A/N: My take on "the ring" from Travelers.

Disclaimer: Same as it is on all the other chapters.

CHAPTER 9

She sat at her kitchen table, staring at the wall. Her hands folded in her lap, her untouched tea getting colder by the second.

For once in her life, she felt totally lost. Even when she was sick with cancer, she found her focus in her drive to keep working. Things had changed. She knew it. She would walk into that cluttered basement office tomorrow and everything would be different.

"Why am I going back?"

She closed her eyes and swallowed hard on that one. The work that seemed so important once, now felt like a dagger held in front of her chest and that by returning to that office, she would impale herself on it.

"It's useless."

If she went back, she would no doubt find herself in harm's way again. It was an inevitable part of working on the X-Files. It sometimes felt like she had been in the hospital more times as a patient than as a doctor.

Now, things had changed and she wondered if next time would be different. Before she at least had the security of knowing he would fight for her, if by no other way than through the strength of his beliefs.

She wasn't so sure that was the case anymore. The next time might not mean a trip to the hospital. The next time might mean a trip to the morgue.

She didn't fear death, but after her father and Melissa, she wasn't sure how much more her poor mother could take. How could she willingly put herself into a life or death situation blindly? Especially knowing now that there was a strong possibility that no one would have her back.

A sob escaped her throat, but she bit back on it, refusing the tears that were threatening her eyes.

How long could she keep this up?

She didn't register the light taps on her door at first. When they became more immediate and harder, she finally recognized what was going on.

She knew his knock. She knew he was there. She just didn't know if she could deal with this now.

But she also knew he had a key and she would be damned if he was going to let himself in to find her a crumbling mess.

"Just a second," she said loudly enough to be heard as she pulled herself together and headed for the door.

She barely had the knob twisted before Mulder pushed his way in.

"What is going on with you, Scully?" his face was a slight shade of red and his eyes were narrowed….accusatory.

His demeanor, his gall, his attitude, all of these things finally caused her to ride the rollercoaster they way other people did.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, Mulder?" she spat back, the Irish in her raising up in her voice as she slammed the door shut.

He started pacing, never taking his eyes off her face.

"It means, what is with you? You've been acting like a robot for days now!"

She sucked in her breath and straightened up. She didn't need this, she didn't want this and she sure as hell didn't deserve it.

"What do you want from me Mulder? You want me to put on a Pollyanna smile and dance around for your amusement? I'm sorry but my job is not to keep you amused!"

They stood on opposite sides of the room, both rigid in their intensity, both determined to win this fight.

"Your JOB Agent Scully is the X-Files, something you don't seem to have a whole lot of interest in anymore, so I ask again, what is your problem?" He was practically spitting at her, his face more alive with emotion than she had ever seen before.

He always said he wanted the truth…..well, she was about to give all the truth he could handle and then some.

"My JOB is the X-Files, just like my LIFE is the X-Files. Hell, my life IS an X-File, one that you opened, by the way. I have just as much invested in that office as you do so stop treating me as if I don't!"

He opened his mouth to retort but she cut him off and kept on going.

"And how DARE you accuse me of lack of interest! How DARE you question my dedication! You of all people! You filthy hypocrite! Mr. 'Its useless, let's run off with the Syndicate and Diana and let the world end.' Don't you ever, EVER question my willingness to fight the fight!"

Her mind was racing now, flashing pictures of Emily and Melissa and Cassandra and Gibson, images of Mulder and Diana holding hands, images of her father's face when she told him she was joining the FBI. They added fuel to the fire. Scully's rollercoaster ride wasn't anywhere close to coming to a stop.

"Goddamn it, I won't ever give up on our work without a fight, I thought I could trust that you would be the same! But my trust doesn't matter to you anymore, does it? Not when something better is around. Not when Diana Fowley has your attention. I don't care if you two had a thing, Mulder! I don't care if you still love her! But I will NOT let you sacrifice my dignity for her!"

Finally, the lack of oxygen got to Scully and she stopped screaming. Breathing heavily, she glared at her partner, waiting for him to begin his tirade.

Which he did, at an equally high decibel level.

"Is that what this is all about, Scully? Are you that insecure? How can you question me after all we have been through? Do you honestly believe that I would cave so easily? That I would just say 'Oh well' and pack it in? That is crap! Especially coming from you….YOU who claim to know me so well!"

His hazel eyes blazed as he walked closer, continuing his rant as he got nearer to her. Scully straightened and stared him down. She wasn't about to show any weakness.

"Do you know WHY I trust Diana? Do you? You know everything else about me! Did you know that Diana was my WIFE!"

Mulder had talked about out of body experiences many times, but Scully never gave it much creedance until now….when she started having one. She didn't want to be sure he had said what she thought he had but she knew he did and that…. that was a little hard to swallow.

"Your……your what?" Scully said with half of a voice. Her eyes wide with shock, she felt all the blood draining from her head.

Reality began to set back in as Mulder realized what he had just said. It was not exactly the way he had wanted this to come out, but such was life. She wanted the truth…..

"She's my EX-wife….we were married. Briefly. We were divorced in 1990. So you see, I think I know her pretty well. I'm not an idiot and I'm not a fool. I thought YOU would have trusted me more than that."

They were less that a foot apart. Scully stood silently for a moment, processing the connotation of what she had just been told, looking for any other meaning, but not finding it.

She never thought to check Diana's personnel file. She felt the rage and anger well up in her again. She was either going to vomit or scream….she hadn't decided which.

"Why….how…..why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell me?" She knew she was slightly incoherent, but her mind and her mouth were no longer in synch. "You want to talk about trust! Why did you keep that a secret? How could you not tell me about this?"

Mulder reared up, getting more in Scully's face.

"Now who's the hypocrite! How dare YOU get all self righteous with me when you were keeping plenty of secrets yourself!"

Scully's face was as red as her hair.

"What are you talking about!"

Before he could stop himself, Mulder let loose on her in an emotional stampede.

"Why don't we talk about your little trip to San Diego, huh Scully? Turned out to be pretty pointless, didn't it? Nothing out there for you, was there?"

She froze at this, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. She couldn't believe that he of all people would use this to get at her. She mentally begged him to stop, but he continued his assault.

"You should have known that you wouldn't find what you were looking for and I bet it just ate at your almighty ego to come back empty-handed and embarrassed at the idea that you, the great Dr. Dana Scully, could be led to 'BELIEVE' so easily!"

The ride was over, there was no more track left. Scully's rollercoaster crashed into the rocks of reality.

Her soul burning with an intense anger that would cause Ares himself to cower in fear, she pulled back and slapped him as hard as she could.

"Get……..out……." she hissed.