House of Cards - Chapter 17 By Jennifer T. Brooks E-Mail: Jenntou@excite.com ******************************************* FBI Headquarters Washington, DC July 26, 1999 11:30 am "Sir, may I please speak to you privately?" Dana Scully asked as she saw Walter Skinner standing outside his office talking to a group of new recruits. "Sure, excuse me agents but duty calls," He said to the group as he motioned Dana Scully to follow him into his office. Once they were safely behind closed doors he asked, "What can I do for you Agent Scully?" "I got the results of the DNA test back." "And?" He was as anxious as she was to find out the results. Although he trusted Maggie Scully, people lied, DNA didn't. "You are my father," She said as she handed him the report. "Are you sure?" He couldn't believe that he was hearing her correctly. He somehow hoped that Maggie Scully was mistaken and that he wasn't her father. "That's what the report say. Look, see it here for yourself," She said as she handed him the report. It took him a couple of minutes to read through the report before he responded, "How do you feel about this?" "How do you think I feel about this? You think I'm happy? What do you want me to say?" "How about the truth," He suggested. "How do you feel about it?" She asked. "It isn't the news that I was hoping to hear." "No kidding," She said as she looked around the room trying to avoid eye contact with him. "I wish that this had never happened." "What? Us or my mother?" She was confused as to what he meant by his last statement. "As hard as this is for you to hear Dana, I don't regret loving either one of you. I loved your mother more than anything in the world. I don't regret that our love resulted in you." "So what, you regret our relationship?" She asked not wanting to know the answer. "Yes, I was married, I should have never cheated on my wife." "What about my mother? She was married and you had no problem helping her violate her marriage vows." She could not believe that she was hearing this double standard from him. "It isn't the same thing." "It is too. Marriage vows are marriage vows, no matter who the married party is. You still committed adultery either way." "It isn't the same thing at all." "Yes it is. You were married to Sharon when you cheated with my mother. Tell me how it is different with our affair." The thought of their affair made her sick to her stomach. She felt herself growing queasy. "But I loved your mother," He started. "And what? You didn't love me?" She asked angrily. Not only was she sick to her stomach she was getting mad. "I wish that it didn't have to turn out this way, Dana. There can be no winners in this situation. There's no sense in dwelling on the past and what could have been or should have been. We have all made mistakes and are now being punished for them." "No, you and my mother made a mistake and I'm being punished for it." "You aren't the innocent party here Dana, as much as you would like to believe. You have a long history of getting involved with married men if my memory serves me correctly." "You bastard," She said as she slapped him hard across the face in anger. "How dare you. You are one to talk, you have quite the history of cheating on your wife." "I never claimed that I'm blameless Dana. I'm well aware of my extra-marital affairs and it is something that I'm not proud of. Look, maybe the test is wrong. Maybe we aren't really related." He couldn't bring himself to call her his daughter. "DNA does *not* lie Walter," Dana said as she started to pace. "You know what? I'm sick of this shit. I'm sick of you. I'm sick of my mother. But most of all I'm fed up and disgusted with being a pawn in God's sick game. What kind of a god does this to a person?" She asked to no one in particular. "This is my life, yet it feels like a fucking soap opera, only I don't get a commercial break every four minutes. My mother always told me that God never gives you more than you can handle, well you know what? SHE LIED. She FUCKING lied to me once again. Another lie to add to the growing list of lies that have been told to me, and about me, since the day I was born." "Hello up there God, "She continued while looking up at the ceiling, "Have I passed your test, whatever it may be? Or do you still have some more shit that you want to throw my way to test my strength? Too bad, you can't because I give up. I'm not playing anymore." Dana walked out of the room and slammed the door behind her. She was tired. This was too much to handle. Let Walter Skinner be the one to tell her mother the truth. ***************************************************** FBI Headquarters Washington, DC July 27, 1999 9:30 am It was 9:30 in the morning and Fox Mulder still didn't know where Dana Scully was. Walter Skinner had called him frantically the evening before asking him if he knew where she was. No one had seen or heard from her since she had left Walter Skinner's office yesterday afternoon. "Diana, I don't know what to do. Who knows where the hell Scully is? I'm trying to be helpful, I'm trying to be her friend, yet she goes off the deep end once again and pulls a disappearing act. Even her mother has no idea where she could have gone. The woman is driving me crazy. She's in some serious denial here. I excepted some type of emotion from her. I wouldn't care if she got mad and hauled off and took her aggression out on me or if she broke down and started crying. She just needs to show some type of emotion. All I get out of her is "I'm fine Mulder " or "this discussion isn't going to take place". She told me last week in passing that if I ever mentioned to her that Walter Skinner was her father our friendship would be over." "Ouch. That's harsh." "You're not kidding. Six years together and she's going to throw it all down the drain over her stupid stubborn pride? Can't you talk to her?" "Fox, she's just now warming up to me. I'm not going to be the one to go and piss her off." "But you're a woman. Women are supposed to do touchy feely things like bond with each other. I'm not good at it. One threatening look from her and I run the other direction. Someone needs to force her to face the facts and I don't want to be the one." "What do you expect me to do. Hold her down and say "Skinner is your father" over and over again until she repeats it in her sleep?" "I wouldn't mind the holding her down part." "Neither would I, but would you get your mind out of the gutter for once. I thought you wanted to help her. Right now you are the only stable thing, the only stable relationship she has in her life. You are the only one that she trusts. Don't do anything to jeopardize that. If that means letting her live in her little world of denial a little longer, then let her. Just be there for her when everything falls apart, because it will sooner or later." "I'm trying, I'm really am, but she makes everything so damn difficult. If I found out that Bill Scully wasn't my father, I would probably be celebrating right now. Why is she so upset about this?" "There's a big difference between you and Dana, Fox. She loved and adored her father, you could barely stand yours. Hang in there, Fox. She'll come around." **************************************************** "Perhaps it's true that things can change in a day. That a few dozen hours can affect the outcome of whole lifetimes. And that when they do, those few dozen hours, like the salvaged remains of a burned house-the charred clock, the singed photograph, the scorched furniture-must be resurected from the ruins and examined. Preserved. Accounted for." Arundhati Roy "The God Of Small Things" ************************************ Crystal City Mall August 5, 1999 7:05 pm Dana strolled through the mall looking at the window displays. She really hated malls and shopping, but she knew this would be the one place where no one would know her. All her friends and family knew that she hated shopping, preferring to order online instead. She was tired of the looks she received daily from Mulder and Diana. She was still livid with him for disclosing her paternity problems to Diana. He denied telling her, but she knew from the looks of concern Diana gave her, that she was in on the secret. She knew that they meant well, but nonetheless was getting tired with the constant questions about her well being. She was doing fine and would be so much better off if everyone would leave her alone. What she didn't realize that she wasn't alone. Walter Skinner was closely following behind. Ever since he learned that she was his daughter he felt this overwhelming need to follow her, to be close to her. He knew that if Karen Kosoff or anyone else for that matter knew that he occasionally followed Dana Scully they would think he was mentally ill. Fathers are not supposed to follow their grown daughters. But then their relationship wasn't what would be considered normal. Being his daughter didn't seem to do wonders for her mental state either. She seemed more withdrawn, more aloof than she usually was. He didn't know whether to attribute her change in behavior to all she and Mulder had gone through over the past year, or to her finding out that he was her father. He was concerned about her, and rightly so. She didn't seem to be handling the issue very well. It was out of this concern, he rationalized, that he followed her. He saw her go into Victoria's Secret. . And yet he couldn't stop himself from following her into the store. He noticed her looking a rack of bras in the back of the store. He was pretty sure that with his disguise on that he could stand right next to her and she wouldn't know that it was him. Dana Scully was so mesmerized by all the different colors and styles of bras that she didn't notice Walter Skinner standing 5 feet away from her trying to look interested in the selection of camisoles. He noticed that she selected several bras and took them into the changing room with her. He knew that he had to get out of the store before he made some mistake and she knew that it was him. He really wanted to know what bra she was getting. That thought disturbed him, but he didn't know why. Was he still sexually attracted to her? He didn't know. He didn't think so. He hoped not, for his sake and for hers. He supposed on some level he was still attracted to her. You can't be madly in love with someone like Dana Scully, and expect to feel nothing years later. It just couldn't be done. But that was sick, she was his daughter, he wasn't supposed to know what her nipples looked like under her bra. He left the store in a hurry and quickly ran to the men's restroom where he threw up his lunch. ******************************************* Dana Scully's Apartment Georgetown August 5, 1999 9:00 pm Dana Scully quickly unlocked the door to her apartment, throwing her shopping bags to the ground beside her door, in order to get to the ringing phone. "Hello," she said breathlessly into the receiver. "Well she's still alive," Blake replied. "Hi, Blake." "If I didn't know better, I'd say that you were ignoring me and Claire." Oh shit. She knew there was a reason why she never answered her phone. Yet, shopping at the mall had given her a sense of normalcy. Normal people shopped, normal people who had normal lives and did normal things. Wandering from store to store, purchasing things that she didn't need and probably would never wear, made her feel as through she were one of them, normal. She was so caught up in the feeling of being normal that she let down her facade and answered the phone. Big mistake. "I'm not ignoring you Blake, I have just been busy." "So I gather. Claire has been trying to reach you for weeks. She says that you never return her calls. What is up?" "Nothing is up." "Dana, this is me, Blake. Your oldest and dearest friend in the universe. I can tell when something is wrong with you and I'm getting those vibes." "You aren't getting any vibes, Blake. I was just out shopping." "Then surely something is wrong because you hate to shop." "I don't." "Yes, you do." "Well, I like it now." "Which is why I know that something is wrong." "Blake nothing is wrong. I'm fine." "Susan called me last week and asked me why you haven't been to an appointment with her in well over a month. Would you mind telling me why?" Oh shit, she had forgotten that Susan always called Blake when she missed appointments and could not get a hold of her. "I didn't need to go, Blake," She said calmly, trying to convince him that everything was okay. "I thought you had been ordered to go." "I have to see Karen Kosoff at the Bureau if I want to keep my job, but not Susan. I'm better, Blake. I really am. I don't need to see her anymore." "Who are you trying to convince, Dana. Me or yourself?" "Look Blake, was there a point to this call? It's getting late and I need to catch up on some reading before I go to bed." "Why won't you talk to me, Dana? What's wrong?" "Nothing is wrong. Why won't you people leave me alone. I'm fine." She was beginning to get upset. She had tried her hardest to be civilized to everyone, but they were pushing her and she didn't like it one bit. "I'm sorry Dana, but don't know what you are talking about. This is the first time I have actually talked to you and not your machine since I saw you in the hospital. I'm concerned." "Fine, be concerned Blake. Listen, I have to go," She said as she hung up the phone abruptly. She wasn't going to say anything else. She was tired and she knew that he was on a fishing expedition trying to get information out of her, information that she didn't want him to know. If he knew he would hate her. ******************************************** Fox Mulder's Apartment Alexandria, VA Saturday, August 21, 1999 3:00 am "Mulder," Fox Mulder said into the phone as he rubbed his eyes and looked over at the clock on his night stand. Three am. "Yeah, I know Dana Scully," He said into his receiver as he sat up in bed at the mention of her name. "She's where?" "Yeah, I know where that's. I'll be there in 10 minutes," He said as he hung up the phone. "Honey, what is it this time?" Natasha asked as she rolled over to look at her husband of two months. "She's at some bar. The bartender asked for me to come and get her." "Why couldn't they just call a cab to take her home?" "I don't know, I didn't ask him." He didn't think it would matter if he told his wife a little white lie. She would never know. "Why are you always the one that has to go and get her. This is the fifth time you have had to since we've been married. She's not your responsibility." "She's my friend, Natasha. I have to go to her," Fox Mulder said as he got up from the bed and put his jeans on. "Why? Why, Fox? This isn't fair to me. How would you feel if an ex-boyfriend of mine constantly called crying over some issue or that I had to go and pick him up at the bar night after night." "That's a completely different issue. Scully isn't an ex-girlfriend of mine, Natasha. You know that." "That's what you claim." "Oh, and you don't believe me?' "I've tried, Fox. I want to believe you. I really do." "But what? You think I slept with her and lied to you about it? You do. I can see it on your face, Natasha." "I'm sorry Fox, I really am. I want to believe you. I do. It's just that there's so much evidence that points to you being involved with her sexually." "My word doesn't account for anything?" "Men lie." "So you are judging all men on an ex-boyfriend of yours who screwed you and half of the city at the same time. That's real fair, look we'll talk about this later." He finished dressing and quickly left the house. ***************************************************** The Four Provinces Bar Washington, DC Saturday, September 11, 1999 2 am Walter Skinner quickly walked into the bar to find a very drunk Dana Scully seated at a table in the corner. He had been called by the bartender who identified himself only as John to pick her up. What he didn't know was that this wasn't the first time that John had to call someone to pick her up. John had no idea who the players in Dana Scully's life were. All he knew was that if he called someone to come and pick her up they would come. Dana Scully had started going to this particular bar fairly regularly back in June. The weekend bartender knew that she was trouble the first night she came into the bar and ordered a sex on the beach. Every single man, and many married ones, were gravitated towards her. Who wouldn't be? She was funny, smart, very attractive and a great conversationalist. Every weekend she came into his bar, sat on the same stool and ordered the same drink. John caught bits and pieces of her conversations and sensed that she drank to try to forget her troubles. He couldn't understand how someone like her was so troubled. She just didn't seem the type to be a heavy drinker either. Yet at the end of the night John always called one of her friends to come and pick her up and take her home. He was always amused that she never called the same person twice in a row to come and pick her up. He thought that was very considerate of her, not knowing the real reason was that she didn't want anyone to know exactly how often she went out. He laughed when he recalled the first time she came into his bar. At closing time she asked for him to call her a cab, but couldn't tell the dispatcher where she needed to go. It seems that she was so intoxicated that she forgot her own address and phone number. She emptied her purse on the counter and he was surprised to see a gun and a FBI badge. She didn't seem the type. She couldn't find her drivers license in her wallet and without a location the cab wouldn't come. Dana hung up the phone in despair when John asked her if she had any friends who could come and get her. She mentioned a man named Mulder (what kind of a first name was Mulder?) in haste. With her permission, John looked through her wallet and found a business card with the name Fox Mulder on it. He hoped and assumed it was the same man when he called the home phone number on the card. Twenty minutes later the man named Mulder came into the bar to collect his friend. Fox Mulder gave him a twenty for his troubles and told him that if she ever came in the bar again and needed a ride home he was to either call him or Diana Fowley. Fox gave him both of their home numbers. On this particular evening he couldn't reach Fox Mulder or Diana Fowley. Mulder's phone was busy and Diana's answering machine kept picking up. He was at a loss for who to call when he remembered her talking about a Walter Skinner. He asked her for his number and she produced a business card. Without her knowledge he called Walter Skinner to come and get her. Fifteen minutes later, a bald man whom he assumed to be Walter Skinner, came into the bar asking where she was. He pointed out to where she was sitting in the corner. Walter found Dana in an inebriated condition. "Dana, what the hell do you think you are doing? Getting drunk in a bar! This isn't healthy," He said as he sat down across from her. "And this is none of your damn business. And what isn't healthy." "Drinking in excess." "I didn't know you cared. Why are you here?' "The bartender called me saying that you were in no condition to drive." "I don't know why he would call you. You don't care." She was getting sleepy so she put her forehead down on the table to rest for a minute. "I care when one of my agents drinking is affecting their job performance." "Is not." "Dana, there have been reports of you showing up to work on several Monday mornings with an obvious hangover." "I didn't have a hangover. I was tired and had a headache." "Call it what you want, but I see it as a sign of someone with a serious drinking problem." He didn't know why he was having this conversation with her right now. She was drunk and probably wouldn't remember much of it in the morning. "I don't have a drinking problem," She seethed as she took a quick drink of her beer. "You do. Whether you want to admit it or not is your business. If I get another report of you showing up at work with so much as a glimpse of alcohol in your system there will be a reprimand. Am I understood?" "Yes, sir," She said as she saluted him and then started giggling. She liked it when he tried to be forceful, tried to act like he was in charge. It excited her. "Walter, do you find me desirable?" She asked changing the subject. She didn't want to talk about her drinking. That was all anyone wanted to talk about anymore. Dana, how much did you have to drink? Dana, why are you drinking? Dana, why do you need to drink? Dana, why can't you talk to us about it? Dana, what is wrong? Why must something be wrong in order to drink? Why can't I just drink because I want to? Why is this an issue in the first place? "Dana, look you have had a little too much to drink." Drink. Drink. Drink. She was beginning to hate the word. "Do you find me desirable Walter?" She said as she got up from her side of the table and sat next to him. "I find you attractive Dana. But you are my daughter, so no, you aren't desirable to me. I'm sure that you are desirable to a lot of other men though." "I don't care about other men Walter, only you. Don't you want to sleep with me?" Dana Scully said as she ran her hands up and down his chest and started to unbutton his shirt. There would be no talk about drinks tonight. "Dana, stop doing that. You don't know what you are doing and saying. You have had a little too much to drink tonight" Drink. Drink. Drink. "But I want to have sex with you. Why don't you want to sleep with me. Am I not attractive?" "You are very attractive Dana. I cannot and do not want to sleep with you for the simple reason that you are my daughter and we have laws against incest in this country." "Father, daughter, brother. Who the hell cares. I won't tell anyone if you don't. Besides it's not like we know each other really or anything like that." "No Dana. Sleep with Bill or Charlie if you want to but leave me out of your little mess. I hope to god you don't remember any of this conversation tomorrow because you are going to be really embarrassed." "I don't care. I'm horny and want to get laid. You wouldn't have to kiss me or anything, you could just fuck me." "Dana, I'm not going to kiss you or fuck you or do anything to you. You are my daughter and it's inappropriate. I'm going to drive you home though and make sure that you don't pick up some stranger and regret it tomorrow." "Why the hell do you care anyway. You have made it perfectly clear that you don't like me anymore. You never loved me. Besides, I can drive myself home, thank-you. I'm a big girl." She had been rejected once again. He hated her, this she knew. She was bad, and he knew it. She had nothing left to hide from him. He had seen the depravity of her soul, all she had left to do was confirm what he probably suspected. "I'm not letting you drive home. Who knows how much alcohol you have in your system." "Not to mention the pot?" Did he know about that already? She was having a hard time thinking and keeping a mental checklist of who knew what about her. There were too many players and too many secrets. "Pot. Marijuana? Dana are you nuts? You know the bureau does random drug testing." "I didn't get caught last time." "Last time? This is a regular occurrence?" "Mulder said he wouldn't turn me in." Time to bring someone else down with her. If Walter Skinner didn't love her, she was going to make sure that he didn't love Mulder either. "Mulder? Mulder knows about this? I'm going to kill both of you," Walter Skinner said in anger as he took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He thought for a minute before he spoke again. "Okay. You are going to come home with me and clean your system out and pray to that you are not called for a random drug test anytime in the next month." "Oh goody. Does this mean that we're going to fuck?" She had always love the word Fuck. There was something so primaeval about it. Fuck. "No Dana, we aren't and never will fuck." "But I find you attractive and want to." "Shut up Dana before I lose even more respect for you." End of chapter 17