From: RhiaRamsay@aol.com
Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2002 19:28:34 EST
Subject: New: The Wolf and His Mate (1 of 1)
Source: direct

Title: The Wolf and His Mate
Author: Elizabeth L. Iacono
Rating: PG
Category: Vignette
Keywords: None
Spoilers: Pilot
Summary: What the past thinks of the future....

Written for the After the Fact Pilot Challenge.

Feedback: is always adored.  E-mail me at 
          RhiaRamsay@aol.com

Archive: I'll send to Gossamer and Ephemeral.  
Spookys, Touchstone and KTF can have it, 
anyone else please e-mail me first.

Disclaimer: One of the characters is mine, 
the rest are not.  You can figure out who 
belongs to who.


The Wolf and His Mate
Elizabeth L. Iacono


Arthur Dales sat in the booth, his scotch already 
half gone.  Granted, it was only 12:30 in the 
afternoon, and he was actually having a decent 
day, but the drink was a comfort.  And besides, 
the person he was supposed to be meeting was late, 
what the hell else was he supposed to do while 
waiting?

Finally, the person who he was waiting for walked 
into the slightly smoky bar: his oldest grandchild, 
and one of the few relatives who was still speaking 
to him.  Conceived when his hippie of a daughter 
had gotten knocked up far too early (and unmarried) 
for her own good, the young woman was gifted with 
the improbable name of Moon India Dales-Greenwoode.  
The young woman also had a job in the secretarial 
pool at the FBI, making her a wonderful source for 
inside Bureau gossip.  And this time her dear 
Grandpa had tasked her with finding info on a 
certain department.

"Hey, Grandpa," she said, sitting down in the booth 
and snatching a French fry from the plate in front 
of him.  "I give up my lunch hour for this and all 
I get are cold fries?" she said with a wink.

Dales smirked.  "Your pastrami on rye is coming."  
One of the perks of having a grandchild that actually 
spoke to him was knowing ahead of time what would 
please their taste buds.

Moon grinned.  "My favorite."  She ordered a cream 
soda from the passing waiter and then turned back 
to her grandfather.

"Well?" Dales prodded impatiently.  "What did you 
find out?"

"The X-Files was the department you wanted me to 
look into, right?" Moon asked, and Dales nodded.  
At his confirmation she leaned forward with a feral 
look in her eyes, the look that appeared every time 
she got wind of some really good dish (or during a 
shoe sale).  "Well.  A few weeks ago Agent Mulder 
was assigned a partner.  Needless to say, Agent 
Mulder was not too thrilled."

"Really?"  It was an interesting, but not all 
that surprising, event.  Mulder had been pursuing 
the files by himself for a while.  It was time the 
powers that be thought the lone wolf needed a 
companion.  "What's this new partner like?"

Moon pushed a piece of dark hair out of her eyes, 
tucking it behind her ear.  "Special Agent Dr. Dana 
Scully, formerly an instructor at Quantico.  
She specializes in pathology.  Has had no field 
experience to date."

"Interesting choice," Dales commented, taking a 
belt of his scotch.  "What else can you tell me 
about her?"

The pastrami on rye arrived before she could reply, 
and Moon took a large bite out of it.  She wiped a 
stray bit of mustard from the corner of her mouth 
with her index finger.  "If her being a doctor hasn't 
tipped you off, Agent Scully is a firm believer in 
the scientific method: hypothesis, experiment, 
evidence, the whole deal."  Dales wondered how 
many science classes his granddaughter had slept 
through.  "And Mulder, as is common knowledge, is 
prone to leaps of faith and intuition.  He earned 
the nickname of Spooky, no question.  To me, this 
match-up seems like the blind date from hell."

Dales was quiet for a minute, sipping from is drink 
thoughtfully.  "'They' want her to spy on him and 
report back to them.  'They' want to use her science 
to disprove him," he said, getting a little excited 
and gesturing with his hands.  "If science proves 
that that aliens don't exist and everything else 
in the X-Files is horseshit, the department gets 
closed down and Mulder gets sent somewhere else 
in the bureau where 'they' can keep an eye on him."  
He snorted.  "Just what 'they' would want."

He noticed Moon's exasperated sigh.  Sometimes his 
charges of conspiracy against the government irked 
her, but she was used to hearing it by now.  She'd 
heard more insane ideas growing up with her parents 
anyway.

"In any case, the betting pools have already 
started," Moon continued.  "How long before Agent 
Scully quits, how long before Agent Mulder hits on 
her and the sexual harassment charge ends up on 
Blevins' desk, when will Mulder end up in the 
Looney bin, things like that."

Dales was still thoughtful, not quite paying 
attention to her.  He wondered if science, if 
used right, could prove that the things in the 
X-Files were real, and not something that existed 
solely in Mulder's twisted mind.  Now that would 
be a great irony for those government bastards.  
Their little spy turning out to be Mulder's greatest 
ally.  A wise grin spread across his face.  "So the 
lone wolf has found a mate," he murmured.  "Maybe a 
partner is just what Mulder needs."

          *          *          *

I will be the first person to admit the episode 
Travelers sucked.  But it holds a little place 
in my heart for reasons some people have heard 
about.  So I figured bringing Arthur Dales back 
for a little bit couldn't hurt. :-)