All That Matters by Susan E-mail: touchstone98@tx.rr.com Classification: episodic vignette, Skinner's POV Rating: PG for language Episodes: I Want to Believe, reference to season eight Archive: No archive without permission. Disclaimer: On paper, these characters aren't mine. In my head, they are. Notes: Re-watching "I Want to Believe" on FX this morning, I got to thinking about my favorite Assistant Director and what his thoughts might be about being "called" back into Mulder and Scully's lives again.:) More notes at the end. Summary: Doesn't he know by now that they're at their best when they work together? ******************************************************** After all this time, I never really expected to hear from them again. Actually, I never expected to hear from *her* again, but she called me tonight, asking for my help. To be honest, I didn't recognize her voice at first. It sounded different to me. But then she said Mulder's name in that way that she does when she's afraid, and I knew exactly who I was talking to. It seems he's been investigating a case, an FBI case I was uninformed about, and he went off on his own looking for answers that the other agents working the case weren't willing to pursue. I don't know why I should be surprised...Mulder's always been relentless to the point of insanity like that...but I thought he'd found another life now with Scully, a life without these kinds of complications. I guess I was wrong. From what I found out after doing some checking around, the FBI apparently "forgave" Mulder for what happened six years ago and asked him to help with a case involving a missing FBI agent and a psychic priest. And apparently, Agent Drummy has now relieved himself of being in charge of the case and refused to help Scully find Mulder. I can't say that I'm surprised by that either, considering the size of the stick he usually has up his ass. So now here I am on my way to a crash site in the middle of nowhere where Mulder's abandoned car was just found. I just hope he's okay and that I can do something to help Scully find him. ~~~~ You know, the more I think about it, the more pissed off I get. Someone should have told me that Mulder was back working again whether it was in an official capacity or not. Then again, ever since I took his side all those years ago, I'm not exactly the first A.D. they come to when there's a problem. Still if I had been kept in the loop, I probably wouldn't be driving out here in the middle of the night right now. And Scully wouldn't be frantic with worry. When they worked for me, I always hated it whenever Mulder was hurt or missing or out there doing something he probably shouldn't be doing. She always used to try so hard to keep her emotions in check when it came to him, but I always knew how she really felt. And even though neither of them has worked a case together in six years, I suspect she's going to be acting the same way when I see her. As for Mulder, I get that he needs to be back in the game, that he'll always be driven to find the truth no matter what the consequences...I get that, I do... but what I don't get is why he feels the need to go off on his own without Scully. Doesn't he know by now that they're at their best when they work together? Jesus, Mulder. After all these years, how could you still not know that? ~~~~ When I pull up to the scene, I can see Scully pacing. It doesn't look good, and she doesn't look good either. Seeing Mulder's blood on his cell phone has put her even more on edge, and even though I told her that he'll be okay and that she should calm down, I feel anything but that. Mulder's in trouble, deep trouble. I can feel it, and if I can feel it, she sure as hell can feel it too. ~~~~ Okay, that was lame. I just told Scully that Mulder would call her if he could get to a phone, and that he wouldn't do anything crazy. Who am I kidding? If he has a shot at catching the bad guys, he'll go ahead full force without any regards to his own safety. And that worries me more than anything else. What if we can't find him in time? Or if we do find him, what if he's already dead? It nearly killed her the last time she lost him for good, and I'm sure as hell not going to let her go through that again. We have to find him alive. We have to. ~~~~ Holy shit. Those bastards are going to slit her throat and cut her head off. It takes every ounce of restraint for me to not fire my gun and blow all of *their* heads off, but I keep it together long enough to lock them all up in one of their own cages. Now that Scully's here with the girl, I run outside to tend to Mulder, taking my coat off as I go. I find him in the barn lying on the ground, his head on a large tree stump, his legs awkwardly splayed out in front of him. Quickly wrapping him up in my coat, I put my arms around him, trying to keep him warm. He's starting to shake from the cold and he keeps rambling on about the girl, pleading with me to get her some help, but when I tell him that Scully's with her, he settles down almost immediately, shuts his eyes, and lets his body relax. And finally I relax a little too, letting out a huge sigh of relief. This was way too close. Just a few minutes later, and we would've been too late, and he would've... No, I can't think like that, and I won't. Looking down at the axe lying on the ground next to us, then at Mulder, I pull my cell phone out of my coat pocket and call for help. ~~~~ Standing here watching her sit beside his bed holding his hand, I can't help thinking about all the other times I've seen them like this. They love each other. And despite all the years that have passed since I last saw them and all that they've probably been through, it's clear that they love each other even more now. And that's really all that matters when it comes right down to it. Taking one last look at them through the window, I smile to myself, then head down the hallway without saying goodbye, knowing that they're going to be just fine without me. ~end~ *I know that Skinner most likely knew that Mulder was involved in the Monica Bannan's case as soon as it happened, but for my storytelling purposes, he didn't know until Scully called him.:) Thanks for reading. possibilities http://possibilities.bravehost.com/ Originally posted April 2011.