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Nine Minutes
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The truth was no longer out there. The reasons behind the 
"alien abductions" were finally revealed. The Syndicate 
members were either dead or presumed dead. "Purity" had 
been contained and the aliens were no longer a threat to 
Earth. Although the conspiracy had been exposed, people 
still thought they saw UFOs and still thought they were 
being abducted. The X-Files remained open; there was still 
paranormal activity to be investigated. Agent Fox Mulder, 
however, no longer felt the urge to investigate the 
paranormal. The secret had been unraveled, his sister 
returned; the paranormal no longer held his interest. Other 
assignments had left him bored. The Violent Crimes section 
was the only place that offered hope. He was still the best 
analyst in the Bureau and he still had a "knack" for 
profiling serial killers. Agent Dana Scully, on the other 
hand, faced a life in the Training Division, teaching 
autopsy protocol to cadets. She knew nothing was left for 
her. She had joined the FBI to make a difference in the 
lives of American citizens. Now that "a difference" had 
been made, the FBI offered her no hope for the future. She 
tendered her resignation and had given it to Assistant 
Director Skinner. Skinner, however, refused to let his two 
best Agents walk away from the X-Files. He had one more 
case for them...

When Dana Scully walked into the basement office she and 
Fox Mulder had shared for seven years, she experienced a 
feeling of déjà vu. There was Mulder sitting at a light 
table sorting slides like he had been the day they first 
met. This time, when she looked around the office, she 
didn't see all the personal items cluttered everywhere. 
Most everything was in boxes. There was one item left out: 
the poster of a UFO proclaiming "I want to believe."
	"I'm thinking of leaving the poster," Mulder said 
without looking up from his work. "I did find a new one, 
though." He got up, went to an open box and pulled out a 
rolled up poster, which he handed to Scully. 
	Scully carefully unrolled it and studied it 
quizzically. The poster was of a large green alien head in 
the night sky. Beneath the alien head were the words, "I 
know." Scully rolled the poster back up and placed it in a 
box. "So what 'final' assignment has Skinner sent us on?"
	"I thought you'd ask that. You wanna get the lights?" 
Mulder set up the slide projector and waited for Scully to 
turn off the lights. When the lights were off, he started 
with his little slide show.
	He clicked the button and there was a picture of a 
group of young people clad in blue and white caps and gowns 
for graduation. "In June of 1998, Dawson High School, in 
Dawson, California, graduated 300 students." The picture 
changed to a group of four students, one in front in a 
white gown, the three in back in blue. "The one in the 
middle is Dana Fitzgerald. Those are her three best 
friends: Dave Miller, James Harding, and Steven 
Cobblestone. All four have been missing for the past 
month." The picture changed again to a young couple both 
clad in their graduation garments. "This is Kevin Stevens, 
he was the high school's star football player, and Julie 
Donaldson, the high school's head cheerleader. They also 
have been missing for about a month."
	"Mulder, what are we doing on this case?"
	"The FBI has been told by their classmates, that these 
same six students would often miss quite a bit of school. 
They missed so much school that they were in danger of not 
being able to go through the ceremony."
	Scully walked towards Mulder. "I don't see where this 
is our case. It should go to some one in kidnapping."
	"Dana, I don't know why Skinner gave us this case, but 
if it is to be our last case, let's make good," Mulder 
pleaded.
	Scully sighed. "All right, Mulder. We'll do it your 
way."
	"Great. We leave for the Golden State at 1 PM today. 
Go home and pack; I'll pick you up at noon."
	Scully just smiled as she walked out of the office. 
That was just like Mulder, always making arrangements 
because he knew he could convince her to go along with his 
ideas. She closed the door and walked down the hallway to 
the elevator. She couldn't believe she'd been talked into 
this case. It seemed so similar to their first case. She 
rode the elevator up to the main floor of the J. Edgar 
Hoover FBI Building. She had a few things she needed to 
take care of before she left.

An hour later, still two hours before Mulder would be at 
her house to pick her up, Scully rode the elevator down the 
parking structure beneath the FBI building. When she found 
her car, she also found a note under the windshield wiper. 
It was from Mulder. It said:

I know you are fed up the FBI, Dana, but I need 
you on this case. I need you and your science to 
help me. Mulder.

For some reason, the note made her smile. It wasn't often 
that Mulder acknowledged that he needed her. More often 
than not, she felt more of a hindrance to Mulder than 
helpful. It was good to see him being nice. 
	On the drive home, Scully was mentally planning what 
to pack. She knew that it was pretty close to spring, but 
she didn't know where Dawson was. If Dawson was near Los 
Angeles, she could expect things to be pleasantly warm. If 
Dawson was in northern California, chances are it would be 
raining. She decided she would pack enough for a week, most 
investigations took less than that. Most of what she packed 
would be business suits.
	When Scully arrived home, she realized she only had 
about an hour and forty-five minutes to pack. She quickly 
ran about picking out outfits that could be worn with black 
heels. She tossed in a couple of pairs of jeans, a tee 
shirt and a sweatshirt. She made sure she packed her tennis 
shoes and all her toiletries. She had just finished packing 
when she heard a knock on her door. 
	She opened the door and let Mulder in. "Could you give 
me a minute? I need to find my computer."
	"Sure," Mulder replied. "I'll just take your bags to 
the car." Mulder grabbed the two bags containing Scully's 
clothes and carried them to his red Ford Taurus. He waited 
outside by the car for Scully to come out. Not more than 
two minutes had passed before Scully emerged. She was in 
the black pants suit she had worn to work. Her hair hung 
loosely to her shoulders. In her arms was a narrow black 
leather case. Mulder knew it was her laptop computer; she 
carried it with her on all trips.
	Mulder was still in his navy blue suit, with red and 
blue striped tie. He climbed into his car and started the 
engine. They drove to the airport in silence, both thinking 
about the case they were on. 
	Once on the plane, Scully pulled out her computer. 
Mulder handed her the case file and put on a pair of 
headphones. It would be a long plane ride and Mulder needed 
some sleep. The stewardess brought a pillow and asked if 
Scully would like anything. Scully refused and went back to 
her computer. She couldn't help but notice how good Mulder 
looked lounging in the seat next to her. She loved a man 
who dressed up. She felt bad that she was admiring him. He 
was her partner, not her lover.
	Soon she would be leaving him. She felt worse for 
doing that to him. They had been partners and friends for 
seven years. As soon as they solved this case, she would 
head to her mother's house for a long over due visit. After 
the visit with her mother, her life was up in the air. She 
didn't know if she would move away from Washington and 
start practicing medicine in some small town, or stay near 
the nation's capital and work for a hospital. Her mind 
wandered back to the cases she and Mulder had investigated. 
As she looked back she began to see things Mulder had done 
with a new perspective. He really did care about her. When 
she had been missing, he didn't sleep. When she went back 
to work, he tried to protect her. It really hurt her to 
leave him, but she had to get out before the FBI strangled 
her.
	Hours passed and the plane approached California. They 
began their descent to the Sacramento International 
Airport. When they landed Mulder and Scully collected their 
baggage and headed towards the rend-a-car lot. "I've got a 
car already reserved for us, Scully. It's about an hour and 
a half drive to Dawson. Hope you don't mind."
	"Of course not, Mulder." The clerk at the rental 
counter verified their reservation and handed them the 
keys. "It's the black Mustang," the clerk said.
	They walked out of the office and found the black Ford 
Mustang. "Mulder, are you trying to impress me? A Mustang?" 
Scully asked, not quite believing what her partner had 
done.
	"This is our last case together, Scully," Mulder said, 
opening the trunk. "I thought it might be nice if we 
traveled in something other than a family car." He placed 
their luggage inside and closed the trunk. He jogged around 
to the passenger side of the car and grabbed the door 
handle seconds before Scully reached it. It was a rare 
occasion when Mulder got to show Scully how much of a 
gentleman he really was. He held open the door for her and 
closed it gently once she was inside. He walked around the 
front of the car and climbed in.
	The weather in Sacramento was beautiful. The sun was 
shining and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. It was a 
bit chilly though, so Mulder decided to leave the 
convertible top up. As he drove out of Sacramento towards 
Dawson, Scully began to ask questions.
	"So what exactly are we looking for, Mulder?"
	"Signs of alien abduction."
	"Mulder, you know as well as I do that those kids 
weren't abducted. The Syndicate is dead. C.G.B. Spender, 
Fowley, and Krycek have disappeared. The aliens are no 
longer interested in Earth. Mulder, who would be doing 
this?"
	"I don't think it's the government, Scully. I think 
it's something more than that. I think the town of Dawson 
is carrying out an elaborate hoax. I've been going back 
through the town's history and I have found that dozens of 
people have gone missing for months at a time from this 
town. They all claim the same thing: alien abduction. I 
need you to help me prove that I'm right."
	Scully was taken aback by Mulder's sudden logic. He 
didn't believe this to be a case of alien abduction. That, 
in itself, was amazing. She couldn't think of a thing to 
say the rest of the car ride to Dawson.
	They arrived in Dawson shortly after five that 
evening. Mulder drove directly to the Dolphin Inn. It was a 
quaint little two-story hotel. Mulder parked the car in 
front of a dolphin shaped sign that said office. "Come on, 
lets go sign in," he said, undoing his seat belt. Scully 
undid her seat belt and climbed out of the car.
	The two FBI Agents walked into the office together, 
Mulder holding open the door for his partner. The heavy-set 
woman behind the counter looked at them. "What'll it be?" 
she asked them, while chewing her gum like a cow chews it's 
cud. She was wearing a flowered sundress that showed all of 
her flabby body.
	"Two singles, preferably next to each other," Mulder 
said, leaning one elbow on the counter.
	"What are you two, fightin' or somethin'?"
	"No, we're FBI," Mulder replied pronouncing each 
syllable. He pulled his badge out of his jacket pocket and 
flashed it at the woman behind the counter.
	"Aight. Number's 42 and 43." She put the keys on the 
counter and turned back to her sub sandwich.
	Mulder picked up the two keys, thanked the woman, and 
headed out to the car to get their bags. Scully took the 
room keys from Mulder and went off to find the rooms.
	Mulder opened the trunk of the Mustang and grabbed the 
three pieces of luggage. Unlike Scully, he traveled light, 
especially since his apartment was redecorated. Granted he 
did have more room in his apartment, but now he had 
problems finding things. Some people were amazed that he 
could find anything in his apartment, but he had been 
blessed with a photographic memory. He remembered where 
everything that happened to him. He remembered his sister's 
"abduction" with perfect clarity, even after twenty-seven 
years. She had been returned after "Purity" was contained, 
and alien-hybrids were no longer needed.
	He hefted the luggage out of the trunk and looked for 
his partner. She was standing about two hundred feet away 
with the doors of both their hotel rooms open. As he 
approached carrying the luggage, she called to him, "You 
get 42."
	He carried her two pieces of luggage into room 43. He 
placed them on the floor next to the table. He glanced 
around the room. It looked like a typical hotel room: a 
full size bed, two nightstands, a table, two chairs, a 
dresser and a TV all arranged in typical fashion. The table 
and chairs were to the right of the door, in front of a 
window. The bed was on the right wall, the dresser on the 
left. Across the room was a closet and a door which led to 
the bathroom. 
	Mulder stepped back out of the room and turned to 
Scully. "The families of the students are meeting with the 
police tomorrow morning at nine. Sheriff James Smith will 
meet with us tonight at eight to update us on the 
situation. Since we have some times to kill, I thought we 
might go get dinner." He took his bag, placed it inside the 
room next door, and then headed back to the car.
	"Mulder," Scully called out, "come here a minute." He 
walked back to his partner. "Here's your room key. Are you 
sick?"
	"Why?" he asked arching an eyebrow.
	"You are being so nice. The Mustang, dinner; it's not 
like you Mulder. Plus, you don't even believe this to be a 
case of alien abduction."
	"Let's face it, Scully. You've rubbed off on me." He 
grinned. "Actually, I have thought some cases weren't 
paranormal in nature. Like that time we went to the Redskin 
game and ended up missing it because of the guy with the 
fetish."
	"Ok Mulder. So there have been times when you haven't 
thought of something paranormal. But let's face it, more 
often than not, your theories deal with the supernatural."