Title: LOOKING INTO THE CHRYSALIS (1/1) Author: aka "Jake" Rating: PG-13 (Language) Classification: V Spoilers: Post-ep for "Tooms" Summary: Inside its chrysalis, a caterpillar metamorphoses into a butterfly. Sound like an X-File to you? Well, in this case, our heroes have been together for fourteen months, and *someone* is undergoing a transformation. Disclaimer: Do these characters really belong to Chris Carter, FOX and 1013 Productions? If so, no copyright infringement intended. Fun, yes. Profit, no. LOOKING INTO THE CHRYSALIS By aka "Jake" BALTIMORE, MARYLAND APRIL 22, 1994 Eugene Victor Tooms is dead. Dana Katherine Scully is changed. I don't think the two are connected necessarily, although I'm not ruling anything out. Fact: Scully is not the same person she was...before... Before what? Before Tooms died? Before she hunted her first mutant? Before she met me? Umm...maybe it's best not to answer that last question right now. Let's examine a little evidence first: **"Sir? I was engaged in the unauthorized surveillance as well, and Agent Mulder was orienting me on the situation at the time Tooms was admitted into the hospital. Agent Mulder could not have done it because he was with me."** **"Agent Scully, you wouldn't be lying to me, would you?"** I'm here to tell you, she *was* lying. Scully lied. She outright lied to Skinner, to *our superior*, to Da Man! Who-the-hell are you, Agent Scully, and what have you done with my honest-law-abiding-above-reproach partner? More importantly, who's going to keep *me* honest if you've crossed to the dark side? I swear I've stumbled into some sort of Night-of-the-Body-Snatchers alternate universe where Scully looks like Scully, smells like Scully, maybe even tastes like Scully -- although I've never had the pleasure -- but she sure as hell doesn't sound like Scully. Ask yourself this: In the fourteen months we've been working together, how many times has Scully lied to our superiors in my presence? None. Come to think of it, how many times has she joined me on an unauthorized surveillance...uh...when she's actually realized it was unauthorized? Never. My conclusion? Scully is an imposter or -- heaven help me -- duplicity has a fourteen-month incubation period and Scully finally caught my disease. *Or*... Well...to borrow a line from the *original* Scully: the answers are there; you just have to know where to look. So let's take a little look-see, hmm? Scully's fib to Skinner, et al, popped out of her pretty little lipsticked mouth without the slightest hesitation. Her voice never wavered. She kept a perfect poker face. Sorry, Scully. No one can be *that* good without practice. Unlesssss... Maybe she's got a bad-girl side that she's been hiding up 'til now. Wow. That would be-- Never mind. Her lie was not self-serving, so for better or worse, there is no Bad Girl Scully. In fact, her actions were completely altruistic. She risked her career for... ...me? **This isn't about doing it by the book. This is about you not having slept for three days. Mulder, you're going to get sloppy and you're going to get hurt. It's inevitable at this point.** Then she called me Fox. She disobeyed orders. She lied to Skinner. Then she called me Fox. Hmmmmmm. None of this adds up to the Scully I've come to know and lo...uh, I've come to know. Except for the altruistic thing. That is soooo Scully. Loyal, dedicated, compassionate. These are definite Scully-like traits. But a liar? Sorry, I just can't reconcile her recent dishonesty, even if her actions did save my ass. I mean, of course, I'd lie. I lie all the time for almost no reason at all. But why would she...? **Mulder, I wouldn't put myself on the line for anybody but you.** Uh...? Instant replay: **Mulder, I wouldn't put myself on the line for anybody but you.** Nnnnn--okay, let's go over that one more time: **Mulder, I wouldn't put myself on the line for anybody but you.** Did she mean...? What exactly did she mean? At the time, I tested the waters with a joke. **If there's an ice tea in that bag, could be love.** Know what she said to that? **Must be fate, Mulder. Root beer.** Heh. Fate. Shit. Eh, I mean *good*. I don't need any complicated emotional entanglements on the job. Been there, done that. Nose-dived. Or maybe "Hindenberged" would be more accurate. Scully is my partner, nothing more, and that's exactly the way it should be. **Mulder, I wouldn't put myself on the line for anybody but you.** No, no, no, no, no. Not going there. I don't think of her that way. Can't. Won't. Not now, not ever. I don't care how many times she lies to save my ass or how many rules she breaks because she thinks she cares about me or even how damn sexy she looks on an unauthorized stakeout. It won't affect me. You won't find me worrying about her the way she worries about-- **They're out to put an end to the X-Files, Scully. I don't know why, but any excuse will do. Now, I don't really care about my record, but you'd be in trouble just sitting in this car and I'd hate to see--** Uh... Oh... Crap. I'm f-- "Okay, let's go." Scully appears behind me and I nearly jump out of my skin. Trying not to betray my cool exterior, I point to the chrysalis that hangs from a branch above my head -- the one I've been pretending to study for the last fifteen minutes. "It's amazing how things change, isn't it?" "The caterpillar?" "No..." You broke the rules for me, Scully. You lied to protect me. And you did it to help me catch a hibernating-liver-eating-contortionist mutant. Shit, I've been looking for someone like you all my life. "A change for us. It's coming." "How do you know?" Because unfortunately my heart tells me so, Scully, or in other words, "A hunch." Lordy, she is damn beautiful. I'm f-- THE END Author's notes: I imagine CC had something totally different in mind when he wrote that last scene. But this is my story and I'm sticking with my own interpretation.