From: Erinstone1@aol.com

Shrink - Chapter 17
ErinStone1@AOL.com
Rated: R
Spoilers: none
Category: Scully/Slash
Archive: Yes-please make me aware of any final posts to a site.
Feedback: Any/all is welcome
Disclaimer: Scully and Mulder are not mine. I make no profit from this story.

Summary:  Scully decides she needs to take responsibility for her unhappiness.






"Now what?" Gail asked as she sipped on the same glass of wine she'd been 
nursing all evening.

"Now we wait. Detective Johns said he'd call me the minute his people finish 
their sweep on the area."

"Were they able to run a trace?"

"No, same thing as last time. He's using a computer to make the calls."

"What time is it Scully?"

"About eleven."

"Is it too late to call the hospital?"

Scully smiled at her, "No. It's not too late for that."

Gail returned her smile, "Thanks."



Scully hung up and looked at Gail, "Did you get all that from my side of the 
conversation?"

"They're going to rouse her in the morning?"

"Yep. She's responding well to the medications they're giving her. The excess 
blood that pooled around her brain is nearly gone. The only thing they seem 
to be worried about now is a problem with her left ear. There seems to be 
some damage to her cochlea."

Gail's face registered concern, "What does that mean?"

"She could be facing a hearing loss in her left ear."

"Oh." Gail looked down at her feet. "What about the brain damage?"

"None of that is evident."

"That's good huh?"

Scully smiled at her, "That's really good."

"When this is all over I'm going to buy her a car."

Scully laughed aloud, "A car?"

Gail held her arms wide, "A big ass car." She dropped her hands back to her 
knees and took a deep breath. "I hope she's okay Scully. I don't have any 
idea what I'd do without her in my life."

"She'll be okay, don't worry."

Gail nodded but didn't looked convinced.

"She's got to be okay Gail.  Someone has to be around to tell you 'no' once 
in a while."

Gail smiled wryly at her. "Oh I don't know, you seem to be mighty comfortable 
with the job."

Scully raised a brow, smiling. Then her expression changed as she seemed to 
be registering something. "Why did she tell you 'no'? You never told me."

Gail looked a little nervous. "I asked her to do something that she felt was· 
weak, I suppose. Or maybe cowardly is a better way to describe it."

"Can I ask what?"

Gail stared at her hands for a moment. "I asked her to fill out a 
'Termination of Therapy' form for me. She refused."

"Was it for Pelt?"

"No." Gail shook her head but wouldn't look at her. 

Scully didn't like the lack of eye contact. She whispered, "It wasn't for me 
was it?"

Gail looked up at her. She was biting her bottom lip. Scully knew the answer 
without asking.

She continued to whisper, "Why Gail?"

Gail shut her eyes tightly and took a deep breath. She let it out slowly. "It 
was for personal reasons Scully. It turned out that Marlene was right. She 
usually is."

Scully was starting to look pissed. "Why did you want to terminate my 
therapy? I'm not your patient any more. I think I have a right to expect an 
answer that's less vague."

Gail didn't respond and Scully added, "I'm not that fucked up am I?"

At that Gail balked, "No Scully, for Christ's sake, it's nothing you did." 
She added afterward, the element of danger this conversation was taking was 
not lost to her,  "Not intentionally at least."

Scully was now on her knees on the couch, directly facing Gail where she sat 
with her knees pulled up to her chest. The physical closeness and Scully's 
irritation were making Gail anxious. "Why?" Scully asked again without 
preamble.

Gail set her jaw and studied the carpet, "Because I was attracted to you. I 
thought it might have affected my ability to be helpful to you." She said 
finally. She winced some and looked Scully in the eye.

"Oh." Scully's demeanor softened quickly and she sat back against the arm of 
the couch.

They sat in silence for a long moment, neither looking at the other.

"Did Marlene know why you wanted to terminate my therapy?"

Gail responded without looking at her, "She had a good idea, yeah."

"How?"

"In the middle of one of your sessions I stood in the hall, in front of her 
office, for thirty seconds and tried to collect myself. She was pretty much 
on to me after that."

"I thought you had something in your throat."

"Well," Gail said plainly, "it turned out to be you."

Scully sat quietly for a while before speaking again. Then she said, in all 
seriousness, "I wasn't even sure if you liked me."

Gail looked at her with a startled expression; her face broke into a smile 
and then she started to laugh. 

Scully laughed a little, reluctantly at first, "I'm serious."

"I know. I just· I can't believe it."

Scully laughed a little more. "You hid it well, you know?"

"Did I?" 

"Yeah, you did." 

"Didn't feel that way."

Another slightly less uncomfortable silence fell over them.

Scully felt like she was standing on a cliff in a high wind. She took a deep 
breath. "How do you feel now?"

Gail looked at Scully, not knowing how to answer her.  "Now." She said 
finally. "Now I'm sorry I got you into all this."

Scully eyed her carefully, "That's not what I asked you."

"I know." Gail said, staring at her knees. 

Scully said nothing more. She sat patiently· waiting for an answer.

"Now I know you better." Gail's voice lowered to a whisper.

Scully stared at her, silently willing her to say more.

Gail continued quietly, "If Marlene were here now and she could see the way I 
look at you she'd sign that form herself."

Scully couldn't get her breath. She sat on her side of the couch and stared 
at a spot on Gail's pants. It was somewhere between her feet and her knees. 
Her mind was overloaded with images of Gail in her office. Her calm voice· 
the way she came around the desk to comfort her· and that last time· when 
she'd had something in her throat she was actually· what?

Scully stole a glance at her then looked back down to the spot she'd been 
staring at. Gail had been shaken by something I did during that appointment. 
What?

"What did I do?"

Gail looked up at her.

Scully asked again, "What did I do to send you from the room?"

Gail ran her hands down her own shins. Her eyes seemed to close of their own 
accord and she shook her head slowly. "You just· smiled at me."

-end-