From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org
Date: Wed, 4 Oct 2000 01:18:48 -0500
Subject: Fifteen Minutes by Teresa Garrison
Source: direct

Reply To: tazresa@msn.com


TITLE: Fifteen Minutes
AUTHOR: Teresa Garrison
RATING: G
CLASSIFICATION: V,MA
SPOILERS: Requiem
ARCHIVE: Anywhere, just let me know.
FEEDBACK: Always welcomed at TAZRESA@msn.com
WARNING: Character death.


I stare out at the waves, the wind drying the 
tears from my face. I've cried so much over the 
past couple of days, I'm surprised there are still 
any left to shed. They did it. They came up with 
the perfect torture. Better than any the grays 
thought of on the ship. They found the way to 
separate us, shut us down for good.

I was gone for months. When They finally let me 
come back, it was only with one stipulation. I was 
not to see Scully. No contact whatsoever. I didn't 
have to leave the bureau, just transfer elsewhere. 
I have a chip now, and they told me that they 
could track both of us anytime, anywhere. If they 
discovered we were together, Scully would die. 

I thought I could beat it. I'd figure a way for us 
to be together. I agreed to return on those 
conditions. Right before They let me go, They gave 
me the information that the chips could not be 
removed, the second chip we had put in Scully's 
neck was identical to mine, removal would result 
in instant death.

I still had hope. We'd beaten the odds before, 
we'd do it again. I went to the Gunmen and we 
searched for any chance of outsmarting Them. I 
swore them to secrecy about my return. 

Then one day, Frohike let the news slip. The 
impossible had happened. Scully was pregnant with 
my child. At first that just spurred me on to find 
a way to be with her even faster. Once again, They 
found a way around it. I received an anonymous 
letter stating that if I did not stop in my 
research, our child would be taken and used for 
their experiments. My baby would become another 
Samantha. 

Though it nearly killed me, I stopped searching 
for a way for us to be together. I couldn't risk 
them like that. I knew she was still looking for 
me, and I decided to end her wait. She needed to 
move on, build the best life she could for her and 
the baby. 

I knew that if there was any chance I was alive, 
she would try to find me. So I went underground 
and faked my death. With the help of the Gunmen, I 
was able to establish a whole new identity. They 
promised to look after Scully for me, but that she 
would never know the truth. 

I don't try to fool myself into thinking I've also 
fooled Them. I know They know exactly where I am. 

The day our son was born, I locked myself in my 
house and grieved for the child I'd never hold or 
watch grow up. I only hoped that he'd somehow know 
I loved him more than anything on this earth, 
beside his mother. 

A few short years later, on a chilly fall evening, 
a drunk driver slammed into their car. The baby 
was killed instantly, Scully held on for fourteen 
and a half hours before finally succumbing to her 
injuries. I tried to get to her. Byers had 
contacted me as soon as the news of the accident 
hit their scanners. I was in Oregon at the time, I 
took the first flight out, but arrived fifteen 
minutes late. 

Fifteen minutes.

I never got the chance to say goodbye. 

I look down to the roses I hold in my hand. One 
red and one white. Love and purity. One for my 
love, one for my son. I throw them out into the 
water, watching as the tide carries them away.

I love you both. I'm sorry I was never able to 
tell or show you how much. Hopefully you know now 
why I did what I did and can forgive me. I miss 
you so much.

I turn around to head back to my house.

I'll see you soon.