Prologue

Alicia turned on the shower and stepped into the warm water. Track practice had been especially grueling--and not to mention long--that day and all she wanted to do was shower, change into her pajamas, and go to bed. And it was only after 8:30. She sang along with the song that was coming out of the shower radio and put some shampoo into her hair. While she was washing the soap out she thought she heard the door open, which was strange because she knew she'd locked it. But, if one pushed the door hard enough it would open. The lock was screwed up somehow. She stuck her head out of the shower to yell at whoever had come in to go away. To her surprise nobody was there. She looked around the small bathroom once more before dunking back in to finish her shower.

After finishing her shower she turned of the water and the radio and then grabbed a towel to shield herself from the cold air. She walked into her room and promptly locked the door. After changing into a pair of pajama pants and a tank top she crawled into her bed. After Setting her alarm clock for 5:30(in order to wake up for school the next day) she turned and faced the window. She quickly started to doze off.

She had been lying in bed for a few minutes when she felt a prick on her neck. Her hand immediately went to the spot she felt it. She shot up in her bed and looked around. The room was empty. She opened her mouth to call out to her sister's and find out just what was going on, but she couldn't speak. At best she could get out a low, hoarse, 'uhh'. Barley audible enough for her to hear it. The spot on her neck where she had felt the prick started to sting. And soon the sensation turned painful and it shot through her whole body. She tried to move and get out of the bed but she was frozen in her place.

'What's happening to me?' She thought as tears of pain welled in her eyes. She tried desperately to says something, but her efforts were to no avail. It was as if she was paralyzed.

The stinging turned to a warm feeling, then her whole body went numb. She heard a deep, throaty chuckle from somewhere in the room, but she didn't know from where.

Then a light came. It was blinding and filled the whole room. She heard the sounds of movement down the hallway then banging on the door.

"Alicia! Alicia, open the damn door! Something's going on." She paused for a second and when Alicia didn't answer she started to bang again. "Alicia open the fucking door!"

Now normally she wouldn't condone her sister using such language, her being only 2 minutes older than her, fraternal twins, and Alicia being only a few months shy of 15. But at the moment her sister's foul mouth was the least of her problems.

"God dammit Alicia, if you don't open the door I'll break it down myself!"

Alicia had no doubts that her sister would and could break down the door. But she wished she would hurry up and get on with it. Her prayers were answered when more loud banging noises came from the other side of the door. The hinges started to give way, and with each hit the door opened more and more. But as the door began to break away from it's frame the light grew closer. Alicia tired to call out for her sister to hurry but it was impossible. Her voice was completely gone.

Her window flew open and the cold early March air blew into her room. Brittany must have heard this because the bangs on the door became louder and closer to one another. She was becoming desperate.

"Brandy!" Brittany called, "Brandy, come help!" She called again as she banged on the door once more, tears streaming down her face. She was scared out of her mind, what she had seen out of the living room window...it couldn't have been possible. And now her older sister seemed to be frozen in her seat, and her twin sister wouldn't open the door to her fucking room. Her sister had been very stubborn with never opening the door, but this, Alicia would never do this. Plus, she was sure she had dislocated her shoulder. She banged against the door one more time, despite the pain searing through her arm, and it flew open, sending her onto the ground. She got up and started running to where her sister sat on the bed. But the light became so bright she could no longer see. She froze in her spot, just like Brandy had done in the living room, "ALICIA!" She screamed trying to break free of whatever had hold on her.

Alicia looked at her sister with pleading eyes, the light grew even brighter still and a loud hum filled the air. Then she felt her body being lifted into the air, her sister looked at this trembling and called out to her once more.

"Alicia!"

Then everything went black.

Chapter 1

2 days later:

Scully walked into the basement office and slumped into a chair in front of her partners desk, "ok Mulder, it's Saturday, 8:45 in the morning, why am I here? Furthermore, why are YOU here?"

"A case."

"I should've guessed. What is it this time?"

"An abduction."

"Is that their opinion or yours?"

"Mine. They think that it was a kidnapping."

"Then why are we on it?"

"Because, what the girls sister describes is exactly like..." he trailed off, a distant look in his eyes, "like what I remembered after Sam disappeared. Not after I did hypnosis, exactly after it happened."

Scully sighed, "when do we leave?"

12:56pm

Scully grabbed her bags as did Mulder and they made their way to rent a car. After they had rented the car they went to find their hotel, not motel, hotel. For the first time in a while they'd be staying somewhere that had clear reception and a swimming pool. Mulder stopped in front of the Holiday Inn Express and they went in to get their rooms.

After throwing her things down on her bed she knocked on the door that connected her room with Mulder's. He opened the door quickly, as if he expected her, and stood to the side to let her in. She walked in and sat down on his bed. "So Mulder, when exactly are we going to meet with these people. And what can you tell me about this case, like what does the girl say she remembers."

"Well, they're expecting us at 2, and I think it best to let Brittany tell us what she witnessed. It wouldn't be the same coming from me, I wasn't there. I don't know what she witnessed."

"But she in no way thinks that this was aliens?"

"I doubt she even believes in them Scully, she is only 14 years old."

Scully nods her head, "alright. About this girl who is missing, what can you tell me about her?"

"Her name is Alicia Lynn Adkins, Brittany is her twin sister, 14 years old, 15 in May, freshman in high school, on the track and wintergaurd team, straight A student. She's never done anything wrong, all her teachers give her high marks, was Miss North Carolina in 1999-2000, much brighter and better than most of the teenagers we've come across."

"Mulder, we're in Tennessee, and she was Miss North Carolina?"

"Her father is in the marines, they've since moved from South Carolina too her, North Carolina came before South. You know how that kind of life is."

"Yeah, and if she's anything like I was she hates the moving." Scully sighed, "we'll we'd better get going if we want to be there at 2."

Mulder nodded and they walked out of the hotel room. They got into their rental car and Mulder drove to the Adkins residence.

1320 McGregor Drive.
1:56

Scully shut the door to the car and looked at the wood A framed house, they walked onto the porch and she knocked on the door. A woman around her age, maybe 2 or 3 years older, answered the door. Her face dropped and there were large bags under her eyes. All is expected, Scully mused, her daughter is missing, I wouldn't be able to sleep a wink either.

"Hi, Mrs. Adkins?"

"Yes," the woman says.

"I'm Agent Fox Mulder, this is Agent Dana Scully, may we come in?"

She nodded her head and moved aside as to let them in the door. She lead them into her living room and they sat down on the couch. She asked them to wait a moment while she got her daughters. She walked away and moments later returned with two teenagers. All three of them sat down on the couch.

"My husband is at the police station, he should be home soon." She stated, "these are my daughters Brittany and Brandy. Girls, this is agents Mulder and Scully with the FBI."

The girls gave halfhearted smiles and mumbled something along the lines of hello. The youngest, Brittany, looked even worse than her mother did, Scully imagined that she too didn't sleep, but it was taking its toll on her younger body faster than it would a woman in her late 30's. Her left shoulder was in a sling. The older daughter, Brandy, also had the bags that plagued her mother and sister, but being as she was 18 they weren't as bad as her sister's.

"We were wonder if we could ask you a few questions." Mulder asks, looking directly at Brittany, who he feels knows the most about her sister's disappearance, but being around the same age as he was when Sam disappeared her mind probably couldn't deal with what had happened. Or if it had been aliens, as Mulder so adamantly stated, then her memories had been tampered with.

"Well, I don't know how good a help I can be." Mrs. Adkins stated, "I wasn't there when it happened." She got a distant look in her eyes, "if you'll excuse me." She got up and hurried out of the room.

Brittany watched her mother leave and then turned to the agents, "I don't remember much. All I can remember is a light, a bright light, blinding almost, and then I woke up on Alicia's bedroom floor, her window was opened, and she was gone. I woke Brandy up, she was asleep on the couch, and asked her if she knew where she was. She said that she guessed she was in her bedroom, she had been pretty wiped out after track practice. I glanced at the clock, it was 11 minutes after 9. I remembered that I saw the light at 9:02. You know what strikes me as odd though? My sister has this things with 11's, every time she would look at a clock there it would either be 11 something or 11 past."

"Is there anybody that would want to harm your sister?"

"Alicia? Oh no, I'm sure there are some people who could care less about me, or even Brandy, but nobody would want to do anything to Alicia. She's just one of those people who gets along with everybody, she's effervescent." She chuckled for a moment, "that means 'bubbly', Alicia's told me that she was effervescent on many occasions. I use to always tease her about her high vocabulary, she always has to explain at least one word when she's talking to somebody." She smiled, recalling the memories of her sister.

Scully nodded. "And there's no chance your sister would run away."

Brandy spoke up this time, "she would be offended by the mere thought of it."

"Every teen has problems, agents, but my sister's were few and far between. Her biggest worry was her competitions, and the fact that every time she would talk on the phone with Derek I would intrude on their conversation and annoy her for a while."

"Derek?" Mulder asks.

Brandy smiles, "one of Alicia's friends. Although if you asked anybody else they would tell you they're more like boyfriend and girlfriend, minus the affection. They talk at least once a day, and their conversations usually last for hours. I've never actually met him, but I've seen him before. Brittany knows him."

"I hope you're not wondering if Derek had anything to do with what happened to Alicia. Because, Derek doesn't even know Alicia is missing, unless he's seen it on the TV, he doesn't go to school with us. He's home schooled. And as for if Alicia would run away with him, that would never happen, Alicia is very reserved, and she loves us too much to even think about leaving. She's a bright girl, she knows better than something like that. Besides, where would they go, and how would they get their money? They're both only 14."

Mulder nods his head again. "You went to your sister's room, correct Brittany?"

"Yes, I'm not sure why exactly, I think I panicked when I saw the light. I don't know why I was either. But I woke up on her floor with a dislocated shoulder. Alicia's door was broken and swinging off of it's hinges. I guess I broke the door down in an attempt to get into the room."

"I'd like to try something." Mulder states, "would you two be up for being put under hypnosis?"

"Absolutely not." Brandy states, looking at her sister, sure about her decision.

Brittany, on the other hand, doesn't look as sure. "I'll do it." She says in a meek voice.

Chapter 2

Brandy was still very adamant in her decision not to undergo hypnosis, but Mulder had a feeling that she didn't know very much anyway...it was Brittany who had witnessed everything. She had the dislocated shoulder to prove it. Mr. Adkins, Phillip as he would have them call him, agreed that hypnosis could help her remember something, although Mulder was sure that he didn't think it was aliens. Still he didn't say anything about his theory. But, whereas the father was for it, Mrs. Adkins, Stephanie, was very much so against it. But, Brittany very stubbornly told her mother that she needed to do this, and she could not stop her. Although her mother begged to differ, Phillip had convinced her in the end that it could cause no harm. Things could only get better from the position they were in at the moment.

So, they were at the moment on their way to see Dr. Jackson, the only person they could find in the whole city of Kingsport, or Bristol and Johnson City for that matter, that was qualified to perform the hypnosis. Brittany was visibly nervous, and that was expected, Mulder thought back to when he himself was put under hypnosis. He wasn't as nervous because he was older, but he still had no idea what to expect.

When they arrived at Dr. Jackson's office there were a few people in the waiting room. Mulder told the secretary who they were while Scully and Brittany sat down (they had convinced her parents and sister that going alone would be best). Brittany rocked anxiously in her chair and started biting her nails.

After informing the secretary of their arrival Mulder sat down next to Scully, who was studying Brittany very attentively. Trying to figure out just what this girl was about. She figured that if she tried to strike up a conversation with her some of her nervousness would dissipate. "So, Brittany, you're a freshman?"

"Yeah."

"You like your school here?"

"I guess, it's not much different from the other 7 I've been too. But, somewhere along the line of moving every other year you get used to it. Or at least I did, I guess I'm lucky to have Alicia, I never have to go it alone. Brandy, however, was always the one and only new student, her being so much older than us. The only time we went to the same school was in kindergarten and 1st grade. Other than that she was alone."

Scully nodded. "I understand, my dad was in the navy, we moved all the time. I have...had...3 siblings, Bill's 4 years older, Missy was 2 years older, and Charlie is 3 years younger."

"What do you mean was?"

"Missy's passed away."

"Oh, God, I'm so sorry."

Scully smiled sadly, "don't be, it's not your fault."

Brittany looked down at her hands and became intrigued with her nails. She picked at the for a minute before looking back up, "what if...what if we never find her?"

"You can't think like that." Mulder says, "no matter what, there's always the chance she's out there. Trust me."

Brittany tilts her head sideways just a bit and blinks, "is there a reason I should?"

Mulder too suddenly became fascinated by his hands, he however, never looked up from them. "When I was 12, and my sister was 8, my parents went next door and we were alone in the house...maybe I shouldn't be telling you this right now. Somebody might find it reason to suspect I influenced what you remember. So, I guess it'll have to wait."

She looks at him confused, then she shakes her head a bit and goes back to studying her hands.

"So, do you know what you want to be, when your older?" Scully inquires.

"Yeah, forensic scientist. It's strange, you know most girls when they hear the words dissection will say 'ew' or find a way to get out of it, but they're my favorite part of science. Ugh, I had the most annoying partner in Biology, she was a cheerleader, and wouldn't do a thing, that that I really cared, I got a 98 anyway. But, she surely didn't. I made sure my teacher knew what had happened, she ended up getting a 50 for at least showing up."

Scully smiles at her, "science was always my favorite subject." She looks at Mulder, "what about you? Did you have a favorite subject."

"P.E."

"Academic."

"If I had to choose, I'd say English. It was always easiest."

"Just because it's the easiest shouldn't be why it's your favorite. I got better grades in World Geography than I did in Biology, but I hated WG, my teacher was so boring. Ugh, and don't even get me started on French. Why I decided to take that class in the first place will forever remain a mystery." She chuckles softly, "I'm in French 2 right now, and very close to failing. It's extremely boring."

Scully lets out a laugh, Brittany looks on confused.

"What's funny?"

"I took French in high school," Mulder states, "I on the other hand, enjoyed it."

Brittany rolls her eyes, "ma prof., est une chinne."

Mulder's eyes widen, and Brittany realizes what she said. She once again looks down at her hands, a chuckle escaping from her throat and filling the air around her.

"Where did you learn that word? Not from your teacher I hope."

"Well, actually I heard the word from my parents first probably. But, how do I know it in French? English/French dictionary, wonderful inventions. I've used the word many times describing my sister's."

"What word are you talking about?"

Brittany smiles, "nothing. Just a word."

"I see," Scully smiles, "not a very good word I assume."

"Correct."

Dr. Jackson's last patient comes out of his office and calls Brittany, and agents Scully and Mulder into the room. Brittany breaths in deeply and stands up, Scully standing close behind her. They walked in and sat down. Brittany shifted uncomfortably in her seat and cracked her knuckles. She looked at the door expectantly, waiting for the show to get on the road.

"Are you ready for this?" He asked.

"Truthfully, not in the slightest. But, at this point in time I don't give a damn about myself. I just want to find my sister, and I'm willing to go down which ever road to do that. So, the sooner the better."

Chapter 3

The hypnosis was underway, so far Brittany had only described her day. Woke up at 6:15 in order to get ready for school, got out of school at 2:05, came home, did her homework, went for her daily walk, got on the computer, ate dinner, watched TV. Typical day in the life of a teenager. But as it nears 9 o'clock--in her story--normal flies out the window.

"What happened at 9:02?"

Brittany's eyelids flutter, and her eyes move visibly underneath them. "The lights. The lights come. Oh, they're so bright. Brandy gets up from the computer, she sees the lights too. We look out the window." She pauses, "oh my God! What is that? That can't be...it's not possible. It's not possible."

"Can't be what Brittany?"

"Brandy?" Her voice grows scared, "what's going on. That's not what it looks like is it? It can't be, they're not real. They can't be real. But it's there." Her voice goes from scared to desperate. "Brandy?"

"Brittany? What's going on, what do you see? What's wrong with your sister?"

"It's...a UFO. But it can't be, aliens are just a myth, like a mermaid or bigfoot. Just something somebody fabricated because they got bored. But, they're there. Hovering...just above the house. The light is coming from them. Oh, God, it's so bright. It stings."

"What's wrong with your sister?"

"I don't know. She's...she's frozen in her spot. She can' t move. She just stands there, staring." Her eyes fly open. "Oh God, Alicia. I have to get Alicia." She closes her eyes again, squeezing the lids shut. "Alicia! Alicia, open the damn door! Something's going on.

"She doesn't open the door, she doesn't make a sound. What if she's hurt? I bang on the door with my fist, maybe she's just sleeping. She's a heavy sleeper. She could just be asleep. 'Alicia open the fucking door!' Still no answer. So I bang again. 'God dammit Alicia, if you don't open the door I'll break it down myself!' And I will too. I have every intention on breaking down her door. I think the adrenaline's gotten the better part of me. Or maybe it's the extreme fear I'm feeling. Or it could be a mixture of both.

"So, I run as hard as I can into the door. The hinges start to brake, and I hit it again, the door falters, but has yet to brake. There's a noise in Alicia's room, a window being open. 'Brandy!' I call, I need my sister's help. I don't think I can do this alone. 'Brandy, come help!' But no luck, she's still frozen. God, my arm hurts so bad. I bang against the door once more, it breaks, sending me to the floor of Alicia's room.

"She's sitting on the bed, not moving, I'm not even sure if she knows that I'm in the room. If she does she doesn't seem to exactly care, no, she's got to notice me. But why isn't she looking at me? Why isn't she talking to me? I call out to her, 'ALICIA!' The light gets brighter...and...oh God!"

"What is it Brittany?" Mulder inquires.

"She's, she's being lifted off her bed, but there's nobody lifting her. It's the air, the air is lifting her off of her bed, and she's not fighting it. Why isn't she fighting it? Whatever it is carries her out the window, she's gone. I try to get to her, I can't move. It's like what happened to Brandy. My mind screams 'move you idiot!' but my feet, they won't listen. Then the light is gone, I can move again. I run to the window, look out it, it's gone. The spaceship is gone! Where's my sister! I go to get Brandy, she's still in the living room, as I turn I notice the clock. 9:11. I stop in my tracks. Could this mean something? This has to mean something. Wait, there's something off. Somebody's in here. I turn quickly...there's a man. Brown hair, brown eyes, tall. He grabs my wrist, his grip is tight. He injects me with something...oh God. It stings, the pain sears through my whole body. Now it burns! Make it stop! It burns! It feels like I'm on fire!"

"Brittany, you're fine. Nothing has been injected into you. You're fine." Dr. Jackson tries to sooth.

"No, I'm not alright. I'm numb now, I can't move. I can't speak. I'm immobilized and mute. The man, he hits me with something, I'm not sure what. Probably one of the many dolphin figures in Alicia's room. I'm out."

"Ok Brittany, I'm going to count backwards from five, when I reach one you'll wake up. Ok? Five...four...three...two...one."

Brittany's eyes jolt open. She looks around the room, "oh God." She whispers, tears start rolling down her cheeks. Scully scoots closer to her and drapes her arm around her shoulder pulling her close to her. Brittany sobs onto her shirt, "it can't be possible. How can it be possible?"

The Adkins' Residence

Mulder pulled into the driveway of the house and stopped the car. He looked back at Brittany, "you ready for this?"

"God no. But, I need to tell them. I doubt they'll believe me, but they need to know."

He nods, "let's get to it then."

The quietly walk into the house and Brittany directs them to sit on the couch while she goes off to find her parents and sister. She comes back into the room alone and seconds later her sister and parents join them. This time, instead of being fascinated by her hands she picks imaginary fuzz off of her blouse. She pulls her feet under her on the couch and looks at her parents. "Mom...dad. I have something that I need to tell you, something that I remembered. And you're not going to like it. I don't even think you're going to believe me."

Her parents look at her confused, "just tell us Brittany." Her mom states.

"Well, you guys understand that I underwent hypnosis, so I didn't just think this up myself. Scully and Mulder were there. And if Brandy would just go she could help me to make sure what I remember is what happened. And not just an overactive imagination."

"Brittany," her dad said, "stop rambling. Tell us what you remembered."

"A light. I remember a light, Brandy and I were in the living room and all of a sudden everything goes off, all the electronics, the lights, everything. I remember I was upset, because I was missing Law & Order: SVU. Then we got up and looked out the window, trying to see what the light was. That's when I saw it, it was metallic colored, gray. God, I can't believe I'm going to say this. Mom, dad, it was a spaceship. I know it sounds crazy, and you probably think it's post-traumatic stress, but it's not. I don't show the signs of the syndrome. This is legit, this is what I remember. After Brandy froze in her spot I ran to find Alicia, I knew something terrible was happening, I couldn't let her be alone. But, as per usual, her door was locked. I called after her, tried to get her to open the door. Pleading with her. She wouldn't open it, she didn't even talk. After ramming into the door a few times it opened and I fell onto the floor of Alicia's room. I got up, tried to get to her, but the light became to bright, and I too froze. Then she was lifted into the air, by something unseen. She went out of the window and then the light was gone, I ran to the window and looked out it. The ship was gone. Alicia was gone. I went to get Brandy, to tell her what had happened, there was a man in Alicia's room. He grabbed my wrist forcefully and stuck me with something. Then a stinging sensation traveled through my body, then it turned hot, then everything went numb. The man hit me with something and I passed out."

"You're right," her mother stated, getting off the couch, "I don't believe you." She turned to the agents, "and I would gratefully appreciate it if you stopped filling my daughters head with lies. She's just gone through something very life shattering, and she doesn't need to go around believing that little green men from another planet stole her sister from under her nose."

Mulder was tempted to correct her on the 'green' part. But then Brittany stood up, "why can't you believe me! I saw what I saw! Furthermore, they didn't say anything to me about aliens or UFO's. In fact, they made point not too. And your right! They did take her from under my nose! I was so close, so close. I could've saved her! I should've saved her. If only I had tried harder to open the door...I might've saved her." She runs off and the slamming of a door can be heard.

Stephanie Adkins sinks back down into her seat. Her husband places a hand on her knee, but its no comfort to her. The tears that had been forming behind her eyes all day finally fall freely.

Scully and Mulder share a glance, and Scully nods at Mulder. He goes off in the direction that Brittany took and knocks on the door to her room. "Brittany?" He calls, "it's Agent Mulder."

"Come...come in." Comes a muffled voice from the other side of the room. Mulder enters and Brittany is sitting on her bed, a pillow in her arms, crying on it. She wipes her eyes and makes herself stop crying, taking in a few deep breaths. She indicates for him to sit on the bed and he does so.

"You can't blame yourself Brittany, it's not your fault. There was nothing you could do that could save her."

"In all due respect agent Mulder, how the hell would you know?"

"Remember when I started to tell you about my sister and then stopped? Well, it's because when I was 12 my sister was abducted, right in front of me. I tried to save her too, but I froze. You did more than I did, way more."

She sniffled, "did you ever find her?"

Mulder sadly looked away, "not yet. But I promise you, we will find your sister."

"I want to believe you, but I'm just not sure if that's going to ever happen. I mean my sister was abducted by aliens for God's sake, and if you had asked me yesterday if aliens existed I would have told you flat out, no." She fiddles with the pillow, "but the man, who was the man?"

"What exactly did he look like?"

"Uh, tall. Taller than you are. Brown hair and brown eyes. Pretty well built I guess, he had a fairly long face. Not a very good looking guy. On the contrary, enough to make you shudder, he had this cold look. It was scary. Why?"

"I think I might know who you saw."

Chapter 4

"Who?"

"I'm not sure if you should hear this. It might be too much for you to handle. I mean, you've gone through so much in the course of 3 days, I'm not sure you can comprehend it."

"I'm not as fragile as you might think, agent Mulder, I can handle whatever you throw at me. I'm strong enough." She stares him straight in the face, challenging him.

"If you're absolutely certain."

She nods, "just tell me."

"Alright. Agent Scully and I aren't your everyday, run of the mill, FBI agents. On the contrary, we work on what's called the x-files. The x-files are basically paranormal phenomena, aliens, ghost, freaks of nature. We came here because of the things you told the police about what you remembered. This man you saw, if he is who I think he is his name is Knowle Rhoar, Now, Knowle Rhoar is not a man, per se, he's an alien bounty hunter."

She shakes her head, confused. "A bounty hunter? What was he taking bounty on, and why would he go after my sister? She doesn't believe in aliens, she wouldn't have any reason for him to come after her."

"Well, he hunts aliens, or doctors who are in the process of making or alien-human hybrids."

"This is overwhelming, alien-human hybrids? What are those?"

Mulder blinks, trying to find a way to explain it to her, "well, the word really speaks for itself, a hybrid of aliens and humans."

She frowns, "ok. It'll take me a while to comprehend all of that, but I will. I'm still a little perplexed about why this man...bounty hunter...would be after my sister. What could she have possibly done? I've never even known my sister to say a swear word, and trust me if she had I'd know. She gets on me enough when I do. There's no reason that I can think of that he would go after her."

"I'm not very sure myself, maybe he knew that these aliens were coming after her, and wanted to keep that from happening."

"But why? He IS an alien. Wouldn't he want to help them? And why not kill me? I saw his face, I saw what happened."

"He probably didn't figure that you would remember, and he surely wouldn't think that Scully and I would come down here. He knew that with the circumstances of what happened the case would be perceived a kidnapping, one that you walked in on. And concerning why he'd go after your sister, there are more than one race of aliens, they're against each other naturally. The ones that have you sister could be his enemies."

Brittany looks at the pillow in her hands, "this is all so much, so earth shattering, in the past three days my biggest worry went from the C I have in French to trying to figure out why aliens would abduct my sister. My life is in a state of turmoil, and my whole family probably thinks that I'm nuts. Ain't life a peach?"

"I'll understand Brittany, if you need some time to process this. I was older when I underwent hypnosis, it was easier for me to understand--"

"No, no. I understand, I believe you, you have no reason to lie to me. It's my parents I don't understand. I don't understand why they won't just except what I remember. How they can believe some man magically opened Alicia's window--without breaking it--and steal her, and in the end taking her out of the room while I was there, and somehow I just forgot it. They probably think that I'm to young and fragile to remember, that I'm not strong enough to comprehend it, so my mind made up this story. This off the wall story, because I couldn't handle the truth. When in all honesty it would be so much easier on me if she had been kidnapped by some deranged sociopath." She looks out her window, "I just wish they had enough faith in me to believe what I say." She says in a quite voice, she looks back at Mulder, a lone tear running down her face. "I feel like shit."

"That's understandable. And Brittany, do your parent's know the language you use."

"No, and quite frankly I don't care. There's nothing they can do to me now that will be worse than what they've already done. In fact, I'd feel much better if they were mad at me because I use foul language rather than they didn't believe me when I tell them I witnessed my sister being abducted by aliens." She wipes the tear away. "You know, I'm usually stronger than this. I feel like a blubbering fool."

"I'd imagine that I'd feel bad if I didn't cry. In fact, I cried for a long while after Sam was taken. And then again when I remembered. There's only so much one can go through without showing emotions. Take agent Scully for instance, she's not usually one to show emotions, but even she cries every now and then. It's part of being human."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Now there's something I don't hear often."

She chuckles, "thank you agent Mulder."

"For what?"

"For making me feel like I didn't do something wrong, for letting me know there was nothing I could've done to save my sister." She smiles sadly, "and hey, you even made me laugh a bit."

Mulder smiles, "I should go now, you need some time to think."

"Yeah, ok. Will you be coming by again?"

"Yes, Scully and I will be by tomorrow. Will you have to go to school?"

She shakes her head, "no, I have off until a while. Maybe a week or so."

"Alright then, we'll be by tomorrow." He gets up from the bed and walks to the door, he looks back at her once more before leaving the room. When he enters the living room Scully's no longer there, Mrs. Adkins glares at him and tells him she went out to the car. He nods and goes outside, he smiles when he sees Scully in the driver's seat. As they take off he notices Brittany is once again looking out her window, a faraway look on her face. One of those looks where you're not really looking at anything, more looking past them.

As she disappears from his view he remembers back to when Sam had been abducted, of course he hadn't known that at the time, he had thought--like Brittany originally did, and her parents still did--that it had been a kidnapping. He too store out the window at the ground, watching the yellow strips of the road fly past. As the car drives on he feels a friendly hand over his. He looks at Scully's hand as it lay on his and a small, sad smile creases his lips. He then looks up at Scully, who's eyes are fixed on the road, he then turned back to the yellow strips.

"How is she?" Scully inquired never taking her eyes off of the road.

"She's still a bit shaken. But in the end, she'll be ok."

"Let's hope."

Chapter 5

Alicia opened her eyes in time to see the swirling object once again nearing her face. She screamed for somebody to help her, although by now she knew that nobody was around to hear her screams. Nobody human at least. She shut hey eyes hoping that this was all just a bad dream, and she would wake up in the morning, tell her sister about it, and get laughed at. But the pain brought reality with it. And as the spinning object connected with the roof of her mouth she screamed with pain.

This wasn't the first time something like this had happened to her, in the past few days countless things had been done to her, all extremely excruciating, all vastly unreal. What had been happening to her is the type of thing you'd expect from a b-rated sci-fi movie. As the pain continued she tried to make her mind wonder to happier times, vacationing at the beach, sledding in the snow, but while these memories all came to her, they did not bring relief from the pain. They only made things worse, not physically painful, but emotionally. She imagined that the physical aspects of the torture couldn't get worse.

After what seemed like days, but was only in reality a few minutes, they were gone, the pain was gone, and she was once again alone. The tears streamed down her face and she wished she could wipe them off, but that wouldn't be happening anytime soon, her arms were strapped down, as were her feet. And the device that had hold of her cheeks kept her mouth open at all times.

Then the woman came again. She did not fear this woman, but wondered why they would send her to comfort her. The scars on the woman's cheeks told that she too had been a subject, weather she still was remained a mystery. The woman talked to her, about her childhood, her experiences, and for a few minutes it felt as if nothing was wrong. But that never lasted, the woman would leave, and she would once again be all alone in the stark white room.

Until they would come again.

And they always did, she wasn't sure how many times a day they would come, or when it would even be a new day. She didn't even know how long she'd been there. All she knew was that when they came pain followed. Much to much pain for a 14 year old girl to bear.

Alicia had seen others as well, on other tables, strapped down in the same manner as she was. Some of them were male, most were female. Some were younger than her, some her same age, some greatly older. They too felt the same pain she did, the same experiments were being performed on them.

She didn't get much sleep, but when she did sleep it was a godsend. For the small amounts of time when she was slumbering she was with her family, they were palpable, she could feel their skin when she hugged them, she could hear their rich voices when they laughed, all was right with the world. But, the dreams never lasted, and she'd be ripped out of the warmth of family and back to the cold table of...wherever she was. And she would cry. Not because of the torture, but because she wanted nothing more than to be at home again, arguing with her sister's over who's turn it was to clean the kitchen.

It was ironic, she would get frustrated with her sister's over the littlest things, when Brittany would intrude on her conversations, when Brandy couldn't pick them up from school, but now she'd give anything to be having one of those arguments.

They came back while she was thinking, and the pain once again began.

Brittany flew up in her bed, grief stricken and in tears. The dream she had had seemed so real, so horrible. Her sister had been on a table, in a completely white room, screaming in pain as this thing drilled into her mouth. And although she wanted to believe it had been just a dream, what had happened that day had led her to believe that it wasn't. She threw the covers off of her and got out of the bed. She walked into the living room and grabbed the phone. After stepping outside she took the card that agent Mulder had given her and dialed the cell number on it.

The phone rang twice before he picked it up, "Mulder." He said in a groggy voice.

"Agent Mulder, I didn't wake you did I?"

"Brittany? No, it's fine. What is it?"

"This is going to seem silly, but, I had this dream. About Alicia. Only it didn't seem like it was a dream, it was like it was actually happening. It was so horrible. I'm sorry for waking you but I just couldn't tell my parents about it, they'd never believe me."

"It's ok Brittany, just tell me, what happened?"

She recited her dream to him, every gruesome detail, every horrible experiment.

Agent Mulder paused after she finished, "do you want me to come over there?"

She shook her head, although she knew that he couldn't see her. "No, it's ok. I'll just see you tomorrow."

"Actually, it's after 3 in the morning."

"Oh. Well I guess I'll just see you later then." She sighed, "goodbye agent Mulder."

"Would you stop with the agent stuff? Just call me Mulder."

"Ok. Bye." She hung up, but instead of going back inside she stepped off her front porch and stared up at the dark vast sky. As she watched the stars she couldn't help thinking that her sister was somewhere up there, being tortured, and although agent Mulder had told her that it wasn't her fault her sister was taken she couldn't help thinking that it was. Her heart broke remembering what she had recalled when she underwent hypnosis, and she sank to the ground crying.

"Why not me?" She said in a small meek voice, "WHY NOT ME!?" She screamed looking up at the twinkling stars.

Mulder hung up the phone but didn't go back to sleep. He sympathized with Brittany, her understood what she was going through, he had had dreams of Sam being taken before, but nothing like she had described. He knew that he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, he was surprised that he had slept so long in the first place. So, he threw on some socks and put on his running shoes. It wasn't long before the only thing he was focused on was the sound of his shoes hitting the asphalt.

The roads were barren, save for the occasional car that passed...and those were few and far between. As he ran he passed by a small park. He figured he needed to take a breather and sat down on one of the benches, he looked up at the morning sky. It was still pitch black, the only lights being the full moon and bright stars.

It wasn't long before he heard heavy footfall. He turned to his right where the sound was coming from and saw Scully running towards him. She stood next to the bench, "is this seat taken?" She said studying his demeanor.

"No." He said turning back to the stars, "what are you doing here Scully?"

"What? You can go running but I can't? That's a bit patronizing if you ask me. Men have a right to run at an ungodly hour but when women do it it makes them look suspicious."

"That's not what I meant Scully, and you know it."

"Yeah, I suppose that I do. Truthfully, Mulder? I heard your phone ring, then I heard you moving in the hotel room, and I put two and two together. I knew you'd be going for a run, so I changed and decided to follow you. I'll say you run pretty fast, I was about to give up and go back to the hotel." She pauses, looking up at the sky, "it was Brittany who called wasn't it?"

"Yeah. She had a dream."

"About her sister's abduction?"

"No, about her sister being experimented on."

"It could just be a result of all that's happened. I'm sure she's seen movies where humans are test subjects for extra-terrestrials, she probably connected the dots, and figured that that was happening to her sister."

"But it is what's happening to her sister, and you know that Scully."

"Yes, I do Mulder. But if you're suggesting that she's seeing what's happening to her sister, I'm not sure if I can believe that."

"Why not Scully?"

"Because Mulder, I'm not even sure myself if aliens exist."

Mulder sighed, rolling his eyes, "you know, you never cease to amaze me Scully. And sometimes, like now, it's not in a good way. How can you not believe in aliens? With everything you've seen? For Gods sake Scully, you were abducted."

She looked away from him, "I know Mulder. But it's not that easy, I'm a scientist, I have to look at what's scientifically possible."

"And little gray men from mars aren't right? So everything you've seen over the years have been hallucinations."

"No Mulder...that's not it."

"Then what is it?"

"I don't know if I want to believe."

Chapter 6

Mulder sat there, dumbstruck. "What do you mean you don't want to believe."

Scully said nothing, she just sat there looking up at the stars. "I don't want to believe that something else could be out there, something so cruel and emotionless. These things that abductees have said were done to them, they're just so horrible. It's bad enough we have people here who do things like that, but that's why we have law enforcement, to keep these people from doing these things. But, aliens, we have no control over them. They can go on with these horrible experiments, and not be stopped."

Mulder sighed, "that's what we're trying to do Scully, stop them."

"Is that what we're doing Mulder? Trying to stop them? And how will we do that? By proving that they exist? What good is that going to do? None. It won't do anything for anybody. Face it Mulder, we're useless."

Mulder looked at her, in a rage, "how can you say that we're useless. Look at all the things we've done over the years. All the lives we've saved."

"All the deaths we've caused!"

He looks away from her, silent.

"Mulder, what is our quest really? Is it to expose the syndicate? Because if it is we're not doing a very good job of it. What about proving aliens exist? All we've done is prove we're insane. What's our reason for being here? Why do we do what we do?"

"People like Alicia Adkins, Scully. We're here to save them. And people like Brittany, we're here to help them through their trials, to help them know the truth, even when it is too much to bear. And you don't think I curse myself every day for all the lives that have been sacrificed for our cause? But, Scully, without those people who died for it, we wouldn't be here today. I know that's nothing in the way of compensation, but it sure as hell makes a difference."

It's Scully's turn to be quiet. "How did we get here Mulder?"

"We ran."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know. I just don't want to answer you're intended question."

"Well, somebody needs to."

"I know. But not now, right now we need to go back to the hotel. It's early, and cold, and I could use some coffee." He stands up. "You coming?"

"No. I'm going to stay here for a while. Sort some things out."

"Ok, you do that. Be back by 8 though. I told Brittany that we'd come over."

She nods. "Ok Mulder, I'll see you in a bit."

Then he runs off, leaving her staring up at the night sky.

Brittany doesn't know how long she sat there, nor does she care. All she knows is that when she started to shiver she brushed it off, and now she wishes that she hadn't. But, despite her being freezing, she doesn't make a move to go inside. She can't move, it's not like the day Alicia was taken, then she couldn't move because of what that man had done to her, but this is different. She can't move because of the way she feels. So, she sits and stares at the stars. It's not long before she shifts her stare from the twinkling lights to the rising sun.

As she watches the sun rise birds start to chirp happily. "What's so fucking wonderful about today?" She inquires towards the birds. They just keep on signing their songs. She watches as the pink and orange sky starts to turn blue, and the cold air starts to turn warmer with the rising of the sun. And while she's still in her nightclothes, she still doesn't make an effort to go inside. She still sits.

She's a bit surprised when her sister comes outside and sits next to her. She doesn't say a word, just stares at the sky like Brittany is doing. They stay there in the silence for a long time, and Brittany just wishes she would hurry up and get on with whatever she's going to say, because she knows it will be anything but pleasant.

Brandy looks at her attentively. "You really screwed things up big this time Brittany."

Brittany laughed bitterly, so much so that Brandy was taken aback. "I screwed things up? How did I screw things up? Things were already screwed up. For God's sake, Brandy, even if you don't believe that it was aliens, and you think it was kidnapping how can you be so indifferent? How can you be so goddamn cold. It's like you have no emotions, like you don't give a damn that Alicia is somewhere out there, alone and afraid. You don't give a damn about what she's going through. All you can see is how much I screwed things up. You selfish bitch." She doesn't wait for her sister's response, she gets up, but instead of walking inside the house she walks down the road. And she keeps walking too, where she's going she doesn't know. All that she knows is she can't stay there any longer.

Brittany walks for well over 20 minutes before she stops at a familiar house. Seeing as it's still pretty early she goes around the side and knocks on her friends window. Meagan opens her window confused. "Brittany? What's going on? Why are you here at," she looks behind her at a clock in the room, "6:24 in the morning?"

"I just couldn't stay there any longer Meg, I couldn't do it."

Meg looks at her sympathetically, she nods her head, "come in. It's freezing outside."

Brittany crawls through the window and collapses on Meagan's bed. Lauren--her twin sister--looks up from her bed confused. "Brittany? What's going on."

Meg just looks at her and shakes her head as if to say don't ask. Lauren gets the look and walks over to the bed Brittany's on. She sits next to her friend and puts an arm around her. Meg does the same. Brittany starts to quietly cry, the hot silent tears doing nothing but bothering her further.

"Please don't tell anybody that I'm here. They'll make me go back."

They both nod simultaneously, "we won't tell anybody." Lauren says.

"Thank you."

"But, we do have to get ready and go to school. Do you think you'll be fine staying here alone? My parents won't come in our room, we can lock it if you'd like."

"Yeah. Please."

Meg gets off the bed and locks the door. "There." She looks back at Brittany, "now, why don't you get some sleep? You look like hell."

"Thanks, that's a big step up from the shit I look like."

Lauren smiles halfheartedly. Then the two sister's get ready for school. At 10 minutes before 7 they leave and Brittany lies her head down on the pillows and falls instantly asleep.

6:32

Scully's cell phone rings and after the third ring she picks it up, "Scully."

"Where is my daughter?" An upset Stephanie says into the phone.

"Excuse me? Which one?"

"You know damn well which one. Where is Brittany."

"I'm sorry Mrs. Adkins, I have no clue where she is. She's certainly not here."

Mrs. Adkins mumbles something into the phone and then hangs up. Scully hangs up her phone as well and looks around dumbfounded. Mulder knocks on her door and steps inside. "Who was that?"

"Mrs. Adkins. She said Brittany's missing."

Mulder sighs, "she probably went to a friend's house. We should go to the school and see if anybody knows where she is."

"Yeah, I imagine she just got pissed at her parents and took off. Makes sense."

Mulder nodded, "well, I'll get dressed. Sullivan High school starts at 7:25, when can you be ready?"

"Well, I'll have to shower, but I can be ready by 7."

"Good." He went back into his hotel room and the sound of the shower could be heard. Scully herself got into the shower. It already promised to be a long day.

Chapter 7

Brittany heard something in the room stir and wasn't to entirely surprised when she looked from under the covers and saw Scully sitting on the corner of the bed. She sighed and she too sat up on the bed, running her hands through her hair she sent a questioning glance in Scully's direction. "So, they told you that I was here. Well, I knew this wouldn't last long, I'm surprised that they kept the secret as long as they did."

"Your mother called, she was worried. We got a list of your best friends, and Lauren and Meagan were pretty high on that list. We went to you're school and talked with those on the list. They broke after a while, but they are concerned about you." She looked her over, "and I can see why. You look terrible."

"Yeah, we'll I don't feel so peachy either. I woke up pretty early in the morning, then walked here, how long have I been sleeping?"

"Well, it's just after 8 now. So, I'd say an hour and a half. Mulder is waiting in the car. We're going to take you home."

She shakes her head, "no, I can't go back. Not yet. Could you just take me with you? To your hotel, please."

"You know I can't do that Brittany, you're still a child, you have to remain at home unless there are signs of abuse, and your parents aren't abusing you."

"Doesn't emotional abuse count for something? Every time I'm around them I become emotionally drained, it's like they suck it right out of me. I just, I can't deal with that. If I go home I'll just sit in my room all day, every day, until she comes back. And probably even after then. I don't think I'll ever regain their trust, nor will they ever regain mine. And I really could care less, once I hit 18 I'm gone."

"You should at least give them the chance to make up for it."

"They have every opportunity to believe me, or at least accept what I remember, but I doubt that ship will ever set sail. They're set in what they believe happened, nothing, nobody, will change their minds." She looks down at the bed, "well, I guess we should get going. Wouldn't want my parents to worry, that would just be tragic."

"Brittany, what you have to realize is they've already lost one child. This is their defense mechanism. They're just doing what they think is right."

"Yeah, I know. That doesn't mean I have to agree or accept the facts. I choose to be ignorant."

Scully smiles, "well ignorant or not I don't want another reason for your mother to resent me. We should get you home so you can shower. Then you can tell us further about your dream. Sound good?"

"Not particularly, but I don't really have a say in the matter. Do I?"

"Nope."

"That's what I thought."

They dropped Brittany off with the promise that they would come back after she had enough time to have showered and talked with her parents about what had transpired. Mulder wasn't very sure if said talk would happen, in fact he was almost certain that it wouldn't, but there was always that chance, and he and Scully did not want to intrude on that chance.

So, they went to get something to eat. They ended up at McDonalds, or at least the drive-through of McDonalds, each getting a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit, and coffee. Then they went back to their hotel. After they ate Scully was silent, but Mulder could tell she wanted to say something. She had that look, the one that said she was seriously contemplating something.

"What is it Scully?"

She looked up at him dumbstruck, she shook the look away, "I was just thinking about something."

"Well, yes, I see that. But, what were you thinking about?"

"How are we supposed to find this girl Mulder? Just wait until she falls from the sky? I don't understand what good we are doing here."

Mulder shook his head, "I'm not sure myself either, even if they do send her back who's to say they'll send her back home? I mean...you didn't exactly turn up at Skyland Mountain."

Scully shuddered with the thought, "exactly. Then why are we still here?"

"Brittany."

"Right. Mulder, you've become attached to her."

"How so."

"She reminds you of yourself, when Sam was taken. You're trying to save her from what you became, and while that's all fine and dandy it's not your place to try and save her, she needs to go through this on her own accord. And you need to let her."

"She still needs somebody Scully."

"She has her parents and sister."

Mulder snorted, "and if Brittany reminds me of myself I sure as hell know who they remind me of. Every single closed minded person I've ever come across. You, when you had first been assigned to me. Face it Scully, they'll never believe her, they'll never forgive her for suggesting what she did. For the next three and a half years that house is going to be a prison cell for her, just like my house was. She doesn't have her parents. She has nobody."

Scully sighed, "Mulder. We're going to have to leave sometime."

"Not today."

It was close to ten before they finally arrived. Brittany had long since locked herself in her room. Well, not locked, per se, her room had no lock on it. But, she had very adamantly pushed her dresser in front of it. Even though the door swung out into the hallway instead of into her room there was still no way for anybody to enter. Not without climbing over the dresser. And she doubted her family would waste their time. She was right.

The soft knock told her that it was Scully behind the door. Weather Mulder was with her she didn't know, but she pushed the dresser aside and back into its normal resting place and opened the door for Scully to come in. Mulder was with her and they both came into the room. Mulder sat down on the computer chair, and Scully sat with Brittany on her bed. Neither spoke for a while, until Mulder finally said something.

"We have to leave in two days."

"What? Why?"

Scully looked down at the bed, "there's really nothing more we can do Brittany. If your sister has been abducted all you can do is hope that they send her back. We don't know where she is, or if she's even alive. We had to push for even two days." She looks back up at Brittany, "I'm sorry."

Brittany looked at Mulder, then at Scully, then back at Mulder. "So...basically I might never see my sister again."

"Basically...yes, that is a possibility."

She gapped for a minute, "and there's absolutely nothing that can be done."

"Nothing that either of us can think of, or are capable of."

She looked at the wall, her face turned away from both the agents, "I understand. If you don't mind, I'd like to be alone."

They both nodded, although she couldn't see them do so. "If you want us to come by again--"

"I'll call if I need you."

"Right." Mulder said, "I'm really sorry Brittany, I wish there was something that I could do."

She looked at him, pain apparent on her face, "I know. I just...I'd rather be alone."

They both nodded once more and left. When she heard their car start up she let the floodgates open and the tears she had been holding back finally fell freely. Her sister was out there somewhere, alone, hurt, afraid, taken by something she didn't even believe in.

And there was not a damn thing that she could do about it.

a/n: I hope nobody is too terribly bored by this story. In truth, I have no idea how I'm doing. So I would really appreciate reviews!

Chapter 9: chapter 8

The woman was back again. This time though she didn't talk. She just sat with her, holding her hand. Every now and then she would hum something, but the humming never lasted long. But, it felt good to be in contact with another human, she had forgotten what it felt like to actually touch something, and she relished in what she knew wouldn't happen again for a long time. She just wished she could say something to the woman, but every time she tried to talk it only made things worse. Whatever they had done to her mouth had yet to fully heal, and with the thing keeping it stretched open it was hard to form words in the first place.

So, she did the only thing she could do, whenever the woman would take her hand into hers she would squeeze it. Very faintly, she was still very weak, but the woman understood. And although Alicia could not see her face she presumed there was a sad smile on it.

Strangely, it was then that she realized she did not know this woman's name. She had only seen her face once, it was a sad face, the three scars on either cheek, and there were large bags under her eyes, but Alicia could tell that if those had not been there she would be very beautiful.

The woman then said that they were coming back, she had to go, and it was then Alicia grasped the idea that this woman was not aloud to be there and console her, she was somehow sneaking out, and then going back. But how did she know that they were coming?

When the woman was gone she heard them coming, and she knew what that meant.

The experiments would once again start.

2 days later

They were leaving, and Brittany when they left Brittany would be alone. Her parents had yet to try and understand what exactly she remembered, and they never would. She had accepted that, and for the most part she stayed in her room, only coming out when she had to shower, use the bathroom, or eat. And even then she only got what she was going to eat and brought it either outside or into her room. She hadn't said a word to her parents in over 36 hours.

At night, when everybody else was asleep, she would sneak outside and stare at the sky, trying to make sense of what she remembered, maybe see a sign that they were actually out there. She would stare at the stars until her vision grew blurry. Needless to say, she never saw anything.

She was sitting on the front porch when they pulled up, fingering the gold cross around her neck, and wondering to herself how God would allow something so horrible to happen to her sister, but at the same time praying that he would bring her home soon and safe.

Scully was the first to get out of the car, seeing as she wasn't the one driving. She stood in front of her on the porch, fingering her own cross. They looked at each other for a while before Brittany threw her arms around her neck. Scully was a bit taken aback, but nevertheless she hugged her back. Brittany let go, silent tears running down her face. "We'll find her right?"

"We're going to do all that we can Brittany. I promise you that."

Brittany wiped the tears away and walked over to Mulder. "I want to thank you again Mulder. I don't think I could have made it these past few days if it hadn't been for you. Hell, if it hadn't been for you I'd still believe that my sister had was kidnapped. You'll keep in touch with me right? Let me know if you find anything out. Hey, you can even tell me about some of your cases, Lord knows besides school it'll be my only means of communication. Not that I'll really have that at school anymore, those who haven't yet heard about my little escapade with aliens will think Alicia was kidnapped, and they'll feel sorry for me. And the last thing I want is sympathy. I'd rather have them think I'm crazy than them feel sorry for me." She looks away, "promise me you won't stop looking."

"I wouldn't even dream of stopping Brittany. It would be like if I stopped looking for Sam. And that's definitely never going to happen. I promise."

She hugs him as well, the hug is quick and when she lets go she has more tears streaming down her face, she curses herself for crying so much, "you guys better get going. I don't want to be the reason you miss your flight."

He nods, "I'll let you know if we find anything, no matter how significant."

"I'll hold you to that." She said as she watched them getting into the car.

Then they were gone.

4 months later

Things at home had not gotten better, in fact they had only gotten worse. Her mother barley said a word to her, and the only times she did was when she asked if Brittany needed money for lunch. Her father though, seemed to be coming closer to the truth everyday, although he was moving at a rate slower than a snail. There had been no sign of Alicia, and a piece of Brittany was dying everyday she was gone. If emotional states had anything to do with a person life span she'd already be dead.

Things at school had not been good either. She was already on her summer vacation, but she had had to go back to school a few days after the agents left. Some knew of what she had remembered, how, the only way could've been Brandy told one of her friends and that friend told a sister or brother. But, whenever she passed in the hallway they would snicker, or make remarks under their breath. Her favorite was 'that spooky chick', she liked it so much because when she had told Mulder in an e-mail about this he laughed and said that that was his nickname, minus the 'chick'. This brought the first smile to her face in over a month.

She had very few friends left, 4 actually, and only one of them really made an effort to defend her from the assholes at school. The other three would idly stand by and let them make their comments, although they themselves never joined in on them. Those three were Lauren, Meagan, and Andrea. The only one who would tell the people off was Shauna. She spent every weekend at Shauna's house. And sometimes even weekdays, they would lie and say they had a project for Biology due, and needed to work on it. Her parents never did buy this, but they let her go anyway.

It was the beginning of July, the 2nd to be exact. And the day she was leaving for a school trip to New York City. She would have not been able to go save for the fact she turned 15 in May and therefore was able to get a summer job. She worked as long as they would allow her and saved up enough for the trip, just enough for the trip. Shauna--who was also going--was more fortunate than her in the sense her parents were rich, she had promised Brittany that she would help her with all extra money she needed. Brittany only accepted when Shauna agreed for Brittany to pay her back.

Shauna picked her up around 7:30am, their bus would be leaving at 9am and traveling to New York where they would arrive around 9pm, then they would check into their hotels. The next 4 days included a Yankees game, going to the Met, seeing Phantom of the Opera, seeing the Statue of Liberty and many other things. So, for 5 days she would no longer be that spooky chick, but just another face in the crowd. And she couldn't be happier.

No, that was a lie, she could be happier. Her sister could be going with her.

The sound of a car door slamming took her out of her thoughts and she stood up from her seat on the porch. She grabbed her bags and put them into the back of Shauna's mom's SUV. Then they took off for the high school where there bus would be leaving from.

"You ready?" Shauna said from the front seat.

"You have no idea." Brittany sighed watching her house fade into the distance, "no idea."

Chapter 10: chapter 9

Chapter 9

Around 4 ½ years later

Brittany sighed as she set her Biology 2 book down on her computer table. Her lab had been especially hard, but she had passed it with flying colors. She shed her jeans and sweater and threw on a pair of jogging pants and an oversized t-shirt that belonged to her boyfriend, Nick, who was in her psychology 2 class. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and slipped her running shoes on. She called out to her roommate--Shauna, who was still her best friend--and told her she was going for a run.

As she jogged away from campus it began to lightly rain, reminding her of the reason she had traveled so far from home in the first place. The day they buried her sister. Now they say that a parents loss of a child is the hardest to bear, she didn't doubt that, but losing a sister trailed close behind, especially one that was so close to her. Alicia had been her best friend, her confidant, and the day that they committed her to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, and dust to dust, it had lightly rained, as if the heavens were weeping for the loss.

They had found her sister 6 months after she went missing, she was miles from home, in a field in Kansas. She was barley clothed and had scares all over her body, painful scares, scares that Brittany wouldn't forget as long as she lived, scares that plagued her every time she closed her eyes.

She looked at her watch and fought back a sob when she saw the exact time, it was 5:11. Remembering her sister's quirky habit with 11's was one of the many things she did every day, more so they had been born on May 11th, 5/11. She shook her head stopping the tears that threatened to fall. When her sister had been abducted, and then when she had been found, Brittany's only defense mechanism was to remain strong, and not falter, tears were a weakness to her.

She sat down on a bench as the rain continued to fall. Her mind traveling to distant times, the yesteryears, when she had been happy. When her family was complete. She remembered summers spent at the beach, moving from here to there because of her father's job in the marines, sharing her secrets with her twin sister who was younger by two minutes. Holding the fact that she was younger over her head. How she yearned for those days. But, she knew that all she had left were memories.

She didn't sleep much, the dark bags under her eyes showed the signs of her being an insomniac. Not because she couldn't sleep, she had no trouble falling asleep, it was that when she did she would have nightmares, of the experiments that Alicia went through, for a reason that was still unknown to her. A reason that would forever be unknown to her.

Her cell phone rang and she picked the device up, "Brittany." She said nonchalantly into the tiny silver phone.

"Hey hon, where are you at? Shauna said that you went out."

She sighed, "yeah, I went for a jog. Why?"

"I had the day off and was wondering if you wanted to get together before you had to go to work."

She shook her head, although she knew that he wouldn't see her do so, "not today Nick. Maybe some other time."

He paused for a second, then it dawned on him, "oh God Brittany. I'm such an idiot. I should have realized what today was. Forgive me."

"No, no, Nick, it's not your fault. I shouldn't be so mopey anyway."

"You have every right to mope Brittany."

She sighed, "I've got to go Nick. I'll call you tomorrow."

"Alright babe, I'll talk to you then."

She smiled sadly, "bye hon." Then she hung up and started jogging once more along the empty sidewalk. That was the good thing about rain, It could make the once busy city as empty as the countryside.

She knew Nick was mentally kicking himself at the moment, maybe even physically, today was the five year anniversary of when Alicia went missing, abducted rather.

One of the best things about Nick was he knew of the things she saw that night, and he believed her. He knew that she wouldn't openly make something like that up, and he loved her anyway. Although he wouldn't have believed in little gray men from outer space otherwise. But, nonetheless, he trusted her enough to know she wouldn't lie.

Now, normally she wouldn't still be at school today, she would be at Alicia's grave, for hours upon hours, talking. But, she couldn't get off work, and although today marked 5 years they wouldn't allow her that small piece of closure. Heartless bastards.

She hadn't spoken to her parents for well over a year, not since she moved out and went to college. She knew that she should at least call them, but it hurt that they still didn't believe what she said. Nonetheless, she had left that life when she left Tennessee. She was no longer 'that spooky chick' who's sister was abducted by aliens and returned dead. She was Brittany Adkins, Biology Major--Psychology Minor. And a damn good student. And she was content with her life, although there were a few aspects of her old life she never let slip through the cracks. Alicia being the main one.

She often wrote letters to Alicia, she kept them in a box underneath her bed. Nick had found them once, but she wouldn't let him read them. Although she knew Alicia would never read them, it was nice to have them there, safely tucked away under her full sized bed. They were hers, and nobody else's. Her last link to her long lost twin sister.

She often picked up the phone and started to dial home, to have Alicia pick up. She normally got all the way to the last number before she realized that Alicia wasn't there anymore. And if she was alone, she would cry. If she was with somebody, she would hold off until she was alone.

At some point the rain must have stopped because tourist once again filled the busy streets. She cursed herself for not realizing this and heading back to campus, but at the same time she loved being just another face in the crowd, nobody knew who you were, if you lived in the city or were another annoying tourist. She smiled to herself as she pushed through the crowd of people, not really running anymore, not jogging either. Barley even walking.

She saw some familiar faces as she struggled to get through the people, but she didn't call out to them, they, like her, were trying to get away from campus life, and other students just complicated that. She finally made her way to her favorite spot in the whole city and sat down on a bench in time to watch the sunset. She closed her eyes and memories of her and her sister ran free. All of the inside jokes, the laughs shared, the cries, and the fights. She smiled as she remembered the summer before Alicia had gone missing, they went to Key West and Alicia was a dolphin trainer for the day, Brittany on the other hand just swam with the dolphins. They're parents had shelled out the extra dollars because Alicia had wanted to be a Marine Biologist. And she would have been a good one too. Alicia would have probably been good at anything she would have done. That was one of the many things that made her sister's death such a tragedy, her sister could have been such an asset to the world. She was an asset to her family, always making them smile at her ditziness, although in all truth, she was the smartest person in her immediate family itself.

Her cell phone rang again and she sighed putting it up to her ear, "Brittany."

"Hey Brittany," there was a pause, "it's Brandy." Of course she knew this, her sister didn't need to indicate she was on the other end. They hadn't talked in well over two years--Brandy went off to college not long after they found Alicia's body--but she still knew her now only sister's voice clearly.

"I know that Brandy."

Her sister sighed into the phone, "God Brittany, it's been 5 years."

"I know."

"I miss her so much." She said, a small sob coming through the line. "I still can't believe that she's gone."

"Neither can I Brandy, but at some point, you just have to move on." It had taken Brittany many years, but she finally did move on, well, as much as she ever would.

"I've tried Brittany, God I've tried, I have kids to think about, but its so hard. What did we do to deserve this? Why did this happen to us?"

"I don't know Brandy. Life isn't always fair."

"I'll say. But, you're so sure about what happened to her, how can you not know why?"

"Because Brandy, something's are just better left unsaid...or unknown. I'm not entirely sure we'll ever know. And, particularly, I'm not sure if I want to know. Do you?"

She could now hear the tears in her sister's voice, "no." She heard muffled voices, something along the lines of 'mommy, why are you crying?' and then her sister spoke into the receiver, "I have to go Brittany. Alicia's awake (Brandy named her daughter after Alicia) I'll call you. I promise. We don't talk like we should."

"I know Brandy."

"Brittany, I want you to know something. No matter what I think happened to Alicia. I know you wouldn't lie." She paused, "I love you Brittany."

Brittany could feel the hot tears falling down her cheeks, "I love you too Brandy. Take care, tell Alicia and Noah that I love them. And tell Thomas hello for me."

"I will Brittany. Goodbye."

"Yeah." She hung up and wiped the tears out of her eyes. She sat on the bench for a while, looking at the calm, unmoving water in front of her. She heard laughter and the sound of a small child giggling. She looked up, and smiled at the imagine in front of her. The couple and their young son store at her for a while, before the man got a knowing look on his face.

"Brittany?" Agent Mulder said, "what are you doing here?"

She smiled, "I'm in my Sophomore year over at Georgetown University." She smiled at Agent Scully, "It's nice to see you two again. It's been a long time."

Mulder blinked, "over four years. Why didn't you tell us you were coming here the last time we talked with each other?"

"Well, I was only planning on coming, I wasn't sure if they would accept me or not." The last time they had seen each other was Alicia's funeral. Mulder had helped her a lot that day. But she had phoned him a few months before her graduation. She smiled at the small boy in the stroller, "something you two care to tell me about?"

He smiled and wrapped his arm around Scully's waist. "Brittany," he said motioning down to the boy, "this is William. Our son."

"Congratulations. How old is he?"

"8 months." Scully said happily, "and getting more and more like daddy every day."

The little boy squealed at the word 'daddy' and said it over and over again. Brittany imagined it was one of the few words he knew. He was such a cute little boy, he had a brownish auburn hair and bright hazel eyes, one's that matched his father's perfectly. She smiled when she noted that he had inherited his mother's nose, but his father's jaw. "He's adorable."

"Thank you." They said in unison, then laughed slightly.

Then, Mulder did what she feared. He got serious, he looked her straight in the face, holding her gaze, not letting her look away. "How have you been doing?"

She smiled sadly and looked down at the engagement ring that Nick had given her only 3 days prior, she looked up at him, this time being the one to lock the gaze, "I'm ok."

THE END

A/N: God! What a freakin' sad chapter! I cried whilst typing it. I hope you liked it, and I hope it ended good. And I know, character death, curse me. But, I had to do it! Don't hate me! Please! I beg of you. Please, please, let me know if you liked this story. I live for reviews. I really hope that you liked this story. I did...but then again, I like all my stories.