Skinners Desert Rose

TITLE: Skinners Desert Rose

RATING: R - Mature audiences only

CHARACTERS: Walter Skinner, Secondary X-Files characters include Dana Scully

SUMMARY: Assistant Director Walter Skinner takes some time off to visit his brother in Arizona and meets the woman of his dreams. Spoiler: What Skinner would be like as a cowboy. Yum.

TIME SPAN: Post Skinner divorce (I like to think he divorced Sharon and nothing bad happened to her in Avatar.) My timelines tend to be all over the place. I tend to use a younger Walter (Age 45) in my stories.

DISCLAIMER: The show X-Files along with the characters Walter Skinner and Dana Scully belong to Chris Carter, Ten-Thirteen Productions and 20th Century FOX Broadcasting. No copyright infringement is intended and no profit is being made from their use. This page is purely a fans release since the shows cancellation and her beloved character Skinner was taken from her...forever.

Part 1 Chapter 1

Walter Skinner stepped off the plane at the Tucson International airport in Arizona. It had been a few years since he had taken a vacation and he was looking forward to 2 weeks of beautiful Arizona foothills while he stayed at his brother Michael’s cattle ranch. He hadn’t been back in years and was looking forward to lending a hand on the ranch. Nothing like a little hard labor to relax the mind and soul. But it also had another benefit that he was looking forward to. The work was so strenuous that he slept like a rock at night and he had never slept that good except when he was here. And Skinner had not had a good night’s sleep for what seemed like years. He knew he was over do and was glad he was able to have this time away.

He threw his luggage into the back of his rental car and hopped in. He decided last minute to get the Jeep Wrangler and had the rental office remove the soft cover for him so he could enjoy the open air ride. As he made his way out of the city and into the desert, he could feel himself begin to relax. His brother’s ranch was less than 1 hour away but completely secluded giving you the feeling that you were completely segregated from the rest of the world, just what he needed. His brother’s ranch consisted of 120 acres of land at the base of Rincon Peak. Michael and his wife lived in a modest house at the south western edge of the property along with a small guest house that Walter had helped build the last time he was there, so he could have a place of his own anytime he wanted to come out. When he spoke to his brother last he was notified that the little house had a new occupant. So much for his private getaway.

 As he pulled off the main highway and onto the dusty one lane dirt road that led the ranch, he took in the surroundings. Both brother’s had taken the same path early in their lives by joining the military. After the war, when Walter went onto college and eventually into the FBI, Michael had gone the opposite direction and did his best to disappear. He found work on farms and eventually cattle ranches saving every penny he made with the intention of getting a nice chunk of land of his own someday. When Michael had met his wife, Grace, 15 years ago, and married, they were able to purchase the cattle ranch. Walter had come out a handful of times in the first couple of years and this was the longest stretch of time he had been away. He could see the ranch house nearing in the distance and a small smile grew on his face. Looking to the south he could barely make out the guesthouse and what looked like a small pickup truck parked on the side. He let out a loud laugh as he saw Michael on his horse waving his hat as he headed toward him on the dirt road.

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As the two brothers hugged out their hello Walter could see a very pregnant Grace step out the front door of the house.

“My God, what did you do to Grace?”

His brother turned to look towards the house and let out a laugh.

“Yeah, I’ve gone and done it brother. I’m gonna be a Daddy and you…”

Poking him in the chest and patting his shoulder.

“...are gonna be an uncle.”

Skinner turned and headed over to Grace wrapping his arms around her tight.

“Aw, how are ya Walt. It is so good to have you home with us again.”

She placed a kiss on his cheek as he released his hold on her.

“You look beautiful Grace, just beautiful. I guess I’m here just in the nick of time. I hope you haven’t been working the ranch in your condition.”

“Ha, you know your brother is a slave driver right?”

Grace laughed and poked her husband teasingly.

“We took on my childhood friend to help Michael out. She has been a godsend. That’s why we had to loan out your place Walt. I hope you don’t mind staying with us while you’re here.”

“I did wonder about that. Glad to hear you two have help. Hope I can make myself useful while I’m here.”

Grace took his hand and led him inside as his brother grabbed his luggage from the Jeep and brought them in the house. She made him sit as she prepared him a tall glass of sweet tea and told him that she was preparing a feast for them that night. Walter sat back with his drink and watched as Grace began cutting up vegetables for the roast she was making. After trying to offer his assistance, Grace gently turned him down telling him that while he was visiting she would prepare all the meals and make sure he was well fed. It was the only thing she really had energy for these days and that kept her busy. He listened as she filled him in on the goings on at the ranch and just barely caught the part about there being another guest at dinner that night. Before long he was fast asleep.

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The smell of pot roast woke him a few hours later. Scanning the room he found himself alone just making out the sounds of cattle in the distance. Sitting up he removed his glasses and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Just as he was standing Michael came in through the screen door.

“Hey brother, hope I didn’t wake ya.”

“No, not at all. I must have been more tired than I realized.”

“Well, you woke just in time, smells like dinners almost ready. Why don’t you get cleaned up? I don’t know if Grace mentioned that Raquel would be joining us for dinner.”

“I think she mentioned something about a guest. Is Raquel the friend she mentioned living at the guest house?”

“Yep, that’s the one. I think you’ll like her and between you and me, I think Grace has more in mind for the two of you. If you know what I mean.”

Walter watched his brother wiggled his eyebrows and then walk over to the fridge to grab a beer. He headed to his room to get himself ready for dinner and unpack. After washing up and changing his shirt he headed back out and could hear the sound of voices out on the front porch. He could see his brother standing outside the screen door talking to someone, when he caught sight of him.

“Hey Walt, grab a beer and come on out. Someone I’d like you to meet.”

Grabbing a beer from the fridge he popped off the top and took a long swig before heading out to join the others. When he stepped outside the door onto the front porch the last thing he expected to see was this exotically beautiful woman who was obviously Raquel. He felt almost foolish as they were introduced and he awkwardly shook her hand. The sound of her voice greeted him softly and almost angelic. Raquel looked to have some Native American in her blood. She was tall with tan skin from working in the sun. Her hair was long, dark brown matching her almond eyes. He knew he was staring but couldn’t help himself as he watched her long hair blowing in the breeze. As she was talking to Michael and Grace she kept glancing over at him smiling his way every so often.

“So Walter, Grace tells me you’re with the FBI. Sounds like interesting work. I bet you have some great stories you could share.”

Knocked out of his daze he realized she was now talking to him. Suddenly feeling quite warm he took a long swig of his beer before speaking.

“It has its moments. I, uh, I mostly work behind a desk these days so my stories aren’t as interesting as one might think.”

He was relieved when Grace interrupted asking Raquel to help her in the kitchen. He stepped aside as she walked past him, her sweet scent filling his nose. Feeling a hard pat on his back his brother peered at him looking slightly amused.

“You alright old boy? You’ll be fine. She has that affect.”

Almost choking on his beer he looked at his brother who obviously could tell he was a little enamored. Michael burst out laughing and patted him on the back again.

“Come on let’s walk while they finish up dinner.”

He followed his brother off the porch and they walked towards the pole barn.

“Was I that obvious? I’m a little embarrassed. She’s uh, quite attractive.”

“She’s a knock out. Just because I’m married doesn’t mean I’m blind.”

“Doesn’t Grace get jealous with you two working together? I would be a little distracted.”

His brother stopped and leaned up against a stack of hay bales.

“I knew her husband. He was a rancher too. He was killed by accident a few years ago trying to herd his cattle during the worst storm we had ever seen in these parts. That was a really hard time for us.”

“That’s truly awful. I’m sorry for your loss. I had no idea.”

“When Grace found out Raquel had sold their ranch after Bill died, she asked her to move here to be with us. She had turned down the offer initially but when Grace became pregnant, Raquel changed her mind. She has been a huge help, I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

They both turned to the sound of Grace calling from the porch of the house and made their way back. His brother’s story went through his head and his heart went out to the new stranger but also jumped at thought of sitting down to dinner with her. The minute he entered the house she caught him by surprise when she handed him a beer and asked him to sit next to her. Dinner was nice and the company even nicer. He didn’t notice the glances his brother and Grace were giving each other as he and Raquel took over the conversation, mostly with one another nearly forgetting that there were two other people at the table with them. He was pleasantly surprised to find out that she was a registered nurse who had left her profession to run a cattle ranch with her late husband. She loved being in the open country and never went back. She was very interested in his work at the FBI and asked him a series of endless questions about the work he did. Skinner didn’t mind the barrage of questions since it gave him the perfect excuse to exam the beautiful woman sitting next to him. How fluid her movements were, the way her hair shined as the sun hit it and her smile, the way it made him feel like a pre-pubescent teenage boy every time she flashed that smile at him. She was sweet and soft spoken but it was becoming clear that she was someone who could hold her own and was a very strong woman in all aspects.

When dinner was over he and Michael sat on the couch watching as the women cleaned up. He couldn’t help but admire Raquel’s slim but curvy figure as she worked her way around the kitchen with Grace. She wore a white cotton dress that showed off her tan nicely and although the dress flowed freely, Walter could tell she had a body underneath that he wouldn’t mind getting his hands on.

“So what do you think?”

He felt his brother nudge him in his side. He knew his brother was referring to Raquel.

“I think you’re wasting your time. If you recall I still live in DC and Arizona is not exactly in close proximity for me to be starting anything up.”

“Well, maybe it’s time to start thinking about retiring. We can start on that addition to the guest house.”

He chuckled to himself and shook his head. He knew he could easily fall for this woman if he wasn’t careful but was curious to see how things progressed over the next couple of weeks. At that moment, Raquel looked over at him giving him another of her sweet smiles. He knew for sure then that he was in trouble.

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