Disclaimer: Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, and associated characters, are property of Chris Carter, TenThirteen Productions, and Fox Broadcasting Corporation. They are not used with permission because I can't afford to get it. Besides, I'm not planning on making money off of this story. One thing I do own in this story, besides a crumb or two of the actual plot, though Chris Carter owns most of it, is DCI Victoria Jensen. She belongs to me... and herself, of course. *grin* Note: This takes place during "The Blessing Way" just after Scully shouts Mulder's name in the desert looking for him. In the episode, they cut to the next scene, but I decided to expand on what happened after... Missing Persons II by Christina Shuy cshuy@netcom.com Victoria arrived in New Mexico and found her way quickly to the reservation where she was met by Albert Hosteen. "I'm looking for a person named Mulder. He's a friend... and I've been Seeing things happen to him which I don't happen to like..." she had a serious and worried expression on her face. "This way... I believe you... you're not like the others who are looking for him... except for his partner." Albert said. "Dana Scully is here too? Where is she? Please... I need to know." Victoria's eyes expressed her worry for two of her best friends. Albert told her the route Mulder, and later Scully, had taken. "Mulder!" Victoria heard Scully's voice echoing through the canyon as she approached, the sound of the shout echoing through the canyon, the red rocks reflecting the sound but refusing to yield any information concerning what had happened, or what was buried. Victoria turned towards where Scully was standing and then raced towards her friend, her dark hair bouncing along in the single-braided style she had decided to favour. As she walked up the the red-haired FBI agent, Victoria could see the worry on her friend's face, the friend she had made through her old friend Mulder... a person she was fearful she might never see again. "Dana...! What's happened? I just got here... and... well, it's complicated. What has happened to Mulder, and are you okay?" "Victoria... Mulder..." Dana Scully's voice trailed off as she pointed at the smoking hole which had been the roof hatch of the buried boxcar, the smoke pouring out of it still nearly completely sooty black. "He was last seen in there..." Victoria turned to look and suddenly got a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. The 'presense' she had sensed traces of in Skinner's office was very strong here... and she turned back to look at Dana Scully, her mind still pouring over the information she'd gotten from the impressions at the site. "Lord and Lady help him..." Victoria whispered, tracing out a protective sign in the air directly in front of her and in the direction of the smoking boxcar. She recalled that one of Mulder's greatest fears was fire... and it had been true since he was a child. The sign she had used was intended to ward off evil and protect whomever it was directed at, in this case one Special Agent Fox Mulder. "How did you know what happened?" "My little gift... I've been Seeing bits and pieces of this incident for over a week now. I saw Mulder punch out Skinner a few days ago. Unfortunately, I didn't make it out here in time to help, it looks like. I had a feeling this would involve fire... a lot of it... even more than that time you met Phoebe while she was over here chasing down that pyrokinetic with you both..." Scully nodded, too numb with shock and grief over her missing partner and best friend to realise Victoria had been picking things out of the air, the past, and her own thoughts, though, perhaps it was for the best that she hadn't noticed. Victoria murmured to herself in Gaelic, one curse followed by a stream of wishes. The curse was due to the fact that, even with her little gift, she didn't know if one of her oldest and dearest friends was alive or dead. "How did you know where I was?" Scully interrupted Victoria's thoughts, which had turned towards magickal aid, as they often did when she knew that a friend, or sometimes even a stranger, was in need. "Albert Hosteen told me. I went straight to the reservation after arriving. I Saw where you were headed as well... while I was in Skinner's office." "You were in Skinner's office?" "Yes. I made an appointment to see him before I left London on the flight over. It's a long, complicated story." Victoria shrugged it off, though she was studying Scully somewhat. "Oh." Scully answered only half heartedly. "I know, Dana, I know." she sighed, looking back at the smoking boxcar which still lay buried in the red ground. "What do you plan to do next?" "Go back to Washington, I guess. There's nothing I can do out here. Not only that, I missed a meeting with Skinner a few days ago and I'm probably in a lot of trouble." "Alright. I'll see you off, then. Just let me do something here first... You can stay and watch if you like... It's something I have the feeling is necessary to do." Scully was curious. "What do you have in mind?" "Well, it's just something I do when there is a friend in need, or something like that. It's a magick ritual I created myself." Scully was still too much in shock to be skeptical and so she helped Victoria set up the small candles she had brought along in her bag. Then, they poured a small salt and oil circle between the four points set by the candles and Scully could feel the energy building, as well as Victoria's murmured Gaelic blessings as well as those in English for Mulder as she raised her arms. "Lord and Lady, I ask of you to protect Fox Mulder, a friend who has more to do on this plane of existence. Watch over him and return him safely to friends and family so he may continue looking for his lost sister." Victoria intoned after tracing out the circle which included Scully inside it. Scully shivered as she felt the energy build up with the intonations and when Victoria traced out magickal signs, Scully felt a warm shiver down her spine. Victoria continued on, switching to Gaelic again to finish her request for blessing. "Lord and Lady, Blessed Deity, thank thee for the attention you have given and will continue to give for the search for the missing friend I ask." Victoria concluded, switcing back to English for Dana's sake, as she lowered her arms and took another deep breath. Dana watched all of this with amazement. The energy still almost tangibly felt. Victoria bent down and drew a spiral into the red sand. "Keep him safe..." she murmured, and Dana could feel the energy lessen somewhat. As she straightened, Victoria broke the salt circle and ended the ritual, though she still left the candles burning. She sighed. "That's done. I only hope it works." she said. Scully nodded. "I have to get going back to Washington... can I give you a ride to the airport?" Victoria nodded, and they were on their way... the candles and salt circle the only indication that they had been there at all. Later on... The men lifted up the red stones where there was a man's fist visible, where the buzzards had been circling. WHen the stones were lifted aside, the form of FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder was revealed... and he was unconscious. At the site of the ritual, the energy dissapated with a visible whirl of sand and the candles burned out right then... -the end.- -- "The Truth is Out There. Trust No One."- from "The X-Files" "There's something about distance that gets to us all."-Latitudes(Elton John) "You're not subtle, you're not politic, and sometimes, you're a pain in the ass!" Commander Jeffrey Sinclair ("The Gathering" - Babylon 5 season 1) Pursuing a BS degree in Electrical Engineering-Nova Scotia, Canada anyone?