Chapter Three - The Hearing
Mulder and Skinner were the first to arrive at the Courthouse and they were promptly greeted by an Assistant DA.
They were led into a small conference room, given coffee and told that they would be summoned as soon as the hearing began.
A few minutes later, Scully arrived looking a bit pale and strained. She greeted both men and accepted the coffee offered to her.
Skinner frowned when he looked at her. "Dana" he said quietly "You don't have to do this in person, you know. We can ask the judge to let your statement be read into the record."
Scully smiled weakly at him. "You are wrong, Sir. I do have to do this. Not only for myself but for every one of those women he destroyed."
Skinner was about to protest but she cut him off. "It is very simple Sir. If I don't appear today, in person, he wins. I can't let him beat me."
Skinner nodded and said nothing more. Scully sat down next to Mulder who tried to smile his encouragement to her.
Skinner looked at both of them hating the fact that they both had to relive, again, such a terrible experience.
Thankfully for them, the hearing began on time. Skinner sat in the back of the room while Mulder and Scully sat directly behind the District Attorney.
There were a handful of other people in the room, but Scully blocked them all out.
The room fell into silence as Robert Holton was led into the room. He spotted her immediately and hissed "Couldn't keep away, could you Agent Scully?" at her before being led to his chair.
Scully closed her eyes briefly but other than that refused to acknowledge his comment. Next to her, Mulder seethed in anger but managed to also keep himself in check absently rubbing her back in an attempt to comfort her.
Witnesses were called and Mulder quickly described his opinion of Holton as both a profiler and the man who had finally arrested him. In his opinion, Holton was incapable of being a productive member of society.
The last witness called by the DA was Scully. She quietly rose and went to the witness chair and in a quiet voice swore to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
"Dr. Scully" Blake began "You were not only a member of the task force formed by the FBI to locate Mr. Holton but also his last victim."
"That is correct."
"Dr. Scully, could you please tell the panel exactly what Mr. Holton did to you that day?"
Mulder gulped wishing to spare Scully from the pain she was about to experience.
"Mr. Holton followed me back to my apartment and as soon as he knew I was alone broke in. He attacked me from behind and rendered me momentarily unconscious." She paused to take a sip of water.
"When I came to a few minutes later, he had tied my hands together above my head and had secured me to one of the legs of my bed. He then proceeded to beat me, verbally and sexually assault me."
The DA interrupted at this point, addressing the panel. "I see no reason for Dr. Scully to have to go into the specifics of his attack upon her - it is all on the record from the trial."
The panel members nodded and he turned to Scully. "Dr. Scully, what, if any, have been the long lasting effects of this experience on you?"
Scully then told the panel about her years of therapy, reoccurring nightmares as well and the stigma put on her for being a victim of such an attack.
The lawyers for Holton knew better than to cross examine a witness who was not only a medical doctor but also a former FBI agent. Scully sat down in extreme relief when they chose not to question her.
A few people spoke on behalf of Holton but Scully paid little attention to them. She was too busy trying to calm her rattled nerves.
The entire proceeding took less than two hours and everyone was sent out to get a cup of coffee while the panel made its decision.
The DA came over to Mulder and Scully beaming. "I have been doing this a very long time and unless I am mistaken, and I am hardly ever mistaken, Holton is going to remain locked up for a very, very long time."
Scully smiled weakly at him praying that he was correct.
He was. It took the panel less than a half an hour to make their decision. Robert Holton was to remain in prison without the chance of parole for at least another twenty years.
Scully closed her eyes and whispered a prayer of thanks after the decision was read.
He looked at her then sitting there so prim and proper with her long red hair hiding her face. It was her fault, all her fault and he would make her pay. Dearly.
Scully waited until the prisoner was removed from the room before rising from her seat and joining Mulder, Skinner and Blake out in the lobby. Blake was grinning from ear to ear and quickly walked over to Scully to dump his praise upon her.
"Dr. Scully, we couldn't have done this without you. Thanks to you, Holton will remain behind bars for probably the rest of his life."
Blake pumped her hand while she smiled weakly at him. He then turned to Skinner and the two departed to finalize their reports in Blake's office.
Mulder looked at Scully. She was still quite pale and obviously still upset.
He walked over to her and placed a hand gently on her shoulder. "You never told me about the nightmares" he said quietly.
She turned and looked at him barely smiling. "I never told anyone. Perhaps if I had they would not have stayed with me so long."
"That was a brave thing you did in there Scully."
Scully just shrugged. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and looked directly at Mulder obviously try to shake off her upset state of mind.
"Well Agent Mulder, are you going to tell me how brave I am all afternoon or can we go out to lunch. I am starving and am looking forward to a huge lunch and an even larger glass of wine."
Mulder smiled at this and motioned towards the elevator.
An Italian Restaurant - Georgetown
Scully was thrilled when Mulder pulled up in front of her favorite Italian restaurant. She broke out in a huge smile which Mulder quickly echoed.
"You said you were hungry" Mulder said as he opened up the car door for her "I think this place serves enough food to fill even you up"
Scully smiled at him again and they walked into the restaurant. The hostess recognized Mulder immediately and showed them to a quiet table near the back of the restaurant.
"Come here often Mulder?" Scully said as she took her seat. "I thought Indian was your favorite."
Mulder just smiled and shrugged not wanting to admit that he had only started coming here regularly after her departure because the place reminded him of her.
"Good food, good wine - who could ask for more?" he said as he opened up the menu.
Mulder was right. Both the food and the wine were wonderful.
They both ate and until they thought they would burst and then sat back to sip their wine and talk.
Mulder began by telling Scully about how his time at the Bureau was now split between the Violent Crimes Unit and the X-files due to the fact that he hadn't agreed to take on a new partner.
"They will only allow me to investigate X-files cases now that they 'think' I can handle alone." He said sipping on his red wine.
Scully was wondering to herself why Agent Fowley hadn't become his partner, but kept her inquiries to herself. She wasn't ready to take on that particular subject just yet.
"Of course" Mulder continued "that hasn't stopped me for working on my own investigations with the Lone Gunmen."
"How are they?" Scully said smiling at the thought of the three men "I hate to admit it, but I do miss them."
"Even Frohike?" Mulder said
"Even Frohike - but don't tell him I said that" Scully joked.
It was then Scully's turn to fill Mulder in on what she had been doing over the past four years. Mulder noticed that she spoke in general terms and not once mentioned where she was currently living or exactly what she was doing.
"After I left here" she began deciding to skip any explanation of her departure "I knew I needed to do something totally different. So I joined up with a charity group and went over to Africa."
Mulder almost choked on his wine. "You did what?"
"I said, Agent Mulder" Scully repeated speaking to him like he was a child who was not listening well. "that I hooked up with a non profit and headed over to Africa to work in an orphanage for a while."
"No kidding" Mulder said sitting back and trying hard to picture Scully living in a tent. "Did you enjoy it."
"Loved it actually. It was just I needed at the time. When I first got there, the facility was practically in ruins, but with a little work Tom and I had the place fixed up and running like a well oiled machine."
"Tom? And who is he?" Mulder said teasingly not sure he really wanted to know the answer.
Scully took another sip of wine before answering. "Tom was the volunteer who originally took over the running of the orphanage from the local authorities. He arrived there about two months before I did."
Mulder noticed that she looked a bit uncomfortable and decided to press her. "And were you and this Tom fellow an item?"
Scully smiled at his quaint terminology. "An item? Well, I guess you could say we were. We were the only two Americans to be found within 200 miles so I guess it was only natural that we became close."
"May I ask how close you became?" Mulder said quietly wondering if the reason Scully hadn't talked about her home was because Tom was back there waiting for her.
"Close enough" Scully said rather shortly. Then she forced herself to relax and continued. "We were a couple for about a year or so I guess. He knew I couldn't have children but thought we should still get married. He said we could adopt one of the babies in the orphanage and bring it back with us."
"He sounds like a great guy." Mulder said softly. "What happened?"
"Tom is a great guy. So full of life and enthusiasm. He was everything a girl could ask for but he just wasn't.." Scully voice trailed off and she grew silent.
Mulder just looked at her as she gazed off into space for a moment. He decided it was time to lighten the mood a little bit.
Mulder then proceeded to fill her in on all the office gossip. He had her laughing so hard at his stories of the new agent who had a huge crush on AD Skinner and followed him around like a puppy dog that tears were pouring down her face.
Scully dabbed her eyes with a tissue and glanced casually at her watch and was shocked at how late it was.
"Mulder" she said putting her tissue away "I think it is time we gave up this table to someone else."
Seeing the look of disappointment on his face she continued "But if my memory is correct, there is a great ice cream place just around the corner."
The thought of not only prolonging his visit with Scully but having a double-dip cone cheered Mulder up immediately. They promptly paid the check and then slowly headed to the ice cream stand.
The ice cream was better than Scully had remembered. She delicately licked at her cone while Mulder ate his in huge bites and then hungrily eyed hers when his was done.
"Oh no you don't" she said when she saw him looking at her cone. "It isn't my fault you ate yours like a pig."
"Come on Scully" Mulder said faking a pout "You know you really don't like ice cream. You are more of a frozen tofu girl."
Scully laughed at this and held out the cone for him to sample. Instead of taking the cone, he held her hand in place with his as he took a long lick.
He felt small shivers run through him and he wondered if they were caused by Scully or her cone. Apparently the sensation was not experienced just by him for Scully looked a bit puzzled for a moment and they both collapsed into awkward silence.
The silence turned into a comfortable one as they slow meandered around the small park that housed the ice cream shop. It was a warm afternoon and the park was full of couples holding hands and children running with their parents.
Mulder looked down at Scully and smiled at her and she smiled back. They both appreciated this moment of pure peace between them.
It wouldn't last long for although they enjoyed pleasant conversation all throughout the day there were two unanswered questions hanging between them.
Why did you leave me?
Why didn't you follow?
As they slowly made their way back to Mulder's car, Scully realized that as painful as it may be, they had to talk about that afternoon so long ago.
As she slid onto her seat, she buckled her seatbelt and turned to Mulder. "Hey, would you like to come up for some coffee?"
Mulder gave her his best leer which made her smile.
"Nice try Mulder. But what I really had in mind was to give you a chance to ask me what you have been dying to all day."
"Am I that obvious?" he said quietly as he started up the car.
"You are to me."
They drove back to Scully's hotel in silence both dreading the conversation they knew they had to have. Both knowing it would make or break them.
They made small talk about Scully's accommodations as they walked down the hall towards her room. Scully was describing the fabulous breakfast they had provided her with in great detail when suddenly she stopped talking looking very puzzled.
"What is it Scully?" Mulder said coming up behind her.
"My door" she said pointing the door that lay slightly open "I know I locked it before I left."
Mulder looked at her and immediately maneuvered her behind him, taking out his service weapon. He was about to burst into the room when she tapped him slightly on the shoulder.
He turned and saw that she had drawn her own weapon.
His eyebrows rose in question and her answering look told him that she would fill him in later. He then motioned to the door and held up three fingers.
She nodded and watched as he silently counted down to zero. Mulder kicked the door open and she ran into the room.
Scully stopped dead in her tracks and stayed motionless as Mulder quickly checked the room to make sure it was empty.
Only then did he return to her side just as she began to slowly survey her room. It had been literally turned upside down but that wasn't what had stopped her in her tracks.
It had been the words written in red above her bed.
"It is all your fault. You will pay."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ End of chapter three.
Mulder and Skinner were the first to arrive at the Courthouse and they were promptly greeted by an Assistant DA.
They were led into a small conference room, given coffee and told that they would be summoned as soon as the hearing began.
A few minutes later, Scully arrived looking a bit pale and strained. She greeted both men and accepted the coffee offered to her.
Skinner frowned when he looked at her. "Dana" he said quietly "You don't have to do this in person, you know. We can ask the judge to let your statement be read into the record."
Scully smiled weakly at him. "You are wrong, Sir. I do have to do this. Not only for myself but for every one of those women he destroyed."
Skinner was about to protest but she cut him off. "It is very simple Sir. If I don't appear today, in person, he wins. I can't let him beat me."
Skinner nodded and said nothing more. Scully sat down next to Mulder who tried to smile his encouragement to her.
Skinner looked at both of them hating the fact that they both had to relive, again, such a terrible experience.
Thankfully for them, the hearing began on time. Skinner sat in the back of the room while Mulder and Scully sat directly behind the District Attorney.
There were a handful of other people in the room, but Scully blocked them all out.
The room fell into silence as Robert Holton was led into the room. He spotted her immediately and hissed "Couldn't keep away, could you Agent Scully?" at her before being led to his chair.
Scully closed her eyes briefly but other than that refused to acknowledge his comment. Next to her, Mulder seethed in anger but managed to also keep himself in check absently rubbing her back in an attempt to comfort her.
Witnesses were called and Mulder quickly described his opinion of Holton as both a profiler and the man who had finally arrested him. In his opinion, Holton was incapable of being a productive member of society.
The last witness called by the DA was Scully. She quietly rose and went to the witness chair and in a quiet voice swore to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
"Dr. Scully" Blake began "You were not only a member of the task force formed by the FBI to locate Mr. Holton but also his last victim."
"That is correct."
"Dr. Scully, could you please tell the panel exactly what Mr. Holton did to you that day?"
Mulder gulped wishing to spare Scully from the pain she was about to experience.
"Mr. Holton followed me back to my apartment and as soon as he knew I was alone broke in. He attacked me from behind and rendered me momentarily unconscious." She paused to take a sip of water.
"When I came to a few minutes later, he had tied my hands together above my head and had secured me to one of the legs of my bed. He then proceeded to beat me, verbally and sexually assault me."
The DA interrupted at this point, addressing the panel. "I see no reason for Dr. Scully to have to go into the specifics of his attack upon her - it is all on the record from the trial."
The panel members nodded and he turned to Scully. "Dr. Scully, what, if any, have been the long lasting effects of this experience on you?"
Scully then told the panel about her years of therapy, reoccurring nightmares as well and the stigma put on her for being a victim of such an attack.
The lawyers for Holton knew better than to cross examine a witness who was not only a medical doctor but also a former FBI agent. Scully sat down in extreme relief when they chose not to question her.
A few people spoke on behalf of Holton but Scully paid little attention to them. She was too busy trying to calm her rattled nerves.
The entire proceeding took less than two hours and everyone was sent out to get a cup of coffee while the panel made its decision.
The DA came over to Mulder and Scully beaming. "I have been doing this a very long time and unless I am mistaken, and I am hardly ever mistaken, Holton is going to remain locked up for a very, very long time."
Scully smiled weakly at him praying that he was correct.
He was. It took the panel less than a half an hour to make their decision. Robert Holton was to remain in prison without the chance of parole for at least another twenty years.
Scully closed her eyes and whispered a prayer of thanks after the decision was read.
He looked at her then sitting there so prim and proper with her long red hair hiding her face. It was her fault, all her fault and he would make her pay. Dearly.
Scully waited until the prisoner was removed from the room before rising from her seat and joining Mulder, Skinner and Blake out in the lobby. Blake was grinning from ear to ear and quickly walked over to Scully to dump his praise upon her.
"Dr. Scully, we couldn't have done this without you. Thanks to you, Holton will remain behind bars for probably the rest of his life."
Blake pumped her hand while she smiled weakly at him. He then turned to Skinner and the two departed to finalize their reports in Blake's office.
Mulder looked at Scully. She was still quite pale and obviously still upset.
He walked over to her and placed a hand gently on her shoulder. "You never told me about the nightmares" he said quietly.
She turned and looked at him barely smiling. "I never told anyone. Perhaps if I had they would not have stayed with me so long."
"That was a brave thing you did in there Scully."
Scully just shrugged. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and looked directly at Mulder obviously try to shake off her upset state of mind.
"Well Agent Mulder, are you going to tell me how brave I am all afternoon or can we go out to lunch. I am starving and am looking forward to a huge lunch and an even larger glass of wine."
Mulder smiled at this and motioned towards the elevator.
An Italian Restaurant - Georgetown
Scully was thrilled when Mulder pulled up in front of her favorite Italian restaurant. She broke out in a huge smile which Mulder quickly echoed.
"You said you were hungry" Mulder said as he opened up the car door for her "I think this place serves enough food to fill even you up"
Scully smiled at him again and they walked into the restaurant. The hostess recognized Mulder immediately and showed them to a quiet table near the back of the restaurant.
"Come here often Mulder?" Scully said as she took her seat. "I thought Indian was your favorite."
Mulder just smiled and shrugged not wanting to admit that he had only started coming here regularly after her departure because the place reminded him of her.
"Good food, good wine - who could ask for more?" he said as he opened up the menu.
Mulder was right. Both the food and the wine were wonderful.
They both ate and until they thought they would burst and then sat back to sip their wine and talk.
Mulder began by telling Scully about how his time at the Bureau was now split between the Violent Crimes Unit and the X-files due to the fact that he hadn't agreed to take on a new partner.
"They will only allow me to investigate X-files cases now that they 'think' I can handle alone." He said sipping on his red wine.
Scully was wondering to herself why Agent Fowley hadn't become his partner, but kept her inquiries to herself. She wasn't ready to take on that particular subject just yet.
"Of course" Mulder continued "that hasn't stopped me for working on my own investigations with the Lone Gunmen."
"How are they?" Scully said smiling at the thought of the three men "I hate to admit it, but I do miss them."
"Even Frohike?" Mulder said
"Even Frohike - but don't tell him I said that" Scully joked.
It was then Scully's turn to fill Mulder in on what she had been doing over the past four years. Mulder noticed that she spoke in general terms and not once mentioned where she was currently living or exactly what she was doing.
"After I left here" she began deciding to skip any explanation of her departure "I knew I needed to do something totally different. So I joined up with a charity group and went over to Africa."
Mulder almost choked on his wine. "You did what?"
"I said, Agent Mulder" Scully repeated speaking to him like he was a child who was not listening well. "that I hooked up with a non profit and headed over to Africa to work in an orphanage for a while."
"No kidding" Mulder said sitting back and trying hard to picture Scully living in a tent. "Did you enjoy it."
"Loved it actually. It was just I needed at the time. When I first got there, the facility was practically in ruins, but with a little work Tom and I had the place fixed up and running like a well oiled machine."
"Tom? And who is he?" Mulder said teasingly not sure he really wanted to know the answer.
Scully took another sip of wine before answering. "Tom was the volunteer who originally took over the running of the orphanage from the local authorities. He arrived there about two months before I did."
Mulder noticed that she looked a bit uncomfortable and decided to press her. "And were you and this Tom fellow an item?"
Scully smiled at his quaint terminology. "An item? Well, I guess you could say we were. We were the only two Americans to be found within 200 miles so I guess it was only natural that we became close."
"May I ask how close you became?" Mulder said quietly wondering if the reason Scully hadn't talked about her home was because Tom was back there waiting for her.
"Close enough" Scully said rather shortly. Then she forced herself to relax and continued. "We were a couple for about a year or so I guess. He knew I couldn't have children but thought we should still get married. He said we could adopt one of the babies in the orphanage and bring it back with us."
"He sounds like a great guy." Mulder said softly. "What happened?"
"Tom is a great guy. So full of life and enthusiasm. He was everything a girl could ask for but he just wasn't.." Scully voice trailed off and she grew silent.
Mulder just looked at her as she gazed off into space for a moment. He decided it was time to lighten the mood a little bit.
Mulder then proceeded to fill her in on all the office gossip. He had her laughing so hard at his stories of the new agent who had a huge crush on AD Skinner and followed him around like a puppy dog that tears were pouring down her face.
Scully dabbed her eyes with a tissue and glanced casually at her watch and was shocked at how late it was.
"Mulder" she said putting her tissue away "I think it is time we gave up this table to someone else."
Seeing the look of disappointment on his face she continued "But if my memory is correct, there is a great ice cream place just around the corner."
The thought of not only prolonging his visit with Scully but having a double-dip cone cheered Mulder up immediately. They promptly paid the check and then slowly headed to the ice cream stand.
The ice cream was better than Scully had remembered. She delicately licked at her cone while Mulder ate his in huge bites and then hungrily eyed hers when his was done.
"Oh no you don't" she said when she saw him looking at her cone. "It isn't my fault you ate yours like a pig."
"Come on Scully" Mulder said faking a pout "You know you really don't like ice cream. You are more of a frozen tofu girl."
Scully laughed at this and held out the cone for him to sample. Instead of taking the cone, he held her hand in place with his as he took a long lick.
He felt small shivers run through him and he wondered if they were caused by Scully or her cone. Apparently the sensation was not experienced just by him for Scully looked a bit puzzled for a moment and they both collapsed into awkward silence.
The silence turned into a comfortable one as they slow meandered around the small park that housed the ice cream shop. It was a warm afternoon and the park was full of couples holding hands and children running with their parents.
Mulder looked down at Scully and smiled at her and she smiled back. They both appreciated this moment of pure peace between them.
It wouldn't last long for although they enjoyed pleasant conversation all throughout the day there were two unanswered questions hanging between them.
Why did you leave me?
Why didn't you follow?
As they slowly made their way back to Mulder's car, Scully realized that as painful as it may be, they had to talk about that afternoon so long ago.
As she slid onto her seat, she buckled her seatbelt and turned to Mulder. "Hey, would you like to come up for some coffee?"
Mulder gave her his best leer which made her smile.
"Nice try Mulder. But what I really had in mind was to give you a chance to ask me what you have been dying to all day."
"Am I that obvious?" he said quietly as he started up the car.
"You are to me."
They drove back to Scully's hotel in silence both dreading the conversation they knew they had to have. Both knowing it would make or break them.
They made small talk about Scully's accommodations as they walked down the hall towards her room. Scully was describing the fabulous breakfast they had provided her with in great detail when suddenly she stopped talking looking very puzzled.
"What is it Scully?" Mulder said coming up behind her.
"My door" she said pointing the door that lay slightly open "I know I locked it before I left."
Mulder looked at her and immediately maneuvered her behind him, taking out his service weapon. He was about to burst into the room when she tapped him slightly on the shoulder.
He turned and saw that she had drawn her own weapon.
His eyebrows rose in question and her answering look told him that she would fill him in later. He then motioned to the door and held up three fingers.
She nodded and watched as he silently counted down to zero. Mulder kicked the door open and she ran into the room.
Scully stopped dead in her tracks and stayed motionless as Mulder quickly checked the room to make sure it was empty.
Only then did he return to her side just as she began to slowly survey her room. It had been literally turned upside down but that wasn't what had stopped her in her tracks.
It had been the words written in red above her bed.
"It is all your fault. You will pay."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ End of chapter three.