"I've told you a hundred times, all he said was 'Mom,' and then
he was cut off. I can't tell you anything else." Sarah Mulder looked
distraught, and her red-rimmed eyes told the tale of her long night
since receiving the call from her missing son.
"There was no background noise? No radio, no tv, no other
voices? Nothing?"
"No. Nothing. We were on the phone for a few seconds, and
then there was a dial tone. That's all there is to tell." She glared at
her son's lover. "I can't believe you didn't even tell me he was gone.
I'm his mother."
"And you would have called me this morning?" She said
nothing. "Yeah, that's what I thought. I wouldn't even know that you
heard from him if it weren't for Dana." He glanced over at Scully
sitting on the couch.
"Look, we all want to find him," Dana said. "It's not going to do
us any good to work against each other. Mrs. Mulder, I'd like to put a
trace on your phone, just in case he calls in again."
"Is that really necessary?"
"Are you kidding me?" Alex shouted. "Do you want to find him
or not? Maybe you'd like to lose another child!"
"Alex, go," Dana said, severely.
"Dana—"
"Alex, I'll meet you outside."
Reluctantly, he left, pacing around in front of his car. After he
had calmed down, he sank bonelessly to lean on the hood. Dammit.
If Mulder was alive, why the hell had he called his mother? Why
didn't you call me? he thought, in despair. What's going on,
Mulder?
Dana came out a few minutes later. "Well, that was brilliant
strategy, Alex. I'm not sure she'll even call me now, if he calls back."
"And the trace?"
"She's okayed it."
"At least that's something."
"Alex," she took his arm. "Just leave Sarah to me, okay? I
deal with her better than you do."
"She doesn't hate you. I know she wishes that you were with
Mulder, instead of me."
Dana nodded. "I know. I'm sorry. I wish things could be
different for you two."
He shook his head. "That's just one of the things that Mulder
and I are going to have to work out when he comes back."
She smiled. "Right. When he comes back." She sighed.
"I've got to go into the Bureau and set up the trace on the phone,
then get the evidence reports on the murder. Where are you going?"
"Right back into the bowels of hell," he muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing," he said, with a smile. "I'll call you when I know
anything, okay?"
"Call me before then. I want regular check-ins from
everyone, okay?"
He nodded. "Sure. Talk to you later."
The bar was such a cliché he almost had to laugh. Right out of a
fifties noir movie, the patrons were just as likely to be trading
weapons information as conducting a clandestine affair. He
signalled the bartender.
"You seen Red?" he asked, sliding a fifty across the bar.
"Maybe," the bartender said. "Who's asking?"
"Tell him it's Alex."
The man gave him the once-over and slipped into the back
room. He came back out a few minutes later, shaking his head.
"He's not in."
Alex nodded and turned, then whipped around in a move that
took the bartender completely by surprise and grabbed him by the
collar, slamming his head against the bar. "Tell him I really need to
see him," he whispered into the guy's ear, before letting him go.
The resulting commotion brought forth the object of Alex's
search in the flesh, greasy hair, cheap suit, and all. He smiled.
"Alex," he drawled, with no trace of an accent. "What's the problem?"
"No problem, Markov, except trying to get to see you, of
course."
He nodded. "Must have been some sort of misunderstanding,
Alex," he said, ushering the way to the back. "Come on in."
They stepped through the curtained entranceway, and sat at a
table. There was no one else in the room. "I thought you were being
a good boy, now, Alex. Why come and see me?"
"Believe me, I wouldn't, if it could be helped. You've heard
about Juda?"
Markov nodded. "Yeah. Unfortunate. She was useful, on
occasion."
"Did you do it?"
He shook his head. "I haven't seen her in two, maybe three
months."
"Do you know who did it?"
He shook his head again. "Different circles, Alex. We've all
spread out so far since the good old days."
Alex grimaced. "Could you find out?"
"For you, or the cops?"
"Strictly personal. I'd be willing to pay for some information."
"Maybe we could trade some services."
Alex shook his head. "No. I did that once before, and I almost
got my ass pulled right back in. I'm not making that mistake again."
"I don't work for them anymore, Alex. I'm like you now."
"You're nothing like me. And we both know that no one ever
gets away. The only difference is, they don't want you dead yet." He
stood up. "Can you do this, or not?"
"Sure. Give me a couple of hours."
Alex wrote a phone number on a piece of paper. "It's my cell.
Call me when you know something."
"No problem," Markov said, grinning. "Hey, good to see you
again, Alex."
"Yeah, a real thrill," Alex said, on his way out the door.
Back in the car, he called Dana. "Did you find out anything?"
"They lifted five different sets of prints from the car. One
Juda's, one Mulder's, the other three they're still running."
"That doesn't make any sense. I'd have thought that whoever
killed her would have wiped the car clean."
"That's not the only thing. They found Mulder's gun, in a
dumpster three blocks from the warehouse."
"Great. So he's unarmed, too. At least they'll be able to test
the gun and prove that he didn't shoot Juda."
"If the shooter didn't take his gun first, and kill her with it."
"Of course. Anything else?"
"I'm still getting the runaround from InSec."
"Agent Thomas?"
"I'm in his waiting room right now. I'm giving him ten more
minutes, then I'm shooting my way in."
Alex laughed. "Aim for the crotch, okay?"
"I knew my target practice would come in handy one of these
days. Did you find out anything?"
"Not yet. I've got some feelers out, though. Hopefully they'll
get back to me. Where's Beth?"
"With my mom. They went to have lunch."
"Do you think that's safe?"
"I told them to keep to cabs and public places. I'm supposed
to meet them in an hour."
"Okay. I'm attached to the phone if you hear anything."
"Me, too."
"Agent Scully." Agent Thomas' voice dripped honey as he ushered
her into the room. "Always a pleasure."
She smiled at him, deciding to try charm before she had to
shoot him. "Agent Thomas. Thank you for seeing me."
"I'm sorry you had to wait so long, but things have been so
busy around here lately. I trust that you were given access to all of
the files that you wanted?"
She nodded. "I'd still like to see Agent Mulder's car, however.
I went to the impound, but they told me I'd need clearance from you.
If you could call them, I'm sure we could clear everything up and I
could get out of your way."
"Why would you like to see it, exactly? It's been gone over
thoroughly, I can assure you."
"Oh, I'm sure it has. And for that reason, my looking at it won't
make any difference at all."
He nodded. "Of course." His smile had gotten even thinner.
"I'll call and tell them to give you complete access."
She smiled broadly at him. "Thank you." Before she left the
office, she said, "I meant to ask you—why were all of the files taken
out of Agent Mulder's office?"
"In view of the last few days' disturbing developments, the
Office of the X-Files has been shut down."
"I can understand a closure, but why the removal? It didn't
happen the last time. And surely my husband would have been the
one to authorize such an action."
"There are more powerful men in this division than even your
husband, Agent Scully. They would be the ones to ask."
"Of course." She smiled again. "I'll just go down to the
garage, then."
After the door had closed behind her, Thomas rang a number
on his private line. "It's starting," he said, then broke the connection.
There was nothing out of the ordinary in the car, although she hadn't
really expected to find anything. It was more of a way to touch base
with him, to see something that was his. She sighed. She couldn't
even imagine what Alex was going through.
Only, Alex did things, made things happen. She envied him his
free-agent status, which allowed him to move in circles a little less
circumspect than it was expected that F.B.I. agents would. She was
firmly convinced, however, that they were going to find Mulder, that
he was going to be all right. It hadn't been the same before, when
he had disappeared—there was Cancerman to think of. Now, it was
better.
She sat down heavily in the driver's seat of Mulder's car,
shifting when something sharp poked her in the side. She felt like
she was sitting in the back seat, the seat had been pulled so far
away from where she kept it in her car. Reaching around, she
gasped when her fingers scraped over the sharp object that had dug
into her side. Pulling her fingers away, she saw that one of them was
oozing a small drop of blood.
"What the—" She got out and pressed firmly around the seat
where she had felt it. Finally able to complete a grip on whatever it
was, she pulled it out of where it was wedged in.
"Jesus—" she said, dropping it on the ground. It was a syringe.
"I can't tell you how much I appreciate the day out," Beth said,
sipping her water. "I'd go crazy if I had to stay in the house all day
long."
"I know what you mean," Margaret Scully smiled at her. "I'm
glad for the chance, myself. I don't get to spend as much time with
Dana as I'd like to, and I miss having a daughter to do things with."
Beth smiled. "I never had a mother before." Her smile faded a
little. "I'd like one like you."
Margaret noticed her pause. She reached over and took
Beth's hand. "Things can only get better between the two of you,
you know. You just need to give her some time."
Beth nodded. "Well, I've got lots of that." She glanced over
her menu.
"I wanted to ask about Fox," Margaret started, hesitantly. "I
hate to ask Dana anything that she can't tell me—"
"There's no news, so far. I know Dana or Alex will call me just
as soon as they know anything. They'll find him."
Margaret nodded. "Of course they will."
Beth set the menu down. "I think I've got a few minutes before
the waiter comes, and I've got to powder my nose. If he comes,
could you order me a spinach and mushroom salad and an iced
tea?"
"Of course, dear."
Beth stood, took her purse, and walked away from the table.
The waiter did, indeed, return, and when he came back with their
drinks before Beth came back, Margaret Scully went to see if she
was okay.
"Beth," she said, pushing open the ladies room door, "are you
all—"
The rest of her sentence was cut off by a sharp intake of
breath. Beth was lying on the floor in front of the vanity,
unconscious. Clutched in her hand were several bloody tissues.
"Oh, my god," Margaret said, checking her pulse, then ran out
into the restaurant. "Someone call an ambulance," she yelled, then
headed back into the bathroom.
Alex paced around the living room of the apartment, stopping
periodically to check his watch. 2.05 p.m. He still hadn't heard from
Markov, and Dana hadn't called in either. He'd run out of leads; until
he heard from one of them, there was nothing he could do, and it
was making him crazy.
Finally, he lay down on the couch, closing his eyes. It felt like
a lifeline. He could close his eyes and pretend that it was all the same,
that Mulder was here, that they were cuddled together, not watching
the game. He clicked on the tv.
A small noise brought him instantly up and on edge. He pulled
out his gun, training it on the apartment door, as it began to open.
When it pushed fully forward, he released the safety.
"Don't shoot."
Mulder stood in the doorway, hands raised.
"Oh, my god." Alex was on him in an instant, dropping the gun
uselessly down and pulling his lover into his arms. "It's you, my god,
it's actually you—" The hug was bone-crushing. Mulder half-laughed,
struggling to catch his breath.
"Alex—"
"Mulder," Alex cut him off, capturing his mouth. "I love you," he
repeated again and again, kissing him wherever he could, always
coming back to that incredible mouth.
"Alex," Mulder said again, not making the slightest move to get
away from the embrace, "I think we should get out of the doorway."
"Oh, yeah," Alex said, pulling him inside the apartment and
over to the couch, pushing him down on his back and climbing on top
of him. "You're here. Where were you? What happened?" He
could not stop kissing him.
"Alex—" Any thought Mulder had was instantly lost in the
onslaught of lust that he found himself the grateful recipient of.
Finally, they both gave up trying to speak.
Alex had pulled his lover's jacket off, and was struggling to
remove his jeans. Mulder, being crushed underneath him, was not
able to help much, but submitted to his ministrations. Eventually,
they were both naked, neither making a move off of the couch.
"I need you," Mulder said. "I missed you. Alex—" His words
were lost in a moan as Alex trailed kisses down his chest, pausing
only to suckle his nipples.
"Yes?" Alex murmured, bathing Mulder with his tongue, tasting
every inch that he had access to.
"I—oh—" The rest was last in another gasping moan, as he felt
his erection engulfed in a hot and willing cavern of a mouth. The
sensations were overwhelming—warmth, moisture, and the
relentless sucking that brought him quickly to the edge of madness.
"No," Alex said, pulling away.
"No?" Mulder asked, incredulous, aroused almost to the point
of pain.
"No," Alex repeated, firmly. "I want you."
Mulder drew his knees up instantly. "Yes. Anything."
Alex used the pre-cum that both were leaking copiously to
lubricate his lover and ease inside. "It is not possible to love anyone
more than I love you," he said, making the final joining motion, then
leaning down to capture Mulder's mouth once again. Every
movement he made was punctuated with kisses, accenting each
thrust, every possession. It was too much to last for long.
Their mouths were still joined as they pulsed in and around
each other. Alex broke the kiss only long enough to pull out of
Mulder, then collapsed on top of him again. "I am never going to be
able to rest on this couch again," Alex said, breathlessly. "We have
to move."
Mulder gave a short laugh. "Remind me to get kid—"
"Don't even joke about it," Alex warned, putting a hand over his
mouth.
"Sorry," Mulder said, kissing his fingers. "I love you."
Alex smiled. "I know."
Dana put the syringe into an evidence bag and slipped it inside her
purse, just managing to get it shut before an InSec technician came
to escort her away.
"Did you have enough time?" he asked her, coldly, obviously
not caring one way or the other.
"Yes," she said, shrugging off the hand at her arm and exiting
the garage. It wasn't until she was in her car with the doors locked
that she took a look at her hand. The blood hadn't soaked through
the tissue she'd wrapped around it; in fact, the scratch was so small
that it had stopped bleeding almost immediately. She wrapped a tiny
bandage around it.
The syringe proved unhelpful. It didn't look used, but she
couldn't be sure. She'd have to get it tested.
"It's fine. I'll be fine," she said to herself, starting the car
and heading for the Bureau's medical labs. She knew most of the
technicians there, and knew that they'd give a rush to whatever she
needed.
"Diane," she said, smiling at the pretty doctor who greeted
her. "I've got a bit of a problem." She explained the circumstances
to her, pulling the evidence bag from her purse.
"God, Dana, of course I'll do it. Right away," Diane said, with
no small trace of concern. "You don't know if it was used?"
Dana shook her head. "It doesn't look used, but I need to be
sure."
Diane nodded. "Of course. I'll do it right now. What about
your hand?"
Dana held up the bandage. "It's probably healed by now," she
said, with a smile.
"Okay. Just wait here, and I'll get started."
It was a good twenty minutes before either of them spoke again.
"Where's Sam?" Mulder asked. "We've got to find her, Alex, before
they do. She's in danger."
Alex shook his head, as if trying to make himself remember
what was happening in the outside world. "She's with Dana's
mother."
"Alone?"
"Dana's supposed to meet them. I was waiting to hear from
her when you came in." He squeezed him again, to re-assure
himself that it wasn't a dream.
Mulder reached for the phone and dialled Scully's cell.
"Answer, answer," he muttered, as the phone rang and rang.
"Dammit," he finally said, hanging up. "Do you know where they
were going?"
"No. We could try Skinner."
Mulder dialled the number of the A.D.'s office. "Kimberly," he
said, when he got through, "it's Agent Mulder. Is Skinner in his
office?" Pause. "Do you know where he is?" Another pause,
shorter. "Okay, could you please have him call me—no, wait, I don't
have my cell." He glanced at Alex, who nodded. "Have him call this
number as soon as he can," he said, and gave the number of Alex's
cell phone, then hung up.
He stood, pulling Alex up next to him. "We have to find them,
Alex."
"We don't even know where to look."
"We'll try Scully's favorite restaurants while we're waiting to
hear from them. We can't just wait for them." He kissed Alex, hard.
"You realize that all I really want to do right now is lock the door and
take you to bed, right?"
Alex smiled. "And I thought it was just me."
"It is you. All of you. I don't know what you've done to me, but
you're all I've been able to think about." He kissed him again.
"Mulder, if you want to get anything done, we've got to stop
this," Alex moaned. "Come on."
"Okay," Mulder said, pulling away with difficulty. They went into
the bathroom and cleaned up as best they could. Mulder took his
back-up gun out of the bedside drawer and tucked it into his waist.
Alex handed him a jacket. "Let's go," he said, smiling.
The hospital emergency room was busy when the ambulance
arrived, but Beth's case, being a non-responsive, was taken first.
Although her vital signs were relatively strong, she remained
unconscious. Margaret Scully was shown to the waiting room, where
she dialled her daughter's cell phone number. She tried three times,
but each time hung up after ten fruitless rings. Calls to her
son-in-law were equally unhelpful. She settled for leaving messages
at their home and offices.
She tried to get some information from the desk nurse, but all
she was given were forms to fill out. She managed a reasonable job
by copying information from Beth's wallet, but hesitated over whether
or not to call Sarah Mulder and have the real next-of-kin informed.
Taking into account her own feelings as a mother, she made the call,
then sat down to wait.
It wasn't until Dana had been waiting at the lab for twenty anxious
minutes that she remembered her mother. Realizing that she'd left
her cell phone in her car, she quickly called her office on the lab's
phone and picked up her messages.
After listening to the message that her mother had left her, she
went to find Diane. "I've got to go, Diane. A friend was rushed into
the hospital, and my mom's with her. I have to go and see what's
going on. I'll take my cell with me, though, so—"
"I'll call you the minute I know anything," Diane said. "Don't
worry, Dana. Just go."
Dana nodded and made her way out of the building.
"So, what's been going on?" Mulder asked, maneuvering the car.
"They shut down the X-Files," Alex said.
"That's a shock," Mulder said, wryly. "It's been nearly 36
hours."
Alex nodded, staring at him to memorize every feature. Mulder
smiled, feeling his gaze. Caught, Alex looked away. "They had the
office cleared within six hours."
Mulder gave him a sharp glance. "Cleared?"
Alex nodded. "InSec," he said.
"Damn. Who?"
"An Agent Thomas," Alex said. "I've never seen him before.
Your basic pencil-pusher."
"Great."
"Mulder, what happened to you?"
"You know about Juda?"
Alex nodded.
He sighed. "I didn't do it."
"I know," Alex said, softly.
Mulder smiled at him, catching the double meaning in his
words. "I was on my way to a farmhouse about an hour out of the
city to talk with a witness on the Pitney case," he continued, "when I
was stopped on the road about ten minutes away."
"Stopped? By who?"
"There was a roadblock set up—two cars with flashers going."
"State police?"
Mulder nodded. "That's what I thought. One of the troopers
came up to the car. I was about to pull out my i.d. and explain the
situation, when everything went black."
"They knocked you out?"
"Yeah. I never even saw it coming. When I woke up, about an
hour had passed. I was in a warehouse in the city, tied up, gagged,
in a heap on the floor." He glanced over at Alex. "Juda was there.
They were arguing—I don't know what about." He paused. "I saw
her die, Alex."
"Who was there?"
"Two men. I wasn't close enough, and it wasn't light enough,
to get a good look at the bigger guy, the shooter. I wouldn't even have
known that it was Juda, except that the shooter said her name when
they came back to pick me up. I did the play-dead, limp thing when
they came back over to me, and the gunman picked me up. I
managed to get a pretty good look at his friend."
"Do you know him?"
"No," Mulder said. "But I'm going to."
"Then what happened?"
"They figured out that I was awake, or they knew that whatever
they gave me would wear off soon. They gave me an injection, and
knocked me out again. When I woke up again, I was in a barn at an
abandoned farmhouse."
"Why didn't you call me? I was worried sick."
"I was in a fog, Alex. I called the first number that made any
sense to me, but the phone went dead and I got cut off. All I really
wanted to do was get back here as soon as I could. Luckily, I was
able to hitch a ride back."
Alex nodded. "I'm just glad you're okay."
"For the moment. And as soon as we know that Sam and
Scully are all right, I'll tell you everything else."
"Yeah, we've got some news ourselves."
Alex paused to take out his cell and try Dana's number again.
This time, he got through.
"Alex?"
"Dana, finally! He's here, Dana. I'm with him."
"Mulder? Thank god." The relief was evident in her voice.
"Alex, you've both got to come to Mercy Grace hospital."
"What happened?"
"It's Beth. She collapsed this afternoon. She's in emergency.
I just got here myself, and we don't know anything yet."
Alex glanced over at Mulder, then motioned for him to pull
over. "Beth's in Mercy Grace Hospital," he said, cupping the phone.
"Dana's with her, but we have to get over there."
"What is it?"
"They don't know yet."
Mulder pulled away with a screech of tires, making a very neat,
very illegal u-turn into the other lane.
"We're on our way," Alex said, then hung up the phone.
Dana finally managed to get to speak to the attending physician
about Beth.
"She's still unconscious," he said. "It seems as though she
had some sort of a hemorrhage, although she didn't lose a lot of
blood. Her vital signs seem fine, as they were when she was
brought in. We're ordering bloodwork, an MRI, and a CAT scan.
That's all I can tell you right now. We just don't know anything else."
"Have you ruled out the possibility of aneurysm?"
"Right now, we can't rule out anything. All we can do is keep
an eye on her and try to figure it out as quickly as possible. I have to
go, now."
"Thank you, doctor," she said, as he went to order the tests for
Beth. She glanced at the charts on her friend, and the monitors. It
just didn't make sense. She seemed to be fine. A horrible image of
Melissa came into her mind.
"I know what you're thinking." Margaret Scully's voice startled
her out of her reverie.
"Mom," Dana said, hugging her.
"She's going to be fine, Dana."
Dana nodded. "I know. She has to be."
One
by Mona Ramsey
"What exactly did he say?" Alex paced around the room again,
anything to keep him from physically shaking his lover's mother.
