| Finalysis-Part One By: Jvantheterrible Date: May 20th, 1999. Rating: NC-17 (yeah, eventually....hold your goddamn horses). Category: Skinner/Scully, but includes lots of characters. Spoilers: Biogenesis, SR-819, and Folie A Deux, briefly. Disclaimer: Not mine, not any of them. They are all Chris Carter's children, property, ideas, etc., etc., etc. No money being made. My take on what should happen after Biogenesis - or during, as the case may be. Author's Note: Due to the INTENSE lack of Skinner appearances in this season, I have been having trouble coming up with story ideas. However, the season finale kicked ass, as usual, and I have once again been inspired. Hope you like it. ALSO - to those of you in England....please, I don't want to ruin the show for you....if you haven't seen the epi yet, you may want to avoid this......just a fair warning. Thanks to Red, for reminding me that not EVERYONE is on the same telly schedule! Feedback: Appreciated at Rllnslvr@aol.com. If you didn't like it, don't write me!!! I'm just doing this for fun! |
FINALYSIS - PART ONE by Jvantheterrible |
| Georgetown Memorial Hospital Scully came running into the waiting room, frantic after receiving Skinner's call. What in the hell did Mulder have himself into this time, she wondered, and why hadn't he just gone home to bed after she had told him to? None of that mattered now, though, and she could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she saw Skinner sitting in one of the plastic orange chairs, bent over, his head in his hands. "Sir," she called out breathlessly, "how is he?" Skinner stood up as she approached, and the lines in his forehead gave his concern away. "Dana," he began, relieved to see her, "they don't know what's wrong with him, but he is in serious condition." "You didn't tell me that he was in the Special Psychiatric Unit, sir....why? What's happened to him?" Dana cocked her head to one side, now standing directly in front of the Assistant Director, waiting impatiently for some sort of explanation. "Dana," Skinner began, and she arched an eyebrow at his use of her first name....he never called her Dana where the Bureau was concerned; something was dreadfully wrong, and she wasn't certain that she wanted to know what any longer. Skinner continued, "they haven't been able to do anything for him. I knew that you would want to be here to talk to his doctors....." his voice trailed off, and Scully could tell by looking at him that he had been at the hospital most of the night.....damn the airlines for making her take 3 flights just to get back to DC from New Mexico. "Sir? I don't understand....just what IS wrong with him?" Scully fought back her emotions and swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat...she wouldn't be any use to Mulder or Skinner if she couldn't keep it together.....besides, this wasn't the first time that Mulder had been in the psych ward of a hospital....there had been that whole "he's hiding in the light" thing. "Agent Scully, come with me," Skinner said, reaching out and taking her hand, holding it tightly in his. Walter led her into a small private room with several television monitors, and Scully almost screamed when she saw who was watching Fox Mulder's progress.....Diana Fowley stood directly in front of the screens, wheeling around suddenly when Scully and Skinner entered. Shit, thought Scully, what in the fuck was SHE doing here? Dana walked into the room, attempting to maintain her composure, given Mulder's condition and the unwelcome presence of Mulder's ex-partner, and stared at the screen that held Fox's image. He was dressed only in a hospital gown, and he paced back and forth, his arms wrapped around himself, staring occasionally into the camera positioned to follow him around the padded room. "What's wrong with him?" Scully asked, and Diana looked at Skinner, wondering which of them should explain Fox's condition, finally beginning to take the initiative and tell Dana what had happened. "He called me last night," Diana began, "and I found him in a stairwell at the university. He could barely speak." Diana stopped, waiting for Scully's reaction, with which she was promptly rewarded. "Why did he call you?" Scully asked her, at the same time desperately searching Skinner's blank face for some sign of emotion, but there was none. "No one knew where you were, Dana," Diana said, "and he just called me to ask for help. I found him and took him home, but he just lost it, and I had to call the hospital. They brought him here a few hours ago." "Sir," Dana said to Skinner, "what the hell is going on here?" "Agent Scully," Skinner said, reaching for her hand once again, "come with me." He headed for the door, and just as Scully was prepared to leave the monitoring room, she heard Mulder scream, "SCULLY," and she turned and watched him on the black and white screen once again, tears pooling in her blue eyes as she listened to him babble and watched him begin to pace. She closed her eyes briefly as she gathered her composure, and finally followed Skinner out into the hospital hallway, pissed off beyond words when Diana Fowley came out to join them. Dana glared at Diana, and couldn't hold her tongue any longer, "you didn't answer my question....why did he call you?" "Agent Scully, he told me that I was the only one that would believe him......something about an artifact. That's all I got out of him." "Dana, you said in your report that you had collected sufficient evidence to prove that this whole artifact thing was a hoax, and....." Skinner began, but Scully cut him off abruptly. "I never sent you that report," Dana said, shocked and exasperated, wondering how in the hell Skinner might have known about her theory. "You're a liar," Scully said to Diana, and she looked to Skinner for reassurance, but none was forthcoming. "Dana," Skinner said, "please," and he grabbed her hand, but she yanked her arm away from his grip as she replied, "You're both liars," and she turned to walk away. Diana stared at Skinner, who gazed back at her, his eyes glazed over with emotion, and finally, he found his tongue, "Goddamn all of you," he said tersely, and he turned and took off after Scully. Diana re-entered the monitoring room to watch Fox, even as Scully was vehemently pressing the elevator button just down the hall. "Dana," Skinner yelled, "Dana, wait," and he caught up to her just as the elevator doors swished open. "Go to hell," Dana screamed at him, shoving him away from her as she pressed the Ground Level button, "I trusted you, you son of a bitch! I cared for you, even after everything that's happened with the X-Files, and the Consortium...and how do you repay me?" Tears rolled down her cheeks as she continued her ranting, "you end up here, with that bitch Fowley, conspiring even as Mulder is being driven insane, undoubtedly from some new conspiracy......you BASTARD," she screamed, and she slapped Skinner's face, causing him to gasp in surprise. "Dana, NO," he said forcefully, and their arguing continued as the doors to the elevator closed, "you don't know the truth......please......" "I don't want to hear any more of your lies, Skinner," Scully growled, "I can't take it anymore. You're a double-crossing, lying, power-hungry animal, and you lured Mulder and me into all of this, and now......" she fought sobs that threatened in her chest, tried to get a grip on her words, "look what you've done," Scully whimpered, sinking to the floor in utter defeat, "just look what you've reduced us to...." her words trailed off, and she buried her head between her knees and cried, the image of a raving mad Fox in his hospital gown surfacing once again in her mind. "Scully, no....God, you have no idea....." Skinner whispered, and he reached up and hit the red emergency button, the elevator halting instantaneously between floors 2 and 1. He stared at Scully from behind his wirerims, and finally he reached up and flung them off, baring himself to her as he had done for no one else. "Scully, I have to tell you something.....I couldn't tell you before....I shouldn't even tell you now....but....." he choked back the sob that threatened, and he reached out to Dana, taking her hands in his, wanting so badly to tell her everything.......and knowing that doing so meant sure death for himself, he finally told her what he had been holding inside for so long. God help me, he thought, as he began, hoping that somehow, it might right the things that had suddenly gone so wrong. "Dana, you have to let me explain....there's so much you don't know.......please," Skinner said once again, his deep brown eyes piercing through to her very soul, "please, let me tell you.....I have to tell you, I can't keep this from you any longer, you deserve to know." Scully looked up at him, tears and hatred shining in her eyes, disgust plainly showing in her face, and she sneered at him, "What could you possibly have to say that would make a difference? WHAT?" She yelled at him, and he winced, taking a deep breath as he prepared to tell Dana the things that could cost him his very existence, finally gathering some semblance of dignity after his display upstairs, and he began. "Dana, do you remember when I got sick? The nanocytes?" Skinner began, not able to look her in the eye, focusing instead on the floor of the elevator that was to become his confessional. "Yes, I remember...another lie on your part," Scully replied sharply, "because Mulder and I were restricted from further investigation. By YOU, no less," she finished. "Agent Scully........Dana," Skinner could feel the lump in his throat, and wondered how in the hell he had ever become so weak, "that's where this all began." "Spit it out, Skinner," Scully said wearily, "there is nothing that you can say that will ever restore my faith in you, so keep on with this whole bleeding heart act....frankly, I don't think it suits you," she said, and Skinner looked at her finally, eye to eye, the bitterness in her gaze cutting him through and through. "It was Krycek...all along, it was him. He held the control, he is the one who killed me, and he is also the one who brought me back. He was the man in the videotape, the one who held all the cards. And the rat bastard still does." Scully was silent, and she cursed herself for the immediate sympathy that went out to the man in front of her.....how could she be so weak where he was concerned? He was, after all, responsible for Mulder's current state of incapacitation. "He came to me, the night after I told you and Mulder not to pursue that case any further....I was unable to divulge the particulars at that time, and I still am. As it is, I will most likely die for telling you this, once they find out. But, I want you to know that I have never meant to mislead you, or Mulder, in any way, shape, or form. I would rather die than lose your trust....or Mulder's. Which is why I have to tell you this now. We should be relatively safe in here, don't you think?" Skinner stared at Scully questioningly, but she still gave him no indication that she was interested in what he had to say.....she looked defeated, in a way he had never seen before. He continued, nonetheless, "Scully, Mulder was right....in my office, a couple of days ago when he stated that someone else was on this case....the artifact X-File......Krycek is on it. He's been following your every move." Skinner looked down at the floor again, afraid to look into Scully's eyes, afraid to see his betrayal staring back at him. "I videotaped our conference in my office, regarding the case. Krycek has the tape, Scully. He knows about the artifact, and everything. Hell, he's most likely the one that had Mulder in this very position." "You bastard," Scully whispered, and she continued to throw daggers at him with her eyes, weapons that he refused to acknowledge by his aversion to her face, "how could you, after all this time, after all we've been through. You sneaky, lying son of a bitch," Scully said, fresh tears flowing down her face, hurt and desperation flooding her senses, unwilling to accept that Skinner was still involved with CancerMan, and now, with Diana Fowley as well. "He trusted you, you know," Dana said quietly after a few minutes, "Mulder's motto has always been trust no one, but he trusted you, sir, with his ideas, his work, hell, with his life. And THIS is how you repay him......repay US." Scully was silent, and she watched as Skinner closed his eyes and shook his head, as though he could wake himself from the nightmare that his life had become, his life and the only two people that meant a damn thing to him in the entire world. And now, not only had he betrayed his own beliefs, but Mulder and Scully's as well. "Scully, I....." Skinner looked at her once again, his very heart breaking at the sight of Dana Katherine Scully's grief, the look on her face pleading to him to tell her that none of it was true, that it was all some sort of impossible misunderstanding that could just be willed away, "I'm so sorry, Dana.....what could I do? They are going to kill me either way. It doesn't matter anymore. I just wanted you to know the truth, Scully. The truth as I know it, and as only I can tell it. So now you know. There's nothing else for me to say; I'm a dead man, either way. At least now you'll know why." Skinner stood up and reached for the emergency button so he could release it, but Scully jumped to her feet in a flash and stood between him and the buttons. "What, Scully," Walter said, imploringly, "what else do you want from me?" He looked down at her as she moved towards him, tentatively waiting for another slap in the face, literally or figuratively. "I won't betray you....or your trust. I don't want them to hurt you again, sir." She stood in front of him, tears pooled in her eyes, waiting for his response. Skinner stood completely still for a moment, contemplating the current situation....was she really forgiving him? How could she? He wasn't sure that he would be able to do the same, if he were in her place. Scully could feel the AD's gaze, could almost feel the turmoil from within the surly man in front of her. He HAD told her the truth, after all......but could she truly trust him? Was he truly responsible for what was happening to Mulder, anyway? And reporting to Krycek? And that bitch Fowley? Skinner wondered if it was such a wise move to tell her everything, wondered if he truly was going to die now, and wondered........ as he cupped her face in his hands, he wondered just how far the truth was going to go.......how far it should go............. |