Skinman 6

Title: Skinman 6: Leap of Faith
Author: ML
Originally posted 7/29/02

Distribution: Ephemeral, Gossamer, Enigmatic Dr., or if you’ve archived me before, yes; if you haven’t, please just let me know and leave headers, email addy, etc. attached. Thanks!
Spoilers: None
Rating: Bittersweet (okay, PG-13 for language)
Classification: Vignette
Keywords: Skinner/other, MSR

Disclaimer: These characters aren’t mine. They mostly belong to the actors who portray them, but Chris Carter created them, and Ten Thirteen and FOX own the rights. I mean no infringement, and I’m not making any profit from them.

Notes: This is part of a series that I started not long after the end of S8, and it veers into AU territory from that point on.

This story takes place about a year after Skinman 5, if you’re following along . There are a few more notes at the end.

Summary: The future is up for grabs.

———-
Skinman 6: Leap of Faith by ML

Walter Skinner fumbles with the slippery fabric, muttering under his breath. His fingers feel like sausages. He can’t seem to perform the simplest task, even one he’s performed nearly every day of his adult life. His heart is pounding. His ears are ringing.

He looks in the full length mirror standing next to the bed. He looks the way he always does, except that he sees his face is flushed. Not the hectic flush caused by tiny foreign bodies in his bloodstream, but more than normal.

Am I having a stroke? he wonders. He knows it isn’t the nanocytes; the vaccine Scully concocted seems to be eradicating them slowly, and he has possession of the only control they know of. But it would be just like Krycek to find a way to return from the dead and try to ruin this for him.

He’s feared some sort of intervention since the day he submitted his retirement papers, even though Kersh accepted them without comment. Kersh seems different since Mulder had left the FBI, like some of the fight has gone out of him. The X-Files have chugged along, and Kersh’s oversight of the division has become more cursory over time. It was almost as though he’d had a personal vendetta against Mulder, and once Mulder was gone, he lost interest.

Of course, John Doggett doesn’t stir controversy the way Mulder seemed to do just by his presence. Doggett does a good, workmanlike job, and his reports are always thorough, if not very exciting. He keeps the budget under control, and keeps Monica Reyes from being too off the wall. The solve rate isn’t as high, but neither are the expenses. The X-Files has become just another division in the FBI.

Skinner knows the truth behind that, too. There’s the X-Files, and then there’s the (x-files). While Scully remained at Quantico, Doggett and Reyes seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time consulting her on cases. That usually meant that Mulder was somehow involved, too. And though Mulder had agreed with Scully that it was time to turn the files over, and had promised to stay out of trouble, there are still times when he can’t help himself. They all keep a close watch on anything that might lead to more information about the conspiracy, or points to any threat toward William.

There is still danger. They’d gotten warnings in time so far, often through some very unlikely sources. Billy Miles and his ilk are still at large, but now they seem to have appointed themselves protectors of Will and his family. For some reason, they stay away from Will, but Skinner has been surprised once or twice by a visit. Fortunately, he’s been alone when they’ve occurred. It was only later that he realized that this was on purpose.

Who knows how many of them there are out there? Who knows which ones are trustworthy? Not all replicants seem to have the same agenda. Skinner has to resist the urge to look for those telltale bumps on the neck whenever he meets someone new. He’s had no threats against himself or Linda, though. He wonders if he is now part of the “charmed circle,” simply by virtue of his friendship with Mulder and his family.

It’s odd to think of Mulder as “charmed,” since most of his life seems cursed somehow. So many terrible things have happened to him, and to those he loved. But since William’s birth, things have been fairly calm. Mulder has become somewhat domesticated. At least on the surface, he and Scully and William live a normal, mostly uneventful life. But Mulder has never been one to take such things for granted.

“I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop,” he told Skinner once. “I’m grateful for the time, but I feel that we need to be ready for anything. I don’t want to be lulled into a false sense of security. The gathering of those — replicants, or whatever the hell they were, at William’s birth, meant something. I told Scully at the time that maybe he wasn’t what they expected. But maybe he was, and they just needed to witness it.”

It seems an unanswerable question. So Skinner stays watchful, as does Mulder. Lately they’ve been talking about doing more than just keeping watch.

Too many things have happened to all of them to take what they have lightly. Skinner has made sacrifices, sure, but he’s never begrudged any personal cost. It seems to him in retrospect that he’d known from the beginning how important his association with Fox Mulder and Dana Scully would become — not just to him, but to the world. He could tell himself that he’d just been concerned about the agents under his charge, but it’s more than that. If he hadn’t known then, he certainly does now. They’ve all seen too much, been through too much, not to know it.

Skinner shakes his head sharply. He doesn’t want to think about those things, today of all days. They’ll take what precautions they can, and they’ll deal with what the future is bound to bring. The past is in the past; it can’t harm him now. It’s something he’s struggled with all his life. He’s done his best to put things behind him in the past few years. He’s more successful at this now than he used to be. It helps to have someone to talk to, someone who listens with an open mind. Someone to whom, by some miracle, he’s been able to open up.

This sharing of confidences has been a lesson hard-learned, and sometimes he still struggles with it. He works in a profession where it’s better not to tell everyone everything you know, and switching the mental gears at the end of the day is not something that comes easily to him. It never has. That inability or unwillingness to be open to his loved ones has cost him a lot over the years. It cost him Sharon, even though he’d finally tried to let her in. For her, it was a case of too little, too late.

He can’t remember his first wedding at all. He can see his wedding picture in his mind’s eye, and he still has it, packed away with other mementos he’d rather not have around any more. He supposes he was nervous, excited, looking forward to the future. He was a different person then.

He’s certainly much less confident of the future now. He’s seen and done terrible things, been a victim of a few of them, too. He thinks now that even if they’d reconciled, he and Sharon were doomed to failure. He is not the man she married.

If it hadn’t been for his friendship with Mulder and Dana, he’d never have met Linda. If it hadn’t been for their example, he might never have had the courage to tell her about the things that haunted him, the things he knows and fears now. But as hard as it has been to let someone else in, he’s now seeing some of the benefits.

How strange that he’s learned how to trust again from the most paranoid man he’s ever known, and how to believe from the most confirmed skeptic.

He remembers the night he finally told Linda what he understood about the conspiracy, and his role in it. Not everything came out that night, but he feared that even the small amount he revealed would frighten her away. To her credit, she listened, and she kept an open mind. She called Dana the next day, and talked to her for a long time too.

And she believed. Not just in what he said, but she believed in him. She trusted him to tell her what he could, but she pushed him just enough if he got too quiet or seemed to be withholding too much. He knows that it’s not only the example of Mulder and Dana, but the failure of his relationship with Sharon prepared him to take this step now. He agonized over it for some time. What did he have to offer Linda? She has a full and happy life without him. But she accepted him instantly when he finally broached the subject of marriage, with no hesitation at all. It was a humbling experience, and another lesson for him. He will do his best to make sure that her faith in him is not misplaced.

Skinner jumps at the sharp rap on the door of the guest bedroom as though it’s a rifle report.

“Are you decent?” comes the expected voice from the other side of the door.

“Get your butt in here, Mulder,” he growls.

The door opens and Mulder enters, wearing a beautifully tailored gray suit and the ugliest tie Skinner has ever seen. He realized long ago that the ties were just another way for Mulder to spit in the eye of convention. He also noticed over the years that when garish ties became more common — when even Jerry Garcia got into the act — Mulder’s ties became more conventional. Skinner is actually tickled that Mulder has reverted to his old ways for this occasion.

“How’s it hangin’, Skinman?” Mulder says with a grin. “Having second thoughts? Need my help to get out the back window?”

“Shut up, Mulder,” Skinner says. “I need your help with this damned tie.”

“Had to get Scully’s help with mine,” Mulder replies. “I’m out of practice.”

“Did she pick your tie out, too?” Skinner asks.

Mulder grins again. “What do you think?” he asks. He stands in front of Skinner and flips the ends of the tie around expertly, muttering some story about a bunny rabbit and a hole as he makes the knot.

Skinner looks at him, bemused. Mulder gives him a lopsided grin. “It’s how Scully taught Will how to tie his tie.”

Skinner continues to stare at him. “Right,” is all he says.

Mulder looks at his watch. “It’s early yet. Wanna go get a beer?”

“Mulder –” Skinner says, exasperated, and realizes that Mulder is making a joke. “We should have just gone to the courthouse,” he mutters.

“Then we couldn’t have had this swell party,” Mulder says, settling himself in the armchair by the bed. “And since Maggie was so kind as to offer her house –”

Skinner nods. As he got to know Mulder and Dana better, he’s been included in Scully family gatherings from time to time. As he and Linda got closer, Maggie was always sure to invite her as well. When they had started discussing wedding plans, and Maggie discovered that neither had surviving parents, she had kindly offered to help with arrangements.

“I think she always hoped that she’d be able to do something like this for Scully,” Mulder says.

“I guess you and Dana didn’t take her up on the same offer?” Skinner asks. He realizes he doesn’t really know anything about their wedding; he’d been out of touch with them from about the time of Will’s birth until several months after.

“We didn’t really give her the chance,” Mulder says. “It was kind of a sore point for a long time. It still is, actually.”

Skinner stares at Mulder. “Do you mean, you’ve never –”

“– made it legal?” Mulder smiles. “Not in Scully’s mom’s eyes.”

“But you wear rings, I’ve heard people call Dana Mrs. Mulder, and it doesn’t seem to bother her –”

“Yes, and people have called me Mr. Scully, too, if they know her and not me,” Mulder says. “It doesn’t bother me either, except I don’t want to be mistaken for her brother.” He fiddles with his ring a little. He looks back up at Skinner.

“We’ve been married for years,” Mulder says. “It was an arranged marriage, performed by Blevins and Spender. You were witness to it. I just don’t think they intended that it be anything more than a marriage of their convenience, and I know they didn’t expect it to last.”

Skinner can’t think of anything to say in response. He remembers those early days too well, how at odds he was with Blevins’ decision, how, even then, he knew that there was some hidden agenda at work there. He’d barely known Mulder then, except by reputation, and hadn’t know Dana Scully at all.

Then, somehow, the X-Files Division had been given some sort of official nod, and he’d been told he’d have oversight over it, not Blevins. Possibly because Blevins had dotted-line reporting to Skinner. He didn’t know. It had made him uneasy from the beginning. He’d been all for just shutting it down, and sending Mulder back to VCU when Blevins presented the assignment of a new partner for him as a fait accompli. Mulder is right, he’d been a witness, though a reluctant one, right from the start.

“I guess Maggie’s forgiven you and Dana for `living in sin,’ since she’s still speaking to you,” Skinner says.

“I didn’t say we were living in sin,” Mulder says, “though I sure like the sound of it. No, we’re really married, and we have the certificate to prove it. But Dana’s mom wasn’t happy about the circumstances. She always hoped that Dana would be married in the church.”

“And what about Dana?” Skinner asks. He finds it hard to believe that Dana Scully wouldn’t have an opinion on this, and can’t believe it would mesh with Mulder’s.

“Hard to believe, but true,” Mulder says, as though he read Skinner’s mind. “I know you know this: I’ve been married before.”

Skinner nods. He knows all about it. When he took on responsibility for Mulder and the X-Files, the first thing he did was send for Mulder’s personnel file.

“You also know that my `wife,’ such as she was, is dead now,” he says, turning the ring on his finger around and around. “Scully didn’t know about her until much later. It felt like ancient history when I first met Scully, and for a long time, we didn’t discuss much of a, um, personal nature.”

To Skinner, that’s harder to believe than any case on the X-Files. To all outsiders, Mulder and Scully seemed so in tune with each other, he’d been certain, along with half the FBI, that they’d been intimate years before it had actually happened. He wondered when Scully had found out about Mulder’s marriage. How had it made her feel?

He’d told Linda about Sharon almost right away. But then, they’d started their relationship differently. They’d never been co-workers, never had to maintain a professional distance. In any event, his previous marriage is not an issue for her. Of course, Sharon hadn’t tried to come back and wedge herself between Linda and him, or conspired against either of them…

“…anyway,” Mulder continues, “to get married in the Catholic Church, there’s a lot of paperwork to fill out, classes to attend, and so on. We made a compromise with Dana’s mom. We’d get married in our own way, but we’d make sure that William was baptized.”

“Not that it’s any of my business,” Skinner says. “I’m just trying to understand. You *did* get married, but not really?”

“No, we really *did* get married, though not in the eyes of the Church,” Mulder says. “Did you know that Frohike is an ordained minister?”

“Mulder, you didn’t…he didn’t…”

Mulder holds his gaze, deadpan, before relenting. “No, he didn’t. Scully and I got married at the courthouse, and the guys were our witnesses. We did it not long after William was born. Frohike did volunteer to do it, however. He said it was the only way he’d ever get to marry Dana Scully.” Mulder grins. “Just think, he could have performed the ceremony for you today. It’s not too late, I’m sure he’d be happy to oblige.”

“Thanks, anyway. The minister’s a friend of Linda’s sister. I think we’ll stick with the program.”

“I think that’s a good idea. It’ll be nice to see *something* go according to plan,” Mulder says. “Are you all squared away for your trip?”

Skinner pats his breast pocket. “Tickets here, flight confirmed, all systems go.” He’s taking Linda to Los Angeles to meet Federman and get the VIP treatment for a few days before taking a cruise to Mexico. Federman is still after him to help on a paranormal/reality show, but he isn’t sure he wants to relocate. Linda still has her teaching job, and their friends are all here…

“We might be gone when you return,” Mulder says offhandedly.

“Taking a little vacation yourself?” Skinner asks. “It’s about time. I don’t think you’ve ever done that.”

“Yeah, I’d say we’re overdue, in more ways than one,” Mulder says, but he isn’t smiling any more. “More like a sabbatical.”

Skinner feels his gut go tense. “What have you heard?”

Mulder shakes his head. “Nothing absolute. Just rumblings, sort of like we’ve heard all along. But it’s been too quiet for too long. I don’t know what They’re waiting for, but I do know that we don’t want to wait around to find out.”

“What are you going to do?” Skinner asks.

“What we talked about before,” Mulder says. “Disappear, take Scully and Will and get outta Dodge while we still can. I know it seems sudden to you, but we’ve been planning it for a long time. With the help of the guys, we’ve gotten a lot of things in place. The first book is selling well, I don’t have to teach –”

“You never did, Mulder,” Skinner interrupts. “You just liked the idea of all those impressionable young minds to influence.” Deflecting with a little levity is usually Mulder’s role. Skinner must have caught it from him, the impulse to take the weightiest subject and treat it lightly.

Mulder smiles slightly. “Whatever, Walter. I notice you agreed to guest lecture every time I asked. But, seriously, I can write anywhere, and since I’ve used a pseudonym from the start, I don’t have to worry about *that* kind of publicity, as long as I can crank out the stories.”

“What if Federman wants to make another movie? Have you thought of selling the story to a studio? You could really make a bundle that way.” Skinner is determined to lighten the mood, to keep the lead from settling in his stomach. He has a wedding to get through, and a reception. Damn Mulder anyway for doing this. Is it too much to ask that they have one day where reality doesn’t rear its alien head?

“No way in hell am I letting Federman get his hands on anything I’ve written. He’ll just have to come up with his own story. It sure as hell didn’t stop him before.”

“Seriously, Mulder –” Skinner catches and holds Mulder’s eyes. They are clear but determined. “Should I be worrying?”

“You mean you haven’t been?” Another half-grin. “Talk it over with Linda. I’m not saying that anything is happening in the next several weeks or even months. Maybe even longer. We’ve known for a long time that the timetable is set, though Scully and I set it back some a few years ago.” Mulder’s eyes do that inward turn they do when he recalls something, like he’s running a movie in his head. “I honestly don’t know what’s going to happen now, or when. Or if we’ll ever be safe, no matter where we go. But we’ve got to try.”

Skinner hopes that they are still within the calm before the storm time, and that they will be for a bit. But deep within him he knows that it can’t last forever; they’ve been lucky to have as long as they’ve had.

“So this little party today is more than just a wedding. It’s also a farewell party.”

“Maybe,” Mulder says. “I just wanted to let you know what’s on our minds right now. And don’t believe anything you hear, unless it’s directly from us, or from the guys.” He tries to smile again and fails. “Shit, Walter, I didn’t want to bring this up, today of all days. But you had to know.”

Skinner says, agreeing, “I had to know.” In a way, he’s relieved; like Mulder, he’s been waiting for a sign, for indicators.

Mulder claps his hand on Skinner’s shoulder. “Are you ready to go out and face the music?”

“I guess,” Skinner says.

Mulder looks at him closely. “You’re not having second thoughts, are you? Is this just pre-wedding jitters?”

“I don’t know,” Skinner says, suddenly feeling the weight of the world settle back down on his shoulders. “Am I doing the right thing? Am I being fair to her?”

“You’ve told her everything? She knows the risks, right? You can’t push her away if she’s determined. I have first-hand experience of that,” Mulder says. “I’ve tried over the years to get Scully to leave me, to go have a normal life. But I could never convince her to go.”

“You didn’t really want her to, did you?”

“Of course not. But that’s the thing, isn’t it? I wanted her to stay with me, and I wanted to be with her more than anything on earth.”

Skinner doesn’t need to be told this; he’s witnessed this devotion time and time again.

“On the other hand, I didn’t want her to come to any harm, and it seemed that being with me meant that she’d always be in danger. Much as I didn’t want to, I felt that I had to let her go to keep her safe.”

“So what finally changed your mind?”

“Scully did. It took some doing for me to believe her, but she finally convinced me that she was where she wanted to be, despite the danger. That she chose to be with me, and I really had no say in the matter. It was her decision.” Mulder shakes his head, as if still unable to quite believe it.

“Just one more thing,” Skinner pauses at the door. “How do you do it? You and Dana? Knowing that the world could end tomorrow, that who knows what could happen at any time?”

“I think you know the answer to that, Walter,” Mulder says quietly. “We just go on. We go about our business. We take each day as it comes. We don’t think about what bad thing might be around the corner, other than to try and take what precautions we can. We live our lives. We — we love each other. And we try to be grateful for what we’ve got right now.”

“Thanks.” Skinner holds out his hand, and Mulder grasps it firmly. They shake, holding the grip for long moments as their eyes meet and speak more than either is capable of saying out loud.

After a bit, Mulder clears his throat. “I’m feeling kinda paternal toward you right now, Skinman,” he says solemnly. “D’you need any more advice? A little something about the wedding night, maybe?”

Fortunately for both of them there is a tap at the door. “Mulder, Walter, are you still in there?” comes the soft voice of Dana Scully.

Mulder smiles, just a little. “Daylight’s burning, Skinman.”

They go out to take their places in Maggie Scully’s garden to wait for Walter Skinner’s bride.

x-x-x-x

Much of the rest of the day passes in a blur for Skinner. He remembers fragments, like movement caught in the corner of his eye. Moments stand out here and there; moments that he will hold close forever.

Mulder stands beside him as they wait for Dana to precede Linda down the aisle toward him. He seems as nervous as Skinner, his eyes on the French doors that lead out to the garden. The sun casts a sort of pearly light on everything. Skinner knows it’s due to the approach of autumn, and the thin clouds in the upper atmosphere, but it seems to give everything a softer focus, unlike the harsh light of midsummer. As though everything has already happened, and he’s seeing it now through the haze of memory.

The music begins and everyone rises to look toward the house. Scully appears in the doorway, wearing a green dress that makes her look like a watercolor. She has a bouquet of bronze stargazer lilies in her hands, and a small smile on her face. She looks at Skinner and lets her smile grow just a little, and then her eyes turn to Mulder. Her smile doesn’t change, but her eyes do. Skinner doesn’t turn to look at Mulder, but he can guess at the expression on his face.

William walks proudly beside his mother, holding the pillow with the rings tied to it. He’s obviously very aware of his great responsibility. He is the only one who isn’t smiling, so intent is he on his task. Skinner notices that Will’s wearing a tie as well. Somehow, someone had found one that matches his father’s tie.

Skinner is still afraid to look at his bride. Instead, he looks at the faces on either side of the aisle, turning as she makes her progress. So many familiar faces, rendered unfamiliar by the broad smiles on their faces. Some, he’s sure, he’s never seen smile before. Doggett, holding hands with Monica Reyes…when did that happen? He hadn’t been aware of any attraction between them. That idiot Jimmy, who’d tried to impersonate him, and Yves, who’s wearing a fairly modest suit for once. Frohike and Langly, in what passes for dressed up for them: Langly in a tee shirt printed like a tuxedo, and Frohike in a brocade vest that rivals Mulder’s tie for garishness … Byers, looking trim and neat as always. He’s smiling, too, but he still has that lost look in his eyes. Maggie Scully, tears in her eyes and a tremble on her lips as she watches her daughter and grandson pass…

…then, suddenly, Linda is there. She wears a simple ivory dress, and carries a small bouquet of marguerite daisies. She looks calm, even the usual giveaway of the bouquet is steady as she walks slowly toward him. Scully’s bouquet trembled more than hers does. She doesn’t speak, but she’s telling him with her eyes how glad she is to be standing there with him, and his heart swells almost to bursting.

With a slight clearing of her throat, the minister begins the ceremony.

“…Do you, Walter Sergei Skinner, take Belinda Eloise Kimberly to be your lawful wedded wife…”

He repeats the words to himself as the minister speaks them, and makes his affirmative in a clear voice that surprises him. He sounds so confident to himself.

Linda does too, her eyes clear as she promises in her turn to love and cherish him, in sickness and in health…

…Mulder and Dana hand the rings over to him and to Linda, and William stares wide-eyed up at his Unca Skinman as he places the ring on Linda’s finger…

…Her face tilts up to his and he kisses her gently. He looks up, startled, as he hears the whoops and applause begin.

“Haven’t been to a wedding lately, have you Walter?” she says softly. He shakes his head slightly, smiling at his ignorance of this custom, and takes her face in his hands to kiss her again. This time he’s oblivious to the commotion as they share their kiss.

As they get about halfway down the aisle, more whistles and applause break out. He turns and smiles at Linda, who shrugs slightly, smiling back at him. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he sees Mulder and Scully just behind them, about to follow them down the aisle. But they aren’t just standing there. Mulder has taken Scully in his arms, and they are sharing what looks like a pretty passionate kiss themselves. Mulder’s words from before the ceremony float back to him. Good for you, he thinks.

Skinner and Linda have a few moments alone in the house before being overrun by well-wishers. “Walter, what’s wrong?” Linda asks.

He doesn’t say anything at first. How do you tell your new wife that your best friends are disappearing off the face of the earth?

“It’s Mulder and Dana, isn’t it?” she guesses. “Have they heard something?”

He should have known that he can’t hide anything from her. “They’re talking about leaving,” he says heavily. “For good.”

“Soon?” she asks, sliding her arm around his waist and holding him close. She is so much smaller than he is, yet he feels surrounded and protected by her. What is it about these small women that make them so fierce, so formidable?

“Sounds like it,” he says. He’s damn near tears himself, and he almost wishes he could just let himself go. But not now, not yet. As much as he’s shared with Linda, and allowed his emotions to show, there are still some barriers he can’t breach. He’s not sure he wants to. If he lets himself go too far, he might not find his way back.

x-x-x-x

Maggie Scully is hard to pin down. She’s flitted from table to table, and even though there aren’t more than fifty people there, Skinner has a hard time catching up to her. Finally he finds her alone in the kitchen, filling a coffee carafe.

“Mrs. Scully,” he says quietly.

“Maggie,” she says automatically. “Hello, Walter. Everything okay?”

“Everything’s terrific,” he says. “I just wanted to thank you again for everything. You’ve really knocked yourself out, and Linda and I both appreciate it. More than I can express.”

“I know you do,” Maggie says, “and it’s my pleasure. You’ve done so much for my Dana over the years, it’s a small thing I can do to repay you.” She’s having trouble meeting his eyes.

Shit, he thinks. They’ve told her their plans. Mulder, your timing stinks.

“You’ll still keep an eye on them?” she’s saying. “I know you’re not their boss any more, but you’ll still help them if you can?”

He takes her hands and sits her at the kitchen table. “Maggie, it’s been the other way around for years. They’ve watched my back. I don’t know what I’ll do without them.”

A small sob breaks from Maggie’s lips. “I don’t, either.”

“Why don’t you go with them?” Skinner asks. “Didn’t they ask you to?”

She nods, unable to speak for a moment. “I have other children,” she says finally. “I can’t choose. I shouldn’t have to choose.”

No, you shouldn’t, Skinner thinks. “Maybe it won’t be for long,” he says.

Maggie shakes her head. “I’m a sailor’s wife,” she says, “and it’s made me something of a fatalist. I always said goodbye to my William like it was the last time I’d ever see him, but I always kept faith that he would return to me. I guess I’m just out of practice, it’s been too long.”

Skinner pulls Maggie up out of the chair and engulfs her in a hug. “Have faith,” he whispers in her ear. “Look at the things that’ve happened. No one expected Mulder to come back, to live again, but he did. Dana never expected to have a baby, but she did. Your faith isn’t misplaced.”

This is an easier role for him, being the comforter instead of the comforted. He holds Maggie for as long as she’ll let him, and finds his own comfort in that.

Maggie pulls away and wipes her eyes. He can see her visibly straighten her backbone, preparing herself to meet whatever comes. He can see where Dana gets her fortitude. “Thank you, Walter,” she says, and goes back out to her guests, head held high.

Skinner is reluctant to let the day end, but it’s long past the time that he and Linda should have left. They drift around to the few guests who are left, saying a few words, hugging long and fiercely.

William has long since gone to bed, but Mulder and Dana see them to the door. “Send us a postcard from LA,” Mulder says. “But don’t encourage Federman.”

Dana and Linda hug like sisters, whispering into each others’ ears. Both have very shiny eyes when they let go.

“Take care of each other,” Skinner and Dana say almost at the same time, and they smile at each other.

“We will,” Linda promises softly, and Mulder nods his agreement. He’s chosen this moment to go stoic and silent, very uncharacteristic of him.

“Try to keep his ass out of trouble, Scully,” Skinner growls just for the sake of old times.

Dana rolls her eyes. “I’ll do my best,” she says.

The two men eye each other, as if they both want to stare the other down.

“Stay loose, Skinman,” Mulder says finally.

Skinner smiles and lets Mulder have the last word. As before, they shake hands wordlessly, each gripping hard, each completing the bond with his free hand on the other’s arm.

Mulder and Scully stand waving, arm in arm, as Skinner and Linda drive away. He feels Linda’s hand slide over to rest on his leg, and he covers it with his own.

“It’ll be okay,” she whispers. “They’ll be okay.”

It might take all the faith he has, but he’ll do his best to believe, for Mulder and Scully, and for William. For Maggie Scully. For Linda. For all of them.

an end, and a beginning…

=====

Author’s Notes: This is the last of the Skinman series. I’ve enjoyed giving Skinner a bit more of a life than we’ve ever seen him get on the show, but I think I’ve taken this universe as far as I want to at this point.

I thank all of you who asked if I was ever going to write another one, and who gave me feedback on the other Skinman stories. I’m glad that you enjoyed them. I enjoyed writing them, and knowing that someone liked reading them gives me great pleasure. Thank you.