From: "Nadia" <xfilern@worldofx.de>
Date: Sun, 19 May 2002 09:06:31 +0200
Subject: FanFics from XFilerN
Source: direct

Title: Farewell 1/1
Author: XFilerN
E-Mail: xfilern@worldofx.de 
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Season 8 -- Alone
Timeline: End of Season 8
Category: DS-UST, MS-UST, Friendship, Scully POV
Keywords: S, D, M
Archive: Anywhere, please just ask first.
Disclaimer: Scully, Doggett and Mulder don't belong to me and never
will. They belong to Chris Carter, 20th Century Fox and 1013
Productions. I am making no money off of this story.
Special Thanks to: Fay, my thank you goes to you. *cuddle* Thank you
so much for always being there for me, for giving me advice, and for
being my beta reader. I am so happy to have you. :)
Summary: It is time: Scully says goodbye to Doggett, Mulder and the
FBI. Translator: L. M. Shard [ lsshard@home.com ].
Note: I translated this story from German. This is my first time
translating and I hope I did this wonderful story justice.
Author's note: Thank you sooo much for the great translation, Lisa. I
love you, Honey!!!


~*~ FAREWELL ~*~


They sat across from each other in the small basement office and
nobody uttered a word. It was as if a dark cloud hung over the two of
them. They knew that there was no alternative, none that Agent Scully
would consider. She had to leave the FBI, for the baby and for
herself. She had sacrificed herself for the X-Files for more than
seven years, limited her private life to small family get-togethers,
and now it was time for her to make up for all the lost years.

Deputy Director Kersh made sure that only Agent Doggett had control of
the X-Files and that Mulder was unceremoniously dismissed, serving
only as a fill-in for Scully during her absence. In fact, Scully had
handed in only her maternity leave so far, so she would be able to be
there for her baby solely for the first three months. But whether this
was going to be a leave of absence or eventually the end of her FBI
career, that was still in the stars. She didn't know herself what
would happen after the first three months.

Scully had asked herself often what would happen to Mulder if she did
decide to come back. Would they transfer him, prevent him from getting
his hands on the X-Files? Or would they remove them? Would they not
allow them to walk down the street anymore without worrying about
danger? Would a desk job be satisfying enough after everything that
they had been through? No, that would not be anything for them.

The other possibility was that Assistant Director Skinner could use
his connections so Mulder and she could have the X-Files under their
sole care again. Even though this option was very unlikely, what would
happen to Agent Doggett? Would he perhaps receive more job
recognition; would he then have a better chance to get a promotion? It
was no longer a secret that working on the X-Files prohibited the
climb up the corporate ladder. Even commendations wouldn't help. The
mysterious cases of the FBI were a curse that burdened anyone who came
in contact with them.

She couldn't influence the future of the X-Files or the careers of
either of her former partners anyway. How that would be handled lay in
Doggett's and Mulder's hands. Scully really couldn't be worrying about
that anymore. She had made up her mind that if she left this office,
she would leave it in spirit as well, disconnect herself from it and
enjoy life and be happy.

Slowly she stood up and pushed the swivel chair back under the desk.
Agent Doggett still said nothing, as if he was trying to postpone the
inevitable, the goodbye. She actually learned to respect and trust him
during their partnership of barely three quarters of the year. She
quickly recognized his capabilities and was ready to leave the control
of the X-Files with him, even with Mulder's opposition -- but that was
another story. He would never accept that someone other than he would
ever be here in this musty little basement office.

"Agent Doggett," she began finally, although her voice was barely
above a whisper. He stood up from his place too and came towards her.
He smiled painfully and drew his lips into a small straight line. She
took a deep breath. "It is time. My workday already ended five minutes
ago and..." He nodded and cleared his throat.

Contemplatively, Scully took her jacket from the back of the chair,
put it on, and grabbed into her left pocket. With a smile on her lips
she took the object that she had brought for Doggett out.

It had been years since she had received this key chain from Mulder
for her birthday.  To her it was a sign of friendship, partnership,
and trust -- although Mulder had just given it to her because he was
of the opinion that it was cool. At least that is what he had told her
at the time, after she had interpreted all kinds of things into this
key chain. Yet she thought the purpose of his comments were just the
result of her monologue for she had said everything, making more words
unnecessary.

"I would like to give you this, John." Scully had called him by his
first name intentionally to bolster up the gesture of the gift, to
show him that she really enjoyed working with him, and that she would
miss him not only as a partner but also as a friend.  Yes, she had
developed feelings of friendship toward him during the past months.

She handed him the key chain and he accepted it somewhat uncertainly.

"Apollo 11," he quietly read the inscription of the key chain and
looked from the little gift in his hand to Scully. "Why are you giving
this to me?" He asked and looked at his hand again.

Carefully Agent Scully took a step closer to him and laid her hand in
his covering the key chain. "It should always remind you of our
partnership, of our shared time, of the trust we both had to work hard
at.... I know that in the beginning I didn't make it easy for you,
John, but you didn't let yourself be scared away and you showed me
that you are worthy of the trust I have put in you. You are a very
good agent and were a big support to me." Agent Doggett swallowed and
bit his lip, then nodded appreciatively. She smiled at him and after a
moment he returned her smile.

On an impulse Agent Doggett took her in his arms and pressed her
gently to him. She had not expected such a gesture from him. Being
reserved suited him, but not such an...affectionate gesture. It
occurred to Scully that maybe he was worried that he would not be able
to build such a good relationship and stable partnership with Mulder.

Her field of vision became hazy as she returned his embrace,
surrendering to the moment to the feeling of security and warmth that
she felt. Then she loosened herself from him and wiped the tears that
she could no longer hold in from her face and forced herself to smile.

"Thank you for everything, John."

"I thank you, Agent Scully," he replied. She hadn't counted on that
nor did she think anything of it, but suddenly Doggett took her head
in both of his hands and gave her a kiss on the mouth. At first it
simply seemed like another friendly gesture of affection, but the
kiss, even just on the lips, lasted a bit too long to be meaningless.
A strange tingle followed by a pleasant warm shiver flowed through her
and Scully could feel on her cheek that he still had the key chain in
his hand. In contrast to the kiss, the metal was shockingly cool.

The slamming of the office door startled them for a moment and they
separated, looking toward the direction the noise came from. All of a
sudden Scully felt like someone was strangling her, suffocating her
slowly and torturously. Mulder stood in the doorway and scrutinized
her and Doggett with a look that could easily be put in the category
of jealousy. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Agent Doggett cleared his throat and pushed the key chain in his pants
pocket. "Agent Mulder," he greeted his future partner coolly. Mulder
simply shut his eyes and gave him no further attention.

Scully felt as if she had deceived Mulder, but actually she was not to
blame. Even he had kissed her once out of pure friendship, longer than
necessary, but purely platonic. Or had he perceived it differently?
Scully did not know and she did not want to think about it anymore
right now. She had to get out of this embarrassing situation and
quickly.

"Mulder, you are too late," she tried to steer the attention onto him.

He shook his head and threw an ice-cold glance in Doggett's direction.
"I waited for you outside in the car. But you were, as I can see,
detained."

Ignoring his cutting remark, she took the small box containing a few
of her personal things that she had left in the office from her almost
eight year stay. With a few large strides Mulder was next to her,
taking the box from her and they both made their way to the door.

Scully turned around one more time and let her eyes sweep the room,
lingering first on Mulder's "I want to believe" poster and then
stopping on Agent Doggett.

Again he nodded to her. "You'll be back, right Agent Scully?" He
didn't have to ask the question loudly for she stood plainly in his
view.

She forced another smile and tried hard not to let him know that she
was going reluctantly, but failed miserably.

"Are you coming, Scully?" Mulder asked somewhat louder for he was
waiting for her at the elevator.

"Yes, I'm on my way," she called back and turned to Agent Doggett
again. "Goodbye, John." Not being able to withstand his gaze any
longer, she closed the office door after herself and went to Mulder.

"What was that supposed to mean?" He inquired. She knew he was talking
about the kiss and it seemed he did not care at all that he sounded
very jealous. Even Doggett couldn't avoid noticing his jealousy, for
one didn't need to know Mulder for well to see this.

"That was a purely friendly gesture, Mulder. A goodbye, nothing more."
Slightly irritated from the kiss and Mulder's resulting reaction,
Scully shook her head and stepped into the elevator.

"Yes, of course, purely friendly," repeated Mulder sarcastically.
"What else."

The door closed after them and the elevator started moving. It was
over; she was leaving the office. Deep inside she knew that it would
be best for all concerned if she never came back.


~*~ THE END ~*~


You can find more of my stories at http://worldofx.de  &
http://shodds.worldofx.de  :)