Title: Learned behaviour – Part Two – A hard lesson

‘Three Fox. All day. As soon as Agent Scully leaves.’

Mulder groaned inwardly. He understood what the number signified. Silent. Never more than an arms’ length away from Skinner. And naked. All day.

Skinner sensed Fox’s reaction. ‘It’ll help Fox, believe me. You need to come back to me.’

‘Mulder. Are you okay?’ Scully held her partner at arms’ length, looking over his shoulder to Skinner, who nodded. Whatever Mulder said he was basically okay. Physically, anyway. A couple of bruises, a little dehydration and, after four days with little or no food, still permanently hungry. But he’d recover within a few days. Skinner was more concerned about what was going on inside the fertile Fox Mulder brain. He was sure the damage inside was way worse than the external manifestations indicated.

Eventually, Mulder ran out of things to ask, show or tell Scully. And she got up to leave. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow Mulder, okay?’

Sulkily, Mulder sighed. ‘Okay.’

As soon as the door closed, Skinner got up. ‘Three Fox.’

Knowing that no delaying tactics would work, Mulder pulled off his t-shirt. He watched Skinner come into the room and lay a towelling robe on the arm of the couch. He knew there would be one in each room, in case a visitor arrived unexpectedly.

*************

Mulder put down the book he had been reading. ‘I need the bathroom.’

Mulder got up and followed Skinner into the small room, sitting on the edge of the bath. Reluctantly, realising he was to have no privacy, Mulder relieved himself, keeping his gaze down to avoid meeting Skinner’s.

After a few minutes, Mulder broke the silence a second time. ‘I need a drink.’

Mulder followed Skinner into the kitchen, waiting until Mulder had filled a glass form the kitchen tap. ‘Bring it back in here.’

Mulder carried the glass into the living room and frowned slightly as Skinner took it from him as he bent to put it on the coffee table. ‘You have one phrase left. I’d make it last if I were you.’

Mulder understood. He was allowed to use only three phrases during the time he was silent. And the final one, that he was hungry, was going to have to wait. It was only just after 11am and if he used it up, he’d have to wait for Skinner to give him permission to use the bathroom, or get a drink, or food, for the rest of the day.

Skinner heard the heavy breathing which indicated Fox was in a bad mood when he was silent. He ignored it for a few minutes, then suddenly Mulder got up. ‘I need some fresh air.’

Skinner looked down at him, frowning. ‘As I’m sure you’re only too well aware, that isn’t one of the phrases you are allowed to use. Now sit down and read your book.’

Grabbing his clothes, which Skinner had tidied into a neat pile, picking them up from where he had dropped them, Mulder began to pull his boxers on. A tight grip on his wrist stopped him. ‘I said SIT DOWN!’

Mulder waited until the grip on his wrist lessened, then pulled his hand free and continued to dress. He could feel the anger radiating off Skinner who was fuming. Ignoring the obvious danger, Mulder pulled his jeans on. By the time he was buttoning them, Skinner had moved to stand in front of the door.

‘You’re not going anywhere. Now get your things off.’

‘No.’

Skinner’s voice was low, dangerous. ‘What did you just say?’

Mulder was past caring. ‘I said no. You can’t stop me.’

In reply, Skinner crossed his arms, biceps bulging. Mulder swallowed hard then moved towards him. As he moved the few steps towards Skinner, part of Mulder’s brain wondered why he was suddenly clearly suicidal. The other, bolder, part encouraged him on.

‘Going somewhere Fox?’

The stupidity of the question would have made Mulder laugh in other circumstances.

‘Out.’

‘Where?’

‘Just out.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I want to.’

‘Okay.’

Mulder was confused. Skinner had given him permission to leave, but hadn’t moved. He reached for the door handle. It was locked.

‘Unlock the door.’

‘Why?’

Mulder was tiring of the stupid game. ‘So I can go out of it.’ he snapped.

‘Okay. Ten.’

‘What?’

Skinner unlocked the door. ‘You can go out. For ten minutes. And when you come back, me and my belt will be waiting for you. Your butt will get one stroke for every phrase you just used over the three you’re allowed.’

‘You were counting?’ Mulder was incredulous.

‘Eleven.’ Skinner said calmly.

‘Open the damn’ door!’

‘Twelve. Are you sure you want me to?’

Wisely, Mulder didn’t reply.

Evenly, Skinner said: ‘Take your things off, sit back down, and read your book. We’ll go out after lunch.’

‘I want to go now.’ Mulder persisted stubbornly.

‘Thirteen. Unlucky for some. Extremely unlucky for you.’

The first stirrings of panic began to surface as Mulder contemplated the price for getting his own way. He began to breathe heavily, his eyes looking everywhere other than at Skinner. He started to shift his bodyweight from one foot to the other, nervously licking his lips. He reached out again and put his hand on the door. Almost as if it had given him a shock, he snatched it back immediately. Angrily, he pulled his t-shirt off.

When he was naked once more, Skinner called: ‘Come here Fox.’ Skinner walked over to the couch, sat down, and patted his lap.

Mulder moved slowly towards Skinner, sitting warily on Skinner’s broad legs. He flinched as Skinner’s hand began to rub his back. ‘Shh. There. I’m not hurting you. Hush now. There.’

Mulder wasn’t even aware of the tears that darkened the pale grey fabric of Skinner’s t-shirt, only realising he was crying when his hitching sobs made it difficult to breathe. He turned towards Skinner, burying his face in his shirt, his hands balling into fists which he pounded into Skinner’s chest. ‘Why didn’t you come for me?’

Gently, Skinner said: ‘I did Fox.’

‘It took you three days.’ Fox whispered accusingly.

‘I know. I had to be careful. I came as quickly as I could.’ They stayed locked together for several minutes until Fox pushed himself upright, staring into Skinner’s eyes. ‘Are you sure it was thirteen?’

‘Quite sure.’ Skinner said firmly.

‘Okay.’ Sniffling, Mulder turned himself so he was face down on Skinner’s lap.

Ignoring Fox’s obvious reluctance, Skinner said: ‘If you’d gone out the door, I’d have used my belt. Discipline Fox.’

As the first blows landed – Skinner didn’t believe that a punishment spanking should have any warm-up – Mulder began, his voice soft.

‘Definition of Ow! discipline. Ow! Noun. One. Ow! Training of the Ow! mind, body, or character Ow! that demands Ow! strict obedience and Ow! self-control.’
Realising Fox had stopped, Skinner prompted: ‘Continue, Fox.

‘Ow! Noun. Two. Punishment intended to Ow! correct or train. Ow! No more please!’
‘Fox, continue.’

Ow! Verb. Please, stop, you’re hurting me. No more! To train by Ow! instruction and Ow! control.’ He was panting, gasping for breath, sobs interrupting his words, and he didn’t realise Skinner had stopped and lifted him sideways, so he was laying across Skinner’s lap, Skinner’s arm holding him around his waist, the other hand rubbing his back gently. After a few minutes, he said. ‘All done. Up you get.’

Reluctantly, Mulder moved to the centre of the room, his hands on his head, waiting for Skinner’s permission to dress and continue with whatever it was he had been doing before the spanking. He guessed he was in for a long wait. He had worked out, after several spankings, that the amount of time he was left on display was directly correlated to the severity of the infraction which lead to it. Using this experience, he calculated that he could still be standing there at bedtime.

‘Fox, come here.’ Or maybe not. He walked back to Skinner.

‘We’re going out. You will stay at three except if we meet someone we know, okay?’

Fox looked pointedly at the pile of clothes under Skinner’s forearm. Skinner smiled, just slightly. ‘I suppose it might cause gossip if you were seen walking around naked. Although the things you get up to, I’m not sure anyone would find it odd.’ He lifted his arm and Mulder reached for his t-shirt.

****************

They passed a hot dog vendor and Mulder stopped Skinner by putting a hand on his arm. Sighing, realising it was after mid-day, Skinner walked across. ‘Two with everything.’ He heard the anxious sound Mulder made and quickly amended the order: ‘One with no pickle.’

Mulder’s excitement as he handed him the waxed paper-wrapped snack made Skinner smile, in spite of his own feelings about the dubious nutritional value and hygiene issues of the ‘food’ he was holding.

A little further along the road was an ice-cream vendor. Without meaning to, Mulder stopped and only then realised he had neither money nor Skinner at his side. He gave Skinner his best puppy-dog eyes and, reluctantly, Skinner bought Mulder a tub of ice-cream with every topping the tub could hold. Skinner steered Mulder to a bench, dropping beside him, waiting until, with a skill borne of long practice, Mulder had completely scoured the plastic tub of any trace of ice-cream.

After they’d walked a little further, Mulder slowed, and Skinner turned, frowning. ‘You want to go back?’

Mulder nodded.

As they walked back to the apartment, Skinner became concerned that Fox had found such a short walk tiring. They had been walking for less than half an hour and Fox looked like he’d run a mile. As they entered the apartment building, Skinner put a hand up to Mulder’s forehead. ‘Mulder, do you feel unwell? Answer.’

‘No, just tired.’ Mulder mumbled.

‘If you’ve got food poisoning from that damned…’ Holding Mulder’s arm, Skinner helped him into the elevator. As they rode to their floor, Skinner pulled his cell phone out. ‘Agent Scully? It’s Skinner. Mulder’s sick. Can you drop by?..Great…thanks.’

Skinner had to half-carry Mulder into the bedroom, dumping him bodily onto the bed before stripping him to his boxers and covering him with the bedclothes. Then he sat with him until he heard Scully’s voice outside the door as the doorbell chimed. ‘Sir? It’s Scully.’

‘He’s burning up. What did you two do?’

‘We went for a walk.’

Examining Mulder, Scully frowned. ‘Where?’

‘We didn’t even get to the end of the block. Thirty minutes, out and back. We only just made it up here before he collapsed.’

‘Thirty minutes?’

‘Yeah.’

Scully sat on the edge of the bed. ‘Mulder, Mulder, you have wake up now. Listen to me. Mulder?’

Mulder’s eyes opened slowly. ‘Scully.’

‘Mulder, tell me exactly how you feel.’

Almost whispering, Mulder replied: ‘Weightless. Hot. Cold. Heavy. I’m really sick Scully.’

‘Could it be food poisoning?’ Skinner asked anxiously.

‘What did you have for lunch?’

When Mulder didn’t answer, Skinner said: ‘A hot dog and some ice cream.’

Scully tutted. ‘Why did you let him…never mind. No, he doesn’t have any other symptoms.’

She sighed, holding Mulder’s hand. He flinched as she extended his arm, and she turned his hand over, closely examining his hand and arm. ‘Mulder, what is this?’

As she pressed on a raised red patch on his forearm, Mulder gasped. ‘Ow!’ Scully jerked her head and Skinner followed her out. ‘He’s been given a shot. The site’s become infected. We’ll have to take him to the Emergency Room.’

***************

As they stripped Mulder, the nurses exchanged glances at his obviously non-accidental injuries. When they removed his sweat pants and boxers, and his reddened buttocks were exposed, one of the nurses began to whisper to the doctor, pointing at Mulder’s bruises. Quickly Scully pulled her ID badge from her pocket. ‘We’re FBI. I’m Agent Scully. This is Agent Mulder. He was kidnapped. They beat him.’ She pointed to the marks across Mulder’s shoulders and upper arms. ‘He was released late last night.’

Reassured, the doctor smiled. ‘Okay. No problem.’

The medical team continued to work on Mulder as Skinner waited in the corner of the room, his guilt increasing as he realised how seriously ill Fox was.

Seeing him hovering uncertainly in the far corner of the room, Scully walked across.

‘He’s in good hands sir.’

‘I should have noticed.’

‘Sir, you can’t blame yourself.’

Dully, Skinner said: ‘I do Agent Scully.’

Scully walked across to the doctor. ‘How’s he doing?’

‘We’re gonna open the wound to clean it, and we’ll have a better idea how serious it is, okay? It’s not good.’

‘Whatever you have to do, he keeps his arm, okay?’

In his semi-conscious state, Mulder didn’t hear her instruction. Skinner did and he balled his hands into impotent fists.

Crossly, the doctor snapped: ‘We’ll do whatever’s necessary to keep him alive.’

Reluctantly, Scully stepped back from the gurney.

Taking the coffee Scully handed him, Skinner muttered: ‘He won’t be able to cope Scully. If he loses…’

Scully guided her boss onto a plastic chair. ‘I’m sure they’re doing all they can sir.’ Torn between not wanting to leave Skinner and wanting to be with Mulder, Scully reluctantly walked back to Mulder. Seeing her, the doctor who had been treating Mulder came over. ‘We’re gonna try antibiotics. If he doesn’t respond…’

Scully nodded. ‘Thanks.’

*************

‘He was pushing me Scully. He went too far. I thought it was attention-seeking. I didn’t know he was sick. I would never have…’

Scully knew about their relationship. Well, she thought she had. Now she realised there was more to it. Suddenly she recalled all the times Mulder had refused her repeated pleas to sit down and stop pacing around as she worked. Not sure what to say, she settled for: ‘You couldn’t have known sir. And you know how Mulder likes to pretend he’s fine when he’s not.’

Skinner flushed, stumbling over his words. ‘Agent Scully, um…about…earlier…just…thanks.’

‘Sir, your private life is private. It wasn’t relevant. They didn’t need to know.’

Skinner flushed even brighter red. ‘Thanks.’

‘We’ll go to the Keys. Get some sun. And…’ Skinner jerked back from Mulder as the door opened.

The doctor smiled understandingly. ‘It’s okay. How’s he doing?’

‘Aren’t you supposed to tell me that?’

The doctor smiled. ‘He’s doing well. His body’s had a nasty shock, but he’s young and strong, and he’ll get over it.’

‘He hasn’t woken up.’

Flicking through Mulder’s chart, the doctor smiled again. ‘Sleep is good. It won’t do him any harm, and he was pretty heavily sedated. Current thinking is he can hear what you say. Florida would a great place to recuperate.’

Skinner flushed, embarrassed, and stared at the floor. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

‘I wish I had someone to take care of me.’

Skinner looked up at the doctor’s gentle words. ‘I…we…’

‘The other agent’s just getting a coffee. When she comes back, you should take break.’

Scully opened the door to Mulder’s room. She looked at Skinner who sat facing the door. ‘Sir, why don’t you take a break? I’ll sit with Mulder. He’s gonna be in here a while. He’ll need some stuff. Clothes, razor.’

Skinner nodded, getting to his feet. Bending down slightly, Skinner said quietly: ‘I won’t be long Fox. Scully’s here.’

***************

Skinner tried to hurry back without any of the staff actually noticing he was hurrying. Finding Fox’s clothes hadn’t been a problem. Finding Fox’s clean clothes had been. Eventually, Skinner had packed a combination of Fox’s underwear and the few clean t-shirts he could find, and a few more of his own things which were likely to fit Fox.

He walked into the room and Scully looked up, smiling. ‘I told you he wouldn’t be long.’

Mulder tried to lift himself up onto his elbows, but the huge dressing on his arm, and the pain the movement caused stopped him. He made a frustrated sound, and Scully put a comforting hand on his shoulder. ‘Hey, it took you two days to open your eyes. Sitting up can wait Mulder.’ She got up. ‘I’ll drop by later.’

Skinner nodded absently. ‘Okay.’

Tiredly, Mulder whispered: ‘Bye Scully.’

Scully leaned down and kissed Mulder gently. ‘Rest, okay?’

‘Yeah.’

Skinner set the holdall down at the side of the bed, then dropped into the chair Scully had just got up from. ‘Hey.’

Mulder smiled weakly. ‘Am I gonna be okay?’

Skinner nodded. ‘Yeah.’

‘Are you really gonna take me to Florida?’

Skinner nodded. ‘When you’re stronger, sure.’

Mulder grinned. ‘Disneyworld, Seaworld…’ He laughed quietly at Skinner’s groan.

Continued in Part Three

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