From: shawntaw@hotmail.com Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2001 21:50:58 -0000 Subject: xfc: Safe Harbor by shawntaw Source: xfc Title: Safe Harbor Author: shawntaw Category: MSR, Mulder/Scully/Skinner friendship Spoilers: Abduction Arc Rating: G E-mail Address:shawntaw@hotmail.com Disclaimer: Not mine, unfortunately. But I'm glad somebody thought of them. I'm not making any money on this, which explains why I don't have any. *sigh* Summary: Scully is Mulder's safe harbor...and Skinner wants to protect the bond between them. ********************************************************************** * Skinner strode purposefully down the hallway of the hotel, his footfalls making muffled whomps against the soft carpet. He muttered to himself as he flipped through the file folder he held in his hand, in his haste almost running over a young couple kissing in front of one of the doors. "Excuse me," he mumbled as he adjusted his course and continued to stride toward his destination. Skinner was excited that his decision to accompany two of his agents on their current out-of-town assignment was yielding results. He had started feeling stale sitting behind his desk. Losing his old skills. Skinner could feel his senses dulling. Of course, he reluctantly admitted to himself, it could have something to do with his 50th birthday. So, he called Mulder and Scully into his office as he always did. He briefed them on their new case as he always did. And then he announced that he was coming along. He remembered the pause in each agents movements as they waited for him to extrapolate. He did not. As is his privilege, he had told himself at the time. *After all, I am a damn A.D. and their supervisor.* "Sir," Scully had ventured, "has there been some problem with our job performance?" "No, Agent Scully, there has not." Skinner answered smoothly. Mulder simply stared at him with that "profiler" look in his eye. *Trying to figure me out, Mulder?* Skinner raised an eyebrow at Mulder and Mulder blinked, realizing he was standing in the middle of Skinner's office staring at him. Mulder took Scully's elbow as she opened her mouth again to speak, "Fine, sir. We'll head to our places and pack for the trip and meet you here in about an hour?" He was gently urging Scully toward the door by her elbow. Skinner nodded and shifted some papers on his desk. "Fine. See you then, Agents," Skinner tried to look busy. Mulder's hand dropped to it's traditional place at the small of Scully's back as he escorted her out the door. Skinner had pushed back in his chair with a sigh, hoping he wasn't making a mistake by accompanying Mulder and Scully on this case. Hoping that he wasn't just going to prove himself right - that he had indeed lost it and had become nothing more than a desk jockey. And then Skinner kicked himself as he mentally added up the ways he had messed up since the three of them had arrived in town. First, he had picked the wrong accomodations for the X-files budget. Mulder's eyes had crinkled in glee, "Maybe we should bring you along more often, sir." *How could I forget they usually end up staying in dumps? How am I going to justify this expenditure to accounting?!* Then, he had silently watched in awe as Mulder and Scully sat on the bed in Mulder's room and bantered back and forth, putting the case together. File folders were exchanged between the two. Pictures laid out in order and then reordered as the two discussed the case. And Skinner could think of nothing to add. In fact, he knew there were things the two younger agents caught that he would have missed. And it made him feel old. The three had parted company and gone back to their respective rooms at about 11 p.m. and Skinner had pored over the files, reports, and photographs. Surely there was something, SOMETHING, he could contribute. That's when he saw the anomaly. He didn't think; he acted. He had to show the other agents. ***************************************************************** Skinner realized that in his ruminations he had passed his intended destination. He walked back a few doors and, without thinking, rapped twice as he did at the office and then let himself in. He was already two strides into the room and speaking before he realized what he had done and what he was seeing. "Mulder, I found this anomaly in the third victim's crime scene and I was wondering if you'd already-" Skinner's words froze in his throat. Scully sat on the edge of Mulder's bed dressed in green pajamas and bathed in the soft light from the hallway, the hand that had been stroking his hair stilled with shock. Mulder was twisting and tossing in his sleep, mumbling incoherently. His tossing quickly became thrashing and his mumbling, yelling. "Scully!? No! Let her go!" Scully recovered her composure enough to put a finger to her lips, shushing her boss. She then resumed stroking Mulder's bed-mussed hair, murmuring to him reassuringly, "Mulder, its alright. I'm here. Its alright...its alright.." Mulder's breathing slowed and, after a few minutes, the crease in his forehead softened. And slowly, but surely, his pulse calmed and his breathing became heavy with deep, peaceful sleep. Skinner stood stock still the entire time, almost hypnotised himself by Scully's soft words. Scully stood and carefully stepped to the connecting door. She beckoned Skinner to follow. **************************************************************** Skinner watched for a moment as Scully disappeared throught the connecting door between her and Mulder's rooms, shaking himself out of his stupor when he saw her light come on. Carefully closing the door to the hallway behind him, he quickly strode to the connecting door and stepped through it into Scully's room. Scully closed it behind him and turned to face her boss with a loud, resolved sigh. "I imagine you would like to know what that was all about," Scully stated, looking Skinner in the eye. Noticing her bedside clock glowing "2am," he replied with apology. "I imagine you would like to know why I was at Mulder's door bothering the both of you at 2 in the morning." Scully's eyebrows lifted in surprise, "Sir?" "I had no business barging into either of your rooms at this hour and so whatever is going on here is none of my business," Skinner finished, and started to head toward Scully's door to leave. She put her hand on his arm. "Sir, that's just it. What you think is going on here, isn't." He looked at her. "Please, sir, sit down." Now understandably curious, Skinner sat in one of the chairs at the small table in her room and waited. **************************************************************** Scully paced up and down in front of Skinner once and then sat in the chair opposite him. "What I am about to tell you, sir, is very personal to Mulder and I'm not even sure it would be o.k. with him. I expect this to remain between you and me." "Whatever you tell me won't leave this room." Scully folded her hands in front of her and stared at them. "It was actually on our second or third out-of-town "profiling"-type assignment that I began to realize something was wrong. I woke up suddenly, in the middle of the night, because I heard some strange noises coming from Mulder's room. At first, I couldn't identify it, but it got louder and then I could tell what it was. All I knew was that Mulder was screaming out for help and the name "Samantha." I pounded on the connecting door between the two rooms. I yelled his name. Then I drew my gun and shot the lock off." Scully paused to take a deep breath. She cleared her throat. "I just knew that someone was killing him. When I ran into the room with my gun drawn, Mulder was kneeling on the floor, facing his window where a streetlight shone in. He was screaming. I mean screaming, sir. Heart-wrenching, grief-stricken screams. His gun lay on the floor beside him. Everyone in the motel where we were staying was outside and the manager was pounding on Mulder's door. I managed to convince the motel manager to let me handle the situation. I'm sure the fact we were F.B.I. was the only reason that the police weren't called. Mulder had told me the story of his sister's abduction not too long before this and it just came to me. The streetlight. The streetlight had triggered this." Scully paused to swallow, but still did not meet Skinner's eyes. She quickly chanced a glance. He nodded solemnly for her to continue. "I shot out the streetlight, sir. It was the quickest solution. I shot it and told the manager to give me the bill in the morning. As soon as the light was out, the screams subsided. I ran back into Mulder's room and found him lying on his side, blinking into the darkness. He just looked up at me and said, "Scully? What the hell happened? I feel like I've been run over by a truck." Scully laughed harshly then. She wiped a hand over her face and stood abruptly and began pacing. "After telling him what had happened, I found out that this was not the first time on these types of cases that he had had 'problems.' After weeks of avoiding the subject, he admitted that he had left the Violent Crimes Unit as a profiler after a nervous breakdown. He just got too deep in the criminals' minds, he immersed himself. And anytime a case had to do with children....well, the result was similar to that night with the streetlight." Skinner nodded. " I knew about the breakdown. Many people did, even though it wasn't put in his file. I can't say I blamed him with the type of work they had him doing." Scully sat again, nodding. "Mulder told me as much. He said that he suspected you knew and that others did as well. Anyway, over time, whenever we got those 'types' of cases, I would get extremely worried. I started leaving the connecting door open so I could hear if he began to have a nightmare. When he would, I would sit by his bed and just comfort him. If I can catch it before it gets out of hand, he doesn't even remember it happened." Scully studied her hands again. "Since my abduction, sometimes the nightmares are about me, not Samantha." Skinner nodded and cleared his throat. He decided not to admit that after seeing her so pale in her hospital bed after she was returned that he'd had his share of nightmares too. "Well, that's understandable. You didn't see how he was while you were gone, Scully." Skinner paused and then took a chance. "He cares for you a great deal." Scully looked at her boss for a long moment. Then she looked down at her hands again. "Anyway, I just wanted you to know what it was you saw. I can imagine how it must have looked." She attempted a small laugh. "There are enough rumors about us at the bureau as it is." Skinner stood and opened his mouth to reassure her of his understanding and to say goodnight. "NO!!!" Mulder's screams broke the silence along with a loud crash. "NO! Please-" Scully dashed through the connecting door with Skinner close behind. Mulder stood beside the bed in green boxer briefs, his hair standing up in a hundred different directions, a broken lamp at his feet and his hazel eyes wide with confusion. When Scully appeared in his room, he was visibly relieved. "Thank God, Scully. I-I don't know where I am. Am I awake? You were taken - but...That's not right, is it? I-" She interrupted him with a hand on his arm. "It's just a bad dream, Mulder. We're in Iowa on a case and I'm right here. Come on, let's get you back to bed. It'll all be clearer in the morning." Mulder's gaze flickered to Skinner as Scully gently urged his lanky form to bed, "You're never in my nightmares. Why are you here?" His gaze returned to Scully. "Why's Skinner here, Scully?" Mulder's voice was the voice of a small child who wanted to know why the sky was blue. Scully looked in Mulder's eyes as she sat by his side. "I don't know, Mulder. It's your dream. Why is Skinner here?" She brushed a lock of hair back from his face. Mulder thought for a moment and then suddenly smiled. "I know. I brought him here to protect you. I don't know why I didn't do this before. He'll watch you while I sleep." Mulder shut his eyes, happy. Scully couldn't help it. She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Mulder, I can take care of myself." "Yeah, yeah, I know," Mulder said with his eyes still closed, "that's what you always say. But I'm not letting you go again. I love you too much to let that happen." Scully gasped and pointedly did not look at Skinner. Mulder continued to mumble, his voice becoming weaker and weaker. "You'll take care of her for me, right? You'll keep her safe while I sleep? Just a little while, not too long..." Mulder's voice began to fade and he laid back against the pillow, turning on his side, "I just need a little rest.." "I'll take care of her, Mulder. Just get some sleep," Skinner said softly. Scully looked up at him with an unreadable expression. Then she resumed stroking Mulder's hair until she was sure he was sleeping. Skinner and Scully softly snuck out of the room into the hallway. They stood in silence, unsure of what to say. "I'll see the two of you in the morning," Skinner said in his 'boss' voice. He began to walk away. After a few strides, he turned around. Scully stood watching him. Her red hair was mussed, her pajamas baggy and her feet bare. Skinner allowed himself to admire her beauty for a moment, noting that her toenails were painted bright pink. The word "cute" popped into his mind and he fought the smile before it made it to his face. He looked back up into her blue eyes. He allowed himself to feel a moment of envy for the bond between Mulder and Scully. "And don't worry. None of this happened." Skinner continued on his way. And he didn't look back. ***************************************************** I've thought of continuing this, what do you think? Let me know... shawntaw@hotmail.com