On her Christmas vacation with her brother's family, Scully receives a mysterious phone call from a familiar voice who says, "She needs your help. Go to her." The phone call leads Scully to a murder case where the victim's 3-year-old adopted daughter bears an uncanny likeness to her sister, Melissa, at that age. The emotional roller coaster that follows has Scully believing that her sister had a baby during a period when she traveled the country and she tries to adopt the child, knowing that caring for the little girl would change her life.

DNA testing on Emily reveals that she is actually Scully's daughter and Mulder comes to assist her. While Mulder is looking for any information about where and how the girl was born, Scully searches for a cure to Emily's strange illness.