Scully's Assignment

by Trycee

Time-Line: Season 7, After All Things. There is 16 months that goes by after Hollywood A.D. Between the time Mulder and Scully go to Hollywood to meet with the cast of the movie until the time it comes out, after All Things...so this is in that in between time. This is like a slice out of their day...

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Files, this is written for fun not profit.

J. Edgar Hoover Building

9:00 AM

Mulder sat at his desk staring at the clock. He picked up the phone and dialed Scully's number but it went immediately to voice mail. He looked around for evidence of her presence but there was none so he grabbed his suit jacket heading for the door but it was blocked by the presence of Walter Skinner.

"Hey!", Mulder said stopping in his tracks. "I was just..."

"I came to tell you that I sent Agent Scully on another assignment today..."

Mulder looked confused, his lips were pursed. "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't she tell me?"

Skinner looked down and then back into Mulder's eyes. "I didn't want you involved. This was an assignment I needed her to go on and I didn't want you to interfere."

"Interfere, sir?", Mulder said as his shoulders tightened.

"I know how close you too are and I didn't want to have to explain to my superiors why you would interfere with this case because you're so 'close'."

Mulder cocked his head and then looked back at Skinner. "You think I'd interfere with a case you sent Agent Scully on because we're so 'close'?"

"That's right," he said, looking Mulder dead in the eyes. "Its a dangerous assignment and I couldn't risk you getting personally involved! "

Mulder was flabbergasted. "Well...tell me...what she's doing...tell me how dangerous..."

"That's my point, Agent Mulder. If I told you you'd try to protect her and this is her assignment. You're too close to the situation and might react in a way that would alert our suspect of her identity or put her in danger."

"I'd never do that!", Mulder stuttered. "I...I..."

"Go home Agent Mulder...I'll contact you when we make an arrest!"

Mulder watched as Skinner walked back into the hall. He waited until he heard the elevator door close and then he locked his office door and took the stairs up to the parking area and went home.

Mulder's Apartment

7 pm.:

Mulder sat on his couch in jeans and a t-shirt, with the television on low. He started to pace around the cramped living area and then flopped back down on the cold leather sofa. He tried closing his eyes but kept jumping at every sound, every shrill of a telephone from down the hall or every knock he heard on his floor. He bowed his head and waited for what felt like an eternity, waiting to hear from Scully. He was impatient but hours clicked by without a single word and his phone calls from Skinner were being ignored. The knock on the door startled him and Mulder rushed to open it. Skinner stepped inside and noticed the distraught look on Mulder's face.

"Mulder...Agent Scully is missing."

Mulder felt his knees weaken as he nearly came crashing down on the floor. Skinner grabbed him up and helped him to his feet. "You okay..."

"Where is she?", Mulder yelled. "What happened!"

"Apparently she decided to chase after the suspect herself and we've lost contact with her!"

Mulder grabbed his head and shook it. "Where's her car? Where was she last seen?"

"We've got it covered, Mulder. I don't want you no where near the area! I'll contact you when I know more!"

"NO! Tell me where she is!", he said, grabbing Skinner by the collar.

Skinner pushed him away. "This is why I couldn't tell you before, Mulder! You'd fall to pieces!"

"How do you expect me to react!", Mulder yelled. "I've got to find her!"

"I can't do that, Mulder. This case is sensitive...you can't be brought in!"

"So I'm supposed to sit here while she's out there!"

Skinner could see the fear in Mulder's eyes. "I'm sorry...but that's all I can do. I'll call you with an update..."

Skinner turned to see Mulder slouched against the wall. He turned and closed the door behind him.

Mulder's Apartment:

10 P.M.

Mulder could hear the clanking of her heels before she reached his door. He swung the door opened and fell into her arms nearly knocking her down. "Mulder...", she whispered. "Its okay...I'm alright..."

He pulled apart from her and was horrified. She watched as his expression grew into raged and she moved away from him. Mulder grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the living room so he could see her face under brighter light. "What the hell were you thinking?", he screamed.

"Mulder...", she said, moving back until her back was against the wall.

He slammed his fist against the wall a few inches above her head. She looked up at his arm above her and began to shudder. She stood stiffly against the cold wall waiting for his rage to pass but instead he stared at her, his glare was so intense she had to force herself to continue standing and not drop down in front of him. "I'm sorry...", she muttered.

He grabbed a mug from his coffee table and threw it against the wall just missing his fish tank. "What the hell were you thinking?", he said, through clenched teeth.

She could see his eyes were dark and narrow and his nostrils were flared and his anger was solely directed to her. She reached out to touch him but he slapped her hand away. "Mulder...I'm sorry, I was following him...Skinner told me he told you I went undercover...I didn't expect..."

"You didn't expect?", he said mockingly.

She could feel his icy stare burning into her. "It was an assignment..."

"And then you went off on your own...", he sneered.

"Mulder...why are you so angry with me?.", she said confused. "Why are you taking things out on me?"

"Taking things out on you!", he repeated. "Do you have any ideal what went through my mind...you had an assignment, that's your excuse. You have NO ideal how I feel?"

"Oh, I don't?", she sighed. "Are you sure about that?"

"You don't!"

"The hell I don't! You're getting a dose of your own medicine, that's all! This was assigned to me!"

"You went off on your own!", he screamed. "They wouldn't tell me where you were...then you go off on your own and go missing...and I can't do a damn thing about it!", he screamed.

"Mulder...please understand..."

"Understand, what?", he yelled.

"You are treating me differently!", she said, stiffly.

"I'm treating you differently? I never treated you any differently, Scully."

"You're treating me differently right now, Mulder! You're not being fair! You've been beaten up and nearly killed when you go out on cases...why is it suddenly different when I do it?"

"You know why...", he said, shaking his head.

She straightened her clothes, keeping her eyes low and stepped away from the wall but Mulder grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and turned her face so he could see the nearly black bruise across half of her face. She winced from the pressure he applied to it and from the pain of his grip on her shoulder. "How stupid, Scully...how truly stupid for you to go off on your own!"

Scully pulled from his grasp and snapped her head up in his direction. "Stupid? If you have a problem with me going on temporary assignments, you take it up with A.D. Skinner but as far as me chasing after a suspect on my own...I am a FEDERAL AGENT Mulder...I'm not your side kick!"

"Side Kick?", he huffed. "No Scully, you're not my side kick...You're my partner! My partner that didn't tell me where she was going!"

"I coul..."

Mulder held up his hand to stop her from speaking. "And you're more than that Scully...You're my girlfriend!"

"What are we 13, Mulder?"

"You think this is a joke, Scully?", he screamed, his eyes enraged. "You would've been killed, you could've been murdered...raped...anything! How could you go off on your own and put me through this?"

"As I recall Mulder...You've put me through this more times than I can remember!"

"There's a damn difference, Scully!", he said, kicking his coffee table.

"Oh...because I'm a woman? You can be a real prick sometimes Mulder," she huffed.

"You are not me!", he said, pointing in her face.

She pushed his finger away. "Jerk!", she spat. "So you can go and get nearly killed but its SO different when I do it? Why is that, Mulder?"

"Dammit...", he said, dropping on the couch.

"You do this to me every time!", she sighed. "You have a standard for yourself and a different one for me! If I do what YOU do...you give me the silent treatment, you give the cold shoulder or you act like a neanderthal like you're acting right now or a damn child!"

Mulder was not amused and she could see him ball up his fist and then relax it. Scully sat down on the coffee table in front of him.

"Think back Mulder to all the times you've driven off without me...all the times you'd ditch me just for me to go frantic searching for you to find you nearly half dead. I never, ever treated you like this! Let's be fair!"

"I'm being as fair as I can be," he said, under his breath.

Scully shook her head. "I'm going home...Mulder."

Mulder stood up and grabbed her arm. "Not now...lets talk this out."

She looked at him with icy blue eyes. "I said, I'm going home!"

"Not now," he said, still gripping her arm.

"I've been manhandled enough for today," she said, snatching her arm out of his grasp.

He watched as she fled his apartment and he sat back down, his hands cupping his face. He screamed into his hands trying to muffle the sounds, his heart raced and he tried to still his nerves. He snatched up his coat and raced down the steps of the apartment building just as Scully's car pulled out and headed down the darken street. He raced to his car and pulled out to follow her.

SCULLY'S APARTMENT

10:20

Scully could see Mulder pull up behind her. She knew he had followed her and she waited for him to approach her car. She didn't have to wait long as he tapped the driver side window. She stepped out and headed towards her apartment with Mulder following behind her. They said nothing as she pushed the front door open and walked in. He plopped down on her couch and she went straight to her bedroom and grabbed up her night clothes and headed straight for her bathroom. He could hear the water running and he knew she was taking a shower. He waited there unable to move, waiting for her to curse him out or throw him out of her apartment but he knew he wouldn't leave...not until they got some things straightened out first.

Scully took her time letting Mulder calm down before she opened the bathroom door. The longer she let him stew on the couch, the more calm she knew he'd become. Scully had applied a antibiotic cream to the large bruise on her face and slipped into a silk nightgown. She walked out without a robe and sat down on the couch across from him, waiting for the talk she knew was coming. He looked over at her, noticing that she had a few more bruises on her shoulder and legs and he could see her red hair still wet and brushed down. The bruise, the large dark bruise engulfed half of her face and was a sharp contrast to the pale white skin on the other side. "Scully...I'm sorry...I was out of line", he said, reaching out to touch her.

She didn't move. She looked into his eyes and could see the fear registered in his brow and she reached out and touched his hand. "Mulder...it was my job."

"Scully...I understand that but you put yourself in danger..."

She snatched back her hand and then turned stiffly away from him. "What am I supposed to do, Mulder? Tell Skinner...I'm sorry that though I'm a federal agent, I can't accept an assignment because my partner...the man I'm sleeping with...doesn't want me put in a dangerous position."

"I don't want you to get hurt, Scully. Is that wrong of me?"

Scully turned to face him. "No...but that's my job, Mulder."

"That's it! No more!"

"No more what?", she said, looking stunned. "No more what, Mulder?"

"Scully...we are trying to have a BABY," he shouted. "Do you understand what that means?"

"Mulder of course I know what that means...And trying to have a child doesn't make me suddenly stupid either!", she said, coarsely.

"Scully, don't get me angry!", he said, his face contorting.

"Mulder...my god...what the hell is going on with you? What is wrong with you all of a sudden? This is my job...just like you."

"You have an appointment for IVF in just a week, Scully. And you would've gotten killed today!"

"Here we go...", she huffed. "You're suddenly a sexist pig!"

Mulder shook his head. "How do you expect me to feel, Scully? You go off and get nearly beaten to death...how is this gonna work?"

Scully was silent. "What are you saying, you don't want to do it now?"

"That's not what I'm saying at all!", he said, staring up at the ceiling. "Do you understand that things are different...call me a sexist pig if you want...but you are the woman, Scully...I just want what you want...and I don't care what you say or think...no matter what we are NOT equal!"

"You bastard, get out!", she said, jumping up.

"I will not!", he said, standing. "Look...I respect you as a doctor, as a scientist, as an FBI agent...as a woman, Scully...you know that but the truth is...you are a woman and we're trying to have a baby...and I think I have the right to say no more!"

Scully swung around to face him. "You can't be serious..."

Mulder grabbed her hand. "I'm dead serious!"

"No, you're not!", she said, shaking her head.

"Scully, I am!", he said, raising her head up to face him. "I stopped ditching you along time ago Scully...I don't run off and put myself in danger any more...and you can't do that either...I see now...I'm getting a dose of my own medicine...but I'll be damned if I don't tell you how I feel!'

Scully looked stunned but didn't answer. Mulder continued to look in her eyes, he smoothed a stray strand of hair out in front of her eyes. "The fact is you are a woman, Scully...You're my partner...my soul mate...and believe me this is hard for me to even think or say...but I think you need to take it easy for now...in one week you'll have the procedure...and then we have a few more weeks to wait...I want what you want..."

Scully nodded and Mulder touched the very black bruise on her face. He kissed the top of her head. "I can't risk losing you Scully...I can't risk losing what could be our baby soon..."

Scully reached up on her tiptoes and grasp Mulder around his neck and leaned into him. He bent down and placed his head in the crook of her neck. "What if...", she began. "What if it doesn't take, Mulder?"

He pulled away from her, and tenderly touched her face. "Scully...don't think that...if we can't, then we can't...I love you either way...but I need you to be here..."

She nodded against his chest. "Okay...I'll slow down...I won't accept any assignments outside the X-Files..."

"And I promise to not put you in danger...", he smiled.

"What do I tell Skinner?", she said, as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"Tell him your boyfriend said no!"

Scully smiled and then reached up and kissed his lips. "I've had a long day, Mulder..."

He let go of her and kissed her hand. "I'll go..."

"No...", she said, shaking her head. "I need my boyfriend right now..I need him to hold me so I can sleep protected.", she said, grabbing his arm. "I need him to pamper me and make me breakfast..."

"You want me to cook?", he said, looking amused.

"I want him to dial the number for delivery," she laughed. "And help me nurse my wounds..."

"I will," he said, following her into the bedroom.

He stripped down to his boxers and crawled into bed with her, and she snuggled into his arms. She could feel the bruise on her face stinging and so she turned to sleep on her other side. Mulder kissed her neck and turned off the lights. He watched as she fell asleep, but he couldn't sleep. Instead he ran his fingers down her arm as tears traced his cheek. He could see the dark bruise in the dark as the street light penetrated the room and cast a glow over Scully. Finally he sunk down in the bed and wrapped his arms around her. He could hear her sigh in her sleep and he then closed his eyes, but sleep eluded him, instead he mouthed thank you to a God he didn't know and snuggled in closer, listening to her heartbeat.

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