Chapter Text
Loneliness is something that Dana Scully never thought she’d openly admit to suffering from. She had felt it deep in her bones as she began to watch the world slip her by, and feared as though she’d succumb to the ever clenching hands of it, relentlessly keeping her from finding the companionship that she so often dreamt about.
However, there she sat on the bright Thursday morning, staring at an empty desk down in the basement. Blue irises focusing on the flickering sunlight spilling in from the district’s street, the grumpy pedestrians flashing through it’s glow that reflected off of Mulder’s name placard.
Her stomach twisted at the thought of having to take another trip, an assignment on her own, having to do both the rational and unorthodox thinking for the both of them, because no matter how many times eyes were rolled and sighs were released on her part, somehow it worked. However, she found her stomach twisting more than usual lately, but mostly due to the aroma of coffee, her floral shampoo, a wave of heat on the street, or the lingering scent of Mulder’s shaving cream and deodorant kept in his top drawer.
Pregnant. She was expecting, a big personal achievement if she dared say so herself. One of her tiny little embryos that she had stared at, prayed over, manifested with, before the procedures had taken hold, or maybe it was the eccentric night with the man that she had asked so nervously to start a family with. Her next scan would tell, but until then it was a toss up, a period of fear, waiting, and ultimately secrecy.
She was an agent for the FBI, her work was hard, dangerous, and often times she found herself cooped up in one of those dreaded hospital beds - oh how she hated hospitals, often putting her medical insurance to good use. How could she expect for her pregnancy to last simply due to the stress that her body was put under without any of the risky fighting, fleeing, and plethora of attacks she found herself up against. One in eight pregnancies end in miscarriage, she was a doctor, she knew that, hell, she had even sat up with Melissa in the emergency room during college as she suffered one.
They were common, and it felt like she was doomed to suffer.
With a conscious huff Scully exhaled out another nauseated breath, fumbling through Mulder’s desk for a mint or old candy cane to suck on, knowing he often kept a vast array of random oral fixations in his desk. With a scrunch of her nose Dana settled on an old Jolly Rancher, the purple hue of the candy making her lips turn into a pout, of fucking course Mulder kept grape Jolly Ranchers in his desk.
Rolling the lackluster candy around in her mouth, Scully flipped through a file, her eyes scanning the forensic evidence of the murder. Taking out her yellow highlighter she began jotting down her notes, sticking her tabs where she pleased, marking the case up in the way that she knew Mulder would complain about, forcing her to make a photo copy of the case to mark.
As her brain worked she could hear the faint chime of the elevator ringing onto their floor, assuming it was Skinner she pressed on, knowing that her former superior was always down here to bitch to her partner over something. However, as the footsteps drew near she could hear the sound of heels clacking against the concrete flooring.
Racking her brain for an explanation she perked up from the file and watched as the door slightly knocked, the sound soft enough to be missed if one wasn’t waiting for it as she was.
“Hello? Anyone down here?” A low voice called, the sound of it causing Scully’s hairs on her neck to stand.
Nobody but the FBI’s most unwanted!
No, she couldn’t say that. With a fumbling slam of the folder she cleared her throat and pushed her wire rimmed glasses farther onto her face.
“It’s open.” She called, watching a blonde, slender woman enter the basement door carrying a heavy cardboard box, a leather bag hooked on her elbow as she stalked inside in heels far too high for Scully to imagine wearing to work on the daily.
“Are you Special Agent Dana Scully?” The woman questioned, her voice laced with a British accent as she made piercing eye contact with the redhead. Lost for words she nodded bashfully, the silence then hitting her as she pushed herself out of the seat and extended her arm.
“Yes, I’m sorry. Are you lost? I think you got mixed up and ended in the basement…” Scully found herself rambling out of concern that this woman was indeed lost, but also out of defense, most people never ventured down to the X Files office out of choice, it was a punishment, a ploy, or a threat to shut down his livelihood, now her’s as well.
“No…I’m Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson, I’ve been transferred here from the Metropolitan Police in London down here to help you with your…X Files department. My chief constable told me that you were in need of a partner, and your director spoke with him and agreed to send me.” She reported, her eyes swiftly scanning the room before shaking Scully’s hand.
“Where is my desk?” She noted almost automatically, but Scully was still lingering on her words, betrayal and anger filling her up as she stared down the woman. Her partner wasn’t even gone for half a second and his spot was already filled, he wasn’t even pronounced living or dead without Kersh shoving another person in to undermine her work.
“There isn’t- we can get you one. Sorry, I didn’t know you were coming, or that you were assigned to me.” Scully huffed, her arms now crossed over her chest as she stepped out from behind the desk. Stella stood about two inches taller than her, but seemed towering over her in the mountainous heels that she seemed to sport with no issue.
“Director Kersh didn’t let you know that I’d be joining you? That I’d be your new partner?” Stella asked, exasperated, causing Scully to chuckle dryly and sit herself against the edge of the heavy wooden desk.
“Nope.” She exhaled, Stella now lowering her eyes as she motioned to set her heavy things down atop one of the tables after Scully nodded.
Running a quick hand through her blonde, blow dried curls, Stella couldn’t help but yawn heavily, given her lengthy trip with such little time to prepare for such a time change. A scowl landed on her already serious face as she paced the room.
“That is fucked.” She grumbled, her sharp tone shocking Scully as she seemed to reciprocate similar sentiments in front of her, finally perching herself across from Scully to try and calm herself down.
“Kersh is an ass, you’ll soon get to know that, but I always manage to stand my ground with him, so I have no worry that you will struggle with that.” Scully observed before offering a slight grin towards the blonde, her jet lagged, cranky expression softening at the extended olive branch.
“Alright Superintendent Gibson, let’s work on getting you a desk down here.” Scully sighed, the blonde noting the heaviness in her voice as she picked the phone off of the receiver, muttering into it while Stella began to unpack.
…
The desk had been promptly moved down to the tiny basement and arranged accordingly to the blonde’s strict preferences, taking the day to set herself up and get situated how she pleased.
Scully watched through nauseated, exhausted eyes as the movers joked about how easy it was to get the desk moved given their plethora of unused office furniture, telling her that her lack of one was simply her superior fucking around with her, just as he did with tossing Stella into her partner’s role.
Stella watched the tiny woman sip on a mug filled with water from the large jug that was kept in a small refrigerator in the corner of the room, flipping through pages of a case. Scully had told Stella to make herself comfortable with the office, to feel free to use the refrigerator, storage space, and bulletin boards behind her desk. Other than that the redhead remained quiet in her seat.
She watched as she periodically dug through the desk to retrieve purple hard candy, popping them into her mouth at a rate that made her eyebrow raise. However she chose not to comment, noticing the way her new partner’s eyes hung heavily as she read through the case, marking and scribbling against the paper.
She had done some reading on Special Agent Dana Scully around her fourth hour of her flight, that the woman had re-written Albert Einstein, was a medical doctor and a forensic pathologist with many more qualifications under her belt. She was a part of the small group of women employed by the bureau and had done her fair share teaching at Quantico. She had worked hard to make a name for herself.
However, what Stella couldn’t put her finger on was where she found herself. A woman with her qualifications should be up in one of the big, spacious offices on the fourth floor, equipped with carpeting, spacious conference tables, sofas, and the utmost respect of her colleagues. She couldn’t understand how she found herself perched in a dimly lit basement sipping jug water out of a grey mug with a giant green alien on the side.
Stella knew better, better than to judge a woman for sitting in this basement with her jug water, squinting over files due to the lack of sufficient lighting in the room. She had also battled the frustrating fight with her male superiors, her past one ready to make her flip a table over in pure anger at his ignorance, but she didn’t quit, she spoke up, did her job exceptionally, and didn’t let it beat her.
She could tell Dana was similar in that sense.
As she set up her files and journals onto her desk, the shuffling of her partner dashing out of the room caused her to jump and flinch at the sound. Another door down the hall slammed and she waited in silence to see if something would happen, or if there was something she should be worried about.
Taking a cautious step out of the office, she noticed the swinging of the door at the end of the hall, making her squint as she realized it was the restroom.
Shit.
Dana and Stella were getting close already.
Now blushing at what felt like an invasion of privacy, Stella stepped back inside and noticed the spilled mug of water against the carpet floor, prompting her to shrug and retrieve it, setting it back on the desk before returning towards her own.
After what felt like ten seconds, Dana returned to the office, her shoulders tense as she settled into her seat, a hand covering her face as she resumed her scan of the files. Stella watched as she glanced inside what was now an empty mug, her expression dropping as she realized that she’d have to make the short trek past her desk to refill it.
“Do you need some water?” Stella asked carefully, not wanting to overstep, but also noticing the washed out complexion of the once vibrant woman’s face. Dana exhaled tiredly and nodded, going to push herself out of her seat, but the blonde just waved her away and pulled out the large gallon, walking it over to the other desk, quietly filling it.
“I’m right there, just let me know if you need it.” She offered, pursing her lips before promptly returning to her spot.
“Thanks.”
…
Their quiet day began to wrap up, and Scully noticed Stella’s patient willingness to stay in the office, unmoving from her spot behind the large desk. She had noticed her discarded black heels beside her desk and her feet tucked beneath it slipped into a pair of grey bedroom slippers, her jacket still folded on her chair.
Without any major X File, Scully found herself packing up around six, when she’d be normally flying home from a random case on a Thursday evening. She felt slightly guilty for packing up and leaving so soon, the blonde woman new to town- the country with no connections whatsoever. However Scully knew that she had no business hanging around a bar or restaurant feeling as horrendous as she did, plus she knew she had Mulder’s case waiting for her at home.
“Calling it a day?” Stella questioned from her desk, not taking her eyes off of a pile of forms that she was charged with filling out, her voice also sounding exhausted with her travels and work. Scully pursed her lips as she shrugged her jacket on, retrieving her car keys from her pocket.
“Yeah. Do you need help or directions getting to your hotel?” She questioned, but Stella simply raised an eye from her forms and shook her head with a smirk.
“I can manage.” She smiled softly, giving the redhead a quick wave before returning to her forms.
“Bye.” Her words soft as she slipped out of the office with a tiny wave.
Scully couldn’t manage to get her new partner out of her mind as she drove home. There was something electric about the way she carried herself, such grace and suave, but also with enough confidence to stun an entire room full of serial killers. Scully knew she was confident in herself, that she was more than capable in every aspect of her professional life, having dealt with her own share of bullies, but she also found herself so incredibly terrified for other parts.
She found herself weeping at a red light, feeling incredibly isolated with her pitiful situation, unhitching her door to hurl onto the asphalt. She groaned in complete and utter frustration, slamming her car door shut just as the light switched, her drive now filled with silence as she simply tried to make it home in one piece.
With a turn of her mouth she pulled up to her street and shut the car off, once again cursing the fact that she was not a ground floor resident. Climbing the flight of stairs was painfully slow, stopping every four steps to center her breathing and focus on not hurling on the carpeted stairs.
Upon reaching her apartment she bustled inside, nearly tearing every article of clothing off of her clammy skin before climbing beneath her cool, cotton sheets. How she wanted to stay up the extra hour to read through the crime scene evidence from his disappearance, to find him and solve all of this, but her aching body told her otherwise.
Her clammy brow hit the pillow and she felt her breathing regulate as her hand fell against her lower stomach, fingers grazing against her cotton underwear as her palm rested on her firm center. She knew that despite her shitty nausea, she needed to be sleeping, to try and grow this human as best as possible. She knew she would need to eat, even if it meant her wanting to hurl even more, drink water, take prenatal vitamins, and all that other crap.
Before her eyes could eventually shut for the night, Scully felt another twinge of guilt as she thought back to her partner, the woman new to a place with very little to go off of. She had barely spoken to her, asked her how her flight was, seen if she had any friends to spend time with while off the clock.
Taking a huffing breath she told herself that she would try, that she would make Stella feel at home in the basement, just as Mulder had once done. Not even remembering what the lanky man had done to do so, but the basement was a safe place, a refuge for her, and if she could at least make Stella Gibson comfortable in her office, she would have felt as if she had done her job.
…
The drive into work had been uneventful, a box of store-bought muffins sitting in Scully’s passenger seat as she traveled into work early. She was determined to at least come in with one item as an offering to represent a union of partnership until Mulder returned. She knew that having a stable professional partner would make everything exponentially easier in her life, giving her the idea of muffins.
She looked crazy in the grocery store, waiting impatiently at the automatic doors until the manager finally unlocked them, causing her to race inside and grab the first container she laid her eyes on. She didn’t know if Stella liked muffins, or if there were muffins in London, hell, she didn’t know much about the foreign country that she had migrated from, but figured she’d at least try.
Scully slung her purse over her shoulder and balanced the muffins in one hand as she fished out her keys, trotting down the dim garage towards the basement offices.
Swiftly unlocking the door she noticed a glow in the corner of the room, Stella’s lamp still lit on the corner of her desk. Furrowing her brow she took a step towards it in order to shut it off, not wanting the bulb to go out, but gasped in sheer embarrassment as she noticed the blonde woman sleeping soundly behind her desk.
Letting out a gasp Dana clasped her hand over her mouth, dropping the plastic container of muffins onto the floor.
Fuck .
The thud sent the blonde’s eyes shooting open, fumbling for her weapon as she sat up heaving in her makeshift bed, which consisted of a travel neck pillow, and a snow coat beneath her, her thick wool one covering her as a blanket.
“Woah! Just me!” Dana cried, one hand flying out, another one instinctively falling to her flat abdomen before realizing it. Stella gasped at the sight of her partner and disarmed herself, setting the weapon onto the desk with a sleepy sigh.
“Fuck!” She gasped, rubbing both hands over her face as she came down from the initial shock of her awakening.
“Agent Scully! What time is it? My alarm wasn’t set for another two hours?” Stella grumbled, but the redhead just scooted in a bit closer and bit down on her lip before disregarding her answer.
“Are you staying here? I thought they booked a hotel for you?” She questioned, but Stella just scoffed at her and began cleaning up her mess. Scully noticed a white button up hooked on her chair, swiftly slipping it on and over the matching camisole that revealed the visible muscles of her upper arms.
“There was a mishap for the first few nights.” She revealed tiredly, giving Scully a sleepy glance before gathering the rest of her items to place back into her bag, making the redhead frown guiltily, knowing she had messed up her sleep schedule.
“Don’t worry, this isn’t the first time I’ve slept in offices. With a demanding job like ours, I have spent many nights on a cot or mat behind a desk.” She revealed with a knowing smirk, pulling a small toiletry bag out of her duffel.
“Excuse me, I’m going to go and get myself freshened up.”
…
Dana waited nervously as she readied herself to leave for the day, practicing her short speech that she had prepared during her lunch that she had taken. Stella yawned and Scully could visibly see the dark circles under her eyes as she fought off sleep deprivation from her past few nights.
“Stella, you aren’t sleeping on your jacket for another night. You are jet lagged and that will start making your digestive system all irritable if you don’t get some proper rest. So gather what you can manage for a few nights, I have a guest room that you can stay in.” Scully declared, causing the blonde to look up with a raised eyebrow and slight grin.
Dana was ready to fight, to insist that Stella join her and get some proper rest upon the impending weekend. Normally her weekends would be spent on extra cases in different states around the country, Mulder conjuring up trouble for the both of them, but she somehow found her schedule blissfully empty.
“I’d like that very much. Thank you.” Stella simply responded, no fight necessary. Scully raised both eyebrows in shock, relieved that she had agreed, but not expecting such a swift nod. The blonde retrieved her bag and slid on her heels before straightening her trousers at the belt, making sure her weapon was secure on her hip.
Dana’s eyes grazed her partner’s body before averting them upon her turning to face her, her thick coat now wrapped around herself. She truly was beautiful, something that she had noticed from the moment she stepped foot into the office. Her eyes were an intense shade of blue, her hair soft in a way that she couldn’t put her finger on, but it didn’t matter because then she was fixating on the pouty turn of her lips.
She could tell that Stella was active, her slim frame not much different than Scully’s, but the only difference was the definition of her muscles that she could make out through her blouse and pants. Scully didn’t have the time to go on a run, her work consuming hours of her days, leaving her spent by the time she got home, running after perps, suspects, and other things, leaving her in good enough shape that her doctors commended her on. However, Stella was something else. Her arms and back were defined and strong, she was probably a swimmer, along with the taut abdomen that clenched every time she would sit up in her seat. Scully noticed the ripple of her calves whenever she slid her stilettos on, having to keep herself from ogling them, or at least preparing herself with an excuse of her liking her style of shoe.
“Ready?” Stella questioned, breaking the redhead’s train of thought, causing her to blush slightly and nod. She could feel the warmth in her cheeks, whether that was due to Stella or the festering life within her was probably an X File in itself.
…
Stella wasn’t shocked at the setup or decor that Dana Scully had chosen to use in her apartment. Soft hues of lavender were splashed through the furniture, artwork, and flower arrangements that were neatly placed, not a hair out of sight. It smelled of light citrus from a diffuser plugged into a wall, lightening the home’s heavy feeling of loneliness that had tugged on her as she entered.
Dana quietly led her inside and down the short corridor that was the guest bedroom that she had been talking about. A full sized bed sat in the middle of a yellow room, a nightstand with a picture of some flowers and a lamp sat neatly organized for whatever guest found themselves in the hands of her hospitality.
“Towels and washcloths are in the top drawer and extra blankets are in the closet. Feel free to help yourself to both.” Dana exhaled, the tiny smile on her face making Stella’s grow slightly as she set her bag on the cream duvet.
“I appreciate it Agent Scully.” She nodded, the sound of her formal title making Scully falter slightly and nod, the body language not lost on Stella who simply crossed the room to close the gap between them, her mouth turned slightly.
“Do you not want me to call you that?” She asked blankly, the question catching Scully off guard as she fixated on the close vicinity of her new partner.
“It’s fine, I mean it’s my name. It’s just, my old partner- he uh, he liked Scully better.” She admitted, the sentence making Stella frown slightly and take a step back to allow the redhead some room to breathe.
“But do you want me calling you Agent Scully? Or Scully in general?” She questioned softly, her voice even as she patiently waited for her response. With a shaking exhale Scully looked up and bit down on her lip.
“Please call me Dana when it’s just the both of us. It helps me feel more like myself, not just work Scully.” She answered carefully, her eyes dropped before raising them towards Stella who nodded evenly and uncrossed her arms.
“Definitely. I love the name Dana.” She replied, turning to pull some of her things out of her bag, leaving Scully to exhale slowly and nod while taking a slow step out of the room.
“Well you get settled, I might get some takeout, I am in no mood to cook.” Dana called, causing Stella to turn and raise an eyebrow at her before stopping her in her tracks.
“No need, I can cook if you’d like.” She offered bluntly, making Scully stop in her tracks and turn with a shocked expression, the blonde now laying out a red long sleeve and a pair of black leggings, given the now sleety weather outside of the apartment.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that- really I can just call the ramen place down the street…” Dana wavered, but Stella just shook her head and shoved her arms into her pockets before biting down on her bottom lip.
“It’s no issue, I love cooking.” She insisted, gathering up her clothes and toiletries before scanning the area.
“Would it be alright if I freshen up?” She questioned, barely giving Scully a moment to respond before nodding awkwardly, leading Stella out of the bedroom and into the bathroom that connected to the master.
As the shorter woman closed the door behind Stella, the blonde was finally able to take a shaking breath as she stared at herself in the tiny mirror above the sink. What was she doing? It hadn’t even been a day and she was already cooped up and comfortable in her partner’s apartment.
Stella had no issue with the extended hospitality, but what she found herself fixated on was the redheaded woman who scurried around the office as if she were keeping some undying secret from her. She knew that she probably didn’t trust her, it had only been a day, and even at her old job, there were still men that she refused to trust after the years she had been employed.
However, Stella knew that there was something about this Dana Scully, she just didn’t know what.
…
Two glasses of wine sat between the women, one untouched, and one slowly nursed by the blonde who had spent the better half of the evening trying to stay awake and coherent.
Dana chewed thoughtfully on the zucchini noodles that Stella had stirred up for the both of them, a few fillets of chicken breast laying on top with the sauce that she had concocted. It was delicious, but Scully feared that one fast bite would send her retching all over Stella, and that was not an impression or welcome that she wanted to leave.
“So I saw a file on the plane on Special Agent Fox Mulder, is he a case as well as your former partner?” Stella questioned as she sipped on her wine, the clear deflation in Scully’s body language causing her to frown at the reaction.
“He was…god, he was taken. I don’t know how or by what, but he was. I know he was because something took me too.” She revealed, the words leaving her mouth causing Stella to set the glass down and pause. She had worked with her fair share of hostage victims, women kidnapped from their homes, and various other horrific incidents.
“You don’t have to explain if you don’t want to.” She explained clearly, but Scully’s watery eyes just stared back at her for a moment before shaking her head slightly at the woman.
“His case is going to go inactive soon, so I’ve been looking for him on the side, just personally.” She shrugged, clearly desperate for some answers, but Stella knew all too well that often times answers were preceded by tragedy and death.
“Well, I’m sorry. And I’m sorry that they sent me in so soon after his disappearance, but I’m here for a reason, and that is to help. I’m a profiler and I’ve found some of the hardest people to track. So just know that as your partner…you can count on me.” Stella shrugged, and to Scully’s surprise she found herself believing her.
Dana had spent the past seven years only trusting one man completely in the bureau. One man and one man only, with him returning the sentiments, but he was gone, and rationally she knew she needed to keep her guard up, especially with the little being inside of her that was threatening her gag reflex with every swallow. However, there she was, eating vegetable pasta and trusting Stella Gibson.