From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org
Date: 2 Feb 2006 19:25:46 -0000
Subject: Alphabet Soup: O is for Offensive by YappiChick
Source: direct

Reply To: yappichick@yahoo.com


Title: Alphabet Soup: O is for Offensive
Author: YappiChick
email: yappichick@yahoo.com
Summary: of-fen-sive adj. Causing displeasure, anger, resentment;
disagreeable to the senses.
Website: http://www.geocities.com/yappichick
Feedback: It's better than chocolate
Rating: PG
Archive: Surely! It would be great to let me know!
Spoilers: FTF, The End
Category: MSR, A
Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.
Author's note: This is a continuation of my ABC universe.
Thank you to MF Luder for her great betaing skills and of
course to everyone who sends feedback! :)


Medical Clinic
10:16 a.m.

Scully walked into her "office" with a sigh of relief.  Since space
was limited in the building, one side of the room was dedicated to 
the doctors and nurses' workspace, the other side was their break 
room complete with a refrigerator and microwave oven.  There were 
personal effects throughout the room: pictures of loved ones, 
postcards from vacations spots, newspaper clippings of humorous 
stories.  The one area that stood out the most was Scully's desk 
which only was bare except for her laptop.  She didn't want to 
segregate herself from her co-workers so she made herself a mental
note to bring some things of her own the following day. 

The morning had been rather busy.  There were a couple of young 
children with ear infections.  An elderly woman who had 
accidentally sliced her hand while cutting an apple.  A fifteen
year old who sprained his ankle riding his skateboard to school.
There were no heart-stopping moments and Scully enjoyed the
satisfaction of being able to assist people who needed her help.

As she was finishing writing her notes from her last patient, she 
heard footsteps.  "Hey, Dana," Kellie said.  She was the nurse who
usually worked with Scully.  The twenty-seven year old had long, 
blonde hair which she wore back in a ponytail.  

Her bedside manner was something Scully envied.  When Kellie led 
patients to the exam rooms, they were always smiling and chatting 
with her.  By the time Scully finished examining them, they usually 
had a frown or a slightly frightened look on their face.

She remembered the slightly panicked look on one mother's face when 
Scully told her matter-of-factly that her little girl had acute 
otitis media.  After they left, Kellie suggested that Scully use 
terms most people were familiar with to avoid any panic.  During 
that moment, Scully wished she was inside an autopsy bay, where 
Latin was the language of choice.

"Are there any other patients?" Scully asked.

Kellie shook her head.  "No, believe it or not, it's actually rather
dull right now."  She walked to the fridge and took out her lunch.  
"I figure I should take advantage of the lull."

Since she ate breakfast five hours ago, Scully's stomach growled in
envy at the turkey sandwich Kellie had in her hand.  She gave an 
embarrassed smile.  "I think my body is trying to tell me something."

Kellie waved off her discomfort.  "I see it all the time.  Doctors
always overwork themselves.  I think it's part of the job 
description."

Scully half smiled as she pulled out her salad.  She hadn't had a 
conversation with any of her co-workers outside of work-related 
issues since she started working here.  Honestly, she had forgotten
what it was like to talk about things outside of the job.

Kellie, however, didn't have that problem.  "So, Father Downs said
that you use to be an FBI agent?"

Scully nodded, stabbing a piece of lettuce.  "Yes, I was."

Scully recognized the look that passed over the nurse's face,
excitement.  Everyone, including herself when she was first 
recruited, thought instantly of the wow factor of being an agent:
serving justice to all the would-be scumbags of the world.  Too 
bad, more often than not, it didn't work that way.

"Why did you quit?  This isn't exactly a step up, if you know what I
mean," Kellie said.

Scully could feel her walls going up.  She didn't want to have to 
defend herself to another person.  "It was just time for a change,"
she answered, trying to keep her voice as neutral as possible.

The nurse recognized her mistake immediately.  "I'm sorry, Dana.  I
didn't mean to come off rude."

She appreciated the gesture Kellie was making.  "It's fine," she 
said sincerely.

The young woman smiled, pleased to have been forgiven.  Before she 
could speak again, Amy stuck her head in the room.  "Kellie?  We've
got a couple of patients out here."  

Kellie popped the rest of her sandwich in her mouth.  "Guess that
means break time is over."

*	*	*	*	*	*

It was nearly three o'clock by the time things slowed down at the 
clinic.  Scully only had a hour left on her shift and she was looking
forward to the long soak in the bath she promised herself.  She 
finished typing her notes when Kellie walked into the room.  "Doctor
Scully, there is a patient who is waiting for you.  She says she 
knows you."

"Ok, I'll be right there," Scully said.

"She's in room three," Kellie said, disappearing down the hallway.

As Scully pulled on her white doctor's coat, she hoped it wasn't 
her mother in the room.  Usually her mom didn't infringe on her 
space, but now, convinced that Scully had realized the errors of 
her ways at the FBI, her mom might have felt it was her place to be
by her daughter's side.

She walked to the door and pulled the chart out of the plastic tray
on the door.  She read the name: Elizabeth Stellar.  Frowning, she 
continued reading through the chart; she knew of no such person.  
The woman had come in complaining of a pain in her back.  Something
wasn't right, Scully knew.

Knowing that she was in a building full of people who would come to
her aid if necessary, Scully quashed the feeling of anxiousness 
that had come over her.  She opened the door.  Diana Fowley stood 
in the middle of the room with a look of boredom on her face.

"Agent Fowley," Scully greeted, surprised.  Quickly, she tried to
deduce why Mulder's ex-lover would show up at her new job place.

"Doctor Scully," Fowley returned.  She looked at the posters on 
the wall; most were from pharmaceutical companies reminding people
good, healthy habits.  "Not quite the same as looking at blurry 
pictures of UFOs, is it?"

Scully walked to the counter and set down the chart, unimpressed 
at the woman's attempt at conversation.  "Is there a reason why 
you are here?"

Fowley finally turned her gaze to Scully.  Her eyes took in Scully's
appearance, almost as if she was appraising her.  "I was offered the
position to become Mulder's new partner."  She watched Scully's 
reaction carefully.  "I wanted you to know I decided not to take it."

Scully looked surprised at Diana's proclamation, but tried not to
reveal too much.  She was certain Fowley was trying to bait her, to 
get her to reveal what, if anything, Mulder had told her.  

"Really?" Scully asked, her voice deceptively calm.  "I would think 
that you would have wanted to take the job, seeing as you were with 
Mulder when he first found the X-Files."

Her dig didn't seem to bother Fowley.  "You, of all people, should
know how unrewarding the X-Files are.  After all, isn't that why 
you are here instead of by Fox's side?" Diana asked.  Scully could
see the wheels moving in her head, already coming up with more 
questions to try to pressure Scully into telling her more 
information.

"Perhaps it is plausible that my reasons for leaving the FBI did not
have to do with anything pertaining to my former assignment, but 
rather external reasons," she answered.

This wasn't going quite had Diana had planned.  She had expected
Scully rise to the bait and act jealous, as she had when Diana first
came back to the US to help on the Gibson Praise case.  

"It could be," she conceded, "but I don't believe that it is.  I know
why you decided to quit the FBI."

Scully crossed her arms, looking mildly amused.  "And that would be?"

"You and Fox are still working together, to try to expose those who
are truly in power.  The ones who abducted you.  The ones who 
transported you to Antarctica," Fowley answered confidently.  "You 
are going to fail though."

Scully stared at her a few seconds before responding.  "You think
Agent Mulder and I are secretly working together to expose a 
consortium of men who, for all intents and purposes, don't exist?" 
Scully asked slowly, as if she couldn't believe the stupidity of 
Fowley's idea.  "Then why I am working here instead of staying at 
the Bureau?"

Fowley was not deterred; she had expected that answer.  "You are 
trying to be deceptive.  You think this tactic will cause the people 
in power to believe that without you as his partner, Fox's 
determination to pursue them will diminish.  While you may believe 
leaving the bureau would cause them to leave Fox alone, I must warn 
you, you couldn't be more wrong."

Scully shrugged, as if what Diana had said was the most obvious thing
in the world.  "I cannot protect Mulder from these men anymore than 
he could protect me.  I am fully aware of my limitations, Agent 
Fowley," she said coldly.

Diana watched her for a moment.  Her eyes met Scully's, which were
staring back at her, not backing down. Maybe she had overestimated 
Scully's dedication to Mulder.  Maybe she had truly walked away from
the work they had done.  "Look, I just came here as a friend," she 
said, changing subjects.

"Of all the words I would think to describe you, Agent Fowley, a 
friend would not be one of them."

Fowley clinched her fist.  She was not accustomed to someone getting
under her skin so quickly.  All she wanted to do was deliver the 
message she was sent to give and leave.  "Fine.  I want to warn you 
to stay away.  Stay away from Fox.  Stay away from anything related 
to the X-files.  It's the only way I can protect you."

Scully picked up her chart and walked to the door.  "Thank you for 
your offer, but not only is it unnecessary, it is completely 
unwelcome."  She closed the door on the open jawed look on Diana's
face.