LightningWritten By Kelly On April 13th 2001, no offence aimed at any of the actors who appear in The X-Files
FBI HEADQUATERS
TUESDAY 11:20 AMScully sat staring at Mulder's 'The truth is out there' poster that hung on the wall where it had been for the past years she had been working there. She wondered how it stayed in such good condition after all that time, no tears, no fading and no stains...even the bluetack that held it on hadn't gone dry and caused it to fall. She sighed and looked at what used to be Mulder's desk and remembered the way he used to sit and sprawl his legs all over it while nibbling on the end of his pencil and swivelling in his chair.
Suddenly the sound of the door openening broke her thoughts, Doggett stood in the doorway with a brown paper bag. "Hi" He said as he wondered in, he had left about an hour ago to get something from the canteen.
"You took your time" She said as he wondered over to his desk
"Yeah well I bumped into some old friends of mine, agent Chipz and agent Scrag" Scully watched as he placed the brown paper bag down and sat at his desk.
"Hey did you hear the latest gossip?" He asked excitedly
"No but I suppose I will"
"Well word is that agent Bottoms is in hot water with Skinner"
"Really?" Scully sighed with not a bit of enthusiasm, "Well I don't even know who agent Bottoms is"
"He works on the third floor, you know agent Gobessy's partner"
"No"
"Oh well anyway it turns out that he did that graffiti in the hall...you know where the lockers are?" He asked as he began to remove the contents from the bag.
"No I haven't seen it Doggett but then again I don't go around looking at the walls by the lockers"
"Gees whats your problem?"
"I don't have a problem I just don't go around getting envolved with other people's problems"
Doggett gave her a dirty look and took a bite from his favourite pink iced doughnut.
"So any cases?" She asked
"I don't know I forgot to stop by Skinners"
"Oh well I guess you were so caught up in your gossiping with your friends that you forgot?"
Doggett gave her another dirty look "Someones been on the happy pills" He said sarcastically only to recieve a cold look from Scully as she got up from her seat. He watched her storm from the office and stuffed the remaining morsels of the doughnut into his mouth.
SKINNERS OFFICE
Scully walked over to the secretary outside the office, "Can I see Skinner?"
The secretary smiled "May I have your name?" she asked with a smile.
"Agent Dana Scully" The secretary clicked a button on her phone "Assistant Director Skinner? Agent Scully would like to speak to you"
"Send her in" Skinners voice said rudely. Scully stormed angrilly over to the door, she was still pissed at Doggett for not stopping off at the office on his escapade to the canteen. She pushed the door open to find Skinner sitting at his desk with Kersh, "Good morning agent Scully" He said as he sipped from his cup of coffee
"Good morning"
"And what brings you to my office?"
Scully felt rude when she noticed that she had interrupted them having lunch.
"Oh I just wondered if there were any cases going" She said
"Agents Scully its nice to see such dedication" Kersh smiled, "I don't know many agents that would come and ask for work" Scully felt pleased that Kersh had passed her a comment. It made a change from his usual routine of shouting at everyone,
"Yes well me and agent Doggett have completed all of our current cases and are now ready for another" She smiled.
"Well I never thought I'd see agent Doggett asking for work" Kersh said as he and Skinner laughed like school children.
"Er no me neither" Scully said as she tried to pretend to laugh
"Well as it happens I have this case, I was intending to bring it to your office after lunch" Skinner announced as he picked up a casefile from his desk.
"A man got struck by lightning twice in one week, he now believes it has given him abilities that he didn't have"
"Oh right thankyou sir"She said as she took the case
"I suggest you speak to this man today" He added.
"Yes sir I will" Scully smiled as she walked toward the door, she pulled it open and walked out.
Doggett polished off the remains of his big lunch and turned his attention to Scully's computer. What was on it anyway? He realised he had the perfect opportunity while she was in Skinners office, he quickly pulled his chair out with his legs from beneath the desk and used his legs to pull the swivel chair over to her desk.
Suddenly one of the wheels became entwined with the persian rug Scully had perchased a week ago and laid in the middle of the office. He didn't know about the small misdameanor and proceded to the desk only for the chair to retract his moving ability and cause his legs to somehow glide under the chair causing him to fall forward and land face down on the floor with a thud. At that moment Scully entered the room, waving a casefile around, "Hey we have a..." Suddenly she found herself tripping over and landing face down by her desk. She felt shocked and sat up immediatly to see Doggett laying on the floor rubbing his arm, it then occured to her that she had tripped over his little feet.
"Doggett!" She yelled with anger
"S..sorry Scully, I fell off my chair" He said with a confused expression and a carpet burn on his elbow.
"Fell from your chair?"
"Yes I don't know how...I think it got caught in your carpet"
Scully looked at his chair stranded in the middle of the office, "I've told you not to skid around the room in your chair, why can't you just walk like everyone else?" She got up from the floor and checked her clothes for creases.
"Sorry Scully I..."
"aaaaah!" Scully suddenly screamed out as if she was being murdered, he looked to see her with her mouth draped open, pointing to the rug.
"What?" He asked as he stood from the floor and walked over to his point of falling, he followed her finger to a small tear on the rug where the chair had got caught
"How dare you ruin my rug! I paid a fortune for that!"
"Sorry Scully it was an accident...I forgot about the rug"
"You forgot? What were you doing anyway?"
"er...er" He didn't want to say that he was going to her computer to nose through her personal things, "Er...I was going to the filing cabinet"
"Why? Those files are completed Doggett, you know they are"
"Oh I just wanted to check something...why the third degree?" He asked annoyed at her nosiness in his motions around the office.
"The third degree? I think I have a right to ask questions when you ruin something of mine"
Doggett looked at how upset Scully was about her precious persian rug.
"Listen, how about I get it repaird?"
"Repaird? How?" She asked sadly
"There must be somewhere you can have rugs repaird"
"I doubt it but I just hope you can find somewhere for your sake" She said angrily as she marched over to her desk and took a seat.
Doggett pulled his chair back over to his desk and sat down, "So I see we have a case?" He asked
"Yes we do"
"Well?"
"A man got struck by lightning twice in one week" She said as she opened the file, "Angus Stripe went out on a rainy night last month and got struck when a lightning bolt hit, he was wearing rubber shoes so he was lucky" She said, "He didn't need no medical attention strangely and found that he could guess what someone was going to say"
Doggett rolled his eyes, "Rubbish"
"It's not rubbish Doggett. Anyway he went out again three days later and got hit again and again needed no medical attention, he then found that he could communicate with alien life and spirits from beyond the grave" Scully said with enthusiasm, she jumped up.
"Well you can forget it if you think I'm even going to bother with this stupid case" Doggett announced much to Scully's anger,
"Doggett! Skinner saved this case especially for us"
"So? Thats only because nobody else wanted it Scully, IT'S TIME YOU TOOK A STEP INTO THE WORLD OF REALITY AND ACCEPTED THE FACT THAT ALIENS AND SPIRITS DON'T EXIST!" He suddenly shouted, Scully wondered why he had just raised his voice to her for no reason.
"Doggett?" She asked, "Didn't you just ruin my rug?"
"Yeah, so? I said I'd get it fixed didn't I?" He asked like a bitch
"Yes but if you do this case...how about we forget the rug?" She suggested
Doggett thought for a while, what would be worse a crappy case or paying for the rug? He came to the resolution that the case would be better. "Okay" He agreed as he stood from his chair, Scully smiled in delight.
ANGUS STRIPE'S HOUSE
"Hello there" Doggett announced as the door opened to reveal a geeky type man with large black rimmed spectacles.
"Yes?" He asked with confusion,
"Hey shouldn't you know that? Thought you could read minds" Doggett said with bitchiness and sarcasm.
"Mr Stripe? We were sent to investigate your case...agent Scully and this is agent Doggett" Scully said as she motioned to her partner
"Oh right..come in" Angus said as he let the agents in. Doggett followed Scully into the small apartment to a room with just a sofa, a desk containing a computer and a bed.
"Er sorry about the mess dudes" Angus said as the agents looked around the room, Scully noticed his computer was on and he was hooked up to the internet with a UFO website filling the screen.
"Mr. Stripe could you tell us about your incident?" She questioned as she took a seat on the brown sofa.
"Well it was a few weeks back and I decided to go to the internet cafe down in the highstreet but it was stormy and I got hit by lightning" He said as he twisted his computer chair around to sit on.
"And what happened?"
"Well I just got up and went on to the cafe and all of a sudden I started to guess what people were going to say"
"But you didn't know who we were Angus" Doggett intervened as he nosed around the messy room,
"Yes I'm not a mind reader, I just guess what people are about to say" Angus replied
"So what am I about to say?"
"I...I..." Angus thought hard
"Listen Angus, how did you get to the point of contacting alien life?" Scully asked to take him off the subject of Doggett's rudeness.
"Well about three night's later I went to throw some trash out and it happened again"
"Do you have any witnesses?" Doggett asked
"Er...no but..."
"But what? You have no proof of this and no evidence, ALL WE HAVE IS YOUR WORD ANGUS!" Doggett shouted to Scully's surprise and Angus's fright.
"Er...I..." Angus shook with fear
"Doggett! If you can't ask sensible questions go and wait in the car" Scully announced
"Fine" He said as he rushed toward the door and out into the hall. He rushed down the stairs and out of the apartment block, he walked over to the car parked on the roadside and climbed in. He looked around at the surroundings, a leafy road with a park to one side...Doggett suddenly began to have a panic attack when he spotted a Burger King across from the park. He pranced out of the car and leapt across the road and into the park. He rushed across the field and found himself outside the burger restaurant in an instant. He pushed the door open and spotted the counter to the far side of the large room and rushed to the queue consisting of three customers. He looked at the menu with impatientness and came to the consideration that he was almost starving and couldn't bare to wait.
"Excuse me?" He called to the woman behind the counter as he pushed to the front,
"Hey I was first!" A man shouted and nudged Doggett,
"Er excuse me mam but I have to get a burger and fries for...er...evidence" He lied as he pulled out his badge.
"Evidence? For what?"
"Er...its top secret information and I need it urgently" He lied
"Yes sir just wait here" She said as she rushed off to fetch the meal.
"Hey sorry man...I didn't know you were with the FBI I'm never one to stand in the way of police work" The man who had previously nudged him said.
"Thats okay" Doggett said as he got his money ready, he watched the woman place a burger and some fries in a takeaway bag,
"Oh I just remembered...its two burgers and a chocolate milkshake" He said as his mouth watered at the smell of the food. The woman nodded and placed an extra burger in the bag and got him a drink. Doggett shoved the exact right amount of money in her hand and sped off back to the car. He climbed in and grabbed a burger from the bag and began to munch on it, he leant over to the radio and put his favourite station on, 'praise you' by fatboy slim played and Doggett tapped his feet to his favourite song. He was shocked to see the car door suddenly open but felt relieved when he realised it was just Scully. Scully climbed in the car to the sounds of fatboy slim and spotted Doggett scoffing a burger, she looked to see a burger king bag on his lap,
"Hey thanks for getting me something...you know concidering I didn't have any lunch and all" She said as she looked longingly at the nice burger. Doggett reached in and pulled out his other burger,
"Here" He said and Scully smiled as she leaned to take it. She was shocked to see him snatch it back and tear it in half,
"There you go" He said as he handed her half of the burger.
"Gee thanks" She said sarcastically as she took the unwanted piece of food.
FBI HEADQUATERS
"So what did Angus have to say?" Doggett asked as he did a name search for Angus Stripe on his computer.
"He said that he has the ability to see ghosts and even speaks to them and he can guess..."
"What someones gonna say right?" Doggett finished off her sentence with sarcasm.
"I know you don't believe Angus Doggett but I do and I don't like the way you insult my beliefs" Scully announced sounding hurt at his attempt to be funny,
"S-o-r-r-y!" He said bitchily
"Well you do always make fun of me" Doggett didn't bother to retaliate to Scully's speach. Instead he looked at his computer awaiting the FBI search engine to come up with any information on Angus.
"Hey Scully did you think to ask if he had any kind of psychiatric help?" Doggett asked as Angus Stripe's information filled the screen.
"No why?"
"Well he is on medication for depression and he is diagnosed as a compulsive liar and an attention seeker" Doggett said as he read out the words from the computer.
"What?" Scully asked as she jumped up from her chair and rushed over,
"I can't believe you didn't do a check before we left" He said as she read the screen.
"Oh no" She said sounding deeply upset, "I thought we had a really good case"
Doggett clicked away the information
"I suppose it still could be true I mean..."
"Scully, he is crazy" Doggett announced as he logged onto the internet.
"But he seemed so honest and I believe him Doggett, even if you don't. You can't judge someone by what they are" She said as she returned to her desk.
"Come on Scully, don't tell me your going to follow this investigation up?" He asked as he searched for local weather forecasts for Angus's area.
"Yes I am, I believe that he was struck by lighning"
"Well there hasn't even been any rain in his region let alone thunder and lightning" Doggett said matter-of-factly as he looked at the statistics for last month.
"Really?" Scully asked sounding upset, "Well maybe it was something else that Angus thought WAS lightning"
"Whatever Scully but let me say that you sound just as crazy as him if you believe that" Suddenly Doggett saw the little woman rushing across the office and a hard slap around the face
"How dare you call me crazy!" She yelled
"Gees sorry Scully it was just a joke" Doggett said as he rubbed his face.
"Well...I need to take some personal time" She announced, "I'm going to see my therapist!" She said as she rushed from the room.
Doggett suddenly realised that he had the office to himself, he smiled excitedly as he switched off the computer and rushed over to his portable radio. He pushed play on the tape deck and 'so lonely' by the police blared as Doggett sat on his chair and began to spin around and waving his arms in an attempt to dance.
Scully approached the stairs but suddenly remembered that she had forgotten her swipe card for the medical level in the building. She sighed as she turned back and rushed down the hall and back to the office. She was sure she could hear the sounds of the police as she aproached and she pushed the door open to see Doggett spinning around on his chair, clapping and singing out of tune.
Doggett suddenly stopped when he saw Scully standing in the doorway with her arms folded, "Oh Scully I thought you went to see your therapist" He announced as he stood and walked over to the stereo.
"I did but I forgot something...well I can tell taht your really heart broken at upsetting me and causing me to need personal time!"
"Oh er I...I..."
"I don't care!" She said as she marched over to her bag and grabbed the card.
"Sorry Scully I just felt happy" He said as he looked down to the floor sadly
"Whatever" She remarked as she rushed from the room. Doggett waited for her to leave the room before switching the radio back on and jumping onto his desk to do a dance from the movie: Fame.
Scully walked into the therapists room and took a seat on the large leather chair.
"Well Mrs. Scully what brings you to see me?" Jean-paul Crispy asked through his french accent,
"I...I needed to talk to someone" She answered stressfully.
"Well what seems to be the problem?" He asked calmly
"Its my partner, he is driving me insane...I just can't cope with him anymore"
"And why is this?" Scully thought for a while,
"Well he picks on everything I say...every case we get, he complains, he sits around all day eating and..."
"Okay, okay lets talk about the problems one by one" Jean-paul said, "Now lets discuss the point about him picking on what you say" Scully looked sorrowfully to the floor.
"Well if we have a case and I mention something he tells me that I'm talking rubbish and never believes anything anyone says" She said,
"Well maybe he doesn't realise this gets to you...maybe you need to talk to him about this"
"I've tried but he doesn't listen" Scully suddenly thought of Willmore, "And he also questions me when I go to see agent Willmore" She said.
"Mrs. Scully, we've talked about this infatuation with agent Willmore, you agreed to come to terms with the fact that there is the possibility that it might come to nothing"
Scully felt hurt and dissapointed at her therapist's negative words about her relationship with agent Willmore.
"Yes but he could like me Jean-paul, it might..."
"Well actually Mrs. Scully I found out that agent Willmore is currently in a relationship with a young woman in the cosmetics trade" Jean-paul said matter-of-factly, "I know how upset this may make you but it is the only way you will accept that..."
"NO!" Scully suddenly shouted, "No he can't have!"
"Well I'm afraid he does, I recently attended a party where the couple also attended"
Scully felt like her heart had been ripped in two. Her whole life and her reason for coming to work every day was only because of Willmore.
"I...have to go" Scully said tearfully as she jumped up from her chair
"Please, lets not end the session here. I think you need to talk about agent Doggett"
"I don't want to talk about agent Doggett...at least he hasn't snided off with some floosy behind my back!" She said in a moment of anger.
"Mrs. Scully agent Willmore hasn't turned his back on you for his girlfriend, there was never anything to turn his back on, I..."
"I don't want to hear this...I think it is time I found a new therapist...one who doesn't make me feel worse than I did when I walked into the room!" Scully said as she stormed over to the door.
"Mrs Scully, please..." Scully stormed out and slammed the door behind her. She sighed heavily before running down the hall toward the lift. How could her precious Willmore do this to her? How could he date another woman? Her whole life had revolved around him, suddenly the lift doors glided open to reveal Willmore and Chow in deep discussion. He looked up with a large, handsome smile
"Oh hello agent Scully" He said cheerfully
"Oh I think I'll wait for the next lift" She said bitchily as she moved away from the doors.
"What? Why? We're going down if you want to go to your office"
"No...I'll walk" She sulked as she stormed off to the staircase. She pushed the door open and aproached the first flight of stairs,
"Hey there" Willmore called as she heard him come up behind her, "Whats wrong? Agent Doggett been upsetting you again?" He joked.
"No actualy he hasn't" She answered with bitchiness as she walked down the stairs.
"What? You don't stop going off about how lazy he is and..."
"Well thats not your business is it?" Willmore stopped in his tracks,
"Whats wrong agent Scully?" He asked sympathetically
"What do you care?" She asked as she ran off down the stairs. She ran as fast as her little legs would go and her little heels tapped as they hit each step. She felt sad that he didn't even bother to follow her.
Doggett spun wildly and out of control in his chair in the middle of the room. The sounds of 'Gold' by spandau ballet blared from his old eighties syle radio.
"Gold, always believe in your soul" He sang joyously, "You've got the power to know your indistructable" He smiled and moved his legs as the chair span unbelievingly fast. He used his legs to make the chair move faster and faster causing him to laugh more and more. He suddenly decided he was bored with the song and slowed the chair to a halt, he stood up and walked over to the stereo to play another song. He sifted through his tape collection until he came to his beloved Bee Gees tape, he smiled with joy as he shoved it into the tape deck. Doggett turned to dance again but stopped when he spotted his little partner sitting at her desk crying. How long had she been there? Did she see him?
"Oh er Scully" He said as he immediately stopped the tape, "How long have you been here?"
"Long enough to see you dancing to spandau ballet" She answered as she wiped her eyes with a piece of kleenex tissue.
"Oh right...er...well I'd apreciate it if you..."
"Yes I won't tell anyone Doggett" She said with a sniffle.
"Great!" Doggett announced joyously as he plonked down at his desk, "So why the snot and tears?" He asked unsympathetically.
"I'm not...I have a cold" She lied as she tried to wipe away the tears and snot running down her face, ruining her Rimmel makeup.
"Oh right" He said believing her story, "So I was thinking about Angus Stripe and I think we should continue an investigation" Doggett announced.
"Why? You said he had a history of medical problems and..."
"Yes but I got a call while you were gone from Angus, he said he needed to speak to us urgently" Doggett anounced as he grabbed his wallet from his draw.
"Really?" Scully asked as she suddenly cheered up, "what did he say?"
"That was it, just that he needed to speak to us" He replied as he headed to the door, "Want anything from the canteen?"
"No...we have to speak to Angus...no time to eat" Scully said as she jumped up from her chair.
"NO TIME TO EAT?" Doggett shouted to Scully's surprise, "But why? He's on his way"
"Angus is coming here?" She questioned
"Yes...I want to have a snack!" Doggett began to shake and have convulsions as he cacked in a strange motion for his next food fix.
"okay okay, you can eat. I thought we were going to see..." Before Scully had a chance to finish her sentence, Doggett had removed his presence from the office.
LATER THAT DAY
"Agent Scully?" Angus asked as he walked into the office with a nervous prestige. "Angus, come in" Scully stood from her desk.
"Er I spoke to agent Doggett on the phone" He said as he looked around for the skinny man
"Oh he went to the canteen about an hour ago" She said as she wondered over, "Doggett said you needed to talk to us urgently?" Angus looked nervous and shaken,
"Well I think they want me" He said much to Scully's confusion.
"What? Who?"
"Them" He said as he pointed to Mulders 'The truth is out there' poster hanging on the wall. Scully looked at the poster and felt sheer terror,
"Aliens?" She said, "Oh my, why?"
"I was communicating with a leader ship on Neptune and one of them said that they wanted me" He said as he looked around the office scaresly.
Suddenly the door opened causing Angus to run and grab hold of Scully in fear,
"aaah" He yelled.
Doggett wondered into the room holding a large brown paper bag,
"Angus?" He asked in a confused manner, "Your still here?" He had hoped to stay away from the office for as long as possible to avoid seeing the weird nerd.
"Oh you scared me" Angus said as he let go of Scully, "I just got here" Doggett walked over and set his food down on the desk. "I think I was followed" Angus announced as he closed the door behind Doggett
"Followed by who?" Scully asked
"By a big white van...I think they want me for my abilities"
"Angus can I just ask how you got here?" Doggett asked thinking Angus was a paranoid freak
"I got the train"
"No I mean here"
"I got a bus from the staion" He replied.
"No I mean here, in this office"
"I walked through the door"
"NO!" Doggett shouted, "I MEAN HOW DID YOU KNOW WHERE OUR OFFICE WAS?" Angus looked afraid and shaken, "I I asked the secretary and she sent me to a guy called Skinner...he sent me here" He replied as he looked at Doggett's menacing face.
"Angus what makes you think you were..." Suddenly the door opened again to reveal a woman and two men, they walked into the room.
"Aaaah!" Angus screamed, "Thats them!"
"Er you must be agents Doggett and Scully?" The woman asked.
"Yes...whats going on?" Scully asked
"We're from the Lingley Hospital. Mr Stripe escaped four months ago"
"Lingley? The home for crazy people?" Doggett asked
"Well its a home for hard of thinking individuals" The woman anwered with bitchiness at Doggetts rudeness.
"Please! Don't let them take me!" Angus yelled
"I understand Mr Stripe claimed to be hit by lightning?"
"Yes" Scully replied,
"Well he did the exact same thing eight years ago before he was taken in, we have to get him back to the hospital" The woman announced as she flashed her badge. Scully leaned forward to take a look at the badge, "Oh right" She said sorrowfully, the two men grabbed hold of Angus.
"No!" He yelled, "please!" But his plea was ignored as he was dragged from the office.
"I need to speak with your assistant director" The woman announced as she left the room. Scully waited for the door to close before she looked over at Doggett who was now sitting at his desk removing the contents of the bag.
"So he was a freak" He said as took a bite from a cheese sandwich
"Well you wanted to take up the case Doggett"
"What? Excuse me?" He asked in surprise
"Never mind" Scully said as she walked over to her desk and took a seat.
"Hey did you hear the lateser gossip?" Doggett asked
"No" Scully replied with a sigh
"Well Willmore's dating some beautician chick"
Scully suddenly thought of her beloved Willmore. She felt like jumping up and hitting Doggett for reminding her of the end of the world
"Which reminds me, he was asking for you. He said something about you being nasty to him on the stairs or something" Doggett added as he took another bite, "Whats all that about?"
"Its none of you business!" She said as she felt Doggett was invading her personal life.
"s-o-r-r-y!" He said sarcastically Scully looked at the childish man stuffing his face with food. Could she bare to spend the rest of the day with him? Hadn't she already endured enough? Her beloved Willmore starts dating some makeup girl, a good case turned out to be just a crazy escapee from a mental institution and now an argument with Doggett?
"er...I think I need some personal time" She announced as she stood from her chair.
"What? Personal time?"
"Yes" She replied without another word. Instead she just headed for the door and walked out into the hallway, Doggett waited for the door to close before tutting and shaking his head. He then realised that he had the whole office to himself, he smiled happily as he leaned over to his stereo.
THE END
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