TITLE: All Kinds of Masks
AUTHOR: Meghan O'Connor
EMAIL: gyrfalcon@yahoo.com
FEEDBACK: Please! The more I get, the more you get!
RATING: PG
DISCLAIMER: The LGM and anyone else you recognize are 1013's.
However, Rachel Ann MacGregor is all mine.
POILERS: The X-Files, all up to the last season finale, and the LGM
series. CATEGORY: Frohike/Rachel
SYNOPSIS: How can Rachel get close to Frohike without his being aware
of who wants him? Happy Halloween!
NOTES: This takes place before all my other stories. Think of it as
a kind of flashback past vignette. When you get used to someone
looking a certain way, a radical change can keep you from recognizing
them. That's not always a bad thing. To see Rachel's mask, go to
this webpage and scroll down for the butterfly ones.
http://www.cosmicpussycat.com/bugsandbotanicals.html
Ah, Halloween. A time when you can become someone new, if only for a
night. A night when the veil between this world and the next draws
thin and glamour can hide the truth. When a mask can be the only
thing that keeps your face a secret while your heart is bared…
She watched him move across the room. Frohike had noticed her about
an hour before when she'd first entered. The past three years, the
costume had been extremely similar, but in different colors. The
first time she had come outside and sat beside him for a few silent
moments, the dress and mask had been silver and white, like a living
ice crystal. The second time, she had been in aqua and teal, a wave
dancing on the shore. Last year, her guise was green and gold, the
essence of a lush summer forest.
This year her costume was in shades of red and yellow. A delicate
leather mask in the shape of a butterfly covered her eyes and cheeks
and swept back into her hair. Her hair was loose, dark copper curls
spilling in a mass down her back. Bands of iridescent feathers
shimmered around her upper arms, holding on wispy trails of chiffon
in various flaming tones that fell to just below her elbows. A
strapless corset-style top nipped in her waist considerably and
created some impressive cleavage. Matching falls of chiffon, like
myriad rows of scarves on point, filled out her skirt and stopped at
mid-calf. The material shone with a gold overtone as she moved in
the dim party lights. Her feet were encased in what looked like
ballet slippers with ribbons criss-crossing up her legs. An
occasional sudden turn to avoid an over-amorous barbarian revealed a
flash of pale skin above the knee. Underneath the mask, she had
covered the exposed area around each eyes with gold color so that it
was hard to tell where the mask ended. It made the whites of her
eyes even brighter, and her leafy green irises sparkled.
That first year, he'd gone outside during the party to get some air
and sat on the hood of his old black Caddy with a drink. He'd closed
his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, she was there next to
him. She smiled widely as he took in her beauty. He'd asked her
name, but she remained silent and simply handed him a piece of paper
that said "Fey". The irony made him laugh. She'd stayed about an
hour, then fled as Langly came outside.
The second year, he'd gone out to sit on the car and closed his eyes
on purpose. Would he have a lovely vision again? When he opened his
eyes, she was there. She still wouldn't speak to him. He stared
into her eyes as she gently placed her hand on his cheek. She
caressed his face for several long minutes. She drew back when he
reached to touch her in return. She lay her palm over his heart and
felt it beat warmly. When Byers came up the stairs, she quickly gave
him a kiss on the cheek and hurried off.
Last year, she'd come up to him as he approached the car. She went
to the hood and patted the space beside her. They sat closely as she
touched his face again, running her thumb over his lips. Finally,
she'd leaned in and lightly kissed him. She planted slow butterfly
kisses all over his face, and even kissed his palms through the
gloves. He'd rested his hands gently on her waist as she kept
kissing him. That year, it was Mulder who came outside. He'd
grabbed her hand to keep her there, but the strange combination of
fear and sadness in her eyes made him release her quickly. She ran
off as Mulder started teasing him about his "fairy lover".
This year, this night, he lost track of her. He saw a flash of
moving flame heading out the door. Giving her a minute, he soon
followed into the chilly night air. She was waiting for him.
Perched already on his car hood, she smiled widely as he came
closer. Instead of sitting next to her, he stood in front of her,
their knees almost touching. She looked concerned and cocked her
head in a questioning manner. She started to reach for his face, but
he grabbed her hands and held them.
"Fey, I can't do this anymore. I'm not getting any younger. I am
very interested, and you are very beautiful, but I want to know who
you are. Speak to me or take off the mask, please. I want to see
you more than one day a year." She pulled her hands out of his and
hopped off the car. Unshed tears glittered in her eyes as she
gestured that she wanted something to write with. He opened the car
door and rummaged in the glove compartment, coming up with the back
of a bill and an old pen. Handing them to her, she lay the paper on
the hood and wrote furiously. After a moment, she straightened up
and handed him the pen and paper. He took them and looked down at
the note. As he started to read, he heard her start to run. He
looked up and yelled after her. "Fey! Fey, please come back!
Wait!" Realizing he wouldn't catch up to her, he angrily looked back
down at the missive in his hand. The writing was vaguely familiar
and shaky.
"I am not myself on this night. If I were myself, the courage to
come so close would flee from my being. All Soul's Night allows us
to be what we never could be, or to show our true image. Either
option is preferable to the self you know and never see. Forgive me,
my dearest human heart. I became someone you could want for one
night of the year. I became someone with the courage to kiss you, to
touch you, to love you magically as you so deserve to be loved. It
was not that I wore a mask, but that for one night, I dared to take
mine off."