Doggett's head snapped toward the voice, peering into the darkness beyond the flashlight's beam. He spotted a small group of men whose attention was focused on something he couldn't see from where he was. He called out to them as he closed the distance between them, jogging through the dry leaves that covered the ground. "What have you got?"

"It's him. Mulder." Doggett's heart sank at the man's tone.

He reached the group and shouldered them aside, sending a silent prayer skyward that he wasn't about to see Dana Scully's world come to an end.

Mulder lay on his right side, partially covered with a blanket.

"No."

Everything he was feeling came out in that single word. He knelt down next to the body, feeling for a pulse he knew had been stilled forever. Up close, the post mortem discoloration on Mulder's face was clear confirmation that there was nothing more to be done. Suddenly exhausted, he bowed his head in defeat, then rose wearily and turned to face the agents clustered around him.

"Rogers, go back to the main building and tell A.D. Skinner what we've found." As the man turned to go, Doggett reached out and snagged his shirt. "Whatever you do, DON'T say anything to Agent Scully. Get Skinner alone before you tell him." The young man nodded and headed off toward the building at a dead run.

***

"What's she doing?" Skinner had intended to enter the room where Scully was talking with one of the detainees but Agent Reyes stopped him. He didn't want her left alone in there.

"She seems to believe he's the one we saw in the video. The one she thinks cured Theresa Hoese."

"A.D. Skinner?" Skinner turned to see one of the agents from the local field office jogging up to him.

"Yes. What is it?"

The young man looked warily at Monica Reyes. He didn't have nay idea what Dana Scully looked like. "I need to speak with you privately, Sir."

"You can speak freely in front of Agent Reyes. What is it?"

"Yes, Sir. Agent Doggett told me not to say anything to Agent Scully." He nodded in Agent Reyes' direction. "I've never met her so I wasn't sure."

"Yes, Agent. Go on."

"Agent Mulder is dead, Sir. I can take you to him."

As much as he had expected to hear the words, he was totally unprepared for their impact. He felt as if someone had reached inside of him and yanked out everything that was holding him up. He sagged back against the wall and bowed his head, breathing deeply to push back the darkness that threatened to take him down.

"Sir?" Reyes and the young agent spoke at the same instant. Reyes gripped Skinner's left bicep and tried to see his face. She turned to the young agent and told him to wait for them at the door. When he had moved away, she shook Skinner's arm to get his attention.

"Sir, are you all right?"

Skinner slowly straightened and met her gaze. "No, I'm not." He pushed away from the wall and stepped to the door where Scully was living her last moments of hope and knocked briskly.

When she didn't respond immediately, he pushed the door open. She had been leaning close to the man seated before her but stood up and turned to face him.

"Agent Scully, you better come with us." God, he couldn't bear to meet her eyes.

The man she had been talking to grabbed her sleeve and whispered something Skinner couldn't hear. She seemed to consider it for a moment before joining Skinner and Reyes at the door. "What is it?"

Suddenly he knew he would never be able to say the words. He was going to fail her again. Finally, he whispered, "It's Mulder."

The hope that blazed in her eyes tore his heart in two, but still he couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth. Instead, he turned and motioned to the agent who was waiting for them at the door. The man nodded and headed out the door at a trot which quickly became a fast jog as Scully passed him. She could see the flashlights dancing in the trees beyond and wasn't about to wait for an escort.

***

"Where is he?!"

From the sound of her voice, Doggett knew with a sinking heart that she thought Mulder was alive and he moved to block her approach, grabbing her by the shoulders and dragging her to a twisting stop not ten feet from her partner's body.

"How bad is he? How bad is he?" She was pulling desperately to get away from him. "How bad is he hurt?"

Doggett's attention was diverted for an instant as he glanced up to meet Skinner's eyes with an accusing glare. How could the man let her come here like this? Scully chose this moment to jerk her arms out of his grasp and dash across the short distance to where Mulder lay on the ground. She stopped. And stared.

"No." Her face crumpled as she sank to the ground next to his body. "No. no. no. no." It was a plea, a prayer, wrenched from the depths of her soul. She stroked his cold cheek with trembling fingers, her words dissolving into bitter tears that choked the breath from her lungs.

Behind her, Skinner and Doggett watched the disintegration of the woman they would have given anything to protect. Each was filled with self-recrimination for having failed her so completely. Why hadn't they checked these grounds two days ago? Would he still be alive?

Doggett moved first, taking Scully by the shoulders and pulling her away from Mulder's body. She fought him with a strength born of despair, first straining toward Mulder then switching direction so abruptly that Doggett's hold on her was broken. "He needs help! He needs help!" She sprang to her feet and sprinted back toward the compound. Dogget made a grab for her and succeeded in slowing her down for an instant, long enough for her to spin and jab him sharply in the ribs with her elbow.

"It's too late." There was more meaning in that simple phrase than any of them understood at that moment.

But Scully was already halfway back to the compound, desperately seeking the one man who could bring Mulder back to her.

Skinner walked slowly to Mulder's body and looked down, filled with so many emotions that he couldn't begin to classify them. Instead, he let the pain drown his thoughts as he gazed into the face of his friend. Then he turned away to follow Doggett and Reyes who had taken off after Scully.

He caught up with them just outside the building where Scully had been questioning the man. They could hear her screams clearly through the closed door. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!"

The three of them walked slowly toward that heartbreaking wail. There was nothing to be done now but try to pick up the pieces.

***