Spoilers: Miscellaneous up to sixth season. Mostly Avatar, but enough background noise comes from various episodes that I should stay on the safe side here and give a generic heads-up.
Summary: Skinner tries to resolve a number of issues regarding his life and Fox Mulder.
Disclaimer: 1013, Chris Carter, and FOX own the X-Files and the characters of Fox Mulder, Walter Skinner, Dana Scully, Bill Scully Jr, Teena Mulder, Margaret Scully, Sharon Skinner, etc. etc. I own certain other people in this story, including several Mulderian relations and Al and Anna Carpenter.
This is a post-XF story. It assumes that the alien invasion was foiled by
our friends Mulder, Scully, and Skinner, with assistance from
Krycek, the Lone Gunmen, and assorted others. The main part of the story
starts in 2011, so the main characters are getting older. If you can't cope
with Mulder having grey hair, or with older folks having sex, you should
go read something else.
Slash, UST, angst, children and accompanying parents, Bill Scully Jr, and
other things all occur in this story. If you are allergic to any of these
things, or if you think Bill Jr is such a jerk you can't put up with
him in even a minor role, you should go read something else.
I do speak French (badly) and read French (somewhat better--I can read _Candide_
and Maupassant in the original, which as far as I'm concerned is as much
French as anyone needs). But I do beg your indulgence: because the French
here is minor, I'm relying on my own production skills, and I may have missed
something in my proofreading. And I haven't been to Nice, so I'm relying
on my brothers' descriptions of the city and on research. If I screw up,
assume it's because Nice has changed by 2011. If you can't
put up with occasional geographical strangeness, why do you watch the X-Files?
Also, you should go read something else.
The title comes from the Nick Cave song, from the soundtrack of the movie. Which--along with its predecessor _Wings of Desire_ -- is one of the best movies of all time. I highly recommend both of them. Don't waste your time on _City of Angels_. The lyrics to this song are below. The movies in this story are referenced by their German titles, neither of which translate as "wings of desire", but then renaming movies is a great tradition which we should support. It's funnier that way.
_Faraway, So Close_ by Nick Cave
Empty out your pockets, toss the lot upon the floor.
All those treasures, my friend, you don't need them anymore.
Your days are all through dying, they gave all their ghosts away,
so kiss close all your wounds and call living life a day.
For the planets gravitate around you,
and the stars shower down around you,
and the angels in heaven adore you,
and the saints all stand and applaud you.
So far away, so far away and yet so close.
Say farewell to the passing of the years,
though all your sweet goodbyes will fall upon deaf ears.
Kiss so softly the mouths of the ones you love,
beneath the September moon and the heavens above.
And the world will turn without you,
and history will soon forget about you,
but the heavens they will reward you,
and the saints will be there to escort you.
So far away, so far away and yet so close.
Do not grieve at the passing of mortality,
for life's but a thing of terrible gravity.
And the planets gravitate around you,
and the stars shall dance about you,
and the angels in heaven adore you,
and the saints all stand and applaud you.
So far away, so far away and yet so close.
