Two years later

Dana Scully knocked three times on the large wooden door to Division Chief Scott Blevins' office. She had met him a few times, but only remembered his gray hair, glasses, and stern voice. Her heart raced as she wondered why the man wanted to speak with her.

"Come in." A voice from inside the office said. She stepped through the doorway, her lips pouting with anxiousness. "Agent Scully, thank you for coming on such short notice. Please..." he motioned for the young woman to take a seat.

Dana couldn't help but notice the smell of cigarette smoke in the air and the frightening old man that stood in the corner. A shiver went down her spine as they made eye contact. He raised the lit cigarette to his wrinkled lips and Dana slowly turned around to meet eyes with Chief Blevins.

"We see you've been with us just over two years." The chief said as he looked at a paper regarding Dana's history on his desk.

"Yes, sir," Dana said meekly.

"You went to medical school but you chose not to practice. How'd you come to work for the F.B.I.?"

"Well, sir," Dana began, " I was recruited out of medical school. My parents still think it was an act of rebellion, but, I saw the F.B.I. as a place where I could distinguish myself." She felt as if her response was too light hearted and immediately regretted the tidbit regarding her parents.

Without acknowledging her statement, he said, "Are you familiar with an agent named Fox Mulder?"

Dana thought the question to be rather odd. She sat up straighter in her chair and responded, "Yes, I am."

"How so?"

"By reputation. He's an Oxford-educated Psychologist, who wrote a monograph on serial killers and the occult, that helped to catch Monty Props in 1988. Generally thought of as the best analyst in the violent crimes section. He had a nickname at the academy... Spooky Mulder." She said with a grin. She glanced over at the Smoking Man with a smile and he gave no response. Dana awkwardly turned back around in her chair.

"What I'll also tell you is that Agent Mulder has developed a consuming devotion to an unassigned project outside the bureau mainstream. Are you familiar with the so-called 'X-Files?'"

Another very odd question thought Dana.
"I believe they have to do with unexplained phenomena." She said slightly unsure of her answer.

"More or less. The reason you're here, Agent Scully, is we want you to assist Mulder on these X-Files. You will write field reports on your activities, along with your observations on the validity of the work."

Now, this was incredibly odd. Dana wasn't quite sure how to take this new assignment. It almost seemed like a cruel joke.

"Am I to understand that you want me to debunk the X-Files project, sir?"

"Agent Scully, we trust you'll make the proper scientific analysis. You'll want to contact Agent Mulder shortly. We look forward to seeing your reports."

Dana stood up, smoothed out her plaid blazer and shook the hand of Chief Blevins.

"Thank you for your time," she said with a forced smile. On her way to the door she turned around and said, "I'm sorry to bother you, but where exactly is Agent Mulder's office?"

"The basement." He said without looking up.

Dana walked down the hall feeling defeated, in a way.
"I worked hard all through high school, college, medical school, and the academy only to be stuck in a basement with a lunatic." She said to herself in the long elevator ride down to the basement. She knew she shouldn't be so harsh, especially since she knew nothing about The X-Files nor nothing really about Agent Mulder, other than his educational background. She did, however, remember that weird feeling that she got whenever she looked at him when they both attended Quantico. She could never get over the thought that he was her missing memories. She knew that it was all too strange, but Dana was usually never wrong about anything.

"How bad could it be?" She whispered as she knocked on the dark door to Agent Mulder's office.

"Sorry, nobody down here but the FBI's most unwanted." A voice, which she assumed to be Agent Mulder's said in an annoyed and upset tone. She slowly opened the door and the first thing her eyes focused on was a poster on the wall of a UFO that read I Want To Believe. She smiled at the quirkiness of the small office and all of its odd decor.

Agent Mulder sat at his desk wearing glasses and looking at slides on a Litebox. He seemed to be very consumed with his work, whatever it was, and Dana admired that.

She slowly walked towards him and spoke up, "Agent Mulder. I'm Dana Scully, I've been assigned to work with you." She said this with a friendly smile as he turned to look at her.

Agent Mulder reached out his hand, cold and rough, and shook her's. "Oh, isn't it nice to be suddenly so highly regarded? So, who did you tick off to get stuck with this detail, Scully?" He sarcastically noted and turned back around in his chair, continuing to look at his slides. He remembered her from the academy. He felt just as frightened and gravitated towards her as he did at Quantico. Little did he know, she felt the same.

"Actually, I'm looking forward to working with you. I've heard a lot about you." Dana said with another smile.

"Oh, really? I was under the impression... that you were sent to spy on me." He replied.

The rest, as they say, is history.

The End.

*excerpts from the script used in The X File's "Pilot"*