From: msnsc21@yahoo.com   
      
   Reimagined: IWTB   
   by ML   
      
   -x-   
      
   Chapter Two - Go Be a Doctor   
      
   Skinner had actually been in touch with his former agents for some   
   time now.  Never directly; it had always been through intermediaries,   
   but as soon as he was able, he'd gotten word to them that Scully, at   
   least, was safe.   
      
   It took some time to make the necessary arrangements, but eventually   
   Scully took the coursework required to re-qualify for medical   
   practice, specializing in pediatrics.  She found employment in a   
   Catholic hospital, and set about trying to fit in to a world miles   
   off course from her former career.   
      
   As for Mulder, Skinner told him to lay low.  And that's what he did.   
      
   x-x-x   
      
   Richmond, Virginia   
      
   Our Lady of Sorrows was an older hospital, far from the city center.   
   They had been in desperate need of a pediatric specialist, and felt   
   very lucky to get Dana Scully.  The work was difficult and demanding,   
   and the children tugged at her heart.  But she was doing good work,   
   she felt.   
      
   In fact, she had thrown herself into her work headlong.  She brought   
   the same attention to detail to her new career that she'd done at the   
   FBI; perhaps even more so, spending her spare time learning   
   everything she could.  In medical school, she'd been known as a   
   grind; here at the hospital some of her colleagues called her "Super   
   Scully," though not always in an entirely complimentary way.   
      
   It beat being called "Mrs. Spooky", she supposed.  On her long   
   drives home, she sometimes reflected upon what had changed and what   
   had stayed the same in her life.  She had friends: people to have a   
   cup of coffee with, or talk over the latest hospital gossip, but few   
   really close friends.  There were too many questions she couldn't   
   truthfully answer, and that kept her somewhat apart.  But if she   
   didn't have close friends, she did have the respect of her peers.   
   And most days there were at least small victories to be celebrated.   
      
   This morning, however, she was running into a brick wall in the form   
   of a television monitor, delivering news that she didn't want to   
   hear.   
      
   "...There is no course of treatment for Sandhoff disease," the   
   consultant asserted from the videoconference screen.  Then she added,   
   sotto voce, "...but if there was, I'm sure you'd tell me."   
      
   "Thank you," Scully replied in a clipped tone to the monitor, and   
   turned her back.  The conference room, full of her colleagues as well   
   as the hospital's administrator, was silent.  She wasn't sure what   
   she had expected from them; some kind of support on behalf of her   
   patient, perhaps?  No one would even meet her eyes.   
      
   The news was a blow, but not entirely unexpected.  She had done her   
   research.  She'd hoped she was wrong.  Nonetheless, Scully would not   
   show defeat.  This was only a temporary setback; she'd find a way.   
   In the meantime, she squared her shoulders and left the conference   
   room.  The chief administrator, Father Ybarra, watched her go, but   
   said nothing.  She knew she'd have to deal with him later.   
      
   Although Dr. Scully cared deeply for all her patients, the one she'd   
   requested a consult on, Christian Fearon, was special.  From the   
   moment she laid eyes on him, she'd felt a bond with him.  He was a   
   sweet-natured boy, bright eyed with an impish grin.  It broke her   
   heart that she couldn't do more for him.  That she couldn't save him.   
      
   As she approached her office, Margaret and Blair Fearon came out of   
   the solarium, wheeling Christian ahead of them.  Scully changed her   
   expression to one of delight, her smile solely for the little boy in   
   front of her.  "Hi Christian, how are you feeling?"   
      
   "I'm okay Dr. Scully.  How are you?"   
      
   "Me?  I'm doing just fine."  She raised her eyes to the hopeful   
   expressions of Christian's parents, keeping her smile in place with   
   an effort she hoped she was concealing.   
      
   "You got some outside opinions?"  Blair Fearon asked anxiously.   
      
   She couldn't tell them there was no hope.  She could not let them   
   think she'd given up.  Not yet.  "I did."   
      
   "And?"  Margaret Fearon prompted softly, her tired eyes still   
   reflecting a ray of hope.   
      
   Scully faltered inside, just for a nanosecond.  "I'm ordering some   
   new tests."   
      
   But before the Fearons could ask another question, a new voice broke   
   into the conversation.   
      
   "Dana Scully?"  The deep voice inquired, sounding too loud in the   
   echoing corridor.  "Doctor Dana Scully?"   
      
   Excusing herself from the Fearons, Scully turned.  "Yes?"   
      
   She saw before her a very serious young man, dressed in a dark suit   
   and exuding authority.  She knew instinctively where he came from.   
      
   His next words confirmed it.  "I'm looking for Fox Mulder."   
      
   Her heart started beating faster.  Was Skinner wrong?  Was she not   
   safe to be out in the world after all?  "I don't work with Fox Mulder   
   any more," she replied icily.   
      
   "I'm Special Agent Mosley Drummy of the FBI," the stern young man   
   continued.   
      
   "I can tell who you're with," she interrupted.  I don't work with   
   the FBI any longer."   
      
   A lesser man would have backed down.  But Mosley Drummy, while   
   disapproving of his partner's decision to call the former Agent   
   Mulder in, would pursue this avenue as far as he needed to.  In a   
   slightly more conciliatory tone, he said, "The FBI needs urgently to   
   speak with Fox Mulder.  It could save an agent's life.  Is there some   
   place we can speak privately?"   
      
   Scully hesitated.  What if it was a trap?  So far, she hadn't   
   admitted to knowing the whereabouts of Mulder.  Where had he gotten   
   his information?  As far as anyone at Our Lady of Sorrows knew, she   
   was single, and had always been a doctor.  If she'd ever had a   
   partner, she didn't now, and she did not share any details about her   
   past with anyone.  She slept at the hospital on those occasions when   
   an extra long shift made it impractical to leave.  As far as anyone   
   at the hospital knew, she lived alone.   She took precautions to   
   ensure that no one knew of her former life.   
      
   With some misgivings, she chose to hear him out.  "Come to my   
   office," she offered, leading him there.   
      
   Once inside, he withdrew a sealed envelope from his jacket.  "I've   
   been asked to give you this," he said.   
      
   Scully remained standing as she carefully opened the envelope   
   addressed to her.  Inside was a single sheet of paper, on FBI   
   letterhead, addressed to Deputy Director Alvin Kersh, and copied to   
   Assistant Director Walter Skinner.   
      
   "Re: Fox Mulder   
      
   "In light of the new evidence presented regarding former Special   
   Agent Mulder's activities, any derogatory information leading to his   
   termination as an Agent will be expunged.  To our certain knowledge,   
   there are no outstanding complaints or judgments against him, and he   
   is exonerated from any and all charges that may have been brought   
   against him.   
      
   Robert Mueller, Director   
   Federal Bureau of Investigation"   
      
   Scully read it again, and then once more.  It certainly looked real.   
   It read like the real thing, with just enough vagueness and double-   
   speak to sound governmental.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)