I found a story I forgot I wrote! This was very nearly my first slash fic, but I put it away to work on some more and forgot all about it. Scully Finds Out by Alison Feedback: Yes please! Email: xalison@excite.com, lammasday@yahoo.com Web Page: http://netjeru.ma-at.net/SurrealArts/Annex.html Category: Implied slash, Langly/Byers Rating: Dunno, very mild Status: Complete: PWP Disclaimer: Not mine, etc Archive: Lone Slasher, Basement, WWOMB, Gossamer, Ephemeral; anywhere else, just ask Summary: Scully gets a surprise Day 1, 4 pm Scully sighed to herself in resignation. How had she allowed herself to be persuaded yet again by Mulder to go on another of his wild goose chases, this time on the Friday of a long anticipated holiday weekend, following up the case of a young computer student who had apparently disappeared in mysterious circumstances after hacking into a top secret government site. She twisted round and looked out the back window at the Gunmen's van following close behind. The rain was lashing down hard now, and Frohike was keeping his distance on the narrow twisting mountain road. She glanced at Mulder, but did not speak for fear of distracting him from the driving. There would be no help for hours if they got stuck out here in the wilds. "Who would send their kids to school in a place way out here?" Mulder muttered when the visibility cleared a bit. "I thought you told me they were near delinquents. Their parents are probably glad to get rid of them." "Near delinquents maybe, but also some near geniuses. The place has a brilliant reputation for computer science." "And it's the computer professor, this Bradshaw, who called you?" "Yeah, he just said one of his students had come across something he said was dynamite - he was obsessed with government weapons systems - and then he mysteriously disappeared before he could pass the information on. Bradshaw had a call saying he'd been called home unexpectedly, but his family weren't saying why. It's got to be something to do with what he found. I figured if we could find what the kid found, we might get a lead, but Bradshaw has no idea where to start looking. That's why I thought it would be a good idea to enlist the Gunmen." "So couldn't they do that from their own HQ? Why drag them along?" "Not necessarily. The kid could have concealed the data on the hard disk of any of the computers on the premises." Scully snorted. She didn't relish the idea of being stuck with her admirer, Frohike, in any circumstances, and in an out of the way school complex miles from anywhere in the middle of winter weather, the idea was even less appealing. She was even more unhappy an hour later when they arrived at the school, which turned out to be a ramshackle collection of ex- army buildings several miles off the main road in the middle of thick woods. The place was deserted for the holiday weekend, with only Mulder's contact, Bradshaw, there to meet them. He was waiting by the gate, a thin bespectacled man with the precise manner of a university professor. If he was taken aback to find Mulder had brought no less than four assistants, and that three of them were somewhat unconventional, he didn't show it. He proudly showed them round the computer facilites which were, indeed, were excellent, and the Gunmen quickly made themselves at home in the large computer lab which was almost as well equipped as their own HQ. Bradshaw was in the middle of demonstrating the facilities when the door opened and the only other current inhabitant of the school walked in. Mulder's eyes widened, and Frohike's eyebrows went up, at the sight of a sultry brunette of about 22 dressed in jeans and a tight tee-shirt. Langly and Byers, however, investigating the set up some scanners at the far end of the room, took no notice beyond a quick assessing glance. "Ah .. my ... lab assistant, Kerry" Bradshaw performed the introductions and Scully found herself wanting to give Mulder a good kick at his preening response to the encouraging smile he received from Kerry. The girl's eyes had lit up the first minute she saw him. Not *again*, Scully thought with resignation. She had to revise her opinion of the girl, though, who proved she was far from being an airhead but a highly qualified graduate in her first year out of college. She asked a lot of very pertinent questions and it was clear she was probably going to be more help than Bradshaw himself. After a few minutes' conversation Bradshaw took Kerry to introduce her to Langly and Byers, and Scully used the opportunity to hiss "Cradle snatcher!" at the still grinning Mulder. "Just good customer relations Scully", he smirked. "And she's certainly much too young for you" she snapped at the shamelessly eavesdropping Frohike. She turned back in time to catch Mulder grinning again from ear to ear as Kerry cast a backward glance over her shoulder as she sauntered down to the other end of the room with a waggle of her hips. Scully rolled her eyes in exasperation. The weekend was going to be interesting in more ways than she had anticipated. Frohike caught her eye and grinned, then hastily looked away. Day 1, 7 pm The telephone rang in the hall, and they heard footsteps and then Bradshaw's voice answering it. The conversation continued some minutes, then Bradshaw came in with a worried frown on his face. "I've just had a call from our nearest neighbors, ten miles back down the valley. There's been a landslide and the whole road is blocked. There's no way anyone can get in or out until after the holiday." "You mean we're stuck here for three days?" Mulder almost squawked, then caught Scully's glacial look and raised eyebrow. He subsided. "There's really no other way out of here?" Bradshaw shook his head. "I'm afraid not. It's a holiday weekend, and we're low priority way out here. And even with emergency crews working on it the road won't be clear till Monday at the earliest. But you can stay here, all of you; there's plenty of room in the students' accommodation, and Kerry and I will be glad of the company. Kerry will be glad to have the chance to cook for more than just the two of us - and the phone lines are still on so if you don't mind carrying on -" I can bet Kerry will be glad of the company, thought Scully cynically, thinking of the way the younger woman had been flirting with all the guys, especially Mulder. Well, at least they could continue to use the computers in the lab and perhaps something would come of it. Day 2, 6 pm Twenty four hours later Scully's nerves were twanging like harp strings. Not only had they found nothing so far, but she felt if she never saw another computer screen again it would be far too soon. She wondered for the first time how the Gunmen stood it it day in day out. They seemed to be enjoying themselves however, and especially the company of Kerry, who was playing them all off against each other, alternately flattering Langly and Byers but with the apparent aim of provoking Mulder. Leaning over the back of Langly's chair, giggling as he demonstrated how easy it was to hack the DOD personnel files; gazing at Byers with rapt wide-eyed attention as he explained the significance of the missing frames of the Zapruder footage. Scully found it intensely irrritating to watch her manipulating them, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely. It's probably the closest they've come to interacting with an attractive female for years, she told herself. She made some comment to this effect to Mulder, but was even more annoyed at his teasing response. "Hey, Scully, don't you like the competition? They don't belong to you, after all." Day 2, 9 pm Scully walked quickly down the corridor and paused outside the door to the staff lounge. She could hear sounds from behind the door, whispers, low male laughter and bumps and thuds. She listened and was pretty sure she heard Langly's harsh bark of laughter, but she couldn't recognise any other voices. She gently placed her hand on the doorknob and eased the door open. A high backed couch faced away from the door, facing the fireplace. The occupants of the couch had not heard her. She saw a pair of trainers she recognised as Langly's, projecting from over one end of the couch, pointing downwards. A pair of black horn rimmed glasses lay abandoned on the floor at the other end of the couch. There were more muffled whispers and giggles, and creaks of the ageing springs. Scully grinned to herself. So Kerry had made her choice and wasn't wasting any more time! She pulled the door softly closed and paused a few seconds, then knocked firmly. No reply, but another loud thump and scuffling sound from inside the room suggested that she had been heard. She knocked again and called: "Langly? Are you in there?" and pushed the door open again without further ado. A brief pause, and a tousled blond head popped up over the back of the couch like a startled groundhog. Langly, flushed and rumpled, blinked owlishly at her, looking somehow more vulnerable and younger without his glasses. He did his best to act casual. "Um ... hi, Scully. Were you looking for me?" "Well, actually I was looking for Byers. Have you seen him?" Langly twitched perceptibly. "Um ... no . . look, I'll tell him you're looking for him, okay? Er .. when I see him, I mean." "Sure, if you're not too busy?" Langly wasn't going to get away without a bit of teasing! He actually blushed. "Yeah ... what was it about?" "I wanted to show him this e-mail I've received from my contact at Annapolis; I think it's a possible lead. I know he'll want to see it right away." And she waved the piece of paper at him. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a pale blur at ground level swipe the discarded glasses off the floor, and a couple of seconds later the unseen hand must have passed the glasses up to Langly, because he produced them out of nowhere and fumbled them quickly on his nose and reached for the paper, making sure she was kept at arm's length. She stepped back. Oh no Langly, you don't escape so easily. "I really think I should show it to Byers. It's the first positive lead I've had. He was anxious to hear as soon as possible if I heard anything." Langly looked shifty, his eyes looking everywhere but at her. He looked down at his unseen companion. A moment of unspoken communication, and a decision must have been reached, because a second head appeared over the sofa back. Scully felt her jaw must have almost hit the floor. Not Kerry, but Byers. Byers as Scully had never seen him before, hair all over the place and his tie missing, his shirt unbuttoned and open half way down his chest, and tell tale red blotches on his neck and throat. He gave her his best baby blue eyed innocent look. "Er ... hello Scully. You were looking for me?" Doing his best to act nonchalant, but for all his guileless expression he couldn't conceal the blush. The pair gazed at her warily. Scully was reminded of her brothers as small boys when they got caught out in one of their pranks. "Yes, I've had a reply from Anapolis. Perhaps you could join me in the lab and I'll show you." "Er ... yeah - be right there, Scully." Scully nodded and backed out of the room, shutting the door with exaggerated care behind her. She walked back down the corridor to the lab. A student of body language could have told from the clipped abruptness of her steps that this was a woman under stress. Thank God there was no-one else in the corridor. She managed to maintain control all the way back down to the lab. She went inside and slammed the door behind her. She sat down at her desk. She put her head on her folded arms. And she laughed until the tears streamed down her cheeks. End