Part 1 of 3

"Damn it, Scully, they're setting me up! It's just too pat!" F.B.I. Agent Fox Mulder stormed as he paced his partner's hotel room, which was lit with the rosy glow of a spectacular southwestern sunset and the
reflection of a dozen neon lights. "A little girl
named Samantha is kidnapped and the only witness is
her older brother!"

"I've got to agree with you this time, Mulder, " said
his partner, Agent Dana Scully. "The boy's story is
even remarkably similar to the description you've
given me of the night your sister was abducted."

"Even the ages are right! She's eight, he's twelve.
Someone lured us out here to taunt us with this case."

"At least the boy's name isn't Fox," his partner
suggested with grim humor. In point of fact, she found nothing even remotely funny about a little girl who could be in the clutches of anything from pedophiles to aliens.

"That would be going a little too far! His name is
Alex, but. . ." suddenly he stopped and looked at his
partner. "Who do we know named Alex?"

It took Scully a minute to make the connection, since
so often they just referred to their colleagues and
foes by last names, but she got it. "Krycek? You think he's behind this?"

"Well, yeah, I do," admitted her parnter. "On the
other hand, I'm willing to blame Krycek for spreading
more disaster than El Nino. Think I'm stretching on
this one?"

His partner was silent for several second, then
slowly shook her head. "No. I'm with you all the way
this time. It practically reeks of him. In a strange
way, that's almost a relief. I know Krycek is the
worst kind of slime, but if he took Samantha, it's
because he wants to get at you, not because he gets
some sort of sick thrill out of doing nasty things to
little girls. We can make a fairly optimistic
assumption that she's probably physically safe,
although undoubtedly terrified."

"Yeah, but how do we find her?"

At that moment, the phone rang. "Mulder."

"Hey, old buddy. Enjoying your stay in the sunny
southwest?"

"Speak of the devil," muttered Mulder, making frantic
motions for Scully to use her cell phone to request a
trace on the call.

"You can tell your partner not to bother trying to
set up a trace. I'll be off the line before she
finishes dialing. If the two of you are interested in
seeing a certain little girl alive, be in front of
Caesar's Palace in five minutes. You can just make it, if you run." With that, the line went dead.

Mulder and Scully were out the door within seconds,
eschewing the elevator in favor of the fire stairs and sprinting along the crowded sidewalks. Exactly four minutes and fifty-five second had elapsed as they reached the front of the famous casino.

Krycek stepped out of the doorway, followed by his
sidekick Marnita Corrovubis. "Why, honey, look who's
here," he said, affecting a tone of mock surprise.
"Mr. and Mrs. Spooky from back home. Small world,
isn't it?"

"Look, Krycek," Mulder said, "I'm assuming you didn't
lure the two of us down here so we could all go on a
double-date to the drive-in. What do you want in
exchange for Samnatha?"

"How do you know I'm not just interested in a swap
meet? I've always been partial to redheads," Krycek
said with a leer, reaching his hand toward Scully's
face.

Mulder reached out to grab Krycek's hand, applying
enough pressure on the wrist to change the leer into a grimace. "Do you want your other arm ripped off?"

"Okay, okay, you keep Red and I'll stick with Blondie
here. Actually, despite my personal preferences, my
orders are to trade for you, not her. You're not going to try anything on a crowded sidewalk, so don't even think of reaching for your weapon, just listen to me."

"I'll listen, but forgive me if I don't exactly
believe. Everything you've ever told me has been a
lie," Mulder replied.

"Well, believe this. The two of you return here in
exactly eight hours. That will be 3 a.m., but this
city never sleeps. I'll have the girl with me. She's
unharmed, by the way, but won't remain like that if
you don't follow my instructions exactly. Marnita here will be hidden somewhere in the shadows with a weapon trained on Agent Scully. Scully can have the girl and I get you. We'll all just walk away very slowly, without attracting any attention or endangering any innocent civilians."

"Why the delay? Why not just do it now?"

"Mine is not to reason why, but I do strongly suggest
that the two of you not even think of calling in
back-up, either the locals or other feds. We deal with you two and only you two. If you're guessing we can't cover all the bases, you're right. But we have enough of our people in various positions to tilt the odds of our finding out if you disobey in our favor. If I were you, I'd do my best to enjoy the next eight hours. They very well may be your last, " Krycek said before melting into the crowd.

Mulder and Scully stood stock still for several
seconds, until Mulder finally said, "We"ll make the
switch. We have to. I can't be responsible for letting another little girl named Samantha being lost to her family forever. And he's right, Scully. We can't risk calling in back up. All we can do is sit and wait."

Scully was silent for a moment before saying, "I think you should follow Krycek's advice."

"Isn't that what I just said I'm going to do?" Mulder
asked, moving his partner to a slightly less crowded
area around the corner of the casino.

"Yes, about making the switch. But I meant about the
other part, too. About enjoying the next eight hours.
There's really nothing we can do and now that we know
the girl's safe instead of in the cluthces of some
deviant, we might as well attempt to relax a little.
That way we'll be alert when the time comes to trade."

"What'd you have in mind?"

"Your choice, Mulder, since you're going to be the
hostage and I'm going to be the babysitter."

"Anything I want?"

"Absolutely."

"You're sure about that?" her partner asked with a
smile.

"I'm sure. I've got no idea if I'm agreeing to watch
an Elvis impersonator or sneak over to Area 51 and
look for UFOs but. . .whatever you want. Whatever you
think would have the best chance of getting you
relaxed enough so that you'll be on your toes when it
comes to dealing with Krycek later tonight."

"Let's get married," Mulder said.

"What???" Scully stared at her partner in disbelief.
He couldn't possibly have said what she thought he'd
just said. Or, if he had, he was joking, like he had
been the time they'd been in West Virginia and he'd
laughingly suggested they start picking out china
patterns together. But there was no laughter in his
eyes, just an intensity she'd never seen before in all their years together.
 
You heard me. You already agreed to whatever I want,
remember?"

"Okay, but why here? Why now?" Scully demanded. It
wasn't that she didn't want to. Dear Lord, it was what she'd prayed for for years. But what had prompted this proposal now?

"Why not here? Why not now? I'm tired of waiting for
the perfect moment, Dana. I've come to the conclusion
that there's never going to be a time when you're not
fighting cancer or I'm not fighting trumped-up charges to end my career, or we're not both fighting aliens or Cigarette Smoking Man or various other monsters, not to mention reassignment every time we turn around! Now do you want to or not?"

Scully stared at him for several seconds. It wasn't
exactly the proposal she'd dreamed of as a teenage
girl, but she wasn't going to be fool enough to throw
away the love of the best man she'd ever known just
because it didn't come wrapped in ribbons and lace. "I want to. Believe me, Mulder, I want to."

"Your room or mine?" Mulder asked, pulling his
partner - his wife - closer to him. Less than 20
minutes at the Eternal Chapel of Love, less than $200
for a justice of the peace who dressed like Elvis and
two slender gold wedding rings, and it was done. They
were married.

"Mine," she answered decisively.

As sooon as they were inside the room and had locked
the door, Mulder turned to her with an expression on
his face that bordered on nervousness. Scully didn't
mind. He'd jumped the fence by suggesting they get
married. If necessary, she'd take the lead now. For a
woman in her thirties, she didn't have much
experience, but she did years of fantasies to help
out.

"We could order a bottle of wine from room service,"
he suggested.

"No."

"No?"

"I can't drink much at all without getting tipsy,
Mulder. You know that. And I don't want anything
clouding my senses tonight." She stepped closer to him and slid the jacket off his shoulders, then
concentrated on removing his tie.

He brought his hands up to her face and kissed her.
Long, slow and deep, just the way she liked it.

"If I let you undress me, do I get to do you?"

She nodded, suddenly feeling a wave of shyness wash
over her earlier boldness. But that didn't stop her
fingers from undoing the buttons along the front of
his shirt and sliding it off to join his jacket and
tie on the floor.

"Nope. My turn now," he said, grabbing her hands as
she reached for his belt buckle. Placing her arms
along her side, he slid off her jacket and then lifted the T-shirt she was wearing underneath it over her head. He reached up to brush a strand of red-gold hair out of her eyes, then reached behind her to unhook her bra and slid his hands up her back to push the straps off her shoulders. When it fell to the floor, he breathed in deeply. He'd seen her naked before, but that was when her life was in danger and he'd been concentrating on saving her. Now he was concentrating on how exquisitely she was formed. He palmed her breasts gently, running his thumbs softly across her already taunt nipples.

She sucked her breath in quickly, making her breasts
even more prominent. "Let's hurry and get the rest of
our clothes off and get in bed," she whispered
urgently.

He smiled and reached to unzip her skirt and push it
down while she simultaneously reached to undo his belt and slide his slacks down. Soon they were tumbled together in a naked heap on the bed.

"I always wondered if you were a natural redhead," he
murmured, brushing his fingers softly along the curls
at the apex of her thighs. "At least that's one
mystery I don't lack conclusive proof on!"

She bit him gently on the shoulder in mild reproof to
his teasing. Soon they were kissing deeply, running
their hands up and down each other's bodies. Then he
lowered his mouth to her breasts, licking each softly
before beginning to suck one. At the same time, he
moved his hands up along the inside of her legs, until he could stroke her gently. He was surprised to find out how wet she was, how open. She was making a
discovery of her own at the same time, reaching down
to feel the strong, hard length of him.

"Mulder, please, now!"

"You're sure? I can wait," he whispered, looking down
into her eyes.

"I'm not sure I can. At least not much longer." The
combined attentions of his mouth on her breasts and
his fingers inside of her was quickly driving her to
the edge and she wanted him joined to her when she was finally over.

He nodded and penetrated her. She gasped.

"Am I hurting you, Dana?"

"No, darling, it feels wonderful. You're just so. .
.big!"

He smiled down at her, a sexy, loving grin unlike any
she'd ever seen before on the the face she knew so
well and had loved for so long. He began to move
within her in long, smooth strokes. She started to
wiggle and moan, trying to keep the inevitable at bay
for just a few minutes longer, but finally giving up
to the tide of feeling she could feel crescendoing
within her. Amazingly, she felt him stiffen and groan
at the same time, meeting her climax with one of his
own.

"I love you," he whispered aginst her lips.

"I love you, too," she whispered back, before bringing his mouth down onto hers.

He rolled onto his side, keeping their legs entwined.
He stroked the hair away from her face, kissing her
eyelids, her cheeks, her chin. She smiled softly at
him, letting her hands ruffle through his hair and
stroke his arms. Finally, she put her hands to his
face and brought his lips to hers for another slow,
deep kiss.

"I've loved you for years," he said.

"I know," she replied with a small smile.

"You know? What do you mean 'you know'? For how long?" he asked, raising himself on an elbow to look down at her.

"Ever since the night you traded your sister, well,
the woman you believed to be your sister, for me.
You'd been looking for her for 20 years and at that
time we'd been partners for barely 18 months. Yet you
didn't even hesitate, lover. When I told you on the
phone that he'd kill me if you didn't make the switch, you brought Samantha to that bridge. I know it turned out not to be her. But the point is, at the time of the trade, you thought it was her. Ever since we'd first met, I'd been impressed by your devotion to her. I was stunned when I realized your devotion to me was even stronger."

"But if you knew I loved you all those years ago, why
didn't you say something?"

"Like what?" she asked gently. "Take me, I'm yours?
You needed me as your partner, someone to help you in
your search for the truth. I thought maybe this," she
gestured to their naked bodies, only partially covered with the bedspread, "would only distract you."

"I knew you loved me when you agreed to lie for me
that time, to identify that body in my apartment as my own. I mean, I'd suspected for years that your
feelings for meran deep, but you're the most honest,
honorable person I've ever known. Yet, when I asked
you to lie, you did it sweetheart. For me."

"Then why didn't you say something? That was over a
year ago!"

"I didn't feel I deserved you. Still don't, as a
matter of fact, but I got tired of trying to be
noble," he said.

"As long as that's the only thing you're tired of,"
she said with an impish smile.

He grinned. "Ready for a rematch, Scully?"

"Do I get to be on top this time?"

"Wouldn't have it any other way."

"Can I call you Fox?"

"Sure."

"Geez, you're easy tonight."

"On the contrary, I'm getting harder by the minute."

"You know I'm a scientist, Mulder. I only accept
things I can see and feel," she said, running her hand down his chest and belly until she found the proof of his desire. She stroked him until he was fully erect, then straddled him and slid back until she could feel him at her entrance.

He traced patterns on her back, working his way down
until he was cupping her bottom. He guided her all the way back, smiling as she moaned and wiggled. He loved Scully, loved hearing the sound of her voice, whether she was whispering to him through their cell phones or facing him across their office. But hearing her make these little, inarticulate whimpers of desire as she bent her mouth ot his ear was by far the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard.

They were able to last longer this time, the urgency
of their original mating somewhat sated, although
their desire still burned white-hot. He let her come
first, watching her face suffuse with ecstacy and and
feeling her clamp down tightly on him with her inner
muscles. He followed soon afterward, surging into her
with a wildness he hadn't known he was capable of,
calling out her name.

Scully jerked her head up, only to find her husband
looking at her with a relaxed smile on his face. She
couldn't believe she'd fallen asleep! She was even
using his shoulder as a pillow, the way she often had
before.

"I didn't mean to doze off," she whispered.

"Scully, you fell asleep in my arms exhausted by
passion. Do you know how many times I've dreamed of
you doing just that?"

She smiled. "I just don't want to waste a minute. What time is it?"

"A little after one. I think I'm going to get up and
take a shower in a bit. Want to join me?"

She nodded eagerly. Good Lord, could he possibly know
that making love to him in the shower was one of her
most persistent fantasies?

Soon they were in the bathroom, with the water
cascading down on their naked bodies. She wasn't going to start anything, honestly. It was enough just being here with him.

He leaned back and let the spray wash over him. He
knew he was grinning like a maniac, but he didn't
care. After all these yeas, he was finally sharing a
shower with her. He wasn't going to attempt to make
love to her again, really. At least, that's what he
told himself until he felt her soap-slicked hands
running across his shoulders, down his chest and ribs
until she touched his arousal.

"You know, Mulder, you're a medical marvel! According
to my scientific training, a man over the age of 35
shouldn't be able to do this three times in under
eight hours," she whispered, holding him with one hand and using the other to balance against his shoulder while she raised herself on tiptoe to whisper against his lips.

He thrust his tongue quickly into her mouth, smiling
at the way she pouted when he ended the kiss too
quickly for her liking. Hot damn, how he loved to see
her mouth like that!

"Let's just say I'm inspired," he replied, lathering
up his own hands and running them across her breasts
and belly, then around to her bottom. He slid one
soapy finger into her, grinning when she threw back
her head and spread her legs to allow him better
access. "You sure we can do it again? I don't want to
be a pig."

"Oh God, lover! Please! You don't know how many times
I've dreamed of us like this."

"You, too, huh?" he asked, manuvering her so that her
back was to the wall of the shower stall, with one
foot raised to rest on the ledge of the tub.

"Mmm," she murmured, as she felt him lifting her to
accomodate for the difference in their heights. She
waited impatiently for him to enter her, finally
opening her eyes to find him looking at her with an
expression of fiendish delight.

"Tell me what you want, Scully."

She was going to kill him if he didn't put an end to
this soon, she thought dazedly. She could tell he was
getting turned on by watching her lose control. In a
way, she couldn't blame him. For years, she'd remained cool, calm and collected in every possible situation. No wonder he was enjoying making her get this wild! She twisted against the slick wall, trying to accomplish her objective. She could feel him just
grazing her entrance, but he was using his superior
height and strength to prevent her from getting any
closer.

"Say it, sweetheart," he murmured.

"I want you!"

"To do what?" he inquired innocently.

"To make love to me. Please!" she moaned.

Mulder grinned. He would have preferred for her to use an earthier word to describe what they were about to do, but she *had* asked nicely. Without another word, he surged into her.

"Yes!" screamed Scully. She kept screaming, first his
name, then just a series or primordial moans. He
pounded into her, using his arms to cushion her from
hurting herself against the unyielding tiles. She came almost immediately, then gasped when he thrust into her so deeply that she was surprised the wall didn't give way for his own climax.

Eventually, he lowered her to where her feet could
touch the bottom of the tub again and reached for a
towel. He wrapped her in it and scooted her out of the shower, grabbing another towel for himself as he
followed. She turned to watch him and at the same time reached up to unhook the necklace with its dangling cross that she always wore. Crossing the few steps between them, she reached up to fasten it around his neck.

"I know you don't totally share all of my beliefs,
anymore than I share all of yours. But I'd like you to wear this tonight."

"We share a belief in each other," he replied,
touching her face gently. "Tonight just brought our
bodies to the place where our hearts and minds have
been for years."

Then they dried off and redressed with a quick economy of movement, barely glancing at each other.


"Scully?" he asked when he was completely back to his
F.B.I. persona, right down to his gun in its holster
and the cell phone tucked into his pocket.

"Yes, Mulder?" she said, turning to face him.

He had meant to do this without touching her, trying
to make it as professional and painless as possible.
But that look of vulnerability on her face, almost as
if she were afraid he was going to tell her the last
few hours had been a mistake, made such a scenario
impossible. He reached for her, instead, pulling her
down into his lap so that their faces were level.
"Look, once we go out there, we're going to have to
revert to professional behavior."

"I know," she said softly. "Our lives may depend on
it, as well as the life of an innocent child."

"There are a couple of things I have to tell you. I
don't know if or when we'll ever see each other again, and I know the way your mind works. I don't want you lying awake at nights, wondering."

"Mulder, if you think I'm going to have regrets about
tonight, I'm not. Ever."

"Shh!" he whispered, putting his fingers to her mouth, then moving them quickly before he became distracted. "First, I love you. I know I said that earlier, but I don't want you think it was just a slip of the tongue in a moment of passion. I mean it, Dana. For always. Secondly, and I know eventually the doctor in you is going to wonder about this. . .we didn't use any protection tonight. It honestly didn't even cross my mind, but the thing I want to reassure you about is that there's nothing to worry about, okay? I always took precautions before and in any case, up until tonight it had been years since I..."

"I know. Me, too. Listen, if you're finished, there
are a couple of things I need to say, too." At his
answering nod, she continued. "I want you to know that I love you. I have for years. I also want you to know that if. . .if you don't come back, I'll keep looking for your Samantha."

"Scully, you don't have to do that."

"She's the only sister we have left between us now,
Mulder. Melissa is lost to me forever, but finding
Samantha would help bring some sort of closure to
Missy's death. Besides, it's not just your quest
anymore. It's ours."

"Dana, there's one more question I have to ask
regarding our earlier activities. Is there any
possibility that I'm leaving you pregnant?"

"I doubt it, Fox. After my abduction and cancer, and
Emily, the doctors more or less agreed that I could
never conceive under ordinary circumstances. If we
ever decide we want a family - and that's a discussion that can wait until another time - we'll either have to do it through some sort of high-tech means or through adoption. But if, by some miracle, we were able to conceive a child together, that's just what it would be to me. A miracle. Not a burden or a problem."

They looked at each other for a long time, each gazing intently into the other's eyes. They kissed once, soft and chaste, before he pushed her gently off his lap and stood up.

"As much as I hate to do it,I think we'd better take
these off," he said, tugging off his ring and placing
it in a drawer. He reached to slide off her ring, as
well, and placed it beside his. "We don't want to give Krycek any more ammunition than he already has."

She nodded. Her head agreed with his action, but her
heart had a hard time accepting it.

Mulder could tell she was on the verge of tears and
decided to lighten the atmosphere.

"Hey, Scully?" he asked with a grin.

"Yeah?" she replied warily. Years together had given
her a certain level of familiarity with his moods and
she could tell he was about to say something
outrageous.

"I just never figured you for a screamer, somehow."

She blushed and rolled her eyes, following him as he
opened the door to step out into the corridor.

When they reached the front of Caesar's Palace, Krycek stepped from the shadows, guding the girl in front of him. The child looked tired and terrified, but Scully could see no signs of physical abuse.

"Here she is. If I were a sentimental man, I'd give
the two of you a chance to kiss goodbye, but since I'm not. . ." Krycek held out his prosthetic arm, which had one half of a pair of handcuffs attached to it, "snap this on. Remember, Marnita's watching." He
shoved the girl into Scully's arms as he yanked Mulder to his side.

"I'm an F.B.I. agent. That's like a policewoman,"
Scully said, bending down to the little girl's height. "My name is Dana. I'm going to take you to a hospital, for a doctor to look at you, and have your parents come pick you up there. You're safe now, Samantha."

Scully moved quickly, reaching the car she and Mulder
had rented in record time. Once the doors were locked
and the ignition on, she called the locals to let them know she had Samantha and for the parents to bring a change of clothes for her and meet them at the hospital.

"Samantha, I have to ask you some questions. Take you
time and answer slowly. I know you're very frightened, but I need to know if those men hurt you?"

"No, not really," the little girl whispered. "They
stuck something in my arm. . .like a shot. When I woke up, I was in a room."

"How many men were there?"

"Three men and a woman. They were bad. But the boy, he was good. He tried to help me not be so scared."

"The boy?" There was another child there?" Scully was
startled. There hadn't been news of another kidnapping in the area.

"Yes. His name was Gibson. He was older than me. Like
Alex," Samantha said.

Gibson! That was the name of a boy who had been
kidnapped in Virginia over a year ago. It was an
unusual name and the age was right, but. . .

"Samantha, this boy, Gibson. . .could he tell what you were thinkg without you having to say it?"

"Yes. We didn't talk much. Not with our mouths. But we could with our minds."

As they pulled into the hospital parking lot, Scully
knew she had time for just one or two more questions.
"Samantha, the bad guys. The men and the woman. What
did they look like?"

"One man had dark hair. He would have been handsome if he wasn't so mean." Krycek, Scully thought.

"The woman had blonde hair." Marnita, she assumed.

"Those two, they were both kind of young. Like you or
my parents. There there were two old guys. One kept
smoking cigarettes all the time. I didn't like that,
it made me cough. The other guy was bald-headed and real quiet." Cancer Man, Scully thought resignedly, not even surprised. The only description she didn't recognize was that of the bald-headed man, but she supposed she couldn't be on a nodding acquaintance with every bad guy in America.

"Samantha, is there anything you can tell me about
where you were? Do you remember how long you were in
the car between the time you left and the time you saw me and my partner?"

"No. I was sleeping."

"That's okay. A lot of people are going to be asking
you questions over the next few days. If you don't
know or can't remember, it's fine to say that. Just
don't make anything up, okay?"

Scully took Samantha into the hospital and let her be
reunited with her parents and brother. Then, with the
mother staying close by, she conducted a quick medical examination of the girl and put her clothes in evidence bags. The child did, indeed, seem unharmed by her ordeal.

When the child was sent home, she phoned Assistant
F.B.I. Director Walter Skinner. It was not yet 6 a.m.
in Washtington, D.C., but she felt no qualms about
waking him. This was news that couldn't wait until
morning.

"Skinner," a sleepy voice on the other end answered.

"Sir, it's Agent Scully."

"Scully! Have you found the child?"

"Yes sir, but there's been a complication."

"Is she dead?"

"No sir, she's fine. It's Agent Mulder."

"He's wounded?"

"He had to trade himself for her. It was Krycek. The
girl was only bait to get us out here. But now Krycek
and, I assume Smoking Man, have Mulder."

"Do you want me to come out there, Agent Scully?"

Scully was silent for a moment, considering. Skinner
was one of the few people within the bureau whom she
and Mulder trusted completely. But he might be of more use to her at F.B.I. headquarters.

"No sir, at least not yet. I'm going to FedEx the
girl's clothing back to you. They need to be gone over in the labs, but I need to make sure it's done right."

"I'll oversee it personally."

Scully was quiet for several moments, trying to think
what her next move should be.

"Agent Scully?" Skinner asked gently.

"Yes sir?"

"I know how much your partner means to you. I want you to trust Agent Gonzalez. He and I went through the academy together. He'll help you out there and I'll do my part on this end. We'll get him back."

"Thank you, sir," she said before disconnecting.
Skinner couldn't possibly know how much Mulder means
to me, she thought with a bittersweet sigh.

Krycek pulled Mulder along sidewalks that weren't
quite deserted even at this hour, reaching to divest
him of his gun and cell phone as they walked.

"You really want to get kinky our first time
together?" Mulder asked, gesturing to the handcuffs.

"Shut up, limp dick, and keep moving," Krycek replied. "What, no defense of your manly honor?"

"What can I say, Krycek. When you're right, you're
right." Shit, he thought, that last time took so much
out of me I practically felt like I was shooting my
bone marrow into her. I couldn't get it up again now
if my life depended on it.

Just as they reached a car parked in a dim alley,
Mulder felt something jab into his arm, and got a
quick glimpse of a bald-headed man as Krycek pushed
him into the car. He glanced quickly at the watch on
his left wrist. It was 3:10 a.m. That was his last
coherent thought before passing out.

He awoke as they manhandled him out of the car and
again glanced quickly at his watch. Now it was 3:47
a.m. A thirty-seven minute interval. The time didn't
mean much without any idea of the speed or direction
they had traveled, but it might help if was ever able to contact Scully.

Mulder passed out again as they threw him on a cot,
only to reawaken when the room began to change from
the blackness of night to the gray of dawn. Where am
I? he wondered.

"I don't know. It's just the bad guy's place. Samantha called it the Robber's Den, but she's very little."

Mulder was startled to hear a young voice answering
the question he hadn't even voiced. He turned and saw
Gibson, a boy with telepathic powers he'd tried - and
failed - to save once before.

"Gibson? Are you okay, son?"

"I'm all right. They haven't hurt me, really. They
just keep hooking things up to my head, trying to
figure out how I do what I do. I get to watch a lot of TV, otherwise. But I'd still like to go home. Samantha got to go home."
 
We'll try to get you out, too, Gibson."