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 This author's e-mail address has changed to: pindaran@hotmail.com
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From: "Rhetta" <rhoannan@attbi.com>
Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2002 18:19:20 -0800
Subject: xfc: NEW: Walking The Line (1 of 1)
Source: xfc

TITLE: Walking The Line (1 of 1)
AUTHOR: Rhetta
RATING: PG 
CLASSIFICATION: Vignette; Skinner POV
DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere, just let me know.
FEEDBACK: rhoannan@attbi.com   
SPOILERS: 'Blessing Way'
DISCLAIMER:  Skinner and Scully aren't mine.  Unfortunately neither is 
Mulder. They, and the rest of The X-Files, belong to Chris Carter, 
1013, and Fox. You'd think they would treat them a little nicer.  I 
sure would.
SUMMARY: I walk the line.  The line between two opposing sides.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Written for the After The Fact 'Blessing Way' Episode 
Challenge.

**********

I walk the line.  The line between two opposing sides.  

One side could get me killed.  

The other could destroy my soul.

I may stray for the line from time to time.  Sometimes to help, 
sometimes to hinder, but I always return to it. I have too many ghosts 
from my past not to return.  

But one of these days I know I'm going to have to make a choice.  
Choose a side and stick with it.  Hell, fight to the death for it if 
it comes down to it.  

The question is, which side will it be?  Which side is worth dying 
for?

I've always being a firm believer in justice.  In doing the right 
thing despite the costs.  I wish things were that cut and dry here.

The problem is, I see both sides.  I don't agree with all the things 
one side does, but I see it.  I see the necessity of some of the 
things they have done.  Other things they've done, on the other hand, 
are too dark to even contemplate.

And frankly, what can one lone agent, even a brilliant one, do against 
them?  Against a powerful group that's intent on stopping him from 
uncovering their truths at any cost? 

What could I do?

Of course there's always Agent Scully to factor in. She's the variable 
here.  The one thing neither side truly planned on. Until recently I 
thought she walked the same line I did.  Maybe more on his side of it, 
but still on the line.

I no longer think that.  Not after what happened in my office.  After 
what I saw in her eyes.

Agent Scully has already chosen a side.  

The side of a dead man.

I know there was a bond between her and Mulder. Anyone who had any 
type of contact with them could see it. In the course of their 
partnership she's lied for him, gone to the ends of the earth to find 
him, even put her own life on the line to save him.  I figured it was 
mostly because of her integrity.  Her personal code.

All this time I never knew.  I never even realized that there was 
something more behind it.  That at some point Mulder's quest had 
become hers.  

Have long have I been blind to it?  How much of what happened to 
Mulder could I have prevented?  Could I have saved his life?  Can I 
save Agent Scully's?

Would she even believe me if I tried?

One thing's for sure, she's definitely going to listen to me. I'm 
meeting up with her tonight whether she likes it or not.  

I've finally decided to get off that damn line and choose a side.  

For how long I don't know.  The past has a way of coming back to haunt 
you when you least expect it.  

I do know though, that if I ever do return to it, return to walking 
the line, I'll be more on one side than the other.

I only hope it's a side worth dying for.