Judgment of Fate 8-15

The Fate Wrath Saga II
The Judgment of Fate 8-14
By: Jenn Nistor

Disclaimer in part one. This is the sequel to "Peace, be Still"

Authors note: This section addresses the Cancer Man by name....I must admit that I did not want to name him, but after I wrote part 7 I figured that I couldn't go with out. SO thanks to Rhoni Lake, Rhonilak@icontech.com, I 've come up with a name that suits him. Also there is a little Mulder/Scully romance ahead, but nothing to serious in this section and there is a lot of Mulder and Scully angst.

The Judgment of Fate 8/?
By: Jenn Nistor
Jenn6092@aol.com

"And throughout all Eternity
I forgive you, you forgive me.
Our quest is foreseen
We search, we can be seen.
And throughout all Eternity
I love you and you love me.

**********
Location Unknown
12:30 P.M.

Byers stepped forward and took the packet of papers of that she was holding. "Are you sure your ready to find out the Mulder's secrets?" he asked.

Dana nodded, "Come on. I just need to know."

"He's Samantha's father." Frohike answered. "There.....now you know the truth. SO you see how this may effect Mulder and his quest for the truth. If he knows that his sister wasn't all that she seemed h emay give up and stop looking for the answers he's been in quest for."

Dana gasped with shock, "What?" she asked. "How can she possibly be his child? There must be some mistake"

Frohike shook his head sadly, "Mulder's mother apparently had an on going affair with Seth Damian other wise known as the Cancer Man. William Mulder did not know of the affair until Samantha was about eight and then when the choice had to be made....he chose Samantha because she was not his blood."

"I'm so confused, what choice?" Dana shook her head. She suddenly didn't want to here it. "Don't tell me....I've heard enough for today......I'll read this when I get the chance." she stuffed the packet of papers in her purse. "Should I tell Mulder?"

Langly nodded, "Yes, but only when the time is right. I wouldn't just say, 'Hey Mulder guess what...Your sister is the Cancer Man's child, see ya!'" he smiled. "Your going to have to go easy on him....and if you don't trust him, your going to have to learn to trust him before you tell him, because this situation your in depends on trust."

Dana nodded. She didn't really know if she trusted Mulder. There was still so much she didn't know about the time he was gone. Her heart told her to trust him, but her mind told her to test him. "I think that I better go....I've been here to long and Mulder may start to get suspicious." she headed towards the front door. "Thanks guys. I think that I just need some time to soak all of this in."

"If you need us call us!" Frohike added before she disappeared outside.

Dana was just about to get into her car when her cellular rang. "Scully." she said unlocking the car door.

"Scully, where are you?" it was Mulder calling to check up on her.

"Mulder.....I...." she paused deciding that she would wait for a better time to tell him. "Will you meet me at my apartment?" she asked. "I was thinking that we could take tomorrow off and drive to your mothers house." She pulled out onto the dirt road and headed towards the interstate. "How does that sound. There's no reason we have to wait until Saturday. Skinner said that we could have as much time as we needed to get your affairs into order."

"Ok, do you want to go right now?" Mulder asked.

Dana nodded even though he couldn't see her. "Yeah, um....why don't you run by your place and pick up some of your thing and I'll meet you back at my apartment."

"Back?" Mulder questioned. "Where are you?"

Dana cringed, she couldn't tell him. "I'm at the dry cleaners." she lied. "I have to go....I'll see you in a little bit." she pushed end on her phone and focused on the road ahead of her.

'What am I going to do?' she thought. 'How am I going to tell him all of this.' she could feel tears coming to her eyes. 'He'll really hate me for knowing about this before he did'

*****************
J. Edgar Hoover Parking Garage
12:45 P.M.

As Mulder made his way to his car a thought suddenly struck him. He had no idea where Scully lived. He knew that she had come back from Boston, but didn't know where she had moved too. Pulling out his phone he dialed her cellular again.

"Hello?" she said picking up. He noted that her voice sounded agitated and strained.

"Scully, it's me again." he said. "I don't know where you live....would you mind giving me directions." He heard her laugh.

"Same place Mulder." she said. "The owner of the building felt sorry for me so he let me have my old apartment back. The people who had lived in it after me had just moved out....so it was vacant."

"Ok....I'll be there in about an hour. I'm just leaving the office now and have to stop at my place." he pulled the car onto the interstate and headed towards his apartment.

"Ok...." Dana said. "I'm home....I'll see you."

Mulder hung up and concentrated on his driving. It was obvious that their little agreement wasn't going to hold long. She had already agreed to drive to Chilmark with him and before long they would be friends again, or at least he hoped they would.

He had sensed that something was wrong when he called but didn't want to bother her. He knew that she had lied about where she was going. He had called the number she had given him, but no one answered and after about ten rings her machine had picked up. Then he had called her cellular number, but she had either turned it off or had been out of range at the time.

Mulder respected her secrecy, he had toyed with the notion to follow her but decided against it. If she thought that he was following her it would probably give her another reason not to trust him and he didn't want that. After an hour of waiting for her to return he had come to the conclusion that she was with a boyfriend and didn't want him to know about it. That would have explained her irritability when he had called.

"Well who ever he is Scully." Mulder whispered. "I sure hope that he makes you happy."

***************
2:00 P.M.

As Dana awaited Mulder's arrival she busied herself in her work. She was willing to do anything to keep her mind of Samantha Mulder and Seth Damian, but nothing seemed to work. Her attention kept drifting to the packet of papers she had neatly slipped into a yellow envelop.

She had been planning on telling Mulder about what she had learned sometime over the weekend, so she had packed the envelop in her suitcase hoping that there would be a right time.

Every time she tried to imagine how Mulder would react to the news she drew a blank. There was no easy way to tell him and it scared her. She was scared that he would leave and try to find the man that they called the Cancer Man. The man that his mother had so passionately given herself too. The man that now had a name, Seth Damian.

She jumped at the sound of someone knocking on her door. "Come in!" she called. She looked up just in time to see Mulder trip over her suitcase that was in front of the door.

"Scully!" he cried. "I said I was sorry. How much more of this abuse do I have to take."

Dana laughed, "Here." she held her hand out to him. "I called and got us reservations at a small inn right outside your mother's place. I figured that you wouldn't want to just show up on your mothers door step and...." she smiled. "Well you know."

Mulder nodded and picked up her suitcase. Just as he did, the yellow envelope she had stuffed in the pocket fell out, spilling it's content all over the floor. Mulder reached down to pick them up but Scully pushed him away.

"It's all right." she said. "I'll take care of it. I'll meet you in the car."

"Are you sure?" he asked giving her a curious glance. "Is something wrong?"

She shook her head, "No of course not. "I'll just be a few minutes." she smiled. "I promise."

"Fine." Mulder shrugged and headed back down to the car.

Dana let out a sigh of relief and quickly picked up the papers and stuffed them into the envelope. "That was close." she mumbled and shoved the papers back into her bag.

Quickly making sure that all of her lights were turned off she locked up her apartment and met Mulder at his car. "Sorry...."she mumbled seeing the look on his face.

He looked up, "For what?" he asked. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"Yeah, well I was kind of rude when you dropped that folder." she smiled. "I didn't mean anything by it."

"That's all right." Mulder said and started the car. "We better get a move on."

***************
5:30 P.M.

Mulder glanced over at Scully. She hadn't said much since they left and he was starting to get worried. "Are you okay?" he asked her. "I can't help but notice how upset you seem.

Dana turned to look at him. "What did you say?" she asked. Her thoughts had been on what the Lone Gunmen had told her. She had been so preoccupied that she hadn't even noticed that they had been driving to close to three hours.

Mulder glanced around and pulled into a restaurant parking lot, "I asked you what was wrong." he replied. "You seem kind of depressed. Is there something I can do?"

Dana sighed, "No Mulder......Let's not talk about this now. Let's get to Chilmark and then we can talk about it." she laid a hand on his. "Is that all right?"

Mulder nodded, "Yeah, I was just wondering what was bothering you. Usually you have plenty to say and this whole trip you've been as quiet as a mute. Did I do something wrong?"

"No." she replied softly. "Like I said before Mulder, people change. Maybe I just don't have anything to say." she glanced back out the window.

"Fine....." he turned off the car and got out. "Do you want something to eat?"

Dana shook her head. "No." she mumbled and watched him head towards the restaurant. She knew that she had hurt him, but she didn't know how else to act.

*************
11:50 P.M.
Breeze Inn
Chilmark Mass.

Deciding that it was time to talk to Mulder, Dana grabbed the yellow envelope and knocked on the door that joined hers and Mulder's room. "Mulder." she called. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah, the doors open!" he said from the other side.

Dana pushed the door open and stepped in. The room was dark except for the light coming from the bathroom. She could just make out his faint outline stretched out across the bed. "Mulder there's something that I think we need to talk about." she said approaching him. "And unfortunately I don't think that it can wait."

Mulder nodded and flipped on the light next to his bed. "I wasn't really that tired. I was hoping that you would share this little secret that you've been hiding from me." he sat up. "So tell me, what's bothering you Agent Scully?"

"I...um....." she looked around uncomfortably. "Well, this isn't easy to talk about. I just want you to know that I trust you completely. I know that I said it would take along time for me too trust you, but I did a lot of thinking and the truth is that I have nothing to be mad at you about." she kneeled down in front of him. "I'm grateful to you for what you did.....you did it all for me and I appreciate it. This is so hard."

Mulder gently lifted her chin so that he could look into her eyes. He was shocked to see tears streaming down her cheeks. "What's wrong?" he asked. "You can tell me, is it something that I did?" He hoped that it was nothing that he did. He was already treading on thin ice with her and didn't want to make it any worse.

Dana buried her head in his lap. She couldn't help but notice how good it felt to be in his arms and be close to him. "God please forgive me." she whispered. She wished that everything, all of her problems, all of her fears, and all of hers and Mulder's pain would just go away. "Please." she pleaded, looking up into his eyes. "Promise me that you'll forgive me."

"Scully, what's wrong." Mulder asked again. "Your not making any sense." He gently toyed with a strand over her auburn hair.

She pulled away and handed him the envelop. Mulder took it and was about to open it when Dana suddenly stopped him. "No." she whispered. "Not until I tell you everything that I know." she made him drop the envelop on to his lap. "All right?" Her eyes sought his.

Mulder nodded, "Okay, so tell me." he glanced down at her terrified form. He couldn't even imagine what was wrong with her. She seemed so happy before and now she looked like a lost child crying for her mother.

"First of all." she began. "Tom gave me a disk. Actually, he left it in a packet along with some pictures of you talking to the Cancer Man." she paused. "At first I thought that everything had to do with your being alive, but I sent the disk to the Lone Gunman and they found something else....Or you could say that they accidentally stumbled across something else."

"Like what?" Mulder asked curiously. "For some reason I cant picture you turning to the Frohike, Langly and Byers for help. "

Ignoring his comment Dana continued, "Mulder, I'm sorry that I ever doubted you. I'm beginning to believe...." she laughed. "The disk had everything, it had every truth that we've been looking for....and I mean everything Mulder. I'm not just talking about the truth behind alien abductions, but the truth about those men and even though I don't know there reasons I can still find them."

"What do you mean by everything, Scully?"

'This isn't going as planned.' Dana thought sadly. "Mulder I know who the Cancer Man is. Earlier when I said I was going home I went to see Frohike instead. He and the guys told me everything about everything and I don't even understand half of what they said. There was a lot about your sister, they wanted to show me before they showed you because they weren't sure that you could handle the truth. That's what's in the envelope." she took his hand in hers.

Mulder glanced down at the envelope in his hands. 'Was this the truth he had been looking for?' he wondered. He was almost afraid to open the envelope, for he feared that it wasn't what he expected.

"You said you know who the Cancer Man is." he glanced back at his partner. "Who is he, Scully? Do I want to know or should I pass on this one."

Dana shook her head. "I don't think you really want to know." she replied. "But you have to know everything that I know. That's why I asked that you come up here a day earlier. I wanted the time to tell you that......" she paused. Could she really go through with this? Could she actually tell him that the Cancer Man was the actual biological father of his sister?

"That what?" Mulder pressed. "Dana, I need to know."

She nodded and closed her eyes. "His name is Seth Damian." she whispered. Her heart began to race from the fear of the unknown. She could feel Mulder's intense gaze burrowing into her as she continued. "Mulder,......." her breath caught in her throat. 'I can't do it.' she thought.

"What!" Mulder cried in frustration. "Stop it! Just tell me what your trying to tell me."

"Mulder!" Dana cried. 'This is it.' she thought. Then with all of the strength she possessed she said, "He's your sister's father."

The Judgment of Fate 9/?
By: Jenn Nistor
Jenn6092@aol.com

"And the best and the worst of this is
That neither is most to blame,
If you've forgotten my kisses,
Then I've forgotten your name." ~Swinburne, An interlude"~

********
Location not known

Frohike jumped at the sound of footsteps coming up the front walk. Even though he was half hidden in the shadows he could see the faint out lines of three men heading towards the cabin. "Hey guys!" he called. "I think we have company."

Langly looked up from the computer and Byers rushed to the window to see who it was.

"There's no one out there!" Byers cried. He turned back to Frohike, "Get some sleep Man, your hearing things."

Frohike shook his head, "No....you guys I'm serious. Listen." he held up his hand.

Byers and Langly listened closely. "I don't hear anything." Langly mumbled. "Your just par......" he was cut off when the door suddenly flung open.

"Excuse me!" Langly screamed. "But who are you and what do you want."

Three men dressed in black coats entered the small cabin. "We want the disk." one of the men growled. "You give us the disk and no one will get hurt. Is that understood?"

Byers stepped in front of Langly, "Get out!" he cried. "You have no authority here."

One of the men pulled a gun, "Oh no." he said, "Give us the disk." he pulled the trigger.

Frohike crept deeper into the shadows, he watched in horror as the men shot his friends. Then one of the men stepped forward and unplugged the computer. He ripped the disk from the drive and the three of them left.

********
"What!" Mulder cried in frustration. "Stop it! Just tell me what your trying to tell me."

"Mulder!" Dana cried. 'This is it.' she thought. Then with all of the strength she possessed she said, "He's your sister's father."

Mulder didn't say anything. His first instinct was to slug Scully for telling him that, but after a minute all he could do was stare at her. It was almost as if he hadn't heard her and he wasn't even sure that he had heard her correctly.

"What?" he asked. "Can repeat that?"

Dana nodded, "Mulder I know that this is a terrible shock to you, but it's true." she paused. "All day I've been trying to figure out an easy way to tell you, but I realized that there wasn't any easy way. Your mother had an on going affair with him......your father didn't know until Samantha was about eight and then when the choice had to be made, he chose your sister."

"Choice." Mulder whispered. "God."

"I'm not sure how much information is actually in that packet I gave you, but it does have some of you sisters tests and stuff from the past. There's a back ground profile on your mother's involvement with Seth Damain and the last test that was mentioned was from five years ago. Other than a little bit about your sister's disappearance there's not much that will help you." Dana got up to sit next to him but he moved away.

"Leave me alone for a while." Mulder mumbled. "Please....just leave me alone."

Dana nodded and stood up. "Um....I'll be in my room if you need me." she said then went back to her room.

Mulder paced back and fourth angrily. He had to find out what had really happened between his mother and that man. Deciding that he couldn't rest until he found out, he grabbed his keys and ran out to his car.

***********
Dana heard the squeal of tires on the gravel outside and rushed to the window just in time to see the tail lights of Mulder's car heading out of the parking lot. She knew that he would leave.....and she had prepared herself for it.

She was almost positive that he went to his mothers, that would be the only logical place for him to go. She didn't think that he had any other family in this area or any friends.

"Damn you Mulder!" She screamed. She was just about to head out the doors when she heard her cellular ring. "Hello?" she mumbled.

"Scully!" it was Frohike. His voice sounded strained and panicked. "They shot the boys!" he cried. "They got the disk!"

Dana gasped, "Who shot them?" she cried as her stomach churned in a pit of fear. "Are you all right?"

"I don't know who shot them!" he screamed. "Three guys wearing black trench coats kicked the door in and stole the disk. I was in the shadows so they didn't see me." he took a deep breath. "I'm at the hospital now. The damn doctors won't tell me anything. I'm so sorry they got the disk."

Dana sighed, "Forget the damn disk." she mumbled. "I'm more worried about Byers and Langly."

"Dana your in a lot of danger." Frohike whispered. "You and Mulder have to get out of where ever the hell you are and get a move on it."

"I would...." she mumbled. "But it might help if I knew where he was."

"What do you mean?" Frohike asked. "You didn't tell him did you?"

"Yeah and he just decided to go for a little drive and leave me back here to worry." she shook her head. "I suggest that you get out of there and hide. I don't want them to get to you too."

"Dana I have to go." he said. "I'll call you when I get word on the others."

"Fro...." she began but he was already gone.

*****************
Mulder banged angrily on his mothers door. He knew that he would really hurt his mother by just showing up like this, but he didn't care. He didn't care about anything except finding the truth.

He glanced up as the hall light tuned on. There was a slight rattle of the door lock and then his mother appeared before him.

"Fox?" she cried. Fear crept up into her cheeks and voice as she stared at her son. "Oh, my God."

Mulder didn't wait for his mother to let him in, instead he pushed past her and made his way into the old living room. "Why!" he screamed. "How could you give yourself to that man!"

Mulder's mother didn't know what to say. She was stilled shocked over seeing him there and had no idea what he was talking about. "Fox, how?" she asked. Tears moistened the corners of her eyes. "How?"

Mulder shook his head, "Never mind how!" he yelled. "I want to know why you would give yourself to that man!"

"What man!" she cried. "Fox, your not making any sense! You can't just come in here mumbling something about some man when you haven't even explained how you got here!" she sat down. "How is this possible. I was at your funeral."

Mulder sighed and sat down. "I did it for Scully." he mumbled. "Your friend was going to kill her unless I left....so I faked my death."

"My friend?" she asked. "I don't understand."

"The Cancer Man." Mulder replied. "Or should I say Seth Damain, does his name ring a bell mom?"

His mother covered her mouth, "No!" she cried. "Fox, he wasn't always like this." tears began to run down her cheeks. "I vowed never to forgive him and I never will. Never ever."

"Oh, then how was he?" Mulder asked. "I know all about Samantha mom. I know that she wasn't dad's child. I know that you had an on going affair with him." he shook his head. "Did you love him? Or were you just using him so that you'd make dad mad? Why?"

Mulder's mother nodded, "Yes, I did love him, but that was along time ago." she sighed and fell back into her chair. "I was young and stupid. He was everything your father wasn't." she smiled. "I remember the first time I met him. We were at the summer house, your father brought him home and I was quite taken with him. There was this certain mystery about him that I found irresistible, he gave me the chance to be something and someone so I jumped at it."

"Why?" Mulder asked. "How could you?"

"It just happened." she shook her head trying to remember. "He was like those damn cigarettes he smoked. So addicting."

Mulder couldn't believe he was hearing this. Here he was talking about his mother's sex life with her. Under normal circumstances he would have been very uncomfortable, but now all he could do was listen. He had to know the truth, he had to know why his mother loved the man who wanted to kill his partner. He needed to know more than he needed to take his next breath to live.

"I kept finding myself back in his arms......" his mother continued. "And when I found out that I was pregnant with your sister I didn't know who the father was. After a while I figured it out."

"So....did you ever love dad?" Mulder asked. "Or was I mistake? His mistake? Maybe I should have been the one taken. Would that have eased your pain anymore?"

"No!" she cried reaching out to her son. "I loved you so much and one day your father asked me if I had to choose between you two, who would I choose." she shook her head. "I couldn't choose between you and Samantha. I loved you both differently....I loved her because she was the daughter of the man I loved and I loved you because you were the son that I always wanted."

"What happened?" he asked.

"Nothing.....he took my baby and I vowed never to forgive him." she frowned. "I just never realized how evil he was until I saw him....." she couldn't finish. "But he'd never hurt you."

"Why?" Mulder asked.

"He promised your father that he would look out for your better interests, he would never hurt you." her mothers head fell to her hands.

"It's to late." he yelled. "He's already hurt me more than once! He took Dana, but he said that he liked her so she was returned. But then he took me away from her. Now he wants to kill her because she finally knows the truth. She knew the truth about you and Sam before I did."

"You still love Dana very much." Mrs. Mulder commented. "It's good....you really deserve to have someone like her. She's wonderful and so strong too. I wouldn't be surprised if you two ended up together."

"I don't have her anymore mom." Mulder admitted. "She and I are friends but that's it."

"Fox, I'm so sorry about everything. I never meant for you to find out this way. I don't ask that you forgive me, but I do ask that you don't give up your search for the truth."

Mulder stood up, "Mom...I have to go." he didn't bother to say anything about her last comment. He was still very mad and he wasn't about to let it blow over that easily. With out another word her left his mother's house.

Once he reached his car a thought struck him. "The disk." he mumbled. His thought's drifted back to the conversation he had with the Cancer Man or Seth Damain and X. The Cancer Man had said that he was going to have to get rid of Scully because she had something that he wanted and if the Cancer Man knew how much she really did know he would most certainly kill her.

Mulder jumped in his car and headed towards the Inn. He had to warn Scully of the danger she was in before it was to late. Now that he knew who the Cancer Man really was, he just had to find out why he really did the terrible things that he did. It certainly wasn't his fate and if it was he was sure in for a long judgment.

********************
1:32 AM.

Dana sat up with a start. She could hear Mulder pounding on her door from the outside.

"Scully!" he cried. "Scully open up! It's important."

Dana got up and unbolted the door. "Thanks for keeping your promise." she mumbled, moving aside so that he could enter. "You didn't even take your phone and I've been trying to reach you." she suddenly felt a wave of nausea come over her.

Mulder sensing that something was wrong quickly was at her side. "Here, sit down." he gently eased her down on her bed. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Frohike called about an hour ago." she took a deep breath. "They got the disk and shot Langly and Byers." tears were now streaming down her cheeks. "Frohike didn't know how they were and if they were going to be all right." she shook her head angrily. "This is all my fault. None of this would have happened if I hadn't sent that disk to them. I was so stupid."

Mulder shook his head and pulled her into a hug. "I was leaving my mother's when I suddenly remembered something the Cancer Man told me."

"What?" Dana asked pulling away from his embrace. She couldn't take her eyes off his face. She loved him so much and yet there was so little she could do about it. She couldn't really read the expression in his face, but she noted that he was truly scared of something.

"That night that I talked to him in Rhode Island he said that you had something that was his." he paused. "At first I didn't know what he meant and he wouldn't tell me what it was. He said that I'd have to wait for you to trust me enough to tell me what you had. He said that if you knew exactly what you possessed that he'd kill you."

"I now." she whispered. "I've know from the beginning that they weren't about to let me get away with what I had." she ran a hand over his cheek. "I'm not scared to die Mulder. I know that I'm not ready to die, but if I had too I could do it with out fear." her hand fell from his cheek and back to her lap. "Your peace gave me that inner peace that I needed to truly live and die for what I believe in. My dad used to recite this poem when I was depressed." she smiled trying to remember the words. "One part of it went, 'Deep within my heart your thoughts bring comfort to my soul, helping me to onward press toward that final goal. So I'll not fear when trouble comes, nor dread the darkest night, when I hear you say, 'Peace, be still.' I know I'm all right.'" once again her hand went to his cheek. "Your asking me to let you go so that you could be in peace made me see what I lacked."

"Which was?" Mulder asked softly.

"Faith in my destiny." she whispered.

The Judgment of Fate 10/?
By: Jenn Nistor
Jenn6092@aol.com

"Ask not of me, love, what is love?
Ask what is good of God above-
Ask of the great sun what is light-
Ask what is darkness of the night-
..........................
Ask what is sweetness of thy kiss-
Ask thyself what beauty is." ~P.J. Bailey~

**********
"Your asking me to let you go so that you could be in peace, made me see what I lacked."

"Which was?" Mulder asked softly.

"Faith in my destiny." she whispered. "I was so afraid to live with out you, but after a while I started to. I'm not afraid of death, Mulder. I think that all of the close shaves I had with it has made me stronger." she sighed thinking back to the time she had woken up in the hospital after her abduction. "When I was abducted I was really close to dying and in away I think that my brush with death was a test. A test to see whether or not I was strong enough to continue searching for the truth.

Mulder nodded, "But I'm afraid of losing you." he whispered. His eyes met hers for a brief moment before she turned away. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing." she replied. "It's just that I feel so guilty for what happened to Byers and Langly. I don't care about the disk.....I just wish that they hadn't been hurt."

"They knew what they were getting into to. It couldn't have been helped." Mulder gently ran a hand over her cheek. "They're always getting themselves into different jams. It was just a matter of time before they got caught."

Dana looked at her partner with shock written all over her face. "Mulder!" she cried. "We're the ones who always got them in those messes, but they never got hurt like this. I, by myself, may have gotten them killed and endangered Frohike. I have to go back there."

"Oh no your not!" Mulder yelled. "I just got you back, there's no way in hell that I'm going to lose you again." he shook his head. "No way Scully. Your going to go away and hide."

"Mulder, I can't just hide. You don't understand. I need to go back." she moved away from him. "You stay with your mother and protect her. I'm going to go back to them and face Seth, face to face." she smiled. "Please Mulder, I've sat by and watched you do stupid things before, now it's my turn to do the stupid thing. I won't get killed, but if I do....you should never stop searching for the truth."

"I....still love you." Mulder whispered. He felt as though he had to tell her before she left. He wasn't going to stop her because he knew deep down inside that she would be back. Back to him and back to their search for the truth. "And because I love you.....I won't stop you from going back."

Dana's breath caught in her throat. She hadn't expected him to say that he loved her. She knew that she would always love him, but had little hope of ever getting back together with him. Her heart skipped a beat as Mulder's hand went to her lips. "Mul.....Mulder." she moved in closer to him. Almost close enough to hear his heart beat pounding in his rib cage.

Mulder gently traced the outline of her lips with his thumb. Dana closed her eyes waiting for him to kiss her. Softly, Mulder brushed his lips over hers, praying that she would stay there with him forever. His heart did a flip-flop as she responded to his kiss with such passion that he couldn't let her go.

"Mulder." Dana whispered, pulling away slightly. "We shouldn't do this." the words she spoke were almost like a punishment, but she knew that if they continued they would both regret it. Regret was something they both shared.....Dana knew that Mulder regretted leaving her and she regretted ever believing that she had stopped loving him. There wasn't even a chance that she stopped loving him.

Mulder shook his head, "Give me tonight." he whispered. "I've waited three years for you and I can't let you go with out being with you one last time." he kissed her again. "Please Scully. I need you to say that you love me." his eyes pleaded with hers, searching for a hint of remorse or love.

Dana looked into Mulder's eyes. "Mulder, I have never stopped loving you." she whispered. "But your making this so much harder on me." her eyes filled with tears. "Just let me go.....please. I'm not asking much." she knew deep down in her heart that she was asking a lot from him, but she didn't care.

"Yes you are." Mulder cried. "Your asking me to let you die. I don't want you to die. I want you to live and live with me. I don't want you to die." he gripped her shoulders. "Please Dana! Please these men are dangerous....If anything happens to you I promise that I won't rest until justice is served and these men's fates are judged to hell."

Dana smiled, her heart aching to stay with him, to be close to him. She knew that five years ago she would never have turned herself in to those men, but now she didn't fear them. She was no longer a non-believer and could face the truth even if it killed her. "I'll be back." she promised. "But if something does happen to me you have to promise that you'll never stop searching, that you'll never give up on your thoughts or beliefs that we've been chasing all over the country."

Mulder laughed, "I promise." he whispered then leaned into kiss her. He was cut off by the ringing of Scully's cellular.

Dana picked up, "Hello!" she cried.. At first there was no one but after a minute someone finally spoke.

"Dana." it was Frohike.

"What's wrong?" she asked. Fear rose up deep inside of her. 'What if Byers and Langly are dead?' she thought miserably. "Is it the guys."

"No..."Frohike said. Dana breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm sending a car for you."

"What!" Dana cried. "It's to dangerous you can't do that."

"He'll be there soon." Frohike mumbled then hung up before Dana could say another word.

Dana hung up and looked back to Mulder. "Frohike is sending a car for me." she told him. "I have to pack." she headed towards her dresser and began throwing things in her suitcase.

Mulder watched pained by guilt and frustration as She drifted farther and farther away from him. He wanted to try to convince her to stay with him, but he felt that it would only lead to an argument and an argument was the last thing they needed. There was already enough strain between them.

It took Dana almost an hour to pack her bags. She had moved slowly trying to savor the time she had left with Mulder. Although they did not speak she felt unbelievably close to him. She could feel his eyes follow her around the room, but she did not speak. She did not dare break the silence that hung between them for fear that hard words would be said and regretted. Possibly regretted to the grave.

Mulder hung back in the shadows trying to hide his fear for her. he wondered. He sighed as Dana finished packing. "I guess that this is it." he whispered, his words barely loud enough to be heard by even his own ears.

Dana turned to him and nodded, "Good-bye Mulder." she said softly. Then without another word she was gone.

Mulder was about to say 'Good-bye' but thought better of it. He didn't want to risk jinxing her return. He knew that it would not be 'good-bye' but 'good night'. He watched as his partner headed towards a car parked in the shadows of the parking lot. Taking a deep breath he turned away from the window and sat down on her bed.

As Dana approached the car she stopped short. She recognized the man as one of the Cancer Man's men. She prayed to God that Mulder hadn't been watching her. There was no way she was about to worry him.

"Get in." A deep voice instructed from behind.

Dana did as she was told and slid into the back seat of the car. "Where's Frohike?" she asked. "What have you done with him?"

The man laughed, "He and his side kicks will be just fine." he assured her. "But I highly doubt that they will remember anything." there was a long pause as the man turned on to the small country road leading to the interstate. "They will be returned safely."

"So do you plan to erase my memory as well?" Dana asked. "Or am I expendable?" she started to lean up in her seat but the look the man gave her helped her decide other wise.

"Agent Scully." the man began. "You skepticism was once needed. Didn't you ever wonder why you, of all the other agents in the FBI, was assigned to work with that partner of yours?"

"I always thought that it was luck." Dana mumbled. She always knew that there had been another reason but never questioned it. She had written it off as fate. "So are you going to kill me?" she turned to look out the window. "The least you could do is tell me."

"No......" the man said. "You needed for something else. Your life has a higher purpose one in which I am not allowed to speak of."

Dana settled back in her seat. There wasn't much for her to do except wait and pray.

**************
J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building
May 17, 2000
11:30 A.M.

Mulder pushed his way through the large crowds in the halls of the building. Not more than an hour after his partner had left that morning he had gotten a call from an unknown source saying that the Cancer Man and his men had Frohike and Scully.

When he had checked the hospital to see how Byers and Langly were the doctors had told him that they had disappeared out of there beds sometime in the early hours of the morning.

Mulder slammed Skinners door open and glared at the older man. "Where is she!" he screamed. "They're all gone. All of them!"

Skinner jumped at the sound of Mulder's voice. "Excuse me!?" he said. "What the hell are you talking about." he stood up. "And where is Agent Scully?"

"She's gone!." Mulder mumbled. "They took her again."

"Oh no!." Skinner cried. "How!?"

"She had a disk that they wanted. They said she knew to much so they took her and my friends." Mulder began to pace back and fourth. "I can't tell you anymore sir. I'm afraid that they may go after you next."

Skinner shook his head, "Your confusing me." he admitted. "What was on the disk?"

Mulder sighed. There was no way he could hide it from his superior. Taking a deep breath Mulder continued. "Scully found out something about my sister. There was this disk that Crawford gave her. IT had a bunch of government cover-ups and stuff." he paused. "I never saw the disk but she sent it to some of our friends and they found some interesting things."

"What kind of things?" Skinner asked curiously.

"Sir, she knows who these men are. I'm not sure how much she knows but she knows some of it." Mulder shook his head. "One of them was the father of my sister."

Skinner nodded, "Agent Mulder, what do you suspect that they'll do to her?"

"I hope that they don't do anything to her." he headed towards the door. "I have to go."

The Judgment of Fate 11/?
By: Jenn Nistor
Jenn6092@aol.com

"The night has a thousand eyes,
And the day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies
With the dying sun.

The mind has a thousand eyes,
And the heart but one;
Yet the light of a whole life dies
When love is done. ~F.W. Bourdillon, Light~
*********
May 17, 2000
1:35 P.M.
Location not known

Frohike rubbed the side of his head. 'Where am I?' he wondered. He sat up and glanced around. He was in a something that was set up to look like a hospital room, but he was not in a bed. He stood up to see Byers and Langly attached to machines in the far corner. Although the room was mostly dark he could tell that they were in some kind of factory or warehouse.

"Guys!?" Langly yelled from across the room. "Why can't I move." his arms and legs were strapped down at his sides.

Frohike quickly rushed to his side and undid the straps. "I have know idea." he said. "I'd love to give you an answer to where we were and how we got here but I don't remember a thing. I was hoping you could give me an answer."

Langly closed his eyes. "How did I get shot?" he asked. "I can remember being shot but I can't remember anything after that or before that or who shot me. Like what were we doing when I got shot? There's this big empty space, do you know what day it is?" he tried to look at his watch but it had been stopped at 11:21 P.M..

Frohike sighed, "I can't remember." he admitted. He was about to turn away, but he suddenly remembered one thing. "Scully." he whispered. "It had something to do with Dana Scully."

*************

1:45 P.M.
Location not known

Dana grimaced at the sign of the Cancer Man. "So what do you plan to do with me?" she asked. They had been locked her up in a small room with machines that she had never seen before and left there by herself. She had know idea where Frohike, Langly and Byers were.

The Cancer Man shrugged. "I don't know Agent Scully. What do you suggest I do to you?" he smiled and sat down across from her. "I could kill you and kill two birds with one stone or I could keep you locked up in this lovely room." he motioned around. "It's your choice agent Scully, but I suggest you choose death because this room isn't much fun. It may seem interesting, but looks can be deceiving."

"You mean Mulder?" Scully asked referring to his 'Kill two birds with one stone' comment.

"I don't know." the man said. "Who else would I be referring to?" he pulled out a cigarette and lit it then turned back to the agent. "If I kill you, he's ruined and he'll leave and forget all about everything else. Sounds pretty good to me. Thanks for the idea, I think I'll do it."

Dana shook her head. "I don't think he'll ever stop searching." she told him. "Even if Samantha is your daughter, Seth." she hadn't expected the reaction she got from him. She had expected him to just laugh, but he acted truly surprised that she had known about him and Mrs. Mulder.

The Cancer Man was taken aback. "So I see that you have looked at that disk." he said. "I figured you had but I didn't have any proof, but now I do." he smiled. "I take it that agent Mulder knows that I'm her father as well?" he exhaled a large cloud of smoke. "Or am I mistaken?"

"Yes he knows about your relationship with his mother, but he doesn't know anything else so leave him alone." she turned away. She was definitely getting herself into a big mess. Her nostrils were filled with terrible stench of cigarette smoke she had to bite her tongue to keep from coughing.

"I don't plan to hurt him." he said.

"What are you so afraid of?" Dana asked. "You claim to be protecting Mulder from the truth, and you also claim to be doing the public a great favor by not revealing the truth but yet your willing to kill people to keep your secrets hidden. Why?" she couldn't take it anymore, she grabbed the cigarette out of his mouth and stepped on it. "Please don't smoke in my presence. I can't stand it."

"Very well." he said picking the butt up off of the floor. "I don't fear anything. How about you, what are you afraid of?"

Dana shook her head. "Oh no your not!" she yelled. "Your not going to change the subject that easily. I know what you fear." she whispered. "Your afraid of being exposed. You don't care about the public or Mulder. Your just scared that someone will decide to tell the world what your really like." she smiled. "Tell me, are you afraid of your fate, Mr. Damain?"

The Cancer man stood up. "I don't care what you." think he mumbled. "Your opinion means nothing to me and I mean absolutely nothing."

"Then why are you so scared to leave me alive with what I know?" she asked. "Do you actually think that I'm going to go out and expose you and all you've done." she shook her head. "I don't believe that the public is ready for this kind of information."

A small smile played at the corners of the Cancer Man's lips. "So we share the same opinion." he said. "Could this possibly mean that you believe in me and our existence?" he paused. "We could work something out Agent Scully. Maybe a trade, how 'bout you get to live if we can have your life.

"No." Dana replied. "Don't ever think that I'd ever turn against my partner or the bureau. I was simply stating that I think I would probably be locked up in an asylum if I started telling people stories about these men who have all the jurisdiction they need to kill innocent people, so that they can keep the truth hidden." she glanced around. "I'm not afraid of you." she whispered, then leaned in closer to him. "But I have a secret." Her eyes met his for a brief moment before she turned away. She swallowed the fear that was beginning to rise within her "And this secret gives you all the reason in the world to fear me. If I were you I'd fear me already."

The man studied the agent silently. "What secret agent Scully?" he finally asked. "I assure you, I don't frighten easily."

Dana laughed. "You were stupid." she said. "The first time we got our hands on a disk it was in another language, but somehow one of our own out smarted you and got it in English and I'm not sure how Crawford got it, but he did a great job." she paused. "All of it.....everything we've ever wanted to know was on that disk, but there's something I'm afraid you've missed."

"And what's that?" he asked.

"Well, who's to say that I never made another copy of it?" she asked. "How do you know you've got the only one? There may be another one floating around out there and if there is you better pray that it doesn't fall into someone else's hands." she smiled. "Say Murders."

"Do you really expect me to believe that you would make a copy?" he asked. "Please Agent Scully. I'm not stupid."

"Oh know?" she asked. "Well if Mulder gets his hands on that disk he'll expose you and every single one of your cover-ups. I'm the only one who can stop him from doing it. I'm the rational one, remember? Mulder is the one who has been trying to expose you and your government cover-ups. He's the one who writes those articles on UFO's and alien abductions. Not me. He'll find the disk and the pictures and everything else. Your secrets wont be buried forever. I can promise you that."

"I don't really care." he headed towards the door. "You better pray that they go easy on you." he said. "I'd hate to see things messed up like they were last time." with those final words he left.

Dana watched him curiously. "Last time?" she asked aloud. 'What was he talking about?' she wondered. 'And who was they?'

*************
Margaret Scully's House
2:04 P.M.

Mulder gently knocked on Margaret Scully's door. He wasn't really expecting her to talk to him, but he had to tell her about Dana. She had to know about her daughter and if it took a surprise like the one she was going to get he was going to do it.

After about five minutes a woman in her later twenties possibly early thirties answered the door. "May I help you?" she asked.

Mulder nodded, unsure. "I'm looking for Margaret Scully." he said. "It's really important that I speak with her."

The woman nodded and moved aside so that he could enter. "I'm her daughter in-law Heather." she said "Have a seat and I'll go get her."

Mulder thanked her and sat down. The house hadn't changed much. It was still the same color and decorated the same. The only thing that differed were the pictures on the wall. Taking a closer look Mulder noticed that all of the pictures were either of Melissa or Dana's two brothers and their wives or her grandchildren. There were no pictures of Dana in sight and that scared him. Margaret Scully even had a picture of him hanging on the wall. It had been the picture that she had taken at Christmas so many years ago.

He remembered how he had gone back to see Dana after that Christmas and had bee surprised to see her looking at the pictures her mother had apparently sent her. There had been so much pain in her face seeing her mother and Mulder together. She hadn't been invited up for Christmas and yet he had spent it with her mother and Dana's brothers.

'What's going on?' he wondered.

"May I help you?" someone asked from behind.

Mulder smiled at the sound of Margaret Scully's voice. She hadn't known it was him and he didn't want to alarm her but there was no other way. Slowly he turned around so that she could see his face. He tried to hide the grim look that was cast over him as he did so.

Margaret's hand flew to her face and she dropped the cup of coffee she had been holding. "No!" she cried. "It's impossible." she squeezed her eyes shut trying to push away the image of him.

"Mrs. Scully." he said softly. "I didn't come here to alarm you or frighten you, but I have to tell you about Dana." he began to take a step closer to her, but she moved away, obviously in shock.

Margaret nodded and sat down, her eyes not leaving his face. "What is it?" she asked. "I really don't have much time to....."

Mulder cut her off. "She missing." Mulder said sadly. "They took her again. She knew to much about them and they took her." he could feel tears coming to his eyes, but he made no move to hide them. "They shot some of our friends and now there missing too."

"Missing?" Margaret asked. She hadn't talked to her daughter in over two years. After Mulder's death Dana had gone back to Boston and cut off all family ties and now here was the man who did this to her family. She shook her head trying to wipe away all of the bad feeling's she was getting. "How did they get her?" she asked calmly. There was no reason to get excited.

Mulder sighed, "We were at hotel in Chilmark. I went to see my mother and when I got back she got this call from a friend saying that he was sending a car for her, only they had gotten to him first and sent someone else." he turned away. "She didn't even scream. She went with him voluntarily and I don't understand why. She wasn't even scared, and that scares me." he tried to think of some more comforting words but nothing came to mind.

Margaret buried her head in her hands and cried. "After she thought you died." she said. "She closed off all family ties. I haven't seen Dana in over two years and now I may never see my baby again." she shook her head "We had this fight about what she was doing to herself. She was barley eating, she hardly slept, and all she did was work. I drove her away. I haven't even talked to her."

Mulder reached out to her and hugged her. "I'll find her." he promised. "I owe her everything." he pulled away. "She forgave me when there was no reason for her to forgive me. I put her through so much but she let me back into her life and I doubt that any other person would do that. Most people would stay mad forever and not forgive, but not Dana. She gave me my life back by giving me another chance with hardly any other questions asked and I'll never forget it. I'll find her even if it kills me."

"Why did this happen?" Margaret asked. "Why did they take her?"

"She knew too much about them and their cover-ups." Mulder replied. "I can't really talk about it. You could be in danger if I do and I highly doubt that Dana would ever forgive me if I got you killed."

"I'd ask how you...." she motioned to him. "You know, but I seriously don't want to know. I see that your alive, but I don't believe it. I was with Dana the night you died, the night Skinner carried her into my house. They said you were dead and Dana gave a beautiful Eulogy. I like it the way things used to be Fox." she sighed. "When you and Dana were both so happy."

Margaret Scully's words rang in his ears. 'When you and Dana were both so happy.' Mulder nodded, "I know I wish it could be like that again, but now things are so dangerous and complicated. I've endangered her by coming back. When Crawford was shot he endangered her as well. I'd love to explain it more thoroughly, but I can't. Not now."

"Will they kill her?" Margaret asked. "I don't think I could ever forgive myself for not picking up the phone to call her after our argument."

"I don't know." Mulder answered truthfully. "This man, the Cancer Man, won't hurt me. He can't because he loves my mother and...." he paused, deciding that he had to be honest. "And because he's the father of my sister. He says he won't kill me, but he knows my weaknesses and Dana is one of them. He can destroy me by getting to her."

"My God!" Margaret cried. "He's your sister's father?" she flinched. "Fox, I hope you know what your doing. This all sounds so dangerous. I don't want to lose you and Dana."

Mulder began to pace the room. "I talked to Skinner and he was pretty shocked about this whole thing. I honestly have know idea how to contact this man or even find out where he is. I'm lost."

"As Walter." Margaret instructed. "He must know a way to contact him. Dana said that he used to talk to Walter all of the time. There's no way that he can't no the identity of that man or who he works for."

Mulder nodded. "I know his name." he said. "I just don't know how to contact him. If Skinner knows he wont tell me. Sometimes I think that he's just as crooked as them. He follows all of their orders, but I can think of a couple of times when he didn't."

"Walter is a good man." Margaret said softly. "He was so kind to Dana after she though you were dead. He took her home. Sure he has his secrets, but he is a good man. You just don't know him like I do."

"Excuse me?" Mulder asked. He was shocked at what she had said. "Are you two....?" he turned away embarrassed.

Margaret nodded. "Yes Fox." she stood up. "But Dana must not know. It was going on long before Dana came back for the X-Files and She just can't know about us yet."

Mulder nodded but felt sorry for Dana. She had know idea what was going on with her family and he knew that he could never imagine how much pain she suffered after he had faked his death. "Well I hope everything works out well for you and him." Mulder said softly. "I just hope Dana will live to see how happy you two are."

"Fox, let's not be like this. Just ask Walter. I'm sure that he'll know and if not well...." she paused. "Doesn't that man have a way of finding you."

"Yes, but it could be weeks." he sighed. "The Cancer Man hides in the shadows. There's know way of telling when he'll show up."

Margaret nodded. "Fox, your wasting time talking to me. Go find my daughter."

Mulder smiled and headed towards the door. "Good-bye Mrs. Scully." he said then left. He could see Dana's brother and his wife watching him as he made his way to his car, but ignored it and kept going.

Once he was gone William rushed to his mother's side. "Mom." he whispered. "What's wrong and was that Fox Mulder?" he had decided that it couldn't have been his sisters dead partner, but it had looked and sounded just like the man he had met only once before.

Margaret Scully looked up at her son. "Yes, that was Fox." she whispered. "He came by to tell me that your sister is missing again." her eyes filled with tears again. "They've got her again and this time it's so much harder to deal with."

The Judgment of Fate 12/?
By: Jenn Nistor
Jenn6092@aol.com

"Man with his burning soul
Has but an hour of breath
To Build a ship of truth
In which is soul may sail,
Sail on the sea of death
For death takes toll
Of beauty, courage, youth
Of all but truth. " ~John Masefeild~

***********
8:36 P.M.
Location Unknown

Dana closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall. They had given her some kind of drug to make her sleepy, but she was fighting it. She didn't trust what they might do to her if she slept. All she could think about was the incident with Duane Barry. Her thought's kept drifting back to the days she had spent in the hospital after her abduction. She prayed that she wouldn't have to go through all of that again.

The more she sat there the more she wanted to be with Mulder. She could have killed herself for not staying with him, but she knew that if she had stayed she would have endangered him.

"She's still not asleep." she heard someone say from off in the shadows. "Do you want me to give her another shot?"

"No." another man replied. "She'll fall asleep eventually. There is know real rush. I want to talk to her before she goes under."

Dana sat up as the door opened and the Cancer Man walked in. "Are you in the mood to talk, agent Scully." he asked.

Dana shook her head. "Please." she whispered. "Tell Mulder that I'm all right. Even if you kill me, just tell him. I don't want him to worry." she was so tired, all she wanted to do was sleep.

The Cancer Man smiled. "As you wish." he said. "But do you really think that he'll believe me?" he asked. "What am I supposed to tell him?"

"Tell him that no harm will come to me. Tell him....." she yawned. "Tell him that I'll be fine and that you won't hurt me." she began to drift deeper and deeper into a sound sleep. "Just tell hi...m."

"I will." he said softly and left. He walked into the hall and motioned to a man standing in the corner. "Leave her alone until I get back."

The man nodded, "Yes sir."

The Cancer Man walked out to his car and climbed in. "Agent Mulder." he whispered. "I wonder where you are now."

*****************
9:09 P.M.
J. Edgar Hoover Building
Basement Office

Mulder sat silently reading over the papers Dana had given him. As much as he wanted to find some hint of his sister whereabouts he couldn't concentrate. His mind kept drifting to Scully. He kept praying that she was all right, hoping that someone would have word on how and where she was.

"Agent Mulder?" Skinner said knocking on her door. "Can I talk to you a minute?"

Mulder looked up and nodded. "I was just going over some of the things Scully gave me." he sighed. "What can I do for you?"

"I just got off the phone with Margaret Scully. She told me about your conversation." he sat down in Dana's chair. "How are you doing?"

"I don't know." Mulder sighed. "I feel like I've lost her all over again." he rubbed his eyes. "It feels like last time only I know who has her. If she.....if anything happens to her I don't know what I'm going to do."

Skinner nodded. "I'm sure that she'll be returned safely." he said softly. "They won't kill her."

Mulder laughed. "Returned safely?" he asked. "Was that what you called it last time she was returned." he felt a sob rising in his. "She was attached to all of those wires and tubes.....she...she..." his voice trailed off. He couldn't continue, her image kept haunting him.

"She'll be okay." Skinner glanced at his watch. "I should get going. I don't want Margaret to be alone." he smiled. "Will you be all right, Agent Mulder?"

Mulder nodded. "Yeah, I just need some time to think." he wiped a tear from his eye. "Tell Margaret that I'll find her."

"I will." Skinner assured the younger agent. "I want you to get some sleep."

"I can't sleep, sir." Mulder said. "And I won't sleep until I find her safe." He closed his eyes. When he reopened them Skinner was gone and darkness sat in his place. Deciding that he couldn't get any work done, he stood up and headed for Scully's desk. A small piece of wadded up paper caught his eye. Opening it, he noted that it was an address scribbled in his partners hand writing.

Grabbing his coat for the elevator, but stopped as a man approached him.

With out thinking Mulder reached out and grabbed the man by the collar. "Where is she." he growled. "Where is my partner."

The man laughed and shrugged away from him. "She is safe." he said. "No harm will come to her."

Mulder reached out and grabbed the man again. "Where is she!" he yelled. "If you hurt her, so help me God I'll kill you."

"You...You can't ki....kill me." he stuttered. "Would you do that to your mother. Would you like her to think that her son is a murderer? You don't want that, she's all the family you have left. Do you want to diminish all family ties you have?" he laughed and pulled a cigarette from his pocket. "That would be cold blood murder, Agent Mulder. You could go to jail a long time for killing me."

Mulder backed away. "She hates you." he cried. "And no, she isn't all the family I have. There's still Samantha and because of you she and my mother are all the family I have left." he paused. "And Scully. If you take Dana away from me I'll kill you and expose you to the public."

Mulder knew that he would never really expose the man. People would never understand how he got his information. His unorthodox ways would only alarm the pubic and he didn't want to cause chaos or confusion. Actually, he was almost afraid to find out the truth. He feared the outcome of his investigations and he feared working with out his partner.

The Cancer Man smiled. "Ahh, if that's what you believe." he said. "I don't want to ruin any of your fantasies."

"You already did." Mulder whispered. "You took away the one woman I've ever loved and I want her back!"

"All in good time. She will be returned to you in good time." The older man leaned back against the wall. "You know.....she say's that there's another disk, and I don't know whether or not I should believe her. She says that it's hidden in a place that only you would know about. Is that true, Fox?"

Mulder wanted to shoot the man before him, but held back. He knew that if he did he'd never find Dana or his sister. "I don't know anything about another disk." he mumbled. "But if there is one you'll never get your hands on it....I can promise you that." he took a step closer to the man. "I guess that we could works something out if you want to make a trade......"

"What sort of trade?" The Cancer Man watched Mulder with fascination. 'It's amazing how much he reminds me of his father.' he thought. 'The way there eyes focus out when they're trying to think.....' he shook his head. 'Stop it.' he chided himself. 'Business then pleasure.'

"Dana for the disk." Mulder replied in answer to the mans question.. "Or you can keep her and I can expose you and all of your work." he paused. "What will it be Seth? Dana for the disk or your exposure and death? It's a hard choice......letting Dana go with what she knows or having me expose you."

The Cancer Man laughed and Mulder jabbed his gun into the mans side. "I don't make deals Agent Mulder." he whispered, feeling the cold metal of the agents gun through his thin shirt . "It makes no difference to me whether or not your partner lives or dies. In the end we all die, sometimes sooner than others, younger than our friends and family. What will you gain by killing me? Self respect? A taste for blood? Blood can be very addicting, once you kill one of us you may just feel like killing all of us." he smiled. "Or is it revenge you seek? Or self pity? There are others who will take my place and they won't be as easy on you as I am, so you'll really being killing yourself as well as your partner."

Mulder shook his head. "I want Dana back!" his words were dripping with acid as he spoke. "If I kill you the only thing I'll gain is the feeling of relief. I won't have to worry about you and it'll bring me one step closer to the truth. Your life is worthless you son-of-a-bitch."

"Is that what you really believe." Seth asked. "Do you actually believe that my life will bring you closer to the truth?" he shook his head. "There are others who will continue burying the truth deeper and deeper until it's so deep that no one, and I mean no one, will ever find it. Not even the best agent in the bureau....or any bureau for that matter. You will just be helping us hide it deeper and deeper."

"I'll let you live if you give me my partner back." Mulder whispered. "Or....and I don't care who you are, or what you are,...." he paused. "I mean what you were to my mother, or my sister, or to me, I'll kill you and it will be a slow painful death. Just like the one you've been doing to me for the past twenty-five years." All of the pain he had been hiding deep down inside was now opening up.

The Cancer man moved farther away from Mulder. "You need to learn to let go of the past." he said. "If you keep living off of the past you'll only be hurting yourself, as well as the people who love you and want to be with you." he exhaled a puff off smoke. "I suggest you let your sister's memories be memories and get on with your life."

"No." Mulder whispered. "What would you know about letting the past rest. It's not that easy. I won't rest until I find Samantha."

"Agent Mulder." the Cancer man said softly. "I do know what it's like to dwell on the past and never let it be forgotten. I wasted many years of my life dwelling over things that I could have done differently. I'll be damned if I'm going to sit and dwell any longer. It's best to forget and move on."

"That's right." Mulder said. "You will be damned, because you will dwell on the past and I'll see to it that you never forget any of it or anything that happens." he moved aside so that the man could pass by him. "I'll get my partner back."

The Cancer Man began to leave but stopped . "I'm an old man, agent Mulder." he said turning back to him. "Death can play at hands will me all it wants, but I refuse to die. Sometimes facing reality is the only was to go on. Maybe you should try it and let all of your childish searching cease."

*************
9:18 P.M.
Location Not Known

Frohike jumped as a bright light suddenly awakened him. "Come with me!" a man demanded him

Frohike stood up and followed the man into the hall. "Where are we going?" he asked. "Where am I and who are you?"

The man did not reply instead he pushed Frohike into the darkness of the night. "You were not here." he said to Frohike. "Do you understand me?" he asked. "You were never brought here and will never even mention the fact that you were. Do you agree?"

Frohike nodded and watched as a car pulled up beside him. "Get in." a voice demanded from inside the car.

"What about my friends?" Frohike asked. "What are you going to do with them?" He wasn't about to go anywhere with out Langly or Byers.

"They will be returned shortly." the man said. "Now get in."

Frohike did as he was told and climbed into the back seat. A man he did not recognize reached out and grabbed him by the arm. "It was nice meeting you Mr. Frohike. Tell Agent Mulder that his partner will be returned as soon as were done with her."

"Agent Mulder?" he asked. "Isn't he dead?"

The man laughed and handed him a piece of paper. "Give that to Agent Mulder, he'll know what to do with it."

Frohike nodded, still confused. "All right." he said and settled down in his seat. His friends were somewhere in that building that they were leaving and so was Dana Scully.

It couldn't have been more than an hour later when they pulled up in front of Frohike's place. "Get out and don't look back." the man instructed.

Frohike nodded and pulled open the door. "Thanks for the ride." he mumbled and headed towards his front door. It was open slightly, casting an eerie glow on the yard of the ranch like property.

Pushing the door open, Frohike could see someone rummaging through his desk. "What do you want!?" he cried.

The man whirled around in shock, "Frohike!" he cried. "They've got Dana."

Frohike shook his head., "Your dead." he whispered. "Your dead Mulder."

Mulder shook his head. "They erased your memory." he whispered. "About a week ago......Scully sent you and the guys a disk containing highly classified government information. You checked into it and found out that I was alive and found some information on my sister and a whole bunch of information on the existence of aliens." he motioned around. "They got the disk and shot Byers and Langly."

"Whoa! Hang on man." Frohike said. "I don't remember any of this. I can hardly remember Dana calling and telling me that she was sending us something." he sat down. "Are you saying that........" he paused. "What are you saying?"

Mulder groaned. "The Cancer Man is my sister's father." he said. "Do you remember that? You told Dana about it and she dragged me to Chilmark and told me about it."

Frohike shook his head. "It's there." he whispered. "I just can't remember it. It's all so fuzzy. Here..." he handed Mulder the piece of paper that the man had given him. "They told me to give you this."

"Thanks." Mulder said and unfolded the piece of paper. It read.....

**You wanted a deal so here is our deal.
Bring the disk to the Washington Monument
at 11:21 P.M. May 21, 2000. It will be
exchanged for your partner. If you don't not
arrive at exactly 11:21 P.M. your partner will
die and your quest will end.**

Frohike, who had been reading the note over Mulder's shoulder, looked up with confusion. "I thought you said that they already got the disk." he said. "Or is there another disk that I should know about."

Mulder nodded, "Dana told them that she made a copy, only I can't think of anyplace it would be." he motioned around. "That's why I came here. I thought that she might have sent you both copies, but it looks like she didn't."

"Maybe it's hidden somewhere at her apartment." Frohike suggested. "She may have hidden it in a book or tapes it under a desk."

Mulder shook his head. "No....that doesn't sound like Scully. She would hide it in an obvious place, in a place that no one would think to look."

"Well, I'd love to help you, but I can hardly remember my own name. They've still got the guys and I just really don't want to think about it."

"I'm sorry that all of this happened to you." Mulder said. "Scully blamed herself and in a way I blame myself too. It was all a big mistake and I feel terrible." He smiled, but felt couldn't hide is weariness or fear.

"It's all right." Frohike mumbled. "At least your alive and I know the guys are." he yawned. "Let's talk more tomorrow." he looked at his watch. "Say you stop by around noon and we can try to figure out what to do about this disk."

"Okay." Mulder agreed. He offered his hand but Frohike turned away. "I'll see you tomorrow." he mumbled and headed towards the door. "I'll help you clean up too."

"Night Mulder." Frohike said ignoring his last comment.

"Night." Mulder said then left. He knew that his friend would probably never forgive him for what had happened, but he prayed that he would at least be safe.

*************

The Judgment of Fate 13/?
By: Jenn Nistor
Jenn6092@aol.com

"And oftentimes to win us to harm,
The instruments of darkness tell us truths,
Win us with honest Trifles, to betrays
In deeper consequence." -Shakespeare, Macbeth

*********
May 18, 2000
1:37 A.M.
Dana's Apartment

Mulder had practically trashed his partners apartment. He found nothing that even remotely resembled a disk.

"Damn you!" Mulder screamed, throwing a book against the wall. His anger was almost overwhelming. He was beginning to think that there wasn't another disk, but he had to trust and believe. Dana's life depended on it.

He was about to leave when something caught his eyes. Walking over to a picture that rested on the mantel he sighed. The picture was of he and Dana. They were looking at one another so tenderly. It almost seemed like he had never left.

"Oh, Dana." he whispered picking up the picture and carrying it to the sofa. He sat down and stared at it. There had never been anyone else for him except her. From the first moment they met he had been fascinated by there relationship. He had never thought of her as a lover or as someone he could share a bed with, he had thought of her as a friend, a partner. He always felt that she felt the same way.

Then after awhile he noticed that his feelings were changing. There were times when he would lay awake thinking about her, wanting her there beside him. Leaving her had been the hardest thing he'd ever done.

"I love you." he whispered. "God, keep her safe." he prayed. "I'll do anything if you keep her safe." he could taste the salt from his own tears. Closing his eyes he drifted off to sleep.

*************
2:34 A.M.
Location Unknown

Dana could feel arms lifting her up through her dazed sleep. She was unaware of where they were taking her, but she did not fight it. A sharp stab at the side of her neck awoke her further.

"It's good to see that your up." a deep voice said.

Dana could see that she was in a room set up like a hospital room. "What am I doing here?" she asked.

The man pushed her over to a bed occupied by Byers. "We need a doctor and you seem to be one so do your thing." he motioned to some tabled. "Just check them over and when your done ring that buzzer."

Dana looked around in silence. The room was spacious but plain. She could tell that it had once been some kind of factory or warehouse, the walls were plastered over and spider webs hung in the corners.

Pushing off her feeling of uneasiness, Dana leaned over Byers and examined his wounds. "Byers." she whispered softly.

He opened his eyes and stared at her unseeingly.

"Byers." she repeated again, hoping for a more focused response.

His eyes focused on her a bit more . "Dana?" he whispered. "Where am I?"

Dana took his hand in hers. "I know that you don't remember anything." she whispered. "But you were shot and brought here." she motioned around the room. "You were investigating something for me and they got to you."

"Where's here?" Byers asked trying to sit up.

Dana pushed him back down. "Shh, don't move." her hands went to the top of his hospital gown. "I'm not sure where we are. They got me too." she gently pulled the gown open and examined his bullet wounds. They were beginning to bleed again, but it didn't look to serious.

Grabbing some fresh gauze off the table next to her, she wrapped it around his chest. "How do you feel....?" she asked. "Are you having any pains?"

Byers shook his head. "No....I feel numb." he closed his eyes. "Where are Frohike and Langly?"

Dana glanced at Langly in the bed next to Byers. "Langly's here." she said. "But it looks like they put Frohike some where else." She walked over to Langly and gently laid a hand on his arm. "Langly." she whispered.

Langly opened his eyes and smiled, "Where did Frohike go?" he asked.

"They must have taken him somewhere else." Dana replied checking Langly's wound. "I'm so tired."

Langly reached out and touched her cheek. "You look like hell." he whispered. "What have they done to you?"

"Nothing. I just don't feel well." she shook her head. "You guys are looking pretty good. Sorry that this all happened to you."

"Dana I don't remember what happened." Langly whispered. "But what ever it was wasn't your fault. I promise you that."

Dana nodded and sighed. "I feel so dizzy." she mumbled. The room was spinning around her. She gripped the side of Langly's bed to steady herself. 'What's wrong with me?' she wondered.

"Dana!" Byers cried as she began to sway. He wished there was something he could have done to help her but he watched in horror as she collapsed to the ground. "Help!" he screamed. "Help!"

A man dressed in a black trench coat rushed in. "What happened?" he asked gruffly.

Langly glanced over at his friend and shrugged. "We could ask you the same thing ." he said. "Like where are we and why is she here with us?"

The man laughed and gently eased up Dana. "Ray!" he cried. "I could use some help in here. It seems that our doctor friend has collapsed."

Another man rushed in and took Dana's other arm. "Come on." he mumbled and led his friend out of the room.

******************
2:45 A.M.
Dana's Apartment

Mulder was awakened suddenly at the sound of a woman's voice. Forcing his eyes open he awakened to find Margaret Scully staring at him. "Mrs. Scully!" he cried jumping up from the couch. "What.....wha....I was ju....just." he smiled, embarrassed by the mess he had made. "I was just looking for something....." his voice trailed off as he saw Skinner approach from behind.

"Agent Mulder." he said . "What may I ask were you doing in Agent Scully's apartment?"

Mulder smiled and looked down at his hands. "I was just looking for a clue to her whereabouts." he mumbled. "And I guess I feel asleep."

Margaret Scully wasn't paying any attention to him or the mess. He eyes were focused on the picture next to him on the sofa. "Were you two back together?": she asked hopefully. "I was going to ask when you stopped by my place but it seemed out of line and off topic."

Mulder shook his head. "No." he lied. "I mean we weren't exactly back to the stage we left off...." he paused. "But I still love he....." he stopped when he saw the expression on Skinner's face. "I know it's against regulations Sir.....so we're going to keep it very professional. We won't mess up like we did last time."

Skinner shook his head and draped an arm over Margaret Scully's shoulder. "It's all right agent Mulder. Things happen." he smiled. "I won't say anything."

"Honestly. We're going to keep it strictly business. Neither of can risk it." he stood up. "I guess your probably wondering why I tore up her apartment."

Margaret Scully nodded, "It looks like you were looking for something." she smiled. "Did you find it Fox?"

"I knew that it wouldn't be here, but I just had to make sure." he grabbed his coat off a near by chair. "I should probably get going." he was about to leave but turned back to them. "What were you two doing here?"

"Margaret wanted to see Dana's apartment." Skinner replied. "So I offered to bring her by. I realize that it's late but something's just can't wait until the morning. You should know what I mean."

Mulder nodded, "Yeah.....I guess that I couldn't wait until the morning. I don't have much time and I just had to...." he stopped talking. He knew that he wasn't makining any making to them. "I can't really say much." he mumbled. "But I have until the twentieth to find something that belongs to them. Or...." he couldn't continue. "Or....."

"Or what?" Skinner asked.

"Or they'll kill her." Mulder replied. "I don't know what to do. I feel like I've already lost her."

Margaret sighed. "I think the best thing for all of us to do is get some sleep and forget about this until the morning."

"Yeah....you guys get some sleep." Mulder said. "I don't have a minute to waste." he gave a quick wave and walked out into Dana deserted apartment building hall way.

***************
3:30 A.M.
Location Not Known

"What's taking so long?" the Cancer Man asked. "Isn't there a decent doctor that we can trust?"

One of the doctors in the room looked up and nodded. "It's not that easy to tell what's wrong with her." he mumbled. "She keeps mumbling something about agent Mulder, but I can't make it out."

The Cancer Man stepped forward. "Agent Scully." he whispered. "Agent Scully, where is the disk."

Dana opened her eyes. "I'll never tell you." she whispered. "You might as well kill me because I'll never tell you."

The Cancer Man gripped her arm tightly. "I'm not playing games Agent, Scully." he yelled. "I want to know where it is!"

"No." Dana closed her eyes. "And get these so called doctors away from me. I'm just fine."

"You know." Seth began. "I do not like playing games. You will tell me where that disk is or I may end up doing something you won't like." he smiled. "Perhaps I will kill that no good partner of yours. That should add one more notch to my belt."

Dana shook her head. "You wouldn't." she cried. "Please don't hurt him."

"I won't if you tell me where it is."

"Never." Dana cried. She rolled over onto her side away from the man. "Would you just leave me alone." she mumbled throughout a flow of tears. "I won't tell you anything."

The Cancer Man nodded and left.

Dana stared at the wall across from her. All she wanted to do was die, but she knew that she had to keep on fighting for Mulder. She would never intentionally hurt him and she wanted to be with him.

"Mulder." she whispered and drifted off to a restless sleep.

The Judgment of Fate 14/15
By: Jenn Nistor
Jenn6092@aol.com

"If you shut up the truth and bury it under ground, it will but grow, and gather to itself such explosive power that the day it bursts through it will blow up everything in its way."
-Emily Zola

"We did not dare to breath a prayer
Or give our anguish scopel
Something was dead in each of us,
And what was dead was hope." -Oscar Wilde

***************
May 20, 2000
5:30 P.M.
Location Unknown

It had been close to four days since Dana had disappeared and time was running out. Mulder watched as Frohike flipped on his computer. "You know.....I'm beginning to think that there wasn't another disk." he mumbled. "We've looked everywhere and still haven't found anything."

Frohike nodded, "There has to be somewhere she'd hide it."

Mulder thought a moment. "You know." he said, standing up. "Why don't I just give them a fake?"

"Mulder, that doesn't always work." Frohike said. "What if they check it before returning Dana?"

"They won't." Mulder replied. "I mean they can do it my way or not at all."

"Nice attitude, man." Frohike mumbled. "Let's just get Dana killed in the cross fire."

"I don't even care about what 's on that disk. I just want her back." Mulder thought he'd never say that, but it was true. Maybe in the past he would have cared about finding the truth more than he wanted to find his partner, but things were differed now. "I just wish she'd have told them where she put it."

"Yeah, but then they wouldn't have had a reason to keep her alive." Frohike tapped on the keyboard lightly. "Let's not forget that these idiots have my friends too. We don't want to do anything that may endanger their lives."

Mulder nodded. "I'm sure they'll be just fine." he motioned to Frohike. "I mean they didn't hurt you. All they did was erase your memory."

Frohike snorted. "Yeah, but let's not forget that Byers and Langly were shot." he turned to look at Mulder. "I was in the shadows."

"I'm going back to my office." Mulder said. "There's to much to do and I don't want to waste my time here." he smiled. "No offense, but I really can't stand being cooped up here."

"Hey I under stand." Frohike said holding up his hands. "I don't blame you."

Mulder was just about to leave when his cellular rang. "Mulder." he said into the mouth piece.

"Agent Mulder." It was Skinner. "Those two friends of yours just showed up ion a hospital outside DC."

"What hospital?" he asked motioning to Frohike. "Are they all right?"

"Mercy General." Skinner replied. "And I don't know you'll have to go see for yourself."

Mulder hung up and turned to Frohike. "They found Byers and Langly in Mercy general right out side DC." he grabbed his coat. "Let's get going."

***************
5:35 P.M.
Location not Known

Dana stared at the wall across from her. All she wanted to do was die, but she knew that she had to keep on fighting for Mulder. She would never intentionally hurt him and she wanted to be with him.

"Mulder." she whispered and drifted off to a restless sleep. Her dreams were once again haunted by her dead sister.

"Melissa." Dana whispered through the vast darkness. "What do you want?"

"They will not kill you." Melissa whispered. "Never tell where the disk is, you and Mulder need it to badly." she kneeled before her sister. "Dana, sometimes you have to pick up the search for your partner."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dana asked.

Melissa sighed. "Dana, Fox is losing his faith in his search. All he cares about is you and he's even lost interest in the X-files." she paused. "You have to encourage him to continue and not fear what lies in his path. He's forgotten what his sister meant to him. he's scared of her father. Just because Samantha wasn't his father's daughter, it doesn't mean that he should love her any less."

"I've always cared about his search." Dana whispered. "What more can I do?"

"I know that you've always cared, but in a way you've held him back. Your always telling him to stop running after her. You have to encourage him to continue. He needs to continue."

"Why?"

"Dana, you love him, don't you?" Melissa asked.

Dana nodded. "Yeah but I don't see what that has to do with anything."

Melissa laughed at her sisters blindness. "He needs to know the truth about Samantha before he can commit to you."

Dana shook her head. "Do you think that this is all about commitment?" she asked. "It's not, I don't want to marry Mulder. Or at least not yet. There's still so much that I want to find out."

Melissa nodded. "You and Mulder can find it together."

"Will he ever find Samantha?"

Melissa did not answer. "Sometimes the truth is not what it seems." she said slowly. "Just remember that even though you may forget about our conversation. I want you to remember that sometimes the truth isn't always what you want to discover."

"I will." Dana whispered right before her sister disappeared.

*******************
Mercy General Hospital
6:15 P.M.

Frohike and Mulder knocked on Byers and Langly's door. "Can we come in?" Mulder asked.

Langly looked up and nodded, "Don't ask us how we got here." he said. "because we have no idea."

Byers nodded. "One minute we were talking to Dana and the next minute we wake up here in this hospital."

"You were talking to Dana?" Mulder asked excitedly. "How did she look?"

"She..." Langly began looking over to Byers for help. "She was sent in to check us out to make sure that we weren't having any complications and we thought she looked kind of pale, but she..." he paused. "She passed out."

Mulder groaned. He had been afraid of something happening to her. "What happened after that?" he asked. "I really have to know, they may kill her."

"Two guys came in and carried her away." Byers finished. "That's all we can remember, everything after that and before that is blurred."

"Damn! We barely have twenty four hours to find that disk." Mulder fished in his pockets for the note Frohike had given him. "It doesn't look like I have much of a choice. I'm going to have to fake it."

Frohike nodded, "Let me know if you need something."

Mulder nodded and left.

********************
May 21, 2000
10:31 P.M.
J. Edgar Hoover Building

"Agent Mulder are you sure you really want to do this?" Skinner asked as Mulder strapped a tape recorder to his chest. "There has to be another way with out putting your life on the line."

Mulder shook his head and pulled his T-shirt over the taped recorder. "They'll kill her." he said. "I didn't find that disk and I'm going to have to make it look like I did." he paused. "Even Dana has to believe that I found it or it won't work."

"Maybe I should go with you." Skinner suggested. "I mean as long as they have the disk they wont care."

"No." Mulder replied. "You stay with Margaret, I'll call you the minute I get back." he grabbed his gun off the desk and tucked it safely at his side. "There's no reason that we have to risk both of our lives." he frowned and turned away. "You've got someone that loves you and will be there for you. Frankly sir, I don't have anyone like that. As far as I'm concerned she's already dead."

"How can you say that?" Skinner asked. His shock was apparent and he made no move to hide it. He couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"Sir, this could all be a plan to kill me. How do I know that she's not already dead. For all I know they killed her the night she disappeared."

"If you keep having an attitude like that then you may just lose her." Skinner handed him a small packet that they had set up to make it look like the disk they wanted. "Would you mind having a little bit more faith. If not for your sake at least do it for Dana's mother and Dana."

Mulder nodded and grabbed his keys. "I should have lost my faith along time ago, sir." Mulder mumbled. "But I didn't. So don't talk to me about losing my faith. I've kept going even though I had nothing left to live for. I lost my sister, I lost my partner, my friend, my father, my lover, most of my family, and I've never quit. I've never quit and when I finally begin to give up my search you tell me to have a little more faith." he shook his head. "I don't think anyone has ever had as much faith as me."

Skinner looked down at his hands. "I know that I've treated you unfairly in the past......" he began. "But I'd like to put that all behind us." he paused. "I know about all of your losses and I am truly sorry for everything you've gone through, but now isn't a good time to lose your faith."

Mulder sighed. "I know." he whispered. "It's just that I'm so tired of endangering everyone I care about. I almost lost Scully once and I'll be damned if I'm going to lose her again."

"You better get a move on it...." Skinner said, glancing down at his watch. "You don't want to be late."

"Tell Margaret that I won't rest until her daughter is returned safely."

Skinner nodded, "Be careful. I don't want to lose both of my best agents."

*****************
11:00 P.M.
Location not Known

"Let go of me!" Dana screamed as the Cancer Man pulled her through the open door and to the car. "I won't run! Your.....your hurting me!" her eyes filled with tears. "Please let me go."

Seth shook his head. "No!" he growled. "For once your going to listen to me." he pushed her into the black limo. "Get in and shut up!"

Dana clutched her throbbing arm. "You know...." she mumbled. "When Mulder find s out what you did to me he wont be to happy."

"Oh! I'm so scared." he said laughing. "Do you really think I care what that idiot of a partner does to me?" he slammed the door shut and motioned for the driver to began his course. "I don't. Besides I didn't do anything to you. He and I agreed to swap you for the disk."

Dana closed her eyes. 'So that was it.' she thought. 'Mulder had found the disk and wanted to trade.' She shuttered at the thought of them letting her go that easily. There was obviously something else planned, she just wished she knew what it was. "So are you really going to let me go that easily?" she asked. "I mean I know everything about your cover-ups and people."

"With out that disk you have no proof that I even exist so I'm not to worried." the Cancer Man said. "I really doubt anyone would actually believe you."

Dana turned away from the man and focused on the window. She prayed that Mulder had not found the disk. She would rather die than have it destroyed. "Maybe your right." Dana admitted. "I don't have much of a reputation. I mean who would really believe me, the whole bureau thinks that Mulder and I are crazy."

As the car pulled into a parking space out side the Washington Monument, Dana could see Mulder sitting on one of the steps outside. she thought.

She sat quietly while the Cancer Man got out of the car and approached her partner.

"Did you bring the disk?" he asked. Dana could see Mulder pulling something out of his pocket..

Mulder nodded and pulled it out of his pocket. "Yes, now where is Dana?" he pulled his gun out and aimed it at the man. "Give me Dana or this disk goes to the press tomorrow morning."

"Come now agent Mulder." the Cancer Man whispered. "You don't actually think I'd harm that pretty partner of yours." he motioned to a man standing outside the car. "See she's all right." he said as the man pulled Dana from the car. "Now give me the disk."

"Scully!" Mulder yelled. "Come here." he was still aiming his gun at the Seth.

Dana glanced at the man who was holding her, but made no move to leave. "I....I can't!" she cried. The man was holding her arm to tightly and she could feel the nose of a gun pressed into her back. Her eyes locked with Mulder's for one painful second before she turned away. She knew that it wouldn't be that easily. she thought.

Mulder grimaced at his partners reply. "Let her go!" he screamed. "Or the deal is off and this disk goes to every newspaper in America." he paused. "And don't think that I won't do it."

The man holding Dana flinched and let go of her arm. "Go slowly." he whispered. "Or I'll shoot you in the back."

Dana nodded and took a step forward. She could feel the mans cold gaze on her as she made her way to Mulder. She wanted to run, she wanted to escape but she felt trapped. Just as she was about to make her way past the Cancer Man, his arms shot out and grabbed her. "Mulder!" she tried to scream, but her voice was lost in the darkness of the night.

"The disk agent Mulder!" he yelled. "Or agent Scully is history." he was beginning to lose his patients.

Mulder had no choice. "All right." he said. "Have it your way." he through him the disk, deliberately throwing it about fifteen feet from the man. "Scully!" he screamed."

The Cancer Man flung the young agent aside and dodged for the disk, but Mulder was quicker. He pulled back the trigger of his gun and fired. The disk shattered into a million pieces.

"No!" the Cancer Man screamed. "Damn you!"

Dana reached Mulder and continued running. "Let's get out of here!" she screamed. "Come on."

Mulder stood still in place watching the at the man grovel on the ground. "If you ever come near me or my partner again I'll kill you!" he screamed. "And if you ever as much as lay a finger or flick an eyelash at my mother you'll regret it until the day you die. And I mean that it won't be a painless death. I'll make you suffer just like you made me suffer."

He could feel Dana tugging on his arm but made ignored it. "Do you understand me!" he screamed.

The Man in the limo aimed his gun at Mulder, but Dana pulled him down. "Stay down!" she screamed, pulling the gun from Mulder's holster. She fired at the man hitting him.

The Cancer Mans stood up and ran. He got into the car and pulled away as fast as he could.

Dana turned back to Mulder and helped him up. "You need to listen to me!" she screamed. "You almost got us both killed!"

Mulder shook his head and stood silently. "I'm sorry." he whispered. "I couldn't help myself."

"Mulder, sometimes I think that I'm the only sane person in this world." she laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. "But I also think that you and I have to talk."

"Where's the disk?" he asked.

Dana jerked her head up in shock. "What?!" she cried. "You mean that wasn't the disk?"

"Hey!" Mulder cried. "How the hell was I supposed to know where you hid it. I didn't even get a clue." he laughed and led her to his car. "Would you care to tell me where it is so I can remember next time."

"Mulder." she whispered. "You've had it with you the whole time." she grabbed the keys from his hands. "Or at least someone has had it with them."

"What?" Mulder asked din confusion. "Your not making any sense."

"The cemetery." she whispered.

*******************
12:16 A.M.
May 22, 2000
Oakwood Cemetery

"You buried it at my grave?" Mulder asked with shock, as she pulled out a dirt covered bag. "When did you do that?"

Dana shrugged, "Before I went to Rhode Island." she replied. "I guess I knew that something like this would happen and I wanted to keep it safe." she shook her head. "I thought you'd get it for sure."

"Why?" Mulder gently took her hand.

"Because." she whispered. "Your the only person that I've ever trusted. I guess that I thought you'd realize that, and then come out here looking for it." she smiled. "Even though I thought you were dead, I never stopped trusting you and even in death I still felt your presence and your protection."

"Well, what now?" he asked taking the disk from her. "It's amazing that this simple little piece of plastic can hold so much vital information." he shook his head. "This is everything that I've ever wanted to know."

Dana shook her head. "No Mulder." she whispered. "It's everything that we've both wanted to know."

Mulder smiled, "So what now?" he asked again. "We can go somewhere and look through this disk or we can call it quits."

"Mulder?" Dana asked. "What's wrong? You've never wanted to quit. Don't quit now."

Mulder shook his head. "Nothing matters anymore, Scully. Your the only thing that matters and I promise that I won't ever hurt you again." he saw tears in his partners eyes. "Please don't cry.....your all I want."

Dana shook her head and pulled her hand away from his. "No Mulder you can't quit your sea......" she paused. "I mean our search." she smiled. "If I'm the one tying you down then you can go your way and I'll go mine. Eventually we'll meet back somewhere."

"Did you mean that?" he asked.

"Mean what?"

"That part about *our search*?"

Dana nodded, "Of course." she whispered. "You and I are partners. We will always be partners even in death."

"Partner's." he whispered and gently kissed her.

*****************
THE END