Long Since by Mack the Spoon Classification: VRA Keywords: MSR, missing scene Spoilers: IWTB Rating: PG Summary: "Then let me talk to somebody there with some balls who can." Skinner POV. Disclaimer: I don't own this show, the characters, or the movies. Feedback: I would love it! It would be a lovely gift. Please send it to glace_aux_fraises@hotmail.com . Archive: I'd be honored! But please send me an email to ask, first. Author's Note: I really wanted there to be more Skinner in the movie. But I do understand why there wasn't, and it just means I had to write more of him. Big thanks to Dasha for her edits and thoughts! Any remaining geographical errors are either the movie's or mine. :-) ~~~~~~~ Of course the simple fact that she was calling me gave me a big clue that something serious had happened. Even though she had been free for years now, it wasn't as if we often called each other just to chat - we were both too used to keeping to ourselves, especially after all the two of them (and me to a lesser extent) had been through. So I was already preparing myself for some disaster when I answered the phone. "Dana?" "Sir," came her response. She never could completely get over addressing me by the formal title. "I, uh, I need your help." Straight to the point, as I had expected. I replied in kind. "What is it, Scully?" "It's Mulder," she said, and I could hear a slight tremor in her voice. "He's... he's missing. I can't get a hold of him." "I'd heard he was working on a case for the FBI," I said. "What happened?" I had hoped that his being 'pardoned' would make it easier on these two from now on. "He told me he was going to keep investigating this woman's disappearance, and that was hours ago," she said. "I found something out myself about this case, almost by accident, but he needs to hear it. I think he's in danger." The tremor was still there in her voice, but I also heard her resolve. "And what about the team he was helping? With Agents..." I corrected myself, remembering that Whitney was dead, "Agent Drummy, I believe?" "Agent Drummy just told me to call the police," she said angrily. "They drag him out of hiding for this, and then they have the nerve to tell me it's not an FBI matter!" "All right, listen. I'll be there as soon as I can," I replied. It seemed most of the FBI still was quick to wash their hands of Fox Mulder, but I barely even remembered a time when I would have felt the same. "Are you at the hospital?" "Yes, and Mulder took my car," she sighed, resigned. He apparently hasn't changed in that respect since I last saw him, I thought. "All right. I'll contact the local police and find out if anyone knows anything, and then I'll come pick you up." "Thank you, sir. You know my number." "I do. And Dana - he will be all right. We'll find him." I tried not to let myself flash back to another time I'd told her the very same thing, many years ago. She sighed again, and I thought I heard a hitch in her breathing. "Yeah," was all she said, and then she hung up. ~~~~~~~ It turned out the police had located Scully's car - at the bottom of an embankment. They didn't think there was anyone inside, though, which was a little bit of hope I could pass onto her. She met me outside when I got to the hospital, and I could tell she'd been out there waiting for some time. She simply nodded when I told her the update. The drive was almost silent. Under other circumstances, I would have tried to catch up a little, maybe. But I didn't even bother to ask how she was, since she wasn't hiding the fact that she was terrified. There wasn't much else I could think to talk about. It was dark by the time we got there. Scully was out of the SUV before I had put it in park, already talking to a State Patrol officer when I got out. They were next to what I saw was a tow truck. When I reached her, she was holding a bag with a cell phone in it. "Here's his cell phone. It's got blood on it." Her voice almost broke before she finished. "Hey, listen to me. Calm down, stop and think. He's okay. He's got to be. He climbed out of there somehow, so if he climbed out, he must have climbed up." I could see that this evidence had brought her even closer to breaking down. I didn't know if she would hear any reassurances, but she needed to. She nodded, so I guessed I had gotten through a little bit. Once again, I was struck by how deeply these two needed each other. Both of them had shown time and time again that they weren't really whole without the other. That made me wonder, as I had during the drive over here, what could have possessed Mulder to run off and leave Scully behind again. He had barely even waited until it was safe for him to leave the house. Surely he'd learned something, after being with her as long as he had. Then again, Scully didn't seem as into this case as he clearly was, and I imagined that could have created problems. But, I mused as we got back into my SUV, what did I really know about their relationship, anyway? It had always been hard to quantify what they had, beyond seeing that mutual need and reliance. Scully stared out the windows as we drove the way that Mulder presumably would have gone. I didn't tell her that this was like looking for a needle in a haystack. I knew she knew. And as I glanced at her, I knew she didn't need another reason to despair. "We will find him," I said again. She didn't really look at me, but I thought I saw her lips tremble. Despite myself, I did flash back to that terrible night when we'd found Mulder's body in a clearing in North Carolina. That could not happen again, none of it. I continued, almost desperately. "Look, I know Mulder. He'd get to a phone and call first. He wouldn't do anything crazy." Now she did look at me, and she clearly thought I might be the one who was nuts. Okay, she had a point. This was Mulder we were talking about. "Not overly crazy," I amended. I wasn't sure I'd succeeded in comforting her at all, so I decided to give up for the moment and focus on just finding him. None of us spoke for a while, although I still wanted to either ask her how she was doing or at least if there was any other clue she could give for what we were supposed to find. Suddenly, she broke the silence. "Wait a minute, back up." There was excitement in her voice. "Just stop, back up a sec," she said again, and I did so, careful of the snow on the road. "Stop." She got out as soon as I had, not bothering to tell me anything (did I really expect anything else?). I think I asked her what was going on, and she muttered something about "Proverbs 25:2". I had no idea what she was talking about, but it meant something to her. She was flipping through the mail in a mailbox, and stopped. She told me distractedly that the address on the envelope belonged to someone with a Russian- sounding name, who I guess must be in some way related to the suspect in this case. Before I could answer, she put out a hand. "Listen." It was the sound of barking dogs. She continued once we were back in the car. "We've got to get down there, to this house. I think Mulder's there." I felt like I was in over my head, to be honest - I didn't know much about this case, and Scully was acting... less than scientifically. But I followed her lead on this. Maybe she had absorbed some of Mulder's ability to make those leaps of intuition that seemed to defy logic. She acted so sure. My doubts faded a little as she briefly described the research done in Russia, and how it seemed to tie in with what the FBI and Mulder had found out so far. I didn't know what I thought about this Father Joe character, and apparently, neither did Scully, but she also said dogs had been part of what he described. Getting into the place once we arrived took some creativity. I don't think either Scully or I were used to climbing fences anymore. I told her I would take inside the building and she could scout around the outside. I doubt she was too happy with that at the moment, but she had to agree that I had the gun and she did not. Our separation meant that I didn't see Scully's confrontation with the man who was trying to kill Mulder. I have to admit I half-wish I had seen it, though. If there's one thing I learned being their superior, and then being their friend, it's that you don't want to be the person who is endangering Mulder if Scully catches you. The same is true of Mulder if he catches you endangering Scully. Let's just say Scully kicked the guy's ass, probably without a second thought and with very little effort. I was on my way to herding the last of the nutcase doctors into the box they had for a purpose I didn't care to examine too closely when Scully came in. She informed me that Mulder needed warm clothes and fluids, and I knew she probably wanted nothing else but to be able to help him immediately. Unfortunately, there was also the kidnapped girl, and her need of medical attention was more extreme. When I pointed her out to Scully, she went right to work. I figured the least I could do was check on Mulder once I'd dealt with the doctors. He looked like he was in pretty bad shape. I'd seen him worse (hell, I'd seen him dead), but him lying there, unable to move other than to shiver, was still a pitiful sight. He said something barely audible about the girl as I came close. I told him Scully was taking care of it and took off my jacket, and he finally recognized me as I wrapped it around him. I was surprised and a little worried that he didn't even seem to have the energy to give me a smart remark. All he did was mumble, "I'm cold." So, in the interest of keeping my former agent alive, and in so doing preserving the happiness and sanity of his partner, I wrapped my arms around him, too. And Mulder didn't even have a joke for that, even though I was pretty wide open for it. He did crack a smile before falling asleep again, though, so I probably would hear about it later. I don't know how long it was before the paramedics arrived. I directed some of them to go inside, and the others provided a blanket for Mulder and started to quiz him about his injuries. I could see that he was having a lot of trouble staying awake, but he answered as best as he could. I filled in where I could, too. Scully came back out before they loaded him into the van, and seeing them together allowed something inside me to relax a little for the first time since she called me that day. This time, I hadn't failed Scully, even though she had done the actual rescuing of Mulder. Still, as I watched her smile tenderly at him and then climb into the van behind the stretcher, I felt like I might have even gained a little absolution for the many ways I'd let them both down over the years. Just when I thought I might have totally dropped off her Mulder- centered radar screen, Scully turned to me. "Thank you, sir," she said, quietly and very sincerely. She paused, as if she wanted to say something else, but nothing else was forthcoming. The agony had still not quite left her face. I put a hand on her shoulder. "Of course, Scully. Go take care of Mulder," I told her gently. "I'll meet you at the hospital. The police can meet us there to take your statement, and Mulder's." They might not want to wait, but I was definitely willing to throw my weight around to get Scully and Mulder a few moment's peace so they could reconnect. They obviously needed and deserved it. ~~~~~~~ Author's Note, part two: Bonus points to anyone who can guess what song I might have gotten the title of the story from! :-) Let me know what you think of it, at glace_aux_fraises@hotmail.com .