Title: Man Eaters
Author: MrsSpookyLiz
Author's page: https://www.fanfiction.net/u/865148/
Written: 04/20/2007
Category: X-Files
Genre: Drama/Supernatural; MSR shipper moments and action.
Words: 29840
Rating: PG-13

Summary: Mulder and Scully investigate a monster and get sent to work in London, England. Scully is excited... but her excitement doesn't last long when she gets into danger.

Chapter One

Scully's bright blue eyes flashed open and she jumped up as if from a restless sleep. Pain panged in her head but she pushed it away and got to her feet grabbing her gun as she did. She touched her head and then looked at her fingers, she was bleeding but it wasn't serious. She needed to find the killer. That was serious. She heard shouts from different parts of the house and she moved her head in the directions that they were coming from. Hearing the sound of Mulder she started to hurry into the room where she picked his voice. Scully reached an open door and heard Mulder saying plans to the other agents. She went into the room.

"Mulder?" She said and he turned to see her. Scully ran towards him. The other agents ran upstairs. Mulder put his hands on her arms.

"Are you OK? I thought you got knocked down," Mulder said. Scully looked at him and saw little bands of sweat on his forehead. Scully nodded.

"I'm fine. The great son of a bitch hit me before I could shoot. I nearly had him," she said with anger.

"Well let's go and find him then," he said and Scully met his gaze and nodded. Mulder turned and ran out of the room. Scully followed him close behind. There were shouts from upstairs Scully stopped hearing their voices.

"Mulder. They've got him," Scully said putting a hand on his shoulder to stop him. There was a sound of feet and the agents appeared with the man handcuffed and held. Mulder and Scully turned and ran down the stairs and opened the front door for them to go through. The agents with the man walked out the door past them and Scully turned to the rest coming down the stairs. Agent Falls, a friend of Mulder and Scully came towards her. Another agent who Scully didn't know that well ran towards her.

"Scully? Are you all right? You had quite a nasty blow to the head." The agent said looking at her. Scully smiled.

"I'm fine don't worry," she said. The agent nodded and walked out the door. Falls came over to them both.

"Are you sure you're OK Dana?" Falls said to her.

"Scully you have to get checked over," Mulder said taking her by the arm. Scully nodded and walked out the door with Mulder.

"Wait.." They stopped and Scully turned to Agent Falls. "Are there any more agents down?" Scully asked him. Falls shook his head.

"No. You're the only casualty," he said. Scully felt herself blush with embarrassment. Mulder pulled her away and they walked over to the ambulance.

"This is embarrassing Mulder," she said under her breath. Mulder held her arm.

"Why?" He asked. Scully looked at him exasperated.

"I'm the only agent injured. Mulder, do you think I'm getting bad at defending myself?" Scully asked him. They stopped walking. Mulder turned and looked at her.

"Why do you say that?" he asked. Scully shrugged.

"No one else was injured. I thought I was going to get him and I thought I was in the right place.." She started.

"Scully listen to me. You're extremely brave and talented at your work," Mulder said stopping her. "You were just unfortunate to be there when he came in. It could have happened to any of us," he said and before she could answer back he took her to the ambulance.

She sat in the ambulance and the paramedics looked at her head. The black paramedic picked up a swab.

"That's a nasty bump you've got there agent Scully. I'm just going to clean it," he said and dabbed the swab on her head. As soon as the cotton touched her wound she drew back. Scully held her wound with her hand and grimaced in pain.

"Ouch," she said. Mulder came to her side. Scully lowered her arm and looked shyly at the doctor. "Sorry," she said quietly. The paramedic nodded.

"I'll be as gentle as I can," he said. Mulder nudged her and she turned to face him.

"I told you that you had to get it checked out," he said with a small smile.

"Mulder I'm going to go home now?" Scully said. They were standing by the crime scene and the ambulance started its engines. Scully looked up at the sky and saw that it was still only morning. A small gust of wind blew past them and she tucked her loose red hair behind her ear. Mulder shifted on his feet.

"I'll drive you back. You can't drive back after hitting your head," he said kindly. Scully nodded.

"OK. Thanks," she said. "I am starting to feel a little dizzy. I just need to lie down for a while," she said smiling weakly.

"I think you should lie down. Come on, let's get you home," he said and he led her to the car. Mulder opened the door and Scully got in. He closed her door and went round the other side of the car.

"Mulder." A voice said from behind him. Mulder turned round to see Agent Falls. Mulder smiled at him.

"Hey John," he said. John Falls looked inside the car and waved at Scully. She waved back. He looked back up at Mulder.

"Are you going to come back to headquarters or not?" he asked.

"When I've taken Scully home I'll probably come along. See you there," Mulder said. Falls nodded.

"OK man. I might see you later," he said. Mulder nodded and patted his friend on the shoulder. Falls walked off. Mulder opened the door and got into the car.

"What did he have to say?" Scully asked lightly. Mulder looked at her.

"He was just asking if I was coming back to headquarters or not," he said.

"Are you going to?" she asked him. Mulder started the car and reversed out.

"I think I will after I've got you home," he said. Scully nodded.

"You can have lunch at my place if you want. It would save you buying anything," Scully said leaning back into her seat. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes.

"All right," Mulder said. Scully put her hand to her forehead. Her face showed her pain. She sighed. Mulder felt concern and put a hand on her arm. Scully looked down at his hand and then looked at him again.

"I'm OK I just need some rest," she said. "I've been bogged down with work this week and I haven't had much sleep. I've been working myself too hard that's all," she said quietly. She lifted one eyebrow and then closed her eyes.

"What's the matter?" Mulder asked her. Scully shook her head.

"I'm just dizzy," she said in a quiet whisper. Mulder squeezed her arm then put it back on the wheel.

"I'm going to get you home," he said and they drove off to Georgetown.

Two days later Mulder sat in his office at the desk. He tapped his pencil on the table in boredom. He sighed and wondered why Scully wasn't at work yet. He guessed that it was probably traffic. Mulder wondered if he should look at another file but then thought against it because he was expecting Scully to bring something to his attention that morning. Mulder moved restlessly in his chair. He looked around his office and something caught his eye. He stopped moving and slowly got up from his chair. He frowned in wonder as he saw the object and started to move towards it. He stared at it. It was a piece of paper from the hospital when Scully had been there after her abduction. Mulder picked it up and read it. It was some notes about her progress. Mulder looked at the write up about her chip in the back of her neck and frowned with confusion. Why was it out on the desk? Mulder sighed and put it in his desk drawer. Just then someone tapped him on the shoulder. Mulder jumped and turned to see a smiling Scully. She let out a small laugh.

"Gotcha!" She said with a silly tone. Mulder smiled and then rolled his eyes. She sensed that he wasn't his normal self. Mulder looked at her.

"I've found a something," he said.

"An X-File?" Scully asked. Mulder nodded.

"It's one of the doctor's reports from when you were in hospital. It was out on the desk," Mulder said. Scully's looked at Mulder frowning.

"That's impossible," she said with an uneasy smile. Mulder shook his head and went to his desk. He opened his drawer and passed it to Scully. They both sat down. He watched her face as she looked at the file in amazement and she seemed to see her experience come back to her. Scully shook her head as if she didn't want to believe it. "Mulder, I keep these safe and locked up in that cupboard," she said pointing to a locked cupboard in the corner. "I've got most of these at home," she said quietly. She looked quickly up at Mulder then back down again to the paper.

"You don't remember taking any of them out?" he asked her. Scully raised her eyebrows and opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Mulder moved forward to take it from her. "Look give it back, I'm sorry I didn't mean to shock you," Mulder said. He had one hand on the file. Scully looked at him and pulled it back.

"No. Its fine I just.. I don't understand Mulder. Someone must have been in here," she said taking the file back from him. Mulder looked at her with worry. Scully turned the page over and must have seen something that brought it back because she gasped in fright. She held her head in her hands, shaking nervously. Mulder frowned with concern and leant across the desk to her.

"Scully?" He said to her. Scully didn't respond. "Scully?"

She lifted her head slowly. "Sorry, I just.. I just remembered some of it," she said weakly. Mulder nodded.

"That's ok," he said concerned. Scully sighed and moved in her chair to try and gather herself.

"Someone's been here Mulder," she said seriously and looked into his eyes. Mulder sighed.

"Well, I just hope that they don't come back. I don't like the feeling that someone is checking up on you Scully," he said. Scully nodded and took a deep breath. She didn't like the feeling either.

Chapter Three

Lisa ran along the street, her blond hair flowing in the breeze. She saw her friend Lucy and ran to meet her. She carried her files and her shoulder bag around her. Lisa and Lucy hugged and then laughed at a friendly joke. They walked up the street to school.

"I can't believe we're going back to school already! The holidays went so fast." Lucy said. She had long dark hair and pretty green eyes. Lucy looked at Lisa's new jeans. "Are they new? They're really nice." Lucy said. Lisa nodded.

"Got them for my birthday," Lisa said, looking down at her dark clothes. "My step mum and dad are useful for something!"

"Lisa don't be so ungrateful! Mind you I know what you mean.." Lucy said with a smirk. Lisa nodded. "What's our first lesson.. Oh!" Lucy said slapping a hand to her forehead. She stopped in her tracks. Lisa looked at her with one eyebrow raised.

"What?" She asked. Lucy pulled her hand away and looked at Lisa with a frown.

"I am so dumb I forgot to lock the back door. Wait here." Lucy said and ran back to her house. Lisa sighed and rolled her eyes. She stood in the cold January air and looked up to the sky. Huge grey clouds filled it and Lisa sighed again because she knew it was going to rain. "England sucks," she said simply to herself. She felt her eye itch and rubbed it with her hand. She then drew back when she realised that she had smudged all her make up. "Damn!" She exclaimed and sighed heavily. It was getting colder. She pulled her dark coat closer to her and was tempted to get a cigarette out of her pocket.

Lisa shrugged the feeling away as she saw Lucy running up to meet her. Lisa laughed at her friend then they carried on their way to school.

Scully sat in front of the desk with a hand over her mouth. Mulder sat opposite her with his hands clasped together facing Scully from behind the desk. Scully glanced at Mulder then looked back into deep nothingness. Mulder took her lose hand. Scully sighed and took her other hand away from her face.

"Mulder?" She said with a questioning tone.

"Yeah," Mulder said quietly.

"Do you think I should find out more about this?" she asked him and met his eyes. Mulder tilted his head and sighed. He pursed his lips together and raised his eyebrows.

"Well, it's your decision Scully," Mulder said with a smile. Scully looked at him weakly and squeezed his hand. She sighed and let go of it.

"OK," she said. Just then the phone rang. Scully jumped. She sighed and leant back in her seat. Mulder answered it.

"Mulder," he said. It was Skinner. Mulder looked at Scully and she looked back. "Yes Sir, we'll be there right away," Mulder said. Scully frowned like she wanted to know what was happening. Mulder put down the phone.

"Was that Skinner?" Scully asked.

"We have to go see him now," he said standing up. Scully lifted herself out of her seat.

"But wait," she said. Mulder stopped. "What does he want?" she asked.

"The usual. He wants to tell us off or give us a new case. I have no idea which one," Mulder said. Scully nodded with a small smile and followed Mulder out the door.

"You will be going to England for this case." Skinner said. Mulder and Scully looked at each other with wide eyes. Skinner had just asked them if they were interested to work on a case about three un-human murders which the English police had been trying to solve for about a year. But just recently another murder had been performed and they had asked if any of the FBI would want to try to help them. Mulder and Scully were gob smacked.

"Let me just get this straight. England had actually asked us to help them with their murders?" Scully asked, astonished. Skinner nodded. "How did they know about us?" she asked him.

"They looked through the FBI and saw your work. They wanted to find out more and they think that you are the most capable agents to do the job." Skinner said. Scully and Mulder looked at each other again.

"That's nice of them," she said under her breath in a small whisper and sat back in her seat.

"Don't they have people like us in England?" Mulder asked.

"They do Mulder it's just that they're not available to do the job." Skinner said. "They were very impressed with your work Mulder."

"I'm very flattered," Mulder said with a smile. Scully looked at Skinner with amazement.

"So, when do we go?" she asked eagerly.

Skinner stamped a document.

"You leave tomorrow," he said.

"Tomorrow!" Scully said with surprise.

"We've got lots of accommodation booked for you and you'll be staying in London," he said.

Skinner looked at them seriously.

"You have to remember that this is strictly a business trip. People have died and it's your job to find out who's done it and how," he said. Scully felt her smile disappear. Mulder shrugged.

"Don't worry Sir, you won't need to worry about Scully's shopping bill," he said jokingly. Scully frowned at him, blushing heavily. Skinner raised an eyebrow.

"This is serious Agent Mulder. If you don't think you can be sensible enough to control yourself then I'll just have to give it to another pair of agents.." Skinner said holding the document up and teasing to rip it apart. Scully looked at it open with wide eyes.

"Sir , we're just a bit excited. We're sorry," she said eagerly. Scully settled down and pulled her jacket down nervously and cleared her throat. Skinner put the paper down slowly. Scully breathed out a sigh of relief. Mulder raised his eyebrows at Scully and hit a small laugh. She felt herself grin.

"Would you like to see one of the murders?" Skinner asked them and got out a photograph. Skinner handed Scully the picture. She grimaced at the image and handed it to Mulder.

"This man, Gregory Frent was found dead in his bathroom. As you can see his heart has been brought out of his body and up through his throat. You can now see that any human could not do something like that." Skinner said. Scully shifted in her seat and looked at the picture in Mulder's hands. Mulder stared at the picture trying to see through it to find an answer. He handed the picture back to Skinner and sat back again. Scully looked at Skinner.

"All right then. If you two come to my office tomorrow I'll give you the tickets and you can catch your flight in the afternoon. And remember, I don't know how long this will last so take a reasonable amount of luggage." Skinner said. Scully nodded and looked at Mulder again. "I'm very proud of you both having this kind of offer.' Skinner said standing up with them and smiling a little.

"Thank you Sir," Mulder said. Scully looked at him and they made their way out of the office.

Lisa sat at the back of her maths class bored to tears. Lucy and Elise sat next to her and they laughed at Miss Gren's skirt because she had chalk all over it.

The bell rang and they all stood up. Lisa, Lucy and Elise raced out the room and ran into the corridor. Lucy ran into the classroom and grabbed a CD player and a disc.

"Come on let's go," Lisa said and they went out of the school building and out the school gates onto a busy main road. They pressed the walk button on the traffic lights and crossed over. Elise ran to a block of flats and opened the door.

These were old flats and Elise, Lucy and Lisa always hung about there. The three girls ran up three flights of stairs and then went left into a small empty room that they used. The room had an old sofa and a small rug and two old pillows. Lisa took the CD player and plugged it in on the far wall. Lisa got a small hair tie from her pocket and tied half of her blond hair up in a small bun. She reached into her pocket and brought out a pack of cigarettes.

Lisa was a very pretty girl and had very pretty blue eyes. Her mother and father had always commented on them because she did actually look quite a lot like her foster mother, however her eyes were the only thing that showed that she really was different. Lisa knew that her eyes must have been the same as her real mothers. She didn't get on with them very well and since she had been young she had always been quite troublesome, but she didn't really see it that way herself. She just enjoyed life and took a lot of risks. Her friends were the same and she loved them like they were her own sisters. She'd known them for years.

Lisa made her way over to the sofa and lay down on it taking it all up. Lucy lay on the floor and rested on a pillow and Elise skipped songs on the player and came to the one that she wanted to listen to. The girls all agreed on the choice with approving shouts and Elise came over to the other pillow.

"You've taken the whole sofa bitch." Elise said joking to Lisa. Lisa laughed and lay on her back. She puffed out the cigarette smoke.

"I haven't smoked for a week, and now you're making me crazy." Lucy said to Lisa smelling the smoke. Lisa laughed and stuck her tongue out at her friend. "Lisa you know that you should be trying to stop too."

"Yeah right," Lisa said dismissively and took another puff from her cigarette and blew the smoke up into the air and watched it as it spread and slowly glided across the room.

"You have serious asthma, you need to stop smoking!" Lucy said. Lisa sighed.

"I know. But I don't want to, not yet," she said, then she coughed. Lucy shrugged. Elise laughed at her.

"One day we're going to come and see you in a hospital when you've nearly died.." Elise said. Lucy turned to her and frowned angrily, her green eyes flaring.

"Hey! Don't say that!" Lucy shouted to Elise. Elise opened her eyes wide at her.

"Ok ok! I'm sorry! But it's true!" She said defensively.

"Don't say that to her you'll freak her out!" Lucy said. Lisa let out a small laugh.

"Don't worry! I'm ok!" She said raising her hands up. Lucy and Elise looked at her. Lisa turned over onto her side and faced them. She dropped the finished cigarette end on the floor. "Listen, I know the risks. One day I'll stop. I swear," she said pointing to them. Lucy and Elise couldn't help smiling in disbelief. Lucy grabbed her pillow and threw it at Lisa. "Hey!"

"Yeah right!" Lucy said. Lisa frowned at her. Elise started to laugh.

"By the way Lucy, what's up with you and Tom?" Elise teased. Lucy turned to her slowly and forced an innocent face.

"Tom?" She asked as if she had never heard the name. Lisa laughed out loud and threw the pillow back at her and it hit her gently on the head. Lucy looked at her with a small smile. "What do you mean?"

"Oh come on! We saw you to the other night.. behind your house!" Elise said with a smirk. Lucy opened her eyes wide and touched her chest as if she was shocked.

"Me?"

"Shut up you loser," Lisa said and reached into her coat pocket. Lucy sighed.

"Well, we're sort of together but.. he's starting to piss me off."

"Why?" Elise asked. Lucy started to laugh.

"He.. well he says that.. he's scared of me!" She said, bursting with hysterics. Lisa turned to her and brought out a small bottle of liquor. She was laughing too.

"That is The most pathetic thing I've ever heard." Elise said. Lisa nodded in agreement.

"I know.. what a lame ass." Lucy said with a smile. She looked over to Lisa. "Lisa! You have drink!"

"No.. please you guys this is mine," she said defensively and held it tight in her hands. Lucy and Elise stood up. Elise was smoking now and she took a puff from it looking incredibly threatening with her short red hair and tall figure. Lisa looked at them and grimaced.

"You guys!" she shouted in defence but Lucy and Elise ran to her laughing and jumped on the sofa. "Hey!" Lisa shouted between laughs. They struggled for the drink, rolling around and kicking each other in fits of giggles, until it dropped from Lisa's hand onto the floor and Lucy grabbed it.

"Got it!" she shouted victoriously and opened it. She took one large gulp from it but Lisa grabbed her and threw her down.

The three collapsed in a heap in hysterics.

Mulder and Scully walked quietly past the secretary and Mulder kept looking at Scully with a small smile.

"Wow," she said softly. "We're going to go to England."

Mulder smiled at her and nodded.

"I know."

"Mulder you must be over the moon, this is really good that people are hearing about us," she said kindly. Mulder opened a door for her.

"Aren't you happy about it?" she asked him.

"It's so strange I've been so used to working on my own and now this happens," he said. Scully looked at him.

"Well, this is exciting. I've been here for way too long," she said desperately. Mulder nodded and they walked into the elevator. The other agents looked at them suspiciously.

"And also, very funny joke about my shopping bill!" She said hitting him playfully on the arm with a smirk. Mulder laughed.

"Well I'm sorry," he said, not meaning it. The elevator went down to the basement. The door opened and they stepped out.

"I'm not going to be shopping.. well.. may be," she said playfully. Mulder sighed.

"Oh my god. You're going to pull me around shops?" he asked with mock despair. Scully walked to the office and opened the door with a small laugh.

Scully settled down in her bed and turned off the light. Her mind started wandering to other things. Scully closed her eyes and suddenly she felt her heart skip a beat when she saw a bright light right before her eyes. Scully moved frantically in her bed and tried to open her eyes but she couldn't they were snapped shut. Scully felt her breathing get heavier and she suddenly saw herself lying down on a white table. Her face had a slight bruise on it and her eyes were closed. They suddenly opened and Scully jumped. Then as fast as lightning, she was looking up from the table. Scully realised that she was now on the table and she saw them again, the figures of the men, they had long thin heads and necks and they touched her with their fingers. Scully shivered and felt her eyes start to fill with tears. There was a distant sound of what sounded like a drill. Scully's heart skipped a beat and she tried to move, but she couldn't. She was too tired, too weak. She felt herself slowly being drifted into a deep, deep darkness.

Chapter Four

Mulder turned the TV and flicked through hopelessly finding nothing to watch. Reaching for his bowl of chips he heard a knock on the door. Mulder turned towards it.

He put the bowl on the coffee table and got up. Mulder walked towards the door nearly tripping over his small suitcase that was packed ready for the next day.

Mulder sighed and looked through the peek out in his door. It was a tall figure who Mulder really hated. His whole body went cold. This was not someone who he was going to let in easily.

This man was the cigarette smoking man or cancer man as Mulder and Scully call him. Mulder sighed and turned away from the door. He thought about he was going to act, then put the safety lock on the door so it only opened enough so that he could speak to the man. Mulder looked through and was immediately covered in a huge cloud of smoke. Mulder pulled back and coughed.

"Ever thought about exhaling away from a person's face?" Mulder said between coughs from behind the door. He turned towards the man again.

"I have come here to warn you Agent Mulder." The man said in a low raspy tone. Mulder looked into his eyes with great hatred and threat.

"Warn me about what?" Mulder said. Cancer man sighed.

"Let me in Agent Mulder," he said.

"No way," Mulder said quickly. "I'm not going to let you into my home!"

"I come here as a friend Mulder, can't you see?" Cancer man said raising his voice. He seemed tense.

"What's your problem?" Mulder said with an exasperated tone. There was a silence as the two men looked at each other with threat.

"I have no problem, it is you who will have the problem if you do not listen to my advice," he said. "Do not go to England Agent Mulder."

There was a silence between the two men. Mulder's heart pounded in his chest at great speed. He really didn't trust this man and he never would.

"Shut up. I don't care what you say..." Mulder started.

"You will put others in danger Agent Mulder." Cancer man interrupted. He pulled another cigarette out of his packet. Mulder hit the door with rage.

"What the hell are you talking about!" he shouted. "I'm not going listen to your crap!"

"You will put yourself in danger, you and Agent Scully." Cancer man said. Mulder stopped his feeling of rage suddenly. He slowly turned his face to cancer man again. Cancer man nodded.

"It's your choice Agent Mulder, but while people who you don't know die in England, people who you know well will be in danger or even die here in this country. Choose your own direction. I have come here to warn you, not make you." Cancer man said.

"I suppose that you're behind all this," Mulder said, fuming.

"What makes you think that?"

"Why the hell are you warning me?" Mulder said, his voice wavering with anger. The smoking man didn't answer and turned. He puffed out a cloud of smoke and walked down the corridor. He stopped.

"Oh and, another thing Mulder; if anyone stops you when you are travelling, stay far away from them. They are following you and want to do you and Scully harm," he said.

"WHY?" He shouted. The smoking man didn't answer, then walked away. Mulder stared at the spot he had just stood. Mulder saw the old man walk towards the lift.

"Hey!" Mulder shouted. Cancer man walked into the lift. The doors closed.

Mulder frowned then kicked his door shut with anger. He walked to the kitchen and poured himself a large beer.

Lisa woke early that morning. She was at Elise's house. She lay down on a load of cushions on the floor. Lisa smiled to herself thinking how much fun she'd had the night before. She looked at her mobile and saw that her foster parents had called her. Lisa sighed and threw the phone away.

Lisa turned to where Elise was sleeping. Lisa looked at her watch. It was seven o'clock. They would have to get up soon to get to school anyway; she didn't want to go. Lisa got out of bed and went into the bathroom. As she rose Elise woke up and turned over in her bed. Lisa turned to her friend and smiled.

"Hey sleepy head," she said with a smirk. Elise groaned.

"What time is it?"

"Seven. Come on, get up," Lisa said walking over to the bed and pushing Elise. Elise struggled and sat up.

"Do we have to go to school? My parents aren't here today, they've gone off to a hotel somewhere."

Lisa stared at her with interest. "You're serious?" Elise nodded and ran a hand through her hair. Lisa sat on the end of her bed.

"Well, why are they there? They left you here? How long for?"

"I think they're coming back tonight." Elise said looking at Lisa. "What are you thinking?"

"Well, we can have a party?" Lisa said, getting excited. Elise groaned.

"No way," she said. Lisa frowned.

"Oh come on!"

"No Lisa, come on let's go to school." Elise said, and got out of bed. Lisa looked at her friend with frustration.

"Ok, so may be that is a bit much to ask," she said slowly. Elise turned to her and nodded.

"We might as well start studying for our exams. Or we'll be screwed for the rest of our lives," she said simply. Lisa tipped her head to one side and smiled a little.

"Yeah I think you have a point," she said, then laughed. Elise laughed a little and made her way to the bathroom. "I was going to go there first then you woke up, now you get there before me," Lisa said sighing. Elise smiled.

"Too right," she said and went into the bathroom. Lisa laughed and shook her head in disbelief at her friend. She looked outside.

Rain again.

"Where could he be?" Scully asked Skinner that morning. She was standing in his office on her own ready to get her tickets with Mulder. Her tickets lay down on the office table and although it was very tempting, she was not going to pick them up until Mulder was in the room with her. She jumped when her phone rang.

"Mulder?" She said automatically.

"What?" Said the voice on the other end. Scully sighed. It was her mother.

"Oh. Hi Mom," she said sadly. Scully leant against the table.

"Are you all right Dana?" Her mother said on the other end sensing her daughter's sadness.

"Yeah I'm fine I'm just waiting for Mulder to come. We're going to England for work Mom; I was going to tell you soon," Scully said.

"England?" Mrs. Scully said. Suddenly the door opened and there stood Mulder, looking tired and slightly sad. Scully smiled and said good-bye to her mother and put down the phone.

"Sorry I'm late." Mulder mumbled. Scully frowned a little seeing that he was not as happy as she had liked. She moved towards him with concern.

"What's wrong Mulder?" she asked him. She saw how tired his eyes were.

"Nothing. I just got stuck in some um... traffic," Mulder said awkwardly. Scully nodded.

"Oh," she said and looked away from him though she knew she wanted to ask him what was really wrong, she knew he wasn't himself. They both faced Skinner.

"Right now you're here Agent Mulder I can give you both your tickets. Here is yours Scully and Mulder these are yours," he said passing the tickets to the agents. Mulder reluctantly took the ticket and Scully looked at him in surprise. What was the matter with him?

"You're flight's at one thirty pm. Remember Agents, you're not there on a damn tourist trip, you're there to do work. Now you can go and have a safe trip. Phone me when you get there. I will be in contact with both of you when you are over there. Now please excuse me, I have other things to do." Skinner said and got up from his chair and walked out the office.

Scully immediately turned to Mulder. He was looking at the floor. She walked towards him and put a hand on his arm.

"Mulder? What's wrong?" she asked him. Mulder raised his head a little. "You're not ill are you?" she asked. Mulder pushed her hand away and walked away from her to the window. Scully frowned in surprise and hurt. "Mulder!" She exclaimed. Mulder sighed.

"I'm sorry Scully. I'm just not feeling myself today, that's all..." he said and then turned away from the windows to look at her. Scully could see that his normal bright and handsome face was now looking sad and weak. She walked towards him again and faced him. They both stood in front of the window.

"Do you not want to go?" Scully asked him. Mulder let out a small laugh and shook his head.

"Well you see that's just the problem. I do want to go but... I can't," he said. She stood behind him.

"Why are you upset? Why can't you go Mulder? What's stopping you?" She asked all at once, desperate to know what was wrong.

"There's not point worrying you," Mulder said looking at her for the first time. Scully smiled a little.

"Mulder I won't get worried," she said and felt his forehead. "You're hot."

"Didn't get much sleep," he said. Scully saw the evident bags under his eyes.

"What happened last night?" she asked. Mulder sighed.

"Cancer man talked to me last night," he said with a regretful tone. Scully frowned and suddenly backed away from him.

"You called him?" she asked with an unbelieving tone.

"No. He came to me.. the bastard," Mulder said. Scully eased a little and took a step towards Mulder.

"He didn't hurt you?" she asked looking at his slouched body.

"No. He warned me about something," he said. "It's been bothering me all night. He said that if I went to England people whom I knew would be in great danger and I wouldn't be here to help them. Then he said that if I stayed here people would die of more murders in England. He gave me a choice, to stay here or to go to England," Mulder said. He rubbed his face as he talked. "It's probably a load of crap."

"And what did you chose?" Scully asked quietly. Mulder looked at her.

"To not trust him and come here," he said. Scully nodded.

"Well, if that's what you want Mulder..." She started. Mulder interrupted her.

"He said that you'd be in danger too. Along with me we would both be putting ourselves into danger going to England," he said. Scully frowned with anger.

"Mulder, don't tell me that you believe him?" she asked shrugging it off. Mulder looked confused. "Now stop worrying, let's just go to England. He's just trying to stop us finding something," she said. Mulder found it hard to believe but the confident look in Scully's eyes told him to think otherwise.

"Let's go get ready and you can get a little sleep before we leave." Mulder stared at her in surprise. "Besides, I bet you got more sleep than me," Scully said changing her tone a little. Mulder frowned and looked at her.

"Why?"

"Nothing really," she said shrugging it off.

"Scully it wasn't about the..." Mulder started. Scully put a hand up to his face to stop him.

"Just, forget it. I don't want to talk about it right now," she said and they both walked out of Skinner's office.

"Lisa? Would you like to pay attention to my class please?"

Lisa gasped and lifted her head from her desk. She was so tired and looked around the classroom and saw people laughing at her. She frowned at them threateningly and they stopped. She gathered herself together.

"I.. er sorry Sir," she said and pulled her sunglasses away from her eyes.

"Why are you wearing those glasses in my class Lisa? Please take them off. Can't you see it's raining?" The teacher said.

"I want to wear them," she said forcefully. Elise looked across at her in surprise. Lucy laughed.

"Well, I think you look great but you don't need them on in here."

Lisa sighed and pulled the glasses off her head. Lucy reached over and nudged her on the back. Lisa turned to look at her and laughed with her.

"Now, that's better. You'd better stay like that, if you want to sleep please go and do it in the medical centre not in my classroom." The teacher said. Lisa nodded.

"Sorry Sir," she said with a forced smile. Elise shook her head and laughed. Lisa slouched in her seat. The teacher started to explain about Hamlet and Ophelia's relationship and Lisa's eyes threatened to fall again. The teacher turned round again.

"Lisa!" He shouted. She opened her eyes and looked at him. "This is the last term of your school life and these exams are very important!"

Lisa sighed and rubbed her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said again. The teacher nodded and turned back to the board.

Luckily, about five minutes later the bell rung and Lisa got up. Elise and Lucy looked at her and laughed. People came out of the classroom and laughed with her, apart from a few girls who glared at her. Lisa made a face at them.

"My god I was nearly falling asleep too." Lucy said, her dark hair was tied up high on her head. Elise grabbed Lisa's arm and they moved down the corridor. Suddenly there was a huge scream from the top classrooms.

Lisa, Lucy and Elise stopped dead in their tracks.

Chapter Five

Mulder walked behind Scully towards the staircase. Suddenly she stopped and Mulder nearly bumped into her. He stood behind her in surprise. She stood without movement.

"Scully what's wrong?" Mulder said. But Scully didn't answer. Mulder walked out from behind her and faced her. Her eyes were open but she didn't seem to be all there. "Scully?" Mulder said with worry. Suddenly the whole FBI corridor was silenced by Scully's huge scream of fright. Scully fell backwards and before Mulder could catch her she fell on the floor hitting her head hard. Mulder fell to his knees and put his hands on her.

"Scully? Scully wake up, can you hear me?" he asked her shakily. He slowly lifted his head and saw all the agents staring at him. "What are you all staring at? Get some help!" he shouted. Suddenly they all moved and bustled about into other rooms and some came to help Mulder get Scully into an office onto a chair. Agent Falls came to the door. Mulder looked at him and urged him to come in. Someone went to get some water for Scully.

"What's happened Mulder? Is Dana OK?" Falls said looking up at her. Mulder touched her forehead and stroked it.

"I'm not sure," Mulder said. A medical agent came to the office door and came towards Scully.

"Did she fall on her head?" The agent asked Mulder. He nodded. The agent took Scully's head and gently pushed it forward. He checked it. "She's all right."

But that wasn't all Scully was going to do. Suddenly she jolted forward and nearly fell out of her seat. Mulder held her and she shook violently. The medical agent tried to hold her still. "I think she may be having a fit." The agent said concerned.

"NO! It's not a fit, she's.. she's dreaming," Mulder said realising that it sounded unbelievable. The agent looked at him suspiciously. "Seriously," Mulder said seeing the unbelieving look in the agent's eyes.

The whole corridor froze. Lisa felt thrill run through her blood. Lucy turned to her.

"What the.."

A teacher came running out of the classroom and she ran past the girls and down the corridor. Lisa looked at her and almost laughed. Elise turned to see the teacher run out of the building, her hands by her head.

"Woah!" Elise said and turned towards her friends. Lisa started to laugh.

"Mrs Gren had a fright!" She said. Lucy smirked. The whole corridor started to ease up and some laughed. Lucy turned to see Tom with some of his friends down the hall. He caught her eyes, but then looked away.

The loudspeakers suddenly crackled on the walls. Everyone in the corridors turned to them.

"All students in the hall please move into the classrooms or outside immediately." The headmaster said. Lisa looked at her friends in surprise.

"Something must have happened," she said in a whisper. They nodded. People started to leave the corridor and go outside. Lisa took a few steps forward and stared at the classroom Mrs Gren had run out of. Lucy stared in wonder also. Elise grabbed her arm and pulled her away.

"Come on," she said to Lisa, taking her away. Lucy nodded and followed them.

Scully continued to shake for about four minutes. She suddenly stopped and lay exhausted in the chair. Mulder picked her up and laid her flat on the floor. Her eyes were still closed and Mulder brushed away a piece of her hair from her eyes. The medical agent felt her pulse and said that it was high.

"I'll be outside, tell me if she starts again but I think she'll wake up in a minute." The medical agent said to Mulder while leaving.

The door closed and Mulder looked down at Scully. He lifted her head up and rested it on his leg.

"Scully?" He said softly. Scully moved a little. Mulder looked at her in surprise.

"Scully?" He hoped she could hear him. She didn't move. Mulder was worried about what she was seeing.

Scully murmured in pain and weakness. She slowly felt her eyes start to open. She didn't want to see those men again, she was afraid that they would hurt her again, not again. She looked up and saw..

"Mulder?" She breathed weakly. Her head panged with pain. Scully felt like she was going to faint again. She felt him squeeze her hand. Tears of relief and pain filled her eyes and ran down her cheek. She tried to move but it was too much effort. She saw how concerned and friendly Mulder was and felt safe.

"You all right?" Scully heard Mulder say softly.

"I.. I think so," she said weakly. Mulder stroked her face gently. "My head hurts," Scully said grimacing in pain. Mulder nodded.

"You hit it when you fell," he said. Scully caught her breath and closed her eyes. She felt so dazed.

"Why is this happening to me Mulder? Why me?" she asked him. Mulder shook his head.

"I don't know. I was hoping you'd be able to tell me at some point," he said holding her. The door opened and light poured into the room. Scully flinched away from it.

"Is she all right?" asked a voice Scully didn't recognise. It was the medical agent. He came towards them and knelt down next to Scully. Scully looked up at him with slight fear.

"Who.. who are you?" she asked weakly. Mulder put a hand on her face gently.

"This is the medical agent don't worry," Mulder said softly. The agent took her pulse and looked at her head.

"You'll be all right Agent Scully. Just get some sleep and don't walk around too much or run with that head, you'll get a hell of a headache," he said with a smile. Scully nodded and Mulder said thank you. He walked out.

"Do you want to get up?" Mulder asked her. Scully nodded.

"Ok. But you have to help me," she said. Mulder took her arms and pulled her up slowly and sat her on the chair. Scully looked sadly at the floor.

"So, what was all that about?" Mulder asked her. Scully shook her head.

"I saw them again, I always do. Last night I had a horrible dream about it. It's nearly every time I close my eyes," she said fighting back tears. Mulder nodded and pulled her close to him. Scully sighed and hugged him tightly.

The Smoking man walked into the coffee shop and ordered. He drew out another cigarette and was stopped by the assistant. The young boy pointed to the no-smoking sign on the door and the smoking man put it down slowly and smiled politely. He took his coffee and sat next to a window. Seconds later a man in a long coat came to sit next to him. The man was young and had a stern face. For a moment the two men looked around them with curiosity. The young man lowered his voice.

"Sir, I hope you have a good reason for me being here. I thought the plan was already well underway." The man said with frustration.

"I have seen Agent Mulder." The smoking man said with his usual low voice.

"What did he say?" The young man answered.

"He didn't give me an answer. But I believe that he is going to leave and go to England." The smoking man said itching for a cigarette, the look of desperation on his face. The young man smiled.

"Good. Then we've got him and Scully out of the way."

Chapter six

Lisa, Lucy and Elise waited with the other students for someone to come outside and tell them what was going on. Tom came over to them and smiled shyly at Lucy. He was very good looking with a good dress sense, but he was scared.

"Hi Lucy," he said quietly. Lucy smiled.

"Hi. What do you think is going on?"

"I.. I don't know. You look really good today. I really like your.." he looked her over, "t-shirt," he said shyly. Lucy blushed and Lisa and Elise laughed. Tom looked hurt.

"Thank you," she said slowly and turned away. Lisa laughed into her hand. Lucy looked at her with a sideways glance and opened her eyes wide. Tom looked at them for a while, and waited to see if they would talk to him, but they didn't and he walked away sadly.

Lucy turned around to see him go.

"I feel awful," she said suddenly. Lisa sighed.

"Come on Lucy you don't want some guy like that. You could have anyone who is a bad ass just like you are," she said with a laugh. Lucy smiled.

"Very funny," she said. Elise sighed and looked up to the sky.

"It's going to rain!" She exclaimed holding her coat close to her and shivering. Lisa took out a cigarette from her pocket.

"Lisa.. Mr Kent is coming.." Lucy said quietly to her. She put the cigarette back in her coat quickly.

The students watched the teacher come towards them and their constant chatter died down quickly. He stood up and gave them a small smile.

"Mrs Gren saw something which frightened her very much and caused her to panic. She is with the police.." People started to whisper. Lisa looked at Lucy. The teacher faltered a little as they spoke over him. He clapped his hands. "She is with the police and they are searching the school to see if there is any more problems," he said. The pupils all stared at him. He smiled at them slowly. "Don't worry, you all have the afternoon off," he said. There was a huge cry of happiness. The students jumped up and down. Lisa cried out and hugged Lucy. She got out her cigarette and lit it up. Elise raised her arms in the air and danced around.

"Where are we going to go girls?" Lucy asked as they started walking out of the school grounds. Lisa stopped and frowned. She felt the urge to go back and explore.

"I think I'm going to look around the school."

"What? Lisa you'll get caught by the police!" Elise said but Lucy was smiling, thinking that it was a great idea.

"I'm coming with you," she said. Lisa smiled at her friend.

"Guys!" Elise exclaimed. The two ignored her and went off to the building. With no where else to go and no one to talk with, Elise followed them regretfully.

The night was dismal and grey. Rain poured down over St Alban's school and over the rough area around it. The old flats looked eerie in the darkness and they looked too higher than usual. The rain coming down hit the school sign hard and then turned into hail. A scream was heard from the streets. Down below the roaring skies a man dressed in a long dark coat ran across the road carrying a brown sack. He went into the old block of flats and disappeared out of sight.

Inside the flats another scream was heard from the higher floors. The man ran towards the scream and as he ran his pocket glistened with a look of metal and a glimpse of a gun was seen.

The man ran two stories up and passed some occupied flats though not many people lived there now, the place should have been knocked down weeks ago. The constant rage of the pouring hail on the roof echoed through the tall flat buildings. There were only a few small lights, which only just illuminated the corridors and staircases. Some lights flickered on and off.

The man ran towards a door at the end of one corridor and brought out his gun. He threw down the sack he was carrying and smashed the door open with his feet.

On the floor in the middle of the room was a pile of clothes. He slowly edged round the corner and saw a bed and on the bed were two people. A young girl screaming and struggling stripped down to her t-shirt and underwear. The man's first reaction was that the girl was being raped but looking closer he saw a strange man-like creature reaching over the bed to the girl's neck. The man shook with fear, what was that creature? He lifted his gun.

"Get off the girl," he said shakily. The creature suddenly turned at the sound of the man's voice. The man took a step back in disgust.

The creature's face was not human. It looked like a disgusting lizard that had huge teeth like a lion. It roared and turned towards the man. It jumped off the bed and moved towards the man. He stepped back and fired his gun madly at the creature then dropped it in surprise. The creature growled and its leg lost its balance. Slowly the creature bent over to lick the wound. Green liquid that could only be blood gushed out from its leg. The creature turned towards the man again with a great look of anger. With one giant leap it jumped towards the man and pinned him down and started to rip out his spine. The girl on the bed screamed into the cold night..

Scully woke up to the sound of her alarm clock. It was one in the afternoon.

She had to be at the airport in an hour's time. Mulder had kindly said he would pink her up at around half past one. She had needed to rest for a while after what had happened that morning. She realised that she hadn't had a bad dream when she had just slept. Feeling a little happier Scully got out of bed and went to the shower, thankful that she would be leaving the country.

The plane pulled up to the terminal and Scully and Mulder sat waiting on the seats. "Is that the plane?" Scully asked leaning forward to watch the plane come in. They sat in a private room away from the civilians.

"Yep, I think so. Are you feeling up to this?" Mulder asked Scully putting a friendly hand on her shoulder.

"Of course I am Mulder," she said with a weak smile. Mulder nodded.

"Good, just as long as you're sure," he said. There was a short silence between the two friends. Scully pushed her hair away from her face and checked her bag for something.

"What do you think we're going to find out there Scully?" Mulder asked her. Scully shrugged.

"I don't know."

"I hope it's something big," Mulder said simply. Scully stared at him then shrugged.

"Probably," she said. Then over the loudspeakers a woman with a droning electronic voice called for them to board the plane. "That's us Scully," Mulder said standing up and picking up his bag. Scully put her small handbag over her shoulder and they walked to the gate.

"Afternoon Sir." Said the woman at the gate. She took Mulder's passport and looked him up and down with a small smile. Scully moved to talk in his ear with a cheeky smile.

"I think she likes you," Scully said with a whisper. The woman must have overheard and gave Scully a sharp look. Mulder looked back to Scully and she shrugged. Mulder shook his head at her and sighed. He walked off to the plane.

"And your passport now please Miss." The woman said with a lot less enthusiasm than with Mulder. Scully cleared her throat and handed the passport to her. The woman looked at it with suspicion. Scully looked confused.

"Is there a problem?" she asked the woman. The woman stared at her with bitter seriousness.

"Are you Agent Dana Scully with the FBI Ma'am?" The woman said with a frown. Scully looked around her with unease.

"Yes." Scully said unbelievingly. "Is there something wrong?" she asked. The woman came out from behind the counter.

"Wait here ma'am. I'll be back in a minute," she said. Scully frowned in surprise and turned towards the woman walking away.

"What.. wait a minute!" Scully said after her. Giving up she lifted her hands up in defeat and sighed. Scully turned towards the companionway to the aircraft. Mulder was coming back up it. He looked confused.

"They accusing you of not being who you say you are?" Mulder asked with a small joking smile. Scully sighed.

"I don't know Mulder she said that she'd be back in a minute, I don't know what the hell is wrong with her. Or me in this case." Scully asked exasperated. Mulder frowned with suspicion.

"Did she ask you anything?"

"She asked me who I was," Scully said nervously. Mulder nodded and thought back to the conversation he'd had with the smoking man. Scully looked at him with confusion. "Mulder? What are you thinking?"

In front of them two men and the woman who had been at the gate started coming towards them. Mulder stared in growing fright as he remembered what he had been told.

"Oh and, another thing Mulder, if anyone stops you when you are travelling, stay far away from them. They are following you and want to do you and Scully harm."

The smoking man's voice rang round in Mulder's head.

"Gad dammit what are they doing? Are they bringing security now?" Scully asked crossly, but her words just drowned away as Mulder concentrated on the men advancing towards them. He told himself he would wait until he heard what they had to say.

They stepped in front of the two agents. Mulder saw their earpieces and flinched. They weren't working alone.

"Agent Scully and.. Agent Mulder?" One man said with a frown. Mulder stood and said nothing. He squeezed Scully's arm as if to warn her.

"What..?" Scully said quietly then decided not to dwell on it and kept quiet suddenly at some unease.

"Could you please come aside with us? We need to talk to you about something." The other man said.

He wore a beard and one eyebrow was pierced. Mulder couldn't give them any credit on their fashion sense.

"If it's anything you need to talk about we'd prefer you to talk about it here because we're going to be late for our plane," Mulder said without a smile. Scully looked at him through the corner of her eye with confusion.

"I'm sorry Sir but we really need to talk to you in private." The man said. Mulder sighed.

"Listen. We have a plane to catch and if it's really that important why did you wait for Scully to get on the plane. This lady let me get on the plane. Why can't we get on it now?" Mulder asked. The men stood still and stared. They looked at each other and one then put a hand onto his coat.

Scully took a small step back towards Mulder and she felt his hold on her arm tighten.

"Now listen to me Agents. I have a gun pointing at you and if you don't listen to what I say, I'll have no option but to put its bullets right through each of your skulls." The man with the beard said advancing on them. Mulder stared at the gun underneath his coat. He realised how silent this all was, everyone around them was totally oblivious to what was happening. Over the loud speakers the electronic voice came booming down.

"Last call for passengers Dana Scully and Fox Mulder on the 145 flight to London Heathrow, please go to gate 45 as soon as possible."

The five stared at each other. The man with the beard put his gun down.

"You'd better stay here with Nancy here until we come back. Come on," he said, pulling the other man away and walking away from the gate.

Mulder squeezed Scully's arm and watched the woman go back to her post and let some last passengers onto the plane next to them. Scully turned her head slightly to Mulder's face so she could hear what he was about to say.

"Scully, we're going to run into the plane," Mulder said simply.

"Mulder we can't do that!" She said in a whisper.

"Yes we can Scully," he said forcefully. Scully winced but nodded and agreed with him before he got restless and angry. "Now on the count of three. One, two, three!"

They turned and ran into the closing gate and towards the plane. From behind them they heard the woman shouting.

"HEY! YOU THERE! Stop!" she shouted and came running towards them. Mulder and Scully got on the plane and the hostess immediately closed the door. Panting out of breath Scully leant against a chair. The hostess smiled at them.

"You just made it. Good luck that you ran!" She said cheerfully. Mulder sighed looked at Scully with open eyes. She let out a small relieved laugh. They walked towards their seat and sat down with a sigh of relief. It was a small plane with only a few seats and Mulder and Scully seemed to be the only ones on it.

"What the hell is going on Mulder?" Scully asked with a desperate tone. Mulder sighed.

"It's the smoking man," Mulder said. Scully rolled her eyes and threw herself back in her seat. This was unbelievable.

"What do you mean Mulder?"

"He said that people would follow us over to England. He said that whoever they were they wanted to harm us because," Mulder said. Scully turned to him.

"Because what Mulder?" she asked.

"He didn't say. May be they want something from us," Mulder said

"What could they want? We're not carrying anything important," she said.

"I know. May be they're part of the military, those bastards, trying to get some old information from us," Mulder said. Scully frowned in wonder.

"I don't know Mulder, but whoever it was we'd better watch our backs in England," she said. Mulder nodded as the hostess came up to them and told them to fasten their seatbelts.

CHAPTER SEVEN

The corridors were full of bustling students. Lisa walked up to her locker and got out her books and bag. Yesterday they hadn't seen anything but it had been really interesting going back and looking around. They'd nearly got caught by the police but they'd got away quickly. She lowered her head and rummaged around in her bag for her eyeliner and then banged her locker open to see the small mirror she had inside it. She started to put it on when a boy from her year saw her.

"Lisa! How are you?" he asked with a smile coming towards her. Lisa turned in shock and smudged her make up. She cursed and sighed in frustration and glared at him.

"I'm all right thanks," she said sarcastically with a snarl. The boy shifted on his feet and stared at her eyes.

"Wow, you look.. sorry," he said starting to laugh. Lisa stared at him in confusion then opened her mouth wide in hurt and looked into the mirror. She realised that she had a long black line near her cheek. She slammed her locker shut in frustration and glared at him.

"You do realise that was your fault," she said angrily. He stopped laughing slowly.

"I'm sorry," he said with a small smile. Lisa was fuming. "By the way, you really think that you're something don't you."

"What?" She exclaimed. She didn't even know this guy. He leant against the locker, his t-shirt riding up and showing a little of his tanned stomach. Lisa looked at it and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I've seen you around looking all tough and stuff, but I don't think that you are," he said and looked into her eyes. Lisa's heard pounded loudly. She was furious to find herself blushing.

"Really, well I can't say much for you," she said frowning and started to walk away. The boy grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Wait, I was wondering if you'd like to, you know, come out for dinner with me?" he asked with a handsome smile. Lisa looked at his blues eyes and his brown hair. He was very good looking, but in an annoying way. She pouted at him and let out a small laugh.

"You're kidding right? After you just laughed at my make up?" she asked. The boy didn't flounder and laughed too.

"No," he said. There was a silence as they stared at each other. Lisa started to loose confidence.

"You're new here aren't you," she said. He nodded.

"Yes."

"Well, I'll see you in the classroom, not in a restaurant," she said scathingly. The boy's smile dropped and she turned sharply and stormed off into the classroom. He stood and watched her leave with a small smile. He shook his head in disbelief.

Lisa entered the classroom and saw Lucy and Elise sitting by the window "Have you heard about the murder last night?" Lucy asked. Lisa's smile dropped.

"No. What happened?" Lisa asked. Elise looked seriously at Lisa.

"A man was murdered in the block of flats across the road," she said. Lucy let out a nervous laugh.

"It is so weird." Lucy said.

"Was it anyone.. we know?" Lisa asked awkwardly.

"No." Elise said grimacing. "It's just the way he was murdered."

"What about it?" Lisa asked. Lucy looked at her and raised her eyebrows.

"Well, they're saying that the man had his spine taken out. Ripped out even, then he was eaten." Elise said with a horrible face. Lisa's eyes opened wide.

"Really?" She asked astonished. Elise nodded. "Can we go and see what's going on?"

"You want to go and see somewhere where a man was eaten?" Elise said incredulously. "Those are our flats as well! We can't go there anymore!"

"Yes I want to go and find out. It's pretty cool really, don't you think?" Lisa said with a growing smile. Lucy laughed.

"Let's just go to English." Elise said unbelievingly.

"We can go see it at break." Lucy whispered to her friends. "Then you'll see how weird it all is."

The plane had flown for about four hours.

"How much longer is it Scully?" Mulder asked with half closed eyes. Scully smiled at him being so lazy.

"About ten more hours," she said with a cheeky smile. Mulder's eyes flashed open.

"Ten hours?!" He asked leaping up from his lying position in his seat. Scully smiled.

"Oh yeah," she said casually. Mulder stared at her in disbelief.

"You're lying to me Scully," he said smiling a little. Scully let out a small laugh.

"I am not," she said putting her seat back and smiling. She closed her eyes and faced the window.

"Excuse me Miss," Mulder said to a hostess. "How long do we have left of this flight?" Scully's eyes widened.

"We have about three hours left sir." The made up blonde woman said cheerfully. Mulder said his thanks then turned towards Scully again. Scully got up from her seat and sat properly facing the front pretending she hadn't heard. Mulder stared.

"Scully," he said. "Scully?" he asked louder. She turned to face him with a small smile.

"Yes Mulder?" she asked innocently.

"Scully, we've got three more hours left of the flight," Mulder said simply. Scully looked at him.

"I know," she said simply and Mulder started to say something but stopped.

"But.." He started then gave up with a sigh. Scully laughed a little and smiled then went back to face the window. Mulder sighed in annoyance. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

The plane touched down three hours later on schedule and Mulder and Scully arrived at London Heathrow. They stepped out of the small plane and collected their bags from under the plane. A car pulled up by the plane and a man in blue police uniform stepped out. Scully and Mulder looked at each other then walked towards the man.

"Good morning Agents." The man said in an English accent. "My name is Officer Grey and you are Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully am I correct?" The man asked politely.

"Yes thank you Sir," Scully said shaking his hand. Mulder shook it after.

"I hope you had a good flight. You can't be too sure with weather like last night it's quite windy this morning," he said with a smile. Mulder and Scully laughed politely.

"Sorry Sir but we haven't really been given much information about what we are doing here," Mulder said. Officer Grey nodded.

"Ah. Well you see that is because it is very secret. Please, I'll take you to the headquarters and then we'll tell you all about it. I've been told to collect you from the airport," he said.

"Thank you," Scully said with a smile. They both put their bags in the boot of the car. "Don't you think he would have a police car Mulder?"

"May be he's a stylish policeman," Mulder said and Scully rolled her eyes at him. Mulder got into the front and Scully settled for the back. Officer Grey started the car.

"So where exactly is the headquarters? Is it far from the airport or what?" Scully said from the back seat.

"Oh it's not that far. We should be there in about twenty minutes," he said. Scully smiled and smiled.

"What do you think of England so far Scully?" Mulder asked her.

"I haven't seen much yet Mulder!"

CHAPTER EIGHT

The car sped down the road fast. Mulder was starting to fall asleep when the car jolted forward and he was thrown forward in his seat. Scully shouted from the back.

"Couldn't you drive a little slower?" Mulder asked the Officer who had been ignoring them for at least ten minutes now. The man just ignored Mulder again and stared into the windscreen. "Look, I don't know what your problem is but you said that this journey would take about twenty minutes and if I am correct, I think it's gone well past half an hour," Mulder said. The man turned to him and frowned then looked back again. Mulder felt a pressure on his arm from behind and he slowly turned his head to the back seat to face Scully.

She looked at him with deeply serious wide eyes. She shook her head slowly. Mulder slowly turned back to the front of the car.

"Hey, are we still in London cause we seemed to have lost the buildings a bit don't you think?" Mulder said as casually as he could and reached for his gun slowly in his pocket. He brought it out under his coat and turned it towards the man. "Who the hell are you?" Mulder said threateningly. The man turned and his eyes opened wide with shock. "Stop the car," Mulder said slowly and the man shook his head and carried on driving. Mulder tilted his head, this idiot wasn't listening properly. "I said stop the car," Mulder said again. The man looked at the gun. Mulder worried for a second and wondered if the man knew what an unloaded gun looked like.

"That's not loaded Mr Mulder." The man said. There was movement in the back but Mulder didn't have time to see what Scully was doing.

"You really think so huh?" Mulder said with wild eyes.

"Yes. I do." The man said and with one strong movement he quickly swerved the car aside off the road.

Mulder was flung against the window and Scully fell sideways. She let out a small shriek and glanced at Mulder. He was hurt but he was still moving maybe he had hit his head on the window.

But she hadn't given up. With one movement towards the front Scully took out her gun and hit the man over the head with it. The fake Officer fell forward onto the steering wheel dazed and confused. The car swerved along the road and the horn honked loudly. In reaction to the noise the man jumped back in fright. Scully aimed her gun furiously.

"Now listen to me! You are going to stop this car and drive to the side of the road do you hear me?" she asked loudly. The man didn't reply and scrambled for the steering wheel. "DO YOU HEAR ME?" Scully screamed. The man was shaking and he nodded nervously. Scully sighed. "Good. Now, I don't know who the hell you are but you'd better have a damn good explanation at the police station," Scully said threateningly. The man snarled.

"You stupid bitch," he said.

"HEY!" Scully shouted as the car swerved to the side again violently throwing her sideways. This time her hands went flying and she banged her wrist on the car door. She murmured in pain clutching her wrist. Keeping a firm grip on her gun she painfully heard Mulder hit the window again and quickly looked at him. This time he wasn't moving, he'd been knocked out. Scully filled with rage and concern.

Chapter Nine

"OK. That is it you bastard!" Scully shouted and forced the gun to the man's head. "Why do you work for?"

"Why does it matter?" the man said.

"WHO!" Scully shouted pushing the gun into his head further.

"CGB Spender." The man said quietly. Scully shook her head with disbelief.

"I knew it," she said. "Friends with the smoking man are you?"

"May be," he said. Scully sighed and wanted to hit the man round the head. "Now, I'm a little mad with you. And when I hold a gun, I go crazy. I am warning you, if you do not stop this car I will SHOOT you in the head!" Scully shouted. The man sighed and finally gave up. He slowed the car and pulled over sharply to the side. Scully sighed in relief.

"You are one crazy bitch Agent Scully.." The man said harshly. Scully stopped him.

"Shut UP! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT! Now when I've got out the car, you are going to get out too. You hear me?" Scully screamed. She had had just about enough of this jerk. She slowly got out the car trying to keep the gun aimed at the man. She lost the aim for a minute as she closed the door but quickly got it back again as soon as the door was closed.

"Now get out, with your hands up. GET OUT!" she shouted. The man sighed and climbed out of the car. "Close the door," Scully said. He looked at her like she was mad. "CLOSE THE DOOR!" She repeated forcefully. The man shrugged and closed the door. "Now turn around the face the car. Keep your hands up and put your hands against the door," she said keeping the gun in a comfortable aim. The man obeyed her. Scully took out her handcuffs quickly and with great relief she opened the back door of the car and told the man to get in again. He moved to the back and got in.

"Now, hold still," Scully said with no emotion whatsoever. She put one of his hands in the handcuffs and then attached the other one to a handle on the door. "There. Now you'd better STAY THERE," She said pointing the gun again, "And shut up until I have sorted out my partner," Scully said and slammed the door in his face. Scully put the gun into her pocket and ran round as quick as she could to the other side of the car.

There wasn't much they could see but they could tell this was an important murder. Lisa felt the cold air touch her face and her blond hair whipped away from it in the soft wind. She pulled her dark coat closer to her. Some police officers were in a group. Lisa and Lucy went up to them. Elise stared at the building in shock.

"Excuse me?" Lucy said behind one of the officers. One turned.

"Hello girls. This isn't a place for you to be at the moment." The Officer said kindly. "Come on now, move along," he said putting a hand on each of their shoulders.

"No please wait. We were just wondering when the flats will be free again, we always go in there you know, to hang out," Lisa said. The police officer raised one eyebrow.

"Do you have a license for that?" He questioned.

"It doesn't belong to anyone; it's all deserted up there anyway. And we were wondering when we could use it again." Lucy said smiling sweetly. She leaned forward and made herself look attractive. Elise shook her head in disbelief. Lucy batted her eyelids. The Officer sighed and put his hands on his hips.

"Well I'm not sure yet but I don't think it'll be very soon. We have to check out the whole building for fingerprints or any evidence we can find. I'm sorry girls but you won't be able to come here today or tomorrow. Or possibly the day after that," he said then pushed then gently away. "Now move along now, there's nothing to concern you here," he said then turned his back on them. Elise then came up behind them.

"Guys, I've seen something weird. Come over here." Elise said and they all ran over to the wall of the building. They stood by the police barrier and looked ahead of them. Elise focused on something hard. "There. Over there on the right wall. Can you see that?" Elise said pointing to the wall. Lisa tried to see and then spotted a dark patch on the wall. She looked closer and saw that it was what looked like a handprint.

"That's just a normal handprint Elise," Lisa said.

"No, no it's not. It doesn't look.. human." Lucy said fascinated by the handprint. Lisa frowned in surprise.

"What..?" She said and looked back at the wall. Lucy was right, this handprint seemed.. green. And it had long fingers like..

"Claws?" Lisa exclaimed in wonder. Lucy shrugged.

"This is the weirdest murder I've ever heard of in a long while." Lucy said turning from the site. Elise nodded and walked away.

Leaving her standing there, Lisa looked behind her and saw her friends walking off. She turned back to the handprint and stared at it carefully.

Scully ran round and reached the front passenger side. She knocked on the window to see if Mulder would move, but he wasn't moving. His head was resting on the window and she could just see his hair and his shoulder. Scully opened the door and as she opened it the lifeless Mulder fell out. Scully caught him and held him there. The car door started closing on her again. Letting the car close on her back she pulled Mulder out and lay him down on the grass out of the car.

"OK Mulder. Let's have a quick look at your head," Scully said quietly just hoping that he could hear her. She went behind the top part of his body and lifted him up to rest on her knees. She pushed his head forward slightly and checked that he wasn't bleeding.

"Mulder? Mulder wake up," she said loudly. Scully slapped him on the face. "Mulder? It's me Scully come on wake up. Come on Mulder," she said strongly. Scully quickly raised herself from the ground to check on the man in the car. She looked up and through the window. He was snarling at her. Scully frowned then returned to Mulder.

"Listen to me, you can probably hear me so I'm going to say this. You have to wake up Mulder, now," Scully said with concern. She stroked his hair then lay him down on the grass again. "I'm going to get something to rest your head on and something to clean you up with all right? I'll be right back Mulder don't worry," Scully said then got up and went to the back window. She glared into the car.

"Do you have a first aid kit in the car?" Scully shouted through the window. The man pointed to the boot and Scully went to open it. Seeing her suitcase she got opened it and got out a coat and one of her old jumpers for Mulder to rest his head on. She shivered as the cold wind blew her jacket away from her body.

Scully rummaged around for the first aid kit in the boot. She found it and grabbed it quickly without closing the boot and ran back to Mulder with the objects in her arms. She touched his face again and saw how pale he looked. Her throat tightened with sadness and concern. She took his hand. "You're freezing. I've got a coat to put over you," Scully said then put the coat over him. She tucked it in underneath him and left a space for his hand, she needed to hold it and check his pulse. Scully got her jumper and folded it. Then she gently lifted his head up and slid it underneath. She lay his head back down gently.

A few cars passed but no one seemed to stop to see what was happening. Seeing as Mulder and Scully were round the back of the car they couldn't really see what was happening. Scully squeezed his hand and started to open the first aid box when a groaning sound came from Mulder. Scully turned her attention away from the box and touched Mulder's head keeping his hand in hers. She smiled hopefully.

"Mulder? Mulder it's me. You're going to be all right. Come on wake up Mulder.." Scully said softly. Mulder's head moved slowly from side to side and Scully stroked his forehead. Mulder groaned again and frowned. Scully felt concerned again. "Don't rush yourself, just take it slowly. You're going to be all right," Scully said softly. Mulder's eyes slowly fluttered open and he looked dazed into Scully's worried eyes. She smiled. "Hey," she said softly. Mulder breathed heavily and frowned again. With a groan his tossed his head to one side.

"Scully?" He asked weakly. Scully squeezed his hand.

"I'm here Mulder. It's OK you're going to be fine," Scully said taking a look around her. She kept the car in the corner of her eye.

"My head Scully," he said slowly. Scully nodded.

"You hit it on the window," Scully said as calmly as she could to make him relax. Mulder stared at her. "Look at me Mulder. Do you know where you are?" Scully asked him.

"Somewhere in.. England?," Mulder said slowly.

"Are you all right?" Mulder asked. Scully nodded. "What happened? Wait.. where is he Scully?" he asked quickly, trying to move away from her. Scully held him still.

"He's in the car, locked up," she said and saw Mulder's face relax. "Now. How many fingers am I holding up?"

"One," Mulder said. Scully felt her smile drop when she saw her two fingers in front of her. "One finger and one thumb Scully," Mulder said showing a small smile. Scully laughed.

"You scared me," she said relieved. Mulder's smile grew.

"Gotcha." He joked.

"That's it. You're definitely back to normal. Do you think you can sit up?" Scully asked him. Mulder shrugged.

"Lets give it a go," he said. Scully helped him up and supported his back. They managed to stand slowly and Scully guided him over to the car door.

**

Chapter Ten

"Peter? Peter can you please come inside now?" Called a woman from her doorway. The wind blew her dress around her legs and she held her hat on her head. It was dark now and Peter had been in the shed for over an hour.

"Peter?" She shouted again and started to make her way towards the shed. The cows in the field next to the shed mooed loudly and Mrs Graham made her way towards the shed in a quick walk to get out of the wind. A light still flickered in the shed window. She knocked on the door and looked down at her feet. Her toes were wet and mud was seeping in through her sandals.

"Peter? What are you doing can I come in?" she asked. Pushing the door slightly she realised that it was open. Mrs Graham slowly rested her hand on the doorknob and started to open the shed door slowly and carefully. The slow creak was heard through the wind.

"Peter what have you.. Oh my god.." She cried and a hand went to her mouth as she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Scully entered the room and turned to see a young woman, outrageously beautiful, sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest on a chair. She was humming quietly and as Scully turned to face her, Lisa glared at her defensively. Scully managed a small smile and went over to the desk. She sat down and put the paper on the table. Lisa's features were glowing and light in the harsh light above the table and her eyes were full of emotion, though Scully couldn't work out which kind.

Scully cleared her throat and looked at her with a calm face. Lisa bore her eyes down on her and kept her knees close to her.

"Hello Lisa," Scully said nicely. Lisa let out a small laugh and turned away. Scully looked at her, uncertain.

"I suppose that you are going to tell me that I'm arrested until I tell you what I saw," she said in her strong English accent, her hair falling across her eyes. Scully raised her eyebrows.

"No, I am Agent Mulder's partner. I'm just here to see how you are," she said softly. Lisa turned back to her slowly and frowned.

"Where's your watch from?" Lisa said suddenly. Scully frowned in surprise and looked down at her wrist.

"I.. I got it from my father," Scully said uncertainly. Lisa nodded.

"It looks expensive. But nice," she said slowly. Scully smiled and nodded. Lisa let out a breath and put her legs down. She sat up straight. "How long do I have to stay here for? I've been in this room all day can't I get something to eat?"

"Yes, of course," Scully said, angry that no one had given Lisa anything to eat. Lisa glared at her again as Scully rose and opened the door. She called out and told someone to get Lisa a sandwich then came back in and sat down again. "I'm sorry, I've only just got here I didn't realise that you had been here all day."

"But your partner did," she said crossly. Scully sighed.

"I'm sorry Lisa. I think he's been very busy." Lisa nodded and shrugged.

"Whatever," she said absently. Scully leaned across the desk.

"How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?"

"No, I'm fine. Just hungry," Lisa said. Scully nodded.

"I'm sorry that happened to you. I work as a biologist with agent Mulder as well as an agent and I found out that the substance that you had on your hand was making you ill today." Lisa looked at her and gazed into her eyes. Scully blinked.

"Really? Well, my hands stung a bit too," Lisa said holding them up. Scully beckoned her to put them on the table and Lisa put them down slowly. Scully smiled and looked at the girls worn red hands.

"I think you'll need to put some cream on them," Scully said in concentration while checking the rashes. Lisa suddenly whipped them away from her and Scully sat up in surprise. "I'm sorry Lisa.."

"You're making me feel like a lab rat." Lisa snapped and turned away angrily. Scully sighed and felt awful.

"I'm so sorry I didn't mean that. I was just checking to see if you were all right," Scully said gently. Lisa stared at the wall. Scully shifted nervously.

"Lisa, no one here wants to hurt you. We were just wondering what you found so interesting today. I'm sorry if I upset you, but I am a doctor."

There was a long silence. Scully stared at the girl desperately trying to make her comfortable again. Slowly Lisa sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"Can I have a cigarette?" she asked finally.

"You smoke?" Scully asked, slightly surprised.

"Yes," Lisa said then turned her eyes towards Scully. "Can I have a cigarette?" she asked forcefully. Scully nodded.

"Yes. Of course," she said. Lisa didn't move.

"Well I don't have any so can I buy some?" she asked. Scully stood up.

"I'll get you some. I'll be right back," she said moving away from the table. Lisa watched her leave the room.

Scully came back with a packet of cigarettes and put them down on the table.

"Those things will make your asthma worse you know," Scully said. Lisa sighed and lit up her cigarette.

"You think I don't know that?"

"I was just telling you."

"Well I already know.. thank you," Lisa said angrily. Scully nodded and felt a little angry because she was starting to be rude. Lisa took one long drag from her cigarette and then puffed out the smoke in a heavenly attitude. Scully waited until she was satisfied.

"Lisa, no one wants to put you in prison. Mulder and I have seen a lot of strange things and we have reason to believe that this case is another one similar to that which we've seen before. Is there anything that you know could help us on that?" Scully asked. She waited until Lisa nodded.

"What do you want to know?" Lisa asked slowly. Scully stared at her.

"What you've seen?"

There was a small silence and Lisa shifted in her seat. She stared at Scully.

"Look, you're going to think I'm crazy. There's really no point."

"We will not think you're crazy," Scully said simply. Lisa sighed.

"All right, fine. You've been bugging me enough. And those murders look pretty bad." She started. Scully frowned in confusion.

"You've seen a murder?"

"Agent Mulder gave me a picture," Lisa said reaching into her pocket. Scully raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Where you planning to keep that?" she asked in a low tone. Lisa laughed.

"So what if I was?" she asked before taking another drag from her cigarette. Scully nodded.

"So, tell me," she said as Lisa placed the photo on the table.

"Well, I was outside of the building and I saw this thing on the wall. I didn't think it was anything really, and nor did my friends but then we realised that it was a handprint. And it wasn't a human handprint. It was more like- a lizard," Lisa said slowly, then let out a small laugh. Scully's felt as if she'd been hit in the stomach.

"A lizard?"

"Yeah, a lizard," Lisa said unbelievingly. Scully frowned in thought.

"Thank you very much Lisa. I think this will be a great help."

"Really? You're joking right?" Lisa said with a laugh as Scully got up from her seat. She nodded and walked towards the door.

"Yes. I do," she said quietly and opened the door. Lisa frowned at her with interest. Was she serious? She looked completely shocked.

Scully turned to her and smiled a little.

"Lisa, your sandwich is here."

Chapter eleven

Lisa sat in the back of the police car as it drove to the street across from where she lived. It was dark now and everything seemed different. She sighed and looked out of the window and saw the first few spots of rain drop onto it. Mulder and Scully sat at the front of the car and talked quietly. Lisa looked at Scully and sighed.

"How much longer is it going to be?" she asked in a bored manner. Mulder looked back at her for a second over his shoulder. Scully looked at him then turned to Lisa.

"Not much longer now. We'll get you home soon," she said with forced sympathy. Lisa nodded.

"I don't want to go home," she said absently. Scully looked back to Mulder who turned his head to her.

"Well you have to go home," Scully said. Mulder sighed.

"We have to take you home because your parents are worried about you Lisa," Mulder said quickly. Scully sighed.

"I'm sorry if that annoys you but we can't keep you away from your parents."

"I'm 18 right? I can decide for myself," Lisa said angrily. Scully looked at Mulder.

"Wait until you get home, then you can decide what to do with your parents," she said trying to keep calm. Lisa sighed and turned towards the window. Scully glanced at Mulder and he turned towards her and nodded. She sighed and put her head back on the seat. She was tired and jet lagged.

They drove to Lisa's house and stopped outside the drive. Mulder looked back to her and smiled a little. Lisa managed a half smile. Scully got out of the car quickly in the rain and opened Lisa's door.

"I'll take her to the door Mulder," she said through the window. Mulder nodded and wounded up the window. Lisa walked up the path to her front door with Scully. Scully glanced at her and managed a small smile. Lisa laughed at her and went to open the door.

"You think that everything will be ok now." Lisa snapped. Scully looked at her with surprise.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not your friend Agent Scully, and I want to find out about the murders. So I don't think that you're going to see the last of me," Lisa said glaring at her. Scully opened her mouth to protest but nothing came out. Lisa sighed, went inside and shut the door in Scully's face. Scully flinched as the water came off the door at the force of the slam and flicked onto her clothes.

Mulder put his key into his hotel room door with difficulty. He held a chocolate bar in his teeth and balanced two more and a can of coke in one hand. One slipped out of his hand and landed on the floor.

"Oh crap.." Mulder muttered and then the can and the other bar fell too. He sighed and pushed his door open slightly then bent over to pick up the snacks. The room next door to him opened and he looked to see a pair of bare feet and white pyjamas.

"Mulder?" A woman's voice said.

Mulder moved his eyes up more and saw Scully leaning against her doorframe in her pyjamas and dressing gown. She smiled sleepily.

"I think the chocolate bars want to be eaten not to be dropped on the floor," she said cheekily. Mulder frowned at her.

"Very funny Scully!" he said sarcastically. He stood up with the food in his hands. "I was trying to open my damn door with.." he started.

"Food in your hands." Scully finished for him. She let out a small laugh. "Throw me one. I could do with some chocolate at the moment," she said putting a hand forward. Mulder gently threw a bar into her hand.

"You owe me a bar tomorrow," he said. Scully looked at him with a frown. "Or not." Scully smiled.

"No, you're right. I'll get you one tomorrow morning," she said. Mulder nodded.

"Deal," he said and started to go into his room.

"Mulder?" Scully said. Mulder put his head round the door.

"Yep?"

"I don't know if I can sleep."

"Try," Mulder said biting into a chocolate bar he had opened.

"I have. Oh what the hell I'll try again," she said tossing the thought away. Scully tossed a piece of red hair away from her eyes.

"Why can't you sleep?"

"Lisa was a bit funny with me today," she said slowly. Mulder frowned at her with spires.

"Scully it's not like she's that important she's an 18 year old girl with problems. You remember what it was like when you were 18 right?"

"Don't remind me," Scully said with a shudder.

"I always thought that you would have been a bit of a nerd at 18 Scully," Mulder said laughing. Scully frowned at him with disbelief.

"Me? What about you!" She said playfully. Mulder smiled and nodded.

"Fair enough."

"At least I'm nice and jet lagged."

"Tell me about it," Mulder said with a yawn. Scully sighed and leant against her door. Scully wrapped her dressing gown around herself.

"See you in the morning Scully," Mulder said climbing into bed. "There might be another murder site to see, I'm not saying I'm hoping there will be of course."

"I know what you mean. Good night," Scully said closing the door behind her. She opened her own room, got into bed and tried to sleep.

There was a rustle of leaves and Agent Scully tossed in her bed.

Outside, the man held the leaves to stop them waving and pushed the window open more until it was wide enough to get through.

The man moved swiftly and silently through the hotel window and landed softly on the floor of the room. He saw Agent Scully in her bed and watched her as she slept softly. He hoped she stayed that way or something would go seriously wrong. The smoking man had told him to get the information and that was what he was there for, but the thirst for violence and pain roared in his blood. He was known to be a murderer and harasser but he had been given specific orders. He was to go through with the task without hurting the Agents unless absolutely necessary. Agent Scully was the one with the computer so she was the one to go to.

He walked towards the desk slowly and passed the bed. A floorboard creaked under his feet and he cringed and prayed that he hadn't woken her. There was a sigh from the bed and she moved onto her side. Then she was still.

The man reached the desk and rested his hand on the computer. He heard a small noise from behind him and he turned quickly to see what it was. His heart skipped a beat in panic and anger. The bed was empty and it was dark, he didn't know where the hell she was. In a rush he picked up the computer and with a tug it was out of the socket in the wall and in his arms. He turned and faced the bed.

"Drop it," Scully said. She held the gun at aim with the man's head. Slowly she moved down and to the side to turn on her bedside light. She flicked it on and the room was engulfed with light. She squinted a little but didn't lose her advantage. The man stared at her with wide eyes.

"I said DROP IT," she said forcefully. The man's eyes darted sideways and up and down. Scully could sense his fear but her heart was pumping pretty fast too.

"I need to get this." The man said. He sounded Scottish. Scully frowned.

"No you don't. It's mine," she said.

"You don't understand."

"NO you don't understand. Drop the computer," she said. The man started to shift awkwardly on his feet.

"Don't push me Agent Scully." The man said. Scully felt threatened.

"How do you know my name?"

"Everyone does," he said.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Why does it matter?" The man said taking a step forward. Scully clicked the bullet into place.

"STAY BACK!" she shouted.

"Why? Are you really going to shoot me?" The man asked.

"You'd better believe it," Scully said. Her voice was wavering.

"Well I don't. You wouldn't shoot me; I haven't tried to assault you yet." The man said. Scully thought of something to say.

"Shut up. Face forward...put the computer down. Move once and I'll blow your head off," she said strongly but keeping the calmness in her voice. The man slowly started to lower the computer. Scully walked towards him and she revealed her handcuffs in her other hand. The man sighed and stood up again. The computer was on the floor. Scully knelt down to pick it up. But she had made a mistake and lost her advantage. She cried out in pain as the man kicked her arm sending the gun flying out of her hands. Scully rolled onto her back and grabbed her handcuffs as soon as she could.

"I don't think so." The man said and brought his foot down hard onto Scully's hand. She cried out again and the handcuffs were released from her hands. Scully moved away from the man as far as she could. She held her arm in some kind of act to stop the pain but it was searing. She clenched her teeth. Moving with all her might she moved towards the wall and started to hit it hard. The man walked towards her.

"Stop that! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" The man shouted. Scully rewarded herself inside. Mulder was sure to hear that. She made herself shout out herself.

"Get off me!" She screamed. "Stop it!" The man frowned.

"I'm not touching you bitch!" The man shouted. Scully kept screaming then stopped suddenly when the man brought an unexpected hard punch round her face. Her face swung violently sideways and the side of her head hit the wall.

"Shut up bitch!" he said. Scully gasped and tried to move her jaw. It ached; all she could do was hope for Mulder.

Mulder frowned as he heard the noises. There were bangs on the wall.

He turned over and tried to sleep again. They happened again and his eyes opened when he realised that it was coming from Scully's room. He sat up quickly and his attention was brought to the voices. There was a man's voice, and then he heard it. Scully's voice. She was in distress. She was screaming. Mulder forced himself out of bed and grabbed his gun.

The man handcuffed Scully's hands to her bed. She felt her cheek throbbing and tasted blood in her mouth. She struggled to get free but gave up as pain surged through her arm.

That bastard was getting away with her computer and there was nothing she could do about it.

"I guess I broke my promise to the boss. I swore I wouldn't hurt anyone. Still, I didn't kill you." The man said fiercely. Scully breathed heavily.

"Well I hope he kills you for it," Scully said in a raspy voice. She hung her head. The man ignored her comment and ran towards the door and ran out.

"Excuse me Sir?" Mulder shouted. As soon as he had got out of his door the man had exited Scully's room. The man didn't answer and ignored Mulder. He didn't turn his head or even show any sign of hearing him. Mulder started to run.

"SIR! STOP RIGHT THERE!" Mulder shouted. He saw that he was holding something. The man had stolen.

"Go to hell agent Mulder." The man said and turned to face him. Mulder saw Scully's computer and pointed his gun to the man's face.

"No, you're the one that's going to hell," he said and clicked a bullet into place. The man looked into his eyes. Suddenly a door opened and a lady walked out of their room rubbing her eyes. Then she looked up and screamed. Mulder pointed to her.

"It's all right Mam just get back into your room," he said trying to keep his voice as calm as possible. The woman frowned at him in disgust. "I'm an FBI officer. If you call the police, I would be very grateful," Mulder said and took a step towards the man. The woman nodded a little then exited the corridor quickly back into her room. The two stared at each other.

"You wouldn't shoot me." The man said in his harsh accent. Mulder frowned and clenched his teeth.

"Yes I would," he said. The man shook his head and started to run for the window at the end of the corridor and on impulse Mulder shot his gun into the man's chest and with one look at the limp body on the floor he started to run towards Scully's room but he was stopped as he saw people starting to come out of their rooms and he shouted at them to stay inside. With looks of fear and understanding the people went quickly back into their rooms. Mulder ran through Scully's door.

He stood in the doorway and turned towards the bed. There she was sitting in a visibly uncomfortable position handcuffed to the bed. She slowly raised her head to meet his gaze. Mulder ran towards her and knelt down beside her.

"Scully are you ok? Did he hurt you?" he asked her touching her face gently. "You're mouth's bleeding," Mulder said with worry. Scully gasped and pulled away from him. Mulder looked concerned. "What?"

"Don't touch my cheek." Scully murmured. Mulder nodded and saw her struggle with the handcuffs. "Just get me untied."

"Ok, ok. Where are your keys?" Mulder asked her. Scully closed her eyes and sighed.

"In my bedside drawer," Scully said. She frowned as she felt her arm pang with pain. She couldn't stay in this position much longer with her arms behind her back. Mulder returned next to her with the keys and unlocked the handcuffs.

"Uh, Mulder you're going to have to help me here," Scully said grimacing trying to push away the pain. Mulder took hold of one of her wrists. "Ah.." Scully said in pain. "That's the painful one," she said under her breath.

"Ok I'll just take it out gently," Mulder said and slowly released her arm from the cuff. Scully let out a few sighs and cries of pain as he lowered her arm down for her to rest it. Mulder quickly undid the other one.

"You ok?"

"Yes, this one's ok," Scully said nodding and pulling her arm down herself. She sighed and rested her head back against the bed. Mulder knelt next to her. She looked at him sadly.

"He took my computer," Scully said. "I tried to stop him. I had control at first but he attacked me."

"Well he hasn't got very far with it. I shot him in the hallway," Mulder said. Scully looked at him.

"Yeah I-I heard that but I.. wasn't sure if you had shot him or what." Scully said and took a deep breath. Mulder put a hand on her good shoulder. She looked at him and smiled weakly.

"The police are coming. Just sit still I'm going to phone an ambulance," Mulder said. Scully shook her head.

"No, no it's ok. I don't need one," Scully said. Mulder looked into her eyes.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'm going to be fine," she said frowning. Mulder looked at her arm.

"Well what about your arm? And your mouth, your teeth might be broken Scully," Mulder said with concern.

"My arm's not broken Mulder," Scully said. Mulder shrugged.

"You don't know that. It could be fractured or sprained, just get looked at, at least," Mulder said softly. Scully sighed.

"All right but I don't need a hospital," she said. Mulder nodded. Scully looked down at her arm and then put a hand on her side.

"Ouch," she said closing her eyes.

"Don't move yourself too much," Mulder said.

"How.. how did you-you know that I was in trouble?" Scully asked weakly.

"Nice plan. I heard you banging on the wall and your shouting," Mulder said softly and squeezed her good shoulder affectionately. Scully nodded and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath.

"I thought that would work," she said.

Mulder sat next to her good arm and put his hand round it.

"It's over now," he said softly. "Can you get up?" Scully nodded.

"Oh I think so," she said slowly and Mulder helped her get to her feet. He led her to the bed and made her sit down. She sighed and put a hand to her jaw. She tried to move it but it was stiff.

"Stop that you'll hurt it more. What did he do to you?" Mulder asked her taking her hand away from her cheek.

"Kicked me in the arm, punched my round the face and handcuffed me to the bed," Scully said in a fed up tone. Mulder sighed and pointed to his shoulder.

"Come on, shoulder. It's for you to lean and cry on," he said and Scully let out a small laugh. He was glad to see her smile. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Mulder stroked her hair gently trying not to hurt her again. Someone came in the door. It was an officer and Scully opened her eyes.

"Is there a casualty?" The officer said. Mulder looked at Scully and moved away from her.

"She's here," he said. Scully rolled her eyes in embarrassment.

"That's me," she said.

"It's all right Agent Scully, come and have a check up with one of our doctors." The officer said taking her by the hand. They walked across the room.

"Oh god.." Scully wavered and fell sideways onto the officer. Mulder moved to catch her.

"Are you all right?" Mulder asked her with worry and caught her before she hit the floor. Scully frowned in a tired expression and nodded.

"Yes," she said quietly. She put her hand on the officer's shoulder and they walked out of the door. Mulder stared at the doorway. Another officer went into the room.

"I thought there was a report of a shot victim?" he asked. Mulder nodded and looked at the man questioningly.

"Well yeah, he's out in the hall way," Mulder said. The officer looked at the hallway then looked back at Mulder.

"I don't see anybody." The man said. Mulder felt shock fill his blood and he walked towards the man.

"What?" He said with anger in his voice. He looked out into the corridor and stared.

He was right.. the man had gone, and so had the computer.

**

Chapter twelve

The man ran along the cold alley and stepped out of the rain. He held the computer under his arm. He could feel the pressure in his chest and his head rung with the sound of the bullet flying into his chest. The man smiled to himself as he felt the hard bulletproof vest underneath his shirt.

The rain plummeted down onto the cold ground and he ran through puddles. Calling a cab he ducked into it quickly and murmured the address to which he was going. He turned to hear sirens behind him and looked out of the cab window. He felt fear rise in his chest and clutched the computer closer to his chest. He had it; he had succeeded in the task. And he wasn't going to get caught, not now. But the police sirens seemed to get louder and louder.

"Can you put your foot down please? I'm late for an important meeting." The man said. He held his head low and a shadow fell over his features. The cab driver looked at him through his mirror. The man realised how stupid he must have sounded at saying he was late for a meeting at this time of night, but it was enough to make the driver get faster.

They reached the other side of town and when the man was convinced that the sirens were out of his range and called the cab to stop outside the tall apartment building.

"Thanks. Keep the change," he said giving a wad of cash to the driver. He got out of the car quickly and ran towards the door. He got out his key and opened the lock. He stepped in quickly to shelter from the heavy rain.

"You're late."

The man turned quickly in surprise and saw two men sitting watching him. They were serious and a cloud of smoke drifted around them. The older looking man puffed out a long trail of smoke and sighed.

"Where have you been?" he asked again. His voice was low and husky.

"Sir.. I have brought what you need." The man said. He stepped towards the two men.

"Good." The smoking man said. "Did you cause any injury?"

The man shifted on his feet nervously. The smoking man looked across at his neighbour and he gave him a stern glance he turned back to the man with the computer.

"I.. I didn't do anything," he said quietly.

"Chris? What are you hiding from me?" The smoking man answered. "If you want to make it back to Scotland you had better tell me the truth. Did you hurt Agent Scully? She's the one who owns the computer." Another puff of smoke exited the man's lips.

"She asked for it." Chris said slowly. There was a silence and the three men looked at each other with harsh expressions.

"What?" The smoking man asked.

"Sir please, she was going to kill me. I was going to get locked up. I got you the computer.. here." Chris said. The smoking man stood up.

"Good. Give it here," he said. Chris looked at the man with surprise.

"You're sure?" he asked feeling a little more relieved.

"Yes. Now give it to me, now." The smoking man said stretching his arm out to take the computer. Chris handed it over to him slowly. The smoking man took it and placed in on the table.

"Oh thank you Sir. Thank you very much.." Chris said.

"How did you hurt her?" The smoking man said. Chris stared at the man in surprise and shock.

"What?"

"How?"

There was a silence between the two men. Chris looked like he was about to break down and cry.

"She wouldn't listen to me. She would have killed me Sir," he said. The smoking man sighed and blew a cloud of smoke into Chris' face.

"You're not answering my question. I told you not to hurt anyone, just steal the computer and get out. But you failed."

"No! No I got the computer for you! I did that for you Sir!" Chris said desperately. His eyes glistened.

"But you disobeyed my orders. I need their trust, not their hate. You don't know how far this quest between Mulder, Scully and I had been going on for. I don't think you realise how serious this is," he said and lit up another cigarette. Chris shook with fear and felt a tear roll down his cheek.

"Please.. I have a family.. please.. I needed the money Sir.." Chris said. The smoking man shook his head and sighed.

"Kill him," he said then turned away from him.

The screams were deafening.

The lightning struck in large forks. Scully sat on her bed and cradled her jaw with an ice pack. He arm was in a grip and her mouth was sore. She sat in the semi darkness and shook with coldness. She could hear Mulder's voice outside the room and the other officers and medical teams. They were just about finished. She looked out of the window and jumped as a huge clap of thunder filled the skies. Scully pulled her legs up towards her chin and bent her knees. She put her sore arms around her legs and hugged herself. Storms really were not her thing and it couldn't have come at a worse time. She tried to put her thoughts somewhere else.

"Hey Scully. I thought you'd be asleep," Mulder said entering the room. Scully jumped and turned towards the door. She looked at Mulder in surprise.

"Mulder. You scared me," she said. Mulder walked towards her.

"Sorry. You must still be really jumpy," he said and sat on the foot of the bed. Scully swallowed slowly.

"Yeah," she said quietly. "I can't sleep."

"Nor can I," he said. Scully turned to him with a small smile.

"You haven't tried," she said putting her ice pack to her jaw again. Mulder looked at her and laughed.

"I know. I was just trying to make you feel better," he said. Scully smiled.

"Thanks," she said with closed eyes. "What do I look like Mulder?" Scully said taking the ice away from her face. She grimaced in pain. Mulder looked at her and saw her swollen face.

"Like you've been stung by a huge wasp on your face and your head is going to explode," Mulder said. Scully opened her eyes and stared at him. Typical Mulder.

"Mulder!" She said moving her good arm to push him away playfully. She saw him laugh at her and she sighed.

"Sorry!" he said. Scully sat back against the back of her bed. The two sat in silence for a moment and there was another crash of thunder. Scully jumped and winced as her arm hit the back of the bed.

"Scully," Mulder said quietly moving towards her. He sat next to her on the bed and she sighed.

"Mulder I'm so cold," she said weakly and sighed. Mulder saw her flinch as her sprained ankle moved along the bedcovers and she lowered her knee. With the injured leg straight Scully pushed herself lower so she lay down on the bed on her back. She looked across and saw Mulder sitting above her. He looked down at her and smiled. She tried to smile back.

"Have they all gone Mulder?" she asked. Mulder nodded.

"Yes. They'll be coming back in the morning."

"That rat bastard," Scully said in frustration as she tried to lift her poor arm to put the ice pack on her face. Mulder saw her struggle. Scully said and switched hands. Mulder stopped her and picked up the pack.

"Let me," he said softly and Scully looked up at him as he moved the ice pack towards her face and touched her jaw gently.

"Thank you," she said quietly. Her voice sounded like a small girl's. Scully sighed and closed her eyes.

"Try and sleep Scully. You need to rest," he said quietly. Scully started to breathe heavily and Mulder kept the ice pack on her face gently.

A few minutes passed and Mulder checked if she was still awake.

"Scully?" He asked quietly. There was no answer. He moved the pack away from her face and looked at his sleeping friend.

He slowly got off the bed and walked round over to her bedside. He switched moved his hand to the bedside light switch and then stopped as he remembered that she had said she was cold and Mulder went over to the chair and picked up a large blanket. He walked over to the sleeping Scully and laid it over her. He took one last look at her and then switched off the light and exited the room.

The farm was full of life that morning. The police was there and her home was getting infested with strangers but they were all there to help her.

Mrs Graham was sitting in her sitting room quietly with three police officers around her. They all looked at her seriously and she held a cold cup of coffee in her hand. She hadn't touched it. She could just see visions, memories and the blood.. all the blood..

"Mrs. Graham?" She looked up and saw a young man standing in front of her. He wore a badge on his jacket and he looked serious but calm. Mrs Graham stared at him without answering. She couldn't feel anything. "Mrs Graham?" The man asked again. She moved her head a little and nodded. The man looked at the other officers and they nodded and moved away. The man sat down in front of her across the coffee table.

"Mrs Graham my name is Agent Fox Mulder I'm with the FBI," he said. She didn't answer. "You are Ruth Graham aren't you?" He asked. Ruth came to her senses and looked at him shyly.

"Yes," she said quietly. Agent Mulder smiled a little.

"I would like to ask you a few questions, if you're ready for it," he said. Ruth looked at him and nodded. He turned his head and his attention was taken away for a second as a small red headed woman came up and stood behind him. Ruth noticed that the woman's face was swollen and she looked tired. She wanted to ask the woman what had happened but she couldn't get the words out. It wasn't fair for more people to be getting hurt, everything had suddenly gone wrong. Her life had gone so very, very wrong. She couldn't handle the pressure. Not today.

"Mrs Graham?" The man asked again. Ruth turned to him in shock and snapped out of her dreams. She blinked and cleared her throat. The woman held one arm at her side and the other was on her hip. She was looking questioningly at her too. She felt their eyes burning on her.

"I don't think that she's going to talk Scully.." Agent Mulder said turning to the woman behind her.

"No." Ruth said. "No I will talk to you."

The two stared in silence for a second and the woman walked slowly around the back of Agent Mulder's chair and sat down next to him. Ruth saw that she moved with difficulty.

"What happened to you?" Ruth asked with a sorry face. She saw the two FBI agents look at each other uneasily and then turn back towards her. The woman looked surprised.

"I got attacked last night," she said. Ruth saw the sadness in the woman's eyes and felt sad tears fill her eyes as she had images of Peter struggling and crying out for help.

"I'm sorry." Ruth blurted out and put a hand to her mouth. She pushed away tears and sighed.

"Are you sure you want to speak Mrs Graham?" Agent Mulder asked. Ruth nodded.

"Yes," she said. "I'm just finding it hard to express my feelings at the moment. I'm sorry."

"That's ok, just take your time." Agent Mulder said. "This is my partner, Agent Dana Scully. She's here to help also."

"I'm sorry." Ruth said directly at Scully. Scully felt her heart pump hard in her chest. She swallowed.

"Pardon?" Scully said quietly.

"It's such an awful thing to happen to a woman. So many things are wrong in this world. It's a shame that evil has to be part of it." Ruth said staring into Scully's eyes. It was somehow very scary. Mulder looked across at Scully and they met each other's gaze.

"I assure you that I'm used to it and that it's all part of an agent's day of work Mrs Graham," Scully said with a small, tired smile.

"Let's talk about what happened last night Mrs Graham," Mulder said steering the conversation away from the topic.

"My.. my husband was killed." Ruth said. Mulder nodded.

"We need to find out how and why," he said. Ruth nodded.

"I wasn't there. I was inside all the time. He went out to see if the shed was still standing because it's old. It was very windy and he was afraid that it would fall down." Ruth said. Now she made no eye contact. She just stared at her coffee cup and rocked backwards and forwards in her chair in a monotone way slowly as she spoke.

"You didn't hear anything from the shed?" Scully asked. The woman lifted her head to the sound of her voice and looked at Scully again.

"No."

"Mrs Graham did you have any enemies?" Mulder asked her. She opened her mouth to speak but there was cry from outside.

Mulder and Scully looked at each other and Mulder stood up.

"Everybody out!" A man called from outside. Scully pushed herself up off her chair and Mulder helped her.

"Scully why did you come to work today?" he asked her. Scully shook her head.

"I'm fine. Move," she said. Mulder got her up and ran out of the door. She followed as quickly as she could. Her ankle was not helping her.

"Agents Mulder and Scully!" The officers called. The sunshine was hot; the thunderstorm had cleared the skies. Mulder took off his jacket and held it.

"What is it?" he asked the head officer. He was a plump man with brown hair. He was deathly serious.

"Look at this. Tracks," he said.

Mulder bent down and looked at the ground. He saw Scully come to his side out of the corner of his eye.

"Scully look at this," he said. Scully nodded and stared at the ground with interest.

"Where do they lead Mulder?" Scully asked. They were not normal tracks. They were large and did not look human.

"Scully look at them, they're not normal tracks," he said pointing out the obvious to her. Scully didn't answer and he could hear her sigh. He got up and faced her.

"Scully what's wrong?" he asked her. She shook her head and closed her eyes. Mulder stared at her with concern. She didn't open her eyes and he put a friendly arm on her shoulder. The officers around them looked at them expectantly.

"I can't do this Mulder. You were right I shouldn't have come to work today," Scully said putting a hand to her forehead. She looked at Mulder sadly. He put a friendly hand on her arm.

"What do you think Agents?" The officer said from behind Mulder. He turned to face him.

"Well they're unusual Sir," he said.

The man sighed and said in a very English accent, "Well that's bloody obvious isn't it!" Mulder stared at the man angrily.

"Excuse me a minute," Mulder said. He turned to Scully.

"Mulder I'll go back to the hotel; may be go to the police station and do some paper work. My ankle's killing my I don't really think I should be out in the field like this. I'm sorry," she said apologetically.

"Scully you need to go back to bed," Mulder said softly. Scully shook her head.

"I'll be in the police station waiting for your call if you find anything," she said. "No wait, I'll check out the body which has just been taken from here." Mulder stared at her. "I'm sorry I can't stay here with you," she said. Mulder nodded.

"It's fine," he said. Scully walked away slowly and tried to walk down the small hill as carefully as she could.

"Where is she going?" The officer demanded. "We need her. We're on a roll here, get her back Agent Mulder."

"Sorry Sir, she can't work," Mulder said looking after her.

"Nonsense." The man said. "You damn Americans are all the same." Mulder looked at him and started to get angry.

"Sir, she can't stay out here, she will be in the station waiting for any information that we can give," he said. The officer looked at him for a moment then sighed.

"Fine. Lets get a damn move on then," he said walking towards the other officers. Mulder sighed and saw Scully drive off down the road. He moved towards the house again and into the hallway. He placed his jacket on the chair just inside the door.

"Agent Mulder!" Somebody shouted from outside. Mulder turned to look out the door. "WE'RE FOLLOWING THE TRACKS!"

Lisa sighed to herself as she sat eating her lunch. Her friends surrounded her and ate in silence. They had been asking her questions all day but they also expected answers that she couldn't be bothered to tell.

"Lisa? Where are you today?" Lucy asked. Lisa put her head lower and let out a small laugh.

"Where do you think I am? That's a bit of a stupid question really," she said. Her friends all stared at her questioningly. "I'm right here," she said. The others didn't share her humour.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Lucy said suddenly becoming angry. looked across the table. She picked up her glass of water and put it to her lips.

"I had a pretty shitty day yesterday all right?" Lisa said quietly. Her two friends stared at her.

"Lisa you brought it on yourself." Elise said. Lisa shook her head and sighed.

"Lisa, are you going to have to leave school?" Lucy asked slowly.

"No!" Lisa said.

"Stop being so pathetic and tell us for god's sake." Elisa said.

"I got taken into the police station," Lisa said. Lucy nodded.

"We know that already!" She said. Lisa laughed.

"OK." She leant forward and stared at her friends, a small smile on her lips. Lucy and Elise looked at her expectantly.

"I met this really weird FBI agent called Agent Mulder and he sort of saved me from this spastic asthma attack I was having in the building.."

"You got into the building?" Lucy said surprised.

"Are you going to let me tell you this or not!" Lisa said frustrated. Elise nodded.

"Sure, sorry."

"Right, well I had an asthma attack because.. because I don't really know.. but I think it was the blood of the creature that was in the building, you know the one that we saw footprints for on the wall. This agent's partner said that it was something to do with the green blood or substance which was on the floor," she said pausing for a drink. Lucy and Elise looked at her as if she was a celebrity but also as if she was mad. "So this agent saved me and took me into the police station after I had got sorted out by the doctors. I can't actually remember where I went and how I got sorted out," she said pausing. "But anyway, he was questioning me about why I was there and all that, it was really annoying," Lisa said and leant back in her chair. "Then we had a little chat and I told him that I had seen a handprint on the wall. Then his partner came in and looked at me as if I was crazy," she said, then was silent. Lucy stared at her with a small smile.

"Then what happened?" she asked. Elise didn't look as impressed and sighed.

"I told you to stop smoking!" Elise said.

"I told you it was the green stuff on the floor that made me ill," Lisa said and rolled her eyes. Elise shrugged. "I went home after that, they took me back. Mum and Dad were.. well, you know."

"Mad?" Elise said. Lisa nodded and sighed.

"I just wish that I could find out more. I have to find a way," Lisa said frowning in thought. Lucy stared at her with interest but Elise laughed.

"I doubt that they'll let you anywhere near the evidence again and by the way, I think the teachers are trying to keep you in the school building after yesterday." Elise said looking round behind her.

"It sucks." Lucy said angrily. Lisa turned and looked towards the teachers table and to her surprise she saw them looking at her with concentrated eyes and were muttering to each other. Lisa smirked.

"Let them try."

Scully stared at the body on the autopsy table. She felt a small stab of fear fill her chest as she looked at the man's injuries. Firstly, it was a horrific accident and the man was completely decapitated. One of his arms had been ripped or at closer examination Scully had thought, eaten off. What remained of the shoulder were marks of a serious bite or tear. Scully had examined the marks and the closest thing that she thought of was teeth. But they were not human teeth; they were sharp like an animal. She felt an uncomfortable shiver run through her spine and she turned away from the man. She had studied lots of cases like this and she was perfectly calm with it, but something was making her feel ill. She had found the green substance again which could only be the creature's blood or body fluid slowly she carried the test tube of the substance over to the rack after carefully taking it off the body and put it away safely for further investigation. The smell was strong and lurid. It hung in the small badly ventilated morgue. She felt dizzy as the scent went through the air and reached her nose.

Scully sighed and put the sheet over the man's body and head, which was not attached to the body. She took off her gloves and threw them away. She went over to the sink and washed her hands, the pain in her ankle making her feel unsteady on her feet.

Chapter thirteen

Mulder followed the men along the tracks and held his gun high. There must have been about twelve of them. He heard the twigs crack under his feet. The sun was scorching down on his back; he wondered why England had suddenly become so hot.

The police officers were all hot too but they kept their body protectors on. Mulder realised that he was not wearing one but didn't really mind as he was convinced that they weren't going to find anything now, not the morning after the accident had happened.

Birds sung in the trees above him as they entered a wood to the back of the farm. Two dogs that had come along with them barked loudly and sniffed the grass. The large officer who was in charge was standing at the front looking as superior as he could. Mulder really didn't like him. He looked to his right as he heard a loud crack and looked around the wood; there was nothing there.

"What is it Agent Mulder?" A young officer asked.

"I'm not sure. I thought I heard something," he said checking the trees. It was cooler in the shade from the sun.

"Are you sure?" The officer asked.

"There's nothing there," Mulder said and started to follow the group again. They walked through the trees and through a large stretch of mud. Mulder looked down at his shoes and sighed as they were now covered.

"I've found something!" Someone called from the front. Mulder turned his head towards the voice and walked towards the other officers and being right at the back he started to run towards the front.

"Everyone get over here!" The head officer shouted, his strong English accent piercing the skies. Mulder ran over the small hill then saw the officers in a small group standing in front of what looked like a small cave. Mulder came up to the young officer.

"What is it?" he asked.

"We don't know yet." The officer said. Mulder nodded and looked into the dark cave. It was big and the scent coming from inside smelt old and musty.

"May be we should explore inside," Mulder said. The chief officer looked at him uncertainly. Mulder started to walk towards the entrance.

"What are you expecting to find down there Agent Mulder?" he asked.

"I'm not sure Sir, may be the thing that killed those people," Mulder said putting one foot into the cave.

"No, no wait hold on." The officer said. Mulder looked at him.

"What?"

"You have to wait for orders." The chief said in a loud voice and frowned at Mulder. "From me." Mulder stared at the man.

"Fine. Give me the order," Mulder said. The man crossed his arms over his large belly.

"No," he said. Mulder shrugged.

"Fine. I'll just have to disobey orders," he said and walked into the cave.

"Wait! STOP!" The man shouted loudly. "You don't know if it's safe!"

Mulder could hear the man shouting. He dropped into the darkness of the cave and landed safely on his feet.

"I'm going to find out," Mulder said to himself quietly ignoring the officer's cries.

He took out his torch and switched it on.

Scully sighed and put down the phone again as people rushed past her on their way to shops, their cars or work. Her breath was heavy from her definite strides and the feeling of fear. Mulder wasn't answering and she desperately wanted him to. She was shaking.

"Sir?" She asked. Officer Hamilton who had met them on their first day in England was walking across the corridor as she entered the police station.

"Agent Scully? How are you?" he asked kindly. "I heard about what happened last night, I am terribly sorry."

"Sir I need your help," she said ignoring the irrelevant comment. "Where can I get the number for the chief in charge of the investigation in Farnham," she said. The man looked at her quizzically.

"That is an investigation I thought you and Mulder were part of. Aren't you supposed to be there?" he asked. Scully nodded.

"Yes. I left early; I couldn't work out there on the field. Agent Mulder is still out there?" she asked.

"Yes I believe so." Hamilton said.

"I need to tell him something but he's not answering his phone."

"What do you need to tell him which is so urgent?" The man asked. He looked at Scully's worried face.

"The team cannot go looking for it. It's just too dangerous."

"They've already left Dana." The man said. Scully's heart skipped a beat.

"What?" She said quietly. Fear rose in her blood. "Who?" She shouted.

"The team, they just called me about twenty minutes ago, the chief said he was looking for the creature, following its tracks," he said. Scully sighed in disbelief.

"You have to stop them," she said.

"Why are you so worried about it? Have you found something out?" Hamilton said frowning. Scully walked briskly over to a desk with a phone and sighed.

"I was doing an autopsy on the man who was murdered," she said, then turned to him. "He was murdered, by the creature. I'm sure of it. It's crazy to go after it, it's a suicide mission!"

"I can give you the number if you like, but Scully I'm sure that Agent Mulder will be..." The officer said. Scully put a hand on his shoulder with force and stared at him.

"Give me," She said slowly and surely, "the number."

Hamilton stared at Scully with a troubled expression. "I told you that the man was murdered. There's a large chance that the creature is around that area, we found footprints. I know that Mulder will go after it, it's the kind of stupid thing that only he could think of doing," Scully said with desperation, tears stinging her eyes.

Slowly, Hamilton's face changed into a sympathetic stare and he seemed to understand.

"Of course. I.. I'm sorry. It's here." He stammered handing her the number on a small card. Scully took it.

"Thank you."

She turned away from the man and dialled the number on the phone. It rung for a while then she heard the man pick it up.

"Chief Officer Laws? I'm sorry I'm very busy right now.." The officer started.

"Officer Laws? This is Agent Dana Scully. I was with you earlier this morning," she said loudly getting the man's attention.

"Oh bloody hell not you again." The man said. Scully frowned at the unnecessary rudeness of the man.

"Sir where is Agent Mulder. Do not go looking for the monster, it's too dangerous," Scully said. There was a short silence.

"Sorry Agent but your friend Mulder has already gone ahead of us. He's gone into the cave," he said.

Scully froze.

"What cave?" she asked quietly, her eyes wide with shock.

"We think that the monster could be living in a cave which we found. I tried to tell him to stop but he wouldn't listen." The man said. Scully felt herself shake again and grabbed the table to steady herself with a small sigh. Hamilton came up behind her.

"Well are you going after him?" she asked.

"Are you mad?" he asked her. Scully felt anger fill inside of her.

"Listen to me very carefully. That thing in there is extremely dangerous and you have to get Mulder away from it. You can't just leave him in the cave on his own. You have to get him out of there!" She said loudly. Scully couldn't believe the man's rudeness.

"We were about to; we just needed to see if he was all right." The man said. Scully sighed.

"Please, get him out of there," she said. There was a loud noise on the other end of the phone.

Scully nearly let it drop with surprise.

"Hello? Hello?" she asked with panic. There were screams and shouts.

"No! Get it away!"

"Sir!" Cried one man.

"My arm!" She heard a woman shout. "HELP!"

Scully frowned with frustration. "Sir? Officer Laws? Can you hear me?" she shouted in panic. Hamilton looked at her quizzically. Scully gave him a frightened glance.

"GET HELP!" A man cried down the phone, his terror ringing in Scully's ears. There was a sound of crashing and a gunshot.

Then the line went dead.

Scully stared at the desk with disbelief. She felt the tears catch in her throat.

"Sir?" She said quietly into the phone, but she knew there was no one there. She put slammed it down and felt a tear run down her cheek. Hamilton stared at her.

"What's happened?" he asked with worry. Scully brushed away the tear.

"They.. they've gone too far, just as I feared," she said quietly looking down at the floor sadly. She shook her head with despair. "Mulder. She whispered sadly, then looked up at Hamilton with desperation. He frowned at her sympathetically.

"We'll go out there, we'll help them," he said shakily, then turned from her to phone someone, though when he looked up again she was gone from behind him and was storming out of the building door.

The car arrived at the house and Scully got out quickly, Officer Hamilton and two others followed her. Then ran towards the back of the garden and got out their guns. Officer Hamilton handed Scully a bullet-proof vest.

"I don't think it's bullets that are the danger here Sir," she said. The man shrugged.

"You can never be too careful Scully." Hamilton said. "OK. Lets go."

They went along the tracks carefully in a run. Scully could feel her heart beating loudly in her chest, she was very, very afraid about what she might find. She just kept praying to herself quietly that Mulder was all right.

Mulder heard the cries from outside and with shock he ran back towards the entrance to try to help.

The monster wasn't in the cave, it was outside.

He had found nothing in the cave yet but he had only got half way through. Mulder was getting tired and hot, it was warm in the cave and there was not much ventilation. A lurid smell filled the enclosed space that made him feel dizzy. He didn't know how much longer he could last in the cave even if the monster came, as he couldn't get out, the entrance was too high up. He started to think that he had made a big mistake.

**

Chapter fourteen

The three experienced officers were leading the way and Scully hung at the back with her gun at the ready. She wasn't going to wait for it to come out; she was going to be ready for it if it came. They were near the cave now.

"It's just over that hill." Hamilton said and they all ran over the hill following his steps.

Scully stopped in shock as she saw what was outside the cave. With a small cry she ran towards the limp bodies as fast as she could, if any of them were alive she could help.

"Oh my god," she said quietly. The officers lay limp on the grass. Blood spilled from a man's shoulder where his arm had once been. She looked to the other officers and saw that they were in shock. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. She didn't know these officers, but she was sure that they did.

"What the hell has been happening here." A young officer said. Scully checked for pulses but there were none.

"I'm so sorry, they're all dead," Scully said. The three officers stared at their dead friends in horror and sadness.

"How could we be too late?" Hamilton said weakly. Scully sighed and looked at the chief officer lying on the ground, his phone next to his hand.

"We couldn't have known," she said and turned away from the shocked officers.

She fought back tears. Where was Mulder? She knew he had gone into the cave, Scully found hope in herself that may be he was still in there.

"Where's Agent Mulder?" Officer Hamilton said. Scully turned towards him.

"I think he's still in the cave. I'm going in," she said walking towards the entrance.

"No!" Hamilton said taking hold of her arm. Scully saw the sadness in the man's eyes. "It's too dangerous. You said that yourself."

"I have to find Mulder," Scully said feeling a tear threaten to fall. Hamilton sighed. Suddenly a cry came from inside the cave. Scully gasped and turned her head towards the entrance. "No!" She cried loudly.

It was Mulder; there was no question about it.

"AGENT SCULLY!" Hamilton shouted. But she jumped down and was gone.

Mulder had been thrown to the floor by a huge force. He didn't have time to register what it had been. Pain ran through his chest as he hit the hard stone floor hard and he cried out. He lost the grip on his torch and it went tumbling over into the darkness and to his dismay he say it flicker out. There was a noise behind him which sounded like heavy breathing and he tried to get to his feet. Mulder tried to look behind him but he didn't have enough energy. He told himself to get up and pushing himself to his knees he crawled away weakly from the breathing noise. He was thankful that his gun was still safely in its hold at his side.

"MULDER!"

He lifted his head slowly towards the sound of the voice and felt dizzy. He felt faint and as if he was dreaming. There was no one coming for him now.

"MULDER!" The woman cried again. Mulder suddenly registered the familiar cry. Scully.

Hope filled through his veins and he sighed with relief. Thank god Scully had come.

"Scully," he said desperately in a small whisper. He tried to move towards his torch and stretched out his arm as far as he could though he could not really see in the darkness. Mulder realised that the torch was on the edge of a small ledge, which fell lower into the cave. He touched the torch but it rolled the wrong way.

"No," he said quietly and the torch fell down with a loud shatter.

In the distance he heard Scully cry again, "MULDER!"

Scully screamed but was stopped suddenly when she heard a small shatter of something falling and from the depths of the cave. Scully ran towards the noise as fast as she could desperately looking for any sign of movement. "MULDER! TALK TO ME MULDER!" she shouted. The lurid stench filled her head and stung her eyes. She felt dizzy again. This was definitely where the monster lived; there was no question about it. The cave had its stench.

Mulder was hit again and he cried out. He was terrified as he felt the presence of the creature behind him. This time the hit was on his head. He tried to bear it but pain seared through his head and along his spine.

Mulder winced. His head was spinning. For a moment he thought he saw stars.

The breathing was behind him again but it started to die down. It got less heavy. Mulder sighed.

"WHERE ARE YOU MULDER?" Scully cried near to him.

"No.. stay away.." Mulder whispered, not strong enough to shout.

He couldn't face her getting hurt when she was trying to save him. Her voice was getting closer. There was another hit and Mulder's body jolted upwards as the huge force hit his back. He cried out, louder this time in agony. This thing was going to kill him.

"What the.." Scully said quietly. She heard Mulder's painful cry and nearly dropped her torch with worry. "MULDER!" She screamed again. Her torch light shone out and made her unsure of what she was going to find and her nerves were staring to waver. Terrified, she started to run towards his cries, she could work out where he was now. She tried hard to push the pain away from her ankle, it was starting to complain. She wouldn't stop, she had to help Mulder. Suddenly she gasped. She could see a ledge now.

Her torch spun along it and then it shone on the right corner. She saw something that made her gasp in horror. It was a huge shadow of a monster like creature.

Slowly, the creature raised its front arm and displayed large claws. Scully started running towards it faster with sad tears catching in her throat. The creature lowered its arm. There was another scream, from Mulder. Scully shook her head in disbelief. She was close enough now; she just needed to look over the edge.

She reached the edge and took her last step forward. With a large breath she looked down and nearly burst into tears.

"No!" She shouted desperately.

There the monster was, standing over a frail body. Mulder lay on the ground weakly face down. Blood spilled around him and she saw three huge gashes on his back where the monster had clawed him.

"MULDER!" She screamed, horrified.

The monster raised its head and turned. Scully started to shake with fear and anger. The monster licked its hard lips and turned its head right towards her.

Mulder couldn't really feel anything anymore. There was such a huge pain in his chest and back that he didn't think about anything else. He had heard Scully's cries and he knew that she was near. But the monster had stopped momentarily; at least he thought it had. He couldn't tell the difference anymore, it was painful all the time. He forced himself to look around. He slowly and painfully turned his head towards the sound of Scully's cries and looked up. His vision blurred but on the top of the ledge he could see someone. A figure. With heavy breaths he tried to focus more, then he saw it was Scully.

Scully froze for a moment then shakily she aimed her gun. The monster stared at her with big black eyes. Did it know what she was doing there? Why was it looking at her and not killing her? She saw Mulder breathing heavily out of the corner of her eye and felt hope; he was still alive. But then something very strange happened. The monster started to shake. Scully took a step backwards in fear as the monster started to sway backwards and forwards. It opened its mouth and screamed loudly. She put her hands to her ears and dropped her gun. She stared at it in disbelief as it started to get smaller.

It squirmed and jolted. The monster started to change slowly. Scully didn't know what to do and took a look a Mulder again; he was looking up at her. As their eyes met she felt a surge of emotion run over her but the monster screamed again and her eyes rang.

It was much smaller now. It stretched out one of its hands and it started to change. The hand started to turn pink it colour and the claws seemed to disappear. Then the whole arm changed, then the upper body, the legs and the face. The creature fell to the floor in an exhausted heap. Scully stared in silence as she saw that it was a human man.

She snapped out of her shock as she heard a cry from Mulder. He was reaching his hand up to her and looking at her desperately.

"Mulder! Mulder I'm coming down! Don't move!" She said as confidently as she could. Her ankle was hurting again and she tried to be as careful as possible to get down the ledge. Laying on her stomach she pushed her legs over the side. Taking one last breath she pushed herself off and landed on her feet, but not for long. Her ankle gave way and she feel sideways onto her side.

"Scully?" Mulder said in a whisper.

Scully groaned in pain. She pushed herself up and made her way over to the weak Mulder. Scully looked down at him sadly and choked on a sob. She took hold of his hand. "It's all right," she said in a concerned whisper.

"What.. what are you doing.. here," he said weakly. Scully frowned in surprise.

"I've come to get you out of here," she said softly putting a hand on his head.

"You-you shouldn't have come," he said. Scully shook her head.

"Mulder, it's all right I'm fine. I need to get you to a hospital fast," she said seriously and her eyes ran over his injuries.

"I'm-I'm not going.. to make it.. Scully," Mulder said weakly. Scully couldn't believe it and the tears started to pour down her cheeks.

"Yes you are. Don't say that Mulder," she said trying to think how she would get him out.

"I.. I can't see you.. I can't see anything," Mulder said weakly. Scully moved his head gently and looked at him. "Stay with me," she said strongly looking down at him.

"Why can't I see.. I feel weak Scully," he said in a faint whisper. Scully got out her medical pack quickly from underneath her bullet-proof vest. She got out an injection and put it into his arm then started to get out her bandages for his back when she suddenly she heard a moaning from behind her. It was the creature. Scully turned to face it with fear. It was stirring. Scully quickly unbuttoned Mulder's shirt and took it off him. He moaned slightly with pain.

"I have to put bandages on your wounds. I have just given you an injection, it'll give you more strength," she said. She could feel the creature getting more awake behind her, it was still in human form. Mulder moaned again as she put a cleansing bandage over the first cut on his back. She did the same for the other two and then tried to lift him up into a sitting position. She grabbed him under the arms and pulled him up more with all her strength. She pulled him up and leant him against the wall.

"Scully," he said painfully as his cuts touched the hard surface.

"Sorry," she said as kindly as she could. Scully looked behind her again and saw the creature stirring more. It was nearly on its feet. She felt scared again, but kept focusing on Mulder. His head hung low. She took his sad face into her hands. "Mulder. Look at me," she said forcefully. "Keep your eyes open." Mulder slowly opened his eyes a little. "You have to stay strong Mulder." Mulder moaned again and nodded slightly.

"I know you can do it Mulder," she said and pulled him close to her holding his head gently to her chest. She took a deep breath and held him for a while Closing her eyes with relief. He let out a small moan and she kissed his head thankful that he was still alive. "It's ok," she said tearfully. Gently she helped him lean against the wall again, then got to her feet.

She took a deep breath and sighed then slowly, she turned towards the standing man.

Chapter fifteen

"Federal Agent. Stay back," Scully said strongly to the weak man standing in front of her. She got out her gun and held it up in front of her. She was ready to shoot.

"Where am I?" The man asked quietly, his eyes full of surprise and confusion. Scully eyes widened in disbelief. She kept her gun steady.

"Shut up. Get down on the floor. On your knees," she said in a shout.

"Please.. mam. Don't shoot me." The man said quietly. Scully looked at the man's face. It was full of fear and desperation. She saw a tear run down his cheek. Her ankle started to waver again under her weight.

"Just.. get down on your knees," she said. The man slowly moved down to his knees.

"What have I done?" The man asked desperately. He looked towards Mulder. "Oh god! What happened to him? Is he going to be OK?" The man said with panic. Scully felt a rush of anger.

"ON YOUR KNEES NOW!" She said. How dare he ask if Mulder was going to be OK?

"All right," he said and got down on his knees.

"Hands behind your head," she said. The man slowly raised his hand to his head and linked them behind his head. Scully stared at him and held her gun.

"Please tell me what's going on." The man said quietly.

"You don't remember attacking Agent Mulder?" she asked fiercely.

"Oh my god.. I attacked him? An FBI agent?" The man asked sadly, his eyes wide on Mulder. Scully stared at him angrily.

"We're going to have to take you to the station," she said.

"But I don't understand.. please," he said desperately.

Scully felt confused. What was she was supposed to do?

He knew she was going to get him locked up. He knew that she was wondering if he remembered what had happened but of course he did. He always did. It was what he lived for and he would have killed that man if she hadn't come to find him. Stupid bitch, she had to die next.

His desperate cries were really working. She was getting confused and like all humans, she felt pity for him. He was doing well at pretending that he was sorry for what he had done. She was gullible enough to believe it too. Stupid bitch.

He studied her face as he spoke to her. She was pretty, just right for a meal that he needed. She would always be there with him. May be he would change now and eat the man, then keep the woman in the cave for the rest of his life as a prisoner.

His hands started to change behind his back. He felt his tongue start to change and grow longer. It was good being like a reptile, and it was good to know that you could kill people for fun without getting found out. That was until now, when that stupid bitch and that guy had come looking for him, everything had gone wrong. But they would pay.

"Please.. don't take me to prison. I don't remember anything. Did I kill people?" he asked desperately. Nice line.

"Yes. You killed lots of people," she said. He kept his eyes on hers. They were so beautiful.

"But.. I can't remember," he said. He lowered his head and started to cry. This was too easy. She was definitely going to fall for this now. Just a step closer sweetheart and you'll be mine. He waited and then heard her step forward and with a flick of the head his huge tongue spun out and grabbed her around the leg.

"NO!" Scully screamed. She fired her gun at madly in shock and it hit nothing. She fell to the floor and was pulled along quickly on her back towards the creature's mouth. "GET OFF ME!" She screamed. The tongue was covered in the green substance. Scully felt her leg start to burn under it. She was so scared she nearly fainted.

"Scully!" Mulder shouted from behind her. Scully turned towards him and saw him try to get up.

"MULDER NO!" She screamed but the tongue pulled her sideways into the air and let go of her mid swing sending her flying into the side of the cave. She hit it with great force and then fell to the ground.

The officers started to climb into the cave one by one. There were about thirty of them now and they had the right equipment. Officer Hamilton had heard the screams from the cave and had called for back up. Someone else was with them too. Another FBI Agent.

"Skinner Sir are you sure that you want to come inside too?" Officer Hamilton asked him.

"I flew over here to see how they were doing, I need to go after my agents." Assistant Director Skinner said. He dropped himself into the cave and followed the others. Hamilton followed behind him.

"I'm sorry that they got into this much trouble sir," he said.

"Lets say that when we get them out of there." Skinner said and looked sadly at the officers moving towards the screams. "We need to hurry," he said quietly as he heard Scully scream.

Suddenly a blond girl was running towards them.

"Hey!" She shouted. Hamilton stopped and turned towards her. He frowned with suspicion.

"What are you doing here young lady!"

"I'm not just an ordinary young lady! I'm Lisa! I know about what's happening! Please, let me help you!" She said desperately. Hamilton was angry.

"Get out of here! This is no place for you!" he shouted. Lisa frowned.

"I know how to stop the creature!" she shouted. "At least, I think I do." Skinner turned toward her suddenly and looked at her with wonder.

"Who are you?"

"Agent Mulder and Scully took me in yesterday! I was at the scene of the crime and I was finding out about the murder, but I was doing it because.. because I knew about it before it even happened, I know who the creature is," she said slowly and lowered her head slightly. Skinner sighed. Hamilton looked at her as if she was mad.

"You're saying you know what all of this is about? How can we stop it!" Hamilton said desperately. Skinner was silent and listened intensively.

"You have to stab it in the head when its in its human form," Lisa said. Skinner and Hamilton stared at her.

"Human form?"

The injection had made a difference. Mulder wavered on his feet but he was ready to kill the creature. He held his gun towards the creature and shot it twice in the back. It's hands were large and dangerous but the rest of it's body was human. He felt dizzy and tired and the pain in his back was making him sweat . The creature fell to the floor and its blood started to spill on the floor of the cave. Looking over at Scully he saw that she wasn't moving.

"SCULLY!" He shouted. The creature was screaming. Mulder shot again and it screamed loudly. The noise was deafening. With one bullet left he aimed with all his strength at its head. He fired the gun. The creature moved sideways and dodged it. "NO!" Mulder shouted. The creature was moving towards Scully and lowering its claws towards her. "Son of a bitch!" he shouted and tried to run towards it.

"Get off her!"

"AGENT MULDER STAND BACK!" Someone shouted from above.

Mulder turned in confusion and heaved a sigh of relief. There were about thirty of them, men with guns and medical teams. Mulder closed his eyes and walked away from the monster. Guns fired loudly.

The creature screamed so loudly that Mulder cried out as the sound hurt his ears. The shooting then stopped and one of the officers jumped down from the ledge and make his way towards the limp creature. He raised a knife in his hand above his head then with a shout he plunged it down and through the skull. The creature let out one last scream. The officer started to back away as it started to change into the monster and then back to a human. This went on for a while until it finally lay still in the form of the monster.

Mulder sighed and with one last inch of strength he felt himself fall into peaceful darkness.

Skinner looked at his two agents with sadness and relief. Scully lay on the ground and she moved slightly. Medics were all around her. Lisa stood near Skinner and down at the remains of the monster. She felt faint and relieved that the nightmare was over. Skinner turned to her and frowned.

"How did you know?" he asked. Lisa sighed.

"I, I've seen it act before," she said quietly. Skinner shook his head with confusion.

"I'm going to have to take you to the station," he said seriously. Lisa nodded quietly and held her head low.

The medics loaded Mulder onto a stretcher and with the help from other men they started to get him out of the cave. Skinner watched him leave and then moved towards Scully. He bent down over her. She didn't seem to be very responsive. Her head moved from side to side slowly and her eyes fluttered open when he put a hand on her shoulder.

"Scully?" He said quietly. A medic came over and put an injection into her arm. "Is she going to be all right?"

"We need to get her to the hospital. We think she's got broken ribs and a nasty blow to the head, and arm." The medic said, his face serious.

"Sir?" Scully's voice was weak and raspy. She was looking up at Skinner. He looked at her.

"Agent Scully. You're going to be fine, it's over now," he said.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him slowly.

"I came to see how you and Mulder were," he said. Scully sighed and closed her eyes slowly.

"Where is he?" Scully asked. Her chest lifted and fell in sharp breaths.

"Who?" Skinner asked.

"Mulder," she said in a whisper.

"He's gone to the hospital which is where you're going," he said. The medic was now joined with others and they lifted her onto a stretcher. She was lifted up.

"Sir.. is he ok?" she asked. Skinner sighed.

"I think so. You're going to go to the hospital now. I'm sorry for getting you into this mess," he said sadly and the medics took her away. Skinner stared after her and felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. It was a feeling of guilt, which he was desperate to push away but it wasn't easy.

**

Chapter sixteen

Three days later

Agent Mulder sat himself down on the dark leather seat carefully and looked across the table at Lisa. He smiled slowly at her and she nodded at him. The light shone over the table and lit up their faces. Mulder felt the bandages on his back and shifted a little to get comfortable.

"Are you feeling better?" Lisa asked. Mulder nodded.

"Yes, a little thanks," he said quietly. Lisa sighed.

"How is Agent Scully?"

"She's recovering," he said. Lisa looked at him. "So, you want to tell me what the hell happened the other day and how you knew?"

Lisa frowned and shifted a little in her seat. She nodded and cleared her throat.

"This.. this is a little hard for me," she said weakly.

"Take as much time as you want."

"Are people suspicious about me?" she asked.

"No, not yet," Mulder said. Lisa raised her eyebrows.

"Good. Well, I might as well tell you then," she said with a sigh, her heavy eye makeup making her face look dark but it didn't spoil her natural beauty. Mulder looked at her.

"When I was about six I saw someone get murdered," she said slowly keeping her head low.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"It was near my house, I was coming back from my friend's house on my bike. It was in the summer so I was sure that I could get back safely, but I heard crashes and noises from the wood on the way back to my house and I," she said trailing off. Mulder looked at her and noticed that she was nearly crying.

"Lisa.. it's all right," he said softly. Lisa nodded.

"I.. I saw a creature, a lizard like creature. It was only until all this started happening that I thought that it might be related to what I witnessed because when I saw the footprint with my friends well, it all came rushing back to me," she said quietly. Slowly she raised her eyes to Mulder's. "All these years I have been trying to put it out of my head but at the same time I couldn't stop thinking about it, so I started to get interested in strange things and guess my image changed a little," she said with a small smile. Mulder looked her over again and saw her dark clothes. He nodded. "It's nothing drastic I suppose I mean I don't look like a vampire, but I didn't want to work at school and I wanted to rebel against everything. I never told my parents, I was too terrified. If only they knew what I had seen that day then they would know why I can't keep control over my actions," she said with a smirk. Mulder smiled and nodded.

"I know how that feels, I'm known as a bit of a misfit also," he said. Lisa let out a small laugh.

"Anyway, I went to the crime scene because I was interested, but now I realise that I was also terrified," Lisa said with a shiver. "There was.. one person who knew about the creature too. When I was young there was a boy in my village and he told me that he had seen a creature once and that he had know about it for years. I think it was one of those ghost story acts when we all wanted to scare each other, but I told him that I had seen it. He told me that his father had killed it," Lisa said slowly. Mulder looked at her with interest.

"Killed it?"

"Yes. He said that he stabbed it with a knife through the head when it was in its human form. That's how I'd known about how to kill it," she said, and shifted in her seat again and lowered her head. Mulder leant across the table and stared at her.

"So, this creature wasn't the first? There were more?"

"I guess so," Lisa said quietly. Mulder sighed.

"I hope there's not anymore," he said solemnly. Lisa raised her eyes to his.

"You think I'm crazy don't you."

"Not at all."

"You're angry at me."

"No, I'm not."

"I could have told you before, but I didn't and you're mad at me for that," Lisa said, her voice wavering. Mulder frowned and shook his head.

"Lisa, it doesn't matter now, I can understand your fear and why you didn't tell us. It's all right," he said kindly. Lisa nodded and Mulder realised that she was shaking.

"Am I.. am I going to jail?" she asked keeping her eyes off his. There was silence between the two. Mulder lowered his head.

"I don't think that will be necessary. You did help us after all," he said, "Don't worry, I won't let that happen Lisa."

"Thank you," Lisa said quietly and to Mulder's surprise he saw her wipe away a falling tear from her cheek. She had seemed so emotionless before.

"Thank you very much, for all your help," he said softly. Lisa nodded and kept her head low. "Lisa, I understand what you have been through, I just hope that you might be able to put it all behind you now," he said gently and got out of his seat and went towards her. Lisa looked at him with sad eyes. Mulder smiled at her hopefully.

"I do too," she said quietly. Mulder nodded.

"I'm going to go now, I don't think I'll see you again. I wish you luck and happiness," he said kindly. Lisa managed a small smile.

"Thank you. I hope Agent Scully recovers soon, I'm sorry I was so rude to her," Lisa said quietly.

"I'm sure she doesn't mind," Mulder said smiling. Lisa let out a small laugh and brushed a tear away from her cheek. Mulder walked towards the door and opened it. He took a step out of it but was stopped when Lisa called out to him.

"Thank you, Agent Mulder.. for believing me," she said softly. Mulder looked at her and nodded.

"I'll believe just about anything anyone can throw at me. I want to believe," he said with a small smile.

The smoking man stood outside of Dana Scully's door. He had the computer and he lay it down on the doormat. Blowing out a breath of smoke he walked away leaving it on the doorstep. The computer was given back, but the information he had needed was gone. She was going to have a nice surprise when she got home.

He threw his cigarette away and got into his car. He dialled a number on his phone.

"It's done," he said into it then put it down. Then he started the car and drove into the night.

the end