TITLE: Love Blooms Like A Flower (1/1) AUTHOR: Angharad E-MAIL ADDRESS: sweet_roses_2000_uk@yahoo.co.uk DISTRIBUTION: No Archive. Story will be on my website at http://uk.geocities.com/little_corner_2000/ CATEGORY: Vignette, Skinner POV, Mainly 'spectator POV', Some angst thrown in too. KEYWORDS: MSR, Sk, Post Colonization RATING: PG SPOILERS: None DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters from The X Files; they are the property of Chris Carter and 1013 Productions. The other characters, however, belong to me! SUMMARY: Challenge #8: Write a piece about Mulder and Scully during wartime. Could be a past war or a future one. Include Skinner, Lone Gunmen, Krycek or others. AUTHOR'S NOTES: I've sort of disregarded the last sentence *g* Then again I might write another story with the characters that I've missed out in this one, though don't hold your breath :) Thanks to Kate for editing my story (you're a great beta reader! :) It's been a long day. Sometimes I wonder why we fight at all. But then I look at Mulder and Scully. They're talking in quiet tones, their heads, fiery red offset by light brown, are bent together, and I understand why we're fighting, against the enemies, against the injustice this world has served us. We're fighting for love. It's as simple as that. Not an answer most people would expect, I think wryly. I walk over to them and they look up with respect shining in their blue and hazel eyes; they never expected their former boss to fight side by side with them, at least not like this. I sit down to join their hushed conversation. In a war that's raging around us, they don't look too bad considering. I see their partly worn clothes, spots of dried blood and mud marking the material. I see large rings under their eyes on their tinged grey faces acknowledging their sleep deprivation but that's to be expected I think grimly. I know I mirror their appearances. ======== I watch the exchange in the not-so-far distance, curiosity alighting my brown eyes. They are the reason why we fight; they're our inspiration. Ever since that night, the night we started running and fighting for our survival. I blink back tears, helplessly thinking of the loved ones I left behind or saw meet their fate in blazes of orange and fiery red, black smoke rising to the heavens, evidence of their demise. At times I wonder if there's still a God. What God would allow this destruction and carnage to take place? Maybe it's out of His hands. But it doesn't matter, I think, shaking my head sadly, my brown hair falling around my face; any shred of faith I ever had was crushed that night. I hadn't wanted to believe that this would happen. How could I? I was only 18; I had my whole life ahead of me, it was all laid out. This wasn't supposed to happen. Looking back I realise how naïve I was. I feel so much older and wiser now even though barely a year has passed. My thoughts turn back to the people across the room. They're talking quietly, the tall bald guy with glasses, the small short woman with fiery red hair and the tall lanky guy with brown hair. It's obvious they know each other from before, before that horrible night that still haunts me with nightmares, nightmares that are so bad that I remember the images, even against tightly closed lids, even after I've woken up screaming, I think darkly, always silently screaming. I shake my head, attempting to brush the thoughts away. Anyone can see that they hold a lot of respect for each other. Whatever they worked in together, they went through a lot. And yet I can see something in her blue eyes as she looks at the guy with brown hair. I know what it is. I've seen Mum and Dad look at each other that way and they've been together for 20 years. Never once stopped loving each other. Instantly I realise my mistake. God I must stop thinking of them in the present tense, I think, anguish filling my heart. I don't need the past to distract me from the harsh reality, a deadly one. But looking at them, you can almost believe in love again for it's obvious they love each other even if it is hidden. Maybe there are such things as destiny and fate. This life I'm living now makes me partial to the odd daydream or fantasy. It's the only way to stay sane in a world like this, a world that's black in more ways than one. I look up to the sounds of shouts with urgency. It's time to leave again. This place isn't safe anymore. They've found us. I follow behind the people I was watching moments ago; it seems like a lifetime now, that one scene of peace. I'm clutching my rifle so tightly my knuckles turn white. My heart is thudding away painfully in my chest but at least a few good things have come out of this; I've learned how to survive; the other being the trio in front of me, especially the couple that seem so mismatched, yet are perfect for each other. I see love blooming like a flower even amongst the death and destruction. It fills me with hope. The End Enjoy? Let me know please! Send feedback to sweet_roses_2000_uk@yahoo.co.uk ===== A Little Corner - http://littlecorner.bravepages.com/index.html Visit my other X Files sites there too :)