Chapter Four - Decisions and Promotions Scully woke up the next morning to the delicious smell of coffee brewing. She pulled on a robe and sleepily wandered into the kitchen to see Mulder wielding a frying pan and talking whimsically to William. The baby cooed dreamily from a bouncy seat carefully secured on the counter near Mulder's reach. The man was wearing only a low slung pair of jeans and still had rumpled sleep hair. He turned around at her approach and Scully nearly dropped to the floor. Her devilish partner was not only shirtless, he was wearing those sexy glasses. "Morning, Scully!" Mulder downright leered as his gaze swept her body. She smiled at his glowing eyes and moved toward the stove. Not only had he made a pile of hot buttered toast and a pot of coffee, Mulder was making *omelettes.* Gooey, cheesy, packed with onion and mushroom omelettes, of all things. She could get used to this. "I want to show you something," he grabbed her excitedly and waved toward the lit up computer. Scully unstrapped Will from his baby chair and carried him over to her desk. Mulder leaned over her and punched a few keys. A website materialized onscreen. "There's a site I found this morning called 'freakylinks.' They videotape everything they do and have informants and witnesses to the paranormal happenings around them. Sound familiar?" He was all but bouncing up and down in his glee. Scully concentrated on putting Will to her breast while she gathered her thoughts. "It's so much like what you and I do." Mulder continued to jabber. "They have a record of all these things they've caught on tape. None of it is proven of course...But there's other people out there, doing just what we've been doing for years!" He chuckled mirthfully. "The madness is catching!" Scully got caught up in watching him speak and gesture about this new favorite topic of his. The man was so damned *compelling* when he got passionate about one of his theories. Although she was disconcerted by the website, Scully knew that Mulder would never change. He would always be interested in the odd, the peculiar. He sought out trails off the beaten path. One thing was for sure. Life would always be an adventure with him. He would never stop, but she hoped that she and Will could get him to slow down at least. The baby fell asleep nursing. He had risen at six am with his father and been on the go around the apartment ever since. Scully kept closing her eyes and making guttural sounds of pleasure with every bite of her eggs. Mulder was pleased at her reaction. He assured her that he wouldn't indulge her like this every morning, but he knew she had to regain her strength after the birth. Also, he added, she needed protein for her milk supply. Inevitably, the conversation turned to that age old question of What Do We Do Now. "So Mulder," she put her feet up and sipped at her coffee, promising herself she would not indulge in caffeine again for at least six months. "I've been thinking about what to do when my maternity leave is up." "Oh? And what have you come up with?" Mulder leaned back also and casually ran his fingers through his messy hair. "You HAVE to put a shirt on. You are too damn tempting by half with those glasses and a bare chest." Mulder looked startled, then sheepish. He blushed a little as he left the table to grab a t-shirt. Scully contemplated their financial status while waiting for him to return. Certainly she didn't need to return to work, though she wished it. Thanks to Mulder's inheritance and surprising savvy at investing, neither of them need ever work at a "J.O.B." again. Four houses, all filled with expensive furniture, three of them sold. Mulder had kept his mother's summer home in North Carolina, possibly because it held the least amount of painful memories. Scully knew he had moved what furnishings he wanted to that house, as well as keeping several pieces of Teena Mulder's jewelery. And of course, there was Scully's savings. That didn't add up to much compared to Mulder's wealth, but there was a time when Scully expected to feed her child with it. Her own childhood with it's simple and utilitarian way of life had been for a reason; her beloved Ahab denied himself many luxuries so that his children would have an inheritance. Dividing it amongst four children had lessened its significance somewhat, but Scully added to it over the years. When Melissa died, her will revealed that none of her share had been spent, had instead left it to her baby sister. A good portion of *that* had paid for an unsuccessful in-vitro attempt. Scully winced to remember how hard that had been on both of them. The partnership was strained because the attempt had, unfortunately, come between them. At any rate, she knew that their futures were now secure. There was something in Scully that *wanted* to work. It was bred and trained in her. The youngest of a reasonably large family grew up doing chores and was expected to pitch in and do her fair share. Scully thought she would eventually get bored being an at-home mom, grateful as she was for the chance to be a mom at all. She needed to contribute something more to the little family she was now a part of. Besides, her practical self pointed out, who knew when the money might simply run out? Decision made, Scully lifted a smiling face to Mulder who strode, fully dressed, back into the kitchen. ------------------- John Doggett and Monica Reyes entered the sanctuary of AD Skinner's office. The AD was gruff as usual, but a twinkle in his eyes and a barely contained sense of glee pervaded his manner. A promotion to the status of Deputy Director was pending, everyone knew it, even though it wasn't official yet. Doggett was happy for him. They planned on throwing a barbecue party when the announcement was made. The two agents sat down before him. Reye's leg brushed Doggett's thigh as they sat, but he ignored her glance in his direction. His eyes remained steadily fixed on Skinner's face as he waited for the meeting to commence. Skinner cleared his throat and leveled a gaze at each of them in turn. They sat in nearly identical poses to those which Mulder and Scully had sat in over the years. How bizarre it seemed to have these two fresh-faced agents investigating such deep, dark secrets. Well, the two legends before them had certainly paved the way. "The first piece of news I have for you is that Agent Scully will not be returning to the X-Files. However, she will be available as a forensic consultant. Anytime you need a cause of death determined, just send the body to Quantico." "Quantico, sir?" "Yes. She's taking on a teaching job there. I'm also happy to inform you that the division you're currently working in will gain new agents. On a temporary basis of course, you two will remain the key investigative agents, with Doggett as Senior Agent. However, for particular cases and whenever you request it, other agents will be made available to you for fieldwork. I expect this will make your jobs a lot easier?" Doggett and Reyes seemed a bit stunned. More agents working with them would make the X-Files unit much more respectable. Doggett had seen enough to wonder if that was even a good idea. He knew the stories about Mulder; and in extension, about the X-Files themselves. As sure as he was that his friend Walter had paved the way for this, he wondered if it would open them up to even more ridicule. "That's...that's good news, sir." Skinner heard the hesitancy in Doggett's tone and looked at him hard. He glanced at Reyes to see her looking at John in slight puzzlement. She stared a moment or two longer, then returned her attention to her superior. "Are there particular agents who might have requested this assignment sir?" she asked, shrewdly going to the heart of her partner's suspicions. Who on earth wanted to work an x-file? Skinner didn't have to consult the request in front of him. "Actually yes. Agent Leyla Harrison has had a change of heart regarding working on the X-Files and has asked for an occasional chance to, I believe she said, 'Chase down some liver eating mutants.' I trust you too know what that means?" The upturned corners of his mouth revealed that he, too, knew what the reference meant. "Yes sir!" Doggett chuckled with the memory of the dreamy eyed, eager young agent. He looked forward to working with her again, maybe toughening her up a little. "Yes sir," Reyes was beginning to grasp just what her transfer to this new assignment meant. There were a lot of subtle nuances here, a lot that was left unspoken, a lot that was said with a raised eyebrow and pursed lip, the inflection in a voice. She looked longingly at John again, remembering when they worked as such a well oiled team. Again, he kept looking at AD Skinner, and she pondered the way Skinner just looked steadily back at him. --------- The celebration marking the rise of a new Deputy Director was possibly the biggest one in FBI history. The police had to cordon off the street, making it one big block party. Beer and wine flowed freely, along with other substances tolerated in moderation for just this one night. Mulder got lovingly carried away displaying affection to his partner and had to be pinched several times by said partner for inappropriate behavior. She took advantage of him, however, on the walk back to the car. She pulled him behind a large oak tree and kissed him soundly while groping her hand down his pants. He was suitably inflamed by the time she released him and spent the remaining distance to their vehicle insuring that she was just as eager as he to get home. Reyes tried several times to get *her* partner to dance with her. He just shook his head at her gently and stayed near the new Boss' side.