Rating: PG-13 (violence)
Spoilers: a few minor ones, nothing specific
Warnings: a couple of fight scenes, a few swear words
Dana Scully sighed as she opened the car door, juggling
the dry cleaning and the shopping bag and somehow managing
to get everything in the car without dropping anything.
Eight days out of town and now she barely had time to do all
her errands since getting a call from you-know-who telling
her they were booked on another flight.
"We've got a hot one here, Scully!" Mulder had crowed
over the phone. She could hear the grin in his voice. Lord,
how she wanted to wipe that grin off of his face!
"What now?" She had held her breath, not really wanting
to know the answer.
"An honest to God Elvis Sighting!!"
"You are kidding, right?" She hoped he was, anyway.
"Yeah, I am. Actually, it's a missing person. A
seventeen year old girl is missing and her mother thinks
the boogie man took her. Her father thinks it has more to
do with the James Dean look-alike she has been dating.
Doesn't look like anything too serious, but Daddy
contributed quite a bit to a certain political campaign
and we are the strings that got pulled."
After settling the details of the flight, Scully had
been left trying to do a week's worth of errands in two
hours. She had just barely enough time to get home and pack
the suits she had just had cleaned. Mulder would be picking
her up, so at least she wouldn't have to worry about rush
hour traffic to the airport on her own.
She tried to relax a bit on the ride home. With the
radio cranked and the window down enough to allow a warm
breeze over her face, she was almost able to forget the
past week. Almost. But thoughts of the coming case and
the flying involved began to worm their way into her head
and she was feeling more than a little irritated by the
time she pulled into the parking lot of her apartment
building.
The sun was beginning to go down and the street light had
not clicked on yet. Dana concentrated on making sure she
wasn't accidentally dragging her dry cleaning on the sidewalk
and juggled the bag containing the new shoes with her keys
as she tried to get her apartment key out.
She should have known better. That was her first thought.
Stupid idiot! To walk in shadows, not paying attention to her
surroundings. To let herself be distracted by her burdens.
These thoughts rang through her head, even as the arm came
around her throat and the hand clamped on her mouth.
Dana's packages and purse fell in a confusion of crinkling
paper and plastic. She clawed at the arm but was unable to
get a grip on her attacker. Her vision began to dim as she
fought just to breathe. She felt herself being dragged backward
then flung onto the ground. The impact stunned her long enough
for the man to cover her body with his own and trap her wrists
in one of his hands.
Scully thought quickly. She knew that if she didn't
move at the right time, she was going to be raped by this
foul-smelling animal who was panting in her ear.
While his body covered hers, he couldn't undress her enough
to accomplish his goal. Sooner or later he had to move off her
enough to do so. That would be her chance. So, how was she to
use that fact? She decided to pretend to be no threat at all
in order to catch him off guard.
As her attacker lay on top of her, he began to rock, enjoying
the sensation of power he got from rubbing himself against her
as she acted dazed and helpless. Seeing that she wasn't fighting,
he chuckled softly.
"Oh, you like that don't you? You'll like what I got for
you even more, sweetie." His breath was hot on her face,
smelling of whiskey and cigarettes. He levered himself up to
one side, putting all his weight one one leg as he worked at
his belt buckle.
Dana waited, peering from under her lashes, until he
looked down to undo his jeans. Then she acted, bringing a
knee up to his groin as she pulled her wrists out from under
his hand. Since all of his weight was on that one hand and
one leg, it was fairly easy for her to knock him flat on his back.
This gave Dana her first look at him. A scruffy looking man,
in his late twenties, slight build. Her mind took in the basics
but the light was too poor for anything more. She instinctively
reached for her gun, then remembered it was in her purse-- no
doubt lying on the ground by her door, with everything else.
The man was rising from the ground, swearing. Dana eyed
him warily. She knew she couldn't outrun him, he was at least
Mulder's height. The knee blow to the groin didn't strike him
near enough to the genitals to do more than surprise him, so she
couldn't count on that to slow him down.
"Stop! Stay right there!"
"Or what, sweetheart??" The man moved as he spoke and
attempted to grab her.
"Or this, dearie!" She said sarcastically as her elbow
impacted with his midsection and her three-inch heel found a
resting place on his left foot. Without waiting for him to
recover, she laid him flat with a roundhouse that would have
made Bill Scully proud of his baby sister.
As he lay there, stunned and curled in the fetal position,
she took a quick look around. They were behind the dumpsters her
apartment building kept, around the corner from the front door.
No wonder no one had intervened. A quick look around netted her
a length of cord from a broken lamp.
As she rolled him over on his stomach, he groaned. She
used the cord to tie his hands behind his back as she began
the litany familiar to criminals and television watchers
everywhere in the US.
"You have the right to remain silent, slimeball. If you
choose to give up that right, and I really hope you do, anything
you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
Assuming that I let you live that long. You have the right to an
attorney, assuming you can dig one up to defend a lowlife like
you. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for
you. Do you understand these these rights as I have explained
them to you or do I need to put them in words of one syllable or
less?"
"I understand... Please, don't hurt me!" In the manner common
to bullies everywhere, he seemed to shrink very small when
presented with any threat.
She hauled him up and hustled him around to the front of the
building. Locating her purse, she used her cell phone to call
the police. When her prisoner heard her identify herself as a
federal agent, he moaned.
"Aw, hell! I'm screwed!! A freakin' fed! I hadda pick a
freakin' fed!" He seemed about ready to cry.
The local police arrived quickly, arresting the man formally
and frisking him before cuffing him and taking him away. The
officer in charge took a quick statement, agreeing to allow
Scully to make a more detailed statement later.
Looking at her watch as the last officer left, she realized
she only had 5 minutes before Mulder was due to arrive. She picked
up her dry cleaning (now rumpled and dusty), her shopping bag
(contents spilled) and her purse, then headed inside.
**************
Mulder was feeling very smug. Here he was, only 5 minutes
late! Scully wasn't waiting outside, which was unusual but
considering that they hadn't been given much notice, he wasn't
too worried. He found a parking space and headed up the
sidewalk.
Mulder knocked on the door, rocking a bit on his toes in
his enthusiasm for the new case. He smiled approvingly as he
saw the peephole darken, showing that she was checking before
she opened the door.
"Hey Scully, I got us --" He stopped mid-sentence when
he saw that her bags weren't packed and she was still in her
"civilian" clothes. "You're not ready??" He asked in disbelief.
"The flight leaves in an hour! We have--"
She interrupted him. "I am not going. You will have to
go and I will catch a later flight and meet you there."
"What do you mean you're not going?" He was stunned. How
could she leave him hanging like this? She knew he relied on her.
"Mulder, I can't go. I just got off the phone with Skinner.
I need to go downtown to give a statement before I go. Now you
can either wait and we can fly out together, or you can go on
ahead and I will meet you there."
"A statement?"
"Yes, a statement."
Mulder was confused now. A statement for what?
"There was a... disturbance here earlier. I had to call
the locals in. Since I arrested him, they need me to give a
statement."
"A disturbance. Normally, they could wait a few days for
the arresting officer's report. As long as the complainant
give their statement, you should be able to wait." Suddenly
it hit him. "You... you're the complainant aren't you?"
She sighed and refused to look at him. "Yes."
"My God, Scully, what happened? Are you all right?" In
two strides, he was at her side with his hands gripping her
arms.
"Yes, I'm fine!" She moved back and pulled his hands off
her. "And if you don't mind, I have been manhandled enough
for one day, thank you."
"What did he do to you? I'll kill the son of a bitch,
I swear I will. I --" His ranting was cut off by the look
on Scully's face. She looked mad. But she was glaring at
him. What had HE done?
"Out." She bit the word off, teeth clenched Skinner-tight.
"What?" Now he was really confused. Why was she mad at
him? Whatever happened to her must have shaken her more than
he thought.
"Shut up and get out!"
"Scully, whatever happened, we can get through this.
I'm here for you. If you need--" He was amazed when she
interrupted her again.
"Mulder, what I need is a partner who can accept the
fact that I am an adult. Not only that, but I am an adult
who was trained to take care of herself. An adult who can
kick ass if she needs to. Now, I don't have a problem asking
for help when I really need it. But I resent the hell out of
the fact that you rush in to do it when I don't need it.
I had enough of that growing up with two overprotective brothers."
She seemed to grow several inches as she spoke, her presence
filling the room. Mulder took an involuntary step back.
"Now. If you want to continue this nonsense, you can find
yourself a big, macho, male partner. I have had it!"
"Scully, I know you can take care of yourself, I just--"
"You just thought that I would be ever so grateful that
you were willing to go kick this guy's ass for me. Well, I
think the guy has had all the ass-kicking he can take for
one day. And if I think he needs it again, I am more than
capable of doing it myself. Or don't you believe that?"
"Of course I believe it. It's just that--"
"What? It's just that I am short? Or that I am female?
Or that I am fragile? "
"Well, no, but it hasn't been that long since --"
"Mulder."
"Yeah?"
"Shut up." The look on her face erased any doubts he may
have had about her sincerity.
Mulder suddenly remembered that Scully was armed. He also
remembered that she had actually used her weapon on him once
before. Maybe discretion WAS the better part of valor.
"Um, tell you what, Scully. How about I just um, go home
and change the flight to tomorrow night. Um, I'll call you,
ok? I'll just... I'll call you and uh, you can do what you
need to do, okay?" Mulder backed slowly and cautiously to
the door and let himself out as Scully glowered at him from
where she stood.
*********************
(next morning)
"Mulder, it's me. Meet me at the gym in one hour."
"What? Well, ok, should I --"
"Just meet me there."
"Ok. One hour."
"Oh, and Mulder?'
"Yeah?"
"Wear something loose fitting. Not those black jeans of
yours. And don't forget your cup."
He stared at the phone numbly as she hung up. His cup?
What was with her? He could count on one hand the number of
sentences she had let him finish in the last 24 hours. Now
this cryptic summons had him unbalanced. He just didn't know
what to expect from her next.
When he got to the gym, he found Scully stretching. Leaning
against the wall nearby was their Assistant Director and boss,
Walter Skinner. Mulder was more than a little surprised to see
him there, but tried to look unfazed.
"Morning, sir. Morning, Scully." His eyes flicked back and
forth between them. "Can I ask what is going on here?"
"Agent Mulder, what is going on here is that your partner feels
that her competency has been questioned. A good partnership
is founded on the assumption that each partner is capable of
backing the other up." Mulder nodded his understanding of the
AD's words.
"Agent Scully was more than able to defend herself yesterday. I
was told that, as he was being led away, her attacker was begging
the locals to keep her away from him. Yet for some reason, she feels
that you need a demonstration of her ability to do her job."
"A demonstration? I don't understand."
"The two of you are going to spar, Agent Mulder. You will
do so until there is a mutual respect and understanding. If
Agent Scully wins, she will take over as head of the X-Files
Division for one month. That means that she will decide which
cases to investigate and what means you use to do so." Mulder
winced at that.
"If you win, she does all the paperwork for a month. I suspect
she does most of that anyway. If at any point, Agent Scully feels you
are patronizing her, she will have the option of choosing a new partner.
I would suggest that you not try to throw the fight."
"I don't understand. What is the point behind this?"
Skinner's reply was cryptic. "Mulder, rumor has it you are an
intelligent man. Figure it out for yourself. I suggest you try your
hardest to win."
They spent a few minutes determining the ground rules and equipping
themselves for safety. Once both had inserted mouth guards, they waited
for Skinner's signal.
They circled each other, each waiting for an opening. Scully snaked a
bare foot out to snag one of Mulder's ankles, causing him to fall to the
mats with a crash that echoed loudly through the gym. As soon as his
back hit the mat, she was on him, mimicking a blow to the throat and solar
plexus.
"Scully's point!" Skinner's voice called.
Mulder got up and waited for the signal to begin again. This time
he seemed to move a little more carefully. He feinted to his left then
moved to the right, pulling her toward him in much the same hold her
attacker had. She reacted just as she had the day before, an elbow to
the stomach and a heel to the instep. When Mulder reacted to the blow,
she used the arm around her shoulders to throw him over her hip and to
the mats. This time she climbed on his back and pulled an arm behind
him to disable him.
"Point to Scully!"
Mulder got up, a little more grim and much more determined. As they
circled again, he dredged his mind for ideas, trying to remember the
classes at the academy. Inspiration struck and he faked moving into a
position that would be easily countered. As Scully moved to block it,
he used a shoulder throw to put her on the mat and pin her.
"Point to Mulder." Skinner's voice was as expressionless as ever, but
Mulder somehow got the impression he was amused by this.
Sweat beaded on Mulder's forehead as he and Scully faced each other
again. Both were breathing heavily and Scully's hair clung damply to
her face. Each of them focused solely on the other, watching for the
minute movements that would warn them of the other's next action.
While one part of his brain was concentrating on the sparring, a
little part of his mind was trying to decipher the reason behind this.
He just wanted to protect Scully. To see that nothing horrible happened
to her again. Why was that wrong?
He got a hold on her right arm only to have her break free and
attempt to trip him again. Both regained their footing and began the
dance once more. His body wrestled with his partner as his mind
wrestled with his confusion.
He managed to sweep her feet from beneath her. Her compact form
slammed to the mat and he was sure he had her as he moved in to mime the
disabling blows. When he got within arm's reach of her, he suddenly
found himself flying over her head and landing on the mat himself. He
barely made it to his feet in time to avoid losing another point to
her. With difficulty, he managed to knock her to the floor and pin her.
"Point to Mulder!"
He let her up and watched her gasping for breath even as he
struggled for it himself. Skinner's beeper went off just then
and he excused himself to use the phone. The partners eyed each
other as they waited for him.
"Truce?" Mulder panted, wiping away the sweat dripping into his
eyes.
"That depends." Scully panted back. "Have you figured out what this
is about yet?"
"I haven't the faintest. But could we please talk about this
instead? " His eyes pleaded with her and she relented.
"I guess we can take a break before we go for the tie breaker."
"Why do you feel the need to fight me, Scully? I don't want to hurt
you."
"Mulder, do I have to kick your ass on the mat again? Because,
obviously, I can do so if I try. Matter of fact, I was trying very hard
not to hurt you. So how do you think I would do against someone I
wasn't pulling my punches on?"
Mulder winced. "I guess I wouldn't want to be the one to find out."
"Mulder, when we are out in the field, I want you to keep your mind
on what you are doing, not worrying about what is happening to me.
Obviously, I can hold my own. If I get in over my head, I will call
you. I have in the past, haven't I? And I have pulled your sorry
backside out of the fire a few times as well."
Mulder gave her a rueful grin and nodded. "Yeah, you have."
"Look. If you can't do your thing and trust me enough to do mine,
we have no business being partnered. One of us is going to get killed.
So either you stop hovering over me, trying to surround me in bubblewrap
or I am going to have to find a new partner. One who respects me
enough to let me do my job. Understood?"
"I understand. And you're right. It's just... I don't know what I
would do without you, Scully. You are my anchor right now."
A moment of silence hung between them like spun glass, stretching
thin. She broke it finally by sighing and saying softly, "I know. I
just need you to show me the respect you say you feel. Think you can
treat me like 'one of the guys'? "
He laughed softly and punched her in the shoulder. "Sure thing.
Let's go get a beer. I know this club where the waitresses wear...
OW!" He rubbed his shoulder and concluded. "Well, maybe we should just
get lunch."
End
Author's comments: The title is taken from a song by Helen Reddy, the first line of which is "I am woman, hear me roar... "
No harm is intended by use of the lyric.
I am aware that the FBI would not condone this method of settling personnel differences, but Skinner has two very unusual agents here and might have to resort to unusual methods to keep them in line.
I have been told that Scully wouldn't go to whining to Skinner about this problem, but(I think)if she felt that Mulder's attitude toward her presented a danger to either of them in the field, she would *have* to make her supervisor aware of it.