TITLE: Secret Eulogy AUTHOR: mountainphile RATING: R, to be safe CATEGORY: A "short" vignette SPOILERS: Fight The Future NOTES: In response to Haven's "Extreme Possibilities" Challenge. Sybil, you sucked me in, babe, though the 155 limit blossomed to 225 words! My bad ;) FEEDBACK: mountainphile@yahoo.com URL: http://www.geocities.com/mountainphile DISCLAIMER: No monetary gain sought, no disrespect or illegality intended toward Chris Carter, 1013, or anyone else who retains ownership and rights over these characters. SUMMARY: Personal sacrifice is more than a necessary evil ************ Secret Eulogy By mountainphile Ordering all others away, he disrobes her gently and unhurriedly inside the metallic pod. He wants her alone these last brief minutes before the tube and final entombment. A private farewell. Indulgence of an old man's fantasy. Her limbs resemble bone china. Pale, slim, cold as ice. Yet, possessing a velvety softness that startles his hand, arrests his breath. He coughs, clouding the frigid air over her nakedness. That peaceful face, her exquisiteness, touches him and mars his resolve. Hidden charms, exposed. Nipples shrunken pink, taut in the circle of his tentative fingertips. Below, her secret garden. Curious, reverent fingers stir the curls, contemplating invasion. But he resists, merely resting a quiet palm over her mound in benediction before drawing back. Yes, he rues the Plan -- its despicable ruthlessness forfeiting such beauty and potential. He regrets, above all, the extinguishing of her fiery spirit, her pluck and charisma. Tempered always by a loyalty for her FBI partner, which defies reason. Her partner, his son. Another man who reveres this autumn- haired woman, loving her with similar covert ineptitude. Family trait? He stands up, fingering the icy gold cross of her necklace, disassociating. Dropping it near her bare toes, he acknowledges a reality more potent than nicotine. The Plan must continue forward at all costs. It's imperative, therefore, that Fox Mulder make the same lamentable, ultimate sacrifice... ************ The End