House of Cards - Chapter 2
By Jennifer T. Brooks
E-Mail: Jenntou@excite.com
*******************************************
FBI Headquarters
July 23, 1998
10:48 a.m.
  
Fox Mulder was perplexed by his partners lack of interest in
anything these day.  She seemed to be distancing herself from
him.  

<Like you could tell in the first place> he thought to himself.
 
Ever since their little adventure in Antarctica he thought that they
were closer than ever and he was finally going to get his chance
with her.  He cared very deeply for her, but he knew that it wasn't
love.  He didn't feel that he knew her well enough to love her, but
yet in a way he did know her.  How could he love her when he
didn't know basic things about her like what her favorite color is,
what animals she had as a child, etc.   But yet in another sense he
knew deeply personal things about her like what she feared most.
When did his life become so complicated?  Why couldn't he have
normal relationships like most people.  Why couldn't he have a
normal functioning family?  Why was his job so damned
difficult?  Why was the only woman in his life a five foot two
inch pistol packing FBI babe who seemed to be devoid of
emotion?  He needed to change things and quick.  He sure wasn't
getting any younger, but the question was how?  How was he
going to change things?  What did he want out of life?  What did
he want people to remember him for when he died?  A paranoid
man with no friends? He decided the best thing for him to do
when he was in this kind of mood was to take a jog.

Since Dana Scully wasn't in the office this morning he didn't
have to worry about changing in the men's restroom.  He quickly
put on a pair of black running shorts, a white tank top, a pair of
white socks, and his running shoes and headed out the door.
  
Dana came back from her meeting at Quantico and was surprised
to find an empty office.   No note or anything explaining his
absence.  She decided that there was a lot of paperwork for her to
catch up on.  Minutes later she was interrupted by a soft knock on
the door.
  
"Come in." she replied.
  
Agent Fowley slowly opened the door and entered the room,
"Dana, I just got notice today that you and Fox are scheduled for
annual physical training next week at Quantico.  This year they
aren't allowing participants the option of staying in local hotels
or commuting.  All field agents are to stay in the dormitories at
Quantico for the first night and the remainder of the time will be
spent in field training. You are to report there tonight at 12 am." 
  
"Field training?" Dana asked.
  
"A nice word they have come up with for roughing it in the wild."
  
Dana thought for a minute before responding. "Why the change in
protocol?"
  
"I was informed of the field training this morning in a meeting of
Division heads.  It seems that the training is warranted due to
several incidents in the past six months of field agents not being
able to survive in the field for more than two days at a time.  It
has been decided that all agents in the next year will need to
re-qualify on their weapons, physical fitness skills, and outdoor
survival skills.  The complete training will last two weeks.  Since
you and Fox don't have any open cases, now would be the
opportune time to do it. Think of this as a little camping trip." 
  
"Does Mulder know?"

"I informed him earlier this morning when he came in.  Why don't
you take an early lunch and the rest of the afternoon off to pack."
 
"I think I will Agent Fowley."
  
"See you in two weeks,  Dana.  Just so you know,  they are
grading
each participant and it will be part of your file.  This is being
done to discourage agents who don't realize the seriousness of
this training. I'm sure that you will do fine and make this
division proud."
  

*******************************************
Later that evening
Apartment of Dana Scully 
8:59 p.m.
  
Dana was trying to figure out what to pack when she heard a
knock on the door. She went over to answer it without even
looking in the peep hole, knowing that it had to be Mulder.
 
"Evening Scully, almost packed for our little trip into the forest,
part two?'
  
"Very funny Mulder, and no.  I hate these things.  I don't like the
short notice.  I don't like not knowing what we're going to be
doing, and most of all I don't like camping in the woods."
 
"Scully, it's not camping, it's survival training.  Think of the
adventure." 
  
"Mulder, if I wanted adventure or survival training I would have
joined the Navy." 
  
"I'm really surprised that you don't like camping Scully.  All
these years I thought you were my model for nature woman."
  
"Think again, Mulder.  I'm the model for modern convenience
woman.  I don't despise camping, I'd just rather have a warm bed,
running water and air conditioning."
  
"Scully, say no more.  You are ruining a long running fantasy I've
had about you."
  
"Very funny, Mulder.  Are you finished packing?" Dana Scully
said as she swatted Mulder on the arm.
  
"Finished hours ago.  I,  for one,  am looking forward to this little
trip into the woods."
  
"At least one of us is. I still find it suspicious that they send the
two of us there in the middle of a heat wave and give us a 10 hour
notice.  This reeks of a conspiracy."

"That's my line Scully, get your own.  It won't be that bad.  Two
weeks of hell and then we get another year on easy street."

"Easy street?  What are you high?  You consider the constant
threats to our lives and health,  easy street.  I think you need to get
a new version of reality Mulder."

"Scully, shut up and pack or we'll be late."

"It's not like we are going to miss out on the best hotel room
Mulder, they are making us sleep outside where it is hot and
sweaty."

"Hot and sweaty, oh another fantasy about you is coming back."

"Mulder," Scully said while giving him the look that he had better
keep his thoughts to himself or face grave bodily injury.

Mulder took the warning and chose to remain quiet while Scully
finished packing her clothes. Mulder entertained her with
camping stories of his youth.  By 10 p.m. they were all packed in
her car and off to Quantico. 
  
*******************************************
Quantico, Virginia
July 25, 1998
3 am 
  
Dana Scully woke up to find her sleeping bag soaking wet.  She
looked around the tent to find the source of the water when she
realized that it was pouring rain outside and what she thought was
the sound of wind was actually the patter rain beating down on
the sides of her tent. <Shit> She thought to herself
wondering what time it was.  A quick check of her watch revealed
that it was 3:00 am.  She knew that she didn't have to be ready
until 7 am for the morning exercises but decided to get a head
start.  She quickly changed into her dry clothes, glad that she had
spent the extra money and gotten an water proof knapsack.  She
wondered if Mulder was soaking wet in his tent.
  
Upon exiting the tent she found that the world was in a quiet
slumber around her. She heard Mulder stirring in his sleep and
quietly tiptoed around his tent to the clearing in the woods where
the foot trail began.   5 miles later she felt exhilarated from her
run and slightly sweaty.  She knew that there was nothing that
could be done about the wet conditions, for they were officially
roughing it, which meant no showers for the week.  Scully was
glad that she brought her dry shampoo or else by the end of the
week she would have looked positively awful, as if she didn't at
that moment.  Approaching the clearing where the tents located,
she quietly tiptoed around the other tents toward hers.  As she
unzipped her tent she heard someone behind her.  She turned to
see that it was Mulder who was holding his index finger up to his
lips to let her know not to speak.  He motioned for her to follow
him to the clearing in the woods were the trail was.  

Once they reached the clearing he grabbed her arm to pull her
closer to him so that he could talk to her without arousing
attention. 
  
"Scully.  What the hell do you think you are doing at this time of
the morning?" he asked harshly.
  
"I woke up to a wet bed and decided to go for a run to warm
myself up."
  
"What did you wet the bed?"

"Very funny Mulder.  No the monsoon left my tent in about 6
inches of water."

"We have physical training in a few hours Scully.  You obviously
look like you just ran quite a distance.   How are you going to
manage to complete the training without looking so exhausted
that they wonder if you are capable for the job.  You know that
we're being graded on our performance."
 
"No Mulder, we're being evaluated separately.  Don't worry I'm
not going to ruin your perfect score.  I'm going to do it like I
normally do Mulder.  This isn't an issue, stop trying to make it
out to be.  I went for a little jog.  There was no harm done.  I will
be able to do my exercises and pass them without one person
looking at me wondering what is wrong." 
  
"If you say so.  How was the trail at this time of the morning?" He
asked changing the subject.

"It was fine Mulder.  Nice and peaceful.  Not too muddy."
  
Mulder and Scully sat down on a log in silence and watched the
sun rise.  About 10 minutes before the wake up bell they climbed
back into their own tents so as to not arouse suspicion as to why
two members of the opposite sex were out of their tents together.

*******************************************
Quantico, Virginia
July 25, 1998
7:30 am
 
The three mile jog was nothing, Scully thought as she mindlessly
ran.   I could go another 20 miles, she thought. Mulder ran beside
her in silence wondering exactly how long of a jog she took this
morning.

<Couldn't have been that long or else she would have been
dragging,> Mulder thought.  

He focused on the trees ahead wondering how old they were and
if they contained any of the green larvae they founds in the trees
in the pacific northwest. When they reached the end of the trail
they were divided into teams of two for problem solving
exercises.  

Mulder remembered the warning that Diana gave him that they
were being evaluated on all the exercises.  Everyone received
individual and team ratings on how well they had done and that
information went into the employee's personnel file.  Those that
didn't take the training seriously often found themselves
reprimanded.  Mulder was secretly glad that he had been paired
with Scully.  He knew that she would take everything they did
quite seriously and give it 100 percent.  He didn't expect anything
less from Miss Magna Cum Laude.

During the afternoon session they had firearm practice, and some
classroom training on outdoor survival skills.  Mulder knew that
at the end of the week they would be dropped off in some location
to find some suspect within a given amount of  time.  They had to
use the skills they learned in the training sessions and their
physical prowess to find the UNSUB.  This exercise was the only
reason that Mulder wanted to go to the training other than the fact
that it was required and Diana and Skinner had ordered them to
go. He found all the physical exercises and tests mundane, but
playing in the woods was fun.  

Mulder also hoped to use this training as a chance to get a little
closer to Scully and find out what was going on in that red head
of hers.  She had been distant since they arrived at Quantico and
he wanted to know why.  He hoped that he wasn't the reason for
her silence.  He thought it was ironic that to most outsiders they
seemed to have the perfect partnership, but that could not be
further from the truth.  Partners have open communication and
share themselves.  All Scully did was shut herself off emotionally
and erect walls that he didn't think anyone was capable of
climbing over.  

*******************************************
Quantico, Virginia
July 27, 1998

  
For the next few days Mulder and Scully settled into a
comfortable routine.  Morning physical fitness training, firearms
practice, lunch and afternoon survival skills practice followed by
more physical fitness training.  Mulder was secretly glad that he
and Scully jogged together on a daily basis or else he would have
been in big trouble.  Several agents had already succumbed and
had to be taken to the infirmary due to heat exhaustion.  Mulder
thought that they were being nice calling it heat exhaustion.  He
thought it was more like fat ass disease. 

For all the meals they were given Meals Ready to Eat (MRE's) 
and water to drink.  Scully would always pick through her MRE
claiming that it was disgusting and that she was going to go for a
walk.  With all this exercise they were getting,  Mulder was
constantly hungry and eagerly ate whatever she didn't want.   For
this particular lunch she only ate a bit of the fruit salad and gave
him the rest.  She told him that she wanted to go for a walk to get
away from the rest of the agents who were eating lunch around
them.   He saw her jog up to the start of the trail system and then
disappear behind some trees. What he didn't realize was that she
went running again.  She kept a close eye on her watch so that she
would be back in time for the firearm training.  
  
At the firing range she effortlessly hit one shot after another. 
Mulder stood beside her amazed at her skill.  Several other agents
stopped to watch were wondering where she learned to shoot.  To
him Scully looked like she was staring off into the horizon
shooting her gun.  In reality Scully just numbly held her gun and
fired.  She saw the target in her mind and it wasn't a bulls-eye, it
was the men that took her and did tests on her in the arctic.  She
hadn't told Mulder what had happened and that she remembered
them and their "tests".  Tests that they said were necessary to do,
tests that would somehow help the human race.  She didn't care
about the human race at the time.  All she cared about was saving
herself from the pain and the embarrassment of what they were
doing to her.  Most of all she had wished that Mulder would find
her and take her away from the awful place.   When she ran, she
was running away from them, from what they did to her, from
what they took away from her.  When Dana ran she felt that it was
the only time that she had control over her life.  For her not to
run, was for her to die. 

Running was her life.  She needed to run.  She had to run.  To
live.  She knew that Mulder would not have been able to
understand her or her needs at this point in time.  When she
looked at him she saw him and Diana Fowley.  She didn't know
why it bothered her so much that they were lovers in the past.

<It bothers me because I love him, > She thought to herself.

<But he doesn't feel the same way about me and never will.  To
him I'm just a substitute for his sister.  He'll  never see me as
anything more than his faithful sidekick.>

<I'm not going to let him or anyone else hurt me again.  I don't
care if they think that I'm cold or a bitch.  Let them say what
they want.  They'll never take my dignity or self respect away
again.> 

Somehow Mulder managed to get included in the group of people
and emotions Scully wanted to shut herself off from. 

There,  she admitted it to herself but was unwilling to go any
further in her self-analysis.

The next few days went by in silence for Mulder and Scully.
Scully ran during all her free time and Mulder chose to relax and
catch up on some reading.  He was somewhat dismayed to find
that she wanted little to do with him during the training.  Sure she
talked to him when necessary and gave everything to the training,
but he still couldn't  get over the fact that their friendship was
breaking up in front of his eyes.  Thursday morning they were to
pick one person from each team to run a 10 km marathon with
gear strapped to their back. 

Mulder knew that he could probably do it but that it would be
hard.  Scully volunteered to go for their team and Mulder
accepted.  Bonus points were to be given by the team that finished
first. Mulder really wanted those bonus points because they
added up to extra time off with pay and allowed them more time
to find the UNSUB in the woods.

Mulder walked Scully down to the starting line.  There were
about 25 other men competing with Scully.  She was the only
woman although about 25% of the field training participants were
women.  Scully started the race at the back of the pack.  Mulder
thought she looked quite sexy in her FBI T-shirt and shorts.   They
were a little big on her but Mulder knew that she was wearing the
smallest size possible. 
 
Mulder heard the gunfire and saw the racers take off and Scully
start to run.   They were quickly out of his view and he knew that
it would be awhile before they would be back.  He decided to take
the time and get some pistol practice in since he would be
representing their team later on that day.  He knew that he was
not nearly as good as shot as Scully was and wondered why she
volunteered to do the running part instead of the firearms. 

He assumed that it had to be because she knew that she would
win the firearms  competition hands down and needed a
challenge.  That was his Scully,  always having to prove that she
was the best.

Coming around the bushes Scully was in a trance like state as she
followed the runners ahead of her.  She heard people breathing
heavily around her but didn't feel a thing.  All she felt was
numbness.  She felt nothing. 

<Is this what my life has been reduced to? > She thought.

She decided to pass a couple people as she ran and ran.  
  
Mulder fired his gun at the target repeatedly. He found that it
helped to think of the cigarette smoking man as he kept aim on
the target.  His accuracy rate was getting much better.  Not as
good as Scully's, but still an improvement. 

He heard a commotion and knew that one of the runners was
rumored to be close to finishing. He looked at his watched and
calculated that the person must be doing a 5 minute mile, almost
unheard of.  He went with the rest of the agents down to the finish
line in time to see none other than Dana Scully cross the line. 
Mulder thought at first that he wasn't seeing straight.  His Scully
finishing in that good of time?  She received pats on the back and
words of congratulations from all the agents.  One of the trainers
announced that she had broken the trail record by 4 minutes.  She
just shrugged her shoulders as if this were a common occurrence. 
Mulder just stared at her in amazement.  When had she learned to
run that fast.  He was dismayed to realize that on their daily jogs
she must have been holding back for him. 

Mulder and Scully stayed as the other runners started coming in. 
Scully wouldn't leave until the last man passed the finish line
and she offered him a word of congratulations for finishing. 
Eight men ended up not being able to finish.  Not finishing was
certainly a black mark in the personnel file.  He knew that there
were going to be 16 pissed off men that night, not only the ones
that didn't finish but their partners as well.  He was glad that he
was paired with Miss Over Achiever.

They ate dinner that night in silence.  Scully didn't have much to
say to Mulder other than ask him how the pistol practice went. 
Mulder was too amazed by his partner who continued to astonish
him daily to be much of a conversationalist.    

*******************************************
Monongahela National Forest
July 30, 1998
7:30 am 
  
Dana Scully and Fox Mulder were dropped off in the middle of
Monongahela National Forest with a team of 6 other FBI agents. 
It was up to the team to agree on where to sleep, where to look 
and how to apprehend the suspect.  

The FBI academy instructors had divided all the agents up into
teams of six and dropped them all off in different parts of the
forest.  They were all the same distance from the UNSUB and all
had an equal chance of finding him or her.  The group that
apprehended the suspect first got to sleep in the dormitories for
the remainder of the training.  The rest of the groups had to sleep
in the tents and were subject to more physical exercise.   There
would only be one team that won.

Mulder's team, referred to as Team Alpha, was given one road
map of the area and little more.  Each agent was given a
flashlight, unloaded weapon, compass and the clothing on
their backs.  They were told to be ready for all the elements and
this exercise was designed to simulate the conditions upon which
other agents found themselves unprepared.  This was a test to see
if they could find and apprehend a subject under rough
conditions. They were given two days to find and apprehend the
suspect. 
  
They were dropped off on the main road leading to the park. 
Due to Scully winning the running competition and Mulder
coming in third on the firearm competition, they were the agents
in charge on Team Alpha.   Mulder decided to let a cocky agent
named Samuelson lead the group while Mulder and Scully lagged
behind the rest of the group.  Mulder was bored and tired from all
the exercise and lack of sleep.  He was looking forward to this
little excursion but now only wanted to take a bath and have a
nice long nap on his couch. 

"At least at Quantico they gave us a tent and food," Mulder
mumbled to Scully.
  
"But as I clearly recalled, you seldom slept in yours anyway
Mulder," Scully said teasing him.  She had heard him leave his
tent in the middle of the night several times during basic training. 
She assumed that due to the length of his absence, and the
rumors circulating,  that he was paying a nightly visit to Natasha,
an attractive blond that was a profiler in the VCS for the past 6
years.  She liked Natasha and got a long well with her.

"And what are you insinuating, Agent Scully?" Mulder asked.

"Nothing.  Just making an observation," Scully replied.

"Scully, how the hell did you manage to run that fast?"

"Mulder you sound surprised."

"I guess that I am," Mulder replied.

"Why because I'm a woman?" Scully asked sounding irritated.

"No, it has nothing to do with the fact that you are woman.  Okay
maybe it does.  If a man cannot finish in that time, a man that's
larger with longer legs, mind you, I don't see how you could."


"Maybe you'll never know Mulder."

"With the time that you made on that course you should be
competing in the Olympics Scully, not working for the FBI," 
Mulder said sincerely.

"How do you know that I'm not training for the Olympics.  I
always wanted to see Sydney."

"You're training for the Olympics Scully?  When do you find the
time?" Mulder asked not sure of she was telling the truth or not. 
She had hidden so much of her private life from him that he did
not find the idea of her training for the Olympics inconceivable.

"Calm down Mulder.  I didn't say that I was training.  I just
thought it was rude for you to assume that because I'm a woman
I wouldn't be able to run as fast as a man would.  I find your
caveman attitude less than endearing."

"It's not that you're a woman, it's just that you are short."

"Mulder, I cannot believe you just said that.  Height doesn't
matter in speed.  What matters is the amount of fast twitch 
muscle fibers that you have.  The more that you have,  the faster
oxygen goes to then, the faster that you run.  It all has to do
with genetics.  Blame my parents."

"I think I just got very turned on," Mulder said as Scully swatted
him on the arm.

"Hey Mulder and Scully, we need to formulate a plan for getting
the perp,"  Samuelson called to them interrupting their
conversation.  They made their way to the rest of the group.

-END-