Summary: CGB does something horrible to remedy the situation Mulder
and Krycek's new relationship has caused for him.
Archive: Just tell me where so I can visit.
Spoilers: Um...nope. Not this time. But pay attention to
that 'III', people. You've got to read, "Love Hurts," and "Love Hurts
II" or you won't get all of this. They're on my website.
"Gentlemen, we have a problem." CGB spender took a long drag off his
cigarette, then held the smoke dramatically, looking suspiciously like an
old pothead toking on a doobie. The other men in the room were silent, giving
him his moment of drama. Spender blew out the smoke, sitting back in his
chair.
"It seems that the one thing we hoped would never happen has come to pass.
Alex Krycek has teamed up against us with Fox Mulder." Anxious murmurs
made their way around the room and Spender waited, taking another drag.
"We've worked very hard to keep this from happening. Now we're going
to have to work even harder to remedy the situation." He had the room's
attention now, and he basked in it, pursing his lips slightly, leaning into
the old leather.
"First of all, we are going to have to punish Alex for his betrayal of us."
The room buzzed quietly and a few nods of agreement were seen. "Second
of all, we are going to have to break the new bond these two have formed,
and make sure that Fox Mulder will have nothing to do with Alex Krycek ever
again." The assent became louder as the room settled into solving their
new problem.
"I've gotta get another hat."
The Bullwinkle computer email notification sound wav broke the silence of
the morning as Fox Mulder rushed around, gulping coffee and wrestling with
his tie. He quickly bent and punched the button to bring up the message,
too curious to let an email go unopened, even when running late. His lips
curved into a grin as he saw the sender's address: Ratboy@hotmail.com.
He slid into the chair, tie forgotten, coffee summarily plunked down on the
blotter. As the message came up on the screen, his grin turned into
a wide- eyed stare of wonder and excitement, and his tongue made a quick
swipe over his bottom lip.
Mulder read the message repeatedly, breathing rapid and shallow, then remembered
he was late for work and slurped the rest of his coffee while shutting down
his machine. He bolted out the door, feeling lighter than he had in a very
long time.
"Sorry I'm late."
"Mulder, good morning. Uh oh...you look...enthusiastic. I'm scared."
I was only half-kidding. I knew the reason for Mulder's recent bouts
of uncharacteristic happiness, and it did worry me. I couldn't deny that
Krycek was doing so much for Mulder...for us...to make up for his transgressions.
But he was still Krycek, and he had still duped Mulder once with pretty eyes
that looked too innocent, and a voice that dripped with too much adoration.
I watched Mulder falling deeper and deeper under his spell, and my happiness
at his growing contentment warred with my need to protect him.
Mulder laughed. "Don't worry, Scully. I'm not dragging you off
to Siberia or anything. I just may have something very exciting to
share with you tomorrow morning." He smiled enigmatically and removed
his jacket, draping it across the back of his chair with a flourish.
"Is this exciting as in, 'Alex Krycek carved his name in my back and now
we're in love,' type of exciting, or is it more, 'Aliens are staging me my
own laser show on top of Hegal Place tonight' type of exciting?"
Mulder laughed again, worrying me even more. "A little of both, actually,"
he said with a waggle of his eyebrows.
I waited for more of the story, but it was not forthcoming. I decided
I'd have to take the direct approach or it would drive me crazy. "So,
Mulder, how is...Alex?" His first name stalled as it made its way across
my tongue, but I made the effort for Mulder.
He looked up at me from under lowered lashes, looking like a naughty schoolboy.
"Alex is great, Scully. He's really great." He looked back down and
pretended he was very interested in his fluttering pile of previously ignored,
month-old departmental memos.
"Have you heard from him lately?" I pressed.
"Yeah." Mulder said casually as he paged through a pile of weeks-old
telephone messages. He didn't meet my eyes. Sighing again, I decided
this was all I was going to get from him on the subject. I chewed my
cheek and studied the floor for a moment. He looked up and caught me,
and his face looked instantly contrite.
"I'm sorry, Scully," he said, sounding sheepish. "It's just that...this
is so new and...well, frankly weird...that I don't like to talk about it.
It's nothing personal."
I looked into his eyes and couldn't help but feel a flicker of happiness
at the new light I saw there. I finally relented, for today.
"I know, Mulder. That's fine." I gave him a gentle smile. "So..."
I said, changing the subject, much to Mulder's obvious relief. "What's
on the agenda?"
Alex Krycek's Nokia phone beeped quietly from within his jacket's inside
pocket. One beep. Text message. He only received those
from one person on this earth. His breathing accelerated as he looked
side to side, making sure he wasn't going to miss anything important, then
brought the phone out and called up his message.
'4th fl need u 8p'
The strange string of letters on the screen made his heart pound almost painfully
against his ribs, and he took another quick look left to right, ducking behind
the collar of his jacket slightly. Unable to conceal his grin, he started
to make his way to the street to catch a cab to the bad part of town.
I was probably the happiest and goofiest-looking assassin (EX-assassin,
I reminded myself) taking those rickety apartment complex steps two at a
time, but I couldn't help the grin that threatened to get me hauled off in
the paddy wagon. Five little letters that meant so much to me. 'need
u' God, even thinking about them made my heart jump and squeeze inside
my chest. I came to the door leading into the apartment in which we'd
finally, under great duress, confessed our real feelings for each other some
months ago. The contact I'd been there to meet had never shown up, and after
watching for a few weeks to insure it was clear, Mulder and I had started
using it as our meeting place.
We didn't have a set schedule...things were far too perilous to consider
anything that might be noticed, especially with all of the information I
was slowly feeding to Mulder, and his surreptitious investigations into the
secrets I was baring to him. I was giving him the keys to the puzzle, piece
by painstaking piece, in a way that I thought he could handle. So far, he'd
been careful and had taken Scully with him on every investigation.
I told him if I saw one 'Rogue Mulder' act I'd cut him off for a month.
And I'd stop feeding him information for a while too.
I'd call him to meet, and I'd give him a name or a location, then we'd spend
hours on the floor, table, chair and countertop making love. We'd part
ways before the sun was back up, with no set plan as to when we might meet
again. But I'd been calling meetings about every two weeks or so. We'd even
furnished our lovenest with a futon and battery- operated lantern, as well
as a generous supply of Astroglide and wet wipes. Mulder had let me
take the lead, waiting for his next email from me. We were making our
own DAT tape, recording everything he could gather during his operations.
He brought it with him to each meeting, and I'd download the Data onto my
palm pilot and give him another piece of the puzzle to pursue. He'd
never called a meeting for us, so this message was extraordinary and exciting.
'need u' Jesus, Mulder, I need you, too.
I even felt a bit of a blush warming my face as I pushed open the door, which
was already unlocked, the first of the tin numbers marking it turned upside
down, our signal that one of us had arrived. I pushed it open and saw
his silhouette against the dark window, the lantern casting the room in dark,
otherworldly shadows. I stepped in and saw him turn to greet me, his
smile choking me and stealing my words away.
Before I could even cross the room, I heard them in the hall. Frowning, I
whirled around. My mouth dropped open as CGB Spender and four of his
thugs walked in the door, a trail of smoke marking his passage.
"Excellent job, Alex. You were right. He came just as you said
he would."
I spun around to find Mulder's face pale, stricken, his mouth open, eyes
wide in shock and confusion.
"No! Mulder, no!" Before I could get anything else out, CGB elbowed
past me and two of his henchmen crushed in on either side of me, surreptitiously
shoving a gun into my gut. "This wasn't me! Mulder!" I struggled,
ignoring the sound of the pistol being cocked. Spender cut in front
of me, speaking over the top of me.
"We'll take it from here, Alex. You can drop the act. Rest assured,
you'll be amply rewarded for your loyalty."
I opened my mouth to protest again, and suddenly felt the point of a blade
stab shallowly into my side, stealing my breath. As I struggled to
gather enough to speak, the other two thugs rushed forward and grabbed Mulder,
sticking him with a syringe and catching him as he went limp in their arms.
"Noooooooooo!" I felt the scream tear my throat and my side, and heard it
echo from the hollow walls of the barren building. Only my captors heard
me, and their answer was to drag Mulder out of the room after divesting him
of our DAT tape. "Let him go..." My words were cut off as I felt the
blade slip more deeply into the flesh at my side, and all I could do was
draw a hiss of breath as it bit deeply. The rapid thumps from outside
let me know Mulder was quickly being taken down the stairs.
"What..." I gasped, fighting against the pain of the knife point, going still
so as not to provoke further penetration, "are you doing?" Spender
just stared at me, taking another drag of his cigarette. I resented
the ashes falling on *our* floor. I struggled to stay as still as possible
to avoid further injury by the blade. It seemed that for now, the two
men were content to hold me tightly, the blade sunk in only a few inches,
waiting. I wondered why I wasn't dead yet. As the other two men
returned and closed the door carefully behind them, the picture started to
come into focus.
"Alex," Spender began, his voice so reasonable it chilled my blood,
"You've been doing very bad things." He held the tape up between his
first and second fingers, turning it to catch the meager light of Mulder's
and my lantern. I didn't say anything. I knew he didn't expect or want
a response.
"You really underestimate us," he continued, dropping the tape and slowly
crushing it under his heel. "Why did you ever think you could turn
on us?" This time his head tilted slightly, as if he wanted an answer.
I still didn't have one.
"Well, no matter, really. The truth is, Alex, you can't." He
took a deep drag on his cigarette, squinting his eyes and daring me to disagree.
As if I would, with a knife point sunk into my gut. It was all I could
do not to breathe too deeply and exacerbate the pain.
"Oh, you don't disagree?" he goaded me, waving knife-boy back carelessly.
I felt the point slide out of me as he took one step to the side and I took
my first deep breath since my one, long, breathless scream of denial.
Then I took another, and another, feeling my warm blood quickly cool as it
seeped out into the fabric of my T-shirt. His creased face distorted
itself into the parody of a smile.
"Maybe you're a bit smarter than we took you for. I suppose we must
as least concede to that, given that you escaped our little surprise, even
getting away with the MJ files." I felt a tiny spark of satisfaction
at that, which was quickly doused with his next revelation. "Of course,
it's really not indicative of your high intelligence that you then paired
up with one of the operatives who tried to kill you. Unlike you, Cardinale
has remained faithful to the Project. The money you have split with
him from selling our secrets has funded our attempts to cover them back up
quite nicely." The breaths I'd taken left my body in a defeated sigh
as my lips tightened, holding back the curses I wanted to spit.
Cardinale had found me after I'd escaped the car bomb. I was selling
the secrets on the tape to stay alive, afraid if I closed my eyes I'd get
my throat slit in the middle of the night. He'd threatened to expose
me and my buyers to the Syndicate unless I cut him on the deal. I'd
reluctantly agreed, having no choice. Seems Cardinale had sold me out anyway.
Motherfucker.
"In the end, Alex, you're going to come back to us, too."
I finally spoke. "Fuck you." I knew I was signing my own death
warrant, but with Mulder believing that I had betrayed him, this time more
deeply and horribly than ever before, and CGB's knife an inch from my body
and streaked with my blood, I had nothing to lose.
Or so I thought.
"From what Luis says, that's Mulder's job." Spender smiled again, and
it was all I could do not to sacrifice my life, just to feel the satisfaction
of possibly spilling some of his blood before taking my last breath.
I had heard about Cardinale's escape from the prison hospital, and had realized
that things had quickly become infinitely more deadly. So, Cardinale
was back with them, and they knew everything he knew. They'd caught up with
me. And now they were going to kill me. I resigned myself to
it, grateful that before my life had ended, I'd begun to make things up to
Mulder, and we'd shared something I'd never dared hope to experience.
I lifted my chin defiantly, forfeiting my life with only the regret that
I'd have no more time with him.
He stepped up close and flicked ashes on my shoulder. His smile disappeared
and his devil's eyes took on their true nature, going cold and soulless.
"Here's the deal," he said, blowing smoke in my face. I could tell
that he was angry, which he'd not let on until now. "You're going to give
us the files, and then you're going to make sure that Mulder never has anything
to do with you again, Alex. You're going to sever any kind of fledgling relationship
you've started with him and insure that he never trusts you again."
"Forget it, Spender. You're just going to have to kill me."
He smiled again, and I felt my blood freeze.
"Ah, but Alex, my dear boy...you really aren't the brightest crayon in the
box, are you?"
I just stared at him, confirming his assessment but unable to do anything
more as I watched his lips stretch and lengthen.
"You're valuable to us, Alex," he continued. "And Mulder is too, as
a matter of fact." I felt a measure of relief. It died as he
went on. "We've protected him for a long, long time," he continued.
"But now, well, Alex...he's just become too dangerous to live, now."
He stopped to let his words sink in. And they did, like a dagger in my heart.
"Yes, Alex, that's right. As long as Mulder is working with you, and
you have the files, he's far too much of a threat to allow him to live.
So, if you don't do exactly as we say, we'll just have to kill him." Spender's
voice was soft and calm, as if his words had no more consequence than a recitation
of what he'd had for breakfast.
"In fact," he went on, despite the blood that was now rushing in my ears,
threatening to lay me out on the ground, "as we speak, Dana Scully is being
transported to a secure location by one very disenchanted Luis Cardinale,
and he'll make sure all evidence implicates you as the one responsible for
this second abduction...as well as the death of her sister."
I felt any last dregs of hope decay as I realized he'd covered every base.
"So," he finished, taking a deep drag then dropping the used-up carcass of
his cancer stick at my feet as he blew it out carelessly into my face.
"You go to Mulder and tell him whatever you need to, to make him believe,"
he smirked, "or we will do away with the always beautiful but ever so inconvenient
Agent Scully, and there will be no way you can ever prove that you were not
responsible."
"And if I do as you ask?" I was surprised my voice still worked.
"Then Mulder falls back under our veil of protection, we return Scully, we
send you underground for reconditioning, and things return to the way they
were." He stepped back, shaking a second cigarette out of the pack.
Like an automaton, one of his henchmen quickly stepped forward to light it,
then stepped back as if he, too, didn't want to be near the man too long.
Spender took a deep drag, and I stared at the cherry on the end of the cigarette,
feeling it burn me as he sucked the smoke from the stick and my soul from
my body. "He's at his apartment now. I assume we can trust you
to carry out your responsibilities as soon as possible, Alex." The
two men stepped away from me altogether, as it was obvious to everyone that
physical force was no longer needed to keep me on my leash. Feeling
it tighten to the point of asphyxiation, I nodded once.
"Good. Assuming Mulder lets you live after you've talked to him, report
back to Base Three for your reconditioning. Only when we've received
your report will Scully be returned to Mulder."
I nodded again, realizing for the first time that as much as I'd felt controlled
by him before, now he truly had the means to own me. I knew he wouldn't
even let me take my own life; that Mulder's life would always be held over
me now that he knew how much I valued it.
"Oh, and Alex," he added, heading for the door. "We have him under
constant surveillance, remember. If you try anything clever, we kill
her." I just nodded again. He evidently also knew that Scully's
death would be the one thing Mulder would never forgive, no matter what I
told him.
As soon as they were gone, before they'd even reached the bottom of the noisy
wooden stairs, I stumbled to the old sink and retched and retched and retched,
until my body was only convulsing in on itself in dry heaves, aggravating
my stab wound. Blood ran down my side, soaking my jeans as well as
my shirt. I stood, wiping the bile from my lips but unable to rinse
it from my mouth, even with the vodka we always kept under one of the floorboards.
I took a deep breath and then started down the stairs, hoping that Mulder
would let me live long enough to report back to the base. As I drove
across town, I realized I did have one last way out. After I returned
to Base Three and made my report, and after I was 'reconditioned', I would
simply go back and make it very easy for Mulder to kill me. I knew
it wouldn't take long after what I was about to do to him.
I pulled up in front of his darkened apartment and wiped away the tears I
hadn't even realized were welling from my eyes. How could I be crying?
Dead men don't cry.
I made my way up the stairs and opened the door, unafraid. I knew that at
the very least, he'd listen to me. He might even still be sedated,
giving me a moment to be with him before I shattered everything we had.
I stepped into the room, reaching to the side to turn on the light. Mulder
was facing the door, hands cuffed behind his back, head lolling on his chest.
I took a moment to appreciate his aching beauty, sending out every bit of
love I'd ever had for him or ever would, telling his soul with mine that
everything I was about to tell him was the most terrible kind of lie.
Then I chuckled loudly. Mulder's head snapped up.
"You...Alex...what happened?" He looked more confused than angry and
it nearly broke me. But I made my eyes blank and smirked.
"You're absolutely priceless, you know that, Mulder?" My tone was mocking,
and I felt my soul leave my body and hover, watching as I continued with
my performance.
"What are you talking about?" His voice was more leery now. Yeah, he
was catching on. It wouldn't be hard at all to destroy the fragile
trust I'd built so carefully.
"You...thinking I would give it all up for the chance to fuh...fuck you."
I almost blew it, but I sneered and looked down at him with all the contempt
I could gather. "Do you know how much power I have, Mulder? Do
you have any fucking idea how big I am in the grand scheme of things?"
I sounded half-crazed with my efforts to mask my pain. I almost didn't
have to go on at all as I saw the hurt wash over his face, the betrayal immediately
stealing away the light in his eyes and the color in his skin. It was
so easy for him to believe the lie. I wanted to blow my brains out
in the hopes that maybe it would take away the sting. But I had to make my
report. I finished up quickly.
"You were so easy, Mulder. So much easier than I'd ever thought you
would be. Oh I'll admit...you're a good lay." Here I had a little trouble
again, unable to use the coarsest language, settling for something middle
of the road. As his lip curled up in a scowl, I knew it was good enough.
"But Jesus...no ass, even yours, is worth giving up the chance at world domination."
He surprised me and spoke quietly. "But you said it made a difference..."
And it was so vulnerable, so achingly raw, that I had to shut my eyes against
the wave of pain that threatened to pull me under. I opened them quickly
and said what I knew would rip away any last shred of hope he might be desperately
holding onto.
"I have Scully. I took her before I set up the meeting, in case you
were more difficult to take than I'd thought. Well, we all know how
easy you ended up being, so Scully will be returned to you." I turned
on my heel and made my way to the door quickly, unable to bear the pain and
pure hatred that bloomed in his eyes at hearing that, once again, I'd dragged
Scully into the mire that was our twisted association. "See ya, baby.
Was fun while it lasted."
"If it's the last thing I do, I'm gonna hunt you down and kill you, Krycek,"
I heard from behind me, low and dark and so intent that I knew it to be true.
I made myself chuff out a contemptuous laugh and keep going.
Please hurry, Mulder. I stepped out, closing the door behind me.
I woke lying on my side, gagged, hands tied behind my back, ankles bound,
riding in a moving vehicle. I heard voices and froze, eyes closed,
not letting on that I was awake, as much as I wanted to blow the long strands
of hair off my face.
"Do you think this is going to work?"
"Of course it is." The smoker's voice was unmistakable. I didn't
know the other one.
"What makes you so sure?"
The smoker sounded impatient. "You said it yourself, Luis. Alex Krycek,
as much as he wishes the contrary, very much loves Fox Mulder, and while
he would easily forfeit his own life to escape us, holding Mulder's over
his head is an absolutely flawless way to get him to do whatever we want
for the rest of his life."
I nearly gasped, holding back at the last moment as I heard the man who killed
my sister speak.
"So why the redhead?"
"Insurance that Alex will go and tell Mulder whatever is necessary to convince
him that their bond was false...that Alex was playing him all along.
If Alex doesn't report back to Base Three, Scully doesn't return. Again,
flawless, since Alex knows that Scully's death would destroy any chance of
resurrecting that tenuous bond, even were he to somehow convince Mulder of
his sincerity. This way, he tells Mulder what we want him to and gets
back to us as soon as possible."
I felt myself grow sick at the perfect evil of their plan.
"What happens when he gets back?"
"Alex needs a little reminder of who is pulling his strings," said the smoker
smugly. I could almost see the smile creasing his tobacco-stained face.
"And you deserve a reward for your admirable service, Luis. He'll be
brought to you to discipline as you see fit. You may not, of course,
kill him or maim him in a way that would make him useless to us, but it won't
hurt to have him spend a few months in one of our hospitals, before being
sent up for reconditioning. By the time we're finished, there will
be nothing left of that irritating will of his, and he'll be the perfect
tool to keep Mulder down, should Mulder even continue to be a threat."
God. Oh, Alex. I knew I had to get away, no matter what it took,
and get back to Mulder before Alex could return and make his report.
We had to stop him.
"I appreciate your generosity," Cardinale said, an edge of breathless anticipation
in his voice. "But Krycek's such a loose cannon...why not just let
me kill him?"
I heard the smoker's sigh. He sounded impatient. "Alone, Mulder
is a thorn in my side, and Krycek a sometimes useful, if unpredictable, tool.
Together, the two of them have probably the only chance of bringing the Project
down. That must be avoided at all costs. This way, Mulder is shattered,
perhaps to the point that he is no longer any kind of a threat. Scully is
left broken by a second abduction, as well as the impression that Krycek
was the one who killed her sister, and Krycek is made the ultimate weapon
against any and all resistance to the plan."
"Wow," said the other man, obviously impressed.
Yeah, wow. I was riding with the devil incarnate here. The men
said nothing else, and I began to assess my situation more fully, opening
my eyes just a slit.
I appeared to be in the back of a limo, lying on a sumptuous leather couch,
unguarded. I guessed that if there had been more than the two men riding
with me, at least one would be riding back here. So, we had the smoker
and Cardinale, and an open window between us. They thought I was still
unconscious and that gave me one advantage. My short legs gave me yet
another.
Bending myself double, I slipped my bound arms forward under my feet and
brought them around in front of me. I stopped, going still and waiting
if they'd noticed any of my struggling. When nothing happened, I quickly
slipped my gag down, untied my wrists and ankles, then scanned the back of
the car for something that could be used as a weapon. I knew that at
any moment, the smoker could turn to check on me, or Cardinale might look
in his mirror. I stayed low, and seeing only one option, grabbed up
one of the large, clunky highball glasses from the rack along the side of
the leather seating. Then I heard a cellphone chirp.
"Yes? Ah, good. Excellent. Thank you." I heard the
beep of the end button being punched. "It's done. Alex has done
what we asked him to do, and by the sounds of things, he did a very thorough
job. Mulder is crying pathetically, not yet even making an attempt
to get free of his bonds. It appears the illusion is completely successful."
"So now we take back the redhead?"
"No, not yet. We need to keep her as insurance until Alex has made
his report. We also need to give her enough of a trauma that she is
unable to forgive Alex, and perhaps even ready to abandon Mulder in his quest
altogether."
"Smart thinking."
"Thank you," the smoker said sarcastically. "Now please shut up and
drive."
I bit the side of my cheek to keep from growling.
Now I had to decide who to take out first, Cardinale or the smoker.
I decided that if I took out his superior, the obviously not-so-brilliant
Cardinale was likely to be stunned enough to give me the two seconds I needed
to turn and brain him with the tumbler next. Before I could let myself
think about it too much, I raised up and reached through the open window
between us, hitting the smoking man as hard as I could in the back of the
head with the heavy whiskey glass, once, twice.
As expected, Cardinale turned, stunned, as the smoker slumped forward and
slammed into the dashboard. Before he could even assess what had happened,
I rammed the glass into the side of his head quickly three times, driving
him forward to slump over the wheel, unconscious.
Now I had a new problem. I was in an out-of-control limousine on an
unknown roadway, going an unknown speed. I quickly climbed through the opening,
holding the wheel steady with one hand. I reached across Cardinale
to open his door, and then shoved him out, hoping we weren't on a busy road
where his exit might prove dangerous for other drivers. I slipped behind
the wheel and swore colorfully, realizing the seat was too far back for me
to reach the pedals, and the damned car was on cruise control and going as
fast as ever. I straightened out the wheel, seeing that we were on what appeared
to be a deserted country road, then reached to the side to activate the motorized
seat adjustment. Finally, I could reach the pedals, and I immediately
stopped the car, pulling over the side of the road and snatching the smoker's
cellphone from his inside jacket pocket. I ran far enough away from
the road that I would not be seen by a suddenly conscious smoker, and punched
the
buttons on the unfamiliar phone. I didn't call Mulder. It didn't
sound like he was in any position to help me right now. Instead, I dialed
another number.
"Skinner."
"Sir, it's Agent Scully."
"Agent Scully, what is it? It's after 10pm. Are you all right?"
"I think so, sir. I'm not calling about me. It's Mulder."
"What about Mulder?"
"He's cuffed to his chair in his apartment. The smoking man's people
did it. I need you to go over there."
I heard rustling, and I knew he was getting to his feet. "Of course.
But where are you?"
I looked around at the dark shapes of the trees around me. I frowned.
"I'm actually not sure. I just left the smoker's car, and I'm in a
field."
"Scully, are you okay?"
"Yes, sir, I'm fine. I just need you to get to Mulder."
"All right, Agent Scully, I'm on my way. In the meantime, I'll triangulate
this number and we'll come and get you. Stay put and stay safe."
"Yes sir," I said, feeling some of the tension drain from my body as the
adrenaline rush wore off.
"One thing, Scully. Whose phone is that? It's not your number
on my caller ID."
"It's the smoking man's cellphone."
There was silence on the other end, then Skinner's voice, low and warm.
"I see. Good job, Agent. Stay on the phone and I'll get that
trace going."
"Yes, sir."
I could hear all of Skinner's actions as he made his way out of his apartment
and down to his car, first using his home line to order the trace.
I listened, impatient and breathless, as the car's motor roared to life and
he drove across town to Mulder's apartment. I heard him get out of
the car, still carrying the phone, and make his way up to Mulder's door.
He stepped through the unlocked door and I heard him cross the floor.
"Agent Mulder."
"Sir?" Mulder's voice was cracked and low. He sounded lifeless
and defeated. I closed my eyes against the wash of pain I felt at the
knowledge of his suffering. To trust Alex again, then once more have
that trust destroyed had to have been more than Mulder could bear, even after
the many evils he'd faced in his life.
"Let's get you out of there." Skinner's voice was gruff, covering his
concern, although not successfully. My throat swelled with the need
to tell Mulder the truth I knew.
"I've got bolt cutters in the kitchen," I heard Mulder mumble. I could almost
see Skinner's eyebrow go up and heard him as he went into the kitchen and
got the tool, bringing it back and with a series of metallic snapping sounds,
freeing Mulder from his bonds.
"We need to go, Agent Mulder."
"Where?" Mulder's voice sounded completely uninterested. He didn't
even ask how Skinner had known how to find him.
"We have to find Agent Scully."
"Scully?"
I smiled sadly at his instant concern.
"Yes, she's fine. She called me, but she's not sure where she is, and
we're triangulating on her cellphone now. I need to use your phone
to see if we have any coordinates. Here, you take this."
Scully heard the rustling of the phone being handed off and then sighed with
deep relief at the sound of Mulder's voice.
"Scully?"
"Mulder. I'm so glad you're all right."
"Scully, where are you? What's going on?"
"They took me, too, Mulder. Mulder, I have something to tell you.
It's going to be hard to believe."
"Okay..."
"Mulder, Alex is not your enemy."
Before he could respond, Skinner was back.
"We've got it. Let's go."
"Scully..."
"I heard, Mulder. Go out to the car. We can talk there."
"Okay."
I waited until I heard them get into the car and the motor started.
Mulder came back on the line.
"Okay, we're moving. And Scully, I'm pretty damned sure I know exactly
where Alex Krycek stands."
"No, Mulder, you don't..."
He cut me off. "Scully, listen. If there is one thing I know,
it's that my one goal in life right now is to hunt down Alex Krycek."
"Yes, Mulder, we do have to find him, but not for the reason you think.
I was in the back of the smoking man's limo and I heard the whole story.
I know what Alex said to you. And I know why."
"What the hell are you talking about? And since when do you call Krycek
'Alex'?"
"Since I found out he sacrificed his life to save yours, Mulder...and mine."
"I...I don't understand."
"I heard the smoker tell Cardinale that they made Alex tell you things.
Things that would insure that you never trusted him again. Because
together, Mulder, you're too dangerous to them."
"But why did he agree to do it?"
"Because they said they'd kill you and me if he didn't."
Silence from the other end of the line. Then breathing. Then
heavier breathing.
"They took me so that he would be sure to come to you and break everything
off with you right away. He has to report back to them or they kill
me. Mulder, we have to find him. We have to stop him. They're
going to let Cardinale take his revenge, and then they're going to send him
away for something he referred to as 'reconditioning'. Do you know
where he might be, Mulder? Do you have any idea how to find him?"
Mulder was silent a moment, and I could almost hear his brain working.
"What else did you hear, Scully? Tell me everything you can remember."
I thought back, biting my lip. "They said he had to report back to
Base Three or they were going to kill me. Do you know what that is?"
"We need to get back to my apartment." He was talking to Skinner, not
me, his voice distant. "Scully, we've got people on the way there to
get you. Meet me back at my apartment."
"Okay, Mulder. I'll see you there."
I heard the phone being handed back to Skinner.
"Agent Scully?"
"Yes, sir."
"I'm going to take Agent Mulder back to his apartment. We've got a fix on
your location. You're only about an hour away. Our men should
be there shortly. Will you be okay?"
"Yes, sir. I think I'm pretty safe here."
"All right, Agent. I'll see you back here when you return. Stay safe."
"Thank you sir."
I hung up the phone and made myself comfortable, sitting against the trunk
of a tree. Now I just had to wait and see what Mulder had in mind.
Hold on, Alex. Just hold on.
Title: Love Hurts III: Breaking the Bond