Waiting for Godot
May. 5th, 2026 04:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madimpossibledreamerMain Points:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer/X-Files (The Truth is Out There {Stranger than Fiction})
Summary: Mulder and Scully investigate Willow's house.
Word Count: 1622
Rating: Teen
Mulder’s starting to notice a pattern. That’s his job, honestly, looking for patterns, finding meaning in seemingly meaningless data, and he’s starting to notice one now. It’s not a pretty pattern, but many of them aren’t, in his line of work.
Technically Mr. Giles had only promised to bring them to Willow’s home. He’d at least had a general idea of where the spare key was, the kind of knowledge that suggests he’s been informed but never actually had to use it himself. He even probably believes that here, they’ll be safe and out of harm’s way. But watching the man peel out of the driveway in his quest to go make sure Buffy’s all right, having not reached her by phone, brings back the hollow feeling of being unwanted. “Guess we know which one’s the favorite,” Mulder jokes. He’s not sure whether it’s to make Scully smile or paper over the loneliness of ‘spooky’, but in the end even if it’s both it really doesn’t matter.
“Mulder,” Scully scolds, but her heart’s not in it, and she’s noticed the interpersonal dynamics herself.
“Ladies first,” he tells her, waving at the darkened house, listening for any sound that anyone else might be home and finding none. “Go on instinct like we did with the library. Where’s your room?”
“Willow’s room,” Scully corrects. Still distancing herself from being involved with what’s happening.
“Right.” It’s better not to push her at the moment. She’ll talk more on her own. “Well, if you insist, I’m pretty sure it’s over here.” He navigates the room effortlessly, he realizes, even in the dim light. Like he’s very familiar with the place. It’s a stark contrast to your average hotel or motel. He even knows exactly where to find a flashlight. It’s generally for emergencies, but he can’t say it’s not an emergency now.
And he sees the dust. The lack of another car in the driveway, or any sound or light from anywhere else in the house. Just one single scrubbed plate and cup in the sink. Walking a little further into the house and running his flashlight over various things finds an adult’s room, bed neatly made, dust on the covers, absolutely no sign that anyone’s been here recently. He can’t say she’s too young to be on her own, especially if it hasn’t been for long, but with the dust and just how perfect and pristine everything looks otherwise, he’s leaning toward this being routine. Neglect. Not like he doesn’t know what that’s like.
“Mulder,” Scully murmurs, and he turns to find she’s turned the lights on. It’s a fairly nice room, though his first thought on seeing the sliding doors is the ease of someone being able to kidnap a lone teenage girl out of her own room. Scully’s already troubled enough, though. He’ll just write a note that Willow should take more precautions later.
“Nice view,” he tells her, running the flashlight over the doors for emphasis before turning it off.
“How…” Her voice breaks, and she has to try again. “How are you taking this so well?”
He’s pretty sure she’s going to take this like it’s a joke, still, but it’s just the truth. “I have been preparing for something spooky to happen all my life,” he tells her gently, walking over to join her. “I’m not going to lie and say that there aren’t things I’d miss if this is permanent.” He’s not going to elaborate. She wouldn’t thank him for it. She nods, putting a sympathetic hand on his.
“And it’d probably bother me more if Willow and Alex’s lives get cut short. They have a lot ahead of them, but…” He clenches his jaw and looks away. “That’s the job, right? That part unfortunately happens every day. We have to deal with it.”
He glances back at the desk. She’d just found the diary, no real searching needed, it seems like. “You know that’s a really good piece of evidence there.”
She sighs deeply, grabbing it and taking it to the bed. “I know. I’m afraid of what I’ll find.”
“You’re not alone,” he insists, joining her. Maybe it’s a little presumptuous, but she needs the company, and he doesn’t have the feeling he’ll find too much else that’s useful. She does have a laptop, and they might be able to get in if he gets Scully to just subconsciously type the password, but she’s resisting and he doesn’t want to push her too hard. It probably won’t be necessary, anyway.
“I appreciate that.” She turns to the latest page, flipping back and settling on an arbitrary page, squinting a little before smiling, a little sheepish. “I suppose that’s more evidence. I don’t need glasses.”
He nods. When they’d been out ‘in the field’, sure, but now that they’re looking at papers, it’s become more obvious. “I’d noticed that, too.”
It’s kind of adorable watching her reactions. She’s very expressive. “You can stop staring and start helping at any time, you know,” she adds dryly.
He shrugs expansively. “I am. I’m serving as moral support.”
Her raised eyebrow underlines her skepticism, but she gets back to work, turning another page, and then she gasps.
“What? What is it?” He tries to lean in, but she instinctively pulls the diary away from him. Something she’s not sure he should see? Probably having to do with Willow herself, then, and not the answers. “I won’t look if you don’t want me to.”
“I...I don’t think you should.” Scully’s actually a little flustered, but she manages to compose herself. “She’s talking about a crush she only realized she had recently. Nothing to do with any of this.”
He nods, turning to face the wall. It’s probably a little over the top, but if it makes her feel better about it, then he’ll try not to look or think about some hypotheses already swirling around his head.
“Mummies, vampires—you’d feel right at home.” At least she’s feeling well enough to tease him.
“Hey, between that and the fact you’re here, I already do.” Normally she’d answer, but she doesn’t, which is more evidence he shouldn’t think about. He might as well distract himself with something else, instead. “Hey, any indication of the last time her parents were home?”
He hears the frown in her voice as he hears the pages turn and she seeks the answers. “...Indications they weren’t. I’m not seeing any that they were. Her mother’s a psychologist, currently on a lecture tour.”
He forces himself to breathe deeply. “A psychologist? Funny. You’d think she’d know about the effects of child neglect.”
Scully swallows. “You’re suspecting child abuse?”
“You’re not?” Maybe that’s going too far. She’s already uneasy with the whole situation, and if she does have any inclination to believe that, it’s certainly not helping her mood at all. “I don’t have enough to say that it’s necessarily endangering her or has severely damaged her psyche, but I’m fairly certain it’s at least repeated. If I had to guess going by everyone we met today seeing you as the responsible one, Willow is the type to respond with compliance. Trying to prove she’s old enough to take care of herself and is worthy of the ‘trust’ her parents give her.”
He’s raised his voice. He didn’t mean to; maybe it’s hitting a little too close to home.
“Unfortunately, I think you might be right, but…” Great, more bad news. “I think you’re overlooking Alex.”
Damn, what now? He does a quick inventory, but as far as he can tell from a totally unfamiliar body he’s perfectly fine. “All right, Scully, what am I missing?”
“Are you hungry at all?” she prompts, which is an answer in of itself.
Still, no point in not being thorough. “...Yeah, I could eat. And it feels like I’ve gotten used to ignoring that.”
“Let’s check the kitchen,” she suggests, standing up. It won’t fix everything. But it’s a practical step she can take, so of course she’s going to take it.
“Yeah, my reputation would never recover if I got eaten because I fainted.” He joins her easily.
It turns out the easiest thing they can make is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, accompanied by juice. He’d say it feels like he’s a kid again, but honestly, under the circumstances he kind of is. He feels content, sitting here and eating while Scully does the work. It’s not a feeling he’d been used to, before meeting Scully. He always had to be doing something, going somewhere, restless and always ready for the next thing.
When he stands and stretches, he feels a whole lot better. “I’m just going to go brush my teeth.” It’s a little weird, given that this isn’t his house and he doesn’t even know whose is whose, but he can’t stand the feeling of fuzzy teeth, either. Maybe he’ll be lucky enough to find an unused one. At least that’s not too weird.
“Sure.” She’s distracted and only half listening, which is why he’s not too surprised when not long after she starts talking at the same volume as if he’s still in the same room.
He pops his head back out, pulling the toothbrush out for the moment so she can understand his reply. “Sorry, I didn’t hear that.”
She raises her voice, not skipping a beat. “I found the source of the clothes we’re wearing. Willow wrote about returning to a new store in town called Ethan’s.”
“I’d say that’s worth an investigation. Good job, Agent Scully. You should probably see if anyone answers the phone this time.” He can finish brushing his teeth while she passes on the news, or at least tries to.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer/X-Files (The Truth is Out There {Stranger than Fiction})
Summary: Mulder and Scully investigate Willow's house.
Word Count: 1622
Rating: Teen
Mulder’s starting to notice a pattern. That’s his job, honestly, looking for patterns, finding meaning in seemingly meaningless data, and he’s starting to notice one now. It’s not a pretty pattern, but many of them aren’t, in his line of work.
Technically Mr. Giles had only promised to bring them to Willow’s home. He’d at least had a general idea of where the spare key was, the kind of knowledge that suggests he’s been informed but never actually had to use it himself. He even probably believes that here, they’ll be safe and out of harm’s way. But watching the man peel out of the driveway in his quest to go make sure Buffy’s all right, having not reached her by phone, brings back the hollow feeling of being unwanted. “Guess we know which one’s the favorite,” Mulder jokes. He’s not sure whether it’s to make Scully smile or paper over the loneliness of ‘spooky’, but in the end even if it’s both it really doesn’t matter.
“Mulder,” Scully scolds, but her heart’s not in it, and she’s noticed the interpersonal dynamics herself.
“Ladies first,” he tells her, waving at the darkened house, listening for any sound that anyone else might be home and finding none. “Go on instinct like we did with the library. Where’s your room?”
“Willow’s room,” Scully corrects. Still distancing herself from being involved with what’s happening.
“Right.” It’s better not to push her at the moment. She’ll talk more on her own. “Well, if you insist, I’m pretty sure it’s over here.” He navigates the room effortlessly, he realizes, even in the dim light. Like he’s very familiar with the place. It’s a stark contrast to your average hotel or motel. He even knows exactly where to find a flashlight. It’s generally for emergencies, but he can’t say it’s not an emergency now.
And he sees the dust. The lack of another car in the driveway, or any sound or light from anywhere else in the house. Just one single scrubbed plate and cup in the sink. Walking a little further into the house and running his flashlight over various things finds an adult’s room, bed neatly made, dust on the covers, absolutely no sign that anyone’s been here recently. He can’t say she’s too young to be on her own, especially if it hasn’t been for long, but with the dust and just how perfect and pristine everything looks otherwise, he’s leaning toward this being routine. Neglect. Not like he doesn’t know what that’s like.
“Mulder,” Scully murmurs, and he turns to find she’s turned the lights on. It’s a fairly nice room, though his first thought on seeing the sliding doors is the ease of someone being able to kidnap a lone teenage girl out of her own room. Scully’s already troubled enough, though. He’ll just write a note that Willow should take more precautions later.
“Nice view,” he tells her, running the flashlight over the doors for emphasis before turning it off.
“How…” Her voice breaks, and she has to try again. “How are you taking this so well?”
He’s pretty sure she’s going to take this like it’s a joke, still, but it’s just the truth. “I have been preparing for something spooky to happen all my life,” he tells her gently, walking over to join her. “I’m not going to lie and say that there aren’t things I’d miss if this is permanent.” He’s not going to elaborate. She wouldn’t thank him for it. She nods, putting a sympathetic hand on his.
“And it’d probably bother me more if Willow and Alex’s lives get cut short. They have a lot ahead of them, but…” He clenches his jaw and looks away. “That’s the job, right? That part unfortunately happens every day. We have to deal with it.”
He glances back at the desk. She’d just found the diary, no real searching needed, it seems like. “You know that’s a really good piece of evidence there.”
She sighs deeply, grabbing it and taking it to the bed. “I know. I’m afraid of what I’ll find.”
“You’re not alone,” he insists, joining her. Maybe it’s a little presumptuous, but she needs the company, and he doesn’t have the feeling he’ll find too much else that’s useful. She does have a laptop, and they might be able to get in if he gets Scully to just subconsciously type the password, but she’s resisting and he doesn’t want to push her too hard. It probably won’t be necessary, anyway.
“I appreciate that.” She turns to the latest page, flipping back and settling on an arbitrary page, squinting a little before smiling, a little sheepish. “I suppose that’s more evidence. I don’t need glasses.”
He nods. When they’d been out ‘in the field’, sure, but now that they’re looking at papers, it’s become more obvious. “I’d noticed that, too.”
It’s kind of adorable watching her reactions. She’s very expressive. “You can stop staring and start helping at any time, you know,” she adds dryly.
He shrugs expansively. “I am. I’m serving as moral support.”
Her raised eyebrow underlines her skepticism, but she gets back to work, turning another page, and then she gasps.
“What? What is it?” He tries to lean in, but she instinctively pulls the diary away from him. Something she’s not sure he should see? Probably having to do with Willow herself, then, and not the answers. “I won’t look if you don’t want me to.”
“I...I don’t think you should.” Scully’s actually a little flustered, but she manages to compose herself. “She’s talking about a crush she only realized she had recently. Nothing to do with any of this.”
He nods, turning to face the wall. It’s probably a little over the top, but if it makes her feel better about it, then he’ll try not to look or think about some hypotheses already swirling around his head.
“Mummies, vampires—you’d feel right at home.” At least she’s feeling well enough to tease him.
“Hey, between that and the fact you’re here, I already do.” Normally she’d answer, but she doesn’t, which is more evidence he shouldn’t think about. He might as well distract himself with something else, instead. “Hey, any indication of the last time her parents were home?”
He hears the frown in her voice as he hears the pages turn and she seeks the answers. “...Indications they weren’t. I’m not seeing any that they were. Her mother’s a psychologist, currently on a lecture tour.”
He forces himself to breathe deeply. “A psychologist? Funny. You’d think she’d know about the effects of child neglect.”
Scully swallows. “You’re suspecting child abuse?”
“You’re not?” Maybe that’s going too far. She’s already uneasy with the whole situation, and if she does have any inclination to believe that, it’s certainly not helping her mood at all. “I don’t have enough to say that it’s necessarily endangering her or has severely damaged her psyche, but I’m fairly certain it’s at least repeated. If I had to guess going by everyone we met today seeing you as the responsible one, Willow is the type to respond with compliance. Trying to prove she’s old enough to take care of herself and is worthy of the ‘trust’ her parents give her.”
He’s raised his voice. He didn’t mean to; maybe it’s hitting a little too close to home.
“Unfortunately, I think you might be right, but…” Great, more bad news. “I think you’re overlooking Alex.”
Damn, what now? He does a quick inventory, but as far as he can tell from a totally unfamiliar body he’s perfectly fine. “All right, Scully, what am I missing?”
“Are you hungry at all?” she prompts, which is an answer in of itself.
Still, no point in not being thorough. “...Yeah, I could eat. And it feels like I’ve gotten used to ignoring that.”
“Let’s check the kitchen,” she suggests, standing up. It won’t fix everything. But it’s a practical step she can take, so of course she’s going to take it.
“Yeah, my reputation would never recover if I got eaten because I fainted.” He joins her easily.
It turns out the easiest thing they can make is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, accompanied by juice. He’d say it feels like he’s a kid again, but honestly, under the circumstances he kind of is. He feels content, sitting here and eating while Scully does the work. It’s not a feeling he’d been used to, before meeting Scully. He always had to be doing something, going somewhere, restless and always ready for the next thing.
When he stands and stretches, he feels a whole lot better. “I’m just going to go brush my teeth.” It’s a little weird, given that this isn’t his house and he doesn’t even know whose is whose, but he can’t stand the feeling of fuzzy teeth, either. Maybe he’ll be lucky enough to find an unused one. At least that’s not too weird.
“Sure.” She’s distracted and only half listening, which is why he’s not too surprised when not long after she starts talking at the same volume as if he’s still in the same room.
He pops his head back out, pulling the toothbrush out for the moment so she can understand his reply. “Sorry, I didn’t hear that.”
She raises her voice, not skipping a beat. “I found the source of the clothes we’re wearing. Willow wrote about returning to a new store in town called Ethan’s.”
“I’d say that’s worth an investigation. Good job, Agent Scully. You should probably see if anyone answers the phone this time.” He can finish brushing his teeth while she passes on the news, or at least tries to.
