From: RhiaRamsay@aol.com
Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2000 16:52:22 EST
Subject: New: Prima Donna (1 of 1)
Source: direct

Title: Prima Donna
Author: Elizabeth L. Iacono
Rating: PG
Category: Story, Angst
Keywords: Uhhh...Doggett-fic?  I'm not sure...
Spoilers: Invocation
Summary: The story behind the picture of that 
         little boy in the wallet.

I know this probably seems really implausible, but 
give it a chance, please?

To the MSRFicSupportGroup:  The Prima Donna mentioned 
here is probably not the one that you're thinking of, 
considering my constant 'Phantom' references. *g*

Feedback: I would love it.  This is my first time 
tackling John Doggett in fiction.  RhiaRamsay@aol.com

Archive: Gossamer, Xemplary, Spookys, Legacy, anyone 
else please ask me first.

Disclaimer: John Doggett and anything X-Files are not 
mine.  Maria however, is.


Prima Donna
Elizabeth L. Iacono


     To John Doggett, Prospect Park was an unfamiliar 
place.  However, the scheduled meeting place was in 
there, so he followed this path until he reached 
that rock, all the while wishing that December in 
Brooklyn wasn't so damned cold.  Eventually he 
reached the rock he was told to be at.  He looked 
up at the person sitting on the oversized rock 
half buried in the ground.

     The girl sitting there was young, couldn't 
have been any older than sixteen.  She had a bitter 
air around her though, as if she had been dealt a 
bad hand in life.  Doggett knew already that her 
life wasn't all nice and rosy.  Spindly legs covered 
in denim topped off multicolored striped socks and 
feet wearing Doc Martens.  A heavy peacoat was 
buttoned around her torso and a pair of slim leather 
gloves kept her hands warm.  Pulled down low on her 
head, flattening out her light brown hair, was a 
knit cap, and sticking out near the ears was a pair 
of headphones.  He could hear a low buzzing from 
there and could see her lips mouthing along to the 
words, puffs of cold air emerging from her mouth 
every so often.

     Doggett reached out and shook one of the feet 
that was at shoulder level for him.  At the feel of 
the shaking the girl looked down, pulled her 
headphones off, and smirked down at him.  "Long 
time no see, Dad."

     "Are you going to come down from there, Maria?" 
Doggett asked.

     "Come on, you can do it," Maria Doggett grinned, 
patting the rock next to her with one leather covered 
hand.

     Knowing too well that she wouldn't budge, Doggett 
braced his hands and scrambled up to sit next to her.  
After all, he had done far worse things than sit on a 
rock in the middle of Brooklyn.  "So how ya been 
lately, kid?" he asked when he was sitting down 
next to her.

     "Eyh, okay, I guess," Maria shrugged.  "School 
sucks, nothing new there.  They still hate my guts, 
so it seems like some things never change."

     "Hey, I wanted to apologize for missing your 
birthday.  There was a case that I had to investigate," 
Doggett said, leaning over and resting his arms on his 
thighs.

     "Ooooh, what about?" Maria asked eagerly, turning 
to look at him.

     Doggett sucked in an uneasy breath, knowing that 
her reaction was not going to be a good one.  "We had 
to investigate the sudden reappearance of a boy that 
disappeared ten years ago.  The catch was he hadn't 
aged.  He still looked seven years old, when he 
really should have been only a year older than you 
are."

     "Creepy," Maria muttered breathlessly.  "So 
what happened?"

     "Well the kid wouldn't talk so we couldn't find 
out anything about where he had been.  Then the 
younger brother ended up with a knife in his bed 
and getting kidnapped himself.  Making a long story 
short, we found the younger brother in time and then 
found the bones of the missing boy in a nearby forest."

     "That doesn't make sense.  How did he get back 
home?" Maria asked, puzzled.

     "That's the X-File," Doggett gave her a glance.  
"Even though I don't believe it, the best guess is 
that the kid was dead all along."

     "How did the family take it?" was her next 
question.  Her voice sounded tight, as if she were 
trying to keep something in check.

     Doggett rubbed his eyes.  "Before or after they 
found the bones?"

     "Both."

     "Okay.  Uhh, before, Mrs. Underwood, the boy's 
mother, was thrilled to have her son back.  She didn't 
think that anything was suspicious about him, unlike 
her husband and her other son.  Afterwards..."  He 
exhaled slowly.  "I have no clue."

     "I know how I would take it," Maria sighed, and 
reached for her headphones.  She jammed them on her 
head, over the wool cap, and hit the play button with 
a jab of her finger.  The volume was cranked up loud 
enough that he could vaguely make out some of the 
words.

     '...All alone, nothing seems to matter, So 
alone, doesn't get much better, Can't explain, 
something that you're feeling for the very first 
time...'

     A couple of minutes later the fuzziness of the 
music ended and Maria pulled the headphones off to 
rest around her neck.  "Sorry, Dad.  It must have 
been a hard case for you."  Looking down, she pulled 
the glove off her right hand to reveal a thick white 
scar down the center of it.  She rubbed it hard with 
the thumb of her other hand.

     Doggett shut his eyes briefly, knowing the 
story behind the scar.  It was the lasting reminder 
of the night that her twin brother Luke was kidnapped 
from their bedroom.  As far as they could tell the 
kidnapper had broken into her bedroom and was planning 
to kill both of them.  Right before he could commit 
the actual deed though, as the knife was ready to 
strike, Maria turned over in her sleep and ended up 
driving the knife clean through her palm to the other 
side, waking her up.  The kidnapper panicked, grabbed 
Luke, and left.  Maria's screams were what had roused 
him and his ex-wife from their sleep.

     "The one night he had to share my bed," she said, 
grinding her thumb into the scar.  "It should have 
been me.  I should have woken up sooner and gotten 
you guys."

     "You were only nine years old," Doggett replied, 
trying to reassure the familiar fears.  "And it was 
established that he was going after both of you.  As 
much as I miss Luke, I would have missed both of you 
a hell of a lot more and I'm glad that you're still 
here."

     "How do you know he was going after both of us?" 
Maria asked skeptically.  "That bastard could have 
just wanted me, and Luke would still be here."

     "And you would be gone," he fired back.

     "I know!  But..." she sighed once more and 
rubbed her forehead with her bare hand.  "I feel 
really bad that all I ended up with is a slash 
mark through my hand and we don't have a clue what 
happened to Luke.  He could be alive, he could be 
dead, and we have no way of knowing what."

     "You want to know what I think?" Doggett said, 
resting his hand on her shoulder.

     "What?"

     "It's called survivor guilt, and it's not a rare 
thing.  It's actually kinda normal for someone in 
your situation."

     "I know, I've heard all about it."  At Doggett's 
puzzled look Maria elaborated further.  "Bryce is 
sending me to a shrink," she said, her face looking 
as if she had tasted something sour.  "'Scuse me," 
she murmured, and slipped the headphones over her 
head again.  This time the volume was cranked up even 
louder, and he could hear the words in the crisp air 
of the park.

     '...You got the look they'll never forget, you 
wanna be noticed but they haven't noticed yet.  When 
the time is right a star on your door, taking you 
places that you've never been before.  Where did 
you go?  Go to sleep tonight, and dream about it 
till the morning.  Appearing for the very first 
time on the screen tonight...'

     "What was that all about?" he asked when the 
headphones came off again.

     "My version of therapy," Maria shrugged.  "I 
listen to some music when I get really bad."

     "What are you listening to?"  Instead of waiting 
for an answer he reached for the portable CD player 
and popped open the lid.  He chuckled roughly when 
he saw the disk that was in there.  "You're still 
listening to this stuff?"

     "It was the record that you bought that got me 
started listening to this stuff, Dad," she shot back 
with a smirk.

     "I got that record before you were even born," 
Doggett mused, handing the player back to her.

     "Yeah.  This is what I grew up listening to.  
I always put it on when I want to think of happier 
times."  Maria glanced down at her watch.  "Hey, 
you wanna get some food?" she asked.

     "Fine with me, I'm freezing out here."

     "Good, because I know this great little 
Mexican place..."


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     A short drive later found them seated in the 
Santa Fe Grill, munching on the complimentary tortilla 
chips.  "This is a nice place," Doggett commented.

     "Yeah, it is," Maria agreed.  "It's kinda strange 
though, trying to fit into Park Slope when you're more 
at home in Flatbush."

     "So how's your mom and what's-his-face?"

     "Bryce, the yuppie scum," she said through 
gritted teeth.  "The creep thinks I should be the 
perfect little stepdaughter with no problems in the 
world aside from what outfit I should wear for the 
day."  She glanced down at blue long-sleeved t-shirt 
with the dragon on the sleeve that she was wearing.  
"I want to tell him to go f--you know."

     "Is that why he's sending you to therapy?"  
Doggett wasn't bothered by the idea of sending Maria 
to therapy, seeing as they had back at the time of 
the attack and off and on through the years.  What 
bothered him was if he was footing the bill for 
therapy because he wanted a girl without any 
problems.  If that was the case, he was going to 
have some serious explaining to do.

     "Yeah, but I don't really participate.  I 
just sit there looking sullen.  Annoys the hell 
out of the shrink," Maria grinned evilly.

     "You are gonna drive someone crazy some day, 
you know that, Maria?"

     "Oh yeah.  I have my music though, that's better 
therapy than anything Bryce could buy."

     At that moment their drinks arrived, a Corona 
for Doggett and an iced tea for Maria.  "So what 
should we toast to?" Maria asked, wrapping her hand 
around the slick glass.

     Doggett thought for a minute as he pushed the 
slice of lime into the bottle.  "How about 'To Luke.'

     Maria smiled, probably the first honest smile he 
had seen out of her all day.  "To Luke," she said.

     And the glass clinked together.


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The songs mentioned are 'Along Comes A Woman' and 
'Prima Donna', both by Chicago.  The Santa Fe Grill is 
also a real restaurant in Park Slope, Brooklyn.  At 
least I think that's the name of it, it's been a while 
since I was there. ;-)

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'True love, it's the greatest
thing in the world.'

Miracle Max
The Princess Bride

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'Men will fight bravely and be 
heroes, but for a last ditch defense
against any odds, get a mother.'

The Defender
High Wizardry

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'This is the Fish Patrol in 201.  Our
flying fish has flown away.  In fact,
things are so rotten around here that
even the pigs won't stay!  But we'll
fight to the bitter end!  Beware The
Fish!'

Bruno Walton
Beware The Fish

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