From: Date: Sun, 18 Apr 1999 10:26:48 -0700 (PDT) Subject: "Mr. Bitch Goes to Washington" Title: "Mr. Bitch Goes To Washington" Author: virtue_fluttering Spoilers: Major, and I mean MAJOR "One Son" spoilers. Rating: PG-13 for language Summary: Mulder is dressed down--by FROHIKE of all people--for his treatment of Scully in the episode. Disclaimer: Oooh, my favorite part:) Mulder, Scully, and the Lone Gunmen do not belong to me, though I do have the action figures, and I sometimes enjoy placing them in unusual positions:) I tend to put them in unusual positions in fanfic too, so be prepared:) In reality, they belong to Chris Carter (who's probably having an aneurysm over THIS disclaimer:)), Ten-Thirteen Productions (who will probably sue me one day if these disclaimers get much nastier) and the FOX Network (and if THEY ever sue me for the way I drag their name through the mud, I'll use that charming little special they had recently called "World's Most Shocking Medical Videos" as my own defense, then I'll give Rupert Murdoch a rasberry. Anyway, enough chitter-chatter, on with the show!:) ******************************************************* I don't get it. I really don't get it. Maybe it's just because I'm decidedly older than I would like to admit and am not always in tune as much with the younger generations as I would like to admit. Hell, even the people I live and work with. I'm not sure I understand Byers' clean cut manner and demeanor, or why he wanted to join such a hypocritical organization as the FCC. And I've *never* claimed to understand Langly's predilections. But I like them them anyway. Welllllll, I like *Byers*. But this entire day has just blown everything I have ever known about the younger generations--and Mulder and Scully--out the window. When Scully came to us in May and asked us about Diana Fowley--a woman I hadn't heard about in years and had only really met once or twice, I had a feeling something was wrong. I figured maybe her name had showed up somewhere in a file, I never would've guessed she was actually back in town. Or that she was making trouble for my kids. Yeah that's right. In spite of the rather lascivious comments I've made to and about Scully, I'm smart enough and filled with enough respect for her to know that she's just about young enough to be my daughter (hey, it *was* the Sixties, could be). Well, Mulder probably couldn't be my son. I don't have *that* much snow on the roof, or enough of a fire in the furnace. Younger brother, maybe. WAY younger. And I was also smart enough to know from the beginning that Mulder had special feelings for her. Even before we met her, we all had suspicions about the way he talked about her all the time. Like, 'yeah, I talked with Scully about that the other day, she thinks it's crazy.' Or 'maybe she thinks *I'm* crazy. I don't know why she's sticking around.' And when we finally met her, I could understand why he brought her up all the time. She wasn't just another pretty face--beautiful face, gorgeous face and a body to go with it... 'Settle down, Frohike,' Mulder's irritated face flashed before me. Anyway... She wasn't just another pretty face. She was goddamned *brilliant*. Well, I guess she had to be, breezing through Quantico in two years, while *teaching* a course there. I was almost surprised she was hanging out with a guy like Mulder. And eventually guys like us. I mean, at first, they seemed so different--I could definetly see possibilities in that chain-smoking bastard's vision. They came from different backgrounds, different religions, different opinions, different *everything*. But they found they had many things in common too. Even with her then spotless record, Scully couldn't relate very well to the other agents. As Mulder put it, they both had the words "child genius" 'tattooed across their foreheads.' There was nobody else at the Bureau with whom they had anything to share with. Nobody else had experienced the kind of things the two of them had experienced even before *either* of them had even heard of this little storage room down in the basement stocked to the ass with this thing called the "X-Files". And that was something they could share. The first of many things. I think I made the comments regarding her in the beginning as a way to ruffle Mulder's feathers, to see how he would react. The way he did react--a combination of his warped sense of humor mixed with 'back off'-- I could tell she was going to be around for a long time. And I was damned glad. I've always thought she was good for Mulder and that he was good for her. He opened that beautiful mind of hers to new and interesting ideas and possibilities about the world. And she made him work to prove his theories and ideas. She made him prove that those possibilities were tangible. And in turn, she forced him to prove himself. But now, standing here, I'm all too aware of something else these two have in common. They're both goddamned *stubborn*. And you always think a hellmouth is going to open up beneath you whenver they both think that they're right and that the other is wrong about something. Now is one of those times. "You tell me that Cassandra Spender is the critical test subject--the one who could prove everything. And yet, who is watching over her? Mulder I can prove what you're saying or I can disprove it, but not when Diana Fowley is keeping us from even seeing her." Scully's not jealous of Diana. I have to admit, I thought her coming to us a few months ago and asking about her--I thought *that* was jealousy. *That* probably was. But I don't think this is. And I think Mulder knows it isn't. That's how come he's just standing there. He doesn't know how to react. "Mulder, ask yourself why there is no information whatsoever on Special Agent Diana Fowley. Why she would suddenly happen into your life when you are closer than ever to the truth. I mean, you..." She falters a little as his expression remains unchanged and seemingly unaffected by her words. "...you ask me to trust no one and yet you trust her on simple faith." "Because you've given me no reason here to do otherwise." he tells her simply, his expression unchanged, and I have to say a tad impersonal. I see Byers look away from him as I do. Shit. I think he just about did it. If she walks out now, it'll be his own fault. I sneak a look at Scully. She keeps a stiff, almost angry look on her face, but even I can see the hurt and the sense of betrayal behind that mask. "Well, then I can't help you anymore." she walks around Byers and in that instant, Mulder turns to talk to her, to pull her back, to let her know he still needs her. "Scully, you're making this personal." Not the best choice of words, man. She turns to him with "the look" in her eyes (yes, the guys and me have all at one time or another provoked the infamous Scully "look", and we all deserved the result--Langly had to wear a pair of stupid-looking sunglasses for a week) tinged with anger. "Because it *is* personal, Mulder." she insists ferverently, "because without the FBI, personal interest is all that I have. And if you take *that* away from me, then there is *no* reason for me to continue." If there was a wall next to him, I'm placing ten-to-one odds he'd've fallen against it as he watched her leave. I could see his neck tense up and he turned to look at the three of us. "Do any of you have anything you want to add?" he asked almost daring any one of us to say something to adhere to Scully's instinct. But, in a way, also begging us to do so. But, don't mistake me, the expression on his face provokes more pissiness that sympathy and--what can I say? I'm an ex-hippy--I'm the first to respond. "Yeah I have a question." I stand firm, but not as firm as I'd like to. I'd like to appear strong and unmoving, I guess I'll just have to do with dwarfish and insolent. "What?" He seems almost a little surprised any of us have anything to say after the conversation he and Scully just had. Another thing Mulder and Scully have in common: they are both VERY passionate people. It's an attractive quality in both of them. But it has side effects in both parties. In Mulder, it makes him immensely annoying and more-than-fairly infuriating. In Scully, it makes her knee-shaking, beer-freezing, eyes that could castrate a man FRIGHTENING. One would have to have testicles of *steel* to follow an act like Dana Scully. I don't. But I'm willing to try anyway. "Does this conclude it?" "Conclude what?" "Your humble little production of 'Mr. Bitch Goes to Washington.'" I almost take satisfaction in the shocked looks I get from Byers and Langly. "What are you talking about?" Mulder lets out a quick breath through his nose, feigning minor shock for contempt. One thing to be said about my little brother, he never loses his cool if he thinks he can retain it. "You cannot stand there and tell me straight-faced that a woman who left you without even the comfort of a proper reason why almost a decade ago means more to you than that beautiful, enchanting creature who, for reasons some of us can't even begin to understand, has stayed at your side in the darkness and the light for the better part of that decade and cares enough about you to stay now, even after the way you just treated her, which was pretty *crappy* Mulder," I come out from behind Byers to stand right in front of him. I'm a little scared because of the fact I have to look up at him. "And if you can, than you are so freaked up in that head of yours, it's not even goddamned funny." "Frohike..."Byers interjects, a little shaken himself. He's never enjoyed fistfights, he's prevented enough of them between Langly and me the past ten years. But that's not what this is going to be. I can see the kid's eyes behind that deadpan expression. Maybe I'm getting through to him. Better soften my tone a little. "Look, I just don't want to see you lose this one, Mulder. She's a great girl, and she cares about you. And I *know* you care about her." He brings his right hand up to rub his eyes and pinch the bridge of that enormous nose of his. "As more than just a friend." Those are the magic words to make his head pop up and point me with an almost incredulous stare. Everything with Mulder is *almost*. "So you'd better be open with her like she's open with you. Her suspicions aren't solely personal Mulder. She's looking out for you, too. And if you don't realise that, you are going to lose her."