From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org Date: 20 Jan 2002 08:46:40 -0000 Subject: UNSTOPPABLE by FatCat Source: direct Reply To: FatCat926@msn.com Title: UNSTOPPABLE Author: FatCat (feedback to FatCat@msn.com) Rating: PG Category: V MSR Spoilers: Trust No 1 Archive: Please do. Summary: How things might play out after Trust No 1. Author's Notes: Completed January 12, 2002 Dana Mulder walked down the hall, past the suddenly quiet agents in the bullpen, past the elevators, to AD Skinner's office. His assistant, Kim, smiled as she entered the room. "It will be just a moment, Agent Sc...Mulder. His meeting is running a little long. Would you like a cup of coffee or tea? I'm going to run down to the lunch room for myself and I could get you something." "Dana, please, Kim. Thanks but I don't care for anything. I'm still off caffeine until Will is completely weaned." Dana smiled at one of her few work friends. "How is Will?" Kim smiled back. "He's great! He started teething last week but is finally sleeping through the night." Dana had no problem answering Kim's questions. She was one of the few people who asked because they were truly interested in Will-not in acquiring fodder for the rumor mill. "That's great!" Kim's smile dimmed. "Have... have you heard from Agent Mulder lately?" "I haven't had contact with Mulder since the train incident, Kim." Dana's voice softened. "I'm ... " AD Skinner's door opened and Agents Taggert and Lucier exited. They seemed surprised and alarmingly guilty to see her in the waiting area. "Agent Scul...Mulder, will you step into my office, please?" AD Skinner tried to redirect her attention. Dana nodded to Taggert and Lucier and strode into the inner office. AD Skinner waited until she had taken her usual seat and, in a surprise move, walked to the front of his desk and leaned against it in a deliberate, casual pose. Moments silently passed as he studied her. She was willing to wait him out-after all he had called and scheduled this meeting. "Agent Mulder, Dana, how are you doing?" "I'm fine, Sir." "You look fit. Have you been exercising?" He was trying to ease into the reason for the meeting with a moment of small talk. "I have been working out. You need to keep your energy levels high when you have a child and a career." Dana responded. She would never admit to him or anyone else that her new fitness program was due to watching Terminator II. If she was going to have to go underground with Mulder in the future, she wanted to be in top shape. She didn't want to be a burden and perhaps the cause of his entrapment and or death. "I hear that you gave up your apartment and are living with Maggie. Is that true?" Again she hedged her answer. Shrouded in truth, but not complete she replied. "We were both spending too much time commuting. Mom is watching Will, and the traffic seemed to get worse by the day. We...we all decided that it would be better to live together for a while." "All?" Skinner was quick to pick up. "Yes, Mom, the Gunmen, Mulder." Dana was not going to tell him about the quiet liquidation of all her and Mulder's assets and the disbursement of funds through the Gunmen. Everything she and Mulder had was going towards ensuring their future together. "Besides, it's easier to secure one residence rather than two. After the invasion of my privacy disclosed by Reyes and Doggett, I wanted to do everything in my power to make sure that it doesn't happen again." A frustrated look swept his face. When would this woman learn to trust him? Why hadn't she told him about these changes. He decided to get down to business. He moved back around his desk and cleared his throat. "I imagine you are wondering why I requested this meeting." He let the sentence end, hoping to get a verbal response from her. She continued to stare stoically at him, still waiting to learn the reason for his call. She had to reschedule a full afternoon of lectures to make time for this. She had no idea what he wanted, but wasn't getting a good feeling about things so far. Skinner sighed and pulled off his glasses. He ran his free hand over his eyes then pinched his nose at the bridge as if to ease a headache. "Dana, I've been approached by a faction of the team investigating the supposed "super soldiers" that have infiltrated the government. They feel that Mulder is..." He hesitated before going on. "Mulder is what, Sir?" "They have evidence that Mulder is now a super soldier. Somehow they found him and turned him into one of them." "That's ridiculous." Dana responded vehemently. "Why do you say that, Agent Mulder?" Skinner barked. "Have you been in touch with him recently?" Dana Mulder stared at her old boss and considered his question. How much should she reveal to him? "No." "Then how do you know they're not right?" Skinner watched her closely as she struggled with her next words. "It's hard to explain, Sir. I just know that Mulder is alright and has not been compromised by these creatures. You have to believe me and trust that I am right." "Agent Mulder, Dana, it's not me that needs to be convinced. There are a growing number of people out there that believe that Mulder is no longer one of us, but one of them. If they find the slightest bit of evidence to support this theory, there will be nowhere he can hide. He will be hunted down like an animal by both sides." Dana silently considered his words. She trained her blue eyes on his face, looking for a clue to his agenda. "I have not been in contact with Mulder since the incident at the quarry. I knew he would not hazard to contact me until the circumstances were safer. He is not one of them. I would know." "Damnit, Scully, how could you possibly know? He wouldn't do it purposely, of course, but he's not infallible. Their number seems to be growing daily. How? We don't know. But we assume that they have a way of infecting or killing and duplicating a normal human and turning them into one of them. You must contact Mulder and find out for sure." Dana was silent for long minutes after this impassioned plea from Skinner. She considered his words, weighted their truth, and made her decision. "Have you considered that this... rumor is just a ruse to make me lead the enemy to Mulder?" AD Skinner seemed to shrink before her eyes. "Yes. I've agonized over approaching you with this. It's a damned if you do and damned if you don't situation, Scully. After careful consideration, I felt that letting you know was the best option." "I have been working on the reaction of the super soldiers to the minerals at the quarry. We are very close to being able to eliminate the threat of the super soldiers completely." "Scully, don't try to change the subject. Will you contact Mulder?" Skinner directly asked. "No. I can't. I don't know how." She whispered. "What about his friends, Frohike, Langly, and Byers?" "None of us know where he is until he contacts us next. But even if I did know where he was, I wouldn't try to contact him. He's okay, he's safe and he's working on the solution to the entire problem, not just how to kill the enemy. You have to understand, Sir, I can not do as you ask." Dana stood and moved towards the door. "And by the way, Sir, please address me as Dana or Agent Mulder. I married Fox Mulder and am proud to bear his name, as is Will." Dana briskly walked toward the exit, head high and shoulders back. She couldn't tell Skinner that her decision was based on her feelings and dreams and Will's direct mental connection to Mulder. He wouldn't understand that coming from Dr. Dana Scully - that was a 'Mulder' response. She mentally smiled. She was a Mulder now, maybe he wouldn't have had as difficult time as she anticipated with accepting her reasons. She would never allow anyone to see her heartache, her loneliness, and her fear. She had Will and she would have Mulder with her in the near future. Together they had always been stronger than they were apart, and now they had Will. They were unstoppable.