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."