From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org
Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2000 12:42:30 -0500
Subject: Reconciliation by Maidenjedi
Source: direct

Reply To: texgoddess@yahoo.com


TITLE:  Reconciliation                                           
AUTHOR:  Maidenjedi							
RATING:  R
ARCHIVE:  Yes
CATEGORY: V, SA
SPOILERS: The End, FTF
SUMMARY:  The night of the fire.  Scully realizes that
she's in it for more than just her own interests.
DISCLAIMER:  Not mine.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:  Ever get really confused as to 
WHY ON EARTH would Scully be so nice to Mulder 
after the way he treated her in "The End"?  Here we go!  
Before the movie.  After "The End."  Scully thinks about 
the fire, Diana, and of course, Mulder.  Dedicated as always
to the Rooty Poo Crew and to the Arizona branch
(though I am sure he would hate it if I called him
that!).  And of course, as always, a big thank you
to CC and the gang (esp., but not limited to, Vince,
John, and Frank, and to Morgan and Wong) and a big
tongue out to Cinefantastique magazine, October 2000 issue.  
Season 7 was not nearly as horrible as they made it out to be!  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


Scully kept brushing her hair out of her face, a 
habit she hated and rarely displayed.  But on a day
like the one she'd had, restraint was hard as hell 
to maintain.  

She leaned onto the sink to get a better look in the
mirror.  She was hardly confused about how she looked,
but she needed a Mulder-view of it.  How did she look
*up close*?  Because she felt like an enemy.  And she 
was suddenly quite sure that she looked like one.

Mulder's influence was going to her head.  She shook 
her head to clear out the thought of him.  As usual, it 
was a fruitless effort.

All she found upon close inspection was a smudge of
soot, undoubtedly left their from standing in the ruins
of what had once been their office.  Well, to be correct,
she thought, it was Mulder's office.  It was merely a 
place where she, Scully, languished.  It was a point 
that had been made perfectly clear this evening.  Well,
made even clearer than before, maybe.  That woman
had really made things clear to her.  Her very 
existence, which Scully had not known of prior to the
introduction of Gibson Praise in her life, was enough
to tell Scully that she was not as vital to Fox
Mulder's mission as she had come to believe.

She disgustedly wiped at the smudge.  Tonight had been 
the final stab, as far as Scully was concerned.  In the
ruins of Mulder's haven, she had sought to comfort him
the way he had so many times comforted her.  But he 
would not take the comfort she offered, choosing 
instead to simply stand there in the dark and stare.  
She had tried, God knew.  Scully had held him as well
as a person can without being held in return.

She felt cheated, and as a result, damned selfish.  It
had been his office long before she came along, it had been
his quest long before she came along.  Didn't Frohike 
mention that Diana had been there when he found the files
to begin with?  So what right did she, Dana Scully, girl
skeptic,  have to be shaken and hurt that Mulder would
not accept her sympathy?  What right did she have to want
to be comforted, too?

The mirror image seemed to glare back at her.  It was saying,
in essence, that she had every right to be upset, and 
every right to want comfort.  She may not have had her name
on the door, but her heart was in that office.  Her soul was
in those cabinets every much as his.  Scully found, with
some surprise, that the mirror image was scowling.  And a 
tear was rolling down its cheek.  Her own neck was hot from
indignation.

Five years by his side, fighting the good fight, fighting to find
out where out there the truth was, and all in the name of his
cause.  Not hers.  She had nothing invested here, not really.
This crusade of his had done nothing for her but take her
sister and give her cancer.  It had left her barren, for Christ's
sake!  She had given up the camaraderie of friends from the
Academy for "Spooky" Mulder.  In return she got....

The heat in her neck subsided,  and whatever tears had been 
threatening abruptly stopped.  She knew what she got.  The
chance to be close to a man who held her in high esteem, 
and cared for her enough to fight the very evil that had caused
tonight's fire.  This was a job that gave her the opportunity to
test herself, and Mulder was a man that gave her pause and
made her think.  Tonight was hard on them both, and she knew 
it.

Her reverie was broken by the trill of her cell phone.

"Scully."

"It's me.  Scully, they want to send us to Dallas.  A 
bomb threat has been called in."

In that short, greetingless announcement, she heard 
what she needed to hear.  He didn't have the X-Files.  But he
needed her just the same.  She was vital, because he couldn't 
and didn't want to do it without her.  Best of all, she knew 
instinctively that he wasn't by Diana's side.  

"When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow.  Pack your shorts, its hot in Dallas."

Scully hit the end button on her phone.  Dallas wasn't
Washington, and bomb threats weren't supernatural.  But 
her instincts told her that the adventures were not over for
them.  She was surprised to find, as well, that she was looking
forward to this.  A chance to prove themselves, herself.  A chance
to work with Mulder far from the watchful eyes of Washington.

They had made it personal when they took the X-Files from them
both.  And it was very personal to her, she mused.  Without 
getting personal, getting close, what was there?

She pressed the speed dial button on her cell without even thinking
about it.

"Mulder."

"Hey Mulder, its me.  Wanna grab a pizza?"


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

THE END

Feedback gratefully devoured at texgoddess@yahoo.com

PS.....I would like to write a series of unrelated vignettes
that could all fall under the "Dana Scully, Girl Skeptic"
idea.  I know this one kinda went on a tangent, but I would
like to do a series of Scully vignettes that chronicle her thoughts
on various cases.  What do you think?