Disclaimer: The characters Fox Mulder, Dana Scully and Walter Skinner are the property of Fox, Chris Carter and 1013 productions. No copyright infringement intended. The song "My Legend" has also been used with out permission it is the property of Harper Records, written by JJ Black, Sung by: Melt. The characters Michael "Kicker" Cameron and Danielle "Dani" Chase are of my own creation. If you ever wish to use them in a future story please e-mail me and let me know, I would be glad to let you borrow them. I like Kicker myself.

SUMMARY: Scully still has her secret and Skinner is helping her out.. Enters Kicker, a rugged ambitious violent crimes agent sharing the same goals as Mulder. Against the idea, Mulder refuses to accept any part in the process. If only he had an idea of what was really going on. RATED PG., classification XRA .

T H E X - F I L E S ~present~
***The Legend Series***
Building the Legend
By: Jenn Nistor (Jenn6092@aol.com)
_________________

December 10th, 1998
Washington DC
FBI Headquarters
10:15 A.M.

Glancing over at her partner, Scully slowly began to massage her aching temples. He hadn't noticed her actions yet, but she was sure that he would notice soon and get all worked up over nothing. It really wasn't nothing. Her cancer had indeed returned, the tumor mass was larger this time. The doctors had been amazed at how fast her cancer had grown, they finally came to the conclusion that it had never really remission. In fact the tumor had shrunken so much that it was hardly noticeable to the naked eye.

She couldn't tell Mulder He had gotten better though. . . ever since their discussion at the restaurant that one night, he had given her the space she desired. He no longer hovered over her like an over protective mother with a sick child. The only thing that still really bothered her was the fact that he refused to let her out of his sight. If something was wrong he was there, with out any questions.

There had been a day at the end of November that she had to lie to him. She hated doing it, but the truth was that she simply didn't want him to worry over some silly little doctors appointment. Instead she told him that her mother had asked her to spend the day with her, so with out question he let her go. The only problem that arose was that she ended up bruising from the blood they had taken from her. Huge ugly purple splotches all over her neck and arms. It had been hell hiding them from him.

"Hey Scully?!" Mulder called from across the small office.

Taking her hands from her temples, she turned to face him. "Yeah, Mulder?"

"I've been thinking. . . " he began. "Why don't you go to that meeting at 10:30. It's in less that fifteen minutes from now and I have at least twenty more pages of this file to look over."

Scully rolled her eyes. "You just don't want to meet Michael, do you Mulder?"

Mulder grinned. "Come on, Scully. Please. You know I'd do it for you. . . " he paused. "And besides it was your idea to have him reassigned to our division, therefor you should be the one to meet and welcome him. I'm sure he'd much rather like to see a sexy redhead than a middle aged, over educated, FBI agent who never stays with in the FBI jurisdiction. Am I right Scully?"

"Sexy redhead?" she crossed her arms over her chest and stood up. "I think that is sexual harassment. You wouldn't want me to tell Skinner that one of his agents it hitting on me, now would you?"

"Scu---lly." he whined. "Please. I will never ask you for another favor if you just do this one thing for me. Please. . .I am begging you."

"All right, but just don't come crying to me when Skinner suspends you for disobeying a direct order." she picked up her brief case. "I refuse to listen because all I will be able to tell you is that 'I told you so'."

"So you'd have me suspended?"

Scully laughed. "No. . . I think I'd miss your sexist comments if you were suspended. What do you want me to tell Skinner?"

"What ever you want." he replied. "But make it good. I don't want to make a bad first impression with Mr. *Kicker*. That would be such a nightmare."

* * * *
Skinners Office
10:45 A.M.

"I'm sorry Agent Cameron." Skinner said glancing at his watch for the hundredth time. "Agent Mulder is usually very punctual for the meetings I call. I honestly don't know what could be keep- - -" he was cut off suddenly as the door flew open and Scully hurried in.

"I'm sorry, Sir." she apologized, taking a seat next to his desk. "The elevator was malfunctioning and I had to take the stairs, but that's ten flights from the basement and then Agent Jones stopped me to ask me a question about the recent Mendez case."

"Where is Agent Mulder?" Skinner asked, dismissing her excuse. "I asked him to be here since he is the head of the X-Files division."

Scully sighed. "Sir, Agent Mulder is unable to attend do to the fact that a sudden lead in a case came up and he felt that he had to do a follow up before it merited any sort of investigation. He assigned me to come and welcome Agent Cameron and go over some of the preliminary ground work." she paused. "I assure you sir, he had every intention of being here, but he felt that this case was important to his search for the truth."

Skinner shook his head and motioned to Agent Cameron. "Scully meet your new help. . .Agent Michael Cameron, all the way from the Baltimore bureau. I wish Agent Mulder was here to explain exactly what the job entitles." he shrugged. "But it seems that he has decided not to grace us with his presence."

"Sir I am very competent of explaining what the X-Files entitles." she smiled and extended her hand to the other agent. "It's a pleasure to be working with you. I am sorry my partner was unable to join us, but he is absolutely thrilled about working with you."

Skinner groaned. "Yeah right." he thought. He just knew Mulder was going to pull a stunt of this nature. It was obvious there had been no lead he needed to look into, it was written all over Scully's face. Once again he had talked her into lying for him.

"I'm happy to be working with you." Kicker said, smiling politely. "I'm sure Agent Mulder had a very important reason for not being here with us."

"Agent Scully would you like to explain the X-Files?" Skinner asked, changing the subject.

"The X-Files deal with unexplained phenomena." she laughed. "Sir, that's all he really needs to know."

"No, tell him why he is really here." Skinner instructed.

Scully sighed and glanced down at her hands. "I won't be with the FBI very much longer." she began. "About a year ago I over came terminal cancer. It cast a great toll on me and it made me really tired of this type of work. I've decided to leave. . . but before I can do that I have to find a suitable partner for Mulder. You seem perfect and I'm asking you to work with me in getting Mulder to trust you."

"Why is that your responsibility?" Kicker asked.

"It's not." she replied, praying that her voice was steady and not shaky. "But he has a problem trusting people besides me, so basically I'm going to train you to take my place. I chose you because you are like Mulder."

"I don't understand."

"Mulder doesn't know that I'm leaving. . . " she explained, leaning back in the over stuffed leather chair. "I would prefer that he didn't know until I feel that the time is right." she paused. "My plan is to stay with the bureau until I feel that it's time I make my departure. Whether it be a year or a week I can't say, I just have to go with what I feel and I hope you'll work with me."

Kicker nodded but did not speak. No one spoke. The room seemed to have suddenly been filled with an uncomfortable silence that no one wanted to break. Everyone shared the same questions. . . .would Scully's plan work? Would Mulder learn to trust another? After what happened with Krycek no one would have ever expected Mulder to trust another man. Scully was easier to trust because of her sex, Kicker was going to be a real problem do to the unavoidable fact that he was male.

Skinner cleared his throat, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "I want you to understand that if I see it necessary, I will place another agent in the division to make and even four. Two pairs of agents are needed to handle the great number of cases that have been piling up in the basement. Two agents, one set, is not enough." he glanced down at a paper on his desk. "So if this happens the cases will be split amongst the pairs and Kicker will be placed with Mulder in order to speed up the bonding process."

"What?!" Scully cried. "I don't think it's necessary to split Mulder and I up."

"Agent Scully may I remind you that this was your idea and that my suggestion is just a fall back in case yours takes longer than you think." he patted her hand gently. "If it turns out to be a year before your resignation I'm not going to leave Agent Cameron with out a partner. It'd be much simpler to have two pairs of agents in the division instead of one, a trio for that matter. The cases would go faster."

Scully shook her head. "I don't think that is a good idea. I don't want Mulder to be upset and think that you are trying to bring in another set to replace us. Another reason is that I don't want him to know my plans of leaving the bureau, having another agent would only make him suspicious, not to count paranoid. Just give me two months with him getting used to the idea of having agent Cameron around. If in two months I don't believe they are ready then I totally support your idea of brining in another agent."

"Two months." Skinner agreed. "But on February 10th, if you haven't gotten this thing with Mulder settled, I will bring in Agent Danielle Chase to be assigned to you as a partner. Then I'll have my two pair of agents and I will let you decide which one is best for Mulder."

Kicker laughed from the chair he was sitting in. "So if I don't work you will be sending me back to my old bureau?"

"No. I will have you reassigned to violent crimes." Skinner assured him.

"Well, as strange as this sounds I can't wait to start."

Scully smiled. "Well then, come on." she stood up. "I'll show you around the building and then I'll show you our office and you can meet Mulder."

* * * * *
Basement Office
12:20 PM

Mulder jumped at the sound of the office door flying open. "Scully!" he cried as she entered the room followed by a man in his mid to late thirties. He was about three inches taller than him with short curly brown hair and green eyes. He looked like a model pulled out of a Playgirl magazine. He wore a black suit, with a black shirt and a black and silver tie. Handsome in a way, but rugged in another. The man reminded him a bit of himself, but their was more mystery.

Scully laughed at her partners embarrassed expression. "Mulder, meet Michael."

Mulder stood up and held out his hand. "Fox Mulder." he said shaking the other agents hand. "But please don't call me Fox, it's an unfortunate name my mother chose for some odd reason and I prefer to go by Mulder. It's a safety net in this line of work."

Kicker grinned, deciding that it wouldn't be a good idea to call him the nick name he had always heard. Spooky wasn't exactly something that a man would want to stick with, it reminded him of a ghost cartoon or a name you'd decide to call a black cat or raven. It defiantly didn't suit the man standing before him. The man they called Spooky looked more like a Watcher or a Seeker. The way his eyes took you in and seemed to remember every detail scared him. "It's nice to meet you." he finally said, pushing his thoughts aside. "Most people call me Kicker and in a way I'm not comfortable being called by anything else. Once it started it never ended and now it's my trade mark, wouldn't want people to forget me."

"Kicker sounds good to me," Mulder replied sitting back down. "I am terribly sorry that I couldn't make the meeting. You know how it is."

"Did your new lead work out?"

"My new wha. . . ?" he glanced over at Scully for confirmation. She threw him her 'play along' look and then left the office Turning back to Kicker, he shook his head. "No, kinda disappointing though. I thought it'd be the answer we needed to wrap up the Carter case, but it was just another stupid false tip by a guy who wanted money for sharing his information."

"False tips can be a pain." Kicker said sitting down. "Your partner is interesting. . .how long have you been with her."

Mulder thought a minute. "Five years give or take a couple of months." he didn't want to go into how his partner had been missing three months and had nearly died more than once. . . ."I didn't like her much at first but I don't know where I would be with out her. You could say she keeps me in line most of the time. With out her I would probably be in jail or something."

"I have always had a problem with jurisdiction too." Kicker sighed. The only way to get a persons trust was to trust them with something. "I got my partner killed because I wasn't there to when she needed me. I almost quit the FBI but everyone kept saying it wasn't my fault and when AD Skinner called my superior they thought it would be a perfect chance for me to *escape*."

"I'm sure it wasn't your fault." Mulder said standing up. "Anyway I think it's time for lunch." he didn't mean to be so abrupt or cold, but talking about dead partners wasn't something he wanted to do. He didn't need anymore reminders that he had nearly lost the only woman he had ever cared about.

* * * *
6:10 P.M.
Route to Scully Residence

Scully sat back and sighed. Traffic was terrible, but she didn't mind. It felt good to put the car in park and rest. Rest was something she hadn't done for some time now. She had refused to seek treatment for her cancer. They had given her anywhere from two to six months. It really wasn't enough time to do what she wanted to do, but she had to try. There wasn't going to be a year like Skinner had said, she was lucky if she had a month.

Glancing at her watch she reached out and hit the radio button. A familiar song filled the car with it's words.

"We are but one Legend with
two destinies drawn on the path of love.
I think of the time I first laid eyes on her
She was a perfection of beauty and a vision
of eternal sadness. I knew then that it was
right.

Thrown together met a battle of wills,
Passion of hate plagued our visions,
Then it came to us, the love which we met
and yet we were two separate destinies but
one legend. We couldn't surrender yet."

Scully sighed, trying to imagine Mulder's reaction to the news of her cancer. She knew he'd get angry, not just at her for getting sick again, but at himself for failing to find the cure. She simply couldn't tell him. She made up her mind to resign close to the end, then disappear to a place she could rest. . .a place where no one would find her and Mulder would never know the truth.

"It was on this day her health began to fail
the meds gave her two weeks, her eyes told
me the Legend was true and all that was
left was a prayer for the dying, maybe a
day or two. Her heart was distant,
there was no recollection of our legend.

Thrown together met a battle of wills,
Passion of hate plagued our visions,
Then it came to us, the love which we met
and yet we were two separate destinies but
one legend. We couldn't surrender yet."

Tears stung Scully's eyes as the song played. The first time she had heard the song she had been in the MRI chamber having scans done to detect the growth of the tumor. She had cried then too. Oh, how she loved her partner and wanted him beside her to comfort her as she lay dying. The first time she had been alone, in a strange hospital, with an angel talking her out of her pain. The second time she had been alone when it happened. Sure her colleagues surrounded her, but Mulder was off on some chase for a cure. The cure that didn't work.

All she wanted was to have him by her side, but it'd hurt both of them to much.. She could never tell him. . . even though her heart ached for him. "It isn't fair." she thought. "Just when I'm doing what I want." She listened to the song as it played on.

"It wasn't her time, but I knew what I had
to do. A poem for the Legacy, one spoken
with the truth. About a man and a woman with
two separate destinies. His was to serve her
from loyalty and guilt, she suffered his burden
as hers. She had no regrets. Then she died.

Thrown together met a battle of wills,
Passion of hate plagued our visions,
Then it came to us, the love which we met
and yet we were two separate destinies but
one legend. We couldn't surrender yet.

Our Legend lives on, my dying mate. Once
thrown together with a battle of wills now ends
with a simple sad twist of fate. My Legend you
are. We are simply to strangers destined to mate.

Horns started sounding as the song finished and Scully realized that she had begun to hold up traffic. Putting the car into drive, she accelerated forward and let the tears come."

***********************
THE END
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