You had the Answer

 

 

 

The view was spectacular. I shouldn't have been out in the open. We'd driven them back but there were still enough of them that we had to be careful. The war was far from over. I was far from home, far from all that I loved.

The instant replay began in my mind. I wondered what went wrong, so many things had been right. How did I arrive at the point where I felt he needed to die?

I'd loved him, more than I'd ever thought it possible to love. That's what my heart knew, even before my dick discovered how much pleasure there was to be had in his fine ass.

The signal screeched from the phone on my belt. I ducked back under cover, listened to the urgent voice that warned me of an attack. I ran back toward the hidden complex. Reaching it in the midst of the battle, I pulled my gun and dived into the fray.

I never saw the blow coming. I woke in the infirmary, disoriented, head pounding, with the feel of a wet cloth stroking over my exposed body.

"I hope you're a pretty nurse."

"Don't know about pretty, although you once called me beautiful."

I tried to open my eyes, but they were too heavy and I gave up the fight. I sank into a dream of green eyes, raven hair, a low sexy voice.

"Walter, where have you gone? I can't find you. I need you so much. How did it get so out of hand?"

I moved toward the voice, the voice of my lover, my enemy. I got through the fog and saw him. We met and he reached out, hesitantly. We touched and everything faded but the need to be with him.

Sadly, he shook his head. "It's not your time, Walter. You still have work to do. I'll be waiting when the time comes for us to be together again."

I was being pulled away from him and as he got smaller in my vision, the tears rolled down my cheek. "Alex!"

******

His temperature was raging. He rambled in his delirium. We had no medicine to give him. All we could do was keep the wound clean and bathe him to fight the fever.

I'd always suspected there was more between him and Alex than we were allowed to know. His fever dreams made it clear that they had been lovers. When he called out to Alex and begged him to stay, I ached for him.

Mulder was out looking for a drugstore or hospital to get the drugs we needed to fight the infection raging in Skinner's system. I was doing all I could for him, but without antibiotics, I was afraid we were going to lose him.

Losing Walter would cut into all our hearts. During the years since the invasion, he'd been our rock. The younger members of our group had all learned most of their fighting skills from him. He was the one who got them through the night after their first battle. More than one of them was still alive because of him.

There was no shortage of hands to care for him. The girl he'd been injured protecting, hovered more than any of us. She was the one who kept wiping him down with cool cloths. Even when I tried to shoo her from the room to rest, she'd curl up on the cot near by.

I'd just cleaned his wound again and covered it once more, when he opened his eyes and looked at me. Rather he looked past me.

"Alex, don't go! Wait for me."

"Walter, Alex isn't here. It's me, Dana. You have a fever."

"No, he's there. Alex, please don't leave me again."

"Walter, it isn't real. Alex is gone. I'm sorry, but he's gone."

"He's waiting for me. I need to go to him. I can't be alone anymore."

******

"Walter, she can't see me. Only you and Mulder can. You need to fight. I told you, it isn't your time yet."

"I don't want to fight anymore. I want to be with you."

"I know and you will be with me. But you can't be. Not yet. Please, Walter. They need you now. Help them and you can come to me in time."

"Your word, Alex. I want your word."

"You have it. You must do one more thing for me."

"What?"

"The girl you saved. Give her your child. He will find William and the two of them will end the war."

"A child?"

"Do as I ask. Once the baby is born, I won’t ask you to stay any longer."

"I'll do as you ask."

With that I went back to sleep. Later, Dana would tell me that my fever broke then. When I woke fever free, I found the girl I'd saved sitting next to my bed.

"Hi." I croaked at her.

She jumped from her chair and held out a cup of water to me. I sipped it gratefully. When I felt I could speak, I asked her name.

"I remember you. What is your name?"

"Alexandra."

"Alexandra, thank you for looking out for me."

She was plain, mousey brown hair, but with green eyes. Not as green as his but close. She smiled tentatively at me and I saw that she had white teeth, something that gave away how young she was.

"Tell me about yourself, Alexandra."

"I should get Dr. Scully."

"Talk to me please. I want to know about you."

She began to talk then; like so many, she'd lost her family. She'd been found in one of Mulder's supply runs. She was twenty, had been in school when they landed. Only her father's sacrifice had kept her free.

Dana entered the room as Alexandra was giving me more water. She crossed to my side and Alexandra scurried out the door.

"Walter, we're so glad you're better. I don't know what we'd have done without you."

"It wasn't my time. Alex said I had to stay."

"Do you feel hungry?"

I could tell she wasn't comfortable with that line of conversation. So, I allowed her to lead me away from it.

"Yes, I do feel a little hungry. And very thirsty."

"I'll get you something and send Mulder in. He's been going crazy without you to talk to."

"He had you."

"But he needs you for the strategy."

"Someday he'll have to do it alone."

"Don't tell him that."

I watched as she left. I could see Alexandra in the hallway. I motioned for her to come in. She came back and I managed to get her talking again until Mulder showed up.

******

I continued my life, my promise to Alex in the back of my mind. The night that I came back from a raid with a new wound, minor for a change, I let her care for me. When I kissed her, she responded.

No one questioned it when she moved in with me. I think Mulder and Scully saw it as a sign that I intended to live. I came to care for her, not the kind of love I felt for Alex, but love nonetheless. I never felt guilty for saying it to her.

When she told me she was pregnant, I didn't need to fake my pleasure. I stayed close to base until he was born, never doubting that it would be a boy.

******

Strange, the view from here, the afterlife ain't quite what I expected it to be. I've been watching over Mulder and Walter. They've let me talk to them when I could help out. They made me send Walter back when I wanted him with me so badly.

But the child they said must be born has arrived. Walter said his goodbyes before going into this battle. And when he falls this time, they'll let me bring him home.

I watch as the Super soldier shoots him. He falls and Mulder screams as he runs to him. And I wait, for him to say this last goodbye. I move closer and wait for the moment when I can take him.

"Walter, god, oh god!"

"Mulder, it's okay. I knew this was my last battle. Don't mourn for me. Our sons will save the world, Mulder. Tell Alexandra that I love her."

"No, you aren't dying. You can't, we need you."

I moved forward so that Walter could see me. He stopped looking at Mulder and held out his hand to me.

"Is it time, Alex?"

"Yes, Walter, come to me. Leave this behind."

His body slumped in Mulder's arms and his beautiful soul moved toward me. He looked back at Mulder wailing in his grief.

"Alex, he's in pain."

"Yes, but he will accept, he has no other choice. Come on we have to go."

I took his hand and led him toward our destination. I wasn't sure myself where we were going, but it would be together.

The end.

7/30/2004

QUEENSRYCHE - Real World
Album : Promised Land (1994)



Strange, the view from here
Words we spoke, forgotten at the time
Now replay in my mind
What went wrong, what was right
Looking back, I never was there for you
You didn't say, but I know it's true

I can't find the real world alone
Every time I think I've won
I hear your voice inside, questioning
Where have you gone
Can't you remember feeling so alone
You always had the answer that I could not see

I can't find the real world
I can't find the real world
I can't find the real world alone
I can't find the real world
I can't find the real world
I can't find the real world alone

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