Title: Qualcuno 1/3
Author: Erin aka ScullyClone 
Category: Story/M&S UST
Spoilers: The Movie
Rating: PG-13 for naughty language *tisk tisk*
Disclaimer: Mulder, Scully, and The X-Files belong to 
1013 productions, FOX, and of course, Chris Carter. I acknowledge that he 
created them, not me, because he is God. :) How would my Sunday nights be 
spent without him?
Summary: Mulder and Scully investigate a case that brings them a lot closer 
together.

I love feedback and appreciate all I can get, good or bad! :) Thanks for 
taking the time to read this. If you want to archive it anywhere go ahead, but 
just email me first.

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RIIIIING!!!!!!!!!!

Scully, startled by the shrill noise, woke up instantly. She sat 
up in bed and was about to reach for her gun when....

RIIIIING!!!!!!!!!!

Sighing tiredly, she realized her stupid mistake and picked up 
the phone on her bedside table. 

"Scully," she said simply, with apparent sleepiness in her voice.

"Hey Scully! Did I wake you?" 

"Mulder?" she glanced at the clock. "It's 3:14 in the morning. 
What's going on?" 

"Sorry, but our flight leaves in two hours and...."

"Mulder, wait a second. What flight?" Scully interrupted, 
clearly annoyed. 

Mulder's voice showed no trace of sleep at all. "The one 
leaving for Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I'll explain all the 
details on the way there, Scully. See you in a half hour. 
I'll pick you up."

"But, Mulder, wh..."

Only the dial tone answered her. As she replaced the receiver, 
Scully was tempted to just lie back down and fall fast asleep again, 
but instead she climbed slowly out of bed and began preparing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Mulder pulled up in front of Scully's apartment complex and blared 
the horn. A couple seconds later she was walking over to the car, 
suitcase in hand, which she carefully placed in the trunk of the car. 
As she sat down in the passenger seat, she asked Mulder casually, "So, 
are you gonna tell me what this is all about now?" 

Mulder took a folder off the dash and handed it to her. While she began to 
leaf through it, he gave her a brief summary as he continued driving on 
toward the airport.

"Kim Kauffman, fiancé of her devoted boyfriend of 3 years, David Miller, 
was kidnapped from her home last Saturday. She's been missing since, even 
after a thorough search by the neighbors and the local police department."

"That's all? A kidnapping case?" inquired Scully curiously. She knew that with 
Mulder no case was ever that simple. She learned to expect the unexpected 
and never view a case from the most obvious angle since teaming up with him.

Mulder grinned mischievously. "Apparently you know me too well Scully."

She smiled slightly.

"David says he was a witness to the abduction," Mulder continued. "He 
claims that they were eating dinner when suddenly a bright light 
came through the windows. He says that a dozen or so shadowy figures with 
red, glowing eyes came through the walls." As Mulder said the next line, 
his voice dropped a few octaves lower making it seem as if he was reciting 
the plot of a horror film. "He was frozen in place, paralyzed as he watched 
Kim being dragged, kicking and screaming out the back door and into the night."

"Well one thing's for sure, Mulder. You sure know how to add drama to a 
briefing." She then tried to give him her best annoyed-raised-eyebrow-skeptical 
Scully look, but found herself smiling along with him. "What do you mean 
exactly when you say that these 'shadowy figures with red, piercing eyes 
came through the walls'? Do you mean they just drifted in? Like ghosts?"

"I thought you didn't believe in ghosts?" he asked teasingly. When she 
made no comment he continued. "Yep, sorta like ghosts you could say, from 
what I gather. That's why we're paying a visit to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. 
To talk face-to-face with Mr. Miller." He guided his car into the airport parking 
lot that was practically empty. "Oh, and Scully. I said red glowing eyes," he 
corrected her, emphasizing the work 'glowing'. "Not piercing."

Scully sighed.

"But it was nice touch," he added jokingly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

On the airplane Scully immediately fell fast asleep not more than five minutes 
after they boarded. Her head leaned comfortably against Mulder's shoulder. He 
didn't mind a bit. 

Ever since the whole Antarctica experience, they both had become more relaxed
around one another. Maybe because they had shown each other the risks they were
willing to take, just to ensure the safety of the other. Whatever the reason, 
Mulder liked it this way. 

As he gazed down at the top of her head, admiring her, he wondered just what 
Scully thought of this new change. It was almost as if a barrier had been 
torn down and they were seeing each other in a whole new light or...

His thought was interrupted by a soft beep. He looked up and saw that 
the 'fasten your seat belt' sign had just lit up. The pilot then announced that 
they would be landing soon. Reluctantly Mulder nudged Scully, waking her up.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They picked up their rental car and headed straight toward the Miller residence. 
On the way there they noticed how vacant Lancaster seemed to be. Vast green
fields stretched out and only cows and barns dotted their surfaces.

"A real party town," Mulder commented wryly. 

They made their way into the somewhat more inhabited city and arrived at 
23 Fairview Avenue. As they entered the slightly run down apartment building, 
Scully turned to Mulder and asked, "Is Mr. Miller expecting us?"

"Not really. But the local law enforcement said that he'll most likely be 
more than willing to cooperate with our investigation. Miller almost 
reached the point of a nervous breakdown when search parties failed to 
turn up any clues of Kim's location. He's apparently blaming himself for 
her abduction." 

They arrived in front of apartment 12 and stopped. 

"Abduction? There's that word again. Don't you mean kidnapping?" asked Scully.

"Maybe, maybe not," replied Mulder. He knocked on the door.

The man who answered the door was about 20 years old. Average height and
weight. Nothing unusual about him.

Mulder and Scully both raised their badges. "Mr. Miller?" inquired Mulder. "We're 
Special Agents Mulder and Scully from the FBI. We're investigating..."

"You found her?!" he interrupted anxiously.

"No, I'm afraid we haven't, Mr. Miller. But if you help us we may be able to." 
Scully told the man softly. 

The man cast his eyes downward, clearly disappointed. He stepped aside in a
silent way of inviting them inside. 

As Mulder and Scully entered, they could see very clearly that the apartment was 
cluttered and neglected as far as cleaning went. Miller shuffled over to an old 
chair, sat, and motioned for them to take a seat on the couch. They both did so.

He hung his head in his hands. "So I guess your here to ask questions." he said 
monotonously. "Well fire away I guess."

Mulder cleared his throat. "Mr. Miller, what were you and Kim doing the night 
she was abduct...umm, kidnapped?"

"Well, her parents who had been visiting just left that morning. So we were 
going to have dinner together at her house. We were planning our wedding 
arrangements," said Miller.

"Did her parents know about the wedding?" asked Scully.

"Yeah, but I can't say they were happy about it. They always expected Kim to
marry some rich ass hole with a white mansion and a Mercedes in the driveway."

Scully thought about that. "Really? Unhappy about it to the point of 
becoming hostile perhaps?" 

Miller looked up briefly and laughed slightly. Not a happy laugh. A sarcastic, 
weary laugh. He returned his gaze to the floor again. "I know where you're going 
with that. If you're thinking her parents staged this whole thing in some 
sick way of keeping Kim away from me you're wrong. They left to visit relatives 
in Alaska that Friday. They've been snowed in there ever since, unable to get
home. If they hated me before I'm just dying to know what they think of me now. After 
I let those.....those things just take away their only daughter. I'm too afraid 
to speak to them." He sounded exhausted. 

Mulder knew he had a right to be. He lost the person closest to him. He glanced 
at Scully through the corner of his eye. He knew what that felt like. He'd been 
there. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

About twenty questions later, the two FBI agents had gotten no valuable
information and David's voice was getting shakier by the second. They left and head for Kim's
house. It was a considerable drive, since the house was tucked away on the far edge of 
the country. Once they arrived, Mulder used the spare key that David had 
given them to open the large, oak, front door. Once inside it was obvious that Kim 
had much better standards than David had in the way of cleanliness. They made 
their way to the dining room, where the 'event' had occured.

"So what did you think about David?" Mulder asked Scully while he examined the 
large picture window. 

"Well, he's obviously upset about Kim's disappearance. I suspect 
that he didn't have anything to do with it." 

"Mmhmm." 

"But I've seen a lot of good actors before. He could be faking it."

"That sounds pretty implausible to me Scully. The guy looked like 
he could've burst into tears at any moment," he replied.

"Yeah, you're right." She gave an exasperated sigh. "I honestly don't know what 
to think about this case at the moment. I dunno even where to begin 
interpreting the whole 'shadowy figures' scenario."

Turning around, Mulder smiled at her. "Well, my interpretation is pretty easy 
to figure out."

"Mulder, why would aliens abduct her in such a dramatic matter? I 
thought that they used tricky devices like missing time or memory 
erasure to cover up that sort of thing?"

"You catch on fast Scully. Does this mean you're possibly entertaining the 
idea that Kim Kauffman was, in fact, abducted by aliens?" he asked, 
slightly amused.

Before Scully had a chance to answer, Mulder's cell phone rang. He pulled 
it out of his trench coat pocket.

"Mulder."

"Agent Mulder?" the voice on the other line said. "This is Deputy Jeffries 
down at the sheriff's office. The one you contacted about the Kauffman case. 
It looks like we have two kidnapping cases on our hands now."

"What? Since when?"

Scully leaned in to try to hear what was going on.

"Approximately 4:30 this morning," answered the deputy. "You might wanna 
stop down at the sheriff's office. We have the witness here."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Mulder, Scully, and Deputy Jeffries observed the woman from the other side of
the two-way mirror. She was fidgeting with a handkerchief and tears flowed freely 
from her eyes. 

"Her name's Maureen Autrey. She claims her husband had trouble sleeping 
last night so he woke up early that morning to get a glass of milk. When she 
came down to join him a bright light fell through the windows. The same figures 
that David Miller described entered through the walls and dragged him off. She 
couldn't move or make an any attempt to help him." Deputy Jeffries turned toward 
Mulder and Scully. "Almost an exact copy of Mr. Miller's report."

"What do you know about the husband?" asked Scully.

The deputy continued. "His name was Eric Autrey. They'd been married for one
and a half years now. He was a good natured guy. Never got drunk, didn't do drugs, 
never even smoked a single cigarette in his life. He didn't have any enemies, 
as far as I know." 

"Can we interview her now?" Mulder asked.

"If you wanna chance it," Jeffries said reluctantly. "She's really shook up but, hey, 
be my guest."

Mulder nodded. He and Scully headed for the door of the small cement room. It
was very dreary and the only furniture was a dilapidated table and three chairs. They
took their seats across from Maureen who didn't appear to take any interest in these
new visitors.

"Mrs. Autrey?" Scully said cautiously. 

Maureen looked up. Her hands were shaking slightly.

"We're Agents Scully and Mulder from the FBI. Can we ask you some
questions?" she continued.

Maureen only nodded and continued to fidget with the white handkerchief she
was holding.

"Mrs. Autrey, did you and your husband get along well?" asked Mulder.

Maureen nodded again. "We always got along. He was the best guy a woman
could ask for."

Scully kept her voice low. "We know how harshly this must be affecting you, 
but do you remember any little details that you forgot to mention?" 

She shook her head violently and began crying harder. In between sobs she
choked out, "I told everything to the police. Please don't make me repeat it."

Before Scully could comfort her the door swung open and the deputy stood there.
"Agents," he said excitedly, "I think we got a lead."

Mulder and Scully traded surprised glances and walked out of the damp 
room to join Deputy Jeffries. They looked at him, hoping that they finally 
would start getting somewhere on this case.

Jeffries explained, "We took a sample of the soup that Kim and David had been
eating that night. Since we weren't expecting to achieve any evidence from it we neglected 
to test it for anything odd sooner. That is until we tested the contents of 
the milk that the Autreys had been drinking. It contained a powerful 
hallucinogen. We were suspicious so we ran the same test on the soup. The 
exact same hallucinogen was found in it too."

"Well that explains the bizarre nature of the kidnapping," Scully thought out loud. 
"These 'shadowy figures' could just be the illusions induced by the 
hallucinogen. The kidnappers are, most likely, perfectly normal."

Mulder was about to add on to that but suddenly a loud commotion came from the 
front desk. Suspicious Mulder, Scully and the deputy ran towards the 
front of the office with guns drawn.

"Where is he dammit?!" screamed a female voice. 

As they entered the lobby they saw a young woman in the middle of the room 
with dirt streaked across her face. A large read stain covered her muddy shirt. 
Her pant cuffs were turn and equally as dirty. Her face showed clear panic. 

"I wanna know where he is!!" she continued yelling. 

Mulder recognized the face from the photo in the file Deputy Jeffries had 
sent him. Surprised, he addressed the woman, "Kim? Kim Kauffman?" 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 2

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