From: RhiaRamsay@aol.com
Date: Wed, 17 May 2000 21:49:18 EDT
Subject: xfc: New: Mirror Gate (1/1)
Source: xfc

Title: Mirror Gate
Author: Elizabeth L. Iacono
Rating: PG
Category: Vignette
Keywords: Mulder/Scully UST (this part, next part 
          is the Romance) although I think this part 
          is Noromo safe, no love mentioned in it 
          at all.
Spoilers: Ascension
Summary:  What do we see when we look in the mirror?  
          What if that mirror showed us who we really 
          are?

I know some of you might recognize part of the 
setting in here, so just let it be said that it 
does not belong to me.  I'm not saying what it is 
or classifying it as a crossover because that 
would ruin the spirit of the story.

Feedback: I live for it. ;)  RhiaRamsay@aol.com

Visit my Website: 
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Meteor/7124/index.html

Archive: anywhere and everywhere, Gossamer, Spookys, 
         and Xemplary especially

Disclaimer: Mulder and Scully are not mine.  The 
            setting isn't either.


Mirror Gate
Elizabeth L. Iacono


     It was nighttime.  The stars in the sky above 
him glowed against a velvet black backdrop.  He saw 
that he was in a desert with interminable sand on 
either side.  Glancing behind him, he saw in the 
distance two tall statues, staring solemnly at each 
other.  He wasn't sure, but he could have sworn they 
were sphinxes human heads with the forepaws of a 
lion, the hindquarters of a bull, and the wings of 
an eagle perched upon the back.  He knew he wasn't 
supposed to walk back towards them though, but forward 
into the unknown.

     He didn't know where he was going or how long he 
was walking.  The scenery never changed, it was 
always sand and night sky.  Always walking.

     Step by step by step.

     Grains of sand shifted as he walked, flowing 
over his shoes, some errant specs slipping inside 
to irritate his feet.  But still he kept on walking.

     Finally there seemed to be a break in the desert 
landscape.  Looming towards the sky stood a mirror.  
It was quite a simple mirror, just a large sheet of 
glass that gleamed like polished silver and reflected 
the night and desert back at him.  It was edged with 
a dark metal that seemed to glow with a light source 
he couldn't locate.  This was where he had to be, he 
knew, and stepped closer to observe himself in the 
mirror.

     He was apprehensive as to what he would see 
there, knowing that this mirror didn't show things 
like an ordinary one.  Rather, it showed people how 
they really were, reflected their true nature instead 
of what was seen on the surface.  It was where good 
men could find out they were evil, where the nicest 
man in the world could learn he was really a bastard 
at heart.  Naturally, he was a little scared of what 
he would see.

     Would he see his father's face?  The man he 
had grown up with who drank too much and ignored 
his family.  Or would he see the visage of a former 
lover, wicked women who knew how to play mind games 
with the best of them?  Would he see that he was 
interested in them because they were much like 
himself?

     Or would he see something not even human?  To 
show that he was truly inhuman at heart.

     He didn't really want to think about it much 
more, otherwise he would lose his courage and go 
running back in the other direction.  He walked 
right up to the mirror, stopping only when he was 
a yard away.  He realized that his eyes had slipped 
shut, his subconscious still trying to defend itself 
from what it was about to see.  Resisting the urge 
to reach up with his hands and pry his eyelids 
apart, he slowly opened his eyes.

     Inside the mirror, he saw himself.  Dark brown 
hair, the same color as oak leaves in the fall, eyes 
not too close together or far apart, and colored in 
variations of green, blue, brown, and a little gold 
to make an enticing hazel color.  A nose he felt 
was a little too large for his face, and ears that 
came to a slight point on top, not pointed enough 
to be truly noticeable, but enough to bother him.  
Curved pink lips finished off the face that topped 
a tall, lanky body that was muscular, but still 
slender.

     But there was one difference between the reality 
and the mirror image.  The mirror image was split in 
half, perfectly bisected down the center, with one 
half missing.  One leg, one arm, half a chest, neck, 
and face, that was all that could be seen.  It most 
certainly was not what he expected to see.  The 
image was far less frightening than what his mind 
kept conjuring up, and was far more intriguing.

     He wondered what the meaning was behind his 
mirror self.  It was much harder to interpret than 
a picture of his father or any other inhuman 
creature.  Did it mean that he was half a man?  Or 
did he not become everything he should have been?  
He didn't know.  A glimpse into the truth of himself 
and he couldn't even figure out what it was.  He 
wondered if he stood in front of the mirror long 
enough he would learn the answer.

     Unfortunately his time in front of the mirror 
image was over, and he walked forward, dissolving 
the image as he stepped through the liquid silver 
surface of it.


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


     Fox Mulder's eyes popped open, and he sighed 
heavily.  He shut his eyes for only a second and 
his mind came up with another scene that didn't 
make any sense at all.  Nothing made much sense 
lately, he knew.  He looked up at the stars shining 
down onto the hillside he was sitting on.

     That sick feeling in his gut told him to stay 
away from the place, but something else kept 
drawing him back here.  Skyland Mountain was a 
place he never wanted to go to again, not since 
Scully had disappeared from there.  But once more 
Mulder found himself on the very hillside where he 
found Duane Barry, staring up at the night sky in 
the hopes that he would see her again, gather some 
more strength to help find her.

     Mulder ran a hand through his hair, looking 
down at the grass.  He wasn't going to be able to 
do much just staring at the stars he knew.  Pushing 
himself to his feet and brushing loose grass off 
his jeans, Mulder began to walk back over the crest 
of the hill. 

     At the very top though he looked back at the 
stars once more.  'I will find you, Scully,' he 
vowed silently to himself, and continued the walk 
to his car.


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


The next part is the part that will contain actual 
romance, which is the cause of the UST rating on 
this story, even though there wasn't much in this 
story.


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

'True love, it's the greatest thing 
in the world.'

Miracle Max
The Princess Bride

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

'Men will fight bravely and be heroes,
but for a last ditch defense against
any odds, get a mother.'

The Defender
High Wizardry

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

'This is the Fish Patrol in 201.  Our
flying fish has flown away.  In fact, 
things are so rotten around here that
even the pigs won't stay!  But we'll 
fight to the bitter end!  Beware 
the Fish!'

Bruno Walton
Beware The Fish

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX