Title: Should Have Stayed Home Today
Author: Rotem Shahar
Feedback: LaughsR@prodigy.net
Rating: R
Category: VA
Keywords: Missing Scene
Spoilers: Herrenvolk
Summary: Who finds X’s body?
Notes: Written for the After_the_Fact Herrenvolk challenge.
Disclaimer: Mulder and X aren’t mine. They belong to 1013 Productions, 
Chris Cater, and FOX. No infringement is intended and no money is being 
made by using these characters. Ariela is mine!

~*~*~

Ariela found her bag and threw her notebook into it. She was in a hurry. 
Class was going to start in fifteen minutes and she didn’t want to be late. 
She missed the class last week, and didn’t want to be any more behind than 
she already was. 

Finding her work uniform, she threw it into her bag, on top of her notebook 
and rushed towards the door.

She turned around as she realized the keys were still on the kitchen table.

A few minutes later, after making sure she had everything she needed, Ariela 
walked out the door.

~*~*~

X slithered across the hallway floor towards Mulder’s open door.

~*~*~

Ariela closed the door and locked it.

~*~*~

X wrote SRSG on the floor as he took his last breath.

~*~*~

Ariela turned around to leave.

Her eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open when she saw X. She was 
paralyzed, not knowing what to do. Ariela just stood there for a full seven 
minutes, just staring at the dead body.

Finally, she said something. "Holy fucking shit!"

She was still standing right in front of her door, not moving.
 
"Police. Call the police." She told herself, finally realizing she should do 
something. She turned around and frantically shoved the key into the lock.
"Unlock damn it!" She yelled as she twisted the key.

"Hey! You! Stop!" Ariela heard someone yell. She turned to see who it was. A 
man holding up a FBI badge was yelling at her. After unlocking and opening 
her door, she stood outside and waited. 

"Yes. Send some back up. We don’t know if they’re still in the building." She 
heard the FBI-man say into his cell phone.

As he approached he saw the anxiety and fear in her eyes, the tension in her 
demeanor.

"I’m Special Agent Fox Mulder with the FBI, I just called for help. It should be 
arriving shortly."

Ariela let out a breath of air she didn’t know she’d been holding.

"Do you really think that whoever did this is still in the building?" she asked, 
scared of the possibilities.

"I don’t know," he told her. "You were going somewhere, would you like me 
to escort you out of the building?" Mulder questioned, understanding her 
fear.

"Yeah, thanks." Ariela told him as she locked the door again.

They silently walked to the back stairwell and down the stairs, and into the 
alley. Mulder accompanied her as she walked around the building and to her 
car.

"Thanks," she told him as she got into her car and closed her door.

After pulling out of the driveway she muttered to herself, "Can’t live here 
anymore. Gotta move. Gotta move. Gotta call mom. See what she says. 
Maybe move back home for a bit while finding a new apartment. Need to get 
out of there..." She trailed off as she turned the radio on, full volume.

~*~*~

Ariela arrived to class as the professor began the lecture. She sat through it 
all, thinking about what had just happened. When the lecture was over, she 
realized she hadn’t heard a single word her professor had said. ‘Should have 
stayed home today’ she morosely thought to herself as she made her way 
out of the lecture hall and back to her car.

~*~*~

The End.