Title: Close Encounters
Author: Brunhilde
Rating: 
Classification: X - X Files
Spoilers: None
Keywords: None
Summary: My first fic: the title says it all, 
really! Dedicated to mimic117 for her kind email 
and brilliant stories.  Thanks!



Close Encounters

UNAMED MOTEL, NEW JERSEY, 03:12 AM

Scully's cell phone rang insistently in to the 
silence.  She rolled over, sleepy, and reached out 
a hand for it.  "Scully here."
"Oh - hi.  It's me."  Mulder.  She should have 
known it would be him, should been at least mildly 
annoyed that he phoned so late, but somehow 
couldn't manage anything more than what they both 
knew was a tone of pretend annoyance: 
"Mulder, have you seen the time?"
"Listen, Scully, I just got a call from Frohike."  
He sounded excited, like a boy on Christmas 
morning, and his energy transmitted down the phone.  
She sat up in bed.
"Mulder?  What is it?"
"It's amazing, Scully."  The endearing awe in his 
voice made her smile softly. "Frohike hacked the 
government tracking site - last night, there was 
more UFO activity than anything that's ever been 
recorded."
"I don't-"
"Hear me out, Scully."  She could hear the nervous 
energy in his voice, the kind he always got when he 
thought he was on the track of something new.  "Do 
you know what happened last night?"
"Mulder.  I'm sitting in a motel in Edgewater 
waiting for the okay on an arrest warrant for the 
last psycho killer you decided to hunt.  What 
happened - or didn't happen - last night is really 
not top on my list of priorities right now."
"Yes it is, Scully. Last night, the police got over 
300 abduction calls.  Everything fits - UFO 
activity, abductees, right down to the details on 
each abduction case."
"Okay, Mulder. Where are you?"
"This is the best bit, Scully."  Damn him but his 
enthusiasm was catching.  "I'm sitting in the Lone 
Gunmen's HQ watching government satellites track 
seven UFOs."

LONE GUNMEN HQ, 04:03 AM

"Hey, Mulder!  Mulder!"  Langly shoved the sleeping 
agent gently in the ribs.  "Mulder, you might wanna 
phone that chick of yours."
"Mmm?"  He sat up slowly.  "Hey, calm down!  What's 
going on?"  The look of alarm that spread across 
Langly's face was a silent counterpoint to the low 
hum of too much electrical equipment and the 
strangely unnerving beeps and whirs from the 
computer that Frohike and Byers were crowded 
around.
"Mulder, one of the UFOs is hovering over 
Edgewater, New Jersey."
Mulder swung to his feet in a second, the unease on 
his face controlled after a flickering moment.  
"Scully?"
At the same time, his phone rang.  He snatched it 
from his pocket, hit the Accept button.  "Mulder 
here."
"Something weird is happening, Mulder!"  Scully's 
voice was breathless, awed, but still the greatest 
reassurance he could have gotten.
"Where are you?  What's happening?"
"I'm outside the motel."  He could hear the sounds 
of car engines in the distance, behind her voice.  
"There's . . . something . . . in the sky.  An 
experimental aircraft or something.  It's hovering 
above a building a few blocks over . . . the 
hospital, I think."

OUTSIDE THE MOTEL, 04:09 AM

The lights flickered like dying fairy lights in the 
sky.  Scully watched, the phone still at her ear, 
as a beam of light shot down on to the hospital 
roof.  Was that a figure on the roof, arms 
outstretched to the brightness?  No, it couldn't 
be.  It was a trick of the eye.
The light disappeared, the fairy lights accelerated 
towards the horizon, and the stars were suddenly 
visible again.  She was aware of her heavy 
breathing, the cold breeze tugging insistently at 
her hair, the numbness trickling down her fingers, 
and Mulder on the other end of the phone.  
"Scully?  You alright?"
"I . . . I'm fine, Mulder.  That was . . . 
amazing."  She realised she was shaking, forced it 
back under control.  "I don't know what it was . . 
. or how . . . ."
"UFO?" suggested Mulder, and she could hear his 
smirk.
"I don't think so."  Across the motor courts, two 
police cars pulled up, their sirens and lights 
lifeless.  A policeman stepped out.
"Agent Scully?" he called, recognising her.  
"Here's that arrest warrant you wanted."
"Mulder?  I've got to go.  I'll talk to you 
tomorrow."  She put the phone down slowly enough to 
hear the click on the other end as he hung up.  He 
never said goodbye.

LONE GUNMEN HQ, 04:15 AM

"She says it was an aircraft," Byers repeated.
"She would.  She's not a sucker for UFO stories 
like Agent Mulder here."  Frohike sighed.  "Shame.  
Apart from that, she'd be the perfect-"
"Shut up, Frohike."  Mulder pulled his battered 
overcoat around him and saluted mockingly.  "Thanks 
guys.  If you find out anything more . . . ."  He 
turned, opened the door.  "Oh, and Frohike?  I 
don't want any more of those emails."
"Fine," the short man grumbled.  "I was under the 
impression you liked that sort of stuff."
Mulder had already gone.

WASHINGTON DC, FBI HQ, THE NEXT DAY, 09:14 AM

Scully entered the basement office she shared with 
Mulder, wondering as she did every time when - if 
ever - they'd at least get one with a window.  Then 
again, the X-Files weren't exactly on AD Skinner's 
top priority list.
Closing the door behind her, she noticed a map on 
the back, stuck with red and blue drawing pins like 
a badly played game of darts.  Redwood.  
Bloomington.  Edgewater.  It looked like Mulder had 
been doing some work.
"Morning, Scully."  Think of the devil . . . .  
"You don't happen to know where they sell sunflower 
seeds around here, do you?"
"Have you tried the pet shop?" she asked with a 
touch of amusement. 
"No, I've not been out.  I've been working.  Hard."  
The lie was obvious in the twinkle of his eye - not 
outright, but a partial truth at best.  He'd 
probably interspersed his work with those videos 
that he didn't own, or some more of Frohike's 
filthy emails: the morning papers were pread out in 
front of him, at least.  'MILITARY DENIES UFO 
RUMOURS'.  'NEW EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT SHOCKS 
TOWNSPEOPLE'.  Mulder pointed to the latter.  
"That's what they want you to believe," he told her 
confidently.  "The first one's closer to the 
truth."
"The truth?"
"It's out there, Scully. You just have to know 
where to look - remember?"  The boyish grin 
surfaced, and she couldn't help it, she smiled 
right back at him.
"So where are we looking?"
His face fell.  "I don't think we'll find anything, 
Scully.  The Gunmen have done some digging - DoD 
has no record of any new aeroplanes.  The satellite 
data we saw?  It's been wiped.  No-one knows who 
the abductees are - any record of their abductions 
have been destroyed."
"Why?"
Mulder shrugged, his eyes disappointed.  "Why do 
they keep UFOs a secret from us?  Why this 
conspiracy?  There have to be answers somewhere.  I 
know there are."  He smiled at her, but it reminded 
her of a kid's smile, trying to convince someone 
they loved the present they'd been given - hiding 
the disappointment.
"There are other places to look," was all she said.  
The grateful reply in his eyes told her it was all 
that was needed.

EPILOGUE - WASHINGTON DC, FBI HQ, A WEEK LATER

"Did the Lone Gunmen ever get any more leads on 
that UFO you said I saw?"
Mulder cracked a sunflower seed between his teeth 
before turning to his partner.  "Not yet.  The guys 
at MUFON got a record of it, though.  And there's a 
patient missing from the hospital.  They got her 
name before the wipe."
"Who?"
"A Mrs C Spender."  Mulder paused long enough to 
let Scully move across to stand in front of his 
desk.  "You don't believe me."
"I want to believe, Mulder, but what I saw could 
easily be explained by a military field test of a 
new plane."  She smiled, perched herself on the 
edge of the desk.  "You still think it was a 'close 
encounter'."
He was silent for a minute, then he smiled.  
"Yeah," he said softly.  "A close encounter."  The 
smile broadened to a grin.  "I think that sums it 
up."