TITLE:  A Slight Miscalculation
SPOILER STATEMENT:  Biogenesis; The End; One Son
RATING:  PG
CONTENT STATEMENT:  A little bad language.  MSR.
CLASSIFICATION:  VRA
SUMMARY:  Missing scene for "Biogenesis".  A number of people have taken
a crack at the question of why Scully was so willing to leave Mulder
behind when she went to Africa.  This is *my* take on it.
THANKS:  To Brynna, Paulette, Robbie and Shannon for beta reading.
 
 

A Slight Miscalculation

by Brandon D. Ray
 

I've always prided myself on being thorough, and considering all the
possibilities.  Preparation, I've always believed, is the name of the
game.  Prior planning prevents poor performance.  You snooze, you lose. 
And all the other Type A cliches.

Even as a girl I was like that.  I was one of the kids who always
arrived on the first day of school with all of the necessary supplies: 
Three number two pencils, meticulously sharpened; two wide-ruled spiral
bound 118 page notebooks; and all the rest.

I continued this pattern in college, and later when I joined the Bureau,
and it's always stood me in good stead.

Until I finally met someone who is even better at it than I am.  Until I
met Dana Scully.

I underestimated her right from the start.  When I received the phone
call summoning me back to the States, nearly a year ago, the man who
calls himself C.G.B. Spender -- among other things -- warned me that Fox
had a new partner, and that I would have to watch my step.

Unfortunately I didn't take his warning seriously, and that was my first
mistake.

I already knew about Agent Scully, of course, having kept tabs on Fox
through various contacts over the years.  So when I reviewed the
Project's dossier on her during the flight back from Europe, I found no
surprises.

She is, like me, a Type A personality.  A place for everything, and
everything in its place.  She lives in a neat, orderly world of straight
lines and primary colors.  Her rent is always paid on time, she donates
precisely ten percent of her annual income to charity and she's always
exactly five minutes early for an appointment.

You see, I thought I had her number.  I even knew her most intimate
secret, the quality which made her uniquely vulnerable and which she
also happened to have in common with me:  I knew that she was in love
with Fox Mulder.

What I didn't figure on was that *he* was in love with *her*.  It never
occurred to me that the man I had known and loved so many years ago
could ever form an attachment to a woman like Dana Scully.  They are so
different from each other, with so many potential points of conflict,
that I just didn't see how it was possible.  After all, if Fox and I
couldn't make a go of it ....

That was my second mistake.

Once I realized the nature of their feelings for each other, of course,
I did not hesitate to try to use the situation to further the goals of
the Project.  I had been ordered to return to Washington for a very
specific purpose, after all, and as they say in the military, no plan of
action ever survives contact with the enemy.  This new development was
simply another data point, something to be considered, analyzed and
ultimately shaped into yet another weapon.  These unresolved feelings
between Fox and Agent Scully would actually make my job easier, I
thought.  And so I set about trying to drive a wedge between them on a
personal basis, rather than just on the professional level as I had
originally planned.

That was my third -- and most crucial -- mistake.  And this one has cost
Fox his freedom and may very well wind up costing him his sanity.

There was a time when that would have bothered me -- and deep down
inside, it still does.  I *do* still have feelings for this man, and it
breaks my heart to stand here and watch him on the monitor as he
stumbles back and forth across the room he's in, calling out, crying,
*begging* ....

Begging for "Scully".

There was a time when he would have been begging for me.

I angrily push the thought away.  My personal feelings have no place in
this situation.  Whatever there once was between Fox and me, it really
and truly is over.  If that wasn't clear to me the night of the El Rico
massacre, Fox made it abundantly clear to me last night in his
apartment.  I finally had to use a stun gun to keep him under control,
and now here we are.

Agent Scully was here a few hours ago.  Fortunately Skinner was here
too, so I didn't have to face her alone, and between the two of us we
were able to prevent her from getting in to see Fox.  Skinner's
influence as her supervisor was enough to turn her away, so that I
didn't have to pull out my ace in the hole.

I think Fox knew she was here, though.  Something very strange has been
going on inside his head.  From his behavior while she and I were
watching him on the monitor, I am almost certain that he was aware of
her presence.  He had been fairly quiet the last hour or so prior to her
arrival, but as soon as she walked into the room he started up again. 
Which was a good thing, of course, since it made it easier to justify
our claim that he is dangerous.

Even *I* know *that's* a lie.  Fox Mulder is not dangerous.  Not to her,
anyway -- and she knows it.  Skinner and I were able to distract her,
though, and now she's gone again.

I turn my eyes back to the monitor.  Fox has quieted down again; he
quieted almost as soon as Agent Scully left.  He looks so sad and
lonely, though, crouched there in the corner of the room, just staring
up at the camera.  He looks scared.  I wish I could go to him and hold
him, and make it all go away.  I wish none of this had had to happen.  I
wish I had never been ordered to leave him and accept that transfer to
Europe.  I wish they had chosen someone a little more reliably cold and
closed off to replace me.  I wish ....

I hear the door open behind me, and I turn around to see who it is.  To
my surprise, it's Agent Scully.  Dammit, I thought we were rid of her. 
And now Skinner is gone, and I'm going to have to deal with her myself. 
Alone.

"Agent Scully," I say calmly, trying not to betray the shock and dismay
I feel at her sudden reappearance.  "What brings you -- "

Before I can even finish my greeting she has moved past me, as if she
were unaware of my presence, and is staring intently into the monitor. 
My gaze follows hers, and I am unsurprised to see that Fox has risen to
his feet and appears to be looking back at us.  This time, however, he
isn't moving frantically back and forth across the room, and he isn't
saying anything.  He's simply standing there, staring up at the camera
as if he can see us.  No, not as if he can see *us*; as if he can see
*her*.

"Mulder," she says, very softly.  "Mulder, I'm here."  And god help me
if he doesn't nod slightly, as if he just heard every word she said. 
"I'm going to get you out, Mulder," she continues.  Her voice is gentle
and tender, almost loving.  "I've taken the necessary steps, and you'll
be transferred to Johns Hopkins first thing in the morning, so my mother
can keep an eye on you.  I've got to make a quick trip to check a few
things, but I'll be back in a couple of days.  Okay?"  And again he nods.

I can't let this go on.  I don't know what "necessary steps" she's
taken, but I've got to stop this right now.  I step forward and grab her
elbow and turn her to face me.  Her eyebrows shoot up in surprise, as if
she hadn't realized I was still in the room.

"I'm afraid he's not going anywhere, Agent Scully," I say firmly.  "He's
going to stay right here, where he can be taken care of properly."  I
wince inwardly at the double meaning in my words, but she doesn't seem
to notice.  "He's staying right here," I repeat.

She shakes her head slightly, as if at a minor annoyance.  "No he's
not," she says.  "I've already made the arrangements."  And she starts
to turn away as if that were the end of it.

"Agent Scully!" I say sharply, and wait until I have her attention
again.  "Fox is in no condition to be moved."

She stands quietly looking at me for a moment, and I am almost starting
to believe that she's going to back down -- but then she shakes her head
dismissively and turns away again.

I feel my eyes narrow at her casual disregard for my presence.  I was
important in this man's life once; I was there when he found the
X-Files.  She hadn't even graduated from the Academy yet, and I was
there, with him.  Even though part of me suspects that this reaction is
just what she wanted, I can feel the anger building within me, and I
stride forward into her personal space, trying to use my height to
intimidate her.

"He is not going anywhere!" I say, biting off the words one at a time. 
"He is staying right here, and there is nothing you can do about it.  I
hold his power of attorney."

There it is, the ace in the hole.  Prior planning and all that.  Top
*that*, Agent Scully.

Her eyebrows twitch slightly in surprise.  Not shock, not worry, not
panic -- just surprise.  Mild surprise.  As if she has encountered an
unexpected obstacle, but one she is confident she can overcome.  Already
she's reaching into her purse and pulling out a sheaf of papers.

"Then it's a good thing I had myself declared his guardian, isn't it?"
she says, and I can tell that she's struggling to keep the amusement out
of her voice.

Dumbfounded, I take the papers from her hand and let my gaze skim over
them.  They are just what she said they are:  She apparently found a
judge somewhere and obtained an emergency order of temporary
guardianship.  This won't stand up, of course; it can't withstand the
light of day.  The only situation where something like this might
actually work would be if she and Fox were --

Oh my god.

I look back up at her, and the only thing I can think of to say is, "When?"

Her lips quirk slightly.  She's trumped my ace, and she knows it. 
"Shortly after El Rico," she says.  "I suppose I have you to thank for
it, in a way.  If it hadn't been for all the head games you kept playing
with him ...."  Her voice trails off, and she shrugs -- and I realize
that I've lost.  After all that planning and thinking, after all that
*scheming*, dammit, I've been outmaneuvered.

I've lost.

"I've got to go now, Mulder," she says, and I realize she's turned back
to face the monitor.  "But I'll be back.  I promise."  One last time he
nods, and then he settles back down in his corner -- but now he no
longer looks lost and despairing.  He looks, in fact, about as content
and happy as it's possible to look when you're locked in a room against
your will.

Agent Scully moves past me and walks towards the door, but I continue to
stare at the monitor in disbelief.  There is no possible way it should
have ended like this.  I had it all planned out; I had everything under
control, and I knew what I was doing.  How could everything have gone so
terribly wrong?

And what can I possibly do to fix it?

"Have you ever read Nietzsche, Agent Fowley?" I turn at the sound of
Scully's voice, and see her standing in the doorway with a look of
amused triumph on her face.  Of course I've read Nietzsche, but I
gesture numbly for her to continue.  "'That which does not destroy me,
makes me stronger,'" she says.  She starts to turn away, but then she
glances back over her shoulder one more time.  "I'm stronger," she adds,
very softly.  And then she's gone.

I think there's been a slight miscalculation.
 
 

Fini