Scully's Girl

Chapter 3

     3

The insistent beeping of her alarm clock pulled Dana Scully from the depths of a disturbing dream in which she stood in the center of a balance. Fox Mulder had been standing at one end of the balance, and Victoria Gray had been standing at the other end. C.G.B. Spender had not been physically in her dream, but his distinctive, mocking voice had echoed through the silence as though over a loudspeaker, ‘Choose, Scully. Choose between them. If you take so much as one step toward either one of them, the other will die instantly. Choose, Scully. Choose who to love and who to kill.’ Scully could do nothing but stand carefully in the very center of the balance and cry.

As she turned her head to gaze at Vicki, sleeping peacefully at her side, she wondered to herself whether she had already made her choice, wondered if she would walk into the office she shared with Mulder only to learn that Mulder had died during the night.

“You gonna shut that thing up?” Vicki mumbled groggily, cracking one hazel eye open.

Lost as she was in her thoughts and worries, Scully had failed to notice that her alarm clock was still chirping. She reached over to turn it off.

“You gonna take a shower?” Vicki queried as Scully’s feet hit the carpeted floor.

“That’s what I was planning on doing,” Scully replied. “Why?”

“Well, I was kind of hoping you wouldn’t mind if I joined you.”

Scully swallowed hard and prepared to refuse Vicki’s request. Yet when she opened her mouth, she heard herself saying,

“I wouldn’t mind at all.”

Almost as surprised as Scully herself was by this unexpected acceptance, Vicki grinned at the older woman and threw the covers back, stepping out of bed.

The warm water felt comforting against Scully’s shoulder blades. She allowed her eyes to slide closed, blocking out the sight of the naked young woman standing so close to her.

“Don’t worry,” Vicki murmured as she wrapped her arms around Scully’s torso. “You don’t need do worry about anything, Dana. Just enjoy it while it lasts. While we last. And I think we’re going to last. We’re good together, Dana.”

Scully could think of nothing to say in response. She wasn’t so certain that she would be able to force her vocal cords to function anyway. All she could do was allow herself to go limp in Vicki’s arms while the girl kissed her hungrily. Enjoy it…yes, she enjoyed it.

“Would you mind dropping me off at my hotel so I can change my clothes before we head over to the Agency?” Vicki requested as she buttoned up her jeans. “Fox might get a little suspicious if we walk into the office together, and I’m wearing the same clothes I was wearing yesterday.” She pulled her t-shirt on over her head. “Of course,” she added mischievously, “it might be kind of a clever way of letting him know what’s going on between us.”

“What went on between us,” Scully corrected her, smoothing the wrinkles out of her pearl-gray blouse with a little more force than was absolutely necessary.

Vicki’s smile faded instantly

“I refuse to be thought of as a one-night stand,” she stated firmly. “Been there, done that, don’t want to do it again.”

“I’d prefer not to think about it at all,” Scully whispered. It never happened. It never happened.” The lipstick she was applying fell from her shaking fingers onto the top of her dressing table. Her shoulders slumped forward, and the warm tears began to fall. Irritated with herself for losing control in this manner, she smacked the surface of the mirror hard with the palm of her hand. Irritated with herself for this action, she repeated it.