Victim of the Game by CKing Part I The long driveway weaved through thick trees toward the mansion that was his destination. Alex Krycek knew this area very well. In full sunlight the area was beautiful, professionally landscaped and as elegant as the woman that resided in the mansion. He knew that at this time of year the mansion would have only a skeleton staff, one or two people at most. The rest would have gone with their mistress to her estate in France. Krycek had made that trip with her a few times before. Back when he was her chosen favorite. She'd been good to him back then. Pampered him like a pet. He still didn't know what he'd done to make her angry enough for her to have that smoking bastard try to kill him with a car bomb. Water under the bridge, he'd probably never know. For a member of the Consortium, albeit a lesser member, and a woman of enormous wealth, Alberta Mayfield had a laughable security system on her house. Alex doubted she'd upgraded since he'd last been there. He walked up in sight of the guard shack just inside the gate. The guard was sitting in the shack reading a magazine. Alex moved within ten feet of the gate and sat quietly on the driveway with his legs crossed, hands resting in his lap. He waited. After a few minutes the guard glanced up and was surprised to see the huddled form sitting quietly, head bowed with the bill of a baseball cap covering his face. The man's clothes looked like army surplus, or salvation army. Probably homeless, a nut. The guard cursed in annoyance and got up. He pulled out his nightstick and walked from the shack to the gate. "Hey, buddy. This is private property, you have to leave." Krycek sat silently, not acknowledging the guard. The guard frowned and raised his voice. "HEY! You! You can't stay there, you have to clear off. Beat it before I call the cops." Alex didn't move. The guard rattled his club against the bars of the gate. "I said, move it! Either you clear out or I'm going to make you very sorry." [Nothin', Tar Baby sit and say nothin'.] Frustrated, the guard went into the shack and hit the button to open the gate. Alex grinned, Alberta had always had a bad habit of hiring her guards more for the way they filled out their uniforms than for any brains they might have. He'd counted on it. He kept his face turned down as he heard the guard cursing, coming through the small opening he'd made in the gate. The guard swaggered over, swinging his nightstick against his leg. He was actually starting to look forward to having to trash this guy. At least it would break up the monotony, and relieve some frustration. "All right, this is your last warning. Get away from here." Just as he got in range, Krycek finally raised his face up to him. He also raised the barrel of his gun. "Hello there, Brer' Rabbit." The guard's eyes widened dramatically as the tranquilizer dart flew out and buried itself in his neck. He dropped his nightstick as he slumped to the ground. Alex stood carefully and grabbed the guard by the back of the jacket. He dragged the limp man through the gate and to the guard shack laying him carefully beside his chair. Retrieving the nightstick, he stuck it in the man's belt. Straining, he pulled the man into the chair and let him slump across the desk as if asleep. He removed the dart from the body and hit the button to close the gate. Satisfied, he moved quickly to the main house. He pulled out an electronic lock pick designed for use by firefighters from his pocket and inserted it into the front door lock. In a minute he had the door open. He sneered at the ease of his entry then moved into the front room. The burglar alarm was harder to disarm, but it helped to know that Alberta consistently rotated the same codes. One of her weaknesses. He went straight to the master bedroom and to the hidden safe. Glancing around the elegant room, he caught himself again wondering what he had done to get himself in trouble with her. The guard outside reminded him of one incident. He'd strolled into the mansion's gym to find Alberta watching a Van Damme wannabe working a heavy gym bag. She'd turned and seen Alex standing there. "Alex, this is Roger, he's going to be my new bodyguard." "Bodyguard? Why would you need him when I'm with you?" "Roger comes highly recommended. He is trained is several forms of martial arts." She turned to the lightly sweating man. "Would you please show Alex, Roger?" The other man attacked the heavy bag with a series of blows and kicks that kept the bag dancing. Alex had no doubt that the same attack on a living man would put him in critical care. Finished, Roger bounced back to a cocky stance and faced Alex. "What could you do if someone attacked Ms. Mayfield?" he challenged. Alex's hand flashed to the small of his back and came out with his gun. He put three shots into the heavy bag in a tight grouping that would have done his arms instructors at the academy proud. The gun was put away as fast as it came out. Krycek shrugged at the gaping man. "Oh, I don't know. I'd think of something." Alberta hadn't known whether to laugh or scold him for the stunt. So she did neither. Roger had been relegated to chief of security/ body guard when Alex wasn't available. Alex resumed his place at her side. A few months later he'd been out. He forced the thoughts away and went to work. Pulling an electronic device from another pocket, he attached it to the safe's lock. This device had gotten him into the safe that had hidden the alien egg months ago. It didn't fail him this time either. The flashing lights stopped and the safe silently opened. He pulled a nylon sack from the deep pocket on his jacket. Everything in the safe went into the sack. He made a quick mental estimate and decided that it would be enough to get everything he needed to buy and to live on for a several months. He debated leaving a taunting message for Alberta and her security chief, but restrained himself from the juvenile act. He made a quick run through her suite for any other valuables that would be easy to fence. He left as quietly as he came in. The guard was still unconscious when Krycek returned to the shack. He hit the button for the gate to fully open, once it was done moving he hit the button to close it. Slipping through the gate before it finished closing, he jogged down the driveway feeling cocky. These Consortium people got too complacent in their power, over confident. They needed someone to shake them up a little. He'd be glad to oblige. Fox Mulder tossed in his sleep, fighting another nightmare. He'd been having similar ones off and on for the last three months. He'd dragged Scully with him on another of his searches for the truth. Followed another agent to Louisiana to check on the rumor of alien materials that would be taken from a plane crash site. Agent Costain was killed in a gunfight with mercenaries, and he and Scully had been captured. His mind kept going back to the mercenary looming over tiny Scully as she laid on the floor at Mulder's feet. The man hitting her, slamming his fist into the nerves in her legs to paralyze her, like driving a spike through Mulder's heart with each blow. Mulder had been blind with berserk anger. Then the monster had started undressing her. Even now, Mulder instinctively reacted with horror and fury. Sometimes, in his nightmares, the ugly mercenary hadn't been stopped. Krycek hadn't shown up at just that moment and put a bullet in the mercenary's head. Those times Mulder woke up in a panic, and had to call Scully to be sure she was all right. That the man had not really hurt her in that way. She'd tolerated the phone calls in the wee hours of the morning with her usual grace. He didn't know that she had nightmares herself of the same thing. Tonight though, in his nightmare, Krycek had shown up. The cocky bastard had killed the mercenary then proceeded to lean over Scully. His back partially blocking Mulder's view of what he was doing. Mulder had been scared, Krycek was dangerous, he was totally unpredictable. But he hadn't hurt her, he'd released her. Then turned to Mulder. He was faced with the hated, beautiful, teal green eyes. They looked into his with an expression he couldn't read. An angel's face, but it was a pretty package hiding a demon inside. A demon that only pretended to be a friend. Then there was a silky, dark whisper in his ear. A voice that resonated through him. A kiss that sparked electricity down his spine. Too brief, just enough to make him want more. The pleasant feeling was jarred as his father appeared from nowhere, scolding, furious at this betrayal. Demanding his son avenge his death. Demanding he kill this fallen angel. Scully looking at him in disgust. Walking away from him. Mulder woke with his gut clenched tightly, a gasp, almost a sob escaping him. His eyes snapped open and he lay still, listening, sensing something was wrong in the room. He was laying on his back on the couch. He'd fallen asleep in his sweat pants and T-shirt, a file across his lap and his glasses on the coffee table. The TV was still going, a truly bad old horror movie on the screen. Other than the fish tank's gurgling, there was no sound. Still, something was wrong. He looked around him slowly, then froze. There was a man sitting in the chair facing him. Mulder instinctively reached for his gun, then froze again when he saw it laying across the room. He noted that the other man was pointing a gun with an unusually large barrel opening straight at his chest. The man sat silently, not moving. "What do you want?" Mulder rasped, annoyed. "Who are you?" He sat up on the couch carefully, watching the silent man. The man in the chair moved his right hand slightly to pull a packet of papers off his lap without releasing the gun and tossed the packet onto the coffee table in front of Mulder. He waved his gun inviting Mulder to look at the papers, then returned to pointing it at him. Mulder still couldn't see the man's face. He glanced at the papers, the fish tank and TV gave just enough light to see that the papers were government documents. "No," Mulder was emphatic. "I am not interested. I'm getting really tired of you jerks expecting me to jump through your hoops." The other man didn't say a word. He just smoothly stood up, the gun barrel never wavering from Mulder's chest. Mulder tensed, trying to judge if he could reach the other man in one leap. The other man moved away from him, backing up carefully. "Well?" Mulder was really getting annoyed now. "Are you going to say anything?" The man had moved to a distance that meant that there was no way Mulder could reach him before getting shot. Mulder sat upright on the couch and stopped when he saw the man tense. There was enough light to let him see that the man was wearing a long army coat and camouflage pants. Military boots completed the outfit. The man's face was still in shadow, but he obviously had long hair and a beard covered the lower half of his face. There was something wrong about the way he held his left arm, keeping the hand in a pocket, but Mulder couldn't place what the problem was. There was nothing wrong with the right hand, which held the pistol steadily aimed at Mulder. "You really can be a brick sometimes, Mulder." The voice low, and unmistakable. "Krycek!!" Mulder was on his feet instantly, but he froze as the gun aimed in his face, unwavering. "You son of a bitch! What are you doing here?" "I need to make a deal with you, Mulder. I need your help." The soft, husky voice that he knew from before, before the betrayal. "Forget it, Krycek! After Tunguska? If you think there's any chance of me helping you -" "Mulder," The hated voice was even, reasonable, still low. "I have to have your help with this. I am willing to give you a hell of a lot to do this. The file I just laid on your table tells almost everything the American scientists knew about the worms from the Tunguska rocks," his voice took on the accent of a bad movie actor trying to sound Russian, "What those in Mother Russia call 'The Black Cancer'." His voice returned to normal. "The Americans, sadly, lost all their research, and top researchers. You would have considerable leverage on them with this information." "No." Mulder was shaking with anger. Krycek fought down frustration. He hadn't really expected this to be easy. "Mulder, I am giving you this file. Check it out, you can see I'm on the level. I can get you a lot more. The Russians were always far ahead of the Americans in this field. That lead has grown exponentially. I can get you information the Americans have never even seen. You could know the truth about what they've been doing with that stuff. You could make those shadow men sweat for once." Mulder's eyes narrowed. "What exactly is it that you want from me? What help?" "I need help getting access to people who can break some heavy encryption. I know you have friends who can do that. Not Bureau people. If you have them help me, there's a bonus for you. The information I need is about a certain type of alien. You know about them, the shape shifters. I need to get more information on them. I know where to start, but the data is going to be beyond my abilities to decode. I had to have help with the MJ files. I'm sure their security is even better now." "No. I am not stupid enough to believe you again. You want me to help you steal classified government documents so you can give them to the Russians?" He shook his head glaring at the man in the shadows. " I'm sure the Russians would be real pleased that you're giving away their secrets to me at the same time you steal American secrets." "I'm not getting this information for the Russians. It's strictly for me. I'm not giving the Russians anything. The SOBs double crossed me. I was just able to steal the data on their tests before I left." "Jesus, Krycek. Do you betray everyone you ever meet? Are you capable of playing it straight?" "Dammit, Mulder! You have no clue what my life is like. Don't judge people without all the facts." Mulder jumped slightly at the sudden flare of anger in the voice, at the harshness in his tone. Then his own eyes narrowed as Krycek regained control, spoke softer. "I'm not betraying anyone that didn't burn me first. I didn't set out to work for the Russians. Their operatives got me out of that silo. By the time they found me I would have done anything for anybody to get out. They were going to kill me until I spoke Russian to them. They weren't there for me, they wanted the alien." Mulder interrupted. "Did they get it?" "No. They couldn't get it out of the ship. And they couldn't get the ship out of the country. They lost it. I don't know where it ended up. So the only information they got on the thing they got from me. I lied about how much I could tell them. I had to do some fast talking. The man who became my patron offered me a position if I could prove my usefulness as an operative." "Yeah, I can just imagine what position, Krycek." "Cute. Why don't you curb your baser instincts for a minute, Mulder?" "You have nothing to fear from my baser instincts, it's my finer ones that tell me to kill you." Krycek frowned, "Let's have a meeting of minds. I'll put mine in an elevator and push the down button." He took a deep breath to re-gather composure. "I never meant for you to go to Russia. I sure as hell didn't want you to go to that gulag. I didn't sell you out, Mulder. I did the best I could for you. I think you seriously overestimate how much pull I had with those people. I needed to convince my patron of the wisdom of pulling you out of there as well as me. I just ran out of time." "How do you keep all your stories straight? Celtic knots are linear compared to you." "Mulder, if I was friends with those men why would I let them beat me and throw me in that cell with you overnight? What would I gain by that? I had to convince them to call my patron." His tone dropped dangerously. "You have no idea what it took for me to get them to even call him. Then I had to convince him to intervene. It took time." Krycek started toward him, then stopped after two steps. He firmly leashed his temper. "You had to go and pull your little stunt before I was ready. I had only partially arranged things. Do you really think that no other prisoner has ever tried just charging the guards? Don't you think you got away from that camp surprisingly easy considering that those guards have seen hundreds of attempts?" He had regained control. His voice was smooth and professional again. "After I helped let you escape I couldn't dare return to that camp. So I had to go through the woods. I made a mistake. After I jumped out of the truck I ran into some locals. They did this to me." He turned and faced him full on. Now Mulder could see what was wrong. The left sleeve was empty. He shuddered as he remembered how close he'd come to the same thing. His anger toward his ex-partner eased up a little as he thought about him going through that. He suddenly found himself remembering Krycek uncuffing Scully, helping her to her feet gently. Damn, just when he had convinced himself that Krycek was a heartless monster, he does something like that. And what the hell was that with Krycek kissing him? He shook his head. It had to have been a taunt, playing games. Nothing he'd done so far could make up for the sins of his past. He still wasn't forgiven. He was tired of not being able to see the man's face, of trying to read him by voice alone. He reached a hand over to the table slowly and turned on the lamp. Krycek stepped back keeping clear of the window until he couldn't go any further without leaving the room. Mulder stared at the younger man. He took in the army surplus clothing, the hair on the collar was streaked with gray, as was the mustache and full beard half covering his face. In the shadows even the eyes looked different, they looked black. He could see that the only patch on the jacket was a POW symbol on the left shoulder. The boots had a zipper up the front instead of laces. In the light he could see that the pistol Krycek was holding on him was a tranquilizer gun, thus the extra large barrel opening. A trank gun. Mulder tensed himself, preparing to charge the other man. A trank gun he could risk. He stopped as Krycek pointed the gun squarely at his heart again. "Don't, Mulder." The soft voice was deadly serious. "You'll be down before you make three steps. The drug is instant, and leaves you feeling like hell when you wake up, six hours later. I don't want to hurt you, but I will not be your punching bag anymore." "You still haven't explained why you need the information, Krycek." "When I got away from the men in the woods I went to my patron in St. Petersburg. You don't want to know about the trip getting there. He had doctors fix me as much as possible. After I recovered I had to prove that I could still function as an operative. That I could still be useful. Getting that alien egg from the Consortium was my challenge. I only partially completed my mission." "Why? You got the egg. Did you lose it again?" Krycek shook his head, looking down at the floor briefly. "Actually, that would have been better." His gaze returned to Mulder and he could see distress in the dark depths. "I tried to get the egg to Russia. The Consortium had men at every airport. I tried going to Mexico and from there getting a plane overseas, they had men there too. Almost caught me. I even took a ship to the Bahamas and tried to get a flight from there. It took time. I finally got on a plane to England and from there to Russia. I don't know how, but they found me, there was a shoot-out. A bullet went through the egg and continued into me. The contents splashed all over me. The thing's, main being—I guess you'd call it, was apparently forcibly inserted into me." He shuddered at the memory, his face tight. "The Russians killed the Consortium men, and got me to a hospital in Moscow. I nearly died, and not just from the bullet. They discovered that the alien wasn't killed when the egg broke. It was alive inside me, and it made me sick. I was hospitalized for a month. In quarantine. Finally, the alien and my body made peace." His voice dropped to a near whisper. "It's alive, conscious, and it's growing." He lounged back against the door jamb, his face calm as if settling in for a lengthy bout. Totally in control Krycek, except for the slight edge in his voice. The gun now hung at his side forgotten. "This wasn't the preferred way for the creature to develop, but it was able to adapt. My 'comrades' decided that this phenomenon needed to be studied. They said this had never happened before. They made me a test subject." He flexed his neck, easing stiff muscles. "At least they talked to me when they were doing it. They let me know what was happening and why. That's a courtesy most test subjects never get. They weren't exactly sure what this alien would do, I guess they thought if they were friendly it would be more cooperative. Still, I objected. I made sure that was clear to them before I left." Mulder had seen more warmth on the faces of marble statues than the face Krycek was showing him now. He had no doubt that Krycek meant what he said about showing his displeasure. "What's with the vet outfit?" "I had to sneak out of Russia to get back to America. I went to Vietnam from St. Petersburg and then to America with a tour group of Nam vets who had vacationed in the new resorts in country, trying to lay their ghosts to rest. I had to color my hair to look old enough to have been there. And the beard hides my face somewhat. The POW patch kept people from bugging me too much. I act like the bitter vet and they'd leave me alone." "So now the Russians are after you too?" "Yeah. But they don't want me dead. A live test subject is much more useful." "You said it's conscious?" Mulder was leaning forward attentively. He stared at Krycek as though trying to see into him to the alien. He looked up at Mulder and tensed at the eager shine he saw in those eyes. "Yes, to a point. It has a child like awareness so far. I can still keep it subdued. I can direct it to repair damage rather than work on spreading, but it gets harder all the time. It wasn't quite ready to hatch yet. It's still immature, but it is adapting to my body. Rather, it's adapting my body to its needs. They told me that it has already changed some of my body chemistries." As he spoke his voice slowly lowered at the thought of what was happening inside him. He dropped his eyes back down, letting his thick lashes hide him, and concentrated on control. He refused to meet Mulder's gaze and risk letting any of his own fear show. He couldn't stop the small tremor that ran through him, he just hoped Mulder didn't notice in the dark. "Eventually, it will change me completely. I won't even have red blood anymore. When it gets stronger, older, it will fight me for control of my body. They said that it will gradually take away my consciousness. It will essentially erase me when it's strong enough." The tremor hadn't escaped Mulder. He actually liked it that Krycek's voice kept slipping and he sounded more like a scared little boy than the cold professional he tried to project. It made him easier to tolerate. "It's one of the oil aliens?" The gentle tone of a trained psychologist trying to keep a skittish patient talking. "No. Those things just borrow the human body for awhile." He had control over his voice again. He was calm, as if this was some case they were discussing and not his life. "They aren't even individuals. They're colonies, with a communal hive type mind. This thing should have been a shape shifter when it matured. You've met one I heard, Jeremiah Smith? Different species, different planets. Each is an individual. I can tell you more if we come to an agreement." Mulder was restraining himself by an extreme act of self-control. Krycek knew about the aliens, he carried one, and he was handing the information over to Mulder! He forced his enthusiasm down. All he had so far was the word of Alex Krycek, a proven liar. He couldn't be trusted, and so far he had offered no proof. "I don't know how I can help. You've already got more information than I do." Guarded, not giving anything. He searched Mulder's face plaintively. Seeing the distrust there, he hung his head. "Mulder, what I know, I got from the Russian scientists and what little I found in the computers. I know generalities, I don't have specifics. I know where to start looking. I just need your help with the computers, and then figuring out how to use whatever I can find. I just don't have the resources you do." Mulder thought about it. The chance to get information on these aliens was too much to pass up. He nodded as he decided. "All right. I'll help you. But the first time I suspect you're not being honest with me—" Krycek looked at him with an expression that brought back memories of when they first worked together. Wide eyed, guileless, eager to be trusted. "Mulder, I'm just trying to stay alive, and stay me. I don't expect you to trust me. I'll say it anyway, I'm not going to burn you with this. I just need help. I need to find out how to get this thing out of me, if I can, without killing myself too. In the process I'm going to dig up things you will want. It will work to both our advantage." He moved over by the table and laid his gun down, keeping a sharp eye on Mulder. He reached into the pocket on his right thigh and pulled out a computer data tape. He showed it to Mulder then laid it on the table. He picked up the gun quickly before Mulder could close the distance. "That tape has what data I've been able to find on the aliens. I know some more, but it's just what the scientists have told me. I don't have any hard proof yet. I am willing to give you this as an act of good faith." "You've got a deal, for now. For as much as I can go along with." Krycek nodded. "Good enough." He moved to the door carefully, keeping an eye on Mulder. Mulder didn't move. Krycek went out the door, and Mulder hurried across the room. He opened the door and heard Krycek's footsteps beating a rhythmic tattoo as he hurried down the worn stairs, the sound rapidly fading. Back in the apartment, Mulder walked over and picked up the tape on the table. He lightly turned it over in his hand absently as he went to the door to lock it. He carried the tape to his computer and turned the machine on. Might as well see what Krycek had handed him. After making a backup of the tape he opened it. He wasn't really surprised to see that the tape was written all in Russian. He shut the program down in annoyance. He'd have to see about getting a translation program in the morning. Damn Krycek, why couldn't he ever make things easy? He went back to the files laying on his coffee table. At least these would be readable. The question was, were they legit? Krycek slipped through the crowds of office workers getting out of work for the day. He blended in with the rest of the office drones. Nothing about him sticking out except the briefcase he carried with a company logo on it. He'd bought new clothes, suits and ties. Not too flashy, not too shabby, nothing to draw attention. The small automatic resting at the small of his back didn't even make a bulge in the jacket's lay. No—one gave him a second look. Just another drone going to work. He had gotten a shave and his hair cut into a crew cut just a bit longer than he'd worn when he was with the militia. Taking care of longer hair with one arm was a royal pain. He'd gone into a salon and been serviced by a pretty young beautician who hadn't even commented on his missing arm, she'd just flirted pleasantly. She also gave him a manicure on his right hand. It was impossible to trim his own fingernails properly without a left hand. He had explained that he was with a local theater group when she asked about the gray hair coloring coming out as she shampooed him. She'd been delighted and asked questions about it. He'd made up believable lies and flirted back without even thinking about it. It was second nature to him by now. He'd slept through most of the morning, and then had looked up an old contact of his, a man named Frank Conner. Conner was one of the few people he knew from the old days he was willing to trust. He gave Alex a fair deal on everything he'd taken from Alberta's home and didn't ask any questions about where they came from. Alex told him he needed to check out an office building belonging to a company named Sarcus. He knew they had ties with the Consortium and he had an idea where he needed to look for the information he wanted. After a little careful research, Conner had come up with a Sarcus ID card with Alex's picture on it. He'd also provided Alex with several pieces of computer equipment that would be needed. He'd even managed to provide some special equipment Alex asked for. None of it was cheap, and he charged even more for the rush job, but it was all of the best quality. The ID stated that he worked for one of the computer companies in the building. He carried a large, soft leather business case, one with both a handle and a carry strap. It had the company's logo on it and computer repair tools lay at the very top of the case, along with an external parallel drive for downloading files. The Sarcus building held a large number of offices for smaller, subsidiary companies of the corporation along with Sarcus's main offices. Most of its real research and development took place in satellite buildings scattered around the world. All the smaller companies and the majority of Sarcus's divisions were closed for the day. But there were always those die hard employees working late into the night trying to meet deadlines. He went through the doors of the Sarcus building as a group came out, using them to shield him somewhat from the security guard at the door. There were hundreds of people that worked at the large office building. There was no way security could know all the employees. He knew the office he wanted was on the thirtieth floor. He got stopped twice trying to find the correct office. Each time he made up plausible explanations for where he was. Each encounter setting his nerves on end until he was ready to scream with frustration. In the end he found himself down a darkened corridor. He glanced over his shoulder, made sure no one was watching, then dove into it. The hall deadened into a secretarial area and one door. He had the door open in moments. Blinds covered the windows, darkening the room. He stepped toward the long desk he saw across the room, promptly barking his shin on a low table. Cursing and rubbing his leg, he took the next several steps cautiously. He turned on the desk lamp and checked the office by its soft glow. Relaxing slightly, he sat in the soft leather chair and sighed at its comfort. A quick rifle through the drawers of the desk found nothing of interest. He turned to the cabinet beside the desk and opened it to find a computer system. He worked on the computer for two hours before he found the files he was looking for. He pulled his external drive out, and plugged it into the parallel port of the computer. The fast little machine downloaded the files effortlessly. Within twenty minutes he had 2 gigabytes of information downloaded on the tape. He ejected the disc and stuck it in a pocket of his pants. The external drive went back into his briefcase. A male voice interrupted him as he straightened from closing the case. "Alex Krycek, in my office, interesting." Every nerve in Krycek's body screamed, ordering that he fling himself behind cover and start shooting. He didn't. Instead, he carefully pulled his gun from the back of his belt, obscuring the movement as he leaned back and rotated the chair to face the other man. The man was silhouetted in the doorway. An exquisitely cut suit on a tall, lean form. Gray hair perfectly styled. He had one hand casually in his pocket. He gestured with the other. "What magnificent self-control. A weaker man might have bolted." Alex simply looked at him. "Might I come in? It is my office you know." His voice was a cultured baritone. "Certainly," Krycek replied. His back had been turned. He had no idea how long the man had been standing there. "Close the door behind you." Alex smiled up at the man dangerously. "Please." "Of course." He stepped forward into the pool of light and dropped into one of the chairs in front of the desk. "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Joseph Milton." And I am a man of wealth and power...Alex's mind supplied. Alex recognized the name, Milton was the CEO for Redwall International, a major subsidiary of Sarcus and one of its top research companies. Also a junior member of the Consortium. His files were what brought Alex here tonight. Alex hadn't counted on a man so high in the corporation feeling the need to put in overtime. The man should have been out at some function, buying or blackmailing a few senators or some other terribly important thing. Not here complicating Alex's life. Alex smiled insincerely. "I've heard of you. Large and well known family. I heard your ancestors came over on the Mayflower. Did they walk up the hawser rope?" Milton's face turned slightly red, but he kept his expression calm. "Is our conversation to be illumined by the effulgence of your one-watt wit, Krycek? Or can we get on to more important matters?" Alex shrugged, holding his gun under the desk, ready. "I'd be interested in knowing how you knew me on sight. As far as I know, we never had occasion to meet." "Your name and face are well known to my associates and me. You've caused a bit of difficulty for a mutual friend of ours a time or two. You have a tendency to stir up things better left alone. Also, you are rather fresh in our minds since the Louisiana incident." He studied Krycek for a minute. Then smiled nastily. "Yes," Milton continued in a normal voice, "we know all about you. You are very nearly as great a nuisance as that FBI agent -Mulder, I believe his name is." Krycek's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Milton studied Krycek for a moment, then cocked his head as if just remembering something. "I seem to remember hearing something about you and Agent Mulder..." His smirk widened. "Seems you two got very close, before you had to leave so abruptly." Krycek's face darkened in anger. "Goddamnit, if Cardinal wasn't already dead, I'd kill him for starting that lie! Contrary to the rumor in the group, Mulder and I have never had any relationship other than as partners." Milton's eyes gleamed at the scored point. "What exactly brings you to my office? I don't keep valuables here, and my computer has no government secrets. I never heard you were into corporate raiding," this time there was no mistaking the leer, "but then, I guess anything goes for you, doesn't it Krycek?" "I don't believe your files are as uninteresting as you imply. You see, I know a little about you as well. I thought it would be worthwhile to check things out." "And what did you hope to find in my files?" "I wasn't sure. I find that a great part of the information I have was acquired by looking up something and finding something else on the way. And it is better to know what is there than to not know." "Blind fishing then?" Milton's voice was amused, his eyes were not. "What exactly are you hoping to accomplish?" "I want the Consortium to stop hunting me. I want to make a deal." "What could you possibly have that we would want to deal for?" "For one thing, whatever I could find of value here. As an added value—if you know me, you know I had a certain computer tape for awhile." "Ah, yes. But I don't believe you still have that tape." "The man I answered to lied about my death, he lied to you about destroying the DAT tape. Until I proved the lie by selling off the tape. Why would you believe that he really destroyed it this time? Besides, I'm paranoid, I made and hid copies." "I was told it was impossible to copy that tape." "Difficult, not impossible. You know I had to have had a way if I could get it unencrypted. From there, it was easy to copy it." Milton managed to not show how much this bothered him. "I see." He pulled a cigarette out of a gold case. Krycek shook his head as he offered him one. "No thanks, damn things cause cancer you know." Milton shrugged. "So what exactly are you proposing with these files, if, in fact, you have them. I understand you sold them for awhile. A very foolish mistake, by the way." "Actually, it worked out pretty well for me. Until the French tracked me down and chased me. It's amazing how many people are interested in what's on that tape." "How nice to know that treason paid well for you. I assume you expect to get money this time as well?" "No. I don't want your money. I want to be free. I want people to stop chasing me. If I can't have that, then I've decided to let you all fight it out among yourselves. I'll send a copy of the tape to all the major players, Russia, England, France, Japan. Then I'm putting these documents out on the web. Free to everyone." Milton exploded out of his seat, he stopped as Krycek brought his gun up. "You can't do that!" Milton hissed angrily, his face was reddened. He leaned forward, resting his hands on the desk. "You can't do that." He had his voice under control again. "Do you have any concept of what that could do?" Krycek's face was deadly. "I know exactly what that would do. And I'm willing to risk it." Now he leaned forward, snarling in Milton's face. "I want my life back! I want to be free to live in the States again." "You're making a horrible mistake. They'll never let you live after this." " The man who has abandoned hope has also abandoned fear, that is the meaning of the word 'desperate'. I have nothing to lose." His face was entirely feral now as he stared at the other man. "But I can be reasonable. I release nothing as long as I'm left alone. I so much as sense someone coming after me and I'll release data." He got up from his chair and came around to stand by Milton, keeping his gun trained on the other man. Milton had regained his calm exterior. "There is always the manner in which one meets his death to consider. How long it takes, and how much pain is involved. And, you can release nothing once you're dead." "It's not like people haven't been trying. But I have a backup. The documents are set up so that they release automatically into the web if I don't put in certain codes to stop them on a regular basis. Sort of like a virus, and I have the only vaccine. But, you tell the Committee. Meanwhile, I have to leave. And you have to go to sleep." Krycek slammed the gun to the back of the other man's head and let him slump to the floor. He leaned down to quickly pat the other man down. He removed the money from Milton's wallet, almost five hundred dollars. Pocket money for Milton, but a blessing for Krycek. It had been a long time since he'd had a regular paycheck and his funds were limited. He turned off the desk lamp, grabbed his briefcase, and exited the room, pushing the button on the handle to lock the door before shutting it behind him. He made his way toward the elevators quickly. The floor seemed to be empty. Nope, not quite. There were two men standing by the elevators. Krycek stopped. He recognized one of the men, a vicious Consortium enforcer named Menace. As soon as they saw him they began reaching under their jackets towards bulges that had to be guns. Alex glanced around him and saw a small nook that had probably held a copy machine at one time but was now empty. He threw himself into it. He landed hard on his left shoulder and cursed the prosthesis silently as it landed awkwardly. Four ragged holes burst into the plaster in the far wall. The only sound was the sound of the slugs tearing into sheet rock, the men were using silencers. Krycek fumbled his small automatic from his holster. Two more holes appeared in the wall. He shoved his briefcase behind him, out of the way. He checked to make sure the gun was ready then threw himself forward into the corridor. Menace's partner was entering the hallway, trying to get a better angle on Krycek. The muzzle was aimed high, above where Alex lay on the floor. Krycek fired twice, red splotches bloomed over the man's shirt pocket. His mouth fell open, then he slid towards the floor. Krycek rolled back into his alcove. Menace snapped off a badly aimed shot then dodged out of sight. Alex heard him talking quietly. Krycek looked around the nook. His eyes lit on a small red box marked "alarm-fire". He reached up carefully and yanked down the lever. A harsh siren blared throughout the halls. Menace called out over the shrieking sound. "No good, Krycek. We'll just call it in as a false alarm." Krycek yelled back, "Think about it Menace." "What do you...Ah! Very good, Krycek. You've stopped the elevators. Congratulations, you've bought yourself some time that I didn't think you had. But my men will just use the stairs." He went silent, and Krycek realized he was radioing the situation to his men. "Menace!" He did not want him talking to the reinforcements, better to get him talking. "Yes, Krycek." As Menace replied, the siren suddenly shut off. The disappearance of the noise was deafening. "Menace, I'm sorry I had to kill your man." "Not your fault. He knew the risks. He got careless. I told him you were dangerous." "How did you know I was here?" "Milton called us. Said he'd stall you till we got here." "Is this really necessary? We were friends once." "I'm sorry, Krycek," Menace said after a moment, "But I don't make the decisions, I just enforce them. It was decided you had to die, it is my job to ensure it. It's nothing personal." Ok, he's sympathetic, now let's try a little whining "All right then, what are my options? Can't we cut a deal or something?" "I'm afraid not. There is only one way to end this thing. The best I can offer is to make it easy for you. I will grant you one favor." Krycek swallowed dryly. "What is the favor?" Alex had discovered a long time ago that if you whined a little the big, tough, "he-men", like Menace and Skinner, wouldn't take you as a threat. They'd let down their guard. Sometimes that was all the edge Alex needed to overcome them. They found out too late their contempt was misplaced. He could hear it now in Menace's voice. "First, you throw out your gun. Then you come out and assume the position. You remember the position don't you? On your knees, hands under the butt. You put your head down, and I handle the rest. No mess, nice and clean. Quick and painless." "Jesus!" Krycek made the word sound like a squeak of terror. He wanted to sound almost hysterical, like he was losing it. "That's your best offer? No thanks, man." "That's the best I can do, Krycek. You know they can do much worse to you." Krycek shrugged off his suit coat and wadded it up. "You can't.... I mean, we can't...talk about this? We...can't we work something out?" < Don't lay it on too thick. He won't buy it... > "I wish I could, but I can't. Look, you know what it's like. So, come on, we both know how these things work, we both know there's no way out for you. Face it, I'm asking you to make it easier on yourself." Menace's voice was soft, sympathetic, reasonable. "But.. we could...uh..." Krycek cocked his arm for a hard throw, and tossed the coat into the hall. A near silent hail of bullets shredded it. "Menace, I consider that to be a pretty damn hostile gesture. I take that personally." "I understand your viewpoint, Krycek, but try to look at the situation as a professional. I'm just trying to do my job here." There wasn't the least hint of apology in Menace's voice. "You know that I am not going to believe anything you say from now on." "I can respect that." The sound was very faint. Just a tiny click—the noise of a magazine being ejected from a pistol butt, Krycek prayed to any deity that chose to listen. That has to be it, if it isn't I am about to be dead... He jerked down hard on the fire alarm, using it to pull himself to his feet. The siren squalled, filling the hallway with noise. Krycek ran out of the nook as fast as he could, faster than he had in a long time. Running toward where, he hoped, Menace was crouched, changing his magazine. Fate smiled on Alexander Krycek. Menace lay stretched on the floor around the corner, his head and shoulders angled into the hallway in a classic shooter's sprawl. Excellent for aiming, but lousy for maneuvering. Alex saw anger flicker over the man's face as he realized he had been suckered. He rolled sideways to reload as Krycek closed on him. Krycek ran up and fired two shots quickly into the other man's chest and neck. Menace fell back onto the floor, but his freshly reloaded gun went off as he died. One round went through Krycek's right thigh. Krycek collapsed onto the floor gasping as he fought for control over the pain. He checked the wound quickly. It wasn't bleeding bad enough to have hit any major vessels, and it didn't feel like it hit a bone. He'd live. Sending a mental order to the alien to get to work healing the damage, he sensed agreement from it. He considered it a good sign that the alien couldn't 'talk' yet, and that it still followed his orders, he just wished he knew how long that would continue. He slowly gathered himself and crawled over to Menace's body. He holstered his gun, then reached down and relieved Menace of his weapon. The pistol was an automatic, with a factory silencer. The gun went into his belt, along with the small black radio he pulled off Menace's belt. He placed the ear piece in his ear. Might as well keep track of Menace's men. Limping, he headed toward the far end of the building and away from the reinforcements he knew had to be coming. He took the time to go back to the alcove and retrieve his case. The carry strap went over his shoulder, leaving his hand free to hold the gun. He got to the back stairway and started up. The stairwell was concrete, featureless, uniform, gray. He could hear Menace's men talking to each other in his stolen radio. They were planning who was climbing the stairs, who tried the elevators and who stayed in the lobby. As he got to the thirty fourth floor, Krycek left the stairway and walked a short way down the hall to a receptionist desk. The floor appeared to be abandoned for the night. Time for a diversion. He dialed the phone number of a local news station. He spoke Farsi moderately well, he strove to get the accent evident in his voice. When the phone was answered he babbled forth some Farsi as fast as his tongue would let him. Then went into English again to make sure he was understood. "We have had enough! We are tired of the tools of Satan running things... Enough! We will do something about it, yes, and the world will see how weak the dogs are!" "Sir?" the voice young, nervous. But eager. "Rivers of blood. They are dogs, and sorcerers, and murderers and the defilers of all that is good, they understand nothing but violence, and violence they shall have!" "Sir? Yes, sir, but can I..." "The Sarcus building, send a camera crew. They'll see it. Tonight. Soon. They shall be blasted by the power of the faithful. Do you take my meaning? Blasted!" "Sir? Sir? Are you still there?" "I am. They won't be! They will have been blown to meet the one true one!" "Sir, can I ask you one question?" "You cannot." Krycek hung up the phone. He allowed a smirk to cross his face. There were people working now in this huge office building. There would have to be an evacuation, they couldn't risk a building like this blowing up in Washington and trapping people. Even Menace's people couldn't stop it. The TV people would call the cops, the cops would call the bomb squad. There would be chaos, over a hundred people streaming out. He kept the radio's jack in his ear, trying to keep track of where Menace's men were, and through them, where the cops were. He heard the exclamations of Menace's men as they found the three men Alex had shot. They were definitely pissed at him. Clean up crews were removing all the evidence at each of the scenes. Luckily, no one had noticed yet that Menace's radio was missing. That was a mistake Menace wouldn't have made. Even so, Krycek knew it wouldn't take them long to notice. First things first, he needed to stop his bleeding. He remembered seeing the sign for a first aid station on every other floor on the plans for this building. Luck was with him. He found the aid station without running across anyone. He quickly dressed the wound on his leg. The wound went completely through his leg, and the alien seemed to be working on slowing his bleeding. At least, he didn't seem to be bleeding as much as he would expect. As he wrapped it the best he could one handed he listened on his radio. There didn't seem to be any men near him yet. He pulled a small test tube from his pocket and opened the stopper with his teeth. Scowling at the viscous green fluid in the tube, he took a deep breath and tipped it up to drink it. The taste made him want to gag. Somewhere inside him he could sense a purr of approval as the fluid hit his stomach. Ah, shut up and heal me. The corridor was empty as he found and broke into an office. It only took a moment to boot up the computer there. He pulled out the disc he'd purchased and slid it into the computer. It was a simple program, it had only one task. As it entered the network it set off every alarm in the building. Fire, burglar, everything. The building echoed with the klaxons. That should shut down the elevators for awhile. And create a little chaos. He headed down the hall, around a corner, and to the stairway and then, Aw, shit... There were people on the stairs, and not merely stragglers, a lot of people, all coming down from the upper floors. The stairs were packed. Agitated and annoyed workers talking to each other in loud voices that echoed in the stairway. He turned and headed back for the elevators. They would be shut off again, but they were his best bet. He went to the first one he saw and carefully inserted a tool into the key slot beside the door for fire department override. After a minute he had the door open. Another few moments and he had over ridden the elevator and it was carrying him up to the top floor. He knew time was now disappearing at an alarming rate. The Consortium men knew where he was now. It wouldn't take them long to override the elevators and come after him. Alex exited on the top floor and wasted no time getting to the stairway. He went up onto the roof, and hurried to the edge of the building. Fighting the powerful winds trying to throw him over the side, he pulled the case off his shoulder and sat it on the ground. He quickly removed all the computer supplies from the case and revealed a carefully packed parachute. The special, tiny chute had cost him an obscene amount, but it would pay for itself now. He pulled the straps onto his shoulders and through his legs and stepped onto the railing of the roof. He could sense a disquiet in the back of his mind. A desire to not try this, the alien was paying attention now, distracted from trying to heal the damage to its host body. Krycek silently ordered it to be still and let him do what was needed. He could feel brief resistance, then the presence was gone again. Alex felt a thrill race through him as he peered over the edge into the darkness. He hadn't done anything like this since his army days. There was nothing to match the thrill of free fall, the sheer adrenaline as you came as close as humanly possible to being able to really fly. He heard the roof door bang open behind him. He barely held back the whoop of excitement as he threw himself over the edge and felt the strong winds grab his body. The fall was too short, he was only able to free fall for a few seconds. Almost regretfully, he pulled a release causing an explosive charge to open the chute immediately. Wind caught the specially designed chute, jerking him up sharply. He quickly reached for the control grip and began making adjustments to control his descent. By the time the gunmen made it to the edge of the roof, he was out of range and widening the distance quickly. The black chute didn't offer an easy target as he guided it to updrafts and moved away from the area. He finally guided the chute down in a small park. The descent was gentle, but his right leg still screamed at the abuse. He collapsed onto the grass and released the straps before the chute could drag him. Levering himself up, he pulled his shirt tails out to cover the guns in his belt. After quickly checking the area, he headed for a gas station down the block. By the time he made it to the pay phone at the edge of the gas station he was exhausted. The walk had increased his bleeding. He dialed a number he knew by heart. It picked up on the third ring. "Mulder." God, it was pathetic how Mulder's voice could set his pulse racing. How just the voice could make something in him sit up and take notice. Not that he'd ever admit it. "Mulder, I ran into a little trouble. I've got some information that would interest you, but I'm having a little trouble getting there. Think you could come pick me up?" "What are you up to Krycek?" The voice in question was currently not pleased. "What am I up to? Anybody or anything. But, for now, I have some files on some projects that no one wants you to see. The only way I can give them to you is if you come get me." "Where are you?" Resigned this time. Krycek read off the address. "Mulder, I may have been tracked. I don't know how much time I have." He heard the FBI agent grumble something under his breath. Then, "I'll be there." Mulder hung up. Krycek hung up and then headed into the shadows behind the station. He sat down beside a dumpster and kept his hand near the automatic in his belt. As he sat there in the quiet he had to fight the urge to close his eyes and sleep. Mulder was annoyed, past annoyed, he was pissed. Krycek had a tendency to show up suddenly, stir things up, and then expect Mulder to pick up the pieces while he disappeared underground again. Now for him to expect Mulder to save his sorry ass from whatever he'd gotten himself into was really asking too much. I should just arrest him, force him to tell me what he knows and leave him in a jail cell. The man keeps coming back like a case of herpes, and he's just as welcome. Put him in a cell and let the Consortium take himout of my life permanently.> The problem was, it wouldn't be all that easy to get Krycek to spill everything he knew. He was certain that Krycek did know a significant amount about the Consortium. If nothing else had, the Tunguska Rock situation had convinced him of that. Krycek was more than hired muscle. He pulled into the gas station in a foul mood. Krycek wasn't in sight,but that wasn't surprising. Mulder was starting to get out of the car whenhe spotted the dark shape moving toward him. Krycek pulled the passenger door open and collapsed into the seat. "Thanks, Mulder." The FBI man stared at him for a moment. Krycek was dirty, disheveled and the blood from his leg wound had soaked the leg of his pants. He radiated weariness. Mulder tightened his jaw in annoyance at the thought of what he was doing to the car seat, but he didn't say anything as hepulled away from the station. "You going to tell me what you've been up to?" Krycek looked at him out of the corner of his eyes, the long lashes partially shielding them. "Afraid I'll leave you in the dark?" Mulder pulled over and braked suddenly, causing Krycek to have to catch himself with his hand against the dash."You can get out of the car now." Krycek stared at him for a moment, biting back his immediate response.He averted his eyes from the angry agent."Sorry. What do you want to know?" "Everything. The truth. You lie to me, you're going into a jail cell." "Start driving. I didn't have that big a lead on the guys after me. I'll talk as you drive." Mulder glared a moment more. Then pulled into traffic again. Krycek raised his head up and looked over at him, his eyes tight with pain and weariness. "I know that Sarcus does a lot of work for the Consortium.I thought if we could check some of their holdings, see where they owned things, we might get a lead. I know they have labs hidden somewhere, I just don't know where. I know they were involved in some of the human/alien tests." "Krycek, you amoral shit! How many people have you put in one of those places?" "I never helped in any labs! I was never involved in any humanexperiments at all. That wasn't my field. The only human testing I was partof was as the test subject." He turned away from Mulder, staring out the side window. "You know, Krycek, the thing that terrifies me the most is that someone might hate me as much as I loathe you." Krycek's eyes were cold and dark as he turned back toward Mulder. "You are so damn self righteous. It is for you to cry out against injustice, and it is for the rest of the world to perpetrate it. You don't have any clue about how much power the Consortium has. You have someone in their ranks protecting you, maybe more than one. Most of us don't have that, the Consortium can destroy our lives, and the lives of our families. You don't seem to understand the kind of pressure they can bring to bear.They had me by the balls Mulder. I made a lot of bad choices, I'm paying for them." His voice lowered, "and I'm sorry about your father." This was too much. Mulder slammed on the brakes and slid the car to the side of the road. His hand was on Krycek's throat in an instant. His other hand squeezed Krycek's thigh, where the bullet had gone through. Krycek's right hand closed over the wrist on his throat instinctively as he struggled to breathe. The pain from his leg came back in full force,causing tears to spill down his cheeks and his face to drain of all color. "You son-of-a-bitch! Don't you even mention my father." Krycek turned his face slightly toward him, and suddenly it was hard to see him as a cold blooded murderer. He just looked like a very scared, hurt young man. The green eyes shuttered with pain. Then a swirl of green swam across his eyes. Those eyes were suddenly very cold and utterly inhuman. Mulder felt the skin at the back of his neck tightening up. Krycek's hand started squeezing his wrist in a vise like grip. Muldercould feel the bones in his wrist starting to grind together. He gasped in pain and surprise. He reluctantly released his grip on the other man. As he did, the grip on his wrist eased up slightly, but didn't release him. He was surprised at the strength of the grip. He would never have imagined Krycek was this strong. In another minute his wrist would have been shattered. The entirely green eyes burned into him. Mulder had the impression he was about to be attacked. He felt like he was being stared at by a panther.He tensed himself, wondering if he could reach his gun. Krycek pulled him close enough that he could feel his breath on his face.The inhuman eyes stared into his without expression for a small eternity.As his free hand reached for his gun, the grip on his wrist tightened painfully. He stopped moving and the grip eased again. The danger passed as the eyes cleared back to their normal dark green. Krycek released Mulder's wrist and leaned away from him. His hand went to the wounded thigh to try to ease the pain somewhat. He looked over at the agent from the corner of his eyes. "You know that old adage about an eye for an eye, Mulder? That leaves everyone blind." The always slightly husky voice was rasping now. Mulder glared over at him, but Krycek had turned his face away again,staring out the window. Mulder had forgotten about the alien residing in the younger man. He put the car in gear and drove back towards home .Neither man spoke for several minutes. Then Mulder broke the silence again. "You need that leg looked at." Krycek coughed hoarsely. "No hospitals, Mulder. You know better. They'd have to report it." "I know," Mulder let out a breath. "I'll call Scully. She's gotten pretty good at fixing up wounded men at home. She should have everything you need if you don't need surgery." "I don't think I will. I've been hurt a few times in the past. This doesn't feel that bad. I'll be fine." Blood seeped around his fingers as they held his thigh, fresh bleeding started by the trauma to the area. "At least it's still red." It was said so softly that Mulder wasn't positive he'd heard it. The silence between them was tense and uneasy. Mulder glanced over athis passenger. Krycek's eyes were closed, his head back against the seat. "Oh, by the way, Krycek. I checked the data tape you gave me. It's all in Russian." A soft chuckle came from the other seat. "What did you expect? I took it from Russian computers." "It was also encrypted.""Mulder, I wasn't going to risk just anyone getting that information.You can get it read. It's just a minor inconvenience." He turned back toward Mulder for the first time. "If you want," there was that bedroom voice again, "I'll read it to you." "Thanks, I'll pass." Scully had beaten them to the apartment. She had a medical bag with her,and it was obvious she was not happy. For such a small woman she projected a formidable aura. "I'm sorry, Scully," Mulder told her, as he shoved Krycek through the door. "But he needs medical care and I don't know anywhere else to go that would be safe." "Safe? How about a federal cell? I thought I made my feelings about this clear yesterday when you told me he had approached you." Krycek had moved away from the two, further into the living room. He looked around the room casually, then stopped in front of the couch. Krycek's voice was soft and mocking. "'Let us open up our natures, throw wide the doors of our hearts and letin the sunshine of goodwill, mercy and kindness.'" The two agents stared at him. Mulder shrugged at the look Scully gave him. He turned back to see Krycek standing unsteadily by the couch. As they watched, Krycek slid to the floor leaning his back on the front of the couch. He was too dirty and bloody to sit on the thing. He plopped on the floor even before Mulder could warn him not to touch anything. Krycek leaned his head back onto the cushions, and closed his eyes. The dark mink lashes showing up on his pale skin sharply. His mouth was tightly shut and they could see a muscle twitching along the locked jaw.His right hand held the hole in his thigh, trying to ease the pain somewhat. "Mulder, what happened?" "Scully, like it or not, he needs your help," Mulder looked at the otherman, his expression ambivalent. "He will tell us what he's up to, but right now he's bleeding to death on my carpet." "The bleeding is stopped." They turned at the quiet voice. Looking up at them, he was trying tokeep his face calm and harmless. He didn't know that he was giving them hurt, soulful eyes almost as well as Mulder could. 'I'm not bleeding now. But I would appreciate some help closing this." Mulder turned to Scully, "I'll pull a lamp over here so you can see to fix him." "Mulder, trying to examine the wound, let alone put in sutures, on the floor is going to be very difficult." He sighed. "Fine, we'll use the couch." He pulled a bright lamp next to the couch then went into the bathroom.Krycek struggled onto his feet and stripped off his ruined pants. Mulder returned and spread towels out on the couch, grumbling under his breath the whole time. With an effort, Krycek kept his amusement from showing. He wasn't in the mood for Mulder to add to his various aches and pains right now. He gave them the condensed highlights of his night's activities as Scully laid out her medical supplies on the coffee table. She began examining the wound in his leg with the detached, impersonal attitude she used in her autopsies. "I guess I needed you there to keep me from getting shot." She looked up in surprise at the low, soft voice. Seeing the humor in the green depths of his eyes, she gave him a look that could freeze fire. His eyes seemed to dull out, as if someone had turned off one of the lights overhead. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back.Scully pulled a bottle out Lidocaine out of her kit along with a syringe. "Aaaah, shit." He groaned as she injected the wound with medicine to numb the area. The knuckles of his hand as he held the edge of the couch whitened.Scully gave him the look common to most doctors when they think their patient is being a wuss. Krycek locked his jaw to keep from saying anything else. Mulder winced slightly as Scully probed with forceps into the wound. Krycek hissed air in through his teeth, but he made no move. He was never big on suffering in silence, but he was trying. He knew how little patience these two had with him. He kept his eyes firmly shut and concentrated on not moving. She was surprised at the heat poring off the man, his skin felt like he had a high fever. When she felt his pulse she found it to be racing too fast for aman as apparently in shape as Krycek seemed to be. Then she lookedcloser into his wound. "This is odd." She murmured. Mulder came to stand beside her. "What?" "His blood. It's got a green tinge. And this wound. It looks like it's a day old, not hours." She looked up at the ex-agent. "Krycek, do you have a blood disorder?" His eyes were huge as he looked at the wound and the blood around it. "Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah. You could call it a blood disorder." "I'd like to take a sample, have it analyzed." "Yeah, go ahead." He looked over at Mulder and then back to her."Scully? Could you let me know what you find out? I'd really like to know how it's progressed." "Of course," Her gaze was gentler this time. "Do you have any idea of what it is exactly?" "No. Just run your tests." She continued working on him and Mulder watched carefully. When he had told her last night about Krycek's claim of having an alien in him she had made her disbelief abundantly clear. He wasn't about to mention it now. She touched a particularly sensitive spot and Krycek's hand came over and blocked her for the first time. He pushed her hand away. When she looked up in his face she gasped. His eyes were a swirling maelstrom of green with no pupil. They stayed locked on Mulder, looking at him likea dog silently asking its master why he was allowing the veterinarian to hurt it. The eyelashes came down like a curtain, and when they reopened the eyes had returned to normal. He dropped his gaze away from the two agents."Sorry, it got away from me." Scully turned to Mulder in bewilderment. He was staring raptly atKrycek, fascinated. Scully shook her head and returned to her task.Krycek sat quietly with his eyes closed and jaw locked as she finished on his leg. "That's all I can do," Scully said as she finished drawing his blood. She looked up at Krycek's face. "You are going to need antibiotics. I don't keep any, but I can give you a prescription and one for pain killers." Krycek nodded. "I know an all night place. No problem." He started to stand up and his leg protested as he put weight on it. He began to fall and Mulder caught his arm, steadying him till he got his balance. Krycek looked up, green eyes locked with hazel ones."Thanks," Krycek said softly. Then he looked away again. Searching for his pants. "They're trashed," Mulder told him, "Hang on, I have some clothes that should fit." He went into the back room. Alex turned to Scully. "Thank you, Agent Scully. I appreciate your help." She raised one eyebrow at him. She had no idea what he was up to, only knew that there was nothing contrite about him. "I don't know what's going on with you Krycek, and I don't believe you're telling us the whole story. If you hurt him again I will see to it you wish I had let you die." She tried in vain to decipher the coded message in his eyes as he returned her look. "Understood, Agent Scully. I will do my best to not get him hurt." Mulder came back into the room carrying jeans and a baggy long sleeved shirt. Krycek took off his filthy dress shirt and undershirt, totally ignoring the fact that he was standing in nothing but his briefs in front of the two agents. As he reached for the clean clothes he saw them staring at where the prosthesis joined his left arm. His face tightened in annoyance and he started awkwardly pulling the jeans on. He was hampered even more by the fact that his hand was shaking. "Can I have my wallet and things from my other pants?" He asked quietly. Mulder stood staring at him a moment more. He couldn't see the point where the arm was cut off because of the prosthesis, but he could imagine the scars. They had to be bad, Krycek wouldn't have held still and the cuts wouldn't have been clean. It occurred to Mulder that the prosthesis started much lower on the arm than he would have expected if the Russians had been trying to remove the smallpox vaccination. The arm went down almost to the elbow, much too low to accomplish what they had intended. The rest of his body was smooth skin over well defined muscles. It looked like he'd compensated for the lost arm by working out even more than he had when he was still in the Bureau. His body was lean and hard, he'd lost weight since they'd last seen him. Even so, the jeans were a little tight, hugging his hips enticingly. As Krycek looked up at him, Mulder went over to where he had placed Krycek's things. He laid them down on the table, minus the guns. As Krycek reached for the shirt he staggered slightly, catching himself on the edge of the table. Scully automatically reached out and steadied him. "Krycek?" "It's trying to heal me, but it drains me to do it." She frowned in annoyance. "When's the last time you ate?" "I don't remember." Scully pushed him back onto the couch. "Sit down before you fall down." He went with her shove, flopping back onto his back. Mulder looked at the other man, his face expressionless, then went into the kitchen to see what there was to eat. Giving Krycek a warning look, Scully followed Mulder into the kitchen. Mulder turned to her as he got out bread. "Scully, you can't tell me that you didn't see that." "See what, Mulder?" She pulled a can of tomato soup from the cupboardand opened it, her back to her partner. "Don't give me that. You saw it, the alien, when it swam across his eyes." "Mulder, he has green eyes. It was just a trick of the lighting, shadows." She put the soup in a mug and into the microwave. "No, it wasn't. I saw it in the car on the way here too. It comes outwhen he's in pain, when he loses control for a moment." "Mulder, he isn't the most stoic of men. You just saw light reflections when he reacted to pain." The kitchen seemed very, very small as the two agents moved around each other. "I know what I saw. That wasn't a light reflection. You yourself said that his blood has a green tinge." She frowned as she saw him cut up the sandwiches on the counter, leaving the crumbs there. "Mulder, he has something wrong with his blood. He's feverish, he probably has an infection. I'll know more when I have it analyzed." He leaned back against the counter, watching her as she automatically cleaned the counter of the mess he had left. "Why can't you believe your own eyes?" "I haven't seen anything I can't explain. Mulder, Alex Krycek is capableof anything. I don't trust anything to do with him. But tonight all I saw was a sick and hurt man. No aliens." She pulled the mug of tomato soup out of the microwave and filled a glass with ice water as Mulder stood back watching her.Krycek was sound asleep on the couch when they entered the other room.Mulder kicked the end of the couch causing the other man to start awake, his face panicked. Mulder grinned slightly as Krycek took in his surroundings and relaxed again. "Here." Mulder put the plate of food down on the coffee table. Krycek looked at the meal and flashed the two agents a smile of gratitude. He scooted himself up on the couch to a sitting position. "Thank you." He ate carefully, minding his manners, despite the fact he felt as hungry as he had when he was in that damned silo for days. The alien was burning up everything he could put in.As he ate, the two agents moved to the front room to talk. "What do you think he got out of those computers?" "I don't know, but I'm not letting him have that tape back until I have the Lone Gunmen check it out." "Mulder, he may be stealing government secrets again. You can't help him with that." "I know. If it looks like that's what he's up to, he's going in a jailcell." "If.. Mulder, he is a wanted fugitive. Not turning him in is a crime in itself. This is extraordinarily dangerous." "I know, Scully. But, I know he knows a lot more about what is happening than he is willing to admit to. He wasn't just a grunt. Or if he was, he was one who dug into things he shouldn't have. Either way, he has information I've been after for years. He may be able to help me expose the Smoking man, to prove the existence of aliens on earth." "Or he may get you killed or thrown out of the FBI. Mulder, don't ever forget what he's done in the past. What happened to you in Russia shouldbe proof of the danger in that." "I'm aware. I don't trust him. But I might be able to use him. If there is an alien in him, his blood work could be hard evidence. Not to mention what we could learn from it later." "I thought Krycek was trying to kill it, if it exists." "He is, but that isn't something he's going to be able to accomplish tomorrow." "What are you going to do with him tonight?" "What do you mean?" "Mulder, the man practically passed out. He's exhausted. I doubt he'll get very far if you just shove him out your door. Do you want help with him?" "No. He's my problem. I've always been able to handle him before." Blue eyes stared up at him calmly. "Uh huh." She turned and opened the front door. "I'll call in the morning. If you need anything let me know." "Thanks." He smiled fondly at her as he shut the door behind her. When Mulder came back into the other room Krycek was again asleep on the couch. The plate and mug were sitting on the coffee table empty. He frowned in annoyance, then moved forward. "Krycek." The green eyes half opened and gazed up at him. "Hmm?""You're not sleeping there. Let's go." Krycek groaned and levered himself up off the couch. "Sorry, I'm moving." He staggered toward the dining room to get his possessions."Can you call me a cab?" He asked sleepily. Mulder caught his arm as he almost walked into the doorjamb."This way." Mulder guided him into the bedroom. He propped Krycek against the wall and swept books and magazines off the bed onto thefloor. He pulled back the bedspread in a light cloud of dust. Krycek was shoved onto the bed. His eyes opened fully in surprise."Mulder?" "You can sleep here tonight. There's no telling where you'd end up if I sent you out of here." He walked over to the dresser and rummaged for a minute, when he turned back Krycek was watching him through half closed eyes. They opened wider again as he saw the handcuffs in Mulder's hand. He started to open his mouth but Mulder interrupted before he could say anything. "Don't start. There's no way I could sleep with you loose in my apartment. You can stay, but you have to wear these for the night." Krycek tried to get up the energy to protest, to insist he could go to his hotel room, but it wouldn't come out. He sighed and began pulling his prosthesis off. "If I can't have my hand free, I don't want to have to sleep in this." He succeeded in getting the limb off and began massaging the end of the stump. Mulder was amazed to see that there were no scars on the limb. Nothing. It was as if the arm was formed that way originally, the skin smooth.Krycek had pulled the blanket over his lower body and was adjusting the pillows to a comfortable position when he looked up and saw Mulder's gaze. He looked up at the older man tiredly. Then he raised his righth and against the headboard "I'm ready now, Master." "You just never know when to quit, do you?" Mulder stalked forward and closed the cuff over the offered wrist roughly, then fastened him to the headboard. Krycek leaned back and gazed at him through the curtain of his eyelashes, a small knowing smile on his face. "Not in your wildest fantasies, Krycek." "Hmm? What? I didn't say anything." "Whatever you're thinking, it has to be evil." "It's not evil. I'm not evil. I just live in shades of gray." A sleepy voice, not really up to an argument. The eyes shut. "Well, forget it anyway. I don't want to know." A huge yawn cracked the young man's face. "'kay. 'night." As Mulder turned away he heard a murmur, "..want evil. The Kkkrrt,they're evil. Damn bugs..." He spun around, but Krycek was fast asleep. He started to reach out to shake him awake, then stopped. This was crazy, Scully had made that abundantly clear. He knew it, yet he wasn't able to just turn his back on this. He had a chance to get the information he'd been after for years. Why does it have to come from Krycek? Why does he have to be here? Be so close. It's so much easier to hate him from a distance, when I don'tsee the way he looks at me. When I don't see how good he looks. When Ican concentrate on what he's done. Now I go and install him in my bed.Real smart, Mulder. Now what do I do in the morning, when he's restedand wide awake? This was a very bad idea. He went in the other room and flopped down onto his couch absentmindedly turning on the TV. He watched for a few minutes without seeing it then got up and went into the other room. He returned with Krycek's computer tape in one hand and his wallet in the other.Too bad I don't have one of those drives, I could see just what Krycek's up to. He turned the tape over and over in his hand, then laid back onto thecouch. He opened up Krycek's wallet and went through it. Other than acouple of fake driver's licenses and credit cards, the only thing in the wallet was a thousand dollars in assorted bills. He memorized the license, then closed the wallet.He was restless, he wanted to put one of his porns on, but there was noway he could with Krycek in the apartment. He lay watching TV without being aware of what was on. There was no sound from the other room but Mulder was acutely aware of who was in there.What was it about Krycek that made aliens take to him so well? He shook his head. The man really should learn to keep as much distance betweenhimself and anything extraterrestrial as possible. Then it suddenly hit him. There's an alien in my bed! True, it's in Alex Krycek's body, but it's there. A live alien. It didn't ask to be shoved into him. How can I help him kill it? He said it's intelligent. It's never done anybody any harm.Krycek has killed—I don't know how many people. He killed my father. Idon't care what he says, I know he did it. He helped hurt Scully. If I don't help him, the alien will eventually take over. It will haveKrycek's body, but the innocent mind of an alien life form. Well, relatively innocent. After all, it's getting all its knowledge of our planet from Krycek. Which is a scary thought. All I have to do is not help him. It would be eager to learn. I could teach it. Keep Cancerman and his people from corrupting it. It will be a shape-shifter. A shape-shifter! That means it will be a healer. It's already healing Krycek. It could heal Scully! He sat up in excitement, then eased back down. Maybe. I don't know if it can heal anyone else. Krycek said this is the first time an alien has been inserted into a human like this. No one knows what to expect. No one knows how the alien has been changed. It wasn't ready, it didn't fully go into him, part was splashed outside. Just how intelligent will it be? Is it sane? Is it benign? It's taking care of him, but that's self preservation. I need more information. Mulder finally drifted off to sleep still debating what to do. He was awoken four hours later by a noise in the other room. He sat up quickly, pulling his gun. He scanned the room, nothing. Then he heard a racket from the bedroom. He ran to the other room, his heart pumping with adrenaline. Something was happening to Krycek. He went to the doorin a crouch, expecting to find an intruder in there attacking the helpless man. He was definitely not expecting the sight that met him. Krycek had twisted himself in the bed into a tight ball, his feet up against the headboard. He had the short chain of the cuffs in his hand and he was pulling with everything he had against the cuffs, pushing against the headboard with his legs. He was growling low in his throat as he strained. The muscles in his back and shoulder standing out in high relief. The headboard was creaking under the strain. Mulder straightened in annoyance. "Damn it, Krycek!" Krycek leaned his head back, looking at Mulder upside down. His sweatyface betraying panic. Krycek finally recognized him as lights from outside faintly illuminated him. He stopped pulling against the headboard, his expression calming to relief as he stared at the agent silently. "What in the hell are you trying to do?" Mulder kept from shouting with an effort. "Let me up, Mulder. I need to get up." The husky voice was shaky. "If you needed to take a leak you could have just called out, Krycek." Mulder stared at the rogue agent as he untwisted himself on the bed into a normal position. "Let me up. Undo me." It almost didn't sound like Krycek's voice, it was small and near pleading. Mulder stared at the trapped man. He didn't know what to make of the situation. His anger told him to just leave the man there, but his conscience heard the desperation in that voice. Besides, he'd feel a little silly refusing to let Krycek use the rest room. He knew that wasn't the problem though. Krycek had looked like a wolf with its leg caught in a steel trap before it chewed the leg off . He'd clearly been scared by something. Mulder finally turned and went back into the other room. He laid his gun on the coffee table and picked up the key to the cuffs. When he got back Krycek looked as calm as if nothing had happened. Mulder approached cautiously. "You going to tell me what that was all about?" The other man wouldn't meet his gaze. "Just let me up Mulder." Soft,tired now. Mulder undid the cuff on Krycek's wrist, noting the redness and swelling where the cuff had bitten in during his struggles. Krycek got up shakily from the bed and went straight to the bathroom without looking at his host.Mulder looked around the room, trying to figure out what had set Krycek off like that. The room looked the same as always. Cluttered, stacks of books and magazines scattered about. The TV facing the bed was dark. Theonly light in the room was the faint street lights shining in through the curtains. At this time of night there wasn't any outside noise. He'd had the volume off on the TV in the other room. So it must have been a bad nightmare that caused the scene. If Krycek lost control like that every time he had a nightmare it was amazing he'd survived this long. Granted, he probably wasn't usually handcuffed when it happened. He heard the shower running and turned back from the dark bedroom. Krycek had said the alien was using his reserves to heal him. He was probably hungry again. He went into the kitchen and started tea brewing and made some sandwiches. He'd laid the food and orange juice on the table when Krycek staggered out of the bathroom. Seeing the food, Krycek made his way to the table and sank into a chair. He looked at Mulder from under lowered eyes."I'm sorry about that." Mulder shoved a plate in front of him. "Are you okay now?" Krycek nodded, picking up a sandwich half and biting into it. Mulder sat quietly watching as Krycek tried to eat politely, despite the urge to wolf the food. He occasionally took a sip of his tea, but let the other man alone till the food was gone.Krycek finally sat back with a sigh. "I should go now." "It's four in the morning. You look like you could use some more sleep." He shook his head. "I can't," Barely over a whisper. "I can't... sleeplike that." Mulder stared at him silently. He suddenly had an idea what the problem was. "You don't have to wear the cuffs." Krycek looked up in surprise. Then nodded. "How will you sleep?" "With my gun in my hand." Krycek started to protest, then saw the small upward quirk at the corner of Mulder's mouth. He gave a halfhearted smile of his own, then got up and went to the bedroom. He turned on the bedside light to its dimmest setting and then threw himself face first onto the bed. He was asleep before Mulder even walked to the doorway. Mulder stood looking at the exhausted man. In the soft light, his pale skin made Mulder think of ivory. He looked harmless now. Pry him out of his leather and get him to drop the bad-ass attitude, and you could forget what he was. What he'd done. Mulder shook himself. He was definitely too tired if he was starting to feel sorry for Alex Krycek. He went back to his couch and laid down. Krycek's two guns were safely behind the couch and Mulder's own holstered gun was right beside him. Alex Krycek had a knack for turning his life topsy-turvy. What repercussions did he have to look forward to from this latest game of Krycek's? He sighed and tried to go back to sleep. Mulder padded to the door of his spare bedroom sipping on a cup of coffee. He idly brushed his still damp hair back from his face as he looked in on his visitor. Krycek was laying on the bed half on his left side, half on his belly. He'd scrunched his pillows up with one under his head and one partially under his chest and was holding them in place with his right arm. The shortened left arm was out of sight, protected. After that first bad nightmare last night, he'd slept peacefully, not making any noise to disturb Mulder. The early morning light came through the window and Mulder walked over and shut off the bedside light. Who would have thought that a tough, cold -blooded killer would be afraid of the dark? He shook his head. One more Krycek mystery he'd probably never solve. Mulder turned and walked back into his small kitchen to finish breakfast. He was glancing at the sports page of the morning paper when a sound made him look up. Krycek stood in the kitchen, still looking a little groggy. He was dressed only in the jeans Mulder had loaned him. He wiped at his eyes sleepily, then gave Mulder a shy smile. "Morning." "How'd you sleep?" Mulder asked calmly. He pushed a mug across the table at the other man. "I feel a lot better." Krycek poured himself coffee looking around the kitchen. "Do you have anything for breakfast?" Mulder looked up at him, then pointed to a cabinet. "There's bread in there, and I think I have some peanut butter. Help yourself." He went to finish getting ready for work. When he came back out he found Krycek with a stack of peanut butter sandwiches in front of him and a tall glass of orange juice. "I'm going to go in to work. I'll see what I can find out on that tape." "No." "No?" "No. You can't take that tape in to the FBI, Mulder. You might as well paint a bull's eye on yourself. They'd be all over you in no time." "Krycek," he leaned forward angrily. "What the hell have you gotten me into? What's on this tape?" "Jesus, Mulder. Calm down. I just meant that the break—in is still fresh. They're paranoid right now. If they even get a whiff that you've got information about Sarcus they'll assume you were in on the break-in. You're okay right now. They know it was me. They shouldn't bother you. As long as you don't take it there, you'll be fine." He looked at the agent sharply. "You did check out the Russian tape here on your home computer, right? You didn't take it in to the Bureau?" "No. Just here. Does it have an alarm on it that might betray a network computer?" "I don't know. I'm not that good with computers. I just get by. I just meant because your computer in the office isn't exactly secure. They get into your files any time they feel like it. I just didn't want them coming after you until you're ready for them. They will come after that tape Mulder. Believe me. It's too important to them. It was a critical blow to some of them when the data was destroyed." He was looking at Mulder sharply, fully awake now. "You need to have your outside sources help, Mulder. That's what I needed you for, remember? We will need a strong computer, and a very good computer man. Most of the stuff on that tape I could easily access, but there's some that I just downloaded because it was so heavily encrypted. I'm not sure what all is on there. For all I know, that data will allow itself to be accessed once then erases itself. Let's let a master look at it, okay?" "Krycek, I am not going to help you steal and sell government secrets." "How many times do I have to tell you? I only want one thing out of this. I want to be free, be myself again. You can have anything else we find. I'll give it to you, no strings attached. I just want the alien data. Stealing data to sell when I won't even be alive in two months is pointless. I'm sure not going to build up a nest egg for the alien to enjoy with my body." He jumped to his feet and went into the other room. His movements were again graceful, no sign of a limp or weakness that Mulder could detect. Krycek went into the bedroom and started to pull his prosthesis on. He noted that it needed to be adjusted, again. It barely fit now. It was nice that the alien was growing his arm back, but it made the prosthesis a problem. If it didn't help him blend in better he'd just forget it all together. He finished getting dressed and went into the front room to retrieve the items Mulder had taken from the pockets of his ruined pants. Of course, Mulder had gone through everything, his new identifications were compromised, but, such is life. He put his things away quickly, aware that Mulder was watching him. He turned toward the silent agent. "Mulder, I need to go with you to talk to your computer men. It's important. I need to ask them some questions. I need help working something out or I'm dead even without the alien." "I won't risk my friends for you." "I'm not asking you to. Look, I have to meet them. I don't care what precautions you want to take. We can meet somewhere neutral, blindfold me, whatever." He stepped closer and his voice dropped to a husky near whisper. "I'll do whatever you want, Mulder. Please, I have to have this." Standing this close, Mulder could feel waves of heat coming off of the other man. Mulder stepped back from him, alarmed at the feelings the other man was causing in him. The urge to hit was normal, but there was something else, and that, he would not explore. The look of quiet humor in Krycek's eyes as he stepped back was unmistakable and unappreciated. It seemed important to maintain a jagged edge between them. "Whatever I want, Krycek? I want my father back, and Scully's sister. I want you in a jail cell." A subtle stab of pain winced through Krycek's face and took hold in his eyes. He checked the table to be sure he had everything, then glanced around the room. When he turned back his face and voice were composed, unreadable. "Mulder, what time should I call you to see when and where we meet with your computer man?" "We? I thought I told you-" Krycek's face turned up looking for divine assistance in dealing with stubborn and suspicious federal agents. He blew out a deep breath, forced his jaw to unlock, and turned back to face his source of frustration. "Mulder, I gave you the hard copies, and I gave you the Russian tape. I don't know what else I can do to show you I mean what I say. I have to meet with your contact. If I don't then we can call the whole thing off right now. I'll try to find another way of doing this while I still can." Mulder glared suspiciously. "I thought you didn't have any other options?" "None that are real viable. But if you can't bend just a little, this isn't viable either." He put every bit of seriousness he could manage into his face and voice. He turned, scanning the room quickly. Not seeing what he sought, he walked over and leaned into the doorway to Mulder's sleeping area to look around. Finally, he turned back toward the agent. "Mulder, I need my gun. I can't leave without it." "The idea of handing you a gun offends me, Krycek." The teal green eyes filled with heat and frustration, resembling sparklers at a fourth of July picnic. "Oh, would you give it a break? I am not some homicidal maniac that kills for the fun in it. At least give me my pistol. The automatic I took off one of the Consortium's men. You know the type of men I'm up against. You know what they're capable of. I can't go out there unarmed. You might as well shoot me yourself, save me the hassle of running for my life." "Don't push it, Krycek." "I have to have a weapon. I can get one elsewhere, but it increases the danger of me being found, and it's expensive." He kept his eyes locked on Mulder's until the agent finally went to retrieve the weapon. Krycek let out the breath he hadn't even known he was holding. Mulder walked over and silently handed him the gun. Krycek slipped it into his holster, getting it out of sight quickly under his shirt tails. He was on his way to the door when Mulder's voice stopped him. "Krycek." He turned back warily. Mulder gave a small shrug. "Try calling around one o'clock. I should know something then." Krycek gave him a blinding smile and went through the door. Krycek had been gratified when Mulder told him that they had an appointment to meet with a computer hacker recommended by The Lone Gunmen later that afternoon. Mulder hadn't been willing to risk his friends, but they had convinced a hacker they knew to help him. They insisted the hacker was good enough to handle the job. Mulder took Krycek to meet the man in a furnished short term apartment that the Gunmen had arranged. They had also arranged for them to get the services of a very gifted hacker for a low price, providing Krycek and Mulder supplied the computer equipment needed. Krycek had grumbled when Mulder told him. "Great. Do you have any idea what a computer of that power will cost?" "Krycek, I'm sure the Russians paid you well for your work with the Tunguska rocks." "Mulder, I couldn't get out of that lab on my own. I had to bribe a couple of guards and a junior scientist. They didn't come cheap. I lost everything I had." "So where did you get the money you've been using?" "How many spies do you know? There's a little safety measure they all take. At least the experienced ones. I don't care if they're CIA, KGB, or CPI, they all form what they call 'Spookers.' Don't look at me like that—I didn't choose the name. Anyway, they all skim small valuables off their cases when they can. Little stuff, easily not noticed. Small gems, money, jewelry, etceteras. They cache this stuff somewhere and don't tell anyone about it. It's their back up if their own organization ever turns on them or they need to go underground for some reason. Knowing that, all I had to do was cause an agent I knew to think that his people had betrayed him. When he went for his Spooker I took it from him." He shrugged. Mulder shook his head in disgust. An active agent wouldn't be easy to just take something from. Not alive anyway. Krycek frowned at his expression. "I do what I must to live, Mulder. That man had hundreds of lives on his hands." He lifted his chin fractionally. "Anyway, my funds are limited. I might need your help paying for the apartment." Mulder hadn't said any more about it. He just paid for the apartment for the week. They had both been surprised when the hacker showed up. "He" was a she. She was an extremely plain young women whose severely short haircut and sloppy T-shirt and jeans added to her lack of appeal. She gazed at Mulder in open challenge as he opened the door. "I'm Spectre, the Gunmen sent me," was her introduction. She pushed her way past him carrying a laptop case and small duffel bag. Krycek looked up from where he was connecting the equipment as she entered, his hand automatically reaching for his gun. He stopped and frowned as he saw her. She frowned back and turned so she could face both men. "Okay, let's get this straight. I agreed to this because Langley asked it and because I could use the experience. I'm very good, one of the best, but no-one takes me serious because I'm a woman. From what I understand, while I can't put this job on a resume, it will give me great experience. I also understand I can't keep copies of any of the files. I have no problem with that. The experience, plus my fee, will get the job done right." Her eyes raked over the two men. "Spectre," Mulder looked at her sternly. "Cute nickname, what's your real name" "Imogene Ejiojujan. Do not call me that. You want my help, you call me Spectre." Krycek looked at Mulder questioningly. Mulder shrugged. "I think that sounds acceptable," he said calmly. She looked over and Krycek inclined his head briefly, then flashed a smile at her and dove back under the table to finish making the connections. She ran her eyes over his supine form approvingly then turned back to Mulder. "I understand you want us all to stay here till I get the files unlocked for security reasons. Which room is mine?" They had agreed that it would be too risky for Mulder to keep running from his apartment here, since he was under surveillance so much of the time. Krycek decided that paying for a hotel room when an apartment was paid for was wasteful and moved his stuff there. Spectre just accepted it as paranoia on the part of the two men. The Gunmen had assured her she could trust Mulder totally, and having seen the two men, she didn't consider this arrangement a hardship. Mulder showed her the third bedroom and went back to helping Krycek set the equipment up. Spectre put her things away and immediately settled in to help them. It didn't take her long to translate and decode the Russian tape Krycek supplied. Krycek helped her a couple of times with more obscure Russian not on her translation program, otherwise she worked alone. When she had them printed out she handed the files to Mulder. The files stated that the oilien was believed to be a grouping of beings rather than a single individual. The group worked with a hive consciousness and thus functioned as an individual. They needed a transport medium to help them function the most efficiently. It was believed that the Black Cancer worms were damaged versions. Something in their crash to earth, or being buried so long, or some unknown variable that caused the crash to begin with, made them flawed. They weren't capable of forming a cohesive mind. The scientists theorized that that was why the humans infected with them went into a coma after enough exposure. There were too many separate entities doing their own thing, so everything crashed to a halt. Small exposures didn't cause this, the worms would collect on the pineal gland in an effort at joining, but they caused no harm unless more were added and there were enough to overwhelm the host. It was found that these damaged creatures did not reproduce. The only way to get more was to remove them from the rocks. The Russians had worked out the amount needed through their experiments. They precisely controlled the amount given the test subject with each exposure. They had also worked on a "vaccine" that would cause the worms to become dormant. The vaccine allowed the host to be exposed to a greater number of the creatures before they caused coma. They were working on a way to kill the worms that wasn't also lethal to the host. No one was sure why the normal oilien could put out such strong bursts of radiation when the worms did not seem to have this ability even in large numbers. The Shape shifters were from a different planet. Their normal shape wasn't liquid, but they weren't anything humanoid by a long shot. To get the human shape the adults would imprint themselves with a human's form. They didn't take over an entire body. They would scan his mind and absorb some of the human's DNA into themselves. That became their base form. They could assume other forms, but it was a strain on them. That was why they changed back to their base form as soon as possible. If they were mixed with human DNA when they were immature they became the clones. These weren't able to change their forms, but they had some of the aliens' qualities. Earth's atmosphere was not totally benign to the aliens and they were especially vulnerable to it in their natural and immature forms. Immersion in special nutrient vats helped them overcome this, and as adults, the absorption of human DNA helped them adapt. The Shape shifters were known to work with some humans for a great "Project". The Russians were not certain of the exact details of this arrangement. They were aware of the clones and the official alien's reactions to them. The official alien line was that they were hunting down and killing the rogue aliens and their clones because they had violated 'gene purity'. The Russians did not believe this. It was their belief that the aliens were reacting like a human government would do if they found that private individuals were working on creating a new race without any government sanction. Both groups were using some human DNA to a certain extent. The rogues inject the human DNA early in the process, usually with ova and sperm. If the human material was unfertilized they would get a clone. Those have the highest survival rate. The scientists didn't know why but the fertilized ova didn't do as well. The official aliens did not approve of the mixing of their tissue with the human DNA. They believed that these hybrids were too human, being half and half. Their young started off in the "eggs" and then later were switched to the nutrient vats to develop. It was believed the rogues didn't wait for theirs to become adult before adding the DNA for several reasons. Like humans, it normally took the aliens some time to mature, there were also only a few of them on the planet. The rogues needed to grow help fast. By the cloning process they could create numbers quickly. The clones were also more comfortable in Earth's atmosphere than the pure aliens. The last file on the tape dealt with Krycek's unique situation. It listed the battery of tests done with the results. As he'd said, it was an unprecedented way for an alien to develop. The scientists were enthusiastic at the possibilities, but unsure of how the alien would ultimately function. They did not believe the alien would be able to shape shift, but they believed it would keep its other abilities at least to the level the clones had. They had already proven that the alien could heal injuries to the host body. A theory that was tested to Krycek's discomfort. They had planned on waiting till the alien was a little more developed and then testing to see if it could allow Krycek to sustain long immersion in water without harm as the clones could. The scientists hoped that because it was immature it would not be able to overwhelm Krycek, but that he could take advantage of its healing and other abilities. The potential for Super Soldiers with this new strain caused the military authority to take an intense interest in this testing. They pushed the scientists to discover exactly what Krycek's limits would be. They began making theories on how the immature aliens could be surgically implanted into grown humans if more such "eggs" could be obtained. They also expressed the opinion that if the official Shape shifters found out they would react with lethal force to stop the study and to remove Krycek. To them this would be worse than the rogue clones. Mention was made of the efforts the military had taken to be sure that aliens currently in Russia would not find out about this project. As Mulder had gone through the charts, graphs and text of the files, Krycek had been talking to Spectre. The two were tossing ideas back and forth, Krycek trying to work out the project he needed to keep the Consortium off him. Mulder was vaguely aware of the two demonstrating their ideas on the computer and arguing techniques. Something about Krycek creating a new encryption that was never done before and only he had the key to. Mulder spoke up with a calm he didn't feel. "We have proof now that there are aliens on earth working with various governments. It lists at least five known aliens across the planet." Krycek looked up in alarm. Mulder had a superb, prize—winning, smile on his face. Krycek moved away from the computer to Mulder's side. "Whoa, whoa, Mulder. I hate to burst your bubble, but you don't have proof." His brows drew down in concern as he stared into Mulder's face. "Those are the personal files of one Russian scientist. A lot of it is speculation and there's no hard evidence anywhere." Mulder's smile drained away, but his face remained flushed. "There are test results, lab analysis's, interviews, this tape has the study results on you, it even quotes sections of the MJ tape. It doesn't mention locations but it lists the different governments that are working directly with alien representatives. This file even lists names." Krycek stared at him, hating what he needed to say. Mulder was almost glowing with excitement, his eyes gleaming. Krycek couldn't remember ever seeing him like this. He did not want to be the one to put an end to it. He couldn't let Mulder try and make this public though. "Mulder, has it ever occurred to you that the writing on the wall may be a forgery? There isn't anything to corroborate any of that. I wasn't able to get any of the official files. There wasn't time. You try to go public with this and they'll say that it's a hoax, or the writing of a science fiction author or the ramblings of a mad man. Even if you could get to the scientist himself, he'd deny everything in there." He saw the stubborn look settling across Mulder's face and backed up. "Mulder, even if anyone accepted this as fact, it's one man's version. I don't even know how accurate it is. The man was their head researcher, but he was an arrogant SOB and, like a lot of geniuses, he sometimes thought other people should take his theories as proven fact because he said so. He could be wrong on a lot of this." "We have your medical history. Scully can use that and your blood to prove..." "Oh, no! No way, Mulder. I am not going to be your live show and tell project. You want proof of aliens, that's fine, but not with my body! In fact, forget Scully getting any more of my blood. And don't even dream about me testifying to the validity of this. There's no way." "I thought you wanted help with this." "I do, but let's not forget the main purpose of this joint venture. I want to live. As me, not an alien. Being a lab study or testifying is contraindicated." Spectre sat watching the two men squared off, inches apart. They stood glaring at each other for a couple of minutes, then Mulder finally dropped his gaze. She saw Krycek take a deep breath in relief. "What about the files on the Black Cancer you gave me? Can those be verified?" "Yes, they can be. They are also damaging to the Consortium. Not enough to buy my life. There's no question they don't want that getting out, and they want those files, but it isn't a critical injury to them. Not like the MJ tape would have been. You can hurt them with that, but it will be more useful as a bargaining tool. Save those files, you don't know when you'll need to deal with that smoking bastard." As Mulder's enthusiasm drained, Krycek couldn't stop himself stepping forward. He almost reached out toward the subdued agent. "Look, I'm not done yet. We haven't started on the Sarcus tape. I don't think it will have the answers, but it will guide us in the right direction. I won't quit till I have the answers I need. You'll have them when I do." Mulder held his gaze for a moment, trying to read him. He gave it up quickly. Krycek looked earnest, and sincere and entreating. And Mulder didn't trust it for a minute. "If you gents are ready?" The female voice startled both of them back to their surroundings. Spectre sat at her computer watching them. "I'm printing out the unencoded files. I'm ready to start on the others if you are." Mulder nodded to Spectre, who promptly set to work. Krycek walked over to the printer and pulled the printed stack of papers off. He handed half to Mulder and went to the small dining table. He laid the papers down in his chosen spot then went into the kitchen to get a snack. As Spectre worked, the ex-partners went over everything they had and between them sorted the info into what would and wouldn't likely be of any help. Mulder was surprised to find that he found it pleasant. After an initial tension between them, they had finally settled into working smoothly together. Krycek had completely dropped his bad-ass attitude and stubbornly refused to rise to any of Mulder's baiting. After awhile, Mulder finally relaxed and then Krycek did. Now he felt as if he was experiencing deja vu as Krycek sat next to him, working on the files. The husky voice crept past his defenses. As warm and deep as a summer night, it had the power to drag him back to another time-a time when he'd been far too vulnerable, far too easily deceived. Mulder was reminded of how much he had liked working beside Krycek back before the betrayal, when he had started trusting him. He had really begun to like the eager young agent. He thought he'd finally found someone in the Bureau other than Scully that took him seriously. Even more than Scully, Krycek had taken Mulder's theories seriously, no matter how much suspension of disbelief they called for. He'd listen attentively to Mulder's theories on the subject and then give it careful thought. He didn't always agree, but he wouldn't just dismiss it out of hand. It had felt good, back when he had thought he could trust the young agent. It felt good now, even though he knew he couldn't trust the other man. Krycek had removed his prosthesis, and was frequently rubbing at the end of his arm as he went over the files. Mulder thought at first he must be having phantom pain, but his face didn't show any pain. He didn't even seem to be aware he was doing it. He was also eating an inordinate amount. He'd already gone through a day's food, which would cause them to have to go to the store in the morning. Finally, Spectre declared herself done for the night. Her eyes were getting sore from staring at the computer screen. She went to her room and shut the door. Krycek stretched, yawning, and agreed with her. He went into his room, then into the bathroom to shower. Mulder sat going through the files. As they had suspected, the unencoded files hadn't revealed too much. The ones Spectre had been able to decode were only a little more helpful. They referred to other projects, and gave a few business names, but nothing concrete. So far, there had been no mention of aliens in any capacity. Mulder went to the computer and started checking on the companies named in the files. He was peripherally aware of Krycek going into his bedroom quietly. Mulder kept working for over an hour more. He finally decided to call it a night. He showered and went to his own room. He laid his holstered gun on the night stand. Krycek probably wasn't going to try anything, but he was right, Mulder did know the kind of people that were after the other man. Those men would not hesitate to take out any number of innocents to get to Krycek. He reflected on how strange it felt, he was used to being alone in his apartment working late at night, it felt odd having other people here with him. Even though neither of the other two were making any noise, he was acutely aware of their presence. Even when he went somewhere with Scully, they got separate hotel rooms. He stretched out on the bed. It felt odd having the other two there, but he found it also comforting. He idly wondered if Krycek found it comfortable, or whether his paranoia caused it to disturb him. Krycek was the one man that Mulder knew who was worse than him about trusting anyone. Of course, they'd both been given good reason not to trust. He drifted to sleep trying to imagine what Krycek must have had to do to get away from the Russians, how he stayed ahead of the many people after him. The next day they all stayed in the apartment working on figuring out the files. Krycek had just downloaded everything from the system that was encrypted, so there was a lot to go through. Spectre worked diligently at the computer the whole time. Mulder and Krycek tried to follow what leads they could from the phone and a lap top computer. Krycek was on his best behavior, he got along well with Spectre and didn't give Mulder anything to complain about, other than his near constant eating. He was also sleeping a great deal, but Mulder put that down to finally being able to relax, having someone else to watch for assassins for a change. The third morning, Mulder woke up to find Spectre at the computer as usual, and the fresh smell of coffee. Krycek's door was still shut. He went into the kitchen to get breakfast. "He didn't leave much," Spectre called to him. He turned toward her. She shrugged, holding a cup of coffee. "You have to wonder how he stays thin eating that way. Must have a hell of a metabolism. He pretty much cleaned us out." Mulder poured himself a mug of the fresh coffee. "I'll go to the store again. How are you doing?" "I'm making progress. I've been hacking into the systems of some of the more interesting companies mentioned. It's slow going." She grinned. "Never doubt though, I will succeed." He smiled back at her. "Never doubted it." He was reluctant to go to the store and leave her alone with the tapes. The Gunmen might trust her, but Mulder wouldn't put it past even them to make copies of the classified documents if left alone with the computer. So he set to work on the files he had, waiting for Krycek to get up. At noon he was still waiting. There was no sound from the bedroom. He finally decided to check on his erstwhile partner. He knocked on the door, not wanting to startle the armed man. Getting no answer, he eased the door open. Krycek was laying flat on his back, sound asleep. His face and chest were gleaming with sweat, but his breathing seemed even. The other man didn't move when he called out his name softly. Mulder stepped closer. From the way the sheets around him looked, Krycek hadn't moved all night. Mulder tried calling his name louder, but got no more response than the first time. Somehow he suspected that a man on the run did not normally sleep this soundly. And Krycek did not look good. His mouth had a pinched look about it, the whole face tight and strained. His skin seemed terribly bleached, almost translucent. The dark lashes looked like bruises on his face in comparison. Krycek's gun was laying on the night stand in easy reach. Mulder picked it up and moved it to the dresser. He gently shook Krycek's right shoulder. Nothing. He noticed that the end of the left arm appeared swollen. He stepped back out of the room and went to his cell phone to call Scully. He explained the situation to her and she agreed to come over. She sighed in exasperation as he stressed the need for her to watch for people following her, but agreed. Scully got there two hours later. Krycek still hadn't moved. Mulder had gone over the Russian scientist's notes on Krycek again while waiting for Scully to arrive. The scientist had stated that the organism did seem to cause Krycek to go into a deep sleep just prior to a major healing. They had tested this by causing large, but not critical cuts on the man and watching them heal. Each successive healing was faster as the alien learned and got stronger. No mention was made of asking Krycek's opinion on the subject. Scully examined the unconscious man carefully, but she was unable to rouse him at all. She turned to her partner. "Mulder, he's in a coma. We need to get him to a hospital. The infection must have gotten much worse." "No, Scully. It's just trying to heal him. I think it's working on his arm." "Mulder, do you have any idea how that sounds? An infection can't heal him. He's sick. He needs a hospital." "It's not an infection, and he can't go to a hospital, Scully. They'll find him." "There's nothing I can do for him here. The man needs IV antibiotics, Mulder. He's burning up." "No, Scully. No hospital." Scully stared at him. "Mulder, he could be dying. I for one don't relish trying to explain to Skinner what you were doing in an apartment with Krycek and that woman in there." "He's not dying. At least, I don't think so. I think he's getting better." Seeing the skeptical look on her face, he frowned, then got an idea. He went over to the bed and began pulling Krycek's sweat pants off. "Mulder!" Scully stared at him in shock. He saw Spectre standing in the doorway watching with wide eyes. "No, it's okay," Mulder grunted as he pulled the pants off the limp body. "I just want to show you something." "I don't think I need to see that, Mulder." "I want to," Spectre said quietly from behind her. Scully turned and gave her 'the look'. Spectre shrank back slightly. Mulder succeeded in getting the pants off. He saw that Krycek had no underwear under the pants and pulled a corner of the sheet over to cover his genitals. Ignoring the soft sound of disappointment from Spectre, he pointed to Krycek's right thigh. "There, see, Scully. The gunshot wound, it's gone." Scully stepped forward and looked. She started in surprise. The gunshot wound was completely healed. Smooth flesh was under the stitches she had placed. She gently laid her fingers on the area. The skin was healthy and intact, if too warm like the rest of his body. She looked up to meet Mulder's smug expression. "Okay, Mulder. Obviously, something has happened to him that causes him to heal faster than normal. I can't explain it, but there is a logical answer." "Scully, he healed from a gunshot wound in two days. I don't care how healthy he is, no-one heals that fast." "Mulder, I can't explain it. But it may be that he has always healed that fast. Can you say positively that you know that not to be true? He may have a genetic anomaly that causes it." "If he's always had it, what about his arm?" "Mulder, rapid healing is a lot different than regrowing a new limb. That's an injury beyond his body's ability to heal. The same is probably true of this infection. It's too much for him. He needs help." "We can't, Scully. They can't find him. He'll be dead in no time." "Why did you call me here, Mulder? I can't help him with what's here." "I'm not one hundred percent certain, I wanted your opinion. What he might need for support while he's out. I also have some files you should read. They're Krycek's medical history. Maybe that will help." While Scully was there, Mulder went to the grocery and brought in supplies. Scully and Spectre ended up helping him carry them in on his third trip back to the car. Mulder had brought enough to feed several people for a week. He ignored the looks they gave him. Scully removed the sutures from Krycek's healed right thigh, shaking her head at the smooth skin. She then went back to work to cover for Mulder. Spectre went back to work on the computer files after Mulder finally convinced her that Krycek wasn't dying. Mulder tried to work, but he frequently found himself going in to check on Krycek. He finally moved a chair into the room so he could read at the bedside. He stared at the limp body, the files on him did mention him sleeping a lot after an injury, but no mention was made of him going into a coma. Mulder assumed it was because it was working on the arm, but for all he knew, Krycek was just locked in a battle with the alien for control. Mulder wanted to be there when the man woke up. Part Two cking828@aol.com

23 Nov 1997 cking828@aol.com Rating: R for violence and bad language. Classification: XA Spoilers: Takes place after Terma. Keywords: Krycek, aliens. Standard and necessary disclaimer: Mulder, Krycek, and Scully belong to Chris Carter and Company. I'm just borrowing them. I can't help it, Krycek fascinates me. The aliens all belong to Carter and I have no idea what his grand scheme is for them. Call it creative license on my part. Absolutely no money to be made from this. This is an original work. I am an eclectic and ravenous reader, reading everything from Sci Fi to Mystery to a touch of Romance. To my knowledge I haven't copied from anyone, (with the exception of one reference to Uncle Remus) any similarity with any other work is accidental. Any similarity to anyone living or dead is also unintentional. Feedback welcome. I'm new at this and can't learn if I don't know what I do right or wrong. I apologize for formatting problems. My word processor and I had a fight, I think it came out a draw. Summary: Krycek enlists Mulder's help in dealing with an alien. This follows after an earlier story, "Hodie mihi, cras tibi" which is on Gossamer. You shouldn't need to have read it, but it is there if you want the back story. Standard and necessary disclaimer: please see the end of the document. I would like to thank Katy Deery. Without her kind encouragement and help, I would never have written this. Also thanks to my Beta reader, Barb. She kept my logic within sane limits. You don't want to know what it would have been like without her. back to top

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