From: "Jennifer T." House of Cards- Chapter 20 by Jennifer T. Brooks E-Mail: Jenntou@excite.com *************************************************** Monday, September 13, 1999 7:20 am Dana Scully entered her apartment and threw her keys on the counter. She noticed that her answering machine light was blinking furiously. She hit play as she kicked off her shoes. Beep. "Dana, this is Blake. I need to talk to you. Call me when you get in," Blake said on the tape. "Well that's too damn bad because I don't want to talk to you," Dana said out loud. Beep. "Dana, this is Blake again. Please call me." Two messages in one night? How many more times was he going to call? "No," Dana said as she sat down on her couch and removed her socks. Beep. "Scully, this is Mulder. Where are you?" Mulder said to her machine. "Where is my fucking apology you asshole," Dana said as she unbuttoned her jeans. Beep. "Dana, I was just calling to see how you were doing. Please call me. Let's get together soon. I am going to be in town next week. Call me back. Please," Claire said to the machine. "You concern is so evident Claire, Blake must have put you up to calling me. Well too bad, lets not get together anytime soon." She lowered her jeans over her hips and took them off before sitting back down on the couch in her underwear. Beep. "Scully, please pick up. I know you're there. I called your mother and she said that you weren't there and were probably at home. Please pick up." "Fuck you again, Mulder," She seethed at her machine. She slowly pulled her sweater over her head and laid it next to her on the couch. Beep. "Scully, I am coming over to your place. Stay there, I need to talk to you." "Well too bad I wasn't home for your little visit, Mulder. Your concern is touching. It almost makes me want to cry. * Not!*, you mother fucker." She got up off the couch, dressed in only her bra and underwear and went into the kitchen as the messages continued to play. Beep. "Dana, this is Walter. Um, um, I was just calling to make sure that you were okay." "This just gets better and better. You concern is touching, *Walter*. Can't you see that I am doing fucking fine?" She yelled at the machine as she grabbed a bottle of beer out of the fridge and opened it. Beep. "Scully. I am outside your door right now, please let me in. I just want to talk. Please, I'm sorry." "Thanks for the fucking apology Mulder, but it's a little too late. You probably used your key to get into my apartment. Remind me to get that key back," She said as she took a large swig of the beer. Beep. "Scully, it's me again. Well obviously you aren't at home. Where are you? I'm going to go check a few places where I think that might have gone. If you don't call me by noon tomorrow I'm going to put in a missing person's report and have the gunmen try to find you. Please call me." "Have your goons search for me, I don't give a damn. You can fucking die and fall off the face of the earth before I talk to you again." She was considering changing her phone number now. Beep. "Dana, this is your mother. Fox called me very concerned. He said that he doesn't know where you are. I don't know what trouble you have gotten yourself into this time, but you had better straighten it out." "You concern is also touching, *mother*," She yelled to the machine as she quickly downed the rest of her beer. Beep. "Scully, it's me. Please call me. I'm worried about you." "Fine, be worried you asshole." Beep. "Dana, I got your note. We need to talk. Please call me," Diana Fowler said into the phone. "No, all you people ever want to do is talk. I don't want to talk to you. I just wish you would all just leave me alone," She screamed at the machine as she got up and violently pulled the cord out of the wall. She grabbed another bottle of beer out of the fridge, stripped off her under garments and climbed into bed. ****************************************************** Monday, September 13, 1999 8:00 pm Dana awoke from a drunken haze to hear knocking on her door. She ignored the sound and burrowed deeper under her covers. The knocking seemed to get louder and louder and she couldn't tell if she was imagining it or if someone actually had the nerve to knock that loud. There ought to be some kind of law that governed how loud people could knock. And when. She looked at her clock and saw that it was 8 pm. She knew that Mulder was probably at her door. He had the key, if he wanted to talk to her badly enough he could open the door himself. She couldn't remember whether or not she activated the dead bolt. Oh well. The knocking continued. She was starting to get really annoyed. The neighbors already hated her. This would give them one more reason to kick her out when her lease was up. She slowly got out of bed and moved toward the bathroom. She quickly glanced in the mirror and noticed that this was not one of her better days beauty wise. She sat down on the toilet to relieve her full bladder while she brushed her teeth. The knocking continued. Grabbing a tank top and a pair of sweatpants, she quickly donned them before opening the door. "We need to talk," Diana said as she pushed open Dana's door and entered the apartment. She then noticed Dana's disheveled condition. "What the hell happened to you? Why didn't you show up at work today?" "Good afternoon to you too," Dana said as she went into the kitchen and grabbed a beer out of the fridge. "Want something to drink?" She asked Diana. "Do you really think you ought to be drinking?" Diana asked. "What are you my mother?" "No, I used to think that I was your friend." "You are." Dana said as she sat down on the couch and opened her beer. "Well it sure doesn't feel like it. Would you care to explain why you left me this note," She said as she laid Dana's crumpled note on the coffee table. "I think you know why I left it Diana." "I want to hear the words from your mouth." "What difference does it matter where they come from? I meant them." "It means a hell of a lot. I don't like being played a fool. I don't like being used." Diana Fowler was mad. "You weren't used," Dana tried to explain as she casually drank from her bottle. She didn't want to be having this conversation right now. Or ever. "I think I was. I don't do one night stands, Dana. You may, but I don't. I gave you every opportunity to back out and you insisted that it was what you wanted. I trusted you, I gave a piece of myself to you, and you decide that you made a mistake." "I thought it was wanted, at the time it was." "For the sake of all your future partners, make sure that you know what you really want before you take advantage of someone elses feelings and interest in you. No one likes being used," Diana said as she got up off the couch and made her way towards the door. "Diana, I didn't use you." She didn't, did she? "Yes, you did. You abused our friendship. You used my feelings for you, which you had known about for some time and never acted on, for your own damn self interest. Why the sudden interest in me? Because their was no man around for you to fuck? Because Fox wasn't convenient?" "You are so wrong Diana." "Am I? I don't think so. At first when I read the note I thought that maybe you were confused about what had happened, maybe you weren't ready to face the feelings and emotions you felt when you were with me. I was ready to accept that. But then I got a call from Fox telling me all about your little blowup with him and Skinner and I realized that you weren't with me because you were attracted to me, you were using me, using sex to avoid your own damn problems." "You're wrong Diana." "I don't think so. For the first time in a long time I am seeing things crystal clear. I have stood by you, defended your reputation on an almost daily basis, dragged your pathetic ass out of countless bars. But no more. I am not going to do it," Diana said as she opened the door and walked out of Scully's life for good. ****************************************************** FBI Headquarters September 14, 1999 8:00 am Dana Scully slowly walked down the corridors of the J. Edgar Hoover building as she made her way to Walter Skinner's office. The security guard told her upon entering the building that she was to report to his office first thing. She wasn't really surprised that she was being called into his office. She figured that he was finally going to get some balls and punish her for no longer being the prim and proper perfect special agent doctor Dana Katherine Scully. She was just surprised that he hadn't done it sooner. She was ready to face her demons. Kimberly motioned for her to enter Walter Skinner's office. "He's expecting you." Kimberly really didn't know what was going on. She had been hearing rumors about Dana Scully for over a year. She had heard everything from Dana being an alcoholic to a drug addict. She had also heard rumors of Dana having a serious mental illness for which she received professional help. At first she didn't believe the rumors, but after witnessing some of Dana Scully's bizarre behavior firsthand, she wasn't so sure anymore. She just didn't see how it was possible that one person could have so many problems. "Agent Scully, please have a seat," Walter Skinner said as he closed the door behind her. He had not seen her since Sunday morning and was surprised what difference two days could make. He thought that he had seen her at her absolute worst when she left his apartment. He was wrong. "On advice from Karen Kosoff, you are hereby relieved of duty in the FBI until you complete a drug and alcohol treatment program," He said as soon as she sat down. "Karen will work as a liaison between the agency and the treatment center. Once it is deemed that you have this problem under control we will discuss the possibility of your returning to the FBI. You are relieved from duty as of now. I'll need your badge and gun." Relieving her of duty was one of the hardest things that he ever had to do. Her job meant everything to her, but it was obvious that she needed help. Her problems were affecting her performance on the job. There were rumors of botched autopsies and informant's covers being blown. He could no longer look the other direction and ignore what was going on. "Yes sir," Dana said as she calmly laid her badge and gun on the desk before her. She had been expecting this, she knew that sooner or later she would have to face the consequences of her behavior. She calmly left his office and shut the door behind her. For the first time in a long time Walter Skinner finally felt that he was doing something to help Dana Scully and not hurt her. **************************************************** FBI Headquarters September 14, 1999 8:30 am Dana walked into her office to find Fox Mulder sitting at her desk. She didn't expect to see him here. She was hoping that she would be able to avoid him. She was wrong. "Well look what the cat dragged in," He said upon noticing Scully. "Is there a point to you being in my office?" She asked him coldly. "Come on Scully, lighten up," He said trying to cheer her up. He was genuinely sorry for the pain he caused her and wanted to make amends. "Agent Mulder, unless you are here for a reason I suggest that you leave. I thought that I made it perfectly clear that I never wanted to see you again." "Come on Scully, you can't be serious." "Oh, I'm quite serious. I meant what I said." Why was he here? Did he want to torture her more, revel in her pain. "You can't still be mad. I said that I was sorry. What else do you want me to do?" "Don't you *ever* dictate to me what I can and can't be mad about. And as far as your apology goes, tell someone who cares." She took the box that she had been carrying with her and set it on her desk. She proceeded to place her scant personal belongings in it as Fox Mulder watched. "You're packing your things? Are you being transferred?" He had heard rumors from Natasha about her performance in the VCS. He had dismissed them as only rumors but now he was beginning to wonder. "No, I'm not being transferred, I quit." "You can't quit Scully. You love this job." "Past tense Mulder, I used to love this job." "Why are you quitting?" "Frankly, it's none of your damn business. Would you please leave?" "What are you going to do now?" He didn't want to leave until he knew what was going on. "I asked you nicely to leave. I meant it. Get the hell out of my office." She no longer had a reason to be nice and civil to Mulder. He was clearly there to aggravate her and push all her buttons. He was probably secretly enjoying the fact that she quit. Skinner probably told him all about his plans to send her to a treatment center before he even told her. Well, he could rot in hell before he got any type of reaction out of her over her reprimand. Fox Mulder was mad. He tried to be nice to her, he stood beside her over the years and defended her reputation. He said he was sorry, what more did she want from him. People were right in what they said about her. "I tried to be your friend, Scully. I defended you. I covered your ass so many times. I lied for you. I would have even taken a bullet for you. I tried to help you when you wouldn't let me. I said I was sorry, what more do you want from me. The rumors are correct, you really *are* a cold hearted bitch. Have a fucking nice life," He said as he walked out of her office and her life. Dana hastily threw the contents of her desk into the box, pausing only once to wipe the lone tear out of her eye that threatened to fall. ***************************************************** Dana Scully's Apartment Georgetown September 14, 1999 12:00 pm After driving around for hours, unsure of where to go, Dana Scully returned to her apartment alone. Reality was starting to set in. She had just lost her job. Sure, Walter had been kind in telling her that if she completed the treatment program there was a chance she could get her job back. She knew better. The FBI didn't keep people on staff with alcohol or drug problems. They liked their agents nice and clean, free from any social deviancies. She didn't understand why Karen Kosoff, that traitor bitch, recommended that she enter a drug and alcohol treatment program. She didn't have a problem. Sure, she enjoyed drinking and occasionally smoked marijuana, but they weren't habits. She poured a glass of scotch and sat down on her couch contemplating what her career options were at this point. She finished her drink and poured another one. She finished her drink and poured another one. She finished her drink, threw the glass on the floor and started drinking out of the bottle. *************************************************** Dana Scully's Apartment Georgetown September 14, 1999 5:00 pm Dana had lost track of time. She had woken up laying on the bathroom floor shivering. She grabbed a towel off the rack and wrapped it around her. She saw a half empty bottle of vodka lying next to her. She picked it up and took a drink leaning back against the bathtub. Suddenly she didn't feel too well. It took several attempts before she was able to stand up. She wobbled over to the sink and looked in the medicine cabinet. She picked up the first bottle she saw and took a couple of pills out of it not even bothering to read the label. She placed three pills on her tongue and downed them with a gulp of vodka. The room started spinning and she felt herself growing faint. She slowly made her way to the phone in her bedroom hitting speed dial #1. "Hello," Natasha said as she answered the phone. "Can I speak to Mulder," Dana Scully said while slurring her words. "Who is this?" Natasha asked. "Scull, Scully," Dana said weakly into the phone. "Look Dana, Fox doesn't want to talk to you. He has tried to be a friend to you but you wouldn't let him. Now you have the audacity to call him as if nothing were wrong. Sorry honey but it doesn't work that way." "I need to talk to him." She was having a hard time even forming a coherent sentence. "Well you can't, he doesn't want to talk to you. I have put up with you calling my house dragging my husband out of bed at all times of the night, but no more. Find yourself a new friend, my husband is off limits," Natasha said into the phone and then abruptly hung up. Dana slid to the floor of her bedroom as she hit speed dial #2 on her phone. Maggie Scully's answering machine picked up. She was having a hard time seeing straight as she hit speed dial #6 thinking it was #3. She had meant to reach Blake Maxwell and instead got Diana Fowler. "Hello," Diana said cheerfully into the phone. "Who's this?" Dana asked as she closed her eyes. She no longer had the energy to keep them open. "Diana Fowler. Is this Dana?" She asked. "Yes," Dana slurred into the phone. "Was there something you wanted Dana?" Diana knew that she had been harsh when she had last seen Dana but she couldn't help it. She had been hurt deeply by Dana. "Sorry," She said. "Sorry?" Diana asked. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," Dana said. "Sorry about what, Dana. Could you speak up. I can barely hear you." "Forgive me," Dana said as she laid her head on the floor. "Dana you sound odd, what's wrong?" She got no response. "Dana, dammit answer me. What's wrong?" No response. "Dana, is something wrong? Why won't you answer me?" She yelled into the phone. Dana heard Diana yelling and tried her hardest to respond. "Help," was all she could say before she lost consciousness. End of chapter 20