The Clinic, Thursday (7/15)

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

Scully was giving one of the walk-ins a look of exasperation as the day started. "Tomato juice, celery, a shot of lemon. And I'll give you a B-complex shot just this once. Next time, don't drink so much. Or forget to drink water. Or fall asleep in the Preserve." She made a face. "Near any stripey cats, yeah, I got that part."

The Clinic was open.

[and ocd-free!]

Comments

[crystal-sister.livejournal.com]

How to say hello to the sister you'd missed without freaking her out? Especially considering how unlikely it was that she'd believe her eyes or ears?

...oh, of course.

Melissa smiled at the nurse on duty. "Hi. I'm Doctor-- uh, Dana's sister. She doesn't know I'm visiting. Can I borrow the phone to call her cell number?"

The nurse probably shouldn't have allowed it, but anything that flapped the unflappable Miss Scully had to be worth trying. "Of course."

"Thank you!" Melissa beamed at her, then called Dana's cell. She could hear it ringing down the hall in the lab.

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

"Scully." Scully'd flipped on her phone without looking at the Caller ID, far too distracted by the map she'd made of reported gremlin bites, trying to zero in on their habitat.

[crystal-sister.livejournal.com]

"Dana?" Melissa took a breath. "It's Missy. Don't hang up."

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

"Who is this?" Scully demanded, snapping to her feet. "I don't appreciate jokes of this nature. Explain why you're impersonating my sister."

If this was the smoker? She really was going to shove the cigarettes down his throat.

[crystal-sister.livejournal.com]

"Go out to the lobby, Dana. It'll all be clear when you do that, I promise." Melissa considered, then said softly, "Just like it was in San Diego."

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

Scully nearly tripped as she was stomping down the hall when the voice said that. "How do you know about San Diego? Who are you working for--"

She stopped (not dead, bad metaphor) when she cleared the doorway and saw... someone who looked like her sister. Someone she really, really wanted to be her sister. The phone was still at her ear, and she whispered, "Melissa?"

[crystal-sister.livejournal.com]

"Hey, Day," Melissa said into the receiver, then carefully hung up the phone. "Surprise."

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

Scully was hyperventilating. She could tell that because she couldn't talk, and her dead sister was walking toward her with a rueful smile on her face and passing out was not an option, so. She burst into tears.

[crystal-sister.livejournal.com]

"Oh, don't do that, I knew you were going to do that, but I didn't want you to," Melissa protested, reaching out to gather her even-littler-than-usual sister into a hug. "It's really me. No one from the bad side of the street."

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

It smelled like Melissa, patchouli-and-citrus scent. Hugged and felt like Melissa, when she was still taller than Dana. Sounded like, looked like, was her sister. Even with all the other tricks on the island, and admitting bias, Scully knew this much was true. She just knew.

"...Missy, how are you here? Have you seen Mom? Why are you--- did I do something wrong? Did I miss something? What--"

She wasn't letting go, but that wasn't going to stop her asking questions.

[crystal-sister.livejournal.com]

Melissa hugged her sister harder to reassure her, then pulled back enough to study her face. "Backwards from the easiest: no, you didn't do anything wrong. The only reason I'm here is to visit you." Her face sobered. "I haven't seen Mom, because I have to stay on the island. And it's only until Saturday night. Then I have to go back."

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

"No! You just got here! You can't talk about going!" Scully clung to Melissa harder, wiping at her face, trying to get her breath back without any luck. "I'm sorry I got you killed," she blurted out. Words she'd said over and over and over after Melissa's death. "I'm sorry they thought you were me."

[crystal-sister.livejournal.com]

Melissa let the first part pass for now, and pulled back, shaking her head. Smiling. "Let's take this into an exam room, hunh?"

The nurses were definitely trying to eavesdrop.

One arm around her sister's shoulders, Melissa steered her into a room and shut the door. "You did not 'get me killed.' Stop thinking that. The idiot hitmen killed me. And it would've been you, if you'd come home that night. I was mad about being dead, but I'll never be mad they missed you instead."

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

She had to stop crying, she had to, but Scully somehow couldn't manage it. She reached for a papertowel from the dispenser, and wiped at her face, still feeling guilty even as Melissa spoke.

As many times as she'd tried to tell herself Melissa wouldn't have held her responsible, it was different from hearing it out loud.

"I'm still so sorry. I've missed you.. so much. And... did you really call me, somehow, in San Diego?" Scully swallowed. "When Emily was in danger?"

[crystal-sister.livejournal.com]

Melissa took the paper towel, wiped at Dana's face, brushed her hair out of her face and said quietly, "It wasn't actually the phone. But it was the easiest way to get you there in time."

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

"I didn't save her," Scully told her, breath hitching as she started to calm. Emotions roiling, no way to actually be calm, but just clinging to the idea of Missy Missy Missy here right here! made something whole again. "I couldn't. She was dying, she was so sick. All I could do was keep her out of their hands. She still died."

[crystal-sister.livejournal.com]

"You're talking like that's nothing. Dana, that's a huge thing." Melissa hugged her again, relishing the ability to do so. "I just wanted you to be able to meet your daughter before she was gone." She said softly, "She's okay where she is now. And she's not suffering any more."

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

Scully buried her face in Melissa's shoulder and hung onto her, trying to regain her composure. Missy didn't say anything, just hugged her close, and after several long minutes Dana raised her head, and wiped at her eyes with the now-soggy paper towel.

"So. Okay." She took a breath, then tentatively said, "If you don't have to leave yet-- we could go get coffee. And talk. Because I have so much to tell you."

[crystal-sister.livejournal.com]

"That sounds perfect." Melissa grinned wide. "Starting with: what are you wearing? You look like a miniature mad scientist."

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

Dana snorted, and tapped at the crystal around Missy's neck. "I never thought I'd say this to you, but your outfit? So two decades ago, Melissa." She gave her sister a tiny smirk. "It looks perfect on you."