Legal thingies:  All characters etc, etc belong to Chris Carter, etc. etc. 
and no copyright infringement is intended, etc, etc but is happening 
because I can't exactly contact him to ask if it's okay to use his 
characters in my story.  There I have said my piece.
Author's note:  This is for Gillian W. (XGillian@aol.com) who dared to ask
the question "Who would give his or her life for Samantha's return?" in 
her wonderful work called "The Trade".  This is supposed to be taking 
place directly after "The Field Where I Died".

Crossroads  By Amber Kelsall (EnglshYew@aol.com)

XXX
	Special Agent Scully turned on her computer screen and preceeded to 
check her e-mail for the day.  She had done it many times before, but 
today there seemed to be something different.  She knew exactly what it 
was as soon as she read the first lines of her only message.
	
	TO:  Dana Scully	
	FROM:  Unknown User
	ATTACHED FILE:  OPB.TXT
 	Download the file attached.  WARNING!  Any attempt to save it will 
	only trigger a virus that will erase this information.

	Scully moved the mouse and downloaded the file as she had been 
instructed.  When the computer had finished, she printed out a copy.
  	It said simply:  Watergate Hotel Parking Lot   9:24 p.m.
	The message immediately reminded her of her partner, Agent Fox 
Mulder.  She had called a meeting like this before, when it seemed that it 
was the only way to see him.  Their department had been shut down, and she 
yearned to know that her friend was doing alright.  She shrugged her 
shoulders and figured that he had some information that wasn't meant to be
discussed in the office.  It was odd, though, that he would set up this 
type of meeting when he was supposed to be in another town investigating 
a series of  so-called voodoo murders.
  	She checked her watch; it read 8 o'clock.  She had just enough time
to double back and make sure that no one would follow her.  Scully grabbed
her coat and headed out the door.

XXX
	Dana turned as she heard the echoes of footsteps in the garage.  To
her surprise, it was not Mulder's face that she turned to.
	"What the hell are you trying to pull?"  Scully reached for her gun.
	"I suggest that you don't do that, Agent Scully."  The mysterious man
that she called "The Well-Manicured Man" stepped from the shadows.
	"Why not?"  Her hands were on the gun, her fingers ready to free it
from her belt holster.
	"We have important matters to discuss and guns are not part of it."  
He glanced nervously around the parking structure.
  	"And what might that be?"  Scully moved her hand from the holster, 
but left the gun ready if she needed it.
	"I know that your partner is not in the city right now, but I also
know that this information cannot wait."  He moved his left hand to show 
Scully he was carrying documents.
	"What does this have to do with Mulder?"  Scully asked.  She was 
intrigued, yet scared that it could all be just a set up.  What kind of 
set up this man had devised was something she could not fathom at the 
moment, but she knew that something didn't feel right.  It was the same 
feeling that she had when she had read the message on her computer earlier.
	He handed her the papers in his hands, and turned from her.  "Do
 with this information what you will.  I will have no futher contact with
 you or Agent Mulder.  You two are on your own."
	She brought her blue eyes up from her hands and caught a glimpse 
of the mysterious man as he disappeared into the depths from which he 
had emerged.
	Scully took in a deep breath and let it out in a huff.  She flipped
the papers over in her hand and silently cursed the amount of reading he
had given her.  Realizing that the information she held may lead to 
something important, she fished her keys from her coat pocket and headed 
to her car.

XXX
	"Mulder."  Special Agent Fox Mulder answered his cellular phone.
  	"Mulder, it's me."  Scully's voice was a bit shaky.  "You need to 
come home right away.  I recieved some information tonight that you need 
to know about."
	"Well what is it, Scully?"  He asked, slightly annoyed.  Her call 
was the last thing that he needed after his hard day.  It was 11:21 pm 
and he needed to sleep.
	"I can't say over the phone, Mulder."  She knew he must be annoyed 
with her.  She was calling fairly late.  "Just...come home."
	Scully hung up without another word.  Usually it was he that hung up
 before she had the chance.  He felt that something was wrong.
	Mulder picked up the reciever to his hotel phone and dailed the 
operator.
	"Operator."  Came the nasal response at the other end.
	"Yeah, This is Fox Mulder in room 212.  I need a ticket on the first
flight to Washington, D.C. in the morning."  He informed her.
	"Yes sir, we will be able to make a reservation for you."  The 
woman answered.  "Have a good evening."
	Mulder hung up, and tossed over in his bed.  He just wasn't tired
 anymore.  Scully never got shaky unless something was really wrong.  He
 worried about her endlessly that night,  just as she was doing for him.  

XXX
	Mulder stepped off of the plane and was greeted by an agent he 
had met once at an FBI debriefing.  Though he couldn't recall his name, 
he knew the face.
	"Agent Mulder."  The man flashed his badge.  "Special Agent Paul
Johnson; Agent Scully sent me."
	Mulder's face tensed.  "Why didn't she come herself?" 
	Paul set his hand on Mulder's shoulder and proceeded to lead him to
the baggage claim.  "She's had everyone on the run since 5 o'clock this 
morning.  Skinner almost blew his top until he found out why."
	"And why is this happening?"  Mulder raised an eyebrow.  It had 
been a long time since he had seen Scully take such initiative.
	"Agent Scully wanted to tell you herself."  Johnson moved down 
the stairs, attempting to keep pace with his companion.
	"So let's get my luggage and get out of here." 

XXX
	Mulder nearly took the door off of it's hinges as he entered the 
office of the X-Files; the office that he and Scully shared.	
	He scanned the office to find his partner looking worn out and 
dishevelled.  She was surrounded by several people, including Assistant 
Director Walter Skinner, and they were all listening intensely.
	"What the hell is going on here, Scully?"  Mulder asked.  The 
stress of not knowing this huge secret was finally taking its toll on him.
	"Okay, you guys got that?  I need you to be ready tonight."  She 
turned to him, and those who had been gathered around her headed for 
the door.  "Mulder, I'm glad you're here.  We need to talk about something
very important."
	"So you've been saying."  Mulder headed for his desk.  "What is it?"
	Scully sat on the edge of his desk, as she often did as they 
discussed cases. 
 	'But this is different.'  She thought to herself.  'This is VERY 
different.' 
 	She set the file of papers she had recieved from X on her lap.  
"Mulder, before we get into this--"
	"Scully!"  Mulder interrupted her.  "Just tell me what's going on!"
	She sighed and opened the file.  "Mulder I recieved this file from 
a man last night.  He was the same man who visited me at your father's 
funeral and told me you were still alive."
	"And?"  He urged her on.
	Scully wiped a hand across her forehead, she had a terrible headache.
Trying to get this information out of her mouth and to Mulder's ears was 
one of the hardest tasks she had ever undertaken in her life.
	She paused for a moment, only adding to Mulder's frustration.  
"Mulder, all the evidence checks out, he didn't hand me a lie..."
	He took the file from her, and scanned over the pictures and 
pages of information.
	"Mulder,"  he looked up at her, "I think we found your sister."
	His eyes grew wide.  "You know where she is?"
	"We think that we might have located her, but Mulder--"  Scully stood
up.
	"Well, where is she?"  Mulder sprung fom his chair and headed for 
the door.  The file in his hand seemed as heavy as lead and he realized 
that he didn't really know what he was going to do with it.
  	Scully blocked his path.  "Mulder you can't go there."
	"What do you mean I can't go there, Scully?"  Mulder stared her down.
 	"I can't give you the address, it's part of the deal."  Scully told
him.
	"Oh, that's bullshit!"  Mulder fumed and hit the file he carried 
with his palm.  "It's all in here isn't it?  I'll just get the information
from this."
	Mulder tried to push her out of the way, but Scully was adamant.  He
didn't understand why she was keeping him from finding his sister. 
 	Dana shoved her partner with a force of rage.
	"You son of a bitch!"  Scully yelled at him with an intenisity of
fire.  "I have worked so long and so hard to help you find her and now
you're yelling at me because you want to ruin everything I have set up
and risk both of our lives?!"
	"What are you talking about?"  Mulder asked, voice still raised.	
	The air was tense, but Scully was determined to calm down before she
answered him.  She had yelled out some harsh words that she was not 
prepared to say again.
  	She kept her voice steady.  "I've set up a trade.  If anything breaks
it, your sister will die."
	"What on earth are you taking about, Scully?"  Mulder lowered his 
voice.  "Why would anyone want to hold my sister hostage?"
	"They claim that it's because she's an alien abductee."  She moved 
from Mulder, wanting to keep her distance. 
 	"And just who are 'they'?"  He asked, moving towards her, wanting 
more information.
	"All I can tell you is that we may know where she is."  Scully 
guarded herself.  "I know that after all this time it's hard to be kept 
out of the loop, but we don't even know if it's the same woman who was 
profiled in those papers."
	He saw that she was pulling away from his advance and he stopped 
dead in his tracks.  There was so much that she was keeping from him.  
It hurt that she was keeping secrets.
	Scully backed toward the opposite wall to her partner and settled 
there.
 	"What else is there, Scully?"  He asked.  "What else aren't you 
telling me?"
	"They agreed to a trade--me...for your sister."  She told him.
  	He flinched at how coldly she uttered those words.  "What if it's 
a setup?"
	"Then we have back up."  Scully told him.  "That's why Skinner and 
some of our fellow agents were in here."
	There was a tense moment of silence between them.  Scully chose to 
stare at the ceiling, trying to avoid her partner's eyes.  There had been 
so much that they had been through together.  He had even been willing to 
make a trade with the woman he thought to be his sister for her life.  She
was so afraid that she would die when she had been taken hostage by that--
thing.  She had thought it was Mulder, but it wasn't.  It was one of many
things that had led her to believe that perhaps there were other 
explainations for certain phenomena than just rational scientific 
evaluations.
	Mulder shifted in his chair, realizing that there was nothing else 
he could do but wait.  With anyone else he would have tried to get in on 
it himself, but he knew better than to cross his partner.  He watched her 
as she stared at the ceiling, wishing that she would be able to look him 
in the eyes and make him believe that this was all just a joke, that they 
could go back in time and do it all differently. 
 	He chose to break the silence first.
	"Why are you doing this, Scully?"  Mulder looked at her.
	She shifted under his gaze. She didn't like the way that he looked 
at her now.  It was a look of loss and confusion.  They had worked 
together for three years now; she thought that he would've known her 
better.  She had to leave, to get away for awhile.  Nothing had been 
going as she had planned it to.
	"Because whoever this woman is, Mulder..."  She walked to the coat 
rack and grabbed her overcoat.  "She doesn't deserve to die."
	Mulder watched as his partner turned to leave.  He wanted to stop 
her from walking out the door, but couldn't bring himself to do it.  He 
felt as if he were a coward.
	He was restless with anticipation of finding his sister.  He was 
worried about his partner.  He hadn't realized until now exactly what 
she had been doing for him.  He mentally slapped himself for having 
yelled at her, but there was so much emotion going through him that he 
couldn't hold anything back.  He knew that she had been right.  He was 
acting like a jerk and she had been planning everything for top safety.
  	Both he and Scully just wanted everyone to come out of this alive.

XXX
	Scully sat next to her sister's grave and watched the sunset.  It 
had been some time since her sister had passed on, but she felt her 
sister's presence when she visited her grave site.  It was almost as if 
she was still alive, ready to give her counsel.
	She often came up to talk to her sister and work things through when
she had too much going on to focus on one exact thing.  The cool air 
whispered across her face and it felt good.  She leaned against the head 
stone and sighed.
  	"Missy, I admitted to myself that I was scared this afternoon."  She 
talked into the air, hoping her sister would hear her.  "But I didn't 
actually feel scared until now.  There's so much to tell everyone.  Mom, 
our brothers...even Mulder.  God, especially Mulder.  I don't know if 
you have felt it or not Missy, but lately Mulder's changed.  He's been 
curt on the phone, hasn't been listening to anything that I try to tell 
him...and then this last time, he went into the field without me.  Missy
I'm scared of that.  I'm scared that I've lost him...and it hurts like 
hell."
	A lone tear made it's way down her cheek and onto the ground below.
"We have the chance to get his sister back.  I mean, I hope that it's 
his sister.  I want him to be Mulder again and I have the feeling that 
seeing his sister is the only thing that's going to help him.  I know 
that I would do anything to have you back...I think that he blames me 
for the death of that other woman.  He was so sure that she was his 
sister; I wanted to believe that he had found what he was looking for.  
But I screwed up and ended up in a hostage situation.  Missy how could 
I screw up so badly?  Then when we went to New Mexico, and Mulder nearly 
died.  All I did was sit at home and wait for something to happen, for 
some sign that he was still alive.  I'm afraid that he's lost all respect 
for me, and that's why I have to go through with this.  I have to get 
his sister back for him, even if I die trying.
	"Missy, I love him.  He's my best friend, he's my partner...I need 
his respect back."
	Scully moved to her feet, not realizing that the tears had begun to 
flow unhindered.	"I miss you, sis."  She reached to touch the headstone.
"And I love you." 
	She turned to go, and ended up running into someone's chest instead.
She stopped herself and looked up.  She immediately placed the green 
eyes.
	"Mulder, go away."  She pulled away from him.
	"Scully, don't do this."  He grabbed her arm.
	She turned to face him, and ripped her arm from his grip.  "Don't 
do what, Mulder?"
	"You know what I mean..."  He thrust his hand into his pockets.
	"I want you to say it, Mulder."  She wiped her gloved hands across 
her face, finally realizing that she had been crying.  "I want you to 
stop holding everything in...you're my best friend, Mulder.  You're 
supposed to be able to say these things to me."
	Mulder stared at her.  He had heard everything she had been saying 
to her sister's grave.  It made him realize exactly what he had been doing 
to her in the past few months.  He had been treating her like dirt, and 
she deserved so much better.  She was his best friend, his confidant.  
He wished that he could just explain that he hadn't been feeling like 
himself since his father's death.  It had changed a lot between them.  He 
just kept changing after she went back into the routine they had created 
before people started dying.
	"Scully, I heard everything that you--"  He began.
	"Well?"  Scully interrupted.  "You heard what I said to my sister.  
What do you have to say to me?"
	"Scully...where do I start?"  Mulder began to pace a bit.
	"Do you blame me for losing that woman?"  Scully asked.
  	"No!  No, never!"  Mulder turned to her, taking her shoulders into 
his hands.  "It was my fault...don't you understand?!?  It was ALL my 
fault!"
	"Mulder, why have you been treating me so badly if you didn't blame 
me for anything?"  Scully looked into his eyes, wanting to be sure of his 
words.
	He did not disappoint her.  "Scully I have this fear...this fear 
that you'll be taken from me too.  A fear that I have nothing to give to 
you.  I came to the conclusion one night that I couldn't get too close to 
you or they'd try to take you from me again.  I hated it when you were 
gone.  I didn't sleep most nights...I had terrible dreams about what they 
were doing to you.
	"I couldn't let that happen to you again, Scully.  You're my best 
friend...you're my partner..."  His voice began to fail him.  There was so 
much more that he wanted to say to her, but he couldn't form the words 
together.
	Scully stared him down, waiting for answers.  She knew that her 
partner wasn't a man who used a lot of words to express his emotions, but 
somehow she was expecting more from him.
 	Mulder shifted from foot to foot trying to figure if he should dare 
to spring into action. He finally rationalized that tomorrow she could be 
dead.  Dead because she was going to risk herself for his sister.
  	"Um...Scully."  He wiped his palms on his pants.  They had begun to 
sweat under the pressure he had put on himself.
	"What, Mulder?"  Scully became exasperated.  "I'm tired, I need to 
get some sleep before tonight--"
	Mulder interrupted her with a kiss.  It was not something that she 
had been expecting, but she welcomed it wholeheartedly.  She clutched to 
him as her knees began to give out and Mulder wrapped his strong arms 
around her waist to keep her standing.
  	They kissed with a passion that defied words.  So much tension had 
built up as they worked together, so much had happened to the both of 
them.  Scully trusted her partner with her life, and he trusted his with 
her.  Scully needed to do this for her partner, and she needed to do it 
for herself.
	The kiss broke, and Scully looked back into her partner's eyes.  
"I need to go home."
	"I took a cab.  Could I hitch a ride with you?"
	"Take me home, Mulder."  Scully let a small, faint smile cross her 
lips.
	Fox simply nodded and led her toward the car.

XXX
	Scully had tossed and turned during her nap, but she had managed to 
rest in spite of it.  She stood in the darkness of the Old Memorial Bridge,
and let the rain fall onto her hair.  Mulder stood next to her, wondering 
what there was left to say.
  	"I asked myself once, who would be willing to trade their life for 
Samantha's."  Mulder confessed.  "I never dreamed that I might have to 
give you up to get her back."
	"Look, Mulder."  She turned to him.  "I know what you're going to 
say, and I just want you to know that you don't have to say it."
	"No, Scully, that's just it.  I *do* have to say it.  I have to ask 
you why you're so willing to do this."
	Scully turned to him and looked at him with the eyes of an innocent.
It was a look that told him she knew she was going to die.  "Because I 
love you."
	Mulder had no time to answer as a non-descript white van pulled near 
the other side of the bridge and Scully knew it was time to jump into 
action. 
 	She pulled the walkie talkie to her mouth and spoke.  "It's showtime,
boys."
	Mulder reached for Scully's hand, trying to give her a bit of hope 
for the next few minutes.  She gave him a lazy smile and waved him away.  
He rushed to take his place next to Skinner on an embankment just beneath 
the bridge.  He was brought back to the memories of losing the alien clone 
that he had mistakenly thought was his sister.  Now he was so close to 
getting Samantha back.  Even Scully thought it was Sam, and she always 
had doubts about everything.
	A man jumped out of the back of the van and held his hand out to a 
woman of about thirty.  She had dishwater blonde hair.  As the two figures 
moved toward her, Scully pulled the walkie talkie to her mouth again.
	"Is everyone ready?"
  	They had planned it all down to the last detail.  She was to trade 
herself for 'Samantha', then the FBI would close in, making sure that a 
gun was tight on her captor if anything went wrong.
	"Scully, don't take any unnessesary chances out there."  Skinner 
warned.
	"Yes, sir."  She answered.
	The two figures came to a halt, just a few steps away from her.
	"Where's Mulder?"  The man asked.
	"We agreed it was Samantha for me."  Scully answered.  "No one else,
remember?"
	"Ah, yes."  He pushed the woman toward Scully.  "I remember now.  
Come here."
	Scully waited for Samantha to move toward her side of the bridge 
before she stepped into action.  Her footsteps echoed on the pavement like 
a death march.  The young woman ran past Scully and off of the bridge.  
She ran straight into an FBI agent, who ushered her to Mulder.
	The man grabbed Scully by the collar and attempted to drag her back 
to the van.  "Come on, we have a long night ahead of us, Agent Scully."
	She knew that this was not part of the plan, so she decided to 
change it.  Scully punched her would-be captor square in the face, and 
he almost fell back.
  	"Why you little.."
	She quickly kicked the gun out of her aggressor's hand and kicked 
in his knee.  She turned to flee, wanting anything but to be where she 
was.  This is what she had feared, and now it was all going to come true.  
She reached for her gun and realized that she wasn't wearing it.  That 
had been part of the deal.  This was a time when she had to damn herself 
for being such a stickler for the rules.
	Two more men exited the van and ran toward the scene, guns pointed 
at her head.  "Come with us."
	Scully moved toward them, not knowing what to expect.  They 
walked her toward the van while she kept her view on the river that 
flowed beneath them.  It was a way out.
	"No, Scully, don't even think it."  Mulder whispered beneath his 
breath.
	She looked toward the van, assured that it meant certain death for 
her.  She looked back at her fellow agents who were supposed to be 
shooting these men.  Scully thought of Mulder and knew what she had to do.
	"Shoot when you're clear."  Skinner ordered.
	"We can't get a clean shot, sir."  One gunman spoke.  "If we fire, 
we'll hit Agent Scully."
	"Fire when you get the chance."  Skinner repeated himself.  He hated 
feeling this helpless.  Trades like these never had happy endings.  At 
least, not in Skinner's experiences.
	Scully made the descision, and knew what the possible outcomes might 
be.  She climbed onto the railing of the bridge.
	"Hey lady, come on!"  One of the men yelled at her, extending his 
arms.  "Come down!"
	She looked over at Mulder on the embankment wanting to see his eyes.
His concern shone through like a beacon.
  	Dana took a deep breath and jumped.
	"SCULLY!!"   She heard her partner yell as she soared through the 
air.

 XXX
	Mulder walked in to his partner's hospital room and stopped when he 
caught a glimpse of her mother sitting next to her. 
 	Margeret Scully turned to him and smiled.  "Come in, Fox.  Dana has 
been asking for you."
	He walked toward the bed and took a look at Scully.  The bruises on 
her face had still not disappeared, but she looked better than she had 
when he pulled her from the river.  He had been relieved to find that she 
had made it through.  He set an expensive arrangement of flowers on her 
night table and smiled.
	"You just don't give up, do you?"  Mulder tried to make her laugh.
	She snickered a bit.  "I never say die."
	There was a bit of a silence, almost uncomfortable
.	Margeret stood up and patted her daughter's hand.  "I need to get 
something to eat, Dana.  I'll be back soon."
	Dana smiled as he mother left the room.  It was amazing that her 
mother knew when she and Mulder needed to talk. 
	"How did everything turn out, Mulder?"  Dana asked.  "No one has 
told me yet."
	"I know, I told them that I wanted to tell you myself."  Fox took a 
seat at the edge of her bed.  "It's her, Scully.  It really her."
	"Are you sure?"  She asked.  He had been sure last time as well.
	"We ran tests, DNA tests, stuff like that."  Mulder assured her.  
"Samantha is finally home."
	"So where is she?"  Dana tried to look out the door, but saw only an 
empty hallway.
	"She's at home with mom.  They both wanted to thank you, but they 
want to wait until you're out of the hospital.  For now they send their 
graditude, and that."
	Scully looked at the flowers and was grateful.  So his sister was 
finally home, she thought, what now?  She grimaced as she realized the 
inevitable was going to happen.
  	"What is it, Scully?"
  	"You're going to leave the X-Files now, aren't you?"  Her eyes began 
to tear up.  "I mean, now that you found your sister, and those creeps 
were apprehended, what else is there?"
	Mulder moved toward the head of the bed and grasped her hand in his.
"There's still truths out there that we haven't begun to uncover, Scully...
together."
	She didn't say anything, just stared into his eyes.  She had been 
pleasently surprised by his answer.  It had all worked out, she had gotten 
Mulder back.  She had even gotten the prospect of something more...and 
the promise of love would be hard to ignore.
	"I'm glad to hear it..."  Scully stopped for a moment.  "Mulder, 
can I call you Fox now?"
	He let out a breathy laugh and placed a kiss on her forehead.  
"You can call me anything you want."
	"So you wouldn't mind if I suddenly called you 'darling'?"  She 
mocked him in her usual fashion.  "Or what about 'Pooky'?...no, too close 
to spooky....what about 'snookums'?"
	"Scully..."  Mulder playfully warned.
	"'Sweetheart'?"	
	"Dana..."  His voice became a whine.
  	"Just checking."  She smiled.	

The End.