Title: Twisted Dark
Author: Jennifer Zoromski AKA Jennis524
Spoilers: Via Negativa, little Invocation
Summary: Doggett's past shows why he had the nightmare of killing Scully.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Chris Carter, 1013, and Fox
Author's Notes: I thought Via Negativa was an excellent episode and I wanted to explain why Doggett's fear was killing Scully. The character is intriguing and I tried to capture him. I also played with the idea that maybe Mulder and Doggett knew each other before Scully and Doggett met. Enjoy!
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Night comes and the entire world fades away. Dreams come every time I close my eyes I see things that I can not deny. I feel things that shouldn't be felt. I know they are telling me something, something that reaches deep inside. The fears that I don't want to face the fate that will come, the life that I can not escape.
October 27, 1989
A scream is heard deep into the night. Lighting snakes across the sky. Every step I take lights up the room in front of me. I look down at my hands. There is a film of blood on both of them. The door is already open. My legs turn to rubber. The pounding of my heart echoes deep in my chest as I stare at the limp, lifeless body of my ten-year old son.
His blood is splattered all over the sheets. A deep knife wound is present on his forehead. I panic. There is blood on my hands and my son is dead. I can't remember if I killed my son or if this is just a nightmare.
I am a marine, a cop, and a man of dignity. I know the drill. They'll come and search the house, find a murder weapon with my prints on it and I'll be rotting in hell for the rest of my life. The clock on the wall clicks on steadily. I have three hours until my wife comes home. I run down to the kitchen and grab a garbage bag. My son is small for his age so he should fit into the bag, but I can't bring myself to do it, to dispose of my son. It will make me look more guilty than innocent.
The phone feels cold in my hand. The numbers blur together, but I somehow place a call. "Mulder, This is John Doggett."
We talk for only a brief moment and he hangs up. Half an hour later Mulder is at my door. "John, What happened?"
"I don't know. My wife is out for the night and I heard a scream. I found my son murdered in his bed with his blood on my hands. I can't remember what happened."
Mulder only nods. My career will go down the toilet after this.
"Do you think someone got into your house, maybe by walking through walls, killed your son and framed you? Do you have any enemies?"
"Mulder, I don't want to hear your crackpot theories right now. My son is dead, my career is screwed, and my wife will be home in two hours."
"Your son was kidnapped," Mulder said starting to formulate a plan in his head, "You woke up at the sound of his screams, but all you found was an empty bed with is blood. The kidnapper got in and got out even though your house was locked from the inside. They won't be able to solve it and they'll quit trying."
"What are we supposed to do with my son's body? For God's sake, Mulder, he is my own flesh and blood. I can't just throw him out with the trash."
By this time we had got upstairs to my son's room. Mulder grimaced at the sight of the young boy. "Are you sure there is no murder weapon? I'm going on your word here, John. I know that you couldn't take the life of your own son. Not the way you bragged about him when ever we talk."
"I don't think I killed my son. I haven't seen any weapon." I collapse on the floor feeling light headed. My body seems to be revolting.
"John are you all right?"
"I remember something: a man at the bar. He was sitting next to me. I know I've seen him before, but I can't put a name to the face. He asked me questions about my son and he was alone with my drink. My God! He put poison in my drink.
I hear Mulder calling my name, but I fall into my subconscious. The bright lights hurt my eyes as I try to open them. My jaw and face hurt.
"John, I'm here for you," my wife comforted.
"What happened?" I asked feeling my face. It hurt to the touch and then I realize what Mulder had done. He cleaned up the scene, punched me a couple of times so it looked like the kidnapper and I had been in a fight. Mulder was a smart man. He is going to annoy the hell out of someone someday. He's already got his crackpot theories and he was telling me that he found some really neat files, X-Files. I shake my head. Poor man, he will be paranoid for the rest of his life.
"Joseph was kidnapped and Agent Mulder found you unconscious."
She looks so hurt. Her eyes look at me for comfort. Her green eyes looked dead, the twinkle was gone. How is our marriage going to last? It was rocky before Joseph was taken.
My wife starts to speak, "John, How are we going to move on?"
I pretend to be asleep, but I wonder that too.
ELEVEN YEARS LATER
His third eye blinks in unison with his other two. "I'm not going to kill her. You are."
I find myself in my dream. Blue lights fade in and out of darkness. The weight of the cold ax in my hand is starting to scare me. She is sleeping so peacefully. I drop the ax, but find it back in my hands seconds later.
I start to take a swing at my own head, but I hear, "Agent Doggett, wake up." Scully stands in front of me. She is the one who brought me into the case. "It was just a nightmare," she reassures and then leaves. But I don't think it was. It was showing me my fear: the fear, that I might end up killing Scully and not know that I did it. My son's kidnapping case is still unsolved, but I question it every waking moment.
What if I was really holding a knife over my son's head like I held the ax over Scully's head in my dream? What if it repeats a second time? But this time Mulder won't be here to bail me out. I close my eyes and I see Mulder. I smile. If I do anything to Scully I will be facing Mulder, but this time there will be a gun in between us.
"Sir, I'd like to inform you that plans for Scully's death are in order." A raspy voice on the other end of the phone says, "I have reconsidered and you are not to kill Scully. We don't want to risk turning on man's quest into a crusade," I can hear the click of a light in the background, "Agent Doggett, I believe this is the beginning of the end."
THE END