Skyscraper
Chapter Two
Part 1.
In the bathroom, Scully hoped nobody would come in while she splashed her face so that she could pretend that she wasn't falling apart. I am strong, she told herself. I can handle this.
She was proud of herself when she made it all the way to her office without thinking about Mulder and "the kiss". She did not expect him to be there yet, so she flinched when she opened the door and saw a male figure step out into the light. It only took a second to realize that it was Jeffrey Spender.
It was hard to concentrate on the conversation that followed. Something about Mulder "leading" her into believing that her memories were of an alien abduction. She hadn't believed it outright anyway—she always tended to err on the side of rational explanations, rather than sensory input. She knew experiences could be manipulated, and sometimes just downright wrong.
She prepared herself to admit to Mulder that her memories were probably wrong—that it may have been a government cover-up, after all. But Spender's next words gave her a shock. "He has more than misled you, Agent Scully," he said. "He's working with them."
"With who?" she said, her forehead crinkling. A jolt of electricity shot down her arms. She did not flinch, although she thought it odd that the conversation would cause that strong of a reaction in her.
Spender looked away for a second. "He's part of the conspiracy."
She folded her arms. "Agent Spender, I suggest you leave this office right now if you're going to make baseless accusations like that."
He bent over the desk and opened a suitcase. "I knew you wouldn't believe me. That's why I brought proof."
He pulled out a picture and handed it to Scully. In it, Mulder was shaking hands with the cancer-stick man, and the woman Scully had seen in the hall with Mulder was standing next to him, hand on his arm, smiling.
Scully puckered her lips. "Who is this woman?" she asked.
"Diana Fowley. She's working with him," Spender said, and Scully knew who he was talking about. A chill shot down her spine, but it was different from the charge she felt earlier in her arms. "They are involved with the Syndicate, a group of men responsible for my mother's abduction. I took this picture this morning, after following Agent Mulder."
Scully handed the picture back. "This doesn't prove anything, Agent Spender." She refused to meet his eyes. "Now, I suggest you leave. I've had enough of this nonsense."
He did as she asked without saying a word. She had chased him away, but not the questions he had left in her mind. What if there was some truth to it? Why would Mulder be meeting with the cigarette-smoking man, and why would he not tell her about that meeting?
She decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and allow him to answer some of the questions she had. He had pulled things behind her back before, but never had he betrayed her, and she didn't believe he would start now.
Part 2.
She didn't have to track Mulder down—he came into the office soon after Jeffrey Spender left. Unable to contain herself, she addressed him immediately. She tried to keep her tone even and free from any signs of alarm. "Mulder, have you . . . had any unusual meetings lately without me?"
Mulder's brows knitted together. "What do you mean? With who?"
"Diana Fowley."
Scully's chest tightened as she waited for the answer. If Mulder was alarmed by the question, he did not betray it to her. "That's a name I haven't heard in a while. How did you hear about her?"
Scully pressed her lips together tightly before answering. "So it's true—you did meet with her."
Mulder's hands flew up in front of him. "No! Where are you getting this, Scully?"
She stood there for a moment, looking at his face for any signs of deception. He looked innocent enough, but she couldn't discount her own experience. "I saw you with her, Mulder."
"What? When?"
"Does it matter?" Her voice was louder. "What about that guy who smokes all the time? Have you met with him?"
Mulder scoffed. "Are you kidding me, Scully?"
"Answer the question, Mulder." She was practically yelling now. It was one thing for him to talk to questionable people behind her back, and quite another for him to out-and-out lie about it when confronted.
Mulder rubbed his face. "Look, Scully, I don't know what you've seen, or think you've seen, or what you've heard, but I have not done any of the things you're talking about." He held out open palms. "If I did, don't you think I would have told you?"
Scully could feel her nostrils flaring as she huffed at his response. "No, you look, Mulder," she said in a controlled tone. "I have followed you all this time, for the sole reason that I thought you were the only person I could trust. But if you aren't going to be honest with me—"
"I am being honest, Scully. I have told you nothing but the truth."
She looked up at a corner of the room, trying to fight back tears as she said the next words. "Well then I guess what you've said all along is true—trust no one."
Mulder pursed his lips. "Fine. Don't believe me. But you're going to be sorry when you lose the one person you can trust."
With that, he turned and stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind him. Scully put one hand up to her face and did what she had been trying not to do this whole time—unleash the waterfall of emotions dammed up within her.
