A Marriage Of Convenience *PG 13* 1/1
Deslea R. Judd
drjudd@tig.com.au drjudd@catholic.org
Copyright 1998
DISCLAIMER
This work is based on The X Files, a creation of Chris Carter
owned by him, Twentieth Century Fox, and Ten-Thirteen
Productions. Julia Capwell is my creation and may not be
used without my written consent (her name was, however,
misappropriated from the defunct soap Santa Barbara).
All other characters remain the intellectual property of those
parties and are used without their consent and without
commercial gain.
OK to archive.
Spoilers: Redux, Redux II, Christmas Carol, Emily.
Category: Story, Romance (Skinner/Scully).
Rating: PG 13.
Summary: Scully and Skinner marry to avoid him being called
to testify against her. But sometimes marriage can be a self-
fulfilling prophecy, and Scully just might find herself in the
process.
NB: Not related to Someone I Trusted, but I promise I'm
working on SIT X!
Fan mail is always appreciated!!! My e-mail is
drjudd@tig.com.au and drjudd@catholic.org.
This and my other stories may be found at
http://homepages.tig.com.au/~drjudd (shameless plug).
A Marriage Of Convenience *PG-13* 1/1
Deslea R. Judd
drjudd@tig.com.au drjudd@catholic.org
Copyright 1998
//I love you, not only for what you are, but for what I am when
I am with you. I love you not only for what you are, but for
what your love makes me. --Unknown//
PROLOGUE
The two figures were striking.
At All Souls Catholic Church in Annapolis, the couple
stood proudly before Father McCune, their FBI dress uniforms
matching those of a large number of those attending, not least
of which was that of the man who had given the beautiful
redhead away with a fond smile.
Now, the redhead stared up at the taller man at her
side, her hand over his. Her beautiful voice rang out with
commitment and resolve. "Walter, I give you this ring as a sign
of my love and fidelity, in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
Scully stared up at Skinner, searching for a reaction,
and met with his affectionate smile. She returned it, and when
he leaned forward, she met his lips with a sweetly chaste kiss.
They glanced sidelong at Mulder, who beamed at them
approvingly.
They re-took their seats, and Scully regarded her new
husband thoughtfully.
ONE
After Section Chief Blevins had apparently suicided,
there had still remained the question of how the Department of
Defense operative, Scott Ostelhoff, had come to die in Mulder's
building. The DOD would happily have let the matter drop, but
unfortunately for the DOD, Ostelhoff had a wife, and her uncle
was a Congressman. There had been an inquest, and that
inquest had handed down a verdict of murder by person or
persons unknown, with a recommendation that Mulder be
indicted.
Mulder had claimed self defense, and his claim had a
certain amount of credibility given he had discovered Ostelhoff
watching him. Privately, Mulder freely admitted to Scully that
what had happened had been fifty percent self defense and fifty
percent cold blooded murder, induced by his confused rage at
the discovery of how he had been used earlier that evening.
"All I saw, Scully, was the man who did those things to you and
me and my father and your sister." Nonetheless, he genuinely
believed both then and now that Ostelhoff would have killed
him, and felt no qualms of conscience about his self defense
claim.
The most damaging possible testimony would be,
ironically, her own. Mulder had admitted to killing Ostelhoff to
Scully immediately after it had happened, and due to her illness
had not told her that there was any question of self defense for
several days, by which time the inquest investigation had
already begun. Any questioning of her would immediately
destroy his defense. Scully had initially refused to testify, and
she had been held in contempt of court and jailed for several
weeks. Finally, she had been released with a $35,000 fine and
had not been called again. Still wincing over the dent in her
savings, Scully had been appalled when Skinner had then been
called to testify, not against Mulder, but against her.
Julia Capwell, who by now was their collective
attorney, had explained the situation. "Walter, you're the only
person who knows definitively that Dana knew Fox was alive."
She ignored Mulder's wince at her use of the name. "You
confronted her, and she didn't deny it. All three of us know it,
and since you were the recipient of the pathology report which
proved Mulder wasn't dead, the other side have a pretty good
idea of it, too. Now, as long as there's no proof Dana knew
Mulder was alive, we're free and clear. Mulder kills Ostelhoff in
self defense, and because he doesn't know who is watching or
who he can trust, he goes into hiding, leaving the body posed as
himself to buy him time, not risking making contact with Dana
here. Dana, believing the body is Mulder's, identifies him as
such. Mulder comes out of hiding when Dana is dying and
what with the Blevins stuff doesn't get another chance to tell his
story for days to come, when he makes his formal statement.
But as soon as you testify Mulder made contact with Dana
before her collapse, everything changes. The jury will assume
he gave Dana his first and most immediate version of events,
which in their minds will be the most credible, and presumably
he never once mentioned self defense, or else she would have
testified. It also makes her an accessory after the fact. Dana
has refused to testify, and that looked bad, but not as bad as her
testimony. And we did manage to salvage that somewhat by
getting Mulder to testify about their difference of opinion about
Emily's adoption, painting it as a possible grudge thing. But
Walter, I don't see that you can follow suit. You'll be accused
of covering up the truth, and your career will be worthless. A
partner showing what is perceived to be misguided loyalty, or
misguided hostility, is one thing, but the Assistant Director is
quite another."
Skinner had nodded slowly, and Scully had been
alarmed at the idea of his career going down the drain over this.
Mulder, more realistic, had understood that had been the case
for a long time anyway. But the prospect that Skinner might be
sacked, leaving the post open for another supervisor who might
interfere with their work, was a worrying one.
They had quibbled about this for some time, Julia
forgotten; but finally, their lawyer had gotten their attention.
Granted it at last, she had made her fateful suggestion. With a
quiet voice quite unlike the one that had been used to yell, "Will
you all shut the fuck up?", she'd said cooly, "Well, Walter, you
could always marry her."
Scully had stared at Julia, thunderstruck. She knew, of
course, that a husband could not be called to testify against his
wife; but, dear God, marriage? If it came to that she could
always have married Mulder and been done with it. //Would
have saved me a second mortgage for that damn fine, at any
rate//, she thought ruefully. She looked at Skinner, and was
stunned to see a thoughtful expression on his face which told
her clearly he was considering it.
Julia had left them to it after that, instructing them to
brief her on their decision within twenty four hours. Two
pizzas and three bottles of wine later, the three of them had
hammered out a plan which would allow their work to continue
unhampered. Bureau marriages were permitted; marriages
between superior and subordinate were not. In this plan,
Mulder remained head of the X Files project, now exclusively.
Scully, meanwhile, was transferred to head a new, Special
Projects section of the the Scientific Analysis Unit at Quantico
and was responsible to Section Chief Rudolph, who fortunately
was more interested in science than internal politics. Mulder
then used his support budget to purchase the exclusive services
of the Special Projects Unit, making her his consulting partner,
but technically not accountable to Skinner. Technically she was
first and foremost accountable to her client, Mulder; and
secondarily to Rudolph, who could not possibly have cared less.
From Rudolph's perspective, any trouble she got into was her
client's lookout, not his. A fortunate bonus was that Scully got
a new and heftier budget with which she was able to purchase a
small, much-needed support staff. Giddy with relief, Mulder
had left, leaving Scully and Skinner lazing drowsily on the floor
at right angles to one another, their heads close. From this
vantage point, they stared out the picture window at the sleet.
Scully's head was swimming. Within hours she had
gone from staring down the barrel of a sentence for being an
accessory for murder to staring down the barrel of a sentence of
marriage to Skinner. There was confusion and amazement, and
also, if she were honest, a dawning hope. Could this be the
change she had been seeking in her life since she had so nearly
died? A shared life with someone? Marriage, something she
had not thought of for many a long year...could this be what she
longed for?
At last, Skinner spoke. "Scully...Dana. What do you
think about all this?"
Scully was quiet for a long moment, but finally, she
said in a low voice, "It's different for Mulder. Marriage is
something you can do in a registry office and then undo. I'm
not like that. I believe that marriage is a commitment you make
for life. I have no use for marriage of any other kind."
"Nor do I," he said softly.
"And yet how do we let Mulder go to jail for this?" she
asked wretchedly. "We can't."
They stayed there for long moments, still staring at the
sleet. Finally, Skinner spoke; but the voice was that of a very
different Skinner. "Dana, there is a way."
She said nothing; only tilted her head slightly to catch
sight of his expression.
He continued. "We could get married for real - for
life."
Still she was silent; but now, she rolled onto her side
and leaned over him. She waited.
A frown passed over his face. "I don't know how to
explain what I mean, Dana. But - we're friends. Confidantes.
I'm comfortable with you. You make me smile when we work
on something together and you say something that makes me do
a double-take. It may not be the stuff of romance stories, but
we could be happy together, I think. Content. I think we could
make a home together, a life together."
"So do I," she said softly. "I know we could."
"Do you think you'd ever regret it?" he asked with a
pang. "Wish you'd waited for Mr Right, that sort of thing?"
She thought a moment, just to be sure; but then she
shook her head decisively. "No. No, I wouldn't. I've had the
swelling music and the heart-bursting passion. It doesn't last. I
want something that will last, Walter. I want to be with
someone I can give myself to and know they'll always be there,
and that they're strong enough to give me what I need without
being swamped by me."
"Me, too," he said softly. "What Sharon and I had was
too flighty. It lasted seventeen years, and it probably would
have lasted another seventeen if she hadn't died; but we were
people who skittered across one another's nerves constantly.
We were too different." He sighed, "But I did love her. Very
much."
Scully took his hand. "So what are you suggesting,
Walter? That we try to fall in love?" There was mischief in her
voice.
He smiled at that, but shook his head. "Just that we
live together as life partners. As for love...it'll happen in it's
own time. Or maybe it won't."
She nodded slowly. "But it will be okay, even if it
doesn't, I think," she said slowly. "Because we're working to be
partners as we are now, not because that might happen
sometime later - right?"
"Right."
They were silent for a long time after that, the only
sound the driving rain. Finally, Scully had said diffidently,
"Walter?"
"Yes?"
"If this is for life, I want to marry in the Church," she
said softly.
He nodded. "So do I."
It had been decided as simply as that; and finally, they
had gone to bed. Skinner had not slept on the lounge as they
had first decided after a certain level of inebriation; instead, he
had slept in her bed, both of them dressed, their bodies curled
together in an intimately chaste embrace. She had slept,
comforted, and sweetly content; and that was the beginning of
her understanding that she did love him, after all.
TWO
"Congratulations, Dana. I'm so pleased."
Scully came to herself. "Thank you, Holly." She
lowered her gaze. "You know, I'm sorry I gave you the brush-
off when we thought Mulder was dead. I just didn't know how
to deal with it. I did appreciate what you tried to do for me."
The tiny brunette gave her a compassionate smile. "I
understand, Dana, really." Her tone brightened. "But Mulder's
alive, and the case looks like being dropped, and you've married
a wonderful man. Everything's come right for you, Dana."
Scully felt a shadow pass over her, the shadow of
children who would never be; but it passed. "Yes, Holly, I
think it has." She gave a sudden grin. "So when can we expect
to hear wedding bells from you?"
Holly gave a sidelong glance at Kimberley, who was
sharing an affectionate exchange with Skinner. Her expression
was a fond one. "Her parents are still having trouble with this,
Dana. We want to give them time, if we can, before we take
that step. We don't want to drive them away by moving too
fast for them."
Scully counselled softly, "Don't wait too long, Holly.
It's your life," she added, thinking of her mother's dismay at the
news of her own marriage to Skinner. "Part of being a parent
has to be letting go."
Holly looked suddenly bereft. "I know, Dana. I
know." Thinking of Emily, she took the older woman's hand.
"She's with you today, you know."
Scully bit back the tears which suddenly threatened. "I
know she is, Holly." She pulled the other woman close.
"Thank you."
They stayed that way for a long moment, but then
Skinner cleared his throat. "You going after my staff again,
Holly?" he demanded with a glint in his eye.
"You treat her right, Sir, or I just might," Holly
rejoined.
Kimberley rolled her eyes. "Come on, you incorrigible
flirt. I want to dance."
They watched them depart, arm in arm, and Scully said
as an amused aside, "I don't know how my brother's coping
with the lesbian contingent." Her hand closed around his
unselfconsciously, her tone reflective. "They make a sweet
couple, though."
Skinner gave a low snort of laughter. "Funnily
enough, Kimberley just said exactly the same thing to me about
you and I."
Scully turned to him. "Really?" she asked, pleased.
He nodded. "She said we were very adult. She said
that Holly and she admired the fact that we were such good
friends - she said she thought it made a good foundation for a
marriage." He gave a low sigh. "I don't know if she was
hinting at anything - God knows, if anyone knows the reasons
for this, she does - but she said she believed with time we'd
make each other very happy."
Scully scoffed, "Walter, they //all// know." She added
slowly, "I think she's right."
Skinner squeezed her fingers gently. "Me too."
They went to the dance floor, and they went into one
another's arms.
Frohike, Langly, and Byers sat at what could only be
regarded as the outcasts table, a table for those who knew no-
one else (or, in the case of Mulder, who had left the bridal
party's table to join them, people whom no-one wanted to
know). By a strange twist of fate - and the mischievous hand of
Scully - Bill and Tara Scully were seated in the table adjacent
and had no choice but to converse with them. Bill was
positively monosyllabic, blaming Mulder as he did for Scully's
recent prison holiday, but Tara took delight in the discussion.
Langly spoke. "So Mulder, do you think they'll be
happy?" For even those close to the couple who knew of the
reasons for the union had been told that the marriage was
permanent and would not be ending in divorce after the trial.
Byers pointed to them dancing. They stood in an
embrace which was so innocent, so uncomplicated that it was
pure, their locked gazes childlike with gentle fondness. "What
do you think?" he asked with a pang of envy.
Mulder looked on with a bittersweet smile. "I think
she's married her soul mate. I just don't think she knows it yet."
Frohike and Bill both harrumphed, and were both
similarly ignored. Bill snarled, "So how does it feel to be a free
man, Mulder? Was it worth offering my sister over to some
guy like a common whore?"
Tara jabbed him with her elbow. "Bill!" she
reprimanded, upset.
Mulder snapped, "The only reason I don't slug you like
you deserve, Scully, is that your sister would kill me."
"Don't bother," Frohike muttered in Mulder's ear. "I
put itching powder in his napkin."
Scully would have been proud of the self-control
Mulder displayed at at that; but he was saved from having to
reply to either Frohike or Bill by the sound of a microphone.
Mulder returned to his table for the toasts.
Skinner rose. "Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's no
secret among any of us that circumstances have dictated the
timing of this wedding; and I thank you all for coming on just a
week's notice. But don't be misled by that fact." He turned to
Scully. "I stand here before you profoundly honoured to have
taken Dana for my wife. She is without doubt the most
beautiful, brilliant person I have ever known." Scully turned a
gratifying shade of pink. "She challenges me, and she makes me
be honest with myself and others. She is breathtakingly strong
and compassionate, and she is very dear to me. I'm a very lucky
man." Scully, her eyes bright, acknowledged him with a little
nod of her head, her lips trembling even through her smile. She
rose at his gesture, and allowed him to kiss her hand. "To
Dana, and all who are privileged to know her."
He moved to sit, but she restrained him with a gentle
touch. As the goodnatured toasts died down, she said slowly,
"It is frightening to think that if not for circumstance we might
not have seen this day." She met his gaze. "It is frightening to
me that I have known this man for five years, and that this
incredible future we now share could have passed me by in the
blink of an eye." She turned to the congregation, most of
whom were her friends, but a handful of whom were foes,
Bureau operatives who shadowed their every move. "I have
lost much in the last five years - my father, my sister, and
recently my daughter. Those losses, and most especially that of
my daughter, remain part of me always. But God has seen fit to
give me a new future with the blessing of those I loved in my
old life. For that, and for you, Walter, I will always be
thankful." She stopped, unable to continue, and simply raised
her glass.
He leaned forward, and she kissed him tenderly.
"Thank you, Walter," she whispered.
"And you," he said huskily. "Oh, Dana," he breathed.
They were interrupted by Mulder clearing his throat.
"I'm going to make this short and sweet, because I can't hold a
candle to that anyway. The very first time Scully met Skinner,
her first words to me describing the encounter were, 'He just
wanted to reel me in'. Well, Sir, you've finally done it.
Congratulations, and may you dream of Mulder-free
conferences."
"I'll drink to that!" Walter laughed, and Mulder and
Scully laughed with him.
THREE
It was that night that the question of making love
arose.
When Scully stripped off her Bureau dress uniform, it
revealed a negligee of the richest ivory silk, hand embroidered
with heavy gold thread. Skinner raised a questioning eyebrow.
"Is this a hint, Dana?" His voice was kind.
She gave a sheepish grin. "Mom bought it. She said if
I wasn't going to look like a bride outside I was damn well
going to look like one inside."
He couldn't keep the admiration out of his voice. "Oh,
you do, Dana. Believe me, you do." He sobered. "Doesn't she
know we haven't - uh -"
She cut him off. "She hopes tonight will be the night."
"Do you?" he asked piercingly.
She hesitated. "I - I'd like to," she admitted slowly. "I
don't want us to spend our lives alone - you know, that way.
But we've been so happy these last few weeks as we are, as
friends. I don't want to risk what we have." Her voice became
lower. "I don't want to lose you."
He drew her close. "You won't, Scully." He felt her
mould herself to his body, her soft cheek warm against his bare
chest. She must be aware of him through his trousers, hard
against her stomach, but she neither pushed him away nor
pulled him closer, but simply accepted it for what it was, that he
wanted her. Her acceptance stunned and exhilirated him in
turn. "I know this is awkward. We're people who have never
been lovers, but we've made a life together. There was a time,
and it wasn't so long ago, when people married this way all the
time, but that's not our culture. It's strange to us." She raised
her head to meet his gaze, and nodded her agreement with his
assessment. "But Dana, you're my wife now. We promised to
make a life together, to live as man and wife, and we're both
people of our word. It may not happen tonight, or tomorrow
night, or even this year, but we're going to find a way to make it
work. I'm in this for the long haul."
Against all her will, she felt her eyes sting with sudden
tears at what he was offering her. Permanence. Security. The
things Scully had craved all her life, sought in her religion and
her science and in Mulder. And here they were, handed to her
by a man who wanted nothing more of her than her own
resolve, resolve she lived by anyway. This was not a man who
would take and take and take, like Mulder; this was not a man
who would ever let let her go to prison for him or put her in a
situation where such a thing was necessary. This was not a man
who would rail at her with furious betrayal on that day when
she finally decided her life or her family was more important
than his cause. This was a man who would accept her, support
her, whatever she did. She felt her tightly contructed,
protective walls crumbling; and it was a relief. At last, she
spoke. "So am I."
He kissed her forehead. "Let's go to bed."
So she let him lead her to their bed, still unsure
whether he would make love to her, but trusting him and herself
to make everything okay.
But he didn't.
EPILOGUE
When she woke, she felt peace.
He was still curled protectively around her body, his
arms loosely around her. Vaguely, she remembered him
stroking her breast as they dropped off to sleep, him kissing her
neck; and yet they had been innocent touches, leading no further
than themselves, just as her kissing his fingers and nuzzling
deeper into his body had been. As before when they had slept
together, she felt content. It was as though, in a strange way,
this chaste intimacy gave her something lovemaking never
could: reassurance that she could be loved for who she was,
rather than what she did or what she could give. Idly, she
wondered whether them making love might actually spoil it.
And then he stirred, and kissed her sweetly on her
shoulder, and she thought, //No. As long as he kisses me that
way, I will know.//
So she turned to face him, and she tenderly kissed his
lips, her tongue caressing him for the first time. "Walter," she
whispered. "I love you for what you've given me."
He looked at her, his reply unmistakeable, but his
eyebrow was raised in question.
"Me," she explained softly. "You've given me me."
END
Author's note: I wanted to go on from this, really; but I didn't
think there was anything more to say. Let me know if you beg
to differ. Deslea
BY THE SAME AUTHOR:
Offspring (Scully/Skinner, XF, mytharc novel, Piper Maru
backstory)
On The Outside (mini-novel, Offspring prequel, mytharc,
Sam/other, Colony
backstory)
One Endless Night (Skinner/Scully, some mytharc Colony to
Emily)
The Field Where My Love Died (TFWID vignette, implied
MSR)
The Field Where My Love Prevailed (TFWID vignette, implied
MSR)
The Field Where Her Love Died (Scully/Melissa Ephesian
(past), Sc/Sk
(past/present), unfinished, not yet available)
Someone I Trusted (Series) (Scully/Skinner, follows mytharc)
A Soul, Unbound (Emily vignette, missing scene, Scullyangst)
A Teletubby X File (Humour, story, XF/Teletubbies crossover)
Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road? An XF Primer
(Humour)
The Scully Skinner Shipper Drinking Game (Humour)
How To Write A Scully Skinner Romance (Humour, in
progress)
Borderline (unfinished mini-novel, MSR, some Sc/Sk)
Lyrics of the Heart (unfinished mini-novel, MSR, characters die,
lotsa karaoke)
Smokin' Maggie (unfinished mini-novel, mytharc, MSR, not yet
available)
Evolutions (unfinished novel, not yet available, Offspring
sequel, mytharc, Sk/Sc,
Samantha, Redux backstory)