TITLE: FATHER ABRAHAM: AQEDAH AUTHOR: bellefleur EMAIL ADDRESS: bellefleur1013@yahoo.com DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT: sure RATING: PG CLASSIFICATION: V SPOILER WARNING: takes place just prior to final scene of One Son DISCLAIMER: Not mine; they belong to CC, FOX, etc. SUMMARY: CGB reflects on the necessary sacrifice of his son. NOTE: This is a companion piece to "Father Abraham: Call Me Ishmael" and is sequential in time but not a sequel per se. Additional author's notes at the end. ================== It is perhaps every man's greatest hope to have an heir to follow in his footsteps, a son who can make him proud. I was no different in that respect. I knew that my own son resented me, hated me even, and we had been estranged for many years. But fate works in strange ways, and I believed that one day my son would grow up to meet his destiny. Was it only coincidence that he chose to join the FBI? I think not. Fate dealt him the first hand, and he dutifully followed his course. The rest should have been easy for him. His career was handed to him on a silver platter. I saw to that. There would be no obstacles for my boy. He was maneuvered into the prime position, replacing Bill Mulder's son. There was poetic justice in that. At first, he seemed to excel at the role. To thwart Fox Mulder's attempts and serve the larger agenda. He did the job so well. But I should have realized he would turn out to be a momma's boy. That's what I get for leaving him in the hands of his mother all those years. I knew he thought she was delusional, and I vainly expected that would turn him to my side and cause him to see reason. But it only made him more loyal. Loyalty is a luxury that we cannot afford in this game; only your wits and a strong sense of self-preservation will get you as far as I have come. But I guess that was my problem--I expected loyalty from my own son. In the end, he betrayed me. Even after I gave him a second chance to prove himself, to make his father proud, still he failed me. He left me with only one choice. What do you do with the weakest link, the rotten apple, the runt of the litter? The weak must be dispatched to make room for the strong. It's survival of the fittest, pure and simple. As a father, it is my responsibility to take care of my children. And so, this is a job for me alone. I must face down my disgrace and regain my own honor by acknowledging my folly. I must prove my own faithfulness by giving up that which has compromised my reputation. I will take his hand and lead him to the mountaintop where we will pay tribute to the skies. But there is no ram in the thicket, my son. Today, you are the sacrifice. END ================================= Author's Note: "Aqedah" is the Hebrew term for "binding" and is used to refer to the Binding of Isaac in Genesis 22, to which the last paragraph is an allusion. This is part 2 of the series and is followed by one more installment, "Monogenes" send feedback to: bellefleur1013@yahoo.com find the rest of this series and other stories at: www.geocities.com/bellefleur1013