Title: Means to an End
Author: Lisa
Email: lc7685@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: I don't own the show, the characters, or anything like that :)
Rating:
Summary: Monica finds herself in a dangerous position after events take a
turn for the worse. Set after Sunshine days, Pre-Truth. Please R/R this is
a WIP :)
Category: DRF/DRUST/DRR...just-all-DR :P Drama, Angst
As they were about to land, and the seatbelt light came on, the man in front of Monica woke up, pulling his seat with him. She breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. John laughed.
"You look like it's your birthday or something," he stated. She chuckled.
"Maybe it is." She raised an eyebrow at him and John cursed silently. Was it? He had no idea. She hadn't said anything. And it wasn't as though John looked through her personal file on a regular basis - he hadn't seen them since her transfer had been approved, and the only reason he had before that, was to look at her track record to present it to Skinner and Kersh.
"Is it?" he asked. She shrugged, looking out the window. She sighed suddenly.
"It's raining."
"It's always raining. Haven't you seen that movie-" John began to change the topic, realising that if Dana hadn't said anything to Monica that morning, then it mustn't be her birthday, because Dana would say 'Happy Birthday' - wouldn't she? "Sleepless in Seattle or-" he continued.
"Yeah, it was one of Brad's favourites." John raised an eyebrow. "I liked it well enough, but it just-"
"I thought you would've liked the whole soul mate idea."
"I do. Maybe I just associate it with Brad now, since he assumed I wanted to watch it every time it was on television-"
"Every six months then?" They laughed.
"Yeah, and he also assumed which bits would be my favourite. Always so far off-"
"What are your favourite bits?"
"Don't remember really. I haven't seen it since I moved to New Orleans! What about you?"
"I," John stated. "Like the plane trip." Monica grinned.
"Seeing as we're on a plane now?"
"Yep," John shifted his seat belt a little, before his brow creased. "Hang on," he began after a moment's hesitation.
"What?"
"You said 'FBI step back' in your dream. How could you have been some little kid?" Monica scratched her temple. John seemed to be changing subjects every thirty seconds and it was getting hard to keep up with him.
"Uh, well, it's hard to explain. I was little, but I was still me."
"You were a six year old FBI agent? I'm impressed."
"Thanks," Monica replied as they landed with a bit of a bump. She leant over to her right again, and John felt her hair on his hand again. "What now?"
"We follow him off."
"What if he disappears into the airport?"
"There are meant to be plain clothes cops at the gate."
"And so then what?"
"There's an hour for this plane to be fuelled and checked, then we're going home."
"An hour? That's not enough time to do anything!"
"We could get some food because believe me-"
"I'm starving, too," she finished, unbuckling her seat belt. They followed the suspect off the plane and watched as he made a run for it, but was pulled down but at least three officers, much to the excitement of all the civilians standing around. "Explain to me again why the Bureau paid for us to fly out here for no reason?"
"I think you just explained it yourself." Monica glanced over at him with one eye closed. He'd noticed her doing it before. Must be some strange habit she picked up. Nevertheless, it was cute. Both eyes snapped open as he continued. "I still think it has something to do with this case."
"Oh John, you don't really believe that do you? It's not even an X File."
"So why's it on my desk? Someone wants us to look into it, and someone else doesn't. I say we do." She shrugged.
"Okay Mulder, but I'm going to the ladies' and then can we get something to eat?"
"Course," John replied, watching her walk off. He took out his mobile and called Dana.
"Scully," Dana answered.
"It's John."
"Oh hi. Is that rain I hear outside?"
"Funny. We're at the airport."
"How'd it go?"
"Perfectly. Monica and I just stood and looked pretty."
"That must've been a challenge," Dana replied dryly. "When do you come back?"
"In an hour, but at this point I'm thinking of running away-"
"I don't think you'd want to do that." Her voice was tinged with a warning that he'd heard many times before.
"Why? What's happened?"
"John, someone's trashed the office."
"What do you mean trashed?"
"Tipped over open filing cabinets, bashed in computers-"
"Woah, hang on there Agent Scully. During the middle of the day? Why didn't anyone-"
"I'm not sure. None of us were there."
"What about security tapes?"
"The tape covering the hallway was temporarily out of order at the time. Do you know what's going on here?"
"This smells bad."
"It certainly does. I'm here now trying to put files back together. Skinner's coming down to help after a meeting. He's pissed."
"Will you be there when we get back?"
"Probably. What else do I have at the moment?" John didn't reply, he didn't know how. "So how was the food on the plane?"
"You have to ask?" John spotted Monica returning. "Oh and by the way, do you know when Monica's birthday is?" John heard her laugh.
"Yeah, today, believe it or not. Don't worry, I didn't find out until yesterday when I felt the urge to ask her. She's not one to make much of a fuss."
"Ahuh, thanks Agent Scully but I have to go."
"Call when you get back and I'll let you know where I'm at." Monica sat down on an airport chair as John hung up.
"Was that Dana?"
"Yep. And I think I can answer your question." Monica raised an eyebrow. "Someone got into the basement while none of us were there and went looking for something."
"Like..."
"I'm not sure but at least they didn't set it on fire." Monica chuckled. "Scully says computers were smashed in." Monica lost all humour in her glance. "Big mess, paper everywhere."
"And no one heard anything?"
"Mon, we're the only ones that ever go down there." Monica swore under her breath and sighed.
"Well we can't do anything until we get back there. Is Dana okay?"
"Sounds okay. Skinner's going to help her start cleaning up."
"Well there goes my good night's sleep."
"We should try and sleep on the flight back."
"Mm, but first and foremost, where do we eat?"
"What do you want?"
"I know this is going to sound awful, and I'll probably regret it for the next month, but would there be a MacDonald's around here?"
"I'm pretty sure there would be. You really want Maccas?"
"Hell yes," Monica replied. "And we have to buy a bag of éclairs from the lolly stand."
"Why?"
"The coffee ones are fantastic."
"Monica, we've been on planes before. You never struck me as a MacDonald's and Lollies kind of flier."
"Usually I'm not." John smirked.
"So what's the occasion?"
"Just...feel like a treat."
"Well in that case, I'll buy you the MacDonald's, and you go get the lollies and we'll meet back here?"
"Sounds good." After checking where exactly they were and making a note, they split up. Monica arrived back first and smiled as her mobile rang. "Monica Reyes," she answered.
"Hi Monica, it's Dana."
"Oh hi. How's the clean up operation going?"
"Skinner's down here now. It's..." she sighed. "Going, I guess. It won't take as long as we thought. What time are you going to get back?" Monica gave her a couple of flight details. "Would you be able to come to my place then?"
"Sure. Why?"
"We need to talk about why this happened. Skinner won't be there."
"Do you know why this happened?"
"No, but one of you do."
"How do you know?"
"Because these aren't my files I'm picking up. John's was the worst hit-"
"Figures."
"How so?"
"I think he thinks he knows what this is all about. We're thinking this trip was just an excuse to get us away from the office, so that whoever it is had enough time to find whatever it is that they're looking for."
"That poses a lot of questions. A lot of thinking."
"Yeah, we noticed."
"Oh, your parents called at work looking for you. I told them you got called out of town on a case but that I'd pass on birthday greetings."
"Thanks. I had my phone on, but the one of the air hostesses noticed and made me turn it off."
"Well they said have a great day, they want you to call them when you get home, and to say hi to John for them." Monica heard the obvious question in Scully's tone and smiled, at the same time as John returned with the food. Scully heard a, 'Thankyou so much' and 'It's Dana' before Monica came fully back to the phone.
"Yeah he met them when I was in hospital. Thanks for passing it on. I better go. John's back with food."
"Anything good?"
"Macdonald's," Monica replied, and could practically see the look of disgust on Dana's face. "It's been a long day."
"It's all right. I forgive you," she said dryly.
"Thanks again."
"See you."
John glanced at her as she hung up.
"Scully again?"
"Yep." Monica looked at her food and mocked a teary voice. "Wow. I don't know where to start. This is so beautiful."
"You're breaking my heart, Mon," John joked back, handing her a drink. "Start here."
*
Category: DRF/DRUST/DRR...just-all-DR :P Drama, Angst
As they were about to land, and the seatbelt light came on, the man in front of Monica woke up, pulling his seat with him. She breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. John laughed.
"You look like it's your birthday or something," he stated. She chuckled.
"Maybe it is." She raised an eyebrow at him and John cursed silently. Was it? He had no idea. She hadn't said anything. And it wasn't as though John looked through her personal file on a regular basis - he hadn't seen them since her transfer had been approved, and the only reason he had before that, was to look at her track record to present it to Skinner and Kersh.
"Is it?" he asked. She shrugged, looking out the window. She sighed suddenly.
"It's raining."
"It's always raining. Haven't you seen that movie-" John began to change the topic, realising that if Dana hadn't said anything to Monica that morning, then it mustn't be her birthday, because Dana would say 'Happy Birthday' - wouldn't she? "Sleepless in Seattle or-" he continued.
"Yeah, it was one of Brad's favourites." John raised an eyebrow. "I liked it well enough, but it just-"
"I thought you would've liked the whole soul mate idea."
"I do. Maybe I just associate it with Brad now, since he assumed I wanted to watch it every time it was on television-"
"Every six months then?" They laughed.
"Yeah, and he also assumed which bits would be my favourite. Always so far off-"
"What are your favourite bits?"
"Don't remember really. I haven't seen it since I moved to New Orleans! What about you?"
"I," John stated. "Like the plane trip." Monica grinned.
"Seeing as we're on a plane now?"
"Yep," John shifted his seat belt a little, before his brow creased. "Hang on," he began after a moment's hesitation.
"What?"
"You said 'FBI step back' in your dream. How could you have been some little kid?" Monica scratched her temple. John seemed to be changing subjects every thirty seconds and it was getting hard to keep up with him.
"Uh, well, it's hard to explain. I was little, but I was still me."
"You were a six year old FBI agent? I'm impressed."
"Thanks," Monica replied as they landed with a bit of a bump. She leant over to her right again, and John felt her hair on his hand again. "What now?"
"We follow him off."
"What if he disappears into the airport?"
"There are meant to be plain clothes cops at the gate."
"And so then what?"
"There's an hour for this plane to be fuelled and checked, then we're going home."
"An hour? That's not enough time to do anything!"
"We could get some food because believe me-"
"I'm starving, too," she finished, unbuckling her seat belt. They followed the suspect off the plane and watched as he made a run for it, but was pulled down but at least three officers, much to the excitement of all the civilians standing around. "Explain to me again why the Bureau paid for us to fly out here for no reason?"
"I think you just explained it yourself." Monica glanced over at him with one eye closed. He'd noticed her doing it before. Must be some strange habit she picked up. Nevertheless, it was cute. Both eyes snapped open as he continued. "I still think it has something to do with this case."
"Oh John, you don't really believe that do you? It's not even an X File."
"So why's it on my desk? Someone wants us to look into it, and someone else doesn't. I say we do." She shrugged.
"Okay Mulder, but I'm going to the ladies' and then can we get something to eat?"
"Course," John replied, watching her walk off. He took out his mobile and called Dana.
"Scully," Dana answered.
"It's John."
"Oh hi. Is that rain I hear outside?"
"Funny. We're at the airport."
"How'd it go?"
"Perfectly. Monica and I just stood and looked pretty."
"That must've been a challenge," Dana replied dryly. "When do you come back?"
"In an hour, but at this point I'm thinking of running away-"
"I don't think you'd want to do that." Her voice was tinged with a warning that he'd heard many times before.
"Why? What's happened?"
"John, someone's trashed the office."
"What do you mean trashed?"
"Tipped over open filing cabinets, bashed in computers-"
"Woah, hang on there Agent Scully. During the middle of the day? Why didn't anyone-"
"I'm not sure. None of us were there."
"What about security tapes?"
"The tape covering the hallway was temporarily out of order at the time. Do you know what's going on here?"
"This smells bad."
"It certainly does. I'm here now trying to put files back together. Skinner's coming down to help after a meeting. He's pissed."
"Will you be there when we get back?"
"Probably. What else do I have at the moment?" John didn't reply, he didn't know how. "So how was the food on the plane?"
"You have to ask?" John spotted Monica returning. "Oh and by the way, do you know when Monica's birthday is?" John heard her laugh.
"Yeah, today, believe it or not. Don't worry, I didn't find out until yesterday when I felt the urge to ask her. She's not one to make much of a fuss."
"Ahuh, thanks Agent Scully but I have to go."
"Call when you get back and I'll let you know where I'm at." Monica sat down on an airport chair as John hung up.
"Was that Dana?"
"Yep. And I think I can answer your question." Monica raised an eyebrow. "Someone got into the basement while none of us were there and went looking for something."
"Like..."
"I'm not sure but at least they didn't set it on fire." Monica chuckled. "Scully says computers were smashed in." Monica lost all humour in her glance. "Big mess, paper everywhere."
"And no one heard anything?"
"Mon, we're the only ones that ever go down there." Monica swore under her breath and sighed.
"Well we can't do anything until we get back there. Is Dana okay?"
"Sounds okay. Skinner's going to help her start cleaning up."
"Well there goes my good night's sleep."
"We should try and sleep on the flight back."
"Mm, but first and foremost, where do we eat?"
"What do you want?"
"I know this is going to sound awful, and I'll probably regret it for the next month, but would there be a MacDonald's around here?"
"I'm pretty sure there would be. You really want Maccas?"
"Hell yes," Monica replied. "And we have to buy a bag of éclairs from the lolly stand."
"Why?"
"The coffee ones are fantastic."
"Monica, we've been on planes before. You never struck me as a MacDonald's and Lollies kind of flier."
"Usually I'm not." John smirked.
"So what's the occasion?"
"Just...feel like a treat."
"Well in that case, I'll buy you the MacDonald's, and you go get the lollies and we'll meet back here?"
"Sounds good." After checking where exactly they were and making a note, they split up. Monica arrived back first and smiled as her mobile rang. "Monica Reyes," she answered.
"Hi Monica, it's Dana."
"Oh hi. How's the clean up operation going?"
"Skinner's down here now. It's..." she sighed. "Going, I guess. It won't take as long as we thought. What time are you going to get back?" Monica gave her a couple of flight details. "Would you be able to come to my place then?"
"Sure. Why?"
"We need to talk about why this happened. Skinner won't be there."
"Do you know why this happened?"
"No, but one of you do."
"How do you know?"
"Because these aren't my files I'm picking up. John's was the worst hit-"
"Figures."
"How so?"
"I think he thinks he knows what this is all about. We're thinking this trip was just an excuse to get us away from the office, so that whoever it is had enough time to find whatever it is that they're looking for."
"That poses a lot of questions. A lot of thinking."
"Yeah, we noticed."
"Oh, your parents called at work looking for you. I told them you got called out of town on a case but that I'd pass on birthday greetings."
"Thanks. I had my phone on, but the one of the air hostesses noticed and made me turn it off."
"Well they said have a great day, they want you to call them when you get home, and to say hi to John for them." Monica heard the obvious question in Scully's tone and smiled, at the same time as John returned with the food. Scully heard a, 'Thankyou so much' and 'It's Dana' before Monica came fully back to the phone.
"Yeah he met them when I was in hospital. Thanks for passing it on. I better go. John's back with food."
"Anything good?"
"Macdonald's," Monica replied, and could practically see the look of disgust on Dana's face. "It's been a long day."
"It's all right. I forgive you," she said dryly.
"Thanks again."
"See you."
John glanced at her as she hung up.
"Scully again?"
"Yep." Monica looked at her food and mocked a teary voice. "Wow. I don't know where to start. This is so beautiful."
"You're breaking my heart, Mon," John joked back, handing her a drink. "Start here."
*