Chapter Text
Overall, Dana Scully was thankful to see the sunlight again. After four days before the senate subcommittee, it was nice to be able to go outside. She was looking forward to a night in her own bed rather than the starched cot of her prison cell. If Mulder were here, he’d make a joke about her time behind bars. If Mulder were here, she wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place.
It was three days into the hearing before Scully admitted her ignorance of agent Mulder’s whereabouts. Word had trickled down that a man matching his description had travelled to Russia using diplomatic papers and that he was travelling with someone whose description matched Krycek’s. Fantastic. Her partner was traveling with a known felon in a part of the world where he did not speak the language but the aforementioned felon probably did. For all she knew, Mulder could be dead in a St. Petersburg dumpster. Of course, if this happened she would be the last to know. Apparently going on vacation with the man who killed your father was not something Mulder considered important enough to tell her about. Even Skinner was horrified when he found out. If Mulder ever did come back, the assistant director was most certainly going to chew him out over his actions. Something she almost looked forward to seeing.
While worried about her partner, Scully mostly felt frustrated and betrayed. Mulder had basically hung her out to dry whether intentionally or not. The rocks from the lab had been stolen and all of their evidence had been destroyed. The one virologist who could have provided them with answers had been assassinated. Scully had no leverage. Nothing she could work with, and no idea what to do now. She was tired of being ditched.
The biscotti dipped in her hazelnut latte had gone soft and its foam was dissolving. Lukewarm but still pleasant to drink. It was good to have a moment to herself. Scully needed the space to breathe. Sitting at a patio table at her favourite café was not something she did often enough. If she closed her eyes she could hear the birds chirp and the sounds of the coffee machines inside and the half dozen or so conversations of the people around her. Normal conversations about life. She needed to have more of those.
“Is this seat taken?” asked a woman walking out onto the patio with a cappuccino. She was blonde and expensively dressed, politely professional. Clearly here on business.
“No, help yourself.” Scully gestured to the empty chair.
“The coffee is good here.” She poured a pack of sugar into her cappuccino and sipped it slowly.
“It is.”
“The atmosphere is nice too. Busy, but not too busy. A good place to think. You look like you have a lot on your mind, agent Scully. At this, Scully raised her eyebrows. She had no idea who this woman was, but after four days in a courtroom she didn’t have the energy to ask any more questions. She still had her gun if need be.
“Who doesn’t these days?” Scully was tired of beating around the bush. “So do you, it seems. Mind telling me about it?”
“Put it this way: agent Mulder isn’t the only person out there who would like to see the truth brought to light.”
“If you know what agent Mulder is up to that would make one of us. He went to Russia and never bothered to tell me why.” At this point Scully was really losing her patience. She was turning into Skinner.
“As you know, an American doctor by the name of Bonita Charne-Sayre was assassinated several days ago.”
“She was a virologist specialising in the variola virus. I know that. I’ve read all her papers. It’s possible she was trying to create a vaccine-”
“She wasn’t the only one doing research agent Scully. The cold war just ended.”
“I see.” Scully took a sip of her latte, it had cooled off but was still drinkable. Her partner’s actions suddenly made a bit more sense to her though it would have been nice to learn of them from him rather than a strange woman in a café. “I haven’t lost faith in him yet.”
“I don’t think you should. I don’t know everything myself, but if you need me I might be able to help you.” The blonde woman handed her a business card. Special representative for the secretary general of the united nations. “We should keep in touch. The cappuccinos are good here.” She flashed Scully a smile. Professional, polite, nearly bordering on genuine.
“I’ll look forward to it.” Scully answered as the blond woman walked off into the crowd. She looked at the card. Marita Covarrubias. Must have been one of Mulder’s informants. The one who gave Mulder those papers to travel to Russia. Whatever he was currently investigating must be important to someone. Either he was deep into something or had gotten himself killed. Either way, it was out of her hands. At least for now.
Playing dumb appeared to be her best option for the time being. She had no idea where Mulder and was frustrated but concerned about his whereabouts. While mostly true, this would be the official story. She would play the abandoned partner left in the dark about everything. There was enough truth in the act for it to be believable. Whatever she learned, she would stay silent about until she had enough evidence to put together a case. Many in the FBI underestimated her and it would be to their detriment.
Nonetheless, she had to tell someone about Mulder’s misadventures. By someone she meant the three musketeers that were the lone gunmen. She would visit them tonight with the news and any relevant information she had managed to dig up. They deserved to know what was happening to their friend. Their tech skills could also prove useful in tracking him down. Scully knew better than to use official channels to find Mulder. Skinner had done enough for them and Pendrell would likely be willing help her but she would rather not drag the young agent into this mess.
For now, Scully knew that higher powers would be keeping their eyes on her. For now, she would lay low and wait for information on Mulder’s activities to come to her. She had no intention of giving the authorities any reasons to shut her down. Bide her time until Mulder either returned or was found. Everything was going to have to be by the book. Take things one step at a time. It was what she was going to have to do in order to combat a conspiracy that was clearly larger than her and Mulder. Scully had a job and she intended to do it to the best of her abilities. For now, she would run the X-Files division by herself.