FBI Agent Dana Scully knocked on Agent Fox Muldar's office door. Getting no response, she cautiously entered. Muldar sat with his legs propped up on his desk, contemplating the black sock he held.

"Muldar."

He continued to stare at the sock. "You ever wonder, Scully," he asked, dropping his legs to the floor and sitting up in the chair. "Where they go?"

She chuckled cynically while tilting her head to the side. "There are perfectly logical explanations for why socks disappear when you are doing laundry."

"Yes, but are they the truth?" He grinned at her enigmatically then walked over to the file cabinet. Reaching inside he pulled out a well worn file folder overflowing with papers. "This is a pet project of mine, besides my sister's abduction, of course. Every person I've ever talked to has experienced this phenomena."

"Muldar, it is not a phenomena, it's a missing sock." Her brow furrowed and she crossed her arms over her chest as if to block out any argument he may try to use to convince her.

He leaned against the file cabinet and flashed her a knowing smile. "I'm sure you've heard the folklore surrounding Gremlins and World War II fighter planes." She rolled her eyes, seeing where he was going. "What if it isn't folklore? The Nazi's are said to have dappled in genetic engineering. It's possible that a creature could have been created that could live in the workings of machines and...."

Scully plopped wearily into her chair. She could tell by the excited gleam in his eyes that she was in for a long day.

X X X X

Scully tossed her keys on the coffee table then kicked off her shoes. She was absolutely exhausted from listening to Muldar's theories all day long. She wanted nothing more than to take a nice hot soak in the tub but decided to do the laundry first. She changed into her comfortable old sweats and pulled her hair back into a ponytail before carrying out her task.

Once in the basement, Scully quickly placed her laundry in the machine and started it up. As she was leaving she heard a scratching sound. She did a quick check to try and located the sound but couldn't find the source. Probably nothing, she told herself, refusing to let Muldar's paranoia get to her.

She leisurely looked over some case files while grabbing something to eat. Finishing her sandwich, Scully hurried downstairs to put her clothes in the dryer. She lifted the wet clothes from the washer and placed them in the dryer, untangling the twisted garments as she worked. When she got to the end, she checked the washer to make sure that nothing was missed. Stuck to the sides of the washer were two white socks. She peeled them off then held them in front of her eyes for a moment, rerunning her earlier conversation with Muldar. Scully shook her head then chuckled softly to herself. Muldar could be so irrational at times. She threw the socks into the dryer. She reached to turn the knob when she heard a rustling sound coming from behind the dryer. Leaning over the machine, she took a look behind to see if she could figure out what it was. Finding nothing, Scully shrugged her shoulders then turned on the dryer. "I'll get you for this, Muldar," she mumbled as she left the laundry room.

Forty-five minutes later she returned to collect her things. Clearing out the last of her clothes, Scully realized that one of her socks was missing. She went through the laundry in the basket, checking each piece carefully to ensure that the sock wasn't bunched up in a sleeve or pocket. Finding nothing, she looked inside the dryer again. Still nothing. It has to be here somewhere, she told herself. Scully, began searching the room for the missing sock. She looked in the washer, even though she knew that it was empty, she checked behind both machines, and in the trash can. "I don't understand this," she mumbled, frowning at the empty dryer.

Suddenly, from nowhere, a round ball of fur scurried from under the dryer and passed Scully. Her mouth dropped open as she watched it running with her missing sock in its mouth. She grabbed her laundry basket and dumped her clothes onto the floor. She quickly slammed the basket down, trying to capture the creature but it hurried behind the washer before she could completely cover it. She pulled the washer away from the wall as far as she could then squeezed behind the machine. Bending down to look under it, she fell back against the wall when the furball leaped at her. It scrambled across the room and under the dryer, her sock still in its possession.

After searching the room for an hour, Scully gave up. She gathered her things and headed back upstairs. Once there, she grabbed her coat and keys, then hurried out.

X X X X

Muldar sat watching the TV, flipping through the channels, trying to find something halfway decent to watch when there came a knock on his door. He shut off the set and hurried to see who had come to visit. He looked out the peephole then quickly unlocked the door. "Scully, he greeted, moving aside to allow her to enter. "What are you doing here?"

She held up a single white sock. "I believe you, Muldar," she proclaimed.

He began to sway then grabbed onto the back of a chair to keep from toppling over. "Did you actually say you believed me?" he asked, his eyes wide with amazement.

X X X X

Case File X170797 Agent Dana Scully

Agent Muldar and myself searched the laundry but found no evidence of the creature. There have been no other sightings since that night and no reports of missing socks. Agent Muldar has some theories on the origin of this creature but I would prefer to wait until we can obtain more information before I draw my own conclusions. Until that time this case will remain open.

X X X X

"This just in," the reporter announced as Muldar walked passed a row of TV's in the department store. "Socks, the President's cat is missing."

The End.