On The Move
Category: X-Files
Summary: Every time he gets settled in...the X Files get in the way.
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own them and, after you read this, you'll see why I should never be allowed to.
A/N: Thoughts that occur right before sleep should not be turned into fic.
With the last of the boxes finally being unpacked, Stanley Turnagin was starting to feel at home. Again. Another day, another city. Working for the government in a top secret department and being the sole person responsible for the study of...sensitive information, moving around was part of the job description. He was used to it but he still didn't like it.
Grabbing the last bubble-wrapped picture frame, Stanley paused to admire the moment captured within it. A smiling young family in front of their very first house. It was the home he and his wife, Maggie, had dreamed of owning since the day they met when they were seventeen. High school sweethearts, they had married young and began building their life together right away. Their son, Henry, came into the picture two years before the house, five years after they were married. They had planned on staying in that house forever. Forever only lasted three years. That was the first move for work, this was...well, he couldn't really remember what number this was.
As he gathered the now-empty box, Maggie came around the corner, hammer and nail in hand. She was smiling, excited to put up this particular picture as it was sort of a ritual for them. No matter where they moved, or how often, they always saved this picture for last and hung it up right away even if the rest of the house was in shambles. Stanley set the box down by the door, taking it out to the trash would have to wait. He smiled at Maggie, grabbed the hammer, and she held the nail in place as he hammered it into the wall. Right on cue, their son John walked in the front door, sixteen now and attempting to acclimate into his new school. He smiled at his parents, both amused by the process of hanging this ancient picture and reveling in the one constant in his life: family.
John picked up the frame, shot a questioning look at his parents, they nodded, and he slid the frame into its slot. Perfect.
Then, the phone rang. Hesitating, Stanley reached for it on the fourth ring. Maggie and John glanced at each other, then turned back to the freshly hung picture on the wall.
"Turnagin." He answered.
"Dr. Turnagin, I have some bad news." the nameless voice drone.
"I'm listening." curt. Stanley was not a fan of the nameless voice.
"It seems that Mr. Mulder has breached security. Again. I assume you understand what this means?"
Sighing, Stanley answered slowly, "Of course but, is there no other way?"
"Doctor, you know the answer to that question. A new location will be delivered to you in an hour." And, with that, the nameless voice was gone.
Closing his eyes, Stanley hung up the phone slowly. He turned to face the disappointed looks he knew awaited him. Maggie and John clearly understood what had just taken place.
Agent Fox Mulder had just ruined their lives. Again.