Summary: Everyone knows that secretaries really run the world. The first of a series of post-eps from Kim Cook's POV.

TITLE: The View From the Outer Office
AUTHOR: Lara Means
E-MAIL: LaraMeansXF@aol.com
WEBSITE: http://larameansxf.tripod.com
CLASSIFICATION: V
RATING: PG
ARCHIVE: NO to Gossamer, Spookys; I'll submit directly to both.
YES to Ephemeral. YES to mailing list auto-archives. Anywhere
else, please ASK. I'll say yes; I just like to know where the
kids are at the end of the day.
FEEDBACK: Please?
DATE POSTED: 08/27/02

DISCLAIMER: I don't own them. Heck, I don't even own my name.
It all belongs to 20th Century Fox. No infringement intended.

SPOILERS: Pilot.

SUMMARY: Everyone knows that secretaries really run the world.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The FBI chain of command has recently undergone
an overhaul, but back in 1993 (or 1992, whichever), I believe
that an Assistant Director was above a Section Chief. More
notes at the end.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE VIEW FROM THE OUTER OFFICE
written by Lara Means



I really like my job.

I have a great boss who trusts me to keep the office running
smoothly. The other admins are really friendly, and the agents
I come into contact with are nice. Heck, I work for the FBI --
what's not to love about that?

Most of the time when the agents come in to see the Assistant
Director, they keep to themselves -- which is fine with me, I
have my own work to do. Sometimes, if there's more than one,
they'll talk to each other -- always in a hushed tone, as if
they're afraid I'll overhear something and run tell Mr. Skinner.
I usually hear them anyway, but it's never anything I'd bother
him with -- mostly rumors about who's about to get promoted,
who's sleeping with whom, that sort of thing.

Today it's just one agent -- Agent Mulder. He doesn't come up
here much, and his name doesn't come up very often in Mr.
Skinner's day-to-day work -- mostly Section Chief Blevins
supervises him. But today he's waiting for the Assistant
Director. And he looks nervous.

His knee is bouncing pretty steadily, and he's chewing on a
fingernail. He keeps glancing over at me like I'd disappear if
he didn't. When he catches my eye he smiles a nervous little
half-smile, which I return before I go back to my work.

He clears his throat and I look up. "Um... I'm sorry, I've
forgotten your name."

You didn't forget it, Agent, you never asked. "Kimberly."

"Right. Kimberly." He goes back to his bouncing and chewing
for a moment. "Kimberly, he knows I'm waiting, right?"

"Yes, Agent Mulder, he knows."

"You don't think you should buzz him..."

"He'll let me know when he's ready for you."

"Right. Sorry." More chewing and bouncing. "So. How long
have you been working for AD Skinner?"

"A little over a year."

"You like working for him?"

"Agent Mulder, I've got about ten minutes to finish typing this
report."

"Sorry. Sorry."

I go back to my work and successfully tune him out. I don't
even look over when he gets up and starts pacing, I guess as an
alternative to the knee-bouncing.

We're both startled a bit when the inner door opens and Mr.
Skinner comes out. I catch a whiff of cigarette smoke and
realize that man who uses the outer door -- bypassing me, which
is really irritating -- must have been with him just now.

"Kimberly, could you walk this down to Section Chief Blevins'
office?" he asks, handing me a file.

"Of course, Sir," I tell him.

"Agent Mulder, come in."

Agent Mulder goes inside and Mr. Skinner closes the door behind
them. I look at the file he gave me -- there's a handwritten
note attached, so I pull out an interoffice envelope to put it
in. Looking a little closer, I see it's a personnel file for a
Special Agent Dana Scully.

I slip the file into the envelope and head for the elevators.



END

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Many thanks to sallie for speedy and reassuring
beta. Extreme gratitude as always to IWTB for unwavering
support and encouragement.

This story is the beginning of an occasional series of post-
eps/missing-scene fics inspired by both the Harem and After the
Fact mailing lists. Which episodes I base the stories on will
essentially follow the AtF challenges, with some S8/9 eps added
(because I liked S8/9). Thanks to the members of both lists for
the inspiration.