Nightmares And Distractions

As Scully crossed the dark parking lot she did everything she was supposed to but in the end it didn't matter. When she finally got the test results back it was dark and the parking lot was deserted. She just wanted to get home. She could tell Mulder about it in the morning. She had her keys in her hand as she walked through intermittent pools of light while her eyes searched the darkness. As she walked the last few feet she picked out the right key by touch and was ready to unlock the door as she reached it.

She shoved her briefcase under her arm, unlocked the door and pulled it open. The dome light came on and she checked the back seat. She sensed a suggestion of movement behind her and began to turn.

Too late she saw a dark shape rush at her. Scully dropped the briefcase and keys and scrambled at her side for her gun. Before she even touched it he was on her. He grabbed her hair and slammed her head into the edge of the car roof.

Agony burst through her and everything went black.

Pain. Throbbing agony.

Scully's head felt like it was about to explode. She moaned, but even that effort and slight movement were too much. She fell silent.

Scully became aware of another ache coming from her neck. She was wedged painfully into a corner and her head was twisted at an odd angle. When she tried to lift her head pain shot through her shoulders and down her spine. She went still.

Scully tried to touch her head to assess the damage, and that's when she realized her hands were secured behind her back, not just wedged there. White agony flared through her at the aborted movement and she whimpered again.

Krycek heard her cry of pain but ignored it as he continued to concentrate on the road. Guilt flickered through him-- he hadn't meant to hit her that hard-- but he smothered it down to nothing. That was better. Safer. Emotions only distracted you and distractions could get you killed.

Krycek pretended not to notice her feeble struggles to sit upright and away from the door, but he felt every gasping breath she took and sensed every stab of pain from every move she made. He couldn't believe she'd fight so hard just to sit up when the easy thing to do would be to relax against the seat until some of the pain subsided. But that was Scully, he thought, resigned. She couldn't ever take the easy way.

She continued to struggle grimly until finally she was sitting up and blinking to clear her eyes. Her chest heaved as she fought for breath.

She was finally able to look at her captor for the first time. Dark hair, angular profile. She recognized him in the dimness of the dash lights. She just didn't want to believe it.

"Krycek," she muttered. She said his name like it left a coat of slime behind in her mouth. "I should have known. All my worst nightmares start with you."

His hand tightened on the steering wheel.

"Yeah, Scully. It's me," he replied cheerfully but his voice turned menacing, "Just think of the nightmares you're gonna have after this."

Scully swallowed dryly. She wanted to say something but all the wind seemed to have left her body. The pain in her head wasn't helping. She was silent a long moment, but she couldn't let him think he scared her.

Even if he did.

"I'm sure you have a starring role in a lot of people's nightmares," she croaked. "Don't feel flattered."

He didn't answer, only continued to drive grimly. Scully took the opportunity to look around. She didn't recognize the area. She blinked at the digital clock in the dash. After 10 o'clock. She'd been out for more than an hour. That was bad. She could have a concussion. That would explain the splitting pain in her head and her blurring vision. One minute she could see clearly and the next her eyes fogged over with a mist that couldn't be blinked away.

"What's going on, Krycek?" Only she was aware of the effort it took to sound so coolly in control.

"You'll find out," he said ominously.

They were slowing and pulling off onto a side road. He made the turn carefully, using only one hand, and Scully vaguely wondered if his other arm had been injured. He held it so stiffly. But she didn't really care and let the thought drift away in favor of more immediate concerns.

Krycek was probably taking her somewhere to kill her. She didn't feel up to walking two steps, let alone fighting her way out of this car, but she was going to have to try or she was as good as dead.

She eyed the door. It was locked with a slide lock located just under the door handle. She couldn't reach it, unlock it, get the door open and get out, all with her hands cuffed behind her back without him stopping her. Unless she distracted him.

They slowed even further, cruising through a deserted commercial/residential neighborhood with houses few and far between. It was a wooded area with brush and weeds growing rampantly in between the few structures.

Krycek turned off onto yet another road but this one was gravel and didn't look like it went very far. Scully sensed the end was near. It was now or never. She twisted as quickly as she could to put her back against the door and pulled her knees up tight to her chest. He hadn't tied her feet and that's the only reason this worked. It also helped that she was so tiny.

At her move, Krycek turned his head to stare at her, startled. Her hand blindly scrambled for the lock at her back and slid it over to unlock while at the same time she kicked out with both feet.

One black, high-heel pump caught him on the side of the face and knocked his head into the window while the other crushed his hand on the steering wheel and swerved the car off the road and into the left-hand ditch. Her hand found the door handle.

When the car swerved, the door was flung open and Scully suddenly lost the support at her back. Braced for the pain, she curled into a ball as her and the car parted ways. She rolled away into the ditch as the car bounced and forged a path a few yards into the surrounding forest before it came to a sudden stop as it plowed into a tree.

As she rolled to a stop, bursts of pain went off throughout her body. She grimly ignored it as she fought her way to her knees, her head drooping forward with pain and weariness. She bent forward and let her elbows slide down past her hips. She rolled onto her back and pulled her knees in tight to her chest. She stretched and ignored the sharp, stabbing pain in her shoulders as she slipped her cuffed hands past her feet.

Sometimes there were advantages to being short and small. With her hands in front of her, she could run. She qualified that. If she could move at all, that is, she could try to run.

Gasping for breath, Scully lurched to her feet. Sparing only one quick glance for the wrecked car and seeing no movement, she stumbled away towards the woods. If she could lose herself in the woods, she could hide until morning. Then she could try to find help.

She didn't know where her coat and suit jacket had gotten to. They were gone along with her phone and gun and anything else that could be of use. She shivered as the chill night air cut through the thin blouse and dress pants, but ignored it as well as the warm trickle that had started down her back. Compared to the pounding in her head, the sharp pain across her back was nothing.

Scully grimly concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other and pushed past waist-high weeds. Gradually picking up speed as she forced her body to movement, she made it past one tree and then another before she was tackled from behind. She sprawled out facedown and tried to catch herself but his weight drove her flat. He was too heavy. She couldn't breathe. She twisted, frantic to escape, to breathe.

Krycek let her twist over onto her back underneath him as he straddled her. Her hands came up to shove him away but she barely touched him before his fist went back and then forward and he punched her hard. The lights went out.

This time when she woke she was aware she was stretched out flat on her back in the backseat of her car. Scully was vaguely aware of movement outside the car but the agony in her head had most of her attention. Her vision was doing that in and out thing again and she couldn't think. She couldn't focus her eyes or her thoughts.

The driver's side door opened and the dome light flared to blinding life. Scully cried out as pain stabbed at her eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut and lifted her still-cuffed hands to protect her eyes.

She barely noticed as Krycek pushed the driver's seat forward and climbed in the back to crouch next to her. He let the door swing shut then jabbed the button to turn on the dome light.

He grabbed the zipper of her pants and jerked it open.

Scully's eyes jerked open wide and panic clutched at her throat as she tried to push his hand away and sink farther back into the seat.

"Turn over," Krycek ordered gruffly. He was still in pain from getting kicked in the head and then slamming his forehead into the steering wheel when the car hit the tree. He was in a fiercely bad mood, but he still had to ask her some questions. If she was unconscious or in too much pain he wasn't going to get any sense out of her.

Krycek snorted impatiently at the surprised fear in her eyes.

"I'm going to give you a shot for the pain. Turn over."

Scully saw her medical bag and relaxed a little. So it wasn't rape. She didn't understand why the idea had surprised her so much. She knew he was a murderer. She knew he was probably going to kill her. For some reason, she just hadn't thought he would rape her first. And now it turned out he wasn't. Probably wasn't, she qualified. He was only going to give her a shot. The next question was a shot of what.

"Whaaa... t is it?" Her voice faded in and out.

Krycek slapped her and the lights went dim around her. She was vaguely aware of being turned. His knee went into her back to hold her still as he pulled her pants down far enough to bare a hip. There was a sharp stinging pain then his weight shifted off her. She was free to turn back over but she didn't have the strength to move. Chill air spilled over the bare skin low on her back but a warmth was building where he had injected her. The warmth was slowly spreading up her back and down her legs and made her relax as the pain eased.

Meanwhile, Krycek was preparing a needle for himself. He wanted to take the edge off some of the throbbing pain in his head but he still had to be alert. He injected himself with the same mixture he had given Scully but at a much lesser dosage. He sighed with relief as it started to take effect. That was much better. The pain was fading.

Krycek wiped blood off his forehead but knew his injuries weren't that serious. He turned to check Scully. Blood had seeped down her back and caught in the waistband of her pants. What was left of her pants anyway. They were shredded and torn from her trip across the gravel. She was barefoot because he'd flung her shoes away in the woods. Those shoes should be registered as lethal weapons.

Scully wasn't moving any more than was necessary to breathe. He turned awkwardly, pulled out his knife and sliced her blouse open down the back. She shivered at the light touch but the drugs were fiercely taking hold. She only quivered and then relaxed.

Krycek put the knife away then awkwardly tugged her blouse open. Having only one arm was a real pain sometimes. Actually it was a real pain most of the time. He'd have to remember the combination of drugs he'd used. He was getting pleasantly buzzed.

But for now he had to concentrate. He had to make sure she wasn't going to bleed to death, get her to answer a few pointed questions then get the hell out of here.

There was a huge gash down her back, but not deep, nothing a few butterfly bandages wouldn't close. He cleaned up the blood, put some antibiotic salve on it and closed it with a couple of the little bandages.

Krycek closed the bag and tossed it into the front seat then roughly turned her over and pulled her up to sit beside him. Scully's eyes flared open. The pain was subsiding but it wasn't gone and his rough handling sent a fresh wave of pain through her abused body.

Her blouse had been slit open all the way down the back and now it slipped off her shoulders and down her arms, revealing the white cotton bra she was wearing. He grabbed her arm and shook her to get her attention. She blinked at him. Her cuffed hands came up to paw at him ineffectually but he didn't even notice.

"Scully!" He demanded her attention. "What were you doing at that lab, Scully?" He sounded angry. "Who sent you?" He shook her again. Someone had set him up. He was going to find out who even if it took all night.

The pain was almost gone now, but a delightful warmth was spreading through her from deep in her stomach all the way out to the tips of her fingers and toes. She felt energized and itchy.

"Scully!" He shook her. "Why were you there? Who sent you?"

She stared at him blankly. "Mulder sent me. Who else would send me?" she asked matter-of-factly.

"How did you know I was there?"

"I didn't."

Krycek stared at her a minute, shocked.

"What?" he asked in a suddenly weak voice.

"I didn't know you were there. If I'd known you were there I would have brought the National Guard. The Army. The Navy. The Air Force." She cut off a giggle. It was a strange sound. "I would have brought Mulder."

Krycek stared at her in astonishment. "What were you doing there then?"

"It's a lab. People get tests done there. What do you think I was doing?"

Dumbfounded, he stared at her. Krycek thought you could never be too paranoid. He was wrong.

"So you weren't there after me?"

She snorted and embarrassment stole over him. "Men! Does everything have to be about you? Not everything's about you, you know."

Scully was hot. Her skin itched as a fine wave of prickling heat rolled over her. She pulled back from his hand and he let her go.

Krycek stared at her numbly. All this for nothing. She hadn't known he was there. She wasn't after him. He would've gotten off scot-free if he had just left when he first spotted her. He closed his eyes and weakly leaned back.

Meanwhile, Scully was hot. Very hot. And itchy. She started to squirm. The feel of her clothes against her skin irritated her, almost to the point of pain. She squirmed back and her pants inched down her legs, her panties still clinging to her hips. She pulled at the blouse and it came the rest of the way down her arms and bunched around her cuffed hands. The cool air felt good on her bare arms and stomach. She sighed.

At the sound, Krycek opened his eyes. Only to find Scully almost naked and squirming around like there were ants crawling on her.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, amazed. This was not normal behavior. Maybe she was having an allergic reaction to the drugs.

Scully opened her eyes and glared at him. This was no allergic reaction. "What did you give me, you son of a bitch!?!"

Krycek only looked confused at her anger. "Nothing. Just some pain-killers. And something to keep you awake." A few things to keep you awake, he thought privately. But she didn't need to know that.

A shiver raced over her skin, prickling heat following in its wake. That explained the heat and how good she felt. How very good she felt. Stimulants and pain-killers. Where had she heard of that combination before? She was afraid she knew. Maybe she should change the subject.

"So I'm here because you're stupid, is that right?"

He looked taken aback at the sudden change of subject but anger quickly kicked in at her sarcasm.

But Scully's temper flared and her usual iron self-control was as shredded as her dress pants from the gravel. She was feeling no pain, but what she was feeling was almost worse. She hadn't felt this turned on in a long time. It was the ultimate humiliation to be with Krycek when it happened. He must have given her an 'ecstasy'-like mixture of drugs. By mistake, she hoped. She glared at him, panting lightly. She'd be damned if she was going to let him see how turned on she was.

And on top of that, the idiot only grabbed her on impulse. It had been totally unplanned. He had panicked. If he had stopped and used his head, it would have been easy to find out why she'd been at that lab.

Scully was getting madder by the minute just thinking about it. Him and Mulder, Paranoiac's Anonymous. They should have meetings.

"Let me see if I've got this straight," Scully said through gritted teeth. "You saw me at the lab and just decided that I was looking for you and then just decided to beat some answers out of me?"

"No," Krycek snapped back, stung. Essentially, that was what had happened. But he'd be damned if he'd tell her that.

Especially now that he realized how idiotic it sounded.

A faint prickling heat raced over him. It was suddenly much too hot for a leather jacket. He didn't want to struggle it past his fake arm to get it off with Scully watching, but another wave of prickling heat followed the first. To hell with it. It was just too damn hot.

He began fighting his way free of it.

At first Scully didn't know what he was doing, why he moved so awkwardly. She soon realized he was only taking off his jacket. She slumped back against the seat and her jaw dropped open in amazement when she realized he didn't have a left arm.

Well, he did have a left arm, she corrected herself, but it was made of plastic.

His shoulder was his own, original equipment, but the rest was fake. The elbow bent and he could grasp things in the hand. She saw that much as she watched him struggle his jacket off. But it was an ugly plastic contraption and Scully found herself oddly fascinated, staring.

A distant part of her felt satisfaction. It was what he deserved. That and more. She wasn't usually the vengeful type, but Krycek was a special case. He'd brought so much misery to so many people that if Scully had a knife she thought she just might start cutting pieces off him herself. She was a doctor. She knew just where she'd start.

Krycek pulled the jacket off and tossed it on the front seat. He turned and caught her staring. He glared at her. The black sleeve of his T-shirt was a screaming contrast against the pale plastic of the fake arm and she continued to stare.

Finally she pulled her eyes away, only to find herself staring into furious green eyes. "What happened?" she asked, faintly sardonic. "Get caught in a trap and have to gnaw it off?"

"No," he snarled. It was hard to think. The black T-shirt was too tight against his suddenly sensitive skin. He tugged at the hem. "Mind your own business."

"Alright, Krycek," she snapped back, suddenly sick of him and out of patience with the whole crazy situation. "Let's get down to business then. What are you going to do now? Are you going to kill me? Is that why you brought me out here?"

"No," he snarled back. "I'm not going to kill you. But if you keep up the bitch routine, I might strangle you a little."

"What?" Her eyebrows arched sardonically. "You haven't hit me enough already to keep you happy?"

Scully clutched her arms to her chest in the pose of seeking more warmth but actually hiding the fact that her nipples were tight little nubs pressing against the smooth cotton of her bra. The cotton was smooth, but it was suddenly irritatingly rough against her sensitized skin. She shifted restlessly. The heat coming off his body so close to hers was an unwelcome distraction. She tried to concentrate on her anger and hatred, tried to focus her thoughts on that. She took a breath and savored his scent before she could stop herself. She shook herself irritably.

Krycek was just as restless and irritated and her sneering comments weren't helping him calm down. "Just shut up," he ordered, harshly. "Or we'll find out how long it takes to choke you unconscious with only one hand."

With that threat, anger flared through Scully and she'd had enough. Something snapped. With an inarticulate growl, she lunged up and clawed for his face.

They had been sniping at each other furiously, but Krycek hadn't expected her to actually attack him. Not again. Not in the miserable condition she was in.

Scully almost instantly regretted her attack. Scratching at his face like a wild woman? She couldn't have tried to grab his gun? But she was taken with the sudden insane urge to claw out those mocking green eyes. Even her brain screaming at her to 'grab his gun! grab his gun!' couldn't sidetrack her from those eyes.

Her body came up against his and knocked him back and off balance. His arm flailed out as he fell back against the seat. Scully lay against his chest, fighting the handcuffs and straining to climb up his body to reach his eyes with her fingernails.

Krycek's hand came up and caught the chain between the cuffs along with a handful of ripped up blouse. He shoved her back hard.

Krycek had superior strength, but Scully had superior fury. He shoved her back and down, but she didn't give up. She squirmed and kicked at him, trying to twist free and do some damage at the same time, her efforts divided.

He brought his prosthesis around and wedged it against her side to hold her upper body wedged against the back of the seat. The close confines of the car worked in Scully's favor. She was tiny enough to twist around freely while Krycek could only move awkwardly at best.

Holding the cuffs by the chain, he pulled her hands up and above her head as he braced his hand against the side of the car. Her upper body was controlled but she continued to kick out and twist wildly. Her knee caught him hard in the thigh and her bare foot scraped across his shin. Krycek scrambled to lock his legs around hers, but his right leg slid between hers and he was only able to clamp one leg to stillness. He let his superior weight pin her other leg and lower body.

Scully was furious. She arched and twisted but she wasn't going anywhere and finally she stopped struggling. She panted angrily and glared up at him past the folds of blouse that draped down from his grip on the cuffs above her.

Scully's chest heaved and his eyes were drawn to her breasts. Her nipples were puckered and pressed against her bra in hard little nubs.

Krycek felt a rush of blood pool in his lower body. He choked back a groan as his thoughts whirled in shock. What the hell was wrong with him? He didn't even like the bitch, could barely stand her. And she hated him. Why was she aroused? Why was he?

On second thought, he could figure out why he was turned on. Even beaten and bloody and snarling with rage, Scully was vital and alive and blazed with a beauty that was hers alone. His body knew that even if he didn't have the brains to figure it out.

Krycek dragged his eyes away from her breasts and up to find her glaring at him. There was hate there but there was also a helpless acknowledgment of the state she was in.

The same state he was in, he discovered abruptly.

Her eyes widened as she saw the intent in his eyes, felt him swell against her.

Without thought, he ducked his head and took her nipple into his mouth. She cried out in surprise and arousal and arched as he bit down then began to suck and tug on her nipple through the wet cotton. Her whole body was so sensitized by now that the slightest touch could make her squirm. The warm wetness tugging on her nipple was enough to make her jerk in sensory overload.

Scully tried to twist away but there was nowhere to go. She tried to still her pounding heart and even out her breathing. This was not happening. Krycek, the scum of the universe, was not sucking on her left breast and she was not going insane with the pleasure of it.

But it was happening. She was going insane. Gasping for breath, she couldn't prevent her body from trying to twist closer to his warmth, her legs clamping around his as her hips moved convulsively.

Krycek pulled back, breathing heavily, his eyes wild.

"Say it, Scully," he demanded.

She looked stubborn even though the flush on her cheeks betrayed her. He rubbed his thigh against her and she whimpered.

"Say it!" he demanded hoarsely.

There was a long moment as their eyes fought a battle of wills. Krycek knew that in a minute it wasn't going to matter if she asked for it or not. He wasn't going to be able to hold himself back forever. The heat rushing over him was multiplying exponentially every second.

Their eyes were locked together, neither could look away. But he moved against her again and Scully whimpered a low sound of surrender and closed her eyes.

"Say it," he demanded. He had to hear her say it.

"I-- want you," she admitted softly.

"Want me to do what?" Krycek insisted harshly. He waited, but she remained silent. "Say it!" He tried to force the words out of her and she tensed up under him.

Her eyes were still closed and she was silent a long minute. Krycek felt a momentary panic when he realized he might have pushed her too far. She panted shallowly but remained silent.

His mouth dropped to her nipple again and she choked back a whimper. He sucked strongly and she strangled, stillborn, another series of whimpers. She tossed her head back and forth, trying to deny what she was feeling. Her lips stayed clamped together, silent.

Krycek lifted his head to stare at her but her eyes were closed and her head was turned away. He had to make her look at him. He had to make her say it. He had to hear those lips begging him to fuck her.

He released her hands and moved down her body. Her hands fell limply against the car above her head as she relaxed with relief. She thought he would stop now. She was acutely aware that the relief was mixed with a strange regret. She was concentrating on denying that regret, burying it deep, until his hand came down on the scrap of fabric still around her hips and pulled.

Scully jerked at his touch and her eyes shot open. He shoved her panties and pants out of the way then elbowed her thighs apart, scooping his arm under her inner thigh to hold her leg open with his shoulder. He curled his hand around the outside of her hip and his mouth came down on her wet mound.

She writhed and clutched at him and he raised his prosthetic arm to hold her off. She clutched and pushed at the plastic, trying to reach him, to stop him or urge him on, she wasn't sure which. But he only continued to work his mouth over her. Her throat unlocked and a low litany began to pour from her.

"Oh-god-oh-god-oh-god."

Krycek forgot about his plan to make her say it. Suddenly he just wanted to make her scream. His mouth moved over her faster and he felt her body tighten another notch.

She no longer had the breath to speak and intermittent shudders wracked her body. Krycek didn't slow, lost in the taste and feel of Scully coming apart under his mouth. Then it hit her. She made a short, muffled shriek then the convulsions rolled over her. Krycek lifted his head to watch her shudder and quake.

After a moment, her shuddering slowed and then stilled. She relaxed, dissolving into the seat, her muscles turned to mush. Krycek sat up then moved up her body to hover over her face, staring at her strangely, feeling emotions welling up that he couldn't even identify and wasn't sure how to handle, had no experience handling.

At his movement, her eyelids fluttered open. The dazed look quickly left her eyes.

"I hate you," she whispered tonelessly.

The wonder in his eyes was quickly swept away by grimness. His arm went under her back and pulled her up and shoved her forward against the frontseat. She clutched at it with her cuffed hands.

"Whaaa...t?" Her voice wasn't working quite right yet. She swallowed and tried to turn to look at him.

Krycek shoved her up and over the seat. Her short red hair tumbled into her face and the air went out of her when the seat jammed into her stomach. She gasped in a breath.

"What...?" she began again.

Krycek knelt up on the seat behind her and braced his fake arm beside her. His other arm went under her stomach and pulled her butt back against him. She gasped at the feel of the hard heat of him pressed against her even through his jeans.

"What are you doing?" Her voice shook and she hated it, but she couldn't do any better at the moment.

"Did you think we were done?" he asked with acid sarcasm.

Scully shuddered as fire licked through her again at his words. She was going to kill him.

Krycek fumbled with his jeans. His gun fell to the floorboards with a low thud, then he was pushing his jeans out of the way. He was hard and throbbing and as he pressed his naked length against her bare ass they both shuddered at the contact. Scully involuntarily stroked back before she could regain control and stiffly lean away. He slipped his arm under her hips to pull her back against him.

There was no finesse. He leaned over her and bit into her shoulder to hold her still. He blindly probed for her center until the tip of his cock slipped inside her. He took a gasping breath and thrust into her. She tried to buck under him at the invasion, clawing for something to hold onto, but there was nowhere to go and nothing to hold onto. She bit back a shriek of pleasure.

He went still, buried so sweetly inside her, and they both shuddered at the sensation. He didn't move for a long moment, marveling that anything could feel this good.

Scully panted hoarsely, trying to deny the pleasure streaking through her at his touch. She thought the arousal she'd felt had burned away to ash and cinder. She was wrong. It was back with a vengeance.

It was all she could do not to beg him to move, to drive into her so hard she couldn't think, couldn't breathe.

"God, I hate you," she moaned.

Krycek let go of her shoulder long enough to speak, nosing into the strands of hair at the side of her throat. "You're really gonna hate me after this," he muttered thickly then bit down on her shoulder again. Then he began to move, long hard thrusts that made her body shudder under his.

Scully whimpered as she felt her body tightening with renewed arousal as he moved inside her. This wasn't happening again. She tried to fight it down, stop the sensations streaming through her, but it was no use. The more she fought it the more intense the feelings. Until out of nowhere it hit her and she was shaking and moaning and everything started to fade away. Her abused body had finally had enough. She passed out.

Krycek felt her shuddering around him and triumph roared through him. He made her feel this. No one else. Not Mulder. No one. And she would be marked with that knowledge for the rest of her life. Then he was shuddering against her and his own release made him call out hoarsely. Who or what he called out for he would never know. The sound was muffled as his teeth dug into her shoulder.

Krycek unlocked his jaw from around her shoulder and slumped against her tiredly. It took a minute for him to realize she wasn't moving.

Panic speared through him and he frantically checked for a pulse. He relaxed. She was alive but unconscious. He was trembling as he pulled away from her. He sat back against the seat and ran a shaking hand through his hair.

Jesus, that had scared him. He wasn't sure why yet. He'd have to think about it later.

With weak muscles, he struggled to pull his clothes together. Dressed, he eyed Scully. He gently pulled her back onto the seat. She was a mess. The side of her face was horrible shades of black and blue, she still wore her bra but it was splattered with blood. Her bloodstained blouse was a rag now, draped over her cuffed hands, her wrists swelling and cut from the cuffs. The bitemarks on her shoulder dripped blood.

Krycek cut the blouse from around the cuffs and used her medical bag to clean her up as best he could. When he was done, he pulled her panties and the shredded dress pants back up. She was cleaner now but still looked like she'd had a run-in with a pack of Dobermans.

Krycek lightly brushed the hair back from her face, unaware of the gentle look on his face. She had an indomitable spirit that he wouldn't soon forget, if he ever did. She was more stubborn than a mule and as unbending as steel but she was all woman. Anyone who doubted that could talk to him. He had no idea that such passion could be hidden behind her icily controlled manner. The layers of ugly clothes she usually wore discouraged anyone from even trying to find out.

He had no doubt they would run into each other again. When they did she was going to kill him. Or try to anyway. He smiled. But that could be fun. If he handled it right. It was something to look forward to, especially if her anger broke through that numbing, icy control she hid behind.

Scully shivered and he realized she was going to freeze to death without a shirt. Krycek grabbed his leather jacket, wrapped her up in it and zipped it up.

Looking around one last time, he grabbed her cell phone, got out of the car and quietly shut the door. Krycek walked a few steps, turned the phone on, punched speed dial #1 and hit send. The chill air quickly cut through his thin T-shirt, but he ignored it.

He barely even noticed it.

"Yeah, 'ello?" Mulder's sleepy voice answered the phone.

"Scully's in trouble," Krycek said gruffly.

"What!" came the instant alarmed question. "Who is this? Where's Scully?"

"Scully needs you," Krycek repeated and waited.

Mulder calmed down. "Where is she?"

Krycek gave their location then, "She's in the left-hand ditch. Her car hit a tree. You need to come alone."

"Alone?" Mulder repeated blankly.

"Alone," Krycek repeated harshly. He hit the end button then turned it off. He opened the door to check on Scully but she was still out. She seemed to be resting quietly. She'd been through too much. Her body demanded rest.

Krycek dropped her keys and phone on the frontseat of the car, then after one last long look at Scully he closed the door and moved away into the woods. Krycek found a secure vantage point and waited.

An hour crawled by and Krycek stayed busy chastising himself. He should get the hell out of here, not be standing vigil over a woman he didn't even care about. But he didn't move, only continued to stand stiller than the trees around him that bent and whispered in the wind. After an hour of patient waiting, the night was cut by a set of headlights coming down the gravel road.

Krycek watched the car move slowly down the road and knew the instant Mulder spotted Scully's car. Mulder hit the brakes so hard the car nosed into the road then he was out and running for her car.

Krycek was quietly fading back into the woods as Mulder opened the door.

"Scully! Oh, my God! Scully!" Krycek heard in the distance as he rapidly moved through the woods in the direction of the nearest house. He could pick up a car and be gone.

Krycek wondered if Scully would tell Mulder *everything* that happened. He knew one thing for sure. He'd find out the next time he saw Mulder.

Alternate Title:
"Scully Gets Ditched"
<snicker>

What did you think?