DISCLAIMER: X-Files and its characters belong to C.C. and 1013 Productions. No copyright infringement intended, no money be made.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the result of a prompt given to me by keinlurker. She supplied the first sentence. While this is set in the 'Weak in the Knees' universe, it is not part of the series.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Anger, Trust and Forgiveness
By Dhamphir
"I can't believe you think I'm going to forgive you just because you brought me coffee."
Jess arched a dark brow. "First off, I brought you coffee because you wanted some. And second, I'm not looking for forgiveness. I didn't do anything wrong." She turned on her heel and exited the autopsy bay.
Dana couldn't believe it. She closed her eyes and counted to ten. She needed to set aside her anger and focus on the autopsy that was only partially done.
Jess shook her head. She couldn't believe Dana was still angry – especially since she didn't have reason to be, in her opinion. She hadn't done anything that required forgiveness. She sat in one of the chairs in the hallway and waited for Dana to finish.
Dana stripped off her gloves and mask after finishing with the body. She leaned her hip against the counter as she picked up and sipped from the now cold remnants of the coffee Jess had brought her. She sighed at the bitterness, both of the cold coffee and her irritation with Jess. She closed her eyes and reviewed the events of earlier that night.
Finally she pushed her tired body off the counter and headed to the locker room. She stripped off the scrubs and stepped into the shower. She let the hot water beat down on her sore muscles as she tried to examine exactly why she was mad at Jess.
Dana exited the morgue and found Jess sitting in the hallway, her head leaned back against the wall, her eyes closed... asleep. She took a few moments to observe her lover in silence. Since she'd known Jess she'd never known the woman to be anything but respectful, considerate, and generous. Jess had never once demeaned or discounted Dana, her ideas, or skill as an agent.
She sat in the chair next to her lover's and placed a hand on her arm. "Jess."
The brunette's head jerked forward and her eyes snapped open. "I'm awake."
Dana smiled. Jess had been going almost three days with only a couple of hours of sleep, it was no wonder she'd fallen asleep waiting for her.
They started speaking simultaneously. "Are you–" "Listen, I–"
"Go ahead," Jess said.
"About earlier this evening..." Dana took a breath and slowly let it out. "I'm sorry for the way I reacted. When you prevented me from going inside that house, I... well, everything Mulder ever said or did to indicate that I wasn't good enough or trustworthy came flooding back. He used to keep so many secrets from me, go off on his own without telling me, and then turn around blame me for not believing in his quest for the Truth as much as he did."
"Dana, I have never doubted your skill, abilities, or integrity. And that certainly was not what I was doing tonight."
Dana nodded. "I know. It just took me a while to realize that. I should have realized it at the time."
Jess sighed. "I should have explained."
Remembering what happened as Jess fought with the two vampires that had been inside the house Dana shook her head. "No. There wasn't time. And you've never given me any reason to not completely trust you and your judgment. I'm sorry I got mad at you."
"It's okay."
"Come on, let's go home."
The End