'Angel in the Star Light' 5/11 By phoenix99
(xphoenix99@hotmail.com)

X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X

CHAPTER 5

X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X

"You got a fast car, 
I wanna ticket to anywhere 
Maybe we can make a deal 
Maybe together we can get somewhere
Any place is better 
Starting from zero, 
Got nothing to lose
Maybe we'll make something 
Me, myself, I've got nothing to prove"

-'Fast Car' Tracy Chapman

X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X

10:54 am 
Somewhere in Arlington


The small room was dimly lit; the constant white glare
from the TV reflecting off the bare walls was the only
light. The man sitting in a creaky wooden chair facing the
TV was seated awkwardly as he tried to find a comfortable 
position. He stared blankly at the TV, the half-finished 
beer in his hand was taking up more of his attention. The 
radio on the other side of the room produced the only 
noise that occupied the air; the melancholy lyrics of the 
Smashing Pumpkins echoed in the sparsely furnished space.

The man sighed as he checked his watch, even though the 
time was on the TV, he needed to compare... it was 
something to do to fill the time... still four more hours 
before his shift was over. How many hours had he spent 
watching this TV, staring lifelessly at the same things 
hour after hour? Obviously enough time to make the images 
of the inside of an apartment building in Arlington appear 
in his mind, the pictures etched into his retina. He could 
describe every detail, a smudge mark or a stain on the 
ceiling... Give him a piece of paper and a pencil and he 
could have drawn a picture of it with his eyes closed... 
of course he wasn't much of an artist so it would probably 
look more like a child's scribble.

The little green numbers near the bottom of the TV
screen blinked and the picture changed. The man shifted
in his seat and rolled his head around until he heard a
satisfying crack.

Five minutes soon passed and the picture changed.
Another five and it changed again. First the fourth floor
hallway, then the front door, then the elevator, then the
stairwell, then it would start all over again. Hallway, front
door, elevator, stairs, hallway, front door, elevator, stairs...
Sure, he could have watched all of the cameras at once,
but he found it slightly less boring when they changed
regularly.

Sometimes he would see interesting things, like people
breaking into someone's apartment or two people
making out on the stairs. In general though, spying on
Agent Mulder's apartment building wasn't the most
exciting part of his job. It really only served to keep him
occupied when he wasn't out killing people. That was his
specialty, assassin extrordinaire. He'd gotten stuck doing
this detail because of a coin toss.... One stupid flip of a
coin had caused his unhappiness.

They used to watch the inside of Mulder and Scully's
apartments, and there had been many times when he
wished he'd won that coin toss for several reasons. The
winner got to watch Scully (Krycek never let them
rewatch those tapes), and watching another man's private
life, or lack of one, was not something he looked forward
to doing almost every day. Not to mention one incident
he had heard about where Mulder had actually found the
camera and ended up whacking the guy spying on him.
Sure, he hadn't been around when that had happened,
but he'd heard all about it, and that's why they spied
from afar now--well, the building across the street. But
lately both agents had started having people come over
and clean out the cameras, so now they only watched the
area around their apartments. Which was just fine, no 
need to get to personal with a man you might have to 
kill someday.

He could remember back when the cameras had still been
inside the apartments, the guy who won the coin toss
rarely got a chance to spy on Scully since Krycek often
volunteered to take his shift. There had been one guy, a
tall gangly Aussie who had been their 'ops' man; he had
made a remark about Krycek's interest once. They had
never seen that guy again after that, and no one really
talked about it anymore.

He had always dreamed about having a job in some covert 
organization. With lots of spying and killing... and
this was it, this was his dream job. He just wished it
didn't have these lulls in action so often. Yawning, Nick
took another swig of his warm beer... ick... he hated warm
beer. Setting down the bottle in disgust, he leaned
forward, running his hands through his dark hair as he
watched the empty hallway on the screen. Still nothing,
just like the hour before and the hour before that and the
hour before that....

Nothing except an old woman taking her dog out, and
that had happened hours ago... or it could have been
minutes, he wasn't sure. Time seemed to blend together
in this shit hole they were stuck in. Why did he have to
watch this anyway? Mulder wasn't even in there, dammit.
He had left the day before, and from what he had heard
about the accident, Mulder wasn't going to be back for a
long while.

The picture changed again and he sighed. The elevator.
The elevator was a wild card. It was either very
interesting or very, very boring; though lately it had
turned out to be very interesting. He took another sip of
his beer and glanced at his watch again. Damn, he
thought, they probably weren't coming. Everything was
messed up today.

It had started about four months ago. A blond haired guy
would come over to see a girl who lived in the apartment
every once in awhile. He was often hauling a bunch of
equipment with him; strange equipment... cameras and
tripods and shit. But a week ago, and every day since
then, the guy would come over late at night, around 11:30.
He would 'spend the night' and then be escorted to the
front door by his lover the next morning at ten to nine,
exactly, everyday. And every morning, as soon as they
were in the elevator they couldn't keep their hands off
each other.

But today was different. He had seen the man arrive the
night before at 11:30 and had been waiting for his daily
show, but neither of them had shown yet. Maybe the
woman had finally killed that guy, maybe he told her he 
was married and she lost it... she could be chopping him 
up and stuffing him through her garbage disposal at that 
very moment. Nick smiled to himself... he was so morbid.

Suddenly, the doors of the elevator slid open and a man
and woman entered. The man looked unkempt and was
dressed in a wrinkled business suit, his blond hair
spiked and mussed. The woman looked immaculate as
usual in her perfect hair and clean, nicely- pressed suit.
Nick glanced at the numbers on the screen... 11:09. He
shrugged; must be because of the weekend.

As soon as the doors closed they were all over each other.
Nick leaned forward in his chair, squinting at the screen,
trying to see if the woman's hand really had gone where
he thought it had.... He grinned.

Sitting back, Nick relaxed as best he could in the
uncomfortable chair to watch the show. As he watched
the hurried movements of the couple in the elevator his
mind began to drift to Mulder and Scully. He'd never
seen either of them engage in any extracurricular
activities; Krycek had told him that they weren't
involved, and Nick believed him. Most people thought
they had been fucking for some time now, though it
really didn't make much of a difference to anyone, but
people like to know these things... information is power.

If it was true that they weren't involved, Nick was sure 
it wouldn't be much longer. He couldn't remember how
many times he had seen Scully coming up that elevator
only to turn right back around and leave before she even
spoke to Mulder. And Mulder, well, he never got out of
the building before he came back looking defeated and
about ready to shoot himself. Not for the first time Nick
wondered what was wrong with these people. Screw it,
why the fuck did he care? It wasn't his problem who was
getting some and who wasn't.

Nick swore as the picture changed and he fumbled with
the remote, trying to quickly change the image back to
the elevator camera. He wasn't going to pass up free porn
just because it was time to switch cameras. They taped
them all anyway.

He sighed in disappointment when the camera came back
on. The elevator had reached the main level and the
couple were saying their good-byes. Yesterday they had
gone all the way, right there in the elevator. It was the
hottest thing he'd ever seen. A bit too hot actually....

Someone entered the room and Nick started. Turning
quickly in his chair he met the face of Ilya. He kind of
reminded Nick of a character in one of the recent James
Bond movies, the blond Russian--or had he been
German? That character that had enjoyed torturing people;
but Ilya was taller and much more intimidating. His
English was actually pretty good, but when he was pissed
he would often speak Russian.

Ilya shuffled past him and over to the dark green couch
in the corner, flopping down on it with an audible sigh.

"Watching other people's sex lives again, Nick?" he asked
tiredly.

All Nick could do was make a face before turning back to
the TV. The elevator was empty, show was over. Damn it.
Back to hallway, front door, elevator, stairs....

He'd returned to staring blankly at the screen when his
cell phone began to trill in his pocket. He pulled it out
and turned it on as he raised it to his ear.

"Yeah?" He used his common greeting. He noticed Ilya
look up curiously from the sports magazine he had begun 
to flip through.

"Have you and Ilya noticed any abnormal activity at
Mulder or Scully's apartments in the past three days?"
came the noticeably furious voice on the other end of the
phone.

Shit, Nick thought as he straightened up in his chair, it
was Krycek. Ilya tossed down his magazine and got up
from the couch when he saw Nick jump in his chair.

"Uhh..." he held his hand over the receiver. "Ilya, anyone
visit Scully?" Ilya shook his head. Nick removed his
hand. "Uhhh, no, no, I haven't seen anything and neither
has Ilya," he said as firmly as he could, but it sounded a
little too much like a whimper.

"Mulder and Scully have a god damn informant. I want
you and Ilya to rewatch the tapes and see if anyone went
to either of their apartments. I want to know who this
mother fucker is and what the fuck they told them. Call
me as soon as you find something," and he hung up.

Shit... this was bad. If he had missed anything that had
gone on at Mulder's place, Krycek would have his ass....
Rushing over to the boxes of CDs sitting on the floor,
Nick began to rummage through them, pulling out the
ones he needed and dropping them in a pile at his feet.

"What did Krycek say?" Ilya asked, leaning against the
wall near Nick and the CDs.

"Mulder and Scully have an informant. We have to find
out if this person is on any of this footage before Krycek
kicks our asses."

"No, he'll kick your ass, Nick, not mine. I keep a good eye
on Scully. I see everyone and everything that goes into
her building. You watch people fuck in the elevator."

"Oh yeah? What are you doing right now? Aren't you
suppose to be watching Scully's place right now?" Nick
snarled.

"She isn't even home and I always watch what I miss
before I archive it." Ilya protested.

Nick brushed him off as he brought the pile of CDs over
and dumped them in front of the TV, making them clatter
to the floor loudly.

"Here," he held up a few of the CDs to Ilya. "You watch
yesterday's footage and I'll watch Friday's."

Ilya sighed with exasperation as he took the CD into the
other room where his equipment was. Nick quickly
emptied a CD out of its box and jammed it into the slot
below the TV and began to watch.

The screen split into four and each quarter began to play
footage from one of the cameras simultaneously. He
pushed fast forward and the images zoomed by in front
of him; some drunk people, that damn old lady and her
dog, paper guy, horny couple.... There wasn't going to be
anything here, he would have seen it.

"Nick! Come in here!" Ilya yelled. Nick pushed the pause
button, dropped the remote and ran into the neighboring
room.

"What?" Nick demanded.

"Watch." Ilya said as he pushed the play button and the
picture on the screen came to life.

"Oh shit," Nick whispered as he watched with a growing
sense of dread. On the TV was the familiar face of Walter
Skinner coming through the stairwell door just as the
horny couple disappeared into the elevator. He pulled a
newspaper from out of his jacket and switched it with the
one sitting in front of Mulder's door. After tucking the
original newspaper under his arm he walked away. Just
like that.

"He must have come right up the god damn stairs while
you were busy watching those two fuckers in the
elevator. You fucking moron." Ilya said angrily.

"You know this is both our asses, don't you?"

"No it's not. It's your ass on the line because YOU are the
one who is suppose to be watching Mulder." Ilya argued,
moving away from the wall so he could stand face to face
with Nick.

"Hey man," Nick said, backing up slightly. "We've taken
turns watching Mulder; Krycek knows that and if he isn't
sure which one of us was watching, he's going to off us
both just to be 'sure'. You know how fucking paranoid
he is!"

"So what the hell are we suppose to do? He's expecting us 
to phone him when we find something." Ilya crossed his
arms.

Nick ran his hand through his hair and he began to pace
the room. "We have to tell him who it is, we just can't 
let him know it was our fault--"

"Your fault." Ilya added.

Nick sighed. "We have to tell him something before he
finds it out himself; then he'll be really pissed."

"No," Ilya began to shake his head as he turned and
walked back to the couch. "I'm not going to have any part
of this shit. I'm going to phone him and tell him what we
found."

"Ilya, please." Nick was desperate. This job was the first
real break he'd had in years--his entire life in fact. He
could lose it and possibly his life because of a stupid
little mistake. "I have money"

Ilya paused, phone in hand, and nodded for him to
continue.

"Five grand." Nick said quickly.

"Eight."

"Done."

Ilya sat back down on the couch and yawned, looking
unconcerned and relaxed, much to Nick's annoyance.
"Why don't you tell him that we checked some of the
other cameras in the area. I'm sure there are some security
cameras close by, maybe a parking lot? We can tell him
we found Skinner on one of those."

"No, he won't buy that," Nick replied, his frustration
mounting.

"Well, we could tell him that we went and talked to some
of our contacts on the street and they said a man
described as looking like Skinner left a newspaper on the
hood of Mulder's car."

Nick stopped pacing and thought about Ilya's
suggestion. "You think he'll believe that?"

"Seriously?" Ilya asked.

"Yes, seriously! Jesus Christ!"

"I think Krycek is way too pissed off to care about how
we found out who the rat is," Ilya said matter-of-factly.

Nick nodded as he thought about it for a few more
seconds before pulling out his phone and dialing
Krycek's number. His pacing continued for the short
amount of time it took for the phone to stop ringing.

"Who was it?" was Krycek's greeting.

"We talked to some of our contacts--" Nick stammered.

"Who was it?" Krycek asked again, impatiently.

"Skinner. He gave him a newspaper--"

*click*

Nick listened to the dial tone for a second before slowly
closing the phone back up and turning to face Ilya who
was waiting expectantly.

"Well? Did he buy it, do you think?"

Nick slumped back onto the green couch beside Ilya and
let out a deep breath.

"God I hope so."

X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X

11:47 am 
Just east of the Catskill Mts.


They had been driving for a little over an hour. Scully
was finding it hard to concentrate on her driving even
though there were only a few other cars on the road with
her. She felt antsy, like she'd drunk too much coffee too
late in the day or had taken a nap and ended up not
sleeping all night. She was still worried about Mulder,
and now Karen too. She had so many questions she wanted 
to ask, but it was as if everyone in the car was
waiting for someone else to say something.

Mulder was watching Karen through the side-view mirror; 
he had been for quite awhile. Scully wondered what was 
he looking at. She knew he often studied people, 
including her, and she found it extremely unnerving. 
She and Mulder had both been keeping an eye on Karen, 
both having the same fears. With their past track 
record of losing evidence, witnesses and victims, their 
paranoia was understandable.

Scully shifted in her seat, catching Mulder's attention 
for a moment before he went back to what he had been
doing before. She felt uncomfortable and thought about
opening a window, but the cool outside air would ruin
the warm cozy atmosphere they had achieved. She could
feel a strange electric charge layered in the air. 
Whether it was because of the growing clouds on the 
horizon or something in the car, she wasn't sure. Her 
jacket had been discarded earlier and now she regretted 
it as she felt the goose bumps appearing on her bare 
arms, despite the heat inside the car. Mulder glanced 
over at her, as if sensing her discomfort. She could 
feel him studying her now, seeing the tiny hairs on her 
arms standing on end. She wanted to shiver, but she
fought it back before she looked over at him, trying to
dissuade him from continuing to stare, but he just
blinked at her.

The atmosphere in the car was thick with undercurrent
and Scully half expected to hear the low hum of
electricity. The only sounds that reached her ears though
were the quiet turning of the engine and the constant
grind of the tires on the road. It was almost as if there 
was a conversation taking place, but no one knew what was
being said; like trying to act out a play without a script.
The silence was becoming deafening, and luckily Mulder
decided to break it.

"We're both very sorry about what happened to your
family, Karen." Mulder said carefully after the
psychological part of his brain determined it was the 
best thing to say, though he immediately regretted it after.

She nodded absently, her mind obviously on other
matters. She had been asleep for most, if not all of the
ride so far. Now that she was more awake, she sat up and
shifted in her seat, becoming agitated. "I have to leave."
she told them.

"What?" Scully said, surprised at the girl's response to
Mulder's gentle words.

"I never intended for it to get this far. You have to stop
the car and let me out."

Scully didn't slow down.

"We can't do that. If you leave, they'll find you. We can't
protect you if you aren't with us." Mulder said, turning
around in his seat and trying to face Karen. He met her
eyes and she stared back at him, neither of them
blinking. He could almost feel her mind, watching him,
sensing him and it made him squirm. Averting his gaze
from her sad eyes, he turned around and went back to
watching the drab countryside fly by.

"I'm sorry Karen. I wish there was another way." Mulder
said with sincerity.

Karen sighed, dropping her head so that it leaned up
against the cold glass of the window. "I know," she
whispered, her breath causing the window to fog slightly.
Neither of the agents in the front seats heard her.

It was getting darker now, though not entirely due to the
time of day, but more because of the large storm clouds
gathering in front of them. They could all hear the deep
rumblings off in the distance.

"We should stop for gas soon." Karen said, startling both
Mulder and Scully. She was so quiet when she didn't say
anything, it was almost as if she wasn't there. Both agents
looked down at the gas gauge. Karen was right, the red
needle was wavering just above the E. They had been so
wrapped up in what was happening that they were
forgetting about the basic things... gas... food.

"Mulder, maybe you should get the map out of the glove
compartment and see where the nearest gas station is."

Mulder obediently popped open the small compartment
and pulled out a map. He had to wrestle it open; it was
even worse than the newspaper.

"Hopefully we can find one before we have to walk in the
rain." Scully murmured, looking up at the foreboding
sky. Soon, tiny droplets of rain began to pelt against the
windshield, running down the side of the car in long
streams until they were hurled off the back.

"Uhh..." Mulder said with a note of confusion as he held
the map out in front of him. "We should have checked
the gas before we left Albany...."

As if by magic, when they approached the next
intersection a small dumpy gas station came into view,
with an equally small and dumpy variety store. It was
just as well, there probably weren't any security cameras.
Scully slowed the car down and pulled up to the line of
pumps.

An old bristly looking man sitting by the register in the
small store watched them suspiciously as he set his porn
magazine down on the counter. He got up and stood at
the door, watching as Scully exited the car and quickly
stuck the gas nozzle into the tank before finding refuge
under the flimsy roof hanging over the pumps. Mulder
gave the man a dirty look as he got out of the car
and joined Scully under the small roof, desperately
needing to stretch his legs.

"We should phone the guys at some point, see if they
have any ideas on what to do," Scully said as she leaned
back closer to the pumps, trying to avoid the rain which
was falling much harder now. Mulder nodded, still
brushing the droplets off his jacket. Both agents turned at
the sound of the back door opening as Karen got out and
quickly came up and stood beside them.

"Does anybody want something?" Mulder finally asked.

"I think I'll pass," Scully murmured, giving the crappy
store a sideways glance as she pulled out her cell phone.

Mulder turned to Karen hopefully, feeling the need to do
something for her, to give her something; anything.

"Do you want something?" Mulder asked.

She shook her head 'no' before saying in a quiet voice,
"I'm going to see if there are any washrooms here."

"Oh, ok." Mulder answered as she began walking
through the rain towards the building. He didn't feel
right about letting her go off by herself, so he hesitantly
stepped out from under the protective roof, his jacket
quickly drenched from the down pour as he followed a
few yards behind her. She seemed to ignore the rain and
only glanced back at him once before disappearing
around the side of the building. Mulder followed, seeing
Karen go through a door with a white stick figure
wearing a dress painted crudely on the wood surface. He
leaned up against the building, trying to stay out of the
rain even though he was already soaked, while waiting
for Karen to emerge from the washroom. It had only been
a few minutes, but it seemed like she was taking an
awfully long time, and he began to tap his foot
nervously.

Finally he couldn't take it anymore and he knocked on
the old wooden door, "Karen?"

The doorknob turned and Mulder stepped back as Karen
came out.

"What, did you think I fell in?" She said, a weak smile on
her face.

Mulder smiled, shaking his head as he turned to walk
back to the car. Suddenly he felt a shove from behind,
and the distinct feeling of his gun being pulled out of its
holster. He was so surprised that he almost slipped on the
wet ground when he turned abruptly to face Karen. She
held the gun in a shaky grip, the barrel pointed towards
him, water drenching their clothes and partially blinding
them both.

"Karen--" His voice couldn't register even half the
disbelief he was feeling. He hadn't seen it coming at all.

"Walk to the car, Agent Mulder. Walk to the car, get in
and leave. Don't look back." She said in a hard voice, but
underneath it all Mulder could hear her true voice--the
frightened voice of a child.

"Karen, please--" Mulder quickly recovered, holding out
his hand for the gun.

"Walk!" She demanded, waving the gun at him. He really
didn't think she would shoot him, but he did what she
said and started back towards the car. As they came out
from around the building, Scully was just leaving the
store, having paid for the gas. When she saw what was
happening she immediately ran over to them.

"Karen! What are you doing?" Scully called frantically,
her hand instinctively going to her gun before she pulled
it away quickly, not wanting to aggravate Karen further.

"I want both of you to get in the car. Now!" Karen said,
the gun still shaking in her small hands. She brushed the
wet hair out of her face. "Get in the damn car and drive
away!"

Both agents stood like statues in the pouring rain, not
moving an inch towards the car.

"Karen, give me the gun." Mulder said as evenly as
possible, trying not to let any of the emotion he was
feeling slip into his voice... but it didn't matter did 
it? She could hear all their thoughts anyway.

"Please. Don't you understand? I gave you want you
wanted, now you have to let me go. There is no point. I
won't let you sacrifice yourselves for me. My life has
been doomed from the moment I was born." she cried,
wiping her eyes. Mulder couldn't tell if they were tears 
or only drops of rain.

"We can protect you. We won't let them take you,"
Mulder pleaded, the desperation starting to seep into his
voice.

Karen shook her head dismissively at his words. "You
couldn't protect Gibson or Jeremiah. What makes you
think you can save me?" Karen tried to reason. She was
right, as if she had been there when he and Scully had
talked about the same thing earlier in the day. Mulder
tried to stare her down, trying to will her to see just how
much they wanted to help her, but he soon sighed and
dropped his head in defeat for a second time. There was
just something about her and looking into her eyes was
the hardest thing to do. She was a mirror for the soul and
Mulder found it hard to look very long.  "You can't."
Karen answered for him. "You can't."

"We want to help you, Karen. Let us help you," Mulder
tried again. He hoped to God that the man in the variety
store wasn't seeing this. All they needed now were the
police....

"Why won't you leave!?" she sobbed as she broke down
in front of them, tears streaming down her face, the gun
dropping slightly. Mulder took the chance to step
towards her, but she stepped back and quickly lifted the
gun back up, freezing Mulder in his tracks. Looking at
them she seemed to realize something, and pressed the
cold metal under her own chin. If she wasn't a threat to
them, she'd be a threat to herself.

"No, Karen don't! That isn't the answer!" Scully cried as
Karen squeezed her eyes closed, ready to pull the trigger
at any instant. "You have so much to offer, Karen, you are
a miracle. You can't throw that away," Scully tried to
reason with her.

"I don't want to be a miracle, I don't want to be this--
thing. They'll find me. I don't want them to take me. I
don't want to see them. I don't want to be anything
anymore," she whimpered as her eyes reopened partly. "I
don't want to hear these voices anymore. I don't want to
see other peoples' lives," she paused. She still didn't 
look well and Mulder thought she was going to faint. He
watched her carefully as he prepared himself to catch her
if she dropped.

"I grew up hearing people say one thing when I knew
they meant something totally different," she continued,
regaining her strength and her resolve. "At least when
they speak, what they say is somewhat censored. They
don't want to offend and they don't want to sound mean,
so other people aren't hurt. But the mind doesn't have
that ability. People lie all the time, they hide things and
think things that they would never say to anyone. My
parents lied, my friends lied, my teachers lied. Sure, some
lies are understandable, and I can accept them. But do
you have any idea what it's like to pass a serial rapist on
the street, seeing and knowing everything he's done and
not being able to do a damn thing about it, because you
know that he's been tried for his crimes and been
released? Do you know what it's like to hear the ones you
trust and love thinking about how much of a
disappointment you are?" Karen cried, her grip on the
gun faltering slightly. "I don't want to be this thing
anymore! I don't want to feel these things anymore!"

It was obvious there was more to this than there appeared
to be. She must have been troubled for a long time, and
now the death of her family and the loss of her life had
sliced the last fiber that had been holding her together.
Now she felt she had nothing left to live for, which
Mulder saw as being so terribly untrue.

Mulder looked over at Scully with frightened eyes. He
didn't want to lose this girl, they owed her everything. If
he couldn't do anything to reason with her, then maybe
Scully could.

"Karen, you've helped so many people and you gave us
something very special. You gave us a second chance I
never imagined possible. You brought Mulder back to
me, even when I thought I'd never see him walk or speak
again; never go on and on about UFOs and monsters. I
thought he'd never be Mulder again." Scully paused. She
obviously hadn't intended to say that much or to get that
personal, but maybe that was what this girl needed. "You
saved my life as well as his. I will never be able to thank
enough for what you've given back to me. What you have
is a gift which shouldn't be thrown away at any cost.
They will not take you. Mulder and I will not let that
happen."

Karen stared at Scully through the layer of rain and tears
covering her face. There was tension in the air as they
waited. Karen was still shaking, still staring at Scully,
perhaps searching for the truth behind her words.
Mulder prayed that she found them, that she saw in them
what she wanted.

She looked away from Scully, casting her eyes to the
shiny pavement. Slowly she lowered the gun from her
chin and it slipped from her weak hold, clattering on the
road at her feet. She began to whisper, "But I'm so
afraid... so cold," as Scully came up to her and wrapped 
her arms around the girl's fragile body.

"I'm so sorry... so sorry...." Karen sobbed into Scully's
shoulder. Scully, with Karen in her arms, looked up at
Mulder who could only watch, listening to the girl's
choked breaths and the sound of his heart in his ears.

His mind went back to the words Scully had spoken only
moments before. 'You saved my life as well as his...' His
accident must have been horrible to be enough to make
Scully lose all hope. For her to want to end her own life
because his was falling apart at the seams scared him. It
made him want to live forever; to love what they had and
never lose it.

"We should get back in the car...." Scully soon said,
guiding Karen back to the car with an arm around her
shoulder. She helped her into the back while Mulder
retrieved his gun and got back into his seat, quickly
shedding his soaked jacket. Scully was soon back in the
drivers seat; she started up the car and immediately
turned up the heat to warm their chilled bodies. Karen
would not meet either of the agents' eyes, keeping her
head bowed and her gaze pointed out the window.

They pulled away from the gas station and back onto the
highway. After a few minutes Karen was already fast
asleep, her soft breaths filling the quietness in the car.

"Mulder, can you call the guys and see what they can do?
My phone isn't registering. We're going to need some
supplies and I don't think we'll be able to stay in
Washington for long, if at all."

He just stared at her; as if speaking was the last thing
he'd expected her to do. As her words slowly sunk into
his brain, he nodded and pulled out his phone. Turning
back to the window, he pushed in the complicated series
of numbers that would connect him to the Lone Gunmen.

"Turn off the tape Byers. We need your help...."

X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X

12:24 am 
Lair of the Lone Gunmen


"Guys! It's Mulder!" Byers called from the other side of
the room. The constant clicking caused by Frohike and
Langly's fingers on the keyboards paused as they both
looked up from their computers and saw Byers waving
them over. They nearly jumped out of their chairs and
rushed over to see what was going on.

"We shouldn't discuss this over the phone," Byers was
saying into the receiver as Frohike and Langly came up
beside him. Frohike was grabbing at the phone and Byers 
had to bat his hand away.

Byers began to nod. "Just a second I'm going to put you
on speaker phone." He reached over and pushed a button
on the phone and the three guys gathered around the
small machine.

"What's going on?" Frohike asked.

"Me and Scully are on our way to Washington. We've got
the whole world after us because of someone we picked
up in Albany."

"Are you two all right?" Langly asked.

"Yeah, we're ok. But we need some things, fast." They
could hear the urgency in his voice, and it made them
fidget with anticipation at finding out what was going on.

"What do you need Mulder?" Byers asked, and Frohike
and Langly exchanged looks. Mulder and Scully usually
came to see them in person when they needed something,
and only in emergencies would they ever discuss
anything over the phone. Whatever was happening, it
was big. There was a brief pause and they could hear him
conversing with someone on the other end, probably
Scully.

"We're going to need access to a lab and some medical
equipment. MRI, DNA testing and basic blood and tissue
analysis, preferably away from Washington. We're going
to need a safe place to stay."

"How much time do we have?" Langly asked.

"About seven hours, give or take 20 minutes."

Langly, Frohike and Byers looked at each other with
uncertainty, before the three of them engaged in a very
animated conversation. Finally they quieted down and
Frohike began to speak. "Ok Mulder, we'll work
something out for you guys. We'll meet you outside The
Waltzing Weasel--you remember where that is?"

"That's where you had Langly's last birthday party."

"Right, and Mulder?"

"Yeah?"

"Big Brother may be watching, so keep your eyes open,"
there was a pause. "...and be careful. Keep your ass out 
of trouble so Scully doesn't have to chase after you 
again."

"All right, thanks guys." And the line went dead.

X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X

Mulder closed the phone and slipped it back into his
pocket.

"What did they say?" Scully asked.

"They said they'd see what they could do. I just hope we
can make it back to Washington." Mulder paused,
dropping his head slightly and then looked over at
Scully. "I don't want to lose her, Scully," he said quietly.

Scully's eyes didn't move from their focus on the cracked
pavement disappearing beneath the car, but she could
feel the emotion in his words. "I don't either," She replied
softly. There was silence for a while, a more comfortable
silence than before, but still not the relaxed silence they
were used to.

"Do you think that she can hear us when she's sleeping?"
Mulder asked after awhile, looking back at the sleeping
girl.

What if she could? Would she dream their dreams? Their
memories, their thoughts? Was every hour of her day
polluted with the mindless wanderings of others in her
vicinity? Or maybe sleep was her only escape, the only
way she could be alone in her own mind, where she was
surrounded by her own thoughts and dreams.

"I don't know, maybe that's why she sleeps so much,
maybe it's an escape." Scully said, speaking some of her
thoughts out loud.

Mulder nodded, accepting Scully's answer and not
pursuing it further. It was rather odd of him not to keep
pushing the issue, but he really wanted to avoid talking
about any of the larger questions that had been plaguing
his mind since they'd left the motel. He knew if they kept
talking they would inevitably end up discussing it.

The silence in the car was suddenly broken by Scully's
cell phone. She dug around in her pocket until her hand
brushed across it. Pulling it out, she brought it to her 
ear.

"Scully."

"Agent Scully. This is Skinner. Why am I standing in St.
Peter's Hospital and being told you and Mulder took off?
I don't know what kind of stunt you two are pulling, but
I want some answers, now!"

Scully winced, waiting for the ringing in her ears left by
Skinner's loud and angry voice to stop before she spoke.

"Sir, I don't think this is a very good time to discuss
this--"

"Agent Scully this is a perfect time to discuss this."

Scully sighed; Skinner was such a stubborn man. Of
course, she was an equally stubborn woman.

"I'm sorry Sir, I can't reveal that information to you
without putting you in danger." That made Skinner
pause.

She heard him sigh in defeat on the other end. "Are you
and Mulder alright?"

"Yes sir, we're fine. I'll call you back when I have the
chance," she replied, and before Skinner had a chance to 
reply Scully pushed 'end' and slipped the phone back 
into her pocket.

"You should have just said you could tell him but you'd
have to kill him," Mulder said in a quiet but amused
voice.

"He was already pissed off enough without needing
anymore help from me. And he's probably even more
pissed now that I hung up on him."

The comfortable silence they were used to had returned
and Scully leaned back farther in her seat as they flew
over the empty road. There were trees on either side of
them now as the road narrowed and began to bend and
curve, making it impossible to see very far ahead. The
scenery was very beautiful, and Mulder became
mesmerized by the millions of variations of color in the
foliage they passed.

The clouds were beginning to clear, and the sun peeked
out from behind them as it began to dip down in the sky.
The trees along the road seemed to become larger and
more menacing as they went on. Whether it was actually
their size or their shadows that grew, Scully couldn't 
tell. As they came over the next hill, Scully frowned at 
what she saw and slowed the car down involuntarily. 
There was a group of military vehicles stopped on the 
road ahead, cutting off what little traffic there was.

It was a roadblock, but it shouldn't be much of a
problem. They were probably just looking for a prison
escapee. God, she hoped that's what it was. There was
one car stopped already and a soldier was talking to the
driver. The soldier then stepped back and waved the car
through after the army truck blocking the road moved.

"Mulder?" Scully looked over at him, unsure of what to
do. They just kept hitting obstacle after obstacle. She
knew they should be used to that by now, but she
wished that just for once fate would give them a break.
Mulder turned to look and leaned forward, trying to get a
better view of what was going on. He glanced at Scully,
then back at the cars ahead.

"Can we turn around?" he asked as he began to look
around the car.

Scully looked up at the rear view mirror and saw a large
tanker truck coming up behind her on the narrow road.
"Shit, I don't think there's enough room..."

Shifting in his seat, Mulder turned around and, seeing
the truck, began to look frantically for a place where
they could turn around. There were steep ditches on
either side of them though, so that was out of the
question.

They were coming up to the roadblock now and Scully
heard the click of Mulder's holster as he removed his
gun. She looked at him nervously and he nodded in
reassurance. There was some rustling from the back seat
and Karen leaned forward between the two front seats,
calmly looking ahead at the soldiers they were
approaching.

"It's them. They're waiting for us," she said, suddenly
wide awake and not sounding the least bit worried about
the situation.

"Are you sure?" Scully asked, they were almost to the
trucks now, and one of the soldiers was signaling
them to stop.

"Agent Mulder, put your gun away. If you just act
normally, we'll be ok," Karen said softly, moving over to
sit behind the driver's seat. Mulder hesitated before
deciding against putting the gun back into his holster.
Instead he concealed it between his seat and the door, not
taking his hand away just in case he should need it.

Scully took a deep breath as she slowed the car to a stop.
The soldier was huge, with a bulky frame. He stepped up
to their car and leaned down to the window. She rolled it
down and the officer placed his beefy right hand over the
lowered window and looked in at the occupants of the
car. He looked over at Mulder suspiciously, and Mulder
reflexively tightened his grip on his gun.

"Could I see some ID?" the soldier barked. There were
two others standing nearby, leaning against one of the
jeeps, talking casually. Just as Mulder and Scully were
pulling their ID out, Karen laid her hand on top of the
soldier's hand. He looked over at her in surprise, ready to
pull away from her. Before he had a chance, she said in a
soothing voice, "We're not who you're looking for."

He stared back at her stupidly for a moment, then looked
down at the sheet of paper in his other hand and back up
at Mulder and Scully's ID before he shrugged. "Well, if
you see these two people, please let us know." He
showed them the paper he was holding, which showed
two grainy photocopied pictures of Mulder and Scully.
Both agents just stared at the soldier, unbelieving. He
smiled as he spoke. "Here's the number where you can
reach us. Sorry about that, folks; have a nice day."

He stepped back from their vehicle and waved them
through. As the truck moved to let them through, Scully
pressed down heavily on the gas, escaping from the
roadblock as quickly as possible.

What the hell just happened, she wondered. How had
Karen done that? She looked over at Mulder, who was
staring straight ahead, a curious expression on his face.

She could not only heal people and read their minds, but
she could affect the way they think. Was she another
Modell? Another Linda Bowman? If she could change the
way people think then maybe she was affecting *them*,
and what would stop her from doing it to them in the
future?

"I'm not either of those people agent Scully. I can't
change the way people think, I can only affect what they
see. Kind of like hypnosis, really," was Karen's answer.
Scully sighed quietly, she wasn't sure how many more
surprises she could take. This girl, whomever or whatever
she was, was more complex than she or Mulder had ever
imagined.

Stretching, Karen leaned back against the seat and her
eyes began to slide shut. Mulder saw her beginning to
fall back to sleep and couldn't believe she seemed so
unconcerned after the near miss they'd just had.

"Why have you been sleeping so much?" Mulder asked, no 
longer being able to contain his curiousity.

Karen peeked at him through one eye as he waited for
her answer. "I hate sleeping," she yawned. "But I have to
do it when I have a chance so I can stay awake for days
when necessary. " Her eyes drifted closed again. "I don't
want to sleep..." she mumbled without finishing her
sentence having already slipped back into unconsciousness.

X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X

"Dammit," Krycek swore as he tried to see around the
large tanker truck in front of him. What was it, an
accident? What the hell was the hold up?

He honked his horn twice before punching the steering
wheel in a fit of frustration. He had almost lost the
fuckers once before after following them from the motel.
Luckily he'd caught up with them when they had
stopped for gas, but because of the winding roads it was
practically impossible to tail them. Mulder and Scully
must still be in front of the truck. Of course, if they had
missed this hold up--whatever it was--they'd be far ahead
by now.

He honked his horn again before turning up the music in
his car.

"Finally..." he murmured to himself as the truck began to
pull ahead. Just as quickly as he had rejoiced, he wished
he hadn't. Ahead of him was a group of army vehicles.
There were three officers, and the artillery they were
carrying looked a bit heavy for a roadblock out in the
middle of no where.

One of the soldiers was standing in front of a large truck
which was blocking the narrow road. The soldier signaled 
for Krycek to stop as he searched desperately for an out. 
Seeing none though, he prayed that this was only routine. 
Maybe they were looking for an escaped mental patient or 
a drug smuggler. Please let it be routine, he said to 
himself.

He stopped his car and the soldier came up to his
window. Krycek rolled it down, watching the soldier but
also keeping an eye on the others as well. The soldier
looked at Krycek then at the sheet of paper he held in his
hand. He looked as if he where about to say something,
but instead he flipped through a few more sheets. After
glancing into the back seat he spoke. "Can I see some
identification?"

"Sure," Krycek said as pleasantly as possible as he pulled
his drivers license from his wallet. He handed it to the
soldier who studied it carefully.

"Shawn Jenkins," the soldier slowly read from the little
piece of plastic before looking back at Krycek. "Could
you please step out of the car."

There were few options at this point and Krycek knew he
couldn't get to his gun without anyone seeing. The other
two soldiers were coming over now and Krycek sighed
before reaching down and opening the car door. He'd
just have to wait for a better opportunity.

"Is something wrong?" Krycek asked casually as he exited
the car. As soon as he stood up he was pushed roughly
against the hood. One of the officers quickly searched
him and removed his gun while another went to one of
the vehicles and pulled out a phone. Krycek strained but
couldn't quite hear what was being said.

This was definitely one of Smoking Man's operations. He
could almost smell the cigarette smoke in the air.

When the soldier finished searching him he flipped him 
over, grabbed his collar and yanked him up off the hood. 
Krycek braced his hands on the hood as he prepared for 
whatever assult he was going to receive. "Alex Krycek," 
the soldier said triumphantly, pulling out his automatic 
and aiming it at Krycek's chest.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Krycek said
innocently.

The soldier didn't seem to care what he said and pushed
him in the direction of a truck parked farther along the
road. When they reached it, the soldier opened up the
back and motioned Krycek to get in. Krycek began to
climb up into the back when he suddenly turned, his foot
making clean contact with the soldier's face. The soldier
cried out in surprise as Krycek jumped off the truck and
quickly slid down the steep ditch before taking off into
the woods. He could soon hear the shouts and cries from
behind him as the soldiers began to chase after him.

Krycek frantically ran through the under brush; the
ground was slippery and uneven under his feet making
him lose his balance several times and slowing him
down. His lungs and chest began to ache and he felt
himself tiring. Glancing behind him he saw no sign of
the soldiers, or anyone for that matter. He slowed down
to a jog and then a walk before finally sliding down into
a small ravine and leaning up against a tree while he
caught his breath.

The sweat on his forehead began to dry, cooling his
heated body. Luckily it was still early in the season so
there weren't many bugs attacking him. Krycek began to
look around at the dense forest. The trees stretched up
above him and the sunlight danced between the bare
branches. He had no idea where he was now. He couldn't
go back the way he had come, he'd just get caught. He'd
just have to start walking. Besides, it was pretty hard to
get lost in this part of the country.

He decided to continue walking in the same direction
he'd been running, but just as soon as he started to climb
up the other side of the ravine he heard a noise that made
him freeze. It had come from behind him, the snap of a
stick. He quickly dropped to the ground, crawling back
up the other side of the ravine and behind a tree. Slowly
peeking around the tree as he debated whether to bolt or
stay still, he saw nothing except tree trunks and budding
leaves.

Again there was a crack, the distinct sound of a branch
breaking from the other side of the trees and bushes in
front of him. Krycek quickly looked around him for some
kind of weapon and found a large, jagged rock. Holding
it in his good hand he peeked back around the tree. He
shook with anticipation as he watched the bushes and
trees in front of him for any kind of movement.

Suddenly he heard something behind him. He jerked
around but was too late to do anything as the last thing
he saw was the butt of a gun coming down on his face.

X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X

Around 5 p.m. EST 
Unknown location


When he awoke he felt numb. His head ached and
throbbed, like someone was trying to drill a hole through
it. When he tried to move he discovered that his hand
and feet were bound to the chair he was sitting in. The
room was dark except for a thin streak of light that
glowed along the floor of one of the walls; a door, he
guessed. Krycek struggled a bit but the restraints were
tight and moving only made the ropes dig deeper into his
flesh.

He sat in the dark for an eternity before there was a loud
click and the door opened. The light coming in from
outside the room was so bright that Krycek had to squint,
trying to shield his now sensitive eyes. Someone stepped
into the room; their hand came up and switched on
the light hanging down from the ceiling. The bulb gave
off a dull glow as it jingled and swayed back and forth.
The shadows it cast on the walls made Krycek dizzy, his
head starting to pound even more.

When the ache in his head finally lessened, he regained
his senses and his sense of smell tipped him off
immediately. Looking up only confirmed his suspicions.
Spender was leaning up against the door frame, lighting
his Morley.

"Becoming a bit careless, Alex. I had thought I might
never see you again."

Krycek said nothing, keeping his head bowed.

Smoking Man took a long drag before speaking again.
"I'm sorry our little reunion couldn't be under better
circumstances, but so far I think we've been fairly
generous to you."

"How's that?" Krycek spat out bitterly.

"Well, we haven't killed you yet." Smoking Man gave
him a twisted smile, or what looked like a smile.
"Actually I came to make you an offer."

"What kind of offer?"

"One I don't think you can refuse."

X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X

END OF CHAPTER 5

X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X