? As I recall it, I was told to do an autopsy this evening. That's all."

Scooping up her jacket and bag, Scully breezed from the room. "See you Monday, Mulder!" she called over her shoulder. 

Mulder slumped down in his chair, deflated. 

Many long hours later, he finally reached his apartment door. The evening's surveillance work had been utterly tedious. The pile of tapes he'd been given to comb over contained nothing of interest whatsoever, and he had a crick in his neck from hunching forward to peer at the grainy recordings as closely as possible. 

And of course, on top of that, he’d missed the game completely.

From now on, Mulder resolved, any fanciful feelings that he was going to have a good day would be firmly ignored in favour of empirical evidence. 

Shoving the door open grumpily, he slouched inside - and stopped short. Set on the table in front of him was a bag of sunflower seeds, and a videotape. A note in Scully's neat handwriting lay on top of it. 

Beers in fridge. Go Knicks! it said. 

She had taped the damn game for him. And drove all the way over here afterwards to drop it off so he could see it right away, even stopping to get him treats, when she had already spent half of her evening up to her elbows in gore. 

Feeling like an asshole for how merrily he had planned to skip out of the office earlier and leave her behind to work, he grabbed his cellphone.

She picked up. "Scully." 

"Scully, you are the best partner, and I am the worst partner, and I owe you one, more than one actually, and did I mention how you are the best?" he gushed. 

He could hear her smile down the line. "I know Mulder. Enjoy," she said. 

They hung up, and he thought about what he would have liked to add. And you're amazing, and beautiful, and the only thing that would make the game better would be watching it with you. 

Monday morning rolled around, and Mulder was still in a great mood after seeing the Knicks’ glorious victory, which he had watched a second time on Saturday just to bask in it. 

He made sure to buy every kind of danish he could ever remember Scully liking and, loaded with those and a coffee for them both, he ambled into their basement office with a positive outlook on the week ahead. 

Scully was over at the filing cabinet, her sleek hair shifting through shades of flame as she tipped her head from side to side, reading file labels before putting them away. Hearing him, she looked up. 

"Scully, when I said you were the best partner on Friday, I was not at that time aware you had actually taped all the ads out of the game. So that makes you not just the best partner I've ever had, but the best partner that anyone has ever had, since the formation of the FBI in 1908."

Scully favoured him with the extra-big smile, the one that didn't come out every day and was thus all the more enjoyable whenever he got to see it. 

"Maybe the Bureau will let me have early retirement," she replied lightly. "You just missed Skinner. Things are moving fast with that case from last week. I found in my autopsy that the injuries on the body were definitely human bite marks, but inflicted in a way that I can only describe as utterly feral. The lungs also showed some strange physiology. Very healthy tissue, but slightly overdeveloped in a way I haven’t seen before. 

“Coupled with the reluctance of the local police to share any solid info about what's going on, it was already looking like X-File territory. But there was another disappearance yesterday. And the body washed up on the riverbank in the next town over this morning, with the same kind of injuries."

Nodding as he absorbed this update, Mulder picked up the file Skinner had dropped down on Friday from his desk. He leafed through the details of the other people who had disappeared but still remained missing. 

"So Skinner wants us out there?" he guessed. Scully came over to him, another file in her hands. 

"There's more. We're going undercover for this one. Skinner says there's no point having the FBI land in there with a big splash if the PD are already unforthcoming. They'll just close ranks even further."

"Ok, small splash it is then. What's our angle?" Mulder asked. 

"We're joining the ranks, Mulder. You and I are swapping the Bureau for life on the beat." 

"So we're putting a new spin on being undercover cops?" Mulder said. He took the file Scully offered, skimming through the details provided for their assignment. 

Scully gave a little shrug. "Maybe we’ll find ourselves a new calling." 

She found that she was somewhat looking forward to the case. Outwardly, it didn't appear to be heavily steeped in paranormal possibilities. Not that she would have minded if it were, but if this turned out to be just a good old-fashioned whodunnit then she and Mulder would be on the same page every step of the way. The time they usually spent debating the clash of her science angle versus his spooky one could be channelled into fleshing out their police characters for this case. And it actually might be kind of fun. 

Still reading, Mulder looked for the key points. "So you are going to be... Serena Marley." He grinned at her. "That's a pretty name. Did you choose it?" 

"You know I didn't choose it," she huffed. "There's a whole little team that cooks this stuff up for undercover assignments." She jabbed his shoulder with her fingertip. "What's your name then?" 

Mulder's eyes ran down the page. "Rick Milner. Does that sound like a good cop name? I want to fully inhabit this role Scully." 

He looked up at her with a little smile. "Sorry.... Serena."

"Does Serena sound like a good cop name?" Scully asked, playing along. "I think I'd better go by Marley."

"Serena is nice," Mulder said, now distracted by reading through the rest of their assignment notes. "A pretty name for a pretty woman..." he murmured.

Scully felt her cheeks go hot. Wanting to hide her face, she immediately turned to start gathering up her things. Was Mulder still kidding around? Playing some kind of smooth cop-character?

She was flustered by her own reaction. Clearing her throat, she started towards the door. "I'll go collect our tickets. Meet you at the airport in an hour?" 

"Sure, see you there," Mulder agreed, still engrossed in the file. 

By the time they met at the airport later that morning, Mulder had their full profiles committed to memory. 

He filled her in as they settled into their seats on the plane. "You, Serena Marley, started off working for a coroner's office before making the jump over into law enforcement. That gives you a convenient medical background that will no doubt be useful on our case. I, Rick Milner, am escaping the hustle and bustle of a city beat, wanting to settle into a friendly community and fight crime where I can really make a difference."

Scully let out a snort. "It does not say that last bit in the file!" she laughed, reaching out to pull the sheaf of notes from his hand. 

Putting on a hurt look, Mulder held them out of her reach. "I've heard about crooked cops like you, Marley," he sighed. "Poisoned by the darkness of the wrong side of the law you once swore to fight against, you start throwing out accusations, turning against your own partner..." 

Scully couldn't help giggling. She made another lunge for the file, reaching across him. He effortlessly held it away from her, laughing as well. Giving up, Scully withdrew her arm just as Mulder had decided to stop teasing and let her have the file. The result was that they ended up turned towards each other for a moment, her half-leaning against him, their faces very close. Scully noticed the vivid shades of green glinting in his eyes as they looked right into hers. 

Feeling suddenly awkward, she straightened up in her seat. All business again, she focussed on getting up to speed with the rest of the details. 

"So I see here that, by request from the FBI, the state regional police headquarters has told the Greenwood office they're transferring them two new deputies,” - she waved her hand to encompass herself and Mulder - “in light of the recent events there. But they've been undermanned for some time now already."

Mulder nodded. "If they're stretched a bit thin, they’ll certainly give us a much better reception as new staff members than as FBI wading in, flashing badges and demanding answers."

"It should help," Scully agreed. "But these are the officers right there on the ground we are talking about Mulder. They should already be doing everything they can to stop this situation from continuing. Including volunteering all the details they have to the FBI. What reason could they have to hold back?"

"Scully, how many of these small towns have we been to over the years? Enough to see plenty of we-look-after-our-own type behaviour. The police aren't immune to it, you know that as well as I do."

"Well, I hope us not being locals won't count too much against us then. Otherwise even with us posing as cops this could be a tough nut to crack." 

By the time they landed, both agents were comfortably familiar with their new profiles. At the airport they each picked up an individual rental car, as they weren't supposed to be coming on board with the Greenwood PD as existing partners, or even acquaintances for that matter.

Mulder drove just ahead of Scully, his eyes flicking to the rearview mirror frequently as he thought of that moment on the plane, her laughing and all but tipping into his arms as they'd joked around. Her crystal-blue eyes sparkling. 

Chapter Text

They arrived in Greenwood in the later afternoon. Scully was instantly taken by what a pretty place it was, with lush forest coming right to the fringes of the town and cosy-looking cottages dotted across carefully tended lawns. The wide grass verges flanking the streets made it feel almost like they were driving through a garden.

The sheriff's office was in a red-brick building with ivy growing up the sides. It fit right in with the sleepy, charming vibe of the town. Mulder and Scully met out front. Their undercover operation was now underway. 

Going inside, they found themselves in a small open-plan work area with a long oak desk to the front. A woman with a sleek ash-coloured bun and wire spectacles was seated there, typing. She looked up and smiled at them. 

“Are you our new deputies? Oh, we’re very glad to have you! I’m Annie, I look after the office side, and Sheriff Dave is…” She turned over her shoulder. “DAVE!! They’re here!”

An older man appeared from a doorway in the back corner. He had a thick shock of silver-grey hair, broad shoulders and bright blue eyes. To the agents he appeared to be close to retirement age, but still looked energetic. 

Dave hurried over. “You’re Serena and Rick? Fantastic. I’m the sheriff, Dave Ellsworth. We’ve been asking state HQ to help us source some new staff for a good long while now, it’s great to have you join us!”

Mulder and Scully each shook his hand, glad to be starting out with such a warm welcome. 

“I'm sure you've heard we've been having some challenges lately. I’m getting on now, and it’s been getting a bit much for just me and Victor to….oh! Speak of the devil.”

The glass door behind them swung open and a tall man with longish, wavy dark hair walked in. He looked to be around the same age as the undercover agents.

"Victor, come over here and meet our new deputies, Serena Marley and Rick Milner." 

The man strode over, putting out his hand to Scully first. "Victor Jameson, very nice to meet you." 

Scully shook his hand, noting his firm grip, tanned arms, broad, friendly smile and lively hazel eyes as he, in turn, looked her over. "Marley," she replied. 

"Ah now, don't tell me you're from one of those outfits where everyone goes by their surnames! Please, call me Victor." 

"Ok, well then... Serena."

"Serena it is. Welcome to Greenwood!" he said. Turning to Mulder, who had not missed what he felt were mutual looks of appreciation between Victor and Scully, he offered him the same hearty handshake.

”Very good to have you! You’re going to love living here.”

Annie was quick to supply the agents with cups of hot coffee and they sipped gratefully as Sheriff Dave and Victor ran through the standard suite of polite questions about how their journeys had been, whether they’d ever visited the area before and so on. 

Dave was keen to start ticking all the boxes for their initiation. Leaning over to the end of Annie’s desk, he picked up a thick folder that was resting there. “Fraid I’ve got a pile of forms and things I’ll have to get you to look over here,” he said ruefully. “New transfer red tape, you know how it is.”

Victor had other ideas. “Dave, c’mon now. That can all wait. I think first, we need to give our new deputies the lay of the land. Who’s up for a ride-along?”

He looked thrilled at the idea of getting to show them around the area. Eager to avoid paperwork in all its nefarious forms, Mulder was quick to indicate interest and the three of them went out into the parking lot. Victor led them over to his truck, which stood out in an eye-catching shade of metallic blue. 

“Pile on in!” he invited the agents.

Rolling out of the small carpark, Victor began his grand tour of Greenwood. He drove them around every conceivable nook and cranny of the town, telling them all about local characters, little customs, events, market days, crazy callouts he’d been on, and everything under the sun except what had necessitated his new team members being sent there in the first place.

It was hard to get a word in edgewise. Mulder tried to interject several times. 

“So Victor, you grew up here huh, you must know pretty well everyone. Have you been able to narrow down any leads on who could be involved in the recent….”

“Maaaaaaarty!” Victor suddenly called out the window. A man in a plaid shirt and work-stained jeans walking along the roadside turned at his voice. Slowing down and veering over towards him, Victor leaned over Scully and reached a hand out the window to him, which Marty swatted away good-humouredly. 

“Aren’t you cops meant to set an example on how to drive safe? Get outta here before you turn me into roadkill!” he joked.

Grinning, Victor carried on down the road, falling right back into his stream of chat to his passengers. He was definitely a personality, Scully thought, smiling at his enthusiasm to share every detail about the town with them.

Not used to being so easily steamrolled, Mulder tried yet again. “Victor, uh, what’s the plan for tomorrow? Will the investigation be…”

“Oh, look who it is now. Do you see that old couple over there? Mr and Mrs Lattimer. They are both in their 90s and still go out for a walk around the town every single day. Hope I’ll be holding up like them when I hit the high digits!”

Spotting him pointing out the window at them, the couple smiled and waved.

Victor waved back, enjoying many such exchanges with the  locals they passed, which went on right up until they finally looped back around to the sheriff’s office. 

Scully had also enjoyed the little glimpse into how this community engaged with their local law-enforcement. “You’re certainly a well-known face around here,” she commented, smiling. 

“I’m hard to miss! Only rig like this in the whole town,” Victor said, patting the bright blue hood of his truck affectionately as he hopped out.

”Now, I just have to drop something off real quick,” he told them. “Why don’t you take one of your cars and you can head out to the Lookout, best view anywhere for miles. Then I’ll meet you back here when you’re ready.” He pointed the way, gave them some brief directions and then jumped back into his truck.

Completely bemused at being shepherded off to what sounded like a tourist spot, and still absorbing the huge influx of information from Victor’s mile-a-minute tour guide style, Mulder and Scully went to Mulder’s rental and set out, following Victor’s instructions.

"He seems very friendly," Mulder commented.

"Very," Scully agreed.

He shot a little sideways look at her, trying to get a read. Scully was looking out the window, taking in the main street they were now passing through again.

"You know what Mulder, it wouldn't be too bad at all living in a place like this. No sirens at night. You'd know all your neighbours. Life would be simple."

Mulder hoped she wasn't imagining living that life with a certain handsome police officer they'd just met.

"I don't know Scully. Can simple get a little boring? Don't you think you'd miss the adrenaline of having to look over your shoulder all the time in the city? And getting too much sleep isn't healthy. We need those sirens at night to keep us sharp."

Following Victor’s directions, they were soon passing the town’s outskirts, and drove on a little way. Turning off down the side road Victor had named, they came to a small wayside car parking area and pulled up.

Getting out of the car, Scully went over to the white barrier fence separating the parking area from a steep drop straight down on the other side. The view was spectacular. A valley stretched out below them, with a foamy white river rushing across its floor. The landscape was an array of soft purpley-green hillsides, flowing on for miles into the distance.

Mulder joined her there. “Impressive!” he said softly.

Scully looked up at him, her eyes glowing. “Mulder, it’s absolutely beautiful here!”

They had a pleasant break at the viewpoint, enjoying the fresh air after the day’s travel, and took the chance to compare notes.

“Scully, was it just me, or was our friendly deputy pretty much hellbent on not answering a single question about the case?” Mulder asked.

Scully sighed. “It did seem that way. But then, I thought he seemed genuine too. He plainly loves this town, and I think he really did want to tell us everything about it. Give us a good impression.”

Mulder found himself wondering, just a little sulkily, whether Scully’s good impression from today extended to anything, or anyone, else.

They made their way back to the sheriff’s office. Mulder went inside to grab his coat. He noted Annie and Dave appeared to have left for the day, but had left out two sets of keys for them. Scully followed him in shortly afterwards.

"Hey, Victor just pulled up. He’s suggesting we all grab dinner together."

A little war between the professional and personal raged briefly within Mulder. He knew they needed to try and get Victor, who’d been like a brick wall regarding the case so far, to open up about what had been going on. He knew it would be worth seeing whether Scully would have more success on that front if she went and had a nice cosy little dinner for two with Victor. 

And he also knew that, very unprofessionally, after seeing how charming and friendly Victor seemed to be acting with Scully (ok, with both of them, to be totally fair) he didn't really want her spending much time on her own with the guy. 

Much time? Any time. But they did have that little matter of a job to do… 

"Why don't you just go with him?” Mulder suggested. “See if you can get him talking. Tell him I... have to get to a mechanic. Car trouble or something."

Scully nodded, accepting the angle he was taking. Maybe it was a good idea to try talking to Victor one on one. 

Watching her go, Mulder bit the inside of his lip. Hard. 

When she met Victor out front however, he would have none of it. "Car trouble? The mechanic lives two streets away! I'll call him myself tomorrow morning, he'll come right over and take a look. Wait here, I'll go grab Rick."

He dashed back inside, returning with Mulder a few minutes later, who was looking a little bashful at the effusive helpfulness from Victor over his imaginary car issues. 

The restaurant Victor took them to was, in keeping with everything else about the town, small, charming, and friendly. In fact a bit too friendly for Scully's liking. She noticed the waitress, a gorgeous blond with huge brown eyes and dimples, was extra attentive to Mulder. 

Mulder noticed too. It was hard not to, as she made sure to give him little smiles and shoulder touches every time she came to the table, making what looked to Scully like some very unnecessary trips to bring extra napkins, a candle, and even to straighten the tablecloth. On Mulder's side of the table. 

He went to give Scully a little "help-me" grimace, but could tell right away she hadn't picked up on any of what was going on with the waitress. She was gazing off around the room with a relaxed little smile, oblivious. Giving up, he followed Victor's example and busied himself with the menu. 

Across from him, Scully silently boiled with helpless, unjustified irritation. Why was she so annoyed? Mulder was a good-looking guy. Really, really good-looking. Of course people were going to check him out. 

Mercifully, the waitress had to let them be once she took their orders, as the restaurant was filling up. 

Victor sat back, smiling at them both. "Well Serena, Rick, I have to say, it really is good to have you both here. Things have been a bit…. unsettled lately. I'm sure it'll make a big difference having a couple more of us peacekeepers to go around."

Mulder knew Scully would be wondering, as he was, about Victor's use of the word "peacekeepers" to describe their role. Who was disturbing the peace here?

Scully jumped in. "Victor, I’m glad to be here to help, no doubt these recent events have been a huge pressure on you and Dave. I feel a little unprepared though. I'm sure Rick feels the same. All we were told is that your department had been having some trouble solving a case, that there'd been disappearances, murders… but that's it. Can you fill us in a bit more?"

Victor nodded slowly, his eyes becoming distant. "I think when you get to know this town, you'll understand that it really isn't a bad place. No one wants any trouble here. Things have just... gotten out of hand lately,” he said.

Mulder and Scully allowed themselves a quick flicker of eye contact, needing no more than that to agree between them that Victor's extremely vague statements that day were very puzzling. But he was already moving on. 

"Anyway! We'll get into more of that tomorrow. I want to know all about you guys. Rick, what was it like being a city cop? And Serena, you must have seen some pretty heavy stuff when you used to work for the coroner?"

Having agreed with Scully beforehand that the best way to be believable was just to stay as close to the truth as possible, Mulder chatted easily with Victor, reworking events he had actually experienced working on various X-Files into everyday crime-fighting anecdotes. Scully did the same regarding some of her unusual, but still believable, autopsy stories. 

Before they knew it, it had gotten late, the restaurant was closing, and Mulder realised to his surprise they really hadn't managed to learn anything more about Victor at all. Had he been deliberately deflecting the conversation back to them? Or was he as he seemed to be, just one of those people who was endlessly interested in everyone else and had so many friendly, chatty questions that before you knew it he had your life story? 

There was nothing to be done but renew their enquiries the next day.

It was still light as Mulder and Scully drove back through the now quiet streets, the sinking sun dappling everything in a mellow pinky-orange light. 

The Bureau travel office had arranged rooms for them to let in two separate guest houses that were situated at opposite ends of the same block.

Once they went their separate ways, Scully slowly drove up the aptly-named Orchard Avenue, which was lined with mature trees. She squinted a little as their branches made shards of the setting sun between them. 

She pulled up outside her new address and, as soon as she was checked in, called Mulder. He answered on the first ring. "How are your digs Scully?" 

"Actually... they're lovely. Everything is white and light and airy. It feels like somewhere I would genuinely choose to stay on a holiday. Like an old grandmother's house, but a classy grandmother who has her friends over for martinis and Mozart a few evenings a week." 

Mulder chuckled at her description. "Well if that's the case, then I guess I can say mine is like, uhh.." He looked around. "Like a retired woodshop teacher made his whole house out of lumber scraps. But in a nice way. It's all polished pine and little knotholes and I feel like I could step outside and find I'm in the Alps or something."

"I know what you mean. There's a really pleasant feeling in this town isn't there? It's strange when you think of what brought us here," Scully mused.

"Well, tomorrow we can start getting to the bottom of it. We'll solve the case, the townsfolk will name us heroes and they’ll throw us a banquet."

Scully shook her head, smiling. "Let's hope so. Night Mulder. I mean Milner."

Putting her cellphone down by the bedside lamp, Scully took a little running hop to get up onto the snowy white mound of the huge feather bed that she would sleep in as Serena Marley. If this was an omen of how her life undercover was going to be, so far she had no complaints.

Chapter Text

Deciding to head to the sheriff’s office a little earlier the next morning, thinking he might get an opportunity to poke and pry around the place a bit, Mulder found Sheriff Dave was already there waiting for him. He also learned that Scully, perhaps having had the same idea as him, had already been and gone.

”Rick, you’re a sight for sore eyes. We’ve had a call for help from the PD over in the next county. They’ve had a whole string of burglaries overnight, and whoever did them tried to burn a few places down as well. Awful mess. I really need someone with their wits about them on this one. And Victor and Serena are out on a job already. Another one of the missing persons’ bodies was found this morning.”

Mulder was surprised Scully hadn’t called him, but decided it probably would have looked too odd for her to be making calls on her cellphone right in the midst of following up this latest lead with Victor. Well, she would certainly have it all handled, and it looked like he was going to be on his own little assignment for today. He’d simply have to roll with it in the interests of keeping their cover.

“Victor said you had some car trouble. Take mine, we’ll get the mechanic up here while you’re away,” Dave said, slinging his keys over to him. Pulling out a road map, he went through the route with him and a few final details, before giving him a wave as Mulder set out for his day of police work. 

Mulder hoped the mechanic was having a quiet enough day and wouldn’t be too put out by the pointless errand.

Scully had a very busy morning with Victor. They went through all the standard procedures at the crime scene, where yet another bitemark-riddled body had been found just off a walking trail, bordering a children’s playground at the north end of town. Luckily it had been found by a jogger rather than any of the playground’s young visitors. 

Unbelievably, all morning Victor continued to flow like water around any opportunities Scully tried to take to question him further about the crimes. First he was busy interviewing witnesses. Then he was on the phone filling Dave in. Next up, there were the distraught family members of the deceased arriving on the scene for him to manage. He was in full swing, running things with utmost professionalism, very happy to have Scully there to work on processing the scene and the body - yet she somehow still couldn’t find one chink in the armour of his evasiveness for anything beyond the most superficial questioning. It was becoming infuriating. 

She was able to set up in the town morgue to carry out her full exam on the body. It was plain that, as with the others, the victim had suffered a vicious attack, killed ultimately by strangling but also marked with human bites. The lungs, again, contained the same oddly robust tissues she’d seen in her other autopsy.

It was mid-afternoon before she made it back to the sheriff’s office. In light of everything she’d dealt with that day, Scully was in full-scale no-nonsense mode, and strode into the office preparing herself to take no prisoners when questioning Victor. Why was he being so vague about everything? What was he holding back?

She found him in the kitchen, making coffee. “I’m just back myself,” he told her. “What did you find out about the body?”

Scully filled him in, and then took a seat across the kitchen table from him. She decided to cut to the chase. 

“Victor, I’m just going to be straight with you. I feel like we’ve only been skirting the edges of what is actually going on in Greenwood so far, and I’m questioning why. People are disappearing, people are turning up dead. But I haven’t heard you or Dave venture so much as a theory on who or what might be responsible? How can that be? I know I’m a new face, but I’m here working this case with you. I want you to know you can trust me.”

Victor did look slightly sheepish, having to agree with her summary. “I just wanted you to have a little bit of time to get a feel for this town, Serena,” he said. “We’ve always been very close-knit here, and it’s not quite as simple as me just….explaining things.”

Scully nodded. “You have your own way of doing things here, I’m sure. But Rick and I were sent here to help, and that’s honestly all I want to do.”

Victor looked at her, considering. Seeming to come to a decision, he rose from the table.

”Why don't we go for a little stroll in the woods?" he suggested. "The trails here are really nice. And I find sometimes things just make a bit more sense when you're out in the fresh air." 

"Sure," Scully said, wanting an opportunity to press further with their conversation before he could change the subject again. 

He led the way to where a mossy little pebble path ran from behind the sheriff's office to the edge of the woods not far beyond. As they approached, Scully realised just how cooped-up she must have been feeling without even noticing. It felt really good to be outside in the fresh air, just as Victor had said. 

They crossed the threshold into the woods. Scully was struck by how beautiful they looked. The light filtering through the tree boughs hit the forest floor like a golden kaleidoscope. The very air smelled sweet. She felt incredibly relaxed being out here, in nature, with this new friend. She looked up at Victor. He was so kind and friendly. He had really tried to help her and Mulder feel welcomed into this lovely town. 

Victor was smiling at her. Scully noticed how incredibly handsome he was. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world to just tell him how great he looked. So she did. Everything was great, in fact. She nearly felt like she was floating. 

Victor took her arm gently as Scully felt pure happiness washing over her. Her eyes drifted closed as her senses hummed. Only the very tips of her toes seemed to be keeping her connected to the earth. In the back of her mind she was wondering if it was a little strange to enjoy the forest quite this much. It seemed enchanted. Was that normal? 

She looked back up at Victor. Seeming to read her puzzled thoughts, he spoke softly to her, stroking her arm soothingly. "It's ok. You're ok. The first couple of times are always the most intense. It can be....overwhelming." 

Yes, that was the right word... Scully did feel overwhelmed. But in the happiest, most positive way... 

It felt lovely the way Victor was stroking her arm. Grabbing his hand, she twined her fingers into his and squeezed. He gave her hand a little squeeze back and she laughed at the sensation, nearly falling against him, feeling wonderfully light. 

"Come on, let's go back. Wouldn't it be nice to go sit down for a little bit? Then you can really relax," Victor suggested. 

"Ok..." Scully said dreamily, staring up at him. Had she realised just how handsome he was when they’d first met? Mulder popped into her mind. He also looked undeniably amazing. She wished he was there to share this beautiful moment. 

Victor had to guide her with an arm around her shoulders as they retraced their steps. Walking could sometimes be a little difficult, Scully realised. They hadn't gone that far in though, and the trees soon opened out to show the pebble path and ivy-covered sheriff's office again. 

Walking slowly, Victor coaxed her back around to the front entrance and inside. They went into a little side room that had a comfortable-looking couch and some armchairs. Victor helped Scully down to the couch, where she was happy to lie back and close her eyes. 

"Just take some deep, slow breaths," he instructed, taking the armchair at the end of the couch nearest to her. "You'll be feeling like yourself again soon."

Already the realisation of how utterly surreal the forest walk had been was flooding into Scully's consciousness. She still felt good, but it was like waking from a vivid dream - feeling normality take hold again while beautiful memories yet shimmered in her mind. 

Taking Victor's advice, she breathed deeply. After resting a moment or two more to collect herself, she sat up slowly on the couch. 

"Victor.... what in the hell just happened to me? To....us?" She knew he'd been feeling something too. The way he'd smiled at her, eyes sparkling.

"You just got the full Greenwood forest experience," he told her. 

"That was.... an experience. Definitely. The forest did all that? How? I've never felt anything like that in my life!" 

Victor grinned. "It is something, alright."

As a veteran of many strange X-Files moments, and many outlandish explanations from Mulder about what caused weird things to happen, Scully found she was half waiting for Victor to tell her the forest had some kind of magic. 

"We think it's the sap," he went on. "It somehow atomises out from the trees and when you're right in amongst it, well, you saw for yourself." He paused, smiling at her entranced expression. 

The scientist in Scully was lighting up like a pinball machine. The possibilities were incredible. 

"How have I never heard of this before?" she asked him. "What this could do for people… for mental health… or simply to experience..." 

Victor now wore a slightly wary expression. "Serena - I don't know if these trees exist anywhere else in the world. But if they do, the people that know about them are keeping it just as close a secret as we are."

Scully waited, seeing there was more to the story. 

"Most of the families that live here have been here a very long time. Generations. We're used to the forest. We understand it, we don't... abuse it. But sometimes it does happen, people can get carried away. They want to have that good feeling all the time. But that simply isn't possible. With this forest, if you spend too much time there, things go the opposite way."

"The opposite way? What does that mean?" 

Victor sighed. "Those dead bodies, the disappearances... those are examples of when things go the opposite way."

Suddenly fearful, Scully looked at him anxiously. "It kills people?" 

Was she at risk? Had he brought her out of the forest soon enough? Or had he in fact brought her there to put an end to her questions and investigating, permanently? 

"I'm afraid it's nearly worse than that. Too much exposure can actually turn people into killers."

Seeing the panic written all over her face, Victor reached out to take Scully's hand. "Hey, relax. Serena, you're fine. I would never, ever have brought you there if there was any risk to you at all. You could go back tomorrow and have that exact experience all over again, one, maybe even two more times, and still be perfectly safe. After that, the intensity diminishes a bit. The forest is still the most lovely place to be, you feel incredibly happy, positive, thrilled by its natural beauty. But you also know not to stay, and not to go there all the time."

He squeezed her hand, wanting to reassure her. "I was there in the forest with you, remember? I've lived here all my life, I know exactly how much time is ok to spend. About every couple of weeks I like to take a stroll there. And for me that's enough. When you’ve lived here a long time, it’s almost like the essence of the forest gets right down into your lungs or something. You feel pretty good most of the time, and you also know where the limit should be."

Scully recalled the unusual lung tissue she had noted when examining the bodies. If what Victor was saying was true, could that mean whatever people were absorbing from the trees here had the power to alter human physiology? She couldn't even think how to begin with all the questions she wanted to ask him. She tried to prioritise the most important. 

"Ok. We're not talking instant killer every time someone sets foot in the forest. It takes time. But if everyone knows that can happen, why would anyone ever run the risk of staying too long?" 

Victor sighed. "This forest, the feeling it creates, for some people that can become an addiction just like any other. You take the case of someone on say heroin, are they going to stop using just because you tell them it's not safe? Of course not. Not even when they know it can kill them. But although addiction can drive people even as far as committing murder, this forest, it.." 

Victor paused. "It changes people. I've seen people I've known since I was a child turn into... Something else. Something they can't come back from."

Chapter Text

Pulling up at her guesthouse, Scully let out a sigh. Today had hit the jackpot for strange new experiences. She got out of the car, already looking forward to putting her feet up. Maybe a nice hot bath…

"Serena!" she heard a voice call. Turning, she was surprised to see Mulder. But then, of course he'd know better than to yell out her real name. 

"I was looking for you," he said. 

"Hey. What have you found out today?" Scully asked, already feeling a little uncertain about having to explain how her own day had unfolded. Not having been able to reach him by phone, she assumed he’d been out and about with Dave.

They entered her guesthouse, Scully leading the way up to her room where they could speak in private. 

"Nothing much at all really. I was over in the next county nearly all day helping out their PD, Dave had me out on loan. But I did a pretty thorough circuit when I got back here. I went up and down the main street, talking to everyone I saw - hi, I’m the new cop in town, what’s it like living here, blah blah.”

“And? Any bites?” Scully asked.

“Not much to report. It’s just more of what we already knew. The town is eye-poppingly friendly, no one knows anything about the murders, and uhh.." Mulder paused, sitting down at the foot of her bed. Not sure if he wanted to raise his last point or not. 

Knowing his signals, Scully leaned forward. "Uhh, what?" 

"I think I might...have a stalker, a little bit." Mulder looked down at the floor. Why did it make him so uncomfortable to mention this to Scully?

"A stalker?" She couldn't help grinning at him. "Who?" 

Mulder relaxed somewhat at seeing her amusement. "Umm...do you remember our waitress from the dinner with Victor last night?" 

He watched Scully's face freeze over. So she had noticed what was going on that night! 

"She was everywhere I went in town today. I took it for coincidence at first, but uh... she approached me. Asked if I'd been for a walk in the forest yet." 

If Scully had looked frosty before, her face was now an arctic mask.

"Right. So you... you went to the forest with her?" she choked out. 

Scully's mind was racing, remembering how she'd felt about Victor under the influence of the forest’s vapours. How handsome and charming he had seemed.

The thought of Mulder, there in the forest with that flirty waitress - bombarded by all the same feelings she'd felt... 

Scully's stomach clenched, waiting for Mulder's response. 

He was watching her closely, unable to interpret the weird shift of expressions on her face. 

"No, I - Scully, no, of course not."

She was actually a bit surprised. He could easily have treated it as a lead to follow up, just like any other. Get talking to a local, one on one, just as he’d suggested she do with Victor at dinner.

"Why not?" she asked, unable to conceal the slight edge in her voice.

Mulder's hand went up to the nape of his neck, feeling a little shy now. "Well, she said the forest trails were really beautiful, and um, something special to see, and I thought... I would rather go see them with you, Scully." 

There it was. His cards dealt plain across the table. He felt sure there was no way to mistake the meaning behind what he’d said. 

Scully could physically feel the blood rushing into her face. She didn't know how to answer. The thought of sharing time in the forest alone with Mulder, all their senses heightened, caught in that incredible rush of good feelings... 

She didn't know if she could trust herself. She didn't know if she was ready to face how she really felt about him. 

He was smiling at her hesitantly, not sure how to interpret her silence. "It's a really nice evening," he ventured. "We could stroll over there now - if you wanted to, that is."

"Mulder, I don't think that's a good idea. I need to tell you everything I found out today. About the forest."

Sinking down into one of the armchairs in her room, she wondered how to begin. He watched her gather her thoughts. 

"The forest surrounding this town has....special properties. The trees emit something into the air which causes extreme euphoria, happiness, a feeling of complete appreciation for the world around you. But it can be dangerous too. Too much of it can cause people to become homicidal."

Mulder was staring at her in surprise. "Someone told you all of this? And you believe it?" 

"I uh, went there myself today. I experienced it," Scully said. She found she couldn't meet his eyes. 

"You mean you just walked in there? And the euphoria - that happened to you?" Mulder was totally intrigued. 

"Not exactly. I didn't just walk in. Victor... brought me there." 

Mulder felt a series of cogs fit together in his mind and start rolling forward. She had gone into the forest with Victor. Had some sort of wonderful experience in there. 

But she didn't want to go with him. "Not a good idea" - her exact words. 

Seeing his face, Scully hastened to explain. "He took me there so I'd be able to understand. So I'd believe him. Mulder, the forest is at the heart of everything going on in this town. He says it’s been turning people into killers." 

With an effort, Mulder clamped down on his instinctive reaction to the thought of Victor luring Scully into the feel-good forest. Begrudgingly, he admitted to himself that their new colleague had done exactly the right thing to get Scully on board. She never would have believed him if he'd merely told her about it. 

The same questions that Scully had had earlier now came to him too. "How have we never heard of this? A totally natural high that you can get from a simple walk in the forest? It'd be the discovery of the century."

"Victor told me the people of this town have kept the secret for generations. It's the ideal place to live, surrounded by on-tap happiness which they can experience all their lives if they don't overdo it."

"And if they do? They start killing people?" 

Scully nodded. "We didn't go into that in full. I think he was afraid of overwhelming me with too much too soon." She gave him a little grin. "You don't know how tempted I was to tell him that odd scenarios like this are all in a standard day's work for us." 

"So tomorrow, all is to be revealed?" Mulder said, a little sarcastically. He just couldn't believe there was a huge X-File growing all around this town, and instead of discovering it with him, her partner, Scully had experienced it with Victor. 

"I guess so." 

"I will see you tomorrow then," Mulder said, getting up to leave. 

Scully walked to the door with him, sensing they were off-kilter with each other but not knowing how she could fix it. "Tomorrow," she said. He gave her a tight smile, and was gone. 

With a sigh, Scully flung herself onto her bed. Outside, Mulder saw that pinecones had started to fall unseasonably early on Orchard Avenue. Moodily, he kicked one along ahead of him, all the way down the road to his guesthouse. 

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Mulder arrived outside the sheriff's office the next morning right as Scully got there. He had had an amazing sleep, and despite yesterday’s undercurrents of feeling a little left out he was simply glad to see her. It seemed impossible to stay in a bad mood in this town. 

Victor was inside, laying out rifles and ammunition on a bench. Greeting them with a wave and a smile, he came over. "Great, you're here!" 

Seeing Mulder’s gaze sweep over the weaponry-loaded bench, Victor eyed him for a moment, plainly considering how best to bring him up to speed. Scully quickly chimed in. "I caught Rick on my way home yesterday. Filled him in on everything you told me," she updated Victor. 

"Oh ok, excellent," Victor said. He grinned at Mulder, but his eyes were sharp, cautious. "You told me you've seen some pretty weird stuff in your work before, but I know this must be a lot to take in on a brand new job." 

Mulder shrugged. "I'd take the unusual case over the standard one any day of the week. I really want to hear more about the dark side of this forest though."

"Well, let's saddle up and I'll tell you the rest on the way," Victor said, hoisting a long bag he had crammed with supplies over his shoulder. He slid a second one along the bench for Mulder to grab, and the three of them headed out. 

"Where are we going?" Scully asked, as they gathered at Victor's truck. 

"We're gunna be cowboys today, and go do a round-up," he said, grim-faced, slinging the rifle-bags into the bed of the truck. "I know more or less where the changelings - that's what we call them, what people turn into if they take in too much of the forest - will be. We've had a sighting called in this morning and I'm hoping we'll manage to pick them up before anyone else gets hurt."

"So the - changelings - what happens to them, exactly?" Mulder asked. "Serena said they have a reaction of some kind, to whatever's being emitted by the trees?" 

"A reaction is the mildest way to put it," Victor said, looking sombre. "No one really understands it, and luckily it's rare enough that it's not something we have to deal with all the time. But we had a new family move to town, the Alvertons, a few months back. We've developed a good few ways of generally discouraging people from wanting to move here, but it does happen every now and then.

"We've always found a way to bring any newcomers into the secret, I think probably because the sort of people who want to move to a sleepy little town like this are really not the kind who are looking to bring too much drama and excitement into their lives. They've always fitted in. But this new family were different."

Victor sighed. "Me and Dave went round there as soon as the moving truck rolled out of their drive. Met them all. Two parents, and a boy in his late teens. We sat them down, explained everything about the forest. They didn't believe us, which is normal enough. But they were angry too. Thought we were trying to pull some kind of scam on them. It all got very heated, and they told us to stay off their property unless we had some real police business.”

He shook his head, remembering the mixture of frustration and embarrassment he and Dave had experienced. “All we could possibly do was warn them. We knew they'd find out for themselves the moment they went into the woods what we'd been talking about. 

“Now, I guess not everyone is that big a fan of the great outdoors. As far as we could tell, they didn't go near the forest for the first good few weeks they were here, and everything was quiet. But then once they started, well - they didn't stop."

"How long does it take for the negative effects to present?" Scully asked. "How much exposure does it take?" 

"It does take quite a lot, but it's easy to accelerate it by just spending excessively long periods there," Victor explained. "Which they apparently did. Their neighbours called to say their front door had been left wide open all day and night. Car still in the drive. We went to check it out. No one in the place. We searched as much of the woods as we could, that was the only place they were going to be. But with only me and Dave to do the searching, and us having to limit ourselves on our own time spent in there as well.... We didn't find them. And then the disappearances started."

Mulder looked at Scully, remembering their initial breakdown of the case from Skinner. Three townspeople vanished, and then there’d been one more just before they’d come out here. 

Scully felt a chill creep along her spine. The human bitemarks she'd seen on the recovered bodies she had worked on flashed into her memory. What deranged frame of mind would someone have to be in to bite a fellow human like that? 

"Naturally the families of the disappeared were beside themselves. They knew exactly what their loved ones were taken by. We had a little mob come down here," Victor gestured over to the sheriff's office, "and raise hell. They said if we weren't going to do anything it was time to bring in outsiders. Which lead to the FBI getting involved."

“But the families - they haven’t spilled the secret?" Mulder asked. He knew it hadn’t made it into the FBI’s file. 

"Not to my knowledge. I know no one wants to see the whole town implode over this. They just wanted more manpower for the search. But I think the FBI must have heard there were persons missing in a remote woodland town and fed it right on over to our regional police HQ. Told them to deal with it.  Which is how we ended up getting our fine new recruits," he finished, nodding at them both. 

“Dave basically refused to tell the FBI anything when they contacted us, anyway. Can you imagine the government getting wind of what goes on in this forest?” He shook his head at the thought. “Luckily we seem to be in the clear though, for now. No doubt the Bureau has much bigger fish to fry." 

Scully and Mulder made no comment. 

"Right! Let's get on the road," Victor said, opening the passenger door for Scully before going around to the driver's side. With everyone aboard, he rolled out of the carpark. Eyes on the way ahead, thoughts on the hunt to follow, and heart like a great heavy drum in his chest. 

Chapter Text

"So we're going to find the changelings, round them up, and - then what?" Scully asked. Surely he wasn't going to say that they had to go out and shoot human beings that were only recently part of this neighbourhood? 

Victor hunched his shoulders up a little and then let out a long breath. "I'm trying a new approach this time,” he admitted. “Those rifles on the back shoot tranquiliser darts. I’m hoping we might be able to bring them in unharmed.” 

He looked over at Scully and she read the open concern on his face. “From there though, I honestly don't know. It's been such a long time since this has happened. I just thought - well, who knows. Maybe we could even find some way of helping them now." 

Scully was already wondering if there was any way she could assist with her medical skills and knowledge of pathology. It was entirely uncharted terrain and the prospect both intrigued and unnerved her. 

"I need to make this totally clear though guys,” Victor said firmly. “We are not going out here to try and make friends. Changelings are bloodthirsty. They aren’t so far-gone that they can't recognise a threat to their own safety, but they are utterly ruthless, and utterly remorseless. We will all be fully armed on the patrol, and not just with tranquilisers."

Scully nodded, looking back at Mulder. Now that the shroud had finally been pulled back from Greenwood’s secrets, it was apparent how important was for this to be handled exactly right. The agents were already beginning to imagine just how bad the possibilities were if the town’s secret did get out. 

If these strange trees ended up being cultivated outside their current guardianship, and if Victor was telling the truth about the negative effects he described, the trees could certainly be weaponised. The consequences could be catastrophic.

As for Victor, he was hugely relieved to have the explanations over with and find his new team not only believing what he’d told them, but engaged and willing. He couldn't have asked for a better outcome, and lapsed happily back into his normal chatty persona, even joking around a bit about how he’d started hitting the gym more when initially thinking he’d have to fly solo on the changeling takedown mission. 

God, it was actually nearly annoying how nice the guy was, Mulder thought. He couldn't help laughing at Victor’s self-deprecating jokes even as he wrestled with his jealous irritation over seeing Scully laughing at them too. 

There was no denying that there was some kind of little sparkle going on between the two of them. From his vantage point in the back seat, Mulder saw Victor and Scully constantly looking over at each other. Grinning at each other. Everything Victor said was just the funniest thing Scully had ever heard, apparently. 

For her part, Scully was enjoying how easily she got along with Victor. She had been worried she'd feel awkward around him after their visit to the forest, but now it was like she'd known him all her life. 

She reflected on the way it had felt when they were in the woods. As though there were no barriers and she could tell him anything. Maybe that feeling was something that endured even once the forest's effects had worn off? Was that why everyone in the town seemed to be so open and friendly?

Scully did feel a little embarrassed at her memory of telling him, effusively, how handsome he looked, but she felt sure he understood, given the unique circumstances.   

When they had gone some way beyond the edge of town, Victor pulled in off the road.

"From here on in it's basically seek and destroy," he told them. "Uh, with the tranquilisers, that is. We’re loaded up with the strongest, fastest-acting ones on the market, so like I said, we'll try our best to bring the changelings in. But do not put yourselves at risk trying to do a good deed, guys. Given half a chance, a changeling will rip your head off. And bite. They do love to bite."

The trio climbed out of Victor's truck. Seeing woodland stretching away from them in all directions, Scully was perplexed. "Victor, how are we going to be able to hunt anything in this forest? When we're... When it's so...." She made a helpless gesture, remembering how floaty and out of it she had felt under the strange sylvan influence. 

"Oh we're well in the clear out here," Victor reassured her. He pointed back the way they had come, up into the distant treeline where the town was situated on a slight rise above the rest of the landscape. "See up there where the tree leaves change colour? To a more lime-colour leaf? That's the bit we have to be careful with, the woods that border the town. This," he swept out his arm to encompass their surrounds, "is all just normal forest."

Victor started passing out equipment from the back of the truck. When they were each kitted out with a tranquiliser rifle, a pistol, extra ammunition and a set of handcuffs, they set out into the shady green gloom ahead. Victor had a length of rope looped over his shoulder. 

"A family who was out hiking here sighted our targets less than two hours ago," he said, speaking softly. "They were damn lucky that they knew what they were seeing and knew to just get the hell out, quickly and quietly. To be honest I thought everyone knew better than to be out here at all right now.”

Scully felt her pulse pick up a little, ready for action at any moment. "So the changelings don’t keep to the woods that uh, affected them?" she asked. Her rational mind was struggling to process it all. She didn’t doubt Victor’s sincerity, but it was hard to correlate the amazing experience she had had yesterday with killers prowling among the trees like animals. 

"Once the damage is done, it's done. There's no more happy times for them up there once they turn. Each time they attack, they disappear for a while. Roaming, scavenging, resting, I don’t know what. But they always come back, looking for anything they can get their teeth into," Victor said, his eyes scanning all around them. 

The woods were getting denser and the three slowed their pace. Mulder kept looking over his shoulder, feeling like they were being watched. He could see Scully felt it too. They exchanged glances, rifles held at the ready.

The trees seemed to crowd in around them oppressively as they went ever further on, observing them with cold detachment and withholding any clue as to where the danger lay. Mulder felt the tension heavy on the air.

Suddenly, there was a crash in the undergrowth ahead as a shape surged forward from the gloom. Rifles raised, Victor and the two agents prepared to fire. Scully’s jaw dropped as she took in the figure that was thrashing its way towards them.

It was a man’s form - tall, stocky, and still dressed in filthy blue jeans and a torn red shirt. But she could see why the townspeople used the term “changeling” to refer to this creature borne of the forest’s strange effects. Despite having a humanoid shape, it didn’t look human. Stooped at the waist, and lunging through the bushes in a predatory half-crouch, it looked utterly feral. Its skin was pasty white and appeared to hang loose on its limbs, as though the muscle beneath had shrunken away. 

Its face was the most shocking. The changeling’s forehead, marked with deep, unnatural horizontal furrows, seemed to have slumped right forward, shading its eyes. Although half concealed, the eyes glinted savagely with a cruel greenish light. Blood was crusted around its mouth, its teeth bared.

As one, Victor, Mulder and Scully all fired their rifles, and three large darts hit the changeling’s floppy flesh with a series of little thoks. 

And as though nothing had happened, the changeling barrelled onwards, charging straight towards them, and leapt at Victor, knocking him down.

It all happened in a flash. In horror, the agents saw the changeling open its jaws and latch its teeth onto Victor’s exposed neck. Mulder had his pistol trained on it within seconds. Quickly positioning himself to ensure the angle of his shot wouldn’t go through the creature and into Victor, he fired two rounds straight into its hunched torso.

The changeling let out an unearthly scream and detached itself. But undeterred, it began clawing at Victor’s upper body, its hooked fingers raking into his flesh. Scrambling over him, it turned, sunk its head and bit deep into his thigh, luckily to a fair degree thwarted by the denim Victor was wearing. 

Mulder plugged another three shots into its abdomen. This time the changeling convulsed, shrieking, and rolled away from Victor, leaving blood smeared across his torso. Sprawling upon the forest floor, it pulled in its limbs like a dead spider, and lay still.

Aghast, Scully rushed forward to help Victor. She could barely comprehend what she had just witnessed. It was one thing to hear about the changelings, and something else entirely to actually see the drastically altered creature, once human, that had attacked them. She realised that she had been expecting to see something more along the lines of a person in the throes of a bad drug trip, violent and out of control, but still fundamentally a person. Not this complete abomination.

Victor groaned, trying to sit up as Scully supported his shoulders. “Hey, just take it easy. Let me take a look at this,” she said. Mulder was already maintaining a protective perimeter for them, his firearm raised. His skin was crawling with horror. Unspoken between them all was the knowledge that there would be no more attempts at using tranquilisers for this task.

”I’m ok, I think. Just flesh wounds,” Victor said tersely. Scully gently encouraged him to tilt his head to one side so she could look at the wound on his neck. Although still bleeding, it didn’t appear to be very deep, nor did the scratches, thanks to Mulder’s quick action. They would need disinfecting as soon as possible though. God knew what that thing had had in its mouth, or nails.

Feeling terrible that his idea to use tranquilisers had put them all in danger, Victor spoke. “I’m so sorry guys. I’ve seen these things before. I knew - I know there’s nothing that can be done, once they change. We should have been shooting to kill from the start. I just…didn’t want anyone else to have to die because of all this.” His face was distraught. 

Mulder and Scully shared a look. They’d had their own experiences where an apparent enemy could also be seen as a victim of circumstance, and they entirely understood Victor’s conflict. But there was no mistaking what they had just witnessed as anything other than a grotesque mutation, bent on bringing death.

”Victor, if anything like that ever happened to me, as God is my witness I would pray to be shot dead where I stand,” Mulder told him. Scully nodded her agreement solemnly. As a doctor, it was always her instinct to preserve life. But what if this had happened to her? She could only consider it a mercy, to be released from such a deranged and tortured existence. 

“We’re here to make sure the town remains safe,” Scully said, steeling herself, knowing they would have to see this through. “So that’s what we’ll do.”

Mulder put out a hand to help Victor up. But upon trying to rise, Victor found his legs wouldn’t support him, and he dropped back down to the ground, looking confused. “You’re probably going into shock,” Scully told him. “That was a pretty nasty attack. I think we’d better get you out of here.”

Although feeling sore and dizzy, Victor protested instantly. “No! We can’t lose them now. We let them get away, next thing we’ll have another dead body on our hands. This is our chance, I’m not letting it go.” 

Seeing hesitation on his colleagues’ faces, Victor appealed to Scully. “Serena - you saw. When the family arrived at the scene yesterday. How awful that was for them.” 

Scully sighed softly. She had indeed felt very sad for all of them, knowing how they must have hoped and despaired for their long miserable days of waiting for news, only to be forced to come to terms with their worst fears realised. 

Sensing from the look on her face that she was wavering, Victor pressed his point. “Please, go on, you can leave me here for now. Up against…” he looked around. “That rock face over there. I’ll be able to see anything coming, I’ve got plenty of ammo. We’ve lost four people to these things already. I just cannot go back knowing we had any chance of stopping them.”

Mulder looked to see Scully’s reaction. Her assessing gaze swept over the surrounding forest, its unyielding shadows, the twisted corpse on its bed of leaves and dirt. 

And then met his. Determined. Ready.

“Ok. We’ll go see what we can find,” Mulder said.

Victor loosed a sigh of relief. “Glad I put all that time in at the weight rack, so I can sit pretty here while you guys go do all the work,” he said, smiling ruefully.

Giving him a wry look, Mulder and Scully laid their tranquiliser rifles beside Victor so as to be less encumbered. Scully then crouched down to check him over once more, making sure he was as comfortable as possible leaning against the protective boulders where they’d set him down.

She could only hope he’d still be there when they got back.

Their pistols raised and ready, Mulder and Scully turned to make their way back into the thick of the forest again. 

Chapter Text

It was deeply eerie passing through the silent woods, knowing that there were creatures lurking somewhere in the shadows who would kill them without hesitation. The agents stayed close, practically shoulder to shoulder. They moved in the direction the changeling had come from, slow and wary, having no way to know whether the things worked as a pack or if the one they had just dealt with had been on a solo venture.  

Mulder’s instincts whispered that the others would not be far away. Regardless of how their grave misfortune had altered their minds, these creatures had been a family once. 

He knew they could never have imagined that their new lives in this sleepy small town would play out to this unthinkable resolution. 

It didn’t take long to confirm his suspicions. Hearing in the distance the same kind of infernal screech they had heard from the first changeling they encountered, they both froze. The sound was coming from an area up ahead where the trees seemed to thin out a little, letting more light through. 

Mulder and Scully each clicked the safety off their weapons, fully alert, both feeling the familiar inner lightning of adrenaline racing through them. 

The sounds were coming closer. Scully’s nerves were stretched taut. Had it been a mistake coming here on their own? Could they possibly hope to…

With a shriek like something from the pits of Hades, a changeling burst out from a twist of matted creepers right beside them and launched itself onto Mulder’s back. In an instant its pale arms were wrapped tightly around his neck and Scully heard his shocked gasp cut off as it choked out his air supply. “Mulder!” she cried. 

One of the creature’s clawing hands raked over Mulder’s face, trying to get a better grip as Mulder flung his head back hard in an attempt to dislodge it. He heard its rasping breath in his ear, panting as it sought to get a good angle to latch its jaws onto him. 

Scully was struggling to find a clear shot on this wildly moving target. Fixing on a large tree just beyond the desperate battle taking place, she hoped Mulder would understand her intent as she leapt in front of him and tried to steer him backwards. He followed her cue instantly and drove himself backwards a few steps, pinning the changeling between himself and the tree trunk. 

The moment it was immobilised, Scully swung around behind him, took a single second of absolute focus to ground herself, aimed, and fired four rounds straight into its face. 

With a long guttural moan, the changeling slumped forward onto the back of Mulder’s neck. He threw himself forward in disgust, letting the body slither off his back and thud to the forest floor. 

Scully was instantly at his side. “Are you ok? Did it bite you?” Blood from her killing headshots had  splattered across his neck and shoulders and she couldn’t tell if any was his own. She could see the beginning discolouration of contusions around Mulder’s neck where the thing had crushed down on his windpipe. His face was scratched and bleeding. 

Stepping in close to him, Scully gently investigated his injuries with her fingertips. She was shaken after having now seen two of these deathly creatures in action. It felt calming to stand so close to Mulder, reassuring herself he was alright. Allowing herself a moment to just enjoy his nearness, warm and alive, thank God. “Can you breathe ok?” she checked. 

Mulder tested that out by stealthily taking a deep inhale of her sweet-smelling hair, unnoticed by Scully as she lightly pressed up against him while examining his neck. “Yeah, I’m ok,” he confirmed, his voice rasping slightly. 

“Ok,” she breathed, stepping back, eyes still searching him for any other possible injuries. 

Mulder was on high alert, his nerves jangling from the attack, knowing there was almost definitely another creature lurking nearby, awaiting its moment. He and Scully stared down at the changeling’s body lying at their feet. From the long matted hair strewn over its face, they guessed this had been the woman from the Alverton family. 

Mulder saw his own feelings of intense pity reflected on Scully’s face. He hoped she wasn’t feeling guilt over the shots she had had to fire. He couldn’t see it as anything other than a merciful death. 

Knowing their task was not yet concluded, the agents slowly continued on through the forest. Every crunch of leaf or twig underfoot was jarring to their senses as they anticipated the next attack. 

“Scully, we are going to have to find a way to get some more help for Victor and Dave. They’ll definitely need more manpower for whenever something like this happens again,” Mulder said. 

“I know, I’ve been thinking about it too. Mulder, I agree with Victor and Dave that it would be a bad thing for this town’s secret to make its way into any kind of higher official jurisdiction whatsoever. They’ve managed to keep things under control here for generations. 

“If this got out though, I see only two outcomes. Either the whole forest would be put under lockdown so it could be studied, and God only knows where that would lead. Nowhere good, I’m sure. Or, the trees would all be razed to the ground to stop them being able to spawn any more of these…. things.” 

She looked around, the hunted feeling still rippling over her skin. “Either way, the town as it is now would be totally destroyed.”

Everything Scully said mirrored Mulder’s own thoughts. But who could they could trust with something so important?

A profile was taking shape in Mulder’s mind as to who the right person or persons would be to help Greenwood’s police team. If Dave and Victor couldn’t locate someone already in the force who would be open to this kind of challenge, he felt the ideal candidate could be someone ex-military, familiar with utmost loyalty to an overriding cause. Maybe someone who had seen things in their line of work that had edged them into a little disillusionment, a distrust for government and higher forms of authority in general. Someone with a pinch of the paranoid about them - alert to the concept that there were things out there that weren’t being made readily available for public knowledge. 

It sounded like exactly the kind of person who might read the Lone Gunman newspaper. Who might even be interested if they saw an ad for a specialised kind of job opportunity there. 

He knew the Lone Gunmen were going to just love this idea. 

A chilly breeze was starting to pick up, making the leaves rustle and the branches overhead sway a little. 

“We had better start making our way back to Victor,” Scully said after a while. “We shouldn’t leave him there alone too long. Or go too far and end up getting ourselves lost.”

Nodding agreement, Mulder turned and they started back the way they had come. Uneasy, knowing an attack could come from any direction, Mulder scanned the way ahead of them, while Scully, keeping just a step behind Mulder, looked back over her shoulder with her pistol raised. She had two of her fingers hooked around his pinkie, so he could lead them while she monitored the shadowy forest to the rear. 

The breeze kicked up into a strong gust of wind, filling the air with the sound of loud creaking and groaning branches. Mulder tucked his chin down, shivering a little. He had to slip his hand away from Scully’s for a moment to pull his trenchcoat more closely around him, buttoning it against the chill wind. Then he turned over his shoulder to check how she was faring.

But Scully was gone.

“Scully?…....SCULLY!!!!” Mulder shouted, his heart plunging, whirling into a 360-degree spin as he scanned the empty woods around him. She had been right there , just a moment ago, right behind him…

“SCULLAAAY!!!!” Mulder roared, frantic. He forced himself to stand totally still for a moment, eyes raking over the black skeletons of the surrounding trees, listening hard over the noise of the wind stirring their branches. He heard a crack in the undergrowth to his right, and launched himself towards it like a torpedo.

Charging into the chest-high bushes in front of him, he broke through them to find himself on an embankment where the ground dropped sharply into a downward dirt slope ahead. Immediately he saw a sight that filled him with dread. Scully, lying limp on the ground part way down the slope. The last of the three changelings, its pale skin standing out white against the dark earth, was stooped over her, a heavy stick in its hand. 

Mulder felt icewater flood his veins. All the detail of the surrounding woods blurred into a dull green haze at the corners of his vision. His eyes locked onto the changeling, the distance between the creature and where he stood at the top of the slope seeming to narrow as he honed in on its hideously distorted features. 

Mulder snapped his arm up, bringing the sight of his gun into alignment with the changeling’s sunken forehead. Zoned in with deadly focus, he fired three rounds, hitting it once in the face, clipping its temple as it twitched violently at the impact and landing the third shot on its shoulder. 

The demonic screech that tore from the changeling’s throat rang through the trees. Not stopping to think, wanting only to get it away from Scully, and terrified at what harm it might already have done her, Mulder plunged headlong down the slope, tackling the creature and slamming it to the ground. 

Gravely wounded, but somehow, incomprehensibly, still with fight left in it, the changeling thrashed beneath him. He heard the repulsive sound of its teeth snapping together as it flailed its head, trying to bite at him. 

Desperately attempting to pull his gun from where it was pinned underneath the creature’s torso, Mulder had only a second to react when he realised it had reached out its free arm and seized the stick it had been carrying when he first saw it. Using all his strength, he managed to yank his pistol free just as the changeling gave another shriek and swung the stick towards his head like a club. Jamming his gun into its ribs, Mulder fired three more times, and the shriek was cut off as the stick fell from its finally lifeless hand. 

As soon as he was sure it was dead, grimacing as he watched its limbs pull inwards in the same spider-like death rigor as the others, Mulder spun and crawled as fast as he could over to Scully’s side. Her eyes were closed, her face and clothes smudged with dirt, and he winced to see a nasty split in the skin of her temple, oozing blood down into her ear. Bruises were flowering across her cheek. 

Lifting her carefully to cradle her head and shoulders in his lap, Mulder ran the pad of his thumb gently back and forth across her other, uninjured cheek. “Scully, hey, can you hear me?” 

What had that thing done to her?  “Scully!”

She began to stir, and Mulder felt a great flood of relief go through him. Moaning softly, Scully’s eyebrows drew together as she became aware of the pain in her head. Sympathetic, Mulder put a hand up to her hairline on the uninjured side, stroking her hair in comfort. Her eyes opened, and his relief swelled anew when he saw she was conscious. 

“Mulder? Mmmh... my head… what happened? I...” Scully gasped suddenly, her eyes going wide as she remembered.

“That thing grabbed me! Where…” 

Mulder soothed her, his hand still gently sweeping over her hair. “It’s ok, it’s ok. It’s dead. All of them are dead now.”

He felt her relax against him. “My God, it was so fast - I was right behind you, and I just saw it reach out from the bushes beside me… It pulled me in, I couldn’t even call out to you before... I don’t know. I don’t know what happened then.”

“It was holding a stick, when I found you,” Mulder said. “I think it must have hit you, knocked you out, and you fell over the embankment there.”

Seeing she wanted to rise, he helped her sit up slowly, supporting her shoulders with his arm. “Are you ok Scully? It looks like you got hit pretty hard…”

She touched her fingertips to her temple gingerly and frowned upon seeing they came away coated in blood. “It feels like it too.” Scully looked down at her dirt-smeared clothing, then up the slope in front of them. “Let’s just get out of here Mulder.”

Mulder helped her to her feet, keeping close until he was sure she was able to stand on her own. She let him take her arm as they clambered back up the slope, slithering and sliding a little on the loosely-packed earth. 

Once they had made it back to the top, the intensity of the day’s events started to hit, and by the time they’d made the walk back through the woods to where they found Victor, thankfully still in one piece, they were both exhausted. 

Having had ample time to rest and recover himself, Victor was now back on his feet, pacing anxiously along the rockface where they had left him. Relief illuminated his face when he saw them appear. “I was just about to come start looking for you!” he yelled, hastening towards them. 

Taking in Mulder’s scratched and blood-spattered face, and Scully’s head wound and bruises, not to mention the dirt they were both liberally coated with, Victor stopped short, concerned. “Are you ok? Did you…find them?”

Mulder nodded, his face tight. “We found them. We uh… it’s done. They’re dead.”

Victor said nothing, knowing that no reaction was called for. They all felt the heavyness of what had occurred here in the forest depths today. A family had come here, ready to start a new chapter of their life, and through a mysterious aberration of nature, they had been taken on a journey first to the heights of euphoria, then down into the depths of hell. 

Victor felt a mixture of relief, guilt and sadness. He’d warned them, but they hadn’t believed him, and who could blame them? But could he have done more? 

Mulder and Scully also felt the weight of the loss of these human lives bearing down on them. Scully, turning it over and over in her mind, couldn’t see any resolution other than the one that had played out that wouldn’t have ultimately turned the entire town into some kind of government-science-lab carnival, the changelings imprisoned, destined to become at best objects of study, at worst, torture. 

To both agents, it somehow felt like they’d done the wrong thing, but for the right reasons. And maybe in this case, Mulder thought, it simply wouldn’t have been possible to have a right thing and right reasons outcome. 

A bleak mood settling over all three, they hiked out and made the drive back into Greenwood in silence.  

Chapter Text

It felt like days had passed since Mulder, Scully and Victor had set out from the sheriff’s office that morning. Driving back through the pleasant streets lined with their bright flower-gardens and neat hedges was a stark contrast to the wildness they had faced down out in the forest. 

Victor pulled up in front of the sheriff’s office and they all went inside, heading automatically for the kitchen, temple of the restorative powers of coffee. 

“Right, first up, I’m calling the doctor so he can come take a look at you guys,” Victor said, passing the steaming mugs he had just brewed to Mulder and Scully and taking a sip from his own. 

“Actually, I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” Scully told him. “That blood all over Rick isn’t his, and all I need for this,” she gestured to the side of her face, “is ice and painkiller.”

“Are you sure?” Victor asked, surprised. They both looked terrible. “Shouldn’t we just get him over here to make certain you’re both ok?”

Not wanting to get into explanations of how much on-the-spot first aid she was used to providing, Scully tried to smile reassuringly. “To be honest, all I really want is just to get cleaned up and rest for a bit. You should definitely get checked over though Victor. That bite and the scratches need attention as soon as possible.” 

Looking at the scratches across Mulder’s face, she couldn’t think how to mention that she would treat those herself in a way that wouldn’t sound weird to Victor. “Actually Rick, maybe you should let the doctor… “

But Mulder was just as anxious to get out of there as she was. “All the healing I need will come out of a box of greasy takeout, if you can point me in the right direction to get hold of some,” he said to Victor. The back of Mulder’s head and the shoulders of his coat were crusted in changeling blood and he was desperate to get a shower and then some dinner.

“Oh, well that’s a medication I can certainly help you find a dispensary for,” Victor said. Turning, he pulled out a drawer under the kitchen sink and retrieved some brightly coloured fliers. “Our big three in Greenwood are Chinese, Italian or Greek.” He handed the fliers to Mulder. “Take your pick.”

Accepting them, Mulder turned to Scully. “Serena, I can drop you over a bite to eat later if you feel like it. Just let me know.”

“Yeah, go on and get out of here guys, you’ve both done plenty for today,” Victor said. “And listen, no need for you to be in here until tomorrow afternoon either. I’ll speak to Dave about getting a few volunteers together in the morning and we can go deal with the bodies when you come in. And only if you’re up to it, of course.”

The agents needed no further encouragement. 

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

“Mulder, give me a call when you’ve freshened up and I’ll come by with an antiseptic and some cream for the scratches,” Scully said once they were out by their cars. 

“Better idea. I’ll call in our order now, I see the Chinese place has our usual on their menu,” Mulder said, waving one of the fliers Victor had given him. “It’ll be ready by the time I’ve showered, I’ll go get it and come over to you.”

Seeing she was about to protest, Mulder put his hands gently on her shoulders. “Scully! You were knocked unconscious just a couple of hours ago. Today you’re the patient, I’m the doctor.” His eyes went to her blood-encrusted temple. “I’ll pick up some ice for that as well.”

Scully sighed. She wasn’t feeling all that great, if she was honest. “Ok. Thank you. That sounds good.”

“C’mon, I’ll drive you back. No good escaping death by monster only to run yourself off the road with a head injury.” He popped the door open and waved her into the car with a look that said don’t argue. 

A little while later found both agents sprawled out on Scully’s huge bed at her guesthouse, each with a mostly-finished tub of takeout on the bedside tables in easy reach, clean and fresh after a long hot shower at their respective accommodations. All medications, adhesive sutures and bandages had been put in place as necessary, and Scully had a bag of ice wrapped in a towel which she was applying periodically to her injury and bruises. The TV was on in the corner, but they weren’t really watching. 

“Mulder, why is it that the best takeout we ever get always seems to come right after our worst times out in the field?” Scully pondered. “Have you ever noticed that?”

Mulder thought it over. “Danger must have a special flavour,” he decided.

“It doesn’t seem very fair,” Scully said. “Why can’t I just enjoy the most amazing noodles ever on a quiet Saturday night after doing absolutely nothing all day? Why do I have to get beaten up or nearly die first? Is it the Universe expecting me to earn the noodles?”

Mulder laughed. “I think the Universe expects us to earn everything Scully,” he said. “Nothing seems to come without a fight in this job.”

She smiled softly. “Least it’s the good fight we’re fighting,” she murmured, and he saw her eyelids were at half-mast. 

“Hey, Scully, I think you should get some sleep. Do you need me to stay? Won’t you need to wake up a couple of times tonight after a head injury like that?”

“No, it’s ok, I set an alarm for that already,” she said, eyes now closed. 

“And say you wake up alone and oh no, you actually do have a concussion? What then?” Mulder asked her, genuinely concerned. 

“Phone you…” she murmured. 

“Ok, you can do that. I’ll hear it for sure, my phone is right here,” he said, patting the pocket of his jeans. 

He wasn’t going anywhere.

Scully was now fully asleep. Mulder quietly tidied up their cartons, went out into the hall to make a couple of important phone calls, then slipped back inside. 

Finding a warm blanket in a wooden chest under the window, he spread it out over Scully, taking a moment just to look at her. Her beautiful face soft in sleep, her red hair haloed around her on the pillow, as sweet and serene as the name she had taken for this case. 

Remembering the contrast of her brave and blazing in the forest, indomitable, saving his life as the changeling had tried to strangle him, he felt his heart glow with admiration and adoration. She was incredible. 

Mulder climbed underneath the duvet next to her. He turned the TV right down, planning to watch quietly for a while, but the sound of Scully’s gentle breathing beside him was so soothing he soon drifted off himself. 

When Scully’s alarms went off in the night, they both made certain that they were happy with her condition. After all, Mulder was her doctor for the day. 

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

It was blissful to have the morning to sleep in after the previous day’s events. Scully, eventually waking with a thumping headache, groped around on her bedside cabinet for painkiller and knocked back a good dose. Sinking down into her fluffy pillows while she waited for it to take effect, she suddenly became aware that Mulder was asleep beside her, her on top of the duvet and him under it.

As if sensing her eyes on him, Mulder cracked an eyelid. “Hi,” he said, voice croaky from sleep and the rough treatment his neck had undergone the day prior. “Head ok?”

“Hey. It could be better I guess. I just took something for it. I’ll be fine though. How are you?”

”Mmmh. Scully, this bed is like a cloud…I don’t think I can get out of it. Call Victor, tell him I’m busy today.”

Scully huffed a laugh into her pillow. Mulder opened his eyes properly. “Your bruises look ok,” he told her. “That was some expert icing you did.”

”I’m a pro,” she replied, stretching. “Mulder - what are we going to tell Victor today? And beyond that, what are we going to tell Skinner?”

”I’ve got it all covered Scully. I rang the Lone Gunmen last night and told them we needed their help with sourcing some new recruits to assist a fun and happening little forest town police force, more details on application. They’re going to run an ad right away. Then…” he yawned and rolled onto his back. “I rang Skinner. I told him his crack team of Basement Agents Extraordinaire had solved the case and will be on the way home as soon as possible.” 

Turning to look at her, he gave her what she instantly recognised as his patented pleading expression. “Someone still has to write up the report though, when we get back, and I thought maybe that could be you, since I’ve done all these phone calls and stuff…” He pulled a pillow up to cover his face, avoiding the glare he knew she would be trying to pin him with.

Scully grinned at his little charade. “Well, I suppose it was a pretty hard day you had yesterday, having to do three jobs at once - cop, doctor and undercover FBI agent, all rolled into one…” she said thoughtfully.

Mulder put the pillow aside. “It was tough, I’ll admit it. But I think I’m a natural in the doctor role.” He leaned just a little closer to her, his eyes catching hers. “How did you like my bedside manner Scully?”

Scully suddenly felt a wave of shyness come over her, feeling like their whole conversation had become a bit too playful. They were tucked up in bed together, their faces close, teasing each other. His deep morning voice, the look in his eyes as he asked her about his bedside manner…

They were on a case, and she was here to work, Scully reminded herself.

Seeking to diffuse the tension gently, she tugged the pillow back over his face and then slipped off the bed. “We better get ready and get down to the sheriff’s office, or you’ll have no job by the end of the day, let alone three,” Scully told him.

With a little groan of protest, Mulder sat up. “Ok. I’ll come back and pick you up at noon,” he agreed.

Chapter Text

When they arrived at the office, Sheriff Dave, Victor, and two other men were out front, loading rope and other supplies into Victor’s truck-bed. Seeing Mulder and Scully pull in, Dave and Victor came over to greet them.

”Hey guys, how are you? You doing alright today?” Dave called. Scully saw his eyes fill with concern at her bruised face and bandaged temple as they approached. “Looks worse than it is,” she assured him briskly before he could speak, not in the mood to be fussed over.

“Well - if you’re sure,” he said uncertainly.

”What’s the plan?” Mulder asked, moving the conversation on.

“We’re taking care of recovery detail today,” Dave said. “We’ll need you to show us where the bodies are, out in the woods there. Need to give those poor people a decent burial and a place they can rest in peace.”

It was a solemn task, and no one felt much like making conversation. The group split themselves between Victor’s truck and Dave’s car, and before long, Mulder and Scully were back among the shadowy trees where they and the changelings had hunted each other the previous day. 

The forest seemed more welcoming without the threat of attack hanging heavy on the air, but it didn’t ease the memories fresh in both the agents’ minds and Victor’s of their brushes with death beneath its leafy canopy. Having no desire to linger any longer than necessary, Scully was glad when they were able to retrieve the bodies without incident and head back into town. 

Once they returned, Dave took Victor’s truck to drive over to the morgue. Feeling oddly guilty about the conversation which must now take place, Mulder went to catch Victor as he was thanking and shaking hands with the men who had joined them to help with the retrieval.

“Hey Victor, Serena and I were hoping we could have a chat with you?” Mulder asked. 

“Sure, let’s go,” Victor said, turning to follow him inside.

Scully was waiting for them at the kitchen table.

”Why do I get the feeling this isn’t good news?” Victor said apprehensively, his eyes flicking back and forth between them as he and Mulder sat down.

Scully and Mulder shared a quick glance, both feeling less than enthusiastic about having to give this update to Victor.

“Victor, I think it’s fair to say that neither Rick nor I had any idea what we were walking into when we were transferred here,” Scully told him, getting right to the point. “We were expecting to be small-town deputies, working a normal job in a fairly quiet community, not running around fighting monsters in the woods.”

She really wished she could share with him how much of their job actually did involve fighting monsters. She felt sure he would absolutely love to know that he and Dave were not the only law-enforcers in that line of work. But it had to sound like they had a legitimate basis for wanting to leave.

Mulder nodded. “The whole reason I left behind working in the city was to get away from the craziness.” Seeing Victor’s face fall, he backtracked. “Not that….I mean…let me phrase that better. Greenwood is beautiful. In other circumstances, I would be lucky to live here. I just think - we both think - that there’s a right kind of person to do this job, and it’s not either of us. But we definitely have no intention of leaving you and Dave high and dry to deal with all of this.

”I’ve already reached out to some professional contacts of mine, who have the right means to advertise this kind of role to people who would really suit the requirements. They’re working on it as we speak, and I’m going to put you in touch.”

Victor looked intrigued, if still deeply disappointed at hearing they weren’t going to stay. Scully wished she could explain that the circumstances calling for their departure were nothing to do with him, or Greenwood. She reached out and placed her hand over his. 

“I want to thank you for trusting us with everything Victor, and for sharing what it is that makes this town so unique. The challenges that come along with it are a lot to face, especially when it falls to you to deal with anything that goes wrong, but just as Rick said, anyone would be lucky to live here. Truly.”

”Can’t say it’s a huge surprise, I guess,” Victor replied, rubbing a hand over his jaw with a sigh. “I’m only as disappointed as I am because you guys have been so great! I was really looking forward to us all being a team. But yeah, I understand. And I really appreciate that you’ve already set things in motion to try to find some replacements for us. Hopefully things will stay quiet for a while, in the meantime.”

“I’ll be in touch, I promise,” Mulder assured him. “I’ll find you another great team, don’t worry. And we’ll catch Dave to let him know, before we go.”

They all walked out together, and Victor reached out to shake Mulder’s hand in farewell. Scully smiled at him as he turned to her. Even if only for this short time, and in these strange circumstances, she had genuinely felt like she’d made a new friend in Victor. 

He smiled back at her, and suddenly leaned in to give her a quick hug around the shoulders. “Maybe it’s for the best you’re going, Serena,” he told her quietly. “All those compliments you dish out - they would have gone right to my head.”

Bursting out laughing, Scully felt her cheeks go pink, remembering the giddily appreciative comments she’d made on Victor’s good looks when he’d taken her to experience the forest’s euphoric influences.

"Have you actually even been into the forest up here yet Rick?" Victor asked. Mulder shook his head. 

"Well, don't miss it!" Victor threw a last wave over his shoulder as he turned to head back inside. 

The two agents began walking down the footpath towards their cars. Mulder looked at Scully, who was carefully looking at anything but him. 

"I've been wanting to go into the forest from the moment you told me about it, Scully." 

She nodded, looking furtive. "You should. I think you'll be ok, just remember not to go too far in."

Mulder felt his heart sink. After everything that had happened, she still didn't want to come with him. "I take it you don't want to repeat the experience?" he asked her. "Why? You said it was amazing." 

Scully fidgeted. "It is. Beyond amazing. Like nothing I've ever felt in my life before," she admitted. 

"But, what, you don't want to share an experience like that with me? Once was enough - with Victor?" 

He heard the hurt and frustration in his own voice. 

Scully felt like she was standing directly under a white-hot floodlight. There was absolutely no way she could get out of this conversation without either lying to Mulder and further hurting him - or telling him the truth she'd been running from. 

Looking down at the ground, she spoke only just above a whisper. "I do want to go with you Mulder. I do. I just..." 

He was turning away from her, already anticipating her refusal, her rejection. Scully reached out to grab his hand, halting him. 

"I just didn't want anything to happen between us that was only because of the forest," she said in a small voice. "That we hadn't already...wanted to happen." 

The first kiss she hadn't been able to help imagining with him, so many times over the years they’d worked together - the brilliant, gorgeous partner and brave, loyal friend she couldn’t have stopped herself from falling for if she’d tried. She didn't want it to be some meaningless reaction to a bizarre biological enzyme. She wanted it to be real. 

Daring to sneak a look up at Mulder, she saw understanding on his face - and hope. "Is there something that you would want to happen between us, Scully?" he asked softly, taking her other hand into his. 

Heart suddenly pounding, she couldn't speak. But her eyes flicked to his lips, and he read the answer on her face. 

Mulder stepped closer to her, his hand coming up to lightly stroke the side of her face, smoothing back her hair. He had a powerful sense of being right on the edge of a threshold he’d feared he might never cross. He tipped his face down towards hers, searching her eyes with his, making sure. In response, Scully tilted up her chin. 

His lips brushed hers, very softly, pausing for just a moment of sweet, gentle contact as their breath mingled. Scully felt her entire body tingling, her legs weak. 

Mulder dipped his face to hers again and she leaned in to meet him. Their lips met, slowly moving against each other as they gently explored this new terrain. 

Mulder's heart was thudding into his ribs. He couldn't believe he was really standing here, kissing Dana Scully, the most beautiful woman he'd ever met. The object of his utmost admiration, the friend and partner he had loved for so long. And she was kissing him back. 

His arms slid around her waist, and he drew her close, not breaking his contact with her soft, full mouth for a second.

Finally, they pulled back, both breathing hard. "Mulder, I..." Scully began. 

But she knew there was no stopping this, now that it had finally started. And she didn’t want to stop for one heartbeat. She gave up all thought of anything but simply sinking back into his embrace, her lips finding his again, wanting only this, only him, always. 

Mulder didn't know how long they stood there, entwined, incapable of drawing away from the flow of pure sensation between them. Eventually, he brought his hands up to her face, slowly moving back from her as his thumbs caressed her cheeks softly, featherlight over her bruises, gazing into her incredible blue eyes. 

"I think I understand why you didn't want us to go into the forest together Scully. If it's like you say, I don't think there's any way I would have been able to stop myself..." - he dropped one more little kiss onto her upturned lips - "... from kissing you. It's been hard enough every damn time I see you as it is."

A wicked grin broke over Scully's face. "Well, it wasn't that I didn't want you to kiss me in the forest," she confessed. "Just not for our very first kiss."

Noting the emphasis, Mulder's face lit up. "So...."

Her eyes were bright with mischief. Taking his hand in hers, she gave it a little tug as she turned in the direction of the path into the woods. “We couldn’t go back to DC without you getting to investigate every angle of this X-File. And you know me Mulder. I think some things have to be seen to be believed.”

Mulder looked at her, seeing in her clear sapphire eyes another path, leading to all the fully realised possibilities between them, and on into a beautiful future. All he had wanted, all he had waited for, all this time. 

Pulling her close to him again, wrapping his arms tight around her, Mulder put his lips right up to her ear. 

“And you know me Scully...” 

His voice dropped to a soft, playful but electrifying growl that made her gasp and melt, helplessly, against him. 

“I want to believe.”

END