========================================================================== NOTICE: - Deslea's URL is now http://www.deslea.com or http://fiction.deslea.com. - Email address is now deslea@deslea.com. - May be archived by Scully/Skinner specialty archives only. This information supercedes all other information found in this file. ========================================================================== Someone I Trusted V: Sharon's Reprise *NC17* 1/1 Deslea R. Judd drjudd@primus.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. Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, Kim Cooke, and Sharon Skinner remain the intellectual property of those parties and are used without their consent and without commercial gain. Susannah Skinner is my creation and may not be used elsewhere without my consent. Spoilers: One Breath, Blessing Way, Paper Clip, Piper Maru, Apocrypha, Avatar. Category: Story, Romance (Skinner/Scully). Rating: NC17 for sex. Summary: Sequel to Someone I Trusted I, II, II, and IV, in which Skinner is torn between his past and his future. Fan mail is always appreciated!!! My e-mail is drjudd@primus.com.au. Archivists, feel free to add this to your collections; but be sure to let me know. This and my other stories may be found at http://home.primus.com.au/drjudd (shameless plug). PREVIOUS TITLES: Someone I Trusted (The Blessing Way), in which Scully pulls a gun on Skinner...and surprises him Someone I Trusted II: The SSR File, in which Scully and Skinner discuss their coupling and try again Someone I Trusted III: Always, in which Scully and Skinner resume their affair and discuss children Someone I Trusted IV: The Apocryphal File, in which Scully decides to try for a baby, after all Someone I Trusted V: Sharon's Reprise *NC17* 1/1 Deslea R. Judd drjudd@.com.au drjudd@catholic.org Copyright 1998 Scully entered the bathroom with considerable relief at the opportunity to get away from Mulder. She stared at her reflection. There were dark circles under her eyes which she was sure had not been there three hours earlier. She had aged since the news had broken, and it showed. Mulder thought she was disgusted at Skinner for sleeping with a prostitute. She wasn't. She was dismayed, for their fight had taken place only hours before, but disgusted, no. //How much of this is my fault?// she wondered fruitlessly. When he had telephoned her, almost in tears over the business with the divorce papers, she had been less than sympathetic. "Walter, you have a future with me. Your marriage has been over for a very long time. It's time to sign them, and let it go. This is a reason to celebrate, not to mourn." "Celebrate? //Celebrate?// This is seventeen years of my //life//, and they're gone! All for nothing!" She had become angry then. Perhaps his link to his past had affronted her more than she had acknowledged. "Nothing? You call Susannah nothing? Wasn't she worth it?" Then, only slightly more gently, "Walter, do you //want// to still be married to Sharon? Do you still want a life with her? Because if you do I think you'd better work it out real fast." Walter had been furious with her. "Is that what this is about? God damn it, Scully, I'm mourning the biggest loss in my life since my father died and all you can think to do is get in a jealous snit? For God's sake, grow up!" He'd slammed down the phone. Yes, she decided, she had some responsibility here. If she had only given him the support he needed he wouldn't have sought it from some whore. //Since when do you talk about your fellow women like that, Dana Katharine?// //Since my man slept with her and won't even admit he paid for her.// She understood, though. He knew he had lost considerable ground with her by sleeping with this woman. But he could salvage some ground by pretending he hadn't known she was a prostitute. As if she cared. //If he'd known...if it had truly meant nothing...that would probably be easier, actually.// There was another thought creeping in amidst this introspection, and this one was sinister - sinister enough to keep pushing behind other thoughts until it screamed at her: //If you had supported him, it could have been //you// lying in that bed with your neck broken.// She shook her head in an effort to clear the clatter of her warring thoughts. Did she think he was guilty? //Did// she? He //could// be, she knew that. She knew about the nightmares, the sleepwalking. And she knew he was not always himself when he woke. But that was a far cry from saying he had killed the woman. She herself had never felt anything but safe with him. On the other hand she wouldn't have picked him for a cheater, either. She frowned at her deathly-white reflection. Her only course of action could be to continue as she had done...play dumb. As far as Mulder knew, she had no idea Walter had been married. And she certainly had no way of knowing his condition when he woke from nightmares. One of them needed to be impartial in this, and Mulder couldn't be if he knew she was in love with Skinner. As for her...that was a joke. There was one other thing she could do. Not investigate too thoroughly. Because if Walter was guilty, she wasn't sure she wanted to know. And she most certainly didn't want to be the one who acquired the evidence which would permit his indictment. She splashed her face with water. Mulder would wonder where she was. She had to get back out there. Pulling a tissue from her bag, she mopped up the excess and headed for the door. She collided head-on with Sharon Skinner. "Excuse me," she said shakily, completely unnerved. Sharon ignored her social niceties. "You're sleeping with him." Scully stopped still. "I beg your pardon?" "You're sleeping with him," Sharon repeated. "And Mulder doesn't know." She dug into her purse for her lipstick, going on nonchalantly, "Poor Scully. You didn't know he liked to play the field, did you? But after all, he slept with you while he was married to me." Scully shivered inwardly. How the hell did she know? But then...women //knew// these things sometimes. Just like she knew Sharon was lying about Walter to hurt her right now. Scully went on the defensive. "I'm surprised to see you here, Senator," she said lightly. "I'd have thought the fact that your husband is under suspicion for murder might cost you votes." //Just like your lesbian daughter might, and isn't that why you won't let her home from boarding school even for Christmas? Come to think of it, isn't that at least half the reason Walter was so pleased to see the back of you?// Sharon's expression darkened. "I've spoken to the Director about a media blackout," she said coldly. "That's already been taken care of." Scully gave a cynical laugh. "Now, I should have guessed that was coming. You're some piece of work, Sharon." Nonetheless, she was glad for Walter's sake. "Excuse me," she said disgustedly, and stormed out. ONE WEEK LATER Scully walked into the AD's office. Kimberley waved her straight in. Knocking on the open door, she passed through, feeling like an intruder. Skinner was there in his dress uniform, struggling with a recalcitrant neck button. "Let me," she said softly. He looked a little surprised, but allowed her to fasten the silver stud for him. He looked down at her, taking in her attire. She wore a black coat over her own dress uniform. Her hair was in a demure french roll. "Scully, what's this?" he asked quizzically. "I'd like to accompany you to the funeral, Walter. If you'll let me." She smiled mirthlessly. "Don't worry, I'll stand a discreet distance away." Senator Sharon Skinner's funeral was to be a major social occasion. He shook his head. "I'm not worried about that, Dana. Of course you can come if you wish. God knows I could use the support." Scully frowned. "Will Susannah be there?" she asked with sudden concern. She had a soft spot for Walter's sixteen- year-old daughter, though she had spoken to the girl on the phone only once. Skinner gave a regretful sigh. "No, she won't. I offered to fly her home but she said she preferred to remain in Switzerland until the end of the school term. She doesn't seem to care that her mother is dead. It frightens me a little." Scully's brow was creased, but she said cautiously, "It's probably understandable, Walter. The woman banished her to boarding school at the age of seven. Susannah has seen her perhaps seven or eight times since then. In a very real sense Sharon was a stranger to her." She paused. "I doubt she cares nothing at all, but I think it will be a reaction which escapes gradually over time. And there will be anger - you need to be ready for that." He nodded, worried lines forming in his forehead. "You're probably right. Do you think I should talk to Mulder? He's the best psychologist I know." Scully shook her head. "No. Not Mulder. You could bring out a few scars of his own." Skinner glanced at her suddenly, then nodded. "You're right. I wasn't thinking." They fell silent, lost in thought. Sharon Skinner had died five days earlier after being run off the road, for which Walter had been framed, just as he had been framed for the prostitute's death. It had been Mulder, as Scully had hoped, who had cleared him. They had never discussed his infidelity, nor her apparent suspicion of him. Now, Skinner spoke. "You know, when Sharon was hurt, I decided I wasn't going to sign the divorce papers. Not til I'd spoken to her, cleared the air, made my peace with her. After seventeen years of marriage we owed one another that. I made my peace with her before she died, Scully. She didn't hear me, I don't think...but I think I found it in my heart to forgive her...and to ask her to forgive me for shutting her out." His voice seemed to come from far away. Scully hung her head. "I'm glad, Walter. I had no right to act as though that part of your past had no value. I'm sorry." He touched her chin, made her look at him. "Hey," he said gently. He held her gaze a long moment. "About the girl-" She put a finger to his lips. "I don't want to know. I think I have some responsibility for that. And even if I didn't, I still don't want to know. It's over." She looked away. "I'm sorry I suspected you, Walter. It wasn't malicious, and it wasn't me thinking you were capable of cold-blooded murder. It was being faced with too many shocks all at once, and not being able to know for sure. With the circumstances as the context, I just couldn't be sure." "Nor could I," he admitted. He kissed the top of her head tenderly. "Scully, I love you. That hasn't changed. And even though I wear this again -" he held up his wedding band "- as a remembrance, I know that my future is with you. It always was." She held his gaze for a long moment, remembering. The night of Sharon's death, Scully and Mulder had set up a meeting between Carina's killer and one of Carina's colleagues, a terrified working girl who was the only witness left alive. As Scully and the girl paced in their hotel room, waiting, the man had arrived and knocked Scully out. Just as he took aim at the girl, Skinner had arrived and killed him. Seemingly angry and dazed, he had pushed his way past Mulder and made a beeline for the door. Scully had been barely conscious, but she had dragged herself up at the sound of his voice receding. Lurching frantically through the throng of law enforcement personnel, she caught up with him at the elevators and collapsed against him. "Walter," she gasped. He caught her. "Scully, go and get some first aid." She shook her head. "No," she said frantically. "I have to talk to you." Striving to control his temper, for it was easy for her to believe in him now she had proof, he led her back to the hotel room. He collared Mulder. "Mulder, Scully's a mess. I'll drive her home if you like. That bump on the head was a bad one." Mulder gave him a relieved look. "Thank you, Sir. I'm going to be ages here." He went into the bathroom and returned with Scully's handbag. "Her keys should be in there, Sir." Skinner nodded, not wanting to say he had keys to her apartment already. "Thanks, Mulder. See you tomorrow." Mulder waved, already conferring once more with the cops. Scully, her equilibrium slowly returning, walked unsteadily at his side. He roughly dragged her into the elevators, and then through the car park to his car. "Where's your car, Scully?" "Home," she said vaguely. "I came with Mulder...fleet sedan..." she trailed off. "Good," he said gruffly. "One less thing to worry about. Now get in." Scully complied. The drive back to Annapolis was not a pleasant one. They sat as far away from one another as possible, Skinner reflecting with a scowl that this had been her idea, so why the hell was she avoiding him? Aside from a brief argument about music selection, they sat in stony silence. When they arrived at Scully's, he helped her out of the car with ill grace and dragged her to the door. Unlocking it with his own key, he pushed her through the door and closed it behind them. She stood, a little unsteadily, waiting for the storm. He pulled her to him and cried harshly, "//Now// do you believe me?" Her face crumpled slightly. "Walter," she whispered, touching his face, "I //always// believed you. It was your memory I didn't know if I could trust." That seemed to affect him, because his hold on her loosened, his expression softened. "Nor did I, Scully." She bowed her head, her tone full of guilt. "I'm so sorry I let you go through this alone." Her face was hot with shame. He tilted her chin, and kissed her cheek where a tear coursed down it. They both started to speak at the same time. "I'm sorr-" They stared at one another in the dark, then laughed softly. He spoke. "Not tonight, Dana. Another time. Let me love you...I can't stand another night with this - this distance between us," he said softly, a faint pleading undertone there. Her brow furrowed until she realised: he feared she would refuse him. Because of the prostitute. With great forgiveness and compassion in her heart, she leaned up to kiss his lips with utmost gentleness. Her hands cradled his face between them, her thumbs running idly over his mouth. And then he was weeping, and so was she; and they kissed frantically through the tears, clothes tossed heedlessly about the room. She led him to her bedroom and drew him down on top of her, longing to be warmed...consumed. There was something about the overwhelming intensity of his bulk on top of her, //possessing// her, that made her feel whole...safe. He kissed her lips with a fleeting touch, then ran his nose and mouth down over her chin and her neck, inhaling her scent. He kissed her throat, the base of her neck, her ears, tracing their every curve with his tongue. She gave a little inward gasp, then a moan. "Oh! Walter," she breathed at a high octave. He rolled her onto her side. She gave him a quizzical look in the moonlight, but did as she was bidden. He lay down behind her, kissing her neck, his hands drifting down over her buttocks and up around her waist. Crossing in front of her, they found her plump white breasts, caressed them, brushed the little hard nipples that sprang up under his touch. He kissed her down her spine, then up over her back and shoulders. Scully's moans were not the urgent ones of racing lust, but the muted yet insistent ones of lazy, languid passion. His hands drifted lower, to the thatch of hair at the juncture at the top of her legs. He felt her reach around to idly caress his cock, gasped suddenly at her touch. He slid his fingers into her damp warmth and rubbed the little hard nub he found there, rotating it slowly. She gave a series of shuddering gasps as he took her to the edge, then drew her back, her sounds almost sobs. Then he probed deeper, his fingers inside her, teasing. She clenched him so hard he could barely move, the movement a demand for more...for release. She was slick and ready, and he found that soft springy spot inside her that made her helpless with desire. He pressed it gently, insistently, felt the tense arousal in her body give way to relaxation as the adrenaline ran through her veins, taking her control and turning it into surrender. She flung her head back into his shoulder and gave a long, low moan. She felt her limbs turn to water and her mind shut down, her body shaking uncontrollably with aftershocks of arousal, the spasms seeming to come from her very core. "Walter-" she breathed hungrily, then fell silent, her buttocks ramming unconsciously against his cock, resting snugly between them against her ass. He ran his fingers tantalisingly over that other, more secret opening, and she jerked against him with renewed spasms of longing. He teased her there, but did not enter, content to send shockwaves through her nerves there. She gave a series of soft incoherent gasps, bringing her knees up to her body, exposing her. She pushed against his fingers and bucked upwards, her slick entrance laid open for him. "Walter! Please!" she cried out. It was a demand, and he complied, running the tip of his cock over her, teasing her, waiting for her to open and let him pass. She shifted as he slid deeper inside her, his thickness and his length making way for itself, as she felt it penetrate her, fill her. She squirmed against him, her hair and her flesh pushing into him, turning him on even more. She could not move, but she could grind down on him as he sank his cock into her to the hilt, time and time again, his slow deep strokes embedding him deeper and deeper into her core, and her heart. Relentlessly he drew back, then slowly but firmly pushed on, as though if he pushed deeply enough he could merge with her, hold her forever. He heard her cry his name as he filled her, felt her arch her back and cry out, "Oh, Walter, yes...yes...God, how I love you!" He thrust into her hard. "I love you, Dana," he moaned, not incoherent like her, his voice low and heavy with all the feeling in his heart he was trying to convey. She seemed to catch it through the fog of her hormones, because she took his hands and crossed them over her breasts, crossing her own over his in a tightly protective gesture, her body suddenly orgasmic again. He felt his cock throb and tense, sank himself deep inside her, then felt the rush of release as he filled her. She shuddered hard against him, but this was different; the shudders seemed to come not from her core, but from her arms tightly crossed over his own. They stayed that way, him still buried inside her, their arms clasped cradling one another, and they slept. Now, Scully reached up for him and kissed him on the lips, her breath hot against his. "Walter," she said quietly, "we have both done wrong here. You slept with another woman," she said gently without recrimination, "and I deserted you when you needed me - when you got the papers, and then when you had to face this. On balance, it seems to me that my sin was probably worse. But it's over. I forgive you, and I can but ask you to forgive me." His face creased with suffused pain. "Of course I forgive you." She favoured him with a gentle smile. "Then we can go on." He leaned down to kiss her. "Yes. We can." COMING SOON: Someone I Trusted VI: Interlude, in which Susannah Skinner holidays with Scully and Skinner Someone I Trusted VII: Terma's Shadow, in which Scully answers Skinner's jealousy with a commitment Someone I Trusted VIII: Memento Mori, in which Scully and Skinner discover she cannot have children Someone I Trusted IX: Susannah, in which Susannah comforts her father and Scully Someone I Trusted X: Ground Zero, in which Skinner deals for Scully's life - and fertility Someone I Trusted XI: Monkey Babies, in which Scully turns to "Mulder" for solace Someone I Trusted XII: Redux, in which Scully turns on Skinner Someone I Trusted XIII: Redux Schmedux, in which Scully seeks Skinner's forgiveness Someone I Trusted XIV: Pendrell's Legacy, in which Mulder offers a solution BY THE SAME AUTHOR: Offspring (novel) On The Outside (long story, Offspring prequel) The Field Where My Love Died (vignette) The Field Where My Love Prevailed (vignette) Borderline (unfinished long story) Lyrics of the Heart (unfinished long story) Smokin' Maggie (unfinished long story, not yet available) Evolutions (unfinished novel, not yet available, Offspring sequel)