From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org Date: Sat, 27 Nov 1999 18:51:50 -0600 Subject: Cold Noodles and Canada by JadedDana Source: direct Reply To: jadeddana@netscape.net Cold Noodles and Canada by JadedDana jadeddana@netscape.net Rating: PG Category: V, a bit of H Spoilers: sortof Detour Keywords: Scully/Skinner friendship Summary: How exactly did Scully react to being forced to go to that stupid conference in Detour, anyways? Feedback: please!! Disclaimer: Everything X-Filish in this story belongs to CC, 1013, and FOX. They do not, however, own Chinese food or Canada. :) ***** Cold Noodles and Canada by JadedDana ***** I walk up to his door and knock. I would like to think that it is a strong, confident knock, but I know that I'm nervous, and that fact probably carries over. It's too late now to rethink this, though, so I take a deep breath and put on my Determin ed!Scully face. It works with Mulder, sometimes, so why wouldn't it work now, right? He opens the door,still dressed for work. Does he even own any other type of clothes? If I didn't know better, I'd think he lived in his office. "Hey, Agent Scully. Please, come in." He seems surprised to see me, but not really. I wonder if Mul der has already spoken with him. "What brings you here?" I ponder breifly whether or not anyone actually talks like that anymore before realizing that yes, he just did, so people really do. I guess I've been watching too many soaps while I recover. "Well, sir, I was actually wondering about this 'confere nce' thing that Mulder mentioned." Might as well get to the point. I bet he's tired and wants me to leave; I mean, he has been working all week, unlike me. A shadow passes over his face. That answers the question about whether I'm the first one to breach this topic. "Not you too. I already had a rather interesting...discussion with Agent Mulder on this topic just a few hours ago." He takes off his ti e and throws it onto the couch. "The headache was just beginning to go away." I can imagine. Mulder has provoked more than one headache from me. I give a tiny simpathetic smile. "Well, sir, I'll try not to yell like he did, then." That earns me a grin. Who'd have thought that I would make Skinner grin? Kinda scary, actually. "I just wanted to know why you think its necessary. I mean, our solve and closure rates are well above the norm..." Before I can actually get a really good start on what I can tell will be a lecture, the doorbell rings. I hope its not Mulder, coming to restart the argument, and then I wonder why, exactly, I feel that way. I don't have to worry, though, because i ts just a delivery guy. Smells like Chinese, and good stuff at that. Skinner pays and then apologizes for the interuption as he puts the cartons on his coffee table, next to a magazine. I discover I'm curious about what kind of magazines this man reads . "Um...Would you like to have some of this? I ordered way too much." Hmm...I guess its only fair to return my gesture from last week, and he would probably feel bad if he just ate it in front of me, but doesn't want to let it get cold. It smells wo nderful. "Well, if you're sure there's enough..." No matter how much I want to have some, I've discovered than a man can almost NEVER order too much food, especially when he's not trying to impress anyone. And I really don't want to take his dinner. "I always order too much...I developed this thing for cold Chinese for breakfast when I was in VCU, and now I always order too much." Its rather strange to think of Skinner as being a normal field agent like Mulder and me. I wonder what he was like as an investigator; was he a pain like Tom Colton, or obsessive like Mulder, or something in between? "Well, ok then, but I really wanted to discuss this whole conference thing..." Its important. I can't forget why I came here. Skinner does that little grin-thing he did last week. It seems a bit out of place still, but it doesn't freak me out like it did the first time I saw it. I wonder if it's just because he's off work, or because CSM is gone, or because Mulder's not i n any trouble at the moment, although that's liable to change any second, but he seems much happier recently. He gestures towards his rather nice couch and then goes into the kitchen, presumably for drinks and paper plates. I take a seat somewhat self-c onciously. I came here to discuss business, not have dinner. Wait a minute. I'm having dinner with my boss? How'd that happen? Calm down, Dana, it's not like that. This is business, just like having lunch with Mulder. "I've got Dr. Pepper, that ok?" Skinner startles me just a bit when he walks out of the kitchen; I guess I was a little lost in my own head for a minute. He sits down in the armchair next to the couch and opens the boxes, passing me a paper plate. I start to say something. "Scully, just eat. We can talk when we finish, but I'm starving and I need a break." Well. I guess I'll have to wait; he's got that AD-voice, the one its useless to argue with. So I do. Its delicious. I don't know where it 's from, but I'm going to find out. Just when my mouth is full of noodles, I hear a sound I'm overly familiar with. A phone, ringing. Specifically, my phone. I swallow quickly and reach into my coat pocket for it. I know it's Mulder. I glance at Skinner and murmer a quick, 'excuse me' before answering. "Scully." His voice is a little more...intense than I expect it to be. Something must be up. "Hey! It's me. Um...do you wanna go hunt some UFO's tonight? The guys know this great spot...there've been lots of sightings over the past two weeks." That's Mul der, no preamble, just lets-go-do-something-stupid. I guess he senses my reluctance. "Come on, it'll be fun. Some night air in the middle of nowhere will do you good." I sigh. "Mulder, why on earth would I want to go to the middle of nowhere and watch airplanes that you'd call UFO's on a Friday night? Don't you think I have better things to do than that on a Friday?" Skinner makes something between a snort and a cough. I'm glad he thinks Mulder's funny; I'm getting a little tired of these goose-chases, especially on the weekend. "Scully, where are you?" His tone is now suspicious. That was a little fast for a mood change, even for Mulder. I hear what I suspect is Byers in the background, saying something that sounded suspiciously like 'blaster bolt'. "Mulder, where is this place you want to go, anyways? And where are you?" I conveniently ignore his question; I'm very good at that. He actually sounds a little...tipsy, for lack of a better word. "Canada. Why? And you didn't answer my question." I hear something that sounds like 'death star' in the background. "Canada? Mulder, have you been drinking?" He sounds idignatic when he replies. "I only had two! What's wrong with Canada? Other than the cold, and the rain, of course." I glance at Skinner; he seems highly amused by what he can hear of the the conversation. I really can't blame him; it is rather ridiculous, when you think about it. "Mulder, I can't come to Canada this weekend. I have to have lunch with my mom and Bill on Saturday. We have to be in Florida on Monday. So don't get yourself into trouble, ok? I'll kick your ass if you leave me to this conference by myself. And then I'll tell Bill. So don't get in ANY trouble, ok Mulder?" I know that he and Bill don't get along well, and I'm not above using that as an excuse when I feel its called for. I have a thought. "Put Byers on for a sec, ok?" Mulder harumphs, but he hands the phone over. "Agent Scully?" I'm relieved to discover that Byers doesn't sound a bit under the influence. "Byers? What's this about Canada?" Hopefully, I can get a normal answer from him that makes at least a bit of sense without me having to bring up my brother. "Well, it's just inside the border. We were going to go up for the weekend and head back on Monday; Mulder said you two had the day off." I KNEW he would pull something like this! "Byers, we have to be at a conference on Monday, in Florida. He's going to try to find some way to get out of it. Can I count on you to make sure he doesn't wind up in a hospital, or lost, or abducted, or whatever else he'll think up between now an d then?" I hope he's up to the task; not even I manage to keep Mulder out of trouble half the time. He sounds reasonably reliable when he answers. "I think so, Agent Scully." "Good. But if he isn't here on Monday morning, I'm going to shoot you, ok?" I'm only half joking. There is NO WAY that Mulder will survive if I have to attend this conference all by myself. Byers says something vaguely affirmative and hands the p hone back to Mulder. "Mulder? You'd better be back in DC on Monday morning, or else... Have fun, ok? And DON'T do ANYTHING stupid." "Sure, Scully, but you're missing a great time..." I wonder if this man knows that chasing UFO's is NOT everyone's idea of a great time. "I gotta go-its the death star scene..." So THAT's what all the Star Wars lingo was about. "Ok, bye Mulder...remember-Monday!" I hang up. Sometimes, I feel like he's a little kid and I'm the babysitter. "Is he always like this?" Skinner! I forgot he was even here! He's not quite laughing, but it makes me laugh anyways. "Sometimes....he's even worse. One time, he wanted me to go to Australia to look at a spider with him. In the middle of a case!" Skinner laughs at that too. I sometimes forget how utterly ridiculous some of his requests are; he's so earnest when he asks. When I calm down, I realize that my dinner is cold. That's ok, though, because I'm not very hungry anymore. I guess I can't eat as much as I used to, before I got sick. "Well, I guess that settles the conference thing." I smile wryly. Mulder has a way of settling things, with or without my approval and consent. Skinner returns the smile. "I guess so." he looks thoughtful for a moment. "Scully? Can I ask you something?" ok, that sounds suspicious. Oh well; I'm getting very good at answering questions I want to avoid. "Sure." "What's up with Mulder and your brother?" He looks a little uncomfortable, as if he might be prying into something that's off-limits. He's not. "I wish I knew. Bill acts like Mulder is personally responsible for every bad thing that's happened in the world, and specifically my life. I guess he's just taking the overprotective brother routine to the extreme. He's always been a pain about o ther people in my life outside of family; I've learned to just ignore him when he gets like that." Skinner smiles the tiniest bit at that. "Ya, I think I did the same thing to Laura." he sees my look of confusion. "My little sister. She lives in Seattle now." I glance at my watch and discover that it is nearly 10 o'clock. "Um, sir, its getting rather late. I should probably go." I have to clean my appartment. You would think that I would have done it already; I didn't do anything else this week, but s omehow I managed to put it off. And its entirely likely Mulder will do something incredibly rash, and I won't have the chance to tomorrow or Sunday. Skinner glances at my plate. "Without even finishing your dinner?" He looks a bit...offended, I guess is the best term. "I'm not that hungry, sir..." I hope he doesn't start to make a fuss about it like Mulder does. I HATE it when men act like just because I don't eat as much as they do, I'm dying. Ok, that was a bad simile, but the point stands. Its been too good a day for me to get pissed this late at night. He frowns a bit, but lets it drop. "Well, ok then, Agent Scully...have a nice weekend." He gets up when I do and opens the door for me. I smile at him as I walk past, and murmer goodnight. When I'm about half-way down the hall, I hear him call af ter me. "Agent Scully, do you think you could possibly fill me in on the Canada situation on Monday? I'm quite curious to hear about it." I smile again. "Certainly, sir. Goodnight." The End.