He was still tired, but the treatments at the clinic had helped the nausea and his appetite was coming back. He still had some stashes to draw money from, so he was not without resources. He had enough hidden away to get him back in the game long enough to hopefully prevent the colonization.
He only had a small window of opportunity to destroy as much of the alien conspiracy as he could before being pregnant would slow him down significantly.
He needed to get off his ass and quit playing around at this assassin game. It was going nowhere and had been a long time. He had two new someone's growing inside him to think about now. He needed to think about their future and what kind of world he wanted his children to grow up in. Certainly not one threatened or ruled by aliens and those consortium bastards.
His first order of business was to contact Jeremiah Smith and the Resistance. Together he hoped they would launch a more aggressive attack on the colonists and labs. Up until now, the attacks had been small and covert. It was his own fault. He had been too busy covering all angles in order to insure that he, himself, came out on the winning side. There was only one side now.
~~~~
Mulder pulled out his cell phone and dialed the Gunmen. He asked them to put all their efforts into finding Krycek. He didn't tell them about the pregnancy, that would come soon enough. He and Skinner helped Scully gather the lab work to take back to the Hoover. They said their goodbyes to Dr. Atkinson, thanked him for his help and headed back to Washington.
It was late, so, Skinner suggested they go home and get started fresh in the morning. As tired as Scully was, she still wanted to check the VNTRs on the FBI data base. Something was scratching at the back of her mind and she knew she wouldn't sleep until she figured it out.
Mulder was also too wired too think about sleep, but he didn't want to go back to the office. Walter was right, nothing would get done tonight. What he really wanted was to go for a run and clear his head.
When they got to the they parking lot, Scully said her goodbyes and headed off to the lab. Mulder told Skinner he was going back to his apartment and then for a run. Skinner hesitated a moment, but said nothing, just got back in his car. Mulder paused half way to his own vehicle. This wasn't how he wanted the evening to end. He walked back to Skinner's car and tapped on the window.
As soon as the the window opened, Mulder leaned in and kissed Skinner. Mulder asked if there was a park near Skinner's condo he could run in. Walter Skinner smiled at Mulder and told him yes. Mulder climbed back into the passenger seat with a big smile on his face.
On the way to the condo they talked a little more about Krycek and their relationship to him. Mulder tried to explain the roller coaster feelings he had always had about Alex Krycek. Skinner mentioned he also had conflicting feelings for Krycek. Although Krycek was wanted for questioning, they had no real evidence, at least nothing they could prosecute Krycek for.
Two things for sure they both knew, Alex Krycek kept them on their toes and they wanted him back.
After they arrived at the condo, Mulder borrowed a pair of old sweats from Skinner, and went on his run. When he returned, he took a quick shower and joined Skinner in bed. It had been an emotionally exhausting day, they were both tired so they took comfort in just holding each other.
~~~~
Back at the lab, Scully found the match for the DNA fingerprint that she thought she recognized. Mulder was the father of one of Alex Krycek's children. She hadn't really been shocked about Skinner and Mulder being together, she had seen the looks they had given each other over the years.
So, she guessed she shouldn't be shocked about Mulder and Krycek. Scully knew there had been more going on between them when Krycek was Mulder's partner. She had seen Mulder check Krycek out and she had always been a bit suspicious as to why Krycek never fought back when Mulder attacked him. Alex Krycek had hurt them all, but he had also helped them. The help didn't make up for everything, but Dana Scully was willing to forgive. Just maybe not trust completely.
Earlier at the clinic, Scully had heard Skinner's quiet reassurances to Mulder. She had also heard Skinner tell Mulder he cared about Krycek too. Suddenly a curious thought crossed her mind. Punching up Walter Skinner's name in the computer, she retrieved the DNA sample they had on file for him. Comparing it to the second baby's profile, Dana Scully found a perfect match.
Walter Skinner and Fox Mulder. Fox Mulder and Alex Krycek. Skinner and Krycek. It was like a gay soap opera, she chuckled out loud in the empty lab. Looks like everyone was getting some except her. 'Maybe she would give Randy a call in the morning,' Dana Scully mused as she called it a night.
The next day, Scully asked to have a meeting with Skinner. She requested Mulder's presence also but didn't tell her partner why. Mulder tried to weasel her into telling him what it was about, but she told him to wait.
In Skinner's office Scully sat down with the files laying primly in her lap. This was a very serious situation, but she was having a hard time keeping a smile from showing. Mulder had always been the one to deliver the outrageous findings and theories, while she was always the voice of reason. Dana Scully was delighted in turning the tables on Mulder.
Scully delicately cleared her throat and began:
"Mulder, AD Skinner," trying for as much decorum as she could muster. "I ran the two father's DNA fingerprints through the FBI computer. I have two perfect matches."
"Don't keep us in suspense Scully," Mulder said, gesturing for her to continue. "Tell us who the proud fathers are."
Dana Scully couldn't help the broad smile that broke on her face.
"Mulder, your father number one." Turning to look straight into Skinner's eyes she said, "And you're father number two."
The men just stared at Scully, waiting to hear the punch line. Mulder sat back in his chair and shook his head in denial. Skinner didn't know what to say or do.
"If this is a joke, Agent Scully, its not funny," Skinner finally said, growing tired of Scully's smirk.
"Of course it's not a joke, Walter, we should have figured it out sooner." Mulder broke in excitedly, the profiler's mind that earned him the label 'Spooky' finally kicking in.
"Two months ago we both had sex with Krycek." He cast a quick look at Scully. "So, unless Alex was having sex with a lot of other men with all his free time between assassinations and subterfuge. It would have to be us."
"Congratulations, Walter. We're dads."
Skinner drew a deep breath. He was going to be a father. He and Sharon had tried for years to have a child with no luck, now he was going to be a father but he had no idea where the father-to-be was.
He was determined to find Krycek no matter where he was hiding.
But they didn't find him. For all appearances, Alex Krycek had dropped of the planet. Except, files suddenly started showing up, encrypted data tapes would arrive in anonymous envelopes addressed to Mulder, Scully and Skinner. Each bit of information going directly to the person who could do the most good with it.
The consortium was crumbling. Documents outlining the collaboration, the experiments and the colonization projects were giving Mulder the proof he had needed for so long. Moles were being flushed out of not only the FBI but in the CIA, NSA and all levels of the government. The president appointed a special task force to deal with the influx of information and the resulting aftermath.
Reports of the activities of the Resistance reached Mulder through the Lone Gunmen. The hybrid and cloning labs were being burned to the ground. A vaccination against the Oilens had been perfected and had already been covertly administered to the populace through various methods. UFO sitings increased suddenly and then stopped all together. The Oilens had packed their bags and left. Trickles of reports continued for a while until what appeared to be the last of the labs was destroyed.
During all the chaos, Mulder and Skinner had bought a house together. A house large enough for three men and two children. They hadn't given up hope of finding Alex. It had been seven months since they had last seen him, but they knew in their hearts he was alive and it seemed that he was the only reason they had won the war.
~~~~
Dr. Randy Atkinson was closing up for the night, it had been a long day and he was anxious to get home to Dana. The two had continued the research on the nanobytes together, Scully met with him as frequently as she could, almost every minute of her off duty time. Not the usual courtship, but it had worked for them.
The nanobytes they studied from Krycek's blood sample were different from those in Walter Skinner's. The nanos Skinner was infected with had to be destroyed, the nanos in Krycek were temporary. The Lone Gunmen were able to create new nanobytes from the samples found in Krycek' blood.
Scully and Atkinson used the new nanotechnology to create temporary wombs in other host bodies.
Experimenting on lab rats, irony not lost on Scully, revealed that the nanobytes were flushed out with the placenta in the females hosts. In the males, the nanos were removed with the womb by caesarean if performed before labor set in. They discovered that if the male rat was allowed to go into labor, the nanobytes would already be dissolved.
Apparently, labor was the indicator to the nanos they were no longer needed, leaving the male host with a womb with no exit, except surgery which would have to be performed as soon as the host went into labor. The longer the father was in labor, the more risk to both father and child.
They also discovered that each pregnancy was a one shot deal. None of the rats could give birth twice.
Heedless to Atkinson's protests of unethical medical practice, Scully had infected herself. He was worried. They had only brought rats to pregnancy and with Krycek missing, there wasn't enough data to safely infect a human host, especially not the woman he had fallen in love with.
Scully stubbornly refused to listen. For once she was doing something for herself.
Dana Scully was now carrying Atkinson's child. She had resigned from the FBI after the smoke had cleared. Scully had joined him in his practice, but refused to marry him until after the baby was born.
As Atkinson was about to set the alarm, he felt a gun pressed against his neck. A voice hissed for him to go back inside. Atkinson obeyed and locked the door. The gunman pushed him into one of the exam rooms, the gun never moving from beneath his jaw.
This was a bad situation. He knew when he didn't make it home soon, Dana would start calling him. If he didn't answer the phone, she would come down to the clinic.
"If you want drugs, I will get them for you," he told the gunman. "Just don't shoot me, okay?"
As fine a FBI agent Dana had been, he didn't want to risk his lover and mother of his child facing off a crazed addict.
"I don't want drugs," the gunman gasped out before he doubled over in pain.
This freed Atkinson from the gunman's grip. He turned around to see Alex Krycek on his knees in pain and very pregnant.
Atkinson reached down to steady the man.
"My God, Alex, Mulder and Skinner having been searching the ends of the earth for you. Where have you been?"
"Doesn't matter. I need your help, not theirs. Don't need them," Alex ground out through clenched teeth.
"How long have you been in labor? Are your contractions pretty close together?"
"I have been in pain for around six hours, I didn't know where else to go." Alex was breathing hard but he hadn't dropped the gun despite the pain. "You're going to have to deliver the babies."
"Alex, you have to have a caesarean, I can't perform that kind of surgery alone." Kneeling beside the suffering man, Atkinson tried to reason with Krycek.
"Let me call Dana, she can assist me."
"No! You're going to do this alone. I don't want Scully involved."
"I have to put you under anesthesia to perform the surgery. Someone needs to watch your vitals while I operate."
"No! I don't need anesthesia. Just deliver the babies."
"The pain would be to much for your body to handle, you could go into shock. That would put you and the babies at risk."
"Don't worry about the pain, doc." Krycek smiled grimly. "I had my arm cut off without anesthesia, this pain isn't any worse than that."
"Then think of the children you're giving birth to. I'm not comfortable with this..."
"It's not about your comfort, now it is, doc?" Krycek broke in. The pain really was very intense but he was determined not to lose control. He was worried about the babies, but knew the doctor would put them first if they became distressed.
Atkinson shook his head. He could tell Krycek was in a lot more pain than he was letting on. He decided to try a different approach.
"Alex, I can give you a regional anesthetic. An epidural block will lessen the pain without knocking you out. It works like the shot a dentist gives to numb a tooth."
Krycek thought on this a moment and nodded his okay. He didn't really trust Atkinson, but the pain was making it hard for him to concentrate.
"The epidural can cause your blood pressure to drop, which may slow the babies' heart rate. I'm going to start you on an IV for fluids before I administer the medicine." Atkinson reached into the pocket of his lab coat to retrieve his stethoscope and found his cell phone there as well.
As nonchalantly as he could, he pressed the speed dial for Scully. He left the phone in his pocket, hopefully when Dana picked up, she would be able to hear what was going on.
Atkinson helped Krycek change into a surgical gown, all the time speaking of what was involved with a caesarean. As he continued speaking, Atkinson helped Krycek lie down on the table, he then hooked up the IV.
Krycek doubled over from the pain again, and Atkinson knew he had very little time left. "Relax, Alex." Atkinson said. "I am going to give you the epidural now and that should help numb the pain." He prayed Scully had answered the phone and heard the conversation. He administered the epidural and watched as Krycek relaxed with relief from the pain.
'Dana, get here,' Atkinson thought. 'I can only stall so long.'
Dana Scully reached for her cell phone. The caller ID said it was Randy, but when she answered, no one was on the line. She listened for a moment, trying to make out what the voice she could hear was saying. Scully could hear Randy's voice describing a caesarean procedure to someone. When she heard Atkinson say 'Alex', she hung up the phone and ran out the door.
Scully called Mulder as she raced for the clinic. The clinic had no current patients with the name Alex, so unless a stranger named Alex, who needed a caesarean had suddenly appeared, it looked like there was a chance that Alex Krycek had come back after all.
"It's me, Mulder," Scully said when Mulder answered his cell phone. "Get to the clinic immediately, I think Krycek's back. I am headed there now. Can you tell Walter?"
"Alex? Alex is at the clinic? Is he all right?"
"Mulder, I don't know. Randy left his cell phone on, and I only caught part of a conversation. I really don't have time to talk. Just get to the clinic as soon as you can."
"I'm walking out the door. Thanks Scully. I will call Walter, he is working late." Mulder hung up his phone and grabbed a coat.
Walter Skinner was unlocking his car when his cell phone rang. When he saw Mulder's name, he smiled. They had formed a deep bond over the last several months. Mulder added so much joy to his former lonely life. They were both very happy, but they both felt like something, or in this case, someone was needed to complete their lives.
Skinner answered the phone to an already talking Mulder. Skinner could make out something about the clinic. He could only assume Mulder meant Atkinson's clinic... and then he heard the magic word "Alex".
After all the years of reading Mulder's reports and then living together, Skinner had become quite good at deciphering Mulder speak. He told Mulder to calm down and he would meet him at the clinic.
Scully pulled in to the darkened parking lot of the clinic. She unlocked the door and quietly stepped inside. Scully could see a light on in the back so she headed that way. She didn't call out, for fear that if it was indeed Krycek and if he heard her, he would try and bolt.
Slipping open the door, Scully peered inside. Atkinson was bent over a very pregnant patient. She couldn't quite make out who it was, but the patient appeared to be unconscious.
"Randy," she whispered, trying to draw his attention.
Atkinson turned his head around. He smiled at Scully and waved her in. "I'm glad you're here, Dana. I was worried you didn't get my call."
"Very clever way of you sending a message, how is he doing?" She looked down into Krycek's face. He was unconscious, but his face was screwing up in pain. "Is he not responding to the epidural?"
"The epidural gave him a small amount of pain relief, he has started showing increased signs of distress and then passed out. I'm monitoring him and the babies, but right now the babies are not showing any signs of distress."
"Now that you're here, I'm going to give Alex a general anesthetic, we don't want him panicking if the epidural stops numbing the pain completely. Can you get prepped, Dana? We need to start immediately."
"Mulder and Walter are on their way." Scully stated.
"We can't wait any longer." As if on cue, the machine monitoring the three patients hearts sang out a loud beeping tone.
"The babies' heart rates are getting dangerously low, we need to get them delivered." Atkinson administered the general anesthetic and Scully quickly prepped.
She joined Atkinson, who was outlining where the incision was going to be made. Atkinson slowly made the incision down Krycek's abdomen and they began removing the babies from the womb.
Mulder and Skinner arrived at the clinic and shouted for Scully.
"In here, but go into the prep room and scrub up, we need your help."
The two expectant fathers hurriedly washed themselves and each put on a set of surgical scrubs. As soon as they entered the room, Scully handed Skinner a writhing, mewling baby.
"Congratulations, it's a girl! Now take her over and wash her up." Scully rushed back to the operating table. Atkinson had just finished pulling the second baby out.
The baby squirmed for a moment and then let out a wail. Atkinson passed the baby to Scully who then handed the new baby boy to Mulder.
"Congratulations, it's a boy! Follow Walter and clean your son up. We need to finish closing Krycek."
Mulder carried the little boy over to Walter. The were both beaming at each other, not saying a word, just marveling at the new lives they held in their arms.
Scully checked Krycek's vitals and increased the IV drip. Atkinson cleaned the incision and closed Krycek up.
They gave each other a satisfied smile. Scully turned and walked over to Mulder, Skinner and the twins. She touched each of the the babies. She told the new fathers Krycek would be okay, his blood pressure had dropped due to blood loss, but they had him stabilized.
"Alex will be coming out from under the anesthesia, I imagine he will want to the see the babies right away, but let's take them next door to give him a little piece and quiet. We will leave the monitor on him, it will alert us to any problems."
Scully took each of the small infants and gently washed them again, then wrapped them in some blankets she had found then handed them back to the anxiously awaiting fathers.
~~~~
Alex Krycek slowly became conscious to a quiet room. The only sound was a monitor, beeping out the rhythm of his heart. He sat up and turned off the machine and then pulled the IV from his arm. Krycek tilted his head listening for voices. He heard murmuring from the adjacent room.
Stealthily as he could manage, still feeling a bit disoriented, he moved next to the slightly ajar door. Peeking in, he could see Atkinson with his arm wrapped around Dana Scully. They were smiling and talking to Walter Skinner and Mulder.
He walked into the room, but didn't say a word. Krycek's eyes were completely focused on Skinner, Mulder and his children.
Atkinson asked how he was feeling, Krycek just shrugged, his eyes never straying from the image before him. Mulder and Skinner were smiling and cooing at the infants. They both looked up at him and smiled.
A boy and a girl, if he were to judge based on the pink and blue blankets.
Skinner said something about sitting down, but Krycek was only hearing his own heartbeat. Mulder asked if he wanted to hold the babies. He slowly sat down, still aching from the surgery, and reached for the infant in Mulder's arms.
He took the tiny bundle and held the boy close to his chest. As he turned to reach for the girl infant, he realized that even with the prothesis, he would never be able to hold both children properly at the same time.
His children. He had fought hard to make the world safe from alien colonists and the consortium for these two precious children alone. He looked over at the baby girl Skinner was still holding, it overwhelmed him to think of these two children as his. His to protect, care for and love. And he loved them with all his heart.
"When can we take Alex and the babies home?" Mulder asked Scully.
Lost in his own thoughts, it took Alex a moment to register what Mulder had asked Scully, but Krycek didn't hear Mulder include him.
Fear gripped Krycek's heart. This was the reason he hadn't wanted Mulder or Skinner involved.
They were going to take his children from him.
All the color drained from Krycek's face. He handed the little boy back to Mulder. He hung his head and whispered, "I know I've hurt you both, all of you. I know you hate me." Tears had started to fall down Alex's face. He wasn't used to begging, but he would beg for his children. "Please don't take my babies, they're all I have."
Perceptions by Laura