He crouched down panting, exhausted, and spent. He couldn't run any farther,
and he didn't really have reason to. He'd completed his mission. It would
take a while for the body to realize that the head was gone, but his team
was, for all intents and purposes, the victors. Victory... The salvation of
the world... But at what cost? His heart was dead. Bled to death, pale and
still in his arms, and here was as good a place as any. He pulled his gun,
staring at it with an almost fond look. This was familiar. This was
something he knew.
He smiled down at the pale face before him, beautiful and serene. He brushed
a lock of hair from the lovely eyes, now closed forever. "I'll join you
soon, love. Wait for me..."
The heart-broken assassin closed his eyes and placed the barrel of his gun
against his head....
June 25th 1998
Agent Mulder sighed as yet another promising lead turned into a dead end.
Scully smiled at the man before them. "Thank you Mr. Merkleman. Your
assistance had been most appreciated."
"Well, anything for the FBI, Miss. Always glad to oblige."
Scully exchanged a few more pleasantries with the aging farmer, and then
they headed back to the hotel. Yet another day wasted.
"Mulder. We aren't finding anything useful. I think that we're just going to
have to accept this as a wild goose chase."
Mulder frowned a little fretfully. "But this was one of my most reliable
sources. Admittedly he was a bit vague about this, but he's never been wrong
before..."
"Even the best of sources can have a bad day. Let's just go back to the
hotel for tonight. We can try again tomorrow."
Mulder nodded. "You're right, of course. We'd best get some dinner and some
sleep."
Scully frowned the 'You're giving in too easily, what are you up to,
Mulder?' look. He gave her his best 'I'm not going anywhere, really!' look.
She sighed, and returned to looking out the window of the car at the passing
scenery.
He'd been so sure that this lead was going to pan out! It had been months
since the last time he'd actually managed to find out something useful! He'd
been hoping... But maybe Scully was right. Maybe this was pointless...
He mused on his disappointment all the way back to town. Scully took one
look at his face and suggested they get carry out and eat back at the hotel.
He couldn't really blame her either. He was lousy company when he was upset.
He vowed to let her barricade herself in her hotel room and not pester her
with his depression tonight.
So, he sat in his room and brooded. All night long...
June 26th
Alex sat and brooded. He'd been getting good at it lately. Why his damn
employer had sent him here, he had no idea. But he was bored out of his
mind. However, when the Englishman said go and wait, he went and waited.
Bored or not. He wouldn't have minded so much, if he'd had a clue in hell as
to what he was waiting for. As it was, his paranoia was kicking into high
gear.
He sighed, and stared out of his car window. The Englishman could have at
least sent him to wait in a more comfortable car. His prosthetic arm was
starting to really bug him, and he was going to have the backache of the
century after eight hours of just sitting in this damn thing. And that
wasn't including the hours it had taken to drive all the way out here. This
place was the middle of nowhere. Not that surprising, a lot of his
employer's interests were in out of the way places....
His eyes were attracted to the first sign of movement nearby in hours. A car
was pulling out of the bed and breakfast across the street. His jaw
practically fell off when he saw who was in it.
Holy Shit! If it wasn't the Dynamic Duo! What were Mulder and St. Scully
doing here? Was this what he was waiting for? He wished he'd been given some
concrete orders. It was difficult to break the rules if one didn't know what
they were! How the hell was he supposed to tiptoe around his orders if he
hadn't been given any? How was he supposed to bend the truth, if he had no
clue what it was? He'd gotten used to being at least a little bit in the
know, thank you!
His cell rang. About damn time!
"Yes, sir?"
{Agent Mulder is going to run into a little puzzle today. Relieve him of it.
Preferably without him realizing it.}
"Yes sir."
Alex put his cell phone away and smiled to himself. Now he had a set
purpose, some rules had been established. Good. Now lets see how far he
could bend those rules...
Mulder leaned against the car, and waited for Scully to come back from the
washroom. They were once more canvassing the nearby towns, if one could call
them that, for the person his source had mentioned. However, everyone they
met had never seen the guy before. Either this man was really damn good at
being reclusive, or his source had been mistaken. He was almost hoping for
the second at this point. He wasn't sure that the information offered was
worth the amount of effort they were putting into this.
He blinked, and looked around. He had a nagging feeling of being watched. It
was probably just his rampant paranoia, but...
"Mulder? Ready to go?"
"Huh? Oh. Yeah, sure Scully. Let's head out."
"You know Mulder, there are enough small towns out here to keep us busy for
days. It would go a lot faster if we split up. I could take Emmetsvile, if
you take Kietston?"
Mulder shrugged. "Sure. Let's go and get another car and then get to work.
I'd like to get out of here as soon as possible."
Scully nodded.
Kietston
"Thank you Miss Miers. Your help is appreciated."
"No problem, Agent Mulder. Please call if you have any more questions for
me..."
I stared in shock at the vision before me. It couldn't be him! Not after all
these years! Not looking the same as the day he died! Impossible! But yet,
there he was! Perhaps I've gone insane in my old age. Holding so many
secrets, so much guilt, how could I do otherwise? But... Others see him.
Others speak with him. He is truly there! He's come back for me, perhaps. I
can't let him find me, find them! I just can't! It took me so long to
re-build what was lost...
He isn't going to destroy it again! Not the way he did before, he and his
damn lover! Not again. This time, he would fail. I wasn't able to stop him
then, but now? Now, eighty-one years later, I have power!
Then, then I was a boy, no older than seventeen. But now, now I am an old
man, rich with secrets. He won't destroy us this time. Not again, not again,
not again....
Mulder sighed. Again, no answers found. No one has ever seen Eli Tarr. His
source must have had a screw loose on this one. Still, one more house to
check, and then back to the hotel. He nodded to the old men sitting on the
grocery store porch across the street, and knocked on the door.
It opened to show a pretty, brown haired woman. "Hello?"
"Miss Yates?"
"Yes?"
"My name is Agent Mulder, FBI? I was wondering, have you ever seen this
man?"
Mulder showed her his ID, and the picture that had been sent him by his
source. "His name is Eli Tarr?"
She blinked. "Hmm. I've never met him, but I believe my father was
acquainted with him at one time. Father died last winter. But I have a huge
box of stuff he'd been saving since he was a boy. You could look through it
if you like."
Mulder throttled the urge to blink in surprise. Wow! Something vaguely
resembling progress! "I would like that a great deal Miss Yates."
The box held a great deal more stuff than Miss Yates had recalled. She gave
him permission to take it back to his hotel and look through it. He thanked
her, and promised to return the box within a few days.
He stopped at a diner on the way back to their B&B. One of the top items in
the box was a photo album. He pulled out his cell phone, hit Scully's
number, and started leafing through it.
{Scully.}
"Scully? I found something that might be useful. I've stopped at the Blue
Sky diner off 98, would you mind meeting me here?"
{Sure. It's not like I was finding anything here. I'll be there in about
half an hour.}
Mulder smiled. "Thanks Scully. I'll save you some fries."
{Gee. Thanks.}
He clicked the phone shut, and tucked it into his coat pocket. A picture in
the album he'd been paging through caught his eyes. A black and white photo
of a group of men, dressed in black fatigues. All of them were between the
ages of twenty and thirty. He scanned it more carefully, looking for
whatever it was that had snagged his attention. Hmm. Well, they were all
armed for one thing. There was definitely some concealed weaponry there.
And there was something about the faces... He frowned, and signaled the
waiter. "I don't suppose you have a magnifying glass on you or anything?"
The man blinked at him and shrugged. "I think the cook keeps one in back so
she can do crossword puzzles on her break, would that do?"
"Yes. That would be great thank you."
The man was back in moments. "Here. Just make sure to give it back."
Mulder nodded absently already focused on the photo. He positioned the
magnifying glass, and started examining the faces. There! In the back...
Mulder blinked and checked again. No doubt about it. It was Alex Krycek...
"Damn! Can't I ever get rid of that man?!"
Scully walked into the diner to find her partner staring at a photo album
like he was waiting for it to jump up and bite him. "Mulder?"
He actually started, jerking his head up and blinking at her as she slid
into the booth across from him as if surprised to see her. "Scully?"
"What did you find?"
He pushed the album across the table to her along with a magnifying glass.
"This was in the effects of a Mr. Arnold Yates. According to his daughter,
he was familiar with our man before his death a few years ago."
Scully shot a confused look at Mulder, but he just gestured at the album.
She shrugged and started to scan the photo. She blinked. "Alex Krycek?!"
"That's what I thought. But that's not possible. This photo was taken in the
early 1900's, during World War I. Besides, he has both arms...."
She stared at him, waiting. Mulder didn't say anything. She raised an
eyebrow. "Well?"
"Well what?"
"No theories? Ideas? Possibilities?"
"Plenty. I'm not sure I want to voice them though...."
She carefully removed the photo from the journal. Sure enough, there was a
neatly written label in the upper right hand corner. '1916, the boys of the
53rd. We struck a blow!'
She tilted the photo, so that Mulder could read the inscription.
"What else is in the box?"
"I don't know yet. I was too busy trying to figure this out."
She gestured towards the cardboard box. "Well then, why don't you keep
looking for a photo with names, and I'll search for references to Eli Tarr?"
He shrugged. "Sure. Here."
The two of them scanned through the material in companionable silence. A
half and hour or so later, Scully looked up with a blink as Mulder actually
gasped. "What?"
Silence.
"Mulder?"
He removed a photo, and handed it to her with a blank face. She blinked at
him once more, and shot a glance at the photo, her eyes going wide at what
she saw. Smiling from the photo was Krycek's familiar face, and one other.
The Krycek look-alike was leaning against a tree, smiling down at the man
who was leaning back against him, asleep. It was as clear as crystal that
the two men were...more than friends...from the way they were sitting.
She turned the photo over to read the label.
'Andren and David, Their last day together, June 28th, 1917. "And love shall
call together those who by the endless cycling days are parted for the
future shall need again those who can face the void, brave-hearted and
they resistant and defiant stood before the oncoming strife And for the
future of their world so bravely gave their life."'
She turned the photo over again, staring at the peaceful and happy face of
the sleeping man, and felt a chill down her spine. Because the man sleeping
in that picture—could have been Mulder's twin.
Krycek frowned. What the hell are those two doing in there? What did they
find? For that matter, what were they looking for in the first damn place?
He hated it when he had to wing it.... Whatever was in that box has to be
what he was supposed to 'relieve' Mulder of. But he wondered what.... Oh
well. Curiosity killed the cat.
He watched the two leave the diner, box in hand. There was something weird
about the way that they were avoiding eye contact. He smirked. "Hmm. Did the
Dynamic Duo have a fight then? God knows, Mulder is not an easy man to get
along with...."
And don't you wish you'd had more of a chance to learn?
He ignored the little mocking voice. It never had anything useful to add to
the conversation. The less he used the words 'if only' and 'Mulder' in the
same thoughts, the better off he was.
He would bet dollars to donuts that Mulder would be hanging on to that box
as if it were the Holy frigging Grail. Well, that meant he got to pay Mulder
a midnight visit. Goody. He could probably use the practice on his breaking
and entering skills....
Sorrow's Arms Bed and Breakfast
Mulder sat in his bed, box of papers before him. Scully had found what
appeared to be a set of journals, and Mulder settled down to some heavy
reading. It wasn't like he was going to be able to sleep, not after seeing
that photo. His dreams were weird enough without the inspiration, thank you!
The first few journals were fairly common place. He turned to the later
volumes. He was now really curious as to who 'Andren and David' had been. He
flipped through them until he came to the later ones,
"We've found the base. This will be our last real chance to get Them, to end
this once and for all. To save the world from the future They have planned.
David says that he isn't sure how much of his information is accurate, that
They may have changed things somewhat since he left Them. But he's still our
best chance. I bless the day that Andren was assigned to our unit, because
without him, we never would have converted David. I worry. What is going to
happen to them when this is over? David is an assassin, a traitor; he helped
Them in their plans to turn our world over to the Others. No matter how much
he's helped us, I don't think that the Brass is going to forgive him that. A
lot of the men in the Unit don't trust him out of their sight and good many
of them believe the rumors....
And the two of them being together? Well, the Brass has definite ideas on
that subject as well. I don't know what will happen when all this is over.
Of course, that's assuming that we all survive this. Which probably won't
happen. This mission is practically a suicide, to be totally honest. But if
we succeed...the head of this beast will be cut off. The leaders of this
dark conspiracy will be dead, and Their following will bleed away in time.
If we succeed....
I pray God we will. And as for Andren and David...may they someday find the
peace and happiness they deserve.
Arnold Yates, June 27th, 1917"
Mulder frowned. That sounded suspiciously familiar. Especially the heavy use
of the word 'Them' and the intriguing use of that single 'Other'. Could
this be the journal of someone who'd helped stave off a previous invasion?
Could it be that the current one was not the first 'War in Heaven' to be
waged on Earth? And what did Eli Tarr have to do with any of this?
Mulder flipped the page to the next entry.
"Oh God! I can't believe it. It's done. We succeeded. But the cost.... Most
of us are dead, as I write this. Of the twenty-one men in the 53rd, three of
us still draw breath this morning. And Brian isn't expected to survive his
injuries. That just leaves the two of us, Eli and myself, to remember the
truth of what happened. I knew from the beginning that the truth would never
be known by others, some things people just aren't ready to accept. But...
David...I can't believe they'd do this to him. They blame him for the
ambush. They believe that he betrayed us! I can't believe it, I can't! He
might betray us, that I could see, but he would never, never allow Andren to
die. He was going to kill himself. He was halfway to pulling the trigger
when they found him.
They think he told Them we were coming. He didn't. I know he didn't. Because
he would never let Andren die if he could stop it. Never. He'd die first.
They're going to execute him. For treachery, conspiracy, and the murder of
Lieutenant Andren Brents. And he won't speak out. He refuses to defend
himself! He told me that it didn't matter, he didn't want to live anyway,
without Andren. It's not fair. They had so little time together, and for it
to end like this.... It's not true; it's not fair.
Arnold Yates, July 2nd, 1917"
Mulder leaned back against the headboard of the hotel bed, and considered.
Andren and David, he and Krycek, Tarr and Yates...how were they all
connected? His source had told him that Eli Tarr was the last man alive who
knew the truth about a huge government cover up. Could it be that it was
whatever mission Yates wrote of in his journals?
He closed his eyes, thoughts spinning, and didn't even notice when restless
thought gave way to restless sleep.
Alex grinned with satisfaction as the lock to Mulder's room gave way beneath
his touch. He still had it. Good to know he could still break and enter with
the best of them, he'd been worried he'd gotten out of practice. The door
practically floated open, not a creak or groan gave him away to the man with
in. He slipped into the room, and grinned. What do you know? Mulder's
sleeping! He'd never actually seen the man sleep before. Seen him exhausted
yes, sleeping no.
The box was sitting on the bed next to the sleeping Agent, a book settled in
the man's lap. Alex ghosted over to the bedside, and stared down at the
sleeping agent. Most people looked more relaxed asleep, more innocent. Not
Mulder, however. It seemed he had to be the exception in every case. He just
looked like every bad memory and hidden loss he suppressed during the day
sprang out to pain him while he slept. Alex shook his head. No wonder the
man put off sleeping as long as possible. Not that Alex could blame him.
There were times when Alex wished his sleeping mind were less inclined to
wander down memory lane. Especially when it chose to dwell on one-armed
peasants in Tunguska, dark silos, Oil aliens, and the wounded look in a pair
of hazel eyes....
He sighed silently, and carefully eyed the journal on Mulder's chest. Mulder
probably wasn't the soundest of sleepers, should he try for it now, or
retrieve it later, separately...?
Now would be better. He didn't get a reputation for efficiency by leaving
things half done. He carefully lifted the book from beneath Mulder's hands.
For just a moment, Mulder's hands rested, skin to skin, against his own.
Then the book was in Alex's hands, and Mulder's rested, empty, against his
chest.
Alex froze as a long sigh escaped the sleeping man. That had sounded almost
like.... 'Love'? Nah, probably just the remnant of a dream, and Alex didn't
have time to speculate anyway. He placed the journal into the box, and
carried the whole thing off, considerately locking the door again behind
himself.
June 27th
"And whoever stole them left no traces?"
Mulder sighed at Scully's question. "No. I shouldn't have fallen asleep...."
"Mulder, everyone sleeps sometime. What we have to do is figure out where
Eli Tarr is. He's our only source of information now. Besides, it would look
bad on our progress report if we didn't' find anything about the man we came
here to find."
Mulder smiled at his partner and friend. "You're right, of course. Any
ideas?"
"Well, we could see what we could scrounge up about the 53rd and it's
members. They may have some information on Tarr. Or perhaps those other
names, David and...?"
"Lieutenant Andren Brents."
"Right. Research."
Mulder sighed and nodded. "You try the laptop and I'll take public records?"
"Sounds like a plan."
The two agents headed towards the nearest library to see what they could
find.
10 a.m.
Alex Krycek stared blankly at the photo in front of him. Teach him to give
in to his natural curiosity. This was.... Wow. He and Mulder. Together.
1917. This was too weird. Admittedly, he'd been attracted to the truth
obsessed agent since their first meeting, but this.... This smacked of
destiny, fate, and all those other words that he really hated. He had never
believed that anything could control his future but himself. Sure, his life
was seriously fucked up, but that was his own damn fault, not some unseen
power that directed his life! But now....
The Englishman wanted this information. And he'd get it, but not before Alex
got a few 'copies'.... This was too important to his life to let it vanish
down the misinformation black hole. He stood, and started sifting through
the box for what he'd need. He had a lot of work to do, and less time to do
it in.
2 p.m.
Scully shot her partner a concerned look. He hadn't been taking this at all
well, understandably, and the lack of sleep showed in the bags under his
eyes, and the haunted look on his face. This case had become frighteningly
personal all of a sudden.
"Mulder? You okay?"
"Yeah. I'll be fine. What did you find?"
"According to official record, the 53rd was an infantry unit that was pretty
much wiped out in the early days of WWI. According to what you remember from
the journals of the late Mr. Yates, that is not so. The deaths of the 53rd
were accredited to a double agent, one David Merchaude. He was tried and
executed for treason and murder."
"That was in the journal. Yates believed that Merchaude was innocent. Am I
the only one who is really disturbed by the parallels between this story and
our present? I mean, bad enough that they looked like Krycek and myself,
worse that our lives echo theirs. The fight against the conspiracy, the
betrayal, it's a little too close for comfort!"
"There is no need to jump to conclusions. It's probably just a coincidence.
Or it could be a set up. God knows They have gone to a lot of trouble to
trick us in the past. Plausible lies...What did you learn?"
"From what I learned in the journals, and the land surveys I saw in the
Library, I would say that the 'last chance' battle Yates wrote about
occurred near here. I didn't read all of the journals last night, however.
I'd need them to pinpoint the exact location, either that or someone who was
there."
A familiar and hated voice husked softly near his ear. "Would second best
do?"
There was a double click, as a gun was put to Mulder's back, and Scully's
weapon was aimed at Krycek. Mulder sighed. "Well, now we know where the
journals vanished to..."
"Now, now Mulder. Much as I'm flattered by your high opinion of me, not
everything that happens to you is my fault. I did, however, manage to get my
hands on some second hand copies before the whole lot vanished, and imagine
my surprise at what I found.... Now, are we going to chat, or are we going
to point guns at each other and create a scene...?"
Slowly both guns were lowered and returned to their holsters. Krycek
carefully edged his way around Mulder, and moved to keep Scully between
them. "No offence Mulder, but I trust her common sense more than yours."
He sat down and carefully pulled a file from inside his jacket. "This is
what I managed to salvage. It's the last month of the 53rd's existence.
Including a fairly good description of the area in which the 'mission'
occurred, the description of David Merchaude's trial, and the death of
Andren Brents."
"All you could salvage. After stealing them in the first place. How generous
of you."
He smiled at them, eyes sparking with real amusement, and for a second, it
was impossible to believe that he was the same man who had lied to, killed,
and betrayed everyone he came across.
"Well, I aim to please... "
His amusement dimmed and he stared into Mulder's eyes, as if he could gain
belief through sheer force of will. "I saw that picture Mulder. This
involves me somehow. I don't know what's going on, but I don't like it, and
I want to get to the bottom of it."
"What do you know, we actually agree on something. The files?"
Krycek slid the files to Scully, who handed them to Mulder. Mulder flipped
through the photocopies with a raised eyebrow. He couldn't be sure of the
parts he hadn't read, but the parts he recognized were accurate. Should he
trust this information? More importantly, could he trust Krycek? Normally,
there wouldn't even be the possibility, but as the man had said, this seemed
to concern him as much as it did Mulder....
"All right."
"Mulder! Are you insane?"
"We'll see, won't we?"
Krycek stared into his face with a great deal of intensity. Mulder wondered
what exactly it was that he saw there. Whatever it was, it must have been
what he was looking for, because the man nodded and held out his good hand.
"A truce then. Until we learn what there is to learn about David Merchaude
and Andren Brents."
Mulder cast a sideways glance at Scully. She looked immensely upset, but she
nodded as well. Mulder reached out and clasped Krycek's hand in a firm grip.
"Truce. Until...."
"Until."
June 27th 1917
David leaned against the tree at his back and sighed. He wasn't sure how
this was going to go, but he had an overwhelming feeling of foreboding. He
knew about the rumors that had been going around about him, and frankly he
didn't give a damn. As long as Andren trusted him....
He still couldn't believe it! Someone as wonderful, as beautiful, as Andren
loved him! Even after all that he'd done. He had killed, lied, and destroyed
so many innocent people. And he couldn't even truly regret it. He'd done it
to save humanity. He would do it again to stop Them from betraying all of
mankind. But that didn't mean that he felt good about it. It didn't mean
that he didn't mourn for those who had suffered. It didn't mean that he
didn't deserve to rot in hell for his deeds. He did not excuse or forgive
himself for what he'd done.
But Andren forgave him. Andren loved him. He'd pinch himself to make sure he
wasn't dreaming, but if he was he didn't really want to wake up.
"Merchaude?"
He looked up to see a young soldier smiling down at him. A rather shy and
sensitive young man to be immersed in a war. According to Andren, the man
was going to be a photographer before the war had changed everyone's plans.
The kid still took pictures of everything. Andren himself carried a photo of
David that the kid had taken a while back. Said it reminded him of why.
Never said why what. David wasn't sure, but he believed the man's name was
Yates. "Yeah?"
"I thought you might want to know.... The captain's called a meeting. About
the Plan."
David scowled. And he'd conveniently forgotten to let him in on it. It had
been difficult enough before all these rumors about him had popped up. Now,
with the whole camp convinced he was going to betray them all if they so
much as blinked, it was becoming impossible to keep informed. And they
needed him if they were going to succeed!
"Thanks Yates."
Slight smile. "The Lieutenant's waiting for you by the tent."
David felt his eyebrows go up as the young man returned the way he'd come.
He knew. Andren and he had tried to be as discreet as possible when sneaking
through enemy territory with a small squad of fellow soldiers around. But
evidently they had slipped up somewhere. However, it seemed Yates was going
to keep his mouth shut on the subject.
David dusted off his black pants and headed for the captain's tent. He could
worry about the squad's reaction to their relationship later. First he to
bring down Them, then he could worry about the future. Right now he had a
hunt to plan.
June 27th 1998
Alex Krycek sighed and leaned back against the library seat. "Well. We
pretty much know where this instillation was. That's good. But we don't know
where the hell Tarr is, or what he might have to do with it. Or how two guys
who look exactly like Mulder and myself ended up fighting a conspiracy in
the early 1900's."
Mulder shrugged, looking absurdly happy, all things considered. But then,
this was Mulder. He was in his element at the moment. A puzzle had presented
itself, and he was hot on the trail. Alex, on the other hand, was a schemer
and planner. He was used to having the information he needed. Or at the very
least an idea of whom he could steal it from. Being completely clueless was
something he hadn't experienced since he'd been recruited into the
Syndicate, and he didn't like the refresher course he was currently going
through.
Scully sighed and rubbed her fingers against her temples. Evidently she was
headache prone. He sympathized. Mulder was a headache, no doubts about it.
She leaned forward to attract Mulder's attention. "I suggest we check out
the site. If nothing else, perhaps it will attract Tarr's attention.
Mulder's source said that he was in this area, and I can see no other reason
for him to be so than to be close to the former site."
Alex nodded. "Makes sense. Mulder?"
Mulder nodded absently, attention still turned to the journals. No doubt
picking the words apart in that brilliant (if neurotic) mind of his,
searching for possible hints of meaning. The man gave 'obsession' whole new
meaning.
Alex sighed. They needed to eat. And maybe Mulder could live without sleep,
but he and Scully were not so cursed. And he'd be damned if he'd go running
into a situation like this without some rest. His thinking was fuzzy enough
as it was. "Mulder? Scully? Might I suggest we find some food?"
Scully, bless her sensible soul, nodded. "Yes. We need to eat. The site
isn't going to go anywhere for the evening, Mulder. No one is aware we know
about it yet."
Mulder sighed, but obediently tucked the copied journal pages into his
jacket. "Okay. Lets go."
Krycek nodded. "Right. I'll meet you later."
Mulder's hand on his arm stopped him. "And just where do you think you're
going?"
Alex shook his head. For someone so bright, sometimes Mulder could be really
slow on the uptake. "Mulder. If I'm seen leaving here in your company,
certain people are going to realize that you know about all this, and any
chance at us learning the truth will vanish faster than you can say
'conspiracy'."
"How can we know that you won't disappear on us?"
"Why Scully, I didn't know you cared! You can't. But I won't. I'm just as
involved in this as you are. I want to know what the hell is going on. You
wouldn't be able to keep me from finding out at gunpoint, Agent Scully. I
will be back."
He nodded to the two scowling agents and slid off through the silent aisles
of books. I will be back, Mulder. I can't stay away....
I've been watching him. And sure enough, they're together. They're always
together, the damn bastards! They were practically attached at the hip all
those years ago. I couldn't stand to watch them then, and I hate to see them
now. Why should they have each other, when I have no one! They destroyed
everything I worked for. How often will I have to kill them!
He has a weakness though. That woman, I don't know who she is, but she is
important to him. To both of them! They both seem to trust her. She will be
the bait. I will use her to bring them to me. Bring them to the place where
everything ended, where I lost everything to their damn 'Resistance'. They
destroyed me, so I destroyed them. And I'll do it again, and again, until
they stop coming back!
Mulder sighed and leaned back against the headboard of his hotel rooms bed.
He couldn't sleep. Not that this was a huge surprise. With everything that
had happened today, it was no real wonder that he was experiencing a little
confusion.
Krycek...
He wasn't angry. That was the thing that really confused him. In all his
previous encounters with the damn Rat-bastard, he had a wall of anger
between him and the other man. Had a reservoir of hatred to draw upon, to
protect him from...to protect him. But this time—nothing. So now he was
sitting awake at.... He checked his bedside clock/radio. At two in the
morning, trying to track down his feelings.
Strange how all the interesting things in his life seemed to happen at two
in the morning. What had he felt upon hearing Krycek's voice in his ear
after all this time? The last time he'd seen the man, they had hardly parted
on good terms. And now.... If he had known, he would have looked for the
man, tried to help... But it was too late now. He couldn't avoid a feeling
of empathy though. That could have been him, missing an arm. It had almost
been so, if it hadn't been for that truck driver's kind-hearted wife.
So, empathy, but what else? He replayed the images of Krycek's entrance over
and over in his head. Strangely enough, there had been no surprise. The
slight widening of Scully's eyes, the tightening of her mouth indicated that
she had been as close to shocked as she was willing to show in front of
others, but he hadn't felt the least surprised.
He had somehow known that Krycek would show up, and not just because the man
always showed up when things started getting really weird. He had
just...known. Bone deep and sure, he'd known. That was not normal. He was
a good profiler, but not prescient.
And he was avoiding the subject again. He wanted to pinpoint what he had
been feeling, not what he hadn't.
Okay. He frowned and replayed the memory yet again. Satisfaction. He now had
someone to blame for the disappearance of his proof. Relief. Krycek hadn't
died in Tunguska. Mulder hadn't even realized that the possibility had been
worrying him, yet there it was. Tension. Well that wasn't a surprise.
Krycek's appearance generally meant that things were about to get even more
dangerous than usual. Joy.
He blinked. Joy?! Where had that come from? He frowned and tried to trace
down the source of that feeling. Joy...
The slight click of a door opening drew his attention. Calmly shutting the
door to his hotel room, not even trying to sneak, was Alex Krycek. And
Mulder still wasn't angry. He was going to have to work on that. No
protective wall of anger, plus Alex Krycek, plus a bedroom was a bad
combination.
"You know, I don't know why they bother, those locks are the next thing to
useless."
Mulder throttled down the shiver that the velvet husk of that voice put
through him and did his best to scowl. "Gee thanks. I'll take that under
advisement."
"You should. Your apartment is the next thing to grand central station. Not
that upgrading your locks would actually help, but...."
"But you'd have more of a challenge?"
A flash of a grin and a laugh that reminded Mulder of the days before he'd
had a reason to hate Krycek. "You'd do that for me? I'm honored...."
"What do you want, Krycek?"
"I told you I'd be back."
"I kind of assumed you meant earlier..."
"To tell you the truth, I'm avoiding your partner. She's scary."
Mulder pushed down a snicker at Krycek's dramatic shudder of dread. "Yeah,
well if we're going to discuss tomorrow, we'd better let her in on it, or
she'll make us both regret it."
Mulder stood and crossed to the door that joined his room and Scully's and
knocked. And knocked again. And a third time. He shot a glance at Krycek,
who was frowning. The man actually looked concerned. Mulder frowned and
tried the handle. Unlocked. Nice to know that Scully trusted him that much.
The room was empty. The bed was rumpled slightly, but not slept in. Krycek
peered through the door past Mulder's shoulder. "She's not here?"
Mulder frowned and turned his glare in Krycek's direction. The man seemed to
track his line of thought and scrambled backwards. "Oh no. I didn't have
anything to do with it, whatever 'it' is. I'm on your side at the moment,
remember?"
"If you're lying...."
"You'd undoubtedly find out. After all, that's what you do." A frown and the
same intense 'I'm going to make you trust me damn it!' look crossed Krycek's
face. "I don't know where she is, Mulder. I swear."
Mulder wasn't sure why, but he believed the man. "Then who? You seem
remarkably calm about this...."
" Your partner can take care of herself, Mulder. Hell, she can take care of
herself, you, and me without breaking a sweat! Is it possible she just went
somewhere? We'd look like idiots getting all panicked if she's just gone to
get some ice...."
Mulder shook his head, and Krycek sighed and nodded agreement. "I didn't
think so either, but I felt I ought to bring the possibility up. Well
then... Who have you pissed off lately?"
Mulder closed his eyes and tried to reason out who would want to kidnap
Scully. It had to have something to do with this case. He frowned as a faint
wash of dizziness swamped him.
"Tarr?"
Krycek blinked. "What? Why on earth would he want to kidnap Scully?"
Mulder shook away the faint trace of nausea. "I'm not sure. It's just a
random thought. But one thing is for sure; we're definitely going to check
out that site. And we're not going to wait around until morning."
Krycek sighed. "I don't suppose you're going to let me drive...."
Mulder's scowl was the only answer he received. The man sighed as he
followed Mulder out the door. "Didn't think so."
Scully hurt. She wasn't sure where she was at the moment, but just let her
get her hands on the thugs that had dragged her here, and she'd make him
wish he'd let her shoot him!
She wasn't horribly pleased with her current situation. She was tied to a
depressingly sturdy pipe and there was nothing nearby to use as a tool or
weapon. She hadn't seen anyone since she'd regained consciousness, though
she had heard footsteps and faint voices in the outside hall. Other than
being chained, she wasn't that bad off. The room was warm enough and the
carpet under her kept her relatively comfortable. She had been tied up in
worse places. Barry's trunk and Pffaster's closet springing to mind. But
more than anything else, she was angry. Mulder was disturbed by this case,
his easy acceptance of Krycek's presence a sure sign of his disturbance.
And that was another thing she was upset about. Without her, Mulder was
alone with Krycek. That wasn't healthy for either of them. It had taken her
a while to figure it out, mostly because Mulder tended not to mention half
his encounters with the Russian, but Mulder would act oddly for weeks after
one of Krycek's infrequent visits. And Krycek... Well he tended to do
illogical things around Mulder as well. Showing up at Mulder's apartment
after his father's death, and actually going with her partner to Russia just
for starters. And she was sure that Mulder hadn't told her half of what had
happened in Russia.
No, she was definitely unhappy. She was going to find the person responsible
for this and make them sorry they had ever been born!
But first she had to get out of here.
Mulder sighed as he and Krycek slipped through the woods around the remains
of Yates' installation. This was disturbingly reminiscent of the last time
they had been sneaking through the forest, though Montana in August was much
warmer than Russia had been. It was still dredging up quite a few emotions
he didn't really want to deal with right now. And if they were bothering
Mulder, he hated to think about how Krycek was taking it.
"Mulder?"
"Yes?"
"Have you considered what we're going to do once we get there? If whoever
took Scully is there, I doubt the place is going to be unguarded. Do you
have a plan, or are you just going off half-cocked like you usually do?"
He arched an eyebrow about the 'half-cocked' statement, and was about to
counter with a sarcastic comment, when he was struck with another dizzy
spell. The next thing he knew, Krycek was nodding a thoughtful agreement and
he was leaning against a tree for support. What the...
"Well. That isn't a half-bad plan, Mulder. Not one that I would have
normally pegged you as using, but it ought to work...."
Mulder blinked. "What?"
"What do you mean 'What'? Your plan should work. You were expecting me to
disagree?"
"What plan? I don't particularly recall voicing one. You were sniping, I was
going to comment, and next thing I know, the world is spinning, and I've
apparently missed part of the conversation."
Krycek's eyes went wide as he stared at Mulder. "Please tell me you're
kidding?"
"No."
"Mulder, you've been telling me your plan for the last twenty minutes. And
it was a good one. I couldn't have come up with better. I thought it was a
little on the violent side for you to adopt, your violence tends more
towards the accidental except where I'm concerned, but I just figured that
you were really ticked off about Scully."
Mulder's eyes were now as large around as Krycek's. "I don't like this. I
don't like it at all."
Alex hugged the ground and scanned the perimeter of the guarded cave
entrance. There were three guards watching the entrance, and there had been
four in the woods. Had being the operative word. Mulder was apparently
really ticked about Scully. Either that or whatever had come up with this
plan was surfacing again, because Alex could swear that Mulder hadn't been
trained to take down armed men like that. Besides, Mulder was not the 'kill
first and ask forgiveness later' kind of Agent. Something seriously wrong
was going on here, and worse, he didn't have time to deal with it now.
But Alex was immensely worried. The closer they got to the installation, the
more Mulder's confusion had started to shift to a sort of cold
concentration. The focus was familiar; it was the same intent and
concentrated attention he used to solve his cases. But the cold anger that
seemed to burn right beneath the familiar expression was a little
frightening. Mulder's eyes, usually a great barometer of his feelings, had
gone flat. Not the blankness he adopted to keep the rest of the world out,
but a dead, listless look that was disturbingly familiar to Alex.
He'd seen it in the mirror every morning since he'd been forced to flee the
FBI.
"We're clear."
He had to throttle down the urge to start as Mulder whispered in his ear.
Mulder acting like him was a scary thing. He was starting to get severely
worried. Enough so that he wished Scully were here. She seemed to be good at
gauging when Mulder was Mulder and when he was someone else. After all, the
switch had been pulled before... But then, Mulder had been perfectly normal,
until they'd gotten about a mile from the target, and only then had the
Agent started to go weird on him.
"Any ideas as to where they'd stash her?"
Mulder shrugged slightly, and Alex was relieved to see something of the
normal Mulder present in the other man's eyes. "There's a series of holding
cells in the lower levels, but they were mostly destroyed in the raid.
They're probably not in any condition to be holding someone as resourceful
Scully. The labs, offices, and command rooms where hit the hardest. I'd
guess the most intact part of the compound would be the living areas. They
were mostly ignored in the fight."
The man nodded down the left-hand corridor. "It's down this way."
Alex blinked after the agent. If he recalled correctly, there had been
nothing about the layout of the building in the journals....
Scully could hear alarms through the thick door of her prison. She was
halfway free of the clinging ropes and working furiously on the rest. There
was no way in hell she was going to be stuck her to be forgotten while
whatever was going on went down!
The door creaked open, and two huge men stepped in. They ignored her
half-demolished ropes, and grabbed her by the arms. One sliced through the
remainder of the tethering strands, and they both practically dragged her
from the room.
It seems that she was not forgotten after all. Damn.
I have to be amused. I knew they'd come, and it seems they're capable of
double the damage these days. Two of the thugs walk in, dragging the woman
with them.
"Tie her, and then help the others."
I watch as she is bound to a solid wooden chair, and the two thugs exit. I
know that they will not succeed in stopping them. They are far too skilled
at destruction to be stopped by a few dozen thugs. But then, I didn't want
them to be stopped.
"Why are you doing this? What do you want me for?"
She's spirited; I'll give her that. Pity she had to get involved with them.
"I don't want you. You're just the means to the end. They'll come to get you
and then I'll get them. Simple."
She stares at me, confused. The realization seems to hit her. "You're using
me to bring Mulder and Krycek. You want them."
"Mulder and.... Oh yes, they would have different names now, wouldn't they?
I should have known that he wouldn't stay dead. He was always such a
stubborn bastard. He should have just done his assignment and been done with
it. But that damn boy smiled at him, and he stopped thinking with his
head..."
She stared at him in shock. "My god... You're..."
I smile at her. "Eli Tarr. The only one alive who remembers what happened
here eighty-one years ago."
Mulder wasn't sure what exactly was going on. The closer they had gotten to
the installation, the stronger the feeling of vertigo got. The last clear
memory of the woods he had was a large rock in a clearing, and then the
dizziness swamped him. Along with an emotion that felt a lot like despair
and black rage. The next thing he knew, he was standing in a hallway with
Krycek asking him if he had a guess as to where Scully was. Even when he was
clear on what was going on around him, he still felt somehow removed, like
he was observing himself from the outside.
"Mulder? What now?"
Mulder pulled the tattered remnants of his concentration together and
focused on Krycek. They were facing what had once been a hallway. However,
it had been collapsed, blocked over with so much rubble that they wouldn't
be able to pass through. Once again Mulder felt his mouth speak words that
he wasn't planning.
"The tunnel must have collapsed when they blew the main generator. We should
still be able to get there using one of the side tunnels we passed a few
minutes ago."
Alex nodded, eyes glued to his face. "Okay Mulder. It would be faster if we
split up."
"No!"
He blinked, not even sure why he was protesting. Alex was right, it would be
faster. He started to agree with the man but...
"No. Please, we can't split up."
Mulder was mildly surprised by the level of desperation in his tone. He
dimly realized that he wouldn't normally be this worried about Alex, and
furthermore, wouldn't be thinking of him as 'Alex'! But he was unable to
mentally struggle out of the layers of cotton wool his mind was wrapped in.
He let his mind drift away into the warm dark.
Alex stared at Mulder in shock as the other man grabbed his shoulders and
shook him, not violently—more like he was trying to punctuate his point.
"We can't split up. Not again! I won't loose you again, damn it!"
Okay.... This was not normal Mulder behavior. Alex decided he'd just go with
the flow for a while until he figured out what the heck was going on. He
gently lifted his good hand and placed it on Mulder's shoulder. "Okay. Okay,
we won't split up, Mulder. I promise. It's okay. We'll find Scully and
figure out what's going on, okay?"
The other man stared at Alex searchingly, then nodded. Alex sighed as the
man started back off the hall they'd come down, gun held at the ready. He
recognized the way the agent seemed to slink down the hallway; he had a
sneaking suspicion it would match his.
"Alex?"
He shook himself out of his thoughts and frowned. The job Alex—concentrate
on the job. He started down the hallway after Mulder.
Scully was frightened. Tarr had obviously lost it. He thought that her
partner and Krycek were reincarnations of men who were trying to kill him.
"But why? Why do you have to kill them?"
"Because they knows the truth, of course. They know that I was the one who
betrayed the effort to Them, that I framed Merchaude for treason and murder.
He's come back to get even, and I can't let him stop everything. Not now
that it's finally starting to work again. So of course I need to stop him.
And the other one of course, I imagine he's a bit miffed that I shot him."
Scully blinked. "They don't know about you! They. Are. Two. Different.
People. Alex Krycek and Fox Mulder are not David Merchaude and Andren
Brents. They are not here to get revenge!"
"You don't understand. This has to be done. I'm sorry that you had to get
involved, though..."
Scully sighed and scowled. She wasn't getting anywhere. She just hoped that
Mulder and Krycek were smart enough to figure out what the hell was going
on, and careful enough not to be caught!
Shit. He was lost. Somehow, he'd lost sight of Mulder, and now he was
wandering around a frigging enemy ridden compound, with only two allies,
none of whose whereabouts he was sure. This really sucked! Plus Mulder was
going to be ticked that they had ended up separated. And Mulder in this
weird mood was someone he'd just as soon not cross, thank you very much!
He paused, a voice entering his hearing. "How many times do I have to tell
you? This is not nineteen seventeen! It's nineteen ninety-eight! They are
not the same people, and you don't have to do this!"
Scully. And she sounded pissed. Great. Mulder was being weirder than normal,
and now Scully was angrier than normal. Who decided it was 'Alex's Personal
Hell' day?
He edged his way into the large room, and peeked carefully around a wooden
bookcase that was considerately placed just where he needed cover. Kind of
the previous occupants to think of it. He could see Scully, tied to a chair
and scowling fit to kill. And a very old man seated across from her. He was
smiling benevolently at the ticked off agent. Did he have no
self-preservation instinct? She shot Mulder and she likes him!
"I really am sorry you had to get involved miss. You seem like a clever
girl, how did you let yourself get sucked into the orbit of those two
fanatics? It only leads to misery, I assure you from experience."
'Those two'? Why did he have the sinking sensation that he was included in
that statement? He frowned. One old man. He ought to be able to take him out
and get Scully, but then how to find Mulder.... Not to mention avoid getting
arrested for murdering a geriatric in front of a federal agent...?
He shrugged. He could worry about that later. Right now, it was far more
important to get Scully loose and find Mulder. He could worry about charges
pending later. He edged his way towards the old man's back. Scully noticed
him and then very carefully avoided drawing attention to him. Way to go
Scully! No wonder Mulder treasured her. She was good at these situations.
The click of his weapon cocking behind the old man's head sounded very loud.
"Don't move. Scully, is he armed?"
"Not that I've seen."
Alex cautiously moved towards Scully, gun never leaving the old man, who was
frowning faintly at him. "You aren't supposed to be alone."
Alex frowned, but was more interested in how he was going to untie Scully
and keep the geezer covered with only one working hand. Damn it! Where the
hell was Mulder?
"Scully? If I get you a knife, can you cut yourself loose?"
"Yes."
"Great." He maneuvered until his boot knife was within her reach. "There you
go."
The old man was smiling in a rather odd fashion. Especially since he was
being held at gunpoint. The worst thing is that for some strange reason the
look seemed familiar to him. He swayed a little as a wave of dizziness
washed over him. He could just barely hear Scully's 'Doctor voice'. "Krycek?
Are you all right?"
"I... Where...?"
Blackness washed over him.
Scully watched, dismayed as Krycek turned three shades of pale and swayed as
if struck. "Krycek? Are you all right?"
He shook his head, as if trying to clear it. "I...Where...?"
The man collapsed to his knees. Damn it! She was only halfway free! "Krycek!
Snap out of it!"
The old man smirked. "He's remembering. This is where he died."
Krycek's head snapped up, only it wasn't Krycek! The wary, shuttered look
that was his trademark was gone. Krycek's face had never been so open and
defenseless, not even when he was playing a green agent with a bad case of
hero worship. He blinked once or twice, looking remarkably child-like
without the bitterness and anger that generally burned beneath his surface.
"Eli? What... What's going on? Where..."
The man smiled. "Hand me your gun, Lieutenant."
"Sir?"
"I need it."
"Yes sir, but... What's the woman doing here?"
He smiled as the innocent Not-Krycek tossed his gun over, starting at her
shout of protest. "No! Krycek! Don't!"
The old man smiled. "Just a loose end, Lieutenant Brents. One that shall be
shortly remedied."
Tarr shrugged as he pointed the gun at Scully. "Again, I am sorry my dear."
Scully blinked as Krycek, or his body anyway, stepped in front of her. "Sir!
You can't kill civilians! You'll have to shoot me first."
"Oh, I fully intend to. I killed you once, after all."
She could see Krycek's flinch from her place behind him. "You..."
The man swayed once again, only her support behind him keeping him from
falling. "Oh god! I remember! I found you... You were with Them! You..."
"I shot you. Killed you dead. You should have seen the scene your lover made
when he found your body. It was quite impressive. Yates and I were the only
team members to survive. And of course there was your beloved David... I
made very sure that he was blamed for everything. Your own people executed
him for your death. Poetic, no?"
A choked whimper was the only sound the man before her made. He was
practically curled into himself by the end of this speech. "David..."
"Yes. You died without even seeing your beloved David again. Yates nattered
on about how sad it was. Damn fool. If it weren't for him... Well.
Nevermind, you die anyway."
The click of Krycek's gun sounded unnaturally loud in the suddenly silent
room. She tried to break through the misery induced by the other's words.
"Krycek! Snap out of it! You can't let David watch you die again!"
Krycek, she refused to think of him as a man dead eighty years, snapped out
of it with a vengeance. He uncurled from his fetal ball and launched himself
at Tarr. "No! Not again!"
She sawed frantically at her bonds while the two struggled. If she could
only get free...! But she wasn't fast enough. Apparently whatever was wrong
with Krycek's head, it was messing with his fighting skills as well. She was
forced to listen as the old man flung Krycek off with the strength of the
insane and obsessed. She couldn't even watch, the fight had moved from her
field of view.
She was ready to kill at the pure smugness in Tarr's voice. "I win again."
There was a sudden bang, and Scully flinched. Damn. Mulder was going to be
pissed, and for some reason, she felt sorrowful at the thought of Krycek's
death....
She gasped at the sound of a familiar monotone. "Not this time."
"Mulder!"
She finally managed to get the last of her ropes cut and spun in her chair
to survey the damage. Tarr was dead, no doubts about that. Krycek was
slumped in the corner, blood trickling down his face. From the glazed look
in his eyes, and the bump on his head, she'd guess he'd struck the wall with
his skull during the fight. Mulder was kneeling before the leather clad man,
gently touching his cheek, as if he were glass and would break with the
slightest force.
The two men's eyes met, and Scully had to repress the facetious thought that
the room started smoking. There were a lot of emotions being exchanged with
that look, and she had a feeling that regardless of how this turned out,
Krycek and her partner would not be enemies much longer.
She hated to break this up, but Tarr had guards, and they weren't going to
stay conveniently absent forever. She sighed. "Mulder? Krycek? Snap out of
it you two, we have to get out of here."
She watched the two men blink, as if waking up from a sound sleep. And
watched identical looks of shock and bewilderment cross their faces as the
realized the position they were in. She would have laughed if she weren't
certain it would mean smoothing male egos the entire ride back to the hotel.
"Come on you two. You can argue it out later. We need to leave now!"
She herded the two confused men towards the door with a wry smile. She ought
to have gotten pictures; she could have made a mint...
Alex watched as Mulder blinked at his partner from across the restaurant
booth. He had to admit that he was equally confused by the petite redhead's
explanation of what had happened after he blacked out. "Wait a minute. You
mean Mulder was the assassin?"
She shrugged. "If Tarr is to be believed. He called you Brents, and Mulder,
Merchaude."
Mulder shook his head. "The last thing I remember before you pushing us out
the door is the blocked hallway. And even that is kind of fuzzy."
Alex sighed. "What I don't understand is why it, whatever 'it' was, affected
Mulder so much sooner than me?"
Mulder shrugged. "Well, I can guess on that. From what I remember of the
first time I blacked out, we were in a clearing with a large pillar-shaped
rock, right?"
"Yes..."
"Well, according to Yates' journals, that was where Merchaude tried to
commit suicide over Brent's body. It wouldn't be surprising if that
particular spot triggered it. After all, according to what Scully says, your
first black out was in the room Tarr said he shot Brents in..."
Scully smirked slightly. "Assuming what happened really was your past
incarnations asserting themselves, of which I am not convinced, I have
another theory."
Mulder blinked. "Really? Scully I'm amazed! You've never wanted to play
'what if' before..."
"Merchaude had a definite grudge to address. His lover had been murdered,
his cause betrayed, his team killed, and he was framed for the whole thing.
He had to be royally ticked off. Brents just died. Sad yes, before his time,
yes, but not nearly as traumatic."
"You're saying that he was just more ticked off, so he asserted himself
sooner?"
She shrugged. "It's a thought."
Mulder snorted. "Yeah, Scully. Right."
Alex tilted his head thoughtfully. "No, she has a point. Also, it would
explain your obsession with truth and justice. After all, you were shorted
in your past life."
"How does it explain you then?"
He looked up at Mulder through his lashes. "It's a dirty job, but someone
has to do it...."
Scully actually laughed as she shook her head. "Right. You mean you're just
filling the karmic void?"
He smirked and shrugged. Scully sighed again as the two men once more locked
gazes. They had spent at least half of her lengthy summation of events
falling into each other's eyes. She knew when she was a fifth wheel.
"Mulder? I'm going to go to the room, try and figure out how we're going to
explain this in our report. You boys entertain yourself for a while, all
right?"
She left, smirking. She had an idea about how they were going to spend the
time, and she wished them well. She had an amazingly good feeling about this
considering the fact that her partner was exchanging smoldering looks with
Alex Krycek but.... He seemed happier somehow. And anything that made Mulder
happy was good in her book. Besides, she had a feeling that having Krycek on
Photographic Memory
by Morgan Peterson
June 28th 1917
8 p.m.
7 a.m.
Noon-ish
June 27th, 2 a.m.
7 a.m.
7p.m.
