George Hale (1/17)
by invisiblefriends

Rating: PG-13
Feedback: bettyteddyandray@gmail.com
Summary: After IWTB, life goes on.


Chapter 1

She didn't don't know exactly what made her take the long way
home after work that day. It was a hunch. She had one of his
hunches. In her pocket was a list of things she needed to pick up
in town; groceries, a book for Mulder, screening for the back
window - but this day, those things had to wait.

Maybe it was the crappy day she had, caught in another round of
meetings where she was the only dissenter against the hospitals
latest initiative. Maybe it was the conversation she overheard in
the cafeteria about stale bread and orphans. Maybe it was the
dream she had two nights ago where she drove her car into
Mulder's office because it was the only way she could get into the
house because she had left all of the doors locked. And she knew
that something had to change.

Spring is trying to hurry up and arrive but it might as well still be
February. There are no leaves on trees, no warm breeze. It is the
after-white gloomy, gray season but Scully likes it. She didn't
think she could enjoy this kind of non-descript weather but in the
past year, she has learned to thrive in it; hide in it. Washington in
the spring with all its flowers, deep green leaves, and clean
sidewalks now seems like another world for other people. This
one, the one where she has to kick stones out of the way, or look
down at endless cracked sidewalks - this is now world she
knows.

The place Scully is looking for is part of an old strip mall that has
not fallen apart and died yet. She has to take one highway and
four back roads to get there. She asks for directions twice and, an
hour after leaving the hospital, finally arrives. She finds a parking
spot in front of the hardware store. Parking here is bad because
the potholes are still filled with water and mud.

She gets out of the car, being careful to watch for traffic and
navigate a puddle of mud at the same time. The Beauty Salon
next to the hardware store is having a going out of business sale;
shampoo and conditioners. Three full shelves of the same brand,
fifty percent off. Over-stocking has its casualties.

And then, she follows the hunch she didn't quite understand. She
finds the place she is looking for and pushes her way through the
heavy glass doors. Scully nods to the woman at the front desk
and keeps going. She opens another set of doors and follows the
noise. The woman at the desk calls something to her but she
pretends not to notice.

The longer Scully looks around the endless rows in the overfilled
room - the more people she speaks to about her plan, and the
more documents she signs, the more she becomes convinced that
she is doing the right thing for Mulder, for herself.

And for George Hale.