TITLE: Dark Angel AUTHOR: Sandra Winarta DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere, as long as the story is intact along with my name and disclaimer. CLASSIFICATION: V, A. RATING: G. SPOILERS: Gethsemene. SUMMARY: Mulder faces his demons in his dreams DISCLAIMER: I don't own FM or DS, nor do I claim to. CC and 1013 Productions do (and Rupert Murdoch too)! GETHSEMENE by Sandra Winarta "The sorrow in my heart is so great that it almost crushes me." - Mark 14: 34 The emptiness of his soul stretched out before him like a highway across the desert. Straight. Endless. Unrepenting. Tucked away from sight were bandits waiting to pounce on the unassuming traveller, and pools of quicksand that sucked the careless under with no possibility of escape. His mind had navigated this desert before, yet never had the sun been so harsh, the road so dusty, the obstacles so difficult. He came to a deep ravine, wide enough for him to doubt at whether he could make it across. Beside him stood his sister as he had remembered her -- wide-eyed, pig-tailed, trusting him with her life. She held his hand tightly as she gazed across the ravine. On the other side was a woman, red hair bright against the glare of the sun. It was Scully. She sat crosslegged, waiting. He could see the dark bags under her eyes and sagging shoulders that marked an ailing spirit. She did not see the serpent as big as a whale slither noiselessly behind her. She only sat with her eyes bored into his skull. "Why did you do this to me?" her eyes accused, "Why did you let me die, murderer?" He felt his heart ripped out of his body as the burden of his guilt swallowed him whole. His body shook as tears spilt from his eyes. And still his conscience prodded and poked. "Jump, if you want her to live." "I can't," he protested, "The ravine is too wide." "Jump, or her blood will be on your hands." "No!" cried his sister, clutching his hand ever more tightly. "Don't leave me here, Fox. Who do you want?" Scully's eyes continued to accuse him, even as her body slowly turned to dust, even as the serpent's breath caressed her hair. "Choose, Fox. Me or her!" his sister screamed, but the silent plea was too much. He let go of his sister's hand. And jumped. To his surprise, he soared above the ravine. His sister's screams rang loudly in his ears like a clanging bell. He thought only of Scully, needing to save her from the serpent. He soared for what seemed like an eternity, and landed hard on his toes. The pain blinded him for a moment, made him close his eyes. When he looked up, he only saw the serpent's tongue before it lashed around his body. Scully had disappeared. THE END.