From: "Mary Anne Cullinan" Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2000 21:26:11 -0800 Subject: New Story "Mysteries & Enigmas" 1/1 by Macspooky Source: direct The X-Files are not mine. The characters belong to others. The last I heard they were the property of Fox, 1013, Chris Carter and probably some others. I'm just borrowing them for a few minutes. I'm going to rate this one PG-13 for one bad word. Okay all you 10 year olds out there...snicker all you want. I'm a parent. I'm used to it. I don't care where this is posted as long as my name is on it. This is a John Doggett story. I'm still not certain that I like the character and I don't picture myself watching a lot of Mulderless episodes unless it is convenient and I have nothing else to do. Since he is supposed to be from New York and I am from New York I decided to have a little fun with him. I can be reached as macspooky@erols.com. I also want to thank my editor and chief G. Hill for beta reading this for me. "Mysteries & Enigmas" 1/1 by Macspooky John Doggett glanced over to where Agent Scully sat gazing out of the window in a moment of quiet while they waited for AD Skinner to arrive. It occurred to him that she was a stunning woman. She was not beautiful in the typical Hollywood sense, but rather more like a Titian or a Rembrandt. He thought that in another age Dana Scully would have made a fine model for a Madonna. There was something enigmatic about her like Mona Lisa's smile. Oh, he'd grown up on the mean streets of New York. He had attended bad schools, outdated and crime ridden, the kind that made you street smart, wary and tough, but he had always had a soft spot for the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue. If his friends had known, they probably would have kicked the shit out of him. Hell, he had actually gotten the shit kicked out of him more than once, but that was life in the Big Apple. His mother was Irish and always told him that brawling was in the blood as she wiped his bloody noses. He'd given as good as he'd gotten. Briefly it occurred to him that he missed her and the city. Doggett knew he had been acting like a sleaze bag in the way he had introduced himself to Agent Scully. He'd been a cop long before he'd been an FBI Agent. You did what worked. If her conduct in throwing the water in his face had been somewhat unprofessional, it had served the purpose of ratcheting up his respect for her a notch. Fool that he was, he had been the one to provide the ammo when he had handed her the glass. He would never do that again. Dana Scully wasn't the type to tolerate any bullshit. She had handled him just like his kid sister handled subway gropers, digging her high heel right into the offender's arch and smiling while sweetly saying "Oh, I'm so sorry." The difference was that Scully had forgotten the sweet part and the so sorry. She had liked throwing that water in his face because she thought he was a real son of a bitch. Rumors abounded about Agents Mulder and Scully. It was said that she had been assigned to him to debunk his work and that he had done everything he could to ditch her. Apparently though, she had always tried to be fair in her appraisal of his theories and after awhile he had stopped trying to get rid of her. They had a phenomenal solve rate, a rate that made other agents jealous. Around the office they were often called Kirk and Spock as well as Mr. & Mrs. Spooky. For a time there had been a pool going about whether or not they were doing the wild deed, but no one had ever been able to prove it. Eventually the money was given to charity. Did a woman go to the home of her missing partner and fall asleep hugging one of his shirts if she wasn't in love with him? She had been clutching it when he had walked into the bedroom. Although she had dropped it quickly in her anger at finding him there, he had seen it. No, he decided, it was not the normal reaction a person has to losing a partner. Whether or not she was sleeping with him, she was in love with him. His ploy about Mulder confiding in other women had fallen flat. She had known damned well enough that it wasn't true although he thought he had detected a brief flash of jealousy. She had hidden it quickly and well. Dana Scully didn't like him much. She didn't trust him. She had given him something to think about though. Her accusation that her phone was being tapped had proved to be not without merit although he hadn't admitted it to her when he had found her at Mulder's place. He had quietly broken into her apartment and checked but he doubted that she would appreciate it. His bullshit radar told him that Kersh had been lying when he had said he would have known if it was happening. His remark about using his pilot's instincts to get where he was had been a warning, a warning that Doggett would choose to ignore. Then there had been Assistant Director Skinner's words, the ones that Scully had asked him not to report. You could see the toll that request had taken on her. Where did he fit into all of this? For all intents and purposes, Skinner was persona non- gratis at the present time regardless of what he might say. Doggett didn't think that would last. Sooner Skinner would start to fight back. He had checked the Assistant Director's record. Skinner, like himself, was an ex-marine. He'd served in Nam and had been literally brought back from the dead. His entire platoon had been wiped out and at age 18 he had awakened in a body bag. The man had gone on to be decorated for valor, the Congressional Medal in fact. He had been separated from his wife when a car had hit her. Someone had tried to pin that on him as well as the murder of some hooker, but Mulder and Scully had cleared him. That might explain his soft spot for the rebellious Fox Mulder. He had the reputation for being hard on his agents but fair. He was well liked by his men. He had risen through the ranks on his merit. There was no hint of dishonesty or any sort of insanity. He seemed very protective of Agent Scully, unusually so. It wasn't love. Doggett was reasonably certain of that. Skinner had been with Mulder when he disappeared. The man appeared to be consumed by guilt for letting it happen. Skinner was definitely an unknown factor here. Sooner or later Doggett thought, he would figure it out. John Doggett thought that this case was the proverbial enigma wrapped in a mystery. He considered having been handed this puppy a piece of bad fortune. Well, it wasn't his first and wouldn't be his last. UFO's and aliens were a lot of crap. Mulder could very well be a criminal. On the other hand, it was perfectly possible that he was a very sick man. Brain conditions made people do strange things. Mulder had always been somewhat paranoid by all accounts. Was it possible that his illness had driven him over the edge? If this was the case, he didn't deserve to be hunted down like a dog. He needed medical care and deserved the right to die with dignity. His partner was extremely protective. She was also a doctor. She claimed not to have seen any symptoms in him. Was she telling the truth or covering for him out of loyalty? Partners did that for each other sometimes until their back was left uncovered one too many times. Admittedly medical records could be faked, but by whom and to what end? The real bottom line was he suddenly did not trust Kersh. Kersh was a self-serving power hungry career man who would do anything to advance the cause of Kersh. If destroying Fox Mulder was what it took, then the man would have no compunction about doing so. Doggett had met too many of his kind working his way up the ranks of the NYPD, guys who would sell the work down the sewer for a promotion. It reached a point where he could almost smell them. The line between them and the ones they arrested was sometimes very thin indeed. Then Dana Scully moved interrupting his thoughts. He looked away from her quickly. "Don't like what you see Agent Doggett?" she inquired dryly. Damned if she hadn't been aware of his gaze all along and had chosen to ignore it. She was, he thought, a formidable woman, a small bundle of dynamite and one who was on a crusade. The word dangerous crossed his mind. "Is there something not to like Agent Scully?" he inquired politely. "I guess that depends on whose side you are on Agent Doggett. I'll tell you this," she said her face impassive, the picture of control. "I'm going to find my partner. One way or the other, I'm going to find him and God help you if you try to get in my way." The not so amazing part of it was that he believed her. The end