fic, Weak in the Knees, x-files, chapter four
Title: Weak in the Knees
Author: Dhamphir
Fandom: X-Files
Pairing: Scully/OFC
Rating: umm... NC-17 eventually
Disclaimer: X-Files, Mulder, Scully and such don’t belong to me. If Scully did, she would have never slept with Mulder - no matter how desperate she was. But then... she wouldn’t have been so desperate - I’d have let her have more fun.
Summary: Scully and Mulder are assigned to a taskforce to catch a vicious serial killer. But who is that agent assigned by the Director? And why does she make Scully’s temperature rise?
Spoilers/Timeline: Set somewhere in the first half of season six.
Archive: P&P; anyone else please ask first.
A/N 1: If you’re a fan of Mulder you may want to pass.
A/N 2: My eternal thanks to celievamp for the great beta. This work is better because of your help. All mistakes are my own. Constructive feedback is welcome.
A/N 3: A special thank you to bara_brith and yellowsmurf6 - you both know why!
Chapter 4
It was almost time for Scully and Morgan to board their plane when Morgan’s phone rang.
“Morgan... No, sir, that’s not necessary. I already told AD Taylor I wasn’t going to press charges.”
There was apparently a long response from the other end of the line. Finally Morgan spoke again.
“No... I don’t want it to go that far... I know... Look, Lou, it was about Toni, okay? He cared about her. Just let it be. Please... Thank you... Yes, sir, we’ll call if we need to... Goodbye.” She was rubbing her forehead by the time she got off the phone. She let out a deep breath.
“So the Director knows about what happened,” Scully observed.
Morgan nodded. “Taylor had to tell him - he’s who I report to. Just like your AD will receive a copy of the incident report. He called to let me know it was being handled.”
Scully took a deep breath. Assaulting a fellow agent was prosecutable, and the attack on Jess had been unprovoked. She was concerned about what was going to happen to Mulder. “May I ask what’s going to happen?”
“He was going to take Mulder’s badge, but I told him not to. He said he’d leave discipline up to the OPR board.” She let out a sigh and looked at Dana. “I’m sorry, Dana. I know he’s your partner. I promise he won’t lose his badge. Like I told the Director, it was because he cared about Toni. I can’t really fault him for that.”
Dana looked at her. “You’re more forgiving than you need to be. It certainly wasn’t your fault.” She let out a sigh. “And unfortunately, I can’t say it’s the first time he’s flown off the handle.”
“Well, if he loses his badge, it won’t be because of this.” Morgan stood up. “I’m going to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”
“Alright.”
As Morgan walked away Scully’s phone rang.
“Scully.”
“Where are you?” asked Mulder.
“At the airport, about to get on a plane. How about you? What are you up to?”
“They sent me home without my badge and gun until an OPR hearing.”
“I wouldn’t complain if I were you. You could be in a jail cell right now. The Director himself is after your hide.”
“I suppose the Freak couldn’t wait to tell him all about it,” he said snidely.
“No. She didn’t tell him.”
“Then how does he know already?” he pointed out petulantly.
“Because the incident report went to him just like it did to Kersh. Jess reports to the Director.”
“Christ!” he said disgustedly. “Looks like I may lose my badge after all.” He was pissed.
“If you do, it won’t be because of this incident or because of Jess. She told the Director point blank not to take your badge.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I was sitting right there when he called her.”
“Well I guess that makes her think she has the moral high ground,” he spat out contemptuously.
“Mulder, grow up. You did this to yourself. Take responsibility. I’ll talk to you later, I have to go.” She was disgusted with him at the moment.
“Scully!” he whined.
She simply hung up and turned off her phone. As she put her phone away she saw Morgan returning and heard their flight being called.
***
Both agents were pretty much in their own world on the flight to Savannah, Georgia. Scully was going over everything in her mind about what had been going on with Mulder’s behavior and actions. She was confused by him. He was definitely volatile at times, but she never would have thought he’d actually try to coldcock a woman. And he’d been acting strange leading up to the incident... ever since Morgan joined the taskforce.
Mulder seemed angry from the moment Morgan first arrived. Jess, on the other hand, had comported herself in nothing but the most professional and courteous fashion the entire time. The only break from her professional demeanor had been the few tears she’d shed, and hid, while she told Scully who Toni Jeffers was, and how she figured into Mulder’s actions.
Rather than thinking about Mulder, Morgan was going over the files in her head, working on her profile. It was a struggle. She knew there was a piece of the puzzle that she was not seeing, that just wasn’t falling into place yet. With so many victims it was both a hindrance and a help. More victims meant a more complete picture of the killer’s actions. But so many victims also meant so much information to correlate, more places for that one crucial piece of information to hide or get lost.
***
Once they landed in Savannah the two agents retrieved their luggage and rented a car. They drove south to a small town called Midway. They weren’t exactly welcomed with open arms by the town’s police chief, Bud Calhoun, especially since the body that had been exhumed that morning was the daughter of his cousin. But Scully and Morgan were not about to let a small town cop with a big attitude prevent them from doing their job.
Scully and Morgan left the small police station and went to the funeral home where the body was waiting for them. The mortician wasn’t any more welcoming, but he left the women alone to do their work.
Morgan watched as Scully got started. After a few minutes she moved away from the table and sat on a stool. She opened up the case file on the counter and started studying the crime scene photos. After about 30 minutes she closed the file, stood up and walked back over to the table.
“If I go talk to the victim’s mother, Mrs. Browning, will you be alright here alone, Dana?”
“Yeah. I’ll be a couple of hours here. They don’t have everything I need, so I’ll have to send most of the samples to the lab at Quantico.”
“Alright. Be back in a while.”
***
“I don’t understand, Agent Morgan, why is the FBI interested in my daughter’s case? It’s been months. Why did they have to dig my baby up?”
“I am sorry for any distress this has caused you, Mrs. Browning. But we have reason to believe Dawn’s death is related to another case we’re investigating.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. Chief Calhoun arrested the man who killed Dawn. He’s in prison.”
“I understand.” Morgan could tell the woman was close to breaking down and pushing her wasn’t going to be helpful. “Your daughter lived here at home with you, didn’t she?”
Mrs. Browning nodded.
“Would it be possible for me see her room?”
“It’s upstairs, first door on the left. I can’t...” Mrs. Browning’s tears finally started.
Morgan quickly grabbed some tissues from the box on the coffee table and handed them to the older woman. “I understand. It’s okay, Mrs. Browning, you stay here,” she said gently.
Morgan went upstairs and opened the first door on the left. It was immediately obvious that Mrs. Browning had kept Dawn’s room just as it was on the day her daughter died. Morgan was confident that Dawn Browning was a victim of the Reaper, but what she was looking for in her bedroom was a sense of who Dawn was and why the Reaper chose her, if indeed there was a reason beyond random chance.
***
On the way back to the funeral home Morgan stopped at a small diner and picked up a cup of tea and cup of coffee to go. By the time she arrived she had been gone about an hour and a half. She was surprised by what greeted her as soon as she entered - the raised voice of Chief Bud Calhoun. Morgan rushed back into the prep room to find the beer-bellied police chief yelling at, and advancing on, Scully. She didn’t even stop to think, she simply acted. Morgan put the drinks down on the counter, marched up behind the man, grabbed him by the back of the neck and his belt, and quickly shoved him out into the corridor before he knew what was happening. In the corridor Morgan spun the overweight man around and slammed him up against the wall and held him there with her left hand around his throat with enough force to hold him in place but not choke him.
Calhoun’s left hand went for his gun but was stopped by a painful, vise-like grip on his wrist. He tried to remove the hand at his throat with his right hand, but found he couldn’t even budge it. He continued to struggle against the apparent immovable force holding him in place. When he looked into Morgan’s face his struggles came to an abrupt halt. He was staring at fathomless obsidian eyes and a feral sneer with sharp, elongated canines. He felt the color drain from his face.
“Now that I have your attention, why don’t you explain to me why you were threatening my partner?”
“Uh... I...”
Scully came out after having retrieved her weapon from the bathroom where she’d left her belongings when she changed into scrubs. “Jess, you alright?” she asked from behind her.
Without turning Morgan answered, “Just fine, Dana. Bud and I are just clearing up any misunderstandings. Isn’t that right, Bud?” She tightened her hold on his wrist to encourage him to answer.
“Yes.”
“In fact, Bud was just telling me how he felt bad about his behavior and wanted to apologize to you, Dana.” She tightened her grip a little more, threatening to break the bones.
“Th-That’s right. I’m sorry, ma’am. I was out of line. The loss of Dawn has been real hard on our family, b-but that doesn’t excuse my behavior. I’m very sorry.”
Morgan loosened her grip. “Well, we appreciate your apology, Bud. Agent Scully and I both understand what grief can do to a person. But please keep in mind that we are not the bad guys here. We are only after the truth, only trying to stop other innocent young women, like Dawn, from being killed.” She completely let go of him. “Thank you for your time, Bud. If we need anything we’ll let you know,” she said dismissing him.
Calhoun nodded and left the building as quickly as he could.
Morgan closed her eyes and took a deep breath before turning around and facing Scully. “You alright, Dana?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Scully answered as they entered the prep room.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here. I didn’t expect Bud to come and harass you.”
“It’s not your fault. I can’t believe I left my weapon in the bathroom with my clothes.”
“Do you normally keep your weapon on you when you perform an autopsy?”
Scully sighed. “No.”
“Then don’t beat yourself up over it.” Morgan walked over to where she’d set the drinks down and retrieved them. “Here, I stopped on the way back and got you some coffee.”
“Oh, bless you.”
Morgan chuckled. “So, did you find anything?” she asked as she took the lid off her hot tea.
“Nothing new. The wounds are consistent with the others. I won’t have the test results until Quantico runs them and gets back to me. I’ll send the samples overnight.”
“Are you done?”
“Not quite. I should finish up in about 20 minutes.”
***
Once they were done in Midway, Scully and Morgan got in their car and headed north to their next destination, the small town of Branchville, South Carolina. It was about 120 miles from Midway. By the time they arrived it was dinner time, so they went directly to their hotel in the neighboring town of Saint George.
The clerk at the hotel front desk handed Morgan a FedEx package when they checked in. “This arrived for you, Agent Morgan.”
“Thank you.” She opened it up.
“What is it?” Scully asked.
Morgan pulled a white envelope out and removed a credit card from it. With a smile she held the card out to the redhead. “It came addressed to me, but it’s for you.”
Scully took the card from her.
“I don’t understand?”
“It’s a card on my expense account. Anything you would normally put on an expense report to get reimbursed for such as copies, car rental, meals, whatever, just use the card.”
“You have a Bureau credit card?”
Morgan smiled. “It beats the hell out of filling out expense reports all the time. Especially with how much I travel.”
Chapter 5...
prologue| ch 1| ch 2| ch 3|