Comments, complaints and just plain talk to sheryl_martin@tvo.org
Summary: Scully realises that some friendships last forever...Rating: G, Story...
Best Friends (1/1)by Sheryl Martin
She still had bad dreams about it. And it was the right time of night; those waking hours between dusk and dawn when the smallest sound shuddered through the apartment and through her mind.
Dreams about losing him; of somehow betraying him to the inevitable consequences of being around the X Files.
Not Mulder.
Queequag.
Her dog.
Well, her ex-dog, to be exact. Or alligator chow, as Mulder would put it. Though he never did, to his credit. At least he could be understanding sometimes.
But the guilt threatened to overwhelm her at times; just the sight of one of the chewed up rubber toys reappearing from under the couch could send a chill down her back. And no matter how hard she looked they just kept turning up.
The shoes reminded her the most.
The little bugger had loved her shoes. The dark ones; of course. Scully couldn't count the number of times she had wrestled one away from the lethal jaws of the little furball and then frantically swiping at them with a black marker before getting out of her car and praying that Mulder wouldn't look down to see the white scrapes his teeth had left.
Or the time he dragged one of her best sweaters under the sofa into a makeshift bed; ignoring the carefully-placed and decorated basket she had set to one side. Her mother had even tucked a small blanket into the wicker frame; subtly commenting on the lack of grandchildren from Dana at this point.
But now the bed was permanently empty; resting in the corner of the living room as a constant reminder of what her choices had cost her.
Closing her eyes, Dana tried to sleep. And not think of a furball digging his way up under the covers despite being told a thousand times no.
********
"Come on, Scully... I gave you the window seat." Mulder joked feebly, trying to coax a smile from his partner. She turned towards him, forcing herself to look less sad.
"I'm sorry, Mulder. I just didn't sleep well last night." Opening the folder on her lap, she flipped the top page over. "Let's review this before we land, okay?"
He nodded. "Not much to it - Skinner forwarded us to the SAC in Pittsburgh to see if we could help on a drug bust. Seems that they're constantly short of good agents; and the Bureau doesn't want to involve the local police due to the suspicion of one of the officers being involved in the ring."
Scully tapped her front teeth with the pen thoughtfully. "Why us? Not like there's not enough agents in the state that he can't get help outside of Washington."
Mulder smiled. "Seems that we made such an impression last time last time we were there that they requested our manpower specifically." He sat back in the seat, fumbling with the seat belt. "And I get the idea that Mann's more paranoid than we are. So it's likely that he wants people who are extremely removed from the possibility of being corrupted."
"And he thinks you're not corrupted?" The edges of her mouth curled up.
"Well, with you around I sure can't be these days."
********
As it turned out, Mann was at least as paranoid as Mulder; adding in all of the Lone Gunmen and a few extra clones to top it off. Running down the way the team was going to enter the suspected warehouse and arrest the drug dealers and the bad cops involved sounded somewhat to Scully like planning a major assault on Fort Knox.
"I need Scully at the back." Mann pulled a red handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his soaked face. The obese agent drew a deep breath. "And Mulder's with the second team going in."
"I work with Scully." Mulder protested, crossing his arms in front of him and standing over the seated man. "You're the one who's worried about security and you want me to work with some guys who I've never even met?"
Mann looked up. "I'm not asking you to marry them; just go in with them. They're not going to shoot you or anything." He looked at Scully. "No offence to you; but I need a full team at the back to make sure no one's coming out - and if they are, they'll be shooting. And you're a better shot than your partner here."
She smiled at Mulder's displeasure. It seemed that her prowess with a pistol hadn't gone unnoticed through the Bureau.
"Mulder, it's okay." The redhead muttered, not wanting to cause more of a scene. "I'm sure that Agent Mann is doing the best with what he's got." Getting to her feet, she nodded towards them. "I want to go meet the rest of the fellows; if there's no objections."
"Thanks, Scully." Mann jerked a hand towards the door. "I appreciate your help."
The two men watched the petite woman exit the office; closing the door behind her. Mulder sat down in the vacated chair, still warm from her presence.
"I'm still not comfortable with this." Mulder groused. Mann sat back in the thick wooden chair and nodded; tapping his chin with two fat fingers.
"I know. And believe me, I'm not unsympathetic to you wanting to work with your partner. I know you two are a team. But I have to allocate my resources the best way I know how, and in this case I need Agent Scully in the back." He looked down. "Sorry, Mulder."
"So am I." The tall man shot back. "Because if anything happens to her I will be holding you personally responsible. And I promise you that I will be allocating my resources to that end." He locked eyes with Mann. "All of my resources."
*******
"I still don't like this." Mulder put his head close to Scully's as they sat side by side in the van; heading for the warehouse. Tilting her head up so that their helmets smacked against each other with every bump and turn, she could see the worry under his goggles.
"I'll be fine, Mulder." She tried not to yell loudly to draw attention to themselves, but the rumble made it hard to whisper. "I checked them all out and they're clean. And they're all good agents in their field and all from different areas. I doubt that if they were serious about taking me or you out individually they'd go to all this trouble."
He put a hand on her left shoulder; tugging experimentally at the Kevlar vest. "Just watch your back, Scully."
She chuckled, rapping her knuckles on his vest. "Only if you watch your front."
*******
The layout of the warehouse was simple - a single large building with delivery doors at both ends; a few small exit/entrance doors along the sides. Used officially to store boxes of old clothing for a local charity until they had the funds to send them wherever in the world they needed to. Unofficially it provided a nice quiet base for the constant exchange of major amounts of money and cocaine from the shipper to the main dealer for the area.
It was almost too good to be true. But no one ever said that crooks were smart.
Mulder crouched by the oil drums stacked precariously at the front of the warehouse. His partner, a blonde woman called Evans, calmly listened to the chatter through their earphones.
"Hey, Mulder." She whispered. "Don't look so upset - you'd think that you were the one being busted instead of them."
He weakly smiled. "Yah."
She bent her head to one side. "You staying in town after this for a bit? I don't have a flight back to Philly until Friday, and if you wanted..."
"Ah..." His eyes went back and forth from the warehouse to the ground to the drums to the woman. "I think we're flying out first thing in the morning. Got work to do, you know."
"Right. Well, can't blame me for trying." She put her hand to her ear, suddenly listening intently. "They've got visual on the buyers going into the warehouse."
The black limousine pulled up to the doors; the three men exiting quietly to walk through the main loading door.
"Alpha Team, standby." The static crackled through their ears. "Wait until they all get inside. Gamma, let us know if you have anyone coming out the back."
Mulder could imagine her sitting at the back of the warehouse; probably lining up her sights on the door. And prayed that no one was lining them up on her.
********
For her part, Dana Scully was almost bored; for lack of a better word. She knew that the probability of having anyone come out the back was slim if the lead team did their job properly; and from what she had seen of the rest of the agents it was unlikely that she'd see much action. The old boys club still held true in most of the Bureau; and they would be ahead of her to any action.
Not that this was a bad thing. For one of the few times in her life her attention was divided between the case at hand and her inner demons. And that was a very Bad Thing.
She still couldn't shake the guilt over that dammed dog. And it was so strange that after seeing so many lives destroyed; so many people killed who didn't deserve to die; so many families ripped apart that one small Pomeranian would be the thing that slipped under her armor.
Maybe because he trusted her so much. Because he was the only one who trusted her completely with his life and his wellbeing.
Mulder didn't count, to be fair. Between his dashing off on his own and then not bothering to tell her what was going in that strange world between his ears, she didn't feel that responsible for him.
Responsible.
She had been responsible. If she had only taken the logical route and put him in a kennel...
"Alpha's in the front." The steady male voice crackled through her mind. "Get frosty, people..."
********
Mulder pounded through the doorway with the other five men; his heart throbbing in his ears as he swung left and right. The surprised men didn't even bother to move; still sitting at the small table set up in the middle of the empty space. And atop the table; three large bags of what could only be the drug of your choice.
It was almost too easy.
He felt nauseous.
********
The rusted-out cars in the back gave pretty good cover to the team as they watched the back doors. Scully tapped her earphone once to try and clear the static from both her link and her mind.
Then she heard it.
A bark.
A distinctive bark that she thought she'd never hear again.
Whipping around to her right, she listened again.
It was coming from that Ford; the green one just a few feet ahead of her.
But it couldn't be.
Because Queequag was dead. Digested in an alligator's stomach. A rusty dog tag on a leather collar on her bureau.
She took a step towards the car.
*********
Pulling off the helmet, Mulder gasped for air. "Where's Scully?" He turned towards Mann, who had accompanied them.
"Hmm?" The large man nodded towards the other agents who were busy handcuffing the dealers. "Scully? I guess she'll be back..."
Two shots shattered the silence.
Ducking down, the agents slammed their arrests to the floor; reaching for their weapons as they twisted their heads back and forth.
"Dammit..." Mann panted as he lay on the cold concrete. "That's from outside..."
"Scully..." Scrambling to his knees, Mulder broke into a run towards the rear door; leaving his automatic weapon behind in favour of his pistol.
********
The first bullet had been low; kicking up a puff of dust just a few inches from her right foot as she stepped towards the car. And it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where it would have landed if she hadn't moved.
The second one shattered the still-intact windshield just over her shoulder; showering jagged shards of glass over her crouching figure.
"Mulder!" Scully roared into her link as she swung her rifle around, trying to see where the shots were coming from. Her partner had disappeared; whether as part of the plan or walking into the back of the warehouse as they had planned, she didn't know.
But she did know she was in deep, deep trouble.
"Mulder!" She yelled into the link again; hearing jumbled words tumbling over each other as the men tried to regroup and understand this new twist on the situation. She thought she could make out his voice over the others; the panic in his voice. But then a noise overran all the others; bursting through the hissing and whistling.
Another bark.
This time to her left, and she didn't hesitate to figure it out. Scully just moved; rolling towards the sound and grimacing as she hit the ground hard, jarring her shoulder.
"Scully!" A voice bellowed over the link; easily drowning out the shouted orders and questions.
********
Slamming his body against the back door, Mulder burst through into the daylight; squinting instinctively as the sunlight hit him. Ducking behind one of the abandoned cars, he scanned left and right for the source of the gunfire.
There.
The barrel over the top of an old Plymouth.
Getting to his feet he sighted down the front of his pistol; oblivious to the fact that the shooter could easily swing around and have a clear shot at him.
And Kevlar vests didn't save you from a good shot.
Mulder knew that from personal experience.
But he stood his ground; aiming just behind the extended barrel and down to the shooter.
********
Spitting out dirt, Scully scrambled to her knees; swinging her rifle back and forth in a desperate attempt to find her attacker. She could taste blood in her mouth; and sent out a silent prayer that it wasn't a nosebleed or something worse.
Two more shots rang out; then two more. But she didn't flinch; listening only for a familiar sound.
It didn't come.
Instead Mulder appeared, his helmet discarded long ago; his hair plastered to his wet and sweaty face as he stood over her. His pistol at his side and what could only be described as extreme relief on his face.
She almost hugged him.
But it would have been hell on the vests.
Instead she reached out to take the outstretched hand and get to her feet; staring intently into her partner's eyes.
********
"I have the report here in front of me." Assistant Director Skinner opened the folder, staring at the two agents in front of him. His eyes raked up and down each of them; assessing them.
Scully looked like hell. A deep scratch along one cheek from the broken glass; deep dark hollows under her eyes. But her eyes were still bright and daring and full of the energy he had seen so many years ago when he had first met her. She'd be fine.
Mulder looked even worse, if that could be possible. His tie done up in the barest semblance of a knot; the shirt less than fresh - Hoover would have thrown him out in a minute.
Of course, Hoover had also liked to crossdress and opened the first X Files on werewolves.
But the sadness in Mulder's eyes told it all. Nothing that Skinner could say would purge that guilt from his soul. Again.
Sometimes he wondered what or who had conspired to put these two together and then inflict so much on them. And if that higher power had a vicious sense of humour.
Because no one was laughing.
"After a thorough investigation of the dead man's background, it's been deduced that he was a paid bodyguard sent to the back of the warehouse to protect the buyer - the man you set out to arrest. When he realised that his employer had been busted; and probably would implicate him as well, he decided to take out a few agents to even the deal." Skinner cleared his throat. "There will be no further investigation of this incident." He looked at Scully. "But I am glad that you weren't injured more than you were." His eyes went to Mulder. "Good shooting."
"Sir..." Mulder clenched and unclenched his fists. "I would like to run this man's name through Interpol and do further checks on his identity." He waved a hand at his partner. "He was gunning for Scully; and he knew that we'd be separated. And she was left alone; without any backup."
"Agent Mann has turned over his notes regarding the organisation of the operation to me and to the Investigating Board." Skinner paused. "Mulder..." His voice dropped low. "Look, I know what it looks like, believe me." His eyes darted to Scully's. "I know all about ambushes and accidents like this. I saw my share of them in Vietnam. But this case is closed." He put up a hand as Mulder's mouth opened. "Closed, Mulder."
"That's all right, sir." Scully said in a tired voice. "But I think I'd like to take a day off and rest up."
Skinner nodded. "Understandable. And I think that Agent Mulder should at least be assigned to take you home and make sure that you're fine." He sighed. "I'll see what I can do, but I can't promise anything."
Mulder got to his feet. "I know." His jaw tightened. "But I hate this."
The tall man watched the two agents leave the room then turned back to the file. With a snarl he put it in the bottom drawer of his desk; slamming it shut.
********
"Anything else I can get for you?"
"Mulder, you're beginning to annoy me." Slumped on her sofa, the petite redhead watched her partner pace back and forth in her living room. "Go home, please. I'll see you on Monday."
He halted, rubbing his chin. "But that guy..."
"That guy was probably just what Skinner said - and I was the best target for him to take a shot at." She waved her hands in the air. "Look, I'm fine. I just want a little quiet time; and I'm not going to get that with you hovering over me. I'm fine." She repeated.
"Okay." Picking up his trench coat, Mulder tried to sound convinced. "But if you need anything, you call me. Anything."
"Right." A hand pointed towards the door. "Go."
Pulling the coat on, the tall lanky man paused at the door. "Scully - how come you didn't get shot?" His speech sped up, showing that he was anxious to get the thought out before risking her wrath. "I mean, it's not like I wanted you to get shot or anything, but if this guy was behind you and you didn't see him; he wouldn't have had a problem getting you. And I don't recall any bullets in the vest."
"I... moved." She said slowly and quietly.
"I guessed that." He grinned. "But what made you move? Did you hear him; see him..."
"I just moved." The redhead repeated. "Go home, Mulder."
"Okay." Putting his hands up in mock surrender, he took a step towards the door. "Dammit..."
Kneeling down, he gently pushed the wicker basket back into its corner. "Sorry about that." His voice was softer. "I'm... sorry about him, you know."
Scully smiled. "I know. Go, Mulder."
As the door shut behind him, she lay her head back on the cushions and closed her eyes, imagining the furball curling up beside her on the couch.
"Thanks." She whispered to the empty room.
And for a second, easily dismissed as an overactive imagination combined with exhaustion and sheer force of will, she thought she heard an answering bark.
**********