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medicaldoctordana · 8 months

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Doing Science 2/3

“Oh, Scully! Check this out!” Mulder called his partner’s attention to the merch table he had been parked in front of for the last ten minutes. They had all kinds of tee shirts he wanted to buy and was having a hard time deciding which one.

“‘Elvis is Alive and Well, You’re the One That’s Dead’” Scully read off the shirt Mulder was holding up in front of him with a huge grin on his face. “Mulder, we’ve been over this. There’s no evidence to suggest he’s alive. I’ve seen his autopsy report and it clearly states the cause of death as cardiac arrest from sustained drug use and poor nutritional content in his bloodstream.”

“That’s what they want you to think, Scully. You know how easy it is to get a body from a morgue and falsify reports.”

“Yes, which is precisely why I believe the body they found in his home was his, Mulder.” Scully gingerly picked up a t-shirt like it was made of that same green acid blood that burned through her shoes. Classic Case of Demon Fetal Harvest it read with a graphic of a female cartoon devil driving away in a red Cadillac convertible with a demon baby in the back seat. “Oh, god.” Scully gasped and put the shirt down.

“Lucifer isn’t god, Scully– he’s his son. Or I guess in that case, she’s his daughter.” Mulder received a punch to the gut for that one.

“Who came up with these?” Scully asked more to herself as she looked on in a mix of horror and disbelief at the line-up of cryptid-themed paraphernalia ranging from Chupacabra to Yeti with everything in between– even that merperson they saw posters for at the carnival back in ‘94. Vintage cryptids.

They moved on to the next kiosk which was filled with stickers that said things like,

I want to believe

This is no place for an entomologist

Seeing is believing

Accept who you are - however repulsive that may be!

All lies lead to the truth

DECEIVE, INVEIGLE, OBFUSCATE

When she spotted a familiar saying, she shuffled off the ones on top of it. Scully picked it up and slyly paid the attendant one dollar for the merchandise. She told herself it would be the only thing she bought to remind her of this… little adventure.

Do You Think I’m Spooky? it read. She slipped it in her pocket and scurried off after Mulder, desperate not to be left alone with these people.

Next thing she knew, they were posted outside the session on Vampirism, and Mulder was engaged in a heated debate with another conference attendant.

"I’m familiar with porphyria. It’s an affliction which causes lesions and blisters when skin is exposed to sunlight. Sufferers may have a hema deficiency which can be supplemented by a small ingestion of blood.” Mulder tapped Scully’s arm for her attention, “Tell him I’m right, Scully, Tell him.”

Scully focused on the conversation with the man wearing plastic fangs and had over 90% of his clothing covering his skin.

“Huh? Right, he’s right, porphyria is an overaccumulation of porphyrin– a natural chemical produced in the body– which helps hemoglobin, the protein that carries oxygen in the blood.”

“Oh yeah? Where do you get off? How do I know you know what the hell you’re talking about?” The vampire man dismissed Scully.

“I’m a medical doctor,” Scully stated simply, the vitriol starting to boil in her own blood, tired of being dismissed by men.

“As I’ve said before, it’s probably ignorance of porphyria as a disease that led to the creation of vampire myths in Asia in the Middle Ages," Mulder continued on, hoping he’d be successful in backing up his partner and dismissing this guy’s patriarchal and misogynistic stance.

“People and cows die of exsanguination all the time. How do you explain that?” he argued back.

Scully was growing irate, it was bad enough talking Mulder off these ledges. Now she had to do it for complete strangers?

“What is your reference for all the time? Once every 300 years? Given the vast multitudes of deaths– specifically blood loss-related deaths– in the entirety of the documented history of humans’ time on earth, exsanguination is a fairly rare way to end one’s life. In most cases, the individual, or in your case, cows, are found to be dead by some other means and have their blood removed post-mortem, thus rarely attributing exsanguination as the cause of death.” Scully’s tirade seemed to shut him up.

“You’re Dr. Dana Scully, aren’t you?” Was all he had to say in reply.

Scully rolled her eyes and dragged Mulder away from the vampirism room.

“Hey, Scully– do you remember that cow that crashed through my motel room?”

“Yes, Mulder. I saw it mentioned on that slideshow presentation of creatures falling from the sky– remember when it rained frogs on us?”

“Yeah, good times, Scully. Good times. Wish it would have rained sleeping bags that one time though.”

“You and me both, Mulder,” Scully said under her breath.

“What do we do if she shows up to the mixer?” Bert nervously asked his friends as they sat down for lunch on Saturday.

“What makes you think she’s gonna show up? It doesn’t really seem like she wants to be here at all,” Vee sipped on their iced tea, handing Nora her rootbeer.

“I saw her leaving the meet-up this morning right before we all got there, we had just missed her, by like ten seconds.” Nora unwrapped her bagel with cream cheese sandwich and took a big bite. They had a huge assortment of schmear choices and she finally had settled on the tried and true, full-fat classic.

“Carter told me they said they’d both be there,” Jones informed, he and Carter went way back since Jones had helped get the forum up and running.

Daphne came running up to the table, bursting at the seams with something to tell them. Her red hair flopped around her face, it was red much like Dana Scully’s but much longer.

“He talked to me! I talked to him! We talked!” Daphne shoved Bert aside and sat on the bench seat next to him.

“Woah, Daph. Slow down. Who are you talking about?” Vee grabbed her shaking hands in an attempt to steady them.

“Mulder!” She all but squealed. “Mulder,” she said again, testing the name in a sultry tone. “Fox Mulder,” she sighed dreamily.

“And?” Nora asked, “What’d he say? What’d you say?”

Vee had to snap their fingers in front of her face to bring her back down to earth.

“We said hi,” she whispered slowly, blinking her eyes like she was in love.

“That’s it?” Vee clarified.

“Yeah,” Daphne confirmed.

“Did you say anything else? You know, other than ‘hi’?”

Daphne’s four friends leaned in while they waited for her response.

“No,” was all she said. “But he smiled at me, nodded his head too. God, he’s hot,” she added with her head resting on her hand and her elbow resting on the table.

“Give us the rundown, how’d it happen?” Bert interrogated.

“He came out of the bathroom right when I came out too and we almost ran into each other! I said hi and he said hi back then he scurried over to Dana.”

“Oh, so you’re on a first-name basis with her now too?” Jones asked, clearly jealous to see Daphne’s attention elsewhere.

“Yeah, we chatted it up a bit in the bathroom, and she came out right behind me. I overheard her ask him if he had a thing for all redheads or just her,” Daphne giggled as she recalled the interaction before she was starstruck by the man, the myth, the monotone.

“You talked to her too!?” Nora balked, stunned Daphne was suddenly team Mulder when she previously was well known for straddling the line.

“She was a little stand-offish but really nice, it’s pretty obvious though that she’s not thrilled to be here. I didn’t want to push it by asking her anything. I don’t know, I kind of got mom energy from her- Nora, Vee- she’s all yours at the mixer tonight.” The plan was just a little harmless flirting anyway, it was blatantly obvious they were majorly into one another– devoted to each other like constants, touchstones.

“Hey! What about me!” Both Jones and Bert said at the same time.

“Oh, Bert. You’d be lucky to get out a single word in her presence. She’d eat you like a little cricket. Jonesy and I will tag team Mulder. Are we sure we want to save all our questions for Sunday’s presentation? What if she’s not the presenter?” Daphne worried they’d miss the opportunity to interrogate the interrogators unless they jumped the gun at the mixer instead of waiting to hear whichever one of them presented. Truth be told, they all had a feeling the mystery headliner was Mulder and not Scully based on how much she dragged her feet around the convention center.

Which would be a huge disappointment to the entire scientific community in attendance. This was a serious conference, there was no space for Mulder’s philosophical, flowery speeches about the meaning of life and the value of the human soul. They were here to get answers— cold, hard facts. How was it not clear to the organizers that Scully was the better choice for a headliner?

“We better go,” Vee said looking at their watch. “Holman Hardt’s presentation starts in 10 minutes. I want to get a good seat, Mulder and Scully know the guy and will probably want to sit in the front.”

After the presentation on unique weather phenomena, only one member of the gang lined up for the book signing with author Jose Chung.

“What was it like to interview Special Agent Doctor Dana Scully? Or is it Doctor Special Agent Dana Scully? Special Doctor Agent Dana Scully?” The last variation came out questionable, Bert always was better with beauty than brains.

“Agent Scully was, enigmatic, as they say. It was a very mystifying experience. She’s truly one of a kind. Her way of articulating her experiences on those cases, the X-Files, was matter-of-fact. She left no room for misinterpretation and was clear, straightforward. Dr. Scully didn’t dance around the great beyond– she met it head-on.”

“Wow,” Bert grabbed his signed book, From Outer Space, and hugged it close to him.

“Oh, why don’t we ask her yourself? I didn’t know she’d be here.” Jose Chung saw the familiar red bob bounce by his table, “Dr. Scully!” He called out with no response. “Agent Scully!” He tried again.

“Scull-lay!!” Bert yelled across the hallway. Finally, that got her attention.

Mulder directed Scully who was begrudgingly walking toward the table.

“Hello,” she greeted the author, “It’s been a while, Mr. Chung. How have book sales been?”

“I’m making a bleeping killing, Ms. Scully,” Jose greeted her hand in a respectful shake and finally got to meet that partner of hers.

“I’m a little miffed you asked to interview Scully instead of me, Mr. Chung, given the subject matter and all,” Mulder admitted to the author.

“Well, when it comes down to a more credible source, Mr. Mulder. I’m sorry but your bachelor’s of arts in psychology is no match for her bachelor’s of science in physics and a medical degree.”

“Oh, I understand completely,” Mulder grinned. “Let me tell you, the brains on this one… She outpaces every one of my theories and grounds my work with her realism and cynicism. Our work would mean nothing without her science and smarts.”

“Mulder,” Scully blushed and gripped tighter on his suit sleeve.

Bert watched the exchange in amusement, ready to run back to his friends and relay the interaction as soon as it was over.

The three notable individuals chatted among themselves a moment longer before Mulder ushered Scully off to their next session; Aquatic Monsters: How to Spot and Know When to Avoid

“I miss Queequeg,” Scully said sadly with a pout on her face as they walked into the room and took their seats.

Nora left the room she shared with Bert and Jones, having forgotten her lucky pen in there. She wanted to use it to take notes during the Consequences and Considerations of AI and Tech panel. It was the second to last presentation on the schedule before the mixer and she really wanted to see Invisigoth’s AI-self as part of the discussion. Nora’s favorite programmer, Phoebe, was also supposed to be a member of the panel. She couldn’t wait.

Walking toward the elevator, Nora felt a chill rush down her spine. It was well known among her friend group that she had the gift of premonition; her Aunt Sharon had been the one to raise questions about it initially, giving her guidance and peace in dealing with the heightened emotionality that came with the skill.

As she pressed the call button for the lift, a flash of passion flew across her mind and she was quick enough in her reaction to fly around the corner, out of sight to the doors opening to Mulder and Scully in a heated embrace.

“Mulder,” Nora heard Scully moan. “Room, now,” she heard her demand.

“I’m going as fast as Newton’s law of motion states. I’m trying my best to generate more inertia.” Nora had to stifle a laugh at how much Mulder was trying to impress Scully with the science talk. He really should leave that stuff to her, she’s much better at it than he is.

“Mulder shut up.” Yeah, you tell him, Scully! Nora thought to herself as they pushed each other down the hallway to room 402. Their lips only left each other’s bodies to speak those horribly arranged words.

Once they reached the door, Scully pushed him backward through the doorway and he pulled her with him by the edges of her blazer.

“I guess they’ll be missing the next panel discussion,” Nora said aloud to herself as she boarded the empty elevator. It reeked of nerds making out in there. She giggled all the way down to the first floor. Nora couldn’t wait to tell Daphne what she had witnessed.

At the last scheduled discussion of the second night, Vee looked around anxiously for Mulder and or Scully. It was on their itinerary to attend this event. Vee was desperate to make sure they were here so Vee could talk to either one about it at the S&B mixer later that night.

Vee knew Mulder would have a lot to say about alien-human hybrids and the impending colonization plans set to take place in a mere 12 years from now. Vee also knew that despite the inaccessible information on the topic, Mulder and Scully had first contact with alien bounty hunters and other extraterrestrial beings– even if one was a hallucination. They had heard the rumors about his trip to Antarctica to rescue his partner from being abducted (again) by aliens.

They had questions about the implants, about the cancer (their mom had been a repeater and a part of Penny Northern’s abductee support group. They lost their mom in ‘96 to the same cancer that almost took Dana’s life), and about the Syndicate implicated in it all. MUFON had been no help and was on the cusp of disbanding and reneging on its credibility as an organization.

Vee needed to know about the Consortium’s alliance with the aliens and how they could get revenge for taking their mom away from them. Mulder would have those answers, or if anything, the will to help them find the truth about why. So much pain and hurt permeated their life and they just needed one person to believe them– they thought Fox Mulder would be that person.

Finally, the two agents slipped into the back row. They looked disheveled and giddy. Maybe Sunday was the better day to probe Mulder. Vee didn’t want to dim their obvious afterglow. So Vee sat back dejected in their seat and waited for the event to be over so they could grab dinner with their friends and have a little downtime before the Skeptics and Believers mixer at the Diller Room.

“Mulder, where are you taking me?” Scully sat in the passenger seat of their rented car, the red fabric interior clashing with both her hair and her outfit.

“I figured you could use a break from that crowd, I’m taking you somewhere a little more your pace,” Mulder said cryptically.

“That doesn’t answer my question, Mulder.” Scully looked on disapprovingly, they had been driving through the thick Seattle night traffic for the last fifteen minutes and had finally made it through the worst of downtown.

“We’re going to make a quick stop by the troll before our reservations,” Mulder finally admitted.

“Troll? Reservations? Mulder?” Scully wasn’t dressed to see any trolls as Mulder had requested she put on the nice shirt and slacks that she had packed.

“Fremont Troll, Scully. Under the Aurora Bridge, constructed in 1990. You’ll love it.”

“Mulder, why are we really here?” Scully asked when they parked next to the sculpture clutching a cement-covered VW bug.

“I wanted to come see it when it was first installed. They had a bust of Elvis inside the car, but that was stolen in ‘91 when it was vandalized. The idea of a troll living under a bridge is derived from the Scandinavian folklore. The history of this troll, however, is unfortunately a bit murky as the city erected the art in an attempt to deter homeless populations from inhabiting this area.”

“I thought you said you wanted to take me away from the types of people from the conference, Mulder. This seems to fit right in with their kind of crazy ideas.” Scully crossed her arms and leaned on the beetle, seemingly uninterested in the troll and its significance. It was neat, but nothing special.

“This stop was for me, the next stop is for you.” Mulder walked back to the car and opened the door for her before getting into the driver's seat.

Getting back on the road, they circled back toward the convention center and made their last stop for dinner. Mulder ran around and tried to get the door for her before she could open it herself.

“Tom Hank’s houseboat from Sleepless in Seattle was parked on this side of the marina, Scully. Just up the road here,” Mulder placed his hand on the standard spot on her lower back as he led her through the doors of the restaurant.

“I didn’t know you liked romantic comedies, Mulder,” Scully watched as Mulder ducked his head with a little coloring on his cheek. “You keep unfolding like a flower,” she repeated the line from many years ago.

“Come on, your seafood buffet awaits,” Mulder followed the waiter to their table overlooking Lake Union. It was beautiful this time of night and Mulder was glad he had convinced Scully to step outside her comfort zone for a rare nice restaurant– truly, the whole weekend was out of her comfort zone. His love and appreciation for her expanded far outside the prices of the meal he was about to treat her to at McCormick and Schmick's.

They ordered lobster, clams, oysters, and salmon. Like the true New Englanders they were, they devoured the food with bellies full and smiles wide.

“Thank you, Mulder. This was nice,” Scully let Mulder pay the check then walked arm and arm with him back to the car and off to the convention center where their hotel room was. After such a pleasant evening, Scully felt a little more prepared for the Skeptics & Believers mixer.

Jones ran down to the parking garage to grab something from his car before running off to the bar to help set up for the mixer. When he got there, a car parked a few down from his had windows steamed and was rocking in a rhythmic pattern. He didn’t need to be a genius to figure out what was happening inside.

Once he grabbed the item he needed, he smirked while walking back out of the garage. He heard the car door open and the two offenders stepped out on shaky feet.

“That’s the last time we defile a rental car, Mulder,” Jones heard Dana announce to her partner.

“That’s what you always say, Scully,” Jones heard Mulder laugh and shut the door behind him.

“Let’s just get this mixer thing over with, we’ll discuss the topic further in the hotel room tonight,”

“Can you get an old fashion and do your trick with the cherry stem? That’ll really rev my engines. And make all those guys jealous. Please, Scully?”

“Sure. Fine. Whatever.”

@today-in-fic

#the x files #today in fic #dana scully #fox mulder #txf #x files #msr #fanfic

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