ONE
It was frustrating to say the least. After months of anticipation, this is what it had come down to – a simple, "I love you." The response was less than anticipated and the events unfolded like a bad romance movie. Most of the actors of the scene were left no brighter than they were to begin with and one was left with nothing but utter humiliation. He had always felt that she felt the same way; their actions towards each other had always been somewhat reciprocated but perhaps, what he took for advantage, she took for his natural disposition. She had never seen him around other women to know that she was the only one he was loose around.
But it was too late to reanalyze the facts and redo the entire situation and that fact that he was already married didn't help the situation. Instead of facing his defeat like a man, Harold turned to his only natural companion – alcohol. He had received quite the reputation around Quantico as the town fool whose exploits were only magnified in his drunken state. Many a time was he too inebriated to conduct autopsies on important cases on which he signed off on anyway. His students, who were forever indebted to him, often covered for his foolishness and took second seat to his seemingly brilliant performance on every autopsy assigned to him.
Truth be told, Harold Dougall was a brilliant man. When sober, Harold wowed and trained his students to become meticulous observants of the world – and primarily the body – in front of them. To be doctors, he claimed, one needed the eyes of an eagle, the swiftness of a fox, and no heart of all. They needed to be detached, he said, from their cases and patients because every case could possibly be worse than the next. Every body had no face and everything needed to be analyzed thoroughly before moving on.
So when, years later, Dana Scully received a call from Harold late Tuesday afternoon, asking her to dinner Wednesday night, she was at a loss. She still admired her med school mentor greatly, thankful for all the skills he instilled in her, but suddenly confused at why he would extend such an invitation. When she quickly brushed off his admission all those years ago, Scully had concluded that their "partnership" was at its end. She only extended her hand once more to save him but after that, Scully remained distanced. True, they still sent the requisite Christmas card, but Scully always thought that it was out of respect rather than covering deep seeded feelings.
But the phone call had put Scully into a dreamlike state. She secretly harbored feelings for Harold too, but unlike him, but put them at bay out of respect for his family. His wife was pregnant with their second child at the time and she valued Mrs. Dougall as a friend and confidant. However, the years of estrangement from the Dougall family allowed Scully to forget nearly everything except her admiration for Harold. She remembered being enamored by his lectures, aroused when he passed her, and giddy when he spoke to her.
Naturally, when Wednesday rolled around and quitting time was near, Scully eagerly excused herself from the small basement office she shared. Scully hurriedly gathered her things as Mulder watched in amusement. Throughout the entire day, he heard nothing but praises about Harold and readily mocked Scully's anticipation. So when the office phone rang, Mulder naturally answered to meet a grave voice on the other end asking for Dana Scully. Hurriedly waving to his partner to answer the phone, Scully grabbed the receiver and indicated in her tone that she was in a hurry. Initially her face showed irritation, but the longer she was on the phone, her expression changed to confusion then to defeat and by the end of the conversation, the only words Scully uttered were "okay" and "thanks." The receiver dropped out of her hand as her body collapsed into the seat behind her and what had begun as a happy day had turned unexpectedly grim.
Not quite sure of what to do, Mulder strode over to Scully's side and placed her hand in his.
"Scully?" he asked pensively.
"He's dead. Harold's dead."
