"Mulder!!!I can’t BELIEVE you did that!" Scully's eyes were snapping as she picked up the pillow from the bed and threw it at him. "You drag me out of my perfectly warm bed, insist I get dressed and packed, make me ride 6 hours in a car with you spitting sunflower seeds the entire way to come and investigate a missing person case out in the middle of nowhere only to find that its not an official X File? WHY on EARTH did you not tell me that before we left?"

Mulder just smiled. "Scully would you have come if I had told you? I need you on this case. I need your analytical mind." Mulder paused and thought to himself., I also need you and your company but those words remained unsaid. He resumed speaking, "Would you have wanted to come? And it is an official FBI case. I just have reason to believe there is more to it than meets the eye."

"With you Mulder there is always more than meets the eye. Even when there isn’t, you insist that there is. So what is it this time? Aliens? Frogmen? Reptilian overlords? Werewolves?"

"Scully I don’t know. All I know is it is a gut feeling I got when I saw the file. That’s why I asked Skinner for it. There’s more here than is being told in the file and I intend to find out just what it is. C’mon Scully where’s your sense of adventure? Lets go talk to the local police and see if we can find our starting point."

"One of these days Mulder, one of these days…" Scully was mumbling under her breath as she closed the motel room door. Why did she continue to do this? Why did she put up with the torment? Even as she was thinking these thoughts to herself, she knew the answer. After all they had been through together she had found that no one could stir her emotions as Mulder did. It was bad enough to put herself through the emotional roller coaster but to arrive in town and find that there was only what the office person laughingly referred to as the Couples Retreat room available was just unreal. Who knew that everything would be booked due to a huge family reunion going on that was scheduled to last a week. The thought was more than she thought she could bear. How in the world would she be able to keep her feelings hid sharing a room with him?

As Scully got in the silver Accord Mulder was amazed that she hadn’t threw more of a fit than she did. Still he didn’t want to antagonize her any more than she already was. He started the car and headed out to the local police station to see what they could find out. As they approached he remarked, "You know Scully I expected to find more than two police cars sitting outside."

"What did you expect in a town this size? It certainly isn’t DC." Mulder was sure he heard a touch of sarcasm there.

As soon as the car stopped Scully turned to Mulder. "Look here. We go in, we find out what we can and don’t you even BEGIN to start with any of your crackpot theories. Got it?" Scully obviously was still sore at him for his behind the back maneuvers to get her here.

Mulder just grinned as he got out of the car. "C’mon Scully we’re wasting time."

"Mulder!!!"

Upon entering, a pretty blond looked up from her computer. "Can I help you?"

"Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully to see Chief McClellan. Is he in?"

"Hmmm no but for you I think I could find him," she replied while looking him up and down. "Your parents sure named you right when they named you Fox. You all here bout Tom Reynolds missing?"

"Where can we find him?"Mulder answered totally disregarding her question.

"Well considering its lunchtime, you’ll most likely find him over at Ma’s Diner. Its that’s little wooden cabin set back from the road over there. That’s typically where he eats lunch. Sure I can’t help you with something Agent Mulder?"

"No thanks we’ll stroll over there and find him."

"Well if you find anything I can help you with PLEASE let me know. I’ll be happy to help in whatever way possible." She coyly replied.

"Thanks"

As they walked out the door, Mulder turned to Scully. "You hungry?"

"I’ll just bet she would help, Mulder. GEEZ she looked like she would eat you alive. Even if I was hungry after that blatant display I don’t know that I could be. Yes, let’s please go find this diner so you can see its nothing out of the ordinary and we can go home."

Mulder grinned. "Scully is that a hint of jealousy I hear in your voice? Or is that just hunger talking?" he teased.

"That is total frustration and aggravation you hear. C’mon Mulder" Scully pushed her way into the diner and spotted an officer sitting at the counter. They made their way over to where he was sitting. For such a small place it was completely packed with people. Everyone in town must have been in the diner for lunch.

"Chief McClellan?" He nodded. "I am Special Agent Dana Scully and this is my partner Special Agent Fox Mulder from the FBI. Is there someplace we can talk?"

"Hey Maw better make that to go." He hollered to the lady behind the counter. Turning to Scully he replied, "Sure thing. Just as soon as I get my food we can stroll back over to the office. Sure am glad they sent you all down this way. You all care for anything?"

"No thank you," Mulder replied. "We ate not too long ago."

"Suit yourself. This place may not look like much but it’s the best food in town. Maw’s been cooking here for nigh on to 40 years. Sure don’t get any better than this."

Maw brought the food over and set the bag down in front of the officer. "That’s right honey child and don’t you forget it. Now you run along and I’ll put that on your tab. Scoot now, you don’t want to keep the nice folks waiting. Here take your coffee, you can send Emma back over with the cup after awhile."

"Thanks Maw. I’ll be sure and do that."

The Chief got off the stool and headed for the door beckoning for Mulder and Scully to keep up. "That Maw don’t miss much. Treats everyone of us as if we were her kids. Course most of us grew up around her. She knows more about these parts than most anyone does." The chief kept chattering as they crossed back across to the station. "Yep usually if something is going on Maw knows about it either before its happened or shortly thereafter. That’s what was so strange about this case." He opened the door and started in. " Any calls Emma?"

"No sir just some agents, oh never mind I see they found you."

"We’ll be in my office if anything turns up. Otherwise don’t disturb us."

The chief walked into his back office and closed the door. He pulled some files off the two brown leather chairs across from his desks and motioned for the agents to have a seat. He then walked around the desk shoved some papers to the side and set his lunch upon the desk. "Didn’t really expect to get any response from the FBI on this. Typically takes more than a missing person to get the federal boys involved. But in this case I am sure glad to see you."

"What can you tell us about this disappearance?" Scully asked.

"You folks been to the motel yet?" Scully nodded. "Well as I guess you noticed we got a big family reunion going on here. Most everyone round these parts is related and every few years we have a big Reynolds reunion.. Everyone comes from all across the country where they’ve scattered out to. It’s a real big deal and everyone treats it as a big occasion to get reacquainted with all the kinfolks and to see the new babies and so forth. Well our missing person Tom Reynolds had checked into his motel room day before yesterday during the early evening and near as we can figure was getting ready to head over to Ma’s to get some dinner. That’s another big tradition everybody heads to Ma’s soon as they hit town you know. Well we got a call from the motel of a lot of screaming and sounded like a fight in room 32. That’s the room on the backside at the end you know. Faces out onto the woods out back. Well by the time I got over there whatever was going on had already happened. The door to the room was open and it looked like a fight had been going on."

"Excuse me sir. A fight?" Scully interrupted. "How did you determine that?"

"Well you know, furniture overturned, clothes thrown around, mirror busted, that type thing. Well during Reunion time we often have a few family squabbles but people just don’t go missing. He didn’t return to the motel that night and so we just filed a missing person report. His car was still in the lot so we knew that whoever took him had obviously had his own vehicle but we didn’t find anything unusual. Least not to us. So when the Feds said they would send someone to investigate we were pleased as punch I tell you. Oh and the lady in the room next to him said she had hear something that sounded like a real loud hissing noise. She said it quit when the screaming stopped."

"A hissing noise?" Mulder replied.

Yep that’s the way she described it. Like a cat hissing when it’s mad," the chief answered.

"Can we have a look at the file?" Mulder asked.

""Sure. Don’t know what good it will do ya though. Done told ya everything that is in it. Here you go." The chief replied throwing them a file. Mulder opened it and was glancing through and noticed a post-it note stuck to it. "If the feds don’t need to see the room tell Maisy she can clean it up" "Does this note mean the crime scene hasn’t been disturbed?" Mulder asked.

"Yep. We were afraid you folks might like to see it. Maybe you can find something we missed, or at least it might give you a few ideas and perhaps a lead on where poor old Tom is. I assume you have the description on him?"

"Yes it was in the information I received. Is there any way we can visit the scene now?" Mulder seemed almost anxious.

"Yep I’ll call over there and tell Maisy to let you in. You met Maisy didn’t ya? When you checked in? She’s run that motel nigh on 20 years. And her momma before her. That’s the way it is round here. Folks tend to follow in their parents’ footsteps if they stick around. Please feel free to let me know if I can help in any way." He replied as he escorted them to the door.

As they were leaving the office he heard Emma behind him. "Please let me know if I can help any way Mr. Mulder"

"I don’t’ think helping on the case is what she has in mind." Scully turned to Mulder as they got into the car. "Ok Mulder why do I get the feeling you’re not telling me everything? There has to be more than your hunch after all I have heard to get you to drag me down here in the middle of nowhere."

Mulder started the car and backed out onto the highway. "Scully why would you say that?"

"Because you don’t get involved in simple missing persons. Especially not at your own request. Which leads me to believe there’s more you’re not telling me. So what is it? What was so important about this case that you had to come to investigate this one?"

"Well Scully I think it may tie into another case. Several years ago in these parts there was rumored to be a group of people who believed that demons existed and only certain people could see them. There was a case of a teenage boy who went missing and his body turned up several days later covered in bite marks from some sort of animal but it could never be determined exactly what animal. No one was ever caught and it fit the same profile as this one. During reunion time, lots of screams, missing person with apparent signs of kidnapping but no note. The case was closed as a wild animal attack but wild animals don’t cause it to look like a kidnapping. When this came in I remembered the other one and so that’s why we are here."

He pulled into the parking lot of the motel. "Gee whoever dreamed we’d be almost back where we started today Scully. C’mon lets go look at that room."

Scully just gave him a dirty look as she got out of the car. She waited as he went to the office and in a couple of minutes emerged behind the older lady who had checked them and insisted that she only had the one room and probably wouldn’t have had it if there hadn’t been a last minute cancellation. They followed her around to the back where she opened a room for them. "There ya go. If ya need anything else just give me a holler" she told them. " Always like to oblige the government folks when I can. Such a shame bout Tom. He’s always been such a nice feller. Sure hope he turns up ok. Now just let me know if there’s anything else you need"

"Separate rooms would be nice," Scully murmured under her breath.

"What’s that dearie?"

"Oh nothing. Thank you Maisy. We will" Scully replied as Maisy turned to walk off.

"I heard that Scully. I guess that means you’re not looking forward to sharing a room with me.?

"Mulder just shut up and look." Scully pulled on her latex gloves before switching on the light. " I never knew it could get so dark so fast. Seems like someone just cut the lights off outside." She did a quick glance around the room noticing the upside down furniture and the broken mirror. She turned to the door. "Mulder," she said. "Did you notice the lock was not broken or forced? Whoever came into this room and did this was let into this room." She walked across the room to where Mulder was kneeling on the floor. "What are you looking at?"

"Oh just this open Bible. Its like I was drawn to it. Have you found anything?"

"Well as I was saying, the lock isn’t disturbed so whoever did this was let into this room." She walked across the room to where a suitcase appeared to have been emptied across a bed. "Here’s some interesting reading. The Witch Who Left, The Powers of Darkness, Witchcraft; Real orImagined. Mulder, there’s all kinds of books here. Most of which deal with witchcraft or something similar. Someone was definitely obsessed with the occult."

"Or with leaving it." Mulder replied. "Perhaps they wanted out." Mulder continued looking around the room hoping to find something that might give them a clue as to what had happened. After examining everything in the room he came back to the open Bible on the floor. "Scully I know this has to have something to do with it. I just know it."

"Mulder if you figure it out let me know. Right now I am at a loss. Let’s stop for a bit and go grab a bite to eat. I’m starved."

"Scully I don’t think we’re going to find Chinese takeout here but I do remember seeing a pizza joint as we came into town. How bout if we run over there pick one up and bring it back to the room?"

"Mulder, right now the only thing I want to do is go find a hot bath and get some food. So why don’t you go get the pizza and I will go soak in the tub and be out by the time you come back?"

"Sure Scully and thanks." Mulder grinned at her.

"Thanks for what?"

"For coming along. For everything. Now I’m going to go get pizza. See you in a bit"

Scully carefully closed the door behind her being careful not to disturb anything and making sure it locked. She walked around to the front and opened the door into room 16, the room directly in front of 32. Was it just coincidence that their room backed up to the crime scene? "Scully" she scolded herself. "You are desperately in need of something. You’re starting to think like Mulder. Now get a hold of yourself". She walks in and throws her navy jacket on the chair and throws herself across the bed. She kicks her shoes off as she lies there with a myriad of thoughts running through her head.

How is she going to share this room with Mulder? Maisy said that there were no extra rollaway beds available. Of course Mulder said he would sleep on the couch but could she let him do that? Would she be able to share the bed and risk letting her feelings show? Could she keep them under control? Did she want to? She knew that Mulder at times seemed attracted to her but was it more than just a whim? Was he attracted because they were always together? Could it be that he really cared for her? What had happened to Tom Reynolds? What was the significance of those books? Did they mean anything? Why was Mulder drawn to that Bible? What attracted Mulder to things? Darn, back to him. I’d better get in the tub before he gets back.

Scully jumped up and opened her suitcase digging for the pink silky pajamas she had brought with her. She found them and assorted other bath items including her favorite bubble bath and headed off to start her bath running. After adding a generous amount of bubbles she closed the door and put on a CD of love songs to help her relax. She lit a few of the lilac candles scattered around the room and put her hair up in a clip before undressing and sliding into the tub.

Mulder carefully found his way to the pizza place and ordered a pizza and asked where he would be able to find some beer to go with it. He was directed to a nearby convenience store to pick it up while he waited. While there he grabbed a couple of movies. At least they would have something to watch tonight. While walking back to the pizza place he noticed no one was dressed in anything but jeans and T-shirts. Apparently this was a very casual town. Even the out of towners that were getting pizza was dressed very casually. In his sports jacket and tie he stood out like a sore thumb.

"You that FBI guy?" the pizza guy asked when he handed him his pizza. "Everyone heard there was a couple of federal folks down here. One of the guys says your partner’s a real snazzy looking redhead. Hear you’re sharing the Couple’s Retreat over at Maisy’s. Who knows you might get lucky." The pizza guy gave Mulder a slow wink. "Anything else you need bud?"

"Nope that will do it and thanks." Mulder replied as he picked up the pizza and turned toward the door.

"Better be careful FBI man. Never know when them evil spirits will decide they want to show up again. Better make sure you’re prayed up"

"Evil Spirits? Thanks I’ll be careful." Mulder carefully placed the pizza alongside the beer in the rear seat of his car. Evil spirits. Well that made as much sense as anything. What was it he said? Oh yea better make sure you’re prayed up. Hmmm prayed up. That might be a clue. He ought to talk to Scully and get her opinion. Scully, now there was a thought. He sure hoped her bath put her in a better mood. Maybe between the beer, the food and the bath she would be in a more congenial mood and perhaps they could just relax this evening. Often some of his best ideas and leads came from time spent just enjoying her company. His mind wandered to the thought of her in the bath. He could just imagine she was soaking in a mass of bubbles and looking half-asleep. Darn, why did his mind have to wander in that direction. He couldn’t let his thoughts go there. It was enough he would get to lie on the couch and watch her sleep. He loved watching her sleep. She was so beautiful.

Mulder pulled into the motel parking lot and grabbed the pizza and beer from the back seat and headed in. He could hear the CD player in the bathroom playing softly. Apparently Scully hadn’t gotten out of the tub yet. He set the pizza on the bed, found the ice bucket and went outside to get some ice. Upon returning he dropped the beer in the bucket and headed toward the bathroom.

"Scully?" he knocked on the door. The door nudged open and there she was in all her beauty. The innocent look that only came with sleep. He stood just admiring the way she looked, as she lay there asleep in the tub. The candlelight played across her hair sending beautiful auburn highlights throughout. He could hear ‘Love Me Tender’ playing softly in the background. Her cheeks had a few bubbles where she had slid in the tub. Her soft full lips were parted just a bit just begging to be kissed. In fact she looked very vulnerable. His heart raced as he stood there staring. He couldn’t let her know he had seen her like that. He quickly stepped back outside the door and pulled it closed.

"Scully?" he repeated louder. "the pizza is here"

"Mulder is that you? Hang on I’ll be right out. Give me 5 minutes."

"Scully," Mulder thought to himself. "I would give you the rest of my life if I thought you would take it."

Scully slipped from the lukewarm water. How long had she lain there dreaming of Mulder? She hurriedly toweled off and slipped into her under things and silky pajamas. Taking her hair down as she came out of the bathroom she shook her hair letting it just spill back down. "I didn’t expect you back so soon, Mulder"

"Soon? Scully I’ve been gone over an hour. Come on over here and sit on the sofa and have some pizza. I even got some beer to go with it." Mulder was doing his best to keep his eyes from showing what was going on in his head. Why did she have to bring those pajamas he loved so much. Tonight was not going to be easy for him. That much was apparent.

"Mulder you are too much. Thank you. Now all we need is a movie and we’ve got it made."

"Right here Scully" he replied as he popped a movie in the vcr and turned on the tv. " I aim to please"

"And that you do Mulder that you do" Scully thought to herself as she plopped down on the sofa with pizza in one hand and a beer in the other.

Mulder loosened his tie and removed it, tossing it onto a chair along with his jacket. "Sure hope you don’t mind Scully but I really don’t want to get pizza sauce on my good white shirt. I’ve already ruined 4 this month." He then proceeded to unbutton his shirt and add it to the growing pile. "Now that’s better. Now where did I put that T-shirt?" He was mumbling more to himself than to Scully. "Oh yea here it is" as he found it rummaging in his suitcase. He pulled it on and reached for the pizza.

"You know Scully," he said between bites. "I noticed something while I was out getting this. Not anyone in this town wears anything but jeans and T-shirts. We really stand out here. Not to mention that apparently we have already achieved celebrity status."

"Why’s that?" Scully mumbled through a mouthful of pizza.

"Well apparently everyone in town has heard we’re here. They knew who I was at the pizza place. I get the feeling we really ought to try to be a little more inconspicuous. Sure hope you brought some jeans." Mulder took a drink from his beer.

"Yea I did. You know this is better pizza than I expected to find out here in the middle of nowhere. So did you learn anything else while over there getting pizza?"

"Well the pizza guy did tell me to be careful of evil spirits and to make sure I was prayed up.’

"Evil spirits? C’mon Mulder surely you don’t expect me to believe…"

"Well that’s what he said. It fits into the previous case where the type of bite was never determined. They ruled it an unspecified animal."

"Mulder, I refuse to believe that there is such a thing as an evil spirit that can bite people. Now here sit down and watch the movie and tomorrow we will see if we can find anything else in that room."

Mulder settled in beside Scully on the couch as they began the movie. Gradually all thoughts of missing people and torn up rooms gave way to laughter and general conversation. Toward the end of the movie everything had grown quiet and Scully glanced at Mulder and noticed he had dozed off to sleep. She quietly got up and turned off the TV. She took a blanket and covered him and gently caressed his hair off his forehead. He stirred a little and stretched out on the couch but never woke. He mumbled something about love and settled down.

Scully turned off the lamp and slid into bed. From the light coming through the window from outside she could see the outline of Mulder’s face as he slept. He looked so peaceful and so sexy. Well at least the problem of sharing a room tonight was turning out to not be such a problem she thought as she watched him sleep until her own eyes closed.

Scully awakened the next morning to the sound of birds and the smell of coffee. Mulder was awake and dressed in jeans and a red T-shirt. She could see him through the open door of the bathroom. Obviously he had taken a shower because his hair was still wet. She could see him standing before a mirror shaving. She stretched and sat up. He heard he stirring. "Good morning sleepyhead," he called. "I left some coffee there beside you on the nightstand. I thought you might want it. Why don’t we head over to that diner for some breakfast? After all he said that Ma usually knew everything that was happening in these parts."

"Breakfast sounds good. Let me get dressed and brush my teeth and we can go." Scully rummaged through her suitcase before coming up with some black jeans and a soft pink T-shirt. She was really glad she had given in to her instincts and packed casual clothes for this trip. With Mulder you just never knew. She ran him out of the bathroom to get ready and in a few minutes emerged all ready to go. She was pleasantly surprised to see Mulder had made the bed and folded his blanket up. "No reason to give them any more things to discuss about us is there? C’mon Scully lets go."

They went out being careful to make sure the door was closed behind them. It was a beautiful fall day. The trees were a palette of colors and there was a crisp clean smell to the air. This was not a smell of DC but of a small country town. Somewhere someone was frying ham and you could smell biscuits baking. Off in the distance church bells could be heard chiming the hour. They breathed deeply and walked to their car.

Upon arriving at Ma’s Diner they were surprised to see that a huge crowd was gathering. They made their way inside to hear that another person had turned up missing that morning. Seems as though there were screams heard when he went to feed the chickens and when his wife went out to see what the commotion was he was nowhere to be found. His wife had immediately called the police and the chief was on his way out there right now.

Mulder asked for two egg sandwiches to go and directions to the place where this man had lived. As they waited for Ma to fix them he turned to Scully. "Do you realize what this means?"

"Yes, it means that I am stuck here for at least another day."

"Here ya go honey child. That will be $2.50. Can I get you anything else?" Ma asked.

"No thank you," Mulder replied.

"Well if you’re gonna go out to the Reynolds place you better make sure you’re prayed up. Something’s got the evil spirits roused up and there ain’t no telling what might happen. You best be careful." Ma warned.

" Thank you. I appreciate that and we will." Mulder turned to walk out the door. "Here Scully you take the food I’ll drive and eat on the way."

Mulder pulled out of the lot and headed out on the highway in the direction of the farm. He managed to choke down his sandwich while driving on the curvy roads. After about 10 minutes he came upon the turn he had been told to watch for. A quick left and they were on a rough gravel road flanked by fenced fields on one side and a rocky hill on the other. After a couple of minutes on this road they emerged at a farmhouse where they found the chief’s car parked outside.

"What’s going on Chief?" Mulder asked as he got out of the car.

"Well we’re not sure yet. Sandra here heard a bunch of screams this morning when Bob went out to feed the chickens and now he’s no where to be found. C’mon, I’ll show you the chicken house." He leads them around back. "The only thing we’ve found are these tracks like someone being dragged along the ground but there’s no footprints of anyone who did the dragging. They abruptly end over near the edge of the woods over there" He pointed to a location about 50 yards away. "I haven’t been out here too long myself. Only got the call bout 30 minutes ago. In fact was going to call you soon as I figured out if this tied in to the other one or was something different. Anyway feel free to look around."

"Scully why don’t you go talk to Sandra and I’ll take a look see around here."

"Sure thing Mulder. Chief where can I find her?"

"She’s over at the house. I’ll take you over and introduce you."

As Scully walked away Mulder traced the marks on the ground over to the edge of the woods. It definitely looked as though someone had been dragged but by whom or what he could not tell. He made his way back to where the tracks started near the chicken house. There was clearly a place where the grass was flattened and it appeared that someone had fallen. A bucket lay to the side with the remnants of some scratch feed in the bottom. Mulder stood visualizing for a moment. Bob must have came out of the house carrying the bucket of chicken feed and made his way to the chicken house. He opened the door, fed the chickens and turned to close the door. As he turned around something or someone had scared him and he fell, dropping the bucket. He got up to run but fell again where the drag marks began and was dragged into the woods. But what or who had done this?

Scully walked with the chief over to the house where she talked to Sandra Reynolds. Unfortunately Sandra could offer nothing more than what she had already told them. Bob had went out to feed the chickens and then she heard screaming. By the time she got out to the chicken house there was no sign of him, only what they had seen and she had immediately called the police. She just kept begging them to find her husband.

Scully returned to Mulder to give him the news and to see if he had found anything else out. As she approached she noticed he was kneeling on the ground and appeared to be intently interested in something. "Something interesting there Mulder?" she asked quietly.

"Well there’s no footprints. No place where it looks as though anyone has stepped. It just doesn’t make sense. How could a person drag someone and not leave any footprints? A person couldn’t, but an evil spirit could."

"Mulder there are no such things. There is no scientific proof that spirits exist. You are going to have to come up with a better explanation than that. I don’t care how many ghost hunts you drag me on I have yet to see something that has not been able to be explained in a normal scientific manner." The frustration could be heard in Scully’s voice. "We have been out here over two hours and for what? Just like last night. We went over and over that room and nothing. Mulder, its not something, its someone. We have to figure out who and why. Why these two men? What did they have in common other than their last name? Mulder you’re not listening to me."

"Yes I am Scully. You said what do they have in common. Was there anything you noticed while talking to Sandra that might have been similar to anything we found in that room yesterday?"

"Not really. She seemed like a normal average woman in a normal average home. Typical furniture, books, Bible laying open on the table where she said she had been reading earlier this morning."

"That’s it Scully. There’s one connection." Mulder could barely contain his excitement. "C’mon lets go see Ma at the diner." He grabbed her hand and pulled her along to the car.

"The diner? Why are we going there?"

As they headed back into town toward the diner Mulder tried to explain. "Just a gut feeling. Remember the chief said Ma usually knew what was going on? She’s been running that diner for almost 40 years he said. She hears things and not only that she ought to be able to tell us if there is a family connection here both between these and the one from several years ago."

"I know I am usually the most skeptical, but Mulder I have to give you this one. You are almost making sense." Scully’s eyes were dancing as she said this. "I never thought I would say you were making sense. Either I’ve been working with you too long or I am totally losing my mind and I don’t think the second one is the case."

"Why Scully," Mulder said teasingly. "I never thought you would ever say you had worked with me too long. Tell me you didn’t really mean that."

" Ok I didn’t mean that." The lighthearted banter continued as they made their way back to Ma’s Diner. Approaching lunchtime there seemed to quite a crowd gathering but after seeing the crowd yesterday they weren’t surprised. They made their way to a small booth near the back of the diner and had a seat. It was very old-fashioned with a mixture of styles. The booths were of the fashion of the 50’s drive ins while the tables were covered in red checked tablecloths. There was a wide assortment of chairs. Nothing modern but it all looked clean and neat. It was obvious it would be a while before they got a chance to talk to Ma so they decided to get a bite to eat while they waited.

A young girl approached to take their order. She was perhaps sixteen with long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was dressed in what seemed to be the dress of the area jeans and T-shirt. "Can I get you all something from the kitchen?" she asked.

"What do you have good?" Mulder which brought a kick from Scully under the table.

"Everything’s good sir. However today’s special is meat loaf, mashed potatoes, your choice of carrots or peas and a piece of cake or pie for $3.95. We also have southern fried catfish today and fried chicken. Of course burgers and sandwiches if you don’t’ have time for a full meal. You all ain’t from around these parts are ya? In town for the reunion?"

"Uh no we’re not. I guess I’ll go with the meat loaf. It sounds interesting. I think I’ll have peas with that and a coke to drink." Mulder replied.

"Could I get a salad and perhaps some water to drink?" Scully asked.

"Sure could. But you sure you don’t want anything else?"

"No that will be fine. Thank you" Scully replied. As the waitress walked off she turned to Mulder. "Ok G-man what are you going to do till you can talk to this Ma person?"

"Scully we’re going to sit and listen and try to not stick out. As I told you everyone knows we’re here but if we try to blend in maybe we won’t be noticed as much. I was hoping that by being here at lunchtime I’d be able to hear a little more of what people are saying."

"Ok G-man," Scully loved the look on his face when she called him that. "You’re the boss. I’m just a pretty thing brought along for your company. Obviously you don’t’ need me for this case." Scully was really enjoying the discomfort she was putting him through and the truth was she was glad in her heart he had brought her along. But she sure didn’t want him learning that fact. Not till she knew more. She did not want him knowing her true feelings for him. The lighthearted chatter continued as the waitress brought their food.

"Meat loaf for you and a salad for you. Can I get you all anything else? Ok I’ll be back in a bit to check on you."

"Hey Scully you sure that you don’t want to try this? It’s awfully good. Here just try one bite. I’ve never tried anything like this." Mulder scooped up a bite of the meat loaf onto his fork and held it out across the table. "C’mon Scully you’ll like it. I promise. Remember I’m the boss," he said grinning with that irresistible grin of his.

Scully leaned across the table and her lips closed around the fork. Ever so slowly she took it and leaned back. It was quite good. What was that taste? There was a hint of bell pepper and onion. Not a lot, just enough to flavor it. Her tongue came out to lick her lips as Mulder watched.

"That is good and I bet very fattening. Guess I’ll stick with my salad. It’s safer for me. Those potatoes look loaded with butter"

"Yes they are and awfully good. You sure you don’t want to share this with me?"

"No I don’t." The meal continued in pleasant small talk when suddenly Scully motioned for Mulder to be quiet. Behind her she had picked up on a conversation in the next booth where two middle-aged men were sitting.

"Did ya hear bout Bob turning up missing this morning? Sounds like the same way Tom did. Sandra heard screams and then nothing. I tell you that preacher over at the church musta done something to get them spirits all riled up like that. I just knew he was gonna be trouble when he came into town. Couldn’t leave well enough alone."

"Now you know the preacher ain’t got nuthin to do with this. Whatever has happened to them Reynolds boys just happened. Its a shame though. I’m so glad their momma ain’t around no more. Like to have killed her when they found Jimbo’s body a few years back. Don’t think she ever recovered from that. And now to have his two brothers turn up missing well that’s just awful."

"Jimbo wasn’t their brother was he? I always thought he was a cousin or something since he didn’t have the same last name as them, Course I never wanted to ask around and be nosy cause some things are just better left not meddled in."

"Nope he was actually a half brother. Their momma had him before she got married and he kept her name. She never did tell who his daddy was. But old man Tom raised Jimbo just as his son up till he died from that heart attack when Jimbo was bout 15 or so. He was a good man"

"Scully?" Mulder whispered.

"Sshhh"

"That he was. Poor fellows I sure hope they don’t suffer like Jimbo did. I hear he was so eat up by whatever it was they couldn’t even have an open casket funeral. Course I was outta town during that time but that’s what I heard."

"Yep that’s what I was told. Guess we’ll just have to hope they turn up alive. Poor Sandra guess we outta head out there and see if she needs anything round the farm. I don’t know if they got their crops in or not yet do you?"

"Nope hadn’t heard. What do you think bout the prospects for deer this year? Seen any good signs yet?" Their conversation drifted in another direction and Scully leaned toward Mulder.

"Well seems as though you might be right about a connection Mulder."

"What are you talking about?" Mulder seemed impatient.

"Decided on what kinda cake or pie you want?" The waitress interrupted as she picked up the empty dishes.

"What do you have?" Mulder asked

"Today we got chocolate cake, jam cake, coconut cake, pecan pie, cherry pie, and blueberry pie."

"I guess I’ll have the pecan and bring my lady here a slice of cherry pie."

Scully kicked him under the table. "Mulder I don’t need that."

"Yes you do." He turned back to the waitress. "That will be all"

"Scully if you keep kicking me you’re going to give me a bruise. It’s not going to hurt you to eat a piece of pie. If it’s as good as the other was, it will be delicious." The waitress set their desserts on the table. "Enjoy and holler if you need anything."

"Thank you we will." He turned to Scully. "Have you noticed how friendly everyone is here? That ought to make it easier to talk to Ma to find out if she knows anything. Now what about me being right about a connection?"

"These guys in the booth behind me were talking about the disappearance. I don’t’ want to discuss it too much in here though. But I think you’re right in that there might be a connection to the other case you mentioned."

"See I knew it." Mulder was almost gloating. "I knew there had to be something. Hey Scully the crowd is starting to thin. You think we could catch this Ma person to see what she knows?"

"Sure, just give it a few more minutes. You know this pie is really good." Scully scooped up another bite of the pie along with a bite of the vanilla ice cream that had came with it.

"Here Scully let me help." Mulder reached across the table to catch the drop of cherry filling that was dripping from the corner of her lip. As his thumb gently caught it, the thoughts starting running rampant about how he longed to kiss it away. "Get a grip on yourself Mulder" he thought to himself. "She isn’t ready for this" He brought it to his mouth and licked it away.

Scully’s heart was fluttering. The mere touch of his hand on her cheek was enough to cause her senses to spin. She sure hoped he didn’t sense what he did to her, but with his heightened way of knowing things she was almost afraid he did. Then watching him lick the pie off his thumb was almost too much. It was definitely going to be a rough night tonight if he kept this up.

Scully struggled to bring her mind back on the case. "Mulder see if Ma will come over here and sit down so we can talk to her."

"Sure," he said with a look of concern on his face. "Are you ok Scully?"

"Yes I am fine. Go see if she has time." There was no way Scully was about to tell him that her knees felt like jello from the mere touch of his hand. She had to get herself pulled back together. Geez he looked good in those tight jeans. "Scully c’mon get hold of yourself" she thought to herself.

After a few minutes Mulder approached the table. "Scully this is Janna Gulden. Mrs. Gulden, my partner Agent Scully"

"Pleased to meet you dearie but you all call me Ma. Everyone does. Seems like that’s all I been called for years."

"Nice to meet you Ma," Scully hesitated for a moment over that. "Won’t you please sit down?"

"Of course honey child. Your fellow here says you are out here cause of Tom being missing?"

"Yes maam. Did you know Tom?"

"Why sure everyone round these parts knew Tom. Knew the whole family. Lets see there was Jimbo, he was killed a few years back, and then there was Tom and then Old Tom and Sarah had a baby that died. I believe that was little girl and then there was Ellen and then Baby Bob. He was the youngest you know of that Reynolds clan. Sure hope he turns up ok. Sure ain’t like Bob to just take off. But you were asking me bout Tom. Tom left here a few years ago. I guess it was about the time Jimbo died. He dearly loved that fella. Tagged after him everywhere he went when he was little. We used to call Tom Jimbo’s little shadow. Every time he came back after that Tom seemed different. I guess he was still grieving something fierce. There was just something bout him that was real different I just never could put my finger on it. Then bout 6 months ago he came back. He had started going back to church. You know he grew up in the community church right down the road. His daddy was one of the deacons up till he died. But anyways when he left here folks said he quit going and that’s why he was so different. He was mad at god for Jimbo dying I reckon. Well as I was saying, Tom decided bout 6 months ago he was coming back for a visit and I tell you it could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw Tom come in the door of that church. Why I don’t think he had been in a church since the funeral. Turns out he had met the new preacher up in the city and they got to talking and well he decided to come back."

"So Tom was living here? Mulder asked.

"Land sakes no child. He only stayed bout a week that time but his visits home was more often. He lives up in Blacksburg. Does some sort of sales work up there."

" I see. Is he married?" Scully asked.

"Nope. Said he never could find anyone that could put up with him." Ma cackled. " I reckon he just never found anyone to replace Carrie though."

"Carrie?" Mulder seemed puzzled.

"Yep his high school sweetheart. Never seemed to have any interest in anyone after she disappeared. One day she was just gone. Never heard from again. Well younguns I’ve set here long enough. Got a bunch of things to do before the dinner rush comes in and its almost time for Springer. You all stop back in anytime"

Ma raised up and started toward the kitchen. She stopped and turned around before speaking. "Miss Scully? You got yourself a good man there. Don’t let him get away from you. You’ll never find another like him."

Abruptly as though she had said too much she hurried on toward the back.

"Hey she knows a good man," Mulder joked. He could see Scully was visibly shaken by what had taken place. What sort of a woman was this Ma? Could it be that she was trying to tell him Scully cared? What all did she know? The mystery of the missing men continued to get deeper. He needed to get back to the motel and lay all this out and think. "C’mon Scully let’s go back to the room." Scully was still sitting there almost in a state of shock. "Scully?"

"Uhhhh, yea coming Mulder"

Scully threw herself on the bed after entering the room. She had been too shocked at what Ma had said to say much of anything on the way back to the motel. Her thoughts were in turmoil. What could Ma have possibly meant by what she said? Surely she didn’t mean what she thought she had meant. How could she possibly have known about her feelings for Mulder? She only recently had begun to quit denying them herself. This was ridiculous. She sat up and stacked the pillows so she could lean up against the top of the bed. She kicked off her shoes and climbed onto the bed pulling her feet up near her so she was in a half kneeling half-leaning position against the pillows. "Ok Mulder what do we know?"

Mulder closed the door behind him. He walked over to the small refrigerator and got out the last remaining beer. He popped the top as he walked back across the room and sat on the edge of the bed. "Want some Scully? You look like you need it"

She reached to take the bottle from him. "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. You never did tell me what you overheard at the diner. What was it?

"Just those two men talking. They were discussing how Bob and Tom were brothers and Jimbo was a half brother to them.and that’s why he had a different last name."

"Anything else?"

"No everything else you heard Ma say."

"So we have 2 missing brothers, a dead mutilated brother, several warnings against disturbing evil spirits, a room with occult books in it along with a Bible, and a woman who warns you not to let me get away. What doesn’t belong in this picture Scully?"

"Hmm a woman who warns me not to let you get away." Scully was smiling.

"Nope wrong answer Scully. The Bible. The Bible doesn’t fit with the other. All the other are similar in they are from the dark side. But the Bible represents good." Mulder jumps up and starts pacing the floor. "Ok now what do we know about the Bible. It was lying on the floor as though it had been thrown. People who read Bibles usually go to church and to them a Bible is to be respected, not thrown.. Community church in town has a relatively new pastor who was able to convince Tom Reynolds to start going to church. Occult books and church don’t typically belong in the same place." Mulder ran his fingers through his hair. " What am I missing here?"

Mulder’s cell phone rang startling them out of their thought processes. "Mulder", "Yes Sir", "I’m not sure sir", "No sir, we had another turn up missing this morning. A brother to the one we came down here for." "Sir I have reason to believe it may be connected to an earlier death also" " Sir we are doing what we can", "Yes I will keep you informed" "goodbye sir".

Scully looked amused. "Skinner?"

"Yea. Maybe next time he will call you instead of me"

"Mulder let’s go back and check that room again. I don’t know if we will find anything but it can’t hurt to look."

"You’re right Scully. I’ll go get the key and meet you over there. By the way did you notice it is directly behind our room?"

"Yes I did."

"Ok meet you there in a couple minutes."

Scully raised up off the bed. She reached down for her sneakers where she had kicked them off and slid her feet back into them. Grabbing her gear she made her way to the back where she found Mulder unlocking the door. They carefully pushed the door open. Turning on the light they saw everything appeared just the same as it had when they left. After once again going over everything in the room, Mulder went back to the Bible. He picked it up and as he did a paper fell out. On the paper was written Luke 10:17 and the date of the previous Sunday.

He walked over to where Scully was examining the books and held the paper out to her. "Hey Scully, does this mean anything to you?"

"Well I would think it was a Bible reference. What does it say?"

"Don’t know" Mulder opened the Bible. "Luke, that’s near the back right?" He continues thumbing through the pages. "Oh here it is. ‘And the seventy returned again with joy saying even the devils are subject unto us through thy name’. Hmmm. Devils. Scully? Any ideas?"

"Not at all. Do you realize it almost 6 pm? You about finished up here?"

"Yes I suppose so. Want to go get cleaned up and grab some dinner?"

As they left the room and went around to their own they heard something in the bushes at the end of the building. They were unable to see anything but saw the branches move and heard a strange hissing sound. It sounded as though someone was saying ‘death’. They carefully checked the bushes and all around but could find nothing. Must have been the wind.

Upon approaching their door they noticed someone had taped an invitation to the "Young Couple" to it. Inside they found a notice of a dance to be held that night in the field near the diner. Everyone in town was invited and there would be plenty of food and drinks. "Well Scully I guess that’s where we’ll be eating dinner" Mulder joked. "You know, we don’t’ even have to change clothes for that. What time does it start?"

"It says at dark. So that doesn’t give us much time to get ready."

Mulder decided to try and see if Scully might be receptive to him. "Who needs time? Scully you don’t have to do a thing to look good."

"Mulder I need to at least put on something I haven’t sweated in all day."

Mulder decided to make a suggestion. "Did you bring that nice lacy black shirt? It would look really good with those jeans you’ve got on."

"Mulder since when do you care what I have on?".

"Well if I’m going to a dance tonight, I want to escort the sexiest woman and have all the men envy me and you in that is the sexiest thing I can imagine. Well except for if you were wearing that nice flowing black skirt I’ve seen you wear with it. Now that is…"

Scully was blushing. "Mulder, it’s oh… never mind" What was the use in discussing anything with him? It could fast lead into an area she wasn’t sure she wanted to go just yet. How could Mulder’s mind change paces so fast? What was he up to? He had never before came out and said such things, well at least not in that way. Could he really be attracted to her or was it just him playing around? She was afraid to hope but she really wanted to believe. "Mulder give me a few minutes and I’ll be dressed. I would think that for a dance a dress would be more appropriate than jeans. So if you will just give me a few minutes I’ll be ready. And Mulder? Find a different shirt."

Scully grabbed her bag and headed to the bathroom. Was it coincidence that she had grabbed her black skirt and blouse at the last moment? Mulder would say there is no such thing. She hurriedly got undressed and cleaned up and slipped into the black outfit. The blouse was lace and silk with buttons that tended to come undone easily. That was definitely a drawback. The skirt was a long loose fitting silky material that fell just below her knees. She decided against sandals opting for a comfortable, elegant pair of ankle boots that would be suitable for walking outdoors. She left her hair loose, softly framing her face and changed her gold crucifix for a silver one. After a quick spray of her favorite perfume she was ready to go.

Mulder was standing with his back to her as she opened the bathroom door. He had changed into a nice dark blue button down shirt but she could see from the reflection of the window that he had left the top few buttons undone. He had also changed into some nice sturdy boots and Scully couldn’t help admiring the way the jeans fit just so tight in all the right places. With him looking like that it was going to be hard to keep her mind on what they were supposed to be doing. Two could play that game however and he had started it. Admittedly it was a dangerous game to flirt with him but she had came to the conclusion she had to take a chance if she wanted to have a chance with him.

"Hey Mulder," she said in a voice that sounded deep and lusty. "Do you think this is too much for the dance?" He turned around from the window he was standing in front of at the sound of her voice.

"Scully!!! I’m speechless. You look fabulous, no wonderful, I think that is perfect. You look like a dream.. No doubt about it. I will definitely be escorting the sexiest woman there." Mulder’s heart was racing. The sight of Scully was enough to send his hormones soaring. Why did he let her do this to him? Why did he have to be so attracted to a woman that could care less except as a friend? Why did she have to wear that outfit? He had no idea she had packed it, he had just joked about it because it was one he could remember her looking especially good in it. And then here she was in the outfit just for him. How was he supposed to concentrate on work with the most beautiful woman he knew just oozing sex appeal at his side? "So are you ready to go?"

"Ready as I will ever be Mulder. Let’s hope something new turns up tonight. Skinner isn’t going to be happy if we don’t have something good to report."

They decided to walk and see if they heard or noticed anything on the way. Within minutes they had no trouble hearing the music coming from the field behind the diner. Even without the music they could follow the smell of cooking barbecue and burgers. The sun had set and the stars were coming out. There weren’t a lot of streetlights to take away from the beauty of the night and as they got closer to the field there were lanterns and torches to give light. Mulder walked with his hand on the small of Scully’s back feeling the heat of her body through the thin material. It was a very warm night for late September and Mulder was wondering just how far he should or could play this out without Scully getting upset.

Scully was enjoying their walking side by side. She could feel Mulder’s hand on her back but she didn’t want him to move it. She hoped that it wasn’t done unconsciously and that he was aware of what he was doing. Tonight was a night she was just going to have to play one move at a time. She didn’t want to come on to Mulder because she might not be able to control her feelings. However she was willing to take a chance and see if there might be something develop.

As they entered the field they saw Maisy. "Saw you got the invite" she said to them. "Sure didn’t want you to feel left out just cause you ain’t family. Round here everyone is family even if you ain’t."

"We appreciate that Maisy and thank you for thinking of us."

"Oh wasn’t just me. I got a phone call from Ma this afternoon and she told me to make sure I let the young couple over at the motel know you all was invited to this shenanigan too. So I did. So if ya got anyone to thank in particular make sure its Ma."

"Thanks we’ll do that." Mulder replied. As they made their way across the field they noticed everywhere people were gathered in small groups talking. Here and there laughter would break from a group and others people hugging and catching up on lost time. Along the entire right side of the field near the diner there were tables set up for folks who were eating and buffet table after buffet table spread with quite a range of food. There was everything from the barbecue and burgers to any type of dessert imaginable. Straight ahead of them was a musical stage set up with a band playing. In front of the stage one could see several couples dancing. To either side of the stage there were musicians with instruments. To the far left was a row of port-a-johns brought in for the occasion. "Where do we begin Scully? Are you hungry?"

"Perhaps a little, its hard not to be from the smells." They turned toward the buffet tables that were set up. Up near the front they saw Ma. "Thank you for inviting us ma’am" Scully said with a smile as she picked up a plate and some silverware.

"Honey child I told you to call me Ma, everyone does. And you all are more than welcome. I didn’t want you all to feel left out." Mulder started moving on down the food line leaving Scully to continue chatting. He somehow felt he had an ally to winning Scully in Ma after her remarks earlier. "Besides I thought it might do you some good to spend some time not working with your young feller here. Surely tonight he will notice what a pretty gal you are." Scully felt a blush rising on her cheeks. "Honey you can’t hide your feelings from him forever." Scully was really hoping Mulder had moved far enough way not to hear what she was being told.

"Thank you Ma but really we’re just coworkers."

"Uh huh you try and tell that to someone who ain’t see many a couple in love. Sometimes it catches you unawares. Now let him know how you feel cause I guarantee you or my name ain’t Ma that he cares just as much about you. Anyone can see just how much he loves you." Ma continued. Suddenly she heard someone calling for her. "Honey child I gotta run see what they need. You just take my advice and let him know that you care." She turned and trotted off toward the end of the tables. "yea I’m coming I’m coming"

Mulder had noticed Scully starting to blush and stayed within hearing distance without letting Scully know he was. Could Ma be right? Did Scully really care that much? He knew they had often comforted one another, and they trusted each other more than anyone else. They had an uncanny way of communicating without words but never discussed their feelings. He never dreamed of sharing his life with anyone but her, but could she really care for him in return?

Scully was trying to pull her emotions back together. How could a woman she had only seen a few times know so much about her innermost feelings? Was it that blatant to anyone on the outside? Could other people see what she tried so hard to hide?

"Did you learn anything new Scully?" Mulder asked as she got closer to him.

"Not really" she answered. "At least nothing you need to know about" she said under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. So what are you having?" They started moving down the buffet line looking at all the different items.

"I don’t know, Scully care for some ribs?"

"I believe I already have a full set of my own thank you. However if you are referring to the ones swimming in barbecue sauce yes I think I would love some." Mulder placed some on her plate and reached for a chicken quarter. As they moved further down they each added a few more items to their plate and picked up a couple of diet drinks at the end. They made their way to an empty table about halfway toward the stage. Onstage the group playing had broken into a foot stomping rendition of Rocky Top and out in the dance area there was quite a bit of dancing going on.

"Quite an event wouldn’t you say Scully?"

"Seems to be a lot of people here." Scully bit into the ribs. "These are good, you should have tried them Mulder"

"That’s ok I may go back and get some."

"Here try this." She held out one to him. He leans over and takes a bite up near where she is holding it between her finger and thumb. As he does he brushes her thumb very lightly with his tongue to catch the sauce. The feel of it sends shivers down Scully’s spine.

"They are good." Mulder pretended that nothing had happened but he saw the reaction from Scully. Something had affected her that was for sure.

Scully knew he had done that deliberately but what could she do. Immediately the thought came to her. She picked up the hot dog she had grabbed as a last minute thought and removed it from the bun. She brought it to her lips and when she caught Mulder watching slid it between her teeth for a bite. He quickly looked away but she thought she saw a flicker in his eyes. Yes she had definitely caused some sort of reaction. "Careful Scully don’t give yourself away," she thought to herself.

In the background ‘The Tennessee Waltz’ was playing and as Mulder listened to the words he realized that he didn’t want someone to steal his sweetheart away. Even though she wasn’t his sweethear yet he couldn’t bear the thought of her being with someone besides him. He was definitely going to have to tell her sometime really soon how he felt. Sometime in a serious conversation, not just when she took him to be joking around or the stress levels got high. They finished eating as the song ended. He cleared the table off and when he returned the band had started to play ‘Walking After Midnight’. He held out his hand to her. "May I have this dance Miss Scully?"

Scully smiled. "Of course you may Mr. Mulder."

She placed her hand in his and he pulled her into the dance area. She could not remember a time she felt as safe as she did when she was in his arms. He held her close and breathed in the scent of her hair and he danced her around the field. Her hands which where so skilled and could kill felt soft to the touch. He could feel her fingers running through the hair at the back of his neck gently caressing him. Everything about her tonight was so soft and feminine. He began softly singing in her ear. " I walk for miles, along the highway, that’s just my way of saying I love you. I go out walking, after midnight, searching for you." He pulled back just enough to see her face. Her eyes were closed and she looked content. He reached up and gently brushed the hair back from her face. Her eyes remained closed as though she were lost in the rhythm and the music. He gently caressed her face and saw a smile pull at the corners of her mouth. As the song ended they made their way back to the table where they had left their drinks sitting. They noticed the same two men from earlier in the day sitting at the table next to them. Before they could say anything however, there was an announcement from the stage.

"We are so glad to have Pastor Smith at this gathering tonight. We want to dedicate this next song to him. For those of you who don’t know him, he’s the pastor down at the community church and he would like it if you all would come visit him in church tomorrow morning. He says Sunday school is at 10 and service is at 11." A wave of laughter poured from the crowd. "And now Pastor Smith this song is for you." Scully and Mulder sat in amazement listening to the laughter as the group broke into ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia".

"Boy ole Stevie sure fixed that pastor up didn’t he?" This came with a burst of laughter from the table next to Mulder and Scully. "All his preaching bout the devil coming in the midst of our town and so forth. Maybe they should have sung it The Devil went down to Virginia."

"Scully did you hear that?" Mulder leaned close and whispered to her.

"Shhh, yes I did." The conversation at the next table continued.

"Do you think there’s anything to what he’s preaching?"

"You mean bout demons and evil spirits and such?"

"Nah I ain’t never seen one. Have you?"

"Nope but with Tom and Bob disappearing the way they did, well it just sometimes makes you wonder."

"You going to church in the morning?"

"Yep, my old lady would make me disappear if I didn’t show up and it wouldn’t be no devil doing it ‘cept the devil that might get into her. By the time she got finished I might have preferred a devil."

"Gene, I always did say she had you horsewhipped. I was hoping you’d want to take off for an early fishing trip tomorrow."

"What bout after church? Being that its fall they’d still be biting and we’d have all evening."

"Well just keep it quiet. We sure don’t’ won’t a sermon preached on us for fishing on the Lord’s day." The other man chuckled. "Hey’d you hear bout the FBI folks they sent into town?"

"Shhh they’re right behind you." Their voices dropped to a murmur.

"Excuse me Mulder I’ll be right back." Scully headed in the direction of the port-a-johns as the song was finishing. As she made her way through the different groups she was aware that many people were watching her. Heads nodded and turned as she passed with a lot of folks giving her a friendly wave and hello. The closer she got, the fewer people there were. As she approached the port-a-john near the end she once again heard the hissing noise. She looked around but did not see anything except a stirring in the bushes.

As she started back across the clearing to where Mulder was she felt something brush against her. Looking down she saw nothing but suddenly there appeared some marks on her arm. What could she have brushed against? There was nothing where she had been walking. All of a sudden she had an eerie feeling someone was following her but when she turned around no one was there. She heard hissing behind her. She looked again and nothing. She felt a pain on her arm just below where the marks had appeared and there appeared another set of marks.

She ran back across the field to where Mulder was. "Mulder, there is something out there. Look." She held out her arm to him where the marks had appeared.

"What happened Scully?" What bit you?"

"Mulder nothing bit me, I don’t know. It’s the weirdest thing." Scully was trembling. "I know there can’t be anything out there but I had the strangest sensation I was being followed. I felt something brush up against me and these appeared. Mulder, I didn’t see a thing but something is there." She was near tears.

"Here Scully," Mulder reached out to take her in his arms. "You were the one who said there were no evil spirits so it must have been an animal and you just couldn’t see it."

"Mulder, I am telling you there was nothing there"

"Ok Scully, so how did these marks get here?" Mulder was trying to calm her down. "Scully its ok. Here come on let’s go dance and take your mind off it."

"Mulder I don’t want to dance," Scully was getting frustrated and her fear was coming through. No matter how many things she had seen with this man, never had she experienced anything like this. She wasn’t quite ready to admit this was nothing because she knew something had been there.

"Oh come on G-Woman." Scully smiled and gave in as he pulled her toward the stage just as the new band kicked off with their opening number. Mulder was hearing songs tonight he had never heard but apparently many in the area knew because many people would sing along, this one however was one he knew. Their bodies melted in unison to the Richard Marx classic, ‘I Love the Way You Love Me’. He held her close and whispered in her ear. "Scully if we’re going to find out what caused this, we’re going to have to keep from causing a panic. You know that. Now relax, feel the music and let me take care of things for awhile. I promise I’ll l tell you the second I see anything."

Scully was still trembling. At least out here she was in his arms and she knew there was no one she would trust but Mulder. Suddenly she heard "I like the innocent way that you cry, at old time movies you’ve seen hundreds of times" and she giggled. His singing to her was definitely something to make her laugh. He continued to hold her even after the song ended. She didn’t realize just how near the breaking point she was. She didn’t know just how long she could take the closeness without letting her true feelings start to show.

Seemed to be everyone was talking about the disappearances. All evening as they danced through the crowd they could hear different opinions but everyone seemed to agree that the pastor at that church had done something to cause it. As the hour grew late the crowds started to thin.

"All right folks here it is. The last song of the night. Hold your little lady close and whisper in her ear. Let her know you love her as we close out this wonderful night. Thank you all for coming and hope to see you all real soon."

Mulder pulled Scully in tight for the last dance of the night. He had enjoyed tonight more than he ever wanted Scully to know. Just then the music started and it was a song he knew well. He started softly singing in her ear. "There’s so many ways of saying, what I want to say to you, With songs and poems and promises, and dreams that might come true. I’ll not talk of starlit skies or moonlight on the ground, I’ll just come right out an say it, I’d just love to lay you down."

"Mulder!"

He just ignored her protests. "Lay you down and softly whisper pretty love words in your ear. Lay you down and tell you all the things a woman loves to hear. I’ll let you know just what it means having you around. Darling how I’d love to lay you down."

Scully looked up at him as he was singing. His eyes were so intent in the moonlight. She could definitely see something there as she gazed at the face she had finally begun to admit she loved. It was as though he was singing those words to her. He looked at her with such tenderness as he was singing. His lips moved closer so that the last words were almost against her lips. Her eyes closed as Mulder’s lips found hers in the moonlight.

As the song ended they turned as walked in the direction of the motel. There was a full moon to guide the way as they walked along arm in arm. Neither wanted to speak, afraid of spoiling what had just happened. They made their way quietly to the motel, where Mulder unlocked the door and let Scully in. She reached to turn on the lamp on the nightstand beside the bed.

"Scully?"

Scully turned and looked at him. "Mulder, its ok." She sat down on the bed to take off her boots and took a deep breath. "Mulder I don’t know what happened out there tonight but I want you to know I don’t regret it." She looked up at him afraid of what she would see in his eyes. " Sit with me."

Mulder sat down on the bed beside her. "Scully I want you to know that I thought you were the most beautiful woman there tonight. I really mean that." He reached to take off his shoes. "I don’t want you to feel threatened or anything though."

"Mulder," Scully said lying back on the pillow. "I trust you. You are my partner and my best friend. With you I never feel threatened." Scully took a deep breath. " In fact, with you I feel safe."

Mulder leaned back in shock. He didn’t know what to say. From Scully this was quite an admission. She never wanted anyone to see her as anything less than strong and capable of handling anything. His thoughts went back to the first time she turned to him for comfort. The first time he saw there was something that would upset her. "Scully we’ve been through so much…" his voice trailed off.

Scully leaned toward him. "Mulder, it’s ok, really. Sooner or later it was bound to happen." He reached for her hand and enclosed her small fingers inside his. "I truly don’t regret it. But I do want to know what it was that left these marks on me. Look, they almost look like bite marks. There was nothing there Mulder. Not an animal, not a bush, nothing. Absolutely nothing but I felt something and something caused this but there was nothing that could be seen."

"Admitting to ghosts Scully?"

"No I am not but at this point I don’t know what to believe." Suddenly they heard the hissing. It sounded as though it was right there in the room with them. Nothing was there. Scully looked all around. "Mulder," Scully said shakily with a tone of fear in her voice. "I think I would feel better if you shared this bed tonight."

"Scully there is nothing here." Mulder wasn’t about to tell her his heart was racing at the thought of sleeping in the same bed with her. Perhaps he hadn’t scared her off with his giving in to his feelings. Maybe, just maybe, she felt something too.

Scully went to the bathroom taking her pink silky pajamas with her. It had been a very long day and all she wanted was some sleep. After removing her makeup and putting them on she returned to the room to find Mulder sitting where she had left him. "What’s the matter Mulder?"

"Scully? Are you sure you want me to share the bed with you? I don’t mind sleeping on the couch."

"Mulder, no I don’t mind." With that she turned the blankets down and slid into bed, propping up on the pillows.

"Ok Mulder what is it?"

"What is what Scully?"

"What is eating you? That look says that there is something going on in your head."

"Scully, how would you feel about church in the morning?"

"You’re serious"

"Yes. Several things keep pointing us toward evil spirits."

"Mulder," Scully sounded exasperated. "They don’t exist. However I do think that might not be a bad idea since the pastor of this church seems to be the focus of several conversations. Those men seem to think he’s behind it."

Mulder headed toward the bathroom to get ready for bed. "Don’t rule out the idea of spirits Scully. Whether they are ghosts or spirits or whatever form they take. The idea that spiritual entities exist appears in almost every major world religion in some form or another. It is not outside the realm of possibilities."

"And you think by going to church in the morning we will run into these evil spirits of yours? Mulder, think about it. Why would evil spirits, if they exist, be found in a church of all places?"

Mulder leaned around the bathroom door with shaving cream on his face. "Well maybe the church isn’t as good as it should be. All I am saying is don’t rule out the possibilities. Spiritual entities are a definite possibility and not all are good. Down through all the various myths and religions you have both angels and demonic forces. Both are spiritual entities, one is good the other is evil. It is the classic battle that has ranged in stories for centuries. But what if it is true Scully? What if we have proof that there is another realm?"

"Mulder do you know what you’re saying?"

There was a pause as Mulder finished shaving. He dried his face and came back to where Scully was. "Scully you yourself said you saw nothing yet those marks are there. What sort of an explanation do you have?"

"Well I don’t know but there has to be a more logical reason than evil spirits."

Mulder crawled into the bed beside her. He turned on his side to look at her tenderly. "Scully, I don’t have any answers. All I can do is give you my thoughts and do my best to protect you."

Scully reached out to caress his face. "I know Mulder, I know." She reached to turn off the bedside lamp and dropped a kiss on his forehead. "Good night Mulder"

Mulder pulled her head onto his shoulder and wrapped his arm around her. "Good night Scully."

Scully’s eyes popped open. By the dim light streaming in from the window she could see a shadowy form almost hovering beside the bed. It appeared to be leering down at her as she lay there. The eyes were glowing red and the dark circles around them seem to absorb the glow. The chalky white face however shined with an eerie iridescence. The mouth opened and fangs appeared that seemed to protrude out over the grostequely-misshapen lips. Immediate there was the thoughts of the clowns from her childhood nightmares and Scully gasped. She sat upright in bed and the image disappeared with a hissing sound.

"What’s wrong Scully?" Mulder awoke with a start at her sudden movement.

Scully was trembling. "It must have just been a dream. It had to be. There’s nothing there." She laid back down. "Its nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes I’m sure."

"Ok if you want to talk about it I’ll listen." Mulder settled back down beside her.

Scully was very quiet as she lay there with Mulder softly caressing her to ease her fears. After a few minutes she whispered, "Mulder? You asleep?"

"No."

"As crazy as this may sound, there was a face looking at me. It was standing here beside the bed looking at me with red eyes and a white face and fangs. It had a shadowy outline and looked like a clown’s face. When I sat up it disappeared with a hiss like I heard earlier. It had to be a dream. There is nothing that exists like that. It’s just my overactive imagination." Scully seemed to be settling down somewhat as she talked. It wasn’t long before Mulder heard her voice fading and then the soft, rhythmic breathing which told him Scully had fallen back to sleep.

Mulder laid there beside Scully softly caressing her when she became restless and holding her in his arms when she turned to him in her sleep. He loved to watch her sleep whether it was on a stakeout in a car or here in his arms. There was just such satisfaction in being near her. Was there a chance she could care for him the way he did her? These thoughts kept him occupied through the night as he watched over her. As the sun was rising, Mulder heard a rustling noise outside of the room.

He slipped from the bed being careful not to awaken Scully and grabbed his gun from the nightstand. He opened the door and looked toward the end of the building where the noise had seemed to come from. The morning air was cool on his bare chest and the thin blue pajama bottoms he had on didn’t offer much in the way of warmth. His bare feet were cold on the concrete as he walked to where the bushes were. Lying there in the bushes where there had been nothing the day before was a body.

He took a quick look around and knelt down to feel for a pulse. A glance told him that there was no life left in that body. He rose and went quickly back into the room to dress and awaken Scully. He hated to do it after the restless night but he needed her.

"Scully," he paused a moment. "Scully," he shook her gently. "Wake up. There’s a body outside."

Scully raised up on one elbow and looked sleepily at Mulder through her eyelashes. He loved it when she did that. "A body?"

"Yes. You better get dressed and take a look. It’s in pretty bad shape. I’m going to call Chief McClellan and get him over here and let him take a look. I’m willing to bet that it belongs to Tom Reynolds."

Scully slid off the side of the bed and reached for some jeans and a forest green T-shirt. She headed for the bathroom telling Mulder over her shoulder. " I’ll be ready in a couple minutes."

Mulder had picked up the phone and was getting dressed with the phone pressed to his ear. "Yes I know it is early but this is Agent Mulder of the FBI and I need to talk to him." Thank you" "Chief McClellan? This is Agent Mulder. You may want to get dressed and get over here to the motel. We have a body." "Okay". Mulder was hanging up the phone as Scully came out of the bathroom.

She grabbed her shoes and looked at Mulder. "Ok G-Man where’s this body?"

"Right outside the door."

"Outside the door? You’re kidding me right?"

"Yes and no I am not kidding." Mulder looked as serious as he ever did. Scully stopped and put her hands on her hips. "Are you coming Scully? Its right out here." Mulder led her to the side of the building where she could see the hand and arm sticking out through the bushes.

"And just how did you find this Mulder? Out for a morning stroll?"

"No. I was just lying there watching the early sunlight play across your face when I heard a noise that sounded like it was coming from outside. I came out to investigate and here it was."

Scully bent down to examine the body. There were no tracks leading to or from the body. It was as though someone had just dropped it where it lay. The clothes were ripped and there were what appeared to be bite marks all over the entire body but primarily seemed to focus on the extremities. There was no blood loss anywhere surrounding the body and only a very small amount that had appeared to dry on the areas of the apparent bite marks. At the sound of a car approaching Scully pulled herself away from the body and walked over to see who was arriving. "Good morning sir," she said to the chief as he got out of his car.

"Good morning ma’am. Hear tell you all got a body over here. Don’t reckon that’s the most pleasant way to spend a Sunday morning. Any idea who it is?"

"No," Mulder replied as he walked up. "But if you’ll follow me you can take a look and see if it’s one of our missing men. Its right this way."

The chief walked up to where the arm was laying out and squatted down to look at the face. "Oh my God, its Tom."

"Tom Reynolds? Are you sure?" Mulder asked.

"Yea I’m sure. We used to hunt together years ago before he left town. What in the world has got hold of him? Looks like some sort of animal or something but I ain’t never seen nothing that looks like that. Least not in many a year."

"So you have seen this before?" Mulder asked.

"Well don’t know as its exactly the same but back quite a few years ago, Jimbo, that’s Tom’s brother, died and they said a wild animal got hold of him. I remember I was there when they brought him in and he was tore up real bad. Best I can recollect, they never did figure out what kind of animal it was though."

"Chief do you think you can get this taped off and get photos and everything before you they move the body? Do you have a crime lab?"

"Nah everything’s up at the county seat. I’ll get them over here soon as I can."

"And do you have the facilities here to perform an autopsy?" Scully asked.

"Nope but I can order it for you. That’s usually done down up the teaching hospital. May take a day or two." The chief continued scanning the area around the motel as Mulder walked behind the bushes where the body was.

"A couple of days?" Scully exploded.

"Ma’am this ain’t DC"

"Hey Scully, Come look at this." Mulder was kneeling about ten feet away from the body. There he found a paper with the words ‘Matthew 8:29’ written on it.

"Its another Bible reference" Scully looked at Mulder who had his ‘you can’t resist me’ grin on his face. "No Mulder you’re not serious…."

"Scully," he said as his grin widened. "You’re not planning on wearing that to church are you?"

Scully gave him a ‘I could kill you’ look and walked back over to the Chief. "Tell them I want that autopsy ASAP. I want the results the minute they get it finished. I want to know what caused those marks on the body. I also want to know if your crime scene team turns up anything. I don’t care how small it may seem." She turned and walked into the room and shut the door.

The chief looked at Mulder. "She’s a feisty one ain’t she? Got a lot of spunk. Not one that’s easy to tame but worth it if you can win her. Course from the looks of it you’ve got her well in hand."

Mulder just laughed. "Chief there isn’t anyone that can get that woman in hand when she gets going."

Scully’s thoughts were on the case as she gathered her gray suit and white blouse. Her thoughts went over everything that had happened over the past few days. This case made absolutely no sense when looked at logically. How could there be drag marks and no footprints from whoever had dragged the person? How could there be a missing person showing up dead with no marks on the ground around them to indicate how it got there and it covered in marks that looked to be bites from an animal? Did the papers with the Bible references have anything to do with it? The thought caused Scully to rummage around in the nightstand for the Gideon Bible that was there. She looked up the scripture that was on the paper and sat puzzling about what it said. She absentmindedly rubbed the marks on her arm As she did the thought occurred to her that they seemed to be the same type of marks that was on the body outside. They weren’t as deep but they were similar in appearance. The thoughts continued as she made her way to the shower. If she didn’t hurry they wouldn’t have time for breakfast if they were going to make it to church on time.

Mulder heard the shower when he came in and realized Scully had taken him at his word. He wasn’t sure what he was going to find this morning by attending this church but his gut feeling said it was a place he needed to go. He laid a dark gray suit and white shirt on the bed and decided to run over to the diner and grab some breakfast while he was waiting on Scully to finish with the bathroom.

As he entered the diner, Ma herself came over to get his order. "What can I get ya this mornin’ Agent?"

"Do you have bagels and cream cheese?"

"Nope, got some homemade doughnuts. Fried ‘em this morning"

"Oh. Well just a couple of whatever you have on special will be fine. Better give me two coffees also. Just make it to go."

"Hey Maggie, need two specials to go and make ‘em good ones." Turning back to Mulder she asked him, "Y’all have a good time last night?"

"Yes we did. Thank you again for inviting us. The music and the food was really good."

"I noticed you and your lady friend spent a lot of time dancin’. That’s good. So how long you gonna wait till you tell her how you feel?"

Mulder didn’t say anything as he sat there. There wasn’t much he could say. How could he answer that when he really didn’t know the answer to the question himself.

Ma came over with his food. "Here ya go sweetie. That’ll be $7.25. Oh and would ya mind taking the chief’s breakfast with ya back over to the motel? In all the excitement he might forget to eat and that ain’t good."

Mulder paid the bill and picked up the food. There were two heavy trays in one bag and a sandwich of some kind in the other. "Sure I’ll give it to him. Sure does smell good." Mulder turned and left and hurried back to the motel wondering just how she knew the chief was over there. Well the chief had said she usually knew what was going on before almost anyone in town. His thoughts returned to Scully. Hopefully she would be finished by the time he got back to the motel.

Sculled emerged from the bathroom putting on her earrings as Mulder came through the door with the food. The smell wafted through the air giving off an aroma of something good. "What did you get Mulder?" she asked. "Is that breakfast?"

"Yes its breakfast. Don’t know what it is though. I told Ma to give me two of whatever was on special and here it is." Mulder sat the two coffees and two trays on the table and dug the plastic silverware out of the bag. "Scully I think I am going to eat before I take a shower. This smells too good to wait." As he opened the tray the tantalizing odors of homemade biscuits with country ham, eggs, grits, and home fried potatoes permeated the room. There was even a small container of redeye gravy.

"Mulder! You don’t’ expect me to eat this entire thing do you? Why didn’t you just get me a bagel or something?"

"Don’t have bagels over there Scully." He grinned. "Could have gotten you some fried doughnuts"

"Don’t have bagels? What kind of a backwoods place is this? Takes a couple of days for an autopsy? People still believe in evil spirits?" Scully let her exasperation show as she sat down across from Mulder who was busily eating. "What is that?" she asked pointing at the grits. "And this?" she asked holding up the container of gravy.

"Well it looks like some sort of gravy in the cup and the other resembles oatmeal but I think it is what is known as grits around these parts."

"I am not eating something called grits"

"You don’t know what you’re missing. They are good. C’mon Scully just try them." Mulder held out a bite of his own.

"No Mulder and you better hurry. We’ve got less than an hour before we have to be at this church service you are so insistent on. Just what do you hope to find anyway?"

"Don’t know but my gut says we need to go and how many times have I been wrong?"

Scully just rolled her eyes as she tore apart her biscuit and dipped it in the gravy. "Do you really want me to answer that?"

Mulder scooted his chair back from the table and grabbed his pants and shirt and other items from the bed. "Okay G-Woman I am hurrying." He turned and headed off to the shower. "Remind me to ask Ma what that gravy was. It sure was good."

Scully finished eating and was drinking her coffee when she remembered she hadn’t told Mulder what the Bible reference was that was written on the paper outside. She walked over to the bathroom door. "Mulder? That reference you found…"

"Can’t hear you Scully. Come in here," he yelled over the sound of water running.

Scully opened the bathroom door and walked in. Through the hazy shower door she could see a rather clear outline of Mulder’s body as he stood there shaving. Scully felt a rush of heat flood her face but she could not bring herself to look away. Could he possibly know what the sight of him was doing to her? She tried hard to control her breathing. "Mulder? You know that Bible reference that was on that paper? Did you look it up?"

"No" He turned and reached for the shampoo bottle. "Did you?"

Scully couldn’t seem to keep her eyes from following his movements. She waited a moment before replying. "Uh yes I did."

"Well what did it say?" He turned to rinse his hair giving a clearer view for just a brief moment. "Scully?"

"Sorry. It said something about tormenting before time? I can’t remember right now." ‘Like anyone could remember anything watching you’ Scully thought to herself. "If you’ll wait a minute I’ll go look it up again."

"That’s ok. Did you come up with any other interesting thoughts?"

Scully thought to herself ‘what a loaded question’. She had all kinds of interesting thoughts just none that she cared to share with him at this moment. Especially the thoughts of him as she watched him soap himself up in the shower. "Well I am just trying to see the connection between all the different things we have seen and heard. It appears that someone is trying to make these events appear something they are not."

"You mean caused by an evil spirit Scully?"

"Mulder, there is no scientific proof that evil spirits or spirits of any kind exist. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"There are many things that exist that can’t be proved." He reached to turn off the water. "You above all people should know that after all the things we have seen." He slid the shower door back just a little. "Hey Scully reach me that towel."

Scully turned to pick up the towel from the edge of the sink where it was laying and handed it to him. "I’ll wait outside"

Mulder came out of the bathroom and saw Scully sitting on the bed. "Do you know how sexy you look sitting there?"

Scully smiled but ignored the comment. "Here’s the reference Mulder," handing him the Gideon Bible from the nightstand. He took it and read ‘ and behold what have we to do with Jesus thou Son of God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?’ "Scully what do you make of this?"

"I don’t know. I don’t really see a connection."

He handed her back the Bible and walked over to see if he had packed his gray tie. He found it and put it on as he slid his feet into his loafers. He grabbed his jacket. "C’mon. We don’t want to be late."

Just down the street they could see the church and as they approached they heard the church bells ringing. Mulder glanced at his watch. 10:58. They hurried up the steps and entered the sanctuary just as the bells finished ringing.

As they entered it seemed as though every head turned to see who was coming in for worship without coming to Sunday school. They took a seat near the rear so as to try and not disrupt the normal order of the service. The music began and it was different than anything either of them had ever heard in a church. It was quite upbeat with a definite rhythm. Strangely enough the words were to the old classic Amazing Grace. Mulder sat there listening intently for a moment before leaning over and whispering, "Ghost Riders in the Sky."

"Excuse me?" Scully was puzzled.

"The song. The tune is Ghost Riders in the Sky. It’s an old country song"

"Mulder," Scully whispered back. " The words are Amazing Grace but I have never heard it sung like that."

"Neither have I but that tune is Ghost Riders in the Sky." Mulder leaned back against the pew to watch and see what happened in this church that some spoke so highly of an others seemed afraid of. He glanced around trying to determine just who was Pastor Smith that the song had been dedicated to last night.

After approximately half an hour of singing and praying a middle-aged man made his way to the platform. He was dressed in a black suit and tie and was impeccably groomed. As he moved behind the pulpit and opened his Bible, notes slid to the floor. Unruffled he bent, picked them up and looked out upon the congregation of people there gathered in the church. His voice boomed out. "How long? How long will you allow Satan and his hordes of evil ones to run rampant through your lives? How long before you take the God given authority you have as a child of God and take charge of the demons which torment your friends and family?"

Scully looked at Mulder. "Well I guess we know where the evil spirits come in." She turned back and watched as he worked the crowd into frenzy. Within just a short period of time there were people shouting and jumping all over the church.

As the service neared the end Mulder turned to Scully. "I think we need to talk to him soon as this is all over." As the closing prayer came Mulder and Scully made their way to the rear where Pastor Smith was waiting to greet them as they left the church. "Pastor, do you have a few minutes? We’d like to talk to you about that sermon this morning."

"Of course, of course. Always a pleasure to talk to someone about my message from God. Just wait until I finish here and I’ll do my best to get you started on the way to take authority in your lives." He turned just as Sandra Reynolds was leaving. "Sandra, so good to see you out today. Any word on Bob?"

"No Pastor but I’m still praying he’s all right."

"Well sister, he loves the Lord and remember all things work together for the good of them that love the Lord." This type of talked continued with the rest of the people as they left. The pastor seemed to have a kind word for everyone and took the time to greet each one personally. As the last ones left he turned to Mulder and Scully. "Now how can I help you? What area of your life do you need help with?"

"We just wanted to ask you about the sermon. Do you really think evil spirits exist and you have control over them?" Mulder seemed very sincere in his question.

"Of course they are real. Why don’t you come back here to my office and have a seat. At least that way we will be more comfortable." He led them toward the rear of the church and into an office. "Please be seated," he said indicating a sofa across from his desk. "I’m sorry I didn’t catch your names. I haven’t seen you in town before. Are you folks new around here?"

"Special Agents Mulder and Scully of the FBI" Scully replied as they sat down.

"Oh yes, I heard there was a young couple who were FBI agents in town. Now you were asking, did I believe in having control of demonic spirits? And the answer is yes I do."

"And you believe that those in your congregation can have this same control?"

"Yes"

"Would this control include being able to cause them to do harm to other individuals?" Mulder was probing trying to get a definitive answer.

"Not at all. Perhaps control is not the best word to use. What I teach is this. Christians have the God given right to cast out demons or evil spirits. They have the right and ability to do this simply because God has given them that right."

"And any member of your church could do this?"

"No. Anyone who is a true Christian with enough faith could do it."

"Do you believe the missing men are related to this phenomenon? This power you claim to have?"

"No. I do not know why the men turned up missing. If you came here to see if I had answers, I’m sorry. I do not know. I do know however that it isn’t wise to mess around in areas you aren’t knowledgeable in. If you are not a believer in the power God gave Christians, then I would suggest you not get involved. Just as you don’t send a seamstress to fix a leaky pipe, you don’t send a nonbeliever to deal with a demonic situation." He rose from his chair clearly indicating that his time with them was finished. "I don’t have the answers you are seeking but perhaps if you become a believer in the power of the Lord you will find the answers you search for."

Scully and Mulder rose from the sofa. "Thank you for your time. We appreciate it."

"Any time. I hope you’ll come back and visit us for another service. You all have a good day."

Scully and Mulder left the church each lost in their own thoughts. As they headed back to the motel room Scully broke the silence. "Mulder? Can you tell me what you learned from that?"

Mulder reached out and put his arm across Scully’s shoulders. He pulled her in close to him. "I don’t know but I do know we are being watched. Just play along." She reached her arm across his back so they were walking side to side. "Scully, I don’t know what to think at the moment. There is obviously a strong belief among the people that demons or evil spirits or whatever you want to call them are at work and he is telling them they can control them. To me that just doesn’t make a lot of sense." As they approached the motel, they noticed that the Chiefs car was still there but there were several other cars in the lot as well. Apparently the group from the county seat had arrived to do the rest of the work up.

Mulder closed the door behind him as they entered the room and noticed that the breakfast trays were still on the table as he took off his jacket and hung it on the back of a chair. "Scully are you hungry? You didn’t eat a lot this morning. Are you ok?"

"I’m fine. It was good, there was just too much there." Scully sat on the couch and kicked off her gray pumps. She tossed her jacket toward Mulder. "Here, catch" and picked up the remote. Turning on the TV she started idly flipping through channels finally stopping at an old movie.

Mulder hung the jacket on the other chair before collapsing on the sofa beside Scully. "What’s on?"

"Not much. Several preachers, some old sitcoms, football, not a lot."

Mulder sat there quietly as Scully started to get into the movie. She leaned over toward him as she relaxed and he put his arm around her. Sometimes they could say so much to each other while saying nothing. Take last night for instance. There was so much intimacy between them yet neither of them would be the first to admit it was more than friendship. Last night he had held her in his arms and even kissed her and even now that is where his thoughts turned to. He lightly caressed her cheek with his thumb as she lay against his shoulders. He wanted to tell her so many things but he was afraid that it would cause their relationship to change. He felt Scully as she absentmindedly caressed his thigh. She appeared to be losing the battle with sleep. He shifted his position to allow her to be more comfortable and in the process made it so she was lying more on his chest. ‘What a beautiful woman’ he thought. There was no one he could imagine spending the rest of his life with.

As she settled into a more sound sleep Mulder shifted and stretched out on the sofa so that Scully was lying in front of him. He wrapped his arms around her and breathed in the scent of her hair. The perfect woman here in his arms were his thoughts as he slipped into sleep.

Scully awoke sometime later to find she was lying with her back to Mulder on the sofa. He was softly snoring in her ear and so she turned so that she was facing him. He stirred but kept his arms wrapped tightly around her. She tilted her head back so she could see the face she loved so dearly. She reached to caress his face. As she ran her hand across his cheek, it seemed as though he snuggled up against it. Suddenly the desire to kiss him became almost too much. She remembered how he had looked in the shower. Was it just that morning? She wriggled around and he shifted his position. His lips were very close to hers. Ever so softly she reached up and brushed her lips against his. Was it just her imagination or did he return the kiss? Softly she did it again. Once again it was as though he was returning it. He mumbled something and she leaned toward him to see what he was saying.

"I love you Dana". Had she heard him correctly? Did he say what she thought he had said? What was that people said about the true feelings coming out while you were asleep? Something about your subconscious would betray you if you tried to keep something a secret. She tried hard to remember exactly how that went. "I love you too Fox," she whispered. He settled back as though content and soon the even breathing lulled her back into sleep.

The next thing she was aware of was the feel of hot burning kisses running down her throat onto her collarbone. She felt Mulder softly caressing her thigh and as she stretched she noticed that the top three buttons on her blouse had come undone while sleeping and had slipped open just enough to allow the tops of her breasts to be exposed. She reached for him to pull his mouth to hers and tangled her fingers in his hair. As his mouth met hers, she heard him whisper, "I’ve waited for this so long."

Scully awakened with a jump. Mulder’s lips were on her throat. Had it just been a dream? Her sudden movement seemed to startle Mulder awake but she wasn’t sure. His arms were still tightly around her and he showed no signs of letting go. "What’s wrong? Another nightmare?"

"No, not a nightmare, just a dream." She lay there a moment. "I’m sorry I must have fallen asleep. Apparently we were both a little more tired than we realized."

"Oh I didn’t mind. I love holding you while you sleep." Mulder told her. ‘I love everything about you Dana Scully’ he thought to himself as he loosened his hold and started to sit up. He noticed it was a lot quieter outside.

Scully moved so Mulder could get up. "Sure hope your arm isn’t asleep or anything." She paused. "I must look a mess. This suit is terribly in need of pressing now. I think I’m going to change back into my jeans and T-shirt." Scully picked them up from the floor beside the bed where she had tossed them earlier and headed for the bathroom. Her thoughts were in turmoil. What had happened as they lay there asleep in each other’s arms? Was it all a dream? Was only part of it a dream? Did he really say ‘I love you Dana’? Did he kiss her? She was having trouble separating the reality from the dream. Part of her wanted it to be true but part of her was scared of ruining their partnership. She had a distinct feeling it wouldn’t be long before it all came to a point of no return, either one way or the other.

Meanwhile Mulder was experiencing mixed feelings himself. He wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of his life with Scully but he didn’t want to risk ruining what they had. Sometime while he had been asleep he dreamed of her kissing him. He also dreamed of hearing her say that she loved him. How he so longed for that to not be a dream. He hunted a pair of Levi’s and tugged them on as well as a black T-shirt. He turned and was buttoning them just as Scully emerged from the bathroom. "Hey Scully, would you like to go for a walk?"

"Sure. Let me grab some shoes." She knelt beside the bed to get her shoes and sat there to put them on. Within a couple of minutes she bounded to her feet. " Ok I’m ready."

"I’m not." Mulder walked across the room to clean off the table. "Just in case we decide to bring back some dinner." He then walked over to the couch and sat down to put on his shoes.

Scully couldn’t help admiring how the Levi’s just fit so snugly in all the right places. It was definitely a sight to make one’s blood pressure rise. It wasn’t fair that he could do that to her just by what he put on.

"Ok let’s go." Mulder checked to make sure he had the key in his pocket before they left the room. As the door closed behind him, he turned and saw that everything had been cleared away from the bushes. However he did notice a short distance away a path that seemed to lead back into the trees. He grabbed Scully’s hand. "C’mon lets go this way."

"Where are we going?"

"Well there’s a path and its not too far from where our body appeared. Let’s see where it goes." There was a hint of excitement in his voice.

"Mulder…" Scully sounded impatient.

"Oh come on Scully where’s your sense of adventure?"

Scully remained quiet as she followed him up the path and into the trees. ‘Sharing a motel room with you is a sense of adventure of the highest levels’ she thought to herself.