From: shawntaw@hotmail.com   
      
   Title: Proxy III   
   Author: shawntaw   
   Rating: PG   
   Category: AU, MSR implied, major SA and some S/Sk UST (this story ends   
   in MSR eventually don't worry)   
   Disclaimer: Their not mine, although I think I might've done a better   
   job exploring the depths of some of the secondary characters...   
   Spoilers: Um, Season 8, I guess.   
   Summary: Who's the Daddy?   
      
   feed the author at shawntaw@hotmail.com  :)   
      
   And Eons again later...Proxy III!!*L* Please read "Proxy I and II" to   
   catch up. :) I know this is incredibly short, but at least I'm writing   
   again.  Hope you enjoy!   
      
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   ******************************   
      
   When he came out of the bathroom, she was sitting cross-legged in the   
   middle of his bed.   
      
   "I'm taking advantage of you," she said simply, picking at a thread on   
   the comforter.   
      
   "What?" Skinner stood in old gray sweats, bare feet and a white   
   t-shirt.  When he was so abrupt to her earlier, he assumed she'd be   
   gone when he came out of the bathroom.  Obviously she'd been thinking   
   instead.   
      
   "I said, I'm taking advantage of you.  I - I'm mothering you.  I'm   
   using you to fill some-some gap Mulder's left," she was gesturing   
   helplessly with her hands now, and laughed abruptly, "actually I'm   
   "wife-ing" you more than "mothering" you."  Scully realized what she   
   was doing with her hands and suddenly clasped them together, raising   
   her eyes to meet his. "And I'm sorry."   
      
   "Its ok, don't -" he automatically began to excuse her, but she shook   
   her head.   
      
   "Don't argue with me on this, sir," she interrupted, sounding more   
   like herself than she had in a while, "I was only thinking of you as   
   my friend, a person I can trust completely.  I mean, I trust my   
   mother, but you are the only one besides Mulder who REALLY knows all   
   we've been through.  I should have given some consideration to you as   
   a-a man."   
      
   She stuttered over the end of her little speech and dropped her gaze   
   nervously again.   
      
   He swallowed convulsively and she looked up in time to see his Adam's   
   apple bob up and down.   
      
   "I don't know what you're talking about," he said, trying to sound angry.   
      
   She considered him knowingly, but without pity, "Yes you do."   
      
   There was tension-filled silence between them for a moment.  Scully   
   suddenly sighed loudly and moved to get off of the bed.   
      
   "All I can say is that hormones may be clouding my judgment and are   
   probably what are fueling the nightmares, although I am loathe to   
   blame hormones for my using you in this way."   
      
   She stood straight beside the bed and Skinner wondered how she did   
   that.  How did she maintain her dignity in bare-feet and rumpled,   
   silver pajamas?  She seemed tall and decisive, every inch the agent he   
   was used to dealing with at work.   
      
   "I won't be coming over like this anymore," she walked to the door and   
   he followed wordlessly, knowing from the tone of her voice that any   
   objections he made would only embarrass her with their dishonesty.   
      
   She threw her coat over her pajamas and slipped her feet into her   
   comfortable fuzzy slippers instead of getting dressed and Skinner was   
   transported back in time to the first night she'd come to him.  He   
   felt like he was living it again in reverse.   
      
   *divorced again* he thought inanely and felt slightly panicked.   
      
   Scully was jangling her keys as she took them out of her pocket and it   
   pulled him back to the present.   
      
   "Dana..." he began without knowing where he was going.   
      
   She just looked at him, stepped forward and tiptoed up to kiss his cheek.   
      
   "Goodbye, Walter," she whispered in his ear with a hint of melancholy.   
    She turned and opened the door to leave.   
      
   "I'm always here if you need me for anything," he blurted to her back,   
   emotions roughening his voice.   
      
   "I know," she said without turning, "you always are."   
      
   Scully left.   
      
   Skinner stared at the door for a few minutes, clenching and   
   unclenching his jaw, and then took himself to bed for lack of anything   
   better to do.   
      
   ****************************************************************   
   **********************************   
      
   Scully rushed through the halls of the Hoover building, zipping in   
   between others walking toward and away from her.  She knew people were   
   staring, but she didn't care.  The Gunmen had finally come through.   
      
   She practically flew into Skinner's outer office.  Kim looked up   
   startled and stood when she entered.   
      
   "Agent Scully? Is everything alright?"   
      
   There were two other agents sitting on the couch waiting and they   
   looked up at her as well.   
      
   "I need to see him NOW," Scully stopped, catching her breath, "Its   
   vital that I see him immediately."   
      
   Kim nodded and the one of the male agents seated smirked at the other   
   beside him. This man frowned and shook his head slightly.   
      
   "Something wrong, Agent Scully?" Agent Pearson asked with false concern.   
      
   "Just something I need to discuss with A.D. Skinner for a moment," she   
   responded without looking at him.  She resisted to urge to tap her   
   foot as she watched Skinner's door.   
      
   "I didn't get a chance to tell you, Agent Scully, that I was sorry to   
   hear about Agent Mulder.  Especially considering the current...situation."   
      
   She dropped a gaze on him so cold an icicle should have been hanging   
   from his nose.   
      
   "Or maybe that's why he's missing?" Agent Pearson said thoughtfully as   
   though it had just occurred to him, "Jealousy could go a long way to   
   explain such a sudden disappearance."   
      
   "Jealousy?" Scully was not only fuming, but confused.  Agent Pearson   
   deserved a sock in the nose and she could feel her good sense fleeing   
   at every word Pearson uttered.   
      
   "You know, of your...relationship with the Big Guy," he finally   
   smirked right at her, unable to hide it any longer.   
      
   Scully's breath caught in her chest for a moment at his audacity and   
   then she felt her ire rare up in response.  Agent Beyer next to   
   Pearson, paled for his partner.  Her reputation for castrating men   
   verbally was well-known.   
      
   Skinner's door flew open.  "I was on the phone with the Director," he   
   said, worry creasing his forehead, "You needed to see me, Agent Scully?"   
      
   She shot a withering look at Agent Pearson and bent to harshly   
   whisper, "You got off easy, Pearson.  You ever say anything like that   
   to me again and you're ability to father children will be seriously   
   compromised."   
      
   Scully walked through Skinner's door.  She didn't look back.   
      
   ****************************************************************   
   ********************************   
      
   She was trembling with anger when she strode through the door.  He   
   wondered what that was about.  The men sitting in his waiting area   
   looked shell-shocked.   
      
   Skinner shut the door behind Scully and waited, hands on his hips.  He   
   took the opportunity before she spoke to simply look at her.  They'd   
   only eaten together a handful of times in the last two weeks since   
   the...incident.  Kim stood to one side, wringing her hands.   
      
   Scully took several deep breaths to calm down.   
      
   "Is it the baby?" Kim finally said quietly.  She couldn't stand the   
   waiting any more.  Skinner's knees suddenly felt weak.  Why hadn't he   
   thought of that?   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)