From: "David Hearne" Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 13:59:06 -0400 Subject: xfc: The Observations of Two (1 of 1) Source: xfc TITLE: THE OBSERVATIONS OF TWO (1 of 1) AUTHOR: DAVID HEARNE CLASSIFICATION: Post-ep for "Folie a Deux" RATING: PG SPOILERS: Folie a Deux, Invocation, This Is Not Happening PERMISSION TO ARCHIVE: Yes. Send feedback to ottercrk@sover.net Website is located at http://members.dencity.com/hearne AUTHOR'S NOTES -- Which of these is grammatically correct? 1) Agent Scully laid against his chest. 2) Agent Scully lay against his chest. The first would be correct...if Scully was laying eggs. Unfortunately, I chose the first to open up my story "Hail, Hail, The Gang's All Here." Nobody pointed out that mistake, but Kel did point out a similar mistake in "Manly, Manly Men." I can only imagine how many times I've repeated the error. Let me just say that I hope I'm learning. And I plan to be a better writer at the age of thirty-age than at twenty-eight. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX "It finally happened," Agent Joseph Amis declared. Agents Ruth Vinton and Greg Fields looked up as Amis walked toward their table. The two of them were having lunch in the cafeteria of the FBI headquarters. "What happened?" Fields asked. "They sent Mulder to the loony bin." "You're kidding." "Nope. They put him in restraints and everything." "Huh," Vinton said. "Well, it wasn't exactly something you couldn't see coming." "Not if you had eyes in your head," Fields said. "But why lock him up now?" Amis sat down at the table. "Mulder was claiming this guy was a giant bug..." "What guy?" "I don't know. Some man in charge of a telemarketing operation." "And Mulder thought he was..." "A bug. A bug changing his workers into zombies." There was silence at the table for a few seconds. Then all three agents burst out laughing. "Oh, that's good," Vinton chuckled. "Even for Mulder, that's out there." "Nice to see his imagination is still working," Fields said. "I mean, he could have said that this guy was an alien or something unoriginal." "Yeah, well, his imagination has worked him right into psychiatric care," Amis reminded him. "And, frankly, that's where he belongs. I'm surprised that it took the FBI this long to put him there." "What about Scully?" "Oh, forget about her," Vinton said. Both Fields and Amis looked at her in surprise. "Whoa," Fields said. "You don't like Scully?" "If she had an ounce of sense, she would have pushed for a transfer long ago. I have no sympathy for anyone who would stick by a man so clearly deranged." Fields lifted an eyebrow. "I wonder why she did hang around with him..." Vinton smiled. "He must be good. *Real* good." The three agents burst out laughing again. Then Fields suddenly stopped laughing. When Amis and Vinton saw the tight expression on his face, they turned around. A man was standing before them. He didn't have a handsome face, but it was a compelling one. When this face frowned, others became uneasy. And it was frowning. "Excuse me," the man said. "but I don't think what happened to Agent Mulder is very funny." He waited for a reply. When he didn't get one, he continued -- "I'm no fan of the X-Files, but Mulder has solved more important cases for the Bureau than you three jokers have. What's more, I think it's admirable that Scully has stuck with him all this time. We should all be so lucky to have a partner like that." The sitting agents began to squirm. "An agent has fallen, people. Show some respect." The man gave the sitting agents one last look, then walked back to a table located fifteen feet away. A dark-haired woman waited for him there. She regarded the approaching man with both sympathy and discomfort. "Sorry about that," John Doggett said as he sat in an empty chair. He picked up his turkey sandwich, opened his mouth to bite it and then stopped himself. He looked at the dark-haired woman and said, "Was that the right thing to do?" "I think so," Monica Reyes answered. "They were obviously being disrespectful." "Well...they're saying what a lot of people are thinking. Including myself." "You mean, Mulder had this coming?" Doggett put down his sandwich. "I don't mean that. I don't think he deserved this. It's just that...I don't know how I feel." "You feel admiration for Mulder." "I know about his work before the X-Files. The way I figure it...people with certain talents can end up going to strange places." Doggett shrugged. "Mulder ended up in the X-Files." "You're a talented man as well, John. Are you headed for someplace strange?" Doggett smiled. "Basically I'm just a cop with a good bullshit detector. Mulder was more of a...I don't know...an intellectual with a badge. He was willing to think beyond the box. Of course, looks like he found something nasty on the outside." Doggett picked up his sandwich. "That's just how it looks to me." "Interesting. It's also interesting that you're talking about Mulder in the past tense." Doggett returned his sandwich to the plate. "I don't see him coming back from this. Do you?" "I think...we all go through dark places. Sometimes willingly, sometimes not. When we emerge from them, we feel damaged. However, that could mean we've left a part of ourselves behind -- a part which needed to be excised." "So you do think he's coming back." "Maybe. Besides, what makes you think he didn't see a giant bug?" Reyes looked at Doggett as she plucked an olive from her salad with a fork. As she ate the olive, she seemed to be daring him to laugh. Doggett said, "Uh...what do you think?" "It's possible he saw something. Something which his consciousness interpreted into a monster." "You mean, a big bug." "Giant insects are a common psychological archetype." Doggett sighed, but also smiled. "You always lose me when you talk like this." "Well, those are my thoughts. Take it or leave it. Of course, I'm not sure I really understand how anybody thinks." She paused, then added, "Except maybe you." "And...what do you understand about me?" "That you know why Mulder is willing to risk everything." Doggett sat in his chair with Reyes watching him with gentle, unblinking eyes. After a few seconds, he said, "Yeah." Another few seconds went by in silence. "You know I'm heading back to New Orleans tomorrow," Reyes said. "I know." "Maybe you could show me around D.C. tonight..." "I would really like to, Monica, but..." "You're busy?" "Yes. Truthfully." "Do you and Mulder have the same work ethic?" "Nobody has my work ethic." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX A couple of days later, Reyes got a call from Doggett. "Mulder's out of the hospital," he told her. "He is?" "M-hm." "What happened?" "I really don't know. So much I've heard over the grapevine sounds like nonsense. Apparently, the guy he accused was up to something. Anyway...Mulder's back." "You know...I've never met Agent Mulder. But I'm glad for him. And for Agent Scully." "I'm starting to think you ought to meet Mulder. I can only imagine the conversations you two could have." "Would you like to meet him?" "Nah. It's too comfy here in the box." "Well...I'm glad to know he's all right." "I thought you would be." "Are you glad?" "I'm happy when any agent is able to recover from a bad experience." "And besides that? What else are you thinking?" Doggett was silent for so long that Reyes said, "John? You there?" "Gonna be in D.C. again any time soon?" "I'm, uh...I'm not sure." "Well, if you're ever in town..." "Of course, John." "Thanks, Monica." After the phone conversation, Doggett took a photo out of his wallet and looked at it for a long time. Down in New Orleans, Monica found an old case file. She removed a copied photo of a young boy from it. And she looked at the photo for a long, long time. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX