|
|
Title: Resignation (1/?)
Author: Emmyjean (emmyjeanb@yahoo.com)
Classification: Mytharc, Scully POV
Spoilers: Post-Season 8
Disclaimer: Not mine, and neither is the load of money being made off these characters. I'm not seeing any profit from doing this, at least not monitary.
Summary: Continued from the prologue, this story takes place roughly two years in the future. Scully's past catches up with her, despite her efforts to protect her family. Now, without Mulder, she must re-enter the world she attempted to leave behind in order to keep her child safe.
Archive: Sure, just e-mail me and ask first please! ;)
Author's Comments: Please, oh please, send me feedback and let me know if I should continue this story or if it stinks. J I need to know, and I live for feedback. PLEASE!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scully looked up from the pot she was stirring as the doorbell sounded, announcing the arrival of her guests for the night. They weren't really guests, she thought as she wiped her wet hands on her jeans. It was just Agents Doggett and Reyes- or rather, John and Monica, as she had come to know them over the past months. Monica had called her and asked for her help on a particularly puzzling case they had been working on recently, and since they hadn't been able to find a day where her work schedule conflicted with theirs, she had suggested that the three of them discuss it over dinner one night. She wasn't one to cook meals for people, but it was easier by far than packing William up and hauling his sleepy, cranky self and the obligatory diaper bag to a restaurant somewhere.
She opened the door, and they both smiled in greeting as she invited them in. She was glad to see that they had worn casual clothes as well, as she certainly didn't feel the need to dress formally when she didn't have to these days. She smiled slightly as she remembered that there had been a time in the past when she would have chosen to remain in her suit until she went to bed at night. She had never truly given it much thought, but she supposed it had something to do with the modification of her priorities over the years. At one time, her career had been the most important thing in her life, and therefore she felt most comfortable when she was dressed accordingly.
So much has changed since then.
John kissed her on the cheek as he walked past her into the apartment, and Monica inquired quickly, "So, where's the little man?"
Scully smiled and replied, "He's in the kitchen, completely engrossed in a piece of chocolate cake."
"Ahh, so I see he's started and finished dinner without us, and is already on dessert," John commented wryly.
"Believe me, he doesn't alter his schedule for anybody. Not even his poor, harried mother," Scully stated.
Monica laughed and shook her head at her partner, who was already heading for the kitchen to see the little boy. The two women followed, and found him crouched next to the high chair, speaking to William using language in which only a former parent of a two-year old child is fluent. William laughed and clapped his hands, splattering chocolate frosting here and there.
Scully motioned for Monica to sit at the table and went to check on the sauce, thinking as she picked up the wooden slotted spoon. She had often observed John interacting with her son on the many times she had either brought him to the X-Files office on a business errand or had invited John to her place to go over some case or another. In the two years since William's birth, much had changed in all their lives. After Mulder had left, Scully had vowed not to dwell on things that were beyond her control, and instead took control of what little she could do to give her son the life he deserved to have. She quit the FBI, and became a medical examiner for the city of Washington DC. The hours were better by far, and as all the cases under her jurisdiction were local, she was not required to do any travelling. Not only that, but the greatest benefit was that there was virtually no danger associated with the performance of her duties in this particular field…something she could not say about her previous engagements. Despite the fact that she was no longer officially working for the Bureau, she still felt a responsibility to the agents now assigned to the X-Files. John Doggett and Monica Reyes looked to her occasionally for professional help and expertise, but moreover they had become personal friends of hers, somewhat helping to fill the void created by Mulder's departure.
She looked over her shoulder at them, both cooing at William in a way that some would consider foolish. She might have, at one point in her life- not now. Now it made her smile, which is something she was doing more and more as the years went by. She quickly prepared three plates of pasta and set them on the table.
"If you two won't be too devastated, I have to put this boy to bed," she said, her eyes twinkling.
Monica smiled back and replied, "Well, we're devastated, but you gotta do what needs to be done, right?"
Scully tenderly wiped the chocolate off Will's stubby fingers, then said, "You two go ahead and start eating…I have to give him a quick bath. Once he's asleep, which will be two seconds after his head hits the pillow, we can talk about the case."
They nodded and Scully went about her business. She bathed Will, put him in his little star pajamas, then sat down in the rocking chair her mother had given her for Christmas the year he had been born. She had said it would do them both good, and Scully knew now that she had been absolutely right. Every night, she turned off every light in Will's room except for his nightlight and turned on the music box that played "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", which rested on his dresser. Then, she sat in the chair and rocked him until his eyelids drooped and his breathing slowed. It was their little routine, and it was invariably her favorite part of every day.
Once he was asleep, Scully walked out into the kitchen and found John and Monica eating in silence.
"Why are you two so quiet? Usually you're at each other's throats by now."
Instead of the laughter she had expected to follow her teasing, Monica set her fork down and gazed at her lap, while John cast a glance Scully's way. Something in his eyes told her that this was not something she was going to be taking lightly…it caused a pang of fear to grip her heart in a way she hadn't felt in a long time.
"What is it?"
They remained silent.
"What?" she repeated a bit more sternly this time.
John sighed, then began quietly, "Dana…this case we've asked you to help us on. It isn't just any case."
Scully swallowed hard, then took her seat between the two agents, at the head of the table. "What’s different about it?"
"It concerns you," Monica replied bluntly, although her eyes were soft.
"How?"
John wiped his mouth with a napkin, then started to explain, "About two weeks ago, Skinner asked us to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a woman named Sasha Chernova. She was, by all accounts, an American born to Russian immigrant parents in the early seventies. No criminal record, but there was also no one to confirm or deny any of the facts we dug up about her…her parents were listed as deceased, and she had apparently been living on some kind savings as she didn't have a job at the time of her disappearance."
"Only that's the interesting part," Monica broke in, "because when we checked, there was no record of any employment history whatsoever."
Scully nodded, processing the information.
"Why did this case fall into your hands? What about it makes it classifiable as an X-File?" she inquired.
John responded, "Because there was a substance found at her apartment when it was searched…obviously not blood or semen or any other typical bodily expulsion. When we sent it to the lab to have it analyzed, it matched a substance found previously in certain X-Files cases…a kind of acidic chemical which…"
"Alien blood. You know, that toxic green stuff," Monica again interrupted, and Scully's eyes widened.
"She was a hybrid?"
"No," Monica continued, "she wasn't the one who was killed that night."
"How can you be so sure?" Scully asked.
John and Monica looked at each other, apparently deciding who should speak next. Impatient to get to the point of this whole thing, Scully repeated her question.
John again directed his attention at her, and replied, "Because we cross-checked the name Sasha Chernova for aliases. We thought it odd that a woman in her thirties, whose parents have supposedly been dead for quite some time, would have never had any kind of employment whatsoever."
"And? What did you come up with?"
John paused for a split second before answering, "Marita Covarrubias."
Scully's heart leapt into her throat at the name he had given. This woman had been part of the group of men who had abducted her, she had given Mulder false information leading to his infection with the Black Cancer, and had been a colleague of Alex Krycek. Due to the fact that nothing had turned up about her in years, Scully had assumed that she had been killed somewhere along the way, or else that without Krycek she had no link to the project and had left it behind. Either way, she had simply forgotten about the woman's existence in the face of all the other problems that she had been forced to deal with since the last time she laid eyes on her- right before Mulder had been taken.
"Alright…but you still haven't told me what this has to do with me."
Monica spoke now, in a low tone.
"Dana…after we found out who this Chernova woman really was, we checked on the activity of Marita Covarrubias over the past three years…since the last time she was documented in an X-Files case. It took a lot of hard searching to actually turn anything up, but we finally did. It turns out that she disappeared for a little while, maybe a year or so, but resurfaced shortly after you had your son."
No. This couldn't be happening.
Monica continued, "As far as we could find out through conventional channels of investigation, Covarrubias had been keeping tabs on you and William. Nothing as serious as bugging your apartment or tapping your phones, we don't think, but she seems to have at least been watching you from a distance."
"For what purpose?" Scully choked out.
"We don't know," John replied, "but we were hoping that you'd be interested in helping us find out."
Scully stood up from the table and walked over to the sink. Pouring herself a glass of water, she pressed the cool glass to her forehead and tried to organize the thoughts which were running rampant through her brain at the moment. She honestly didn’t know what to do about this…she was no longer in the FBI.
"We think," John continued, breaking the silence, "that this woman is still alive somewhere. The detectives who investigated the crime scene say there is only physical evidence of one intruder…and we assume it was his blood on the floor. Or, whatever it is…that green substance."
"She escaped," Scully added, following their train of thought.
Monica nodded, and Scully asked, "What do you want me to do? I'm no longer with the Bureau, and I have no government connections to speak of anymore. Does Skinner know about all of this?"
"Yes, but there's only so far he can reach. His avenues of investigation in this matter are narrow just like ours," John replied.
"So, what are you saying I can do to help?"
There was a break in the conversation, and then Monica spoke, "We know you have severed all of your FBI connections, except those with us, in an effort to protect yourself and William. But…we know that you have friends in low places, so to speak."
When Scully furrowed her brow in confusion, John clarified, "These men you call the "Lone Gunmen"…they've helped you in the past. We have no way of contacting them, but you have a history with them. They would probably be able to dig up more through unconventional channels than we ever could at the Bureau. Faster, too."
Scully shook her head slightly, lost in thought, and mumbled, "They were Mulder's friends."
"Are you saying they won't help you?"
Regret tugged at Scully's heart as she remembered the last time she had spoken with the boys. After Mulder had left, the three men had called her periodically to see that she was getting along alright. She was never sure if it was due to some sense of responsibility for her or because she was their last link to Mulder, their dear friend…probably a bit of both. She knew with certainty that they did not know where he was, either, both because he wouldn't jeopardize them like that and because they would have told her had they known. Although she appreciated their efforts, she had subtly given them the hint that she did not wish to keep in contact- not because she was not fond of them, but because it was preventing her from putting Mulder behind her and moving on to the healing process. She knew they understood…but she still felt that they were hurt by her rejection.
"I don't know," she replied honestly.
John nodded, then looked at Monica, who stood up and brought her plate to the sink. She rinsed it off, then set it down and came to stand next to Scully.
"Look, Dana…I know that this all must come as a complete shock to you. You probably need some time to ruminate, to consider your next course of action. Believe me when I say that we don't mean to put any pressure on you…take your time."
She squeezed John's shoulder as she took his plate and rinsed it as she had done with her own. He stood up as well, and conceded, "I think it would be best if we were on our way. When you decide what you want to do, just give us a call…either one of us. You know where we'll be."
With that, they walked out of the kitchen, John giving Scully's hand an affectionate tug as he passed her. She didn't follow them to the door, but merely stood staring at the tile floor. After the door had shut and the agents were long gone, she was still standing there thinking. As much as she loathed the idea of getting back into the complex and perilous world she had left behind two years ago, she knew in her heart that she couldn't simply stand by and do nothing to aid her friends. Not only would she be denying them her help, but she would also be denying herself a sense of security and possibly denying her son his safety.
She threw her head back and combed her fingers through her hair, and listened to her voice reverberate though the empty kitchen as she sighed angrily,
"Mulder…where the hell are you?"
She went to her desk and dug out her telephone book, flipping through the pages to find a number she hadn't used in what seemed like ages. Finally finding it, she picked up the receiver with a shaking hand and dialed slowly, but with purpose.
Two rings, three rings.
"Lone Gunmen."
"Byers?"
A pause.
"Agent Scully?" the surprise registering in his voice.
Another pause.
"I need you guys to help me."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Be Continued in Part 3
More fanfic by Emmyjean at
Between the Lines: A Fanfic Archive
I think I'll just be pathetic and repeat my original comment…
PLEASE send feedback! I need to know what people think of this…is it good, promising, or a complete waste of my time and everyone else's??
PLEASE!! J