Mulder and Skinner watched the car conveying Scully and Agent Reyes
to—they hoped—safety, until it turned a corner and was gone. They
didn't stick around to watch the technicians from the coroner's
office scrape chunks of Billy Miles out of the garbage truck.
Agent Doggett joined them as they headed back to the elevator. "I'll
be in contact with Reyes. No one'll find them where they're goin'."
Mulder wished he could be as certain, but he kept quiet.
It was a shock to all three men to find Alex Krycek leaning against
the wall next to the elevator, looking relaxed and smug. He waited
for Skinner to push the call button, and followed the three agents
without a word. Mulder watched him as the metal box slid upwards.
Krycek's hair was disheveled, his five o'clock shadow was nearing
midnight, but he still managed to look above it all, amused.
Bastard.
Mulder tried to rebuild his own mask of cool detachment, but it
wasn't easy. Being in the confined space with three other men, all
coming down from adrenaline highs, was making him jittery. By sheer
force of will he managed to stop jiggling the change in his pocket.
He tried leaning his shoulder against the wall, shoving his hands
deeper into his pockets. That's when he realized he was partially
aroused. It was that adrenaline thing, the fight-or-flight reaction,
it was perfectly normal. It had nothing to do with the murdering son
of a bitch who was smirking at him, green eyes flicking insolently
from Mulder's face to his crotch and back again. When Krycek's
glance met Mulder's, his smile widened, but he dropped his eyes and
tried to look contrite. Tried, failed. Bastard.
Krycek was still silent and cocky back in Skinner's office, sprawled
on the couch, his long legs stretched out, his head tilted against
the back cushion. The other men arrayed themselves in front of him,
put on their best macho "cop" poses and looked threatening. Krycek
wasn't impressed.
"Guys, please, the testosterone in this room is reaching combustible
levels. Turn it down , will ya?"
Skinner and Doggett did look like they were ready to blow. Mulder
stared at the rat a moment longer, then sat on the edge of the desk,
his posture mocking Krycek's.
Krycek sighed. "Hey, I took care of the Madonna of D.C. for you,
didn't I? If you need more of a gesture of good faith, well, how's
this?" He reached into his jacket pocket—rolling his eyes when
Doggett went for his gun—and pulled out a Palm Pilot. Tossing it
casually to Skinner, he grinned as Skinner caught it, weighing it in
his hand, and looking at Krycek in astonishment.
"That's it? After... after everything, you just give it up, just
like that?"
Krycek nodded. "Yep. It's that simple. I don't need you anymore,
Skinner."
"It's not like you to give up an advantage for no reason, Krycek,"
Mulder drawled. "So, what do you want from us?"
Krycek's eyes widened in an attempt to look innocent. It wasn't
convincing. "I don't want anything from you, Mulder. I want to do
something for you, something you'll like very much."
"You're going to eat your gun?" Mulder said.
"Mulder, Mulder, come on! You've been demanding answers from me for
years. I'm sitting here, at your mercy—" The smirk got even more
irritating somehow. "Deep in the heart of the freakin' Hoover
Building, surrounded by tough G-men. Aren't you going to start
throwing out those questions?"
But Mulder shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest. "Not
gonna play your game, Alex."
"Well, I have a few questions, and I ain't averse to usin' whatever
it takes to get answers." Doggett leaned over Krycek, his hands
braced on the couch back on either side of Krycek's shoulders, his
nose nearly touching Krycek's.
"Why Agent Doggett, we hardly know each other!"
"Shut up and answer the questions!"
"Uhhhh, that's going to be rather difficult."
"Smart ass. Who is Billy Miles working for?"
"Alien colonists."
"Why are they after Scully's baby?"
"They think it may be the first of a new breed of humans, humans
that can successfully resist their invasion plans. He is, by the
way, but not the way they think."
Mulder and Skinner exchanged glances, while Doggett persisted.
"How does Billy Miles keep comin' back to life? He's really dead
this time, isn't he?"
"No, probably not. He'll most likely regenerate within the next
twelve hours."
Doggett straightened, sneering. "Am I suppose ta believe this load
of crap?"
Krycek sighed, looking wounded to the heart. "Agent Doggett, you've
been taking lessons from Mulder. I don't get it, if you all believe
that everything I say is a lie, why do you keep asking questions?"
"Okay, Krycek, I'll bite," Skinner said with exaggerated patience.
"What are you going to do for us?"
"For you, Skinner, nothing. You got your life back, don't be greedy.
Fido here is on his own. What I said was, I want to do something for
Mulder."
"What do you want to do for Agent Mulduh?" Doggett demanded.
"Ahhhh," Krycek sat up suddenly, smiling gleefully, "That's just it!
He isn't Agent Mulder anymore, is he? Good ol' Kersh finally did
what They've been trying to do for years."
Mulder snorted, "Oh yeah, good old Kersh. He's one of you, isn't
he, Krycek?"
"There you go again, Mulder, jumping to conclusions. For someone
who's supposed to be such a genius at profiling people, you are
blind, deaf and just plain stupid when it comes to me, aren't you?
I'm not one of Them."
"Oh, right," Skinner said impatiently, "We're supposed to believe
you've been one of the Good Guys all along, is that it?"
But Krycek ignored him. "I could've killed you so many times,
Mulder. You've got to know that. I'm the one that kept you alive.
Praying you'd win somehow."
Mulder sneered, "Then there really is no God."
"You think I'm bad? That I'm a killer? We want the same thing,
brother. That's what you don't understand."
"I want to stop them. All you wanted was to save your own ass."
"Well, yeah, I'm rather fond of my ass. I was also fond of my left
arm, but I lost that for the cause, thanks to you jumping to
conclusions again. No. I have tried to stop them. Tried to get
Skinner to kill Scully's baby to stop them from learning too much
about the Resistance. I'm glad now that I failed. Anyway, it's too
late. We have to take direct action now."
"We? We who?" Mulder sputtered, his exasperation overcoming his
desire to remain cool in front of this... madman.
"We, you and me, Mulder. We should have been a team all along, but
you're such a stubborn, arrogant jackass. I tried to work with you
before. That time when I handed you that terrorist bust? I really
was trying to deal in good faith. We ended up in Tunguska, where you
were perfectly willing to listen to a total stranger, never
questioning that one of the few people in that camp who spoke
English just happened to be in the cell next door, with a convenient
little hole to talk through. You trust him instead of me." Krycek
suddenly used his right hand to rap on his left arm. A hollow sound
echoed in the room. "You can understand why I no longer trusted
you after that. Oh, I gave you what I could, but... Anyway, things
have changed now."
"Changed? How?"
"Mulder, you know how deep it goes. Right into the FBI. Right up to
the top. Kersh is just the first and least important layer of the
rot. As long as you were still on the inside, I couldn't take the
risk. But now, you're outside, like me." Krycek's face was alight
with something that looked like joy. "I've always been a wild card,
Mulder, even when I was working for Spender. Now you're a wild card,
too."
"You're the Joker in the deck, Krycek." Mulder sat down on the other
end of the couch, running his hands through his hair. "Let me get
this straight. Are you offering me some sort of partnership here? We
go off and fight the Giant Blancmange from the Planet Skyron
together?"
Krycek nodded. "Think about it, Mulder! I can take you places, help
you dig out information you'd never find on your own!"
"You've been inhaling Spender's smoke too long, Krycek." Mulder
collapsed backwards, his head dropping onto the cushion, his posture
again mimicking Krycek's earlier pose. "Hey, we haven't heard from
that bastard recently—"
"He's dead."
Mulder nearly fell off the couch, and Skinner had to sit down.
"Are you sure?" Skinner asked incredulously.
"Yeah, I killed him myself. Dead. As. A. Doornail. Just ask Marita,
if you can find the bitch."
Doggett looked from Krycek to Skinner to Mulder. "Did this guy just
confess to murder?"
"Lot of good it'll do you." Krycek smiled cheerfully at Doggett, who
looked ready to commit murder himself. "So, Mulder, you in? There's
a research facility in Vermont, genetics experiments you would not
believe. I can get you in, we collect the goodies, get out, your
three geek friends can shoot it through the Net right to Skinman and
Dogboy."
"Mulder," Skinner bellowed, "You are not listening to this son of
a bitch?"
But, oddly, Mulder was. It had a deliciously bizarre appeal. As
Krycek had pointed out, he was outside the system now. He wasn't
bound to play by the Bureau rules—not that he ever did. Now, he was
free. Skinner and Doggett had proven that they could look after
Scully, as much as she needed looking after, tough as she was. And
with the baby coming, she wasn't going to be able to take off and
chase wild geese with him at a moment's notice.
What if Krycek was leading him into a trap? Hell, he'd been trapped
in the mothership for months, he'd survived. And if he was going
down for good this time, he'd take Alex Krycek with him. He gave
Krycek his most stubborn, arrogant jackass smile. "When do we
leave?"
"Mulder—" Skinner began.
But Mulder held up a hand, shaking his head. "You have my cell phone
number. I'll keep in close touch. Look, maybe if I take off with
Krycek, it will get the aliens, or whoever, curious enough to
distract them from Scully for a while."
"But—" Doggett began.
"Do what you have to do, pack, meet me in front of your building at
5 a.m. tomorrow." Krycek stood, heading for the door.
"5 a.m.? That's before dawn!"
"Hey, we wild cards operate in the shadows, remember? See you then,
Mulder!"
Skinner and Doggett were both torn between trying to talk sense into
Mulder, and restraining Krycek, and failed to do either. Krycek
shook off Doggett's hand from his shoulder, and strolled casually
out of the office. Mulder stayed another half hour, listening to
their arguments, but he had made up his mind.
The next morning, he left his apartment, wondering if Scully would
feed his fish and keep an eye on the place again. It was a good
thing he had a long lease. This wasn't the first time he'd wondered
if he'd ever be back.
He was wearing jeans, a sweatshirt, and his favorite running shoes.
Stood to reason that traveling with Krycek would involved a lot of
running. He had two small suitcases, and the shoulder bag with his
laptop and enough computer gear to keep them in touch with the Lone
Gunmen. He had only been waiting about two minutes when Krycek drove
up.
In a Jaguar. A gleaming scarlet Jag convertible, with black leather
upholstery. The top was up at the moment, but Mulder could already
imagine flying down the highway at 90, wind in his hair. He
swallowed, hoping he hadn't visibly drooled. Krycek released the
trunk, and Mulder stowed his gear, then hopped into the passenger
side.
"Who did you steal this from?" he asked.
Krycek laughed, "I am driving it perfectly legitimately."
"It's yours?"
"I didn't say that, I said—"
"I don't want to know."
Mulder pondered that he was embarking on a totally insane journey
with a man he hated and had no reason to trust. A man who had
probably murdered his father. A man who had gotten under his skin,
and driven him crazy with rage and lust on more than one occasion. A
man who was singing along with the CD he had just started.
"I don't want no damage
I'm just around the corner
Hold me, hold me, hold me..."
Krycek had a strong, husky voice, and he was singing at full volume,
tapping his fake hand on the steering wheel. Mulder eased down in
his seat, and discovered the cup of coffee in the holder on his
side. Coffee with exactly the right amount of sugar.
As he sipped, he picked up the CD jewel box on the floor near his
feet. Fleetwood Mac's greatest hits? Somehow this was not what he
would expect an Evil Shadow Government Assassin to listen to. Evil
Shadow Government Assassins did not drive Jags either, nor did they
look totally hot in black jeans, white t-shirts and black leather
jackets.
"Something's happening
C'mon baby
Ohhhhh... I want to be with you everywhere..."
Why was Krycek giving him those funny smiles every so often? The
ratboy seemed awfully cheerful for someone who was driving toward
danger, possible torture and death.
They stopped to gas up, use the restroom. Krycek bought a couple of
six packs of Classic Coke and some Nacho Cheese Doritos. Before
getting back into the car, Krycek put the top down, and grinned at
Mulder across the car. "It's not a proper road trip unless the top
is down."
"Road trip. Like we're just a couple of drifters in search of
adventure."
"Yeah, like Hope and Crosby."
Mulder snorted, "More like Thelma and Louise, probably." He slid
into his seat, buckled up.
"Well, okay, but I get to be Geena Davis." Krycek smoothly reentered
traffic, going well over the speed limit but not enough to attract
undue attention.
The wind in his hair and the spicy chips lifted Mulder's mood.
"I've been wandering
Krycek's voice crooned over the crunch of the tires on the road and
the crunch of Doritos. Mulder was beginning to think there was a
message in the lyrics his new partner chose, somewhere. He wasn't
sure he was ready to hear it. Yet.
Mulder popped a can of Coke, set it in the holder near Krycek's
right hand, opened one for himself.
"Thanks," Krycek said. "Another couple of hours and we'll stop for
lunch. I'll let you drive after that."
The happy thought of driving this beauty on the open highway erased
Mulder's last lingering doubts. He didn't trust Alex Krycek an inch,
but somehow, in his gut, he knew this wasn't a mistake. He slouched
back and watched the scenery go by.
"And the sun went down
Now I know I can't lose As long as you follow..."
He had been singing for almost the whole chorus before he realized
it. His flat, monotonous voice slid under Krycek's and streamed away
in the breeze flowing over them.
"I'm gonna win, I'm gonna win
As long as you follow, as long as you follow
When the song was over, Krycek glanced over at him, his face alive
and bright with something that could be hope. "This is gonna be a
blast, isn't it? Even if we go down, we'll go down fighting."
"Just shut up and drive, Geena."
And together they rode off into the sunrise...
What Really Happened After the Events in "Essence"
by Queen Mab
I don't know what drugs Surfer Boy was on to produce that nonsense
called "Existence", but gather round, children, and Queen Mab will
tell you what really happened after Billy Miles went dumpster
diving, and Scully and Reyes took off for parts unknown...
But how'm I gonna manage with you
You hold the percentage
But I'm the fool payin' the dues
If you got a minute to spare
I'll be waitin' for you
If you ever wanna be there
Happening to me
My friends say I'm acting peculiarly
We better make a start
You better make it soon
Before you break my heart
Gone away too far
But the road was rough
To get back where you are..."
It never seemed to rise
Ah but now you're here
With the light shining in your eyes
I'm gonna beg, steal, or borrow
Yes I can live today
If you give me tomorrow
As long as you follow
As long as you follow, as long as you follow..."
