From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org
Date: 1 Apr 2004 03:46:11 -0000
Subject: Missing Scene From Small Potatoes - Skinner\'s POV (1/1) by Katie Phillips
Source: direct

Reply To: xfstories@yahoo.com


Small Potatoes Missing Scene From Skinner's Point Of View
By Katie Phillips
March 2004

Disclaimer Info:  We all know they don't belong to me, 
don't we?
Rating:  G
Keywords: MSR (implied) Mulder, Scully and Skinner
Feedback:  Makes me very happy.  Email me at 
xfstories@yahoo.com
Archive:  Please do. 
Summary:  This is one of a series of pieces I'm writing 
depicting the world of Mulder and Scully through the eyes 
of their boss, Walter Skinner.  In this piece, they have 
to explain their findings on Eddie Van Blundht to Skinner.

Special thanks to Sallie for her beta work.  As always, it 
is greatly appreciated.

Walter Skinner glanced down at his schedule and groaned.  
In a minute or two, Agents Mulder and Scully would be 
coming in to present their latest case report to him.  He 
sighed and pulled open his top drawer, wanting to make 
sure that Kimberly had remembered to get him more 
ibuprofen. He always seemed to get a headache whenever he 
dealt with those two.  

It wasn't that he didn't respect the partners; he did.  
Mulder's mind, and his willingness to pursue causes in 
which he believed, were extraordinary..  Scully's loyalty 
to Mulder and his various quests were admirable.  (That, 
as well as the way her legs looked from his vantage point 
when she became nervous, and crossed and uncrossed them 
repeatedly.)
A sharp rap on his door pushed all thoughts of Scully's 
legs out of his mind. "Skinner barked 'Come in,' then sat 
back in his chair, wondering if today he was going to be 
entertained or aggravated.

"Sir."  Agent Mulder acknowledged him, as he and Scully 
walked in, and sat down in front of their boss's desk.  
Much to Skinner's disappointment, Scully wasn't wearing a 
skirt.

Mulder handed Skinner their report, and settled back into 
his chair to wait, while his superior reviewed it.  The 
furtive glance the agent gave Scully, alerted Skinner to 
the fact that he probably wasn't going to like what he was 
about to read.

Mulder and Scully sat in silence, watching Skinner pore 
over the report.  They exchanged a sidelong glance when 
they saw the A.D. frown.  Skinner looked up and addressed 
his question to the more levelheaded of his two agents.

"Agent Scully, do you agree with Agent Mulder's assessment 
of Eddie Van Blundht's ability to..."  Skinner looked down 
at the report so he could phrase it correctly, "...to 
alter his appearance using some sort of muscle control?"

"Yes Sir, I do."  Scully's face showed no emotion.

"I see."  Skinner looked at the report again, and sat back 
in his chair.  Both agents shifted in their seats, sensing 
that the A.D. was about to go into interrogation mode.  
"This man was so effective at altering his appearance that 
no one seemed to notice?"

"You didn't notice Sir," Scully broke in.  "Van Blundht 
sat in this very office and neither you nor I suspected a 
thing."

Skinner nodded.  "That explains the interesting spelling 
of the word 'investigation' in your report, Agent Mulder."  
Mulder gave Skinner a small smile.  "It's true Agent 
Scully, that we were fooled by this man, but I find it 
hard to believe that all these women were so easily 
fooled. From your report they all seem to be intelligent 
people. One would think they would know that it wasn't 
their husband they were sleeping with."

Skinner looked up, and caught Scully squirming under 
Mulder's glare.  Intrigued, he pressed on.  "Did you 
interview these women, Agents, to see how they could be so 
easily fooled?"

"Well..."  Mulder began to answer, only to be cut off by 
Scully.  "We thought further questioning was unnecessary 
at this time, Sir."

"Not necessary?"  Skinner straightened in his chair.  It 
was very rare that Scully showed any emotion, and he had 
to admit to himself that he was enjoying watching her 
squirm.  

Mulder answered for Scully, but not before looking over to 
see if she was going to cut him off again.  "Our personal 
experiences with Van Blundht gave us more than enough 
information to complete our report.  We left further 
questioning of the victims to the local authorities."

"I see."  Skinner looked back down at the report, and read 
on in silence.  "Agents you're a bit vague about how the 
suspect was apprehended. You say little more than Van 
Blundht's true identity was discovered when Agent Mulder 
showed up at your apartment Agent Scully, and found 
himself apparently already there."  Scully glanced quickly 
at her partner, before nodding.  "Would you care to 
elaborate?"

Scully said nothing, chewing on her lip as she looked down 
at the floor.  Mulder flashed her a look of annoyance, 
that quickly changed to pity.  Skinner often thought there 
might be something going on between his two agents, and 
now he was practically sure of it.  He closed the file, 
and placed his folded hands on top of it, leaning toward 
the two of them.  "I still have to 'explain' all of this 
to the Director, and it would be most helpful if you could 
provide me with as much information and insight as 
possible."

Neither agent spoke.  "Off the record."

Mulder glanced over at Scully, and she gave him a brief 
nod.  He took a deep breath, and began.  
"From what I have been able to figure out, Van Blundht not 
only had the unique ability to change his appearance to 
match the person he was impersonating, but he could also 
mimic the personality, sometimes even expand upon it."

Skinner sat back in his chair. He had to admit his 
curiosity was piqued.  "I don't understand what you're 
getting at Mulder."

"Van Blundht actually 'cared' about his 'victims', the 
people he fooled.  He thought he was providing them with a 
service.  In the case of the married ladies, he was 
providing a fertile seed. In Scully's case..." he paused 
briefly to look over at her before continuing, "he 
provided the attention he assumed she craved from her 
partner."

Mulder stopped, and waited for Skinner to absorb all of 
this.  "Are you trying to tell me that Van Blundht was 
coming on to Scully, thinking that's what she wanted from 
you?"

"Precisely."  Mulder sighed, hoping he wouldn't have to go 
into any more detail.  "As soon as I escaped from the 
utility room where Van Blundht had locked me, I headed 
over to Scully's apartment.  One look at me coming through 
the door, and Scully realized the man sitting next to her 
was an imposter."

Skinner nodded and looked at Scully, who was still 
studying the carpet with great interest.  If he wasn't 
mistaken, she looked a bit pink in the face.  He had to 
keep from smiling at the sight of the Ice Queen actually 
blushing.  Perhaps Van Blundht had been more persuasive 
than Mulder let on.

Feeling that Scully had suffered enough, Skinner quickly 
dismissed his agents.  He had no idea how he was going to 
present this particular case to the Director however, and 
immediately felt a headache coming on.  He was just 
reaching for his bottle of ibuprofen, when he overheard 
Mulder and Scully outside his door.

"That went pretty well, don't you think?"

"Shut up Mulder."