Weekend Interlude

Sara B. 06/06

The lush furnishings of the room were lost on Scully. Her thoughts were too full and her emotions too raw for anything else to take hold.

She turned from the window and surveyed the room that had gone from beautiful dream to luxurious nightmare with one two minute call. “Sorry, Scully, I have to cancel. Cath and I are onto something and I can’t get away. Maybe next wee…”

She’d hung up before Mulder could finish and she quickly grabbed her things and headed out but not before pulling out the gaily wrapped package and leaving it on his pillow.

She’d planned this anniversary weekend getaway six weeks ago and she would be damned if she let him ruin something else, but knowing full well that he had. Mulder had promised that he wouldn’t let anything or anyone get in the way of their weekend away. It was just one too many disappointments; another lie and another betrayal from the man she was doomed to love and who claimed to love her.

Cath was Cathleen Sutherland, the newest member of the X-files division and she was openly chasing Mulder. It didn’t seem to matter to her that Mulder and Scully were married; Scully suspected that was part of the attraction. She was used to women flirting with Mulder; he usually was too distracted to notice but not this time. This time the woman was not only flirting with him but she was also involved with the X-Files. Besides, Mulder didn’t seem to mind the woman’s overt attentions.

For the first time since they’d been married Scully was worried.

The X-Files was actually two divisions now. The hierarchy of the FBI finally conceded to the veracity of the investigations. And to think it only took them thwarting an alien invasion for that to happen. Yes, they’d won. Scully had been able to mutate the anti-viral agent and created a vaccine that destroyed the alien virus and left the human victim with something akin to a three day flu like illness.

Within two years the X-Files was no longer a subject for derision but one that had a waiting list of applicants and Mulder and Scully were the married undisputed department heads.

It had been Skinner who’d devised the method for them to remain partners without breaking FBI protocols regarding married persons working together. He created an off shoot of the X-Files called the X-Files Forensics and appointed them to head the two entities. Each of them had several young bright and shining agents reporting to them.

Scully still didn’t understand how Sutherland qualified to even be considered for the position. Her background did not include any of the requirements for an agent on the X-Files. When she questioned Mulder about it he just said it felt right.

Scully wasn’t suspicious until she met Agent Sutherland; five ten, dark luminous long hair and sparkling chestnut colored eyes that seem to be aimed at Mulder. Scully knew that she had a very possessive nature where Mulder was concerned so she tried to be welcoming to the young woman. That is until she walked into the office and found them embracing. Mulder told her that ‘Cath’s’ pet passed away and she was upset. She let it go but that was only the beginning. Suddenly there were late nights at the office. Cancelled plans because of work and Mulder lame excuses explaining why Scully should not to accompany him on field investigations. In the middle of it all was Special Agent Cathleen Sutherland.

This anniversary weekend was Scully’s attempt to refocus Mulder on their marriage. Scully sat on the bed and the realization came to her that this might be the end. Whatever happened, the next move was Mulder’s.

Suddenly her stomach growled and she remembered she hadn’t eaten. She reached for the room service menu but changed her mind. She’d be damned if she sat moping in the room all weekend. Scully grabbed her wallet and keycard and left to find something to eat.

“Sorry, Scully, I have to cancel. Cath and I are onto something and I can’t get away. Maybe next weekend.” Mulder heard Scully hang up on him and he slammed the receiver down, she could be unreasonable at times.

Tom Jeffries asked, “What’s the matter, Mulder?” Tom reported to Scully and was second only to her for his expertise.

“I just called and had to cancel our weekend away and Scully’s mad.” Mulder’s tone was dismissive.

“I can understand that. She’s only been planning this anniversary getaway for, what, four or six weeks,” Tom replied.

Mulder’s head shot up. “Anniversary,” he’d forgotten their anniversary. “What the hell is wrong with me? I completely forgot. I just thought. . . Hell it doesn’t matter what I thought, I really screwed up. How could I forget our anniversary?”

Just then Cathleen Sutherland breezed in and Mulder heard Tom mutter as he was leaving, “I think the answer just arrived.”

“So, Mulder, you ready to go? We need to catch that plane.” Cath said. Mulder looked at her, really looked at her. He noticed the self satisfied look on her face.

“I’m not going, Cath.” Mulder said as he picked up the phone.

“But we need to investigate this quickly. I told you my source. . .”

Mulder held up his hand to stop her. “Mike, Mulder here. I need you to go to Kansas with Cath on a case.”

Cathleen listened to Mulder read the detail of the case to Mike Richardson from the file while inside she was seething. This was going to be the weekend that her well planned out seduction of her boss was going to ‘climax’ if you will. Now she was stuck with Mike Richardson. Mike was an okay guy but she he wasn’t married and that just took the fun out of it. Besides, she knew that Mike would figure out that the case was bogus before they finished the flight. Mulder, always the believer, would investigate anything as long as you gave it the right ‘polish.’

Mulder looked up from his phone call and saw the look on Cath’s face and instantly he knew something was wrong. It was like it was the first time he really saw her features and what she looked like. He was beginning to understood why Scully was suspicious of the time he been spending with Cathleen. Cathleen’s looks were everything he used to be attracted to. Cath bore a striking resemblance to another woman whose sudden reappearance nearly ruined his relationship with Scully altogether.

“You know, Mike, looking over the file and thinking about it, I believe this case needs to be looked into further before we send you two out. Will you help Cathleen put together a proposal for Tuesday? I’m going to be out Monday. Oh, and make sure the proposal will sell Scully or it’s a no go.”

He could see by the look Cathleen was giving him that she knew she’d overplayed her cards. He’d never been bothered by Cathleen’s flirting. To him it had been a game between them. Now he realized that she’d been serious and if Tom had noticed, and was bothered enough to make that comment. Scully saw it too and he could only speculate what she was thinking right now.

He silently handed Cathleen the file and gathered his things. Before he left he turned. “I think it would be better if in the future you follow protocol and take these cases to either Mike or Jackie before presenting them to Scully and me.”

Mike walked in just as Mulder left, he’d overheard Mulder’s comment and he couldn’t hide the smile. “So the boss man finally figured you out? If you want my advice I’d start looking for a transfer. The boss may get distracted occasionally but it’s just the work, you didn’t even figure into the equation. Where Scully’s concerned there isn’t even a number two. She’s the only one for him and he knows he’s damned lucky to have her. Oh, and I wouldn’t be looking for a recommendation letter from either of them, or Skinner for that matter.”

“Don’t be too sure of anything, Mike. I lost this round but I’ve won an awful lot before. He’s just letting sentiment get in the way of the inevitable. Have you noticed the way Scully’s been acting? She knows their days together are numbered. I’ll win in the end, I always do.”

Mulder stood outside the door and heard the exchange and hung his head. Did everyone see this except him?

Mulder kicked himself all the way home. How could he forget his wedding anniversary? How could he treat Scully like he had? How could he ever make it up to her?

He’d tried to reach on her cell but it went straight to voice mail. He didn’t leave a message because he knew she’d not bother getting back to him and he also knew he owed her more than some message. What he needed to say had to be done face to face.
He searched their house for any indication as to where it was they were going. Scully had made all the arrangements and told him it was going to be a surprise.

‘Mulder, it’s time you earned that Spooky reputation you’re so famous for.’ He started searching their home.

Scully decided to indulge. She rarely allowed herself to eat junk food but tonight she just needed comfort. She made her way to the bar located in the underground near the hotel. It was one of those places with sport antique paraphernalia littering the walls and lots of brass and wood. She took a table near the rear and a waitress came almost immediately. Scully ordered without hesitance, bar food rarely had any surprises. Her food arrived quickly and she enjoyed the, usually forbidden, bounty of a cheeseburger and fries, accompanied with a draft beer.

There wasn’t much of a crowd Scully noticed and she casually ate. She suspected that this place probably catered to traveling businessmen and most of those flew home before the weekend.

There was a group of four men sitting eight tables away, just far enough that she couldn’t hear them over the game playing on the TV. She knew they’d checked her out. From the corner of her eye she watched them figure out which of them would approach her. She used her finely honed investigative skills to check out the men. They were all married, an easy catch since they all sported the tell tale white mark on their ring finger from where they’d removed their wedding rings. Their suits were reasonably tailored but definitely not in line with the typical DC power suits. She scanned down and saw they all wore cowboy boots. Texans, she guessed, possibly Oklahoma. Most likely part of the oil contingency that was scheduled for talks next week.

One man stood up and started her way, he was followed by some good natured ribbing from his friends. So the lamb was chosen for slaughter, though she doubted he was seeing it quite that way at the moment.

“Hey, pretty lady. Mind if I join y’all?” The man took a seat without waiting for her reply. Scully detected that he had over accentuated his Southern drawl. He motioned for the waitress to bring him another Scotch. The waitress, Karen, delivered the drink and gave Scully a look that asked, if she wanted help getting rid of the jerk, using the silent language that all women who’d suffered cheesy come-ons shared. Scully returned a look that told Karen to sit back and watch. A smirk replaced Karen’s look of apprehension.

“My name is Kenny, now what would your name be?” The man said before he hoisted his drink.

“Dana, I’m sorry, Kenny, but I need to be leaving soon. I’m meeting someone in a little while.” Scully replied in her most sincere voice.

“Now, that just ain’t hospitable.” Kenny said with mocked annoyance before he graced her with a wink. “Don’t you DC residents know you need to be generous with visitors?”

“What makes you think I’m from DC? I could be a visitor too,” Scully replied.

“Well, that just makes it more important for two lost souls to get together.” Scully didn’t know if it was vibrato in front of his friends or the Scotch but Kenny was stepping up his game. He took her hand and kissed it. “Do you have any idea what I’d like to do with you tonight?” Scully shook her head while she tried not to cringe at his boldness. Kenny began to tell her in detail exactly how he expected the night to play out.

“I told you, someone is expecting me.”

“Call them and cancel.”

“May I use your phone please?” The man handed over his cell without hesitation and gave her a hungry look. He turned and gave a thumbs up to his buddies.

Scully took the phone from him and smiled, ‘time to meet your worst nightmare, creep,’ She thought as she quickly hit speed dial number one. Everyone knew that almost every married man’s number one contact was his wife.

A woman answered, “Kenny, I didn’t expect you to call.”

“Hi, this is Dana. My new friend, Kenny, let me use his phone. I thought it would be a good idea to call you and let you know about all the interesting things Kenny wants to do to me. Do you understand?” Scully said in such a pleasant voice that Kenny didn’t pick up on what was happening.

“I understand completely. Thanks for the heads up, Dana. Now would you put that lying, cheating bastard on the phone, please?”

“Kenny, she’d like to speak with you.” She handed the phone to the hapless philanderer and walked away.

Scully went to the bar to pay her tab and tip Karen. “Excellent move, lady, a real classic.”

Mulder finally found the hotel confirmation information on Scully’s computer. He silently chastised himself for taking two hours to think of looking there. It surprised him that she’d chosen a place so close to home, right downtown DC. But then maybe her idea was to have an indulgent weekend together. This hotel was known for pampering their guests. They had in room massages available and two highly rated restaurants. There was also the underground shopping concourse that was attached to the subway system so they could venture out and play tourist if they wanted. They’d have all that and they wouldn’t have the stress of traveling back home on Monday.

Mulder went back into the bedroom and repacked the clothes that Scully had tossed from his suitcase in what must have been one of her infrequent moments of pique.

He grabbed the package she’d left behind and looked at the careful wrapping. He knew that she’d taken the time to wrap this herself. One thing he knew about his beloved wife is she didn’t take shortcuts. She considered the wrapping nearly as important as the gift. She’d take hours looking for just the right gift wrap or ribbon and sometimes she found other things to use as wrapping. Often a clue to the present was to be found from the wrapping she used.

Once, Langly’s birthday present was wrapped in a computer printout that she’d somehow gotten to read Happy Birthday over the top. The gift was a particular computer game he’d been trying to find. Last Christmas, Maggie’s gift was in a beautiful red silk beaded scarf and the gift was a pair of tickets to Carmen. A Scully gift always matched the personality of the recipient and the giver. She once commented she never gave a gift that she wouldn’t readily accept for herself.

This package had the Milky Way pictured and Mulder wondered if that had something to do with his personality or what was inside. He was upset with himself for not having a gift for her. He knew he could stop on the way and pick something up but that just didn’t feel right. He needed to do something more personal.

Mulder called Skinner and arranged to take the entire week off then he called to extend their stay and arranged for the entire spa package and Champagne and Strawberries with Cream to be delivered five minutes after his arrival.

Scully was exhausted when she returned to her room. The run in with the would be Lothario and everything going on with her marriage had taken a toll on her emotions. She ran a bath for herself and decided to try and at least attempt to relax.

Mulder opened the hotel room door and had the waiter bring in the food cart and place it over to the far side of the room. He quietly maneuvered around the room so as not to alert Scully. During his trip from home he devised a plan to get her to listen to him; unfortunately she may have him arrested for it but he knew it would be effective.

He pulled out his handcuffs and found hers in her suit jacket. He grabbed her discarded thigh high stockings from the bag and set about arranging the items on the bed. Mulder was going to restrain her into listening to him. Mulder heard Scully getting out of the tub and moved into position.

Scully walked out of the steamy bathroom wrapped in a towel. Mulder grabbed her and had her secured before she knew what happened. She struggled with her bonds and the towel loosened; offering a delicious view of her body. She saw his gaze travel down and realized how exposed she was. Mulder looked up and saw the vulnerability in her eyes. He pulled the towel closed but he let his face tell her how hard it was for him to do it.

“As much as I love the view I think I need to explain some things to you before I’ve earned the right to see you like that. Will you listen?”

“I always listen, Mulder. I just don’t know if there is anything you can say to explain all that has gone on.” Mulder saw the tears forming in her eyes.

“Just assure me you haven’t given up on me altogether, that you’ll hear me out and give me another chance.” Mulder didn’t care that he sounded melodramatic or pleading. He knew he was on the verge of losing everything that mattered to him.

Scully turned her head and nodded once. She couldn’t look at him, it was just too painful.

“I forgot our anniversary, I don’t know how but I just forgot and I forgot you’d planned this weekend. I let myself get tied up in the cases, again, and you are the one who suffered, again.” Mulder moved so he was lying next to her prone body and she turned her head the other way. “Scully, if you never believed anything before have faith that this is the truth. It had nothing to do with Cathleen and everything to do with the work. It wasn’t until today that I even realized what she looked like.” He leaned up and pulled her face to see his. “After you hung up on me, I changed the plan and I was making arrangements for Mike to go out with her when I realized the file was bogus. Then I looked at her and it all clicked. She was trying to come between us and I, in my stupidity, was unwittingly helping her. I’d shut you out and mocked you when you questioned the cases she and I had investigated; cases that never seemed to pan out anything useful. It was then I looked at her and realized what you saw when you looked at her.

“I’m ashamed, Scully. Ashamed that I let another woman make you doubt us. Today was the last straw, wasn’t it? My canceling out was the last chance you were going to give me. We’ve been down this road before and that other time you fought for me but this time you,” Mulder’s words broke off. “You’ve never realized that her death was not the reason I turned to you, have you? You always thought that, had Diana lived, I would have chosen her.” Mulder situated his entire body next to hers. Scully’s tears were streaming down toward her hairline and he kissed them away. “The only proof I can give you is my words. They’ve always been enough in the past, please let it be enough now. I do love only you, Scully. I loved you long before Diana showed up and I’ll love you for as long as I exist in any form. Please tell me, please.”

“God, Mulder, I love you beyond logic. But I need to know you’re sure this is what you want; that I’m who you want. I’ll let you go if you’ll be happy with someone else.”

Mulder smiled at her. “You love me that much?” He was awed by her. “Scully, if I ever lost you it would be the end of me.” Mulder released the bonds and they held each other as they cried.

Mulder sat back against the headboard and Scully snuggled on to him, their naked bodies still glistening with sweat from their exertions. His eyes went skyward and he said a silent thanks to whoever might be listening. He hadn’t blown it but it was close; too damned close.

“I think I’m going to have Cathleen transferred.”

Scully sat up quickly. “Oh no. That woman stays and if she tries to transfer I’m going to have Skinner reject it, or better yet, tell her that the only job available will be in domestic terrorism.”

“Kersh; you’re going to have Skinner offer her a job in manure management? You are a cruel woman, Dana Mulder.”

“You have no idea. Sutherland is going to start reporting to me.”

Mulder pulled back and looked at his wife. “Why do I have the idea she’d find being one of Kersh’s Crap Coppers more enjoyable?” Mulder said dubiously.

“Kersh isn’t the only one who can dish out big piles of manure.”

Mulder didn’t miss the note of glee in his wife’s voice. ‘Cathleen, you’re playing in the big leagues now, you’ll never know what hit you.’

End

So, what do you think Scully can dream up for the devious Cathleen?

Weekend Interlude Part 2 - Extended Interlude