Title: Mulder's Creek: 15. Liars' Club
Author: Neoxphile
Author Email: neoxphile@aol.com
Rated: PG
Category: C
Keywords: XF/Dawson's Creek crossover. Alternate universe.
Disclaimer: I claim no ownership to the characters, except those I've created, as they belong to Chris Carter and Kevin Williamson

Summary: Mulder and Reyes begin to show the strain of the secrets they're each keeping to themselves, which makes Scully and Doggett suspicious and resentful, but a trip to the Zoo helps put things into perspective.

Opening scene-

Clinking their glasses of green tinted white grape juice together, everyone looks expectantly at Mulder from their various seats in his room. He gives them a puzzled look.

"What?"

"Well...it is Saint Patrick's day..." Reyes says, then trails off.

"So?" Mulder asks.

"You haven't, um...you haven't..." Scully tries to say.

"What haven't I done?" Mulder says exasperated.

: Doggett gives him a level look. "You'll have to forgive the ladies for not spitting it out, but they're burdened by a larger measure of tact than I am. It's Saint Patrick's day, and you haven't led us on any wild goose chases. No spot the leprechaun, no hunt for a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow...are you feeling ok?"

"Oh, sorry to disappoint everyone. I thought we'd only tackle a couple at a time if that's ok with you. The Easter bunny and the tooth fairy this year, and Lucky and cupid next year," Mulder says sarcastically.

When they nod like he's say something reasonable, he covers his face with his hands and sighs deeply.

Thursday afternoon, Leary house-

Mulder sits at his desk, on the pretense of doing his homework, but instead he's staring at an envelope that still on top of his books. Since he didn't hear from Thaddeus Quinn for a couple of weeks, Mulder assumed that the man had lost interest in his plight when he hadn't met the man at the library. This letter arriving yesterday, then, came as a shock. It was mostly an inquiry into whether or not Mulder would like to arrange another meeting, since the first one hadn't been successful. Though he was truly tempted to write back to the man, he wasn't ready to. Mulder pulls his attention away from the letter, and looks out the window.

10 minutes later, McPhee home-

Reyes sits at her computer, on the pretense of doing her paper, but instead she's staring at her empty e-mail inbox. Though it has been a long two weeks since she last heard from Fowley, she still logs on and expects to hear from her. Any number of terrible things can happen in two weeks, so it makes Reyes feel worse every day that passes, and makes sleeping each night just that much harder. Reyes pulls her attention away from the computer screen, and goes to see if her father feels like watching a movie before dinner.

6:30pm, video store-

Doggett is sitting on the floor putting the new releases on the low shelves behind the counter when he hears the bell ring, which indicates that there's a customer. Before he can get up he hears a familiar voice say " Hello?"

Doggett stand up quickly, saying," Sorry about that, just putting stuff away." Only then does he realize that looking at Krycek. Krycek's face doesn't wear its customary sneer, which immediately puts Doggett on guard.

"Hey, that's ok," Krycek says.

"So, is there anything I can help you find?"

"Well, no."

"No?" Doggett asks, confused.

"I could rent something, but... I really came to talk to you."

"Me? What about?"

"Ok, so, you know the prom is coming up, right?"

"Of course. I also know that sophomores can't go," Doggett points out.

"Right. Unless they're invited by an upperclassman."

"Ok...what does this have to do with me?"

"I need advice about how to get an eleventh grade girl to invite me."

"So why are you asking me??" Doggett asks, sounding surprised.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but... You have this really pretty, sweet girlfriend, and you've been dating her for months with no problems, at least no obvious ones," Krycek says, giving Doggett a questioning look. Doggett shrugs in agreement. "So I figured if someone like you could hold onto a girl like that, you must know a thing or two about the inner workings of girls' hearts."

"Gee, I'm flattered," Doggett says wryly.

"Will you help me, them?" Krycek says, sounding more than a little pathetic.

"Um...give me a few days to think it over, ok? If I come up with anything, I'll let you know," Doggett says, unable to believe he's even considering giving Krycek advice.

"Thanks! So...do I really need to be 18 to rent the unrated version of American Pie 2?"

8pm, Potter home-

Scully pouts and gives Mulder an appealing look, which he doesn't notice. That's why Scully is pouting in the first place, Mulder seems so distracted to her that she can't stand it. Nothing she's said to him all night seems to have sunk in, and it's beginning to irritate her. All he's done since he's gotten here is sit on the couch like a lump! She fumes to herself.

She think for a moment, and decides on a new strategy. She gently runs her fingertips up his neck and says," Mulder, what do you say, want to go looking for UFOs?" her fingers run through his hair now. "We haven't seen an alien in a while, so why don't we go to some dark secluded spot and look for one?"

Mulder, his coy innuendo detector apparently on the fritz, says in a disinterested tone," Thanks, but no. Why don't we watch Friends instead? They're probably going to pull out all the stops over the next couple of months, because you know how it is. A long running show with a loyal following always does some sensational bits right towards the end of the series. That's when they drag old characters back for a cameo. I wonder if any of the parents will be in this episode."

Mulder is stunned when Scully smacks him with a couch pillow, hard, and pouts instead of saying anything. "So I take it that you don't want to watch Friends?" Mulder asks carefully.

"No. I don't want to watch Friends. What I want is to know why you've been a million miles away all night."

"No reason," Mulder says, turning his gaze back to the TV before catching the dirty look Scully shoots him.

9pm, Witter home-

Doggett has planned to take full advantage of the fact that his parents are out for the night, which explains why Reyes is sitting on his lap and having the back of her neck kissed. Doggett sighs and gives up trying to seduce his girlfriend; he can't believe how tense she is.

"What?" Reyes asks.

"Funny, that's what I was going to ask you. Why are you so tense?" Doggett asks.

"I'm not."

"You are so. If you were any tenser I'd be afraid that you were going to snap in two. Can't you feel it in your muscles?"

Reyes can't, at least she didn't until he mentioned it. "I'm fine."

"You're fine. Of course you are. You know that line doesn't work on someone who habitually uses it themselves. Ask Gretchen, if you don't know what I'm talking about. My 'fine' usually means 'you wouldn't understand'. Is that what yours means, or is it more of an 'I don't want to talk about it' fine? " Reyes doesn't answer him, so he presses. "Well?"

"I'm just...fine," she says lamely, getting off his lap. "I'll, um, see you tomorrow."

Doggett doesn't say anything in reply, not even goodnight.

11pm-

Reyes tosses and turns in bed, still unable to sleep even though she's been trying for a hour. She's been keeping her worries about Fowley a secret for months now, but until now it didn't occur to her that anyone else could tell she was worried. She's surprised that her composure slipped enough to let the worry seep out into her life, because she considers herself quite good at pushing things down so deep that no one realizes that there's a problem. She's spent eighteen months shrugging off people's questions about why her mother doesn't live with the family, and that's lulled her into believing that she could hide her distress about anything important and overwhelming. The fact that both her brother, in December, and Doggett have now called her on two instances in which they noticed her worry bothers her. Perhaps, she thinks, she's not as good at pretending as she thought.

And now, with the cold reception she got from Doggett after being distracted, she worried about him too. She wishes there was a way to tell him what's on her mind without telling him. As unhappy it makes her that he's ticked off with her, she can't bring herself to do anything that might put Fowley in greater danger. She sighs and strips off the covers, hoping that remaking the bed might make it comfortable enough to sleep in, assuming that she can turn off her mind.

11:30 pm-

Mulder stares at the fading glow of the stars plastered to his ceiling, and considers turning the lights on for a few moments to recharge them. They're not in any particular patterns, nothing that could be called purposeful consolations, though one might find aries several times if they looked, because for all his imagination, Mulder can't really see the constellations as being pictures. Ink blots, clouds, even the swirl of the pasta in giggle noodle soup, but not the stars. He just enjoys looking at the glowing points without thinking about them.

He played The Sims on his computer until he was too tired to keep his eyes open, but now he can't sleep. He must have reached that point of overtiredness that keeps sleep at bay without even realizing it, because now he's more awake than he's felt in a while. If only he could decide whether or not Scully bought his act. Maybe she really did think he was just thinking of an insipid tv show, but knowing her...of course she knows I'm hiding something, he thinks, beginning to get angry at himself, she's so smart that she must know. He spends the next forty-five minutes trying to come up with a rational excuse for his behavior, then falls dead asleep with nothing resolved.

Friday 5pm, Potter home-

On a rare Friday night that didn't involve cooking for 100, Bessie and Scully were having dinner in the comfort of their own kitchen. Once a month Bessie trusted the restaurant to a part-time manager and took the night off. Scully smiles fondly at her sister as Scully amuses Alexander by showing him how to make his fingers "walk" up his arm. The toddler giggles, and gamely tries to imitate her, but he ends up with three or sometimes four legs because he hasn't the fine motor control to isolate two chubby little fingers and move them in tandem.

Scully fingers jump and skip to amuse the boy, but she's watching Bessie's face instead of his. "Bessie, could we talk?"

"Sure," Bessie says, hoping that nothing's wrong.

Scully doesn't know where to begin, so she blurts out the first thing she thinks of. "What does it mean when your boyfriend is acting distant?"

Bessie opens her mouth to answer, but Alex's demand of " More aunt Scully, more!" gives her a moment to rethink her intended reply. She watches a moment as Scully walks her fingers over the boy's plate and makes him shriek with laughter.

"There could be a lot of reasons. Have you had a fight recently?"

Scully shakes her head violently. "We never argued before, though I was sort of mean to him after he ignored me last night...He claimed to want to watch Friends of all things when I called him on ignoring me. I hit him with a pillow," Scully says, sounding a little ashamed of herself.

"Well, the lack of arguments is good. Like I said, though, there could be a lot of reasons. Maybe he's worried about a test coming up, or thinking about how his life will change after that baby is born, or is scared to take his license exam...or maybe he really did just want to watch a tired sitcom," Bessie says, trying to sound as reasonable as their mother would have.

"Oh," Scully says, looking down at her feet.

Thinking that her sister probably isn't contemplating her footwear, Bessie gently asks," What is it that you're worried might be the reason?"

At first Scully thinks that her fear is too silly, but she quickly realizes that Bessie wouldn't laugh at her. "I know he's never given me a reason to think so, but I have this nagging fear that once Fowley comes back this summer, he might begin to regret how things worked out between them...I'm not saying he'd stray, but, well, you know. People can't help having thoughts and resentments."

"I talked to him quite a bit while you were in the hospital, and I really don't think that Fowley has been anyone he's thought about for months. Maybe he'll reflect on how things would have been different, which is human, but he loves you."

"I know," Scully says, managing a weak smile. But still, she thinks...

7pm, Capeside police station-

Kersh is sitting at his desk listening to NPR on the radio when the alarm on the door beeps, indicating that it's been open. At first he's mildly excited that maybe someone is going to give him something to investigate, but his expression sours a little when he sees his younger brother walk into the room. Doggett is carrying what appears to be two bags of take-out from the Ice House, so Kersh's tone is less annoyed that it'd normally be.

"Doggett, you know you're not supposed to be here."

"You know, I do know that. In fact dad told me never to come to the station unless it was an emergency. Yet here I am." Doggett cheerfully tells him, then passes him one of the bags of take-out and pulls a can of soda out of his coat pocket which he also passes over.

Kersh gives him a grateful look because he's starving, and asks," What's the emergency?"

"I'm in desperate need of a heart-to-heart with an older sibling." Doggett says.

"Gretchen's roommate told you that she's out for the night." Kersh guesses.

"While that is true, you're the one I wanted to talk to."

"Why?" Kersh asks, immediately suspicious.

"Because Gretchen has never had a girlfriend. At least I hope not, not that there's anything wrong with that, but Mom and Dad would flip. Anyway, of all of my older siblings you're the most qualified to help me."

"I'm honored," Kersh says sarcastically. "What's your problem?"

"My problem is that Reyes is stressed out. Which means..." Doggett trails off, blushing. "Anyway, how do help her relax? I don't think she's going to tell me what's wrong, which bothers me a little, but are there any general measures I could take?" he asks sounding hopeful.

"Sure. You could take a quick course on massage at the community college. Actually, scratch that. Oils and deep pressure could lead to an even more stressful situation..," Kersh says, watching Doggett's face become even redder. " Or you could try reading aloud to her-"

"Seriously?"

"Yup. Being read to is supposed to calm most people. "

"But wouldn't she think that's sort of silly?" Doggett asks.

"Maybe, but hey, if she laughs she's calmer, too, right?"

"I guess," Doggett says, sounding doubtful.

"It's worth a shot, isn't it?" Kersh asks, then focuses his attention on his food instead of his brother. Doggett makes a mental note not to ask his brother for any more advice.

Wednesday afternoon, Bobby Kennedy Memorial Zoo-

While the zoo won't officially open to the public until Memorial Day, the state has decided to open it to various school groups. The principal at Capeside High was surprised by the number of students who signed up for the trip, but she apparently forgot how determined high school kids could be to get out of classes for the day. Mulder, Scully, Doggett, Reyes, Skinner and Reed all signed up for that very reason.

A teacher, who is less than thrilled with being stuck with chaperoning duty, decides to thwart some of the kids' joy by assigning them partners. To keep them out of trouble she tells them that if their partner gets in trouble for unbecoming conduct on a field trip, they'll suffer the same penalty: I'm going to put peer pressure to my own use, the woman thinks grimly.

Reed falls after Skinner, and Skinner can't shake the feeling that Reed is much like a worshipful puppy. Since Skinner has never had a puppy, he's not sure how to handle the situation.

"So, um, what's your favorite animal?" Reed asks Skinner happily.

Skinner thinks about answering "Dogs" but decides that he'd better not. "My favorite zoo animal is the hippos."

"Hippos? Why?"

Skinner shrugs. "I like how they spend so much time in the water. They're sort of like frogs, but big, grayish-purple and mammals. It's kind of calming to watch them, you know?"

"But...you know that they kill lots of people every year, don't you?"

"There's that too," Skinner says, grinning at him. Reed gives him a quizzical look and takes a step backwards.

When they first found out that they were going to be paired up, they asked their chaperone if they were being punished for something. She shooed them away with her hand, and walked off towards the cold drink stand. Scully and Doggett made faces at each other then sighed in resignation.

"I think we should declare a truce. Just for today." Doggett suggests.

"Which means you promise not to push me into anything?" Scully demands to know.

"Of course," Doggett says, giving her a dirty look.

"This sucks," Scully complains.

"I guess we have to make the most of it." Doggett tells her.

"I guess. It's not as though spending the day with Mulder would be much better, though," Scully says grumpily.

"Do I sense trouble in paradise?" Doggett asks mockingly.

Scully rolls her eyes and silently asks God what she did to deserve this. " Sort of. He's been... I don't know, distant lately," she says, waiting for the punch line.

Doggett surprises her instead by saying," I thought it was just Reyes..."

Mulder and Reyes headed towards the aviary. When they heard their assignment for partners, they both thought about how they didn't really know each other that well. They found that sort of funny, since they've known each other for a year and a half.

"So...tell me about Doggett." Reyes demands as they watch a red macaw wing its way from one end of the room to the other.

"What do you mean?" Mulder asks her, looking startled.

"What I'm after is someone an impression of him from who has known him his whole life. I mean, I asked Scully, but they aren't exactly...close," Reyes says smiling.

"That's an understatement. What can I tell you? He's got a great sense of humor, idolizes his older sister, and has got me out of more tough spots that I can count. He's a skeptic, a loyal friend, and has a weird fascination with mine and Scully's relationship. Is that the sort of thing you wanted to know about?" Mulder asks.

"Yes, thank you. There's just one more thing..." Reyes says, trailing off as she gathers her nerve to ask.

Skinner watches as a moose walks in front of him. He turns to Reed and asks, " Have you ever seen one of these guys in the wild?" The moose seems to notice that he's being watched and gives his head a shake, making his antlers brush a few branches hanging down from a nearby tree.

"Sure. Lots of times. There was more woods where I used to live, you know. I bet you like them because they cause car crashes," Reed says slyly.

"No..." Skinner says, not talking his eyes off of the animal. "It's hard to believe that they're part of the deer family, since they're so big and all."

"Yup."

Skinner turns to look at Reed, and decides to see what Reed's reaction to personal questions will be. "So tell me what your ex-boyfriend was like."

"W-w-what?" Reed stammers.

"I was thinking about what you said on Valentines, about me not having a boyfriend either. "

"Oh, um...I haven't dated someone serious yet."

"Ah. Ethan and I broke up right before Valentines. That was hard. I'm still not completely over it," Skinner says, trying not to sound bitter.

"That's a shame."

"Yeah..." Skinner sighs. "I think the problem was that we got too serious too quickly. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but he goes to a private school and neither of us really thought about how hard the long distance deal was going to be. I think from now on I'm going to think a lot more before getting involved with someone."

"That's probably a good idea," Reed says faintly.

Doggett and Scully tear out of the primate house like dogs with their tails on fire. An elderly man they very nearly knock over gives them the finger. Scully stops laughing to catch her breath and tries to put on a stern look on her face. "Why did you do that? The fence is there for a reason!"

"Is it my fault that Krycek didn't know that?"

"Since you told him to climb the low fence, I'd said yes."

"It's not as though he got hurt or anything," Doggett protests.

"I don't know, it sort of looked like the security guards weren't being real gentle with him," Scully muses. "I still want to know why you did it."

A mischievous grin spreads across Doggett's face. "A few days ago Krycek came to see me at the video store. He came to beg me for advice, of all things."

"What on?"

"Girls."

"Um, what?" Scully says, trying desperately not to laugh.

"Go ahead, laugh. I would if I were you. Anyway, he wanted to know how to convince an 11^th grade girl to invite him to the prom. I told him that breaking into the gorilla enclosure would definitely impress Sandy Webb..."

"You just didn't want him to ask for any more advice." Scully accuses.

"Guilty as charged. Do you blame me, though?"

"Of course not. I just wish I had a camera with me. Especially when the gorilla reached out and grabbed him by his backpack."

"The look on his face was priceless, wasn't it? I think they wanted him to stay and be their king."

"Ha."

Doggett stealthily backed out of hitting range. "'Course, had it been you, it'd be the Orangutans who'd mistake you for their royalty. "

"Jerk. Let's go to the reptile house, I bet you'll feel more comfortable with the snakes," Scully retorts.

Doggett starts walking towards the reptile house suddenly, leaving Scully scrambling to catch up. When she does he says," While I love taking the time to trade barbs with you, I was wondering if we could go back to talking about Mulder and Reyes."

"Sure, why not," Scully says, surprised by how quickly he switched gears.

"What do you think their problems are?" Doggett asks Scully.

"I'm not sure. I worry that Mulder might be thinking of Fowley, though..." Scully says, finding it hard to believe that she's having a heart-to-heart with Doggett of all people.

"He's not," Doggett assures her.

"Yeah, well, Bessie said the same thing. I know you both mean well, but-"

"No, I'm serious. Last week he gave me a hard time for paying too much attention to the girl's basketball game in gym, and I asked him point-blank if he never thought of any other girls, even her, and he said instantly that you're the only one he has eyes for him. Reyes, though..." Doggett tells her, watching a boa constrictor's tongue flicker out.

"That's nice to hear, Doggett. And you shouldn't worry about Reyes' heart, either, because as hard as it is for me to believe, she is totally in love with you. Did you cast some sort of love spell on her or something?" Scully asks with a grin.

"Well, if they love us, why won't they tell us what's wrong?" Doggett says, stamping his foot.

"I don't know...but have you ever kept something you were thinking about a secret from loved ones before?" Scully asks, while trying to get a tortoise hatchling's attention.

"Of course. Who hasn't?"

"That's my point. Maybe we should...let them work things out on their own until they decide to tell us about their problems."

"That's hard," Doggett says, nearly whining.

"I know, but...it's what we'd want them to do for us, isn't it? We wouldn't want them to act paranoid and pry," Scully reminds gently.

"Yeah..." Doggett admits.

Mulder makes faces at the elephants and enjoys himself thoroughly. "Hey Reyes, what do you think, am I bugging the elephant or impressing him?"

"What?" Reyes asks, distracted.

"Nothing. Just checking to see if you were paying attention. Hey, you never did say what the other thing you wanted to know about Doggett."

"I know," Reyes says unhappily. "Mulder, I'm going to ask you something else instead. Suppose you were told that you needed to keep a huge secret for someone's safety, but then you begin to think that maybe the that the person who made you make the promise wasn't really to be trusted?"

"I think I'd opt for caution just in case, but I might tell someone I really trusted," Mulder tells her.

"I don't think that Doggett is the best person to tell, since he'd probably go to his Dad and brother and get the law involved, but...could I tell you?"

"I'd be honored, but why me?"

"I think you're the most equipped to keep an open mind about this," Reyes says with a shrug.

"Ha. People keep paying me that compliment, but..." Mulder says, smirking.

Reyes decides that she can tell him part of what on her mind without mentioning Fowley's name, so that's what she decides to do. "There's this person I know, and he is convinced that something bad has happened to someone he and I both know, and that there's a cover up involved to cover up what has really happened-"

"First test of credibility: Why does he know more about this than everyone else?" Mulder asks, putting himself into detective mode.

"Well, his take on what happened is that she's secretly been drafted to be part of a genetics experiment. He says that he found out about the project when someone claiming to be his father told him that his parents aren't really his parents-" Reyes pauses when she notices the strangely stricken yet excited look on Mulder's face. "What's wrong?"

"Is your source our age?" Mulder asks quickly.

"Yeah, why?" Reyes asks, confused.

"I don't know if you know it or not, but I have a sister," Mulder says, seeing from her surprised look that she clearly didn't. "Yeah, not to many people know that. Anyway, my sister, Sam, was kidnapped as a baby. I'm trying really hard to find her, and even though the pieces are falling into place, I'm still missing most of them...One of the pieces I discovered most recently was that four other kids were kidnapped around the same time. Only one of them besides Sam, a boy named Scott Martin, from Maine, failed to be returned to his family. He was four when he was kidnapped, the same age I was when they took Sam."

"You think he could be the same kid?" Reyes asks slowly.

"It's possible, isn't it? Who is the guy you've been talking about?" Mulder asks.

Reyes hesitates for a moment, then takes a deep breath. "Spender Morgan."

"Spender Morgan, Scott Martin...they're close enough that a preschooler might accept the name change...Reyes, would you be willing to do some sleuthing with me? Maybe try to find out for sure if Spender is connected to my sister somehow, and if he know for real what happened to your friend?"

Reyes feels her heart lighten all of the sudden. Maybe there is something she can do to help Fowley after all. "Ok, sure."

"Alright. We'll have to keep it on the DL, though, ok? There's a lot I haven't even told Scully, because...I'm afraid that she wouldn't believe me. Half the time I get the impression that she's only humoring me because she's a good person and wants me to be happy. In reality, though, you know what a skeptic she can be, almost as bad as Doggett...for what it's worth, I think you were probably right to decide not to tell him. The last think we need is cynical significant others dampening our enthusiasm for finding the truth," Mulder tells her.

"I know, but it still feels dishonest. We'll tell them once we have proof, though, right?"

"Of course. But it will have to be the type of proof even they will accept." Mulder looks at his watch. "We're supposed to be meeting at the front gate in fifteen minutes. Is there anything we should look at first?"

"I want to see the zebras. There's something cool about their ability to camouflage themselves despite the stripes," Reyes says, thinking for a moment of Mulder and herself trying to be like that.

5:30, Ice House-

Reed comes in and grabs his apron, and gives Skinner, who is already working, an uncertain look. Skinner's heart goes out to the guy, since he's been in the guy's place before: Ethan told him that he wasn't interested in anything more than friendship before too. Skinner decides that while he probably has done the right thing by not letting Reed deceive himself, it's also up to him to make Reed think that things are still ok between them. So Skinner decides to just act normal.

"Hey Reed. Quite a crowd tonight, huh?"

"Yeah, maybe we'll be tipped well," Reed says, suddenly looking sure of himself.

"Hope we don't have a riot or anything."

"Why would we have a riot?"

"Blueberries are out of season," Skinner tells him.

"Are you trying to be cryptic?"

"Yup. Is it working?"

Reed laughs and shakes his head.

"They'd call it the blueberry riots of 2002-"

"We don't serve anything that's supposed to have blueberries in it, though." Reed objects.

"I know. Hence the riot," Skinner says, nodding sagely.

A custom needs their attention, and Skinner sighs a breath of relief; he hasn't screwed things up as badly as he feared.

9pm, McPhee home-

Reyes watches Doggett as he gets up suddenly and walks out of the room, leaving her sitting on the couch. She wonders what he's doing when he returns with a magazine. He gives her a nervous smile, while he stands there rolling the magazine into a tube, so she instantly wonders what's up.

"You're not going to make us take one of those relationship quizzes, are you? Even I think they're bull, and I'm a teenage girl."

"No, no," he says quickly. "It's just that there's this story in here that I think you'd think was amusing."

"Ok, give me the magazine, then," Reyes says, reaching out.

"Nope. I'm going to read it to you," he says as he sits down beside her.

Reyes smiles and worms her way closer to him. "Goodie. I love being read to. It's a shame that no one reads us anything interesting at school."

Doggett looks down at her and notices how content she seems. I'll be damned, he thinks, maybe Kersh isn't a moron after all. "This is called 'Keeping Faith', just so you know."

Reyes nods.

He clears his throat and begins reading. "I woke up next to a toilet. As I stared at the white porcelain fixture, it occurred to me that it wasn't even my toilet. I could see a rubber ducky sitting on the edge of the tub, and I was then absolutely sure that this was not my bathroom. My head ached in a strange way, and then it came to me- I knew how I got into this bathroom. After having chased my three year old nephew, Cole, into this room, he whacked me in the head with the handle of an unfortunately nearby plunger. I staggered to my feet and looked into the mirror- a large red welt across my forehead showed up nicely against my still winter-white skin. While it was invisible, at least from what I could see in the mirror, I could feel a large bump on the back of my head. I guessed that I had hit my head on the toilet, too. Five minutes passed before my expression looked calm enough to confront Cole..."

Reyes laughs sleepily, and when he feels her melt limply against his side, Doggett decides that for the moment all is right with the world.

9:15, Potter home-

Scully opens the door and is surprised to see Mulder standing on the steps. He doesn't say anything, but has a goofy look on his face.

"What is it, Mulder?" Scully finally asks when she tires of him beaming at her.

"There's something I need to tell you."

"What?"

He leans towards her and whispers in here ear. "I saw some lights in the sky. It might have been a UFO. Let's go look for it." Then he takes her hand and pulls her towards the dark night.

Credits

Produced by CC, KW and Neoxphile

< Voice Over>

This episode of Mulder's Creek featured music from:

Alien Ant Farm ("Attitude")

Monster Magnet ("Your Lies Become You")

And

Joan Osborne ("Crazy Baby")

Stay tuned for scenes from the next Mulder's Creek