Disclaimer: NO infringement on ANYONE's copyrights is intended. Feedback appreciated and answered: Spoilers: General Knowledge; Season 8 post Roadrunner Archive: gossamer, Xmplary OK All others please inform me so I can send you the latest revision. S: PG: V: Summary: Kim takes a memo from Skinner to Doggett cc Scully. Episodes dialog: Chris Carter and 1013 writers IN OTHER CONTEXT: Take a Memo ISMS ARRANGED by Mary Greten ORIGINAL MATERIAL by Mary Greten Many thanks to Carol A for the quick Beta. Assistant Director Walter Skinner rubbed the bridge of his nose where his glasses rested a second ago. He knew from experience that points of differences came up between all new partners sooner or later. He should have known that in the X-Files Department it would happen sooner than 'sooner'. He returned his glasses to their purposeful repose and buzzed his secretary. It amazed him how much Kim resembled Agent Scully. Several times early in his tenure as Assistant Director, he barely caught himself before he called Kim, Scully or Scully, Kim - especially to their backs in hallways or when Agent Scully barged in his office in Kim's absence. Since Kim has been "working out", the resemblance was even more uncanny. Not that he didn't like it. And since Kim hadn't adopted the limitations of Scully's wardrobe, even better. Kim finally answered the intercom. "Yes, Sir. I beg your pardon. I was filing the summarized reports and had my hands full. How may I help you?" "Bring your steno pad please, Kim." "Yes, sir." With the alacrity of all Executive Secretaries worth flowers and lunch on Secretaries Day, Kim took less than fifteen seconds to be sitting in front of her boss pen poised on steno pad. She was aware that most executives these days taped their letters, memos and reports or used their own word processors. They were well paired, these two, almost atavistic in the workplace. Skinner prized the interaction that Kim provided him. He could tell by the hesitancy of her pen to scribe any further that she deemed some word, sentence or paragraph to be inappropriate. Or if he missed his cue, Kim's quiet "Sir?" implying "Are you sure you want to say it that way?" always pulled him back to reconsider his terminology. She gave him what e-mail and word processors could not - a reminder that this memos were being sent to people, not emotionless machines. He realized more than that. Kim knew instinctively who needed a big stick on the behind and for whom a carrot dangled in front of them would suffice. Agent Scully had that quality too - most of the time. "Are you ready, Kim?" Skinner asked perfunctorily. 'Silly question. She was never not ready,' he remembered. She crossed her legs to better balance her steno pad. "Of course, sir." Seated behind his desk, Skinner dictated. Only his eyes showed his mind synthesizing the two most recent reports received from his X-Files agents. "To: Agent John Jay Doggett "cc: Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. "Department: X-Files "From: Office of Assistant Director Walter Skinner "Re: Case #101311210223 Slug Cult Murders "Agent Doggett, you are assigned to the X-Files as Scully's partner not her bodyguard." "New paragraph." "She did not need you to tag along for a simple pathological consult about an anomaly. While all X-files are anomalies, not all anomalies are X-Files. We were not informed of the wound in the cadaver's back. Had the FBI been so informed, I am confident Agent Scully would have immediately suspected a possible X-File situation and called you." "New paragraph." "Pathology and forensics go hand in hand. That means investigating a crime scene to have a frame of reference for pathological findings." "New paragraph." "As an aside, the Sugarville Police Department has been taken to task for not alerting the FBI earlier when Agent Scully was overdue two hours past her Estimated Time of Arrival in an area as remote and arid as the crime scene." "New paragraph." "In fairness to you, however, what Agent Scully did not take into account was her propensity for finding X-files and X-files finding her. In other words, her dumb luck, which again, might not have been so bad if it weren't for the remoteness of the area and the distance separating you. If she were doing a consult in DC area, a simple cell phone call to you would have been sufficient backup." "New paragraph." "That was her misjudgement. That is why she apologized. She did not have to. She is lead agent. Consider her apology not as retribution for a mistake, but as further recognition of that which you seek most from her - full partnership in the X-files. Think about your first meeting with her. If positions were reversed, I like to think you would be as generous." "New paragraph." "As for Agent Scully's gun" "Colon. New paragraph." "Regardless of rules seemingly to the contrary, Agent's Scully's personal creed as a doctor and an agent is to determine who is in danger, evaluate that danger and then, take appropriate steps to save lives." "New paragraph." "Agent Scully gave her gun to the 'victim' because all evidence pointed to him as exactly that and needing medical assistance she felt she could not provide adequately under those circmstances. Plus her suspicions of the intent of her captors and that she could not be in two places at once to protect him. It was her reasoned judgement call to give the gun to whom she thought needed it most while she sought transportation to get them both the hell out of there." "New paragraph." "She had no clue that the parasite inside the 'victim' was sentient and in control of him. In the earlier similar case to which you referred, the effect of the parasite, then, was violent and almost immediate. So, Agent Scully was forced to make a black or white call in a case with gray overtones. As it turned out, had you been there, alone with gun in hand, odds are you would have been overtaken 35 to 1 and surrounded by a lot more dead people. In this case, I am, again, inclined to extend the benefit of the spirit of the rules to Agent Scully than to strap her with strict adherence to the letter of them." "New paragraph." Kim looked up. "Sir?" "Which word, Kim?" Kim tilted her head and wrinkled her brow. "Strap, Sir." The Assistant Director paused in thought for moment. "Yes, of course, what do you suggest?" "Burden?" "Excellent, thank you, Kim. "Kim, this next part is for Agent Doggett only." "Agent Doggett, you may find Agent Scully to be taciturn at the most. I suggest you discreetly watch her body language when she does talk or when traveling. It speaks volumes and might give you a clue to what she is thinking. Just don't let her catch you or have a good reason for it if she does." "Sign my name only, Kim." "Sir?" "Now what, Kim?" "I think Agent Doggett is way ahead of you in watching Agent Scully's body language. He just needs to learn the nuances." "Really? Discreetly?" "Oh, yes, sir." "Then, how do you know?" "Agent Scully told me, sir." "You're pulling my leg." "No, sir, not now." Skinner almost raised an eyebrow. 'When had she? What did he miss?' he wondered. "Well, then. Delete the last paragraph." Kim stood up. "I'll have this for your signature in ten minutes, sir." "Kim?" "Sir?" she said opening the office door to leave. "How do women know these things?" "That information is classified, sir," Kim replied stealthily as she quickly closed the office door behind her. Taken aback and even in his worry over a missing Mulder, Kim managed to divert Skinner's attention. For a moment, he pondered just *what* it would take to declassify that information. ~~~