John stood, looking up at her apartment building. She was out on sick leave, and it was eating away at him. What was wrong? He knew she was no longer in the hospital, but what he would give to find out why she was no longer at work. He missed her. It just didn't feel the same without her.

He finally turned away. He couldn't do it. He knew her heart lay with Mulder, no matter where the man was. He just wished she knew how he felt.

Walking quickly over to his car, he got out his keys and was about to get in when he heard her call, "Agent Doggett!"

John whirled around, and he watched as she came out of the building, wrapped in a housecoat. The wind whipped her red hair about her face as she raced over to him, "Agent Doggett, what are you doing here? Is something wrong?" she asked, concern in her voice. Concern for the whereabouts of Mulder, no doubt.

"No, no," he assured her, "It was nothing. I should get going."

Dana put a soft hand on his forearm. "Then why are you here?"

John shook his head to clear it of thoughts of kissing her, "It was nothing."

"Well, it must be something, otherwise you wouldn't be here."

John turned to her, his blue eyes clouded.

"No one is telling me why you are on sick leave, Dana!" he said gruffly, emotion filling his voice.

"It's personal, John," she finally said his first name, and he could feel his insides begin to melt.

"I know it is, Dana. But I thought we were at least friends." He said, but his voice was so low, Dana couldn't make it out.

"I'm sorry?" she asked, wanting him to continue.

But John just shook his head and got into his car. As he started the engine, he heard her knock on the window. He lowered it down, and looked up at her.

"What is this really about?" Dana asked, holding the housecoat to her closer, as the wind sent chills down her spine. Or was that something John's imploring gaze was doing to her?

"It's about me, Dana," he said quietly. "I have to go."

And with that he drove off into the night, the taillights blinking as he slowed and turned the corner.

Scully woke with a start. Her hand immediately went to her belly, which wasn't quite so flat anymore. She was beginning to show, and no matter what type of clothing she wore, she knew that soon anyone would be able to tell.

Looking at the clock by her bedside, she noted that it was 8:00 AM. Might as well get up now, anyway. Getting out of the bed, she paused momentarily as a sense of vertigo swept over her. Leaning against the wall, she waited for it to dissipate, and finally moved on to the shower.

Her mind was still on last night. John Doggett outside her apartment building. There had been no reason for him to be there, and she knew it. He had told her nothing, and she was pretty sure she had heard him mutter something about it being a problem of his own. What did he mean?

As she lathered shampoo into her hair, her mind wandered to the depth and shade of John's blue eyes. There were so many emotions behind those eyes. It was at times like this that she wished those eyes would turn on her with unspeakable emotions. Oh, but it was just the hormones talking.

She stepped out of the shower, dried off, dressed, and padded her way into the kitchen. Before she could even crack the eggs, her phone was ringing. Sighing, she moved to the portable phone, picked up, and answered, "Hello?"

"Dana."

Scully paused for a moment, "AD Skinner?"

"Yes. We need your help."

"On what?" she asked, as she put the eggs away. This would probably be a dry toast day.

"Agent Doggett has gone missing, Dana."

Scully stopped putting things away.

"That's impossible. I saw him last night!" she said.

"He didn't show up for work this morning. We tried calling his apartment, there's no answer. This isn't like him, Dana. We both know it."

And that was true. Dana really did know it. That man was more loyal to his job than even Mulder. Mulder was loyal only to the truth. But Doggett? He was loyal to each and every one of his coworkers. Dana thought back on only a month before when he blindly followed her instructions as he went deep into the Subway systems to find what was killing people. He had let her stay above ground, and he hadn't asked a question as to why it was only he that was to go down. He just accepted it.

So for him to not show up - this was strange. And Dana felt the first roots of fear settle in the pit of her stomach. What was it that he wanted to tell her last night? There had been something on his mind, but at the last second he had backed out. "I'm on my way in, Skinner." she said, and hung up.

And so she went.

John awoke with pain shooting through his head. Groaning, he tried to roll over, only to realize he was in a sitting position. Opening his eyes, at first he could see nothing. Slowly, his surroundings became clearer.

He was still in his car... and all he could see through the windshield was dirt. He looked to the side. and could see through his window. Well that was something. But it appeared he was upside down. Well, that might explain his splitting headache.

Next to the car ran a fast moving river. Luckily for John, the car had landed far enough up the bank, that he had no risk of the car falling in. Unbuckling his seatbelt, he sank onto the ceiling of the car, and he pushed the door open.

Tumbling out of the car onto the bank, he slowly got to his feet. He appeared to be in one piece, aside from a few cuts and bruises. He looked up the bank, and groaned. Quite the hike.

How the hell did he get here? He remembered leaving Dana's. And driving. Just aimlessly driving, trying to get everything off of his mind. He couldn't have gone too far into the country, could he?

He began to make his way up the embankment.

Scully stood in Skinner's office. Skinner sat behind his desk, his head in his hands. "I don't know what to do, Scully." he said, as he looked up.

"Well, perhaps the question is what can we do?" Scully asked, looking at him, still unsure as to why he brought her in.

"Technically, we can't do anything." Skinner growled, and stood up. He began to pace. "According to Kersh, we can't do a damn thing. It hasn't even been a day, Kersh says. Why worry? He's sure Doggett will come to work tomorrow, with a good excuse."

Skinner stopped, turned, and stared at Scully, "No matter what I said, I couldn't get it through his thick skull that this just isn't like John. The only reason John would not call to let us know what is happening is if he's in true danger."

Scully nodded her agreement. "I still don't know what you want me to do," Scully said.
"You aren't on duty, Dana. You can do whatever you want, and not have to suffer the consequences. To a certain extent. I need you to help me search for John."

"And how do you expect me to do that?" Scully asked, feeling the fear settle deeper. It was up to her to find John?! She didn't have the means to do this! This was a job more for John than anyone else.

"You were the last to see him, Dana!" Skinner pleaded, "And you've been working for him with some time! You know what state of mind he was in when last you saw him. You must know of a few places he goes!"

Scully was quiet. True to all of the above. "Alright. I'll help. But I'm not doing anything illegal!"

"I would never expect that from you, Agent Scully." Skinner said, as he leaned against his desk. "Now tell me. What do you think happened?"

John made it to the top of bank, and surveyed the dirt road. Where the hell did he go last night? Looking down at his totalled car, he sighed. Well, thank goodness he had car insurance.

Lowering his gaze to the road, he looked at the skid marks his car had created. "Okay, so I was coming from the east." he mumbled to himself, and started in that direction.

His plan was to find a house, and ask if he could use the phone. He honestly had no idea where he was.

As he crested a hill, he looked down the opposite side at fields of wild grass, and his heart dropped. There was not a house for miles. What was the plan now? He knew he had come this way, so eventually he would come to some sort of civilization, right? Looking back the way he had come, he tried to determine if this was a wise decision. Finally, he continued on.

He should have told her. John cursed himself as he walked along. If he had just blurted the damn words out, he wouldn't be out here, completely lost. What had there been to lose? She'd tell him she wasn't interested, and life would go back to the way it had always been. It wasn't as if they had something going on anyway.

As the road levelled out, he realized something, and almost slapped himself for being such a fool. Reaching into his pocket, he fished out his cellphone and flipped it open. Curses! Of course there would be no service out here. Just his luck.

As if things couldn't get any worse, it began to rain. Great. Just great.

John trudged on, knowing he would be soaked to the bone within minutes. And, within moments, instead of just raining it was pouring. And then lightning raced across the sky. A few short seconds later thunder boomed over the land.

Fuck.