by Livia Balaban
Rated G = V, DAL, Scully POV
Spoilers/Summary: My "Millennium" Post-Ep Rebellion
It was not the start of something monumental.
It was just a kiss, in a hospital waiting room, drowned by the din of revelers as Dick Clark made good on the value of network ad time sold to major corporations.
It was sweet, and it was a lovely gesture, but it was simply a kiss. It was not a declaration of his feelings, it was not a consummation of something long-simmering, and it was certainly not a promise of what's to come.
He has already declared his feelings. They need not be restated.
There is nothing significant which remains to be consummated. We have been everything to each other for years.
There are no further promises to make. We have already made them all.
When he collapsed by the side of my hospital bed, so near the hour of my death, shuddering with silent sobs of horror and pain, his feelings were evident. Words now would cheapen them.
We are as protective and possessive of each other as lovers. A desperate grasp in a moment of terror is enough for now. A gentle caress of reconciliation will suffice, when our paths diverge too far. There has yet to be a time when we have failed to return to each other, regardless of the distance or circumstances.
We have already promised our lives to each other. What else is there to vow?
It was not the beginning of a new physical intimacy. It was not the mark of our social evolution. It was a sweet, tender gesture of unity and celebration. We're still alive, and they haven't beaten us yet. That's all.
And the disappointment? The enforced distance in its wake? It is our unique brand of control. For a brief moment, our physical instincts took over, and attempted a distraction. But we have too much to accomplish to distract ourselves with such trivialities. There will be none of that.
We will continue to require each other's strength and commitment to this partnership, but there is no room now for irrelevant sentimentality. We will continue to take our ration of comfort in fits and spurts, and it will continue to be enough.
It was neither the beginning nor the end of anything. It was just a kiss.
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End.
