Title: Long Way Home
Author/pseudonym: PegE
Email address: Feedback to mmo520@yahoo.com
Rating: G
Pairings: Doggett/Reyes
Warnings:
Spoilers: ``Release,`` ``The Truth``

Status: Complete
Date: 5/30/02
Archive: Sure, just let me know where 
Series/Sequel: 
Other website:

Summary: Doggett and Reyes face the future after helping Mulder and 
Scully escape. DRR, minor angst. Reyes POV.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Notes:

How many colors are there in the desert?

Dozens, it seems; maybe hundreds. Maybe more. Even tonight, I see 
dozens of shades of gray and black and silver starlight surrounding 
us. The sky is perfectly clear and the stars look close enough to 
touch. After what I've seen, though, I don't find that comforting. 
Suddenly, everything is too close and too far away, all at the same 
time.

John is stretched out on his back and sound asleep. He's not snoring, 
which surprises me, but I'm not complaining. Even in his sleep, he's 
quiet.

I'm too scared to sleep, so I sit here in the chair and stare out the 
window. I keep expecting black helicopters to appear from out of 
nowhere. I wish I could see Mulder and Scully again, or Skinner or 
even Kersh.

I wonder if I ever will?

We're not far from the border, I know; tomorrow, we'll cross over and 
drive to my parents' house in Mexico City. We can hide out there for 
a while until we know it's safe to go back to D.C.

I wanted to go back immediately; John talked me out of it. ``We just 
broke a man out of jail, Mon. I think we need a cooling-off period.``

We drove for hours after we left the ruins, turning in circles and 
doubling back to try to lose the choppers. I saw the ruins go up in 
flames and watched the smoke rise in great columns against the sky. 
My grandfather would have looked for symbols in the smoke, portents 
of the future. I didn't have the heart; the only future I dare dream 
of is asleep on a lumpy hotel mattress.

I wonder what he's dreaming of?

After we found Luke's killer, I watched John and Barbara release 
their son's ashes to the sea and the wind and hoped John could find a 
way to release his demons. He held me so tight after letting Luke go 
that I still feel his embrace. He seems less haunted these days. I 
took his hand a few months ago after a case and he smiled at me. He 
knows, and I know.

We belong together. It's taken us so long to come this far, and I had 
hoped we would find our moment somewhere quiet and peaceful, 
somewhere with candlelight and roses. But I can make do with a desert 
wind and the memory of ashes and a cheap hotel. When we're finally in 
each other's arms, we'll finally be home.

We just took the long way.

John stirs and murmurs wordlessly in his sleep, then turns onto his 
side. The clock by the bed says it's 3 a.m., and I'm exhausted. I 
stretch out next to John, moving as carefully as possible so I don't 
wake him, and let my eyes drift shut. Seconds later, I feel his arm 
circle my waist and he pulls me back against his body. His lips brush 
my hair and his fingers intertwine with mine as he murmurs, ``What 
took you so long?``