DOGGETT RESIDENCE

SEPTEMBER 3rd, 2012 6:21 P.M.

"Shhh… There, there now." Cooed Reyes as she laid baby Prudence Amelia Doggett down in her crib to sleep. Reyes gently rubbed her daughter's belly as she admired the calmness in her daughter's face. The serenity of her crib and the silence of the room contradicted to what was happening outside in the real world. All of sudden she heard the front door to the house open and close, signifying that the investigation to both Agent Harrison and William's disappearance had concluded for the day. Reyes softly stepped backwards from the crib and left the room. She carefully closed the door behind her and turned to find both Dana Scully and John Doggett collapsed on the living room couch, exhausted.

"I take it, still no leads?" asked Reyes.

"None," replied Doggett as he gave an exasperated sigh. Scully sunk into the couch cushions with one elbow on the armrest, her hand pinching the bridge of her nose and her eyes closed.

"Well," added Scully, "There were a few witnesses who saw Harrison fall and then miraculously take off from the spot from which she fell. The witnesses claimed to have seen her get up and disappear down a deserted alley between a couple of adjacent business buildings. We came to the alley and found some sludge tracks that showed evidence of a woman's footprint heading down it. However, the tracks just seemed to stop as if she disappeared on the spot."

A moment of silence passed as Reyes sat down on the couch beside Doggett.

"Where's Mulder and Gibson?" asked Reyes.

Doggett sat up on the couch and stretched his back and neck. He started rotating his neck and replied to Reyes, "They're still with Agent Skinner covering Agent Harrison's office with a fine-toothed comb. I think Mulder wants to commit every detail of her office to memory. I think he believes he's forgotten something that will somehow become a breakthrough in their disappearance. I imagine they'll be home relatively soon. If this isn't a rock and a hard place, then I don't know what is."

Reyes nodded silently to herself and then turned to Scully. "Dana…"

Scully mustered enough energy to look up at Reyes addressing her. "Yeah?"

"…How is Mulder? I mean, he's looking worse than he did a week ago. I'm just concerned for his mental state."

"I know," sighed Scully, "I think I'm about to lose it myself. But with Mulder, I think… witnessing a second abduction of another family member… it's literally killing him."

Tears of exhaustion and sadness started to fall from Scully's eyes as she continued, "It's his sister's abduction all over again. He allowed his entire career to be consumed with the idea of one day finding his sister. I'm not one to judge anyone's state of mind as of this moment, because truthfully… I'm a wreck. I know Mulder is too. He just doesn't show it like I do. With Mulder… he bottles his emotions and uses the energy from it to give him purpose…"

"I know that Dana, but… there's got to be a better way to do that, and what he's doing now isn't working. I think… this is the straw that broke the camel's back. This is his repressed memories and emotions circulating over and over again and it's showing. He'll be no good to the investigation if he doesn't have a clear head. He needs a better way to purge his anxieties because he's coming off more para…" Reyes bit her lip and was afraid to finish the rest of her thought.

"…paranoid," said Scully finishing Reyes sentence. She winced at the sound of the words, but soon realized that it needed to be said out loud to cement the reality of the situation.

"I only meant, more paranoid than usual. Believe me… anyone who knows or does what we do has to be paranoid on some level," reasoned Reyes.

"No, no, I understand… but to be honest… I don't even know where to begin or what to suggest that'll even help him start healing himself."

Just then a pair of head lights beamed through the living room window which belonged to Agent Skinner's vehicle. Three gentlemen got out of the car and slowly made their way to the front steps of the Doggett house. Skinner entered the house first, followed by Mulder and Gibson.

"Mulder…" called out Scully from across the living room. She wanted to get up and comfort Mulder, but she herself was exhausted from the defeated day. Mulder was speechless and didn't look at anyone while he headed straight to William's bedroom. Gibson took one look at the rest of the group and gestured to them that he was going to go follow Mulder to the bedroom.

"How'd it go?" asked Doggett, who quickly got the conversation going.

Skinner sighed quickly and responded, "Same as yesterday. We just got done interviewing the forensic team that cleaned up and analyzed Harrison's office. They're claiming that Harrison wasn't the person that fell out the window. And according to Harrison's executive director she's still on active duty with a case that was assigned to her outside of D.C. She's not due back for another week or so. With Mulder's history with the FBI and my being semi-conscious at the time of the occurrence, we made for very bad witnesses. Nobody believes our story."

Gibson knocked on the door, and without waiting for a response he opened it and entered the room. He saw Mulder curled up on William's bed as if he was attempting to envelope his body with William's scent.

"Mulder… there's no use doing that. I know what you're thinking. And it's the same thing over and over again. You're making yourself sick. Heck, I'm hearing it ad nauseam. This isn't like what happened with your sister, Samantha. Please believe me, when I say that I have the upmost confidence that William will come back."

"Nothing… We found NOTHING! Not even so much as a hair to go by. No one believes me."

"What are you talking about? Everyone in this house believes what you saw."

"Gibson…" started Mulder as he fought with every fiber of his being to not cry, "… I am at my wit's end. I don't even know where to begin. If I stop, it's like I've failed and given up on him... I wasn't able to save my sister. I was too young and didn't have the resources to find her, when I could have probably saved her. And now… I'm even more powerless to find my own son."

"You've got to end this thinking cycle. And in order to do that you've got to quit blaming yourself for his disappearance. To be honest… it's not your fault and there was nothing you could have done to prevent what happened. Will's abilities are unlike anything any of us have ever seen. And if the person you saw was was an alien similar to Will, then there was nothing in your power you could have done. William's a survivor. Just like his parents."

Mulder laid there in silence and took the few seconds to acknowledge and admit what Gibson was saying. He sat up in the bed and turned to look at Gibson. Gibson saw the redness and exhaustion in Mulder's eyes as he approached Mulder and sat down on the bed beside him.

"When did you become so grown-up?" Mulder asked.

Gibson smirked and shrugged his shoulders, "I know… and, you're welcome."

Mulder, for the first time in over a week, smiled back at Gibson and ruffled his hair in appreciation.

"It will get better, Mulder. I promise…" started Gibson. His face automatically altered from uplifting, happy and light-hearted to calm, serious and concerned. His ears perked up and his head seemed to follow the direction of the sound. Mulder, alerted to Gibson's facial reaction, inquired, "What? What is it? What do you hear?"

"So what are our plans for tomorrow? What shall we do next?" Scully inquired.

"Scully, you and I can do more research into the material we found in Gibson's rock," suggested Reyes.

"I'll see if we could gain access to look over all the evidence material again," suggested Skinner.

"I'll look into seeing if I can head…" stuttered Doggett as he took notice of Gibson gravitating towards the bay window that overlooked the front lawn, "…the investigation."

"Gibson?" said Scully in a concerned tone. The focus was now on Gibson who didn't say a word. Everyone in the room got up and moved nearer to Gibson. Mulder followed behind Gibson trying desperately to look up and see what he was seeing. There was a pregnant pause that filled the room. Everyone held their breath awaiting Gibson's next response.

"It's William. He's here."