From: XFilesFMDS@aol.com
Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2000 21:12:26 EDT
Subject: "Journey into the Beyond" by mel X Lady
Source: direct

TITLE: Journey into the Beyond (1/5)

AUTHOR: Mel X Lady 

RATING: R

CATEGORY: Post-Requiem 

DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT: Feel free to post this anywhere as
long as my name stays with the fanfic. 

FEEDBACK: DJPDude@Juno.com 
http://www.expage.com/DailyJokePage 

SPOILERS: Beyond the Sea, Pilot, S.R. 819, Requiem (Obviously), 
Tunguska/Terma, Sleepless(Although I've never seen it. I'm missing out. 
Krycek!), and maybe a few more.

The 9 minute lapse that abductees experience is mentioned several times.

SUMMARY: Scully searches for Mulder with the aid of an old acquaintance. 
Post-Requiem. 

DISCLAIMER: Well, everyone should have a goal, although! 
I DON'T OWN: Scully, Mulder, Krycek, Skinner, The LGM, CSM, and Marita. 
(Never used her before. See, she's touched Krycek and that kinda hacks me 
off...) :)
I DO OWN: A backpack, X-Files Action figures, A few tapes, A bed and my 
computer.

NOTES: This came to me over the summer of 2000. My family moved from Oklahoma 
City, OK to Columbia, SC. So I needed a friend, and my fanfics seem to work 
just fine.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

 Krycek crouched lower as he watched Skinner leave the hospital room. He had 
no reason to crouch, everyone knew he was there, alive and there, but old 
habits die hard. He had managed to ditch Martia again. He couldn't help it, 
she had saved him and he had once loved her. But his heart belonged to 
himself now, he had vowed he'd never give it away again.

 He stood up and leaned against the wall when one of the doctors walked by 
and looked at him. Krycek said a quiet apology as he walked down to Scully's 
room. What would he say? What could he say? He just wanted to make sure she 
was alright, he had heard one of the three stooges say she was there and he 
wanted to pay his respects; see how she was.

 Krycek opened the door and slid in. Scully was watching the news on the TV 
that rested on a shelf across the room. She turned her head slightly after a 
minute and looked at him.
  "What?" she asked quietly as she faced him.
  "What do you mean, what?"
  "Well, for one, I hate you; for two, I really hate you; and for three, I'm 
sure you're responsible for putting me in this bed right now when I could be 
out looking for Mulder."

 He stood there for a moment as her eyes fell to his arm again and back up to 
his face.
  "Scully, if I had my way, I'd leave you and Mulder alone forever. Skinner 
too. You think I enjoy this? This life?"
  "Oh Please, I know you'd rather do that then sit down at a desk and work."
  "Scully, if I liked that job, I wouldn't have just left after killing that 
smoking bastard."

 Scully stopped and looked at him as he realized it was the first time he had 
actually said it out loud. He had killed before, but never anyone he knew or 
wanted to know. He actually killed the old man on his own time, and he felt 
better after doing it, too.
  "You killed the Smoking Man?" she asked carefully. Krycek saw the fear that 
was now present in her eyes.
  "Yeah, pushed him down the stairs."
  "Just like that, you pushed one of the most powerful men in the world down 
the stairs, and no one is after you?"
  "I cover my tracks well, but I'm sure they'll be after me soon."
  "Where's your blonde friend?"
  "I ditched her."
  "That was probably the stupidest things you could have ever done. How much 
time did she spend with the Smoking Man?"
  "What?"
  "How much time did she spend with him?"
  "I don't know, I guess we weren't together all the time."
  "Why did she rescue you?"
  "She said the Smoking Man sent her."
  "And how many lackeys does he have?"
  "Did."
  "Does."

 Krycek stopped and thought about it. Scully stared at him as he realized his 
mistake. He'd made a fatal error and trusted her enough to let her live, live 
so she could tell what Krycek had done. His eyes lit up in fear as he looked 
toward Scully and toward the door.
  "I gotta go."
  "Get out of here," she said as he ran toward the door and down the hall.

XXXXXX

 Scully held her head for a moment as she stood up and walked around the 
room. She was going to have to get back to work soon. She remembered the 
events of earlier that day. Her telling Skinner about her pregnancy and how 
she was going to search for Mulder as long as she could. He was opposed to it 
at first, but she managed to make him realize that she needed to search for 
him; do the same that he had done when she had been taken.

 Skinner had reluctantly agreed and he told her the whole story again. She 
didn't sob that time; she knew Mulder would be returned sooner or later, but 
she needed to find him and make sure it would be sooner.

 She sat back down on the bed and slid down slightly. She touched her 
stomach, knowing there was someone down there. She smiled at the thought. She 
had always wanted a child. The pure concept of creating another life, to 
watch grow and learn was a pure dream to her. She had thought her dreams had 
come true when she found out she was the mother of Emily, and couldn't have 
been happier. Until Emily died and Scully felt like she had died too. 
However, death wasn't the answer, she had learned that many times in her 
still fairly short life. She sighed as she turned onto her side and closed 
her eyes. She wanted out of the hospital and into Mulder's arms.

XXXXXX

    Krycek slowly crept to the house as he expected to see police cars and 
messangers much like himself at one point, trying to figure out what happened 
and who did it. He sighed in relief as he saw no one was there as he crept to 
the house and entered.

  "Marita?" he called out as he cautiously walked up the stairs.
  "Alex? Is that you?" she called out as he sighed again and ran up the 
stairs.
  "Yeah, it's me."
  "Good," she said as Kryeck opened the door and stopped when he saw she 
wasn't alone. She was standing there with about ten men who he recognized as 
his bosses, or former bosses; he hadn't decided yet.
  "What's going on?" he asked as he reached for his gun but found it wasn't 
there.

 Marita pulled the gun out of a holster she had resting on her hips as she 
held a stone-faced frown.
  "Alex, we've learned of a situation," One of the men said as he stepped 
toward Krycek.
  "What situation would that be?" he asked carefully as he held his hand on 
the door, preparing to open it if he had to. Even if he did try to escape, 
someone would probably shoot him before he made it to the third step.
  "Well, an old and dear friend of ours has mysteriously passed on."
  "Mysteriously?"
  "It appears that he was pushed down the stairs, and his nurse was also 
killed."
  
 
 It was true, Marita had taken Krycek's gun and shot her. Krycek silently 
yelled at himself as he realized he had forgotten to get his gun back from 
her before running off to the hospital to see Scully.
  "Two deaths, what's so uncommon about that?"
  "I don't know, it's almost as common as one death," he said as Krycek 
realized he needed to escape.
  "Almost," he said quietly as he looked toward the window and stared at it 
for a moment before his brain registered the sharp instrument he always 
carried in his right boot. He stared at the window as his hand slowly crept 
down his jean leg and into the brim of his boot. He pulled the knife out 
pointed it to Marita.
  "Swear to God, Marita, if you shoot me someone else is gonna die!" Krycek 
yelled out as Marita reached for Krycek's gun but stopped when she felt the 
cold metal above her hand. How the hell had he moved to her so quickly?
  "What ever you want, Alex," she whispered as she pulled her hand away and 
put them at her side.
  "Nu-uh. On the ground. Now."
  "Okay," she answered as she lay down on the floor while the other men stood 
back and watched.
  "Good. No one moves until sundown. Never know where I'm gonna be. I could 
just sit outside the door for a while longer. My choice," he answered as he 
slipped through the door quickly and ran down the stairs two at a time. He 
ran out the front door and took down the street. He didn't stop until he was 
about six blocks away and he knew no one in that room could run as fast as he 
had if they disobeyed his orders. 
  
 He stopped and entered a gas station. He quickly walked back toward the 
men's restroom and stepped inside. He locked the door and sat on the sink. 
Krycek caught his breath as he tried to think of what to do next. He would 
lay low for a while. A while, after what he had done, he'd be lucky if he 
could ever show his face again. Krycek  sighed as he caught his breath and 
laughed slightly. He had just dug another level of his hole to hell and no 
one was going to throw him a rope now.

 He sighed as he paced in the small room as he tried to think of what to do 
next. He really needed to find someone, quick. Krycek quickly thought to the 
Lone Gunmen. Those three were so paranoid, they had to have something he 
could use. He scoffed at the thought and decided to leave this place soon. It 
would be dark in an hour or so, so he'd just hang around the gas station and 
leave after dusk.

 Krycek left the bathroom and looked around the store carefully. He was alone 
except for one old man who was eyeing him somewhat carefully. Krycek picked 
up a magazine and paid for it before he went toward the back of the store and 
sat down. He opened the magazine up and read the first article, 
  "How to Tell if You're Ready for a REAL Relationship."
  
   Krycek laughed at the thought and went to the next article.
  
XXXXXX

 A knock came to the door and Langly looked up quickly.
  "Someone get the door!" he called out but no one else was there.
  "Damn," he murmured as he climbed out from under the computer that he was 
fixing and went to the door. He looked through the peephole and furrowed his 
brow when he recognized the man standing there as Alex Krycek. What was he 
doing there?
  
 Langly opened the door after a minute and let Krycek in.
  "What are you doing here?" he asked as Krycek shut the door and took a few 
steps in.
  "I need a disguise."
  "Why?"
  "Because I need you to give me a disguise."
  "Why?" Langly persisted.
  "Listen. I don't have time," Krycek started to move as Langly stood in 
front of him and stopped him with a surprising amount of strength.

  "Listen. You have information Mulder wants. We have to be on the same page. 
Why do you need a disguise?" he asked as Krycek closed his eyes and sighed as 
he realized that for the first time in his life, he was at a loss of words.
  
  "I just, uh, I just killed the Smoking Man," He stuttered as Langly stopped 
and slowly stepped away.
  "Why the hell did you kill him?" Langly asked quietly as Krycek stood and 
looked at his greasy hair and dark framed glasses. 
  "Why the hell did who kill who?" Byers asked, joining the conversation, as 
he walked in through the back door and stopped after he saw Krycek.
  "Krycek." He said, stunned. "Who'd you kill?"
  "The Smoking Man."
  "What? Why?"

   Krycek looked up and between the two men. He had plenty of reasons for 
pushing the Smoking Man down the stairs, mostly along the lines of how much 
he hated the man. He hated the way he would purse his lips around the end of 
those damn cigarettes over and over again, and how he had killed so many 
innocent people without remorse or a second thought, and most of all, how he 
had destroyed Alexander Krycek and formed him into a loathing man who 
couldn't or wouldn't show love or compassion for anyone.
  "He deserved it," Krycek said plainly as Byers looked at Langly and back 
toward Krycek.
  "So what do you need?"
  "A disguise," Langly said before Krycek could even open his mouth.
  "Come on," Byers said fairly out of character as he showed Byers to a back 
room. 

 Byers turned on the lights and showed Krycek a room filled with boxes and a 
single mirror. He looked at Krycek for a moment before he moved to a box and 
picked it up slowly. He handed it to him and turned around. Krycek slowly 
opened the box and found a flannel shirt and a pair of blue jeans. Krycek 
quickly took off his leather jacket and his black shirt. He was glad he had 
worn an undershirt that day, he always wore an undershirt, he had since he 
was nine. His dad had worn one to work everyday and it always made Alex feel 
like a big man to wear one. It was one of his only links back to his home 
life. He shook the memories to the back of his mind as he pulled the red and 
black flannel shirt on but left it unbuttoned. He kicked off his boots and 
pulled down his black pants. He slipped his legs into the worn pair of blue 
jeans as he tucked in his shirt before he buttoned and zipped his jeans. He 
quickly slipped his boots back on and looked at himself in the mirror. He 
reminded himself of his dad slightly, except his dad was a few inches taller 
and would have a left arm. He quickly noticed that and slightly murmured it 
to Byers.

 "Byers, my arm--" he said quietly as he turned around quickly and faced him 
as he held a pair of glasses and a solid black baseball cap in his hand. 
Krycek put the cap on and put the reddish framed glasses on his face and 
looked toward the mirror. He smiled as he looked like an all American father. 
He almost expected to turn around and face his son but quickly pushed that 
idea back into the far reaches of his mind as he turned around and faced 
Byers instead.
  "I'm afraid I can't do much about your arm-" Byers said quietly as he 
pinned the sleeve's end toward the shoulder of his shirt.  "-but I can make 
it look neater."

 Krycek turned toward the mirror and looked. He did have a neater appearance, 
but he'd still need a story about his arm.
  "Okay, if anyone asks, your name is Nick Holmes, you lost your arm in a 
fire almost a year ago and you just came here from Canada."
  "Nick!" Alex said with a laugh in his voice,
  "That is probably one of the stupidest names."
  "Take it or leave it, I don't care, you can have whatever name you want, 
but it's best to have a story before you ever leave this room." Byers said as 
he pulled the collar down on his shirt, took out a comb, and began to comb 
his hair back. It was different and different was good.

  "So what are you going to do now?" Byers asked curiously as he slowly 
combed his hair and went back to the shelves to look for something else.
  "Probably run to the hospital, see if Scully's still there and if she's 
doing alright. If she is, I'll probably go downtown to see Skinner and see if 
there's anything I can do to find Mulder before something happens."
  "You really want a second chance, don't you?" Byers said as he came back 
with a container of gel and put some in his hair.
  "Yeah, I guess I do." he said as he glanced at his pseudo limb and 
remembered he now carried his watch on his right wrist.
  "There." Byers said as he finished and Krycek looked toward the mirror. He 
did look different, a mix between his dad and the ideal father.

"Krycek, take the back door out and hang a left. If you go by the back alleys 
for a few blocks, you wind up across the street from the hospital. Be 
careful, you don't have any ID and no one is there to back you up," Byers 
said quickly as he pointed him toward the door. Krycek nodded and mouthed a 
goodbye as he slowly crept through the door and took off down the alley.

XXXXXX

 Skinner looked through the files again, allowing every word to soak in 
before he went on to the next. He had been sitting in his office for three 
hours now, looking and memorizing the files. Word had come through the 
grapevine that Alex Krycek was dead. He shook his head as he began on the now 
familiar second page of the report.

   A knock to the door forced him to lift his head and reach for his gun. 
Life had changed so much in the past few days, it was weird enough to open an 
X-File on.
  "Who is it?" he called as he looked at his watch and noticed it was almost 
10:15.
  "A friend," he called through the door as Skinner walked to the door and 
opened it with his gun raised.
  "Do I know you?" Skinner asked after he looked at the man for a moment. 
  "Look at my arm," he said as Skinner nodded and let him in. He shut the 
door and locked it as Krycek walked in and took off his glasses.
  "How the hell do you run with these?"
  "You're dead," Skinner said quietly as Krycek put his glasses back on and 
sat down.
  "I must have run very well for a dead man then, because I'm not dead."
  "I just heard-"
  "You heard incorrectly. The only real news is that the Smoking Man is dead 
and I am now a wanted man, not just by the Government, but by men above and 
below it."

   Skinner stopped and watched him as he said every word. The words were 
still shocking and surprising.
  "The Smoking Man is dead?"
  "Yes."
  "And you killed him."
  "Yes."
  "Krycek, the law can't protect you unless you were defending yourself from 
him, and even then-"
  "I'm not here to ask you to protect me, I'm here to ask if I can help you 
guys find Mulder."
  "Get out of the country. Run for your life, we'll find Mulder. Just get out 
of here."
  "No." Krycek said harshly as he stood up and looked Skinner right in the 
eyes.
  "What?"
  "No. I'm going to help find Mulder." He said, determined.
  "Krycek, this isn't a game."
  "Listen, Skinner, I know, but I'm not going to leave until I know I've 
helped."
  "You've already helped enough. You've killed the smoking man."
  "Yes, I did kill him. And I could kill more of them."
  "Then what? You kill the Elders and what after that? Me? Scully? The copy 
boy?"

   Krycek turned away from Skinner's intense stare as he looked toward his 
desk and noticed the open file.
  "Listen, Skinner, I spent my whole life running. I want to stop, I'm tired 
of this, I want the Syndicate down. I want them stopped so they'll leave us 
alone. I know they have something on everybody, the SR-819, amazing how one 
little switch can wreak havoc on your mind. Scully's cancer, it's been in 
remission, yes, but for how long?"
  "Stop it. If you want sympthany, just go somewhere else."
  "Why won't you believe me?" Krycek said as he walked back over to Skinner 
and looked at him for a few moments.
  "Give me a reason to believe you and I will."

 Krycek shook his head as he pushed past Skinner and toward the door.
  "I'm going to prove it to you, I promise."
 Skinner shook his head and went back to his desk as Krycek shut the door and 
walked toward the hall. He opened the door and walked out into the dim 
lights. He walked toward the elevator as it opened and Krycek stopped and 
turned his body quickly. He quickly started to walk down the hall to go the 
other way as he strained his ears to listen if anyone was following him. 
Krycek quickly turned a corner and tried to remember from his past 
experiences where the stairs were. He stopped after a few more turns as he 
quickly pushed through a door and started to run down the stairs. 

 He pushed himself as he ran down a few flights before stopping and looking 
up. He went down another step before hearing a slight creak of a door. He 
quietly ran down the stairs until he hit the ground floor and started going 
to a maze of doors. 

 He finally stopped at one and turned the knob. He was relieved to find it 
open, as he pushed himself into the room and shut the door.
  "Who the hell are you?" A voice yelled as he turned around and looked at 
her.
  "Scully, what are you doing here?"
  "Who the hell are you?" She repeated herself and prepared to stand up.
  
 Krycek quickly ran into the side office and shut the door behind him. Scully 
stood up and prepared to follow him as she watched her door open and an older 
man in a suit stepped in.
  "Who the hell are you?" she asked quickly as she walked to him.
  "I'm sorry, I must have the wrong room." he said as he ran out and shut the 
door behind him. Scully ran to it and locked it.
  "You can come out, he's gone."
  
 Alex slowly opened the door and stepped out. He looked at her and took off 
his glasses and hat.
  "Krycek..." she said quietly as he nodded and leaned against the wall.
  "What the hell are you doing here?" she repeated for the third time, this 
time hoping for an answer.
  "I was upstairs talking to Skinner."
  "Skinner? Why?"
  "I want to help you, Scully."
  "The best way you could help is if you were to leave the country, go to 
Russia or England or somewhere that's not here (that seems kind of in 
character if she's exasperated)."
  "No, God I just had this conversation. No, Scully, I'm not leaving. I'm 
going to help."
  
 Scully looked toward the door and back to him. She walked back toward 
Mulder's desk and she sat down in his chair.
  "You really did kill the Smoking Man, didn't you?" She asked after Krycek 
took a step toward her.
  "Is it that hard to believe?"
  "Yes, it is."
  "I'm not lying."
  "I'm not doubting you are, I know you would do it, but is there a reason?"
  "Too many."
  "I don't know if there is even a way to find Mulder, and I don't have very 
long to do it."
  "Why? Is there a time limit?"
  "Sort of, Krycek. I'm pregnant."
  
 His mouth dropped open as he looked at her and his eyes shifted down to her 
stomach.
  "Mulder's? "
  "Yes."
  "Well, let me be one of the first to congratulate you, Scully." He said as 
he walked toward her and shook her hand. It was awkward, but they were 
touching, and that was a step in the right direction.
  "Thank you, Krycek." she said as she allowed a slight smile to appear on 
her lips.
  "So will you let me help you?"
  
 She sighed as she stood up and walked over to him. He was much taller than 
she was, but she was used to everyone being taller.
  "Yes," Scully said quietly as he smiled and looked toward the door.
  "Krycek, you can help me, and I thank you ahead of time for that. But I 
want you to know that as soon as we have a solid lead, I want you out of 
here, I don't want to wake up one morning and find you dead."
  "Just tell me how I can help."
  "In time."
  
 Scully glanced at her watch and realized it was almost 11:30. 
  "Krycek, I have to be getting home, but I want you to do me a favor and 
stay in the office for tonight. It's too dangerous for you to be out and 
about."
  Krycek nodded as she walked toward the door and unlocked it. Scully turned 
the knob as she left and set the lock on it. She turned out the lights as she 
shut the door and walked toward the elevator.
  
  XXXXXX
  
 Scully stepped in front of her apartment and pulled out her key. She shook 
her head as she turned the key and opened the door. Even though it had only 
been a few days since Mulder's abduction, it had been too long. The days and 
the nights mixed together endlessly as she cared for the life inside of her 
and tried to mend her breaking heart. She stopped as she watched a shadow 
move and a small clicking sound.
  "Who ever is there, Stop! I'm armed!" Scully called out.
  "Funny, so am I, and I already have my gun out," a voice called out as 
Scully quickly flipped on the light and stared at the familiar woman.
  "Listen, I don't know your name, but that hasn't stopped me before. Get out 
of my house." Scully growled as she suddenly became protective and ready to 
strike at the blonde stranger that she had seen with Krycek.
  
  "Scully, where is Krycek?"
  "Why?"
  "He's in trouble, and I know you care about him," Marita started as Scully 
stifled a laugh.
  "What? What's so funny? He could be dying right now-"
  "Serves him right. The bastard deserves it. I don't love him, I don't care 
for him, and I want to see him burn," Scully growled toward Marita as she 
watched her eyes burn back into her. Marita quickly stepped toward Scully and 
slapped her across her right cheek sharp and quickly. Scully stifled a groan 
as Marita walked back across the room and continued.
  
  "Do you have any idea what he's done?"
  "No, I haven't had personal contact with him in over 4 years," Scully 
  lied as she remembered watching him charge into her office half an hour 
earlier. He was so determined to help before he was killed, and he knew he 
would be.
  "He has killed the smoking man, not to mention countless other people,"
  "And this is news to you? He's been doing that number for a long time," 
Scully said as she willed away the memories of Missy and all the pain she'd 
felt since then.
  "Of course I know it, and now I need to help him,"
  
  "Why aren't 'you' with him?" Scully tossed back. She watched Marita's eyes 
die down as she looked away and toward the door.
  "God Damn it Scully! Help me or I swear I will shoot you right here!" She 
screamed as Dana looked at the deranged woman and opened her door.
  "Get out."
  "Not until you help me."
  "Damn it, I don't know you and I don't care to. Get out now," Scully 
growled as she stepped away and watched Marita waver for a second.
  "I'm going to find him, with or without your help."
  "Go right ahead," Scully said as she pulled out her gun with one quick 
movement and pointed it to Marita. She watched as she sighed and quickly 
walked out of the door. Scully walked back and shut the door. She hated this 
so much. Where was Mulder? When would he be back to help her? 
  
 Scully sighed as she walked into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of 
water. Her hand gently stroked down to her stomach and she smiled slightly. 
She still had a piece of Mulder with her and she wouldn't give that up. Ever.
  
XXXXXX

2/5

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

 Krycek sighed as he opened his eyes again and looked through another file. 
He glanced at the picture of the dead corpse and the two tiny marks that 
rested on its neck.
   "Hoax," he murmured under his breath as he put the X-File back into the 
filing cabinet and stopped when he found the name 'Scully, Dana.'  He picked 
it up and opened it. The file was an automatic flasback to 1994 when he had 
been an FBI agent, hell, he had been a good person. That all changed, though, 
he had to stop Mulder and that resulted in killing a man. 

   Killing a man so that he might live to see another sunrise. Krycek glanced 
through the file and put it back as his heart stopped when he saw the next 
file, marked 'Scully, Melissa'. He took a deep breath as he pulled the file 
out and opened it. The pictures of his mistake haunted him as he looked at 
her nearly lifeless body and the murder weapon that rested near her.
   "Cardinal, you son of a bitch," Krycek whispered as he remembered that it 
was he who had killed both Scully's sister and Mulder's father.
   "All solutions to a greater cause," Krycek murmured the cold words that 
the smoking man had said just before Krycek stormed out of the room. Guilt 
had over taken him that day. He hardly, if ever, saw the results of his work. 
With reason of course, knowing what he had done, dozens of times would have 
driven him insane. That is if he wasn't insane now. What was he doing? 
Helping his enemy, killing his boss.
   
   "All solutions to a greater cause," he whispered to himself as he put the 
file back and shut the file cabinet quietly. He had grown bored and couldn't 
sleep so he decided to look through some of the files that led Mulder's life. 
There were some very interesting things in here that he had no idea existed. 
Some were projects of the men who he formerly worked for, others where new 
and different. Exciting. 
  
   He slowly stepped over to the pictures that plagued the walls as he 
glanced at a picture of an alien and another of a vampire report. UFO 
sightings, pictures, hoax reports, viruses, group connections with the dead, 
high priests, voodoo creatures, death and life, self mutilation, newspaper 
clippings, big foot sightings, Loch Ness Monster type creatures, morphing, 
unexplained events and phenomenon, black holes and little green men filled 
the walls as Krycek realized that Mulder was on a mission, a quest to 
understand everything he could.
  
   Krycek shook his head as the pictures and words captivated his mind and he 
suddenly realized how Scully felt. A guest in this strange world that was so 
exciting and amazing, but couldn't be believed. She's a scientist and bound 
by nature to say why his work isn't real. He wondered if Scully ever believed 
in what she saw, if the cases finally drilled down the scientist in her and 
allowed her just to stop and look at the case and gasp in amazement. She was 
one of the only people in the entire universe who was granted these amazing 
views. How did she treat them? 
  
   With respect or beat them down with a stick so she could continue to 
defend everything with science? Questions filled his mind as he realized how 
much he wanted to know Scully, how badly he craved to be in her mind and to 
know what she was thinking or how she viewed life. 
   He stopped abruptly and began to laugh. It was quiet at first, gentle and 
polite until he had to cover his mouth and bend at the waist so he wouldn't 
be loud enough to be heard. He roared in laughter, then calmed down and sat 
in Mulder's desk.
  "Scully deserves a desk," Krycek murmured to himself as he put his feet up 
on the desk and looked around the strange room. What was he doing? Helping 
Scully find Mulder? Was there even a reason? He'd gone insane, he covered 
that about half an hour earlier. To get back at his bosses? Probably the most 
likely. And the fact that Scully was pregnant. Didn't he read or remember 
hearing somewhere that she couldn't?
  "Happens all the time," he whispered to himself in the eerily quiet room, 
"About time actually," he murmured again as he closed his eyes and sank into 
a deep sleep.
  
XXXXXX

   Scully looked at her watch and pounded on the door again. She waited and 
heard at least ten locks unlock before the door opened enough for her to 
enter.
    "Sorry to come so early, but I have news," Scully started as she looked 
around the room and noticed how jumpy the trio looked.
    "What's wrong?" she asked as Byers looked up and back toward the door.
  
    "Krycek, he killed the Smoking Man," Frohike answered as Scully looked at 
him and up to Langly.
    "News gets around fast, apparently,"
    "You knew?" Byers asked quickly.
    "Yeah, Krycek came to me last night, he wants to help find Mulder,"
    "He came to us, too," Langly added as Scully stopped and looked at him.
  
    "You gave him the disguise?"
    "Byers did."
    "Where is he now?" Byers asked as Scully glanced at her watch again and 
back up to Byers.
    "My office, Mulder's office. The office," she corrected herself several 
times as she remembered nervousness was a side effect from her morning 
sickness medicine. She had been taking it so she wouldn't be sick, mostly 
because after every single time she threw up she would look pale for hours. 
Mulder always noticed it during her cancer.
    "Is he safe there?" Frohike answered.
    "No one ever goes down there," Scully responded as she decided against 
telling about the blonde woman's attack on her last night.
    "Okay, as long as you get to him first," Langly said as he glanced at his 
watch and back up to Scully.
    "I have to be going," Scully said as she turned around and walked toward 
the door. She quickly slipped out of it as the Lone Gun Men stood and stared 
in amazement.
  
XXXXXX
  
   Krycek instantly pulled himself up as he heard a small clicking sound. He 
looked around and realized it was morning. He waited as the door opened and 
Scully stepped in. She stared at him for a moment and then shut the door and 
hung up her coat.
   "How'd you sleep?" Krycek asked as Scully looked at him and then around 
the room.
   "You care?" she snapped at him as Krycek stood up and looked at her.
  
   "What happened to you?"
   "What happened to me? Well, let's see, your blonde friend came and 
attacked me last night. She's looking for you."
   "I told you they'd all be looking for me."
   "Who's 'they all?' How many are there?"
   "I've formed alliances with a few people. Few but enough to know they can 
stop those who are looking."
   "No, Krycek, stop. I don't want to hear about deals or your God damned 
alliances. You can't trust anyone. I'm going to Oregon in a few hours," 
Scully growled at him as he stopped and made eye contact with her.
  
   "Why?" She asked as he looked at her and back to the wall that he'd looked 
at last night.
   "Why what?"
   "Why are you here? Why are you in my life? What the hell are you doing 
here, to help me? You hate me and I hate you. You have ruined my life and-"
   "I'm here to make amends. This isn't my life. My father's. He made a deal 
with a man in New York when I was a child. He traded me for his life. I went 
to Quantico and was destined to be a damn fine FBI agent, but then one night 
I was taken. Two men came and took me in my sleep. Apparently they had 
drugged my water or something, but I woke up in the office of the Smoking 
bastard. He told me I had orders, I'd be paid, but if I didn't do what I was 
ordered, my family would die. Not much of a choice, eh?" Krycek interrupted 
her as she looked at him and felt a little guilt for yelling, only a little, 
though, not enough to change her mind about him.
  
   "After this? What then?" Scully asked. Intrigued now, although she'd never 
admit it.
   "Go away, California maybe, or somewhere else. Use my training I received 
in Quantico with good intent. She nodded as she walked over to Mulder's desk 
and picked up a file.
   "Anyone come down last night?"
   "No, I just gained perspective," he answered as she looked at him and 
turned her head toward the file cabinets. She noticed one was still cracked 
open.
   "Find any interesting reading material?"
   "Lots. I still can't believe you two go out and search these things," he 
answered as she looked at him and back to her watch.
   "Krycek, get your jacket. We're going to Oregon, but remember what I said. 
I find a lead, you get the hell away from me and this case," Scully boomed as 
Krycek stood and nodded.  "Good," she affirmed as they stepped out the door 
and headed to the elevator.
  
XXXXXX
  
   Krycek rested his head against the head of the seat as he moved his eyes 
over to Scully and watched her sleep in a light state. They had been in the 
air for over an hour and they had been quiet for an hour and a half. Krycek 
shifted his body again as he turned toward her and gently slipped the file 
out of her hand. She stirred slightly but didn't wake up as Krycek sighed in 
relief and opened it up. He had looked at it once last night and then 
continued on to the other files. 

   His eyes scanned as he read the details about how Mulder had gone to 
Oregon with Skinner but was taken. Skinner had witnessed the whole thing and 
had come back to Scully to tell her he had lost the one thing that mattered 
to her. He moved his eyes to the to the ground as he realized he couldn't 
look at her.
   "I'll get him back for you, Scully, I promise," Krycek whispered so 
quietly that he hardly heard himself. He watched her as she stirred again and 
began to mouth words. He furrowed his eyebrows as he heard her start to 
whisper.
   "Mulder. I'm here. Wait. Please. No. Don't go. We need you. Mulder. MUL-!" 
she murmured as she became more clear and louder as Krycek quickly cupped his 
right hand over her mouth before she screamed.
   "Scully, Scully wake up. Scully! Scully!" he whispered into her ear. 
Demanding now. She needed to get out of the nightmare. Nightmares couldn't 
happen, they weren't real, but even so, they seem like it.
  
   Scully opened her eyes and looked around. They were wide and bloodshot as 
she looked at him and down to the hand that covered her mouth. He watched as 
she slowly lifted her right hand up and pealed his hand away from her mouth. 
She licked her lips quickly as she looked at him and down to the file in his 
lap.
  
   "I was dreaming, wasn't I?"
   "Scully, you look horrible," he whispered to her as she closed her eyes 
and rested her face in her hands.
   "The dreams, they don't stop. I haven't slept in days and I hate it 
because it's so unhealthy for my baby," she said through deep breaths as she 
gently rested her hand on her stomach.
   "I have a few sleeping pills I've been using when I wake up from my 
nightmares. I want you to take one. It'll keep you under for the rest of the 
flight,"
   "No, not with you here-"
   "Scully, we're on a plane with at least 20 other people and those damn 
flight attendants haven't stopped looking at us for the past 30 minuets.
   "Arm,"
   "What?"
   "They're probably looking at you because of your arm," Scully explained as 
Krycek looked down and noticed he didn't have the prosthetic on.
   "Well, if you don't believe that I will leave you alone then you'll have 
to talk to me for the next few hours," he answered after a few moments of 
looking at his phantom limb and back up to her.
   "Fine. What are your nightmares about?" Scully asked as Krycek looked at 
her in shock as he quickly resumed his calm look and looked toward the front 
of the plane.
  "Tunguska. My arm. The Smoking Man, car bombs, death, my father or my 
family being killed, being alone, oil, space creatures, the misle silo and 
just about everything else out there that has ruined me," he listed as Scully 
looked at him and gasped slightly at how much he was telling her. "Your 
turn," he said with a smug look as Scully closed her eyes and began. 
  
  "Snakes. I was deathly afraid of snakes when I was a child. The X-Files, 
half the things I've seen and can't explain, they scare me. A lot. A lot more 
then snakes or losing Mulder or losing what's left of my family-" she stopped 
abruptly and stared into Krycek, almost through him. He felt her icy stare 
pour into him deeply as his heart sank and he realized how badly he wanted to 
get away from her right then.
   "Give me the sleeping pills. How many do I take?" She demanded as Krycek 
reached into his pocket and pulled out the small prescription bottle.
   "Two, keeps you under for at least five hours," he answered as he handed 
her a glass of water that had been brought to him earlier.
   "Then I'm just going to take one. Remember, there are other people on this 
plane who are watching us. They know what you do," Scully shot out as she 
placed a pill in her mouth and washed it down with Krycek's water.
   "Pleasant dreams," He said with a cocked smile as Scully rolled her eyes 
and turned away from him.
  
XXXXXX

   Scully opened her eyes and slowly looked around. Krycek glanced at the 
watch he wore on his right wrist and back up to her.
   "2 hours, feeling any better?" he answered Scully's unasked question as 
she held her head and wiped away the sleep from her eyes.
   "Yeah, no dreams," she answered as Krycek slowly turned his gaze away from 
her and back to a seat a few rows up.
  
   "What are you looking at?"
   "That man, he looks familiar, but I'm not sure how or where from," Krycek 
answered as he pointed to a man with reddish hair and a dark suit on.
   "Know of anyone going to Oregon?" she asked as she leaned near him to see 
the red haired man. Krycek started to answer but stopped when he smelt her 
hair. She smelt of rose petals. Rose petals that were slowly falling from the 
bush that held them from their birth to their premature death. Red rose 
petals that matched the color of her lips and her hair exactly. He lost 
himself as Scully pulled herself back and looked to him.
   "Never seen him before," Scully remarked as Krycek shook himself out of 
his trance and nodded to her.
   "I'll watch him. He'll pass by here to leave the plane. We'll see him 
then," Krycek whispered to Scully as she nodded once and looked to Krycek. 
  
   "Does it hurt?"
   "Does what hurt?"
   "Your arm. Or where it use to be, at least."
   "You care?" he asked. The coldness in his voice even startled him as he 
told himself to calm down. It was Scully, he was doing the right thing by 
helping her.
   "Hey, a conversation is a conversation and this is about as normal as 
we're going to get," Scully shot back as he sighed and rolled his head back 
over his neck and popped it quietly.
   "It hurts, yeah. Not nearly as much as it did, but still, pain is pain. I 
have two prescriptions out. One for the sleeping pills and one for pain pills 
for my-" he waved at his left shoulder with his right hand before continuing, 
"The nightmares don't help either. It's like, being scared to death to close 
my eyes. Scared that if I close them they won't open again. Ever."
  
   Scully looked at him as he blinked and looked back toward the man who was 
now talking to a stewardess.
   "I'm sorry," she whispered as Krycek looked toward her. What was she sorry 
for? His arm? His pain? Their arguing? Their past? Everything? Or was it just 
something she said through her own daze and shock of what had happened to her.
   "Krycek, I-" she started as Krycek leaned over and gently held up his hand 
over her mouth.
   "No, Scully. No," he said softly as his eyes spoke what he couldn't say 
through his mouth. She nodded as Krycek nodded with her and stopped when he 
felt a presence beam down on him. He slowly turned his head and made eye 
contact with the Stewardess who stood over him and looked at him covering 
Scully's mouth.
  
   "What?" he demanded as he removed his hand and started at the uniformed 
woman.
   "Sir, we're making an emergency landing in at least five minuets-"
   "No, we can't. Why are we stopping? I was told this was a nonstop flight," 
Scully demanded as the stewardess looked at her and back to Krycek.
   "I'm sorry ma'am, but there is a heavy rain storm that we can't avoid and 
we need to touch down-"
   "Well, where are we landing?" Krycek asked as she sighed and rolled her 
eyes slightly, "I'm sorry, but we need to get to our destination, now. Not 
later, but as soon as physically possible," he demanded as she started to 
walk away.
    "No! Don't walk away from me while I'm talking to you! Get back here. I 
can report you," Krycek called out as he stood up and followed her down the 
isle.
    "Krycek!" Scully hissed from her seat as she stood up and began to follow 
him. 
  
   She stopped when she stood next to the red haired man's seat and 
recognized his face instantly. She had seen him several times before, only in 
her dreams though. In her worst nightmares and sweetest dreams, he was always 
there.
   "Ma'am?" he asked quietly as Scully looked at him and shook her head.
   "Sorry," she whispered as she quickly stood behind Krycek and turned him 
around to face her.
   "It's okay. Let's go back to our seats," she said with a hint of anger in 
her eyes as Krycek murmured something in Russian and followed her back to 
their seats.
  
XXXXXX
  
   Krycek and Scully stood near the baggage claim as Scully glared at Krycek.
   "What?" he asked, not moving his eyes toward her as he looked at the 
conveyor belt.
   "What? Do you realize what you've done? That man who you recognized, he 
saw us. Everyone saw us!"
   "She wouldn't answer you, Scully-"
   "That was no reason for you to get up, we could have figured it out when 
we touched down and caught a connecting flight. You need to hold your anger 
or-" she shot out as she stopped and closed her eyes.
   "Scully?" Krycek asked as he looked toward her and realized how pale she 
looked.
   "Come on, Let's go sit down," Krycek whispered to her as he helped her 
walk to a seat, "I'm going to get our bags then we're getting a hotel,"
   "No, Krycek, we need to keep-"
   "If not for you, then for your baby, Scully-" he stopped her as he turned 
on his heels and picked up their bags. 
  
   Scully leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes. She'd had 
this experience too many times already, except Mulder was always there to 
catch her.
   "Soon," Scully whispered to herself as she felt a prescence bearing down 
on her, "Get our bags?" she asked as she opened her eyes and felt her face 
turn red from embarrassment.
   "I'm sorry, I thought you where someone else," Scully explained as the 
familiar red haired man stood above her.
   "A cool rag and a few hours of sleep will help you," he said with a smile 
as he turned away from her and walked away.
   "Sir? Wait!" She called out but stopped when he disappeared into the crowd 
of people. She sighed as she closed her eyes again and felt Krycek slowly 
touch her shoulder. She opened her eyes and looked at him.
  
   "Scully, I may be a wonder, but a one-armed rat can only do so much," he 
said with a half smile as Scully shook her head and stood up.
   "Feeling better?"
   "Yeah, I was in the hospital for all the fainting. I thought I was better,"
   "Well, I wouldn't put it past your pregnancy," Krycek said as he gave her 
bag and walked close to her. She furrowed her brow slightly as she realized 
that was the second time in the last hour he had mentioned her pregnancy. Was 
there a reason for that? Probably not, she told herself, he probably just 
keeps saying that so he wouldn't push her down the stairs or something worse.
   "Rent a car?" Scully asked as Krycek nodded and led her to the parking lot.
  
  
XXXXXX
  
   Scully tossed herself onto the bed and closed her eyes as Krycek followed 
her in and quietly shut the door.
   "Want a rag or something?" he asked as Scully opened her eyes and stared 
at the white ceiling.
   "Yeah, but I can get it," she responded as she sat up and looked around 
the room. The last room available in all of the midwest, aparahently. She 
hadn't caught the name of the town, let alone the state, but they were a 
little over half way there. She walked toward the bathroom as she picked up 
the white wash rag and ran it under the icy cold water. A smile crossed her 
lips as she wrang it out and walked back toward her bed. She lay down and 
placed it on her forehead as she heard Krycek sit on the bed on the other 
side of the room and thump down.
  
   "Scully?"
   "What?" she asked. Slightly irritated with him but also thankful that she 
had him there with her to search for Mulder.
   "Are you okay?" 
   "What do you mean?"
   "I mean, everything's happening to you, and I know that I'm not helping 
matters out-"
   "No, I mean, I'm okay, because I have to be. Mulder's always needed 
someone there with him, and that someone is me. He trusts me and I trust him. 
Part of trust is being there for each other. Just seems like he's needed me 
more then I've needed him..." she stopped as she sat up and turned her body 
to Krycek, mostly to see if Krycek was still paying attention. He was. "I 
mean, I need him, but I'm not as emotionally unstable. I haven't been through 
as much," Scully finished as Krycek looked at the tears that brimmed in her 
eyes.
  
   "I'm sorry, Scully. I didn't mean to make you cry," he apologized as he 
quickly bent down onto his knees in front of her and held her hands with his. 
He quickly damned his left arm for being gone and forever a burden on his 
normal life, if it was in fact, normal.
  
   "Krycek, I'm fine. I just haven't really cried since-" she started but 
never finished as she took several deep breaths and felt the tears finally 
fall from her eyes.
   "Scully-" he started as she quickly slipped to the floor and wrapped her 
arms around him. Krycek kneeled in shock for a second before he regained his 
senses and wrapped his arm around her. She sobbed into the flannel shirt he 
wore instead of his usual leather jacket. He held her as he ran his hand 
around her back and slowly began to speak.
  
   "Scully, it's okay. We're going to find Mulder and bring him back. We'll 
bring him back to DC. You two will be together and I'll be out of your lives 
forever. I'll leave Skinner alone too, give him the switch myself. The 
Smoking Man is dead and everyone's lives will go back to normal. You and 
Mulder will be wonderful parents. Won't have to worry about someone being 
behind the door, waiting. I promise," he whispered into her ear as she took 
deep breaths and pulled away slightly. She pulled his face toward her's and 
rested her forehead against his as she felt his hot breath on her face. The 
tears had stopped falling as Krycek ran his fingers through her hair.
   "It's been a long day," he whispered as Scully nodded in agreement and 
smiled slightly.
   "Feeling better?" he asked as she nodded slightly and took a deep breath 
and released it slowly. 
   "It's late, I want you to get some sleep. Okay? I'll call the airlines in 
the morning and see what time we can fly out of here. You just rest," he 
whispered as he helped her stand up and slip under the covers to her bed.
   "Thank you," she whispered as Krycek only smiled and turned out the lights.
  
XXXXXX

3/5

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
 
 Scully shifted her body again as she opened her eyes and looked around the 
dark room. It was pitch black except for a stream of moonlight that filtered 
in through the window and luminated Krycek's body. She sighed as she turned 
and glanced at the clock. It read 3:05 as she shook her head and closed her 
eyes. She pulled the blanket up around herself as she breathed. The dreams 
had become more realistic and more frightening tonight. Worse then she'd had 
before. More emotional and more painful. 
  
    She sighed again as she remembered Mulder's features and saw herself 
tracing his jaw line. It calmed her racing heart as she closed her eyes and 
lost herself in memories and Mulder's dark eyes.
   "Mulder?" Scully asked quietly as he turned around and smiled. She heaved 
in relief as he held her for a second. She stopped when she smelt smoke and 
quickly pulled away. Her mouth hung open as she realized she was no longer 
holding Mulder but now in the Smoking Man's arms as he fixed his gray eyes on 
her and leaned forward. Scully screamed out and pulled herself away from him. 
The screams continued until she felt a force heavy upon herself.
    "Scully! Scully! Scully!" the invisible voice called out as Scully 
quickly opened her eyes and saw the dimly lighted face of Krycek. She blinked 
several times, trying to figure out why he was sitting next to her and 
holding down her body with one arm.
  
   "Krycek?" She gasped out as he nodded and released her as soon as she 
stopped thrashing and sat up.
   "Dana," he whispered as she realized he had called her by her first name. 
She hadn't been called Dana in a long time, too long. He also sat next to her 
with his flannel shirt unbuttoned as he looked at her with concerned eyes 
asking her what was wrong, although he already knew.
   "It doesn't stop," she gasped with tears in her eyes as Krycek looked at 
her and nodded slightly.
   "Is there anything I can do?" Krycek asked. He watched as she gasped again 
and looked at the clock. 3:30.
   "It's too much," she murmured as he shook his head and looked back to her.
   "No, it's not. Tell me and it's done," he promised. 
  
   Scully sat for a moment. Her mouth open in shock at what she was going to 
ask. She finally sighed after Krycek nudged her and formed the words for her 
request.
  "Hold me?" she whispered. Krycek didn't flinch as he nodded and lay next to 
her. He gently reached his right arm over her and held her right hand. He 
then rested their hands on her stomach as Krycek pulled her to himself. She 
sighed mentally as Krycek nodded to himself and looked to Scully in the moon 
light.
  "Good night," he whispered as Scully closed her eyes and drifted off to 
sleep again.
  
XXXXXX
  
   "What do you mean not for another three days? Come on! We need to go now. 
Please. It's very important that we get out there today or tomorrow, not in 
three days," Krycek yelled into the phone. Scully looked toward him and 
watched him pace. Obviously, he was use to having things work for him. People 
respect him, or at least fear him. He sighed and looked up to her.
   "They put me on hold. Again," he murmured, emphasizing the 'again' as he 
sat down and held the phone up to his ear.
   "Damn it. I think they hung up again," he growled as he slammed the phone 
on the receiver and spat out quick Russian.
   "Krycek, if you wouldn't yell at them, maybe we could get somewhere. Let 
me have the phone," Scully demanded as he handed the phone to her and hit 
redial. 
  
   Scully waited patiently as the phone rang and a female voice began to talk.
   "Yes, my name is Dana Scully, Special Agent Dana Scully, and I'm a federal 
agent. I'm in desperate need to get to the state of Oregon-" she stopped as 
the phone disconnected.
   "Son of a bitch!" she screamed as she slammed the phone down into the 
receiver and looked up to Krycek.
   "Bastards," she murmured as she reached to her bag and pulled out her cell 
phone.
  
   "Who are you calling?"
   "Skinner-"
   "Does he even know we're out here?"
   "He knows I'm out here. He doesn't know about you, so stay quiet," she 
said sternly as she began to punch in numbers.
   "Skinner,"
   "Sir, it's Agent Scully, I just wanted to inform you that I'm on my way, 
but there are storms or something of that nature that will be keeping me 
grounded for a few days. There's no way around them. Yes sir. Yes sir. No 
sir," Scully answered as Krycek looked at her. How amazing it was that she 
could change from a young child looking for her mother to a leader in less 
then ten seconds. He watched as she nodded to herself and hung up the phone.
  
   "Something rotten in the state of Denmark?" Krycek asked as she glared at 
him and looked toward the motel door.
   "Skinner said he found a pack of Morleys on his desk this morning," Scully 
murmured as she turned and made eye contact.
   "No, he's dead. I swear to God, I-"
   "Did you? Krycek, did you actually go down and check to see if he had a 
pulse? Did you?" Scully asked, angry.
   "You didn't see him, Scully. The old man was so sick, and-"
   "And you assumed. Damn it Krycek! He's after us. He's following his. Damn 
it! We need to get to Oregon, now!" Scully screamed at him as she stood up 
and walked toward the door.
   "No, Scully! No!" Krycek yelled as he stood up and grabbed her arm. He 
pulled her to him sharply as she stopped and felt his hot breath on her.
  "Scully, you're getting ahead of yourself. Calm down and just breathe. 
There is no way he survived. You're being illogical and letting fear get into 
your way. Get rid of your fear and then we'll go. You can't be scared. You 
can't afford to be scared. Ever," he growled into her as she took deep 
breaths and focused her attention. She opened her mouth but quickly closed it 
again as he released his grip and stepped away.
  
   "How far away from Oregon are we?" Scully asked as Krycek closed his eyes 
for a second and thought.
   "I'm not sure, but we're in Nebraska now. I was going to go downstairs and 
ask, wanna come?" he asked, the calm man returned almost as quickly as he had 
disappeared as Scully stood in shock for a moment.
   "Sure," she answered, realizing how quickly she had become afraid of being 
alone, even if it was Krycek. He nodded and held the door open for her as she 
stepped out and started to walk toward the lobby.
  
XXXXXX
  
   Skinner sighed as he reviewed another file and put it down on the coffee 
table. He looked up the his window and realized how beautiful it was outside, 
and he was glad he'd taken a half day. He figured he could work at home just 
as well as at the office as his eyes moved to his watch and he noticed it was 
12:11. No wonder he was starting to feel hungry. He put down another file as 
he stood up and walked toward his kitchen. Skinner stopped when he saw a thin 
line of smoke float into the air as he quickly stepped in but stopped as soon 
as he saw the figure.
  
   "You," he spat out. It was all he could think to say. There was a dead 
man, standing right in front of him, obviously among the living. He had seen 
many dead men in his life, before Vietnam and after it in his line of work, 
but the only difference between those dead men and this one was, that in 
fact, this one wasn't dead and had a cigarette dangling from his lips.
   "Cigarette?" he asked as he offered Skinner a Morely. Skinner slapped the 
package out of his hand and watched it skid across the floor.
   "Mr. Skinner, you seem angry. Any reason?" Cancerman asked as he felt 
Skinner poke a gun into his rib cage.
  "You're damn right I'm angry you dirty son-of-a-bitch. I received news you 
were dead,"
  "You heard incorrectly,"
  "Your time is up, old man--" Skinner growled as he quickly pulled the 
trigger and watched the lifeless body fall to the floor. Skinner stepped back 
as he dropped the gun and looked at what he had just done.
  "Shit," he murmured silently as he watched blood pool onto his kitchen 
floor and extinguish the ashes from the smoking man's fallen cigarette.
  
XXXXXX
  
   Scully laughed quietly as Krycek smiled, triumphant at his successful joke 
telling. It was the first time he'd seen her smile, in a long long time, if 
ever. She had a beautiful smile, too bad she wasn't allowed to show it more 
often. They sat in the lobby as Krycek listened to a man yell at the manager 
about the pool being closed twenty minutes early. Scully looked at Krycek as 
she whispered,
   "See what it's like? People don't like to be yelled at," she whispered as 
Krycek broke into a smile and shook his head.
   "If you had grown up in my house, you'd know," he said as a sad look 
crossed his eyes.
  
"Krycek, what happened?" Scully asked, curious now, curious about the man she 
knew so little about.
  "They were Russian. I was taught to show respect and if someone wouldn't 
show it, to yell and scare the person to death. Either until they showed it, 
or died. Fun growing up," he murmured as Scully scooted her chair closer to 
him to listen.
  "Well, I grew up in my house with a dad who was in the Navy, and an older 
brother and sister. Also a Catholic  so that didn't leave much room for me 
to--" she paused, thinking of the best word to say,"be rebellious," she 
concluded as Krycek nodded.
  
   "But you weren't first generation," he debated.
   "No, but you grew up as an only child. Don't Russian families usually have 
many children?"
   "They do when they have the money or the land. We didn't have either. They 
where cold war immigrants. No one wanted a Russian here and everyone wanted 
'Comrades' out there. My parents didn't want to be comrades. They didn't 
agree with the system, so they left. I guess it was the best thing they could 
do," Krycek answered as he looked toward the door way.
   "Shit," he murmured as he quickly scanned the room.
   "What?"
   "That man. The red haired one. He's here," Krycek responded as he quickly 
turned away from the door and pulled the collar on his shirt up.
  
    Scully sat and looked toward him. She couldn't move her eyes off of him 
as he walked across the room and toward the front desk.
   "Hey!" he called out to Scully as Krycek closed his eyes tightly for a 
second, and didn't open them until he felt the presence behind him.
   "Hello," Scully replied courteously. She ribbed Krycek as he turned around 
and smiled.
   "Hi," Krycek responded as the red haired man just smiled.
   "So, we noticed you on our flight. Where are you heading?" Scully asked as 
Krycek studied the features of the man, trying to figure out where he had 
seen him before.
   "Oregon. I can't believe the flight was postponed. Any idea when the next 
flight is?"
   "No, the airlines won't tell us," Scully answered as Krycek looked toward 
Scully and back to the red haired man who looked to be in his late thirties.
   "Oh, well, turns out that I'll be staying here for a few more days, and 
they managed to get me these two tickets that fly out in two hours, I have a 
friend in the airlines, you understand. Anyway, you two seem like in such a 
rush to get out there, so please, take them," he said as he pulled out two 
tickets and handed them to Scully.
   "Sir?"
   "Please. I've been watching you two, and I like you. You seem like you're 
on a mission. So go, please," he said with a smile as he handed them over and 
walked away.
   "Thank you!" Scully called out as Krycek picked up the airline ticket and 
looked at it.
   "2 hours. Flight 310. We gotta go," he said as he stood up and started to 
walk toward the door.
   "Well, wait a second!" Scully called out as Krycek stopped and looked at 
her.
   "We have to go. All solutions to a greater cause," he quoted as Scully 
stopped and looked at him for a second but quickly recovered and followed 
close behind.
  
XXXXXX

    Skinner sighed again as he stood by the door and watched uniformed men 
walk around his apartment. Touching everything with gloved hands and taking 
pictures of the most unphotographed man in history.
   "Sir, you say you were defending yourself?"
   "Yes," he sighed, tired of the same questions over and over again, "I 
walked in and he was standing there. He left me no choice but to shoot him. 
My only clear shot was his rib cage," he lied. Being accused of murder wasn't 
new to Skinner as he remembered the dead prostitute.  He shook his head 
slightly to the memory of his own X-File.
   "Sir, do you know who this man is?" a tall man with a note pad asked. He 
showed his badge that certified himself as a police official. 
  
   Skinner thought for a second. Either he said yes and rambled on like 
Mulder about conspiracies and cover ups, or he said no and let the questions 
end.
   "Sir?"
   "No. I've never seen this man before," Skinner finally said as the officer 
nodded and stepped away. Skinner sighed as he stepped into the hallway and 
leaned against the wall. He closed his eyes and wished this nightmare would 
end. That Mulder would come back, that Scully would be here too. Krycek would 
be gone forever, except the switch would be in his hands. Skinner wouldn't 
let Krycek get away without that switch being destroyed, and the Smoking Man 
would stay dead. Leave him alone and let him live his own life. Skinner 
sighed as he started to walk down the hall toward the elevator as he stopped 
and turned around toward his apartment door. He continued his pace until his 
cell phone let out a shrill ring. He stopped as he reached for it and opened 
it.
   "Skinner,"
   "I know who you are. I know what you're doing and how you're doing it. 
Your office. Tonight. Midnight. Be there," the voice said quickly as it hung 
up and left Skinner standing, with a puzzled look on his face. He glanced at 
his watch and realized it was only 2 in the afternoon. A sigh escaped his 
lips as he walked back to his apartment to watch the body of the Smoking Man 
wrapped up and taken down the hall.
  
XXXXXX

   Scully looked around the plane as she realized she had fallen asleep 
again. Krycek had given her another one of his sleeping pills, and they had a 
very strong effect, Scully couldn't deny that. She glanced at him as he slept 
with his head tilted back and mouth open slightly. She watched as he inhaled 
and exhaled slowly. Scully hated to admit it, but he looked peaceful, almost 
innocent when he was asleep. 
  
   She had only seen Mulder asleep a few times in her life and he always 
looked troubled. Ready to jump and fight at any moment. Krycek, though, he 
looked like he was greatful for the rest. Like he could let his world rest 
for another five minuets, as he ran through his dreams, running from 
something, or perhaps the bad dreams were over. Either way, he looked 
peaceful for a man who knew death was just around the corner.
  
    Scully gently closed her eyes again, ready for more of the rest she 
craved.
    "Dana," a voice said gently as Scully turned around quickly and faced 
Ahab.
    "Ahab?" she asked quietly, she was use to her father calling her 
Starbuck, he hadn't called her Dana since she was 17 and was late for curfew.
    "Starbuck," he said with a smile as he walked over and hugged her. Scully 
smiled as he hugged her. It had been too long, and she wasn't about to let 
this peaceful dream stop. He pulled away quickly and showed Scully a door. 
She felt him lead her to the door as she slowly reached for the handle but 
stopped when she felt her body shake and her eyes open quickly. Wide. 
  
   She looked around at the other sleeping passengers as she looked toward 
Krycek who was now awake too.
   "Why'd you wake me up?" she asked quietly as a confused look crossed his 
eyes.
   "I was just about to ask you the same question. Did you shake me?"
   "No, did you shake me?" she asked as he shook his head.
   "Damn it, and I was actually having a peaceful dream too," she murmured as 
he looked at her.
   "What about?"
   "My father. He died in 1994," Scully murmured as Krycek nodded slowly.
   "What about you? I woke up once and you looked peaceful. What were you 
dreaming about?"
   "High school," he whispered as Scully smirked.
   "I thought most people had nightmares about high school,"
   "Well, I wasn't that bad off. At least then I had control of my life, for 
the most part," he answered as Scully wiped the smirk off her face and nodded.
   "Scully, I'm sorry about your father," he said through the thick silence.
   "Thank you," she whispered as he nodded and noticed the sleepiness that 
crossed her eyes. The pill deffinently had an effect on her.
   "Go back to sleep. We still have a few hours," he whispered as she nodded 
and closed her eyes as a peaceful dream over took her body.
  
XXXXXX

   Skinner sat at his desk as he looked at his watch and looked back toward 
the door. He was ten minutes early for his meeting with his mysterious cell 
phone caller. Whoever it was might have information on Mulder, or had seen 
Skinner with the Smoking Man. He silently cursed himself for losing his 
patience and firing. He had just fucked up several years worth of work that 
could and would fall on him and squash him like a bug. He took off his 
glasses as he rubbed the corners of his eyes with his thumb and middle 
finger. He moved his hand down and covered his mouth with his palm. He 
stopped as he heard his hall door open and a shadowy figure step in and stand 
in the dark corner of the room.
  
   "You said you had information?" he asked after he put his glasses back on 
and moved his hand to the desk top.
   "I said nothing of the sort. I know what you did, and I also have 
information on one of your agents - and a former agent," the voice said as 
Skinner realized the voice was an alto. Much higher then his other contacts, 
meaning his contact was a female.
   "Which agents?" he asked carefully. He wasn't sure what she wanted, but 
whoever it was might have information on Mulder.
   "You might recognize them. Here," she said as she approached him but 
stopped when she saw his desk light was on.
   "Turn off the light, then you can see what's in the folder," she demanded 
as Skinner turned off the light and heard her step toward his desk, drop the 
file and retreat back to the corner of the room.
   "Alright," she said as Skinner flipped on the lights and looked at the 
envelope that rested on his desk.
   "Can I be guaranteed these are authentic?"
   "I place my life on it. I have," she said as she turned toward the door, 
"We'll meet again, tomorrow night, midnight. Be here," she said as she 
slipped out the door and left Skinner with an envelope with authentic 
pictures in it. He slowly opened it as he filtered out five pictures. He 
looked at one with a red headed female and a dark haired man in a hotel room. 
He shifted to the second picture which showed the man and the woman on the 
floor together, hugging. He looked at the woman closer and realized it was 
Scully. His heart skipped a beat as he recognized the face of the dark haired 
man.
  
  Krycek.
  
   Skinner sighed as he turned to the third picture with their foreheads 
touching as Scully rested her arm around his body as Krycek rested his hand 
on her hip. He turned to the fourth picture which showed Krycek holding 
Scully down in a bed. She was sweating as Krycek rested over her with his 
shirt open. He flipped to the fifth picture that showed Krycek with his arm 
around Scully as she twisted her fingers with his on top of a bed.
  "Son of a bitch," he murmured under his breath as he closed his eyes and 
tried to find a logical explanation for what these pictures showed. 
  
   Krycek had wanted to help, but how had he convinced Scully to take him 
with her to Oregon? Force? Threats? Or simply, had she let him? He shook that 
thought from his mind. She hated him. She hated him for everything he had 
done to her, why would she ever trust him? Stress. Scully was stressed and 
hadn't slept well. That had to be it. She was delusional and willing to 
believe anyone or anything that would help her find Mulder. 
  
   Skinner sat back, somewhat satisfied with his explanation as he put the 
pictures back into the envelope and slipped it into his top drawer of his 
desk. He sighed as he looked to his watch and realized it was already 12:30. 
It was too late to go back home, so he stood up and walked to a couch that 
rested in his secretary's office. He lay down as he closed his eyes and 
shifted into an evening of dreams and nightmares, intertwined as always.

XXXXXX

4/5

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
 
 Krycek opened his eyes again as he looked around the empty plane. His eyes 
quickly moved toward his left shoulder as he smiled at the returned limb. In 
his dreams, he always had his whole body. It couldn't be taken away from him 
then. He stood up and stretched both his arms over his head as he relished in 
the memory of his long forgotten limb being moved freely. The prosthetic was 
nothing compared to the real thing, although it did add to the intimidation 
he offered when on the job. He smiled as he walked along the isle and touched 
things with his hands, freely. He stopped when he felt a presence behind him.
  
   "Hey," Krycek said to the familiar face. He only had friends in his 
dreams, meaning he was fairly lonely at times, although he had made up people 
in his mind to comfort him. Comfort him when he was alone or in desperate 
need to have someone to hug or just to be near.
   "Hey," the man replied as Krycek saw the face form. The red hair was 
familiar as he reached out and hugged him. Krycek hugged back as he sighed at 
the memory of Scully hugging him. It had been quick and a desperate action, 
but it was possibly the most relaxed he had been in years.
   "Alexi, I'm here, but I think there's someone else in your head right 
now," the red haired man said as Krycek stared in question for a moment as he 
quickly turned and faced the only familiar face he'd seen in the last 4 days.
  
   "Scully," he whispered as she walked toward him and hugged him.
   "Dana," she whispered into him as he felt her body press against his. His 
heart sped as she pulled his head down to hers and hessitantly brushed her 
lips over his. He closed his eyes as Scully took his lips in a savage kiss. 
His heart quickly swelled as he felt his pulse race and his mind soar. He 
quickly stopped his mind as he put his hands to use and began to explore her 
body. He rested his right hand on her hip and tangled his left hand in her 
hair. She abruptly stopped as she held his hands with her own and pulled 
away, gasping for air as Krycek did the same. He panted as his world suddenly 
turned dark and quickly light again as he heard Dana whispering to him.
  
   "Krycek. Krycek. Wake up," she whispered into his ear as he startled into 
life and looked around. He looked at the watch he carried on his right wrist 
and read it was 7:30 in the morning.
   "Scully," he panted as she looked at him.
   "Bad dream?" she asked as he hid a laugh. Anything but that, hell, nothing 
had ever been further from the truth, Krycek thought to himself as he nodded 
and leaned his head against the seat. What was that about? Why was he 
dreaming about Scully? She was Mulder's. She loved him, he loved her. She was 
pregnant for God's sake. Krycek had no control over that, he only had control 
over himself and he refused to do anything to Scully.
  
   "Where are we?" he asked quietly as he noticed a few other people where 
still asleep.
   "About half an hour away from Oregon, and then Bellefleur is just a short 
ways away," she whispered to him as he nodded and hid a yawn.
  "Those pills are amazing. I hardly woke up at all," she started as he 
looked toward her.
   "I know. I've been taking them for about five years now. Knocks me out so 
deep I stay under for a few hours,"
   "You don't...over dose, do you?" she asked, quietly.
   "Never, why?"
   "Just asking. I - uh - take you for a man who knows when to stop, but the 
way you've described your life and - um - the way I've seen it played out-"
   "Scully, trust me, I would never do that. I know death isn't a solution to 
a problem."
   "I can't. I can't trust you, Krycek," she whispered as Krycek stopped and 
realized what he had said. He slowly nodded after a few moments as Scully 
nodded and turned away.
  
   "Would you?"
   "Would I what?" she asked, still turned away but she listened to his words.
   "Would you ever trust me?"
   "I'm not sure. Noting our history and-"
   "Forget about that. Say if, if we had just met at the FBI. Two agents, on 
the elevator one day or something like that, then. Would you trust me?" he 
asked as he gently took his hand and cupped her cheek as he slowly turned her 
head to face him. "Would you?" he repeated as she felt his fingers slowly 
start to twist the strands of hair they touched.
   "I-I don't know. Krycek, you can't just go and ask people these sorts of 
questions," she whispered as she took his hand away from her cheek and put it 
back to his chest.
   "I know, and I'm sorry," he whispered as Scully nodded and turned toward 
the window again. She had made it a habit to retreat to her window. The 
little window that showed her the world that she would soon know again. She 
would find Mulder and they could return to life. They would.
  
XXXXXX
  
   Skinner looked at the file as he felt his hand slip to the top drawer of 
his desk as he quickly pulled it away and stuck it back on top of the desk. 
Those pictures had haunted him through his dreams last night and his meetings 
that morning. Luckily, no one had noticed how distant he was or how stressed 
he looked. First he killed a man and now he had evidence of one of his best 
agents consorting with a wanted man. What next? he wondered to himself as 
right on cue, an envelope slipped under his door. He stood up and walked to 
it as he quickly lifted the simple, white envelope up and slipped it open. A 
piece of paper fell out as he bent over to pick it up and looked at the 
familiar word that was written on the paper.
  
  Morley.
  
   Skinner slowly stood back up as he looked up and realized he had been 
watched. He had always been watched, and chances were, he was being watched 
right now.
  
XXXXXX
  
   Langly sat in front of the glowing screen of his monitor as he closed his 
eyes for a second and sighed. He had been sitting there for three hours 
straight and was exhausted. He'd been checking out the flight plans for 
Bellefleur, Oregon, trying to figure out if something had gone irregular or 
if there had been any off flight planes. Apparently someone had spotted 
something in the sky a week ago and it had been reported to the Lone Gunmen.
  
   "Langly, you still up?" a scratchy voice asked as Langly took his eyes off 
the screen for a second and caught the gaze of Frohike.
   "Yep. Still trying to get into the flight records. They upped the security 
apparently, because I'm not getting in. Damn," he murmured as he looked back 
to the computer and continued typing in numbers.
   "What time is it anyway?" Langly asked a Frohike glanced at the clock on 
the wall.
   "2:00. Meaning Scully is over at 11:00. I think she'd be off the plane by 
now."
   "No, I mean, 2 am or 2 PM?"
   "PM, why?"
   "Because, Mulder left his watch here and it says it's 1:51 PM,"
   "When did Mulder leave his watch?"
  "After he came back from Oregon the first time, It's  been running nine 
minutes slow since he left it."
  "Missing time?" Byers asked from a doorway as Frohike turned to him, 
somewhat surprised to see him up. Byers had done the hacking the night before 
and was up for 24 hours straight.
   "It would make sense. The nine minute lapse, Mulder told us about it a 
while ago."
   "A long while ago. Almost 8 years, but I remember it. It was back when we 
first met Scully," Frohike said with a smirk on his face.
  
   "I don't want to hear any eulogies yet, I'm in," Langly said as he quickly 
picked up his pace and typed in key words.
   "Anything?"
   "Bingo. Something was spotted in the area a week ago, and the airlines 
don't have records of flights in that path, so-"
   "So what is it?"
   "Not sure, looking for photographs or anythin-" Langly cut himself off as 
he watched the computer die and all the power in the building die.
  "Son of a bitch! Damn it! No! Damn bastards!" Langly groaned out as the 
power stayed off and trapped the three men in a dark room except for a bit of 
light that filtered through an old window. 
   "It's out," Frohike murmured.
   "It's gone," Langly confirmed as he sighed and slipped out of his chair.
   "Did we get anything?" Byers asked as Langly shrugged.
   "Only what we saw. The records are there, and there are satellite photos, 
and there are eye witness accounts. I think we can safely assume Mulder's out 
there,"  he murmured as Byers nodded and picked up the phone.
   "Cell," Frohike said in one quick warning as Byers nodded while he hung up 
the phone and moved to the cellular phone.
   "Who are you calling?"
   "Scully, I'm letting her know there's still a chance Mulder's out there."
  
  XXXXXX
  
   Scully shuffled through the people as she looked at the familiar walls of 
a town that was always like Halloween. Her cell phone let out a shrill ring 
as Scully picked it up and flipped it open.
   "Scully."
   "Scully, it's Byers. Where are you?"
   "Bellefleur. Just arrived. What's up?"
   "Mulder. Well, the UFO he's in at least."
   "What?"
   "Do you remember where he was abducted?"
   "Yeah, I can find it."
   "Okay, get there. Tonight. We might be off, but chances are the UFO will 
return tonight."
   "And if it does?"
   "Be there."
   "Okay, thank you. Bye," she said as she hung up and faced Krycek.
   "Skinner?" he asked as she shook her head.
   "No, Byers. We have to get to the woods, tonight. Mulder might return."
   "You think?"
   "Well, I don't know, but UFOs do have a tendency to return, meaning that 
Mulder's might return," she answered as they walked toward the door.
  
   "Is that considered a solid lead?" Krycek asked casually. He knew that was 
part of their deal. He'd leave as soon as she found a solid lead, however, 
for some reason he'd never understand, he didn't want to go.
   "It might, in some cases, but right now, all I need is to get there and 
see if Mulder returns."
   "Listen, Scully, I know you said that as soon as you found a solid lead, 
you wanted me to buzz off, but I can't. Not now. We're-you're too close to 
this. You're too close to finding something, I can't leave," he said as she 
stopped and looked at him.
   "Krycek, you're a dead man-"
   "And you're not,"
   "What? No, Krycek, you're going to have to leave soon. They will find us, 
no matter what."
   "Tomorrow. I'll leave tomorrow, just. Please. Please let me help you 
tonight,"
   "Why?"
   "Well, Skinner wasn't a big help with Mulder and I'm not sure what 
happened to him. I'm not letting you go. You told me Skinner's story and I'm 
not letting that happen to you. Please, let me help you tonight, if the UFO 
returns,"  he quickly dropped his voice and pulled Scully off to the side of 
the room, "if the UFO returns, I'll leave forever. Hand the switch off to 
you, send you and Mulder back to DC and I'll get the hell away, forever," he 
bargained as Scully stood and stared at him for a moment. He'd lied before, 
but he had only told the truth on this trip, which should earn him merit.
  
   "What if the UFO doesn't come back, tonight. Then what?"
   "I leave anyway, leave you alone, but I still watch you in that area at 
night. I know you, Scully. Mulder's rubbed off on you, and you are a hell of 
a fighter. You won't stop, so I say call Skinner out here. I watch from a 
distance and you two find Mulder and bring him home."
  
   Scully looked at him for a moment before reluctantly nodding. As much as 
she hated it and the fact that she needed to admit it, she needed Krycek 
right then. She needed him to keep her from falling or going off the edge. 
Keep her from taking hostages or screaming to the heavens for Mulder.
  "Good," he answered as they walked out and picked up the car Mulder had 
rented a week ago.
  
  XXXXXX
  
   Skinner sat at his desk as his watch beeped seven o'clock. He stopped as 
he reached for it and turned it off but heard a shuffling sound from the 
front of the room.
   "Hello?" he called out as the lights in the room went out.
   "Who's there! Tell me!" he yelled out as he heard the same voice that he'd 
heard last night.
   "It's me. Relax. I needed to come early tonight, but I'd get out to Oregon 
if I were you."
   "Why?" he called out to the general direction of the voice in the darkness.
   "You're wanted. You're needed. I don't know why, I only follow out orders. 
Call Scully as soon as I leave. Do it and I'll bring you more information. 
Tell her one thing for me, please. Tonight," she said plainly as Skinner 
heard a door open and shut quickly and his lights flip back on.
  
   Walter sighed for a moment as he picked up his phone and dialed Scully's 
cell phone number.
  
  XXXXXX
  
   Scully's phone let out a shrill ring as she picked it up out of her pocket 
and answered it while she and Krycek stopped at a red light.
   "Scully."
   "Scully, it's Skinner. I have information for you."
   "I'm listening, Sir." she said as she directed her eyes toward Krycek so 
he'd know it was Skinner.
   "Tonight. I'm not sure what that means or what kind of information it 
merits, but I was told to pass it along."
   "Sir, that means everything to me. Thank you!" Scully called into the 
phone as she prepared to hang up but heard his voice again.
   "Sir?"
    "Scully, I asked if you needed my help out there. Since you're on the 
case alone."
   "Well, sir. I think I can manage it. I plan to be in the woods tonight, 
waiting. Sir... I think we need to disconnect. Now," Scully said as she 
quickly closed the phone and handed it to Krycek.
  
   "Search it. Please. Is there something in it?"
   "What? Why?"
   "Someone's watching us. Or listening to us."
   "Why? What'd Skinner say?" Krycek asked as he broke the phone open and 
looked through the familiar wirings.
  
   "Hello," he murmured as he picked up a piece of metal and held it between 
his fingers as Scully looked at it for a moment and nodded.
   "Who?"
   "I don't know. There are so many people who could have pulled this off. 
Are you aware of anyone being near your cell phone?"
   "I don't think- wait," she paused as memories of Marita breaking into her 
apartment while she was out passed through her mind. Marita had enough time 
to break into Scully's phone and put it back together, and she'd been around 
Krycek long enough to know how to. "Marita. I think Marita Covarrubias did. 
She broke into my apartment the night you came to me. I denied knowledge of 
you. Skinner asked me if I was traveling alone, so I think he knows 
something."
  "And passed the information on to Skinner?"
  
   "Yes. I'm sure she has. He wanted to come out here."
   "Well, I'm going to be gone in the morning, get him out here to help you."
   "Well, if Mulder comes back tonight, Skinner would be too late-"
  "How well do you know the man? He'll come out, especially if I'm out here. 
He'll come out here to kill me, then find Mulder. Priorities first, Scully."
   "Krycek. I'm going on out to the forest, are you coming with me?"
   "Yes," he answered quickly. Almost too quickly as she looked at him again 
and back to the road.
   "Good," she murmured as they drove toward the woods that would soon trap 
them in the darkness.
  
  XXXXXX
  
   Skinner looked at his watch again and sighed. It had been 7 o'clock for 
three time zones now. He'd soon be in Oregon and would be out in the woods to 
help Scully find Mulder, and hopefully, Krycek wouldn't be anywhere near her. 
From the pictures he'd seen and the reports he'd received, Krycek was with 
her, and wasn't playing nice. He shook his head as he damned himself for not 
flying out sooner to help. He could have gone with her when she left and he 
wouldn't be in this situation. 
  The Smoking Man wouldn't be after him, his contact wouldn't be out to get 
him and he wouldn't be worrying himself to death. He sighed again as he 
closed his eyes and drifted into a fitful dream.
  
   "Walter. Walter," a voice said softly as Skinner turned around and smiled 
at Sharon. In his dreams, nothing had ever happened. He was still a happily 
married man, married to the love of his life.
   "Sharon," he smiled as he held her in his arms and eagerly took her lips 
into a kiss. She pulled away slowly and smiled.
  "You have company," she whispered to him as he nodded and watched her step 
away and a familiar man step forward.
   "Hey there," the red haired man said as Skinner smiled and said "Hi".
   "You know, Scully is a big girl. She's not in trouble. Krycek hasn't hurt 
her," he started as Skinner looked at him with a concerned look in his eyes.
   "Are you sure?"
   "Are you?" he asked as Skinner quickly woke up and faced a stewardess.
   "Miss?"
   "Yes, Sir, we're landing in a few minuets so please return to the upright 
position. Thank you," she said happily as she turned and walked down the 
isle. Skinner quickly looked to his watch and realized he'd fallen asleep for 
an hour or so.
  
XXXXXX
  
   Krycek quickly walked behind Scully as they walked through the woods and 
toward the center of a clearing with what remained of markers.
  "What were they doing?" Krycek asked a silent Scully as she turned and 
shrugged.
  "Looking for rushes," she answered as Krycek nodded and looked at his watch.
  "8 o'clock. Any idea what time?"
  "As soon as it gets dark. Dusk to dawn. We have a while to wait," she 
answered quietly as Krycek looked at her. The tough warrior that had been up 
for most of the trip had suddenly fallen and revealed a never before seen 
Scully. A weak, scared Scully who looked exhausted. Her eyes showed dark 
circles under them as she slowly stroked her stomach. 
  
  He was about to ask if she wanted to be alone as she turned and looked at 
him. His brilliant green eyes where blood shot with the result of not fully 
sleeping in days and from the fear of paranoia.  He had since taken off his 
glasses and looked more like a mountain man then anything else in his flannel 
shirt and dark denim jeans. Scully covered her mouth as she crouched to the 
ground and let out something that sounded like a mix of tears and laughter.
   "Scully?"
   "I'm fine. I'm fine!" she cried out as he stepped toward her and helped 
her stand up. Krycek looked at her and shook his head as laughter built up in 
his throat and quickly escaped. They stood there, laughing harder then they 
had ever in their lives as Scully fell into his body. The stress had finally 
won them over as Scully hugged into him and felt tears fall from her eyes, 
although she wasn't crying. She pulled away after a moment and caught tears 
in the corner of his eyes too.
   "Alex? When was the last time you cried?" she asked as he stopped for a 
moment. Had she really just said his name? Was she really in his chest? Was 
she really asking about his past? Was any of this real, or just another 
hallucitional dream that he'd had time to time?
   "Too long ago," he answered as he felt a tear slip down his cheek. 
  
   Scully looked at him and slowly moved his head to her shoulder. He took a 
deep breath as he inhaled her. She smelled wonderful as he closed his eyes 
and realized she was the only woman he ever wanted. The Smoking Man may have 
destroyed his ability to love and his chances to ever be with her, but he 
still had his dreams. She had already moved in to his head and his heart and 
wasn't planing on moving anytime soon, which was fine with Krycek.
   "Dana?" he murmured into her neck as she felt him pull away and look at 
her. She was trapped. She felt his hypnotic green eyes stare into her as she 
stared back. She was trapped in a sea of green as she felt Krycek hold her 
down and passionately kiss her. Holding her and telling her she'd be fine, 
that Mulder would be home soon.
  
  Mulder.
  
   How could Scully ever have thoughts of anyone besides Mulder? She had told 
him she loved him and he loved her. After years of love and lust, hiding 
feelings and denying it to themselves, everything was in place. 
  
   Everything was in place except for those green eyes that keep looking into 
her. They kept looking at her, not demanding anything, not begging, not 
wanting. Looking. Just looking.
  
   "Alex?" she asked as she leaned forward and kissed his forehead. She 
rested her lips as she felt his heavy breathing on her neck. He closed his 
eyes tightly as he forced the tears to stop. They were painful, and the sound 
his heart made, was that shattering?, also hurt.
  
   He took a deep breath as Scully pulled away and looked at him. He stared 
into her deep, blue eyes. They were gorgeous. Almost like the sky. He felt 
himself soaring in her eyes. He watched her blink and a tear fall from her 
eye as he leaned across and slowly kissed the tear before it slid down her 
cheek bone. He tasted her and the salt mixed together as he pulled back and 
felt her run her fingers though his hair. She stopped as she saw something in 
the distance.
  "Dana?"
  "I think it's here," she whispered as Krycek turned around and looked at 
what her eyes had fixed on.
  
XXXXXX

5/5

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
 
 Skinner quickly sped down the empty road and looked at his watch. 10:10 by 
his count as he stopped his car quickly and opened the door. He didn't bother 
to pull to the side of the road, let alone stop the engine as he pulled 
himself out and looked at the bright light in the sky that he was too 
familiar with.
   "Oh God, be Mulder. Please let it be Mulder," he murmured as he climbed 
back into the car and drove to the familiar road where he and Mulder had been 
a week earlier. He heaved a sigh of relief as he noticed the car that was 
already parked on the side of the road as he quickly pulled up behind it. 
Walter stopped the engine as he quickly ran toward the center of the forest 
to find Scully and Krycek. He had decided that since he hadn't had any 
threats on his life that Krycek was out there, and hopefully Mulder too. He 
quickly forced his body through the trees and down the familiar path as he 
stopped and looked at the bright light over head and two masses standing in 
the clearing.

XXXXXX

    Scully opened her mouth and tried to breathe, except the air felt like 
cotton as it covered her mouth and keep her from receiving the precious, life 
giving air. She didn't move her eyes as Krycek stood and looked at the craft. 
It was strangely and eerily familiar as he realized he'd seen one before. 
He'd been on top of one before, back when the oilan had taken over his body 
and his mind and nearly got him killed. Again.
   "Mulder-" Scully breathed in a loud whisper as she allowed tears to stream 
down her cheeks. They watched as a bright, blinding light flew down from the 
heavens and stayed for what seemed like an eternity. 

   Krycek stared into the heavenly light as he resisted the urge to hold his 
hand up and block the light that left an imprint in his memory. He stood in a 
trance as he felt someone walk behind him. He couldn't turn around, even if 
he tried,

    Scully stood and watched a form emerge from the light as she felt her 
voice catch in her throat and tears burn her eyes.
   "Mulder!" she screamed out as she ran toward him. She wrapped her arms 
around him and inhaled him. He stood there as she slowly realized something 
wasn't right. Tears streamed down her face as she slowly and unsurely pulled 
her body back and looked at Mulder. He stared straight to Krycek and Skinner 
with no emotion on his face as Scully looked at him and brought in staggered 
gasps of air.

   "Who are you?" Mulder asked as Scully let out a scream of horror and 
stepped back. Her heart shattered as her legs grew weak and her world was 
rocked.
   "No! Oh God! No," she gasped as she dropped to her knees and held her face 
in her hands. She looked back up after a few moments and noticed the other 
form that had emerged from the light.
  "You! What have you done to Mulder? Please!," Scully gasped and begged as 
the red haired man stood and shook his head. He stared at her as tried to 
stop the tears and tried to figure out what had happened to Mulder. She 
opened her mouth but stopped when Krycek beat her to her conclusion. 
   "His Memories," he whispered, "No! Do it! Give him back his memories. I'll 
trade myself for Mulder!," Krycek yelled as he felt his voice return as he 
walked toward the men and Scully.
   "You would? Alex? You? One of the most selfish men in the world?" he asked 
as Krycek nodded.
   "Yes. Give Mulder back everything he had before he left and take it away 
from me. Take me," Krycek demanded as he looked toward Scully and noticed the 
pleading in her eyes.
   "Are you sure?"
   "Do it."
   "Fine," he said as he pulled out a needle and slowly jammed it into 
Mulder's arm. He stood, emotionlessly, as life slowly returned to him. 

   Krycek turned toward Skinner and nodded as Skinner quickly stepped toward 
them and looked at Mulder and Scully.
   "Skinner, I think this is yours," Krycek murmured as he pulled out a 
switch that he held in his pocket and handed it to Skinner.
   "Scully, you take care of everything. Please," he whispered as he reached 
over and looked into her brillant blue eyes. They didn't say anything as 
Krycek quickly took her lips in a savage, heart stopping kiss that, although 
only lasted five seconds, was enough to remember for a lifetime He pulled 
away and stroked her face gingerly. Her eyes thanked him as he nodded and 
turned.
   "Mulder, I'm sorry," he said quietly as he turned toward the red haired 
man and nodded.
   "Ready?"
   "I leave only when I see that Mulder remembers everything."
   "See for yourself," he replied as Mulder blinked and looked to Scully.
   "Scully," Mulder cried out as he hugged her and felt tears weld up in his 
eyes.
   "Okay. Let's go," Krycek murmured as the red haired man nodded and walked 
toward the light. Krycek followed as he looked at Scully and winked, although 
she didn't see it through the tears and kisses she rained on Mulder. Krycek 
felt a sharp pain to his neck as the light blinded him and he remembered 
nothing of his horrible past.

XXXXXX

Epilogue:

1 Year Later

 The Smoking Man sat in his car and smiled, a very rare occasion. He lit up 
another Morley as he felt the smoke rush into his mouth, through his lungs 
and out of his mouth again. He closed his eyes and savored the moment that 
was interrupted by his compainion.
  "Do you always have to do that while I'm in the car with you?"
  "Yes. Old habits die hard," Cancerman said as he frowned and moved his eyes 
toward his son. He moved his eyes back to the park that they sat across the 
street from as they watched Mulder and Scully walk to a swing set.
  "So, what's happened in the past year?" Jeffrey asked while the Smoking Man 
watched Mulder a moment longer before reaccounting the previous events of the 
year in his mind. He had been watching Mulder and Scully, and now their 
child, Nicholas William, for a year now, in the shadows, hidden. Not even his 
colleagues had found him, even after the mysterious death of Marita 
Covarrubias. Krycek may have escaped the car bomb years ago, but she hadn't 
been so lucky. He mentally shook his head at the waste of another life, 
although she had done well in the end by leaking information to Skinner. He 
exhaled slowly as he mused on her death for a moment before going on to 
Krycek. 

   Krycek had disappeared without word or notice almost a year ago. Krycek 
and the ship he'd been hunting for disappeared almost as quickly as Mulder 
reappeared. Mulder had reappeared and suddenly was very highly regarded in 
the FBI. He still had his basement office with Scully, but at least people 
knew they where down there.

  The pregnancy had been sucessful and all was going according to plan. The 
supreme plan that would one day unfold and fall into place.
  "Well?" Jeffrey asked as he pulled a Morley out of his father's package and 
proceeded to light it.
  "All in good time, son. All in very good time," Cancerman said as he 
watched Jeffrey flick the lighter and place the Morley to his lips.
  "I told you I'd be my own great man," he said as he lit the end as inhaled 
the deadly smoke. He exhaled as the Smoking man sighed and ground his 
cigarette out.

The pieces were falling into place.

XXXXXX

 
The End

"When they said "Make Love, Not War," they never dreamed one would become 
more dangerous then the other."

-Unknown