|
Title: Rainy Rendezvous Summary: On a rainy night two phantoms search for peace but only find disaster. Note: "I have a rendezvous with Death...And I to my pledged word am true, I shall not fail that rendezvous."-Alan Seeger Hey! Here is my submission for the June Fanfic Challenge, in response to challenge number 1 part b. She ran across the street to the dismay of the silent onlooker. As he sat in the window seat of his apartment he thought that anyone who dared to brave the torrents of rain without so much as a decent slicker must be insane. At this hour of the night and in this wild squall, all sane and decent people were inside, wrapped snugly in a warm blanket and only listening to the rain...never dreaming about venturing forth into the murky night. Yet here she was, racing down the sidewalk and across the intersection. Her arms were mysteriously crossed over her chest, and in the streetlamp's flickering glow she looked more like a frightened corpse than a woman. Her skin appeared gray and her eyes were inconceivably enlarged from fright. Suddenly, another image appeared. It slowly became recognizable, like an artist sketching first the outline, then the details of an imaginary man...or an imaginary monster. This new phantom was tall and thin with broad shoulders. "Aha," the dry man in his warm window seat crooned, "The plot thickens." The new specter shielded his eyes and scanned the drenched city. Then the apparition's sight fell upon the fleeing woman. The dark figure paused for only a moment, with a hesitation the onlooker identified as growing hope, before the shadow traced the path of the pallid woman with his own feet. In swift and broad steps, he drew closer and closer to the pale and shivering figure. Yet she was still unaware that the shadowy figure had targeted her and was drawing nearer with every drop of rain that fell on her forehead and ran down the steep slope into the valley of her eyes. She ran steadily with the frightful urgency and hopeful dread of a hunted animal. The woman never stopped, never slackened her pace, but like a withering rose time finally caught her. The tall shadow grasped the womanly apparition's shoulder, and in the instant that the shadowy hand touched her she fell to the ground and wailed her plea, "NOOOOOO!" He only had one moment – one second of realization – before he fell backwards onto the wet street. The woman held in one arm her crying child and at the end of her other arm was a gun. No longer afraid, she triumphantly stood up and walked to where her pursuer lay gasping for air but only succeeding in swallowing water. As she stood like a warrior over her adversary – she realized the bittersweet truth. The dismayed man in the window could not hear the words they exchanged, he only saw the woman crumble like a sand castle as the wave of truth swept over her. She grasped the wounded man in an embrace that was only meant for lovers, no...it was an embrace only meant for soul mates. "Scully...I came back. For you. I-I wanted to see you..." the limp and gasping figure whispered. "Oh my God! Oh my God...I didn't know... How could I have known?" The woman searched the night sky for an answer, but all her eyes received were the stinging drops of night rain. The window seat was vacant. The silent onlooker had left to call his friend who would be rather intrigued by the events of the evening. "The baby...Is it yours, Scully?" The slain shadow questioned his executioner. And although the rain was still steadily falling, he could discern that her cheeks were now wet with tears. "No, Mulder. The baby isn't mine...it's ours." "But...But...you can't..." His eyes asked the question he couldn't. He was fading quickly and quietly like a spaceship headed for the stars. "I have some evidence that suggests an old enemy of ours may have given me the ability to conceive children," she spoke clearly and thoughtfully although her heart was bleeding, spilling seven years of pure love's blood into her body and poisoning her mind. "Scully...There is so much I need to tell you...I've seen so many things..." The man who had a few minutes ago been inside, safe and warm, watching the tragedy unfold from his window seat had gone to the other side. He was now among the insane, as he ran out into the night's rain without so much as a decent slicker on. He crossed the street and ran down the sidewalk to where the trio was huddled. Scully was still embracing Mulder, clutching him tightly. It was as if, she thought.she could keep him tethered to the earth if she held him close enough. Her heart was breaking; it's pale pink crystal shattered into a million pieces. But she knew with terrible certainty that she and she alone was the one who had wielded the sledgehammer that had crushed her heart. In a strange way, Mulder was the happiest he had been in his entire life. He was able to see Scully again after a year. He had traveled through space and learned everything his heart had ever desired to know about colonization and extraterrestrials, but he had known each night that he had left the most important thing in his life alone on earth. And to find upon his return that she had given birth to a child – his child – was overwhelmingly wonderful. The onlooker had almost reached the lovers when Scully looked up and a new kind of horror crossed over her face. Even in his pain from the wound and the joy in this discovery, Mulder noticed her expression, "Scully...What's...?" "It couldn't be...." She squinted her eyes to reassure herself the approaching figure was not real. But it was. The rat had returned. Krycek stopped a few feet from the wounded Mulder and his red-haired guardian angel. He regarded them with a sly and bemused look, as if everything was perfectly normal. For him, at least, all was as it should be. In his inner jacket pocket, there was a disk - a disk that an old and dying man had acquired with Scully's help. The dying man had foolishly thrown the disk into the lake, but it was not the original disk he watched sink to the bottom. A rat has many brothers, and Krycek was no different. Through varied devious means he had acquired the disk that held all of the answers. And now he would use it to get what was needed. "I can help you, Scully. You know I can. And all I need to save Mulder's life is one little favor from you." As he spoke Scully's face first showed mistrust, and then her features gradually relaxed into understanding. She lowered her gaze to Mulder and then to the infant in her arms and began to softly cry fresh tears. The realization of the situation came to Mulder in a single, heavy blow. "You sick son of a bitch! The cancer man will never have Scully. You hear me? I'll tear your eyes out you..." but the pain from his chest would not let him continue with his diatribe. If a deal going to be made, they were going to have to make it soon. Or else the baby would grow up fatherless. Scully knew that she had to make a decision. Her heart and her mind battled for control. She could either save them all, or save only the child. For if Mulder died and the blood was on her hands...her own life would end shortly thereafter. Not from the swift blows of justice, but from the regretful trigger of indulgence. She knew the choice she should make, but decided to make the choice she shouldn't. "Okay...I'll go to him. But only if Mulder is all right. If he dies, all bets are off." Krycek smiled. It was the smile of a man who had reduced his enemy to a state of nothingness. Krycek loved it. This was one mission he enjoyed. The cigarette smoking man had always liked the sassy agent, right from the first time he saw her in Section Chief Blevins' office. He wanted to be around her, if nothing else. And perhaps if he could earn her trust over time, they could grow to become friends. And in his mind he kept repeating to himself that most romantic relationships start out in friendship. Just look at Mulder and Scully. If Mulder had had the strength, he would have silenced all of the negotiations with a single bullet from his own weapon. But the pain had climaxed and then suddenly dissipated as he drifted into unconsciousness. So the choice was left up to Scully. And she gave her own life for Mulder's. She envisioned the dark path before her, and pressed her tearstained face to Mulder's for one last time- whispering to his subconscious words that would haunt his mind for years. Krycek pulled out his cellular phone and began to make arrangements for Mulder's treatment and Scully's departure. Rat a tat tat. Rat a tat tat tat. The persistent knocking on the door of the 42nd apartment roused Mulder from his reverie. He was thinking about her again. Her memory was a splinter in his mind, driving him mad with desire. The days had passed slowly and he wanted to see her again, wanted to hear her laugh and know that she was safe. But the words she had etched on his subconscious mind the last time they were together kept him from running around the entire earth searching for her. She had told him to wait. And he had been waiting...impatiently. The cancer man could not be trusted. Even though he had saved Mulder's life, what guarantee did Mulder have that the cigarette smoking man wouldn't kill him later? Rat a tat tat. Mulder got up off of his couch and opened the door. "Daddy!" A small redheaded girl ran to Mulder's arms and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. "Did you have fun at Sarah's birthday party, Samantha?" "Yup! You should have seen all of the balloons and presents!!" "Thanks for bringing her home, Jan," he said to the slender figure perched in his doorway. "No problem, Fox. Samantha got the mail for you, here ya go. She likes to turn the key but she hates to carry it. So, Fox. There's a concert next Saturday and I was hoping you'd like to escort me to it, that is if you aren't too busy doing top secret government stuff." Jan winked at a slightly amused Mulder. "Sorry, Jan. Samantha and I are going to the ballpark next Saturday. Thanks for bringing Sam back. See ya, Jan." "Sure, no prob. And if you change your mind Fox, just call me." Mulder closed the door after the retreating figure. Jan was nice, even attractive. But only one person could fill the void in his heart. And he was waiting, waiting for he knew not what. As Samantha ran to the television to watch Toonami, Mulder sifted through the mail. Bills, bills and more....wait. A small white envelope caught his eye. No return address, just a postmark with the words "Washington, D.C." stamped across it. In a wave of hope, Mulder ripped the envelope open and found only a small sheet of paper within it. Carefully, as if he were handling a wounded butterfly, Mulder unfolded the letter. His quick eye caught the glimmer of a gold chain falling from the letter into his open hand. With disbelief he looked at the familiar chain and pendant before he turned his gaze to the letter. In a slanted cursive hand, there was a simple note: Dearest, If you still love me, then drink iced tea
A smile slowly spread across Mulder's face. He had waited and finally it had come. He would track her down and then he would confront her imprisoner. And if he succeeded then he could have her for forever. And Samantha would have her mother back. He slid the gold chain over his head and then held the cross in his hand for a very long moment. In celebration, he ran over and lifted Samantha above his head. She cried out in gleeful surprise and shook her red curls as a sign of approval. He twirled her around until he became dizzy and they both fell on the sofa in a giggling and happy pile. The End This little piece of fanfic was written in response to
|