Disclaimer etc. in Prologue... MENAGE A TROIS... By DanaK35 PART FOUR Boston, Massachusetts 06:45 a.m. Three months later Spring finally came with a burst of colors and bright blue sky. During the past months Scully had come to appreciate, even love the city she had chosen to life in. Boston had a European flair; sidewalk cafes and people had been surprisingly open and friendly. On the day she had moved in, her upstairs neighbor, named Phoebe had invited her for a drink and had slowly laughed her way into Scully's life. Phoebe was independent, lived a rather alternative lifestyle and she challenged Scully and the strict way she led her life constantly. The perpetual sadness that seemed to have oppressed her for the last years, slowly faded, as did the seriousness with which she regarded every aspect of her life. With Phoebe, she learned to laugh again. During long evenings alone in her apartment, she'd found herself. She realized how hard the last years had been on her. How the many deaths, her own illness had affected her. And slowly she learned to live again. She still missed Mulder desperately and wished they had parted as friends and when she realized that she missed Walter Skinner as well, she was surprised her. After all they'd never even been close. Not as close as she'd been to Mulder. A long time ago. Scully inhaled deeply as she stepped out into the sunshine and walked down the cobblestone street to where she had left her car last night. Starting the vehicle she drove onto Storrow Drive. She was giving a lecture at Harvard this morning and she looked forward to a few hours amongst her eager students. It was a nice change from the frantic pace at the Field Office and the demands of her new job. A brutal serial killer was haunting Massachusetts and everyone at the bureau was under extreme pressure to solve the case, since he had already raped and slain eight women and young girls. Apart from that case she was heading up a major case involving drugs and money laundering. And of course there were all the other cases. Fraud, robbery, blackmail, you name it, it was there. Having worked on the X-files for almost 6 years, she had almost forgotten how difficult and exhausting the day-to-day work of a Field Agent could be. Not that the X-Files hadn't been all that. But it had been different. A world to itself. For a brief moment she allowed herself to think of Mulder and she felt guilty. She knew she had hurt him but that couldn't be helped. She had thought first about herself this time and maybe that's what it had taken to get out of this vicious circle of frustration, jealousy, love and hate. It had been time to move on. ****************** FBI Field Office Boston, MA, 10:40 Dana Scully impatiently waited for the elevator doors to open. She was ten minutes late for the task force meeting and didn't bother removing her coat and entered the conference room with an apologetic "Sorry, I am late!" when she saw him sitting at the far end of the table. Walter Skinner. His presence overshadowed everybody else's in the room. Her face lit up with a smile, but his remained stony as he acknowledged her presence with a mere nod. She briefly raised one eyebrow and then took her seat at the other end of the large conference table. Agent Gallagher filled her in on the topics that had been discussed during her absence. "AD Skinner has flown in to assist us..." Scully shot Skinner a sharp look. 'Are you here because you don't trust me to do my job?' that look communicated. "I have personally taken it upon me to go through the data collected by VICAP!" He explained as if he had read her thoughts. The discussion went from there. Data was accumulated, hints discussed and theories brought forward. Scully leaned back in her chair and regarded Walter Skinner curiously. In all the years in DC she had never really paid attention to his physical features. She had always been too involved in her work and her difficult relationship with Mulder. The last months and the fact that she had desperately missed him had changed that. The ex-Marine stood taller than the other men present, his well-trained muscular body towering over them. His dark, piercing eyes took in every detail, while he listened intently to the conversation. His full, sensitive mouth was pressed together in concentration, accentuating the fine lines that ran from his nostrils to the corners of his mouth. It was a hard face, the face of a man who had seen a lot of cruelty, who had been through enough himself. 'He is incredibly sexy', Scully thought, and tried hard to focus on the meeting. By the time it finally came to an end it was hours after lunch and she was exhausted. To make matters worse she had another task force meeting on the drug case in 20 minutes. That didn't leave her time to get something to eat at the cafeteria and so she motioned to Skinner who was still talking to one of the Agents to meet her at her office. 'How could I forget how imposing he is?' Scully thought as she looked up to see him waiting in front of her desk. "It is so good to see you, Sir!" A smile finally lit up his face and made his dark eyes sparkle. "Unfortunately I have no time whatsoever to speak to you...I have another meeting in ten minutes." She continued. "I know, the drug case is the case I actually got involved in...there is a connection to two Senators in Washington and that's why I was sent her by request of the Director...I'll be making a couple of phone calls and then I'll be right with you." He didn't mention that he volunteered for the task as soon as he heard that the assignment would be in Boston. "Feel free to use my office..." Scully had gotten up after a glance at her watch. "I'll see you in the meeting." She hurried out of the office. Skinner stared at the door that had closed behind her. It had overwhelmed him to see her again. The last months had been hard after he admitted to himself how much he missed her. Hell, she had been haunting him ever since she and her partner had stood before him for the first time, it had been ridiculous to assume that would end, once she was gone. Her partner. He realized that something must have happened between her and Mulder and for the hundredth time he wondered what could have torn them apart. The sexual tension between them had always been obvious, but so were the deep feelings of understanding and friendship they shared for each other. It had always amazed and saddened him to see that bond between them and he knew that whatever happened and that whatever would happen, Dana Scully would always love Fox Mulder. But neither that knowledge nor the impending threat from Alex Krycek had kept him from falling in love with her. ********************************************** FBI Field Office Boston, Ma.; 8:30 pm "I see you are still here, SAC Scully." Skinner's mocking tone made her up. He was leaning in the doorway to her office, dressed in jeans, a black t-shirt, his broad chest hidden by a long black leather jacket. Scully swallowed, suddenly lost for words. "The case, you know.. I see you got changed." He looked down at his jeans. "Yeah, I finally got to my hotel room, it's been a busy day..." An awkward silence hung between them. Then Scully said. "Why don't I finish up here and take you out to dinner? I am paying." "How could I refuse?" ************************* She took Skinner to one of Boston's many seafood restaurants and when the evening was over it left her aching for him. They strolled through Quincy's market and watched the tourists buy everything in sight and then she led him to the Boston Aquarium where "Legal Seafood" had a restaurant. The night was mild and so they sat out on the terrace, overlooking the water. Scully ordered fresh Oysters for them and large bowls of New England Clam Chowder. A California Chardonnay accompanied the meal. "So how is Washington?" Scully asked and put salt & vinegar dressing on an oyster. Skinner watched her, mesmerized. The way her fingers handled the shell, her mouth opened to receive the flesh of the oyster. An image of her, how she'd take him in this mouth flashed before him. He cleared his throat. "Same old..." He shrugged. She wanted to ask how Mulder was, but didn't dare. Did she even want to know? But the Skinner said. "Mulder has been reassigned to VICAP permanently." "Ah." She nodded and took another oyster. "The X-Files?" "Still in Spender's and Fowley's hands but they are looking at closing them completely. No results." 'Figures,' she thought and decided to change the subject. "Have you been to Boston before?" "Yeah, but that was... let's just say that was a long time ago, a lot has changed. How do you like it, Ag.. Scully?" She had to smile. Taking a sip of her wine she answered. "I like it very much. My life here has changed a lot. Of course I work a lot, who doesn't, but I actually have friends, I go out, I've joined a fitness club..." He had noticed that the fine lines around her mouth had disappeared along with the melancholy in her eyes. 'It's not having to deal with the X-Files any longer,' he thought, 'and maybe it's Mulder,' but he didn't say it. Scully sensed his hesitance. "How long are you going to stay?" "As long as it takes to solve these cases." He looked at her intently. She smiled. "Good, then we get to do this again." ************************** Boston Field Office Two weeks later, Friday Based on the profiles, Skinner had brought up from Washington, they were able to narrow down the number of suspects to five, but observing all of them proved to be difficult since there weren't enough resources. The big break on that case came when another victim was found and a witness saw a car, which belonged to one of the suspects, Louis K. Eichhorn. He was brought in for questioning and DNA testing. Two days and endless hours of questioning later the lab sent over the DNA match. It was 98%. After 9 victims Louis K. Eichhorn was charged with murder in the first degree. Dana Scully signed off the last report and sat back in her chair. The case had been solved, the last meeting had been held and Skinner had commended her whole team. He had shaken her hand calmly and nobody would have thought that the two of them were seeing each other socially. Walter Skinner was the stone-faced AD all the way. Scully accepted the roles they played at the Bureau. After all it was none of the other Agents business whether she was going out with the AD or with anyone for that matter. Scully suddenly felt like celebrating and picked up the phone to give Skinner a call, but when she dialed his hotel number she was informed by the receptionist that Mr. Skinner had left the hotel an hour ago. Disappointed, she replaced the receiver. As she gathered her belongings and left he office for the day, she wondered why he hadn't told her he would be leaving. So much for that, she thought. ********************************************** FBI Headquarters Washington DC Friday, 08:30 p.m. Walter Skinner stepped off the elevator and hurried down the corridor to his office. Kimberly, his assistant was still there, getting up when he entered. "Sir! They are waiting for you in conference room 4!" He dropped his coat on the leather couch. "I know. Have they started yet?" "No, they are all waiting for you..." Skinner nodded. The meeting in DC had been called at the last minute. The suspicions about the Senator had proven to be true and the director had requested Skinner's presence in DC. "Kimberly, would you call SAC Scully up in Boston for me and explain that I had to attend a meeting here?" Kimberly raised one eyebrow in astonishment but quickly looked down when she saw his cold glance. "Sure will, Sir!" She picked up the phone when he left the office. She was informed that SAC Scully had already left the building, when she came through to the Boston Field Office. She shrugged and left a note on AD Skinner's desk blotter. Whatever his business with SAC Scully was he would have to handle it himself. She was off for the weekend. **************************** Dana Scully's residence Boston, MA Friday, 08:45 p.m. Scully stepped out of the shower and put on comfortable sweatpants and an oversized shirt, wrapping her hair in a towel. She had poured herself a glass of Chardonnay and was just sitting down on the couch when someone knocked on her door. Sighing she got up and opened. It was Phoebe. "Hey, Dana!" she quipped and let herself in, waving another bottle of Chardonnay and some take-out menus from various restaurants in the neighborhood. Scully closed the door and grinned. Phoebe was wearing flowered leggings and a huge bright green shirt. She was petite, almost painfully thin and in her oversized clothes she looked like a little girl playing dress-up. Her blond, wavy hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail and she wasn't wearing any shoes. "Hey, Pheebs, what's up?" Phoebe plopped on the couch and switched on the stereo, immediately switching channels from the classical music channel Scully preferred to a local station that played the latest hits. "I saw you coming home...and frankly I have been spying on you...anyway since you didn't leave again I figured we could spend a "girlie" kind of evening together...you aren't going out on a date, are you?" Scully had poured her friend a glass of white wine and was sitting down on the couch beside her. "No, I was planning on staying in tonight. It has been a rough couple of days...besides I can't even remember when I last had a date." Phoebe gave a short laugh. "Yeah right and who was that hunk you have been going out with almost daily and WHY isn't he here tonight?" Scully smiled briefly at the expression 'hunk'. "He is no hunk, he is my boss actually, well, was my boss down in Washington!" Phoebe's eyes grew big. "Hellooo! And...come on Dana, don't make me beg, I need details...!" How should she explain her relationship with Walter Skinner, or whatever it was they'd had over the last weeks? "His name is Walter Skinner, he is Assistant Director of the FBI and he used to be my boss, actually he was for almost 6 years, he came up for a case and, well.. we've been out...that's all...no date just out... colleagues!" Scully picked up her wine and took a hasty sip. She felt her face flush. Phoebe grinned broadly. "So you are telling me, you go out with this hot, sexy if bald guy for two weeks ? Going to dinner, to the opera, to the market... That's such bullshit, Dana, the guy is hot... and I only saw him in a coat, in the dark!" Scully regarded her over the rim of her glass. She thought back to the evening they had spent at a Tapas bar on Newbury Street. He had been wearing jeans and a turtleneck sweater that had made him look VERY attractive. "Yeah, yeah, he IS very good looking, but..." "No BUT, Dana, I don't like that BUT...so what are you going to do about it?" Scully was saved by the knock on the door. She opened and paid the delivery guy. Then she took her time getting some napkins and more wine before sitting down and handing Phoebe the cardboard container with the Chinese food they had ordered. She opened her own chicken Kung-Pao and fiddled with the chopsticks. Damn, she could never really figure out how to use these things, Mulder had been so much better at that. "So, Dana, what are you going to do about it?" Phoebe repeated and expertly picked out some cashew nuts looking at Scully with raised eyebrows. Scully sighed. "There is nothing TO DO...it is much more complicated than that, Pheebs." She thought of their whole history over the past few years. Of Mulder. Oh, no, this was much too complicated. Phoebe sensed her reluctance to talk and waved it off. "Ah, Dana, you are much to stuck up...relax, you are a beautiful woman, he is a GOOD looking man...have some hormones!" Scully laughed and soon they fell back into easy conversation as Phoebe told her about the new man in her life. *************** Walter Skinner unlocked the door to his apartment and switched on all the lights. Still in his coat, he picked up the phone and dialed Dana Scully's number in Boston. He got the machine. "Scully...if you are there, could you pick up ...please...OK it's Skinner, I..." "I am here!" Her voice sounded slightly slurred. "What? Where are you?" "I am in Washington, I had was called to a meeting about that drug case...suddenly, anyway, I couldn't call you...I should have...it's all very complicated!" In Boston, Phoebe gave Scully a thumbs-up sign, when she realized who was on the line. She listened to Skinner and for some reason a warm wave swept over her. Maybe it was time to have some hormones. "Skinner!" She interrupted his ramblings. He had shrugged out of his coat and was holding the phone between ear and shoulder. "What?" "Skinner, why don't you come back up here? I'll pick you up at Logan..." He almost dropped the receiver. "...Ah, OK, sure, I'll call you." "See you then...and Skinner, sweet dreams!" "You, too, Scully!" He hung up and went upstairs, when the phone rang again. "Yes?" "Sir?" It was Mulder. "Yes, Agent Mulder?" "Sir, have you seen her?" Mulder sounded drunk. "I have no idea, what you are talking about, Agent Mulder!" "Have you seen Scully on your trip to Boston?" "I don't know if that is any of your business, Agent..." "Damn it, Skinner, have you seen her?" "Yes, Agent Mulder" he replied through clenched teeth, "I have seen SAC Scully, she is fine, now if you'd let me get some sleep." Skinner hung up and went upstairs wondering what the hell was wrong with Mulder. End part 4