Dana Scully knew that she was considered highly qualified. She had both an undergraduate degree in physics and a medical degree, as well as being a fully trained FBI agent. She and Mulder had one of the highest solve rates in bureau history.
Laura Williamson had none of these things.
She'd been given a résumé, complete with references, but all of the jobs listed were things she had very little, if any, experience in. She'd been a waitress for exactly three months in college before she decided she couldn't take the customers anymore, and she'd never worked as anyone's assistant, unless you counted being a T.A.
Unfortunately, she had no idea how long she would be in this town, so she had to get a job. So, after breakfast, she threw on some shoes that she would never have bought for herself but that someone at the Marshal service thought Laura would love, and went out in search of a paper and help wanted signs.
It was a fairly sunny Saturday afternoon, and so a lot of people were out enjoying the day. A few smiled at her as they passed; others just bore curious looks, which reminded Scully just how small a town this was.
She finally found a newspaper rack outside of a small market. As she was digging out some change from her purse, she almost didn't notice the tiny figure that came barreling at her. The little girl who had been running full-speed looked up at her in fright, before scrambling to hide behind the fruit stand in front of the market. She'd barely hidden before two older boys came rounding the same corner the little girl had just come from, looking ready for a fight.
"Hey, lady, did a girl just run by here?" one of the boys demanded, panting for breath.
Scully pointed to a street opposite them. "I think I did see someone run that way. You boys might be able to catch her if you hurry."
The boys took off running again, not bothering to say another word. Scully waited a couple of beats after they'd disappeared before crouching down next to the little girl. She looked absolutely terrified, sitting with her knees pulled to her chest, a blue stuffed animal clutched between her arms and knees.
"They're gone, sweetie," Scully reassured. "You can come out now."
The girl shook her head, but didn't respond further.
"Were those boys your brothers?"
She shook her head again.
'Okay...' Scully thought, 'maybe a different tactic was called for.'
"My name's Laura," she offered. Scully glanced down at the stuffed animal. "And, if I'm not mistaken, this is lovable, furry old Grover," Scully said the last in her best muppet impression. It wasn't really close but the girl giggled nonetheless. "What's your name?"
"Emma," the little girl whispered, finally looking up at her.
Scully forced the calm smile to stay on her face, trying desperately not to compare her to another shy girl who had left her life as abruptly as she'd entered it.
"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Emma. Why were those boys chasing after you?"
"I called them doody-heads." Emma's voice got a little stronger, and her chin rose as if preemptively defending her actions.
"Ah. Did they deserve it?"
Emma nodded furiously. "They told me I couldn't play with them because I'm a girl."
"Well, that's just silly," Scully agreed, earning a smile. "You feel safe coming out now?"
The little girl studied her before uncurling slightly and holding out a small hand for help up. When they were both standing Emma refused to let go of Scully's hand as she looked around for her tormentors.
"Would you like me to walk you home?" Scully offered. Emma nodded, still looking like she expected the two boys to jump out of nowhere. "Where do you live, sweetie?"
Emma pointed further down Main Street. "The building with the big bell in it."
Scully looked in confusion in the direction she had pointed as they started walking. "The church?"
Emma nodded, looking sad now. "Mommy and I had to move there because my dad would get really mad sometimes and yell."
Scully had to quash the desire to hug the little girl walking next to her. She settled for squeezing Emma's hand reassuringly. "Do you like it at the church?"
Emma shrugged. "It's quieter."
She looked like she was afraid Scully wouldn't like her answer, but Scully just nodded in understanding, and they walked the rest of the way in silence. When they arrived at their destination Scully was going to say her goodbyes, but Emma didn't let go of her hand and continued to walk into the church.
A priest sitting in the front pew glanced up when he heard them enter. "Why, Emma, I thought you were going to go out to play." He glanced at Scully. "You've brought a friend."
"Miss Laura rescued me, Father Murphy," Emma said, feeling comfortable enough in her surroundings to let go of Scully's hand.
"Rescued you?" the priest asked, concerned.
"There was just a minor disagreement between Emma and a couple older boys," Scully reassured him. "She didn't need much help at all."
"I see. Well, it sounds like you two had quite the adventure today."
Emma nodded. "Is my mom here?"
"She's downstairs, I believe."
Emma started to take off, but turned and called, "Thanks, Miss Laura," before actually running in the direction of the stairs.
Scully stood there for a moment, not really sure what to say.
"I'm not sure I've ever seen Emma open up to anyone that quickly," Father Murphy offered.
"I didn't really do anything."
"Well, I don't believe that's true, but all the same it's an excellent sign."
Scully nodded uncomfortably. "Well, I should go."
"Will you be here tomorrow?" the priest asked. His voice only held curiosity, no accusation or expectation.
She considered the man in front of her briefly. He reminded her a little of Father McCue. "I'll be here," Scully confirmed.
As she exited the church, Scully realized she hadn't gotten her paper.
Mulder pushed and held the buzzer to the Lone Gunmen's lair until he heard Frohike's grumbling, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." When the 20 locks had been disengaged and the door swung open Mulder brushed past the shorter man.
"Mulder, it's been too long. Why don't you come in?" Frohike said sarcastically as he closed the door.
Mulder ignored him. "I need your guys' help," he addressed the three of them.
"You look like hell, G-man," Langly commented, in his usual cavalier tone.
"What do you need?" Byers asked.
Frohike, having also noticed Mulder's appearance, didn't wait for Mulder to answer Byers' question. "Where's Scully?"
They knew he'd hit the nail on the head when Mulder's eyes slipped shut and he sighed. "What do you guys know about the Spilano family?"
When Mulder had finished filling the trio in on what had been happening the last couple days there was a long silence, while they all took in the story.
Finally, Frohike stood up and grabbed for his coat. "Come on, guys. We're going to go find these guys and unleash some serious kung-fu on their asses."
"Sit down, Frohike," Mulder said as calmly as he could, given the circumstances. "The four of us getting ourselves killed was not the help I came here for."
"They need to know that they can't mess with Scully without major consequences!"
"Fro-"
Mulder and Frohike shared a look of common frustration and anger, but also of understanding. "Fine," the older man said before sitting back down.
"What do you need, Mulder?" Byers asked again, sympathy coloring his voice.
"I'm not on the inside on this case, guys. I need to know everything you can get on the agents working it. Skinner thinks there's someone in the FBI who's feeding the Spilanos information. If we can find out who that is..."
Langly got up immediately and went over to one of the computers. "We're on it, Mulder."
Byers laid a hand on their friend's arm. "We'll let you know as soon as we've got something, okay?"
Mulder nodded. "I really appreciate this, guys."
"Mulder, you do look like shit," Frohike said in a calmer tone.
"Frohike, you can't sway me with a few cheap compliments; I'm not that kind of girl. I expect dinner first."
Frohike tipped his head to the side. "Dinner's actually what I was thinking. You haven't eaten since Scully left, have you?"
Mulder pulled a bag of sunflower seeds out of his pocket and waved it around, causing a few to spill out. "Breakfast of champions."
Frohike snorted in disgust. "I'm going to make you some actual food, and you're crashing here tonight. If Scully comes back and finds out that you've gone down three notches on your belt, she'll hang us all by our thumbs."
"I don't need a babysitter - I'm not an infant."
"No, you're much higher maintenance."
Scully walked into the church on Sunday morning feeling out of place. She hadn't gone to church since she'd come back from Africa, not counting her recent visit to a Buddhist temple.
Her mom had asked her about it once, but what could she say? "Sorry, Mom. I found an alien spaceship with the Bible written on it and now I'm having a crisis of faith... again"? Somehow she wasn't sure her mom would take that well.
"Miss Laura," a small voice whispered excitedly next to her. She turned to see Emma standing besides her. "Come sit with me and my mom. She wants to meet you!"
"Sure, sweetie." Scully let the little girl lead her further into the church.
"Mulder, when I said you had to give the labs until at least Monday, I did not mean Monday at 7 AM," Skinner grumbled on seeing the Agent sitting on his couch as he walked into work.
Mulder shrugged. "You didn't specify, sir, so here I am."
"So I see," Skinner said, resigned to having to deal with Mulder before his first cup of coffee.
Mulder got up and followed Skinner into his office. "So, have there been any developments?"
"Agent Mulder, you yourself didn't see anything in particular missing from her apartment. The technicians could not find that any files had been accessed. And no one in her building heard or saw anything."
"I've never understood that." Mulder collapsed into a seat across from the AD's desk, where Skinner was now sitting. "The amount of times she's gotten attacked in that apartment without anyone reporting anything is truly baffling. What has to happen up there for them to get concerned?"
"Perhaps, like your neighbors, they now consider it ambient noise," Skinner suggested dryly while silently wishing for some caffeine.
"You think this is funny?" Mulder demanded, leaning forward.
"No, Agent Mulder, I don't," Skinner replied with a sharp reproving glance. “And while it is irritating that none of the other residents heard anything, I can't make them have done so."
"So that's it then?"
"For now, until we hear something from the labs - which, like I said, should be sometime today. We are devoting as many resources to this as possible."
Mulder nodded in resignation and started to rise.
"Sir?" Kim asked, knocking on the door.
"Come in, Kim, we're done."
"Sir, the lab at Quantico is on line 1 for you. They say they have the results you were waiting for."
Mulder froze, and Skinner motioned for him to sit back down. "Thank you, Kim. I'll take that now."
"Skinner," he said into the phone. For five minutes Mulder listened to a one-sided conversation that told him absolutely nothing. "Okay. Yes, please send the full report over as soon as possible. I appreciate the quick work you did on this."
"Well?" Mulder asked impatiently when Skinner had finally hung up the phone. "Did they find anything?"
Skinner sighed, reaching up to massage the base of his neck. "No, Mulder, they didn't."
Next: Chapter 4
