TITLE: A Bear Started It, part 2
AUTHOR: Meghan O'Connor
EMAIL: gyrfalcon@yahoo.com
FEEDBACK: Please! The more I get, the more you get!
RATING: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: Mulder, Scully, Skinner, Byers, Langly, and Frohike are
1013's. However, Rachel Ann MacGregor is all mine.
SPOILERS: The X-Files, all up to the last season finale, and the LGM
series.
CATEGORY: Post-Colonization, LGM/other
SYNOPSIS: Looking back on one woman's life
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ya'll wanted more in the series, so here you go. Just
how did Rachel get the courage to tell them she loved them all?
We all broke apart to think that evening. I could almost predict
what they were thinking. I imagined their heads would smoke from all
the gears turning. Byers was in his room, trying to meditate. I
knew he was asking in a small hopeful voice if it was true, that he
could find love again and did he deserve it? Langly was typing away,
and I would bet he was stunned that he might actually get sex before
he died. It almost made me chuckle. He wiped his eyes a few times
when he thought no one was watching, and I knew it would take a while
to sink in that someone really loved him for himself. Frohike was
nowhere to be found. I finally located him on the upstairs balcony.
We didn't use it much, but he was sitting in the chilly fall air,
drinking more wine. I slipped into the chair beside his. He glanced
over, then looked back at the stars.
"Too bad something so beautiful hid something so deadly. Space seems
so cold now." I looked over at him and waited until he turned to me
again. "What?"
"I wanted to be an astronaut when I was young. I'm glad I wasn't.
All I need is here on Earth." He frowned at me.
"Why me?" There was so much behind that simple question. I ached
for the man that had never been appreciated. I knew all the
questions wrapped up in those two words were based on a lifetime of
disappointment, and it would take a full explanation to heal them.
This wouldn't be easy or quick, but it would be thorough.
"If someone else were to ask me that, I would tell them this.
Because I don't care if he's short, or overweight, or older than I,
or has poor vision, or was in a war, or is paranoid and grumpy, or
anything else. I am 35 years old, and am sorry to say that it took
me almost that long to realize that the outside doesn't last as long
as the inside. I know people have hurt you for the way you look all
your life. I can't change that, but I can let you know that I don't
give a damn what anyone else thinks. I will defend you to the death,
I promise you won't die alone. If anyone knew the complete you the
way I do, they wouldn't ask why I love you." He was crying openly
now. I wiped away the tears and cleaned his glasses. I stood up and
held out my hand. "C'mon, Mel. It's cold and late. Let's go to
bed." That was when his expression mirrored Langly's earlier one.
"Uh… I… If we're gonna be honest, then I'm not sure I'm up to this
yet."
It took me a minute, then I realized what he was talking about. I
laughed a little and smiled. "Oh, Mel. I promise I'm not pressuring
you, no matter how much I wonder what those gloves feel like." Wow,
did he blush then. A heat filled my heart from where his hand held
mine. "Space is cold, Mel. Come hold me and keep me warm."