Okay, so Manalyzer and Ramblingrose are COMPLETELY to blame for this one, plus everyone on Instagram that thought it was a good idea.

Author's note: This is obviously a Voyager / X-Files crossover. It will take place 99% in the Star Trek world, though you don't have to have knowledge of it to enjoy this story, though more things will make sense. Just the same, you don't have to have knowledge of the X-Files to really appreciate it either. I hope you give it a chance, and please let me know what you think. Timeline wise, this is happening at the end of Futures End in the Voyager world, and somewhere in season 5 of the X-Files (think after Redux II but before Christmas Carol) - just so you kind of know the emotional/relationship status of our two main couples.

Also, this will start off with a tame rating, but that WILL change as we go forward :) - you have been warned. I really hope you enjoy!

X =/\= X

Scully walked into the office and immediately cringed; the grin on Mulder's face only meant one thing. They had a case. And the size of the grin, with a slight grimace at the edges told her that it was far away. Too far to drive.

"Morning, Scully," Mulder quipped, walking to the filing cabinet in search for a particular file.

"It was a good morning, but now I'm not so sure." Scully set her coffee on the desk before moving to see what case files Mulder was looking for. He pulled out a half dozen, tossing them in a haphazard pile before selecting the few he was aiming for, but tucked them under his arm before Scully could get a look at them, "Mulder, what are you up to?"

"Scully, what do you know about Gamma radiation?" He was a flurry of activity around her, moving here and there looking for reports, seeming to know exactly where in the veritable stacks of pages and manila folders where his prizes lay. Instead of trying to follow his momentum, she sat down, crossing her legs and folding her hands in her lap.

"Uh, from what I remember from college physics, it's a penetrating electromagnetic radiation, consisting of the shortest wavelengths and the highest energy frequencies, commonly produced when supernovas explode." Mulder was nodding, still in search of a few more case files.

"Did you also know that gamma radiation was detected in the deserts of Roswell after the '47 UFO crash?" There it was; the tie-in Scully knew was coming. She rolled her eyes, her tongue wetting her top lip as she formed a retort.

"Mulder, gamma radiation is most commonly found in outer space...supernovas, like I said." She furrowed her brow, which only seemed to amuse Mulder as he finally came to stand before her.

"Well unless a supernova exploded less than twelve thousand miles from Earth, there is something worth checking out in Los Angeles." That wasn't what she was expecting.

"What are you talking about?" She could already feel a headache beginning to form behind her eyes. Why did this have to happen on a Friday? So much for the weekend.

"The Gunmen intercepted a call from the Griffith Observatory in LA, where a division of S.E.T.I. is still being funded. According to one of their astronomers, they detected massive levels of gamma radiation in the upper atmosphere."

Scully tried to come up with an alternate explanation, but she admittedly didn't know enough about astronomy and radiation beyond high school courses to be of much use. Her llack of response seemed to only excite Mulder more. "One of the astronomers sent the standard S.E.T.I. greeting to the coordinates of the radiation."

"And did they get a reply?"

"Not yet, which gives us time to get out there." Mulder was tucking the files into his briefcase.

"Mulder, there is no way the bureau is going to sanction this, let alone fly us out there to investigate a UFO sighting."

Mulder picked up the last case file and tossed it to her side of the desk, "Which is why we're catching this case instead. A friend of mine in the LA VCU called in for help on a serial murder case. I just happened to volunteer us for the job."

Scully sighed, knowing the cause was lost. "When do we leave?"

X =/\= X

They landed at LAX just after three pm local time and headed for the Los Angeles field office. Mulder wanted to get the official business out of the way quickly. Scully stood silently by while Mulder read over the case files that Agent Barrington had compiled and gave the local agents his profile of their suspect. After catching up for about ten minutes, Mulder was ready to leave and track down the Gunmen's source at S.E.T.I.

Scully waited until they were back in their rental car before voicing her frustration, "Really, Mulder? You couldn't have done that over the phone? I'm guessing the D.C. office doesn't know that this was going to be the extent of our involvement." She crossed her arms, facing forward in the car. Mulder had known before he'd even approached Scully with this that this would be her reaction, but he also knew if this astronomer was correct, it would be well worth some Scully-wrath for first-hand accounts of a UFO in Earth's orbit. "Why did you even bring me along?"

"I figured you'd jump at the chance for actual physical evidence of a UFO in orbit. Frohike has known Rain for years, and her intel is legitimate. Once we get in touch with her, you'll see."

"Rain?"

"Uh, the astronomer's name is Rain Robinson," Mulder spoke sheepishly as he drove towards the Griffith Observatory. Scully just remained silent, a certain doe-eyed entomologist coming to mind as she stared out the windshield at the highway before them.

X = /\ = X

Kathryn was furious, but she did her best to keep her emotions in check. Starling was gone; beamed out of sickbay and through their force fields using stolen technology. Chakotay and B'Elanna had crashed their shuttle somewhere in Arizona. She didn't know if they were wounded or worse, and the time ship was still about to launch. She huffed out a silent sigh, not wanting to alert Harry Kim that she was feeling close to panic.

"Alright, Harry, monitor the Chronowerx building. The second there's any movement from that time ship, I want to know about it. I'll be in engineering." And with that, she moved into the turbo lift, thankful when the doors closed so that she could have a moment alone.

X = /\ = X

Mulder pulled their car into the visitor lot at the Griffith Observatory. It was mostly empty since it was Friday and late afternoon. Scully rolled her eyes as she rolled her shoulders, stiff from being stationary in the car for nearly an hour. She was already looking forward to speaking the words 'I told you so' before slipping into the bathtub at the hotel.

The reception desk called up to Rain's office, but the clerk received no answer. Mulder furrowed his brow, feeling Scully's irritation grow as she stood silently beside him. "Uh, can you try again, please? She's expecting us." The reception clerk nodded, dialing the extension again. She let it ring nearly ten times.

"I'm sorry, Doctor Robinson isn't answering. Most everyone has already left for the day. Would you like to leave her a message?" Mulder sighed.

"No, but may I use your phone to call a colleague that might know where she is?" Scully had to muffle her scoff in a cough, knowing that his colleague was no doubt Frohike. The clerk lifted the phone, setting it in front of Mulder on the desk. He quickly dialed the Gunmen's number and when Langley picked up, Mulder had to convince him that he was calling from a secure line. The clerk's eyebrows rose, but she excused herself to refill her coffee. "Put Frohike on. Hey man, Rain's not here. Yes, we tried her twice. Well, do you know what she drives? Maybe we can check the lot for her car. A blue VW bus? Alright, thanks, man. No, you can't talk to Scully. Bye." Mulder turned to see if that had lightened Scully's mood at all.

The scowl on her face told him it had not.

"Rain drives a blue VW bus. I think I saw one in the lot when we got here. We could just wait until she comes back."

"And if she left with someone else and left her car here for the weekend?" Mulder bit his lip, not having thought of that eventuality.

"How about this? We wait," he glanced at his watch, "until six. That's just over an hour. If she isn't there by then, we'll head to the motel and try to figure something out." Scully let out a sigh, but nodded.

Scully was actually surprised that Mulder would cave so easily but was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. They would be back to the motel by seven at the latest, and she'd have plenty of time for a long soak in the tub before she went to bed. "Alright, Mulder, six o'clock."

They headed back out towards the parking lot, and as soon as they turned the corner towards their car, they spotted Rain's van. "There it is, Scully. Let's just go and park next to her, so we won't miss her."

Scully was just pulling open the passenger door when Rain's van started; apparently she was already in it. She knew Mulder would want to follow so she quickly got in, just as Mulder started their own car and quickly threw it into drive. Rain's van accelerated quickly, easily surpassing the posted speed limit, but Mulder kept up with her. "I wonder where she's going so fast" Scully glanced in the rearview to see if an approaching vehicle had caused Rain to flee so quickly, but there seemed to be nothing suspicious.

"I don't know, but my interest is piqued. How about yours?" Mulder asked, a smirk on his face as he pressed harder on the accelerator.

Scully sighed, "Mulder, just because an astronomer is speeding doesn't mean it has anything to do with UFO's. Maybe she's late for an appointment. Maybe she has a date. Maybe she left her iron plugged in." Scully pursed her lips in that way that told Mulder she wasn't picking up what he was putting down, so he remained silent for the moment.

After about ten minutes Scully noticed that they were closing in on a semi-truck, unmarked and with no plates. When it merged from one freeway to another the VW followed. Mulder glanced quickly at Scully, noticing her concerned expression and focus as she tried to figure out what was going on.

Once on a fairly long and straight stretch of highway, the van accelerated a bit more, and Mulder pressed his luck to keep up, noting they were going nearly ninety miles an hour. "Mulder, please be careful." He could hear the nerves in her voice, steady though it was, but he was already hyper-aware of the situation; keeping a keen eye on his distance to the van, and the van's distance to the truck, lest someone slam on their brakes.

What neither of them was prepared for was a man leaning out of the driver's window with what looked like a weapon in hand. Their suspicion was confirmed when a fiery orange beam emanated from it, exploding the back bumper of the truck. Mulder hit the brakes just as the van did, allowing the truck to travel up and over a hill before them.

Scully was already drawing her service weapon as she got out of the car, using the door as a shield as she aimed. Mulder did the same on the other side of the car, silently thankful that there were no other vehicles on this stretch of highway.

The driver's door of the van opened, and a blonde man got out, holstering whatever he'd just used to fire on the truck. "Stop, don't move!" Mulder called from his position behind the door.

"Federal agents! Put your hands in the air," was Scully's response.

The blonde man turned around, dumbfounded, but raised his arms slowly, "Who are you?"

"No, who are you? Where's Rain Robinson?" Mulder called again, standing up and moving slowly around the door, seemingly confident that the man wouldn't re-draw his firearm. Scully watched Mulder in her periphery, mirroring his movements as she came around the passenger door.

"She's at home. She let me borrow her van." The man looked like he wanted to say more, but then shut his mouth.

"Why did you fire on that truck?" Scully asked. She didn't holster her weapon but allowed her finger to ease off of the trigger.

"Uh, that's classified." The man squinted at the sun in his face. Scully wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh at the confused smirk on his face, or slap it off of him.

"Did you not hear that we are federal agents?" She took a step closer, "What's your name? How do you know Doctor Robinson?"

The blonde man still squinted, trying to keep an eye on each of the two agents moving towards him. He knew enough of this century to recognize semi-automatic handguns when he saw them. He lowered one hand a fraction, casting a shadow across his eyes, "My name is Tom. I don't mean you any harm. Rain has been working with my friends and I. Beyond that I'm afraid I can't help you."

Scully furrowed her brow, glancing quickly at Mulder, feeling completely out of her element. Aside from keeping her gun trained on the man before her, this was Mulder's party.

Mulder surprised her by lowering his weapon, sliding it smoothly back into its holster before holding one of his own hands up. "What can you tell us about your work with Rain?"

Tom opened his mouth, a look of trepidation on his face, but was cut off by the roar of an engine.

The semi-truck had survived the explosion, and was now bearing down on them, closer than they had all been prepared for and moving fast. Mulder moved to pull Scully out of the way, but several things happened before he could.

As silent as if it wasn't there, a small aircraft slid through the air towards them. Just as Mulder's hand closed around Scully's bicep the craft was above them, firing its own laser beam at the speeding truck. Mulder pulled Scully to him, turning to shield her body from the explosion; cringing as he expected to feel the heat of the fire burn him.

But he felt nothing as a shimmering blue light surrounded them, settling an odd tingling feeling into his spine. In nearly the blink of an eye he was standing inside an odd metal room, along with Scully and the man, Tom.

It smelled of burnt metal, and there were odd lights and indicators on both sides of them.

Mulder was still hunched over Scully's frame, but backed up and stood straight as he saw Tom move past them, and he registered voices of other people. He couldn't see their faces, but a man and a woman sat in chairs in front of a large console. Mulder didn't know why, but he had an odd suspicion that they were now inside the craft that had fired on the truck.

"Nice shooting, Commander," Tom spoke as he approached the man up front, lowering his voice as he spoke again, "Let's drop our new friends back off, eh?" Mulder took a step forward, knowing they were being talked about.

"The truck was emitting some kind of transport inhibiting wave. We barely got you three out of there before the transport buffers were fried." The man speaking had dark hair and wore some type of uniform, though it was dirty; covered with mud, sweat and perhaps blood. The man himself looked haggard, moving his hands over the panel before him.

His counterpart, a woman, looking equally haggard worked her own portion of the console. "Wasn't there supposed to be a time ship in that truck?" The trepidation in her voice hit Mulder like a wave and he turned to look at Scully. She looked pale and confused, her pistol held limply in her hand as she tried and failed to take in the events around them.

The dark-haired man pressed several buttons, "Shuttle to Voyager. Captain, the time ship wasn't in the truck. It was a decoy. It's going to launch from an alternate location."

"Acknowledged," a female's voice sounded from somewhere in the shuttle, though it was a new voice that Mulder didn't recognize, or understand its source. No one seemed to be paying him and Scully any attention and she stepped up next to him, leaning slightly into his body as if her own might not support her. "Get back to Voyager as quickly as you can. We'll find him. Janeway out."

It was then that Tom turned, remembering that Mulder and Scully were still there. "Hey, I'm sorry about this guys. We'll have you back in no time." His grimace told them that he didn't appreciate them being there, but obviously they had been saved from the truck exploding, though how he had no idea. Mulder just nodded, feeling his mouth fall open. Scully remained stoic beside him, her eyes wide.

"Get us back where?" Mulder found his voice, timid though it was.

Tom rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Uh, back to Earth."

It was then that Mulder realized the front of the shuttle was all windows, and as clouds rushed past he saw the sky darken to black, littered with millions of stars, and closing fast, a large spacecraft rivaling the best he'd seen in any of the Star Wars movies.

"Oh, shhhhi-"