TITLE: Elysium AUTHOR: Jess < JessLB@aol.com > RATING: G KEYWORDS: R, A, Character death. SPOILERS: Pilot, Ice, Anasazi, Pusher, Memento Mori SUMMARY: Letting go.... FEEDBACK: Please? Pretty please? DISTRIBUTION: Sure, fine, whatever. DISCLAIMER: I don't own 'em. Wish I did, but alas... AUTHOR'S NOTES: I just punched this out in one sitting. Cool, huh? It just kind of came to me the other day in gym class when I looked up at the sky and thought how beautiful it was. Odd inspiration, I know. Elysium is, in Greek mythology, the "land of the blessed dead," or paradise. I thought it was an appropriate title. It's also called 'Elysian Fields.' If you don't understand right away, that's the affect I was going for with the whole field dream. Did it work? -------------- She awoke to death that morning. It hung like a cloud of smoke in the small hospital room, crowding out all other thoughts of it's intended prey's mind. I'm going to die, she thought. It sounded so final, so grim. She remembered the previous night's dream with stunning clarity. A field, she'd been in a field that stretched on everlastingly. The grass was a perfect green a green she'd never seen before. The clouds sat unmoving in the clear blue sky. And the sun. . . .Never before had she seen such a glorious sun. It shone so brightly, so vibrantly that she had been tempted to put a hand up to her face to shade her eyes from its glare. But there was no glare. Just peace. Perfect, still peace. She remembered walking through that field, remembered feeling the soft grass beneath her feet, feeling the slight breeze on her bare arms. How she'd felt as light as a feather, wished that if she spread her arms that she might be able to fly. To her right, she had spied a crystal blue lake. Almost as though some invisible ghost had tossed a pebble into the middle, it's waters began to ripple gently, spreading across the lake, one right after the other. She had delighted in the effect, standing mesmerized by the shoreline. Knees bent, she had leaned towards the water, a hand outstretched. Her fingers made contact with the silky water, and she slid her hands across the smooth, gentle surface, watching as her reflection altered. And then, as soon as she had been placed in the field, she was abruptly torn from it, shocked back into reality. And that was when she had awoken to the presence of death. The team of experts had bustled in and out all morning, monitoring her progress, taking tests, exasperating her to no end until she finally ordered them out. It was her time. It was over, she told them. He poked his head in the doorway as the late afternoon sun was just beginning to dip down below the horizon. She was staring out of the window, watching as the birds called to one another, flying past her window in a splash of white. She turned her head slowly. "Go away." "I want to be here." "I don't want you here, Mulder. Not now." "Scully, please." "I said, go." He held her gaze for a long moment, until she tore her eyes from his. "Please." It was a whispered plea, and it was enough. He slipped from the room without her noticing, the door shutting quietly behind him. She fell asleep then, distantly aware that, for ever how short the time would be, her eyes would open at least once more. He returned an hour later with the heart- wrenching premonition that she had seen her last sunset. He watched her as she lay sleeping, her face relaxed and content, and he prayed for her strength. He approached her bed with caution and as he gently touched her hand, her blue eyes opened and met his. "I'm sorry." She wondered if that was her voice or his; perhaps it didn't matter. In the four years that they had known each other, her life had gradually entwined with his. She was no longer whole by herself; she was part of a pair, a partnership, a love. He crawled up into the bed next to her and carefully pulled her thin body close to his. She had heard the stories that, when facing death, one sees their life flash before their eyes. She waited patiently for the movie to play, but the only images she saw were those with him. Shaking his hand in the basement, the first day they'd met. Pointing her gun at him in a stand-off, and knowing that he finally trusted her completely when he lowered his weapon first. Him showing up at her doorstep after his father's death, weak and delirious. In a hospital, watching him point a gun at his own head in a sick man's game of Russian Roulette. His denial and refusal of acceptance that she had cancer. It's wrong, she thought. It shouldn't end this way. "Please don't leave me, Scully," he whispered, a tear slipping down his face. "I need you. Please don't die on me. Please oh, God, Scully, don't." His voice broke with his last word, and her heart contracted. "Oh, Mulder," she sighed, touching his cheek with a lover's caress. Her eyes slipped shut, and she heard his choked sob. Not yet, she thought. Not yet. She knew he thought she was gone, knew her absence would summon the words. "I love you," he whispered, kissing her lips softly. She saw the field again. The same brilliant sun beckoning her. The soft breeze on her arms. The water dripping from her hands. And knew what she had to do. "I love you, too," she said softly, and in those words, she let go of what had been binding her to this world. She smiled as the sun enveloped her, knowing she would see him again shortly and relishing in the knowledge. I'm sorry, Mulder. With a soft sigh, she found the peace and happiness she'd longed for in the past months. She was released from her pain. She surrendered. The End. ________________ FYI: This is supposed to be an alternate to Redux 2. I didn't mean to imply that Scully once again became ill. I hope no one got that impression. Well, you probably did. Most of you. Hell, even I did when I read back over it. Oh well. http://members.tripod.com/~SueBridehead_2/fanfic. html JessLB@aol.com