Summary: Fill-in-the-blanks for "Alone", Doggett POV. S8, PG. Leyla Harrison.

From: spookycc spookycc@earthlink.net
Date: Fri, 01 Jun 2001 18:02:01 -0600
Subject: NEW: Alone in the World 1/1
Source: direct


Title: Alone in the World

Author: spookycc

Rating: PG 13 +/-.

Classification: V A Doggett-friendly.

Summary: Fill-in-the-blanks for "Alone", Doggett POV.

Spoilers: Specifically, for "Alone". To be safe, for S8 so far.

Disclaimer: No characters, human or canine, are mine. And no dogs were
harmed in the making of this fanfic. :)~

Feedback welcomed at spookycc@earthlink.net

Archive: I'll take care of ephemeral and Gossamer - anyone else feel free -
please drop me a line to let me know where it'll be living.

Dedication: As ever, to Doggett's Bitch (f/k/a "Fox's Vixen" :). My
soulmate, always. The person who hooked me on The Big Dawg. Sigh....

And for girlassassin, most loyal fan, and great friend. Keep that chin up as
your life returns to what passes for "normal" for you, and would still be
"phenomenal" for old me. :)

No beta-reader was used. All typos are my own.


****

Another day at the X-Files... I wonder how many more of them I'll be sharing
with Agent Scully, before her pregnancy forces her to take leave?

As I enter the basement office, I see a thoughtful Agent Scully looking at a
small article in her hand. I see a winsome smile, before she places the
object in a small cardboard box on her desk. I have a bad feeling here...

"Can I take your coat?" I offer, as I hang my own up. I hope my voice
doesn't betray my fear that the time for her leaving is here.

"I'm not staying, Agent Doggett." Her comment is not unexpected, but I have
to fight to keep the disappointment from showing. Her doctor has ordered her
to take her maternity leave now.

I pick my chin up off the floor. "That's not bad, Agent Scully," I lie. Then
I add a truth: "You could use some time for yourself."

She holds another object in her hand, turning it over as memories play
across her features.

"What is it?" I find that genuine curiosity has replaced my sense of
foreboding, just for the moment, anyway.

"It's a medallion, commemmorating the Apollo 11 space flight," she replies.
Seems more like somethin' *Mulder* would have.

"I'd like to give this to you, Agent Doggett." She hands me the keychain.

"Thanks," I offer a weak smile and read the inscription on the face. I
wonder why she wants *me* to have it, so I ask. "Because..."

Her expression grows a bit more serious. "Agent Mulder gave it to me a few
years back. It symbolizes teamwork, partnership..." Her eyes meet mine. "It
means no one gets there alone. And after this past year and... everything
that we've been through, I just... I wouldn't be here without you."

I look straight into her eyes. I wouldn't be here without *her*, either,
truth be told. I don't know what to say.

Something inside me pulls me toward her. As always, I tamp it down.

Then Scully takes a step that closes the distance between us, and reaches
tentatively around me with one arm, the other holding her box of momentos.

I hesitate not for a moment in returning the hug, stepping into her embrace
and closing my arms around her. It feels like I *belong* here. I can't
explain my feelings, and I don't waste this precious moment trying to. The
warmth I have felt in her presence, almost since the beginning, envelops me
and I linger as long as I can, in her arms.

I feel whole.

Like this is where I *should* be, though I've never been here before.

I don't want this to end.

It does, of course, all too quickly. Scully gazes up at me, with what looks
like regret in her eyes. She nods to herself a couple times, and then heads
for the door.

I bite back a nagging worry - this doesn't feel like a "see you later". It
feels like a "goodbye forever".

'Dana' hangs on my tongue, but of course that's not what I hear myself say.
"Agent Scully. This pregnancy leave - it's just a "leave", right? I mean,
you *are* comin' back, eventually?"

That sad look again, and then a slight smile.

And she's gone.

I feel like she's taken a piece of me with her.

I gaze around the office, wander over to Mulder's "I Want To Believe"
poster, deep in my own sad thoughts. This place will never be the same
without her presence...

Then I hear heels in the hallway. She probably just forgot something, but it
doesn't matter. For this instant, it doesn't matter *what* brings her back,
only that she *is* back.

A feel a smile creep onto my face. "You're not gone five minutes, Agent
Scully, and already I'm startin' to feel like a stranger in my own off-"

I stop, dead silent, dead in my tracks. It's not Scully at all.

It's a woman, FBI. About Scully's height, with blonde hair. She says she's
here to help me, and hands me a casefile for an X-File in upstate New York.
Agent Scully's presence is still *here*, for crissakes, just as if she were
in the room. But here is Agent Harrison in front of me.

I'm sure I look as puzzled as I feel. Finally I just ask her. "I'm sorry,
Ms. Harrison. Who are you?"

She looks embarrassed, and says as much. I haven't been told. She's my new
partner...

I can't even begin to sort out my feelings on this. Scully *hasn't* been
gone five minutes. I didn't assume I'd be working alone, but I'm not ready
for another partner this soon. I haven't let go of Scully yet, not inside.

****

We arrive at the crime scene, and I let the "feel" of the place tell me
where to start looking. The way I always have, ever since I was a cop. We
look inside the house first. I find some slime on a window sill and on the
floor, and she's excited to realize that this *is* an X-File.

Turns out this is her first time in the field. DD Kersh gave her this job.
She's bein' used, just like me.

But not unwillingly. She knows the X-Files from her work in accounting, and
she can't wait to get her feet wet.

She doesn't understand why I don't share her excitement. Great. Another
freakin' believer... Naive in the political Bureau workings, and a newcomer
to field work.

I'm searching the main house of the estate when I "feel" something behind
me. I can't explain it - it's not scientific - but I don't disregard the
feeling. It's saved my ass more than a few times in the field.

As I draw my weapon and approach the upstairs hall, I walk right into my new
"partner", who wandered into the house after me. I send her outside, so I
can try to flush it out. I even hafta remind her to take the safety off her
gun. I got a bad feelin' about this case.

As I make my way downstairs, I hear shots out front. I rush to the front
porch, and find Agent Harrison gone. I follow drag-tracks in the grass, into
a small clearing. I hear a creaking noise, and the ground swallows me...

****

I don't know how long I've been layin' here, when I finally come to. I make
sure all my joints are working correctly before I sit up. Damn, my head
hurts like hell. I get the feeling that's not the worst of my problems,
either.

I find my gun and pull my flashlight out, to explore this *whatever* that I
fell into. My first concern is to find Agent Harrison, but she's nowhere in
sight. My cell phone says "No Service". Swell...

I find a battered old metal door, and push it open to find myself in a wine
cellar. With my flashlight playing toward the floor, I see an animal skull -
looks like a dog's. I'm turning it over in my hands when I get that feeling
again - that someone or something is down here with me.

I look behind me - nothing - and turn back around. A shadow flies at me,
from straight ahead, and sprays my eyes with something, before flying back
the other way. I shoot without seeing, hitting only the walls. Then I try to
wipe my eyes clear of whatever it sprayed. My vision is cloudy.

I aim my gun at the next thing I hear. But it's Agent Harrison, who seems to
be in the same shape as I am. She's found what she believes to be the
caretaker's son, in an even more advanced state of whatever the hell state
we're in...

She brings up a case that Mulder and Scully pursued in Florida once -
something about subterranean men. I remind her this isn't a *man* we're
looking for. Does *everything* have to relate to one of Scully's cases with
Mulder?

I'm guessing Agent Harrison and I are lunch and dinner for whatever lives
down here, but I don't plan to stay around that long.

We can both make out a light, well above us. I can't tell how high up it is,
but I start climbing. I hafta do something...

Climbing a sheer rock face isn't easy under the best circumstances. And I
can hardly see where I'm going - where the next handhold or foothold is. I
travel by feel, and it's slow going.

Finally the light above me grows brighter. I reach up and push a manhole
cover aside, trying to gather what little strength I have left to pull
myself out of the hole.

I see someone above me - blurry, but it's a man. Thank God something finally
went my way on this case. "I need a hand."

He gives me, instead, a *foot*. *On* my hand. Shit! I hang on for as long as
I'm able, and them tumble back down the way I came.

When I regain my senses, Agent Harrison leans worriedly over me. In my
blurred vision, I could see Scully there, if I tried. God, I want to.

I explain the man upstairs helped me lose my grip, and I stand to see him
sliding a solid manhole cover over the light above. I yell that I'm a
federal agent, but it doesn't worry him, apparently. The light is gone.

Amazingly, I haven't broken anything - *yet*, I remind myself.

"I don't understand," Agent Harrison wonders out loud. "Why would he want to
keep us down here?"

I know exactly why - (lunch and dinner) - but I just tell her this is her
chance to face the unknown...

She starts into another "Mulder and Scully" story, and, well, I've heard
enough of those on this trip.

"Mulder and Scully aren't *here*, Agent Harrison. *We* are," I interrupt as
gently as my blaring headache will allow. "And wild speculation isn't gonna
help us find a way out."

If I could really see her, I think I'd see a hurt expression. I sure *hear*
hurt in her voice. "You think I'm pretty foolish, don't you?"

It's not really that... I pull my voice down another level, and step closer
to her, so I can almost see her eyes. "I appreciate your enthusiasm," I
give her half a truth. "But you wanna take leaps that aren't supported by
the facts."

I leave her my gun and tell her to stay with Gary. Shoot if the creature
appears again.

She interrupts my departure from the cavern. Gary is gone. The creature must
have taken him... So we head off together, me leading - I can see a *little*
better than she can.

"Talk about the blind leadin' the blind," I try to lighten the mood.

She wants to apologize, says I was right - she's not qualified. I tell her
she's doing fine, to hang tough, but there is more worry in her voice.

I turn to face her, and she explains that she's completely blind. We better
damn sure find a way out while *I* can still see, or we'll be on tonight's
menu...

We hear - more than see - the creature hovering over something in front of
us. My shots scare it off, and we kneel to find a body. Probably Gary.

I beat on the door the creature left through. Tight, locked, unbreakable. I
leave Agent Harrison to sit and catch her breath for a minute while I try
the door again...

When I return to her, I startle her - Damn. She can't see me. I let her know
it's ok. While we're trying to figure our next move, we hear a pounding from
the other side of the closed door.

It's Mulder. And another man. I help Agent Harrison to her feet and we meet
them halfway across the room. The other man who looks disturbingly familiar.
Even with blurred vision. I bet I have his damned shoeprint on the top of my
hand.

Mulder explains it's the man who lives here. I tell Mulder that man's been
protecting this thing.

Agent Harrison takes it a step further. She thinks he *is* the creature,
even though she can't see.

Mulder turns to find the man gone, and the door locked once more. He wants
my gun, but before he can reach me, he sees the the creature crawling on the
ceiling above us.

Mulder wants me to shoot at his voice. I can't do that. He's damned
insistent - but I can't shoot Mulder, even accidentally. I'm paralyzed,
almost totally blind, when I realize that a leap needs to be taken. By me.
Here. Now.

When Mulder says "Fire!" I do - at the sound of his voice. Five shots. Then
silence. I have no idea if I hit the creature. I have no idea if I hit
Mulder.

"Agent Mulder..."

"Agent Mulder!"

I feel a hand on my shoulder. "I'm right here, Agent Doggett." I sag with
relief, letting my weapon hang, my eyes closed.


****

< It leans over me, but I can't see its face. I can't see anything! I throw an
arm up to keep it off of me. Everything is black. No!--->>

"Agent Doggett!"

I sit up - too fast - dizzy - and fall back against... pillows.

"Agent Doggett, relax. It's me. Agent Scully."

How many times has that sweet voice pulled me from horrors both real and
imagined in the past year?

But this - this is *too* real. Everything is *still* black!

"Agent Scully - I can't see!"

"Relax - you have bandages on your eyes. They'll come off later today." My
hands are grasping for life at the bedrails, until she lays a gentle hand on
my arm. Relief floods me, and I relax a bit into the bed beneath me.

"What happened? Is Agent Harrison ok?" I have more questions than breath.

"We think she'll be fine. What do you remember?"

I have no recollection of being helped out of the catacombs. I think I'd
been running on adrenaline for too many hours, and I just shut down.
Probably better off, since I couldn't see a damned thing anyway.

Scully explains about the anti-venin treatment that I'm receiving. "The
doctor should be here in a little while to check your eyes again. He said
he's hopeful you'll regain normal vision."

I heave a sigh, slowly acclimating myself to the darkness, clinging to the
promise of impending light by focusing on Scully's touch on my arm.

Then that touch is gone. I hear her pouring water into a cup, feel her
holding it to my lips. Gratefully, I drink a few sips. "Thanks."

"So," her tone is light. "I'm not gone five minutes and you're in deep shit
already, huh?"

I smile despite everything that's happened. I can hear Scully's smile in her
voice.

A knock on the door announces the doctor's arrival. Scully introduces him,
and moves to let him into her place.

I reach for where her arm should be - it's there - and close a hand around
it. "Please. Stay."

"I'm not going anywhere, Agent Doggett. I'm right here." She takes my hand
in both of hers, and my heart rate drops back into normal range.

The doctor is methodic, explaining what he's doing, what to expect, what
*not* to expect. Then he removes the bandage from my right eye.

I blink rapidly, my eye not used to the air hitting its surface yet. When I
attempt to focus, I'm rewarded with a slightly fuzzy picture - but far
better than I had toward the end, in the caverns. The doctor shines a
penlight into the eye, and removes the other bandage. Same feelings, same
level of sight.

"I think you're going to be fine," the doctor smiles - I think. "We'll
continue treatment for the next day or so. If your vision is fully restored,
you can go home tomorrow."

"How about Agent Harrison?" I ask.

"She was further advanced in her exposure to the venom," he answers. "But we
think she'll be ok as well. She'll probably need an extra day or two, but
we're hopeful her progress will be as positive as yours."

"Thanks, Doctor." He nods and leaves the room, and I turn to see - to *see*
- Scully sit back down beside my bed.

****

Two days later, I'm spending the afternoon with Agent Harrison. I got
discharged yesterday, but I wanna hang around, to make sure she's doin' ok,
too. It's coming on dinnertime - time to leave - and I finally thank her for
her help. She almost laughs. "Some help *I* was."

"*You* knew what that creature was, Agent Harrison. I'd say you did pretty
damned good for an agent on her first case in the field."

She smiles, and her eyes shine with almost their normal enthusiasm. "Thank
*you*. For putting up with me, with my wild speculations."

I linger for a few more moments, and then I head into the hallway, closing
the door quietly behind me. When I look up, Agents Scully and Mulder are
right in front of me.

Immediately I think of the baby. Is it time already? It's too early. I hope
everything is ok.

"Is this it?" I point in the general direction of Scully's 8+ month bulge.

"No," she smiles. They're here to check in on Agent Harrison.

I bring them up to speed - Scully pretty much knew what was going on, but
Mulder might not have.

Scully's look grows serious. "Skinner said she won't be returning to the
X-Files."

"That was her choice. It's just gonna be me for awhile." Jeez, did that
sound pitiful, or what?

Agent Mulder pulls something from his pocket. "I want to return something to
you, that I think you deserve to keep."

I know what it is. And I know who *should* have it. "I appreciate the
gesture, but if it's all the same to you, there's someone else who should
have it."

Mulder smiles - he knows who I have in mind - and starts to lay the keychain
in my hand, to give to Agent Harrison. But she's probably the president of
the Mulder and Scully fan club, so I shake my head. "I think it'd mean more
comin' from you."

A few minutes later, I stand outside Agent Harrison's room. I could almost
hear the conversation inside, if I tried. But I'm not listening. I'm too
lost in my own feelings.

Talking to an animated Agent Harrison, they stand side by side. Mulder and
Scully.

They fit together.

They belong together. Anyone could see that.

I nod to myself, before I head off down the hallway.

All's right with the world...

Except that now I'm alone in it...


~fini~



Author's Note: I know the episode made it sound like Scully was unaware of
Doggett's treatment at the hospital, when she asked about Harrison. I just
choose not to believe that she never came to see Doggett while he was still
in the hospital.