Angst on a Shoestring

by Susan P.
suzotchka67@gmail.com
  Fandom: X-Files      Pairing: Scully/original female character  
  Rating, etc.: Oh, 13+, I guess.  It's tame, really, but very angsty with adult concepts.  
  Spoilers: None, really. I think I worked out a timeline for the series that puts it circa 5th or 6th season of the show  
  Summary: Scully's got it bad, and that ain't good...  
  Author's Notes: This was the original installment of an as-yet unfinished series. Although I do have a resolution of sorts plotted out in my head, I honestly don't know when or if I might actually finish the series. Each piece basically exists as it's own story, and there aren't any cliffhangers, per se, but the overall story arc remains unresolved, at this time, so consider yourselves warned.  
  A/N 2: Although there is a prequel that was written after the early installments, I think it almost waters down the impact of this one, so I'm posting this one first, and recommend that this one be read first.  
  Disclaimers: Scully belongs to Chris Carter, 1013, Fox, et al., none of whom would get much from me if they sued.  Ginger is all mine, however, as is this particular story.    
  Permission to Archive: Passion and Perfection and the The Scullyslash Archive currently have it. Anyone else, please ask first.  

You know, I resent the power you have to make me miserable with just one word--one well-meant sentiment. I don't care that it's meant well. Don't even care that you want what's best for me. That you care for me. That you want me to be happy. Right now, I'm just so angry with you. For not seeing that I don't care about finding a 'new love.' That I've found the only 'love' I want. I'm angry with you for not seeing that you're the one I want. I can't help but think that,  on some level, you do see it. Do you see it? Is your comment constructed to give me some subtle hint that I should be looking for  a new love--or at least be interested in finding one? Is your seeming-ignorance of my feelings calculated? Or do you really not know? Can you be that blind?

One sentence--not even a whole sentence really--and I'm reduced to tears. So much of the time I hate the distance between us. But I have reason to be glad of the separation now. How would I explain my tears? My anger? I am not even sure I can explain it to myself. I am clearly angry with you. Whether it's because you can't seem to read me the way I need you to, or because you don't feel for me what I feel for you, or because you do and you can't take the necessary leap of faith any more than I can. As much as I would like to blame you for my own torment, I know I share responsibility for it. I do want to tell you. I think I need to at this point--if only for the sake of my self-respect. To know that I can look you in the eye and say it-- out loud--if only just once. But the need to face you when I say it is part of the problem, given that I see you so infrequently. Every time I've seen you the last year and a half, I've come close to doing it. But there always seems to be something in the way; our respective problems and obligations always seem to be hanging in the air between us, and something always seems to cut-short the time we spend alone together. And when we are together it never seems to be the right time. Not that there ever will be a right time.

But this hangs in the air between us, too. Even if I'm the only one aware of it. Maybe I should just say it and get it over with. It doesn't seem right to do this by phone, however, and I'm not sure I want to do it in writing. That this record of my foolishness might survive me is daunting enough. To think of giving you such concrete evidence...

If you saw these words, would you realize they were about you? What would my mother--or Mulder--think? Would they assume I was talking about him, despite my references to our being apart? Not that it would be an impossibility. I do have feelings for Mulder. But it would complicate the work, and we both need the work right now--maybe more than we need each other.

And whatever Mulder is, whatever he means to me...ultimately, he's not you. He doesn't have the power over me that you do. Power I've given you. Power you may not even know you have.

It's pointless to resent you for that, I suppose. You've had my heart all these years. If you somehow remain unaware of that, I have only myself to blame. I'm the coward. Odd that I risk my life on an almost daily basis, but I can't find the courage to risk my heart.

What will it take for me to find my nerve, I wonder?

Well, my tears have dried, and my anger cooled now. But I still haven't resolved anything where you're concerned. As usual.

               The woman dropped the pen in frustration and closed the book

               in which she had been writing.  She turned the desk lamp

               off, leaving only the glare from the computer screen for illumination.

               She rubbed her eyes--briefly--and looked at the screen. 

               After a few moments, she reached out to trace a finger across

               the e-mail address:

                              Ginger Daniels <gdaniels@comnet.net>

               Her finger rested on the monitor briefly, before logging off,

               quitting the program, and turning the computer off.

 

Finis.