DISCLAIMER: X-Files and its characters belong to C.C. and 1013 Productions. No copyright infringement intended, no money be made.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the result of a prompt given to me by oxfordshoes2. She supplied the first sentence. While this is set in the 'Weak in the Knees' universe, it is not part of the series.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
No Choice
By Dhamphir
Slowly, she returned the gun to its holster while glaring at the brunette who was sitting on the couch, in the dark. She then turned, hung up her jacket on the coat rack and silently walked into the kitchen, flipping on the light.
"Not quite the greeting I expected."
She didn't turn around from where she was standing at the sink sipping from a glass of water. "What did you expect? I haven't seen or heard from you in over a month."
"I was under orders."
"You left without even a phone call."
"I didn't have a choice."
"You always have a choice!" she snapped and slammed the glass down on the counter.
Jess slumped against the kitchen doorway. "Yeah, you're right," she sighed. "I did make a choice... several of them. I chose to take the case; I chose to follow the Director's orders; I chose to take a serial child molester and murderer off–" her voice cracked around the lump that had formed in her throat, "the street; and I chose to come straight here afterwards." She paused for a beat. "But perhaps my last choice was wrong," she added in a tearful whisper and turned to leave.
Dana whirled around. "Jess!" For the first time she took in the appearance of her lover – the uncharacteristic dullness of her eyes, the worn and weary set of her shoulders, the bags under her eyes, and lost expression on her face.
She simply walked up to her lover and wrapped her arms around her. She knew in her heart that Jess couldn't have made any different choices than she had, otherwise she wouldn't have been the woman she loved.
"I'm sorry, Dana... I had to go," the brunette said as she returned the embrace.
"I know, Jess. I was just so worried."
"I know." Jess tightened her arms around her lover. "That's why I told Lou I'd never do it again. I told him no more secret orders, or else I'll resign."
Dana felt Jess's body sag. "Come on, baby, let's get you to bed."
The End