Northern Vancouver, Canada
Capilano Suspension Bridge Park
January 17
11:28 P.M.

Two teenagers, Mark Summers and Eva Clearlake walked in the woods. Mark was trying to coax her forward. "Come on Eva, please. There's this really cool cave, that's nice and real private. Your dad won't find us there."

"Mark.. I- i don't really want to do this... Can we go somewhere else, please."

"I didn't hike all this way for nothing, Eva let's go." Mark grabbed her arm and pulled her away. Eva cried out and shook him off.

"It takes two people to make it happen Mark. I'm cold and tired, I wanna go home." Eva stomped away, followed quickly by Mark.

"Let me-" A rustle echoed above the trees and a bird winged away. "What was that?" A soft beating sound echoed above the trees and quickly got louder. Leaves swirled around them and small, black shapes fluttered at the corners of their eyes.

Eva screamed as a bough of a tree snapped. She leaped backwards into Mark's arms, burying her face into his camo jacket. Mark stared up at the flying creatures. At once, they swirled down out of the trees and covered the couple. Mark only just made out the glint of red eyes before a blinding pain erupted across his eyelids and he saw no more.

***
J Edgar Hoover Building, FBI Headquarters
Basement Office of Agents Mulder and Scully
January 19, 8:13 A.M.

Mid January came their first case of the year. Scully had been called to A.D. Skinner's office to be given the case. As she rode the elevator down to the basement, Scully perused the file. Two people dead from a multitude of bat bites. Personally, Scully had never heard of bats attacking people before. She knew they were small, nocturnal, and had echolocation that they used to hunt their prey. Very rarely had they ever been seen by people.

Scully opened the door to find Mulder with his legs raised on the desk, which would've been okay, had he not been wearing a skirt. "Mulder, put your feet down, I can see your underwear."

Mulder smirked over at her, "Miss them? I must say, women undergarments are much more comfortable with their lace and-"

Scully interrupted him. "If you want, you can sit there discussing undergarments or you can come with me and investigate a case..."

Mulder immediately put his feet down and slipped on his shoes. "Why didn't you say so? Let's go!"

Over the next few hours, Mulder was busy ranting about his theories about the case to Scully, who was driving. During the flight to Vancouver, all Mulder could talk about was the behaviors of bats, which surprisingly didn't include them sucking the blood out of people. "The only bat species equipped with the ability to suck out blood are Vampire bats, and even they are strictly restricted to cows and smaller animals. Most bats are actually vegetarian and eat only fruit or flies-"

"Mulder! I know you're excited about our first case of the year, but please! A little peace and quiet?" Scully burst, fed up with the constant chatter. Mulder stared at her in shock, hurt glinting in his eyes.

"Scully, this isn't just our first case of the year, it's our first case like this. So I'm trying to tell you my theories if we're going to play our part." His voice was hushed, trying to convey the message to her. It left Scully shocked, not knowing that his talk wasn't actually just jargon, but important.

"I'm sorry, Mulder. I just... Didn't realize." Scully reached across the armrest and gripped Mulder's hand. "Continue." Mulder grinned and opened his mouth. As they were disembarking, Scully listened attentively to Mulder's two most prominent theories.

"Most likely, it's a foreign virus that infected these bats, that maybe came from out of this world. Bats aren't known to behave this way, so a virus carried by an extraterrestrial could be the cause. Second, these bats are a new species genetically modified with extraterrestrial DNA." Scully smiled, his theories were generally far fetched but bats with UFO genes?

"You always manage to surprise me, don't you?" Mulder sent her a cheeky smile.

***
Vancouver Police Station
1:25 PM

Two hours later, the agents were done interviewing the parents of the victims. "Nothing suspicious there," Mulder sighed as he exited the Clearlake residence. "Let's go to the Coroners and examine the bodies." Two sherifs were inside the station, chortling about something. Scully could distinctly hear the words 'Spooky' and 'UFO's'.

She strode forward and introduced herself, anger smoldering inside her for Mulder. He wasn't just a spooky FBI agent who spent all his time staring at the stars, he had one of the highest solve rates in the Bureau and was one of the best FBI profilers she'd ever known. "Hi, I'm Agent Fox Mulder and this is my partner Agent Dana Scully. We're here to perform an autopsy on Eva and Mark."

"Ah," one of them, a short blonde said. "I'm Sheriff Dean and he's Sheriff Sam. I, ah, suppose you're a medical doctor too, Agent Mulder?"

"Among other things," Sheriff Sam muttered, he was tall and had long brown locks. Scully shot him a glare.

"Actually I'll be-" Mulder started.

"No!" Scully snapped. " She didn't want Mulder to be made fun of, even if she was him." I'm doing the autopsy." Dean raised his eyebrows and flicked through his notes.

"It says here Agent Scully is the medical doctor."

"I've been teaching my partner to do autopsies and he'll be assisting me," Mulder assured them with a smile. "Let's go."

Back in the lab with the two bodies in front of them, Mulder backed Scully into a small corner, hands on hips. "What was that?" He hissed. "Are you trying to blow our cover?"

Scully crossed her arms. "No! I'm trying to redeem you! You shouldn't be viewed as a crazy Spooky guy working in the basement obsessed about UFO! I mean, that shouldn't be the only thing you're known for! You're a great profiler with one of the highest solve percentage in the Bureau!" Mulder smiled gently.

"That's who I am, Scully. And this is who you Are," He held a pair of rubber safety gloves and threw them at her. "Let's autopsy some bodies!"

An hour later, Mulder's long sleeved frilled shirt was splattered with blood and his gray skirt was spotted with red liquid. He groaned, "Ugh I'm never doing this again...."

"You're gonna have to."

"I know! I mean, it would've been better if we found like, a poison or something but these kids are healthy, albeit dead."

"I don't know, Mulder. These bites are a little ragged- as if The bats literally sank their teeth in and ripped skin off, before biting again and ripping off more flesh." Scully revealed, studying a rather vicious bite in Eva's shoulder.

"Let's visit the Crime Scene, maybe we'll find a clue."

***
Capilano Suspension Bridge Park
3:45 PM

Mulder studied the high suspension bridges above them. The Capilano Suspension Bridge Park was a popular tourist attraction during the summers, with the high glass floored bridges stretching deep into the forest. The bridges were where tourists studied the pines, redwoods, and oaks that made up the forest. In the middle of the winter, not many people explored the park, and as such, provided no witnesses to the mysterious crime that had happened two days before. Down here on the forest floor, the sunlight rippled across the leaf strewn ground in patches.

In this particular area of the forest, blood spattered the leaves and trees. Small clumps of hair and skin littered the ground, which Scully was collecting for evidence. Mulder, as usual, was being suspicious and was ranging the outskirts of the crime scene. He stopped at a particular gap in the foliage. "Mulder? What is it?" Scully asked, joining her partner.

"There's a gap here," He muttered, and stepped over a fallen log. Mulder quickly realized That wearing heels to a forest wasn't such a good idea but wobbled through the foliage anyway. Scully, who hated the forest, hesitated but decided she couldn't leave her partner out there.

She caught up to him outside the mouth of a cave. He was staring into it, eyes blank and deep in thought. "I have a feeling this is where they came from." Scully nodded. "I need to get some surveillance equipment set up around the parameters," Mulder continued. "In case they come out tonight." Scully sighed but followed him back to the car where they lugged back some video cameras Mulder had somehow packed in his suitcase.

Scully, being the taller of the two now, finished stringing up a camera to the lowest branch of an oak. Mulder, activated the cameras and synced it up to the computer. "We're good and ready to go, let's get back to the motel."

Back at the motel, Scully was getting ready for bed, brushing her teeth. Mulder's teeth were relatively healthy and white, but that didn't mean she had to be lax on dental hygiene. Mulder was spread on the bed, eyes glued to the screen. The green outlines on the screen were slightly blurred but still distinguishable as the wildlife around the cave. The opening still yawned black. Scully padded around to stand at his shoulder. "Shee anythunk yit?" Her words were muffled by the foam around her mouth and the plastic brush.

"No- Actually yes! Look-" Mulder and Scully leaned forward and studied the screen. A guy staggered into sight. He was decked in the attire of a hiker, cap, pack, water bottle, everything. He was haggard, and tired. He breathed a sigh of relief and headed to the cave, apparently intending to sleep in it. "No!" Mulder yelled and pointed to the screen.

A stream of airborn shapes had swooped out of the cave entrance and was swarming him. The man's cries echoed statically from the screen. Scully turned away and went back into the restroom while Mulder continued to watch in sick fascination. "Hey Scully! Look what I found!" He cried out suddenly and froze the screen and pointed to the form.

It had to be atleast 3 times bigger than the rest of the bats and had fangs longer and sharper than the rest. It's eyes glinted maliciously and both agents watched in horror as it sank it's fangs straight into the man's throat. Scully stifled a sob and buried her head into Mulder's shoulder. He petted the soft, fluffy brown hair and whsipered, "It's alright Scully, Shhh... We'll kill the damn thing and never look back." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I promise."

Vancouver Police Station
11: 43 AM

Scully was busy inspecting the body they'd witnessed the murder to. He had, indeed been bitten in the throat, evidence to which showed the ragged hole and puncture wounds. He had been identified as Bryan Gredford and his wife had been notified of his untimely death. Nothing else was wrong though, aside from the bite wounds. Scully flipped through the results of the toxicology report amd found no strange chemicals or toxins in the blood. She sighed. She'd have to finish the report when Mulder was back, she needed his voice which was technically hers to record her findings.

She flipped the white sheet back over the body and slid it back into the chamber. Washing up, she removed the lab coat and goggles and replaced Mulder's suit jacket and tie. He still insisted on her wearing his crazy unprofessional ties and argued she needed to stay in Character. She had currently a deep blue tie with electric blue diamonds. Mulder burst in, red hair wild and sticking together with sweat. A strand piece of leaf was peeking out and Scully reached over and plucked it out.

"I have a plan." Mulder stared at her and started to exlain. After he had finished, Scully stared at him in shock.

"You... Want.... Us.... To spend a night in the froest NEXT TO THE CAVE!?!" Scully practically bellowed. He knew she hated forests and now there was a freaking killer bat in there.

"Yeah, look Scully! We can shoot the damn thing and kill it before it kills anyone else!" Mulder was right, and she knew it. However much she didn't like it, he was right and they were, yet again, spending another night in a forest.

Sheriffs Dean and Sam ran inside, looking back and forth between them. "Everything alright Agents?" Dean asked.

"We heard shouting," Sam added.

"No, thank you. We're fine. My partner just uhm- suggested something I hadn't thought of before." Scully said.

"If you say so," Dean said dubiously and stalked away, but not before sending her a contemptous look. Scully felt heat wash through her. What was his problem!? She turned back to Mulder after the authorities had left.

"Fine," She sighed. "Let's go shoot that bat."

***

11:24 PM
Capilano Suspension Bridge Park

Scully sat outside a few feet from the cave entrance. Mulder was pacing outside the cave, gun cocked and ready. "I don't understand! They should be out already..." He was wearing hiking boots and Sweatpants, having gotten tired of the pantsuits and tripping on roots in his heels.

"I don't know, Mulder. Maybe they're gone."

"They wouldn't just disappear like that. I think the large bats control the others." Mulder paused. "I think I'll go into the cave, to check it out."

Scully sat up from the root she'd been using as a pillow. "Mulder! There's a freaking killer bat in there!"

"I'll be fine, Sculls. Here, stand behind me." Scully got into position and loaded her gun. "One, Two, Three, GO!" Mulder burst into the cave, gun in his right hand and flashlight in the other. The yellow beam shone into the craggy stone cave, which turned out only to be around 10 feet deep and 8 feet wide. Mulder shone the light on the ceiling and Scully readied herself, expecting to see bats. However, there was nothing there but rough patches of moss.

Mulder continued into the cave, exploring every crevice. He couldn't believe it. The bats had come directly from here! There wasn't even a sign any creature had ever inhabited it. No animal bones, prints, or excrement of any kind.

Scully shone her flashlight into the right corner ceiling of the cave. She'd heard a soft but still distinguishable squeaking nose. A furry brown face peered back at her. It had a squashed nose and ruby red eyes. "Mulder!" She whispered. Mulder made his way to her, instantly spotting the bat. Appearing to be spooked, it disappeared back inside the hole.

Mulder, ever stubborn, perched on top of a rock and peered into the hole. As he was standing on tiptoe, Scully moved behind him to catch her much shorter partner, in case he slipped. "There's nothing her-" He shrieked and leaped off just as a flurry of lithe bats exploded out. Scully barely managed to catch him before Mulder fell. She set him down, grabbed his wrist and hightailed it out of there.

The Feds stood back to back, gun poised and aimed above them at the tornado of bats circling above them. "Find the Alpha!" Mulder yelled and fired a shot. It felled one bat, which dropped down with a screech of pain. The rest of the flying rodents, as Scully liked to call them, swooped down with teeth bared. For a species generally known for eating fruit and small insects, they had sharp canines.

Scully just managed to shoot one in the head before it clawed her cheek. As the minutes ensued, burst after burst of gunfire was heard. If it wasn't for the fact that the bats flinched backward at the sound, Scully had no doubt they'd be extremely injured already. As it was, every shot offered at least a half minute of calm before the swarm attacked again. She still hadn't a clue where the Alpha was, which was a problem because she was on her last clip of bullets.

"Mulder!?"

"I- I found it Scully! Hold on!" The bats descended again, leaving a stinging scratch just above her eye. She winced as blood spurted into her eyes. "SCULLY!" Mulder screamed, twisting back around in horror to find the Giant Bat almost upon his partner. "Watch out!" She stared up in shock at the horrifying face of the creature. It's features had warped crookedly and its mouth hung open in a permanent snarl. Fangs longer than toothpicks gleamed white. She closed her eyes and prayed to God that Mulder would at least get his body back.

BANG! A crushing weight fell on top of her, bringing her to the ground. Above her, the bats stopped. Footsteps, muffled through the leaves, came toward her and suddenly, the weight was thrown off her. Scully found her own face staring down at her, twisted in concern and fear.

"Scully!" Mulder knelt down and pulled her up. His fingers brushed the cuts on her face. "You're bleeding." He murmured and carresed Scully's face. He placed her head against his chest and pressed a kiss to her temple. "I'm sorry Scully," He whispered, and to her surprise, he was crying. "I could've lost you..."

Scully struggled to sit up and placed a hand in his hair. "It's not your fault Mulder. I'm fine, you're fine, now let's go drag the carcass back to the car."

"No, you don't understand. I couldn't bear to lose you." Scully understood. She couldn't bear the thought either of having to spend her whole life in Mulder's body. If she had died, then he would have spent the rest of his life as Dana Scully. The raw pain in his voice surprised her though, it seemed to run deeper than the Gender thing.

"It's fine, Mulder. You killed that bat, and your plan was good. It was my fault, I wasn't paying attention. I'm fine now and let's get back to the motel. I need a shower." Mulder helped Scully up silently and they both went to stand over the thing they had killed. Mulder's bullet had went right through the back.

"Once that thing died the other bats must've been freed from the control and left." Mulder voiced his theory, noticing the night creatures had vanished. They picked the carcass up, it weighed about twenty pounds but was still hard to carry with it's floppy, wings. Scully winced as she trod on the body of a fallen bat. She actually felt kinda sorry for them, their whole life had literally been torn apart.

They dropped the Alpha unceremoniously into the trunk and drove back to the motel, exhausted.

***

Vancouver Police Station
10: 32 AM

Scully was guiding Mulder through the autopsy of the creature. After measuring it, they had found it had a wingspan of 5 feet, weighed 19 pounds, and there had never been a reported sighting of a bat this big. She listened to Mulder's theory and committed the details to memory. She would be declaring her theory to the Sheriffs later and hopefully, would have DNA evidence to back it up.

Just on time, Sheriffs Dean and Sam walked in, a pie in Dean's hand. "What the f**k is that!?" Dean yelled and dropped the pie where it splattered on the floor in a burst of red. "My pie!!"

"It looks like a giant bat." Sam said, inspecting the bloodied carcass. After three hours of rigorous cutting and splitting, Scully had managed to atleast identify half of the organs the bat had. She'd also discovered what a appeared to be a bat fetus in it's uterus and couldn't help but feel grateful that Mulder had talked her into attacking. One giant bat was enough.

"It is." Mulder said feigning anger. "My partner suggests that this may actually be part UFO."

Sam and Dean stared at Scully. "You're crazy." Dean finally announced.

Scully swallowed hard. She wasn't used to such harsh criticism, especially when all her ideas were regarded as plausible and scientific. This was how Mulder felt all the time, she realized with a pajg of sadness. "Have you ever seen such a giant bat before? This thing doesn't even remotely resemble any known species of Bat out there, and it's features suggest something of other worldly origins."

"And I take it you've seen something out of this world huh?" Dean snorted. She was really staring to hate him.

"Actually yes, when my sister was ubducted," Scully replied cooly.

"Ooohhh Spooky!"

"Dean, leave him alone." Sam told him.

"If you don't believe me, the DNA results will be coming in soon." A beeping soud interrupted our standoff. Mulder crossed to the fax machine and studied the papers. His eyes widened and he crossed quickly back to me.

He whispered, loudly enough for the whole room to hear. "Mulder, these results don't match any known molecules in the world. There's a few traces of human RNA but that's it, it's like, this thing is completely from a different world."

"Well, Sheriffs. I guess the case is solved. The CDC will be coming in soon to contain the body." Scully strode out of there, relieved the case was finally over. Sam and Dean stepped aside, and Scully noticed reluctant respect shining out of Sam's eyes as she passed. Dean ignored her and winked at Mulder. Call me, he mouthed.

As Mulder threw in the last of the suitcases into the rental, Scully took a deep breath. It seemed she owed someone an apology. The door clicked shut and Mulder put on his seatbelt. "Mulder," She said staring into his eyes. "I owe you an apology.." Before he could ask why, Scully went on. "I've always been hard on you about your ideas and theories and I'm sorry. Being you, it's totally different. I've noticed it before, that the agents and sometimes officers treat you differently because of all the rumors they've heard. Frankly, their not being fair. I know as a partner, I've gotten pretty worked up about some of your more outlandish theories and i realize now that I shouldn't be treating you this way. I'm your partner, I should support you. So I'm sorry, and I'll try not to dismiss your theories as fast, unless their completely out of the question. I hate to admit it, but most of your ideas are right."

Mulder smiled and flashed a small smirk at her. "I don't mind at all. It's what's fun about working with you, I love the fact that even though you think I'm crazy, you act like I deserve just as much respect ad everyone else. So you have nothing to apologize for. Instead, I'm thanking you." They stared at each other for a few.

"Let's go home, Mulder."

I seriously hope that didn't suck. It was a bit hard to write. But 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪 to anyone that gets the references in this chapter. Next will be Scully's birthday.