============================ "Et tu, Pendrell?" written by GreenFish conceived and posted: 22nd March 1997 ============================ AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay... I wanted to write and post this before "Max" came out, in case they came out with a scene with Pendrell (supposing he lives, right?), and then I look like an idiot. Well... I probably will anyway... but-- ah, well. This is dedicated to all those who are in love with Pendrell-- I feel so bad for bashing him lately. ============================= DISCLAIMER: Scully, Pendrell... not my characters... they belong to that great Big CC up in the sky-- oops, I mean Canada. Thanks for letting me manipulate your characters until they are so unrecognizable that you just want to cry... and sob... out of grief and embarrassment... uhhhmm... DISTRIBUTION: Archive, AXTC... whatever SPOILER: "Tempus Fugit." If you haven't seen this *fourth season* ep, be warned... okay? RATING: PG-- mostly for mild language. CONTENT WARNING: Some Pendrell romance... (do I hear a "finally" from somewhere in the crowd?) ...not too much else. Read: lots of fluff. ARCHIVE: S; R SUMMARY: Scully visits Pendrell in the hospital after he has taken a bullet for her. ============================= "Et tu, Pendrell?" (part 1/1) Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully was jittery all the way over to the Georgetown North Medical Center. She normally didn't let hospital visits bother her, but for some reason, she found herself extremely bothered by the fact that she had to visit Agent *Pendrell* in the hospital. He had always been so sweet to her, and considering the fact that she had treated him like an ass-- <"I got you something... Where've you been?"> <"Can I buy you a drink?"> The look on his face when he had said that said so much, she thought. He had looked so hopeful... like he had been thinking about saying that for so long...even if it had been partially the alcohol speaking. And when she had replied: <"Really, that's okay... I'm with someone."> I'm *with* someone? she thought. That had come off so rudely... what the hell had she been thinking? Well, she =knew= what she had been thinking. She hadn't wanted to deal with the *drunk* Pendrell at the moment... especially with Louis sitting there at the table, completely exposed, when Scully was supposed to be there to protect him. Scully just didn't want to take the time up at the moment. And now it was all her fault that he was in a hospital bed... with a gunshot wound in his shoulder. Scully sighed, and stepped out of the car, heading into the hospital. She went up to the front desk, and asked for his room. "Down the hall, there--" the receptionist said. "Fifth door on your left... 430A." "Thanks," Scully said, heading in that direction, clutching the small package in her hands even more tightly. The jitters in her stomach were only getting worse. She hoped the younger lab technician wouldn't be mad at her, for the least. The last time she had seen him, he was going into the hospital, to get the bullet removed, and the wound cleaned out. Scully had needed to take care of Louis, and so she had left him for the next. Feeling extremely guilty, she had decided to come back that next morning. And here she was... ***** The door squeaked open, causing Agent Pendrell to open his eyes. When they finally focused, and he registered what had *caused* the door to open, his back went rigid, and he sat up quickly to face her. "Aah!" he suddenly cried out, remembering the pain in his shoulder. He gripped it with his good arm, squinting his eyes in agony. Scully immediately came over to his side, settling Pendrell back on the bed. "You have to lie down, Pendrell." Once he was in a lying position again, Scully pulled a chair up to the bedside. There was a long pause before she finally said, "How are you feeling?" Her tone was soft, almost apologetic. Pendrell's heart melted at the sight of her face before him. He never thought Agent Dana Scully would be coming to *him* with an expression like that. Of course, it wasn't as if he hadn't thought about it over countless hours alone... Pendrell forced himself to breathe. "Uhm... you know," he said, nodding his head to the shoulder. "It still, uh-- kinda hurts." Scully almost smiled at that. "I noticed." Pendrell, however, did grin back at her reply. "Thanks... Agent Scully." "For what?" Scully asked. "For coming," he replied. "I thought-- after that whole thing at the bar... you'd never want to see me again." He hung his head in chagrin. "I'm... so embarrassed. I'm sorry--" Scully sighed. "Pendrell-- for God's sakes... you took that bullet for me. Did you think I was going to completely ignore that fact?" Pendrell didn't reply. She tried again. "Um...Pendrell-- that was really heroic of you... that's what I was trying to tell you." He swallowed a huge lump that had developed in his throat. "Uhhh..." Nothing emerged from his mouth but a stutter. "And... I really feel bad about how I treated you at the bar the other night." Scully glanced downward for a second, and then, back up at Pendrell. "It was just, really rude of me." She gave him a small smile. Pendrell, for himself, thought his world was melting around him. "That's okay," he managed to get out. "I mean, I was acting like an idiot, myself--" Scully shook her head. "It wasn't your fault, Pendrell, and besides..." Scully found the words getting stuck in her throat. Why? she wondered. What was she still so nervous about? "I know how much you..." She shook her head, unable to speak the words. Instead, she pulled out the small package that she had been carrying under her arm, and thrust it at him. "Here. I bought this for you." He took the small package curiously, and felt at it. The best he could tell... it felt like a book. "What is it?" he asked. Scully nodded at it. "Go ahead... open it." He tore the wrapping off of it-- revealing it to *indeed* be a book. Pendrell's jaw dropped, however, as he caught sight of the title. "'101 Ways to Pick up Women'--?" he said, reading it aloud. He looked at Agent Scully, shocked. She grinned at him, one of the first times he had ever seen Scully do that. Such a serious woman... he thought. It was truly enlightening to see her like that. It made her even more beautiful in his eyes. "Well?" she said, breaking his picturesque reverie. "Try it out." "What?" he asked. "Try it out," Scully said, smiling at him again. Pendrell was postive. He was =definitely= going to end up melting. "Uhmm... *reading* one to you?" he asked, his voice becoming high all of a sudden. Scully's smile remained on her face. She nodded. Pendrell swallowed. His mouth had suddenly dried out. Completely. He flipped a few pages, and found something. "Ready?" he asked, looking up at her. "Sure." "Okay, but this one's a real groaner--" "Just read the line, Pendrell." "'You must be really tired, Agent Scully... because you've been running through my mind all day.'" It hadn't even sounded like he was reading the line. Scully didn't know why, but she suddenly asked, "Really?" "Uh--" Pendrell didn't know how to answer that one. He wasn't about to tell her that it was true... He began flipping through the pages to distract himself from the blush that was running up his face. Pendrell consciously noticed the fact that Scully's arms were rested on the bed now. Very *damn* close to his stomach... She looked up at him expectantly. He forced himself to concentrate, and picked what he thought would be a funny one. "How about this one, Scully... 'What I wouldn't give to be your bubble gum, so you could blow me.'" Pendrell looked up, grinning, but the smile quickly faded as he noticed the distance that Scully had closed since he had last noted her presence. "Why do you think they called it 'Hubba Bubba,' Pendrell?" she asked, her voice almost becoming husky, he thought. He cursed hospital gowns, and all their exsistence. "I don't know--" he barely squeaked out. Scully's expression became serious, and she picked up Pendrell's hand, stroking it lightly. "I just... sorry..." she shook her head. "I still can't get the fact that it's my fault you're here, out of my mind." "Agent Scully," Pendrell said seriously. "There's no one else in the world I would have rather taken a bullet for." "Pendrell, don't say--" "Really," he said, looking into her blue eyes. "I-- I would probably kiss you now, but it's obvious that I'm having trouble with my motor skills at this time." Scully laughed, a sound foreign to Pendrell's ears. It was like sweet music that he heard in his dreams... but never upon awakening. She leaned forward again, this time, inches from Pendrell's face. "How about we compensate for that?" By the time Scully's lips touched his, he was long gone... -the end- ...what'd y'all think? I doubt Scully will ever get to kiss Pendrell, but for some of us, we can only hope, huh? (If merely for poor Pendrell's sake!) Comments always appreciated ...