From: mrkeller829@gmail.com   
      
   =====o============================o=====   
   "Chermera" by Mary Ruth Keller Part 45  of 45   
   E-mail: mrkeller@eclipse.net, mrkeller829@gmail.com   
   PG-13   X-File: Myth-arc   Disclaimed in Part I   
   Already sent to Gossamer   
   =====o============================o=====   
      
   Apartment 42   
   Arlington, VA   
   Monday, August 10, 1998   
   8:17 pm   
      
   Fox Mulder dropped his running shoe on the futon at the knock on the door.   
   "Coming!" There was no response, which immediately had him seeking the   
   location of his SIG. {There, next to the answering machine.} He slid his   
   weapon free, then padded to the    
   hall. A peek through the spyhole had him lowering the gun. His partner was   
   without, still in the pale green shell and charcoal suit she had worn to work,   
   but she had swapped out the flat black pumps for her equally dark walking   
   shoes. To his surprise,    
   she was pacing, chewing her lip, not standing rigid in front of the bronze   
   numbers as she usually would. He unlocked the door. "Hey, Scully, what's up?"   
      
   She was almost at the far end of the short hall as she turned. Eyeing his   
   faded Bureau t-shirt and tight-fitting shorts, she took a step back. "Oh, my   
   apologies, Mulder, I'll let you get to your run." She started toward the   
   elevator.   
      
   But he grasped her arm as she passed him. "No, not a problem. I got one in   
   this morning, and I was a little bored, so I thought I'd work off some of   
   those beans and greens and stout brown bread someone made me eat last night."   
      
   She sent him a small grin, which told him whatever had her spinning outside   
   his entry couldn't be dire. "Thank you. It was nice to sleep in my own bed,   
   even if it's getting too soft for me."   
      
   He tugged at her jacket sleeve. "Scully, come in."   
      
   She let herself be guided through the opening. "I'll not keep you for long, in   
   case you change your mind. I just needed to give you an update and get some   
   advice."   
      
   That brought him to a halt, but not turning to face her. {She needs my   
   advice?} "Hey, grab whatever's non-toxic in the fridge and I'll be right   
   there." He raced to the bedroom to quickly throw a pair of jeans over the   
   black latex shorts. When he returned,   
    she was poised primly on the edge of one of the mission chairs, a water   
   bottle balanced on her palm. {Whatever you want to say to me, Scully, you look   
   like you've thought about it so much you've memorized it already.} He flopped   
   into the other. "So, go."   
    He tugged at her sleeve again.   
      
   She rotated the plastic, a ring of condensation collecting in her hand, then   
   looked over at him. "Mulder, first, I'm here looking for the advice of a   
   friend who understands the situation. I don't want this to obstruct or derail   
   our work in any way. But,    
   I don't know whom to consult other than you."   
      
   He shifted. {No, it's serious.} "I'm listening." He held out both hands.   
   "Please."   
      
   She set the bottle on one of the tiles of the coffee table. "I received two   
   phone calls tonight, one right after the other." She settled back an inch or   
   two. "Caroline called." She allowed herself a gentle smile. "You Mother is   
   just the soul of    
   graciousness, Mulder. She thanked me for my help with Sandra, getting you two   
   together, and to Santorini."   
      
   He nodded, but said nothing.   
      
   "Then, she apologized for not filling me in on the situation with your   
   Father's final resting place." She rubbed both hands together. "I told her,   
   and I meant this sincerely, that she had nothing to apologize for. You, she,   
   and your Father had entered    
   into a confidential agreement. She kept that confidence, which was the   
   honorable thing to do." She reached for his dangling fingers. "So did you,   
   until it became part of an investigation, when there can be no secrets between   
   us."   
      
   He returned the clasp, then propped his chin in his palm. "Agreed, Scully. Why   
   do I have the feeling there's another shoe?"   
      
   She sighed as she slid her hand back into her lap. "Your sister is Caroline's   
   daughter, in every way. But, she's used to life in a relatively sane world,   
   which isn't ours." They exchanged small grins. "Once she learned we were in   
   the UK she took it upon    
   herself, with only kindness in her heart, to alert my family that we were   
   overseas, simply as a precaution."   
      
   "Ah." Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his knees. "That probably   
   didn't sit well with the Paterfamilias, did it?"   
      
   She shook her head. "Fortunately, it was my Mom who answered the phone, so   
   kept it quiet. It was Mom who called me right after Caroline. She had left   
   several messages on my answering machine from her cell while we were away but   
   I hadn't yet returned them.   
    She was babysitting while Bill and Liz were out grocery shopping, so she   
   could speak without interruption."   
      
   He settled against the thin cushion, throwing out his arm to touch the back of   
   her seat. "How much did you tell her?"   
      
   She shook her left hand, sending what few drops remained onto the wool Navajo   
   rug. "Only the barest minimum required. We were investigating some information   
   we had recently uncovered, data that took us overseas. Not anything about your   
   Father, the Forty,    
   or Gradus Absoluta, and nothing about my stay in the hospital, or why. She   
   liked hearing about House Derwbryn, though. I knew she would."   
      
   "Then, you did right, Scully." He touched her arm. "So, why did you need my   
   advice?"   
      
   She settled back, then rubbed her eyes. "I need to warn Sandra about my   
   brothers, and I need to be careful." She looked over at him again. "You,   
   Caroline, Max, and she are just at the beginning of becoming a real family,   
   and I don't want my problems to    
   interfere with that in any way." She clasped her hands together, interlacing   
   the fingers, before dropping her gaze to her knuckles. "It upset her so when   
   we told her the truth about the Smoker. I need to pick my words carefully so   
   that won't happen again.   
   " She sent him a tentative half-smile. "Human interactions are such a mine   
   field. You've spent more time with her, Mulder. How should I go about this?"   
      
   He chewed his lip for a moment, then queried Socratically, "How would you tell   
   me?"   
      
   She arched her shoulders. "I'd lay out the facts dispassionately, but not   
   embellish, waiting for you to ask me questions so we could hash it out between   
   us. Then, I'd try to summarize what we needed to know. If Sandra and I were   
   discussing some research,    
   or participating in an investigation together, I'd do the same."   
      
   He patted her shoulder. "Then, try that. We can give her a call now, if that   
   would help." He bent forward. "Would you like to place this call from the   
   Gunmen's so it's encrypted?   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)