Untitled
by Shael and KMS
[Why is it that Mulder always ends up in these situations?]
He pulled back into the shadows for a moment as Scully, Skinner and Fowley
passed him. He listened quietly to their argument, shaking his head in
exasperation. None of them had a clue about Mulder. He was the only one who
could save the day.
Next time he got a chance he was going to sew a giant 's' on his t-shirts.
Most FBI agents worry about being killed while on duty. With Mulder, you had
to worry about him being possessed while on duty, to say nothing of being
slimed by some incorporeal entity. But if Mulder were a run of the mill
agent, Krycek wouldn't be in the position he was now. In no small way did
Krycek owe Mulder for many things, for the loss of his arm, for the power he
gained, for the burden of the knowledge of how the world was going to end.
He peeked around the corner again. [All clear.] Even the doctor had
wandered off. Walking nonchalantly, he crossed the hall and opened the door
to the room.
Stark black and white images met his eyes—screaming patients, some
silently huddled on the floor, arms protectively wrapped around themselves.
Mulder was one of the screamers, looking straight into the camera and
screaming at the top of his lungs, truly crazy like so many of his coworkers
and acquaintances had accused him of being.
Krycek was surprised his voice hadn't given out yet from yelling his fool
head off. However, he could hear the strained vocal cords even over the
primitive microphones. "Fascinating," Krycek thought. "If only looking at
the rubbing induced this, what would happen if he actually came into contact
with the Artifact?" Alex's eyes scanned the room, his hands brushing aside
patient files until he found the one he was looking for. Glancing through
it, he flipped through to the doctor's notes. "Patient shows violent
tendencies and claims to hear voices."
[Joan of Arc syndrome,] Alex thought. [Of course. Mulder always was a
martyr.] But the good thing about martyrs is they could be manipulated.
[After all, King Charles had manipulated the shit out of Joan.] They gave
a rallying point for the unwashed masses, a focus that turned them away from
where the real work was being done. And when you were finished with them,
all it took was a religious council and a pyre. And heaven knows Joan's
council had been as crooked as any Consortium meeting.
But the Consortium was gone. All the old men who sat in judgement having met
a fate they had meted out to so many others. He was still alive because he
was too clever to completely ally with any side. Of course, there was still
Cancerman, as Mulder had dubbed him. C. G. B. Spender was still a player,
and it appeared that Fowley was on his leash, not to mention in his bed.
[She always was a bitch in heat.]
Alex glanced toward the screen that showed Mulder's cubicle up when he heard
his name called. He peered closer. Mulder was shouting his name, over and
over and over again. Krycek frowned at the black and white image, moving
closer.
"Krycek, get me out of here, Krycek!'
[Oh my god.]
"Alex, get the key and get me out of here!"
[How the hell could he know I'm here?] Alex shook his head in wonder.
Mulder stared straight into the camera. "You can wonder about how I know
you're there later, damn it! Just get me out of here!"
Alex's eyes widen in surprise and he felt his eyebrows creep up to his
hairline. [But even if the Artifact affected Mulder, why hadn't anyone else
it had been in contact with been similarly affected?]
"Screw the Artifact, get me out!"
Alex stepped back in surprise. He looked around the room, almost wanting
someone else here to witness this phenomenon
"There ain't anyone else, Alex. Get your skinny, one-armed ass down here!'
Pause. "Oh, and nice nanocytes."
Alex's jaw dropped open in astonishment. Involuntarily, he reached inside
his jacket. Yes, the PDA was still there. If Mulder could read his mind...,
[Fuck! I am completely fucked!]
"We can do that later! Just get me the hell out of here! And if you're a
good boy, I won't tell the Consortium that you just got a puppy and you want
to get home and take it walkies."
Alex dropped the folder. Papers spilled over the floor like a white rug. He
had found the stray only yesterday, and had told no one.
"I always thought you were a Rottweiler kind of guy. Now get your ass down
here!"
Testing Mulder, Alex considered dumping the puppy on some back roads.
"Don't even think about it," the voice over the tinny speaker threatened.
Alex cocked an eyebrow at Mulder's image. [Okay, so you can hear what I'm
thinking.] He had seen what the aliens were capable of. He had only seen it
in one other human before, but it wasn't too much of a stretch for him to
accept it.
"Move your ass, assassin boy. I've got things to do."
Alex paused a moment, sure that Rod Serling would step out in just a moment.
[My life has become a bad science fiction movie.]
Mulder moved restlessly, impatient at Krycek's hesitation. "Come on, Pinky.
It's time to take over the world! And we don't have time to make plans to do
it tomorrow night, so get your ass moving!"
Alex patted his coat down. Yes, he had his lock pick set on him. But he made
no move to leave the observation room.
Mulder was still staring straight up into the camera. "We've got to get to
Arizona and to Gibson. Things are on the move, and we have to be there."
[How the hell would he know where Gibson's body is?] The Consortium hadn't
figured that one out. Having tracked him to the nuclear power plant where
the alien had been spotted, they figured that the boy had become another
gestate so there was no reason to waste the manpower to find it.
"He didn't die! Get your ass down here and I'll explain. We've got to catch
up with him and the alien."
Krycek rolled his eyes. [Great! Three crazies to deal with.]
"Glass houses, Alex," Mulder admonished.
Ignoring that last comment, Krycek began to consider his options. [What
about Scully, Skinner and the rest?]
"Screw 'em. You see where they left me," was Mulder's comment. "The
important thing is that we get there before that Fowley does."
[Before Fowley does?]
"Of course she knows! Hell, she's the one who had me committed." There was
definite pain in Mulder's voice from his former lover's betrayal. "You know
she's already headed out that way, don't you? She's reporting every little
detail to Spender. And if he gets control first, you can kiss the planet,
and your ass, goodbye. Now move it, Alex. Don't make me start fucking around
with your nanocytes. I'll make your dick swell to the size of a donkey's!
And despite the grin on your face, you won't like it!"
Krycek's eyebrow arched a little higher, but his slight grin stayed in
place. [And how do you plan to infect me? You may be able to hear thoughts,
but you haven't mastered telekinesis, or else you'd be out by now.]
Mulder's voice was too smug for Krycek's comfort. "You already have been by
your coworkers."
Krycek made sure his face was a mask before responding. [If I do have it,
then why didn't they just rebuild my arm instead of making me wear this
piece of crap?]
"How else better to control you?"
[A raise?] Alex thought back sarcastically. [And how did they do it?]
"I won't tell you until you get your ass down here!"
[What makes you think if I let you out that you won't be back in an hour?]
"We may not live that long, Alex," Mulder answers dryly. They're coming and
they aren't happy. And if they get here, not you, me, or your puppy will
live to see tomorrow."
[Leave the puppy out of this, Mulder,] Alex thought to him.
A cold stare was his response. "Why? That's all you care about, isn't it?"
Krycek sighed heavily. [If you can read my mind, then you know that's not
true. I'm here, aren't I?"
Mulder's eyes hardened. "And I'm still in here!"
Krycek shook his head. [Have you considered the fact that if things are so
dangerous, maybe in there is the safest place to be?]
"Would you stand by and watch the world come to an end, Alex?" Mulder waited
for a second for Krycek to answer. "Well, neither can I."
Suddenly the screen blinked out, fading to black before Alex's eyes
[Mulder!]
He was torn—he could go down to the cell to find out what was happening.
Or he could leave Mulder here in relative safety until he had a better
handle on the situation."
[Move it!] a voice in his mind urged.
So much for that idea.
The monitor to Mulder's cell blinked back on, only now the cell was empty.
[Don't let them take me!]
Krycek stood there for a second, stunned that Mulder could transmit his
thought directly into the brain as well as read thought located there. [I'm
on my way down Mulder. Just hang on!]
[ALEX!]
And then all was silent. The hum of Mulder's mind meeting his had
disappeared.
Alex cracked open the door, glancing down the hall. All was clear. He headed
to the elevator. But when the doors open, there stood Fowley. "You're too
late, Alex."
Alex reached inside his jacket and pulled out his gun. "Out of my way,
Fowley."
Fowley produced her own weapon, pointing it straight at his chest. "He's
already gone, Alex. They've come for him. And if we're not careful, they'll
come for us also."
Alex stared at her blankly. "Do you realize what you've done?"
"Yes. I've saved us all."
End.
Alex watched as the others were shuffled out of the viewing room by the
officious doctor. Mulder's doctor.
