Subject:     Crossing the Line 5
Sent:        28/01  11:49 AM
Received:    28/01  9:29 PM
From:        Sharon Nuttycombe, avalon@terranet.ab.ca
To:          dobbo@c031.aone.net.au

>Crossing the Line 5 - Unforgettable part 1/2
>Sharon Nuttycombe 
>celtic@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca 
>May 21, 1996 
> 
>************************************************************ 
> This is part five of an ongoing story arc called "Crossing the
> Line" which is a Scully and Skinner romance.  It will probably
> make more sense if you read the previous four first.  (These
> should be on the gossamer archive under "Crossing the Line".) 
> Also, this takes place in a universe in which Avatar never
> happened.  It is not NC-17 (be patient...).  There is a GCS
> (gratuitous chest scene) for Mulder fans this time...
> 
> I would appreciate any comments or criticism, about story,
> style, or anything else you care to mention.  Thank you. 
>
> Acknowledgements:  Thanks to Linda Campbell, my co-conspirator
> and unofficial, unpaid research assistant.
> 
> Disclaimer:  Scully, Skinner, and Mulder belong to Chris
> Carter...Do you think if I said copyright infringement was
> intended, the FBI would come to investigate me?  Would they
> look like Skinner...?
>
>************************************************************
>
>              Crossing the Line 5 - Unforgettable part 1/2
>
>
>	Scully's life was becoming a cliche.  If it were a book, it
> would be a Harlequin.  A bad one.  Her mind drifted as she
> pulled her shoes off her aching feet..."The crack FBI agent
> could have had any man, except the one she most desired...the
> man who gave a whole new meaning to 'America's Most Wanted'...a
> sweeping tale of love and lust in the world of espionage and
> intrigue..."  She shuddered, half expecting someone to leap out
> from behind a desk shouting "Cliche alert, cliche
> alert...awooga, awooga..."
>
>	"I guess it's official," she said to herself,  "I've finally
> gone off the deep end."  She sat back, staring blankly at the
> shoe in her hand.  Still, she did have an excuse.  It seemed
> like she hadn't slept in decades.  She had spent the night
> tossing and turning, thoughts of Walter Skinner chasing each
> other through her mind.  That kiss...and then the anxiety of the
> morning, waiting to confront him...
>
>	He didn't remember the kiss.  Scully wasn't sure how she
> felt about that.  At first the relief had been overpowering. 
> But now...He had kissed her, passionately, and he didn't even
> remember.  Scully wasn't certain if she should be relieved or
> annoyed.  Granted, it had been a while, but she was fairly sure
> that most of the men she had kissed had remembered the
> experience.  She herself could remember every detail -- vividly.
> He at least owed her the courtesy of feeling an equal amount of
> guilt...
>
>	The phone rang and Scully jumped as if someone had fired a
> tommy gun beside her.  She paused a moment, trying to still the
> pounding of her heart, then picked it up with trepidation.
>
>	"Hello?"
>
>	"Dana?"
>
>	"Is that you, Jack?"
>
>	There was a tremor in his voice.  "I'm at the hospital."
>
>	"What's wrong?"
>
>	"Celeste's gone into labour."
>
>	Scully blinked.  "But..."
>
>	"I know.  It's too early."  He gulped audibly.  "Look...
> I...can you come?"
>
>	"Yes of course.  Which hospital?"  Scully dropped her shoe,
> grabbed a pencil, and wrote down the location.  She muttered
> something reassuring to Jack, then hung up the phone and tried
> to marshall her thoughts.  Her oldest friend was going to have a
> baby.  Now.  Pulling herself together, she scribbled a hasty
> note and dropped it on Mulder's desk, picked up her shoes and
> jammed them back on her feet, then snatched up her purse and car
> keys and left the office.  
>
>                          *     *     *
>
>	Skinner tried to focus on the pages in front of him, but
> they kept blurring annoyingly.  Spots danced across his vision
> and somebody kept tightening a vise around his forehead.  "This
> is why I seldom drink," he thought, "I can't cope with the
> aftermath."
>
>	It was true.  He had been surly all day.  He had snapped at
> Kimberley when she had offered him coffee and just about taken a
> young agent's head off when the other man had stumbled into him
> in the hallway.  As for what he had almost done to the
> photocopier that had dined on his paperwork...well, that was
> what repairmen were for, after all.  Eventually people had begun
> to avoid him.  Now he felt like a social pariah.  His secretary
> cast him reproachful looks every time he ventured from his
> office and people in the hallways had begun to dive around
> corners when they saw him coming.  
>
>	Skinner wished he could blame it all on somebody else.  It
> would be tempting to charge Dana Scully for the sad state he
> found himself in, but that wouldn't be fair.  True, he couldn't
> seem to keep his mind off the woman, but that was hardly her
> fault.  On the other hand, she had lied to him to protect her
> errant partner.  On the other hand (he was beginning to run out
> of hands, he thought confusedly) she had also come to fetch him
> the night before when he had...overindulged (okay -- drank
> himself into a stupor).  She had taken him home, tucked him in
> bed, and not mentioned his idiotic behaviour to anyone. 
> Definitely above and beyond the call of duty.  Now, if only he
> could remember...whatever it was he had forgotten.
>
>	Skinner knew he was forgetting something.  Something
> important.  And it was driving him crazy.  When he had awakened
> it had taken him a while to piece together what had happened the
> night before.  When he did, he rather wished he hadn't made the
> effort.  The memory of singing the Marine Hymn while Scully
> drove him home wasn't one of his happier recollections. 
> Nevertheless, there were still some gaping holes in his memories
> that needed to be filled in order to regain his peace of mind. 
> For instance, what had happened after he had entered his house,
> and before he had awakened fully clothed (but for his shoes and
> tie) in his bed?  And why were echoes of a song chasing each
> other through his aching head?  He wouldn't mind so much if he
> knew which song it was, but even that seemed to elude him.  He
> sighed.  Even his headache was getting a headache...
>
>	It had taken him half the morning to gather the courage to
> call Scully up to his office.  He had finally decided that he
> needed to know what had happened more than we needed to preserve
> his dignity.  If he had to be face her contempt and his own
> embarrassment, well, so be it.  Except of course she had been
> kind and understanding, and had even laughed off the singing. 
> Singing.  Sigh.
>
>	The Assistant Director tried to focus once more on the
> hieroglyphics cavorting in front of him, then gave up in disgust
> and rang his secretary.  
>
>	"Kimberley, could you get me some water and aspirin,
> please?"
>
>	"Yes, Sir."  Her voice was terse and clipped, and he could
> almost feel the waves of disapproval coming through the closed
> door between them.  He grimaced.  It was going to be one of
> those days...
>
>                          *     *     *
>
>	Mulder opened the door to his apartment, dropped his bag in
> the middle of the floor, pressed the rewind button on his
> answering machine, and wandered over to the fish tank, while
> loosening his tie.  Wilbur and Orville gazed back at him with
> cold fishy eyes.  He half-heartedly sprinkled some food into
> their tank while listening to his messages.  A familiar voice
> filled the air.
>
>	"Mulder?" the tape said, "Where are you?  If you're where I
> think you are, then I hope it's for the hockey, because
> otherwise you're going to get us in a lot of trouble.  Call me
> when you get back.  No.  Scratch that.  Call me sooner."
>
>	Mulder turned back to the machine as it went dead.  She
> sounded cross.  And worried.  And...something else.  Of course,
> given the fact that he had interrupted her in the middle
> of...something...when he called on Sunday, and that he had raced
> off to Canada without her -- well, she probably wasn't in a very
> charitable mood.  Scully angry, he could cope with.  Scully...
> involved with someone...he wasn't sure how to cope with that.
>
>	He had spent the last couple of days going over the
> conversation on the phone.  The voice of the man on the other
> end had been familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.  Someone
> they worked with...?  No.  It was no good.  Every time he almost
> had it, the recollection skittered back into the corners of his
> mind.  Mulder shrugged inwardly.  It didn't matter.  He would
> remember ...eventually.
>
>	The implications, however, were more than a little
> disquieting.  His partner was romantically involved with
> someone, and that bothered him.  The agent gazed blankly into
> the fish tank, trying to put his thoughts in some sort of order.
> Why?  Why did it bother him so much?  Scully was a grown woman,
> and he certainly couldn't blame her for having a relationship. 
> Hell, he hadn't exactly been a boy scout these past few years. 
> Still, his few flings had been short and meaningless.  Phoebe,
> Kristin...not exactly epic romances.
>
>	Maybe that was it.  They hadn't meant as much to him as his
> partnership with Dana Scully.  Mulder chewed on his lip and
> paced into the bedroom, pulling off his t-shirt and changing
> into a suit.  His thoughts whirled.  What exactly was his
> subconscious trying to tell him?  He didn't love her...did he?
>
>	He paused in the midst of buttoning his shirt, a cool
> draught goosepimpling his chest.  That was it.  He did love her.
> But it wasn't mere romantic love.  She was important to him,
> probably more important than anything else in his life.  She was
> his partner, his friend...and more.  She was like the other side
> of his soul -- yin and yang, science and supernatural, peanut
> butter and jam...He didn't want to lose her.
>
>	Mulder scowled.  This was becoming ridiculous.  If Scully
> wanted to embark on an affair with some man, that was her
> business.  He had absolutely no say in the matter, and wouldn't
> interfere even if he did.  He finished dressing, grabbed his car
> keys and file folders and left the apartment, ignoring the 
> voice inside him that told him he was behaving like a fool.  The
> door slammed behind him as he left.
>
>                          *     *     *
>
>	By the time Scully arrived at the hospital, Jack was pacing
> up and down like a caged lion.  Or a cliched father-to-be.  He
> saw her coming and hurried toward her.
>
>	"Jack...?"  She touched his arm tentatively.
>
>	"It's okay.  I think.  They said it was just a false alarm. 
> They're checking her now."
>
>	Scully breathed an unconscious sigh of relief and the
> nervous knot of tension inside her loosened somewhat.  She
> peered more closely at the man beside her.  "Are you all right?"
> she asked.  
>
>	"Sure.  Yeah.  Just fine."
>
>	He didn't look fine.  Actually, he looked ready to pass out.
>  His face was paper white and he seemed rather unsteady on his
>  legs.
>
>	"Come on," she said, taking his arm.  "Sit down."
>
>	"Sit.  Yeah."  Mechanically he sank into an empty chair then
> immediately bounced back to his feet and resumed pacing. 
> Sighing inwardly, Scully matched paces with him.  "Tell me
> exactly what they said."
>
>	"Who?"
>
>	"The doctors."
>
>	"Oh yeah."  He looked down at her, as if truly seeing her
> for the first time.  "Sorry.  I'm not at my best right now."
>
>	Scully smiled.  "That much is obvious.  Stop a minute." 
> Jack came to a halt.  "Good," she continued.  "Now, take a deep
> breath."  He obeyed.  "One more."  A little of the tension eased
> from his body.  Scully gave him another reassuring smile.  "Now
> -- tell me what the doctors said."
>
>	He did.  He repeated the medical terms almost word for word,
> parrot-like, then came to the end of his recital and gazed
> worriedly down at her.  She patted his arm encouragingly.  
>
>	"Don't worry.  It's going to be fine."
>
>	It was evident that he didn't believe her.
>
>                          *     *     *
>
>	Mulder stared broodingly at the note on his desk.  Rather,
> at the notes -- plural.  Scully's hastily written missive lay on
> the top of the pile, half hiding several urgent summons to
> Skinner's office.  Even as he read, the phone began to ring
> insistently.  
>
>	Let it ring.  He snatched up the coat he had removed moments
> before, picked up his partner's note, and headed back out. 
> Behind him, the telephone continued to ring.
>
>                          *     *     *
>
>	Skinner glared at the receiver in his hand.   Mulder was
> here, he knew.  He had expressly ordered security to inform him
> the moment the agent arrived.  By now, the man must be in his
> office.  So why wasn't he answering his phone?  For that matter,
> why wasn't Scully?  Finally he gave up, slammed the receiver
> back down and strode to the door.  Kimberley looked up,
> startled, as the Assistant Director emerged, waves of annoyance
> rippling around him.  She said nothing, but watched cautiously
> as he stalked out of the office.
>
>	Skinner descended to the basement, barely noticing as people
> gave him a wide berth, and unceremoniously flung open the
> door...to an empty room.  Where the hell were they?  His black
> mood grew even blacker.	He was turning to go when he noticed the
> note on Mulder's desk:
>
>	"Mulder.  Gone to Georgetown University Hospital.  Celeste's
> in labour.  Scully."
>
>	Skinner didn't even stop to think of his options.  He spun
> on his heel, left the basement office, and set out for the
> hospital.
>
>                          *     *     *
>
>	Scully had finally made Jack sit down and was bringing him a
> coffee (like he really needs more caffeine, she thought) when a
> doctor emerged from the room behind her.  Jack catapulted to his
> feet and shot past the agent, all his attention focused on the
> doctor.  Scully just managed to keep the styrofoam cup from
> spilling, then turned and joined them.
>
>	"Your wife is doing fine," the doctor was saying.  "There
> are a few technical terms for it, but it really was just a false
> alarm."
>
>	Jack swallowed deeply.  "So she's all right?"
>
>	The doctor smiled back at him.  "Mother and daughter are
> both doing fine.  Mrs. Hastings needs to take it easy, but I
> don't anticipate any more problems."  She gave him a sympathetic
> look.  "Don't worry.  You just have to survive another three
> -and-a-half weeks of this."
>
>	Jack sagged in relief.  "I...thank you.  When can she come
> home?"
>
>	"Right away.  She's just getting dressed."   The doctor
> smiled again, then turned and left.
>
>	Jack sank back into the chair.  Wordlessly, Scully handed
> him the coffee.  He drained it with a gulp, barely noticing as
> it burned his throat and tongue.  Relief was evident in every
> part of his body.  Scully suppressed a momentary flash of
> jealousy.  Sometimes she wished she had someone who loved her
> like Jack did Celeste...Enough of that, she sternly told
> herself.  Your life is just fine.  Don't be greedy...
>
>	A tremor suddenly went through her.  Something made her look
> up and her mouth went dry.  Skinner.  He was just emerging from
> the elevator at the end of the hallway.  Their eyes met.  Even
> from this distance, she found she could read his mood and it
> wasn't good.  Irritation and frustration seemed to colour his
> every move as he hurried down the hallway toward her.  She went
> cold.  Had he remembered...?  The annoyance she had felt earlier
> vanished and she knew she really did not want him to remember;
> did not want to have to deal with...everything.
>
>	Something, some sixth sense or instinct, made her wrest her
> gaze away from the Assistant Director and look in the other
> direction.  Mulder was just rounding the far corner, coming
> toward her.  Suddenly, Scully knew what an antelope felt like,
> caught between two stalking lions.  It wasn't a pleasant
> feeling.  She couldn't deal with any of this right now.   Coming
> to an instant decision, she murmured to Jack:
>
>	"I'm just going to go see Celeste, okay?"  With that she was
> gone, vanishing into the hospital room.
>
>                         END OF PART ONE
>
>                          *     *     *
>
>Crossing the Line 5 - Unforgettable part 2/2
>Sharon Nuttycombe 
>celtic@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca 
>May 21, 1996 
> 
>************************************************************ 
> This is part five of an ongoing story arc called "Crossing the
> Line" which is a Scully and Skinner romance.  It will probably
> make more sense if you read the previous four first.  (These
> should be on the gossamer archive under "Crossing the Line".) 
> Also, this takes place in a universe in which Avatar never
> happened.  It is not NC-17 (be patient...).  There is a GCS
> (gratuitous chest scene) for Mulder fans this time...
> 
> I would appreciate any comments or criticism, about story,
> style, or anything else you care to mention.  Thank you. 
>
> Acknowledgements:  Thanks to Linda Campbell, my co-conspirator
> and unofficial, unpaid research assistant.
> 
> Disclaimer:  Scully, Skinner, and Mulder belong to Chris
> Carter...Do you think if I said copyright infringement was
> intended, the FBI would come to investigate me?  Would they
> look like Skinner...?
>
>************************************************************
>
>              Crossing the Line 5 - Unforgettable part 2/2
>	
>	Skinner saw Scully vanish behind a closed door and slowed
> his pace.  He reached the spot where she had been at almost the
> same moment as Mulder.  They both came to a halt in front of
> Jack, who rose to his feet and looked somewhat confusedly from
> one to the other.
>
>	"What are you both doing here?"
>
>	There was an awkward silence as the agent and the Assistant
> Director eyed one another.  Finally Skinner spoke.  "I was
> looking for Agent Scully...and Agent Mulder."  The last was said
> directly to Mulder.
>
>	At the other man's first words, a chill shot through Mulder.
> Recognition came swiftly on its heels.  It was him.  It was
> Skinner.  He was the one who had answered the phone...For a
> moment Mulder's mind reeled, and he didn't hear what his
> supervisor was saying.  He couldn't believe it.  Scully
> and...Skinner?  
>
>	With an effort he dragged his mind back to the present. 
> Skinner was politely asking after Celeste.  "How the hell does
> he know Scully's friends anyway?" Mulder thought randomly.  He
> wasn't coping well with any of this.  He kept picturing his
> partner and his boss locked in a torrid embrace, an image his
> mind refused to accept.  Scully and Skinner...!?  When?  How
> long?  And why in all the hells, hadn't she told him?  A sense
> of betrayal began to grow within him.
>
>	Skinner finished speaking to Jack, who wasn't really
> listening anyway, and returned his gaze to Mulder.  The agent
> stood rigidly before him, not paying any attention to the
> conversation.  Skinner muttered an excuse to Jack, then beckoned
> to Mulder.  The agent followed him silently.
>
>	Skinner had been keeping a tight lid on his emotions.  The
> suppressed tensions and frustrations of the last week had been
> tearing at him, but now he finally had an excuse to let a little
> of it out.  Mulder was in the wrong.  He had acted contrary to
> FBI regulations (what else was new?) and had forced his partner
> to lie to protect him.  At last Skinner had an excuse to vent a
> little of hi



Sharon Nuttycombe
avalon@terranet.ab.ca

--"I have as much respect for the chain of command as the next guy.
--Only if you're standing next to Fletcher Christian."  Adderly



--