Undercover ch 6

She woke up with a start sometime in the middle of the night. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. She instinctively reached towards Mulder only to be greeted by the cold hard wall and it all came crashing down on her. She's in prison! She's not Dana Scully and she's not engaged to Fox Mulder. She's now Claudia O'Hanna an inmate convicted of killing her husband.

Despite Mulder's ongoing joke that she is 'practically narcoleptic' because she can 'seriously fall asleep anywhere', she wasn't expecting to sleep tonight. She thought it would be a few nights before she felt comfortable enough to fall asleep. Last night, when she got into her uncomfortable prison bed she was so exhausted from having an anxiety attack earlier in the day and being emotional. So she fell asleep nearly immediately. She didn't even see Mulder leave last night. She wondered how he was holding up. She is sure he is torturing himself with worry and is sure that he will get no sleep tonight.

She didn't realize she was crying until her bunkmate threw a pillow at her.

"You wake up Marge and you will regret it" Teagan warned referring to the third inmate in their bunk area.

She whispered, "Sorry." Teagan has been nice enough to her and helped show her the ropes. Scully seemed to quickly gain Teagan's respect when she didn't back down when another inmate stole her shampoo from her. That inmate, who she can't remember the name of right now, was close to Mulder's height and looked like she had been using her sentence to become an amateur bodybuilder. She had wanted to back down but knew if she did she would be a target. She thought for sure she was going to be attacked less than an hour into her stay here and that Mulder would have to pull that inmate off her but instead Teagan calmly reminded her that she was working towards an early release and the shampoo thief simply forcefully gave it back to her and left mumbling something about hating redheads.

"Alex is all show, she is trying to get out so she will do the intimidation thing but nothing really else, but Marge well she doesn't care about nothing and those women are dangerous" Teagan warned. 'Alex, that's the shampoo thief's name' she thought.

"Ok," Scully said simply.

"O'Hanna?" Teagan asked and it took a second to remember that she was O'Hanna.

"Yeah?"
"You a D*ke?"

"Excuse me?"

"You like women because you are definitely Alex's type"

"I thought she hates redheads," Scully said and Teagan laughed as she laid back in bed.

"The last girl that left her was ginger, that's all. She loves 'em too much to truly hate 'em" she said. "Just saying Alex is a good one to have in your corner, you may be tougher than you look but honey you are like 5 foot and 90 pounds soaking wet, don't forget that"

"I can take care of myself," Scully said laying back down in her bed again. '5 foot 2, thank you very much' she thought but didn't say out loud as she was aware that didn't really make her sound any better. Mulder always teases her about her height saying she's only like 4'9" and thinks it's hilarious every time she corrects him with a frustrated huff. She knows he does it to get under her skin and she isn't sure why she lets him have the satisfaction every time it just irks her.

"If you say so"

Mulder walked into work the following morning and immediately scanned the room for his Scully. She was sitting talking with her bunkmate when she looked up and made eye contact with him. He felt his body relax at the sight of her and the fact that she was okay. While he knew it was a dream part of him still worried she was attacked last night but she appeared unharmed. She gave him a slight smile and he returned the gesture. Though they were both trying to conceal it they could both tell the other was relieved to see them.

"Oh hey, are you one of the new guards?" he heard a voice from behind him say and he turned around to see a man he recognized from his picture, Jack. He instantly felt irate at the sight of him, instantly labeling him as the 'enemy', as the man who poses a threat to his Scully. He was a few inches taller than Mulder and was an over-the-top muscular man with dark hair and a mustache that was anything but flattering. His brown eyes were so dark they seemed to be almost black and he had a scar on his left eyebrow. He had a smile on his face but he looked like he was trying to intimidate Mulder, only it wasn't working.

Mulder forced a smile back while shaking his outstretched hand, "Yes, I'm M-Marcus Riggs" he said almost slipping up and calling himself Mulder but thankfully was able to course correct easily with his new first name starting with an M, maybe Scully did that on purpose.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Jack Erickson, welcome!" he said.

"Thanks"

"You transferred from a men's prison right?"

"Yeah, I used to work at a men's correction facility in West Virginia," he said remembering it from Rigg's fake resume.

"Oh cool, yeah I used to work in Men's but I have found I prefer the women," he said. 'Yeah I bet you do, you perv' he thought. "Just a heads up the Women are a whole different world from the men but don't ever underestimate them, they can be just as violent. There is more drama and mind games than in the men typically"

"I'll keep that in mind," he said.

"Well I would be happy to show you the ropes, we run pretty similar to other prisons but still any questions feel free to ask, I have been in this prison for 3 years now, and I know it pretty well and know the women pretty well so just let me know if you have any questions," he said and Mulder nodded as they both headed towards the break room to get clocked in.

Jack stopped when they were about to pass Scully and turned towards her, "Oh I don't know you, you must be new" he said a creepy smile spread across his face. Mulder observed as Scully forced a smile but had her arms crossed on her chest as if to put mental distance between them as Jack got too close for Mulder's comfort level (and clearly Scully's as well). It took everything in him not to pull Jack away from her.

"Yeah-" she started.

"She got here last night," Teagan said. "Wouldn't stop complaining about everything" she said and Mulder watched Scully give her a confused look.

"Teagan, was I talking with you?" he asked and she rolled her eyes but didn't say anything else.

"You got here last night?"

"Yeah"

"What's your name?"

"Claudia O'Hanna," she said throwing Mulder a glance as if reminding him to cool down. He must be noticeably angry so he took a deep breath to try and calm himself down.

"That's a pretty name," he said. "Well Claudia, if you follow the rules and do as your told we won't have any issues"

"Yes sir," she said and Jack continued walking towards the break room. Mulder threw her a look as if asking if she was okay and she simply gave him a small smile before returning to her conversation with Teagan.

Scully impatiently waited in line to go to the visiting room, she just talked to her mom last night on the phone and a few days ago before she was booked, but seeing her was just a comfort. A part of Dana Scully that still exists, she has only been O'Hanna for a little more than 72 hours and yet she feels like if she isn't careful here she could lose sight of Dana to be able to play the role of Claudia well and work this case well. So seeing her mom is like being able to be 'Dana' again for a bit, even if her mom can't call her 'Dana'. Even if her mother is going to try and talk her into abandoning this case. Her mother promised to go out and see her on her first full day there but got a migraine and was unable to drive up. While she knew her mother couldn't help that, she was so disappointed leading her to be even more excited for this visit.

When she finally was able to go over to her mom she couldn't help but hug her despite knowing she's not supposed to.

"No touching" she heard Mulder say- or more like Riggs- and while she knew he was just playing the part she couldn't help but be a bit angry at him. She knows he's not supposed to give her any special treatment but come on can't he just let this slide? She broke apart and threw an annoyed look his way and he gave her an apologetic look but instead of warming her to him it only pissed her off more. She looked over at her mother and found that despite the fact the woman typically adores Mulder she looked even more angry than she felt.

"Who does he think he is telling me I can't hug my daughter?" she whispered angrily at Scully who shook her head.

"Ignore him… I missed you!"

"I missed you too…Oh, my baby, you don't belong here… please…" she said.

"Mom, my mind is made up"

"Then change it! For me, I shouldn't be visiting my daughter in prison" Maggie said.

"It's temporary, Mom, can we please talk about anything else," Scully said practically begging for this to be a mental escape from her situation not a reminder of it.

"Are you doing okay? Are they treating you well?"

"I'm fine and it's been okay, how are you?" she asked hoping her mom would take the bait and leave the topic alone.

"Worried sick that my daughter is here," she said. 'No such luck' Dana thought.

"Mom, I'm fine, how is Matthew?" she asked knowing that her nephew would actually switch the conversation.

"Oh my god, he's getting so big! He's walking now, did I tell you?" she asked and Dana nodded.

"He looks like a newborn deer trying to walk, it's so funny," Maggie said and Scully laughed.

"Oh I miss him, I can't wait to see him"

"I can ask if they would be okay with bringing…." Maggie offered.

"No! No, I know kids and babies do come for visits but I don't want him to see me here and to come here, I promise, I will not be here long and I will go out to see him as soon as I can, promise" she said knowing that even if she did want him to visit that the answer wouldn't just be a 'no' from Bill it would cause a whole fight that she even asked or had their mom ask. Bill has told her outright that if she chooses to take this assignment he will not visit her in prison so he certainly wouldn't allow his 1-year-old son to.

"Okay… everyone else is doing good," Maggie said. "Oh- Tara's cousin is a florist and she said she would do it"

"Oh good, thanks," Scully said. She and Mulder haven't done much to actually plan the wedding, not even having picked a date yet and now that is all more or less on pause which Maggie is not happy about. Having missed out on the possibility of helping to plan Missy's wedding one day all the planning a wedding for my daughter thing is falling on Dana.

"That is if you two ever commit to a when or where or any concrete details"

"Well now we have a florist" Dana joked but Maggie only rolled her eyes.

"What type of flowers?"

"I- I don't know"

"Neither of you have picked a single thing! I'm getting old waiting for this wedding" she said and Scully sighed.

"Mom, it's been 3 months"

"And I was married within 3 months of my engagement to your father," she said.

"Because you were pregnant with Bill"

"I was not pregnant at my wedding, young lady! He was conceived shortly after… he was just premature" she said and Scully laughed.

"Ok Mom whatever you say," she said.

"But seriously, you have waited long enough, plan it! I didn't get to do this with Missy and then thought I wouldn't with you when you were laid up with cancer, we need happiness" she said tears in her eyes.

"Ok, Mom, we will plan it!" Dana said squeezing her hand and then throwing a challenging look at 'Riggs' who met her eyes and then decided to instead look at the other side of the room as if to act like he didn't see it.

"Since when does he follow rules?" Maggie asked and Dana laughed.

"Riggs is strict, which is so annoying, don't tell him I said this but he's quickly become one of my least favorite guards," Scully said and Maggie laughed.

"Really?"

"Yeah, Payne's probably my favorite, she's pretty lenient," she said before whispering the next part. "She slipped me chocolate the other day"

"He's probably afraid to show favorites," Maggie said and Scully shrugged. "Or you know he's new still trying to get respect from the other guards and inmates"

"Yeah," she said.

"How is everything else going?" she asked the higher tone in her voice tipping her off to the fact she was asking about the case. Scully hopes that no one else is listening to their conversation because her mother hasn't been subtle at all.

"Not much to say about it," she said and could tell her mother was disappointed hoping that they would have this wrapped up quickly. In reality, though, they have gotten frustratedly little from the inmates and guards about Jack and haven't made any progress in this case since it started. She knows that with an undercover operation, it can take time to get there but it is frustrating when she is sitting in prison.

"Hang in there"

"I thought you wanted me to give up?" she asked.

"Well that's not like the girl I raised, so I don't know why I bothered, just be safe! A mother worries" she said and Scully nodded.

"I promise!"

Okay, not the most exciting chapter but I will try to have another one up soon. Also, did anyone catch the very subtle reference to Bad Blood? Anyway, hope you enjoyed it! Let me know your thoughts, I always appreciate hearing from you guys!