Title - I Know What You Did . . .
Author - Nicky
Rating - PG
Classification - TRA
Keywords - Mulder/Scully Romance, Angst, Charlie Fic
Spoilers - The Sixth Extinction: Amor Fati
Summary - Mulder and Scully help her brother Charlie and end up with more trouble than they bargained for.
Disclaimer - The characters don't belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for my own therapeutic purposes. They will be returned relatively unharmed to Chris Carter, or whoever wants to borrow them next, when I'm done.
Chapter 8
Charlie sighs in frustration as he reaches another dead end. Since arriving in D.C earlier that evening, he has yet to be able to track down his sister. He's tried her home, her cell, and her work. He's now at the last place he could think of to find her. He was really hoping to avoid this meeting at this particular time.
"Charlie. What a surprise."
"Hi Mom," he says, pasting a smile on his face. He can't let her see how worried he really is.
"Don't 'Hi Mom' me. Get in here and give me a hug, Young Man," Margaret Scully says, pulling her youngest son into her eager arms. "It's been too long."
"I know," he says quietly, having to clear his voice to get past the tears threatening to fall. "I'm just in town for a quick visit. I needed to ask Dana her professional opinion on something I'm researching."
"Oh that's nice, Dear," his mother nods, setting a plate of cookies in front of him. He wonders how she manages it. He shows up out of the blue and she has a plate of cookies seemingly waiting on him. "Was she able to help?"
"I actually haven't been able to reach her yet. Do you know if she's out of town on a case or anything?"
"Not that I know of. I haven't seen her in probably three weeks. Since she came back from seeing you. But I did speak with her the other day. She didn't say anything about a case then, but you know how those things just pop up. She's usually gone without a moment's notice." She pats his knee and stands to go get him some milk. When she gets back, she has a small slip of paper for him. "Call these numbers. If I can't reach her at home or on her cell, I try Fox. They're usually together."
"Good idea, Mom. I'll go call now," he smiles, trying hard not to snatch the paper from her hand. He has a bad feeling that he really needs to get in touch with his sister. The sooner, the better.
* * * * *
The apartment is a welcome sight for Mulder after spending so much time in a Women's Clinic. The procedure the doctor did on Scully freaked him out a little, but he's starting to get over it. He wanted to take her right home immediately after the appointment, but she reminded him that they needed to stop by the Gunmen's to drop off the tissue samples from the CVS. The doctor will go ahead and run the usual tests, but Mulder and Scully thought it would be less weird to ask the Gunmen to try and ascertain the maternity as well as paternity of the babies. That would be too much to try to explain to the doctor.
Mulder makes sure to unplug all the phones as well as shutting off their cellulars. He wants to make sure she isn't interrupted. He turns down the answering machine, ignoring the blinking light alerting them of the waiting messages. She ignored it when she came in, so he figures he should do so as well.
"Maybe I should check those messages," she says. He turns around and sees her standing behind him wearing one of his t-shirts. It comes practically down to her knees. But even it's not big enough to hide the bump developing where her flat stomach used to be. He smiles at how cute she looks in it.
"I thought you were supposed to be resting." He lets a yawn escape.
"You're the one that could use the rest," she points out. "I'm not all that tired. And the doctor said that I'm fine."
"He also said that you should probably take it easy for the rest of the day, Scully," Mulder reminds her.
"I know. But I was lonely in there," she pouts. "All alone in that big old bed."
"Hmm, I think I can do something about that," Mulder says, giving her a grin.
He takes her hand and leads her back to the bedroom. She gets in the bed while he gets comfortable, stripping down to his boxers and undershirt. After making a quick trip to the bathroom, he joins her in the bed to find that she's already asleep. With a little smile, he wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her back into the curve of his body. He rubs his hand back and forth across her rounded belly and, before he realizes, is asleep as well.
The time seems to stretch on forever. He doesn't know how long he's been asleep, but try as he might, he can't seem to wake himself up. He feels a weird sensation, kind of like he's floating outside of his body. He doesn't ever remember being in that deep of a sleep. One lone part of his unconscious mind registers that something isn't quite right. But he can't seem to muster up the energy to care. So he just lets himself drift.
* * * * *
Charlie manages to choke down the dinner his mother insisted on feeding him. But he was barely able to keep his mind on the conversation. Luckily, she was perfectly content talking almost the entire time. He just had to try to nod and laugh at the appropriate times.
After dinner, he decides to visit his sister's apartment in person. She's not answering her phone, but she might just have it off the hook or unplugged for whatever reason. That doesn't make him feel any better. She could be in trouble. He might already be too late.
When he gets to her apartment, he finally understands why he's been having such feelings of dread. A mass of people populate the sidewalk in front of the complex. Flashing lights from police cars and ambulances brighten the early evening sky. Men in uniforms and suits walk around inside of a police taped area and Charlie suddenly finds himself praying silently to see his sister as one of those suits. Whispers pass through the crowds and he tries to hear what happened.
"I heard the guy flipped," one passerby says. "Just went crazy and killed his girlfriend."
Charlie's prayers change and he finds himself hoping desperately that the story is just a rumor and that his sister isn't involved. But he knows that she somehow is. He looks around some more and finally spots a familiar face. He's not sure if he's more relieved or worried to see the tall, balding man with glasses.
"Excuse me," Charlie calls to him. "Are you Skinner?"
"Who wants to know?" the assistant director asks gruffly, glancing suspiciously at the man.
"I'm Charles Scully," he says, sticking out his hand for the man to shake. His stomach drops when he sees the look of sorrow that crosses Skinner's face.
"Mr. Scully, I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you this," Skinner starts.
"It's Dana, isn't it?"
"I'm sorry," he says with a nod.
"What happened?" Charlie asks tearfully. "Someone here was saying that a woman got killed by her boyfriend. I didn't think that Dana was seeing anyone."
Everyone's attention goes to the entrance of the apartment complex as the paramedics come out carrying a loaded stretcher. The police are close behind them.
"Is that her?" Charlie jumps across the police tape and tries to run to the paramedics. Skinner is able to catch his arm and stop him.
"Your sister wasn't in the apartment when we arrived. Just Agent Mulder. They're taking him to the hospital," Skinner explains.
"What's with the police escort?"
"It's standard procedure when paramedics have to transport a . . . " Skinner pauses, seemingly at a loss for words.
"A what? Federal agent?"
"No," Skinner whispers, his voice thick with emotion. "A murder suspect."
"Mur- murder suspect? Are you telling me my sister is dead?" Charlie cries.
"I can't really tell you much of anything," Skinner says apologetically. "We don't know much yet. All we know is that an anonymous 9-1-1 call came in about an hour ago. When they showed up, they found Agent Mulder in your sister's apartment. He was hysterical and covered in what appears to be . . . her blood. Agent Scully's location has yet to be determined, but . . . "
"But everyone think she's dead," Charlie finishes for him.
"There's a lot of blood." Skinner looks down, trying to hide his emotions. He can't think of anything else to say to the man, so he just shrugs and apologizes again. "I'm sorry."
"Why are they taking him to the hospital?" Charlie asks. He's numb now. His sister has been killed and he can only blame himself. He doesn't know much about Mulder. But he knows the man would never willingly hurt Dana. Charlie can only assume his so called employers had something to do with Mulder's actions.
"The police believe he's guilty. When I arrived, they were trying to get him to tell them where she is. It was too much for him and he snapped. He's so deep in shock now that he's practically catatonic."
"Doesn't seem like the actions of a guilty man to me," Charlie says. "Mulder cares a lot about Dana."
"Your sister is his whole world. He could never do to her what they're accusing him of," Skinner says with certainty.
"Who could?"
"I don't know. But I'm going to find out," he swears to Charlie. "It's the least I can do for them both."
Skinner gives him a small grimace that Charlie assumes is supposed to pass for a smile. But Charlie doesn't feel reassured. He just feels fear. Fear that they won't find his sister and fear that they will. But mostly he's terrified they will find out his involvement in the whole thing. It's bound to come out eventually. Secrets like this always do.
To be continued . . .
Author - Nicky
Rating - PG
Classification - TRA
Keywords - Mulder/Scully Romance, Angst, Charlie Fic
Spoilers - The Sixth Extinction: Amor Fati
Summary - Mulder and Scully help her brother Charlie and end up with more trouble than they bargained for.
Disclaimer - The characters don't belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for my own therapeutic purposes. They will be returned relatively unharmed to Chris Carter, or whoever wants to borrow them next, when I'm done.
Chapter 8
Charlie sighs in frustration as he reaches another dead end. Since arriving in D.C earlier that evening, he has yet to be able to track down his sister. He's tried her home, her cell, and her work. He's now at the last place he could think of to find her. He was really hoping to avoid this meeting at this particular time.
"Charlie. What a surprise."
"Hi Mom," he says, pasting a smile on his face. He can't let her see how worried he really is.
"Don't 'Hi Mom' me. Get in here and give me a hug, Young Man," Margaret Scully says, pulling her youngest son into her eager arms. "It's been too long."
"I know," he says quietly, having to clear his voice to get past the tears threatening to fall. "I'm just in town for a quick visit. I needed to ask Dana her professional opinion on something I'm researching."
"Oh that's nice, Dear," his mother nods, setting a plate of cookies in front of him. He wonders how she manages it. He shows up out of the blue and she has a plate of cookies seemingly waiting on him. "Was she able to help?"
"I actually haven't been able to reach her yet. Do you know if she's out of town on a case or anything?"
"Not that I know of. I haven't seen her in probably three weeks. Since she came back from seeing you. But I did speak with her the other day. She didn't say anything about a case then, but you know how those things just pop up. She's usually gone without a moment's notice." She pats his knee and stands to go get him some milk. When she gets back, she has a small slip of paper for him. "Call these numbers. If I can't reach her at home or on her cell, I try Fox. They're usually together."
"Good idea, Mom. I'll go call now," he smiles, trying hard not to snatch the paper from her hand. He has a bad feeling that he really needs to get in touch with his sister. The sooner, the better.
* * * * *
The apartment is a welcome sight for Mulder after spending so much time in a Women's Clinic. The procedure the doctor did on Scully freaked him out a little, but he's starting to get over it. He wanted to take her right home immediately after the appointment, but she reminded him that they needed to stop by the Gunmen's to drop off the tissue samples from the CVS. The doctor will go ahead and run the usual tests, but Mulder and Scully thought it would be less weird to ask the Gunmen to try and ascertain the maternity as well as paternity of the babies. That would be too much to try to explain to the doctor.
Mulder makes sure to unplug all the phones as well as shutting off their cellulars. He wants to make sure she isn't interrupted. He turns down the answering machine, ignoring the blinking light alerting them of the waiting messages. She ignored it when she came in, so he figures he should do so as well.
"Maybe I should check those messages," she says. He turns around and sees her standing behind him wearing one of his t-shirts. It comes practically down to her knees. But even it's not big enough to hide the bump developing where her flat stomach used to be. He smiles at how cute she looks in it.
"I thought you were supposed to be resting." He lets a yawn escape.
"You're the one that could use the rest," she points out. "I'm not all that tired. And the doctor said that I'm fine."
"He also said that you should probably take it easy for the rest of the day, Scully," Mulder reminds her.
"I know. But I was lonely in there," she pouts. "All alone in that big old bed."
"Hmm, I think I can do something about that," Mulder says, giving her a grin.
He takes her hand and leads her back to the bedroom. She gets in the bed while he gets comfortable, stripping down to his boxers and undershirt. After making a quick trip to the bathroom, he joins her in the bed to find that she's already asleep. With a little smile, he wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her back into the curve of his body. He rubs his hand back and forth across her rounded belly and, before he realizes, is asleep as well.
The time seems to stretch on forever. He doesn't know how long he's been asleep, but try as he might, he can't seem to wake himself up. He feels a weird sensation, kind of like he's floating outside of his body. He doesn't ever remember being in that deep of a sleep. One lone part of his unconscious mind registers that something isn't quite right. But he can't seem to muster up the energy to care. So he just lets himself drift.
* * * * *
Charlie manages to choke down the dinner his mother insisted on feeding him. But he was barely able to keep his mind on the conversation. Luckily, she was perfectly content talking almost the entire time. He just had to try to nod and laugh at the appropriate times.
After dinner, he decides to visit his sister's apartment in person. She's not answering her phone, but she might just have it off the hook or unplugged for whatever reason. That doesn't make him feel any better. She could be in trouble. He might already be too late.
When he gets to her apartment, he finally understands why he's been having such feelings of dread. A mass of people populate the sidewalk in front of the complex. Flashing lights from police cars and ambulances brighten the early evening sky. Men in uniforms and suits walk around inside of a police taped area and Charlie suddenly finds himself praying silently to see his sister as one of those suits. Whispers pass through the crowds and he tries to hear what happened.
"I heard the guy flipped," one passerby says. "Just went crazy and killed his girlfriend."
Charlie's prayers change and he finds himself hoping desperately that the story is just a rumor and that his sister isn't involved. But he knows that she somehow is. He looks around some more and finally spots a familiar face. He's not sure if he's more relieved or worried to see the tall, balding man with glasses.
"Excuse me," Charlie calls to him. "Are you Skinner?"
"Who wants to know?" the assistant director asks gruffly, glancing suspiciously at the man.
"I'm Charles Scully," he says, sticking out his hand for the man to shake. His stomach drops when he sees the look of sorrow that crosses Skinner's face.
"Mr. Scully, I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you this," Skinner starts.
"It's Dana, isn't it?"
"I'm sorry," he says with a nod.
"What happened?" Charlie asks tearfully. "Someone here was saying that a woman got killed by her boyfriend. I didn't think that Dana was seeing anyone."
Everyone's attention goes to the entrance of the apartment complex as the paramedics come out carrying a loaded stretcher. The police are close behind them.
"Is that her?" Charlie jumps across the police tape and tries to run to the paramedics. Skinner is able to catch his arm and stop him.
"Your sister wasn't in the apartment when we arrived. Just Agent Mulder. They're taking him to the hospital," Skinner explains.
"What's with the police escort?"
"It's standard procedure when paramedics have to transport a . . . " Skinner pauses, seemingly at a loss for words.
"A what? Federal agent?"
"No," Skinner whispers, his voice thick with emotion. "A murder suspect."
"Mur- murder suspect? Are you telling me my sister is dead?" Charlie cries.
"I can't really tell you much of anything," Skinner says apologetically. "We don't know much yet. All we know is that an anonymous 9-1-1 call came in about an hour ago. When they showed up, they found Agent Mulder in your sister's apartment. He was hysterical and covered in what appears to be . . . her blood. Agent Scully's location has yet to be determined, but . . . "
"But everyone think she's dead," Charlie finishes for him.
"There's a lot of blood." Skinner looks down, trying to hide his emotions. He can't think of anything else to say to the man, so he just shrugs and apologizes again. "I'm sorry."
"Why are they taking him to the hospital?" Charlie asks. He's numb now. His sister has been killed and he can only blame himself. He doesn't know much about Mulder. But he knows the man would never willingly hurt Dana. Charlie can only assume his so called employers had something to do with Mulder's actions.
"The police believe he's guilty. When I arrived, they were trying to get him to tell them where she is. It was too much for him and he snapped. He's so deep in shock now that he's practically catatonic."
"Doesn't seem like the actions of a guilty man to me," Charlie says. "Mulder cares a lot about Dana."
"Your sister is his whole world. He could never do to her what they're accusing him of," Skinner says with certainty.
"Who could?"
"I don't know. But I'm going to find out," he swears to Charlie. "It's the least I can do for them both."
Skinner gives him a small grimace that Charlie assumes is supposed to pass for a smile. But Charlie doesn't feel reassured. He just feels fear. Fear that they won't find his sister and fear that they will. But mostly he's terrified they will find out his involvement in the whole thing. It's bound to come out eventually. Secrets like this always do.
To be continued . . .