Title: Ladies who Lunch
Author: mlb
Rating: R (bad language, implied f/f sexual activity WHICH DOES NOT OCCUR IN THIS STORY)
Category: V
Spoilers: Christmas Carol/Emily
Keywords: None
Disclaimer: All characters in this story are the property of CC and 1013. No personal gain is intended.
Summary: Tara Scully has lunch with a friend.
archivist's note: strictly speaking this sequel isn't a kidfic, though Mattie is mentioned.
Tara Scully walked down the quiet New York side street toward the small cafe. It was an out-of-the-way place, surrounded by quietly unassuming boutiques, whose very lack of decoration screamed about the amount of money that would be needed to shop there. If the rich matrons and debutantes of New York City wanted to avoid the tourists while shopping, they came to this street. If they wanted to eat lunch while shopping, they came to this cafe.
As Tara entered the cafe, she was aware that her own outfit - a flowered dress with a wide lace collar - didn't exactly fit in with the outfits worn by the other lunching women, but she didn't let it it bother her. It was a disguise, just like the persona of the unassuming Navy wife she had donned a few years ago, when certain powers that be decided that a spy within the members of Dana Scully's family might be useful. Several months ago, Tara had added the role of mother to that of wife, another turn of the knife in Dana Scully's heart.
As the elegantly garbed hostess came forward to greet her, Tara caught sight of the friend she had come to meet. "I'm with her" she said to the hostess as Marita Covarrubias beckoned her toward a quiet table at the back. It was surrounded by other tables, so the low hum of conversation would make their voices indistinguishable from others in the cafe, but the tables were far enough apart that their conversation would be private if they were careful - and they were used to being careful.
A waiter guided Tara to the table, placed a menu before her, and left the two alone.
"Well," Marita said, eyeing Tara's dress, "How is the little suburbanite?"
"Be nice or I'll show you my baby pictures" Tara retorted and grinned at Marita's delicate shudder. She looked over Marita's conservative navy suit. "You aren't exactly dressed the same way you were the last time I saw you either. It was the black cat-suit, wasn't it? And the five-inch heels?"
Marita smiled reminiscently. "And you were in that red spandex dress with the zipper from neck to hem." She gently stroked her toes along Tara's ankle under the floor-length tablecloth. "A splendid time was had by all that evening."
Tara shivered a little, both at the caress and at the memory. Even Marita's voice set her nerve endings off. While the slight lisp put other people off, Tara considered it a huge turn on; but then, other people didn't know how she'd gotten it.
When Marita was 12, her rich, powerful, New York-elite father had broken her jaw, angry at her refusal to fuck him. She had run away and lived on the streets and her jaw had not healed properly, since it was set by a doctor who was living on the streets himself at that time, thanks to his cocaine habit.
It was a sad story, but it got better. When Marita was 18, she had located her father and exacted a revenge that had caused hard-assed New York cops to lose their lunch at the crime scene. The last Tara had heard, they had never found all of the body parts.
As for the doctor, who had set her jaw as best he could and asked no payment, Marita had established him in a quiet country house where he could snort cocaine or not as he wished and read current medical journals.
The Consortium would have fixed Marita's speech impediment, but she had refused, considering it a reminder of what could be accomplished with adequate motivation.
The two ladies kept their talk general until they had placed and received their orders.
"So," Marita said "How did you persuade your mother-in-law to let you out in the big bad city all by yourself?"
Tara held up a shopping bag "Birthday shopping for Billy-boy. Besides, I promised to stay in the tourist areas and to ask a policeman for help if I got lost. Maggie's watching the baby back at the hotel, since the pollution's so bad for his little lungs."
"How is motherhood?" Marita asked curiously.
"It's ok." Tara said and shrugged. "Every time I get pissed at the kid, I figure up my interest for the day."
She had insisted on a flat fee of one million dollars for having the child and was storing it in the proverbial Swiss bank account. The Consortium had not been happy but had paid up, realizing that Tara was not an operative they wanted to lose.
She was cool, clever, and had no scruples. She was also quite pretty in a wholesome way and could wield sex like a duelist used a rapier. Tara had put all of these skills to use and had married Bill Scully in order to observe his sister from afar.
She had moved from observation to action in an attempt to drive a wedge between Scully and Mulder and, ultimately, between Scully and the X-Files. Killing Scully would have only focused Mulder more on his quest. No one quite knew what the effect would have been on Skinner, and no one really wanted to find out either.
However, if Scully left the X-Files in disgust, that was a different story. It might be enough to send Mulder over the edge, and Skinner wouldn't have a reason to interfere.
"What about you?" Tara asked, "Has your position changed since the, um, downsizing?"
"Please" Marita sniffed primly "I have proved that I am loyal to the Consortium as a whole."
Tara laughed. "True. So, are you still doing the mysterious informant bit for Mulder?"
Marita shook her head. "That's on hold for now. They aren't investigating anything to do with us currently, just odds and ends. It seems that ever since Scully was cured, they've lost focus. There a new tension between them too."
"It's been, what five years?" Tara said. "Our reports show Mulder maybe got laid twice. Scully hasn't had any, unless something happened with that tattoo guy, which we can't confirm. I'd be tense too."
"It isn't that kind of tension. It's as if they're angry with each other, but they don't know why. Their rapport seems to have vanished. Lately, Skinner seems to have been more supportive of Mulder's work than Scully."
Tara laughed, "Maybe they're coming out of the closet."
"No," Marita said with an answering smile. "Everyone's still heterosexual."
"Then, it sounds like this is a prime time to move in on Mulder," Tara said excitedly. "You've already shown him you believe in what he's doing, so you'd be the perfect change from 'I don't want to believe' Scully."
Marita stared at her. "Actually, that isn't a bad idea. It should be the final blow to his relationship with Scully after she 'accidentally' discovered us. Although she doesn't seem to want him, apparently he isn't allowed to pursue anyone else."
"You could go after Skinner too," Tara continued. "He's got to be on edge. He hasn't been with anyone since they sicced the hooker on him, and that didn't exactly go well."
"Which would reinforce the lack of trust between Mulder and Skinner." Marita nodded. "And, if things are arranged properly, could permanently divide Skinner from Scully as well."
Tara raised her eyebrows. "Is something going on between those two? I hadn't heard anything. She doesn't trust him, does she? Does she know about the deal he made for her?"
"No," Marita said. "She doesn't know about the deal, and there's nothing definite between them, more like a mutual crush that no one will act on. That's probably the root of a lot of her distrust. If she can't trust him, she can deny her attraction to him. Having her catch us together, however, would prove interesting."
"Skinner could be a tougher to crack than Mulder," Tara said thoughtfully, "Especially if he's got a thing for Scully. The hooker only got him because he was drunk and miserable, and then she just about had to do a lap dance. He's so damn shy outside work, I think he'd run, even from somebody he was interested in. You'd have to do some serious button pushing."
"That's under control." Marita smiled. "I didn't just invite you to lunch for your company, charming though it is. We have a new recruit I want you to meet, who should be very helpful in locating the appropriate buttons."
At Tara's inquiring look, Marita continued. "We wanted to gain some additional insight into Skinner, especially with the re-organizations that are occurring. She will also be very helpful with your idea."
Marita nodded to the slim dark-haired woman who was approaching their table. "Tara, meet Sharon."
The End