a/n: Hey, all! Thanks for the reviews on ch 12! For ppl who crave MSR, its coming in a big way in the next chapter, I promise! For those of you who prefer things other than MSR, how's it going for you? Moving along? Too slow? Too fast? I'm trying to take into account the pace and flow of an average episode. Let me know how I'm doing. Thanks again! Hope you enjoy!
"Well, Agent," Skinner began, sitting up straighter in his chair. "An order came across my desk this morning that concerns you and the X-Files."
I rolled my eyes with thoughts of budgets and audits dancing in my head. "What now," I replied. "Mulder already offered for us to share hotel rooms to save money."
"You're not going to be feeling so funny when I tell you that what came across my desk is a reassignment for Agent John Doggett. Kersch has assigned him to the X-Files."
My mouth fell open but I quickly snapped it shut. I should have seen it coming, well, I had seen it coming. I warned Agent Doggett when he made his intentions of pursuing his investigation into Mulder's abduction crystal clear to me. I just hadn't expected it to happen so fast.
"With Mulder still out of commission, Kersch believes you need a partner."
"With all due respect, Sir, you know that's bull. Kersch is doing this to punish Agent Doggett for doing his job and doing it well. He's removing the competition. It has nothing to do with me or Mulder." I sat down in the vinyl chair again, disgusted. Doggett was a good Agent, probably one of the best. He didn't deserve this.
"Scully," Skinner's tone had softened. "How much longer are we going to do this?"
I didn't know what he meant and said as much.
"Mulder has been found and he's on the mend. I think you need to look at Doggett's reassignment as assurance that the X-Files will stay up and running in your absence."
"My absence? I'm not going anywhere, yet. Doggett can't run the investigation into Mulder's disappearance by himself, he can't run a regular X-File investigation by himself. He may have read those files, but he doesn't have the first clue about how to solve those cases. Skinner, I don't even know that I could do it without Mulder." I couldn't figure out what else to say, other than, "With both of us out of the way, they will have their best opportunity at shutting down the X-Files for good. You know that."
"I do know that, Scully. But I also know that they will have my ass and yours in a sling if they discover your pregnancy through any channel other my report regarding my reasons for reassigning you. I'd like to avoid the embarrassment for both of us. Time isn't on your side, Dana. No amount of silence will protect your position here when that swollen belly gets bigger." Skinner was no longer looking me in the face, but had his eyes fixed on my midsection. I realized I had completely relaxed my abdominal muscles during our conversation and dropped my hand to the undeniable bulge beneath my black skirt.
"How far along are you, Dana?" Skinner's eyes were back on mine and I blinked. I wasn't honestly sure, my life style didn't exactly accommodate remembering things like the first day of the last menstrual cycle and my first appointment with an obstetrician had only confirmed the pregnancy through blood work and finding that quick, tiny heartbeat. After having been told I would never have a child and all the failed attempts at IVF with my recovered ova, I had no reason to believe pregnancy was possible.
"I'm not sure, sir, I don't know exactly when it happened," I confessed.
"Not sure? I would think that the day of your last IVF treatment would be fairly exact." It wasn't until then that I realized, Skinner really didn't know. I flushed with embarrassment and looked away from his penetrating and understandably confused gaze. I took a deep breath and prepared to sell out Mulder and myself. I stood again and walked to where I had left my shoes to avoid looking my boss in the face as I admitted,
"I didn't conceive through the IVF treatments, Sir. I... we gave up on that avenue early in the spring. When you came to tell me that Mulder," I had to swallow to keep from choking on the words, "that he had been taken, I told you that I was having a hard time explaining it. I was having a hard time, Sir, because it appears that I conceived naturally."
I finally looked up from the floor to try to read Skinner's face, to try to decipher his reaction. He looked dumbfounded with eyebrows well above the rim of his round glasses and mouth slightly open. He didn't say a word or change expression as I studied his features. The beep of the intercom on his desk snapped him out of it and his secretary's voice filled the charged air in the room,
"Skinner, Sir, Agent Doggett is here to see you." Skinner blinked several times and cleared his throat gently.
"Put your jacket back on, Agent Scully." Skinner hit the button on the intercom and beckoned Doggett to enter his office.
I'm not sure what I was expecting out of Agent Doggett when he entered the inner office, but I knew what I had to do. As soon as the customary greetings had been done, I took my seat next to Agent Doggett in front of Skinner's desk and began my apology,
"Agent Doggett, I am very sorry. If I had had any inkling that my actions and my source's actions would come back on you, I never..."
"Scully," Doggett interrupted. "I appreciate your apology, but do we want to go into this now? Here?" He gave a jerk of his strong chin at Skinner.
"Agent Doggett, I have been discussing this matter with Agent Scully. I'm aware of the actions she's taken and in light of your reassignment I want to assure you that from here on out Agent Scully will be forthcoming with information of this nature. Isn't that right, Agent Scully?" Skinner had his serious, Assistant Director of the F-B-I demeanor on. Even after all we'd been through in the last months that brought us closer, it still made me shrink in my chair a bit.
"Of course, sir," I murmured. I still had a sinking feeling at my mistake. I wanted to tuck my tail, so to conquer the need to curl into a ball in mortification, I said, "I assume, sir, that our first priority on the X-Files remains the investigation that Agent Doggett began when Kersch assigned him to the manhunt for Agent Mulder."
Skinner nodded, "I expect regular updates on that investigation and you will be assigned other cases as they come along. I have no reason to believe, at this juncture, that the case of Mulder's abduction will be open and shut. I've come to understand that X-Files are rarely straight forward cases and now that this is officially an X-File, I expect no different." Which was Skinners way of saying that he knows that extreme possibilities and explanations take time.
Doggett and I simultaneously intoned a serious, "Yes, sir."
I still felt a sense of responsibility for having landed a bright agent, who was on the fast track, in the FBI's most unwanted. When I tried to apologize for my actions and secrecy again on the elevator ride back down to the basement, Doggett wouldn't have any of it.
"Look, Agent Scully, you're sorry, I get it and I appreciate it. But, let's move on. I'm here to do a job, not to get a pat on the back from anyone. There's just one thing, though. We're gonna be out in the field together. I've got your back, I hope you trust in that, but you've got to have mine too and not just when guns are drawn. I gotta know what you're up to so I can keep my word on having your back. Okay? No more secrets, no more lies." I, of course, immediately thought of the biggest secret I was keeping. Not quite the size of bread box... yet.
"I understand, Agent Doggett. I'll have your back as well. You can count on it. There are things, however, that I prefer to keep in the realm of my private life. I hope you can understand that." He nodded and strode off the elevator toward the office we now shared.
We found Mulder, still engrossed in files, jacket-less, tie-less, and looking a bit the worse for wear. Some of the file cabinet drawers stood open and there were files piled on each corner of his desk. I looked to the tab of the file he was currently pouring over and thought, dammit! Does everyone in the world have to zero in on that particular file? The tab read 'Scully, Dana K."
Mulder hadn't noticed our entrance, involved as he was in whatever detail of my file he was studying. I cleared my throat and he jerked his head up, eyes wide in surprise and flipped the file closed. I took it from him, looked briefly at its cover that also sported my name, date of birth, and the date the file had been opened.
"Scully," Mulder started guiltily, "how was the meeting with the boss?"
Doggett and I went through a quick rundown of the events that occurred on the fourth floor. Mulder went through a range of reactions: from worried, to puzzled, to relieved and ended on pensive.
"So, when I..." he cleared his throat, "when I can return to work...?" He hadn't actually asked the question, but there was definite question in his tone.
"I don't know, Mulder, I really don't," I said gently. I looked to Doggett and, on cue, he delivered.
"Hey, Agents, I'm not here to replace either of you. I don't think I could if I wanted to. This is your show, I'm just here to help however I can and figure out what the hell is going on with these abductions. That's it. No funny business, no takeovers."
"Thank you, Agent Doggett," I said and let my relief and a warmth toward him show in my eyes. I didn't want to like this man, I didn't want to trust him. But I was being forced to trust him now as my partner and he was making it harder and harder to dislike him. I was beginning to have to admit to myself that John Doggett wasn't just a good cop and a good FBI agent: he was a good man as well.
Mulder stood from his chair behind his desk and echoed the gesture Doggett had given him earlier. He stretched his hand out to my new partner and they shook, both with firm grips.
"I'm looking forward to working you when I'm back in commission, Agent Doggett."
We all lingered a bit after this declaration, none of us quite knowing what to do or say next. A wave of nausea came over me and I was deciding whether or not another run for the bathroom was in my immediate future when Doggett took control of the situation again.
"Well, its after lunch time and its been a long week," he gestured at the clock which read 1:20. Well no wonder I feel awful, I thought. I hadn't eaten since a quick breakfast of dry toast and orange juice. With the extreme oddity of pregnancy that I still wasn't used to, the thought of food made me instantly ravenous and I nearly swayed with the sudden feeling of hunger. My stomach, in agreement with the sentiments of my brain, gave an embarrassing gurgle of protest at its empty state. Mulder, bless the man, put a big hand to his trim gut and said,
"Well, I'm obviously starving. Let's get some lunch, hey?"
Doggett looked skeptical but let the obvious gallantry stand.
"I was going to say, its been a long week. Let's call it a day and regroup on Monday. Unless, Agent Scully, you have anything pressing for me to take care of before end of business?" I was more than relieved to hear this suggestion. It had been a long week and I had been formulating plans for the weekend in the back of my mind.
"No, Agent, I don't think we have anything pressing. For now, I think we're waiting and hoping that our leads on locations bare fruit. Feel free to call if you need anything." I began gathering my belongings and Mulder was swinging his suit jacket back on. We were nearly out the door when Doggett called,
"You do the same, Agent Scully, if you need anything."
I leaned against the back of the elevator, eyes closed, for the short ride up to the ground floor. I opened my eyes to find Mulder looking at me in a bemused sort of way. I smiled a bit shyly in his direction.
"Thanks for covering for me, " I let my smile widen.
"Hey, no problem, chivalry isn't dead after all, just kind of moldy. You know you..." The elevator gave a bit of lurch when it stopped at our desired floor and I staggered a bit with the unexpected motion. "Hey, Scully," Mulder took my elbow to steady me, an action I was grateful for. "You okay there?"
"Yeah," I assured him, brushing a fallen lock of hair from my eye. "I'm fine, Mulder, thanks. Have you noticed that you've stopped calling me 'Dana'? You've called me 'Scully' since we got here this morning." Mulder looked a little puzzled, but then his face cleared to understanding.
"Yeah, yeah, I have been calling you Scully. I don't know, it just came out and then felt natural. Did you want me to keep calling you 'Dana'?" he asked, obviously concerned that he had said or did something I didn't appreciate.
"No, definitely not. Actually, it bothered me a bit when you called me by my first name." We were headed for my car in the garage and with the usual way of concrete structures, it was much warmer in there that outside. I unbuttoned and slid out of my jacket again as we walked and Mulder did the same.
"You know, I think the bureau prefers that agents address each other by surnames to keep things professional and impersonal. But..."
Mulder interrupted me, "but that didn't work out so well for us?" I smiled up at him and turned to unlock the diver's door of my car. When we met again inside the confines of my sedan, our hands automatically intertwined over the console and we met in the middle for a brief, soft meeting of our lips. I inhaled the familiar scent of him and smiled.
"No, no it didn't work for us at all," I reluctantly pulled my hand from his grasp and started the car.
Up Next... A trip to New England?, A break in the case, oh and that evil stuff I mentioned last chapter. ;)
