Note: Written from Walter's point of view. Set after Season Four. But canon/timelines get a little played with! Prologue There are some things you are certain about at my age. I'm a straight guy with a dominant personality. And I'm single. The one time I spent the night with a woman other than Sharon, she ended up dead and I got into all kinds of trouble. I'm not gonna go looking for that stuff again. I'm retired. Catherine insisted. It wasn't much of a wrench. I'd been thinking of quitting for a while. I'm okay. I guess. And, right about this time of the morning, I can forget everything that's going on in my life right now and just enjoy the smell of breakfast cooking and the feel of the soft cotton sheets as I squirm around waking up slowly. I'll work harder today, as I have every day for three months now, than I ever did in the office, and thoughts as to what Catherine will want me to do slowly take over. I don't know and don't ask what kind of relationship Catherine had with Spender. Or where Fox and Alex are right now. I'm sure they're not in the house. I'd have heard or seen them. This is where I run into trouble. Fox and Alex. Catherine thinks I can just take them on. She's wrong. But I'm not gonna tell her. I'll let her work it out herself. She's smart. She has to be. No other way could she have me doing some of the things I've done these past weeks and months. Training. Crap. She's in charge and she wants me to know it. 'You have control issues' she told me. She has self-esteem issues if you want my opinion. Okay, maybe not self-esteem issues. But she is really... 'Yes Catherine.' There's no other response expected or required. Whatever she says - from 'Walter, breakfast' to 'Walter, kneel' that's my reply. Instant, without any conscious thought, without question. Getting out of the warm bed, exposing my bare flesh to the cooler air of the room, I snag my robe from the back of the door and I'm pulling it on as I leave the bedroom on my way down to breakfast. Catherine doesn't like to be kept waiting. I don't have time for a list of the things Catherine doesn't like. Maybe later. Part One will be posted Wednesday. Formatting and other problems have occurred and I have run out of time this weekend to solve them. Home Send me feedback on this fic Return to the X-Files Fic Index Return to the West Wing Fic Index Return to the other fic index