Part 2

Startled and rather puzzled by the request, Scully slipped into the kitchen. She returned a moment later with a large tupperware bowl almost the same color as her hair.

"Mr. Harper, I've got this, but what--" She stopped, her face wrinkling in distaste.

Mice! Chance Harper was virtually covered in white mice! A couple of other patrons were standing beside him, holding a mouse by the tail with each hand. Chance reached for the bowl and Scully pulled back as he took it from her.

"Call me Chance," he told her calmly, beginning to pluck mice off himself and drop them into the bowl, which they couldn't climb out of because of its steep, slick sides. Some managed to catch their tiny paws on the edges of the bowl in a vain attempt NOT to be deposited in it, but he pried them loose and added them to the squirming mass of white fur and pink eyes, ears and tails. A security guard came over, holding one mouse by the tail that four others were clinging to as if their lives depended on it. Which they might.

"And my shift's officially over, too," the guard commented wryly. "Although I have to admit, this one has been more interesting than usual, thanks to these little guys."

Chance just smiled. By this time, there were about fifty mice in the bowl. The other people in the cafeteria had either helped gather or stood around looking terrified. "Did we miss any?" he asked.

Scully held one young one up by the tail that she had caught trying to crawl onto their table and eat the abandoned lunch. "I think this is it."

"So, now what do we do with them?"

"Take them to Skinner and let him deal with them?" she suggested, watching the squirming contents of the bowl with a detatched amusement.

"Okay..." Chance mumbled. "Who's Skinner?"

Assistant Director Skinner looked up, startled, as Agent Scully entered his office with a man in a brown trenchcoat who was carrying a large, orange, plastic bowl. Both of them had almost silly smiles on their faces, which was something he rarely saw with her. He directed his gaze towards the bowl, convinced it must be the cause, but as it swept over Scully's hands, he caught a glint of something shining on one of them, which drew his attention.

His eyes widened. An engagement ring? Well, THIS was certainly unexpected, though it would explain the goofy grins. He hadn't known she was seeing anyone, and several people in the Bureau had speculated that she might be intersted in her partner...

Skinner shifted his gaze to the man standing beside the young agent. He didn't seem like Scully's type at all, but who was he to say what was her type?

"Sir, I'd like you to meet Chance Harper. Chance, this is my boss, Assistant Director Skinner."

Skinner stood to shake Chance's hand before realizing that the man's hands were a little full. This drew his attention back to the bowl.

"You've got quite a handful, there, Mr. Harper," he commented, nodding at Chance's load. "What is it?"

The photographer tipped it towards him enough for him to see, saying, "Someone let these little guys loose in the cafeteria."

Skinner's face went white the moment he saw the contents of the bowl. He slapped the intercom to his secretary. "Send that quarantine team I ordered up to my office, NOW!"

"Sir, they're just mice," Scully objected, puzzled.

"No, they're not 'just' mice. Have you ever heard of Neo-Typhus D?"

She nodded. "A strain of Typhus developed for use in the Vietnam conflict. It was never used because the war ended, and it was discovered to be transmittable only through bodily fluids. After the war, production of it was outlawed, and the existing supplies were destroyed."

"That's what we thought, until this morning. An employee at a local lab called, panicked, saying the lab had been robbed, and the animals used in NTD research stolen. He had been sworn to secrecy by his employers, but was afraid the animals would get loose and infect the population. Apparently, they'd developed a more virulent strain, known as D1, and were selling it to the highest bidder." Skinner gestured towards the bowl. "The animals which disappeared were fifty white mice."

"Well, what do you know? It's still here." Scully smiled as they approached their abandoned table. She studied the meal on her tray. "Although I'd wager it's all room temperature by now."

"At this point, I don't really care." Chance plopped himself into the booth and picked up his sandwich. He glanced up at the agent as she sat down.

As their eyes met, the ridiculousness of the whole situation finally sank in and Scully began to laugh uncontrollably. "If you could have seen yourself, standing there with mice all over you..!"

Her laughter was contagious, and soon Chance was also chuckling, a broad smile brightening up his whole face. The two of them just sat there laughing until one of the cafeteria workers approached the table.

With an answering smile, Gretchen switched their trays for fresh renditions of the same items. "We decided it was the least we could do, Agent Scully," she offered in explanation.

Scully fought to control her laughter. "That has...to be the funniest...thing that has ever happened here!"

Gretchen nodded, grinning. "I'll say. It's no wonder Ynez Spencer decided to take home a souvenier."

That casual statement severed the humor of the moment as Chance and Scully remembered the conversation they had just moments ago with Skinner.

"What kind of souvenier," she asked.

The cafeteria worker looked startled at the sudden change in mood. "One of the mice. She took it home as a pet. Why, is something the matter?"

The agent nodded grimly, pulling a piece of paper out of her pocket. "Do you know Ynez's address?"

Gretchen nodded slowly and carefully recited the address. When she was done writing it down, Scully stood.

"Come on." she called to her companion as she hurried out the door.

Chance picked up his coat and quickly followed her.

The young woman with long dark hair who had opened the door at the Spencer home nodded. "Mom just got home a little while ago."

"Could you please tell her Agent Scully is here to see her?"

"Who is it, Laura?" Scully heard Ynez's voice coming from inside the house.

"An Agent Scully to see you, Mom."

Mrs. Spencer's face brightened. "Agent Scully, please come in! What brings you here?"

"A mouse, actually," Chance answered.

"You mean the one I brought home from the little incident at the cafeteria?

Harris just left to get a cage for it. Why, what's the trouble?"

"I'm afraid you can't keep it," Scully said with a sigh. "We've found out where the mice came from, and if you keep it in the house, there's a good chance your whole family would be put in grave danger."

"From a little mouse?" Ynez asked, startled and a little frightened. "Why?"

"They're lab mice, Ynez. They were being used in germ warfare experiments.

The lab has been shut down, but all of the mice are infected with a deadly and incurable disease. If it bit one of your children, they could die. And even if it didn't, it wouldn't be much of a pet, since it probably won't live much longer."

Mrs. Spencer's face went white. "Laura, go get the container I brought home from work with me, okay? But DON'T touch the mouse!"

"I won't, Mom. I heard her too." Laura's voice was trembling as she disappeared into the back of the house.

"How old is Laura now, anyway, Ynez?"

"She turns twenty-two in a week." Her face lit up. "Did you hear that she's engaged?"

"Engaged? Really?" Scully shot an amused glance in Chance's direction. she thought. "I'll have to congratulate her when she comes back."

"Yes, she and Aaron are very happy. Now, if only she could get Charlie off her back."

"Charlie?" Chance asked.

"Yes, Charlie Soames, her previous boyfriend. I'm telling you, the boy frightens me. He--"

She was interrupted by Laura's reappearance with a covered collander. "Here he is." She held it up and Scully could see the mouse through the holes.

"We'd better get this little guy back to Headquarters."

Chance nodded, taking the collander from Laura's hands, and they headed for the door. In the doorway, Scully turned back to Ynez and Laura. "Thank you both."

"Thank YOU," Ynez replied sincerely. "If you hadn't come for that mouse, my whole family could have gotten sick."

Scully turned to Laura. "It was nice meeting you, Laura." The cafeteria worker's daughter stared at the agent's proferred hand. Scully frowned as she realized she had held out her *left hand.* she wondered.

"Is something wrong?" Scully asked.

"No." Laura shook her head. "It's just...your ring."

"What about it?" she asked curiously.

"It's just like mine."

"I noticed you're not wearing yours right now," Chance commented.

She shook her head, blushing. "I lost it. I was at work and Charlie came in. He gets so furious if I even mention Aaron's name, I was scared of how he'd react to the ring, so I took it off. I haven't seen it since."

Scully glanced at Chance, her eyes wide with disbelief. He just shrugged, an ironic grin on his face. "You don't happen to work in a bakery, do you?" she asked Laura.

"Yes, I do. How did you know?"

"Because this isn't my ring. Chance found it in a slice of bread. Do you think it could be yours?"

Laura held out her hand. "Let me see."

Scully slipped the ring off her finger and handed it to the other girl, who put it on. Her face lit up as it slid on without effort. "Yes, it's mine! It must have fallen in the dough!"

"I guess we must wear the same ring size." She and Chance turned to leave.

"Wait!" Laura called after them.

"What?"

Reluctantly, she slid the ring back off her finger. "Could you hold on to this for me for a little longer please, Agent Scully? I have to tell Charlie about my engagement to Aaron eventually, but I'd rather not be wearing the ring when I do. He'll be calmer that way. But I'm afraid of losing it again."

Scully smiled and took the ring from her. "Give me a call when you want it back."

Laura nodded, relieved. "Trust me, I will."