Goodbye
R2
Rating : PG -- mild language
Disclaimer : I don't own these characters, but lord don't I WISH I did! I make no money of this story, I just do it for the love of the show.
Spoiler : Ralph
I watched her walk quietly away, her tiny form shimmering in the slowly dying sun, coated in silver from my quicksilver vision. I would never forget the look on her face, the grief in her eyes or the way her chin quivered as she looked at me. Her voice still echoed in my head, along with my reply.
'Goodbye, Ralph'
'Goodbye, Jessica'
A flurry of emotions coursed through me as I continued to peer after her retreating figure. Sadness, anger, loss and bitterness all vied for attention as I fingered the small gold key I still held in my clamped hand. I couldn't understand why I was feeling this way. Did I really expect to be able to continue to be part of her life? That was unreasonable, unfair and totally selfish of me. What on earth could I possibly give to her? Nothing, not a damn thing. She had been a mission, an assignment and nothing more.
Then why the Hell did it hurt so bad watching her walk away from me? As she disappeared beyond a ridge, I shed my quicksilver skin and watched it flake around me like silver snow. I opened my hand and gazed down at the key. It glistened in the setting sun, casting small shadows across my palm.
'You're really fun, trust me'
'I trust you'
Innocence. I realized it then as I stood in front of the rock formation, Ralph's home. My home. I had been the most important thing in a young girl's life, and dammit, it had felt good.
'Ralph, you grew up'
Jessica had watched her invisible friend become real before her eyes, and that joy and wonder had echoed across her face in a smile that had come from her soul. A smile that I had put there. Me. Darien Fawkes, ex-con.
I clamped my hand shut and felt the edge of the key bite into my palm. I had never been an important part of anyone's life before. Oh sure, I was important to the Official and the Agency, but that was only because of the wonder gland. Without that little piece of human ingenuity nestled in my skull, I'd be rotting away in prison right now. Jessica didn't know about the gland, or the Agency or even my past, all she knew was that I was magic and that was enough for her. She had never questioned how or why, I simply was. This was why it hurt so bad, I didn't want to give that up. That child-like ability to accept without question, to believe without remorse. I wanted to be a part of that. I had been part of it, and now I had to let it go.
It felt as if my heart was going to break; I had loved and lost before, many times, but not like this. Jessica had been different. I turned my back and walked away in the opposite direction from where she had gone. The sun was beginning to sit low in the sky, turning the surrounding landscape the color of blood. I almost laughed at the thought. As I made my way slowly toward the entrance to the park, I realized that I would never see Jessica Semplar again. Perhaps that was for the best, I reasoned, for what could I possibly give to her? More lies? I'd already traveled that road and it had cost me Casey. Better to let her go while she still thought of me in a good and decent light. For a brief moment, Jessica and I had touched each other's lives; I had given her magic and she had given me ... love. The kind of love that comes from the heart and asks no questions. I glanced down at that golden key again, I would always be grateful to her for that.
the end