Okay, so this is a new fic I'll be working on along with Home is Where the Anomalies Are. It's a fiddauthor X Files AU with Ford as the believer and Fiddleford as the skeptic. The title was an idea from a friend as a joke, but I'm thinking of keeping it. It has a nice ring to it. No smut yet in this first chapter, but don't worry, it's coming. Enjoy! ^^
The day started out filled with adrenaline and excitement. Today was the day Fiddleford was getting a partner reassignment. He was nearly running through the halls of the FBI headquarters towards the Assistant Director's office. His previous partner, whom he had been stuck with, was always rude and possibly slightly intoxicated ninety percent of the time. As he approached the office door, he stopped for a moment to fix his hair, straighten his tie, and get his breathing back to normal. As calmly as he could, he entered the office and approached the Assistant Director's desk.
"*Ahem* You wanted to see me for partner reassignment, sir?" he asked, trying to keep his voice from cracking.
The Assistant Director looked up at Fiddleford from some paperwork, looking as stern and intimidating as ever. "Ah, yes, Agent McGucket. You're now assigned with Special Agent Pines."
"Uh, Pines? The X Files guy?" Fiddleford's heart skipped a beat.
"Yes, I'm afraid so. He needs a partner, and you're the first open one. He's been investigating the X Files. You're going to make reports directly to me after each assignment on Pines' progress and the success of each assignment. This is to see if his work on the X Files should be continued. And we have an assignment for the two of you soon, so get down to the X-Files wing. His office is way in the back."
"Uh, but sir! I-isn't there anyone else?"
"I'm sorry, McGucket, but Pines is the only free agent I have right now."
"But-"
"McGucket, I have a very busy schedule, so get down to Pines' office already!"
Fiddleford sighed, looking down towards the ground. "Yes, sir."
He walked out of the office dejected. He couldn't stand being scolded and yelled at. "Guess I'll head over to Pines since I don't have a choice," he thought. He kept his eyes towards the ground as he began walking down the lone hallway near the back of the building. The deeper he ventured, the less people he began to see. Even the flourescent lights above seemed to dim. He shifted his gaze around nervously, feeling like he was walking somewhere he wouldn't return from. After what seemed like endless winding hallways, Fiddleford finally reached Pines' office. Just as the assistant director said, it was right at the very end with a single name on it: Stanford F. Pines. Fiddleford had only heard the rumors about him, which weren't good ones. From what he had heard, Pines was obsessed with the existence of aliens and other weird things. People called him "Weirdo Pines." He had also heard of Pines' extra appendage on both of his hands. Fiddleford thought that might be interesting to see. After just standing by the door and shaking for a good few minutes, he gave it three light taps.
"Come in," a voice resonated from the office within a few seconds.
Fiddleford tried to keep his hand from shaking as he opened the door. The first thing he noticed when he first walked in was a huge poster on the far wall with a blurry picture of a UFO with "I Want to Believe" in big, white letters. The office was a mess of documents, mostly X Files, all over the place. Special Agent Pines sat at his desk. He had been watching a cryptid documentary on a small TV. He got up and walked up to Fiddleford as he entered the office.
"Hey, there! You must be my new partner. The name's Special Agent Stanford Pines but feel free to just call me Pines," Ford shook Fiddleford's hand enthusiastically with a wide grin on his face.
As Ford shook his hand, Fiddleford noticed the extra finger. "Oh, I'm Special Agent Fiddleford McGucket, and you can call me McGucket. Oh, um, by the way, I just wanted to say that I think your six fingers are cool. I've never actually seen something like that before," Fiddleford stammered, trying his best not to make it sound awkward.
"Oh, haha! Thanks! I don't…really hear nice stuff about them all that much. But let's cut to the chase. I know you got stuck with me. Hell, I mean, who wants to be partnered up with 'Weirdo Pines,' right? So, don't feel like you have to try to be nice to me," Ford said, taking a seat on his desk. "I know most people here think I'm a nut. So…McGucket..I know you specialize in computers and programming, but I must ask: do you believe in aliens?"
Fiddleford gave him a look. "Well, seeing as their isn't much evidence besides skeptical accounts and blurry pictures, I have to say I don't. Now, I know you specialize in chemistry and astrophysics, but what exactly made you so, um, interested in extraterrestrials?" Fiddleford asked, leaning up against the door.
"A childhood incident. Let's just..keep it at that for now. So, have you heard about our first assignment?" Ford quickly dodged the subject.
"Uh, no. I wasn't informed," Fiddleford eyed him suspiciously.
Ford flashed him a smile. "It's for an X File actually. From now on, you'll be investigating the X Files with me. This one is taking us to New Jersey in a small town with people being taken right out of their rooms at night and found in the morning on the outskirts of town with strange markings."
"Let me guess. You're thinking these people are getting abducted by aliens?" Fiddleford made sure to lay on the sarcasm.
"Well, of course! The truth is out there, McGucket, and we're going to find it."
"Mmhmm..if you say so. If they are out there, you'll need some hard scientific proof to make me into a believer," he huffed.
Ford stood up from where he was sitting on the table and walked right up to Fiddleford until he was back up against the door.
"Hmph..very well! I look forward to our first assignment together. You know, I can already tell that you're going to be an interesting partner. So, I'll see you tomorrow for our flight to New Jersey," Ford was slightly taller than Fiddleford, so he looked down at the shorter man.
"Um, yeah! Well, I'm sure you have some work to do, so I'll see you tomorrow!" he said rather quickly, pushing down the handle on the door which nearly sent him falling on his ass.
He laughed nervously as he waved and headed down the long hallway. He looked back once to see Ford waving goodbye before shutting the door. Fiddleford could still feel the heat from the heavy blush on his face. "Why am I blushing so much? I mean, sure, it was kind of an embarrassing situation, but when he came so close to me, I…no, no, I can't be thinking about that. Get a hold of yourself, Fiddleford." He tried to shake a few not so decent thoughts from his mind.
As he ventured back into the normally lit parts of the headquarters, he nearly ran into the assistant director going around a corner.
"Oh, sorry, sir! My apologies!"
"Ah, Agent McGucket. Did you meet Agent Pines?" he pulled Fiddleford over to the far wall of the hallway to keep from blocking the people traffic.
"Y-yes, I did. He also briefed me on the assignment to New Jersey. So, we have a flight tomorrow morning?"
"Yup. At 9 A.M. Now, I know he may be difficult, especially with all his 'alien' talk, but just try your best to deal with him. Good luck, McGucket," with that, he quickly left.
When Fiddleford finally got back to his office, he noticed a copy of the X File had been placed on his desk. "Well, here we go," he mumbled to himself as he began flipping through the pages. He hadn't even noticed the time until he looked up and saw the darkening sky in shades of deep blue and a faint gray light fading into the horizon. "Ah, dang! I gotta head home!" He waved at some of the other agents staying late and headed towards his apartment on the outskirts of D.C.
It was a brisk October morning when Fiddleford took a cab over to the airport. He took a deep inhale of cold autumn air before making his way inside. He carried a small roll along suitcase and his laptop in a zippered bag. He flashed his badge to skip through the lines and towards the terminal. "Let's see…Terminal 2A should be right…here." He looked down from the terminal sign to see Ford over by the gate waving at him. Fiddleford groaned slightly and approached him.
"Hey, it's about time you got here. Come on, we're going to board soon," Ford said, guiding Fiddleford along to the gate by the shoulder. "New Jersey awaits!"
Fiddleford let Ford take the window seat, breathing a sigh of relief when he sat down. He let his mind wander into distant memories as the plane began to take off.
"Not a fan of flying?" Ford was looking over at him now, snapping Fiddleford out of his daze.
"It's just been a while since I've flown somewhere. For a while, they had me working at HQ: hacking jobs and stuff, you know, with me being the computer whiz and all." Fiddleford found himself a bit as he began conversing with Ford. He was hardly noticing the turbulence and movements of the plane. Fiddleford wasn't going to ask him about it, but curiosity got the better of him.
"So, if you don't mind my asking, I'm guessing you were born with six fingers on each hand?"
Ford gazed down at his hand resting on the arm rest. "Yeah. They say it's a rare abnormality. The doctors aren't quite sure how it happened. They just say it was an extremely rare mutation. I used to absolutely hate how it made me different. Of course I got bullied a lot for it, but now I'm kind of glad. The six fingers is something that makes me different, and I've learned that different can be a good thing." Ford looked back over at Fiddleford.
"Well, if it's any consolation, I think they're pretty awesome," he said, cracking a nervous grin.
Ford smiled back at him, coughing a bit and fixing his glasses. They stayed quiet for the rest of the flight. Ford nodded off, laying back in the chair, which allowed Fiddleford to look out the window. The sun was still low on the horizon, a blazing orange orb that made the clouds hovering below it to shimmer in hues of orange and yellow. "Wow," he whispered. He stared out the window for the remainder of the flight. Ford didn't wake up until a violent bump from the plane landing jolted the inside of the cabin.
"What's happening?" he shouted as he was violently woken up from his slumber.
"Calm down. We just landed," Fiddleford steadied him with a hand on his shoulder.
"Oh, cool," Ford yawned, stretching his arms up over his head.
Once the plane pulled up to the terminal, they gathered up their bags and headed towards the exit. As soon as they walked outside, there was already a rental car waiting for them. Once Fiddleford packed away their stuff in the trunk, Ford dangled the keys in front of him. "I'll drive if you don't mind," he said in a teasing tone.
"Fine by me as long as you don't get us in an accident, UFO boy," Fiddleford shrugged, opening the door to the passenger side.
"Oh, trust me. You have nothing to worry about," Ford assured as he climbed into the drivers seat. "Don't forget to buckle up," he reminded Fiddleford.
"Yes, yes," he replied, strapping himself in.
Fiddleford gazed out the window as Ford drove. As they headed into the country side, the buildings gradually became smaller and smaller until only a few houses and farms could be spotted. They passed through a few forests, most of the leaves were turning in this time of early October. Shades of yellow, orange, and red whizzed past them in a blur of colors as the car sped by.
"It'll be about half an hour until we reach the town," Ford informed. "Oh and do you mind if I play a tape? It's just abduction accounts and extraterrestrial stuff like that."
"Go for it. I'll just block it out," Fiddleford sighed.
"Thanks! And you never know. You might actually find some of this stuff interesting."
"Doubtful."
As the tape began playing, Fiddleford let himself drift off, seeing the deep autumn woods before closing his eyes.
A half an hour later, Fiddleford woke up to his head being shaken by Ford.
"Hey, McGucket! We're here!" he stopped when he noticed that Fiddleford was waking up.
"Ugh..you didn't have to shake my head, you know," he mumbled while pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Haha, sorry! We're at the motel right now. Let's drop off our stuff, then head out to begin the investigation," Ford said almost too cheerfully.
Fiddleford was still a bit groggy as they took their stuff over to the building. He followed Ford over to Room 103.
"Wait, are we sharing a room?" Fiddleford asked, his heart beat increasing.
"Yeah, but don't worry, there are two queen sized beds inside. Since we're both male agents, the assistant director didn't see a problem with it," Ford informed while they went inside the room.
It was a standard motel room with two beds, a small living area, desk, kitchenette, and a bathroom. After dropping off the suitcases by the beds, Ford turned towards Fiddleford. "If you don't mind, I'm going to take a quick shower. That'll give you some time to settle in before we head into town." Ford winked at him while grabbing a few things from his duffle.
"Oh, yeah. That'd be great so I can start on my report. Thanks!" Fiddleford said while he began setting up his laptop on the desk.
"See you in a few!" Ford waved while closing the bathroom door.
Fiddleford heard the shower go off a few minutes later. As the laptop started up, a few "thoughts" began to sneak into his mind. "No, no, no. Don't think about that alien nerd that way. Get a hold of yourself. You got to at least start this damn report." He opened up the word processor and began typing. "This is Special Agent Fiddleford H. McGucket on an assignment with Special Agent Stanford F. Pines pertaining to X File 941 on people being mysteriously abducted from their rooms at night and found in a field the next morning with strange markings. It's in a small, sleepy town in western New Jersey. My partner and I…"
"Guess I'll stop there for now until we've done some investigating." Fiddleford sat back in the chair, staring up at the ceiling with a distant look in his eyes. "What have I gotten myself into?"