The Watch
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Title: The Watch
Author: Jo
Rating: BV
Catagory: ?
Spoilers: Momento Mori
Keywords: Mulder/Scully Romance, Character Dies
Summary: Read it and find out. Oh yeah, and Maggie S.
gives an inspirational speech.
Disclaimer: All these characters are property of CC,
1013, etc. in Vancouver, or CA. Where ever they are when
this story comes out. No infringement intended, just
playing around.
Dedication: I noticed that I didn't dedicate my other two
stories, so I'm dedicating this one to all those who should
have gotten recognition in the others. That translates to:
my Mom, my Semi-Step-Dad, my Sister, and my friends Bob,
Denny, and Audrey. Additional dedications go to those who
gave me feedback on the other stories: Dwayne(Selifx29),
Felix, and Emily Miller.
"The Watch"
by: Jo
Dana Scully slowly picked up each and every picture
in Fox Mulder's appartment and placed it carefully in the
packing box. With trembling fingers she picked up the framed
photo of Samantha on the monkey bars. A tear slipped from her
eye and splashed on the glass cover plate. A deep sob rose in
her throat and she clutched the framed treasure to her chest.
She barely managed to stumble to a chair before her legs gave
out and she broke down into tears, great wretching sobs shaking
her petit figure. *Oh, Mulder, we never found her and now it's
too late for both of you. Why, oh why did you go away? Why did
you leave me alone?*
Mulder had been killed in a shoot-out with a suspect, not
even an x-file, just some VC creep that they had been asked to
assist with. One minute he was there beside her, firing at the
cabin the guy had baracaded himself in and the next minute he
was down on the ground. She fired off two more rounds, her
final shots being the ones that brought the suspect down,
before rushing over to Mulder's side. She had started first
aid even as she realized that there was no chance for him to
live. Finally she had been able to do no more than hold his
head in her lap and rock him as he drifted into sweet oblivion.
As his eyes closed for the last time she had whispered the
truth that had become evident only in the last few weeks. I
love you.
Their time together on this earth had been far too short.
Partners for only six short years, then, finally, as a couple
for three miniscule weeks. In six years they had been best
friends and the best of partners, even when the bureau had
seperated them. And then on Valentine's Day, 1998, he had given
her that card, the one that had, for the first time, told her
what she had suspected and wanted to hear for most of their
partnership. He'd looked at her over his computer, like a scared
little boy, waiting to be punished. Instead, she'd very calmly
closed the card and walked over to his desk, and then she had
leaned down and kissed him full on the lips. For the next three
weeks they had let things progress slowly, carefully, adjusting
to the situation, getting comfortable with being together as a
couple.
As she sat there in Mulder's empty apartment, she
wondered why they had waited so long. They had known each other
so well that there was little to get comfortable with. It seemed
that the card on Valentine's had only served to give the special
bond they shared a name, they had been a couple for years, at
least since the Tooms case, after Eugene had been released from
the mental institution. She had told Mulder then that she wouldn't
put herself on the line for anyone but him, and it had been the
truth, she had felt the closeness, a relationship beyond mere
partners and friends, that they shared. He had told her that she
was the only one he trusted, and she had worked hard for six years
living up to that trust. It seemed so pointless now. He was gone,
never to ditch her for a close encounter, or to tease her and test
her limits with bizaar theories again.
If she had known, if only she had known how short they would
be together . . . She tried not to think about it, she had no
regrets about knowing Fox Mulder, only regrets about what she did
not know about him. She looked at his clock, realizing that it
unwittingly kept the minutes of each and every person's meager
amount of time on earth. The numbers, meant to quantify a linear
existance, told her that her mother would arrive soon. But it
didn't really mean anything to her, it was just a count down now,
a count down until she could join him. She had thought, when she
had discovered her cancer a year ago, that she would leave him
behind. She had wanted so much to tell him that she loved him, but
with the overt numbering of days she had thought it would sound false
and desperate, the need for a companion at the end of her days. In
fact, she had acused him of trying to comfort her with his declaration
of love, just a few days ago. Even as she had accused him she had
known that he wasn't.
She resolutely placed the photo into the box and continued
packing. In his bed room, she began to sort his clothes, trying to
put some into bags to go to the Salvation Army, but she couldn't.
On each and every article, she could smell him, the deep, musky,
masculine oder that was his alone. She wanted to surround herself
in his clothes forever, so she could pretend that until she opened
her eyes, he was there beside her. But she had to open her eyes
and then harsh reality forced its self upon her. She opened his sock
drawer and nearly swooned as a new blast of his scent washed over
her. She began pulling out the carefully rolled pairs of hated socks
and the single, stray socks that he wore more often.
Back in the far right corner, her hand touched something solid
and cool, with hard, definate edges. She withdrew her hand and found
herself holding a medium sized jewlery box. Curious, she opened it
and discovered an expensive women's watch in silver set with sapphires.
She lifted it gently from its cotton bedding and felt the slight
roughness on its back. She flipped it over to find an inscription in
tiny, precise letters. She issued a sharp cry and stumbled back on to
the bed as she read it. 'To my Beloved Dana, Marry me. Love and
Truth Forever, Fox.' Holding the cool metal to her lips, Dana Scully
fell asleep in exhaustion, tears slipping silently from her eyes onto
the bedspread. A half hour later, that was how her mother found her;
curled up on her partner's bed holding the engagment watch to her lips.
Margaret Scully had known for some time, from the first time
she had heard Mulder's name on her daughter's tongue, that Dana loved
Fox. Still, years of knowing had not prepared her for how much Fox's
death would destroy her daughter. Dana was an immensly strong,
extremely capable woman, but her partner's death had reduced her to
shattered shell of a person, her grief so controlling that she couldn't
deal with the rest of the world. Maggie had loved Fox Mulder like a son
and the pain of his loss was almost as deep as the pain that Missy's
death had caused, but it was nothing compared to her daughter's agony.
Maggie sat on the bed beside Dana and stroked the limp auburn hair. The
fiery gleam had become a matte orange in the four days since Fox's death,
and the intelligent blue eyes had lost their shine, become dead pools of
intense sorrow and desolation. Once healthy and robust, despite the
deadly cancer, Dana's body was little more than skin and bones; having
lost at least 20 pounds that she could not spare.
Maggie was almost positive that Dana would not out live Fox Mulder
by more than a few weeks, if that. She smoothed her baby girl's flame
colored tresses and felt the tears welling up. She wasn't prepared to
lose two of her children in such a short time. She'd deal with it if
she had to, but more than anything, she wished Dana to find the strength
to go on, to find the truth that she and Fox had faced so much in their
search for. She wanted her daughter to finish the quest, to maybe even
find Samantha. With all her heart, she prayed to God to give Dana the
will to finish what she and Fox had started, even if she had to do it
alone.
With a small sigh Dana shifted and blinked her eyes, waking. "Oh,
hi, Mom." Tired in body, mind, and spirit, she sat up. She glanced at
the delicate piece of jewelry in her hand and tears that she had thought
she no longer possessed slipped down her cheeks, already mottled and dry
from four days of crying. "Mom . . ." She struggled to find her voice.
"He . . . he was going to ask . . . to ask me to marry him!" The last
words were said on a loud sob as she broke down again, burying her face
in her mother's shoulder. Dana felt her mother's gentle hands gliding
soothingly up and down her back. "Why did he leave me, Mom? WHY did he
go away?" She screamed into her mother's shoulder, her hands balling into
fists and one punching hard into the matress. "It's not FAIR! We
barely had any time! Three WEEKS! Three stupid, wonderful weeks!
I LOVED HIM! IT'S NOT FAIR!"
"Shh, shh. I know it's not fair, honey. I'm so sorry." Maggie
patted Dana and held her as she shook with sobs and screamed her anger
and betrayal at the world. "Dana, Dana, Dana, it's going to be ok.
You're going to be ok."
"I feel like dying, Mom. I want to die. I don't want to know
if I can make it without him." Dana's sobs were quieter, but her words
struck Maggie to the heart.
"Dana, Fox wouldn't want you to give up. He would want you to go
on with the quest. He would want you to find the truth. I know you can
make it, you are so strong, Dana. If anyone can find the truth, if
anyone can find Samantha, you can. And Fox would want you to. He
wouldn't want you just to give up and stop living."
"I know, Mom, but
it's so hard. Knowing that he wanted to marry me. That he loved me as
much as I love him."
"Dana, if anyone can do it, you can. You are the only one left,
the only one who wants to uncover the truth, to see it brought to light,
to have Samantha Mulder brought back to her family, alive and safe.
Take courage from his spirit, Dana, take strength from his beliefs and
finish what you started and only you can finish." Dana looked up at her
mother's eyes and saw the strength there. "I know you can do it, honey.
I have faith in you"
"I . . . I'll try, Mom." She blinked and sat up straighter. She
clutched her mother in a fierce hug. "I promise I will, Mom. I'll wear
the watch and I'll try to finish the quest. I promise, I won't give up."
The End
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Email: whrosegarden@netexpressway.com
