Title: S.N.A.F.U. Part 2 Chapters 7-10
Author: Emily Sim
Headers: see part 1

**************

Chapter 7


Scully pushed the drawer back in and removed her gloves. "You did 
a good job, Denise."

"I sure appreciated getting the chance to work with you; everyone 
wanted to."

Scully couldn't help but feel a little flattered. It wasn't often 
that she was the recipient of any kind of Bureau idol worship; 
that was usually focused on Mulder. "You'll do well. You have a 
keen mind-" 

"- and a strong stomach," Denise finished.

Both women laughed and made their way to the back room to shower 
and change. Denise had been good, and Scully realized some of the 
tension in her shoulders was gone. It had been nice to work with 
someone who had a similar style. There weren't a lot of 
unnecessary words, no jockeying for a position of power; in 
short, none of the posturing that usually accompanied most of the 
men she had shared an autopsy bay with. Even some of the male 
students tended to try and pull some sort of dominance shit. It 
was why she usually worked alone, or with Mulder as a distant 
bystander. Despite all the forward movement made in many sectors, 
the FBI was still a boy's playground. 

She stepped into the shower and allowed the hot water to wash 
away the chemicals, the smell that permeated the bay. She 
couldn't wait to get home, soak in scented water instead of the 
harsh soap she had to use here, and get into her nice soft 
pajamas, open the wine and - what an exciting life you do lead 
Agent Dana Scully, MD. The sick part was, she would be here 
tomorrow, same place, same time, different body. Maybe she should 
have considered something other than working with the dead. It 
was all she seemed to be surrounded with these days: dead bodies, 
dead daughter, dead relationship, dead life. She scrubbed her 
hair, trying to banish her maudlin thoughts. She needed to see 
some light, get out of the dark for a little bit. 

Maybe holing up in her apartment was not such a wise idea 
considering her current state of mind. She needed to laugh. If 
she were closer to Denise's age, and not her supervisor, she 
would be dragging her out for a drink, or just to chat, to 
debrief a bit. Whatever happened to that person, she wondered? 

As the water rinsed the soap away, it left some lingering 
bitterness. She missed Melissa, and sometimes she missed the life 
she might have had so much that she resented Mulder and the X-
Files and where they had brought her. Forgiveness was hard, and 
she knew it was often a daily thing, even when it concerned 
something she had already let go of. In her weaker moments she'd 
find she needed to let go all over again. There were times she 
even hated Mulder and she berated herself for feeling like that, 
because she really did love him more than she hated him. Most of 
the time. She believed she did get the tattoo she deserved, and 
sometimes she would hold up Philadelphia as an invisible badge of 
honour that only she was aware of. Mulder couldn't see it, but it 
was pinned to the front of her suit jacket all through the El 
Rico debacle. It was there when she pulled her badge out, when 
she signed her name to the report. It made an appearance when he 
ridiculed her in front of the Gunmen and made her feel foolish 
for thinking he cared.

Sometimes she wished he could see it, understand what it meant, 
and it would make her feel sick that she could want to hurt him, 
almost as sick as the remembrance of Ed Jerse's cock pushing in 
and out of her mouth. It had been a heady feeling at the time, 
being in control, powerful, holding him off until he was begging 
her for release. Yet it was all so empty, and she went to sleep 
with an ache so deep that it spread to fill every part of her. It 
was about her and about Mulder and so many other things. One day 
there would be no more room inside and her feelings would all 
come spilling out. 

She finished up and bade goodbye to Denise, who was already on 
the phone arranging to meet friends. When Denise glanced her way, 
a question in her eyes, there was a brief moment when Scully 
considered giving in and suggesting she join them. The thought 
was quickly gone as her professionalism took over. Dana Scully 
didn't break the rules, at least not for causal acquaintances. 
She left that for the times her partner needed her so desperately 
it was the only way to help him. The door closed with a soft thud 
behind her. She wasn't sure who she was at any one time anymore. 

****************

Chapter 8



"Forty-five minutes tops, boys."

"Well good afternoon to you too, Mulder." Frohike moved aside and 
allowed the two men to enter. "Mr. Skinner, come in and take a 
load off."

Byers and Langly nodded from their respective perches. 

"This isn't a social call, boys, and you'll have to forgive me 
for once again debasing myself in your eyes. I'm desperate for 
help and," -- he choked back sudden tears -- "there isn't anyone 
else I can call." His confident tone ended in a quiet plea. 
"Please."

"You look like shit." Mulder knew Frohike hated to be seen as 
soft, but also knew he had a good heart.

"You do look like shit." 

"Fuck you too, Langly," said Mulder as he slapped his friend on 
the back.
 
Byers left his stool to shake hands with Skinner. "Excuse their 
lack of manners. Why don't you let us know what you need."

Mulder plunked the file down on the only clear surface he could 
see. "Skinner had a visitor today, as did I. His was of the 
smoking variety, mine was," -- he stumbled over the words -- 
"mine was a different kind of smoking gun."

Frohike's eyebrows rose a notch and Langly's attention was 
diverted from whatever he was watching on his computer screen. 
"You care to elaborate?"

"Later. Right now we need to know if any of these four have been 
active lately?" He pulled two of the pictures out and handed the 
photos and a piece of paper to Byers. "Look for employment at 
blood clinics, labs, any place like that. They moved quite a bit 
when they were active before, so look for places where there was 
high turnover, employees who left only to show up at a similar 
occupation right after. I don't know if they'll be using the same 
names or not."

Byers held one of the pictures closer. "Does this have anything 
to do with Agent Scully?"
 
Skinner broke in. "It was something that occurred during her 
abduction, and my visitor this afternoon seemed to indicate a 
connection to his organization, or perhaps himself. We're not 
sure what we're looking for, but I think," -- he gestured to 
Mulder -- "he'll know it when he sees it."

"Forty-five minutes? It's going to take longer than that." 
Frohike sat down and cracked his fingers, readying himself for a 
stint at the keyboard.

"Just do whatever you need to. I can," -- Mulder searched for the 
proper word -- "contain it for the time being. I may have more 
information after I meet with someone tonight."

"Just leave it with us." Byers walked them to the door. "You can 
still visit us, Mulder. Only Frohike's still mad enough to 
consider bodily harm, but he'll leave you alone if we're here." 

"Thanks, John. I appreciate it."

"Anytime, Mulder. You take care."

Once outside, the locks being thrown behind them created a small 
ruckus and Skinner couldn't help laughing. "Those friends of 
yours are worse than you, Mulder."

"You've no idea, sir, no idea."

"Listen, Mulder, I'd like to go with you tonight." He put his 
hand up as Mulder's protests began. "I'm not going to come in; 
I'll wait outside, out of sight. We don't know what is going on 
with this group or this woman. Normally, you'd have your partner 
to cover your back. I won't interfere unless I have to."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah. You want it in writing?"

"No, I just expected a whole lot more argument. Thought I'd have 
to pull rank and all that."

"Thanks, Sir."

"Just repaying a favor, Agent."

****************

Chapter 9

Scully had her gun out before her computer bag slid to the floor, 
before the door closed. She trained it on the figure hidden in 
the shadows.

"I'm armed. Hands where I can see them."

"Well, this isn't exactly the welcome I expected, Scully."

"What the hell are you doing in my apartment, Krycek?"

"You can put the gun away; I'm not going to do anything." He 
moved from behind the couch, hands held up, just as the room was 
flooded with light. He squinted. "Damn, you could've warned me."

"Just step away from the couch." As he made his way closer to 
her, Scully kept her gun steady. "Weapon on the floor. Go slow, 
no sudden movements."

He complied, kicking the gun towards Scully. "Bitch." 

"Ankle holster too." She watched as he pulled a smaller gun from 
under his pants leg, and then she carefully picked both up, 
tucking them into her waistband. "Now turn around and put your 
hands on your head."

"Fuck, Scully, I'm not here to shoot you. If that was my intent I 
would've had you before you got through the door and pulled your 
gun."

"Just do it."

He turned, hands now in position as Scully made a cursory check 
for another weapon. Satisfied, she flipped the safety on her gun. 
"Okay, you can turn around now, but no sudden movements and keep 
your hands where I can see them."

"This isn't where you sucker punch me, is it?"

"What do you want?"

"My, you're certainly civilized about the whole thing; do you 
always follow the rules? Oh wait, it's Mulder who breaks the 
rules. You know what your problem is, don't you?"

"Get to the point, Krycek. I don't have all night."

"Predictable. You always do what's expected of you, Scully."

"The point?"
 
"Tell me, have you spoken to Mulder today?"

"So help me, Krycek, if you've laid a hand on him-"

"Interesting choice of words, but it's not me you have to worry 
about."

"Look, Krycek, this is getting tiring, say what you came to say."

"I'm only here because sometimes even I think they go too far. 
You need to tell him to dig a little deeper. He's going to be 
given something, and all is not as it seems." 

Krycek moved quickly, pulling a small gun from his jacket sleeve 
and training it on her.  "Should've used the cuffs, Scully.  You 
can keep the little one, I never did like it much, but this one 
is my baby." He retrieved his Glock from her waistband before she 
could respond. "Give him a call, Scully, don't let him put you 
off because he's avoiding things he finds distasteful."

He was gone. As she spun around to follow him through the door, 
cocking her gun, she found herself aiming at nothing but air. The 
door at the end of the hallway slammed shut. She didn't know 
someone could run that fast. She returned to her apartment, 
latching the door behind her. Reaching for the phone to call 
Mulder, she noticed a manila envelope on the table. Opening it 
revealed several papers and photos clipped together. A note, 
which she assumed was from Krycek, was attached to the front of 
the package. 

    "The shaft of the arrow had been
    feathered with one of the eagle's
    own plumes. We often give our enemies
    the means of our own destruction."       
 
"Oh Mulder, what have you gotten yourself into this time?"

****************

Chapter 10

Mulder pulled up across the street from the address on the paper, 
a sprawling colonial home in Old Town Alexandria, a few miles 
from the Pentagon. That fact was not lost on him, adding one more 
facet to the mystery of Kristen's reappearance and the child with 
her. Coupled with Spender's visit to Skinner's office, the entire 
situation was beginning to look suspicious. 

"That's an expensive home, Mulder." 

"That it is, Sir, that it is. Big too. There must be four or five 
bedrooms."

"What do you know about her family?"

"We didn't exactly trade family histories." 

"No, I guess you didn't."

"Just for the record, sir, I've never done that before or since. 
It was," -- he groped for the right word -- "a difficult time for 
me."

"I'm sure it was."
 
"I never meant to hurt Scully."

Skinner shuffled uncomfortably in his seat, clearing his throat 
several times. Mulder was about to ask him if he was okay when he 
spoke. "No one means to hurt the other person. I never meant for 
Sharon to get hurt during that whole business with -- what the 
hell was that thing?"

"Succubus. It was a succubus."

"Yeah, well as hard as it was at the time, working through it 
brought us to a much better place."

"Is this the adversity makes us stronger speech? Because if it 
is, I've had enough misfortune that I could petition the Pope for 
sainthood."

"You know that's --"

"--not what you mean. I know, it's just I get tired of all the 
shit sometimes. Other guys, they go, get laid, go home to their 
girlfriends, their wives, and life goes on. Me, I get laid once 
in a fucking decade and she gets pregnant, or claims to. That 
still hasn't been proved. And let's not even go into the 'I saw 
her burn up' part."

"Mulder--"

"Or the fact that I'm single and shouldn't feel guilty."

"Single? Are you sure about that?"

"It's complicated."

Skinner's 'right' was muttered

"Sir, Scully and I--"

"Don't worry, Mulder. I know your behavior is beyond reproach, at 
least the personal aspects of it, and you are both professional 
with regard to your work. I'm also not stupid or blind. So don't 
bother."

"I've never told Scully any of it. She's never even seen the 
file."

"Is this the one that you kept under the drawer?" At Mulder's 
surprised look he continued, "I'm not as unobservant as you 
think. And no, I didn't snoop. That drawer always catches 
slightly when you push it in and out. You've just gotten used to 
it, but to anyone who was watching closely, it looked like 
something was stuck under there."

"Skinner -- you really were something other than a pencil pusher 
at one time."

"Don't push it, Mulder."

"Yeah, well, time's up. Wish me luck."

"Do you still think you should go in on your own?"

"Yeah, if it's a set up I don't want to tip our hand. Give me a 
call in fifteen, and if I don't answer, you can call in the 
Cavalry."

Skinner nodded and Mulder watched him settle into his seat, cell 
phone at the ready.

As he made his way across the street, Mulder found his thoughts 
centered on the one thing he hadn't wanted to think about too 
much: the impact this would have on Scully. The aftermath of El 
Rico was still tangible, in particular Diana continued to be a 
point of tension. Her whereabouts were still a mystery. She had 
disappeared as quietly and furtively as she had arrived. He 
didn't know how much Scully knew about the relationship he and 
Diana once had. He hadn't shared very much, reluctant to broach 
the subject. Rumors had flown following Diana's departure for 
Europe; he recalled hearing everything from Diana sleeping with a 
director to him sleeping with the same director. The water cooler 
crowd had a field day with it. The current situation might even 
garner more attention once it made it to the rumor mill. There 
was no doubt in his mind that it eventually would.

He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

********