An impromptu vacation...
Agent Dana Scully walked into her boss, AD Kersh's office, one Tuesday morning. She was surprised to see that when she got to the X Files office, Mulder wasn't there. But there was a phone message for her to meet AD Kersh in the morning straight away.
Scully smiled awkwardly at AD Kersh, wondering what the matter was. Was Mulder okay? She wondered as she sat down in a chair opposite the AD's desk. It was unlike him not to tell her if he was going away somewhere. She hoped he wasn't in trouble.
But, by the look on Kersh's face, Scully sensed that Mulder had done something wrong. "Morning, Sir," she said to her boss. "Good morning Agent Scully. Please have a seat," he replied, and ushered her to her chair. "Is everything okay, Assistant Director?" Scully asked as she sat down. "Is Agent Mulder okay?" She asked.
Kersh sighed as he sat down. "I've suspended Agent Mulder," he said. Scully looked at him in shock, then anger. "What? I'm sorry Sir, I don't understand. Why is Agent Mulder suspended?" She asked. Kersh stared harshly at her. "I've suspended him on the grounds that he has tampered with FBI evidence numerous times and some of which you knew about but didn't report it," he said simply.
Scully frowned and winced as she remembered all the times she let Mulder get away with damaging FBI evidence, including Howard Salt's computer, a page in an FBI book, and entry to a crime scene involving Gibson Praise.
"You obviously knew the penalty for such insubordination but you neglected to report him, didn't you, Agent Scully?" He asked. Scully frowned, wondering what to say. Finally, she decided to say, "Agent Mulder and I wouldn't have taken the risk unless it was majorly important to our investigations, sir," she said.
Kersh frowned again. "To your X Files investigations, you mean," he corrected her. "I want to remind you, Agent Scully, as I have done again and again with Agent Mulder, that the FBI is not a place for personal crusade. You will investigate what I tell you. The X Files is not an essential department to the FBI. Therefore I am also punishing you, for your part that you have played in this," he told her firmly.
"Sir, I know I can't speak on my partner's behalf, but may I just say I stand by our actions. If we don't ask the right questions, then no one else will," Agent Scully replied. "You will be sorry for that attitude, I can assure you, Agent Scully," Kersh told her. He took off his glasses and appeared to read a file that was on his desk. "You are now assigned to do background checks in the FBI bullpen until Agent Mulder returns," he said. Scully mentally sighed. Two weeks in the bullpen? She thought miserably. She had done this before with Agent Mulder, and it was a tedious job. "Yes Sir," she said. "You will cease all association with the X Files until I see fit that they are reopened," he told her.
"If Agent Mulder changes his attitude towards us and respects our evidence, the X Files will stay open. If he doesn't, then we will close the X Files. I want you to make that clear to him when he returns," he told her. Scully nodded as she stood to attention. "Yes sir," she repeated. "In the meantime, you will be working in the bullpen and cease any contact with Agent Mulder until his suspension in two weeks is over. Am I clear, Agent?" He asked her. Scully could only nod. "Yes, sir," she replied. "Good. Now get going to the bullpen, Agent Scully," he told her. "Yes Sir," she replied again, before leaving the office. Once she left, Scully sighed. Mulder, she thought. He can be such an idiot sometimes, she thought in annoyance as she trudged reluctantly towards the elevator and stepped in. She then made her way down to the bullpen, before finding a desk and logging on. She sat down at her new desk in defeat. Two weeks without the X Files? Scully thought. How will Mulder cope?