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Chapter Text

“Lily!” 

Scully yells as her hand just barely misses the girl. The purple mist takes Lily away, right before their eyes. Frohike turns and sees that the camera is still recording and turns it off. 

“Scully…”

Mulder pulls his partner in for a hug, his eyes watering. They knew this would happen, they were actively working towards it. 

I'm gonna miss her. Ten years…

Melissa moves slightly past them and lifts the stuffed animal off the sofa. 

“It left the cat behind.”

“She told us we had it before she was born. I guess it figured we'd hold onto it.”

A somber silence fills the room.

In 2015, an ambulance speeds down a busy road. Sirens and horns blaring as cars quickly move out of the way.

“Twelve year old female, seizure lasting more than five minutes. Parents requested Our Lady of Sorrows.”

The EMT speaks into his radio as he flies down the street. A black SUV chases behind him, sirens blaring.

“Yes, Doctor Scully has already informed us, we have a bed ready.”

“ETA five minutes.”

Scully holds Lily's limp hand, tears trail down her face.

“Doctor, does your daughter have a history of seizures?”

Scully shakes her head and wipes her face on her coat sleeve.

“No, she doesn't. This is her first.”

The second EMT nods as she checks Lily's vitals once more.

Scully watches as her eyes widen and she yells out to the driver.

“She's crashing!”

The EMT jumps up and grabs a bag, she cuts Lily's shirt and places two patches on her chest and presses a button on the machine. Scully's vision blurs as Lily's hand is pulled out of her own and the EMT begins CPR.

Please, please let my baby be okay…

Mulder flies behind the ambulance, keeping his eyes on the tiny windows on the doors. Beside him, Emily clings to the handle on the roof, her face filled with fear at both her father's driving and her baby sister's predicament.

William is strapped into the back seat, his eyes closed as he watches through his mother's eyes. He hears the EMT count the compressions and watches as his little sister's body jumps as the machine sends a shock through her chest. 

“Will, how's she doing?”

His dad's voice fills his ears.

“It's not good, dad.”

Mulder turns right sharply, the three occupants tilt to the left as the car's right wheels lift off the ground during their turn. He chases the ambulance and quickly parks nearby. The car is turned off and the sirens are silenced. The trio runs out to meet Scully as she follows after the gurney.

Nurses swarm the child, voices loud as they bark orders. The family is stopped at a set of double doors by a tall nurse, he looks at the scared children and parents and gives them a reassuring look.

“I'm sorry, we need you to wait here until she's stable. I'll come out and get you personally, Doctor Scully.”

“Thank you, Tyler.”

Tyler smiles softly and runs through the doors. Scully, still holding onto the cat, turns and cries into her husband's shoulder. Her eldest children hug them from both sides. One thought enters their minds.

Please let Lily be okay…

A ringing phone pulls Melissa and Langly out of their slumber. Langly reaches over to his bedside table and picks up the phone.

“H'llo?”

“Langly, Lily's back. She had a seizure, we’re at the hospital…”

Langly jumps up, followed by his wife.

“Mulder? Is she okay? What happened?”

“She was in her room, she screamed… Her heart… stopped… on the way over here… I-”

Melissa pulls on her clothes and runs out of the room. Two teens are roused from their sleep and they get dressed quickly.

Langly meets them downstairs and his family follows him into the garage.

“Honey, what happened?”

“Lily's back. They're at the hospital.”

Melissa's eyes close and her face goes pale.

“Oh my god.”

In 1993, the two Agents, Melissa, and the Gunmen begin to plan. They move into the dining room and sit at the table.

“Okay, Mulder.”

Frohike says as he pulls out a spiral bound notebook and a pen.

“Take us through the timeline.”

Mulder clears his throat and reaches for the recorder. He removes the current tape and replaces it with a second one. Lily's voice comes through.

“X-Files, year one timeline. Did that sound official?”

Mulder can be heard laughing and getting hit.

“Ow! Scully!”

“Hush, Mulder. Yes, Lily. That sounded official.”

“Cool. Okay… so you guys have already done a few cases. I'll skip those. The next case is in… September? I think…”

The adults begin to write down the timeline, they hear Lily gasp on the recording and stop.

“Can I tell you guys the names I gave your cases? Dad wasn't very original so I got to choose the names.”

Scully speaks over Mulder's protesting voice.

“Sure Lily, go ahead.”

Lily clears her throat.

“Okay so the first case you worked on is called Oregon: part one . Since there's more to that case, we'll get to it later. The second case is called Deep Throat, since that's when you met him, obviously. The third case is, Squeeze, again, obviously. Then the fourth is Conduit. The fifth is called The Jersey Devil. Okay I think you're caught up on those.”

Frohike laughs, pauses the recording and turns to Mulder.

“She's more original than you are, that's for sure.”

Mulder rolls his eyes and smiles as he writes out the dates of the previous cases. The others join Frohike and laugh at Mulder's expense.

The recording is played and the writing continues. By the end of the first year, the group has a pretty good timeline written out.

In 2015, a loud ringing phone wakes the eldest members of the Scully family. Maggie Scully reaches over and picks the phone up from its cradle.

“Hello?”

“Mom? It's Missy.”

“Melissa? What's wrong?”

Bill Sr. lifts his head and looks at his wife when he hears her worried tone.

“Lily's back. She had a seizure. They're at Dana's hospital now.”

Maggie gasps and stands up, her husband follows and they start to quickly get dressed.

“We'll be right there, honey.”

“Mom…”

Melissa's shaky voice comes through the speaker.

“It'll be okay, Melissa.”

Maggie hangs up and turns to her husband. Her panicked eyes meet his, and she starts to shake.

“Lily's back, she had a seizure. They took her to Dana's hospital…”

Bill Sr. pulls her into a hug, they pull away from each other and run downstairs to their car, praying the whole way to the hospital.

Please, God. Please let Lily be okay…

Riiiing…. Riiiiing…. Riiiiiing…

“Hullo?”

“Bill? It's Charlie. Dana just called. Lily's back. She had a seizure… It's bad. She… How quick can you get here?”

Bill Jr. gasps as he sits up, his wife opens her eyes and looks up at him.

“We'll get the first flight out… Tell Dana and Mulder we'll be right there.”

“I will. Hurry.”

Tara sits up and places her hand on her husband's shoulder.

“Bill? What happened?”

“Lily’s back, she had a seizure. We have to go to D.C.”

The couple sits up and begins to pack, Tara runs into the other room to wake their youngest child. Bill pulls up the flight information on his phone and books three tickets for the first flight out.

Riiiiiing… Riiiiiiiiing… Riiiiiiing…

Walter Skinner sits up with a gasp, his head turning to his bedside table. His wife rolls away from him and mumbles as she opens her bleary eyes.

“Skinner.”

“Uncle W-alter? It's… Em.”

His brows furrow as he hears the girl's breath hitch.

“Emily? What's wrong?”

The girl begins to sob and he can barely make out her words. Arlene sits up and places her hand on his shoulder, her face full of worry as she hears her husband's tone.

“Li-ly came b-back. We're a-t the ho-hospital.”

His eyes widen and he reaches for his glasses, he slips them on and hops out of bed, motioning for Arlene to do the same. The woman rushes to the closet and brings them each some clothes, she gasps and her eyes fill with tears as she hears what her husband says.

“Why are you at the hospital? What happened?”

“Se-seizure. H-h-her heart stopped in the am-bulance.”

“Shit, okay. We'll be right there, okay honey? We're on our way!”

Emily sobs out an ‘okay’ before hanging up. Walter looks over at his wife, his eyes are filled with fear as they get dressed quickly.

Monica and Doggett wake up as one of their phones rings. Monica reaches over and clicks ‘accept’ when she sees Scully's name.

“Dana?”

She hears a shaky sob come through the line and she puts the phone on speaker. The couple go pale when they hear Scully's words come through the phone.

“Monica, how fast can you get to the hospital? Lily's back, she had a seizure. I-  Monica… her- her heart stopped in the ambulance…”

Scully stops speaking as she's interrupted by loud sobs. The two Agents jump up and start getting dressed. Doggett reaches for the phone.

“Dana? We're on our way, we'll be there soon. It'll be okay, Lily's strong, she'll come through, I promise.”

They quickly say goodbye as they grab their keys and run out the door.

Frohike groans as he blindly reaches out for his phone. His hand knocks it off the nightstand, forcing him to open his eyes and grab it off the floor.

“This better be good, Langly.”

“Lily's back. Fro, it's not good. She's at the hospital. We're on our way now. Do you need a ride?”

Frohike sits up and reaches for his glasses. He grabs a shirt and throws it on as he answers.

“Yeah, please. What happened to tiny?”

“I don't know, man. Mulder just called, he said her heart stopped in the ambulance after she had a seizure.”

“I'll meet you downstairs!”

Frohike curses as he pulls on his boots and grabs his keys. He runs out of his apartment and down the flight of stairs. Only one thought filters through his mind as he waits for his friend to pick him up.

Please let tiny be okay…

Byers jumps out of bed as he hears a loud, banging knock on his front door. He runs out of his room and looks through the peephole. Seeing Frohike and Langly, he unlocks the door.

“Come on! Tiny's at the hospital, we have to go!”

Byers doesn't hesitate as he grabs his coat and throws it on over his pajamas. He grabs his keys, locks the door and takes off at a run after his friends.

“What happened?”

Langly looks over his shoulder as they run down the stairs.

“Lily had a seizure, they were headed to the hospital and her heart stopped. That's all we know right now.”

“Oh my god!”

The three men jump into the van, Frohike and Byers, squish into the back row as Langly pulls out of the spot and flies down the road.

Chapter Text

In 1993, the current team sits back as Melissa reads out the timeline.

“Okay, we have Shadows: September 1993. Lauren Kyte: Philadelphia. Protected by an invisible force. Bodies are found to have an electrical charge and their throats have been crushed from the inside. Howard Graves.”

The group nods and Melissa continues.

“Ghost in the Machine: October 24th, 1993. Eurisko office, Virginia. Brad Wilczek. Homicidal computer. Jerry Lamana. The C.O.S. downloads Dana's information. Lamana steals Fox's notes and says they're his.”

Mulder scoffs as he nods with the rest of the team.

“Ice: November 1993. An Arctic research team uncovers Primordial worms. The hosts become violent and paranoid. Fox and Dana are not infected. The worms kill each other if there are more than one in a host.”

Scully shudders at the fact that Lily had to specify that she and Mulder weren't infected.

“Space: Unknown, but before December 28th, 1993. Michelle Generoo, an Astral force is possessing someone and sabotaging the shuttle launches.”

Again, the group nods. Scully stands to refill their drinks.

“Fallen Angel: Unknown, but before December 28th, 1993. A UFO crashes in Townsend, Wisconsin. “Deep Throat” tips you guys off. Max Fenig. Section Chief Joseph McGrath threatens to shut the X-Files down. Invisible aliens. Bright lights and radiation burns.”

The Gunmen and Mulder look excited at the prospect of an encounter with an invisible alien.

“Eve: Unknown, but before December 28th, 1993. Eve clones. Don't drink the sodas. Greenwich, Connecticut and San Francisco, Marin County. Luther Staples Center for Reproductive Medicine. Dr. Sally Kendrick. “Litchfield” project.”

Scully comes back with the drinks and the group thanks her. She then sits in her seat, next to Mulder, and listens to her sister.

“Fire: Unknown but before December 28th, 1993. A gardener steals multiple identities by killing people. He has pyrokinetic abilities. Phoebe Green, stay away!”

Mulder slouches in his seat. 

“Why do I get all the warnings?”

The group laughs again and Melissa continues. Melissa’s eyes pool with tears as her voice hitches sadly at the next case.

“By the Sea: December 28th, 1993. Luther Lee Boggs. Dad… William Scully Sr. dies at 12:47 a.m. Dana sees his ghost at 1:47 a.m. Boggs has visions of murders after being in a gas chamber before his execution was stayed. “X-File: X-167512. Visionary encounters with the dead.” Boggs connects with dad’s spirit and begins to sing Beyond the Sea. Follow the signs. Boat house, lake Jordan, white crosses. Fox, don't get shot.”

Melissa takes a sip of her drink and swiftly moves onto the next case.

“Genderbender: Unknown, but before mid-January, 1994. Kindred. They possess the ability to switch genders. Do not make skin contact. Dana especially!”

Langly makes a note to look into the Kindred.

“Lazarus: January 1994. Jack Willis: Warren Dupre and Lula Phillips. Jack and Warren switch bodies. Warren's tattoo transfers to Jack's arm. Jack's watch stopped when he died. Dana gets held hostage.”

Scully looks down sadly and Mulder takes her hand in his. She looks up and gives him a grateful smile before squeezing his hand.

“Young at Heart: Unknown, though before March, 1994. John Barnett. Reggie Purdue. Barnett is experimented on by Ridley and steals his research. “Deep Throat” tells you the government is trying to bargain with Barnett for the research. Ridley lost his license in 1979 for experimenting on children with Progeria. Dana wear a Kevlar vest!”

Again, Scully worries about the warning. 

“E.B.E.: Unknown, though before March, 1994. A UFO crashes in Iraqi air space. You both follow a truck that is believed to have an alien or pieces of the ship. “Temporal lag.” Look for symptoms: cough, fever, and a rash. Dana's pen gets bugged. Do not trust “Deep Throat's” tip about Fort Benning, it's a ruse.”

Mulder shakes his head at the fact that he easily trusted his “informant.” 

“Miracle Man: March 7th, 1994. A religious healer. Reverend Calvin Heartley and his son, Samuel. People who are healed begin to die. Kenwood, Tennessee. Miracle Ministry is hiding the deaths. Dana finds evidence of Cyanide poisoning. A man named Vance is sabotaging the church.”

Langly makes another note to take a closer look at the Reverend and his son.

“Shapes: Unknown, but before April, 1994. Montana, a Native American man named, Joseph Goodensnake, is shot and killed. There's werewolves. Lyle Parker and a man named Ish are important. Manitou.”

Again, the Gunmen and Mulder look excited at the prospect of coming across a werewolf.

“Darkness Falls: Unknown, but before April, 1994. A logging crew disappears. Beware traps. Stay in the light. There's an old tree with a green ring in its core.”

Mulder makes a note to pack extra flashlights and lanterns for that case. 

Maybe a gas can too.

“Tooms: Unknown, but before April, 1994. Tooms escapes a half-way house and is shredded by an escalator while trying to kill Fox.”

A shudder runs through the group at the sound of a gruesome death.

“Born Again: Case closed April 19th, 1994. A little girl named Michelle Bishop is believed to be the reincarnation of a male police officer who was killed nine years prior, Charlie Morris. He was killed by the Triad Gang.”

Despite having just met her future daughter, Scully still scoffs at the thought of reincarnation.

“Roland: April 24th through the 29th, 1994. Roland Fuller and Arthur Grable are twins, Arthur is semi dead, he's being Cryogenically stored. Arthur is possessing his brother and forcing him to commit murders. Roland has visions of killing the victims before it happens. A man named Nollette stole Arthur's work.”

Melissa clears her throat again and takes another sip. Her eyes jump to the last case and she reads.

“The Erlenmyer Flask: May 8th through the 12th and the 25th, 1994. Evidence of government experimentation with Alien DNA is destroyed and people who are involved are killed. Dr. William Secare. “Deep Throat” tips you guys off on the case. A vial of a substance labeled “Purity Control” is tested. That is also the password to enter a secret base. Zeus Storage, a unit is filled with clones but they disappear before Dana sees them. “Purity Control” is the first incarnation of the Retrovirus. This is also the first encounter you have with the toxic alien blood. Dana finds an Alien fetus. “Deep Throat” is killed and tells Dana to trust no one. The X-Files is shut down for the first time.”

Melissa sets the first year's timeline on the table and the group sits silently for a while. 

Frohike leans back into his seat and covers his face as he groans.

“I'm so finding Lily a unicorn.”

Scully's eyes look around at the team. 

“This year is going to be insane, isn't it?”

Their faces pale as they realize, she's right. They may know what's coming, but that doesn't stop this year from being insane. It also doesn’t help that now that they know the future, things could drastically change, in ways they don’t even want to start imagining.

Chapter Text

In 2015, a large group of people sit in a waiting room. Scully is leaning into her husband's side with her arm wrapped around their eldest daughter. Mulder has his arm wrapped around their son. No one makes a sound as they wait for a doctor to come out with news on their daughter's wellbeing.

“Scully-Mulder family?”

A tall, brunette woman in scrubs places her surgical cap in her pocket as she looks around the waiting room. Mulder and Scully jump up and the woman approaches with a smile.

“Hi, we're Lily's parents.”

The woman holds out her hand.

“Hello, I'm Doctor Khan, I am your daughter's surgeon.”

Scully shakes the doctor's hand.

“Dana Scully, this is my husband Mulder.”

Mulder shakes the woman's hand and they sit down. The woman sits in front of them and sighs.

“The procedure went… well. We were able to place a stint in her skull to relieve the pressure. She is in recovery at the moment. We did some scans before and after the surgery, in both scans we noticed that her brain function is showing an unusual pattern. I was wondering if you may know anything about that?”

The group sits quietly for a moment as the parents think about what to say. Mulder clears his throat and speaks.

“It may be genetic. In the late 90s, I was hospitalized due to something similar.”

The doctor nods and sits back in her seat.

“Okay, that would make sense. It is possible then, that this is a genetic issue. Well, we will continue to monitor her and take a few more scans. As of right now, we believe that it is a good idea to keep her under, at least until the swelling goes down. When the swelling goes down, we can discuss the next steps going forward. I will allow mom and dad to be with her in recovery. When she is moved into her own room the rest of you can visit, okay?”

The group thanks the doctor and urges Mulder and Scully to follow.

“Dana, Fox, go. Langly and I will keep Em and Will with us until she gets out of recovery. Go, Lily needs you.”

Scully smiles gratefully at her sister, she and Mulder hug and kiss their eldest children before rushing after the doctor.

William shudders and leans into his sister. His eyes close and he reaches out to Lily.

A little girl laughs as she chases her brother.

“I'm gonna get you!”

The boy looks over his shoulder and taunts her.

“No you're not, your legs are too little!”

The little girl trips over a rock and throws her arms out to catch herself. A cracking sound is heard before she begins to scream. Her left arm is broken.

The scene changes and the little girl is climbing onto a kitchen counter. The chair she's standing on wobbles slightly before breaking. The little girl throws her arms out and she hits the floor.

A cracking sound fills the room and her father runs in as his wife walks through the door. The little girl screams and clutches her arm to her chest. Her father gently lifts her, her left arm is broken.

Will gasps and opens his eyes. The adults stare at him as tears fall down his face.

“She has two memories of the day she broke her arm. Her head is too full, it's making me dizzy.”

A thought passes through the minds of the adults.

Oh no…

In 1993, Bill Scully Sr. is released from the hospital. His wife drives him home where his children are waiting, along with his youngest daughter's partner. 

The elder Scully steps through the front door, Melissa and Scully rush to help their father make his way to the sofa and sit down. Maggie closes the door behind her and smiles as her sons take her coat and bags. Bill Sr. looks around the room with a smile before noticing Lily's absence.

“Where's our little Lily?”

Scully smiles sadly at her dad and turns to Mulder. They agreed to wait until her father had recovered a bit before telling her parents about Lily's real reason for being there.

“We closed the case, dad. Lily went home to her family.”

Bill Sr. shares a look with his wife and they silently agree that their daughters and Mulder are hiding something from them.

“Well, that's lovely! Too bad I have to miss out on hearing about that doctor she was telling me about. I never knew bones could be so impressive!”

Bill Sr. laughs lightly, wincing as his stitches pull uncomfortably.

The family laughs as they spend the day together. Mulder, Scully, and Melissa look into each other's eyes, hoping that Lily made it home safe.

In 2015, almost a month and a half has passed since Lily returned from her adventure through time. She's been moved to a private room in the children's ward, her family gathers around her as they await the results of the latest scans.

Doctor Khan enters the room with a smile, instantly putting the family at ease.

“Hello, again. I come with great news! All of Lily's scans have come back normal, the swelling has gone down.”

The family breaks out into cheers and hugs, tears fill their eyes as they wait for the doctor to continue.

“We will be pulling her off the medication. She should wake up in a few hours, but do not be surprised if it takes longer.”

Scully nods and thanks the doctor. The family moves out of the way and they watch as the doctor tends to Lily. She gives them one last smile and leaves.

Emily walks up to her baby sister's bedside and holds her tiny hand. She tucks Kitty Cat under the blanket and leans down and whispers in Lily's ear.

“Time to wake up, little Bug.”

Lily looks down and sees that she's back in her pajamas, her Kitty Cat is in her left hand. A sound from behind her causes her to turn, a rope leads out to a boat floating in the water. 

“Mom?”

The woman in the boat looks up with wide eyes. 

“Lily?”

Chapter Text

Monday morning, Mulder and Scully sit in their office. They, the Gunmen, and Melissa agreed that they would do a weekly sweep for bugs in the office and both apartments. The most recent sweep showed no bugs or cameras. 

Mulder is going through old files, looking for any that were mentioned by Lily. His eyes glaze over as he thinks about the future. 

Scully and I are gonna have kids. Wow… it took me seven years to get my head out of my ass? Jesus.

“Mulder? Here's the one on “visionary encounters with the dead.” Where are we putting the files?”

Scully holds up the case file and closes the drawer.

“Uh, let's put them on the desk for now. We're gonna have to make copies of all the cases at some point.”

The redhead nods and walks over to the desk. She places the file on top of the other two they've found and sighs.

“What's wrong?”

Scully shakes her head and runs her hand through her hair.

“Nothing, I'm just…. I know that everything with Lily actually happened. I do. I just…”

Mulder hums and steps forward, pulling the shorter woman into a hug.

“It's crazy, isn't it? Time travel. Future children. The cases we'll work on. If we didn't have the videos and recordings, I'd think I was going crazy.”

Scully laughs slightly and nods, her arms wrapping around her partner’s waist.

“Yeah, me too. Think you're crazy, I mean.”

The Agents laugh and step away from each other. Their eyes meet, the air shifts around them. 

Well, Lily did say we'd get together…

Scully smiles at her thought as she starts to subconsciously lean forward. Before their lips can meet, the Agents are cut off by a ringing phone. Mulder sighs as he reaches past Scully and picks the phone up from its cradle.

“Mulder.”

“Agent Mulder, Section Chief Blevins. We have a case, I'm assigning you and Agent Scully to it. It certainly falls under your… jurisdiction.”

“Thank you, Chief. We'll head out now.”

“Finish this case quickly, Agent Mulder. The bodies are waiting for you down at the Quantico morgue.”

“We will.”

Mulder drops the phone back and looks at Scully. 

“Just like she said it would. Two dead bodies, let's see if their throats were crushed from the inside.”

They pick up their coats and suitcases and head for the door. 

They stop at Mulder's apartment first, so he can grab some clothes. After Lily left, he cleaned the apartment and got new sheets. He’d decided not to sleep on the sofa anymore, for which his back has definitely been thanking him for.

He runs into his room to pack as Scully looks around. She looks into the fish tank and smiles at the mollies as they swim around.

“Who's gonna feed your fish?”

Mulder calls out from his room.

“There should be one of those week long feeder pellets by the tank. Would you mind dropping it in?”

Scully sees the pellet and pulls it out of the packet. She drops it in and watches as the mollies swarm it. 

She walks over to the desk and sees the picture they took with Lily, the ‘selfie’ as the girl called it. Her smile grows as she takes in the little girl's happy face. 

“Thanks. You ready to head out?”

She turns and sees Mulder in jeans, a t-shirt, and a leather jacket. Her brow raises as she lets her eyes roam down her partner's body appreciatively.

“Yeah. Casual, huh?”

The man smirks, noticing her gaze.

“Yeah, well, suits aren't all that comfortable. Especially on long drives.”

She shakes her head as she walks out of the apartment. Mulder locks the door and places her hand on her back, gently leading her to the elevator.

“I guess they aren't.”

The partners smile at each other as the door closes.

In Scully’s apartment, Mulder sits on the sofa as she packs her own bag. She looks through her clothes and pulls out a pair of jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, a sweater, and a pair of tennis shoes. She changes quickly and grabs her bag. 

“Ready, Mulder?”

His eyes take in her outfit and he reaches for her bag.

“You have no idea.”

The woman smirks as she leads him out, feeling his eyes on her back the entire time.

They head down to the car and get ready for a long drive to Philly, after they see the bodies.

Mulder and Scully, follow a suited man into the morgue. Two bodies are lying on slabs, covered by thin white sheets. 

Another man looks up and speaks.

“Agent Scully, Agent Mulder. Chief Blevins assures us of your cooperation. We regret any inconvenience at this extreme hour.”

The woman standing next to him gives them a look as she speaks, her sarcasm lacing each word.

“We hope that your expertise in extraordinary phenomena will help us answer some questions.”

Scully rocks back on her feet as she looks down at the bodies. Mulder leans closer as he speaks to the “Agents” in front of them.

“You're not FBI, are you?”

A blonde medical examiner steps forward, clears her throat and speaks, breaking the tension in the room.

“Have you ever analyzed anything like this before?”

She hands Mulder a clipboard before pulling the sheet down on one of the bodies. Scully takes a step forward and leans over the body. The body jumps, startling her slightly. 

“Abnormal postmortem muscle reflex. Both bodies are still responding.”

The medical examiner states as she pulls down the second sheet. 

What does she think I am? An intern? I knew that. You try having a dead body jump at you, I bet you'll get startled too.

Scully turns to grab some gloves as she grumbles internally.

“Both corpses are still responding to exposure to high levels of electrostatic charge.”

Mulder looks up.

Just like Lily said! Strike two, one more and she gets a puppy!

“Any signs of external lesions or surface burns?”

“None.”

Mulder looks through the case report as Scully walks up to the first body.

“Time of death?”

The medical examiner turns to look at the “Agents.” They stay quiet.

That's not suspicious at all.

Scully touches the body of the first victim, he's still warm.

“Well it can't be long. The body's still warm.”

The blonde turns to Scully.

“Somatic death occurred sometime over six hours ago. But, their body temperatures have yet to drop below 98.3 degrees.” 

“Where'd you find them?”

Again, Mulder's question is met with silence.

They ask for help but don't give us anything. Typical. I bet they're secret, government spooks. They probably already know who killed these men.

He takes his glasses off and turns to the other two.

“Look, at least tell us the time and mode of transport. That might help us determine why the bodies haven't cooled.”

Scully continues her examination, she focuses on a certain area on the first body's arm.

What is that?

“Hey, you guys called us down here. You want some answers, you got to give some.”

The man speaks after a few tense moments.

“They traveled sixty minutes by air.”

Finally.

“Thank you.”

The ME steps around the second body.

“The most troubling aspect of the deaths is the throat area.”

Crushed from the inside, I bet.

Mulder holds back an amused snort as he follows her to the X-rays.

“Larynx, esophagus, and hyoid bone have all have been crushed like chalk. There's no abrasions or evidence of tissue damage.”

Scully joins them by the x-rays, her eyes taking in the images.

“It's as if their throats were crushed, from the inside.”

Strike three, Lily gets a puppy!

“Who are these guys?”

Again, silence. Scully joins Mulder and gives the “Agents” a dirty look.

“If you've done your examinations, why are you consulting us?”

The woman speaks with a disinterested look on her face.

“During your work on the X-Files, have you ever seen anything like this?”

Yes, but do you really think I'd tell you? 

“No, never.”

The man walks up to them and takes the file from Mulder's hands.

“Well, thank you very much for your time, Agent Mulder, Scully. If any inquiry as to this meeting is to be made, we request full denial.”

Yeah, I bet you do. 

Scully thinks as she looks up at the man, her eyes full of anger.

Mulder can't help but make one last remark.

“I'd say you people already suffer from full denial.”

He places his hand on Scully's back and leads her out. They walk out of the morgue, he looks down at the redhead and whispers.

“Lily was right.”

She nods, looking up at Mulder with a mixture of shock, worry, and excitement.

“You lied. You have seen it before, you told Lily you did. You lied to them.”

Mulder smiles at her awed voice as they continue down the hallway.

“I would never lie. I willfully participated in a campaign of misinformation.”

Scully turns to look up at him with a wry grin. 

“Who do you think they were?”

“NSA, CIA, some covert organization that Congress will uncover in the next scandal. It's not important who they are, but what they have. I'm sure they have no idea either because they called us in.”

They reach the elevator and Mulder presses the button. 

“We have X-Files, each case has an element of what we saw tonight, residual electrostatic charge, internal mutilation without any corresponding causality. Not only that, but we have Lily.”

Scully leans forward, her eyes meeting Mulder's.

“How can an esophagus be crushed without the neck ever being touched?”

Mulder shrugs.

“Lily said it was a ghost, Howard Graves. Psychokinetic manipulation.”

Scully smirks and rolls her eyes, enjoying the banter between them. Sure, Lily travelled back to the past after making a wish, but surely ghost can’t be the answer. 

“Psychokinesis? Like how Carrie got even at the prom? Mulder…”

Mulder smiles.

“The Russians have done studies on it. The Chinese still are. Their findings are kept secret.”

They step into the elevator.

“So, our time traveling daughter sent us a case on psychokinesis. Okay, I'm intrigued, but how do we investigate? We have “nothing” to go on.”

Mulder wraps his arm around her shoulders and pulls her in close. He lifts his glasses and breathes onto them, revealing two finger prints. Just as Lily told them.

“I guess we should send these to the Gunmen, see what they can figure out.”

Upstairs, in one of the private computer labs, they get the information back from the Gunmen. Mulder reads the report on the first victim.

“Mohammed Amrollahi. Convictions: illegal possession of firearms, illegal possession of explosives, falsification of export licenses.”

Scully drops down into the seat next to him, her knees knocking against his thigh as she crosses her legs.

“He has ties to an exiled extremist group operating in the U.S., the Isfahan. They take their name from a city in Iran. Recently they've been working out of Philadelphia.”

“That's sixty minutes by air…”

Their eyes meet and Scully smiles.

“I'll talk to the Philly PD.” 

Mulder nods.

It's nice knowing the future.

A while later, in Philadelphia, on Broad street. A police officer points his flashlight up at a fire escape. He and Scully chat while Mulder explores the alleyway for clues.

“It was last Wednesday night. I was just on a routine patrol. This is where we found ‘em”

“Who discovered the bodies?”

“Nobody. It was about ten o'clock, I was on patrol. Saw them hanging around.”

Mulder looks around the scene.

“No witnesses?”

“The kind of people that come around here after business hours? They don't witness very much. You know what I'm sayin’?”

As Mulder reaches the end of the alleyway he spots something to his left. The ATM.

“Well, I appreciate your help. If you can think of anything else, please give us a call.”

Later, Scully and Mulder are watching security footage, from the ATM camera, at the Philly FBI office. Scully has a list of names from the people on screen. In order to keep up appearances about their investigation, they speak loud enough for the other Agents to hear them.

“A daily visual record is made of everyone who makes a transaction.”

Scully hums as she flips through the list, looking for Lauren’s name.

“We'll just have to question everyone on record who was at the machine before ten on that night.”

A woman fitting Lauren Kyte’s description fills the screen, she's quickly pulled off screen by two men. Mulder sits up and nudges Scully, getting her attention as he speaks In a rushed whisper.

“There! That's Lauren Kyte, it has to be. See look, I'll back up!”

Scully looks through the list, her voice dropping in shock as Lily, once again, is proven right.

“Lauren Kyte… 858 Franklin, Bensalem… Just like Lily said.”

Mulder pauses the video again and points.

“Look at that.”

A shadow is frozen at the top left hand corner of the screen.

“Maybe it's another person?”

“Yeah, Howard Graves.”

“Well, the resolution’s too poor, enhancing it won't help.”

Mulder looks over at Scully who's biting her lip as she stares at the screen.

She's beautiful…

“Well, there's one person we know we can talk to. Lauren Kyte, 858 Franklin, Bensalem.”

The next morning, the couple drives to Lauren's house. Mulder parks the car and turns to Scully.

“Lily's getting a puppy.”

The redhead scoffs.

“Mulder…”

“No, hear me out. Her traveling back into the past, she's pretty much saved our lives. I'm getting her a puppy.”

Scully laughs.

“We have twenty-two years to think about it. Let's not get ahead of ourselves.”

Mulder smiles and follows her out of the car.

Oh yeah, she wants me…

At the door, Mulder knocks and they wait for Lauren to answer.

“Hello?”

“Ms. Lauren Kyte, please?”

The door opens and the Agent holds up his badge.

“I'm Agent Fox Mulder. This is Agent Dana Scully. We're with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Do you mind if we come in?”

Mulder makes his way through the door as Lauren sputters an excuse. Scully pulls a couple of photos of the victims from her file and holds it out to Lauren.

“Have you ever seen either of these two men before?”

Don't lie… Don't you dare lie…

“No.”

“Take your time.”

You liar. 

Lauren rolls her eyes and looks back at the photos. 

“No, I-I'm sorry, I've never seen them before.”

Uh-uh, that's not gonna work on me.

“I'm afraid you have.”

Scully shows her a picture taken from the footage at the ATM. 

“This is a surveillance picture from your ATM.”

Mulder turns to look at the women.

“Can you tell us what happened that night?”

Lauren looks up at him, her eyes glassy.

“Um… these guys, I was… I was depositing my paycheck. They grabbed me, I got away, I ran. I, I just didn't want to file a report.”

She looks down at her hands and takes a deep breath.

“They were found dead.”

Scully holds out another photo, a close up of the “person” from the security footage.

“Have you ever seen this person before?”

Lauren pulls the photo close.

“No… I'm sorry, I can't tell you.”

She knows…

Mulder steps up behind her.

“Does that mean you know?”

Lauren doesn't speak, prompting Mulder to hold out one of his cards.

“This is a number I can be reached at. At any time, okay?”

As the Agents walk out to their car, Scully scoffs. 

“A woman her size breaking free and outrunning those men? If Lily didn't tell me what happened… Well, I still wouldn't believe Lauren.”

Mulder laughs as he opens his door.

“And somehow crushing their necks? Yeah… Hey! So you believe it was Howard's ghost?”

Scully gets into the passenger seat and looks at Mulder with a flirty grin.

“Must be a Bug File.”

Mulder starts the car and the doors lock on their own. The car goes into reverse, Mulder tries the breaks but the car keeps moving. His arm flies out to push Scully back.

“Hold on!”

“Mulder?”

The car flies into an intersection, another car crashes into them, knocking them into a tall hedge.

Mulder turns to Scully.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. What the hell did we do to piss off Howard Graves?”

At a garage, Mulder is looking around the car, the headlights are on. Scully walks up to him with a soft smile.

“Hi.”

“Hi, paramedics check you out?”

Scully laughs, and nods carefully.

“Yeah I'm fine, I have an awful migraine though.”

Mulder stands up.

“Did they check out the car?”

“Yeah, it's brand new. Besides the miles we put on it when we got it, it's only got a hundred miles. Mechanics say everything's in order, nothing cut, nothing greased. They can't explain it.”

Scully puts her hand on her hip and looks up at him.

“They probably won't. Somehow, I don't think, ‘easily possessed by ghosts’ is an acceptable reason for a recall.”

Mulder laughs and steps towards the front of the car.

“Check out the lights. They're on, I checked, I didn't turn them on. What do you think, postmortem electrostatic movement, Doctor?”

Scully rolls her eyes.

“Well, I'm not a car doctor, but I'd say so.”

They walk over to the trunk and get their bags.

“There's evidence of this all through the X-Files, furniture moving untouched, objects levitating, unexplained electrical discharges. Scully! We're dealing with a ghost, how cool is that?!”

The redhead smiles up at him and laughs. 

“They're he-re!”

A grin makes its way onto Mulder's face, his eyes softening as he stares at her. They make their way to their new car and load up the trunk. As Mulder goes to grab his coat off the hood of their old car, the lights turn off. He points and mouths.

“Ghost!”

At the HTG office, Mulder takes photos of Lauren as she walks into the building, hoping to catch Howard in at least one of the pictures. Scully looks through the file on Lauren, they both agreed to work the cases as usual so that no one asks questions they can't answer.

“She's in deep with her credit card company, fifteen thousand. We'll be expected to look into her for espionage.”

They watch as Lauren stops a man from painting over Howard Graves’ name on a parking spot.

“For someone who's supposed to have been ‘just her boss’, she sure has an attachment to the man. Could explain why Howard feels he can't move on.”

Scully puts the file down and turns to Mulder.

“You think they were having an affair?”

“They were having something. We should look into him a bit more, see what made him catch the eye of a terrorist cell?”

Back at the Philly FBI office, Scully is looking through archived newspapers for a mention of Howard Graves. She stops when she sees his picture under a headline, “Howard Graves Suicide Creates Shock.”

She reaches behind her and grabs Mulder's hand.

“Mulder, look at this.”

He leans over her shoulder, his face close to hers.

“She was his secretary. Why's he protecting his secretary from beyond the grave?”

They gather their things and head out again. In the car, Scully turns to Mulder.

“We really need to agree to tell Lily a bit more than we did before. We'll still keep it PG, but she need more information. In case she time travels again.”

Mulder turns right and looks over at Scully.

“You think she will? She only did it this time because of us fighting.”

Scully shrugs as they park across from Lauren's house.

“I'll admit, I don't know much about time travel, but with what I theorize; a future version of her would have to travel back in time to keep us on the path we're on now. Otherwise we'd never do the things we're doing now and she'd end up in the same situation she was in in the first place.”

Mulder stares at her, his mouth and eyes wide.

“Scully… I love it when you talk nerdy to me.”

The woman blushes and looks away, she spots Lauren stepping out of her house with a bouquet of flowers.

“Lauren's leaving.”

Mulder clears his throat and starts the car qiuckly following Lauren down the road. They end up at a cemetery and watch as Lauren stands at Howard's grave.

Lauren leaves a bouquet of flowers and walks off. The agents step out of the car and walk over to the grave.

“You won't find too many people at their boss' grave who aren't dancing on it.”

“Look at this one.” 

Scully points out a grave for Sarah Lynn Graves, born in 1966 and died in 1969.

Mulder turns and walks to the grounds keeper. 

“Is there an office where I can get some information on those people?”

The man stands up and looks to where the Agent is pointing. 

“I attend every funeral. I'm the last person to see them put to rest.”

“Do you know how Sarah Lynn Graves was related to Howard Graves?”

“His daughter. They were at home one day and he didn't latch the pool gate. She drowned. His wife left him a year later. She's buried in a plot in the northeast corner.”

The Agents thank the man and head back to their car.

“She was only three years old.”

Scully opens the door and slips in next to Mulder. He looks at her and sighs.

“If she lived, she'd be Lauren's age. She must also be related to Howard.”

They drive off, back to the D.C. FBI office. Mulder heads over to a darkroom to develop the photos he took of Lauren while Scully goes home to look into how Lauren is related to Howard and to add their findings to her report. Well, the highly edited one, anyway.

In one of the developed photos, Mulder spots a person standing behind Lauren in her living room. 

The Agents crowd around a desk with another Agent. The man zooms in on the photo and they see a man, though his face is unrecognizable due to shadows.

“Enhance it by ten.”

The image zooms in further and the second person is enhanced, the picture becoming clearer. Scully stares, amazed.

“That's Howard Graves. He's there.”

Mulder turns and looks at Scully with wide eyes. When their eyes meet he mouths.

“Puppy!”

Scully just nods.

I guess we're getting Lily a puppy. Ghosts. And to think, I would've thought he was alive if I didn't know better.

That evening the Agents meet with the Gunmen and Melissa at Scully's apartment. Mulder is telling them about Howard and showing them the photos he took, including the original film.

“Woah, man. That's crazy! You've gotta let us write about this! Ghosts! With proof!”

Langly exclaims, his eyes full of wonder. Melissa smiles at the look on his face as she helps her sister with dinner. Scully looks over and sees the smitten look on Melissa's face and leans in to whisper in her ear.

“You're in looovvveee.”

Melissa blushes and looks back down at the bowl with mashed potatoes and adds some more butter.

“Shut up. What's going on with you and Fox?”

Scully chokes on her drink, causing the men to look up at her. She waves them off and they go back to looking at the photos.

“Nothing! Yet. We've only just found out we're gonna have children one day.”

“Uh-huh. I don't believe you.”

Scully rolls her eyes and looks up at her sister.

“Well, if Blevins hadn't called the other day, I'm sure I would've kissed him.”

Melissa squeals, once again drawing the men's attention. Langly clears his throat as he looks between the two redheads.

“You okay there?”

Scully shoots her sister a dirty look.

“We're fine, thank you. Clear the table off, please? Food's done.”

The men scramble to put the photos away and jump up to wash their hands. They help the sisters carry plates, forks, cups, and napkins to the table before going back for the food. The rest of the meal is spent talking about the future and what they're most excited for.

The next morning, after a three hour drive from D.C. to Philly, Mulder and Scully head down to the county morgue. As they go down the stairs Scully tells Mulder her theory.

“Maybe Lauren is adopted? It would certainly explain why she hasn't contacted her parents in two years, and why she's so broken up about Howard.”

Mulder nods.

“Yeah, or, she's a product of his affair?”

They step up to a door belonging to a Doctor Ellen Bledsoe and Mulder knocks. They enter the office and introduce themselves before sitting down.

“What can I do for you, Agents?”

Scully clears her throat. They figured, if they were investigating this normally they'd have to see if Howard faked his death. A small part of her wants to think so, but after everything with Lily? Well, she can't argue rationally when her future child made a wish and ended up twenty-two years in the past, can she?

“Dr. Bledsoe, is there any possibility that Howard Graves is still alive?”

The woman gives them a blank look and speaks slowly.

“Howard Graves is very dead.”

Mulder smiles.

Of course he is. A time traveler told us so. Ha!

“May we see the autopsy report, please?”

The woman tosses the file towards Scully with an offended look.

“Knock yourself out.”

Scully looks through it and notices that there's some missing blood work. She points it out to the M.E. and the woman, again, gives her a look. 

“We only do that if we suspect homicide.”

After a few more minutes, the Agents thank the doctor for her time and leave. Scully looks up at Mulder as they approach the stairwell.

“You know, I still would've run blood work.”

Mulder places his hand on her back and they make their way up the stairs.

“Not everyone has an open mind, Scully.”

They make their way to the University of Pennsylvania Hospital's tissue bank. They meet with a man who tells them that Howard Graves’ organs bave been placed in five different people. But they still have the membrane of his spinal column.

“We have Mr. Graves’ hospital records. We'll extract a sample and run a DNA test.”

The Agents thank him and ask him to call when the results come in before leaving. They walk across the street to a diner and order lunch.

“You know, if we didn't have to worry about people asking questions, we'd probably be able to work this case differently.”

Scully nods at Mulder's words as she chews on a fry.

“Yeah. We need to get Skinner on our side, quickly. He'd be able to help us.”

Mulder steals one of her fries and points at her with it before eating it.

“We need to figure out how to transfer out from under Blevins. Lily did say he's dirty. We need to find some evidence on him.”

“We need to meet with Skinner, he might know something we don't.”

Scully pulls out the notebook that they decided to use for plans, and begins to write out some ideas. Mulder swallows his bite of food.

“What if we send him Lily's video with a note to meet at the Gunmen's office? Their place is definitely secure. And if we get him on our side first, he can help us get Reyes and Doggett. The sooner we start working with them, the better.”

Scully nods and writes that down.

“We're going to need to rearrange the office then. There's hardly any room in there for us, if we're going to be a team of four…”

She trails off and Mulder nods.

“After this case, we should have a couple of weeks until the next one. We'll get your sister and the Gunmen to the office, transfer all the files out, and get them copied. Then we can come back and file them properly, maybe get some bookshelves and desks sent down.”

Scully nods and they finish their meal while they wait for the call.

They're at the hospital when Mulder gets a call from Lauren.

“How soon can you be at my house?”

Mulder waves Scully over as the doctor leaves. She rushes to his side, file in hand and waits for him to hang up.

“Why?”

“Please. Hurry.”

They rush out of the office, and Scully places the test results in her briefcase as they go. They get to Lauren's house, soon after nightfall. They hear screaming from the house and run in, guns drawn.

Inside, they see a man floating as he's being strangled by an unseen entity. Lauren is hiding in the corner with tears in her eyes as she stares at the man. He falls to the ground and Mulder takes a step closer. 

Scully walks up to the shaking woman and helps her up.

“Lauren? We need to leave, we have to take you to the station to get your statement. Come on, it'll be okay.”

She gently shushes the woman as she leads her out of the house and to the car. Mulder watches as they leave before turning to look around the living room.

“Howard? Mr. Graves, we'll take care of Lauren. I know she was, is, important to you. Please, don't make us crash this time?”

He steps over the body and goes outside. He pulls out his phone and dials one of the Agents from the local FBI office.

“Yeah, this is Agent Mulder. I'm gonna need you at 858 Franklin. Yeah, we've got two dead assailants and a witness. Agent Scully and I will be conducting the interview. Yeah. Okay, thanks.”

He hangs up and goes to the car, Scully steps out of the backseat and meets him at the curb.

“Mulder, that… I-”

The man nods.

“Yeah, I know. It's one thing to hear about it, but actually seeing it is something else.”

He sighs before pointing at the back door of the car, they can hear sirens in the distance.

“How's Lauren?”

Scully shakes her head.

“She's in shock. I mean, she just witnessed two murders. It's going to be hard getting a statement from her.”

They watch as police cars speed into the neighborhood. Mulder waves his arm in the air and they reach for their badges. A detective rushes up to them.

“You Mulder and Scully?”

“Yes, sir, FBI. We have the witness in custody. The scene is untouched except for the front door. We heard Ms. Kyte screaming and had to force the door open. One assailant was blocking it.”

The detective nods and asks a few more questions. By the time they're done giving statements, having their prints taken, and walking the detective through their every movement, it's already dawn. They get back into the car and see that Lauren has passed out from exhaustion and they quietly drive to the station.

They head up to an interrogation room with Lauren and Mulder sits at the table with the woman while Scully sits on a windowsill. 

“Lauren, you're not under arrest. We just need to know what happened last night. Please?”

Scully stands and moves to the chair next to Mulder. Lauren stares blankly to the side.

“What happened to those people last night? Do you know who they might be? Why did they break into your house?”

Lauren doesn't answer. Mulder stands up and grabs a printout of the photo he took and shows it to Lauren. 

“Do you know who this is? Agent Scully and I have an idea, but we'd like you to tell us. I took this picture two days ago.”

Before Lauren can answer, the “Agents” from before come into the room and pull them out. The woman gives them a dirty look and hisses.

“You've seriously compromised out investigation!”

Mulder stands next to Scully.

“We were following leads pertaining to an X-File.”

The man joins them.

“I wanna know every detail of your activities concerning this case!”

Mulder gives him a faux innocent look and Scully huffs.

“What case? You're the ones who've been withholding information. You want details? So do we.”

That's my Scully!

The man and woman give them blank looks and they step away.

“Then we have nothing more to talk about. Good day, “Agents.”

Before they can leave the woman stops them.

“Wait!”

Gotcha, hook, line and sucker…

“We believe HTG Industrial Technologies sold restricted parts to the Isfahan members.” 

“We found partial serial numbers from their manifests in the wreckage of the July bombing of a NAVY transport van.”

Mulder steps forward.

“How is Lauren Kyte involved?”

The man shrugs.

“We don't quite know. Your actions impeded the investigation.”

The woman crosses her arms.

“In any case, we don't have enough evidence to hold her. If she doesn't talk, she goes free.” 

“My advice to you: Don't get rough with her. She's just been through a traumatic event. If you hadn't interrupted, we would've gotten her to talk.”

The agents sit down and watch as the other two walk into the interrogation room.

A few hours later, the “Agents'' walk out and leave. Mulder and Scully walk in and close the door behind them.

“Lauren…”

“I won't talk to you either.”

Lauren interrupts.

“Okay, then you're free to go.”

Lauren gets up and walks to the door before stopping. She lowers her head and drops her shoulders.

“I can't go back to that house.”

Scully leans against the table and crosses her arms.

“Why? Because of what Howard Graves did?”

“He's dead.”

Scully leans forward.

“Yeah, but he's not at rest. Is he?”

Lauren turns to look at the agents, her eyes wide and confused. Mulder shows her the picture once more.

“He's watching over you. First at the ATM. Now at your house. If you know something, anything, then perhaps you should tell us. Maybe then, Howard can rest.”

The trio moves back to the table and Mulder starts recording. Lauren clears her throat and begins to speak.

“Have you ever been a secretary? People talk about anything, it's almost as if you aren't even in the room. It hurts, you know? But, sometimes, you're all he has to talk to. That's how it always was with Howard and I.” 

Lauren crosses her arms.

“One night, it was late, and I went into his office. He was crying, he seemed more scared than sad, it was weird, seeing him like that. He was usually so strong. He told me the Pentagon contracts were being canceled. The company was going under.”

Scully takes notes as Lauren looks down at the table.

“He felt responsible for each of his employees. It began to wear down on him, seeing and feeling everyone's fear and worry. Then, Dorlund came with that group… the middle east group… the Isfahan.”

She leans back in her seat and looks up at the ceiling.

“They'd buy parts at an outrageous price, not just once, but for as long as they could get away with it. The night Howard was crying, he found out that the Isfahan had claimed responsibility for killing some sailors in Florida.”

Scully looks up at Mulder, their eyes widening.

“I thought that's why he killed himself. But he didn't, I saw… Howard showed me how Dorlund had him killed. He made it look like a suicide because he knew that Howard was going to put an end to the deal.”

Mulder leans forward.

“So, now Howard's protecting you?”

“It sounds ridiculous, I know.”

“But you believe it. We believe it.”

Lauren nods.

“He was closer to me than my own father. I told him that. I still feel him around me. Sometimes I even smell his aftershave. If you'd have seen the things I've seen… I just want it all to go away.”

Scully stands up and kneels by Lauren.

“That's not enough. You've been given the chance to tell him again. Take it. Tell him you love him by showing him, by helping us take down the man responsible for his death. The people responsible for attacks around the country. By helping us finish his unfinished business.”

Lauren nods and wipes her face.

“Okay.”

Lauren steps out to the restroom to freshen up and Mulder turns to Scully.

“Wow, Scully. One visit from Lily and you've made a complete 180. I'm proud of you!”

Scully laughs and gently pushes his shoulder.

“Yeah, well… Maybe now, Howard can rest and be with his daughter. We get his killer, bag a few terrorists. Go home... We have a lot of work to do.”

Mulder nods and Lauren walks back in.

The recording starts up again and Lauren tells them everything she knows. In the reflection of the viewing window, Mulder spots Howard. He nudges Scully's foot and tilts his head for her to see. Her eyes go wide as the man nods at them and mouths.

“Thank you.”

When they finish the interview, they take Lauren's statement to the “Agents” and get a warrant. They make a call and have a task force mobilized and ready to go to the HTG offices in just a few short hours.

Scully stands in front of the Agents and raises her voice so they can hear her. Mulder and Lauren stand by the car, behind Scully, and watch.

“Alright, everyone, we have a warrant to search the premises for evidence pertaining to the sale of restricted manufactured parts. The evidence we're looking for could be in the form of falsified export licenses, parts manifests, communique. It could be digital or hard copy. Take everything.”

The male “Agent” steps forth and speaks when she turns to him.

“Once there, if in doubt, ask. We need this to be clean. This is a culmination of a year long investigation. If we don't get something today, anything that proves a connection to the Isfahan, this guy walks.”

The task force heads out and Scully leads Lauren into the car.

“It'll most likely be in Dorlund’s office. We will execute the search but we need you to guide us. You have to be strong, okay? For Howard.”

At HTG, the task force and the Agents walk in. Scully holds her badge up in the air and tells everyone to stay calm. Dorlund steps out of his office as the task force begins to search through desks, filing cabinets, computers, and more. Scully leads Lauren into his office while Mulder holds the door.

Several hours of searching and they have very little to go on. Mulder walks into Dorlund’s office and Scully hands a box over to one of the Agents. She watches by the door as Mulder tells Lauren that it's time to go. Dorlund comes in as Lauren tears a picture off the wall.

“I've already cooperated and I don't want to be combative, but she has no right to destroy my personal property!”

Scully tries to usher the man out of the office but he ignores her and rushes at Lauren. The Agents rush to help Lauren as Dorlund is thrown back against a wall. The door slams shut and Scully pulls Lauren back.

“Don't kill him! Help us find it!”

Lauren screams into the air as Dorlund slides to the ground. Light bulbs explode over head causing her to scream. Scully covers Lauren while Mulder covers both of them. 

“Mulder!”

“Get down!”

The Agents outside start to bang on the door and yell for Mulder and Scully. The door is locked and their weight isn't budging it.

Wind flies around the office, pictures fall off the wall as Howard looks for the evidence. The Agents and Lauren watch as a letter opener hovers menacingly in front of Dorlund’s face. The letter opener slowly turns to face the trio before quickly flying into a tapestry, cutting a hole in the fabric. The wind dies down and the door opens.

Scully tucks her hair behind her ear and looks around.

“Oh my God.”

Mulder stands up and walks to the tapestry, stuck to the wall is a blue floppy disc. He turns to the agents by the door.

“I guess what we're looking for is here.”

A couple of days later, Mulder and Scully escort Lauren out of her house, there's a U-Move trailer hooked up to her car, ready to go.

“The U.S. Attorney’s office is going after Dorlund with everything they've got. Including the murder of Howard Graves.”

“I'll come back to testify.”

Mulder leans down to help her place the last box in her trunk.

“Where are you going?”

She closes the trunk and looks at the Agents.

“Anywhere but here.”

The Agents wave her off and make their way to their car. As they climb into the car Mulder turns to Scully.

“Have you ever seen the Liberty Bell?”

“Yeah?”

“You know, I've been to Philly about a hundred times, I've never seen it.”

Scully laughs and buckles her seat belt.

“You're not missing much. It's a big bell with a big crack, and you have to wait in a long line.”

Mulder turns to her as he starts the car.

“Think they'd let us in if we use our badges?”

Scully chuckles as they drive off.

Chapter Text

A few days later, Walter Skinner finds a package taped to his front door. There's a note on it with unfamiliar handwriting.

“Mr. WALTER SKINNER. FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR.”

He opens the package and a VHS tape falls into his hand along with two more notes. He opens the first one and reads.

“TRUST NO ONE. EYES AND EARS EVERYWHERE. WATCH FIRST, SECOND NOTE LATER. BE CAREFUL”

He walks over to his television and turns it on, slipping the tape into the machine. Walter moves to the couch and leans forward toward the coffee table, he grabs the remote and presses play.

A tiny redhead sits on a sofa, her head tilts to the left and she smiles softly.

“Hi, My name is Lily Melissa Scully-Mulder. I was born on Valentine's Day in 2003. Before you leave! It's my job to convince you that Agent Mulder and Agent Scully aren't certifiable. So, just, hear me out, please?”

Walter leans back in his seat and watches, his eyes wide as he listens.

She scoots forward in her seat.

“Thanks. Okay, you told me this once, and said that if I ever told anyone else you'd find a Leprechaun and feed me to it since they like tiny Irish people. You really like ABBA, you say that their songs help calm your mind.”

Walter pauses the video with a shaky hand. 

I've never told anyone that, not even my wife. How? No… What?

Lily sits back with a satisfied smile.

“Once, my mom asked you to babysit me and you took me to see a movie. It hasn't come out yet, but it's called Mamma Mia, Meryl Streep is in it, so is Pierce Brosnan. You cried at the end of the movie and said that it was a “cinematic masterpiece.” It's a good movie, we watch it every time I stay with you.”

She looks into the camera and hums a few bars of Dancing Queen. Two twinkling, blue eyes are the last thing the camera sees.

The screen goes dark and Walter states into his reflection. What the girl said couldn't have been possible. This has to be some kind of joke. Mulder and Scully? He looks down at the second note on his coffee table and opens it.

“WHAT YOU’VE SEEN IS TRUE. IF YOU WISH TO KNOW MORE…”

Underneath the words is an address, he pulls out his cell and calls his assistant.

“Arlene? I won't be coming in today. I think I've come down with something. Can you hold my meetings and reschedule them?... Thank you… You too.”

He grabs his keys, makes sure he has his weapon, grabs the tape and notes, and heads down to his car. One way or another, he's going to get to the bottom of this.

The Agents, the Gunmen, and Melissa are at the Gunmen's office, waiting for Skinner. They placed the package on Skinner's door at midnight and started to plan for the meeting. A knock on the door startles them and Frohike looks at the monitor.

“That him?”

Scully looks over his shoulder.

“Yeah, that's him.”

Langly walks over to the door and unlocks a series of deadbolts. He steps back and Skinner walks in, hand on his weapon.

“Someone want to explain what the fuck is going on?”

A few hours later, a shocked Skinner leans back in his seat. They've just gone through a few recordings, mostly the first year.

Skinner pulls his glasses off and runs a hand down his face.

“You've verified this? It's all true?”

Mulder nods and Scully leans forward.

“Yes, sir. Agent Mulder and I just got back from Philadelphia, everything Lily said would happen? Well, it happened.”

The man nods and pulls out his phone, he dials his secretary once more.

“Arlene? I'm going to need you to reschedule the week… Yeah, I just left the doctor, he said it's the flu… Yeah, standard PTO is fine… Thanks Arlene. Bye.”

He puts his phone in his coat and looks up at the group. 

“I think… you all need to show me everything.”

By the end of the week, Mulder and Scully having also taken some time off, the group of seven start to plan on how they're going to get Skinner on as their supervisor.

“Blevins has been standing with one foot out the door for years, this “Smoking Man” must be the only thing keeping him from getting booted out fully.”

Skinner says as he takes a bite of his pizza.

“So, how do we get him out?”

Skinner swallows and answers Byers’ question.

“Well, lucky for us, he's burned more than a few bridges. I can have him out the door with a few well placed words in a few trusting ears.”

The group nods and Skinner continues.

“Give me a couple of weeks, a month tops. Keep submitting your edited reports. Keep working the cases as you would without this information. For now, everything has to seem above the board. We can't be seen working together, on anything not case related. If the FBI is compromised, we don't want to tip anyone off.”

Langly nods and stands up, he walks over to a desk and pulls out a few phones.

“We thought it would be best if we had a secure and reliable form of communication. I got some burners and modified them myself. All the numbers are programmed. If anything goes wrong, and I mean anything, the code is Unicorn.”

He hands the phones out to everyone, a piece of painter's tape with their names is stuck to the backs. They all thank him and Skinner continues.

“For now, Agent Mulder is right, we need copies of every file you have. Do you have a secure place for them?”

Frohike scoffs.

“There's no place more secure than this office. We can keep them here.”

The balding man nods.

“Okay, I looked into Doggett and Reyes. Doggett is still a Detective in New York, Reyes is down in Louisiana, on her first assignment. I can get her transferred here by the end of the year. Like I said, everything has to be above the board. Maybe someone can nudge Doggett towards the FBI?”

Byers sits up.

“We have a conference in New York in June, we can do it then.”

Mulder turns to Skinner.

“We'll need some furniture down in the basement. If we're doing this above the board, I'm guessing Scully and I can't requisition anything?”

Skinner shakes his head.

“There's a couple of empty offices down there, they may have some furniture you can use. This week is the FBI barbecue, Tuesday, all the heads of office will be out. Anything you need to do, that's the day to do it.”

A tense silence engulfs the room, an understanding that this is really happening, hits them all.

Melissa sits forward and looks Skinner in the eye.

“Whatever Lily said, it must've been damn good to get you on our side.”

The man chuckles.

“I suppose, since we're all supposed to trust each other, I can tell you. This doesn't leave the room, understood?”

The group nods.

“I'm a Marine, I was in ‘Nam. When I got back, things were rough, I had a pretty hard time adjusting. Years went by, I worked for DCPD, I needed structure. Then one day, I was on a stakeout and I heard a song come on the radio. I don't know why, but it made me feel… normal, whole. Found out later, it was an ABBA song. Now, when the memories get bad, I sit in my car and play one of their albums. Lily told me about it. I've never told anyone, not even my wife. It's something that's, just… mine, you know?”

The group gives him sympathetic smiles. Skinner clears his throat awkwardly and claps his hands together.

“Anyway, Agents, Gentlemen, Miss Scully, you need to get those files here and copied. Tuesday is the best day to do it.”

Skinner stands and puts on his coat, shaking everyone's hand as he walks to the door. Mulder clears his throat and calls out to him.

“Sir? Thank you. Really.”

The balding man nods and waves goodbye as he leaves the office. A sense of determination hits him as he gets in his car.

You're in it now, Marine. Keep your people safe, take out the bad guys, and go home.