The two agents decided to continue their line of questioning without the detective. Fortunately for them, Moreno had given them the contact information of all the victims the night before.

Unlike the other victims, Demetrius Pappas had no family or close friends in the United States. The closest person the police were able to contact was Demetrius' roommate, Carlos Ortega. After a quick call, the agents were on their way to a Starbucks near the university to meet with him.

Once they arrived at their destination. they wondered how exactly they were supposed to find the young man; the shop was filled with twenty-somethings. The cafe was too small for the large crowd inside, but no one seemed to mind. Except for Mulder and Scully. Mulder looked at Scully who looked like all she wanted to do was leave. Before he could ask her what was wrong, a man approached them.

"Are you two with the FBI?" he asked. When they nodded, he led them to a small table in the back of the store. Once they were seated, Carlos started speaking again. "Like I told the cops on the phone, I don't know how I can help, I barely knew Demetrius."

Scully flashed him a small, sympathetic smile. "We won't be long, Mr. Ortega."

The young man blanched. "Call me Carlos. Mr. Ortega makes me feel old."

Mulder held back a smile. Only someone under the age of twenty-five would take a polite title as an insult. "Carlos," he started, "we know that you weren't with Mr. Pappas the day he went missing. When was the last time you saw him?"

Carlos shrugged. "A couple of weeks maybe. Look, Demetrius was a ladies' man. Chicks dug the fact he was from another country. Loved the accent. Just about everyday he's have a different girl in the apartment. I had no problem with that except that Demetrius was a vocal guy, if you know what I mean. Finally, I told him that he'd have to start entertaining the girls at their own place. After that, he'd stop over every once in a while to pick up his mail or do some laundry...that kind of stuff."

"Any girls ever make a repeat appearance?" asked Mulder.

Carlos thought about it for a second. "A couple, maybe. But there was no one serious. Demetrius was living out every man's dream."

Though he couldn't see her from his line of vision, Mulder could feel Scully's eyes looking at him. For some reason, he knew how he responded to Carlos was very important. "Not every man," he said stiffly, hoping that was the right answer. He felt Scully's intense gaze move away from him; he breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Did any of Mr. Pappas' girlfriends stop by after he was murdered?" Scully asked, steering the conversation forward.

Carlos couldn't contain his laughter. "Yeah, the apartment was packed for days with mourners. I had no idea Demetrius had been with so many chicks. I was worried there would be a cat fight with all the girls there, but it was never an issue."

"None of them cared?" Scully asked incredulously.

"Maybe a couple, but no one said anything," replied Carlos. He looked at his watch. "I've got a class starting in twenty minutes. I hope this helped," he said, standing up.

"Thank you for your time," Mulder said, shaking the young man's hand.

After Carlos left, Mulder looked around, studying all the college students in the room. He blew out a puff of air through his lips. "Ever feel like we are getting old, Scully?"

Her eyebrows went up in surprise. "I prefer to think of it as being more experienced."

He winced. "That really does mean we have reached the point of no return."

She leaned back in her chair, slightly defensive. "I don't know why you think going back to your college days would be a good thing. I, for one, am glad that chapter of my life is over."

He thought back to his time at Oxford. If he took away the Phoebe factor, it was over all a fun experience. Maybe he enjoyed it more so than most because his parents were a continent away. "Come on, Scully. It couldn't have been that bad." If he didn't know any better, he would have thought he had grown a second head with the way she was looking at him.

"Mulder, do you know how hard it is to transfer schools across country? And it wasn't as though my parents had money to pay for all the extra expenditures that came up so I had to find ways of making some extra money," she said with disdain.

"Stripping?" he asked hopefully.

Her frown deepened. "Try tutoring the athletic players who didn't really care what grades they received but the coaches did," she answered dryly.

He leaned back in his seat, not believing her college experience was all bad. "There isn't one thing that makes you a bit nostalgic?"

She thought about it for a few seconds. "Well, there was Tommy Feldman."

A frown passed over his face. "Who's that?" he asked, hoping it was a professor that she enjoyed.

"Tommy?" she questioned innocently. "He was the water polo captain. Though I have to admit, I never understood why he requested me as a tutor. He always got As in his classes."

Suddenly, Mulder didn’t like where this conversation was going. Surely, he thought, Scully was trying to get him back for pushing her so hard about her college years. He watched as a small smile grew on her face as she continued down memory lane. "Come on. We still have to interview Stephanie Bell's mother," he grumbled, nearly knocking over the chair as he left.

As he approached the door, he could swear Scully was trying not to laugh at him. The thing was, he couldn't figure out what was so funny.

*************

Scully continued to be pleased with herself. So often she found herself insecure when it came to Mulder and other women. It was a welcome change to see Mulder being jealous, even if it was concerning someone she created in her mind.

The car ride so far had been silent with Mulder glancing at her every couple of minutes. She knew he would be obsessed with her old "boyfriend" until she confessed the truth to him.

"Mulder, I was just kidding in Starbucks. There was no Tommy. To be honest, I never dated the captain of any athletic team," she said.

She could tell he was trying to keep the relief off his face, but failed miserably.

He pulled out a bag of sunflower seeds from his suit pocket and put a couple in his mouth. "You know," he said, cracking the shell between his teeth, "it's too bad that you never went to Oxford. You could have dated the captain of the track and field team."

"Are you saying that you would have asked me out?" she teased.

Suddenly, there was a delicious tension that filled the car. It happened more and more frequently; the sense that their playful banter was much more layered than what it appeared on the surface.

His eyes twinkled. "That's what I'm saying and I can guarantee you that by the time the night was over, I would be teaching you some things."

She gave him an eye roll and ignored his comment like she was suppose to. But internally, her mind was daydreaming of a young Fox Mulder, sweating from track practice, giving her a lesson in physiology. She licked her lips as the daydream started to take shape.

Before she could get into involved with her fantasy, Mulder spoke again, oblivious to anything he may have been interrupting. "We should be at Claudia Brenner’s house in twenty minutes," he said. "I think she's our best opportunity to finding our guy."

Slightly disappointed at the change of subjects, Scully forced herself to pay attention to her surrounding then the thoughts running through her head. Some days it was difficult to be partnered with such a man.

True to his word, twenty minutes later, a middle-aged woman was leading them into her house. When Scully walked inside the living room, she was greeted by the familiar sense of home. The cozy furniture, the family pictures that covered the mantle, the knick knacks the filled Claudia's curio cabinet. The sorrowful woman gestured for the agents to take a seat. "Has there been any progress on finding who did this to Stephanie?" she asked.

Scully shot Mulder a look. She knew as time continued to pass, he would put more and more blame on not solving the case on himself. "No, Mrs. Brenner," he said apologetically. "I'm afraid not. We just want to go over some questions."

Claudia nodded. "Anything I can do for my little girl, I will."

"Reading the police notes, it said that Stephanie recently turned down a proposal from her boyfriend. Can you tell me a little about him?" Mulder asked softly, hoping not to offend the woman who sat across from him.

Unfortunately, she became immediately defensive. "You think Bryan had something to do with this?" she asked suspiciously. "You are wrong. Bryan loved Stephanie more than anything."

"Mrs. Brenner," interjected Scully, "you have to understand this is a very routine line of questioning. We are not accusing anyone of anything; we just trying to get a better picture of what was going on in the last few days of Stephanie's life."

The older woman took a deep breath, calming herself. "Of course. I apologize, Agent Mulder. It would seem that my nerves are still a bit on edge. Bryan is like a son to me. He loved Stephanie more than she did him. There is absolutely no way he would kill her."

Mulder knew that her refusal to think of her daughter's former boyfriend outside any image she had in her mind would mean that any other questions about him would be a waste of time. "Do you know what Stephanie was doing that day?"

Her hesitancy to answer told Mulder she was about to lie. "Remember, Mrs. Brenner, that in order for our investigation to be successful we need your complete cooperation."

He saw her surrendering her daughter's privacy to increase the chance of finding her killer. "Stephanie was spending the day regrouping, as she called it. She wanted to 'cleanse herself' from her relationship with Bryan. She was gone the whole day, probably visiting those new age shops," she answered, rolling her eyes. "I love my daughter, but if she felt something was 'in the stars' she would go after it, despite the consequences."

Before she could continue, Scully's cell phone rang. "Excuse me," Scully said, leaving the room.

Once she exited through the front door, she answered her phone. "Scully," she answered.

"Agent Scully, this is Detective Hale. I think you and your partner should come down to the station as soon as possible. We think we finally have a break in the case," he said, excitedly.

"Really? What kind of break?" she asked.

"I'd rather wait until you and your partner come here to tell you what we know," he answered reluctantly.

"Does Detective Moreno know about this?"

"Of course. She was the one who told me to call you and tell you and Agent Mulder to come back here."

Now she understood why she, and not Mulder, received the phone call. Apparently, to the detective she was the lesser of the two federal evils. "OK, thank you. Agent Mulder and I will be on our way after we finish our interview."

When she returned to the house, Mrs. Brenner was talking to Mulder. "Agent Mulder, a lot of that stuff sounds rather ridiculous to me. Positions of planets can determine whether or not you are compatible with someone? Stephanie was never able to convince me to believe all that hocus pocus."

"Yes, but still--" he stopped when he saw Scully. He smiled sheepishly at her. "Mrs. Brenner and I were just discussing the finer points of new age thinking."

"I can see that," she said, eyebrow raised. "Mulder, we need to get back to the station. Apparently there have been some...developments that the detective believes we need to know about."

A glimmer of hope filled the woman's eyes. "Are you saying you know who killed my baby girl?"

"Mrs. Brenner, we are doing our best to find your daughter's murderer. To say anything else would be premature," Scully responded.

Riverside

When they entered the building, they walked into the room where and were working. "Where's Detective Moreno? She didn't want to be around the FBI agents anymore than she had to?" Mulder asked sarcastically.

The two men exchanged a glance. "Agents, we have to apologize for Andrea's behavior," said Crichton. He shot a look to Hale, who nodded. "This case is very important to Andrea because it’s probably the last one that she will ever be able to solve."

At the agent's confused looks, Crichton continued. "She told us about six weeks ago that she had been diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer."

Mulder couldn't help but to shoot a look at Scully. Though she had been in remission for six months, his heart always stopped when he heard that word. Cancer was the far most obscene word in Mulder's vocabulary.

Scully's face showed her sympathy. "What is she doing for treatment?"

"Nothing," answered Hale.

"Nothing?" Mulder asked.

Hale shook his head sadly. "She says that if she is meant to live, she will. Her mother died of breast cancer a few years ago and she refuses to go through the chemo like she did. Andrea said that when her mom died she promised that if anything like that ever happened to her, she wouldn't put herself through that."

Scully could emphasize with Moreno; there are been times when she had wanted to give up in her battle against her cancer. It was an understanding those fighting the horrific disease could comprehend. Glancing out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mulder frown. He couldn't understand why Moreno wouldn't want to fight the good fight. It went against everything in his nature; Mulder could not surrender to anything when there was a glimmer of success.

"Anyway, I'm sure Andrea would have our heads if she found us sitting here talking about her cancer. The reason why we called you in was because we may have a suspect," said Hale.

"A suspect?" Mulder asked, surprise in his voice. "Who?"

"Bryan White. The latest victim's boyfriend," Crichton said excitedly.

Mulder frowned. "Why him?"

"We found works for UPS and his route has been within a ten mile radius of every victim," Hale said smugly.

Mulder and Scully exchanged a look. Sure, that might have been something in a more rural area, but in the Inland Empire, a ten-mile radius had as many homes as most small cities in the Midwest did. "Has he delivered packages to the addresses before?" Scully asked, looking for a more direct link.

The two men shrugged. "We have the warrant being sent to UPS. Hopefully we'll have that information to us by the morning. Meanwhile, Andrea is picking up Mr. White from his home," answered Crichton.

"And you don't think it's premature to bring him in? What if he doesn't have a real connection to the victims?" Mulder asked, not believing they would do something so irresponsible.

"Look, Agent Mulder, we have 72 hours to hold him. This is our first big lead in the case. None of us are going to let an opportunity like this pass us by. If you don't like the way we do things, feel free to go about and do your FBI business," Crichton replied.

Scully barely shook her head, to let Mulder know to let the issue go. There was no reason to alienate the rest of the people working on the case. "We'll stay here if you don’t mind, Detective Hale. We'll just watch the interview. There's no reason in getting Mr. White panicked by seeing us."

The two men shrugged. "The observation room is the second door on the right. You can wait in there." Taking that as their cue to leave, Mulder and Scully exited the room.

Five minutes later, Moreno and a good-looking young man entered the interview room. "So, Mr. White, tell me, how does it feel to have killed all those innocent people?" Moreno asked.

White looked at her with disbelief. "I told you on the way here. I had nothing to do with those murders. I didn't kill Stephanie," he said with tears in his eyes. "Just because you aren't capable of capturing this killer on your own doesn't mean you have the right to accuse me of those killings."

"I heard you were pretty broken up about Stephanie rejecting you," Hale jumped in.

White turned to him. "I am but I'm even more devastated that she was killed in cold blood and instead of finding who did that to her, you guys are wasting your time by interviewing me. Again. Wasn't the three hours I spent here last week enough for you?" He pushed back from the table. "When you guys get your head out of your asses, maybe then you'll find the person you are looking for."

"Mr. White--" Moreno began.

"Are you ready to charge me with something?" he demanded. The three officers shook their heads. "Then I'm out of here."

Mulder and Scully looked at each other.

"He's not our guy," Mulder said as Scully was saying, "That man is not our suspect."

Mulder grinned at her. "Why not? Were your Spidey senses not tingling?"

She shot him an "Oh, please" look. She pointed to the table. "Mr. White, it appears has a dandruff problem. There is no way he could have committed the crimes without leaving any DNA evidence. Why do you not think he's the killer?"

"He's too angry. He is definitely a man who is crushed that he lost the love of his life." He shrugged. "Just a gut feeling."

Moreno came into the observation room. "I hear from the boys that you guys are less than impressed with our link to White."

Mulder shrugged. "It's not the direction our investigation is headed," he answered simply, hoping to get out of there without a fight.

"And which way is that? The wrong one?" she shot back.

Score one for the bitter detective, he thought. "Good luck with your investigation, Detective," he forced through gritted teeth. "I hope we find the suspect before you do," he said before Scully pulled him out the door.

"Mulder," she said her voice low. "Just behave. When we get back to the hotel, you can start working the way you want."

He nodded, refusing to say anything else until he got into the car. He couldn't be responsible for anything he said to the detective, ill or not.

EZ Sleep Inns

8:20 a.m.

Scully was sifting through envelopes of evidence, as per Mulder's request. Since Moreno's admission earlier in the day that she had left information out of the police reports, Mulder thought it was important to go through all the evidence for any other things she may have deemed unnecessary. The forensic data has been gone through the night before; all the crime scene photos were there. Now, all she had was a pile of evidence and her work would be complete.

She was going through the items found at the Bell's crime scene, something caught her eye. She pulled it out of the plastic sleeve. It was a receipt for Dream It, Believe It. There was a charge for a tarot card reading.

Remembering the conversation from the first day they arrived in California, her eyes widened. Could she have possibly broken the case? Quickly, she grabbed the police notes from Carlson's murder. Sure enough, Jack had taken his girlfriend to the same store years earlier.

Excited, she walked through the connecting door which Mulder had left unlocked and nearly tripped when she entered his room. His suit jacket was crumbled by her feet. Currently, Mulder was sitting at the table typing away furiously at the keyboard. "Mulder?" she asked cautiously. She knew when he was in the zone, the best thing to do was to leave him alone.

"Mulder," she said again.

When he didn't respond, she went back to her room, pulling out her cell phone. After getting directions to Dream It, Believe It, she jotted down a quick note to Mulder, telling him where she would be. Quietly, she went back into his room and set the note on the counter in the bathroom; the only place that wasn't cluttered with papers.

Once she left the parking lot, she pulled out her cell phone again. Though she knew she would probably regret her decision, Scully thought it would be best to let Moreno know about her discovery. They were, after all, on the same team. "Moreno speaking," came the curt answer.

"Detective, this is Agent Scully. I found a connection between two of the victims. Both Catrina Carlson and Stephanie Bell went to the same psychic hours before they were murdered," revealed Scully.

Despite the magnitude of Scully's discovery, Moreno seemed less than impressed. "What about the others?"

Scully pressed her lips together in annoyance. "That's why I'm going down there, to investigate this lead. I'm going to see if this person remembers any of the others."

"Well, you go ahead and do that while I wait for the paperwork to come from UPS. I think we both know who will have the better results," Moreno said smugly.

Scully was about to end the call when she heard Moreno speaking again.

"Just so you are aware, I made a call to the FBI this morning. I talked to some guy named Fitzgerald." Scully's eyes widened. That little..."He didn't seem too happy that you and your partner hadn't made much progress. But, he assured me that Agent Mulder was a talented profiler and would have results for me soon." Relief filled Scully; at least Fitzgerald hadn't left them out to dry.

"But then I called a couple of my friends out in DC and discovered the truth. Agent Mulder is a has been; he hasn't been actively writing profiles for seven years. So there is no wonder in my mind why he can't produce anything of substance to this case," Moreno taunted. "And then to find out what the two of you investigate when Mulder isn't trying to salvage the golden years of long ago...what a joke! So if you don't mind Agent Scully, I think I'll stick to my route of investigating. Have fun visiting this psychic. Maybe she can tell you who this real killer is," she said rudely before disconnecting the call.

Scully looked at her phone in disbelief. Had that conversation really happened? Pushing down her impulse to go down to the police station and give the detective a piece of her mind, Scully forced herself to be calm. There was nothing more that she could do other than solve this case before Moreno did. With Mulder on her side, she knew that the odds were in her favor. With a slight smile, she pushed down on the gas petal.

* * * * *

Mulder was typing frantically. Finally, he had a breakthrough with his profile earlier in the morning. His fingers could hardly keep up with his thoughts. At times like these, a recorder to capture all of his thoughts would be beneficial. He knew Scully always carried one with her, but he couldn't afford to lose the momentum. "Scully?" he called absently, hoping she would come through the door. Apparently she wasn't in her room.

Oh well, he thought as he continued typing words on the screen. Moments later, his brain registered that his phone was ringing. If it was Scully, she would leave a voicemail and he would check it later. Right now, he could not afford to stop thinking. Thankfully, after a few rings, the room was blissfully quiet. Then the ringing started again.

"Damn it," he muttered, pulling himself away from his laptop. He pulled out his phone from his discarded suit jacked. "What the hell is so important, Scully?"

Silence answered him. Great, he thought, he hadn't even had a cup of coffee and he had pissed her off. As he was about to apologize, an unexpected voice started speaking. "Mulder," Fitzgerald said.

Crap, it was even worse than Scully being mad at him all day. "Sir," Mulder said.

"So, this morning I get a call from Detective Moreno who gives me an earful about you and your unorthodox techniques. Apparently you haven't gotten on her good side. I can't say that I blame her. I tried to smooth things over, promised her that you would have a brilliant profile to her by the end of the day. Don't make a liar out of me," Fitzgerald said.

"Keep her out of my way and I'll be able to do my job. She has done nothing to help move this case forward. She's rude, condescending, stubborn--"

"Sounds to me like she's a lot like you. Listen, Mulder, I don't care if she is the most obnoxious person you have ever met, you will work with her or you will face reassignment when you get back to DC. Maybe being in the basement has made you forget that we in the Bureau have to work with local law enforcement, friendly or not. Have your profile to me and the detective in two hours."

"I'll be finished with it in ten minutes."

* * * * *

When Scully got to the address, a plain brick building with several small windows was in front of her. A small decal on the front of the door said "Dream It, Believe It". She walked up to the door and let herself in. What she saw surprised her.

For some reason, she was expecting to see rooms that looked like Melissa's old apartment. Crystals and dream catchers hanging from the ceiling, star charts hanging on the walls. Instead she saw a tasteful office complete with a large mahogany desk. Behind it was a woman in her mid-thirties, her blonde hair curled around her pretty face. "I was expecting you," she said before Scully could speak.

Surprised, Scully approached the woman. There was something vaguely familiar about her. She dismissed that thought; it was probably just her forwardness that through her off guard. "You were?"

"Yes," the woman said. "Though, I have to admit that I thought you would be accompanied by a male companion." She frowned. "Interesting," she said to herself.

Scully's eyebrow rose. "Then I would assume you know why I am here."

Laughing softly, the woman stepped closer to Scully. "I'm guessing that you aren't here to have your palm read." She squinted at Scully, to study her better. "You are here because of the awful murders that have been occurring. Isn't that right, Agent Scully?"

Despite her skepticism when it came to telepathy, Scully couldn't help but to be surprised by how much information this woman seemed to have. "That would be correct, Miss..."

"Jewel. Actually, it's my only name," she answered. "So, how can I help the FBI today?"

"I thought you would know," Scully said coolly.

Jewel smiled. "Even my powers are limited."

"We have confirmation that two of the victims went to your shop within 24 hours of them disappearing. I think that's quite a coincidence," Scully said.

Shrugging, Jewel sat back down at her desk. "Stranger things have happened. Why don't you just ask what you really want to know?"

Scully's annoyance grew steadily throughout the conversation. She wondered if this woman even cared about the people's deaths. "Did the other victims come here as well?" she asked.

"Do you have a warrant?" came back the reply.

"No," she admitted, though she knew the woman knew that all along.

"Then I'm afraid I can't help you. I do have to protect the privacy of my clients," Jewel answered. "But I can assure you that I didn't kill anyone. It would be bad for business."

Jewel's lackadaisical attitude was steadfastly making her lose her patience. Still, she couldn't do anything without a warrant. "Fine. My partner and I will be here later. I would suggest you stick around." She turned around and walked out of the building.

Scully pulled out her cell phone and hoped Mulder was available. After two rings, he picked up. "Mulder."

"Mulder, it's me. I'm going to need you to go to the courthouse. I think I might have found a break in the case."

* * * * * *

Mulder walked up the steps to the police department, pleased with himself. After he hung up with Scully, Detective Hale called him to tell him that Bryan White was released an hour earlier because the records from UPS confirmed the words of the young man; Bryan White was innocent. Now, Mulder thought, they will have to respect me and Scully.

Since he had no car, Detective Hale needed to pick him up at the hotel. The ride was mostly quiet; Mulder was pleased that not once did he say "I told you so." Scully would be so proud.

He opened the door and walked by the secretary. When he entered the room, he looked for Moreno. "Are you ready?" he asked, after he saw her sitting at the computer.

"Almost," she answered curtly. "I'm still reading this piece of crap you call a profile."

It's not polite to hit a woman, he reminded himself. "Is it a bit too intelligent for you? I could rewrite it in a first grade reading level," he said sweetly.

Crichton stood between the two. "Hey! Listen, everyone's nerves on a bit on edge. Let's try to remember we are all on the same team."

Moreno shut down the program, ignoring her co-worker. Instead, she walked to Mulder. "You think this killer is a woman? Do you know that statistically you are wrong?"

"Nah, after nearly 200 profiles, I had no idea. Tell me, Detective, how many have you written?" He could practically see Scully shooting him a look that said "shut up, Mulder".

Moreno backed down, knowing she couldn't win this battle. "We're going to the courthouse. Apparently Agent Scully was able to actually do something protective and may have found a break in the case. We'll keep you informed," she said to Crichton. She turned to Mulder. "Come on; Judge Talon doesn't like to wait."

Hale stood up. "You want me to go with you guys, Boss?"

She flashed him a smile, the first one Mulder had seen. "No, that's ok. If Agent Scully is right, we might actually be able to solve this case soon."

* * * * * *

Scully sat in her car, waiting for Mulder and the detective to arrive. Promising to be on his best behavior, Mulder told her he could call as soon as he got the warrant and was on his way.

Now she watched the front door, intending on following Jewel if she decided to leave. So far, she had been the only potential lead. There was no way she was going to let her escape.

A glance at the clock told her that she had been there for nearly an hour. Surely the two of them should be on their way, she thought. She pulled out her cell phone and called Mulder. To her surprise, his familiar voice didn't greet her.

"Hello Agent Scully," came the curt answer.

"Detective Moreno," Scully said surprised. "Is Mulder there?"

"No, he's in the judge's chambers, trying to get a warrant for your 'psychic connection' to the case. He'll probably be in there for a while. Judge Talon isn't the type of judge who hands out warrants like popcorn," said Moreno.

Scully couldn't help herself. "And you have Agent Mulder's phone because?"

"The honorable judge finds cell phones and pagers unfit to be in the courtroom or his chambers. He calls them an 'unnecessary distraction'. So, Agent Mulder left his phone with me. We'll see if he manages to actually get the judge to believe the load of crap you guys are trying to make into believable evidence," snapped Moreno.

Forcing herself not to take the bait, Scully frowned slightly. She could not wait until this case was over. "Thank you," she said politely before ending the call so she no longer had to hear the detective’s bitter words.

Sighing, she put down her phone. Hopefully, she thought, Mulder would sweet talk the judge so this stakeout wasn't a complete waste of time. Suddenly, the door from Dream It, Believe It opened. She saw Jewel approaching her car. Scully stepped outside.

Before she could start speaking, Jewel opened the passenger door and took a seat inside. Confused, Scully returned to her seat. "Your partner is in danger," Jewel said.

"What?"

"She has him. If we don't get there soon, he will die," Jewel said, almost as if she was in a trance.

"Who?"

"Detective Moreno. She's the one who has killed all those people."

Unknown Location

Unknown Time

Mulder woke up lying on a hard floor with an enormous headache and a familiar scene of waking up somewhere far different than when he last remembered. Though usually, members of Syndicate were usually involved.

"Finally. I knew you were a lightweight, but, geez, Mulder, you even managed to disappoint me," said a heartless voice.

He forced himself to focus and saw Moreno standing next to him. "You?" he asked with disbelief.

"You shouldn't be surprised. Surprisingly, your profile was spot on. It was almost as if you knew who I really was," she sneered.

"Why?" he asked, trying to not slip into unconsciousness again.

"Because those people needed to pay. They didn't love the ones they were with. They were liars, cheaters, and deceivers. Each and every one of them didn't love their significant others. They used them just like I was used." She looked past Mulder, caught up her memories. "I loved Jordan. We were meant to be together. But, did he return my affection? No! I was just a piece of ass until the next girl came around." She turned her gaze back to Mulder. "He used me, just like you use your partner."

That got his attention. "What?!" he shouted, despite the stars that exploded in front of his eyes.

"I know your type, Mulder. You take and take and take. You're a leech and a disgrace," she yelled, kicking him in the ribs. "She thinks she knows you, but I know the truth. All the things you have hidden from her. You are unworthy."

Even in his muddled state, Mulder knew calling her crazy wouldn't help the situation. He looked around for a way to escape. It appeared that he was in some kind of abandoned warehouse. There were a couple of chairs and a broken table near Moreno. The only door he could find was nearly twenty feet away. There was no way he could make it.

He needed to stall until Scully could find him; there was no doubt she would.

"So this is where you killed the others?"

She nodded. "Yes, though you are the only one who I allowed to regain consciousness. If you were anyone else, you would have been dead by now."

"Why?"

"Because I thought you should die knowing that you were right in your profile, but unable to save anyone else," she answered.

"How did you find your victims?"

"I know someone whose skills are right up your alley of interest. It's really quite an amazing thing. With a simple touch, she can tell if a person's heart is true or not."

"And she found mine to be untrue?"

Moreno shrugged. "I didn't need her help to figure you out. I've seen your kind befo--"

A faint humming sounded. It was Mulder's phone vibrating. Moreno shot Mulder a warning glance before answering, "Hello Agent Scully." Pause. "No, he's still in the judge's chambers." A longer pause. "I'll see what's going on. Knowing him and his incompetence, he's probably just pissing off the judge."

Mulder knew he had to take a chance. "Scully!! She's got me in some kind of warehouse. You've got--"

Another kick to his stomach silenced him. "Yeah, that was him. Yeah, he's fine," he heard her say. "We'll be there in the next thirty minutes."

She hung up the phone and threw it on the ground. It broke into countless pieces. "Now that we won't be having anymore interruptions, it's time to get this over with." Moreno pulled out her gun and pointed it at Mulder. "Get in the chair."

"Nah, I'm comfortable down here on the floor," came the sarcastic reply.

She released the safety. "Really. I insist."

Slowly, he got up on his hands and knees. His vision was still extremely blurry. As he took a seat, there was a rattling from across the room. Someone was coming through the door.

Scully, he thought hopefully.

With her gun drawn, Scully and Jewel walked into the room. "Detective, put your gun down now!" Scully shouted.

Moreno seemed unconcerned with Scully or her weapon. Instead, her eyes narrowed into slits when she saw who was standing beside her. "Traitor!" Moreno screamed.

"It's got to stop, Patty! You're about to kill an innocent man," Jewel pleaded. "I told you, he's not like the others."

"You. Are. Wrong. I can feel it," Moreno argued. She turned her gun to Mulder. "He will die!"

Scully lurched forward, ready to fire. "I'm warning I will shoot you, Detective. Drop your weapon, " she instructed.

Even from across the room, Mulder could hear the slight tremor in her voice. All he could see was the barrel of Moreno's gun. Please, he thought, don't have a twitchy trigger finger.

Jewel stepped closer in the room. "It's over, Patty. No more revenge."

Moreno smiled bitterly. "Maybe, just a little more." With one motion, she turned her gun at Jewel and fired. Scully returned fire. Both women fell to the floor.

Mulder heard Jewel tell Scully that she was not badly hurt. He moved out of the way as Scully ran across the room to check Moreno.

As she approached her, Scully looked at Mulder worriedly. "You ok?"

He grinned lopsidedly. "Nothing a trip to the local hospital can't fix."

She turned to Moreno, who was moaning in pain. "The bullet hit her right shoulder." She flipped Moreno over. "It went through."

To Mulder's surprise, he heard sirens approaching. He looked at Scully questioningly.

She shrugged, a bit uncomfortable. "She," she said, referring to Jewel, "said we would need backup."

"You listened to someone's premonition? I think I just got turned on."

* * * * * *

Riverside Community Hospital

Room 1013

3:33 p.m.

Mulder turned towards the door as Scully stepped in. "How are they doing?"

"Jewel is going to be fine. The bullet hit her in the arm, but so far there doesn't seem to be any nerve damage. Detective Moreno is recovering from her shoulder wound," she answering, sitting in the chair next to Mulder's bed. "She confessed to all of the murders. Whatever her sentence is, it will be short. According to her medical records, the cancer is running rampant through her body. Her oncologist thinks she's got less than a month to live."

"Now we know why there was such a rush," commented Mulder. "What about Jewel?"

"She's being charged as an accessory to all the murders. It was the information she pulled from her clients that lead to their demise," Scully said.

He shook his head. "I still don't understand why she covered for Moreno for so long."

Scully thought for a moment. "They were sisters. To the two of them, nothing was stronger than that bond. And because of that, she will be spending her time behind bars with her sister."

"Well, you know what they say…"

She looked at him. "What?"

"Love hurts."

End.