After Mulder and Scully are reassigned to the X-Files, Skinner has some thoughts and concerns to work through.

Late January 1999

Skinner watched them leave Kersh's office and he knew. Excusing himself, he followed behind them. Keeping his distance, he watched still, seeing the way they stood slightly apart at the elevator, neither looking at the other.

When the doors opened, his hand went to the small of her back, just as he had seen him do countless times. She did not flinch or pull away as he had seen her do a couple of times lately, and for that he was hopeful.

As they stepped into the empty elevator, they met each other's eyes for a brief moment and Mulder nodded. She smiled slightly and nodded back before turning and facing the doors as they closed.

"Okay," Skinner said under his breath with a slight nod of his own. "Okay."

Taking the stairs to his office, he told Arlene to hold his calls. He needed time to think and devise a plan.

Pacing in his office, he shook his head. They had the X-Files back and were now under his command, and yet he wondered if it would be enough.

He had watched them the past few months, kept an eye and ear out. He knew and witnessed some of the harebrained stunts Mulder had pulled. The Bermuda Triangle for one. That man really knew how to cause problems and get people around him hurt or in major hot water.

Skinner understood. He did. But he also did not. Mulder needed to run, like a wild animal at times, but he also needed to be tethered. If not given the chance to explore, while still staying within the parameters of his lead, he was like a dog: jumping the fence, chasing the neighbors cat, digging up the yard, and coming home happy and spent, while others cleaned up his mess.

Scully especially. She did not deserve that, but she cared for him, for their work, and so she shouldered that responsibility.

Kersh had said as much to him one night, calling him to his office for a chat. Whisky and words, an old AD used to call it, when he had been with the bureau.

Skinner had gone in, his defenses up, determined to give nothing away. Kersh had been smooth, as usual, his eyes watching and his expression hard to read.

"You've been in command of Agents Mulder and Scully for a few years now. What are your thoughts on them?"

"Intelligent. Dedicated. Good work ethic."

"Yes, she does seem to have those qualities," Kersh had said, sipping his whisky, and Skinner's jaw had clenched as had his hand around his glass.

"Agent Mulder as well," he had responded and Kersh hummed with a shake of his head.

"Can't say I agree. But I can see her going places, if she cut herself free of him."

Not a chance of that happening, Skinner had thought with a harsh exhale of breath.

"She apologizes for him a lot," Kersh had said, looking at Skinner. "She needn't do that if she wasn't always cleaning up after him. Making excuses for his behavior."

"You need to get to know them is all," Skinner had stated. "Agent Mulder is a brilliant profiler, seeing things others don't-"

"Aliens and monsters?"

"Not always." Skinner had looked at him, seen his sneer and knew no words would change his mind, but he would try. "Agent Mulder has a way of getting into a person's head, seeing things in a way others would not pursue. Sometimes you need to look for a different approach."

"Yes. I couldn't agree more." His words had been ominous and as Skinner left his office, he had sighed.

Within a couple of weeks, Arlene had come into his office, her eyes wide and face pale to tell him that Scully had been shot by a fellow agent. He had stared at her and she nodded, confirming her words.

"Mulder?"

"No, not by Agent Mulder. An agent from the New York office. Agent Ritter. She's at NYU Hospital."

"She's okay?"

"She was shot in the stomach, but she's going to be okay."

"Who… who told you?"

She had looked around and then back at him with a kind smile.

"Agent Mulder. He called just now, saying he wanted you to hear it from him." He had stared at her and then nodded, letting out a breath he had not realized he had been holding.

"Thank you. Uh… could you send her some flowers? Some… I don't know. Daisies or something cheerful?"

"Yes sir, I can do that," she had said with a smile. "Personal or bureau card?"

"Personal," he had said quietly and she nodded, leaving the room to do his bidding, closing the door behind her.

He had set the papers down he had been reading and took out his personal cell phone. Dialing Mulder's number, he had waited, his mouth dry.

"Mulder."

"She's okay?"

"She will be. Ritter on the other hand… still not sure I shouldn't deck the shit out of him."

"No. Don't do that."

"Hmm," he had hummed gruffly. "Fucker could've killed her."

"She's okay though. That's what matters."

"Yeah. Thanks for calling. I'll tell her you did."

"Thanks."

They had hung up and he had sat at his desk for a long time without doing anything of importance.

She had recovered quickly, surprisingly quickly and he knew Mulder had been as relieved as he was, well… obviously more.

Then he had nearly died, poisoned by Krycek, something in his bloodstream that lay dormant to be used at will. A mouse in Krycek's trap, to be played with for fun. He had not wanted Mulder or Scully to know, pushing them away when he needed their help most. But as they were under Kersh's command, the X-Files out of their hands, it would never be allowed or reach any conclusion.

He had seen the shock on their faces when he had dismissed them. He had yearned to tell them, but knew he could not. Suffering alone, he had continued with his work.

Now, the past few days with Cassandra Spender, he saw the change in them, saw how they seemed to pull away from one another. Still partners, still friends, but something had changed.

While he knew it was none of his business, he wondered if they were sleeping together. If perhaps they had begun a relationship that had pushed them away instead of bringing them together, but he had no way to know for certain.

People speculated about them, whispers said in elevators or as they passed in the hallways. He had seen knowing glances and stares from men and women, heard Scully's name spoken in a locker room amid laughter and crude remarks until he had come around to face them, saying nothing and only staring, until their words had fallen silent, their heads hanging down.

If they had crossed that line, it was no concern to anyone, least of all him, but he was curious. Only inasmuch as it pertained to them, not wanting their partnership to change or suffer. They were good agents, just as he had told Kersh, and he did not want that to diminish. Not for any reason.

He stopped pacing as a thought occurred to him. A case he had seen and forgot about given the past few days. Hurrying to his desk, he began to search until he found it. Reading through it again, he nodded, a smile slowly spreading across his face.

"Yes. This will be what they need. Get their feet wet, so to speak. And get them back on track." He nodded again and buzzed Arlene, telling her to call them to his office.

He read the case through again as he waited, making notes and figuring out the best course of action.

A knock on the door pulled him away from the words and he closed the file. Arlene opened the door and smiled.

"Agents Mulder and Scully, sir."

"Thank you. Send them in," he said, with a nod.

"You can go in," she said, stepping aside and allowing them to enter.

Scully walked in first, Mulder's hand in mid-air having most likely vacated from her back mere seconds before. Skinner held in a smile at the thought that he was probably the only person who could get away with touching her in that way and not ending up with broken fingers. Or a black eye.

"Sir?" she said, a small smile on her face as she sat in the chair to his left, Mulder taking the one beside her.

"Agents. Thank you for coming. I have a case that needs immediate attention. A couple in California has gone missing from their home. Everything gone, people gone without a trace, neighbors noticing and knowing nothing."

They looked at one another and Mulder nodded, leaning forward with interest.

"Local PD?"

"Found nothing out of the ordinary."

"Hmm."

"So, I need you two to pose as prospective homeowners and see if we can't figure this one out."

"You're saying…" Scully asked as she glanced sideways at Mulder. "You want us to go undercover?"

"As a couple moving into the neighborhood, yes." He watched them, saw them shift slightly, glancing at each other slyly, and then falling still in their chairs.

"When do we leave?" Mulder asked and Skinner cleared his throat to cover a laugh.

Not soon enough, he thought, watching how rigidly Scully sat, her hands clasped in her lap, as he discussed the case, Mulder's eyes continuing to cut to her.

Not soon enough…