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

"I hope that you won't have any difficulty working with Agent Mulder, Jackson," he said at last. "I think you'll find the experience valuable." That was the least of it, he thought smugly. White was as rational and down-to-earth as anyone Skinner had ever met. In fact, his stubborn disbelief in anything he couldn't see, or touch, was the antithesis of Mulder's eager exploration of the unknown.

"I'm quite certain Agent Mulder and I will do well together, sir," White assured him. "I've been an admirer of his for quite some time."

"Really." Skinner pounced on the statement. "I wouldn't have pictured you as a believer in the paranormal."

"I'm not," the young man admitted with an honestly that managed to sound smug. "But I am well aware of his brilliant work as a profiler. It's something of a surprise to me that the Bureau sponsors his investigations, but I know he can be very...persuasive."

He didn't quite lick his lips and Skinner didn't quite hit him.

"Mulder's assignment to the X-Files, Agent White," he said formally, "is not a result of preferential treatment or of persuasion. He continues in this line of work because he has managed to present enough concrete results to convince the Bureau that what he and his partner are doing is of value. I hope that's clearly understood."

"Of course, sir." White nodded, not at all disturbed by the thinly veiled reprimand. "And I understand that he and his partner have been unusually successful in their investigations. I admire Agent Scully's ability to set aside her own solid scientific training to work with Agent Mulder."

"Agent Scully has not 'set aside' her training, Agent White. She brings her expertise to the X-Files, providing both balance and an alternative line of investigation for their cases."

"I'm certain I'll be able to provide some balance for Agent Mulder's less...conventional...theories as well, sir."

Skinner felt a brief homicidal impulse. "Agent White, these are Mulder's cases. He is the Department Head and the senior agent on this assignment. Your job is to assist him and observe his methods.

"Understood, sir." White smirked knowingly. "I can promise I will be observing him closely. At the same time, sir, I'm certain we both agree that many of his ideas do cross the line into the bizarre."

"Mulder's cases cross the line, Agent White. I'll admit that his methods are sometimes unconventional, but his results speak for themselves." Skinner wondered if he was being pushed into a dangerously revealing endorsement of Mulder's work.

On the other hand, White's air of patronage and the hungry gleam in his eyes were starting a slow, nervous burn down the back of Skinner's neck.

"Understood completely, sir." White flashed him that brilliant, charming smile he had favored Mulder with earlier. Not for the first time, Skinner's personal life and his professional life came into brief and violent conflict as he contemplated the value of assigning the unctuous intern to run routine background checks for the next six months.

He dismissed the younger man abruptly, refusing to dwell in the eagerness with which White headed for Mulder's office.

He hoped it wasn't going to be necessary for him to actually do anything about White.

** **

end