'So,' the intimidating voice followed by a puff of smoke, asked, 'what exactly did you give him.'

'The tape of her abduction and four stills,' the smaller of the two men stationed in the covert attic room answered uneasily.

'You may leave,' the gravelly voice commended. Taking the cigarette out of his mouth, he indicated the door. 'Your assignment has been terminated.'

The two men on duty looked at each other before pulling on their jackets and departing. Neither bothered to ask if their dismissal had been caused by giving Special Agent Mulder the information he requested, or because the job had come to an end. Either way, they'd only know their fate when the smoking SOB chose to inform them. By tomorrow they'd either be dead or reporting to another site.

An hour later, the room filled with acrid haze from the twelve butts ashed out in an old coffee cup, he took yet another cigarette from the packet in his pocket. Frowning at the last stick, he placed it in his mouth. Rewinding the tape, Cancer man stopped it at the exact time Scully answered the door to her abductor. He watched the sequence for the fifth time. At no point could he discern preconception, only a well-trained operative. Fast forwarding the image, watching the clock count forward, once again, he halted the picture with Mulder's entry into the small apartment.

This time a slight smile creased the corner of his mouth. The man's reactions, his son's reactions, all he could have hoped for. The fool loved the woman and allowed his feeling to be openly displayed. Mulder had played into his hand, unwittingly giving him all the leverage he needed to control the young couple.

'I've had this woman of yours investigated,' Spender spoke into the empty room, 'and she is all she seems. Nothing that has occurred in the last three weeks gives me any indication her history has been invented. I can't find any evidence that she's travelled outside of the United States since turning eighteen. I have witnesses and statements for her whereabouts since the day of her birth. No, Dr Scully, you are exactly who you say you are. Only I can't fathom how you can be so much more and not give yourself away.'

He'd expected trips disguised as school excursions or vacations to South Africa, Europe or Asia. Obviously she'd been trained on home soil which cut the number of suspects down but also the opportunities to covertly recruit the beautiful young woman. The only indication she had any training at all came from her attack on Normal and the FBI weapons instructor at Quantico. Cancer man managed to appropriate a copy of her late night examination to carry a concealed weapon. He'd been impressed by her prowess.

Attempting to have her military files opened, he discovered her links to Rear Admiral William Scully, Captain William Scully Jr and newly graduated Special Forces Lt. Charles Scully, all of whom took far too much notice of anyone attempting to gain access to their loved ones files. He had to rely on a second hand report from a fellow reservist in her unit while studying for her undergraduate degree in physics. The young man admitted to dating the college sophomore and believed she handled a weapon the same way she handled everything in her life, with determination and to the best of her considerable ability. When told of her amazing accuracy on her first attempt with a weapon at the FBI academy, he expressed his delight and pleasure, remaking, 'that sounds just like Dana Scully. Not happy until she got a perfect score.'

'I don't know where you've come from,' Cancer man continued to study a still of the woman on the screen before him, 'but my scientists deny you could possibly come from the future. They have no evidence of a ripple in time, so you leave me with no other choice.'

In his hand Spender held an advert requiring a doctor for Georgetown University Hospital. It contained a fellowship in the department of genetics, an area he hoped might intrigue her. He'd arranged to have Dr Scully's attention drawn to the position. A few words in the right ears, and she'd be granted an interview. Of course, she still had several months before leaving her current employer. In the mean time he'd have Mulder continue on at the university and their living quarters rearranged with a quite word in the ear of the Vice Chancellor.

'Yes,' he stated, finally lighting the last cigarette and taking a long drag, 'I'll keep my eye on you.'

The weeks that followed played into Cancer man's hand. Dr Scully didn't need his influence to gain an interview, even though her experience as a medical doctor had been brief. She wrote an application worthy of a ten year medical veteran. At the interview, she amazed the selection panel with her knowledge, dedication and determination.

'It's her lack of experience that concerns me,' one of the interviewers stated at the round table discussion, 'and the fact she's a young married woman. What happens when she falls pregnant?'

Spender had been about to step in but found an unwitting ally in the older female doctor. 'Actually,' she commented easily, 'that might be a saving grace. Positions' with office hours, the same hour's day care centres operate is a reason for a working mother to return to her previous employment, especially in medicine. No I think this young woman is the candidate of choice. After all brilliant young doctors with a passion for genetics don't come around often.'

'Time to give it back,' Reggie indicated the ring on Mulder's finger. The investigation officially wrapped up, the ASAC on the university killer case only had a few loose ends to tie. Getting the prop back from his profiler proved difficult as both Mulder and Scully seemed to be avoiding him. He hadn't seen or heard from the pair since Dana's release from the ER.

'Can't,' he replied, hiding his hand in a trouser pocket.

Mulder had been dreading this moment since Dana demanded they continue their relationship beyond the capture of Joanna and Sharon. Reggie and his team managed to get a confession from Joanna but Sharon continued to play with them. The judge presiding over the arraignment denied bail to either woman given the amount of evidence uncovered in their love nest. In the month since, Mulder continued his position at the university. Due to the publicity, the Vice Chancellor arranged alternative accommodation on campus for the undercover agent and his wife, solving one problem. They lived in the same building, on the first floor, spending as much time as possible in Alexandria.

At first Reggie considered Mulder words and mournful look a joke, given his unique sense of humour. Looking around the small office, he noted several photographs of Mulder with Dr Scully tucked into his side, both smiling brightly for the camera. They'd been taken in the last few weeks, establishing the love and commitment between the pair. When Mulder didn't crack a smile in return, Reggie gave the younger man a curious look.

'She's my one in five billion,' Mulder stated, reaching out to touch the print of them in an Italian restaurant. He remembered the Saturday night of his birthday weekend and the intimate celebration following their desert. It bought a wistful expression to his face.

'For real,' Reggie supplied. Although he couldn't say why he felt so surprised after the way his agent acted when Dr Scully went missing.

'Yeah,' a soft smile stole across Mulder's facial features. To Reggie's older eyes, it had the same effect as the sun coming out from behind a cloud.

'Going to make an honest woman of her?' he asked, astounded at the change in his friend.

'I'm not sure it's what she wants,' the smile faded a little. Turning to face Reggie, Mulder continued to explain, 'Dana's family have accepted my position at her side. She seems happy enough with the way thing are.'

'So,' Reggie held onto the sound, 'you don't want to change something that's not broken.'

'Something like that,' the response, accompanied by a pensive look didn't sound completely happy. Mulder considered their relationship carefully. They really were committed to each other in every way possible, except legally.

'So what do you plan on doing,' Reggie broke into his introspection. A frown marred his forehead, wondering what the future held for the pair.

'Dana's taken a fellowship in genetics at George Washington Memorial,' Mulder said. 'She'll continue to see patients while spending some of her time in research. I guess we'll stay at my apartment until we can find something more suitable, maybe in Georgetown. I'm considering taking on teaching as an alternative to the Bureau. This investigation cut to close to the bone, Reggie. I won't risk either Dana's or my life again. She means too much to me. We're moving back to D.C. in the New Year, after spending the holidays with the Scully's in Annapolis. Charlie's been posted to a base in California so it could be the last time they'll be together for a while.'

'All the trappings without the commitment,' Reggie commented slyly. 'You know I pegged that for you, Mulder,' he tested, watching his reaction, 'but not Dr Scully. I though you said her family are staunch catholic, old school. The idea of their youngest daughter living in sin wouldn't go down well.'

'Strange,' Mulder agreed, a forlorn look entering his hazel orbs. Sadness surrounded him, infusing the air and letting Reggie know how much the lack of formal commitment saddened him. 'I always had this idea that it's the woman who'd want domesticity and commitment. Turns out the boots on the other foot and I'm not sure I like the feeling, Reggie. Hell, I've even learnt to cook and clean house because of Dana's hours.'

He couldn't help it, a laugh escaped his tight control. Watching the anger roll across Mulder's face, Reggie contorted his features into an expression of understanding. 'You'd marry her tomorrow, wouldn't you?'

'If I though Dana would agree,' Mulder's tone filled with a surprising amount of sadness, answered emphatically, 'yes.'

'Ask,' Reggie suggested, 'you're never going to know until you do.'

'I did,' Mulder confessed, 'Dana said we were married as far as she's concerned. Dana won't remove her Claddagh ring and she refuses to join the FBI with the relationship between us. Every time one of her family mentions marriage, she changes the topic before they can comment on the status of our relationship.'

'So what do you plan to do?' While Reggie felt for Mulder, he found the situation more than a little humorous.

'She wants a baby,' Mulder responded. Turning to face his boss, an evil gleam in his eye and Reggie knew he had long term plans for the woman in his life. Maybe it wouldn't be as long as Dr Dana Scully anticipated before they started adding to their family.

'You're going to hold a child to ransom,' he stuttered in response.

'No,' Mulder laughed reading the horrified expression in Reggie's dark eyes. Playing with his boss, he added, 'while Dana's family might be open minded enough to allow us to live together, given everyone thinks we're married, add a pregnancy into the mix, and I won't need to pressure Dana.'

'Smart,' Reggie shook his head, 'let the family do the work for you.'

And that, ladies and gentlemen is the end of Time Slip. However watch for the sequel "The Genesis Project" where Dr Scully becomes involved with genetic experimentation leading her further into the clutches of the syndicate and Cancer man.